The New Venue
Another successful protest. It was late and all of us were covered in dirt and sweat from the long day of picketing a Schnee construction operation. The protest started peaceful but someone decided to start throwing rocks at the construction vehicles and then the bystanders got involved. We still got our message across and they had to halt construction until tomorrow, so at least something came out of it.
I got back to barracks and hosed off all the grime of the day. It was then that one side of my head got heavier and I strained my neck to keep it upright as a towel was draped over one of my horns.
"Hey!" I whizzed around and Rose was standing there with a sarcastic grin on her face.
"What? I thought you might need one." She was constantly trying to set me off, like what an older sister might do to a younger brother. She had short red hair and a pair of scruffy dog ears poking out from her crimson strands. Rose liked to look after everyone, she always made sure everyone was eating well and felt like they were part of a community. When I first joined, I wanted nothing to do with another family. Losing anyone close to me was unbearable at the time, but she made it a point to include me at every dinner and meeting. Eventually, I gave up trying to get out of them and started to enjoy them. She still was as much a pain now as she was when I first joined though.
"My horns are not a towel rack, Rose!" She laughed and just brushed me off as she walked away.
"By the way, Beryl," she began. I stopped drying off long enough to hear what she had to say. "There is new leadership for the Fang."
"What? The old man stepped down?"
"Yep, and it looks like this new guy is really wanting to make some changes to the Fang."
"What does that mean for us?" I asked.
"It means that Chat wants to see you as soon as you are done here. He's got orders for you."
The White Fang was a protest group, we had never gotten orders, just requests and tips about what was about to happen and we would volunteer to go out and picket. The new guy must have really wanted to organize us.
I finished drying off and headed up to see Chat. Chat was our district's organizer. He planned rallies and pickets for this area. He was a pretty ok guy, a little absent-minded at times but overall he was an alright leader. I knocked on the door and his familiar voice welcomed me in.
"Oh, Beryl it's you," he said. His fangs still had bits of food on them as he clearly was in the middle of a late night dinner. He was a saber-cat Faunus, his clan had been in Remnant for centuries, but the Faunus uprising had only left him and a handful of his relatives alive. He had never seen combat, since he was far too young to fight, and it always seemed as though he regretted not being there with the rest of his clan.
"Were you expecting someone else?"
"No…it's just- Ah never mind…I have something for you." He held up a computer pad and handed it to me.
'Effective immediately: Beryl Bemidji of the Shion district is transferred to the Logistics Division of the White Fang. He is to report to Lieutenant Grane Masichuvio no later than 1800 tomorrow. Transportation and a uniform have been provided. Order authorized per Adam Taurus's second in command.'
"I'm being transferred?"
"Yep, there is a truck with some others on it waiting up the road to take you to the Lieutenant." He handed me a white and gray uniform and a gray mask. "Good luck, Beryl. We are going to miss you here." I took the items and headed back to the tent, still bewildered that I was going to be leaving my home so suddenly. When I got back, Rose was waiting for me.
"Well? What happened?"
"I-I'm being transferred to Logistics." Rose's ears drooped and her excitement quickly changed to confusion.
"I don't understand. Why now?"
"I don't know, but I'm leaving tonight."
"This isn't fair, Beryl. The White Fang never breaks up these groups, especially ones as tight as ours." Her eyes were welling up and tears began to run down her face as she ran to me and gave me a hug. Her hands clung to me like their lives depended on it and it took every ounce of energy to keep myself from crying.
"Rose, you are a good friend. I won't be leaving Anima, so I'll never be that far away." "I need you to do me a favor. Check in on my mom every once in a while, I don't know when I'll be able to return home again. Can you do that for me?"
She looked up at me again, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She wiped them away. "Yeah, I can do that for you, Babe," she said smiling. I gave her another hug before changing into my uniform and heading out.
The truck had about five others in it, all with the same gray uniform and mask.
"Beryl Bemidji?" asked a tall White Fang member. His voice was annoyed and grim. His mask was the same as the others but had two small red streaks running down the sides. I nodded my head as I approached. "Good, put your stuff in the back and get in, we are running late."
"Where are we headed?" I asked.
"That's none of your concern," he sternly replied, "just get in and keep a close eye out for bandits and grimm."
The road was bumpy and dark. The truck had turned off its lights to keep a low profile and the driver was relying on his night vision to see the road. I looked around at the others in the truck, I could hardly tell anyone apart and I had to rely on each of their animal traits to see even the slightest amount of differentiation. There were two wolf Faunus who sat next to each other. They flipped their ears in different directions, listening closely for any danger that may be out there. An older male sat at the back, dosing off. He looked to be a walrus Faunus with his large straight tusks protruding from his mouth. They were littered with nicks and scratches from years of wear and probably battle. Lastly, there was a smaller boy, his arms had fur covering most of them, with dark red streaks over the tan hair. He looked around like he was on patrol, constantly swiveling his head back and forth. His hands were clenched into tight fists on his lap, making his knuckles turn white. I decided to do my part as well and I turned my head to look out of the truck, whacking my horn on one of the window frames as I did so. The two wolves turned and chuckled a little bit, but the boy merely frowned further and stayed a motionless sentry.
Is this really what the rest of the White Fang is?
We arrived at our destination around 10. We had been travelling for nearly eight hours and most of the passengers had fallen asleep, including myself. We were jolted awake as the truck stopped at a rundown warehouse.
"Everyone look alive!" The tall Fang member boomed, "Beryl Bemidji, you come with me. The rest of you are to follow the Sargent to the barracks." A large man with elephant ears walked up to the others and instructed them to follow him. He wore the same uniform as the rest of us but just like the driver, he had a pair of red markings on his mask, he also carried a large shotgun on his back. "Mr. Bemidji, a sense of urgency, if you please!" I snapped back into reality and quickly followed the driver. "Now I know you are probably tired but I need you to start in the warehouse for an hour or so. After you meet with the Lieutenant you will need to get straight to work, so it is important that you know how to do your job."
"What is it that I'll be doing?"
"You are in the Logistics division now, it's our job to make sure that all of the White Fang members are properly supplied with all the materials that they need to keep the movement alive." He brought me over to a large crate with 'fragile' written on it in large red letters. Prying the lid off, he showed me the contents. Several blank picket signs were inside, along with a few of the familiar blue White Fang rally banners. "As you can see, these crates will have items for rallies and pickets. They will need to be separated from the rest of the crates and be put on that wall on the right. They will have this symbol on it, so you know what is inside of them and you'll never have to open them." He pointed to a small icon, three red streaks with a circle around it.
"It looks like a claw mark," I said.
"That's exactly what it is. The other crates will have a basket for food, or a briefcase for office materials. You get the idea."
"So why do these need to be separated from the rest of the materials?"
"These are high priority items. We need to make sure that we always have enough of them on hand and that our brothers get them on time. The other crates will be sorted along the other wall depending on what is inside of them, but make sure that these are kept separate. Understand?"
"I think so."
"Good. Now there is part of a shipment still on the loading dock. I want you to take all of the rally crates and put them on the wall. The other workers will deal with sorting everything else."
I did as I was told, the crates were reasonably heavy but I could handle them. I ended up finishing in less than an hour and the tall man brought me to my quarters.
"This is where you will stay, along with everyone else who works at shipping and receiving. If you need anything my name is Xiangya, I'm the Loadmaster here." I still had about 5 hours before I had to go see the Lieutenant, so I decided to turn in. It was exciting to be part of the inner workings of the White Fang. I felt like I was really making a difference now. Back home, there were never a lot of people so not a lot of humans ever heard our message, but now I was helping all of the White Fang in Anima. I just wish Rose and the others could be here.