Bad Dream

They got out of the carriage and Yang saw a quaint little restaurant that bustled with life. It had outdoor seating which was comparatively rare in Vale, mainly due to the seasons. She looked at Blake but followed her inside. Blake spoke to the waitress and they were led to a back room where they were basically alone. Yang was glad because it was out of the public’s eye. “Would you like some water to start you off while you look at our tea selection?” The waitress smiled at them and Yang nodded. She had had water while working, but more wouldn’t be remiss. The waitress left and Yang looked at the menu, overwhelmed by the selection. There were dozens of types of tea and she didn’t know where to start. They hadn’t done the tasting buffet yet so she had no idea where her tastes lay. Blake started asking Yang some questions about what tastes she liked then offered a few suggestions on the menu. “Thanks, Blake.” She was at a complete loss for what to choose on her own. She was glad Blake was willing to have her back. “It’s really no problem.” Blake smiled at her and her ears twitched slightly. The waitress got their orders and left them alone. “So how was your day so far?” Yang looked up at her. It was a simple question just to get the conversation started. Yang sighed. “Not great.” The acolytes still looked at her as if she were the scum of the earth. She was glad Agam didn’t. “Will we be going back there after lunch?” She wasn’t averse to continuing despite how people treated her. She wanted to give people a positive interaction with humans. But it was still hard to be treated that way. “Actually, if you want, I can have you dropped off at the Verana chapel and you can go join the lessons there.” Yang blinked at that. She hadn’t been expecting it but she wasn’t against it either. She desperately missed learning the scriptures and songs. She would unfortunately never become clergy due to her current position, but she wouldn’t mind returning to her lessons. SHe frowned, though. “Will the chapel even allow it?” She remembered how the chaplain had practically barred her from entering the grounds. In the tradition, people were allowed to freely change chapels if they felt like their needs weren’t being met or something shifted in their life circumstances. But with the general anti-human sentiments, she wasn’t sure if she’d be allowed to join the other acolytes. “She has to under obligation fo the Book of Discipline, yes?” Again, Yang blinked at Blake’s words. She knew about that? There were so many sects in Vale, far too many to fully learn each one’s teachings. How had she gone that far into the teaching with as much as she had to learn?” I”ll remind her of that. And don’t forget royal pressure.” Blake clearly wasn’t afraid to throw her weight around which was both good and bad… “That’s true. Under no circumstances should an acolyte seeking training be revoked from any chapel. But still… Things are different here. I’m not sure if they keep in contact with the main body.” There were plenty of offshoots that had their own interpretation of things. They may not abide by the main Book of Discipline. They may have created their own version for Chiole. It might only reinforce their strong anti-human bias. She hoped not but there was no telling. “Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Blake took a sip of her water at which time the waitress dropped their tea orders off. “Would you like to try some of mine?” Blake held the teapot up and Yang nodded. Blake poured a bit into Yang’s mug and Yang blinked. “This is really good.” Honestly, she had never really delved into tea or tea making before. It was just as complex a world as coffee was. She had thought it was simple and ordinary, but no. This blend was incredibly different from what she and Blake had shared during their first tea time together. It had a natural fruitiness to it and a light, delicate flavor that couldn’t be rivaled. She still missed the heaviness of her coffee, but this wasn’t too bad on its own. She had a feeling she was going to enjoy exploring the world of tea. Blake smiled. “I ordered something I thought you would like too. I’ve never tried this particular blend, though, so I thought it’d be a good change of pace for me.” Oh. She hadn’t expected Blake to do that for her. And, as usual, she couldn’t really sense any ulterior motives. Blake had obviously been just as hesitant as Yang over this entire thing not too long ago. Now she was actively trying to help her. “Thanks.” What was hse supposed to say to this? She wanted this to work out if at all possible, so she was trying. She just didn’t know how to give back to Blake. Relationships that were healthy were all about give and take. She didn’t want to be taking from Blake all the time.But she didn’t know enough about Chiole or its culture to be able to give back. Even advanced aura users had to have a limit on how much they could give, right? Yang had often attached her own limits on giving at the chapel… “We’ll get there in time, Yang. Let yourself settle in first. You’ll get your time.” Yang sighed. Right. Aura reader. Her thoughts weren’t really her own once she was around people like Blake. She wished she could hide herself and not be such an open book. Was there anything she could do about it? Was there any way she could shield herself from them? “I just wish I could do more for you in return. It’s not fair if you give everything and I take it all. I want us to be equals.” Probably a bizarre sentiment from someone who had grown up around slaves. She simply hadn’t had time to absorb those mindsets like her father had. Maybe she had seen Faunus as lesser at one time, but she couldn’t remember. She simply couldn’t Faunus were no different than humans on the deepest levels. They still had a mind, body, and soul. How could anybody treat them as property? “Just be patient. We haven’t known each other thatlong yet. We’ll figure things out as we go. I think you’re expecting a bit too much too soon.” Yang sighed. Maybe she was. She was desperate to make this work because she’d be here the rest of her life. She didn’t want this to end up like her father and Raven. She had seen the tumult that caused her as a child. If they had children, she didn’t want their childhoods to end up broken like her own. “I’ll try.” She could see that arranged marriages could both work and be shattered. There was no real telling where her and Blake would end up. Yang was loyal probably to a fault. She loved people and and she loved them deeply. Seeing anybody suffer because of her own shortcomings was hard. She really didn’t want to see this fail because she’d taken too much and not given enough. “So what do you enjoy about being an acolyte?” The question got Yang to perk up a bit. “What made you choose Verana over other sects?” Those were probably good questions in Blake’s mind. It was obviously important to Yang with how much she talked about it. “Well, it’s more open that some other deity sects. Vale is relatively egalitarian, but a lot of divisions favor men. Some refuse women leadership positions such as chaplain, deacon, or other high positions. The highest they might be able to go is choir director.” She wasn’t too happy about those particular sects. Verana was one of the most open, egalitarian sects in the entirety of Vale. But she hoped Blake wouldn’t mind a few questions thrown her way. “Do you worship anybody in particular?” Blake took a sip of her tea. “I follow the High Mother. She’s the most common figure Faunus follow. Have you heard of her?” Yang shook her head. She had Faunus friends but they rarely talked religion. That and most of those friends were through her chapel. They all believed the same thing. “From what I understand, the High Mother is worshiped all around the world but in many different incarnations. For Chiole, she’s the primary deity. She watches over her children and is generally very kind but she will attack if they harmed.” “Interesting.” She had never heard of the High Mother before this. She would definitely have to talk to Blake to see what else she could learn. If she was supposed to take over Chiole, understanding the religious beliefs of people would be important. She wasn’t about to try to make everyone bow to Verana and her own beliefs. That would only reinforce what the Faunus thought about humans… She didn’t want that. “To me, the reverse is true. Seeing people believe outside the High Mother is interesting despite all the different incarnations she has here in Chiole. Granted, we don’t really care what you believe as long as you respect what others do.” Yang nodded. “I’m not the type to force my religious beliefs on others.” The chapel of Verana was all about respect and not being pushing. She liked to respect others when and where she could. Being pushy wasn’t something in her nature unless somebody wasn’t taking care of themselves. If they weren’t doing that, then she would be pushy. But outside of that, she really didn’t care what people did… Vale could be a strange place. Though something was bothering her… “Honestly, I think I’d like to focus on learning the language faster.” It bothered her that she couldn’t communicate with the people that she would someday rule. She didn’t want to take months to learn the language. She could tell it was going to be hard due to the tones and there was no telling what the grammar would be like. SHe just wanted to learn the language quicker. Blake tapped her chin. “Well, you can’t have Elana all day. She needs to teach my younger siblings Valian too. Maybe we should head back to the castle after this and see her availability. Does that sound okay?” Yang nodded, though she didn’t know who Elana was. She wanted to spend a few hours learning each day if at all possible. Maybe she could spend the morning out with Blake or at acolyte lessons, then spend a couple hours in the afternoon learning Chilese. She really didn’t want to leave the Chilese people hanging. Relying on translators was annoying but it was all she could do now. “So what are some teachings you have about the High Mother?” That little detour was over in her mind so why not get back to the main conversation at hand? She was curious about the beliefs of the Chilese people had. Of course, no religion was a monolith. Even Verana had splinter groups and squabbles over doctrine along with interpretations. She simply wanted to know what Blake believed. “Well, there are many interpretations of the High Mother as I said. There are a lot of denominations here in Chiole. There are kind of three main interpretations of her though. The first is the peaceful interpretation which says she’s entirely peaceful. Then there’s the mid-ground which my mother and I follow… Then there’s the extreme end.” Blake exhaled audibly. She clearly wasn’t happy about it. “Some people believe that believe that she exists only to take down all opponents that hurt her children.” Yang could see how that would be…problematic. That wasn’t a good line of belief to take and how it could cause issues especially if a ruler followed that particular line of logic. Blake sipped her tea. “Thankfully, we haven’t had a leader follow that particular line for centuries. My father is at the peaceful end of the spectrum.” “That’s good then.” Ghira still hadn’t really said anything to her yet. HE was incredibly imposing with his brick wall of muscle. But it seemed he simply deferred most if not all discussions to his wife. Kali did seem to be quite good with people though. Even if her entire smiley bit was off putting to Yang. But her grandmother did act much the same way on reflection. “I’m much closer to my mother so I took after her. She’s a good woman but I can understand why she follows the High Mother the way she does. She is a fierce fighter and heaven help you should you hurt her children.” Yang stiffened a bit. Blake obviously caught it and shook her head. “You’ll be fine, Yang. We’re trying to figure this out and hurting each other is basically inevitable. I mean it if there’s malice behind the actions.” Yang nodded a bit. “I really didn’t like hurting people and I have no intents to hurt you on purpose.” They were two cultures and lives colliding in unexpected ways. Yang wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. She wantedthings to work out between her and Blake. She was trying her absolute best but they were both flawed beings. Hurting each other was practically inevitable especially with Yang not understanding anything about Chiole. It was then that the door opened and their lunch arrived. The waitress left quickly so they were alone again. “Well, like I said, it’s probably kind of inevitable. We’re strangers to each other and are from vastly different cultures. As long as you aren’t tryingto hurt me, my mother will understand.” Yang nodded a bit and turned to focus on her food. The rest of lunch was quiet and they found their way back to the castle. For Yang, it was more like a manor since it was so much smaller. Blake led her to the library where a woman with beautiful teal wings and hair was teaching Lilou. “Elana, can we have a moment?” Blake asked. The woman glanced at Yang nervously but nodded. They stepped out of the library. The woman looked very flighty. She looked outright afraidof Yang which was a strange change of pace for her. “Elana, we were wondering what your schedule was…” With that done, Blake slipped in to Chilese for the conversation. It left Yang completely in the dark to what was going on. They talked for a while until Blake nodded and glanced at Yang. “Okay, Yang, she said she’ll change her schedule around. She’ll focus on my siblings in the morning before tea time then you in the afternoons for a couple of hours. Does that sound good?” Yang nodded. “Sounds good to me.” She smiled at the woman who excused herself. Yang frowned. “What’s her deal?” That was a much different reaction than the other Chilese people. That wasn’t hatred; it was bonafide fear. She looked ready to flee. She could practically sense the anxiety rolling off the woman when she’d been out there. Blake frowned. “She was captured to be a slave in Mantle some years ago on a raid. She was there for five years and underwent harsh treatment. Even to the point of her wing feathers were clipped. Since then, she’s become shy of humans.” Yang frowned at that and nodded. It made perfect sense. Her main experience with humans was nothing but harshness and abuse. Still… She wasn’t one of the perpetrators. But it wasn’t like simple words would soother those wounds. “I guess I’ll go back to my room for now.” Honestly, she was tired. She needed people but the racism was tiring. She wanted a nap. Plus, the hours of hard labor the tropical sun had worn her out. Blake led her back to the family wing and her room. Yang saw Raven inside but said nothing. She curled up on the mattress and passed out.