"Where did you get this?"

The small, dark figure widened her eyes as her hands involuntarily reached out for the scarlet treasure, picking it up deftly, gently from the outstretched hand — as though it might evaporate upon the slightest duress. She was awed - so much so that she had dropped the rag she had been holding just to pounce over and get a better look at the item. The wonder had been short-lived, sadly. Sometimes the girl cursed her higher intellect. Although she was skin and bones in rags, her figure frail, her eyes had always been a sharp and an uncanny yellow. She fixed those very eyes on the older boy with accusation. An accusation she wished she could ignore.

"Chill kitty cat, I didn't kill anyone for an apple. If that's what you're asking," the older boy strode past the girl with confidence, heaving himself to sit on top of the island counter. The tips of his horns brushed by the lamps hanging over the table causing them to swing like a pendulum. "Oh oops," the boy laughed, in contrast to the younger girl's evident distress as the careless actions. He reached up to still the lights, causing the table to creak with his shifting weight. Then, he searched his pocket to reveal a shiny apple of his own and bit into the treat without hesitation, creating a satisfying crunch. "Come on, they make us slave away making this entire mansion spotless, the least they can do is feed us actual food! Just eat it, you deserve it!"

"You stole it?" The Faunus girl reiterated, panic just seeping through the monotones of her voice. Immediately, she dropped the treat. It landed on the dusty floor with an echoing thud, rolling a couple of feet away. Still, she stepped consciously away from the lure of the forbidden fruit, as though she were putting physical distance between herself and her psychological desire. "Adam, if he finds out —".

"So eat it, destroy the evidence," Adam nonchalantly slid off the table and picked up the food, thrusting it back over to the girl. "If you leave it here, he'll know one of us stole it. You have to eat it now." His voice was strong, unwavering. It was the kind of voice that not only radiated confidence from its every pore, but also inspired it.

The girl fidgeted, her outer a calm deliberation in contrast to her inner turmoil. Adam didn't understand the kinds of terrible their master was capable of inflicting. The girl shuddered at the thought, her fingers reaching instinctively to pull at the collar around her neck. It was getting harder to breathe. She closed her eyes to ward off the panic. She needed to think clearly. When her eyes opened once again, she was the picture of calm and composed. "No, you eat it," the girl pushed the outreached hand away. "Don't drag me into this," the girl added with finality.

Though Adam didn't understand, he knew better than to argue and just sighed, "Fine, suit yourself," he tossed out, taking a bite out of the second apple. It was just an apple. Those naked monkeys could buy a thousand more without even lifting a hand. No, they'd buy a thousand more and then make Faunus carry the tons of them by hand back to their palace, and then eat them in front of the Faunus just for spite, not even offering the tiniest amount of gratitude. Heck, gratitude? Not even basic humanitarian rights. Vindicated, he continued, "More for me."

"You are playing with fire," the girl warned, though her voice didn't contain any more inflection then before, she really was worried for the boy. For a split second she thought about lecturing Adam, but quickly dismissed the thought. After all, it hadn't worked the first couple times. She had since learned to just save her breath. Adam wouldn't listen to her. He was too stubborn and pigheaded. He was the kind of stubborn and pigheaded that people mistake for leadership, that she herself had mistaken for leadership. So without waiting for a response she turned around, picked up her rag and went about polishing the counter, having already finished mopping the floors.

"You're actually just going to continue slaving away for that scumbag? You think being good for him is going to grant you his mercy?" Adam fired back. "Humans are all the same. If you disobey them, they'll beat you. If you obey them, they'll find other reasons to beat you. If you play by their rules there's no winning!"

"I don't want to draw attention to myself." Adam was preaching to the choir. It wasn't as though she didn't agree with him. It was simply that she currently saw no way out. Their dust infused collars couldn't be taken off without the person that casted the dust so she and Adam, if their ears and horns weren't an obvious enough indicator, would basically be wearing a neon sign broadcasting their status as slaves and the address to return them to if they could somehow run away. Not to mention the government rewards slave returners handsomely for their time and slave owners could punish their slaves as they saw fit. No, staying in the shadows was definitely easier.

"I'm not going to live like this. I refuse to beg at their feet." Adam seethed, taking another bite of his apple in defiance and pulling roughly at his own collar. "You shouldn't either Blake. You're too smart for this."

"Yeah, smart enough to know—", Blake cut herself off jarringly, her ears perking up. "Adam—" was all she got out before the door slammed open.

"I don't know. I swear I don't know!" Blake screamed, her hands clawing at the fist that held her up by her hair. "I don't —" her words were punched away by the blunt end of the axe.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" were the gruff words that answered as Blake felt her body being thrown into the stone cold ground. The unpolished edges of the tiles scraped against her tender skin and when Blake put her hands on the ground to try and push herself off the ground, sharp edges of the broken window glass pierced into her palms. "Where did he go?!"

"Please, Cardin—"

"It's Master Cardin to beasts like you." Cardin hissed, pulling Blake's ear to his mouth by the hair, and positioning himself over her rag-doll body.

"Master Cardin, please," Blake begged, tears streaming freely down her face. While one of her hands pushed at her master's chest, her other searched around for a weapon — a foot of a chair, a spoon, even a large enough shard of glass — but she couldn't feel anything but a sharp stinging pain and it was getting harder and harder to move her fingers. It was getting harder and harder to see through the mixture of dirty blood and tears that matted her face.

Mercy wasn't granted. "I think you need more of an incentive," Cardin purred, a sinister smile curving from the sides of his face as a hand started snaking under the thin strips of fabric that covered Blake's scarred skin. When Blake's hands immediately set up road blocks, Cardin laughed. "Oh, this will be fun kitty."

"Don't, please," Blake whimpered, all the while trying to get a good blow in. But Cardin had her hands cuffed in his larger ones, and he weighed her legs down with his own body weight.

"The salesman told me you were a virgin, so you cost me quite the pretty penny. I got to be sure I got my money's worth now, don't I?" Cardin whispered, licking Blake's face and feeling her skin with his free hand. His amusement and arousal grew with every hopeless whimper his pet made, with every fruitless struggle the kitty tried. "So pretty," Cardin purred, cupping a breast. "Petty that you're such an animal -aah." Cardin cursed, pulling back. The damn bitch had bit him. The damn bitch had bit him!

Blake had bit his shoulder. She was now shuffling on the ground, trying to pull herself away and upright. In her haste, she ran herself into the foot of a couch hard enough to send a jolt up her spine. There had to be a way out. Where's the door? Could she make it through the same window Adam did without getting cut to shreds? But then the other villagers would certainly help her poor master trap the disobedient little pet. Blake could see several pathways but they converged at the same conclusion. As long as Cardin had her collared, someone would send her back here and Cardin would beat her until the brink of death then nurse her to health just to beat her again. Blake's tears fell harder. There was no hope for her.

"I tried playing nice but you asked for it you bitch." Cardin grit out, seeing red. He could only be so patient with a pet before he lost his cool. Cocking his head, he clenched his fists. Rushing towards the cowering girl, he pulled her up by her hair just to slam her head back into the ground. Immediately after, he lifted his foot to kick her in the stomach hard enough to send the girl rolling a ways away.

Blake could hear his footsteps thumping closer in an fit of rage. She weakly pulled her arms in front of her face, bracing herself for the inevitable. Adam was right. She couldn't win.

A sound like a scraping the side of a ringing bell sounded.

"-the Hell?" Cardin gaped, raising his hands over his head and straightening as the tip of a rapier was pressed to his throat.

That was when Blake painfully opened her eyes again. Through her tear coated vision, she saw the figure of an angel, complete with a blacklight of white. When Blake turned her gaze back to Cardin, she realized he was trembling… in… fear? He was scared, Blake faintly realized, of this petit girl. Of a dainty and delicate girl. An unbidden sense of hope rose from within her, though Blake's surprise at her observation faded to understanding when the angel turned her cold eyes onto the Faunus girl. This angel had a presence not to be reckoned with. Blake quickly cast her eyes respectfully to the ground, causing a painful swirl to storm around in her mind. She took care not to make any sudden movements. Not that she could have, her limbs were screaming in pain.

"Cardin, how many times have I told you that our pets are worth more to us alive?"

At that, the last vestiges of Blake's soul was shattered, lost along with her consciousness.

This was an angel alright.

An angel with a heart of ice.