The rain thrashed and the lightning crashed all around them, but it failed to compare to the whips that lashed upon their backs.

For those who still had sanity and strength left, they kept their heads down and marched onwards, slipping and sliding on what used to be a hill, but had now melted into a torrent of mud. They've been pulling the cart for two hours now, just like the seven other carts they've pulled today, but now it had become impossible.

Still, it was better than the alternative. Those who tired to catch a break, caught the back the whip instead, and those who were caught by the ground, were not heard from again.

Sooner rather then later though, one of them had to break. Whether it was the blistering heat, the crushing rain, or the venomous bites of the mosquitoes, the jungle would eventually kill them. The Guards would always laugh if they ever they asked for anything more than a blanket.

"You're Faunus" they consisted reminded. "You fought in this jungle, now you work in it!"

It was a common joke that they could slam their pickaxes into the Guards' foots, they'll still be saying that same line. A small comfort, in what was suppose to be a well paying job.

Surprisingly, for the guards at least, all twenty of the workers reached the top, and pulled the cart through the gates. A chorus of disappointed grumbles soon followed. It had become a regular sport as to bet who would fall first. Nevertheless, they hurried the Faunus inside and locked the gates quickly. Though Grimm attacks were rare in this area, it was unwise to leave the front door wide open.

With one last push, the workers slammed the cart into the loading bay, and silent sigh of relief flowed from everyone's breath. No matter how hard they were beaten, even the guards had to sleep, and sure enough, they were soon hustled to their dorms by men who were more asleep then they were.

For the Faunus, their small victory was at hand, until Freddie collapsed right in front of them.

A chorus of cheers echoed through the camp. Although Freddie's feature resembled the bull, his weak physic made him an easy target for the guards. His friends had tried to give stimulants to help him cope, but now the exhaustion had devoured what strength he had. The others could only watch, held to their own imaginary chains of fatigue, as one of the guards approached the lifeless body.

He nudged the Faunus with his boot, a much easier practice than checking for a pulse. Freddie didn't respond, let alone cry out in pain, but even in this darkness, he could still see the faint breath of life that was seeping from his mouth. The guard grinned, and turned to his follow officers.

"Yo, Davis. You still owe me twenty."

"Up yours" replied the skinner of the lot, "he can't be alive."

"Oh, you want to come out and check? Or you still worried about getting your face cream wet?"

A roar of laughter soon followed, as a disgruntled Davis crossed his arm and tried to ignore the situation as best he could. Out the in the rain, his tormentor grinned some more. He turned back to his duty on the floor, where he found another Faunus was trying to inject more stimulants into Freddie.

The Faunus, Dan, looked back at the guard, and frozen in fear. He always thought that the stories were exaggerations; lies to make them work harder, but those thoughts had little comfort to him now. The guard meanwhile, gave an irritated sigh. It was one more piece of paperwork he would have to write up, but he did not like to write the same thing twice.

"You shouldn't have done that," said the guard.

"Please…" started Dan, "he can still make it. He'll be alright."

"You know, I was having a really good night until now, even if I was getting pissed on. I felt that we made some progress today."

"Sir please, he has family back home."

"So do I" countered the guard. "I mean, I was actually going home tomorrow. See the wife, the kid, and have a massive frickin steak at the end of it, but now I have to write two reports, two MASSIVE reports on this, and I can't leave this dump until I finish them. Can you see my problem here?"

From the guards' perspective, his heart felt speech was quite a good one. He had been thinking on it for about a week, and had somewhat hoped that one of workers would cross the line. Unfortunately for him, the guard had failed to realise that Dan had stopped listening to him from the start.

Though his dog-ears could hear for miles (when it wasn't raining for Noah at least) all sound had been rendered silent, by the complete and utter stupidity that Dan was hearing.

"YOU CAN'T TREAT US LIKE THIS, DAMN IT!"

What little mercy the guard had was shot dead at that moment. The Guard didn't explode into rage as previous ones had, but instead, looked down at the Faunus with annoyance, as if a pet cat had laid excrement on his favourite his jumper. He didn't like cats.

The whip was fast and brutal, having wrapped itself around the Dans' neck in an instant. He had been in situations like this before, but the whip still chocked what little air was inside him. His hands tried to loosen its hold, though it was ultimately futile.

All the while, the guard looked down at Dan with the same annoyed expression as before, though as Dan glimpsed back, he saw it was more than that. There was fire in his eyes, a fire that burned with full on hate; a fire that burned with undeniable contempt for Dans' very existence.

"You people really are stupid, aren't you?" he spoke, and with that, he threw the whip, catapulting Dan to the other side of the compound. The Faunus collided with several empty barrels, before finally crashing into an empty shed. A pillar of smoke rose from it remains, ending what little resistance that was left.

"Pathetic" the guard snorted. Though it was an impressive show of strength, the fire still burned within. It was then that he heard a faint cough, and after looking before, spotted Freddie still struggling to breath.

"Oh? Still alive are we?" the Guard asked. Although riving in pain, Freddie looked up at the guard. He was pale as snow, and might as well be dead, but still he managed to bring his head up to face his oppressor. The guard sniggered in retort.

"You got something to say?"

Truth be told, Freddie didn't have anything to say. He wasn't even looking at the guard now. Instead, he was looking at the watchtower behind him, where a figure in black stood on top.

Freddie could barely make it shape, let alone its face, but he could tell it was looking at him. Its blood red eyes made sure of that.

Slowly, the figure raised its arm into the sky, but paused, as if it was waiting for something. Maybe it was judging Freddie, maybe it was plotting something, or maybe it was planning to rescue him. In his heart though, the Faunus laughed at that thought. He was never going to be that lucky, and sure enough, the figure clicked its fingers, and a bolt of Lightening blasted the gate.

Freddie didn't know lightning could do that, but he didn't question its wrath. In a flash, the main gate had been ripped apart, its chains and locks scattered everywhere, its right side sent flying to the main dormitories. Only the left was still on hinges, creaking in the rain as everyone watch its scared remains.

Horrified was a word rarely used when describing the guards, but it didn't bring the Workers any joy. Humans, Faunus, all stood like rocks, half buried in the dirt, without a sense of conciseness.

And then, they ran.

Both the Guards and the Workers, anyone who had legs ran for what safety they could find, leaving Freddie to watch what was coming for them. He couldn't see anything of course but he could hear them. Their footsteps, their fur, their snarling teeth.

Freddie didn't have to guess what would happen, when the first one towered above him. All he could was scream, as the Beowolf dived straight into his neck.