Hello everyone, my apologies that this is taking such a long time, between school, getting this chapter edited as some parts were out of place. But now with this chapter, I feel I made it much better. Fair warning there are some feels in the chapter and you'll know when it comes. The second chapter is in progress and will try to have it posted sometime soon. In the meantime enjoy this one.
It was a warm summer day in downtown Vale. A soft breeze blew through the trees, adding to the already serene setting spread about Vale. The sounds of people chatting in cafes with friends and family. The smell of food drifting on the wind, the roaring of engines from bullheads and cars alike. Indeed, it was a warm summer day in Vale. Kids shouted to each other while stomping around in the grass of the park. Smiling parents with loving eyes watched their children enjoy their youth. More so their children wouldn't have so much energy at home to bother them when they arrived home in case of important business but still to watch them enjoy their youth.
Happiness was abundant in these times but it only lasted so long. Especially for those that weren't considered "human". Faunus also enjoyed the warm days. Although, they got less out of it due to the hate that surrounded them for merely being alive. A hybrid family entered one of the smaller cafes near the less reputable part of town. The small number of human customers located in the shop turned towards this family. Instantly upon sighting this family, whispers of hate and disgust skittered about the shop likes rats from a harsh light. A woman and a man carried a young child between them. The young child gleefully swung on the arms of these two adults. The man's calm gaze swept over the patrons of the shop, each patron quickly averts their gaze back to whatever they were doing only turning back when they were sure his gaze was gone. The woman whispered to the man and he nodded in response.
The man detached himself from the child and walked to the man standing behind the counter. The mother turned towards the child attached to her arm.
"Go outside and wait for us sweetie, we'll be right out."
"Ok momma!"
The child happily bounced away to the outside of the building. The mother happily smiled after him until he left, her facial expression turning dark to hide the sadness behind it.
"We don't serve those" he gestured to the child behind him, noticing small red and black legs sprouting out of the child's back, "things".
The man looked between his child and the man standing at the counter. Rolling his shoulder, the father stared at the man for an amount of time that made him uncomfortable.
"Are you going to get out or do I need to force yo-" The man's sentence stopped abruptly as he found himself face down on the floor without even seeing what had happened. The patrons hadn't even seen him move and chose to look on in stunned silence. The father was still standing there, his gaze unwavering.
"Now, are you going to give us something or do you want to feel the floor again?"
The clerk grits his teeth, a small amount of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.
"I'm not giving you freaks anything."
The father sighed, "very well then".
"I wouldn't try anything the police are already on their way."
The patrons fled out of the shop, screaming about how animals were attacking the shop.
"I'll make this quick then."
The father leapt over the counter and knocked the man unconscious then rushed into the back to steal whatever food he could carry. Running back to his wife's side they both ran outside, grabbed their child and took off down the street to a nearby park.
"Momma, what's going on?" The child's worried red eyes gazed into the soft, ever-loving eyes of his mother.
"Shhh dear, it's ok, we were just getting food."
The child's eyes lit up, his stomach mirroring his eye's happiness
"Yay! I'm hungry."
The mother smiled down at her child but soon refocused her attention on the task at hand. Finding a place to hide, they weaved through pedestrians shouting curses and profanity at them. However, the police caught the family soon after they had left the building. Civilians scattered out of the way to make way for the incoming police which froze the family on the spot. The officers pulled out their weapons and aimed at the family.
"Stop right there."
"Hello officer, what can I help you with today?"
"Don't play dumb with me you know what we are here for you animal."
The child jumped out of his mother's arms and ran behind her, causing one officer to fire a bullet into the child's legs. The child screamed in pain and fell to the floor.
"It hurts momma, it hurts, make it stop!"
The child cried out and his mother rushed to his side, cradling him in her arms while the officers smirked at the scene. The mother stood shell shocked but quickly recovered, gently setting her child down and instantly lashing out. Baring her fangs and leaping at the closest officer, biting his neck to bring him screaming down. The other officers responded all by firing at her, her body filling with holes. Her husband attacked shortly after, his attack however wasn't successful as the officers killed him before he could reach them. The child watched in horror, slowly crawling towards the fallen bodies of his mother.
"M-m-mom? Dad?"
The child continued through stuttered tears calling to parents.
"Come on wake up."
Both parents didn't respond. The child's tears began falling.
"Mom?... Dad?..."
The child attempted to hug both of his parents but they remained out of reach. He chose to sit between them and cry his eyes out. The police tried to calm the child down but he pushed the hand away and limped away, what direction, he didn't know. The police steadily chased him, practically walking as a small child limping wasn't hard to catch. One officer had the courage to place a hand on the child's shoulder, which resulted in an incident that mirrored his mother's, the boy turned and bit the officer's hands with the now sharp fangs in his mouth. The officer took a brief moment to register what happened, releasing a cry of pain which alerted the now sprinting nearby officers.
"Let go of me, you freak." The officer began hammering unfastened his baton and started beating the child. But, the child refused to yield, vigorously shaking his head in confirmation of his persistence. A fellow officer forcibly removed the child, back handing the boy and sent him spiraling unconscious to the ground.
"Damn animals."
The officer rubbed his hand, two small puncture marks sat on the dead center of the bitten officer's hand while another officer checked the boy's pulse.
"He's out cold chief."
"Check him to see what he is."
The officer crouching over the boy nodded before turning his attention back to boy, checking his facial area for any identification on what the boy could be.
"Nothing facial wise."
The officer roughly turned the boy onto his stomach and began searching his back. It took several seconds for the officer to find the kind of ID he was looking and scrambled away in fear and chose to point at the boys back, stuttering to form the word he was looking for.
"S-s-s-s."
"What?" The chief followed his subordinates finger, noticing an edge of some sort of shape sticking out of the lower left corner of the boy's back. Crouching over the boy the chief lifted the boys shirt to see what was scaring his subordinate.
"Scared of a little kid Johnson…."
The chief's eyes went wide at what he saw and quickly put the boy's shirt back down.
"Boys, grab the kid and let's get out of here."
"What's wrong chief?"
"You do NOT want to know. Just know that even those animals are going to fear this kid. Let's go."
The chief with a small grunt lifted the child onto his shoulder and pulled Johnson up off the floor.
"Were getting out of here now."
The officers went down to a whisper, not wanting to startle the already strained relationship between Humans and Faunus even though they were as racist as the next. They would rather not fight an angry mob.
"Why don't we just leave the kid? If he scares us so bad what's it going to do to everyone else?"
"Good idea." The chief threw the boy to the hard ground. His body landing with a hard thud and regret. As a result, the Faunus in the area began to stir and move towards the police. Each resonating step struck fear into the officers.
"Chief what are we going to do? We can't handle this many."
The chief's fearful eyes cast glances between his men and Faunus.
"Every man for themselves!"
The chief sprinted through his men, knocking over a few of his men before running back towards the more human occupied side of vale, his standing officers hot on his heels. Because the chief has knocked over the few men on the ground, the Faunus were instantly upon them, giving them the same treatment they had given the child. Once the Faunus were finished they stepped back to admire their work. While the officers still remained upon the ground and would be there for a while, several older Faunus went to check on the boy, their hands gently guiding their caring fingers over the boys battered body.
"He needs medical attention badly, he has broken bones and the bullet in his leg."
"It is as you say, let us make haste then."
With more care than handling glass, several Faunus members lifted the boy and took him to the nearest doctor. Thankfully, said doctor was nearby, as they did not want to leave the boy unattended for too long.
As the group carrying the boy came upon the doctors run down clinic, one member ran ahead to alert the doctor to their presence outside his door. A rough knock was heard upon the splintered wood.
"Who is it?"
"Doctor Rosen, it's an emergency."
Immediately throwing open the door, the doctor looked past the man and towards the center of the group gathered before him to see the battered boy.
"Bring him in, I'll work on him right away."
Quickly and carefully, the Faunus group shuffled past the doctor into the cramped room. Certainly, not a room for the ten people crammed together like a pile of logs.
"Nurse!"
A young deer faunus came hopping into the room.
"Yes doctor?"
"Clear whatever we can in the back room, we have an emergency."
Like a deer in headlights the deer's eyes widened but she quickly nodded and trotted off to the back. Soon after, a clanging of metals was heard and stopped as quickly as it came. Yelling from the back that the operating area was ready to be used, the nurse came back into the small waiting room to take the boy from the group of Faunus men and followed the doctor into the back to begin the procedure. But, the group of men did not want to let the boy go so easily and tried to follow the doctor and his assistant into the back, only to be stopped by a shake of the doctor's head and told to wait out here. Several of the men hesitated but most understood the need to wait in this room and chose to seat themselves about the room.
Day turned into evening and even into night, most if not all in the waiting room had fallen asleep. Yet, the final few were fighting to keep their eyes open, wanting to stay awake for when the boy did come back out, which no one was going to be able to see the boy come out that night. The last members had fallen asleep shortly before the doctor opened the door.
Sweeping his gaze over the group, the doctor gently smiled at the sight of said group still waiting. But, the doctor had to wake them up to deliver the news regarding the boys condition. While the group took their time stirring themselves awake, stretching their various limbs to bring them to life. After several cracking of limbs and joints minutes most of the group was standing, some of the front members of the group having to sit so everyone could see the doctor.
"What is it Doctor Rosen?"
Rosen held his posture for a moment, taking the time to gather his thoughts.
"I treated the boy as best as I could."
Non-speaking members held their breath as they shuffled about in their cramped spots.
"And?"
"He'll be ok, for now. He's going to need to get a hospital or a more advanced medical facility for his head injury, and if it's not soon, he'll have permanent brain damage."
The members of the group glanced around at each other.
"What hospital is going to take him? No place likes Faunus."
The quiet voice from the back was almost inaudible to those that weren't Faunus, not like any non-Faunus would be here.
Casting his glance down, the doctor turned away to think of any other solutions.
"Well there is only one other solution then."
"And what would that be Doctor Rosen?"
Directing his gaze once more at the group before him, he sighed.
"We'll have to take him to the Fang."
The group was immediately in a frenzy.
"Doctor, you know very well we can't do that, you know how we feel about their views of the world."
"Yes I know, I like them as much as the rest of you, but it's either take him to the Fang or risk the possibility that he may suffer permanent brain damage and who knows what the side effects come with that kind of condition."
Silence, each person weighed the risks and rewards of the situation at hand. Coming to a conclusion in contrast to what they really wanted to do, they would bring him to the Fang. No words were uttered as the group hurriedly walked towards their destination deeper into their "territory", their skittish eyes jumping here and there, searching for any signs of an ambush. Although, nothing happened until they reached the base, they had believed themselves safe but were surrounded before they could blink.
"State your business."
The leader of the traveling Faunus group stepped forward, presenting the boy in his arms.
"We need your help; you have more advanced medical facilities then we do."
"And why should we help you. You don't want to help the rest of us."
Anger boiled under the surface of the man's face, taking a step forward as he grits out word for word his response.
"Maybe because we don't share the same views on how to go about getting equal treatment."
Both sides collided heads, the guns held by the White Fang all pointed at the smaller groups leader.
"Now, now children, play nice."
In place of the heated argument, the loud clacking of heels against stone was heard, the White Fang parted to reveal their leader, a woman known as Cinder strutting through the crowd.
"We'll help the boy."
Excited murmurs rose through the Faunus group while grunts of displeasure rose through the White Fang.
"On one condition, when he recovers, the boy joins our group."
The murmurs were soon switched followed by cries of outrage from the Faunus group and the boy was pushed further away from Cinder.
"I will not hand over a child to the White Fang."
"Oh? Then enjoy finding somewhere else to treat him."
Cinder smiled, the speaker for the opposing side clenching his jaw in order to try and calm himself. Under this circumstance, jaw still grit, the speaker turned towards the group, some shaking their heads and some nodding. Thus he knew what he needed to do.
"Fine, I will give the boy to you, given that we can visit him from time to time. The boy's parents were killed in front of him, do go easy on him."
Cinder's grin only grew wider, her eyes seemingly flaring to show her triumph.
"Deal."
Cinder snapped her fingers, clearing most of the White Fang out of the area while some stayed behind to collect the boy from the group. Once the boy was in her subordinates' arm's, she led the White Fang back into the base, leaving the opposing group standing there.
"Was this a wise move to do Elder?"
The Elder's eyes continued searching the direction the White Fang had disappeared to before turning to leave with a mutter under his breath.
"I dearly hope so."
Cinder escorted the boy (more the man carrying the boy) to the medical area, the man gently set the boy down on a medical bed then turned to leave, to catch up on the plan Cinder had in place.
"Doctor, you have a visitor."
A middle aged man, wearing glasses had stepped out of a room located in back of the medical area.
"And who might that be?"
Cinder gestured to the small boy lying unconscious next to the doctor.
Pushing the glasses towards the root of his nose, the doctor sighed and walked to the boy's side.
"And what happened to this child?"
"Judging by the boy's wounds, I would say he was assaulted, but you're the doctor aren't you?"
"Right."
Sarcasm dripped off of his tongue, Cinder's glare burning a hole into his back. The doctor could feel the fire on his back but chose to ignore it.
"I'll get to work right away then."
"Send him to me in my office once he's ready."
"As you wish Cinder."
The doctor moved off to grab his tools, grumbling about he wasn't being payed enough for this job.
Cinder tuned the man out and walked back to the main hall to wait for the boy.
Patience was not something Cinder had at this moment, it had been hours since the boy had to the medical bay.
"What is taking that doctor so long."
With each word said, Cinder ground her teeth against each other. Just as Cinder was going to storm over to the Doctor's medical bay and give her less than friendly talk, the door to the hall creaked open. Although, it was quiet and was only seen by a few people who were looking in the direction of the door. And from the small opening of a door white hair came through first, followed by slightly tanned skin and a pair of red eyes. The figure's hands grasped the door, gently pushing it open as he had already been noticed and timidly walked into the room towards Cinder.
Once the boy had reached Cinder, his quiet, frightened voice asked a question.
"Are you Cinder?"
The widened eyes full of fear gazed at Cinder's face.
"There you are little one, come sit."
The boys gaze followed Cinders gesturing hand towards the chair, his gaze remaining steadfast on Cinder, much to her annoyance.
"Sit."
Cinder's commanding voice scared the small child into obedience, bounding over to the chair he did as instructed.
Cinder pushed herself back from the small desk and stood, beginning to pace back and forth for a short time before walking behind the boy and hugging his back.
"Do you know why you're here?"
The boy shook his head.
"You're here because I saved your life, and as such you will serve me. Do you understand?"
The boy nodded his head, choosing to remain silent out of fright.
"Good."
Before Cinder could continue, the child found his voice.
"Where are mommy and daddy."
Cinder's face was blank and she clearly stated to the child as he needed to learn this early and get it over with.
"They aren't coming. They're dead."
"Dead?... what does that mean?"
"It means you won't get to see them ever again."
Tears began to well in the corner of the boy's eyes.
"No…."
The boy crumpled to his knees and began to sob, causing all of the White Fang to stop what they were doing and look on at the scene.
"Stop crying."
The boy continued to cry.
"I said stop."
Still the boy kept on.
"I SAID STOP."
Cinder slapped the boy across the cheek, instantly silencing the boy as he kept his face towards the left, stunned to silence.
"Now, I will teach to right those who have wronged you, people will fear you. No one will ever take away what you love again."
Cinder leaned into the boy, a smile igniting across her features. The boy turned to face Cinder and nodded. With that done, Cinder stood up, her heels clacking to the opposite end of where the boy came from.
"Follow me. We will start your training at once."
Quietly, the boy lifted himself off the ground and quickly caught up to Cinder.
"Before we begin, what is your name little one?"
"Ciar."
Cinder nodded, her attention refocused towards the training area.
"What species of Faunus are you?"
"Mommy always said-"
The boy stopped short, choking down another sob as to not incur Cinder's hand again.
"Mommy always said I was a spider."
"Oh really? Let me see then."
Both Ciar and Cinder stopped in their tracks, Cinder's feet guiding her behind the back and lifted his shirt. She noticed a red hourglass located dead center of Ciar's back.
"I see."
Once more a grin struck Cinder's face as she put the boy's shirt back down.
He'll be an excellent terror tool.
Cinder's grin continued while she walked past the boy now trailing behind her once more.
An excellent terror tool indeed.