My heartbeat doubled when I noticed what was going on. During lunch break, in the cafeteria, I was, not for the first time, presented with a display of cruelty.
A brown haired, shy, and as far as I know, sweet girl, was subject to torment of unrivaled malice. Just watching the events unfold before me threw my emotions into a turmoil people my age should not be feeling, and the baffling apathy of my peers towards the whole ordeal didn't make me feel any better.
Cardin, a person I knew I would dislike from the moment I met him, was the cause of it all. He had snatched the ears of a faunus girl, after his friends had been discussing whether her long rabbit ears were real or not, quite loudly I might add. After treating the hall to about five minutes' worth of offensive conversation, Cardin walked over to the girl, and grabbed one of her ears, since one of them refused to believe they weren't cosmetic.
"See? They're real," he yelled to his friends, without any regard for the girl who was demurely trying to make him let go.
"You have to show us up close, dude!" one of his team members shouted.
Cardin agreed. Without a second thought, he mercilessly pulled her off her seat, and dragged her all the way back to where his team members sat.
"Ow, quit it," the brown haired girl cried.
"Ha, I told you guys it was real," Cardin laughed.
"Stop it, that hurts!"
Cardin was pulling on her ear with such force that she had to bend all the way towards him, with her face level to the table. Desperately she tried to get him to release her, both of her hands wrapped around his fist.
"Wow, that's just disgusting. Imagine having to go around like that for your entire life," one of the CRDL members said, looking on with squinted eyes.
"Yeah, I'd probably kill myself if I was a faunus. I mean, you'd have to live with the fact that you're an inferior, useless species. To be honest, I don't even know why they're allowed in at Beacon. I, for one, don't want them here."
Cardin turned to face the rest of the cafeteria, and shouted
"Come on guys, none of us actually wants these freaks here, am I right?"
Nobody else in the cafeteria did anything. I saw JNPR and RWBY look at the scene from their tables. Since I respected those teams the most, especially RWBY, I was surprised that they did nothing but stare.
I'm not saying I'm better than them, as I did nothing for the girl either, even though I wanted to.
I hoped maybe a fellow faunus would stick up for the girl, show some sense of solidarity in this moment of truth. None did. Every faunus that I could spot in the split second it took me to look around the hall, was either staring stoically at their plate or pretending not to notice anything. I imagine they were all afraid of being bullied too, if they stuck up for another one of their kind.
In the end, nobody helped the girl get loose from Cardin's grip. She had to pull herself free. The force it took to escape from Cardin's clutches made her stumble, something team CRDL saw as very comedic.
"Finally, I thought you'd never do anything. I actually started to feel disgusting just from touching you. Yuck," Cardin said, and wiped his hand on the girl's vest.
"Well, are you going to do anything? Are you going to fight me?" he added, an arrogant sneer adorning his face.
I held my breath, as I expected the girl to punch or slap him there and then- or heck, do at least something in retaliation. But she didn't. She only balled up her fists, and turned around.
"That's right, walk away!" Cardin jeered, "I expected nothing else from a faunus."
The girl's ears hung limp as she stared at the floor, pacing away quickly. Team CRDL laughed at her as she left.
Her eyes were wet with tears, I saw, when she passed by me. It was obvious she felt just about as miserable as a person can feel.
"Hey! Wait!" I tried to call out to her, but she ignored me and kept going.
With my arm outstretched to her, I watched her leave the cafeteria.
I wanted to help her. I had to help her. But how?
I started as a hand clapped down on my shoulder. It was Cardin.
"You don't have to worry about her," he told me with a reassuring grin, " She's an animal- she doesn't have feelings like you and I do. They can't think as well as we do either. So don't fret it- they're not human."
I brushed his hand off.
"I think our definitions of 'human' differ, then," I told him.
They're not human? You're the one who's not human, scumbag.
I guess he didn't like the fact that I didn't instantly agree with him, as he suddenly squeezed my shoulder so hard it hurt me.
"Oh," he said, moving his face closer to mine, "what do you think it means to be human then? Because I don't think having a tail fits the criteria."
I pushed his hand away, and not without anger in my voice, I said
"You're a fucking asshole, Cardin. Get the hell away from me."
He frowned, and left me alone.
When I turned back to my team, I was met with three quizzical gazes.
"Well, thanks for the help just now, guys," I said, not bothering to hide my annoyance.
They all shrugged.
"You shouldn't get involved with stuff like that," my leader said while staring over the top of his mug.
He took a large swig, and continued.
"This isn't your problem."
"You're right. This is everyone's problem," I said.
He put his mug down, and stared at me with a raised eyebrow. I had the feeling he didn't understand me at all.
"Look, I have no idea what you mean when you say that, so I'll ignore you. Instead, I'll just tell you this: don't mess around with Cardin. He'll beat you up if you speak out against him, okay? I get that you feel sorry for that girl, but here's no reason to get yourselfp hurt in order to help someone."
"Yeah, like that attitude is ever going to change anything," I said.
"You don't have to stand up for her. None of us have to," another one of my team mates said, "we did nothing wrong. So don't assume a responsibility that isn't yours."
I pushed my lunch tray aside, and got up. I had enough of the people around me.
"If that's how you excuse yourself for doing nothing, then fine. I'll see you guys later."
They called for me to come back, but I didn't. I left the cafeteria the same way the brown haired faunus girl had, feeling the same amount of stares pointed at my back.
I spent the rest of the lunch break aimlessly looking around for the girl. My efforts were wasted. She had all but disappeared, it seemed.
She didn't show up to the following lesson either, a fact that made me shift around on my seat anxiously as I listened to professor Port babble away. One side of me still told me to back off and keep out of her way, yet another, bigger part of me, was fuming with anger. This wasn't the first time I had seen open hatred displayed against faunus in the short time I had spent at Beacon, and I don't think I was going to be as complacent about it as my fellow students.
However, before I did anything to Cardin, and before I tried to help the girl, I wanted to confirm my that intentions were right, or even appropriate. I knew nothing about the faunus, so I wasn't sure whether helping the girl would be over the line.
The first people I thought of laying my problems out to were my teammates, but they were of no help. I tried to reignite the conversation that we had during lunch, but they stubbornly ignored my attempts until I simply gave up.
Not all was lost though, as they weren't the only people I planned to talk to. There was someone else I had my sights on, a person who I suspected to be a bigger help than my team mates anyway.
With that in mind, after the lesson came to a close, I lingered in Port's classroom. My first impressions of the professor weren't great- during class he liked to boast about his past endeavors which bored us all to tears, and he had a golden bust of himself on display for everyone to see, which I thought was almost frighteningly narcissistic. However, the more he taught us, the more it seemed he really was an admirable person.
So, after the lesson ended, I stayed behind in the classroom, waiting for all the students to leave. Once I was alone, I coughed to get Port's attention.
"Oh, it's you!" he said, when he turned around from his desk and saw me sitting at my lectern still, "Is there anything you wish to ask about the lesson? Or would you like to hear more about my battle with the beowolf?"
"Oh, neither. But I do have a question. Kind of a personal one, actually," I said, and got up.
"It won't be too difficult to answer, I hope," he said, and chuckled, "either way, we'll go sit in my office. This boarbatusk corpse is not something I'd like to keep looking at while I talk."
He chuckled again.
I stepped over the black and white, pig-like beast that Weiss had defeated during class, and followed Port through a door at the far end of the classroom.
It revealed a small office, dominated by the colors of autumn.
Port beckoned me to sit down in a massive chair opposite of his desk, so I did.
The chair fit perfectly, I sank away in it as if it was molded just for me. Port too, comfortably sank away in it. For a second, he stared at me, then jolted up, as if remembering something.
"Before you ask your question, lass, would you like to have a little taste of the Atlesian '49 I have lying around?" he asked as he revealed a crystal chalice containing red liquid from under his desk. Before I realized, he had already poured me a small glass.
"I don't drink," I said.
"Just once is fine, I won't tell anyone," he said and gave me a fat wink, "And this is closer to grape juice than actual wine, therefore you need not worry. I sense you are nervous, so don't hesitate to take a sip and unwind. Now then, what do you have to ask me?"
"Well," I said and took a small sip of the sickeningly sweet liquid, "it's about a girl in my class. She-"
"You don't love her, do you? Is that what it is?" Port asked, bemused.
"No! No, I hardly know her. No, it's different. She, she- Well, I don't know how to start," I said.
"I suggest you start with the beginning, then." Port said.
"It's rather difficult to talk about."
"Don't worry. Confide your problems with me! Nothing you say will leave these four walls. Speak to your heart's desire!" he said, and he spread his arms as if he intended to take anything I threw at him.
Well, I'm here now. I might as well just spew it all out.
"In that case... You see, I'm confused about something. There's a girl in my class, she's a faunus. But that's not my problem. Ever since the lessons here started, there have been a few people that have been saying and doing terrible things to her, and to other faunus. The thing is, I just don't know what to make of it, or if I have to say something, or if I am even in a position of saying anything... What should I do?"
"Oh, lord. I didn't expect that sort of question," Port sighed as he swirled the wine in his glass, and mulled over what I said.
"Well? That can't be all, can it?" he said after while, "you must feel at least something about it. Why don't you tell me what you think first?"
"Oh, right. It's just that..." I hesitated for a second, "Alright. I grew up in a small town in the south west of Vale. We didn't have the same technology as we do here, and we frequently had to defend ourselves against the Grimm. I did too, even when I was little. It's actually why I wanted to become a hunter in the first place-"
"Very commendable," Port nodded, and motioned me to continue.
"So, as I said, I grew up in a small town. There were no faunus there, ever. No traveling merchants, no lone faunus residents. I hadn't ever seen one before in my life before I came to Beacon. I'd heard of them, of course, in stories, but I never thought anything of them. I thought they were just like humans. And I guess they are, really. When I first saw the faunus on my first day at Beacon, I thought they were magnificent. Humans with animal features, it was incredible. I can't imagine why humans would treat them poorly just for being slightly different. The reason for such behavior, it's just completely absurd to me. I can't even imagine what you'd have to be like as a person in order to discriminate to such an extent. So what if they look slightly different? Isn't that interesting, or doesn't it at least make you feel good that we humans have such great companions in this world? Both humans and faunus are constantly attacked by the grimm, shouldn't we be brothers in arms? Why fight among ourselves as well? Because they have a tail, or cat ears, and we don't? Is such a superficial difference going to drive us apart?"
Port sighed again, and slowly put down his glass. He stroked his mustache a few times before he answered.
"You pose good questions, but answering them isn't that simple, I'm afraid. Both humans and faunus are tribal creatures. We always have been, we always will be. Humanity sticks to what they know, and shun what they don't know. It's how we survived as a species, it's how we made it through the dark times of the past. Even though we have long lost the need for such tribal instincts, some people still have them, even today. You can't blame them for that. Though, it does not mean they can't be educated into relinquishing these tribal beliefs. Say, are you familiar with the history between the humans and faunus?"
I shook my head.
"That explains your confusion then. Well, I can't tell you everything right now, so let's just say that there's a lot of bad blood between us. We used them as slaves, forced them to do the work we didn't want to do, while justifying it by telling ourselves they weren't human, and that it therefore didn't matter what happened to them. On the flip-side, there are still faunus today who would like nothing more than for humanity to be all but wiped off the face of the earth. Now, you and me have grown past the history and beliefs of our ancestors, but some haven't. I know very well that there are human students here at Beacon who still hold archaic beliefs regarding the faunus. Though, of course there are faunus who hold the same sentiment towards humans, too."
"Alright, but if you know there are students like that, why don't the teachers do anything?"
Port leaned back in his chair.
"What can we do? It's the upbringing these kids received, that gave them such attitudes. We can hardly brainwash them to let go of their own beliefs. They won't listen to us, and won't accept any new ideas. They'll reject it all, thinking their own point of view is right. And that's just as well. Only through the interaction with their peers can they change, I think you'll find. If Humans and faunus get to know each other, the perceived differences will fade away."
"You think so?"
"I've seen it with my own eyes. I remember a particular student, I won't say who she was. Came here fifteen years ago, with an absolute hatred for humans. She picked fights whenever she could, and picked on one human boy in particular. Many a time did I have to grab them both by the collar to stop them from killing each other. I thought their situation was hopeless, but the contrary turned out to be true."
"What happened to them?" I asked.
"They ended up marrying, if you can believe it. Why I'm telling you this is to show you that, well, people will come around at some point or another. They'll realize their mistake soon enough, and undergo a personal change."
"That's great and all," I said, "but right now, that girl is still being bullied. I don't think she's looking forward for three years of harassment before Card- uh, the guy who bullies her 'comes around'."
Port chuckled.
"I admire the good in your heart, kid, and I admit you have a point. I said people will come around to the idea of equality sooner or later by themselves. However, I'm not saying I will object if someone decides to... beat the idea into them, so to speak," he said. Then, he laughed jovially, and patted me on the shoulder.
"So, are you saying I-"
"You heard what I said. Just do what you think is right. I wouldn't say this to everyone, but I think you know very well what the right thing is."
"I- I see. Thank you, professor Port."
When I got up to leave, he said one more thing.
"My dear, let's keep this exchange between just the two of us, shall we?"
I nodded.
"I wasn't planning on telling anyone."
Port's expression relaxed.
"Well, then, off you go. Let me leave you one more proverb, though. 'When good men do nothing, evil thrives'," he said, "remember that."
And remember it, I did.
With determination stirring in my heart, I left for my next lesson.
Cardin pushed the girl to the ground. The books and notes she held clutched to her chest spread out over the floor.
"Get out of my way, freak. Know your place," he said, his cohorts laughing merrily.
I had just turned the corner, in the hallway leading away from Port's classroom, when I saw it happen. The rest of the students averted their eyes, and kept up their pace, walking right past her. Soon, the hallway was empty save for the girl, team CRDL and me.
"What the hell is wrong with you, dude," I said, "you should apologize to her."
I know my demand was as stupid as it was ineffective, but it was the only thing I could come up with.
Cardin took his gaze off the girl, and chuckled when he saw me.
"Apologize for what? Should I apologize if I step on an ant too? Get real, loser."
Cardin swung his arms around the shoulders of his team mates, kicked one of the girl's books away, and they all left, snickering while looking at us over their shoulders.
With boiling blood I ran to the girl, and sank to my knees. I ignored whatever CRDL was still yelling at me.
"Hey, are you okay?" I said to the girl, who was slowly trying to get up, "here, let me help you."
I started collecting the papers she dropped.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she quietly repeated, and started to pick up her books up. She had a distinct Atlesian accent.
"Thanks," she said when I handed her her notes, her voice sounded restrained. Even though there were still many more books scattered around, she moved away from me, as if she was trying to escape.
"Hold on a second," I said.
She turned around her head.
"What?"
"I'm sorry about what they did to you. It's not right."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Are you apologizing for them?"
"No! I'm just... I just want you to know that humans aren't all like that."
She scoffed. Her eyes narrowed even more, into a rancorous glance.
"Huh. Is that so? Not all humans are the same? That's rich, coming from you. A human."
She spat out the word as if it was an insult. And to me it was. Hearing her say it like that, felt like having a dagger plunged into my heart. My shoulders drooped. Had I said anything wrong?
"Why did you even help me up? Did you think it would make me feel better? Or did you just do it to make yourself feel better?" she asked.
She cast her eyes down.
"You have no idea what it's like to be me."
More than angry, she sounded sad. I had to fix this, quick.
"I, oh god, of course, I'm sorry if I offended you, I- of course I can't possibly imagine what it's like-"
"No! Exactly! So shut up!" she yelled, and ran away, leaving the rest of her books behind on the floor.
"Wait!" I yelled back, but she turned the corner before I could say anything more.
Goddammit. I was such an idiot.
Full of remorse, I slowly picked up the rest of her notes. With each paper I picked up, her words resounded in my head.
I didn't know what it was like to be her. She's right, I don't. But I'll be damned if I don't try to understand. I wasn't going to let this continue. I wanted to see her smile, at least once.
It might sound corny, but who cares? I don't need any more motivation than that.
I'm going to do what I think is right.
