Hearing shouting behind her, the small black-haired girl turned off of the main street down a nearby alley, refusing to stop, knowing that she would get in trouble or at worst be arrested if she was caught.
Smirking to herself as she caught sight of a tall chain-link fence in front of her that cut the alley in half, the girl wearing a red cloak with the hood up over her head took a quick look around the alley, and managed to devise an escape strategy in moments.
Without losing any speed, the girl charged at the fence full throttle, but just before reaching it diverted her path, and jumped, aiming for one of the two building walls, and used her momentum to run up it slightly before kicking off, giving her the added height she needed to mostly clear the fence, and landed on the balls of her feet on the other side.
Taking off out of the alley, she was lucky to find this street absolutely clogged with pedestrians, so she slowed her pace down and kept up with the crowd, using this chance to catch her breath since she was pretty sure neither of her pursuers were going to be able to climb that fence any time soon, and even then it was unlikely that they would be able to find her amidst the crowd at this point.
Weaving in and out of different groups of people without bringing attention to herself, the black-haired girl finally slipped away down another alley once she was absolutely sure that she was safe, and ended up in a small parking lot hidden from view, where she breathed a sigh of relief.
This turned out to be short lived, as no sooner did the young girl consider getting moving again did an older voice break through the relative silence of the alley, "Ruby Rachel Rose, what is this I'm hearing about a girl in a red cloak being chased down by the cops for stealing, again I might add?" An older, black-haired girl asked in annoyance, hands on her hips as the black cat ears atop her head twitched, and her long black tail swished from side to side aggressively.
Laughing nervously, Ruby turned to face her big sister, reaching up to rub the back of her head in embarrassment, while she tried to think up an excuse, "well you see Blake, I was just minding my own business, when..." but flinched when Blake cut her off.
"Don't you give me that crap Ruby, I know that you can't keep your sticky fingers to yourself, but don't you realize that every time you're caught stealing you end up bringing a bad name to all of us?" Blake chastised Ruby, gently, her eyes softening slightly, before continuing, "and take your hood off already, you know there's no reason to hide what you are around me."
Wincing, Ruby did as she was told by reaching up and grabbing the sides of her hood and slowly pulling it off, revealing a pair of twitching grey wolf ears, catching all of the noises echoing around the streets, and especially the sound of Blake telling her off.
Ruby was startled when Blake suddenly grabbed her by the black tank top she was wearing beneath her cloak, and stumbled as she tried to keep up with the older girl as she lead the two down another alley, and out onto the street, obviously with a destination in mind. The younger girl had the sense to keep her eyes trained down on her faded and torn-up grey cargo pants and worn out black sneakers, as she felt Blake lead her around hazards.
"You have to stop doing this Ruby," Blake told the girl gently, "I know that things are hard right now, but constantly having to outrun the police and change our hiding places is starting to wear on the others, and I can't keep protecting you from them."
"I know," Ruby mumbled back, "all I want to do is to be able to contribute, but the only way I can is by stealing," the younger girl admitted, "no one is willing to hire me for even courier jobs anymore, and if they even catch sight of my ears they run me out of their stores."
Blake paused a moment to look back at her little sister, and released a loud sigh, "yes, times are tough for Faunus like us, but like I keep telling you once you're 16 I'm sure that I can get you a job at the diner with me, all you have to do is keep out of trouble in the meantime."
Ruby thankfully seemed to perk up a bit at what she saw as her sister teasing her, and smiled up at the older girl, "but sis, it's so hard not to cause a bit of mischief here and there to keep things interesting," she whined.
"And that is exactly why I ought to leave you with Sun," Blake replied with a small smirk, turning to poke her sister in the chest, "that is if I didn't know he wouldn't stop you from getting into trouble, and would probably even help you with some of your harebrained schemes."
Ruby seemed to look affronted at her sister's accusation, "I have no idea what you might be talking about Blake, I have no evil schemes," the younger girl lied easily, and both laughed as they knew perfectly well Ruby always had a scheme being concocted in that twisted little mind of hers.
"Why don't you spend more time around the forges downtown?" Blake asked as the pair began walking once more, now much more relaxed with each other as they moved through the crowded streets, trying hard to ignore the way people moved out of their way once they caught sight of the pairs ears, "I know that you're always interested in tinkering with the latest mecha-shift technology."
"The last time I loitered around the forges I got yelled at by a few older men who threatened to call the cops on me, so that would have just been another reason for me to get in trouble Blake," Ruby admitted, eyes growing downcast.
Reaching out, Blake patted her little sister on the head with a small smile, "don't worry so much Ruby, I'm sure that things will change for us Faunus eventually, all we have to worry about right now is surviving, and keeping ourselves out of trouble."
Offering Blake another smile, Ruby followed the older girl as they turned into a shadowed alleyway, and sighed in relief as they caught sight of the other Faunus that were part of their "family" loitering around the hideout they had decided to call the nest.
Walking between the set up cardboard "houses" deeper into the nest, Ruby had to hide a small smile as a couple of Faunus kids ran past, one with a pair of rabbit ears being chased by a dog and mouse, before she hurried to catch up with her big sister.
"Well look who it is, our wayward puppy has returned to us, along with a naughty kitty cat," A smug voice spoke up from above the sisters, causing their heads to snap up and catch sight of a monkey Faunus hanging upside-down by his tail from a fire escape ladder while he munched on a banana.
"Sun, I see you've been keeping out of trouble at least," Blake replied patiently, "unless of course you stole that banana from one of the vendors downtown again, in which case it seems I'll have to reprimand both of you."
"You hurt me Blake," Sun replied cheerfully, "I would never steal from someone who calls my brothers and sisters such rude name as scum and degenerate."
"Sure you wouldn't," Blake muttered back, before walking off, not noticing Sun jump down and land in front of the smaller wolf Faunus with a wide grin on his face, but able to hear his landing, "catch up with me later Ruby, we have a few things to talk about, but I suppose you can have a bit of time off to talk with this degenerate."
Ruby had to hide her laughter while Sun looked affronted at Blake's sharp tongue, and glared over his shoulder at the black-haired cat Faunus, carefully considering throwing his banana peel at the girl just to get a rise out of her, but ended up thinking better of it and instead chucking it at an open garbage can nearby in a perfect basketball toss.
"So little wolf, what kind of trouble did you get into today that got Blake so worked up?" Sun asked casually, folding his arms over his chest as he looked down at the smaller girl with a grin.
"Oh you know, just the usual mischief, a little stealing from some anti-Faunus jerks, outsmarting the police's lame attempts at catching me, a pretty typical day," Ruby replied as she took a seat on top of an upturned milk crate, watching Sun jump up on top of a garbage can so they could chat, "probably nowhere near as much fun as whatever you bugger off to do during the day that gets to Blake so badly."
"Sorry kiddo, afraid I can't let you in on my secret plans just yet," Sun replied, waggling a finger at the younger girl, "Blake would really take a chunk out of me if she found out I was getting you involved in my adventures. As much as I enjoy bothering her, I don't have a death sentence just yet."
Ruby pouted in response, but perked up when the monkey reached out and began to rub his fingers through her hair, the girl able to see the small smile on his face as he looked out over the community they were a part of.
"Hopefully someday we won't all have to hide in the shadows like this," Sun commented more to himself, seemingly forgetting that he had an audience, "we'll be able to walk the streets without receiving dark looks, work and actually make money without people running us out of their stores or cutting our pay, and even have our own rights."
"That sounds like a dream," Ruby replied to Sun's daydreaming, "considering how much Faunus are discriminated against, I think having the same rights as people would be going a long way in making the world a better place."
"You bet it would, but not when those big companies like the Schnee electrical company practically rule the cities with an iron fist and choose to make it nearly impossible for Faunus to hold jobs," Sun explained before both sighed, knowing the truth in the monkey Faunus' words.
Jumping off of his impromptu seat, Sun grabbed Ruby's smaller hand and helped her up off the milk crate, leading the pair deeper into the nest, "c'mon, your sister probably wanted to talk to you before it got much darker, and I can't keep regaling you with my amazing stories all day, as much as I'd like to," the monkey explained, "might as well not keep the kitty waiting."
Ruby giggled as she followed the tall blonde-haired boy with a smile, relatively happy with the life she was currently leading with her "family."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Yang sighed to herself as she looked out of the window in her room overlooking the green park across the street, her mind elsewhere as she thought about a matter that had been coming up a lot recently.
"Yang, dear, don't you think that you should call up one of your friends, and go spend such a nice day outside, instead of cooped up in your room?" Yang's mom asked from the door, the young girl not hearing her show up, but mostly ignoring her for the moment as her amethyst eyes took in the city and her mind wandered.
Snapping back to attention and reaching out to grab her phone, the blonde-haired girl made an effort to look like she was considering her mother's words, before turning to the mature blonde with a fake smile, "yeah mom, maybe I'll call Pyrrha and Nora and see if they can meet me to go shopping," The blonde explained her plans, noticing the smile that grew across her mothers face as she heard the girl's plans.
"That would be excellent, perhaps you could find something to wear for that upcoming ball at the Schnee manor that we were invited to attend thanks to your father," the older woman suggested, before turning to go, "well, I'll leave you to make plans with your friends Yang dear, but remember not to be out for too long, I don't want you to get jumped by a bunch of Faunus once it gets dark."
Once the door was closed behind her Yang's face finally fell, and she scowled at the place her mother had been previously standing, before setting her phone back down onto her pillow and looking back out over the city.
"Stupid woman," Yang muttered angrily to herself, "goes on about loving me unconditionally and is always trying to make me happy by offering money and presents, but seems to forget that the one thing I want was the thing she threw out of the house years ago."
Glaring out at a nearby tree sitting in the park, Yang's mind flashed back to several years ago, when she was only ten, and her younger half-sister was still a part of her life.
Of course she was aware that Ruby had been conceived between her father and another woman, but the pair had quickly grown close and Yang had almost immediately become protective of the younger girl, regardless of the fact that she was a Faunus, just like her mother, according to Yang's father's words.
Yang's mother, on the other hand, was always glaring at the young girl, and never showed any concern about the eight-year old, leaving Yang to take care of Ruby as best she could at her age, and looking out for her whenever she was bullied, which seemed often, as a lot of people felt because the girl was so small that she would be an easy target.
She had gotten in trouble a lot as a kid for getting into fights with the kids in the neighbourhood, but she was at least proud of herself for coming out looking better than her opponents, and Ruby would always be safe, though neither of her parents cared in the slightest about the black-haired girl, just that their daughter seemed to be a troublemaker.
Finally Yang's mother seemed to reach her breaking point, and after a rather rough day out that to this day the blonde still hadn't gotten the full story from the older woman about what had happened to put her in such a foul mood, her mom had thrown Ruby out of the house, shouting, "don't you ever show your face here again you little freak!" Before slamming the door in the girl's face just as it began to rain.
Ever since then, the relationship between Yang and her mom had been strained at best as the woman seemed entirely unable to realize why her daughter had become so distant to her and tried her best to still be her "buddy," though Yang was having none of it and did her best to either be out of the house as much as she could by getting into whatever trouble she could find around the city, or by keeping herself locked up in her room.
Besides the fact her mother was very racist against the Faunus, or against anything that went against what she believed the world should be, she was incensed that her husband had cheated on her when Ruby first appeared on her doorway, and only grew more incorrigible when she realized that the young girl was a wolf Faunus.
Yang's parents relationship had also become strained over time, with her father coming home less often and devoting more of his time to work, while her mother did busywork around the house and did the shopping while she tried to mend her relationship with her daughter.
She could only imagine that eventually things would break down entirely, but she already had a plan in mind for when that happened, hoping that she would have been able to move out by then, and if not she planned to bunk with either of her two friends, Pyrrha or Nora while she got together the money she needed to buy an apartment.
Mind moving on to other matters as she watched a happy-looking family walk through the park, her mind returned to her mothers mention of the Schnee ball coming up, which her father had managed to get an invitation for from his boss for being such a hard worker. Yang knew her mother expected the entire family to attend, and for them all to look their best, since it wasn't very often a middle-class family like hers were invited to the Schnee manor, and the woman believed that they had to follow the image of being an upstanding, normal family in front of the rich, in hopes that they may get invited to other events.
The thought briefly went through Yang's mind to act out at the ball and make her family look bad as revenge for Ruby's sake, but shook that idea out of her head, knowing that was a little too extreme, and it would earn her a one-way ticket out of the house. Her mother already put up with a lot of Yang's attitude, and she was probably on pretty thin ice.
Looking back over at her phone, Yang scooped the device up and flipped it open, finally coming to the conclusion that she might as well get dress shopping over with, and knew that if she went with Nora and Pyrrha that at least she could have a good time and make a day of it, unlike if she was forced to go with her mother closer to the day of the event.
Scrolling through her contacts, she finally found Pyrrha's number, and quickly hit the call button, hoping against hope that Nora wouldn't have been gorging herself on sweets this weekend, or was off on a "not-date" with Ren.
Yang chuckled to herself as she thought about the complicated relationship between those two, while she listened to the phone ring, just waiting for Pyrrha to pick up.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Weiss Schnee was definitely in a mood as she stalked through the halls of the mansion, watching as the maids got out of her way, aware not to bother her when she was on the warpath.
Storming down the main staircase of the Schnee manor, Weiss was unprepared to find her younger sister standing there already waiting for her, a smug smile on her face as she looked up at her big sister, "is something the matter Weiss?" She asked cheekily, both girls knowing perfectly well what the problem was.
Growling and taking a deep breath to try and contain her anger, Weiss' sharp blue eyes stared down at her younger sister, "have you seen father Winter, I would like to have a few words with him regarding this ball he has plans to host, and we need to talk about it as soon as possible."
Turning away from her sister and acting like she was thinking about it, Winter brought a hand up to her mouth and began to tap her fingers against her lips as she hid her giggles, noting out of the corner of her eye the way Weiss' eye was twitching in annoyance and having a lot of fun teasing her big sister.
Finally returning her full attention to Weiss, Winter explained what was wrong with the older girl's plans, "I'm afraid that father left earlier today on a trip into Mistral to meet with a few of his business partners, and won't be returning until the day before the ball is to be held," the younger girl explained with a bright smile, already knowing how Weiss would react to that news.
Roaring in indignation at the fact her father had simply left this mess up to her to take care of, the white-haired girl turned away from her little sister and stormed back through the hallway doors leading into the east wing where the main ballroom was, Winter bringing up the rear with a giggle.
"What's the matter sis, I thought that father would have told you about the upcoming ball, seeing as how we host one every year," Winter pointed out, keeping in step with Weiss easily as the older girl marched down the hallway.
"He could have offered me more than a weeks notice about the ball at the very least," Weiss shot back acidly, "and then for him to go off on a trip and leave me in charge of all of the preparations is simply incorrigible."
"Perhaps he wanted to test you, to see if you had what it took to take over the company when you came of age?" Winter suggested, reminding both girls of the event hanging over the sisters heads.
"He has been testing me for that ever since I was a child Winter, I believe that by now he should have his answer about whether or not the company will be left in good hands when I come of age," Weiss replied, her mood still sour, but at least lightening up now that the source of her anger was out of her reach for the moment, "besides that, shouldn't you be busy studying?"
"The maids demanded that I take a short break, since father is away and there is no chance of him catching me slacking off," Winter explained casually as the pair entered the main ballroom at the end of the hall, where many maids were busy cleaning and setting up tables.
"Of course they did, they're much to soft on you Winter," Weiss muttered, but reached over to pat her little sister on the head, "always slipping you treats from the kitchen while you're busy studying, and helping you out with your work. I would love to find out how you got them all wrapped around your finger so easily."
"I'm afraid that is a trade secret Weiss, and I'd hate to have to share the maids attention with you, when I've worked so hard to earn it over the years," Winter replied, before giggling once more and stepping back into the hall, "anyways, I had better be getting back to work before Jaune finds out that I've slipped away again, that boy is much too concerned with my well-being, even though he means well."
"He was hired on as your personal bodyguard Winter, you should go a little easier on the man," Weiss pointed out, but received no response from her sister as she closed the doors behind her, leaving the heiress standing in the entrance of the ballroom, making sure that everyone was working, and everything was being put in it's proper place.
Sighing as she allowed her mind to wander slightly, Weiss moved expertly through the maids work area, slipping out of harms way numerous times before making her escape out onto one of the balconies built over the cliff that Schnee manor sat on the edge of, overlooking the ocean beneath as the sun began to set on the horizon, painting the water a bright orange.
Resting her arm on the railing and putting her head in her hand, Weiss found herself reminiscing about her life. Born as the firstborn child heir to the Schnee electrical company, Weiss had been raised with a silver spoon in her mouth and pretty much whatever she wanted, though her father was very strict about the girls studies, and started her learning about the company she would one day inherit at a young age.
Not expecting to have a second child, Weiss' parents had settled into a rather tame monotony, her father took over the company full-time, while her mother watched Weiss and helped her with her studies where she could, and tried to give the girl as much love and attention as the growing girl needed.
It was considered a miracle when Winter, her younger sister had been conceived, though Weiss' father was at first concerned her mother had an affair with another man, as he claimed he had never touched his wife after Weiss was born, until her mother explained one night when he had come home very drunk, and the girl tuned out the rest of the story.
Unfortunately the girl's mother died in childbirth, leaving a grief-stricken husband with two daughters, and an empire to manage. Choosing to focus all of his attention on the company, he left the care of his daughters to the maids, and all but stopped coming home at night, leaving the two girls with only each other.
Things would have remained this way, if there hadn't been an attempt on the young heiress' life several years later. As it turned out, the Schnee electrical company had made many Faunus unhappy with their lowered pay and longer hours, and a terrorist group formed up, trying to get back at the Schnee family and try to earn respect for their kind.
This only helped fan the flames between Weiss' father and the Faunus, as he immediately fired all of his Faunus workers, and hired on more humans, while also paying for bodyguards for both of his children, refusing to allow anything to happen to either of his heiress.
Weiss could have said it was touching that he seemed to care so much about the girls that he would hire bodyguards for them, but the white-haired girl knew that the man only really cared that his empire would continue through one of his children, and refocused all of his efforts on making more money and funding more anti-Faunus laws.
Shaking her head in disappointment, Weiss knew that things were going to reach a breaking point eventually, as the Faunus were not so easily put down, and the terrorist organization, the White Fang, continued to organize hit and run attacks on various Schnee-funded businesses.
Groaning ad getting her mind back on topic, Weiss turned back to the ballroom and marched inside, planning to put the matter of the Faunus behind her for now, and focus on getting everything ready for the upcoming ball, no matter how uncomfortable the thought of hosting such a gathering was making the girl.
She swore that Weiss and Verde Schnee would be having words once he returned from his trip, as this wasn't the first time the man had dropped such a large project on his daughter suddenly and then took off on a "business trip."