Hi everyone, this is my first fan fiction so I hope you all like it and enjoy reading it : )
80 years ago , the world of Remnant was locked in a war so great that the very concept of individualism was a stake. The end of the war resulted in a newfound peace between the four kingdoms of Vale, Vacuo, Mantle and Mistral. However, the seeds of evil born from the lingering hatred of the war would give rise to a beast of immeasurable power; a Grimm so feared it went by many names: Evil Incarnate, Abomination, The Destroyer and Olz'zaq : the God of hatred. A being of mass destruction, capable of leveling mountains and smashing valleys with ease, it was a true trial by fire for the four kingdoms, a challenge against the very core of their unity. After 5 years of hellacious fighting, the Beast finally succumbed to the might of humanity's newfound resolve and unity. As it fell, Olz'zaq's remains buried itself onto the earth instead of vanishing into the air ; a sign that it's remains would forever haunt the living.
Present day
Somewhere in the outskirts of Atlas
" Huff, huff, C'mon we're nearly there" said a man, carrying a large backpack.
" I know" replied a young woman. She was carrying a much smaller bag, but was still having trouble catching up to the man. On a closer inspection, it seems she had a tube running down from her nose. In the middle of the night, these two couple were walking down on a beaten path covered in thick undergrowths. They were on some sort of journey. A few moments later, the man stopped, catching his breath and panting. " You ok? wanna stop for a while?" he asked.
"Yeah" replied the woman. As they rested over a large fallen bark, the moonlight shone on them, revealing their dog-like ears. The man put his backpack on the ground, resting his shoulders and scratching his stubble. While they were sitting the woman started to lean on his shoulders. "Larry?" asked the woman in a tiring yet affectionate tone.
"What is it?" replied the man. " How much more do we have to go?" the woman asked again. "Shouldn't be too far. Once we reach the docks, it'll be safe sailing all the way to the city. Don't know if they'll let us faunus in but we gotta take the chance" the man replied. Stretching his arms outwards the man continued " anyways lets take three minutes before we waaaaaaah-!" his sentence was cut short as he fell backwards , tumbling down a small hill before crashing onto the ground." Lawrence!" the woman shouted frantically rushing to her partner's aid. When she finally reached the spot she looked down and saw him trying to get back up to his feet."Lawrence! are you alright?!" she shouted again. Regaining his composure, Lawrence looked up and replied "Yeah I'm alright Kat, just took a few bruises". "Hold on, I'm coming down" said Kat.
"No! just stay where you are. Don't push yourself...not in your condition" Lawrence insisted. However his pleas fell on deaf ears as she was already gone ; probably to look for another way around. He took a moment's pause before letting out a heavy sigh.
This girl is something else he thought to himself. As he stood up and dusted himself he noticed that something was strange about the place. The landscape seemed to have been shaped by some form of external impact, possibly an explosion. Out of curiosity he began to explore the area, looking for anything that might catch his eye. Just as he was starting to look around, Katherine had found a way to come down. " Took you long enough. You ok Kat?" asked Lawrence. " I'm fine Larry, no need to such babysitter" answered Kat with a frown on her face. " Just looking out for my 'dear spouse' " said Lawrence in a playful tone which got him another grumpy stare.
" Ok! ok! I'm just pulling your leg!" answered Lawrence nervously.
"So what is it about this place?" asked Kat.
"I don't know just... something seems off. I'm gonna take look around" replied Lawrence. As he started to search the area.
" I'll help too..and NO! you're not gonna stop me." said Kat as she too started looking around.
" I know ...just...don't be so hard on yourself. Not in your health." answered Lawrence.
Both being faunus with canine traits, they used their keen hearing and sense of smell to pick up on anything suspicious. As they searched the area, they stumbled upon a huge pile of rubble.
" Alright stand aside Kat, this is gonna need some muscle power!" said Lawrence with a macho expression on his face.
" Oh sure, don't let me slow you down, Mr. tough guy" Kat replied sarcastically.
* 5 minutes later*
*Panting* *heavy breathing* * sighing* " Urrrrrrgh!" * frantically panting* " finally...done" and just after he said that, he collapsed on the ground.
*Clapping* " My hero" said Kat, complimenting and playing with him at the same time.
Before them was what seemed to be a large chunk of ship debris, possibly what was left of a crashed one. As Lawrence curiously broke opened the access keypad with a large piece of rock, he opened the hatch only to see what was before him, a room filled with cryo-tubes.
" What in dog days, is this place!" Lawrence said to himself. He was followed by Kat who was walking behind him.
* Warning. Protection seal compromised. Releasing remaining artificial strain 006* "what was th-" just as he was about to say something, he heard the sound pf one of the pods opening. As the couple made their way there, what they saw shocked them.
It was a baby, an infant at that. As the liquid in the pod started to subside, the tubes around the baby started to pop off his arms and back as well. And no sooner was it done , the baby started to cry frantically.
" Well don't just stand there, take off your coat!" shouted Katherine frantically.
" Huh? Oh! yeah! right-" said Lawrence snapping out of his stupor. He quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around the baby, whom Kat took under her arms cradling it.
As she was holding the baby, Lawrence started to inspect the baby, staring at it and even sniffing it. This earned him a painful slap to the head.
"Oww!" said Lawrence, clutching his head in pain. " Why'd you do that for?" inquired Lawrence.
" For sniffing. It's a baby, not some freaky alien" replied Katherine sternly.
" I know that,..mm.. well whatever he is, he sure as hell doesn't smell like any human...or faunus ... It is a he, right?"
" Yeah it's a boy," nodded Katherine. " Look whatever he is, he's still a baby. Look at him, isn't he just adorable!" continued Katherine in an excited and gleeful tone.
" I know but ...babies in mechanical pods? that just seems ..off" said Lawrence, scratching his head.
Looking around he could see other pods as well, however some of them were empty or had just small lumps of flesh inside them.
" Must've been his siblings. Whatever happened ..hmm...don't wanna find out" continued Lawrence.
* Interior compromised. Self-destruct sequence imminent in 10 minutes*
No sooner had it been announced that both of them immediately ran for it till they reached a safe spot. As the couple left the area and managed to find their way back to their resting place, an explosion was heard from behind. It lit up the night sky.
" Oh damn! It's almost midnight" said Lawrence looking at scroll. "let's get outta here Kat, it's not safe here"
And so they were back on the road again with Lawrence after much insistence carrying both bags and Katherine carrying the baby. After one and a half hours of tireless walking , they finally made it to a small port. There as they reached the docks there were various ships which were boarding people in it. The ships were moderately large, capable of housing large numbers of people, possible because they were meant to transport the working classes into the city. As they were waiting in line , two guards were stationed at the door of the ship, checking the ID's of the would-be passengers and also questioning them. They were accompanied by two androids and drones as well.
" Look whatever happens just stay calm, alright." said Lawrence." And that goes for you too little guy" he continued. " If something really, really bad happens...just run ok?"
When their turn came. Lawrence came up to the guard with nervous smile on his face ," hey officers" said Lawrence, trying to put up his best nice guy facade yet.
" Your Id" coldly replied the soldier.
" Yeah sure" said Lawrence, giving his scroll to be scanned. He started to play around with his fingers, nervously glancing as the soldiers scanned his scroll.
" Hmmm...says here your wife's got medical condition. Is that why you're heading to the city?" asked the soldier.
" Yeah, w-weak heart valve, you know that kinda stuff." answered Lawrence nervously.
The soldier looked over to see his wife and turned his attention towards his scroll again.
" Hmm...never said anything about having a child." said the soldier.
" Is that your kid?" he continued.
At this moment, Lawrence started to become extremely scared. His heart started beating faster and faster , pounding away at his chest. He was sweating bullets and playing around with his fingers even more.
" Y-yeah" he answered nervously.
" But there's no birth certificate, no medical records , nothing?" said the soldier, now looking at Lawrence with what seemed to be a death glare underneath that helmet.
" He ...he was born a f-f-few hours ago!" answered Lawrence, while gulping down.
" Is that so?" continued the soldier.
" W-well, w-we stay in a r-really small town soooo, not a lotta stuff gets noticed and she just gave birth to him in the middle of the journey, so yeah things got really ...complicated" said Lawrence.
" Oh really?...You do know that if you two have illegal custody or guardianship of that baby, you both are gonna be in big trouble" said the soldier in a dark monotone.
" No really it's true, he's my son!" fired back Lawrence.
"Hmm" the soldier expressed. He looked back and forth between Lawrence and his wife, before turning his back on them , checking in on his scroll and talking to his superior officers. Those two minutes were the most frightening minutes in Lawrence's life. Katherine was looking on frantically as she could see him standing there nervously.
Soon the soldier came back to him and after a long pause he answered " You two better not be lying...sigh...when you reach Atlas city, go to the nearest hospital and REGISTER HIS NAME there. Pronto. Got it?"
" Yes! Got it! Thank you so much!" said Lawrence, who was clearly overjoyed.
" Yeah, yeah don't sweat it..now move along" said the soldier.
" Can we board?" Katherine asked a returning Lawrence.
" Yeah we can. Let's go" answered Lawrence quickly. No sooner said than done they were aboard the transport ship, leaving their small town hardships behind, ready to start anew. It also Katherine's best and only chance at treating her condition. She was suffering from weakened heart valve and Atlas city was her only chance at survival, especially since don't really get the same amount of medical treatments as humans do, something Lawrence knew all too well about. From the looks of it, Katherine had become attached to the baby and so did he too. As her husband, the responsibility of her happiness and well being rested on his shoulders. Add to that, he had now no choice but to take care of the kid as well, ..something he was never really ready for. Katherine always wanted a baby but her poor health meant they could never conceive one. He could see now why she became so enamored towards the baby. He could already see her doting and adoring him. Letting out a smile he went back to her corner and sat with her as the ship started moving.
The ship itself was already crowded as it started to move and even then it was still shaky. As Lawrence looked at the baby, his thoughts were still lingering towards the scent. At first he thought it was because of the liquid that the scent was strange but now he realized that was not the case. His nose was strong, it was his trusted ally in a harsh world and it never lied. But even it couldn't figure out the scent that belonged to the baby. It was neither human nor faunus ( not any that he knows of)... it was something else.
I wonder...where did you really come from kid he thought to himself.
"Something wrong?" asked Katherine
" Nah, just curious. His scent's so different, and all those tubes that were sticking outta him." answered Lawrence.
" I guess he's something else huh? hasn't even cried since the past hour. he looks so...peaceful" said Katherine." What do you wanna name him?" she continued.
" U-Uh me! oh umm...well...umm...let's see " murmuring " AH! got it...how about Lucien" he answered Lawrence.
"Lucien?" Katherine questioned.
" Don't you remember? The great Wolven Faunus who fought during the Faunus Rights Revolution" he answered proudly.
"Oh, right. I knew only you would come up with something like that" said Katherine with a bland, unimpressed look in her face.
" What you don't like it?" he asked.
" No! nothing like that. I actually like it. It's...nice" she answered looking at the baby. She could see that the tubes had left their marks on him, especially around the arms.
" Lucien Farron, huh? got a nice ring to it" she continued.
" I guess so" said Lawrence. And soon they were dozing off, waiting for the transport ship to reach Atlas city, ready to start a new chapter in their lives.
.