Good version!
This will likely have a pairing… Not sure if Black the Beast will have one…
Okay… To those of you that came from Black the Beast! Chapter 1 and 2 were literally copy/pasted, but chapter 3 is different.
Among Faunus, there are many subspecies. To humans, with some exceptions, all Faunus are animals. It doesn't matter if they have horns or ears or a tail, they are discriminated against for their animal traits.
One little girl in red was no exception.
"Stop it! Please!" a girl's voice screamed.
There was a little red-headed girl with a matching cloak cowering to a group of people. Her clothes were ragged and torn, her cloak being no exception. The cloak itself looked to be too big for her, the bottom trailed across the ground because the girl was too short. She couldn't be older than ten.
The group of people was composed of humans of all ages.
The adults scowled at her, called her names and kicking her sides to prevent her from running.
The elderly just watched in disgust, both at the fact that there was a Faunus girl, and that their children and grandchildren were injuring her.
The teens cackled in laughter and threw rocks at the girl's sensitive, and already bruised, wings. The children just watched, some in angered satisfaction, others, the kind ones, in slight worry.
A man came forward, grabbing harshly onto her wings, eliciting a pained cry from the girl as her wings were pulled and injured even more. The man grinned in satisfaction at her cry, grinning even more when tears fell out of the little girl's eyes.
"Please…" she whimpered.
"Don't tell me what to do, you stupid animal," the man growled. "Here, I'll be nice and do you a favor," he said, a sick smile spreading onto his face.
The girl paled, turned around and tried to stand, but the man just kicked her in the back, sending her toppling back down. The man placed one of his boots in the space between her shoulder blades, between her wings. Grabbing onto both of her wings, he pulled.
"Come on," the man said darkly, "I'm doing you a favor, can't you at least say thanks!" he said, adding more strength on the last words.
The girl screamed in complete and utter pain, before crying even harder. She called out for help, for anyone kind enough to stop the man from tearing her wings off.
Despite her cries for help, the girl didn't believe that anyone would help her. Except, her calls were answered. The man was shot in the neck with a pitch-black arrow, downing the man in an instant.
As the man fell down, blood flowing from his neck, the crowd parted to glare at the killer in anger. The girl looked up, at her savior, and saw eyes of burning embers.
It was a teenage woman, with hair that curled fashionably to one side. She wore black clothes, with burning orange markings embedded into them. She held two curved swords, with no sign of a bow or quiver.
"Now, won't you stop torturing this cute little girl?" she said in a dark, but laid-back voice.
A person from the crowd grabbed a nearby shovel, and charged at her. "This is for my dad!" he shouted.
The woman merely slapped the shovel away, then, with a twitch of her wrist, set the boy ablaze. He screamed in pain, much like the girl had done moments before, eventually succumbing to the fire and falling to the ground, dead.
More angered looks were sent the woman's way, but she just brushed them off and stepped forward. "Little girl, what is your name?" she asked softly, bending down to look her in the eye.
The girl stared at her, at a loss for words, before gaining a small smile. "Ruby Rose," she said in the happiness of finally being accepted.
The woman smiled. "My name is Cinder Fall. Would you like to come with me?" she asked, holding out her hand.
The girl stared at the hand for a moment, before slowly lifting her own hand to take it. The woman led the girl away, hand-in-hand. Ruby looked up at the person who prevented her wings from being torn from her body.
"Thank you."
A grave was embedded into the ground before her. An emblem of a rose in full bloom was engraved into the surface. The hooded girl stared continuously at the words etched into the grave.
"Thus, Kindly I Scatter"
The words glared at her. They forced the truth into her face, stomped on her heart, then tore it to shreds. She refused to look at it any longer, turning around and walking away, a tear escaping her eye as she struggled not to cry.
In her wake, black rose petals fluttered in the wind, accompanied by a flurry in snow. She spread her black wings and, with a few flaps, flew.
A single black feather was carried through the blizzard, only to land briefly, before getting snatched up by the wind again.
The girl flew through the frostbitten forest, landing softly as she decided to walk instead. Her cloak fluttered out behind her, her Semblance leaving rose petals in her wake.
The shattered moon was the only thing lighting the forest. Moonlight reflected off of the white snow beneath her feet, causing it to gleam.
Snow crunched under her shoes, warning nearby life forms of her presence. Yet, instead of a frightened animal running away, what disrupted the peaceful night was the creatures of destruction.
Descending from the shadows, the creatures of Grimm stopped her walk.
This was what she wanted. A fight to get her mind clear. She reached behind her, to the small of her back, and grabbed the familiar metal.
It comforted her. She knew she could outrun anything with the help of her Semblance, but she preferred fighting to fleeing. Her beloved scythe unfolded, showing to the Grimm what would soon be their death.
Whoever said the only options were a fight or flight?
She unfurled her dark wings, lifting off in flight. She flew over to the nearest Grimm, an Ursa Major, and readied her scythe. Soon after, a series of gunshots echoed through the snowy forest.
Her wings carried her through the air, folding once she landed. She unlocked the door the her apartment, and hurried inside.
She had an assignment tonight.
Glancing at the clock, she quickly got ready. The sun was already setting, leaving a sky full of warm hues to give way to the night sky. The girl took her t-shirt and jeans off and exchanged them for a black and red blouse and combat skirt.
Her shirts were unique, having been made specially for her, with long holes in the back. While somewhat difficult to get into, it was a lot more comfortable than having her wings trapped against her back, and it was definitely more favorable than wearing nothing.
She still wore her usual stockings, even wearing them with her jeans. She pulled her favorite combat boots on, instead of the tennis shoes she wore before.
Her trademark cloak, having become infamous along with her scythe and wings, was a necessity. It was her only remaining present from her mother, and she wore it wherever she went. Placing her folded scythe back in its holder on her back, she looked out the window.
In the short time it had taken her to get dressed, the oranges and yellows from the sunset had dissolved into the blues and purples of the night. The stars shone brightly, a stark contrast to when she was in a city. This town was simple, and old, but it gave the best view of the night sky. A shattered moon, suspended in space, looked down on Remnant.
The silence that had calmed her was quickly broken by the sounds of a song. It was her favorite song: Red Like Roses, the song her mother used to sing to her, except it was sung in her own voice. It came from her Scroll, but she only used that song for a small group of people: the one's she worked for. She read the caller's name, Cinder Fall, and her face gained a slightly relieved expression.
Good, she thought, it wasn't Emerald or Mercury, or even that other girl, Neo.
She had never really gotten along with Cinder's other subordinates. Cinder herself was different though. The girl knew Cinder was only using her, but still she was obedient.
She owed a debt to Cinder, and she vowed to repay it.
Answering the call after a moment, she looked down at the screen. "If you finally decide to answer the call, don't stay silent, Little Rose," she heard a seductive voice, clearly female, answer.
"What's the assignment?"
Usually, Cinder told her what the assignment was beforehand. She had done many jobs for Cinder up until this point, ranging from spying to stealing, and even her infamous assassinations. This time, Cinder refused to tell. She had figured that Cinder would tell her eventually, otherwise there would be no reason for her to go, not even knowing what to do.
"Getting right down to business. You know, that's why I like you."
"I don't mean to be rude, but stop with the flatter."
She's known Cinder for years, despite her age. Cinder had practically raised her. Cinder was the only one to show her kindness in this harsh world. Cinder herself had trained her, despite not using a scythe, she knew the woman's fighting style, objectives, and personality.
She was obedient, but she didn't like being left in the dark.
"The target is someone I'm sure you'd happily kill."
"An assassination?" she asked in surprise. Although the last part of the statement had her a bit interested.
Most of the people Cinder had her kill were people getting in the way of her plans, or potential threats. That was 'most' of them. She wasn't a sadist nor did she enjoy killing, but sometimes, there were the few in between that deserved death.
Those that deserved judgement.
Cinder let her kill those people sometimes, the few times she 'enjoyed' her line of work. She could already feel a grin carving itself onto her face.
"Yes. Your job tonight is to kill the head of the Schnee Dust Company, Kalt Schnee."
"I'll do it," she answered immediately.
She had heard all the rumors, and spies had reported most of them to be true. Cinder did this occasionally, as a way to make sure she was loyal. She chose targets the girl would want to kill. It was unneeded concern, but the girl didn't care. She was sure Cinder didn't either. The targets she chooses specifically for the girl are usually hindering her in some way.
The girl grabbed her last remaining accessory. In her hand was a mask.
It was the armor of a Grimm. It fit her face perfectly, giving her an ominous look. The white, bone-like material had eight red, glowing holes in it. Four on each side. The top two red orbs were carved out, as eyeholes for the girl. She wore it as a precaution, but it had been unnecessary concern so far.
There were rarely any witnesses anyway.
"I knew you would, Ruby Rose."
Kalt Schnee was having a normal day, or at least as normal a day can get when everyone hates you. His daughter, Weiss, had gotten angry with his decisions, again. Winter was still the only person she got along with. Winter herself was out doing some mission he didn't care about.
Currently he was sitting at his desk, taking a small break from the mass of paperwork that came with his job. Nothing of his interest had happened so far today, and he found himself staring out of his office window.
Winter was out there, somewhere. Weiss wanted to go out there, somewhere. He himself was content with just sitting in the safety of his office.
He stared out at the shattered moon. He hated that moon. People looked up to it, seeing beauty, but all he saw was a failure. Something that was supposed to be majestic and mighty was broken. God had made a mistake.
Kalt wasn't religious, but he often found himself cursing whatever force or being it was that gave him bad luck, and screwed the world up.
Having gotten lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice a shadow of red and black flash across the moon. What he did notice, was a black feather floating through the air, and landing softly on his window seal.
He stared at the feather, bothered.
I thought crows don't fly at night? Or is it from some other bird?
Suddenly curious, he unlocked his window and opened it. He picked up the feather and examined it. He wasn't an expert on birds, but he was fairly certain it was from a crow – or raven.
A breeze past by, wind rustling through his hair, and forcing its way through the feather, much to its protest. He dropped the feather. There was someone here with him, he could feel it. If the bloodlust pouring out of them was any indication, they didn't care to hide their presence.
A boot lodged itself into his back, pressing hard. He grunted with the sudden pain as his head was forced into his desk. The silence of the night was deafening. He could feel the cold metal of a blade touching his neck, teasing him. It was sharp, slowly traveling across his neck, tearing through the skin with ease despite the lack of effort from the wielder. He could already feel a few beads of blood flowing down. The cut wasn't deep, it was merely a foreshadowing of what was to come.
"What do you want? Money? I can give you all the money you would ever need and more," Kalt bargained.
"You clearly have no idea how many times I've heard that statement, but anyway, no, I don't want any money from someone like you," his assailant replied.
Kalt was surprised. Judging from the voice, not only was his attacker a girl, but she was also very young. He found himself struggling more, he wanted to look at her, and see her face. In response to his struggling, the boot dug deeper into his spine, causing him to immediately stop.
"Why do you want to kill me?" he found himself asking.
"Multiple reasons: I was ordered to, I wanted to, you're in the way of her plans."
Her voice had changed. Before she had answered almost innocently, now her voice was as dark as the night sky. Kalt found a shiver going up his spine at her change in tone. The first two reasons were things he had heard many times before, it was the last reason that warranted his concern.
"Whose plans? Who are you? Some Faunus sympathizer? Do you think killing me will set those Faunus free?!" he demanded quietly. If he was going to die, he wanted to at least get some information. Maybe a guard will hear.
"I'm not a Faunus sympathizer, I am a Faunus. You come to conclusions pretty quickly, don't you, and do you really think I'd give away such information?" she muttered, slight puzzlement was evident in her voice.
"A Faunus?" He almost found himself growling in annoyance. Of course! One of those animals would come and try to kill him! He'd show her!
"Guards! Assassin!" he yelled out. He could practically feel her scowl. Then he heard a click that resounded throughout the silence.
It took him only a moment to figure out what it was, and by that time, it was already far, far too late.
A sharp, resounding gunshot was heard thereafter.
The Head of the Schnee Dust Company lay, limp, on the floor of his office, decapitated. Slowly, blood started pooling on the floor.
In that instant, a bang cut the silence once again, but this time the sound came from the door slamming open.
"Freeze!" the two guards shouted pointing their guns at her.
"That's so cliche… I just killed your boss and you say 'freeze'? Rather than jail me, shouldn't you kill me?" Ruby said in a laid back manner, chuckling at their actions. She had pressed a finger to her cheek, as if in thought. She was sitting on the desk as to not get her favorite pair of boots full of blood. One foot was on the desk, ruining the papers the former Head of Company had been working on. Her other foot hung loosely off, hovering slightly above the blood.
Perhaps seeing the logic in her words, the guards opened fired, rapid bullets shot towards the girl, until she disappeared. She didn't turn invisible, otherwise the bullets wouldn't have hit nothing, but in her place was a small pile of blackened rose petals.
A second later, a large group of guards came through the door, each wondering what was going on. The moment they saw their boss dead on the ground, the whole place went on high alert.
"Find the assassin! We can't allow them to get away!" one shouted out orders, sending the guards out to search.
Guards slowly trickled out of the mansion, guns raised and cautious.
The two guards in the room first were brought to the only other authority figure in the building: Weiss Schnee.
They explained to her the most they could. The fact that the assassin was a girl, her Grimm mask, her red cloak, and the age of her voice. They mentioned how she didn't seem to hold a weapon, despite the clearly blade-made cut on the former Head's neck and the gunshot. They theorized that she had hidden her weapon in its compact form.
They also mentioned that the assassin had wings.
Weiss Schnee didn't want this. She was having a rare, relaxing moment when the guards burst into her room.
She had heard the gunshot. Even footsteps could be easily heard in the silence of the Schnee mansion. She had been having a rough day, and didn't realize what the gunshot meant.
So now here she was, listening to her guards babble about how her father had been assassinated by a girl that perfectly fit the description of The Fallen Angel.
"Ugh. Have you all been living under a rock?!" she screeched.
The guards paused their ranting about the details and begging for mercy. They looked at her and said something that just made Weiss' day worse, "What do you mean?"
"Ugh! For the love of- How did you get a job protecting Schnees when you don't even know who to protect us from!" she yelled in anger.
"We're protecting you from assassins and the White Fang," one of them replied smugly.
Weiss looked ready to run them through with her rapier, or encase them in ice, or both. She started waving her hands around in her anger during her explanation.
"Not just them you dolts! Which assassins?! I bet you don't know who that girl is!" Weiss said stomping her foot for emphasis. These guards were all idiots! Did her father just hire them for intimidation?! Or to annoy her?!
"Uh… She's an assassin?" the other guard said not-so-helpfully. He shrugged and prepared for the oncoming yelling that was signature to the Schnees.
"She's The Fallen Angel," Weiss said, sullenly, much to the surprise of the guards. "If you're going to protect us, do some research on who our enemies are," she continued, "Lots of research you have to do…"
She whispered the last part in anger. Her father had many enemies, and to suddenly die meant they were all of her enemies. Winter had refused to inherit the company, leaving Weiss as the only choice.
"We apologize," one of the guards said. His quick change in attitude showed he wanted to keep his high-paying job.
Weiss narrowed her eyes, then spoke, "You're dismissed." Both of the guards quickly left the room, relieved to have not heard the word 'fired' instead.
Weiss looked at her desk or, more specifically, her Scroll on the desk. She had been having a relatively normal day, then this happened. She didn't like her father, nor did she get along with him, but she wasn't ready to inherit something the size of the Schnee Dust Company. She wanted to become a huntress and make a name for herself that wasn't "that Schnee heiress."
Maybe Winter would allow that of her.
Ruby watched the guards from a great distance, her Faunus vision allowing her to see them clearly, despite being over a hundred meters away. She was sitting in a tall tree, watching them. They cautiously pointed their guns at any moving shadow. More than once they had open fired on some poor animal that they had mistakenly thought was her.
If she was a normal Faunus, she might've been insulted that they mistook an animal for her, but she wasn't a normal Faunus.
Most Faunus find some way to prevent discrimination against them, whether it be by hiding their Faunus traits, rebelling – which only made it worse – or moving to a place that accepted both humans and Faunus.
Rather than do what a usual Faunus does, she did a little of two of those choices.
Assassinating people with raven wings spread for flight had earned her infamy. It wasn't the type of rebelling the White Fang did – she was an assassin not a terrorist – but it made people think she was with the White Fang. She was content with that. Just let the White Fang take the blame.
Although Cinder had been slowly getting their support in her plans, she never mentioned that she had a little raven Faunus as an assistant. Cinder and her subordinates didn't judge her for her species, like most humans, which allowed her to get along well enough with them, but Cinder was the only one she would take orders from. Even if Emerald or Mercury had said that the order was from Cinder, she'd find Cinder and confirm it, not wanting the two to take advantage of her loyalty to Cinder.
A quiet song broke her from her thoughts.
"Red like roses fills my dreams
and brings me to the place you rest."
She found herself humming to the quiet tune. Lost in memories. Her head slowly swung from left to right and back again, in tune to the soft beat.
"White is cold and always yearning
burdened by, a royal test."
A memory came to the surface of her mind at the words "white" and "cold", causing her to choke down a sob.
A white cloak. Snow fluttering in the wind. A grave.
"Black the beast
descends from shadows."
That was her favorite line. It describes her job pretty well, but that's not the reason. Who are the beasts in this word?
The beast… Animals. The Faunus. The Grimm. Humans. Each of those can be considered 'beasts', but Ruby had her own opinion.
Humans were the beast.
"Yellow beauty burns…
Gold."
After a moment of silence followed, then peaceful silence returned. With a sudden realization, Ruby realized she hadn't answered the call. The nostalgic music had come from her Scroll. She quickly brought it out and looked at the caller's name.
Emerald Sustrai.
Ruby sighed with relief. If it was Cinder then she would've felt bad, and Cinder probably would've thought that something went wrong. She had almost never neglected to answer one of Cinder's calls.
If it was Emerald then that was fine. She could just play it off as not wanting to talk to the green-haired thief. Soon after, the song started playing again, but this time the caller was Cinder.
Ruby quickly answered, jumping from the tree and gliding away from the Schnee mansion. "Are you showing favoritism?" Cinder's voice said, before she chuckled in amusement.
"Somewhat," was her blank-voiced answer.
"How is the job going? You don't usually take this long," Cinder said, wanting answers.
"Nothing went wrong. Kalt Schnee is dead. I was seen by two guards, but that shouldn't be a problem," she answered in slight detail.
"Then what took you so long?" Cinder questioned. Her voice was unusual; a mixture between satisfaction and annoyance.
"I was having a little fun. Do all assassinations I do have to happen in less than two seconds?" she asked a little puzzled, but annoyed nonetheless.
"Hmm… I suppose you are at that age…"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" she muttered.
"Nothing… Just go the rendez-vous point."
"I know. I'm heading there now."
With a quiet beep the call ended. Ruby flew across the sky, her wings catching air currents, allowing her to lazily glide. She was traveling silently like that. Despite raven wings being difficult to silence, practice can do a lot to fix things.
After several minutes, the rendez-vous point came into view. It was the tallest building in the city. A Bullhead hovered over it, waiting. Using her Semblance to speed up, she appeared through the open door, enjoying the surprised gasps and shocked stares.
"I'm back," she said blankly.
The crew immediately got into their places, and the Bullhead flew off to the base Cinder was currently using. She sighed in contentment. Taking her mask off and folding her wings to allow them rest.
The flight wasn't very long. When they arrived, Ruby jumped down to the ground, running off to meet Cinder. Her superior wasn't hard to find, since she had two people constantly trailing her. When Ruby found her, Cinder was threatening Roman Torchwick with a fireball. This situation happened extremely often, Roman being left in the dark about Cinder's plan, and not liking it.
Ruby snuck up behind Roman, smiling devilishly. Cinder blinked in slight surprise, not having expected her back so suddenly, but then a devilish grin rivaling Ruby's stretched itself across her face, and she sharply nodded.
Immediately Ruby grabbed Roman with both of her hands and quickly shot into the air.
A startled "WOOOAAAHHHHHH!" filled the space, making some of the White Fang members nearby jump. Some of the newer guards looked up, surprised to see their boss flying with a red cape billowing behind him, while most of the other guards just sighed in annoyance.
That happened often too.
When Ruby was roughly twenty meters in the air, she let him go. He screamed as he fell, not having recovered from suddenly being lifted into the air. Mercury caught him, with a laughing face. Emerald was giggling to herself at the situation. Roman pushed himself off of Mercury and rubbed his aching head.
"Red, please stop doing that," he groaned.
"Only when you stop questioning Cinder," she replied smugly.
Roman scoffed in annoyance, before walking away. Cinder watched him leave, a smug look on her face. "Good job, Little Rose," she said, turning to Ruby.
"It's fine," she replied.
"I know it's sudden, but I have another job for you," Cinder said. Ruby frowned. Usually she got to prepare in advance. The most recent job she did was the only exception.
"Is it another assassination?" she asked.
"No. This job is something you've never done before." Cinder cupped Ruby's face in her hands, and forced her to stare directly into her ember eyes.
"What is it?" she asked, unnerved. Cinder's stare is not something you want to get caught up in.
"I need you to go into Beacon Academy. Undercover."
So basically in this fic, bird faunus aren't rare, it's just that having the wings is rare.
I'm not entirely sure if people can even have faunus wings, but in this fic they can.
Please, please, PLEASE review!
