"Can I help you?" Kali asked the pair standing on her doorstep. One of them looked young enough to be her daughter, not that Blake was ever as timid as the girl before her looked, shaking like a leaf. What was she doing out of school?
"I-I uh... We... we were just..." The bowing child stuttered nervously, looking to her older looking friend for help, but the young woman appeared to be in shock.
Despite her husband being the Chieftain of Menagerie, it wasn't everyday Kali received visitors, but that was no reason to let the poor dears inside to talk about their problem. "I was just making tea, would you like some?"
"T-that-"
"We would be honored." The pink haired one accepted, walking inside as Kali held the door.
As the young woman passed so close by though, she caught the scent of something... wrong. It wasn't the scent of sickness, not exactly, she thought as she ushered the pair to the sitting room and hurried into the kitchen. Maybe it was the fact that the woman was clearly dressed as a huntress, the ursa skull was a pretty clear indication of such, but just the memory of the odd smell set her on edge as she retrieved the whistling kettle from the stove and grabbed a trio of cups.
Walking back out and pouring a cup for each of them, Kali asked with a hint of nerves, "What brings the two of you here?"
"Allow me to introduce myself, Mrs. Belladonna." The pink haired one said, reaching for her cup and taking a sip. "My name is Cattleya Yvette La Baume Le Blanc de La Fontaine, but I also accept Vallière as that is my father's house and what my darling sister goes by. My companion is Patypata Perse."
"Oh, well... that's quite a mouthful." Kali floundered for a response. If it hadn't been obvious before that she wasn't dealing with a local, it would be now. Nobody she'd ever met or heard of had such a flowery name.
"It is, but just Cattleya will do if you'd prefer. Not to be rude, but I actually came to speak with your husband."
"I thought that might be the case. I'm sorry to disappoint, but he's meeting with the Albain brothers right now about a Grimm attack in the next town over. Maybe I can help?"
Rather than look upset, Cattleya smiled. "I would appreciate anything you can offer. We're... Sorry, but before that I have to be sure, are you Blake's mother?"
Kali felt her heart skip a beat. She hadn't heard wrong, had she? "Did you say Blake? You know my daughter?"
"Of course I do, she worked for me for a month or so."
"Why would my baby work for a Huntress?"
"Um... Lady Belladonna, she's not a Huntress." The younger one, Patypata said nervously.
Well if she wasn't a Huntress, then the Grimm mask could only mean one thing. "So you're with the White Fang? That explains how you know Blake, but I don't remember you being a part of Adam's group."
"No... neither of us are White Fang members." The sheep faunus admitted, giving her cheerful and mysterious companion a guilty look. "Cattleya isn't even a faunus."
"So... I'm not sure what's going on then. How exactly did my Blake work for you?"
Cattleya pulled a metal tin out of her pocket and opened it to reveal green gel. "General labor, really. I'm part owner of Kwama Korps, a food company, and we opened out first storefront in Vale. Paty here is one of our waitresses."
So Blake left the White Fang and got a job in Vale? That was a relief, really it was, considering who she'd left with, but why didn't she come home? Why hadn't she called? Why did it take her employer coming all the way to Menagerie for her mother to find out?!
Rather than voice any of that to the young woman who, despite having an unnerving scent, had delivered such good news, Kali asked, "Why does a businesswoman wear an Ursa skull?"
"Oh, that's to help me control myself when I turn into a bear." The pink haired woman answered with a smile, as if she hadn't just said something completely bizarre.
If it was a joke, they were both in on it, because Patypata appeared absolutely horrified at the admission. "Cattleya!"
"What? She asked!"
"That would explain the odd smell, I suppose." Kali said with a sip, writing it off as a Semblance or something. "You said she 'worked' for you, past tense. So what is my daughter up to now?"
"She's attending Beacon with my little sister! They've combined their teams and one other to form a group- Oh, can I take a photograph with you to send them?!"
Smiling behind her cup, the mother shrugged. "I don't see why not, as long as I get my daughter's scroll number in return."
"Deal!" Cattleya cheered, pulling herself around the table and throwing her scroll to her employee.
Patypata looked like she was going to protest, but complied after a glare from her boss. Kali returned the young woman's one armed hug and grinned victoriously for the picture that would be sent to her daughter.
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With the last day of the weekend having been spent locked in a room aboard an Atlesian warship, Blake wasn't in the best mood as she sat through Port's lecture. It was another blathering story about how he had 'heroically saved my good friend Nicolas from a hail of Nevermore quills with nothing but grit, manliness, and my trusty blunderbuss! Haha!' and then he'd thrown a flirtatious wink at Yang. The man was completely nauseating.
How could Ozpin hire such an disgusting fraud?
Then again, it wasn't like Ozpin was any better from what they'd all learned recently. The man was a liar, a manipulator, and a completely unrepentant bastard. He hadn't even said anything to them when they'd been marched off Ironwood's ship in front of him once the General was done interrogating them. Not a word for their health or in their defense.
Unlike Ozpin, Ironwood had a reasonable excuse for what he did, since they'd all learned military secrets and Louise might have damaged Penny. That didn't help the fact that Blake felt certain him and his personnel, including Weiss' sister of all people, were judging her for her ears. He at least acted professional despite whatever his personal thoughts toward her were, so he wasn't the worst.
It wasn't even that she was really upset about being locked in that room either. Tsun had actually spoken to her! That was unprecedented and no matter how much she felt he deserved better than her, she couldn't help but want to rub that fact in everyone's face. Nobody else had gotten a peep out of him, but he'd broken his silence to cheer her up! Sure, she'd screwed it up and spooked him by just staring in shock, but it still counted.
Feeling a phantom sensation on the top of her head. Cool, gentle fingers ghosting across the base of her faunus ears. Soft scratching at her scalp that sent a shiver down her spine. A sense of loss as he pulled away.
Blake put her head on the desk and buried herself in her arms to hide her growing blush. Port's class was definitely not the place to be thinking about that!
A vibrating noise made her look over to see Yang pulling out her scroll and swiping. Sucking in a breath, she whispered gleefully, "Hey, Blakie."
The blonde's expression took on a predatory nature as she turned to meet Blake's eyes and slowly rotated her scroll. There was an urge to look away, to avoid seeing whatever could produce such a face from the brawler, but morbid curiosity won out. There on the small screen was a picture of Cattleya of all people, smiling back at her. Her first thought was that the pinkette had sent a picture of the two of them at Kwama Korp, but no. It was much, much worse.
"Oh gods, what? Why?! How?!" She didn't even care that she was shouting, this was a complete disaster!
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Listening to Cattleya try to act professional was incredibly endearing and Kali had to resist cooing. It was impossible not to see her for the innocent child she was, despite her age and appearance. The young woman had just been so excited over a picture and a hug, yet here she was doing her best to be serious, the precious thing. It was unlikely she would appreciate hearing any of that though, so the cat faunus held her tongue and listened until she had the gist of the girls' goal.
Standing, she went into the study and grabbed a map of the island. It wasn't completely accurate, but then again, no maps outside of Solitas were... and if Menagerie's maps were less detailed than the other countries', that wasn't a reflection of skill or drive. None of the other countries had as many dangers and their populations were far larger.
Pointing to the center of the Glass Wastes, Kali explained, "We don't have records of any civilization on Menagerie before the war, not even Mistral felt it was worth the effort to cross Grimm infested seas for an island that's more than two desert. We also haven't fully explored the island due to both the Grimm and the environment on the other side of the mountains being deadly. There are legends of a brass tower somewhere in the center, but nobody has ever proven it wasn't a mirage and most who try never come back. You aren't really thinking of going out there, are you?"
"We are and we will find it if it exists." Cattleya declared, nothing but confidence in her voice. "
"Assuming you can make it through the Apathy and Manticores in the mountains, flocks of Sphinxes above the wastes, and Deathstalkers of all sizes roaming the ground." Kali pointed out, hoping they'd see reason. "Just the desert itself is dangerous enough, it's nothing but a barren expanse of sun baked earth and jagged glass!"
"So we go by boat to avoid the mountains?"
"Feilong, Leviathans, and who knows what else in the ocean; Karkinos along the shores if you make it that far off the shallower trade routes."
Visibly sweating, Patypata was the exact opposite of her employer's collected visage. "I-I don't even have my Aura unlocked."
"I can go by myself, Paty. Just stay here or return to the inn until I come back." Cattleya replied with a gentle smile. "That was my plan from the beginning, after all."
"How can you be so sure about this?" Kali questioned the young woman, getting that same smile directed her way as her unexpected guest picked up the book on local Grimm, slid a stack of ten thousand lien across the table, and stood to leave.
"Because I'm a Vallière and a Vallière doesn't accept failure."
Status: Healthy
Magicka: (3000/3000)
Choose:
[] Go through the mountains-
-[] On foot to save magicka.
-[] On a Golem.
[] Travel by air.
[] Follow the shore around the landmass, freezing the water to get around obstacles rather than enter the mountains.
[] Write in.
