Ballad XV: Clashing Motives, Similar Goals

DISCLAIMER

RWBY is property of RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum. JJBA is property of Hiroki Araki and David Productions.

A/N: Sorry sorry sorry SORRY For the late update. Life's been a little too busy for my taste and I have honestly been too exhausted to update anything. I hope you understand ;u;

[3RD PERSON POV]

[LOCATION: Menagerie (Kuo Kuana)]

[TIME: 5:35pm (The Following Day)]

Risotto's voyage to faunas-kind's safe haven had been as uneventful as he expected. Unlike the first time he had traveled on one of Remnant's ferries, Ozpin had not been present to fill in the dulling hours throughout the trip. For the majority of the journey, Risotto had stayed within his cabin, researching and using reference material for Menagerie and faunas to familiarize himself with their customs. The very last thing he wanted currently, was to offend or perpetuate a confrontation in a land that was rightfully hostile to humans.

As for the brief moments the man did leave the confines of his cabin, he was generally left alone. No other passenger felt confident enough to speak let alone approach the man. In fact, other than the attendants or crew, Risotto was mostly left without any unwanted attention or interruption. As customary, Nero was imposing as per usual, never allowing an onlooker to even entertain the thought of approaching him.

Just as it had done for several years prior, Risotto's tactic worked effortlessly. Aside from the occasional text messages from Weiss, Ozpin, Penny, or Doppio, the assassin had no distractions. Every so often, 'Neo' would also message the boy, providing updates on her whereabouts or activities. If she was to be believed, the messages were only sent when Neo was away from 'base' or if Roman was absent. Apparently, Roman still remained slightly shaken by Risotto's grandeur of their first meeting. Seeing as Mr. Torchwick was a crime Lord though, Nero figured the man would soon bury the memory.

Aside from these conversations via scroll, Risotto had also met a fellow passenger en route to Menagerie. Unlike the other attendees, the man was not fazed by Risotto in the slightest. In fact, it seemed the stranger cared little for the assassin's imposing demeanor.

The man in question, was a monkey faunas roughly Risotto's own age. From his messy blonde hair, to his almost mischievous brown and yellow tail, the man screamed of being a delinquent. Unlike most delinquents however, this teen was a more 'cheery' or 'carefree' troublemaker. His name was strangely fitting for his attitude and appearance as well, it being 'Sun Wukong'.

Despite his best efforts, Nero was unable to drive the man away. From what little the stand user gathered, he was able to determine Sun had been travelling to Menagerie to visit 'friends and family' that had fled his home nation of Vacup. Apparently, he had just finished applying at Shade Academy. Further investigating, Risotto also discovered 'Shade' was another huntsmen Academy within Vacuo's capital. Doubly, Risotto made sure to never accept a contract located in the area due to the desert like environment, the unforgiving heat was his bane.

Currently, the two walked through the streets of Menagerie's Capital: Kuo Kuana. To Risotto, the city was reminiscent of ancient Asian architecture. In fact, it complimented the dominant species of the continent in a cultural manner. Luckily for Risotto, he had some prior experience of this nation's culture... albeit with slightly altered circumstances.

The differences in a previous travel of Risotto's through the country of 'China' bore crowded streets, something Kuo Kuana had at a much smaller scale. Additionally, the man did recall seeing men and women with animal ears, though they were not physically attached to their heads. Risotto also remembered that the populace of China spoke their own language, not a globally mandated one.

Stil though, at least the architecture was similar. By that, Risotto meant the architecture was similar to the smaller yet prominent villages of ancient China, seeing as this settlement held a more 'resort' appeal to it. While many tourists on Earth would flock to this location in glee at it's various locations and unique attractions, the Faunas of this 'nation' only saw it as home.

In stark contrast with Vale, the city was massively behind in technological appearance. Similarly however, from the small amount he saw previously in 'Mistral', the city held the aesthetic of the formal kingdom. On closer examination, Risotto quickly understood the 'less advanced' aesthetic was just that; an aesthetic. There were boats, ships, scrolls, electrical circuits, street lights, etc. But unlike the cities, they chose not to 'over do it'. In fact, it was almost unnecessary to do so seeing as faunas held convenient advantages over their human counterparts.

For example, the street lamps were scarce, likely due to faunas' inherent ability to see in the dark. The streets were not built to hold vehicles, considering faunas were often in favor of minimizing their 'Fire-Dust Footprint'. In addition to this, many sectors of the village were half submerged in water, seeing as many faunas were more adept with travelling in water than on land. Unlike Vale, Mistral, or even the supposed city of Atlas, Menagerie as a whole seemed to suit the individual groups of people rather than the populace as a whole.

While this sentiment was sweet and heartwarming for most, it left a bitter taste in Risotto's mouth. On paper, the principle worked poetically. In practice however, it was a fool's errand. With the submerged streets, flooding was bound to be a common occurrence during the ocean's high tide let alone a storm. With less than modern architecture, natural disasters would only wreck the city to greater proportions. With there also not being a huntsman Academy present, Risotto also knew the populace would have a greater challenge with thwarting off the Grimm or bandit tribes that could be lurking in the wilderness.

But in the end, Risotto decided not to dwell on the matter any further. He was not here to critique or scrutinize for the nation's apparent memo. While good intended yet highly ineffective as it was, he only came to this location for one reason...Money. As per the standard agreement, he would gather information on the White Fang for Ozpin. This information would then be relayed to General Ironwood of Atlas and as a end result, Risotto would be paid his standard fee.

Though being here would not immediately yield him Lien, the information contained in this often brushed off settlement was invaluable...to him, Ozpin, and Ironwood at least. Seeing as he required data on the 'White Fang' and seeing as how the White Fang were a supposed faunas organization, his voyage to Menagerie only made the most logical sense. Who would know the group better than the very species the group 'fought' for?

Currently, Risotto and Sun found themselves in the marketplace, aimlessly travelling between each vendor. Thankfully, the responses that the human of the group had received were mostly favourable. Sure, Risotto often caught the shimmer of a glare or disgusted glance, but luckily he was not subject to any unfair treatment for his heritage...yet.

Sun: "So Ressi, my man... I've been meaning to ask, why did you wanna come here anyways? I mean...It's not every day a person wants to come to Menagerie. Personally, I'm just hoping to check on some old friends and maybe give a 'yo' to my old man. But you? I find it hard to belie-" He rambled, before Risotto coldly interrupted.

"My name is Risotto. Nothing less, nothing more. I care little for why you're here. Similarly, I doubt you care much why I specifically am here either."

Rubbing his head nervously, Sun hesitantly laughed off the man's reply. Sure, He wasn't as intimidated by Risotto as many others were, but he still preferred to stay on the man's 'good side'. This 'good side' was neutral and stoic though, causing Sun to shudder at the thought of how Risotto would treat someone on his 'shit list'. Gulping, the faunas quickly apologized for his earlier behavior.

Sun: "Right right...My bad, Risotto." He said apologetically.

"Good. You do learn." Risotto replied, earning an accusing glare from a passerby.

Sun: "Well yeah...but you haven't answered my question. Hardly anyone wants to come here on their own, let alone a human. So why? You dodged the question on the boat."

Shaking his head, Risotto rubbed his temples in slight annoyance. Along the boat ride, Sun had only asked if Risotto was travelling to Menagerie, not why he was. Though the boy's wording was slightly different, Risotto felt it unnecessary to share his true intentions. He understood what Sun wanted to know, the persistent bush besting aside.

"No Sun. It's not that I dodged the question, it's that you never specified your curiosity."

Sun: "Fine Fine, whatever...So spill the beans. Why here? What are you hoping to find in our quiet little safe haven?"

"I've just always wanted to go." He blankly replied, turning on his heels to nonchalantly walk away from the monkey faunas.

Sun doubted the slightly older man. The faunas boy had lived most of his life in Vacuo, the cut throat and 'only the strong lives' themed nation. As such, he too had the uncanny ability of being able to accurately read a person. Risotto was a man who seemed to act more in self interest or only take part in something that directly benefited himself, a simple 'getaway' was something Sun knew only to be a facade. If the boy was honest with himself, he wagered Risotto was also here for a similar reason as Sun himself was.

Sun, though a young and seemingly carefree boy, was all in all a delinquent. With that being said, he was also not one to respect privacy. During the boar trip, Sun had snuck his way into Risotto's cabin. After snooping and retrieving the man's scroll, Sun quickly confirmed his suspicions. As it had turned out, Nero was only in Menagerie to gather information on The White Fang, just like Sun Wukong was.

Rolling his eyes, Sun huffed in annoyance. Following this, he exasperatedly pivoted his body to follow the older boy. Unfortunately though...Risotto had completely disappeared. Curiously, the monkey faunas began glancing over the crowds of other faunas to no avail. Feeling his heart drop at the possibilities of having Risotto run amick unsupervised, Sun desperately began maneuvering throughout the streets in search of the 'goth clown'.

Known only to Risotto himself, the aforementioned jester had activated his stand ability to conceal his presence. To use it in such an inconspicuous manner whilst being surrounded by others was elementary to the stand master at this point. He had been able to easily erase his existence on a moment's notice in a pace quick enough to miss with a single blink of an eye. As such, this rather 'impressive' feat to most, had only been akin to breathing for the hardened hitman veteran.

Though he held no resentment or negative opinions on Sun, he felt it necessary to abandon the boy. Through his own charade of deceit, Risotto realized Wukong was after information over the White Fang as well. Despite this, he felt it unnecessary to accept a boy's help with the potentially dangerous reconnaissance. Still though, the assassin at least had the courtesy to place his scroll number in the boy's pocket in the off chance that Sun could prove useful to Risotto in some form or another.

Throughout that afternoon, Risotto had kept an ear open for any potential leads over the organization from the conversations of Menagerie's population. Though he never found the answers he required, he was able to piece together the 'Chief' of Menagerie was the former White Fang leader. Additionally, Risotto also overheard that the figurehead of the nation was currently residing in the palace shaped building he saw much earlier that day.

Comments made in passing were a source of information that many in Risotto's profession considered invaluable. Whether it was a group of friends making idle chatter to one another or an off handed comment made between two, people seldom realize just how much they let slip from their tongues in public. For example, Risotto overheard several teens chattering over their favored past time of reading. More specifically, their fondness for 'erotica'. While this general subject in particular did not help Risotto in the slightest, the almost missed remark of the Chief's daughter was briefly mentioned, likely for her notoriety of favoring a more risque genre of 'Erotica'. Even more specifically, the fact another comment of the daughter now aligning herself with the White Fang as a way to prove Menagerie's 'Allegiance' with the group.

What had started with a commonly shared interest for the group, eventually led to allowing Risotto potential black mail material. This indirect method was considered an overshadowed tactic to many but the lowest of men, Risotto being one of those men. True, it was an underhanded and very patience testing trial, but it still bore results, those results being the only thing Risotto cared about.

Now atop a tiled roof, Risotto expertly made his way toward his new destination. The gaps between each building were smaller than the ones from Italy, and so he had no issue with traversing above ground level. When it eventually came time for the man to return to the earth, he nonchalantly lept into an alleyway, hidden from sight or potential pedestrians

With his body still concealed and now on the very edges of the settlement's marketplace, Risotto had little to no issue with carrying on with his trek. The assassin stuck to the edges of the streets, effectively avoiding any potential collisions with the populace. Thankfully, he had little to worry about with the sounds of his footsteps, considering the streets were still bustling with idle chatter. As he went on his way however, the crowds of civilians gradually waned.

Eventually Risotto Nero would find the road that led to the makeshift town square. Just like before, the 'capital' of the city was built in the style of a palace, though much smaller. Fortunately for 'La Squadra's, this road was completely devoid of any and all faunas...for the time being at least. Once he was roughly within one hundred yards of the structure, he allowed his stand to deactivate, his body coming into view once more.

As he carried on with approaching the building, he reviewed his overheard information. This palace he was currently travelling towards had acted as both a living space for the Belladonna family, and the town hall. Additionally, it had apparently acted as the town square for any and all important announcements. The former White Fang leader Ghira, had a wife and daughter. The wife in particular was rumored to be her husband's number two during their brief time of leading the civil rights group. And as for the daughter...

Her name was apparently 'Blake'. As mentioned earlier, she had joined the White Fang out of good faith, possibly to add an emphasis on the groups original ideals and more peaceful methods. It was now common knowledge that the group were gradually increasing their aggressiveness though, causing tension between the nation and organization, not to mention humankind and faunas in general. The daughter was apparently caught directly in the middle of it all, rumored to not completely support the steady increase in violence while also believing that more must be done in order to achieve the equality the faunas collectively craved. In the same breath however, she had no qualms with brutally snuffing out human opposition, a trait she most likely received from her also rumored mentor 'Adam', an extremist in using violence and brute force to 'get the message across'.

Still though, this 'Blake' character disgusted Risotto. She had been born and raised in Menagerie, her parents being the leaders of the continent. Unlike many other faunas, it was unlikely this girl experienced the same oppression as her demi-humans. Despite that, she willingly chose to support and enlist into a group that actively engaged in creating international incidents, a far cry from what the group once stood for. This obviously made her a walking contradiction to Risotto. To him, she was horribly incomplete.

Risotto also felt disappointed in Blake's mother and father. They were the very leader of Menagerie, a nation dedicated to the faunas. For a country that only sought to live in peace, it was infuriating to the assassin that either of the two would allow their child to join a faction that only brought further disgrace in their already ill regarded species.

Even so, Risotto couldn't blame the group for their gradual change in behavior. The initial peaceful methods bore no results, seeing as how the demi-humans were still looked down on by their societies. Risotto himself also became more extreme in his own methods once faced in a similar predicament. With that being said, he did not fault the group for their actions but rather the purpose behind their actions.

His own struggle almost explicitly demanded and required violence. He was a hitman mafioso after all, violence and extremism were vital to maintain one's position, let alone their very livelihood. He was not fighting for any altruistic ideal or some righteous aspiration. Instead, he and his team were merely fighting for their due debts and Lire, nothing more and nothing less.

The faunas on the other hand, had been chasing after equality. If they were thought of to be nothing more than animals, they only proved their oppressors correct by acting like beasts. They had already fought a war for equality and as a direct result, The species were allowed citizenship, voting rights, etc. They had their rights and equality in the eyes of legality. 

They were instead now fighting for impossible goals. No matter how peaceful or violent they were, some humans would always belittle the species. Changing one's heart, let alone an entire racial group's, would be next to impossible. So long as free will remained, so too would the bigoted opinions of some. Many humans would continue to hate the faunas and vice versa.

Then again, Risotto let his thoughts drift too far. At this point, it was clear to him he was only internally rambling. He knew he cared little for the politics of the world. So long as he continued to earn his Lien, he would work for any paying client. These monologues of his were proof that being in this vague and still unfamiliar world were placing a toll on his mind.

But in truth, that was not the case. In reality, he did care. Remnant was his home now, so of course he held his own opinions, no matter how many times he insisted he only cared about money and money alone. 

Subconsciously, this world fascinated him. The countless mysteries, new customs, diverse peoples, and even the Grimm interested him. For some reason or another, he felt attached to it in a way that was long since forgotten. Though his facade never relented, he recently began feeling as if he was slowing becoming one with this new life of his. His team may be gone, this world just as unforgiving as Earth, and he may eventually be written off as a foiled villain by his true home country...

But Remnant was his home now. This was his second chance, a chance to improve on his past mistakes. It was a new opportunity, one that his child self could have never dreamed of... And Risotto was always known to never let any opportunity pass him by.

Shaking his head, he steeled himself for his unexpected visit to the chieftain's residence. With any luck, this sudden intrusion would not take long. Currently, he stood at the doors to the home. 

Using his stand, he was able to sense five separate bodies via the minute traces of iron in each body. With his 'scouting' done, he was able to discern two humans and three faunas. Admittedly, he felt his brow raise in curiosity...

One of those bodies was familiar...strangely familiar.

[END OF CHAPTER]

A/N TIME:

Tis I, LORD KIWI!!!!!

Let me know what you thought! Good? Bad? Eh

Any guesses on the familiar body? ;)

So just to clear a few things up since I feel like I need to be upfront with ya...

Work's been hectic. My schedule has had some pretty drastic increases in hours as well as getting stuck with the more taxing shifts. I haven't had the energy nor time to really update anything.

On top of this, I've also started a side project which has...well, taken up alot of my free time. Sorry for the late upload, I promise I didn't mean to take this long to update. With any luck, this won't be a permanent thing. 

I have no intention of dropping this story seeing as I have everything up to Volume 6 already planned out. On a side note...I'm thinking of re-doing the cover. Would that interest any of you?

Anyway, without a further ado...

[♤~Arrivederci, My Fellow Plague Doctors~♧]

[♡~"...You Are Already Complete..."~◇]