Gods. Sometimes Ilia forgot how beautiful Menagerie was. Maybe it'd just been easier for her to notice when she was little, the vibrant greens were such a stark contrast to the dull grays and white's of Atlas. The island was always quick to remind her just how much of a paradise it was though, as the sun peaked up over the ocean, bathing the rooftop the chameleon faunus was sitting on in a golden glow, as well as the streets several stories beneath her. Palm trees in the distance swayed gently with the cool morning breeze, along with Ilia's long ponytail, the refreshing wind also grazing over her bare arms and legs, left uncovered by the dark bodysuit she was wearing.

Down below, the first signs of life appeared in the city of Kuo Kuana as faunus of every shape and size began traveling out of their homes. Some were on their way to get breakfast, or perhaps they were getting ready for another long day of hard work, regardless, all of them were oblivious to Ilia watching over them.

The serene vista was a welcome distraction for the chameleon faunus from the events of the last two days. Ilia sighed as she lifted one of her dangling legs from the edge of her perch and rested her chin on her knee, wrapping her spot covered arms around her shin. The escape was nice, but all the pony-tailed girl had to do was crane her head to the right to be reminded of her own handiwork from not even thirty six hours ago. The symbol of her grief and regret; The Belladonna's house, with a big burnt hole in it's roof.

Ilia had loved that house growing up. It was enormous, inside and out, she'd spent hours exploring the massive building with Blake as a kid, a far cry from the rickety old apartment building in Mantle that Ilia had lived in before. She'd practically grown up in that house after the Belladonna's took her in when... when her parents had... after Atlas. They'd raised her like a second daughter, and how had Ilia shown her appreciation? By nearly burning down their home.

Granted, she may not have technically started the fire, but she definitely hadn't done anything to prevent it. No, she'd been too busy stabbing her best friend in the back. Oh wait, was that before or after she'd threatened to kill Blake's parents? Let's see... It was definitely after Ilia had tried to capture Blake and ship her off to her psychotic ex boyfriend. It was a busy day to be fair. Thankfully, the chameleon girl had failed in every one of those attempts that night, but the look in Blake's eyes when Ilia had told her who was waiting for her in Mistral... that would never fade from the spotted girls mind. Though it had only been a couple days ago, Ilia could barely recognize who she was back then. How could she have been so cold and callous? To feel nothing as she stood in front of her oldest friend as Blake begged her not to go through with the White Fang's insane plan.

It all still felt like a nightmare, but that had just been Ilia's life over the last year, being coerced and manipulated by people she thought she could trust. First the White Fang, then Corsac and Fennec, but at the head of all of them was the monster that'd messed with her mind most of all;

Adam.

Just thinking the name brought back a cold, dull pain that cut across Ilia's back. The chameleon girl reached behind her with her left hand and tenderly rubbed the old aching wounds on her back as best she could reach, trying to quell the panic beginning to swell inside her at the memories of what that maniac had put her through, mentally and physically. She took a deep breath to calm her slamming heartbeat which slowly started to return to normal.

Yes, Adam had done terrible things to Ilia, but was she really any better than him now? The events of the last few days were a grim reminder of just how close the chameleon faunus had been to that same edge her former friend had thrown himself into a long time ago. The darkness that had claimed Adam had been staring her in the eyes, begging her to jump in as well, and Ilia had been standing there with one foot already over the abyss. It had looked like she was about to suffer the same fate as so many other faunus in the White Fang, fallen into a sea of violence for violence sake, with no hope of rescue, but instead she was pulled back to the light, by the very people whose lives she'd been trying to destroy.

It had been Blake that had first managed to knock some sense into Ilia during their fight, Sun had as well, then Ghira, someone who'd been like a second father to her growing up, saved the young reptilian faunus' life from that crumbling balcony. All of that would have been enough for the pony-tailed girl to see she was probably on the wrong side in this fight, but then the family she'd stood against had taken things a step further and FORGIVEN her for her crimes as well, for everything, just like that. Kali had even went and offered Ilia her old room to stay in at the Belladonna's estate. Granted it was never really "Ilia's" room, more like it was a guest room the family of faunus had re-appropriated into her room back when she'd been living with them as a child, but the sentiment alone was more than the lizard girl would have ever expected.

For the second time in her life, the Belladonna's had opened their hearts and their home to a wayward and traumatized Ilia. She'd had nowhere to go, no one left to rely on, and Blake and her family still cared enough to keep her safe.

It made Ilia sick to her stomach.

She hadn't gotten much sleep that first night back in that house, and any she did get was a result of the exhaustion from her battle with Blake and Sun. The second night went even worse, despite her bodies demand for sleep, it just would not come. Eventually, Ilia had given up and decided she needed to get out of that house. Sneaking past the guards -or rather, the ones that were left after the White Fang attack- was easy enough thanks to her semblance and her faunus trait of changing colors, and soon enough Ilia found herself free to roam the island paradise that she wasn't sure she belonged on anymore. So the reptilian girl went and found herself a quiet rooftop in central Kuo Kuana and just kind of started staring off into space, wondering why she was still here, still alive even.

She didn't deserve Ghira's mercy, or Kali's kindness, or Blake's... well, she just didn't deserve Blake in general.

Ugh.

Ilia pulled her knees close to her chest and buried her head between them, feeling the telltale tingle across her body as her skin started to change colors. The usually lightly tanned tone shifted to a sickly green, the small spots all over her body becoming blue, and her reddish brown hair also going blue from her head to the curved tip of her ponytail as guilt and sadness washed over her. Usually Ilia was able to resist these changes easily enough, thanks to years of practice. It was a technique she'd learned at a young age, hiding her true nature, suppressing emotions, anything to blend in among humans, but sometimes, when things really got to her, she slipped up. That wasn't the case right now though, because honestly, in this moment, she really didn't care. Ilia was alone on that roof, there was no one to hide from right now, she could be as miserable as she wanted, and given how things had gone with Blake yesterday, who could blame her?

It had started promising enough, Ilia had been forgiven, she was going to Haven to stand up to the corrupt White Fang, and Blake had asked her to help train the faunus who would be joining them. Menagerie wasn't exactly full of hardened warriors, so the leader of the island militia, Saber Rodentia, had put out a call to anyone with combat experience to help get the inexperienced "army" ready for Haven.

It had been surprising that Blake had asked Ilia to help with this, well, maybe not that surprising. With Corsac imprisoned and Fennec having died in the failed raid, Ilia was probably the best fighter the Fang had on Menagerie. It had been surprising because Ilia had never trained anyone before, she'd never even shown any interest in the idea either, it was just odd that her old friend had come to her of all people. Then again, who else did she know on the island to ask something like this? Regardless, the chameleon girl had just been thrilled to have the chance to help out and atone for what she'd done and Blake had looked so happy when Ilia had agreed, her heart had soared at the sight of the cat faunus' smile. Unfortunately that smile soon faded and Blake told her the two of them needed to talk, namely about Ilia's "confession" the night before.

The pony-tailed faunus' chest tightened at the memory. She'd been so stupid, confessing her feelings for Blake like that, not to mention the way she'd gone about confessing, right after capturing her friend, not exactly great timing. Plus it had been more of a taunt than anything, one last metaphorical twist of the knife she'd plunged into Blake's heart. It would have been better for everyone if Ilia had just kept those thoughts locked away deep down inside herself, like she had for all those years traveling with her cat eared friend. At least then she could have held on to some kind of delusion that she had a chance. That was the worst part though, by far, because somewhere deep down, Ilia had still held out hope that maybe, just maybe, Blake felt the same way about her, but the little chat between the two of them had crushed that dream pretty efficiently.

"I'll always love you, Ilia, but... only as a friend... I'm sorry."

Yeah... Blake had actually said that to her. It all amounted to the worlds longest "It's not you, it's me" speech. Though, all things considered, the cat girl had at least had the decency let Ilia down easy. It had been an awkward and embarrassing situation for everyone involved, but ultimately Ilia understood why it had to be this way, and the two of them would always be friends, family practically, and the chameleon faunus promised she'd never forget what Blake meant to her ever again. So after the talk, the two of them had hugged and Ilia did her best to hide her disappointment as the final nail was put into the coffin that had held her crush.

Now what though? Well, as far as the immediate future went, a boat would be arriving in about a week and a half to ferry the faunus to Anima, and from there they'd travel to Mistral. The plan? Stop the White Fang from causing another "Fall of Beacon" scenario. That was enough to focus on for now.

Ilia uncurled herself from the ball she'd pressed herself into, dangling her legs off the side of the building again, leaning back onto her elbows and sighing, her skin and hair returning to their normal colors. She supposed she didn't really have much of a reason to be moping so much. She wasn't going to prison, like Corsac had, the Belladonna's were okay (mostly), and Ilia had Blake back in her life, maybe not the way she'd hoped, but still, she had a lot to be thankful for right now. That was the problem though, it wasn't the present that concerned Ilia, it was the future.

Say they managed to stop the attack on Haven, then what? Would the White Fang disband? If so, then where did that leave Ilia? The Fang had been her whole life for as far back as she could remember, and she honestly wouldn't know what to do with her life without it. Or, say the group didn't disband, would Ilia go back to them? And if she did, who's to say things would end up any differently? The original White Fang had been born with good intentions, but was eventually corrupted from within, kind of like Ilia, she supposed. What was to stop it from eventually happening again? The darkness had almost claimed Ilia once, she'd been teetering and only barely come back, would she be strong enough to resist it a second time? What if next time there wasn't anyone there to pull her back?

As the questions plagued Ilia, there was a sudden sound to her right and the chameleon girl leapt up, her gloved hand immediately going to her whip-blade, "Lightning Lash", at her hip.

"Someone's jumpy," Blake said, raising her hands to show she came in peace as she stood from the crouching position she'd just landed in on the roof, a sly smile on her face.

Ilia lowered her hand as a confusing cocktail of emotions brewed inside her at the sight of her friend, It was like Blake was the first and also the last person she wanted to see right now, if that made sense. The chameleon girl returned the smile as she turned back to the sunrise and retook her seat on the edge. "How'd you find me?" she asked.

Blake walked over and took a sear next to Ilia, making those confusing emotions inside the pony-tailed girl go into overdrive. The cat faunus' hand gripping the side of the building as she sat, her fingers almost tantalizingly close to Ilia's now. "We used to come here all the time, remember? When we were kids we'd come to the village and climb up the sides of the buildings for fun. I think this was actually the first one we ever made it to the top of," Blake smiled and let out a quick laugh, "My dad got really mad when he caught us."

Ilia smiled. She'd almost forgotten about those old days, playing tag in the back alleys and quiet streets after school, exploring the city just because they were kids with nothing better to do. Those were more carefree days, growing up on the island. The two of them almost felt like different people now compared to those adventure seeking kids. They were older, wiser (in Blake's case at least), and more world weary for sure.

"You weren't in your room, so I came to look for you, everything okay?" Blake asked.

Ilia slouched forward, elbows in her lap. "Couldn't sleep. Thinking too much, I guess..."

"Yeah," Blake replied, "it's been... a rough couple of days for everyone I think. Are you nervous about Haven?"

Ilia nodded, "A little... you?" she said, which wasn't a total lie, Haven might not be her biggest concern personally, but it was at the top of everyone else's list right now.

"Maybe, but I just keep reminding myself I'm not alone in this anymore." Blake stared off into the horizon as she went on, "We have good people with us that are willing to fight to save that academy. So right now I guess I'm more anxious than anything." The raven haired girl lowered her head and Ilia could practically see the weight of the world on her friends shoulders. "A lot of faunus are counting on us to succeed, we can't let them down."

"No pressure or anything," Ilia said with a halfhearted laugh, too distracted to really add anything to the conversation. Haven was a big deal, but honestly it was the chameleon girls own doubts and insecurities about her fate that continued to trouble her, as the far off look returned to her eyes.

Blake seemed to notice her friends troubled expression and without warning, placed her hand on the pony-tailed girls shoulder. Thankfully, Ilia was able to resist flinching at the touch, though she did have to consciously order her body not to change colors in reaction. The chameleon faunus turned her head to the hand on her shoulder, then to Blake's worried smile.

"Ilia..." The cat girl started then stopped, "Are we... going to be okay? I know after our talk yesterday-"

"No, it's fine," Ilia interrupted, perhaps a bit more harshly than she intended. The blue eyed faunus took a breath before trying again, her tone more gentle this time, "I just... I think things might be weird for a while, but... we'll be okay. Eventually."

That was all it would take, time. Time to get over Blake, and time for Ilia to find her own place in the world. She just had to be patient, she might not have all the answers right now, but they were out there, they had to be... right?

"I'm glad," Blake said with a smile. "Things have been so crazy lately, but I just wanted the chance to tell you how good it is to see you again, Ilia. I've missed you." Ilia smiled as Blake gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. She'd missed her too, it'd just been too hard to admit it through all the pain. "And I want you to know," The cat eared faunus continued, "I'm here for you if you ever need anything, and I always will be."

Those words struck Ilia especially hard. She looked into her friends amber eyes, shining even brighter with the morning sun accompanying them, here, on this island paradise the two of them had grown up on, together as best friends, hell, almost as sisters at one point. In that moment the two of them shared, Ilia realized...

...she didn't believe her.

The tightness in the chameleon faunus' chest returned, stronger than ever. To be clear, it wasn't that Ilia thought Blake was lying to her, her friend probably believed and wanted to always be there for her, but something, some bitter voice in the back of Ilia's head, just knew better. Blake would leave again, someday. She'd find another, even more noble cause and disappear from Ilia's life again, and the chameleon faunus couldn't even find it in her heart to blame her. Because, even after all this reconciliation, after all the forgiveness and kindness she'd been given, there was still this little, tiny, microscopic part of Ilia that resented Blake for leaving like she did, and the pony-tailed girl hated that part of herself. That part that just couldn't bring herself to trust people anymore, even someone she once considered a best friend.

Dark thoughts like that had always been a part of Ilia's life. It all started in Atlas, then the injustices the faunus girl had suffered at humanities hand, and then there was what she'd done working for the White Fang, all that had only made those dark thoughts stronger. They had nearly consumed her once, forced her to betray everyone she loved, it was scary, but what scared Ilia more was that without Blake, next time she might not be strong enough to come back.

Ilia wanted so badly to confide in her friend about her fears, but instead she said nothing of them. She was reminded in that moment of what her parents had told her all those years ago when she'd first been enrolled in that Atlas prep school, a lesson that had stuck with her all her life;

"Show them how you smile, it's only for a while..."

That message had been drilled into her head. Hide what you are, hide your feelings, just to fit in, to avoid drawing attention. Blake needed Ilia's support right now, not her doubts, she had enough on her plate right now.

So Ilia smiled, that same practiced smile she'd mastered over the years. "Thanks, Blake. I know you will."

The cat faunus seemed satisfied with this and rose to her feet. "Alright then, we should probably get back to the house, the recruits will be arriving at the courtyard pretty soon." She offered Ilia a hand to help her up, which Ilia gladly accepted, and the two nimbly climbed down the building they were on and made their way back to the Belladonna's estate.

Ilia was quiet the whole walk back, stealing glances at her cat eared friend all the while. She still loved Blake, and she knew Blake loved her too... in her own way, but they were different people now. Soon the day would come when Ilia would have to choose her own path to follow, just like Blake would. For now though, the chameleon girl knew she owed her friend and her family more than she could ever repay, and even though she might leave again someday, Blake was here now, and so was Ilia, and that was all that mattered somehow.

So for know, Ilia decided to swallow her personal fears and doubts and focus on the job she'd been given; Getting a bunch of civilians ready for a battle. It wasn't much, certainly not a permanent solution to her problems, but it gave the pony-tailed girl an anchor point in the present, and that would be enough to get her through this.

Eventually, the two faunus returned to Blake's home, the sight of it's burnt roof sent a wave of guilt through Ilia, she swore she could still smell the smoke in the air. Sun was there waiting for them, leaning against the gate to the courtyard with that same carefree look on his face, he'd also volunteered to help with the training. Sun was an okay guy, but Ilia was still slow to trust strangers, even other faunus, but Blake seemed to like him well enough. His personality just didn't blend well with the chameleon girls though, Sun was loud, annoying, a little hyper, cocky, had little regard for personal space, and definitely needed to learn how to button his god damned shirt, but Ilia supposed he had his good points too. Points such as not taking getting stabbed by a certain frustrated and confused "lizard girl" personally. Plus Blake had vouched for him, so Ilia figured he'd give the monkey boy a chance.

After a loud, annoying, but ultimately friendly "good morning" from the tailed faunus, the three of them proceeded through the gateway to the massive courtyard the Belladonna's had graciously allowed to be used as a makeshift training ground. Ilia was honestly shocked at the turnout, hundreds of faunus had shown up and were already running drills with Saber and the rest of Menageries guard. There'd been a little cynic inside the chameleon girl that was convinced that most of the people that'd signed up for this little "rebellion" would drop out after the first day of training, but apparently she'd underestimated the people of Kuo Kuana. Blake seemed thrilled by the support, so did Sun, and Ilia couldn't help but find their optimism infectious.

With that, the three of them split up to their respective groups and began teaching, Ilia trying to do her best to ignore the weird looks she was still getting from the faunus. Most of them knew she was a former White Fang member herself, she'd basically announced it to the entire island when she'd interrupted the chieftains press conference a week or so ago, not to mention she'd been at the Belladonna's the night of the fire, and in a village this small, gossip traveled fast. None of that mattered to the chameleon girl, though, she was kind of used to being an outcast, even among her own people. These faunus didn't need to like her, she just needed to teach, and they needed to learn, simple as that.

That turned out to be more difficult than the pony-tailed girl had expected. Not because of a lack of cooperation on the other faunus' part, but rather it was Ilia's fault. She was good for about an hour or so before her body reminded her that she was functioning on about an hours worth of sleep right now. The blue eyed faunus found herself fighting to resist yawning all morning, luckily this wasn't the first time she'd had to work with little to no sleep. Besides, nothing guaranteed a good nights sleep like not getting any the night before.

If only that was how it worked, Ilia thought despairingly as she effortlessly swiped the legs out from under the faunus she was sparring with, placing the rubber tip of the practice spear at his neck as he fell onto his back.

Ilia huffed in exasperation, how hard was it to learn a simple thrust counter into a low seep on a reverse grip? These people still had a long way to go before they'd be ready to defend Haven. If they couldn't take down Ilia when she was half asleep, what chance would they have against a wide awake White Fang member? Then again, it was only the second day of training for a lot of these folks, and who knows, with a little more practice, and the right teacher, anything was possible, she supposed.

It was weird, Ilia had never really considered herself much of a "mentor" type, but despite her initial misgivings about this job, she found herself enjoying the role she'd been thrust into. Teaching was oddly fulfilling to her in a way, using the lessons the White Fang had taught her for good instead of evil. Then again, like she'd noted before, it had only been two days, so maybe she was getting ahead of herself.

The faunus Ilia had dropped to the ground so easily sat up with a discouraged look on his face. Ilia offered the man, who was probably a little older than her, a hand to help him stand. "You'll get it," she said with an optimistic smile, "practice makes perfect, right?" The cat eared man gratefully took the hand and was pulled to his feet, his spirits seeming to rise with his body. Again, Ilia felt that odd feeling of fulfillment at the determination in his eyes.

The chameleon faunus squared up to go again, but was stopped when she heard a deep voiced yelp behind her, followed by a loud "thud". Ilia turned to look, as did the rest of the faunus practicing in her group, that's just how loud the impact was. The pony-tailed girl was surprised to see one of her more promising "students" (it still felt so weird to call them that) laying flat on his back, groaning on the ground. Ilia had referred to him as "one of her best" chiefly because of the guys sheer size, he was a giant of a ram faunus, all muscle from his horns to his feet. Ilia couldn't come up with her name at the moment, she wasn't particularly close with any of these new faces yet, but whoever he was, it looked like his sparring partner had just dropped him like a sack of manure. When the chameleon girl looked to see who that was, she was even more surprised.

The scrawny looking rabbit faunus standing tall over her much larger opponent looked terrified for a second at what she'd done, dropping her staff and crouching to check on the ram faunus below her. Then long eared girl realized she'd attracted the attention of everyone in their section of the courtyard. The lightish brown haired girl looked around at all the faunus staring at her, Ilia included, before smiling sheepishly at everyone and then just kind of awkwardly waving? The rest of the faunus in attendance looked from the girl, to the much larger boy on the ground in shock, before a small round of applause started up for the rabbit faunus. The frazzled girl just kept smiling as her cheeks lit up crimson, before desperately trying to lift the ram boy to his feet. The giant seemed a little out of it, but ultimately appeared to be okay, as the rest of the group went back to training. All except for Ilia that is.

The pony-tailed chameleon just kept staring at the rabbit eared girl as the flustered faunus stammered out apology after apology to her partner as he finally got to his feet, standing almost a foot and a half taller than the girl. Ilia just couldn't take her eyes off this faunus she'd never seen before, her short caramel colored hair, honey colored eyes, and the big smile she wore as her ram partner congratulated her as well.

This girl... there was something about her... Ilia just couldn't put her finger on it.

Suddenly, the rabbit eared faunus turned around and locked eyes with Ilia. The chameleon girl froze, the rabbit faunus seemed to as well, and for a moment, the two were just transfixed on each other, deer's in each others respective headlights. Then she gave Ilia a stunning smile, and pony-tailed faunus felt her heart practically explode from her chest. Her body stiffened and her eyes went wide, before she quickly spun around to face the opposite direction. Everything in Ilia's body felt like it was humming, her heart still pounding loudly.

"Are.. you okay?" her patiently waiting partner asked, giving his trainer a strange look.

Ilia was about to ask what he meant, when she noticed the spots on her forearms were glowing a light pink, the ones on her shoulders as well, and if she had to guess, so were the ones on her cheeks and forehead. Mortified by this, the chameleon faunus closed here eyes and took a deep, calming breath and she felt her colors return to normal, her pulse returning to normal as well.

Ilia looked at the now normal spots on her hands in confusion for a moment, before looking back at her cat eared partner. "I'm fine. It's nothing. Let's get back to work," the pony-tailed girl mumbled, before squaring up again with her practice weapon, though now she could say her focus was completely gone.

What the hell was that? Ilia wondered to herself. It wasn't like her to get so... entranced by someone she never even met. It wasn't like Ilia wasn't acutely aware that she found the girl attractive, this was just kind of... different. Even as she got back into her routine with the cat faunus, she couldn't get the unintentional mental snapshot she'd taken of the rabbit girls smile out of her head, just thinking about it made Ilia have to make an effort not to change colors again.

Well, at the very least, Ilia didn't feel tired anymore.


SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER

An alarm blared to life in the dark, making a pair of golden eyes open quickly, before they instantly started to close again. From beneath a pile of blankets, a pair of caramel colored rabbit ears popped out and twitched with annoyance. A hand moved out from the mass of covers, reaching feebly for the scroll that was beeping obnoxiously on the nightstand next to the bed. After swatting the wooden surface seven or eight times unsuccessfully, they finally managed to get a hold of the scroll and quickly silenced the infernal device.

After a long, over-dramatic groan, the blankets were thrown off revealing a half asleep teenage rabbit faunus laying sprawled out on the mattress. The long eared girl rose slowly, sitting on the edge of her bed. The short haired teen stared disdainfully out her bedroom window at the sun just barely peaking over the horizon. She wished she could burn 5am to the ground. Who the hell even got up this early? Crazy people, that's who. Insane sadists that existed only to perpetuate the ridiculous notion that anyone deserved to be awake at this hour.

Okay, she was exaggerating... and stalling, it was time for her to get up, after all, she had an important day ahead of her. With a seemingly massive amount of effort, willpower, and yet another long, drawn out groan, the rabbit eared girl rose to her feet and dragged her body out of her room. She stood in the doorway and gave one last, longing look at her warm, comfy bed, before finally walking away. Thankfully after a quick shower, and getting dressed in her usual outfit -a red t-shirt over a dark colored tank top, and a pair of brown cut off shorts- she was feeling a bit more like herself.

The rabbit girl crept down the stairs of her home and towards the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast before she left. As usual the fridge was practically overflowing with the fresh produce her family grew. She spotted a couple of juicy looking apples and stuffed them into her shorts pockets, she could eat on her way, best to get out of here before she was seen by-

"You're up early."

The voice behind the rabbit faunus made her jump about a foot in the air before spinning around to see her father sitting at their kitchen table. The elder faunus chuckled as he set down the newspaper he'd been reading, "Good morning, Carmella," he said as he removed his reading glasses, setting them on the table. "It's nice to see you out of bed before noon for a change. What's the occasion?"

Carmella sighed at getting caught so easily, not really wanting to get into this again so early. "I'm just... you know... today's the first day of training for Haven, so..." Technically, training had started yesterday, but that had just consisted of introductions and stuff. Also said meeting had taken place at a reasonable time of day, not at the crack of god damned dawn. In case it wasn't obvious, Carm was not a morning person.

As soon as his daughter brought up Haven, Carmella's father's face turned serious, his own long, drooping with age, rabbit ears twitching thoughtfully. "Oh," was all he said at first and Carmella desperately hoped that would be the end of it. "You're still thinking about doing that, huh?"

The rabbit girl sighed loudly. "Dad, we talked about this, I'm not 'thinking' about doing anything, I'm going," she said sternly.

"I know, I know, I just worry is all," the elder faunus said, "I know you feel like you have to do this, but there are other ways you could help the cause besides fighting, you know."

Carmella closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Dad, I don't know how else to explain this to you. I can't understand why you and mom are making such a big deal about this. I'm the exact same age Phyll was when he first started training for the guard. Why is it such a big deal that I want to learn to fight too?" Carm asked.

The rabbit girls father shifted in his wooden chair. "That's different. You're older brother is... he's... you know, he's not-"

"A girl?" Carm added with a hint of aggravation.

The two faunus sat in silence for a moment. It was a rude assumption, but they both knew it was the truth. Her parents seemed insistent on treating her like she was completely incapable of defending herself or even learning how to, they'd grown up in a "different time" as the older faunus' had put it.

The older faunus was the first to speak up again, "Carmella, you're not just 'a girl', you're my little girl, and there's no reason for you to throw yourself into a fight that isn't yours just because someone asked you to." The middle aged man stood, "There's always work to be done here on the farm, we could use another hand with the crops for starters. It might not be as exciting, but it's good honest work, but most importantly, it's safe."

Carm leaned back against the countertop behind her, crossing her arms. "This isn't about what's 'exciting, or 'safe'. I just... I don't know... I HAVE to do this. The White Fang is hurting people, and what happened a couple nights back proves that not even other faunus are safe from them anymore."

"Carmella, the White Fang are a bunch of fanatics, they-"

"That's why someone has to stop them!" Carm said sharply, trying her best not to shout lest she wake up the rest of her family. Her father didn't say anything in response, he just wore the same crestfallen expression he'd been wearing, though now sightly more so. The rabbit girl took a breath before continuing, "I have to fight, dad. If I don't, and things keep going the way they are, eventually the White Fang won't care about whether I'm anyone's 'little girl' or not, I'll just be another target, we all will."

It was then that Carmella realized she'd unconsciously balled her hands into fists. She relaxed her grip and stepped towards her dad. "I know what the White Fang is capable of now, they've shown all of us, and yeah, it scares me, but that's exactly why I have to do something. Not for some cheap thrill, or even for me, I'm doing this for all of us." The younger faunus closed the remaining distance between her dad and herself with a tight hug. "I'm scared... but I'd be less afraid if you guys could just understand why I'm doing this, and believed in me a little..."

Carmella's father returned the embrace, and took a deep breath as he held his child close. "Gods, you're just..." the elder faunus squeezed his daughter a little tighter, "you're just growing up a little too fast on me, Parsnip."

The rabbit girl let out a small laugh at the old nickname. Back when she was a kid, she'd lost her two front teeth right around the time her parents had been teaching her about the kinds of vegetables they grew. Toothless little Carmella had difficulty pronouncing certain ones, in particular, parsnip. "Parslip" and "Parsip" where among the ones her dad found especially adorable, and a nickname was born, lasting well into Carm's teen years.

"I know you're right though, as much as I don't want to admit it," Carm's dad went on, not letting go just yet. "So I'm going to trust you, both me and your mom will. You go do what you have to, and we'll be right here if you ever need us." Carmella smiled in her father's arms. "Just promise us you'll be safe, and don't get involved with anyone too dangerous." The younger faunus looked into her fathers eyes and agreed. The two of them held onto each other for a little while longer, before Carmella had to be on her way, promising to be home for dinner.

Carmella walked briskly down the path leading to the chieftains home, feeling a little better about the situation after her talk with her dad. She'd meant what she said, about doing this for more than just herself, but deep down there was a part of her that was down right giddy about getting to go to Mistral in general. Don't get her wrong, Menagerie was fine, a little crowded maybe, but it's biggest crime was that it was boring. She'd lived here all her life, been born only twenty minutes from the only home she'd ever lived in, and she'd been okay with that for a while, but she wanted to see the rest of the world, and if she was lucky, get to help defend it.

Huntsman and Huntresses didn't come to Menagerie often, especially not human ones, but every once in a while one would make port here, and the island would practically light up with excitement. Menagerie was only able to survive as a country thanks to trade, and Huntsmen usually had deep pockets. Whenever news spread of one coming to the faunus paradise, all the shopkeepers and weapon smiths put there best items on display, hoping to capitalize on the valuable customer, but Carm was interested in them for completely different reasons. They always told the best stories, about slaying monsters, fighting crime, and just being so... cool! She'd never told anyone this, but Carmella wanted to be just like them, strong, reliable, and helping others, that was the kind of life she wanted.

However, fate seemed to have different plans for the young faunus, placing her on the one land mass on Remnant that didn't have an officially licensed Huntsmen academy. Carm had begrudgingly accepted this, there was always the islands guard she could apply for after all, not nearly as awesome, but they did a lot to protect the faunus on this island. Plus, she already had an in with them, her brother, Phyll.

Phyll was... well he was a huge dork, but in a cool way? He was a good big brother, Carmella had always looked up to him, and those feelings only grew once he'd be accepted into Menagerie's guard. The taller rabbit faunus joined up about eight years ago, under the tutelage of the guards leader, Saber Rodentia, as he began molding Phyll into a warrior... or trying to at least. Obviously, the young Carmella had been eager to follow in his footsteps, and without letting their parents know, he'd already been giving his little sister combat training on the side. It wasn't much, but Carmella was thrilled to have it. She doubted she could take down a Grimm or anything at this point, but maybe a mugger if she had to? So yeah, it wasn't her dream job, but it was as close as Carm thought she would ever get, until that day...

"Your chieftain needs you! you're people need you!"

That was the call for help that made Carm's rabbit ears shoot up during another boring day of manning her families produce stand in the marketplace. Abandoning her post -only for a second! Sorry, Dad!- she followed her impressive hearing to a black haired girl with cat ears calling out for volunteers to join a group to defend Haven Academy from a pending White Fang attack. The young rabbit faunus' golden colored eyes practically lit up at the idea.

Traveling to an actual kingdom? Stopping actual criminals? Saving lives? A free boat ride? It sounded too good to be true!

The cat eared girl held out a scroll to get signatures, and Carmella started vigorously nodding her head, ready to sign up. but then she noticed the looks the other faunus were giving each other. They were afraid, or at the very least hesitant to join, and those looks crushed Carm's confidence pretty quickly. Was she about to make a hasty decision? What made her think she could fight the White Fang? She was no one, just a girl working a farm stand in the middle of nowhere. Not a huntress, not even a warrior. With that thought, Carm had slipped back out of the crowd and sullenly retook her rightful place behind the counter of her stand. That was where she belonged after all, who was she to go against fate?

Then the Belladonna's house caught fire.

Carm didn't know the chieftain or his family personally, but when the big house started burning in the middle of the night two days ago, every faunus on the island knew about it. Carmella had been there to see it herself, having woken up smelling the smoke, then following the crowds of people headed in the direction of the estate. Being there, seeing the White Fang members in person with there sinister masks and dark hoods, it made the whole thing finally feel real to the rabbit girl, to all the faunus, she imagined.

They'd tried to kill the chieftain and his family for speaking out against the Fang. People were dead because of them. Their daughter, the same cat eared girl from the market Carm noticed, gave a great speech that night trying to rally the citizens of Kuo Kuana, but Carmella was already sold, she was going. Fate had knocked on her door once and she'd ignored the call, and good people had gotten hurt, that wouldn't happen again, and she wasn't the only one that felt that way apparently.

Speaking of which, Carmella thought to herself as she arrived at a series of small huts alongside the road. The rabbit faunus stopped in front of one of the homes, pulled out an apple and took a bite, then checked the time on her scroll. Where was he? Was he running late? Or maybe Carm was just early? That'd be a first. More likely, she'd overslept and her friend had decided to leave without-

Suddenly the door to the hut swung open and out stepped a tall, muscle bound, ram faunus in peach colored cargo pants and a white shirt, a pair of curled horns sticking out of his messy, dark colored hair. "Mornin' Mata!" Carm said cheerfully, "What took you... so..." Then the rabbit girl noticed the sullen look on Mata's face as he exited the house without a word. Another faunus appeared in the doorway behind him, a much older ram one with smaller horns, her eyes were puffy, like she'd been crying. Carmella immediately recognized her as Mata's mother, the older faunus giving her son and Carmella one final, sad look before closing the door.

The rabbit girl looked to her friend, his face a portrait of guilt as he turned away from his home and to Carmella. "Hey, Carm," he said lifelessly as the two began walking side by side in silence.

Carmella had known Mata since Preschool, both of them having been born on Menagerie. They weren't friends right away though, Mata was always a big dude, standing tall over all of his classmates as far back as Carm could remember, and she, along with everyone else, was a little intimidated of the boys size. The truth however, was that Mata was just a shy, kind, gentle guy who'd rather save a bug from drowning in a puddle that squish it on the sidewalk.

Seeing the big faunus so down was hard for Carmella. She imagined Mata had the same kind of chat with his mom that Carm had with her dad, but it had gone less well. Which wasn't hard to understand, seeing as the two ram faunus were all each other had left these days. That meant that Mata's mom was extra protective of her son, she always had been, especially ever since his brother left Menagerie seven years ago.

Mata's head hung low as he walked next to the smaller rabbit faunus. Carmella reached into her pocket and pulled out the second apple she'd grabbed, and with a smirk, tossed it at the ram faunus. "Think fast," she said.

The startled Mata fumbled with the fruit two or three times before finally catching it in one of his massive hands. Once he'd wrangled the apple, the ram boy studied it a moment before smirking and taking a huge bite, easily the size of three of Carm's combined. "Thanks," he said after swallowing.

Carmella smiled up at him and said, "No prob!" A snack always helped make everything better. "Sooooo... how's your mom doing?"

Mata swallowed another big bite before answering, "She's... okay. She's just worried I'll run off like Arbol did."

The rabbit faunus turned the remaining half of her apple in her hand absentmindedly, not wanting to pry, but knowing that sometimes talking about your problems could help even more than food did. "Do you... think he'll be at Haven too?"

The bigger faunus sighed, "... I don't know..." Mata was quiet after that, and Carmella was content to drop the subject if he wanted, but then he kept going, "The last letter he sent said he was in Mistral, so... maybe? I hope not, but at the same time I think this might be my only chance to see him. Or to stop him from doing something I know he'll regret."

Carm frowned. She hadn't known Arbol as well as she did Mata, she only knew that he was about seventeen when he left the island, his mother, and worst of all his brother, to join up with the White Fang. Mata had been ten at the time, all alone with a single mom doing her best to hold herself and a household together, it couldn't have been easy, for either of them.

As terrible as it was at the time, it was Arbol leaving that actually started the friendship between Carmella and Mata. Seeing the big faunus, sitting all alone at lunch, no friends to talk to, and unfair rumors going around about his brother leaving, it was all too much for the rabbit girl. Carm saw past all that crap to see just a lonely boy who desperately wanted someone to confide in, and in return, the long eared faunus got a friendship that would last forever. So yeah, a total win-win for everyone.

"If we do see him, I just hope it's not too late..."

Carmella reached over to pat Mata on the back comfortingly. "Hey, if anyone can reach him, it's you. Don't give up, okay?"

The ram boy looked at Carm and gave her a genuine smile. "I won't. Thanks, Carmella." His expression turned to concern, "By the way, how's your brother feeling?"

It was Carmella's turn to sigh, "Oh, he's fine. Phyll's just a big baby is all. A couple of bruises and burns and the whiner uses it as an excuse to sit on the couch all day long."

Okay, so that might not have been entirely true, but Carm just liked giving her older brother a hard time, just like he did her. Truth was, they'd been incredibly lucky. Phyll had been working security for the Belladonna's the night of the White Fang attack. Carmella had been there, standing outside the chieftains home as they carried out so many dead, from both sides. Her heart had been in her throat the whole time, as she silently prayed that the next body wouldn't have her brothers darker colored rabbit ears. It had been terrifying.

Then she saw her stupid brothers stupid face as he was getting dragged out of that house by a couple of his fellow guardsmen. He was bruised and beaten, but awake, alive, and giving his sister a big, tired grin when he saw her. Gods, Carm had been so mad at him for making her worry, but enormously grateful he was okay. He hadn't been hurt too badly, he took a few gunshots to the body, blocked by his aura, and had some mild bruising on his throat as a result of getting choked by one of the attackers. That, and a few cuts and scrapes, just meant the older rabbit faunus had to stay off his feet for a few days, but gods had Carmella been scared. On the bright side, they said Phyll was going to get a medal of honor or something for his bravery that night, which Carmella had to agree was pretty sweet too.

Mata and Carm continued on their way, the conversation thankfully becoming slightly more lighthearted as they went, and soon they found themselves at the gate of the Belladonna's estate. Carmella felt a chill as she stood in the same spot she had a few nights back, watching that front door, holding her breath in panic. With a quick shake of her head, the moment passed, the rabbit girl took a second to remind herself that this was the whole reason she was here; to make sure something like this never happened to anyone else, not if she could help it.

Unfortunately, from this distance, Carm could hear the voices of her fellow volunteers with her incredible hearing, and from the sound of things, it seemed like they'd already started training for the day.

Crap! The rabbit girl thought as Mata and herself hurried to the courtyard out back behind the estate. Once inside they checked in with Saber, who gave the late pair a chiding look. But Carm knew the buck-toothed faunus well enough from all the time she spent at the guards outpost, visiting her brother at work, she knew he was a big softy underneath his gruff exterior. She shot the rat faunus an innocent smile and Saber rolled his eyes at her, letting the two pass without a lecture, this time.

Things immediately got off to an exciting start when Carmella was handed a real, honest to gods, (practice) spear! It might not have seemed like much to most, but the rabbit girls eyes gleamed with excitement as she held the (again, practice) weapon. This was a symbol, that all this was really happening to her., she was finally getting REAL combat training! From professionals! No offense to her brother, of course, but she knew he always took it easy on her, which Carm couldn't stand. Mata was also handed a similar dull stick of wood with a pad of rubber on the end that was meant to resemble a spear, though he looked at his without nearly as much enthusiasm as Carm had.

Since the two of them were late, Mata and Carmella had to pair up with each other, which the rabbit faunus was more than fine with. As the two of them went to find an empty spot to practice, Carm's eyes wandered over the crowd of people here with her. She recognized more than a few faces, but even more that she didn't, then her eyes settled on a girl with a long, curly, copper red ponytail. The rabbit girl knew her too, but only recently, she was one of the instructors the Belladonna's had assigned. The girl, Carm was pretty sure she'd heard her name was "Ilia", had also been at the chieftains house when the White Fang attacked, and she'd been the first to join up after Blake's speech. The rabbit girl didn't know what her deal was, but a lot of the faunus didn't seem to like Ilia for some reason.

Carmella could only see part of Ilia's face from where she stood, as the long haired girl sparred with another one of the volunteers, but from this angle, with her sagging, half lidded eyes she looked really... tired, or maybe just like she wasn't one hundred percent "here" mentally, her mind focused elsewhere. It made the rabbit faunus oddly sad to see anyone look so, well, lost was the first word that came to mind.

However, Ilia's movements and combat skills did not match up with her apparent mood as the red haired girl effortlessly deflected blows with spins and twirls of her spear. She even did a move where she spun her weapon behind her back, which Carmella had to admit, was definitely on the list of the top ten coolest things she'd ever seen. Every movement Ilia made while she was sparring was fluid and purposeful, her long ponytail flowing behind her. The rabbit faunus had never seen anything like it. This girl was clearly on another level.

"Um... Carm?" Mata said, pulling the rabbit girl out of her gawking. "You've been staring at that girl for about two minutes now. Did you want to get started?"

"I wasn't... I was just... shut up, yes, let's get started" the red faced Carm sputtered out, before refocusing and planting her feet the proper distance apart and getting into a fighting stance. Mata gave her pose a quick study before trying to mimic it. It was then that Carm realized that her friend, despite his imposing size and strength, had probably never been in a fight in his life.

Oh, Mata... Carmella thought to herself, before helping the ram boy adjust his stance to fit someone of his physique. The rabbit faunus did her best to remember the pointers her brother had given her, but it turned out she made a better student than a teacher. It didn't help that Carm wasn't exactly an expert with a spear either, she found the weapon a bit too long for her taste, but she did the best she could to help and finally, after numerous adjustments, Mata seemed to be stable.

So the long eared girl got back into her own stance and threw a few soft, easy blows in the ram faunus' general direction. Mata seemed to be picking it up okay at first, deflecting Carm's attacks fairly well actually, so Carmella decided to step things up a bit. Alright, Mata, are you ready for this? Carm swung down over her head and the bigger faunus raised his spear horizontally in front of him to block, but as the rabbit girl expected, he left his legs wide open. With a yell of effort, Carm spun down low, weapon extended, it's tip thwacking right into the back of Mata's knees.

The ram boy's legs buckled slightly, setting him off balance, and the rabbit faunus felt her heart begin pounding as adrenaline kicked in. The now overly excited Carmella went in for the final blow, jumping up and thrusting her weapon right into Mata's chest. Unfortunately, Carm didn't know her own strength and her horned friend was sent flying back with a yelp of surprise and an enormous thud as he hit the ground.

Mata groaned as he laid flat on the earth and that sound was enough to bring Carmella back to reality, realizing she'd probably gone a bit overboard. She dropped the spear from her hands, "Holy crap! Mata, I'm-" Carm started, then noticed the mighty sounding fall had gotten the attention of all the training faunus around them.

Oh... Carm thought as she saw everyone was looking right at her, as if the rabbit faunus had just slayed a mighty giant in a single blow. Of course, none of them were aware of just how much of a novice Mata really was, they only saw an itty bitty bunny girl having taken down a horned behemoth. Carmella felt like her face was burning as her brain desperately tried to decide what to do with this new attention she was receiving.

So she waved. What!? I waved!? Why would I wave!? Oh gods, I'm already doing it! Abort! Abort! Abort!

The other faunus seemed nonplussed by the awkward interaction, then they started clapping for Carm's achievement.

No, no, no! This is so much worse! Please stop clapping!

Giving up on trying to properly react to all this praise, Carm redirected her attention back to Mata, who thankfully was starting to sit up. Carm instinctively reached out to help her friend stand, which she realized was a little ridiculous given the size difference between them. Mata humored her though, taking the hand, but really standing all on his own while Carmella grunted in effort for nothing.

"I am so sorry, Mata! I got carried away, and- you're okay right? Did you hit your head when you feel? Oh my god! Do you have a concussion? Are you dying, Mata!? Oh gods, I killed Mata!" Carm seemed to be spiraling deeper and deeper into madness while the ram faunus dusted himself off, perfectly fine.

"Carm," Mata said with a reassuring look, "I'm fine, really."

The rabbit girl gave him a hesitant glance. "Not dying?"

"Not even a little," the ram boy replied. "Well, I mean, no more that usual. I guess technically we're all in a constant state of slowly-" Mata stopped when he saw a new panic building behind Carm's wide, golden eyes. "Uhh... what I mean to say is; Yes, I'm okay. That was a pretty cool move though, you gotta show me that one next."

Carmella smiled up at her friend, relief in her voice as her earlier panic was extinguished. "You got it! First we need to-"

As Carm turned to pick up her spear she noticed that girl from before, Ilia, was still staring at her. For the first time, Carmella got a good look at Ilia head on, namely her face. The small, slightly darker than the rest of her tanned skin, spots on her cheeks and forehead, her cool blue eyes, and the single curl of hair hanging down over the center of her face. Seeing all this, the rabbit eared girl came to a not too surprising conclusion.

Huh... she's kinda cute...

The rabbit faunus smiled at Ilia, hoping to maybe get one in return, but instead the pony-tailed girl's reaction was much more surprising. She seemed to go rigid, her pupils shrinking quickly, and most shocking of all, those darker spots on her face and arms all turned bright pink.

Before Carm could really react to all this, Ilia spun around, turning away from the rabbit girl and back to her own partner. Carmella stood frozen from this display. What the hell was that? She'd never seen a faunus do THAT before. What did those colors mean? Did Ilia have control over it? Had she chosen them on purpose? What other colors could she turn? These questions, and probably a hundred more, all buzzed around Carm's head, all relating to the mysteriously skilled girl before her eyes.

Behind Carmella, Mata cleared his throat loudly, and the rabbit girl realized she'd been staring again. Shaking her head to regain focus, the rabbit girl turned back to see her partner giving her a funny look. The ram boys eyes went from Carm to Ilia, and then a smirk appeared at the edges of his lips.

The long eared faunus felt herself blush for the third time that morning. "Shut up, again," she said as she rolled her eyes.

Mata laughed. "I didn't say anything!"

Carmella mumbled something unintelligible under her breath in response before glancing back over her shoulder, stealing one more look at Ilia, who was still facing away and seemed to be desperately trying to keep things that way as she went back to sparring.

The rabbit girl smiled, realizing she might just have to upgrade her initial evaluation of Ilia from "kinda cute", to "very".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N-Finally it rises from the briny depths! Hopefully I didn't over hype this... but I've never written anything featuring only canon characters, so I was a little excited.

The premise of this story is pretty well explained in that opening description (the part in bold at the start), but basically I felt like Ilia's problems kinda got swept under the rug at the end of volume 5. I mean, she went through a lot, and at the beginning of volume 6 they were just like, "Okay, I'm fine now! Have fun fighting the actual devil, Blake." I loved her arc, but I just wanted to see more of it. I get it though, she's not a main character, plus the fact that we'll probably never see her again means I can write whatever bullshit I want for her. Yay! So this fic will take place between volume 5 and 6, with potential for more if people like it, unless I get distracted by anything shiny I guess.

Get ready for some angst/healing Ilia fun! Also a slow (but not tto slow) burn romance between her and Carmella. Are you pumped? I'm moderately pumped.

A lot of the Ilia comics I've done (especially the ones with Carmella in them) will be considered canon in this story. A couple of them might even be used as chapter ideas here. Other chapters will be ideas I had for comics that I either abandoned or didn't feel like committing the time to drawing.

So yeah, let me know what you think. Comments and what not. Spelling and grammar mistakes and all that.

This is probably how the chapters will be, told from one characters perspective, and then the other. Though the future chapters will be without as much overlap as there was here.

So yeah, pretty basic start. Introducing our two leads, Ilia and Carmella, giving you all a good idea of what their thoughts and goals might be in the context of this tale.

Also, Mata! Yeah, he'll have a role here, mainly as Carm's friend but I hope we can also get into some of the stuff with him and his brother. Not gonna be a lot of focus on him, but I always liked him, SO HE GET'S AN ARC TOO! DEAL WITH IT, DANIEL!

Our two characters have "met", in the loosest definition of the word, now let the slow burn romance begin!

Look forward to the next chapter where we begin the trip to Mistral!