Why are they here?
Chapter 1
Team RWBY was sitting in their dorm room, the curtains had been left open to watch the sun that had long ago set, for the last hour they had been sharing stories. Weiss told them about Atlas and growing up in such a bustling center of metropolitan culture. Blake spoke of her time with the White Fang, organizing protests and disrupting Dust deliveries from the Schnee refineries. Ruby talked about her friends back at Signal and some of her old instructors. Yang turned to Blake and asked her something that had been on her mind for some time.
"Hey Blake, where did the Faunus come from?"
"Like originally?"
"Yeah."
Blake took a breath and sighed before she began, "Well I don't know, the best we have is a story that has been passed around for as long as any Faunus can recall."
"Can we hear it?" Ruby asked hanging off her bed over Weiss who was putting a clear coat on her nails.
"Sure." Blake inhaled and began, "So once a long time ago there were these three humans, they lived outside of the kingdoms alone on an island. They didn't have anyone else so these people decided to create their own companions, using the best qualities of humans and animals. While they were trying to craft the perfect person they did many tests where they combined one trait and one characteristic at a time. This created a lot of people with animal tails and ears and tusks and horns."
"That's why Faunus only have one physical trait." Yang said in understanding.
"Yes." Blake continued. "So all these people were on this island and the people taught them to read and write and everything else about society before they just left one day. After that you had all the Faunus who were isolated where it was normal to be part animal and a couple generations passed without incident until the humans arrived in a ship."
"Then what happened?" Ruby asked.
"They saw us as inferior and took the children away to be raised in human schools with human parents, they tried to kill the rest of us and destroy any trace of our culture. We fought back." Blake said with a slight rage in her voice. "Humans would come along trying to 'purge the land of the Faunus disease' chasing us through all of Remnant. Burning our houses, slaughtering mothers who were clinging to their children and with their dying breath praying that they would be safe as the humans hauled them away. We were sold on the streets to mine and farm owners who needed cheap labor, when they found out we would rather fight and die than serve them they gathered us all and forced us out of the kingdoms onto land infested with Grimm, and yet somehow we survive."
Blake was standing now, addressing the whole room with fire in her eyes, Zwei curled under a pillow and Ruby hid under the sheets. Weiss and Yang were staring at her with their mouths open, unable to speak a response once she had finished.
"I'm sorry guys, it's just kinda something I've held on to for a long time." Blake said with her bow flattening onto her head.
"It's alright, we had no idea the Faunus had such a damaged history." Yang finally said running a hand over Blake's back.
"You've only ever heard the human side of the story, full of heroic conquests and brave warriors fighting to rid the world of evil."
"Yes, but that's why you're here." Weiss said, "To tell the world of the oppression the Faunus have suffered and make a difference in the world."