Velvet sat backstage trapped in the cold unrelenting steel that made up the cage her owner decided to keep her in. It was much too small to house her, if she stood it'd only come up to her waist. The velvet curtains from the stage kept most of the light out except for a small slit where they met, however Velvet was kept far away from this small slit of light to make sure the act wouldn't be spoiled. Although faunus can see very well in the dark this small amount of light was bright enough to keep it from kicking in. Though her sight was disabled her hearing was not, as she could hear a crowd of people finding their seats which meant the show would start soon.
The door swung open and the lights flicked on causing Velvet to be blinded further, but only temporarily. A tall man came in wearing a tux, sporting a top hat that drew attention to his bright orange hair.
"Is my little assistant ready for the show?" he asked looking down at the cage.
"Yes Master Torchwick." Velvet replied with the phrase she had uttered so many times it was like a reflex at this point.
"Good, because we have a big crowd tonight." Torchwick said with a smile on his face, however the smile quickly disappeared and was replaced by a much more serious face, "Don't screw this one up like you did the last show. If you do I won't be so lenient."
Velvet shuddered thinking about what had happened at the last show, and what had happened afterwards.
About a month ago Velvet was on stage and she accidentally knocked over a mirror that had hidden her presence, completely ruining the illusion. Her master was not too happy about it and she had received a punishment that he deemed 'light'. For the next week she was locked in a dark room with nothing more than a bowl of water and bread that was refilled twice a day.
Torchwick let the threat sink in for a bit before he wacked the side of the cage with his cane, releasing Velvet from her less than comfortable confines. As soon as the door opened Velvet crawled out of the cage, but she didn't stand, she knew better. Instead she sat there on her knees waiting for Torchwick to give her the command.
Before ordering her to stand Torchwick looked over his faunus assistant. She wore black heels, fishnet stockings, and a skimpy latex corset with a little fake cottontail on the back of it. "You know, if it weren't for these" he grabbed her tall bunny ears and gave them a little tug, "you might be beautiful." he noted. "Now stand."
"Yes Master Torchwick." She said again while she rose to her feet.
The show began shortly after, lasting around a two hours. During the show Velvet had been levitated, turned into an actual bunny, pulled out of a large hat, and finally made to disappear. Despite how well Velvet had done during the show, it still wasn't enough for her owner. She hadn't stumbled, spoken out of turn, or done anything to ruin any of the show, all she had done was glance at Torchwick halfway through the show.
"How dare you look at me like that during the show!" Torchwick yelled at her from backstage. The sound never made it past the velvet curtains or the steel doors.
"Sorry Master Torchwick." Velvet responded looking down at the ground.
A simply apology wasn't enough for him though, so he decided to take his cane and smack it into the side of her leg causing her to tumble onto the ground. She was left sprawled on the ground scared to say something more, after all if he found he was unsatisfied with her he could simply sell her and nobody would even bat an eye.
"Stand up!" Torchwick demanded. As the command left his mouth Velvet quickly did her best to stand, but she clearly was having a hard time doing so as her legs wobbled trying to keep her up. Despite her following his command she received another smack of his cane sending her back down to the ground she had just risen from.
"Answer me when I talk to you! Now stand!" He told her issuing the command again this time making sure that she responded.
"Yes Master Torchwick." Velvet replied once again trying to stand, but this time was a lot harder than the last. She took a minute or two to rise to her feet and once she did she had to grab something to keep herself supported.
"Look at you, you can't even stand on your own." Torchwick told her with a disappointed look on his face.
"Sorry Master Torchwick." Velvet replied looking down at the floor. There was no response to her apology, instead he just reached into his pocket and produced a collar. It was a brown leather collar about an inch thick, and it had a small metal box above the tag, which read, 'Property of Roman Torchwick if found return to 175 Beacon boulevard'. The metal box made it so that if the collar was removed an electric shock would be administered to the wearer.
"Now let's go." Roman told her while walking away not giving Velvet anything to help her walk with him.
"Yes Master Torchwick." Velvet said once again while she supported herself with the wall and slowly walked after him. The pair of them made it to Torchwick's car and in turn his house, which wasn't a large building indicating that he wasn't incredibly wealthy, but the fact that he owned a faunus said otherwise. For him she was a business investment, with her he would have a bunny assistant, two birds with one stone. Buying her had set him back considerably in terms of financials, however his shows have managed to bring in enough cash flow to make up for it.
Velvet was brought to her living quarters in the basement, which was simply a dog bed, a food bowl, a water bowl, and a lamp. She laid on her 'bed' and tried to rest her legs after the abuse they had received after the show. Her mind wandered thinking of what her life had become. She had been a slave her whole life and was separated from her parents when she was bought at the age of five. Her owner trained her to obediently serve their every command or expect punishment and once he grew bored of her he sold her to Roman Torchwick. Despite how poor her living conditions were with Torchwick, it was much worse with her previous master, at least this time she had food almost every day and clothing, no matter how skimpy it was. Her thinking was cut short by the sound of her stomach growling, so she looked at her dishes for some food. One was filled with some water with a couple flies floating in it, and the other had an old carrot. It wasn't old enough for it to be inedible, but old enough for it to be soft. Velvet picked it up and started eating it. She didn't really like carrots, but her owners found it funny to feed them to her, so she got used to them. Halfway through her meal she heard Torchwick calling her, "Get up here!" He exclaimed.
Velvet quickly got to her feet, but just as quickly fell down reminding her of what shape she was in. Before he called again Velvet had risen to her feet, slowly this time, and made her way up the stairs to the main house. Torchwick was standing in the kitchen waiting for her. Velvet gingerly walked into the kitchen worried by what he had in store for her.
"Come closer." Torchwick ordered.
As Velvet got closer she could smell alcohol in his breath and she suddenly remembered what he had told her before the show. She looked at the ground avoiding Torchwick's gaze, but he quickly fixed that by grabbing her head and turning it towards his.
"You really are pretty, for a faunus." He complimented her, however she was far from flattered and instead was just scared.
"I just gave you a compliment, you should be more grateful." He said sternly without raising his voice.
"Thank you, Master Torchwick..." She said quietly trying to look away from him again.
"You know I've owned you for a couple years now, and I haven't tried you yet..." Torchwick thought aloud which sent shivers down Velvet's spine as she wished she could be anywhere but there.
"P-Please stop Master Torchwick." She begged hoping that his intoxicated mind would listen to her. This wasn't the outcome, instead he quickly slapped her exclaiming, "You don't tell me what to do! I'm the owner, you're the pet!"
Velvet's cheek held the red handprint on her cheek created by Torchwick's slap. "Sorry Master Torchwick..." She told him while taking a step back. Her attempt to get distance between them was quickly thwarted when Torchwick closed the gap causing Velvet's back to be pressed up against the counter. He reached forward to grab her breast, but she quickly knocked away his hand. Although this stopped her from being groped, it also caused Torchwick to retaliate.
"You shouldn't have done that." He said in a calm voice, but that brought more fear to Velvet than if he yelled it at her. He grabbed one of her arms and pushed her further up against the counter. Velvet was all too aware as to what was about to happen, and although she had been a slave her whole life she had managed to keep it from happening to her. She wasn't about to let it happen now either, so she quickly used the hand Torchwick hadn't grabbed and franticly went to grab whatever she could from the table. The first thing she was able to grab was a pot, so she quickly grabbed it and smacked him on the head, knocking him backwards. Now with room to breathe Velvet searched the counter for something a little more menacing than a pot. There was a knife on the counter that she quickly picked up and pointed at Torchwick. Her hands were shaking like a leaf in the wind which caused Torchwick to laugh when he saw the knife.
"You're not going to do anything with that." He told her confidently while he took a step closer to her. He unfortunately underestimated her, Velvet closed her eyes, screamed something unintelligible, and thrust forward placing it square in his chest.
Torchwick took a step back and clutched his chest in disbelief, "You did it... You bitch..." He said as he fell onto the ground in a pool of his own blood.
Velvet couldn't stop herself from shaking as she stepped backwards trying to comprehend what had happened. Torchwick was dead, by her hand. She dropped to her knees and looked at the body before her, but she didn't cry, she couldn't shed a tear for someone like Torchwick. After a half an hour she came back to her senses, if she stayed there she would be executed for killing her master. Even if it was self defense it wouldn't matter, she was a faunus and he was a human. Her collar had a tracking device on it which meant that if she didn't get rid of it she'd be caught within the week. She rifled through his jacked looking for the key to the collar and eventually she found it. As she brought her key to the metal box on her collar she winced worried that it would shock her, but as the key turned the lock simply unlocked dropping the collar to the ground. She was free. Though she couldn't relish the moment as she needed to get out quickly. There was no way she could leave wearing the outfit she had on, so she ran to his room and grabbed a different set of clothing and threw it on instead. She now wore a pair of jeans, a simple black t shirt, a large black coat, and a top hat. The top hat managed to conceal her ears at least to anyone that was passing by, and with that she left.