Kuo Kuana III

The intense focus in Ghislaine's eyes ended, but the silence afterwards was almost deafening. Then, there was a feeling of heavy weight gradually setting upon the shoulders of everyone in the estate. The cause? The fourteen year old girl sitting across the Tiger King.

"Hm.. and what will you do if I don't keep those aspects tame? Will you try to fight me? Who are you to call me all those things, as if you knew me?" She asks, leaning back and smiling as her serpentine eyes sharpen in what seems to be anticipation.

Ghislaine remained quiet, though her ears perked up, as if ready for any sudden moves.

"Gaah!" A startled yelp was heard further away.

The heavy feeling weighing down on them suddenly vanished, once the serious and threatening look on Yin's face broke. "Pff~ Relax.. I'm not so arrogant that I'd take a plea as a slight against me. I just wanted to see your reaction. But it wasn't even really you speaking just then huh.."

"Phew.. I thought you were going to flip the table for a second!" Shia sighed in relief, while Yin watched Ghislaine. Her ears flattened against her head, to show how indignant she was at Yin's teasing.

If Yin had a type, Ghislaine would definitely be it. Her muscular, curvaceous body, paired with her long hair and mature face made for a deadly combination. And though right now she thought of her in a platonic way, she had a feeling, that if she were in her immediate proximity when she hits sixteen, she'd jump her. That's what her instincts were subtly hinting at anyway. So it was not too surprising when she found herself wanting to pet the Tiger lady.

Pat-Pat~

"That was quite mean of you. I thought you were going to do something drastic. And no. That was my Great Grandfather.." Ghislaine harrumphed, though did nothing to stop the apologetic petting Yin was giving her.

"Sorry, I was fucking around there. Tapped into the instincts a little too hard. I think I heard Blake panic earlier too. I'll have to apologize later. Actually, I'm here to do some good." Yin clarified, watching Ghislaine's tail finally relax, since her face wasn't very expressive. Before she started though, she looked over to Shia. "Shia, this'll probably be a somewhat boring talk for you. So I want you to go look for something. They're like mini Great Dungeon entrances. They'd look like staircases going down into the ground, leading to a door of some kind. Any odd-looking doors out in the wilderness. Look for those."

"Eeeeeh!? Last time I was in a dungeon.." Shia cut herself off with quiet, incoherent mumbling with her face turned away. "I'll give you a massage later. Just don't go too far from-" Her words fell on deaf ears, because as soon as she mentioned massage, Shia had already begun sprinting out of the house.

"She's fun." Ghislaine remarked.

Yin smiled wryly at the exaggerated display and turned her attention back to the Tiger King. "That she is. Now, let's get Kali back so she can offer some insight on my ideas."

"Mn. We should also wait for Sienna. She was coming to meet with Blake here anyway. But there's not much reason to now."

-Several hours later. Blake POV-

The new girls are strange. Earlier, when Lady Ghislaine came over, I was ushered to my room for some reason. More annoying is that when I asked Mom about the reason why, all she said was 'You'll understand when you're older'.

I hate that so much. It's not like I don't understand what sex is. I got 'the talk' a year ago. Plus.. my Mom's kinda loud sometimes. I didn't really care about that stuff yet anyway. What did interest me, is the talk that girl Yin was having with my parents and the Khan sisters.

"The technology you've presented is.. Well, to put it frankly, revolutionary. Our need for Dust would diminish significantly. The transportation, agriculture and construction industries would need a massive overhaul. You've essentially come to us with a Godsend.." I hear Dad mutter out.

I didn't catch or see the specifics of the things she was showing, since I'm eavesdropping from behind a wall. But that sounds incredible.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here." The girl, Yin adds.

"If we start applying this to Kuo Kuana, the other cities will either think we're getting ready to attack them, or best case, they'll get resentful that we're doing so well." Sienna made a decent enough point.

But..

"The intention is to provide all of Menagerie this technology." Good, Yin was thinking the same thing.

It gets quiet for a little while. Then I hear Lady Ghislaine speak.

"As of right now, that is a bad idea. Muzaka will use it against the Kingdoms. Tamamo will use it against the SDC and Chrollo." I can almost feel the snort coming from Sienna as she hears this.

"And what of the SDC and Chrollo mercs? Who cares if we take the fight to them? In fact, that's what we should be doing!" I can hear a familiar argument starting up again..

Sienna agrees with Tamamo's approach. So do I. But Lady Ghislaine doesn't realize we need to be proactive about defending ourselves.

"You know how I feel about engaging them. If we start a fight with them, it will be war. They'll come here, Sienna. Muzaka wants war. Tamamo wants to free our brothers and sisters from the two families. So do I.. But you must realize, Atlas will side with them if need be. And an entire country against us is not what we need right now, when we can't even be considered a Kingdom ourselves." I hear Ghislaine's voice became a bit louder, more irritated. Then there was quiet again.

"So, what if you could become recognized as a Kingdom? I doubt Atlas wants another Great War on their hands." Finally, I hear Yin speak again. Become a Kingdom..?

We've been trying since the war. But the land is terrible, there's two Mythic-Class Grimm near the center of the land and we're divided between three of our rulers. I hear Mom chime in with exactly these points.

"That's something we've been trying to do for a while now. Our biggest issue is unity. We're too divided. Perhaps if the Beast Kings can all agree on a course of action.." The weary sigh my mom lets out after saying that is hard to bear..

"Then I'll go see them next."

"Tamamo likely won't see you for a while. The waiting list for that is long. And unless you impress her or attain a status equal to her, that won't be likely. Muzaka.. never sees anyone." I hear Sienna say, quieter at the end.

That was true though. Muzaka has his loyal followers but he's always off on his own. He loves the Faunus and our home, but it's getting harder to tell if his love for his people outweighs his hatred for humans. Crap..! I got so distracted I missed some of what they said.

"..-could attain the same status. The supremacy test." I can just make out what Lady Ghislaine says at the end.

Supremacy test?

"You mean the one you took to become the Tiger King!? That altar holds the aura of all the Tiger Kings, sister!" Sienna angrily shouts loud enough to hear without me really listening in.

"If it helps the Faunus." Lady Ghislaine's response came in calmy, despite the anger in Sienna's voice.

There's another period of silence before I hear what sounds like someone collapsing back into a chair.

"Fine.. If it truly does help us then.. But I'm warning you.. anomaly or not.. that altar is precious to us. If there's even a dent on it.." She trailed off, but the threat in her words was pretty apparen- Oh no, not again..

A heavy feeling presses down on me. Just like earlier today, but it's more intense.. More.. genuine. It feels like when I saw Ifrit from far away. That Mythic class Grimm.. how is anyone able to emulate this feeling!?

What is she..?

The heaviness stops, suddenly. But all I hear next is Sienna panting, then the front door closing. Being that close to the feeling must have beeb tough. I manage to peek down the hall and see Sienna with both knees on the floor, panting as I heard her. Luckily, Mom and Dad aren't really affected somehow. While Yin and Lady Ghislaine must have just left.

"She's.. not a Faunus, Kali. I don't know what she is.. but a Faunus? No.." I manage to hear Sienna croak out.

I have to know more.. I have to see for myself.

"Oh Sienna.." I catch my Mom say with pity as Dad helps her up. But I'm already out the door before they notice.

-Yin. 3rd POV-

The two walked quietly up the stairs to the Tiger King's temple. Though the silence was temporary. "Sienna didn't mean anything by it. Our father's essence is in the altar."

Ghislaine looked at Yin's impassive expression before she closed her eyes. "Instinct again. I'm pretty prideful, so threats aren't something I can just ignore. Though I understand her desire to protect it. With you, I was messing around. But with her, it was an involuntary reaction. I appreciate you letting me do this."

Ghislaine blinked a few times before smiling. "Mn. No problem. You want to help us after all. Getting us all to get along will be hard. It's the least I can do."

"But I must warn you. Once you touch this altar, your aura, bloodline and potential will be judged by my ancestors. They sealed some of their aura in it, to pass on their legacy to the future Tiger Kings. It's like the Schnee family's inherited semblance. But it's added after we become Beast Kings. We essentially get two semblances. This is true for the Wolf and Fox King as well." Ghislaine explained.

'Huh.. sounds a lot like a cultivator's inheritance. Hopefully I don't go to any secret realms, piss off any young masters, piss off an old monster or get the attention of a jade beau- Actually I don't mind that last part..' Yin's thoughts slowly drifted.

"I can guess what my horde will look like already.." Yin couldn't help the amused smirk growing on her face just thinking about kidnapping women to keep around for their beauty. And the thought of stealing someone's girlfriend made that seem all the sweeter.

'I wonder how fun cucking anime protaginists would be-' "We've arrived." Ghislaine's voice snaps her out of her increasingly sadistic thoughts.

They'd arrived at a clean stone temple. It was breezy, due to some of the open walls and the fact that it sat quite high on the mountain. Yin could see some halls leading further inside, which is likely where Ghislaine's room was located at. She was led up more stone steps, until they came upon an altar shaped like the head of a roaring tiger. Ghislaine stood back as Yin approached the several-meters tall altar overlooking Kuo Kuana.

It looked less like a font of power, than a religious symbol for the Faunus. Though that was likely pretty accurate, given the name of 'King' in their title.

"Simply touch it." Ghislaine said, urging her ahead.

"Right.. I'll be back."

As soon as Yin's fingers brushed against the Tiger's head, time seemed to slow to a complete standstill. The altar's eyes flashed several different colors, until it finally settled on white. Then, an ancient, masculine voice spoke.

"Greetings, child of my creator. I had been expecting you for quite some time." The aged voice greeted, with a rather respectful tone.

"Child of.. What is going on? I'm just here to do a test." Yin furrowed her brows and asked. The voice chuckled, as if reminiscing about something.

"There is no need for that. The Goddess of Balance created us both. I know you. And your counterpart. I alone am not worthy enough to judge what was created by the Goddess. So I will provide you with what is expected of me." The voice hummed before a notification popped up in front of Yin.

[Milestone met! Taaa-daaa~! Evolutuon available. Do you wish to evolve now? Y/N?]

Somehow, she just knew Hecate was probably laughing at her right now.

[A/N: So who wants to be mentioned in the message boards? Also gib power stones. I need them to show my friends how COOL I am.]