Pearls on a String

Volume 3

Chapter 29: Changes

Downtown Mistral

Beryl walked hand-in-hand with her girlfriend, staring about the town of Mistral with her light bronze eyes wide open in wonder. She knew she was acting like an obvious tourist, but it was difficult not to do so.

The first thing that really struck the blue-haired girl was the vastly different weather there. She'd lived in Vale all her life, and had grown accustomed to fairly cool seasons with an oftentimes brutal winter. Vacuo, where they'd stayed for a couple of months during the Vytal Festival, was mostly dry and hot, with some variance depending on where they'd roamed. Even Atlas, though it had been a brief visit, was mostly just cold, though she knew the winters there could get even more ferocious than in Vale.

Mistral, now, felt like she was walking through water. Even with the four of them clad in shorts and tank tops, or in her case her usual baggy tee shirt and a pair of leggings, they were damp and sweating from the combination of heat and humidity.

"Oum, Lustre," she sighed disconsolately. "How did you ever survive here?"

The silver-haired girl glanced back, her light blue eyes twinkling. "Why do you think I wished to attend Beacon instead of Haven?"

"Smart girl," Evie moaned, her tail dragging and Faunus ears flat against her head. "I feel like I just walked out of a shower. It's nasty." She lifted up her ponytail to allow what little breeze there was to cool off the back of her neck.

"I like the town, though," Pip mused thoughtfully from where she strode at the head of the small group. "I mean, it's not like Vale or Vacuo, that's for sure."

Beryl was forced to nod in agreement, glancing around at the towering buildings. It was all very modern-looking, a vast difference from the adobe residences on the outskirts of the town. Of course, these very tall steel and concrete buildings tended to mostly block any potential breeze, so that was a bit of a detriment. She also noted that there were far fewer windows that she would expect, much as Lustre's house was.

She sighed once more, pulling at her tee shirt to allow some air to circulate. I wonder if I will ever stop sweating… Maybe we should go into a shop for a bit, everyone could cool off… Her eyes narrowed as she picked up on something she hadn't noticed before.

"Pip," she began conversationally. "Why are you the only one not sweating?"

"Oh, uhhh…" The blonde stopped and faced her inquisitive friends, touching the tips of her index fingers together abashedly. "Sooo, yeah, my immunity to fire kinda sorta carries over to hot weather as well… Who knew, right?"

Evie shot her partner a dark look. "You suck," she growled, brushing past her with Beryl still in hand, her tail flicking irritably behind her.

"Oh, come on, it's not like I can help it!"

"Yeah, you still suck."

Pip grinned, sidling up to the damp Faunus and draping an arm around her shoulder. "Aww, come on kitty cat, you know you love me…"

"And I'm gonna remove that arm at the shoulder if it doesn't move."

"Yeah, good idea, you're all sweaty and stuff…"

Beryl was quick to move to the other side of her increasingly irate girlfriend, imposing herself in between the two partners to prevent bloodshed. "Okay, so here's an idea, how about we do a little shopping? Get out of the heat for awhile?"

"That is an excellent notion," their silver-haired teammate proclaimed, gesturing for them to cross the street at the next intersection. "There is a mall one block away, it should be much cooler at the least."

They walked along for a bit more, generally still gawking about while weaving through the other pedestrians. By now, though, Beryl had stopped gazing at the architecture and was beginning to take some note of the Mistralians themselves.

Most were dressed in loose, flowing clothes. Universally, though, they were in lighter colors. And they all seemed to move at a much more sedate pace than those from the other kingdoms.

There seemed to be a predominance of younger people the closer they got to the mall, many of them in rather skimpy clothing. A pair of Faunus boys walked past, the both of them shirtless, though the Wolf one had on white shorts while the other, some sort of bird from what Beryl could tell by the plumed hair, wore baggy tan pants.

"Maybe we should do as the Mistralians do," Evie joked quietly, giving the blue-haired girl a nudge. "Less clothing would make us cooler, wouldn't it?"

Beryl blushed brightly. "So not worth it," she muttered, quailing at the thought of her knobby knees or decidedly un-feminine bodily features placed on display for all of Remnant to see.

With her head downcast, trying to keep images of public humiliation from her mind, she wasn't able to watch where she was walking, and slammed into the back of a person.

"Oh, uh, sorry," she mumbled, backing away.

The tall, broad-shouldered youth turned with a sneer. "Watch where you're going, pint-size."

"Hey, she said she was sorry," Evie bristled, her Faunus ears upright and tail swishing behind her.

"Did I ask you, bitch?" the brown-haired boy inquired roughly. As he placed his hands on his hips, his five companions spread out behind him, all cut from much the same mold as their burly friend. "Maybe you need to be given a lesson, huh? This is our neighborhood, and we don't take kindly to freaks like yourselves."

"Freaks?" Beryl sputtered, crossing her arms and standing in front of Evie. She glared up at the boy, at least a good head and a half taller than her. "You calling my girlfriend a freak?"

"No, idiot, I called the both of you freaks," he smirked in reply.

"Oh, well okay then," Beryl suddenly smiled. "Just checking."

He blinked his eyes down at her, perplexed. "Huh?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to give my teammates time to flank you." Now it was Beryl's turn to smirk. "Ready, Pip?"

"Anytime you are, babe," the blonde's cheerful laugh came from somewhere behind the towering mass of muscled bodies.

The leader of the group of burly toughs snarled wordlessly and reached out with his hand to clutch at the front of Beryl's shirt. She twisted deftly, grabbing hold of his thumb and bending it back at a painful angle. He let out a howl of pain as she kept the pressure up until a wet snap indicated it'd been broken.

At that, the fight was truly on.

Admittedly, it wasn't much of a challenge. None of the boys had Academy training, nor were their auras all that powerful. Even outnumbered and outmuscled, the four girls handedly put the six boys down, leaving them groaning on the pavement and clutching their various wounds.

"Right, now I smell like a gym," Evie complained lightly. "This is not the kind of weather I want to fight in."

"Honestly, not every day is this bad," Lustre protested as they resumed their walk.

"You sure?" Pip asked skeptically. "'Cause it hasn't changed since we got here."

"Pip, you have been here for only three days."

"Oh, well, yeah, I suppose."

They finally reached the wide revolving doors and entered the mall, each one breathing in a relieved waft of cool air.

"Ahhh," Evie sighed contentedly. "Now this is a place I could spend all day in."

"Doesn't hurt that it's filled with shops, right, kitty cat?" Beryl smirked.

"Well… let's just call that a fringe benefit," Evie giggled. "So, where to first?"

"First," Pip declared, reading the overhead signs, "we get some food. I'm starving."

Her announcement was met by a chorus of eager affirmations, then the four friends headed towards where the food court was situated. Evie made a beeline for a shop selling seafood, while Pip and Beryl picked out a stall with simple burgers. Lustre, meanwhile, bolted for one particular newly-opened shop that proclaimed itself to serve the spiciest food in all of Mistral. She was murmuring excitedly about proving them wrong in their assumptions as she headed that way.

"Hey, um, Pip?" the blue-haired girl spoke up as they waited in line.

"What's up, babe?"

"After lunch, would you mind… helping me with something? I mean…" She coughed lightly into her fist. "Can you help me shop for some things?"

The blonde grinned down at her teammate. "You betcha."

The four of them settled around a free table that they'd managed to grab, though it took Evie staring down a rather persistent purple-haired girl who gave in once the rest of the team arrived. The three of them stared at Lustre's plate, on which was perched a rather unholy-looking creation.

"Lustre," the blue-haired girl intoned to her partner. "What in the name of Oum is that?"

"This," she proclaimed proudly, "is an enchilada."

"Um… is it actually moving on its own?" Evie inquired hesitantly.

"No, dear, that is just your imagination."

"Seriously, Lustre, I think I saw it move… at the very least it's bubbling and frothing and… uh, I think the plate might be melting a little, too?"

"Not to worry, they gave me an extra plate under it."

Pip leaned over to peer at the culinary abomination more closely, but quickly recoiled. "Ugh, I think the fumes just burned my eyebrows off."

"Do not be such a baby," Lustre sighed. "Besides, does not your new immunity extend to your hair?"

"Well, yeah, but if I didn't have it they'd be scorched for sure."

"Such comedians. Very well." With that, Lustre used her steel fork to cut a piece off. The others could have sworn the metal utensil seemed to sag slightly, but when the dark-skinned girl placed it in her mouth, her eyes suddenly flew open wide.

"Um, you okay, babe?" Pip asked in concern.

The silver-haired girl held up and hand as she swallowed, then took a quick drink from her water.

"Oh, my," she breathed. "I shall have to remember this location."

"Are you… Are those tears?" Beryl gaped.

"Indeed. This is perhaps the spiciest food I have ever experienced." Lustre smiled widely, clearly in food nirvana.

Evie chuckled as she dug into her seafood salad. "Well, at least you can die a happy woman, now."

They finished off their meals quickly enough, clearing their table afterwards and trying very hard not to dwell upon the charred surface where Lustre's plate had rested. Once their trash was disposed of, they faced each other by the escalator.

"So, where to next?" Evie inquired cheerfully.

"Actually…" Beryl moved closer to her girlfriend, giving her a tight hug around the waist. "I'm gonna… go with Pip. And shop. Um, for… stuff. Okay?"

The Cat Faunus grinned down at the nervous girl. "Sure thing, sweetie." She bent over and placed a tender, warm kiss on the blue-haired girl's lips. "You two have fun, then!"

Exchanging cheerful goodbyes, the team split into two pairs. Lustre and Evie headed up the escalator, the silver-haired girl taking the lead.

"Got anywhere in mind?" Evie asked curiously.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind visiting the bookstore here?" Lustre replied somewhat shyly. "It used to be my favorite hangout. They all knew my name."

"Our little book nerd," the raven-haired girl sighed affectionately, wrapping her arm around the other's shoulder. "Some have bars where everyone knows their name, you have bookstores."

"I had a very adequate childhood," Lustre protested. "I… did not need that many friends. Books were perfectly acceptable substitutes."

"Yes, sweetie," Evie giggled as they entered the store.

Sure enough, happy cries of "Lustre!" resounded throughout the bookseller, greeting the silver-haired Mistralian native like a minor celebrity returned home.

Which, Evie supposed, she actually was.

o o o

At the other end of the mall, things were going far more… contentiously.

"No, Pip," Beryl growled.

The rangy blonde sighed, trying very hard to keep her frustration in check. "Okay, look. You've shot down all my suggestions so far. What exactly do you want here, babe?"

"I don't really know!" the diminutive girl exclaimed, throwing her hands up and narrowly avoiding knocking over a display. "I just… I want something different, but still me!"

"Right." Pip sighed, bracing herself for the inevitable escalation of conflict. "I know you don't want to hear this… but what you wear now is for little girls."

"That's because I have the body of a Dust-damned twelve-year-old," Beryl growled yet again.

Must be taking lessons from Evie on how to growl effectively, Pip mused absentmindedly.

"But, babe, they do make lingerie in your size!"

"But all you've been showing me, well… shows off too much of me!"

Pip pinched the bridge of her nose, suppressing the urge to both scream and giggle hysterically.

She looked up as she felt a pair of small but strong arms encircle her waist.

"I'm sorry," Beryl muttered, her face downcast. "I'm being a pain in the ass, I know. And I asked you to help me, I shouldn't be so… Ugh."

"No worries," the blonde replied affectionately, returning the hug. "We'll get you sorted here. So, nothing as skimpy as I've been showing you, I guess I was thinking too much of what I like and not… Oh, hey, there's an idea…"

Beryl pulled back, her face alight with curiosity. "What's that?"

Suddenly inspired, Pip grabbed the smaller girl by the hand and dragged her through the lingerie store, her head on a swivel as she searched for…

"There!" she said with an exultant cry.

They ended up in a corner seemingly dedicated to those preferring a more tomboy look. Less lace, but undeniably feminine.

"Oh, wow," Beryl murmured. "Yeah, okay, maybe some of this stuff…"

Pip nodded determinedly. "Okay, let's pick some stuff out and try them on."

"What?" the blue-haired girl squeaked. "T- Try them on? No, oh no, that's not necessary…"

"Yes, it is," she maintained firmly. "You can't but something like this without trying it on first, all the sizes differ by manufacturer so you can't even go by that."

"Pip…"

"Woman up, babe," the blonde snickered, pulling items off of the shelf and flinging them at her teammate.

"Fine," Beryl grumbled, catching each item sent her way and furiously blushing all the while.

o o o

"Well, that was entertaining," Evie giggled as the pair left the bookstore.

"Indeed," Lustre smiled softly. "It was nice to see them all again."

"And you said you had no friends…"

"Well, I suppose I might consider some of them friends."

The Cat Faunus bumped shoulders with her friend. "So, what was that other conversation about, something with one of their siblings?"

"Oh, yes, that was regarding his older brother, a Hunter by the name of Cye. He graduated from Haven a few years ago." Lustre shot the raven-haired girl a grin. "I was merely confirming where the Hunters in Mistral prefer to, er, 'hang out' when in town."

"Mmm, nice," Evie replied, returning the grin. "So we'll go hit there tonight or tomorrow with Pip, try and get info on her mom?"

"That is the idea, yes. Though I would prefer to go tomorrow as my parents are cooking for us tonight."

"Oh, that's very sweet of them… Wait." Evie glanced aside at her friend. "Do they know we can't handle the same sort of spices you do?"

"I have informed them of such." Lustre pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Of course, their regular Mistralian fare has likely more spice in it than you are all used to…"

"Yeah, thought as much." Evie gave a little shudder and steered the pair of them over towards a drug store. "We're stocking up on antacids."

"Lightweights," Lustre sighed affectionately.

o o o

"I don't know about this, Pip," Beryl's voice came from behind the curtain.

"Lemme be the judge of that, okay? Come on, nobody's out here."

"And as soon as I open the curtain, someone will be."

The blonde chuckled to herself ruefully. At least I got her to try some on, that's something… First Lustre, now Beryl… Her chuckle turned into a giggle as she bounced in her seat, happy to be able to lend those she loved some of her appreciation for fashion.

Pip knew she was a bit of a juxtaposition. Here she was, a kickass huntress-in-training who was about as poor as they came, mostly surviving on government grants and the odd bounty for killing Grimm outside of school activities. She wasn't able to afford much, but she knew what she liked, and she knew what worked. There were a few select items she'd managed to garner over the years, though usually without the opportunity to show them off.

She sobered suddenly, thinking about one particular set of lingerie she'd bought with Rufus in mind. She hadn't bothered packing it, and left it boxed up back at Beacon.

Don't dwell on that now, I'm here to help Beryl.

Giving herself a quick shake, Pip leapt to her feet and strode over to the curtained stall. "Alright then, if you don't want to come out, I'll come in."

"What?" Beryl's panicked squawk echoed throughout the changing area. "No! I mean… I'm almost naked in here!"

"Babe… You know I don't care, right? I got no interest whatsoever in girls." She tried to keep her voice calm and level. Reassuring. "Think of it as your sister helping you out. Family, right?"

There was a rather lengthy moment of silence before Beryl's resigned sigh came through. "Okay, fine."

Steeling her face into neutrality, Pip quickly slipped inside.

Beryl stood at the far end, her arms wrapped around her waist in consternation. The set she'd tried on was a brilliant cobalt blue, one that matched her hair nicely. There was absolutely no lace to be found, instead just a solid satiny texture that covered but left enough visible to tease the imagination.

"Well, I think it looks amazing," Pip murmured with a soft smile. "Here, turn around."

Her eyes closed, Beryl complied. The briefs were cut high on her waist, but still covered her enough.

"You know, you really do sell yourself short a lot of the time," the blonde stated thoughtfully. "I mean, you are really, really toned, babe."

"I… I am?"

"Seriously. I mean, I get you don't like not having curves, but what you do have? You can make it work."

Beryl let out an irritated huff of air. "But what about these knobby knees, and my shoulders, and-"

"Nope, not as bad as you think, really. And besides, you ever hear Evie complain?"

Pip waited patiently while her friend chewed on her bottom lip. "No," she eventually admitted quietly.

"Right. Look, I know for a fact she's head over heels for you, all of you." The blonde reached out and tipped Beryl's face up so that she could see the sincerity in her coral eyes. "You have nothing to worry about. If you wear that pair, she will be stunned. Guaranteed."

"Yeah?" she asked, her light bronze eyes hopeful.

"Oh, yeah." Pip gave her a wink. "You try on the pajamas yet?"

"No…"

"Okay, give those a try, I really wanna see how they look, and the other stuff as well."

With a final grin, Pip slipped back outside and resumed her perch on the cushioned chair.

"Oh, hey, I meant to ask you," the blonde interjected after a moment. "What kind of budget do you have?"

"Ah, well, about that… I kinda let my mom know I wanted to, um… upgrade my clothes. Did that before we left Beacon. I swear to Oum, Pip, her squealing almost broke my eardrums…" Beryl's voice was momentarily muffled as she slipped something over her head. "Anyways, she went a little nuts putting lien in my account. So we're good."

"Wow, nice," Pip chuckled. "Did you mention it was with your girlfriend in mind?"

"Yeah, I think that's why she went a little nuts… made me promise to bring her by before the summer ends…"

The blonde nodded, her smile turning somewhat pensive. "You know… I really do appreciate you guys putting your entire summer on hold for me. I hope we figure things out quickly enough so you can still go home."

The curtain rustled as Beryl poked her blue-maned head out. "Even if we don't, it's fine, Pip. You know this isn't a big deal, we're more than happy to help, no matter how long it takes."

Pip gave her a wide smile. "Thanks, babe," she whispered.

"That's what family is for," she smirked in reply. "Okay, so… You wanna see?"

"Absolutely," Pip declared, jumping back up and slipping inside once more.

The outfit she'd found was in a chocolate brown, which was one of Beryl's favorite colors to wear. Unlike her previous baggy pajamas, this set consisted of a form-fitting tank top that left a little bit of her midriff bare, along with a pair of boy shorts that hugged her nicely.

"Damn," Pip chuckled. "Swear to Oum, Evie's gonna owe me big-time…"

"Does it really look okay?" the blue-haired girl asked, turning in place while she looked at herself in the mirror. "I mean… it's really hugging my backside. Not that I really have one…"

"That's the thing, though, it's making you look like you got hella ass back there."

"Really, Pip?"

"Hey, I call 'em as I see 'em."

"Please stop looking at my ass."

The blonde giggled merrily. "Betcha won't be telling Evie that…"

"Pip…" Beryl growled warningly.

"Okay, okay!" Pip laughed, backing out of the changing room. "Definitely add that to the 'buy' pile. I'll go look for some more in that size, you got any color preference?"

"Ummm… How about a dark blue and a black, maybe a white… I dunno, you know what colors look good on me."

"I'm on it!" she called out over her shoulder as she skipped away.

Best. Shopping trip. Ever.

She could hardly think of a better way to spend a day than doing something like this for Beryl, helping the socially-anxious girl break out of her shell a little more and bring her closer to her own partner.

In any case, it certainly pushed aside any pangs of loss that might crop up from missing Rufus.

o o o

Once the four girls converged together again, they exited the mall, chatting happily about their experience so far, though both Beryl and Pip kept quiet about where they'd been. As they walked down the street, they failed to notice a slim, unassuming man who trailed in their wake, talking quietly into a hands-free unit connected to his scroll.

"Looks like they're heading back to the one girl's house now," he murmured

"Any direct contact?"

"No, none."

The voice over his headset sighed irritably. "This is just too coincidental… Huntresses of their caliber showing up, beating the crap outta some of our boys, and then shopping without a care in the world…"

"You want for me to keep on 'em?"

"No, I'll send Marko over to stake the house out. Come back when he relieves you, then you tail 'em tomorrow, see what they're looking into…"

"You got it, boss."

After the connection ended, the man on the other end of the call sat back in his chair, tapping his scarred fingers on his desk thoughtfully.

"And if you little girls think you can mess with my operation… Well, then, we can give you a nice, big, Mistralian send-off… permanently…"

A/N: Work it Beryl, work it… So the Scaredy Cat ship is still sailing strong. Things are sure to heat up a little more over the summer break. Not so much development with Pip's mom just yet, but things will get a little more interesting next chapter. Along with these new players, there to throw a curveball into their plans.

Just as an aside, I had a hell of a time writing this chapter. I hope it doesn't come off as disjointed as it felt to write, I just couldn't seem to organize myself in putting it together, nothing seemed to flow right for me, until finally I got them separated and off towards their individual stores. Weird. Well, it's done now, and hopefully the next chapter will flow more smoothly. Honestly, I was thinking I'd have to wait another week to put this out, as much trouble as it was giving me.

DustGremlin: I'll see what I can do for world-building in Mistral. I don't expect them to get too far outside the city anytime soon, so no swamps or the like just yet.

Martin Hooper1: It never goes smooth… ;-)

allie300093: I'm so happy you're happy! Yay! Your enthusiasm is definitely contagious, it made me get right back into writing this chapter!

Stay shiny!