Trigger warning: Dark themes, including slavery, abuse, and racism. If you're sensitive to any of these themes, I would strongly recommend you read something else. Basically, read it at your own risk.

I was reading this novel, set at the time of the Slave Trade, and it involved a slave owner getting romantically involved with one of his female slaves, and yeah, that's basically what inspired to me to write this. And seeing how I love Bumblebee, I thought, 'why the heck not?' The book's called 'Sally Hemmings' by the way.

Most of my fics have been pretty lighthearted, so this is gonna be a change to my normal writing style, so bear with me.

A little bit of background: The Faunus lose the Human-Faunus war, because they were unsuccessful in breaking out of Menagerie, leading to the enslavement of Faunus as a punishment. Therefore, the White Fang doesn't exist.

The van came to a sudden stop, and this woke Blake from her troubled sleep. The confined space she was in was completely dark, so she had no idea whether it was day or night, or how long she had been travelling. She heard the driver of the van open the driver door. Blake slowly lifted her back off the floor of the van, and smoothed out her clothes, not that they were that tidy anyway. She wore black trousers that were covered in dirt and a black shirt that had been ripped in several places. She had another pair of identical clothing in her small bag, but that pair was much worse off than the ones she was currently wearing.

The door of the van suddenly opened, and the first thing Blake saw was the cracked moon of Remnant in the night sky. That view was quickly forgotten as she got roughly yanked out of the van by the driver. Blake had to use lightning quick reflexes to avoid getting a face-full of gravel, as she put her hands out in front of her in time.

"Get up, stupid animal," growled the driver.

Blake wordlessly got up, knowing through experience it was costly if you didn't obey a human order.

The cat Faunus was shoved into the driveway of a house. She looked up to examine it. It wasn't overly large, but it still looked comfortable.

Not that Blake would ever feel that. She would probably be sent to sleep on the floor or something degrading like that, just like every other time.

She felt the driver barge past her, knocking her in the shoulder with his. She stumbled forwards and almost fell over, but she managed to keep her balance to avoid the humiliation. Although that feeling wouldn't have been new to Blake, considering she was a slave and all that.

The driver knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, there was clicks of locks and the door opened. In the entrance stood a tall girl, with long, and slightly messy, blonde hair, and lilac eyes.

Blake had been told nothing about her new slave owner, so this was all totally new for her, and she eyed the blonde up.

"Hey Yang, here's the filth you asked for," said the driver.

"Thanks Cardin," said Blake's owner, now known as Yang.

Her answer was pretty blunt, Blake noticed, and when Cardin had called her 'filth', she noticed that Yang had bristled slightly.

But of course, Blake had probably just imagined it. Why would anyone feel sorry for a worthless Faunus such as herself?

"I don't know why you wanted this one, she can hardly-"

"Whatever Cardin," said Yang bluntly. "Are you done?"

The tall man shrugged his shoulders, unfazed. "Yeah, whatever."

And with that he walked away, not before barging past Blake again, who was too slow to get out of Cardin's way.

"Disgusting…"

Blake swore she could have heard her new owner saying that, but she attributed it to wishful thinking.

"Follow me."

Blake obeyed the blonde immediately, not wishing to be punished. She stepped inside the house, and found that the door led directly into the kitchen. It was a rather small space, but Blake didn't pay much attention to it, and she continued to follow Yang through another door. Right in front of her was the living room by the looks of it, and to her right, there was a staircase.

Yang started up the staircase, before looking behind herself to check if Blake was still following. Satisfied that she was, the blonde turned back round.

They made it up the stairs, before Yang came to a stop at the second door on the left.

"Well, this is where you're gonna sleep," declared Yang cheerfully.

Blake was surprised. Her own room? It was upstairs too, not in a basement.

"-gonna come in Blake?"

The cat Faunus was snapped out of her daze, and she hastily stepped inside, ignoring the strange look that Yang gave her. The blonde had actually called her by her name as well, which surprised her, as her previous owners had referred to her as 'You' or 'Animal'.

Amber eyes examined the room that she was going to be residing in. She was even more surprised than she was to find that the floor had a carpet, and there was actually a bed too. There was also a wardrobe, although Blake had no idea how she would fill it. There was a small desk, in the corner of the room, and right in front of it was a window, which currently had the curtains drawn.

All in all, Blake was in awe. She turned to Yang, forgetting about speaking when not spoken too, and uttered her first words since coming.

"Are you sure this is the right room?"

Yang made a snorting noise. "Yeah, of course I'm sure, why?"

A lack of a rebuke probably meant it was safe to reply.

"I just… Shouldn't I be sleeping on the floor of a basement or something?"

"Why, do you want to?" asked the blonde with an amused grin.

"Well, no, it's just that's where all my other masters made me sleep…"

Blake saw the grin wiped off Yang's face. She wondered if she had done anything wrong, and instinctively started backing off slightly.

"Well, you're sleeping in here while you stay with me," said the blonde, seriously. Then a smile came over her face. "So yeah, make yourself comfortable, and get some rest!"

Blake nodded, unable to return the smile, but she was grateful at her owner's kindness.

Then, another thought struck her. Maybe it was just a ruse though, and Yang was just trying to lull her into a sense of security. But from their interaction so far, Yang didn't seem like a person capable of doing such a thing. Then again, Blake knew by now that nothing was what it seems, in this twisted world.

"Aren't you afraid I'll dirty your room?" asked Blake.

Yang's smile turned into a frown. "Not really, it is your room after all."

'It's not really my room though, it belongs to you,' thought Blake to herself.

"But if you're really that bothered, the shower is in the bathroom to the right of you."

A shower? This night was just full of surprises for Blake. She hadn't had a shower for God knows how long.

"Please don't be reserved about using it either," added Yang. Then, another grin spread on her face. "But make sure you get in there before Ruby, she takes forever in the shower."

Blake nodded again, and she allowed herself a tiny smile.

"Oh yeah, Ruby's my sister, well half-sister, by the way," said Yang with a smile. She then started to turn towards the door. "Make yourself comfortable!"

"Thank you mistress," said Blake, saying it rather than the blonde's actual name out of habit.

The smile was again wiped off Yang's face, and Blake was scared she had done something wrong. Once again, she braced herself for whatever abuse was about to be hurled her way.

Instead, she heard Yang say softly: "Please, call me Yang…"

And with that, the blonde walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Blake sat down on the bed with a sigh. It had been a long time since she had slept in one these. She lied down on the soft, comfy material, and fell asleep almost instantly.

"Come on you dumb animal!"

Blake had to hold back tears as verbal abuse was hurled at her.

The humans were forcing all of the Faunus into one small city called Menagerie. Blake had been separated from her parents, and now she was being pushed and shoved forward, while having abuse shouted at her from all around her. Blake was only nine years old at the time, and she had never felt so alone before…

"Pathetic!"

Blake cried out as she was shoved to the ground. She scraped her bare knee against the tarmac. The pain was almost unbearable. To further add to her suffering, she felt a rock hit her shoulder, and another scraped past her arm.

Blake didn't understand why. She was a little kid. Why were they hurting a little kid? You weren't meant to hurt children. So why were these people hurting her? A third rock hit her in the side and ripped a hole in her shirt. Blake cried out in pain once again as she felt blood trickle out of the hole in her shirt.

Suddenly, she sensed someone's presence over her, and she braced herself for the worst. However, she didn't feel any pain, and she looked up. In front of her, there was a Faunus boy, similar to her age. He sported two horns on his head, and had crimson red hair.

"Are you okay?"

Blake shook her head, with tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. "W-why are they doing this?"

"Because they're very mean people, and they seem to hate all the Faunus…" said the horned Faunus. "My name's Adam by the way."

He held out his hand to Blake, with the cat Faunus gratefully taking the arm as she was pulled up. "My name's Blake."

"That's a nice name," said Adam, smiling in an attempt to reassure Blake.

Blake smiled back, but it was quickly wiped off her face as the abuse started to come again. Badly thrown stones whizzed past them. Soon, another one hit Blake, and she saw Adam look round at the thrower angrily. He stormed off to confront the human, and threw a punch, but a nine year old against a grown man was going to be a one-sided fight.

Blake almost screamed as Adam was picked up by his neck, and flung against the floor. Several more humans converged on the young Faunus. Blake had seen enough, and she took the opportunity to run. And she ran, and ran, and ran, until she was far into the city.

But she would never forget Adam, and what he did to stick up for her. She wouldn't forget… Ever.

Blake slowly rose from her slumber the next morning, before glancing at the clock.

It read eight o'clock.

Blake shot up, realising that she had slept for way too long. She jumped out of the bed, and rushed to the door, and was about to open it, but then she found it opened from the other side, and she was met with the sight of her owner, still dressed in pajamas.

"Ah Blake, you're awake, good morning!" said the busty blonde cheerfully.

Blake was sure that Yang would be absolutely furious with her for sleeping in, but it obviously didn't seem the case. There was no hidden hostility behind Yang's greeting, so Blake assumed she was safe from a beating. But it didn't make sense. With Cardin, if she had got up past six o'clock, he would have beaten her. Still, Blake thought it would be polite to apologise.

"Sorry for oversleeping, I'll get to work straight away," said Blake, not meeting Yang in the eye. "What would you like me to do?"

"Well firstly," began Yang with a frown. "I'd like you to calm down, and secondly, I'd like you to come down and join me for breakfast."

Blake stared at Yang in disbelief.

Yang frowned. "What?"

"Why are you inviting me to eat with you? If it were any of my other owners, I wouldn't even get breakfast half the time, let alone eating it with them."

"Well, I'm not like your other owners," said Yang, frown deepening.

"But you're all humans!" said Blake, unable to stop her outburst. "You're meant to despise us and treat us like shit."

Yang was clearly taken aback, but she still responded quickly.

"Yeah, a lot of humans are prejudiced and racist, and I think it's disgusting," said Yang. "I've done a lot to make sure you're comfortable, and I don't see why you think that I'm against you after all that!" she added exasperatedly.

"What, you think being nice to me will make me think that not all humans are bad?" asked Blake. "Do you think being nice to some Faunus slave girl will honestly make you the best person in the world? I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. I'm a slave, so treat me like a damn slave!"

There was a tense silence following Blake's outburst, and it was only then that Blake realised that she had messed up. Big time. She looked at Yang, but the blonde seemed to be shocked rather than angry. Nonetheless, Blake started to back off, fearing that the blonde would finally lash out at her. However, there was no contact, and Yang just stood there for a while longer, before finally speaking up.

"Fine, if you don't want to eat breakfast downstairs, I'll bring it up to your bedroom instead."

And with that, the blonde went down the stairs, and left Blake standing outside her room. Blake felt a twinge of guilt for her outburst, especially as it seemed to hurt Yang (emotionally) more than it hurt Blake (physically). Then again, after years of being a slave, Blake had adopted a cynical nature, and no-one could blame her for that.

With a sigh, she turned and walked back towards her own room, shutting the door behind her.

Several minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Blake looked up from her bed, and was surprised that Yang didn't just come barging in.

"Come in," said Blake, a little shakily.

The door opened and Yang entered the room with a tray, and on it there was a plate with baked beans and toast, and a glass of orange juice. She set it down on Blake's bed, and gave her a smile, although it seemed a little forced.

The Faunus expected Yang to try and make conversation, but the blonde simply turned around and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Once again, Blake felt a twinge of guilt, even though she really had no reason to. Had Yang really expected that being nice to her would fix everything? It was a nice thought, but it had no chance of working.

But even though Blake hadn't exactly been friendly, Yang still hadn't hit her, or said anything mean or derogatory towards her. Even after Blake's outburst, Yang had still taken the time to bring up breakfast to Blake, which was a job Blake should have done for Yang.

Blake appreciated Yang's intentions, they were seemingly good intentions, and she concluded that surely if Yang was making the effort, Blake could try and be a little friendlier. Perhaps Blake didn't trust Yang just yet, but she had to admit she would much rather serve Yang than Cardin or the other jerks she had served in the past. But she hoped she wouldn't get too attached to Yang, not that she expected she would anyway. In the end, Human and Faunus could never be friends, despite what Yang may think. Blake thought that she sounded pretty cynical, but after living the life that she had, she also thought that she sounded correct.

The smell of food slowly wafted into Blake's nostrils, and that reminded her of the breakfast that had been set for her. All cynical thoughts forgotten, Blake tucked into her food hungrily, and demolished it in several minutes, finishing by downing the orange juice. It had been ages since she'd had food like that. Blake remained in bliss for several more minutes, before realising she should probably take the tray back downstairs. It was already nine o'clock and she still hadn't done anything yet. She should have been happy, but it was actually quite unsettling because she didn't have anything to do.

Blake carried the tray downstairs and remembering where the kitchen was, turned left at the bottom of the stairs, and entered the kitchen.

Yang was sat down at the table eating exactly what Blake had eaten. The blonde was also talking to her sister Ruby, who seemed ready to go to school. Ruby was the first to notice Blake, and Yang followed her sister's gaze towards the Faunus.

"How was breakfast?" asked Yang with a smile, standing up to take the tray.

"It was very nice thank you," said Blake returning the smile, but she rejected Yang's offer to take the tray.

She walked over to the sink, and set the tray down, before running some hot water into the basin in the sink.

"The washing liquid is in the cupboard on the left," said Yang helpfully.

Blake opened the cupboard door and took the washing liquid and poured some in the basin, before grabbing a washcloth and dumping her plate, glass and cutlery into the basin. Blake washed them all with practiced ease. It was almost second nature to her by now. Soon she finished off, and left the washcloth in the basin, and she was about to reach for a tea-towel to dry her plate, but a pair of hands beat hers to it.

"Here, let me help," said Yang with a smile.

'I'm supposed to be the one doing all of your work for you,' thought Blake. But she didn't voice her cynical thoughts, for fear of annoying Yang again.

So instead, Blake smiled in thanks to Yang, and handed her the plate.

Soon, when they'd dried everything and emptied the basin, Ruby declared that she had to go to school.

She had been silent since Blake had walked in, and the Faunus wondered whether it was just because Ruby was shy, or if she was judging her.

"Okay Ruby, have a great first day!" said Yang cheerfully, giving her little sister a hug.

Ruby returned the hug and stood at the front door.

"Bye Blake."

Blake was caught off-guard, but she managed to wave back at Ruby with a smile. Ruby gave a shy wave back, before walking out of the door.

Normally Blake wouldn't have attempted conversation with her owner, but she thought it would be safe with Yang.

"Ruby looks a bit too old to be starting middle school," said Blake, as she thought that Ruby looked at least thirteen or fourteen.

Yang sighed, and Blake tensed.

"It's a long story… I'd rather not talk about it if that's alright," replied Yang quietly.

"Of course," said Blake. "Sorry to have brought it up…"

"It's alright, you didn't know," said Yang, forcing a smile onto her face. "But I have to get to my job now; I'll be back at around five o'clock."

She grabbed her jacket and walked towards the door, before looking over her shoulder at Blake.

"Ruby will be back at around four, so just put out a plate of cookies for her just before she comes home, they're in the pantry," said Yang with a grin. "She loves cookies," she added with a small laugh.

Blake nodded. "Anything else I need to do while you're gone?"

"Well, my room does need cleaning," said Yang, after thinking for a bit. "It shouldn't be too difficult for you. The cleaning supplies are in the same cupboard as the washing liquid."

"Okay," said Blake, bowing out of instinct.

Yang frowned. "Blake, despite what you may think, you don't have to treat me as your mistress. Even though that's technically what I am, I don't like the sound of it. All I really need is for someone to look over the house while Ruby and I are out. So I know it's out of habit more than anything, but please, just try to lighten up…"

Blake didn't respond with anything other than a nod, as she was still processing what Yang had said.

"Oh yeah, eat what you want for lunch, within reason of course," said Yang, and with that, the blonde stepped out of the door and locked it.

Ten minutes later, Blake had gotten all the cleaning materials she needed, and she headed up to where she presumed Yang's room was. It was the first door on the right of the staircase. Blake pushed open the door, and was surprised to find that Yang's room was in a similar layout to hers. Of course, Yang's room was much more decorated, with posters of a boy band called 'The Achieve Men'. There were also several framed pictures on the windowsill, the desk, and the bed-table. Most of them were Yang and Ruby, but one picture caught her eye. Yang and Ruby were present, but she saw two other people in the photo. One of them was a tall woman, with flowing dark hair, and a white cloak noticeably placed on her back. The other was a buff man with tousled blonde hair.

Blake realised that they must have been Yang and Ruby's parents. Yang hadn't mentioned her parents at all since Blake had been in the house, and Blake began to wonder if there was a reason why. The woman in the photo looked a lot like Ruby, but nothing like Yang. Then it struck Blake.

Yang had said that she and Ruby were half-sisters. The woman in the picture was Ruby's mother. Yang's mother obviously wasn't present.

Blake hadn't seen any evidence of a parental figure within the sister's house. Blake also remembered that Yang had said it was complicated when Blake asked her about Ruby. Although there was no obvious link between the two, Blake thought that the two things could be connected somehow.

It was then that Blake realised she was too interested in Yang's private affairs, and she was basically snooping, which was not what she was intending to do. She quickly straightened up and grabbed some cleaning materials, and got to work.

It looked like Blake wasn't the only person who'd had a difficult childhood.

And there we go; the end of the chapter! Slightly depressing I know, sorry…

Anyways, a bit of background, Ruby is thirteen, Yang is eighteen, and Blake is seventeen. There is obviously a bit of a complicated plot line behind Ruby and Yang's history, and that will be covered in the next chapter, which will be from Yang's perspective.

Anyways, post a review telling me what you think of the story so far, any constructive criticism is helpful!

Until next time,

-PLG