Spotted Black

I, Neopolitan, and Argint overlooked the large watering hole we found today and saw a wide variety of animals native to Anima's savannah. I had to stop the tri-color girl from going over and poking the lions and cheetahs more than once because she wanted to cause some mayhem, but I managed to bribe her into behaving. After founding a good place to set up camp for the time being, I opened a portal to Willow to show her the Grootslang. I saw her working on her home office computer and took a seat to wait for her to take a break.

I took out my work on the Gundam manga I am working on and was just about ready to publish it, then refocused on Harry Potter and Heaven Defying Demon Empress. I worked on drawing the last few scenes for the first volume, in which Char plans to focus on White Base and the Gundam to further his own goals after his confrontation with Amuro and realizing that he is a Newtype as well. After adding the finishing touches to the manga, I saw that Willow was still working.

Seeing that she would take a while, I decided to take a nap to kill time, so I closed my eyes and relaxed my mind.

***

Willow Schnee was growing weary of all the work going into managing the Schnee Dust Company since she had to fire her ex-husband's secretaries-slash-mistresses after knowing in length the affairs happening behind her back. Unfortunately, finding suitable replacements is slow going as finding someone trustworthy and qualified for the job is difficult in Atlas. She sighed and rubbed her temples, then noticed a familiar face snoozing away in front of her, Silva. The Schnee matriarch briefly wondered why he was here, then remembered last night when she asked to see the Grootslang corpse today.

Willow felt a bit guilty for making him wait since he had done nothing but help her and her family, especially since she had asked him to be here today. She got up and went over to wake him, then saw his face up close and appraised his appearance briefly—short gray hair with arching eyebrows and usually piercing gray eyes now closed—a sculpted nose with average-sized lips below it and a sharply pointed chin. Seeing his fur-covered arms, she gave in to the temptation of running her fingers through the snow leopard faunus fur and admired how plush it was.

Willow's fingers ran down through Silva's arms down to his paws, and felt his paw pads. The Schnee matriarch felt her stress melt away at playing with her sleeping benefactor's paws and briefly considered getting a house cat since she released her menagerie after taking over the SDC from her ex-husband. Having a pet appealed to her greatly, as she always had a fondness for animals plus, having a pet around could help close the gap between her children and herself as while things are better than before. However, there are still walls around her children that prevent them from fully opening up to her.

As Willow's thoughts wandered, she heard someone clearing their throat and turned to see Silva looking at her with a teasing look, with her hands still touching his paws. He said with a mischievous smile.

" Willow, I didn't realize you had a hobby of molesting a sleeping person. Not that I am kink-shaming you, as everyone has their own little fetishes."

The Schnee matriarch blushed but cleared her throat as she replied.

" I was simply trying to wake you. That is all, Silva."

The snow leopard faunus hummed with a disbelieving tone while maintaining his smile. Willow looked away, feeling embarrassed at being caught in this situation, and Silva continued to tease her.

" If you just wanted to touch my paws, you could have asked. After all, I wouldn't refuse a request from a lovely woman such as yourself."

" You really shouldn't be teasing an old woman like me, Silva."

" Willow, I am not lying when I call you a lovely woman. You may have made mistakes, but who doesn't? As I told you before. Right now, you are doing your best to make amends for the wrongs Jacques committed when he ran the SDC and reconnect with your strained relationship with your children. You are loving and caring, and Jacques is a complete idiot not to appreciate the wonderful woman you have always been despite it being buried under the begrudging acceptance of your previous marriage situation and drinking."

The Schnee matriarch gave a weak smile as she replied.

" Thank you, Silva."

" Anytime, Willow. Now then, are you ready to see the Grootslang?"

Willow nodded, and Silva opened a portal to the beast's remains. The Schnee matriarch gasped at the size of the creature.

" Oh, my! I heard they were massive, but I wasn't expecting something of this size. I can understand why it would take some heavy firepower to bring down such a beast."

The Schnee matriarch examined the Grootslang, and after she sated her curiosity, the snow leopard faunus offered before returning her home.

" Would you like to join my companions and me for lunch, Willow? I am using some local game meat to make kebabs and steaks."

"That sounds nice, Silva, but I wouldn't want to impose on you."

" It's fine, Willow. It's no big deal, plus you look like you could use a change of scenery."

Willow hesitated for a few moments before saying.

" I suppose if it isn't too much trouble..."

Silva grinned and opened a portal back to his camp. As they came to the camp, the snow leopard faunus frowned at seeing Neopolitan hugging a cheetah cub and asked with a harsh tone.

" Neopolitan, what in the name of Remnant are you doing?!"

The tri-colored girl handed the cub to Argint and then walked over to Silva before gesturing for him to use Soul Archive on her. He complied and saw that the cub's parents were dead and being eaten by hyenas. The snow leopard faunus sighed as he read Neopolitan's intention of adopting the cub. He quickly recalled the legal issues of having an overly exotic pet but put it aside for now, as the necessary permits can be handled with enough money. After sighing, he told his companion with exasperation.

" You can keep him for now, Neopolitan, but once the cub reaches adulthood, you either need to unlock its Aura to make it smarter to learn to suppress some of its instincts or release it back into the wild if it can't adapt to being a pet."

Neopolitan hugged Silva and Willow, then offered.

" I have some experience handling wild animals if you want some advice in handling the little guy."

" Well, he or she needs a name. Any ideas, Neopolitan?"

The snow leopard faunus asked, and the tri-colored girl immediately answered with a dazzling display of fireworks with her Semblance that said.

" Sir Spot."

Silva rolled his eyes as he wasn't going to try and name it as it was now Neopolitan's responsibility. He had the distinct feeling he was the one that was going to be taking care of the cheetah as it got older and less cute, but if that happened, he would use Soul Archive on it to remove its memories of being a pet and release it to the wild. What happens, happens.