Getting the Team Back Together (3)
When she got to the bookstore she almost threw the door off its hinges going in, momentarily forgetting that Tori wouldn't be inside anyway, he waits outside.
The commotion attracted the attention of the large woman walking between the shelves, she had rounded panda ears and a stack of books in her hands. "Can I help you? Did you break my door?" She called, setting the books down on a bench at the end of one of the aisles.
"Um, sorry, no the door looks fine. I mean," She swung it softly back and forth and then closed it to make sure it could close, opened it and closed it again as a test. "No, it's fine. It's good." She tried to reassure the woman. She still came over and tested it herself, the same way Quirina had, much to Quirina's amusement. She squinted down at Quiri. "What can I help you with?" Her voice was warm and husky, and as frightened as Quirina was she couldn't help but smile.
"I've never met a panda faunus before." She blurted out. She covered her face with her hands, instantly annoyed at herself for saying something so dumb. "I'm sorry, I just meant you're really pretty. I mean, like, I come from the city and the only other faunus I saw daily was my own family, birds obviously. And my teammate, River, after we joined Beacon. But my doctor was a faunus, he was a deer. Like, antlers, not like a sweetheart. Although I guess he was a sweetheart as well. And most of the-"
Thankfully, the woman cut her off with a hand held up. "Just off the boat, I gather?" Quirina nodded. "It's good to meet you, bird friend, name's Becca. First time in Menagerie?"
She nodded. "The abundance can overwhelm you, kid. If you're not from a heavily faunus populated area all this can be a bit much."
She took a step back and turned her head. "Are you injured?"
Quirina nodded. "Yeah but not really. I just… lean a bit to the side. I'm actually here because I think you might know my teammates."
"Oh right, you said you were from Beacon. That's the academy that got, uh, destroyed, right?"
Becca winced, "Sorry to hear it. So your team's here?"
"Yeah, I think so. There's a barefoot kid, Torrential Arinth? And his friend, maybe, a boy with wolf ears, River Greenwood?"
She nodded. "Never got their names but the wolf kid comes inside for the barefoot one. Refuses to put on shoes so he can't come in. They only come by every few days and they were here not too long ago. Not today, but," she shrugs. "Maybe if you're lucky they'll come by again."
"You haven't happened to see them around anywhere else? Or hear them talking about where they're staying?"
"Not a word. Sorry, kid."
"No it's okay, this was helpful. Thank you." She looked around. "Do you mind if I just stay here for awhile? Just to rest before I head off."
"Sure. Take your time I don't close till dark." And with that Becca propped her front door open and went back to restocking her shelves.
Quirina browsed a few aisles before she selected a book and took a seat by the front door, too excited at the passing faunus to properly focus on the book in her lap. She saw bird faunus with the cleanest white wings, some with dappled grey and brown wings, even guys with wings almost like hers, Nightjars with the long tails.
Somewhere along the evening Quirina fell asleep, leaning against the door frame, the smell of wood and sand in her nose. The air was warm and she was still tired, mentally and physically. When she woke up with a start, ironically it wasn't because she had been moved, and it wasn't because she fell asleep in a strange place, it was because she smelled something familiar and comforting and she realized she hadn't smelled this particular thing in a long time. She smelled fresh baked bread.
Bolting upright from the little cot she had been placed on at some point, she threw her legs off the side and jogged towards the smell. Her wings wrapped around her like a blanket of protection and she noted quickly before she got fully out of the room, that her backpack was nestled snugly against the cot. She wasn't in danger.
She slowed at the thought. Stopped her jog pace and set to walking. She held onto her wings softly as she continued to where she hoped the smell was coming from. With surprise, she made it straight to the kitchen.
It was a smallish house, she couldn't help but notice, the hallways were almost small enough to be cramped, the wood panelling on the walls was unpainted, the kitchen couldn't hold an island unless you didn't want to open the oven. Instead it was like a dining/kitchen/living room all in one separated just by a bar. Even the floor was wooden all the way through. There was no tv just a small table and three soft looking chairs. There were two bookshelves and a couple stuffed animals sitting on top. All the windows were open and there were two loaves of bread sitting on the counter under an opened window, the breeze blowing it inwards and through the house.
"Finally awake, I see. Glad to know you ain't dead yet." Becca said, bright and chipper. She had more dough in her hands, folding it and kneading it against the one straight slab of granite in her kitchen. "The sun's set twice while you were asleep, don't worry, I haven't seen your team friends. Kept an eye out and even asked some other shops to keep watch for you. Here, have some water before you get too dehydrated." She set out a pitcher of water and got a cup big enough for Quirina to eat cereal out of.
She took it, grateful and a little dumbstruck. A whole day?
She didn't realize she had even asked out loud.
"I didn't want to actually try to wake you up because I figure anyone tired enough to not be woken by me carrying them through a house, is a tired that needs to be set straight." She stood at the bar and gestured towards Quirina. "I hope I wasn't crossing any boundaries of yours?"
She shook her head, cleared her throat, and said no. "No no, of course not. Thank you." She cleared her throat again. "For all of this. You're very kind."
She nodded, more as a grateful gesture than an 'of course' note. "Hey. When you grow up looking different, you learn compassion."
Quirina put her cup down on the counter and started grooming through her wings as Becca went back to kneading her dough. She thought about it for a while and realized soon enough how comfortable she felt here. Becca was a complete stranger and she made Quirina feel so safe. Was the whole of Menagerie like this? Was that why Tori's family had moved here? For the sense of community?
She would have to find them to figure it out.
"I." She started, and then stopped to clear her throat again. "I'm going to go see if I can't find my friends. Thank you for letting me stay here. Again."
Becca turned and dusted her hands off on her apron. "No problem, young one. And listen, if you can't find them today, come back. I'll let you use the cot again and I'll even make you a meal this time. Here," Before Quirina could object, she stuck a half a loaf of bread in her hands. "Take this and don't starve."
Quirina smiled up at her and couldn't help the way her wings fluttered behind her. "Thank you so much."
Once she had her backpack and she had carefully wrapped her loaf and put it in the side pocket, Quirina headed out to the streets. A place like this was huge and cramped but it shouldn't take too long to find them if they made trips to a bookstore every few days. That must mean they get drinks somewhere nearby. Or they might hang out at a park here. Or something. You don't walk all the way from home just to get one thing. You make a day of it.
Or at least, she would. But it took her more energy to go somewhere than most people.
She spent a good portion of the day eating her bread and walk to various shops asking shop owners about Tori and River. Some knew Tori but most didn't. Very few knew River because he didn't stick out as much here.
She went back to the docks where all the booths and desks were set up and eventually she was just looking because she was excited. There was a lot of stuff here that was unique and cool. Things made specifically with faunus features in mind. She loved it. Most of her favorite things had to be tailored to her wings after the fact. These were made with them in mind.
She was looking at a hoodie made with back straps for her wings when she heard a familiar voice a few stalls over. To her great surprise, it was Mynthe. A very competitive girl from team Mint, she wasn't sure of the other teammates names she just knew the word it made. Quirina had gone against Mynthe once in a fight and she had depleted her aura so quickly it was like she drained it in two moves.
"That's too much for a hat, I'm telling you!" She shouted.
"Then it sounds like you don't need a hat!" The seller shouted back.
Mynthe pouted and examined the hat a bit more before she placed it back on the counter. It was made and cut exactly to fit between horns and the one she had on now, wasn't. She squinted her eyes at the seller as she walked off and he waved goodbye to her almost mockingly.
"Mynthe." Quirina called, her wing raising in a wave hello as her hands were full with the hoodie.
"Me…" she muttered, looking around for the source of her name. "Azure!" She shouted excitedly, finding Quirina in the crowd. She fought her way over and swooped in to give Quirina a tight hug. "Thank the stars you're alright! It's so good to see you! Have you seen anyone else from Beacon yet?"
She shook her head but didn't let go of the hug until people started to push past and almost tip them over. "I'm currently looking for most of my own team right now. I'm sure they're fine because I've heard people have seen them here but then there's Zeki and I have no idea where he would be. There was an Autumn Farely who i checked up on. She's at home and safe. I haven't heard about literally anyone else. How about you? Any team? Any luck?"
Mynthe smiled. "God I missed your motormouth. Let's go somewhere less crowded."
As they weaved their way through the crowds, Quirina not having bought the hoodie, Mynthe told her about getting her teammates on the airship out of Vale. "Nero and Esmeralda were fine, they fought with me until the adults told us to go, but Thistle was hit hard early on. She, I hate to say it, but she was dead weight to us. We had to carry her everywhere we went because there was no safe place to take her. We didn't even know where she was supposed to go. But in the end she was on the ship with Nero and Esmeralda and that was the last I saw of them. My parents haven't let me leave and I don't have any other way of contacting them."
"Give me their scroll info and then your address. As soon as I get somewhere with a signal I'll contact them and if I can't get back soon enough I'll write you the old fashioned way."
They ended up at a cute little outdoor eatery. Quirina didn't want to spend too much so she ended up just buying a fruit drink since she still had a good portion of bread left. Mynthe bought a full meal and coffee and she made Quirina eat some of her food just so she wouldn't have to eat alone. They talked further about what they had been doing during the interim and what Quirina plans to do to find Zeki. She honestly had no clue at this point and hoped whatever she needed would come to light once she found the other two first.
"But my mom is just on panic mode still because of course they're saying White Fang had something to do with it and my brother is part of the group here so she's trying to talk to him and shes trying to talk to me as if I'm part of it too?? But like if she let me go find my team I wouldn't have the time to be here and join White Fang, you know? So I don't know, her brain doesn't make sense to me. I could literally just go find my team and I wouldn't be worried about them and she wouldn't have to worry about me being recruited by White Fang, you know?" Mynthe leaned back in her chair, taking a sip from Quirina's drink and rolling her eyes.
Quirina nodded, playing around with a fry on their shared plate. "Yeah. My mom was worried too. I kept busy just like training in my dad's gym and listening to the news and all that but it's like it was never enough for mom because if I was home I was moping but if I was at the gym I was too angry." She shrugged. "This isn't how I thought my school year would go. I thought I'd make friends, learn how to advance my weapon, learn how to utilize my semblance, and graduate a Huntsman you know? And here were are, sitting in a cafe worrying about our-" She cut off abruptly as her eyes caught sight of a familiar duo. "TEAM!" She shouted as she jumped up from her seat, wings outstretched in excitement. She vaulted over the bars separating the patio from the pathway, ignoring Mynthe's surprised scream, and running straight to her teammates who had yet to notice the commotion she was causing. A lot of people jumped out of her way as she ran over. By this point the boys were ahead with their backs to her and Tori stopped.
He turned suddenly, a wide smile on his face. "Noa!" He shouted.
River immediately following suit as he also turned and spotted her, smiling, and waving with both arms. "Quiri!" He shouted, arms and ears up high.
Everyone in their path cleared to the sides as Quirina kept running with her wings wide open to avoid getting hit. She jumped into their open arms and they both caught her in the tightest group hug, well, the only group hug she's ever been a part of.
When they finally had the presence of mind to let go, Quirina had to fold her wings back against her as she realized they were also wrapped around the trio. She almost blushed but they were both so happy to see her she couldn't be bothered to care.
"I missed you guys!" "Where have you been?" "How are you?" They all asked at once, breathless and excited.
They froze and stared at each other before bursting into laughter. It was near hysterical, but no one looked twice at them, everyone could surmise what had happened given the times they lived.
"Ah-hem." Mynthe called out from the eatery. "We were having a conversation about your team?" She said jokingly, smiling at the comical group, still taking up too much space in the local pathway.
"Right. Excuse me, boys. I'll meet back up with you later." Quirina said, patting them on the shoulders and taking a literal two steps away from them before River grabbed her wrist.
"Excuse me?" He smiled, almost in disbelief. "I don't think so, angel."
He let go of her when Tori put a calming hand on his arm. He smiled softly at Quirina. "Can we join you two?" His voice was softer than she remembered and she almost cried about how sincere he was being.
"Of course you guys can." Her voice was almost wavering. She was standing on the edge of something deep and exciting but she didn't have the presence of mind to identify it so she balanced carefully, not to fall one way or the other. "I've missed you two so much."
"We've missed you too." Tori told her.
