45
Carmine woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. It was still dark, the dim light from the outside filtering in and illuminating the dark wooden rafters. The Belladonna mansion, for it really was a massive house, was a gorgeous home made up of local woods, built in the Mistralian style. In fact, from what she had seen, most of Kuo Kuana was built that way. That was probably the result of not only the island's proximity to Mistral but the fact that the Shallow Sea had been traversed by Mistralian immigrants in the first place.
Each member of their mission had been given their own room, with Blake getting her old one back, just the way she had left it. From the sounds of furious furniture rearrangement, she was most likely hiding embarrassing or incriminating objects.
Sleepily she sat up, arching her back to stretch as she yawned and rubbed her eyes. It was with a slight grimace that she felt the empty socket and finished digging her knuckle into her god eye. Her feet gingerly touched the wooden floor but it was warm. Not artificially heated but it seemed the climate just meant wooden floors didn't often get cold. The night had been downright sweltering, causing her to cast off even her shirt in her sleep. With a grumble she slipped into a new black tee, eyeing her jacket before deciding it wasn't worth the misery. Hopping one foot after another into her jeans she eventually stumbled into the main room of the house.
The previous night, Ghira had been furious, though thankfully not at her. He had excused himself to vent his righteous fury at Sienna. Carmine didn't think much would come of it, if memory served her, the attack on vale had been entirely Adam's decision. She paused in the hallways bathroom as she splashed cold water onto her face, thinking deeply as she dried.
Should I do something about that?
It was a tempting thought, the idea of denying Adam and his ilk the White Fang, though it wasn't like Sienna was a moderate either. She was still the woman responsible for attacking the ADC and Atlas in the first place. There was no way to know for sure that she wouldn't fall to the smae ideology as Adam one day.
Should I get rid of them both?
Eventually she shook her head, that solution would cause more problems than it would solve. How many more like Adamn were waiting in the wings to take up his cause? More than she was comfortable with and killing him would make him a martyr. Carmine knew she could probably bring him down but keeping him imprisoned was another story. The most dangerous part wasn't his strength, it was his ideas. Ideas, thoughts, could be infectious and there was no easy way to deal with it. Attempt to suppress it and you only spread it faster. Not to mention the implications of doing so in the first place.
It was too much for her to decide and so she tossed the idea into the back of her mind. She would have to think more on it, maybe find a way to contact Ozpin. The man had thousands of years of experience she could draw on, surely he would know what to do.
Instead she turned to her own task. Looking down she regarded the dark tattoo on the back of her hand. It looked like some kind of skull with curling ram horns. She lifted it to her mouth and spoke softly.
"Jorm?" She hesitated, "Can you hear me? Are you there?"
I am here, child. Do you need something of me?
The voice returned after a moment, thundering through her mind in that deep rumble that she wasn't sure was unique to him or all of the Primordials.
"I wanted to see how things are going on your end." She leaned back against the sink as she spoke, "I'm on the island where Bast was."
There was a brief pause, I have warned Tarrasque. He was adamant to stay out of things. Currently I am currently searching for Akkoro.
"You don't know where they are?"
Listen, girl, the oceans of this realm are vast and he could be in any corner or crevice. It will take a long time to find him.
"If he's that hard to find, why look? Won't it be impossible for Salem to get to him?"
I will not leave things to chance. Leave this to me. Bast will surely help you, just rely on the memories I have given you.
"Sure." She replied and received nothing in return before huffing and grumbling, "So much for phone etiquette."
Carmine made her way to the study and was surprised to find Ghira there. He sat with a book in hand and small reading glasses on his face as he sipped from a steaming teacup. He glanced up at her as she entered, his eyebrows rising.
"Good morning, Huntress Rose. Do you need something from me?"
While she hadn't been looking for him it was an opportunity, "No but maybe you can help me. Do you have any maps of Menagerie?"
As it turned out, he had many. From topographical to typical, the man had at least a dozen different maps of Menagerie and its different regions. He had two maps of the place as a whole, and then many more of the island broken down by region or biome. They unfurled the large map onto the large desk on the room, Ghira placing his saucer on one corner to hold it down. With a deep breath and explosive exhale she looked over the map. Just because she had the memories from Jomunhandr, didn't mean she automatically knew where she was going. It was like knowing what landmark you were looking for but not where that was. Once she found the right area, she could take it from there. It turned out, Menagerie was pretty vast.
On a world map of Remnant, it looked small but that was deceptive. Even being a quarter the size of Anima was still massive. As it turned out, Menagerie was divided into four major regions, indicated by their environment. To the North by North-East was the Plains of Lani Luma. To the West of the plains was an arid desert they called the Paka Desert, though also more superstitiously called the Hell Flats. Ghira described it was so inhospitable that even if there weren't the issue of Grimm, they wouldn't be able to settle there. Below that, stretching from coast to coast, was a massive tropical forest that covered the land until the southern coast where Kuo Kuana lay.
Tekuo Forest was a massive and dense forest where Kuo Kuana both got its name, and sourced their wood. What food wasn't fished for them was also hunted from the forest resulting in some exotic dishes that could only be found on Menagerie. The last region was Kuo Kuana itself, the sprawling coastal city that bordered some cliffs overlooking the Tekuo forest that served as a natural barrier from Grimm.
As Ghira pointed and talked, a mark on the map caught her interest, "What's there?"
"Ah." Ghira tapped the dot, "That's Hell's Gateway."
She raised her eyes as he rummaged around, bringing out a more detailed map of the region, spreading it out over the map that was already there. There the dot was now a much larger circle with a label that matched what Ghira had just told her.
"Hell's Gate?" She let the question lay in the air and Ghira shrugged helplessly.
"From description it is the hottest part of the desert. An enormous sinkhole that measures about nine hundred yards in diameter. It got its name because it's on fire."
"On fire?!" She looked up from it in alarm.
"Yes." He nodded grimly, "There have been some minor expeditions to study it, but the Grimm concentration was too high for them to be successful. The most we can surmise is some underground gas deposits that were ignited some time ago."
"About how long ago was that?"
The burly man shrugged, "Since at least before Menagerie was settled. It shows no sign of stopping, either."
That certainly wasn't what she was looking for, the memories she had were of trees, though certainly not a forest. She turned back to the plains area, "Okay, what about Lani Luma? Anything significant there?"
"Lani Luma is sacred to the faunus of Menagerie. It dates back to out creation myth about the voyage from the Shallow Sea crossing. They are the plains where we first landed and are considered sacred."
"And how about the Grimm population?" She asked as Ghira drew out yet another map.
"Plentiful but not as much as the Paka desert."
"Anything unusual?"
Ghira fell deep into thought, "There is the spirit of the plains. An old superstition about an animal spirit that lurks there. Huntsmen teams have reported disappearances in the middle of missions. Mostly around the Atakki tree."
"And that is…"
"A massive tree. Here." He tapped a small spot on the map where there was no marking, "It's considered one of the oldest trees on the continent and legends say it has a connection to Panzoa. The religious folk say that evil faunus who encroach on the territory of Panzoa are spirited away. You think this might be the Grimm you're looking for?"
"It's a possibility. It's a place to start."
"And you are positive you wish to go alone?"
"Relax, Ghira. I'll be fine." She reassured him but she couldn't stop the impish smile that spread across her face, "Or I won't but hey if that happens I won't be alive to worry about it."
"Do not joke about that." Ghira warned her in a stern tone, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Blake would be distressed if you died."
As much as she didn't want it to, she felt a small warmth spreading through her at the thought. Though it was perhaps twisted, the idea of someone mourning her for a change was a morbidly nice one.
"I'll be fine Ghira. I'm tougher than I look."
Ghira simply hummed in that way that all parents seemed to know how to do that suggested he didn't believe her but wasn't about to press her about it, "It would take quite an impressive huntress to impress my little kitten. Now, how about some food? Kali is busy making us all something to eat."
She couldn't resist as they walked out the office, "And what makes you think she's impressed by little ole me? I'm just a teacher."
"Somehow I doubt that." Ghira retorted with a wry smile, "We may not have seen her in many years but she is still our daughter. We can tell in the way she looks at you."
The door clicked softly shut as they left, the lighting in the room flickering off. There were a few moments of silence as the chatting between Carmine and Ghira receded into the long hallways of the mansion. In the quiet of the room, a small scratching sound could be heard, a sort of tapping or rapping sound coming from the winder in the room. A small, thin hook, made of metal but almost as thin as paper slid through the sil, catching the latch and pulling it to the side. The well maintained track whispered as the window was drawn upward to reveal the figure that silently climbed into the room. They were dressed in black with skin the color of shadows. Grey eyes that seemed to glow in the pre-morning dawn cast about the room.
They pulled out a scroll as they padded over to the desk, snapping a few quick photos before pocketing it and disappearing back out the window they came from and into the dark morning air, the window shutting behind them like they had never been there at all.
-SY-
Being back in Kuo Kuana was surreal. When Blake had left, accusing her parents of cowardice, she had thought she would never be welcome again. But here she was, waking up in her own bed once more with the familiar smell of rice and eggs wafting in from the kitchen where her mother was no doubt cooking up a storm. It didn't take her long to dress and pad her way into the hall. She could have made her way to the kitchen blindfolded and she was filled with nostalgia as she passed by the vases and other wooden sculptures that decorated her old home.
True to her guess, Kali was busy in the kitchen, humming away as she sliced into some fruit. The pot was steaming as the rice cooked and eggs were busy frying in the pan. It was a rare treat for her mother to break out the eggs for breakfast but she guessed that it was because she had so many guests.
"Want some help?" Blake asked, causing her mother's ears to swivel back towards her, followed by her head and a bright beaming smile.
"I would be delighted if you did. Mind slicing some of this fruit while I tend the eggs? Do your friends like mango?"
Blake nodded as she moved to take the knife and began cutting into the fruit. Her mother had prepared a few different fruit for the occasion. There was passion fruit, mango, and a grapefruit. As her knife sunk into the mango she looked over to her mother.
"You seem pretty happy. I thought having this much company would be a bother."
"My daughter came home with her friends. Why wouldn't I be happy?"
"They're my team, Mom. We're on a mission, not a vacation."
"But you still came home." Kali said as she slid a fried egg onto a plate and cracked another into the still hot pan, using chopsticks to push it around, "I don't care why you came home, only that you did. We were worried."
She felt her hands still as she looked down at the knife in them. Her grip tightened around the handle, her knuckles going white. Blake really had done her family so much wrong and yet they had just welcomed her back with open arms.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
"You are forgiven, kitten." That was it. Kali did not deny that they had been hurt, nor did she try to tell Blake that she was wrong to feel guilty. Instead she let her know that her parents had forgiven her and that fact alone nearly brought her to tears. She felt her chest tighten and her throat clench. It was all she could do to make her hands keep moving all the while her mother hummed happily next to her. They stood only a few feet apart as they worked but she felt as if she was shoulder to shoulder with her and it was a sensation she had desperately missed, even if she hadn't quite known it.
"So tell me, Blake." Kali finally spoke, not bothering to look up from her task as she cracked yet another egg into the pan, "How has Beacon been? You've told me a little about your team, so I want to hear about your school."
Blake took a deep breath and let the tension go with the exhalation, "Beacon's amazing, Mom. The teachers are so skilled and kind. They treat faunus and human students equally. I know it's the bare minimum but it still feels remarkable."
Kali giggled, "Yes, it is the bare minimum, but I'm glad nonetheless. What about the teacher that came with you? Professor Rose. She seems young."
"She's nine years older than me, but she's very skilled. I've seen her in action, it's… incredible." Blake moved onto the grapefruit, "She's so fast and powerful. I knew huntresses were strong but… I can't explain it. I feel like she can't lose."
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her mother looking at her. When she turned fully she could see they smile on her face, the mischievous one she had never inherited, "I see."
The small statement made Blake frown, "What?"
"Nothing~." Her mother hummed before turning back to the eggs, sliding the last one onto the pile next to her, "It seems like you respect her greatly."
"Well of course. She's…" Blake trailed off. She couldn't reveal the real reason she respected Carmine, "She's earned it. Carmine saved my life, Mom."
Kali slipped behind her daughter, wrapping her arms around her waist and hugging her, resting her chin on Blake's shoulder, "Carmine, hmm?"
Blake froze mid-motion, "I mean Professor Rose."
"She seems much better than Adam-"
"Mom."
"-and she's a huntress, not to mention a professor-"
"Mom!"
"-you could definitely,and have, done worse."
"Mom…" Blake wined, "It's not like that."
"I believe you."
No she didn't. It was obvious that her mother had her own ideas and no amount of arguing would change that. She grumbled as she finished cutting the fruit before turning around to glare into her mother's impish face.
"She's my teacher."
"Only for a few years."
"She's almost ten years older than me!"
"As you get older, the gaps in age won't mean much."
Blake felt her face flush and she turned around, grabbing the platter of cut fruit and moving to the dining table in the adjacent room. Her mother could rarely be persuaded so the best course of action was to ignore her.
"Why do you like her so much, anyways?" She couldn't keep to ignoring her mother for long, turning around as she set the food down upon the large wooden table, "You hated the idea of me dating in the past. You just met her, how can you say stuff like this?"
"A woman's intuition." It wasn't an answer and her mother knew it, "No really. It's the same intuition that had me telling you Adam was bad news."
Blake's ears flattened against her head, "Is that an 'I told you so'?"
"No, sweetie, even if it would be perfectly warranted for me to say so." Kali didn't even break her smile as she laid the eggs on the table before turning back for the steamed rice.
"What smells so good, Mrs. B?" Yang blearily stepped into the dining area, no doubt following her nose through the halls. Her wild mane of hair had a few tuft sticking up and she was still in her sleepwear, clearing having just rolled out of bed.
"Yang!" Came the shrill voice of Weiss from somewhere behind her, "Why are you not dressed? Mr. Xiao-Long woke us up a half hour ago!"
Ruby elbowed her sister out of the way, "That's because Yang doesn't wake up until you remind her five times. You should know that by now, Weiss."
It didn't take very long before all of the guests to be lured in by the promise of breakfast, Carmine following her father from the study of all places. As they sat down to eat and she picked at her rice she couldn't help but steal glances at Carmine, who was deep in a quiet conversation with Ghira. All the while the conversation with her mother kept replaying in her mind, at odd with the strange apprehension that settled in her stomach.
Blake still hadn't had a chance to talk to Carmine about Mountain Glenn, but she sure as hell hadn't would just have to keep an eye on her.
