Cloudy skies had marked the dismal mood on the young, red-haired woman's golden eyes, as she had recalled all the moments in her life - from the time she was beat up because of the bull - well, oxen horns that had grown from her head, to the time she defined who she was for the first time with her crimson and obsidian colored garb, emblazoned with the symbol of a wilting rose - and to the time where she had to make the one decision that would change her life forever.
Addison Taurus was already at that point, several things. A revolutionary fighting for Faunus rights and true equality, a terrorist of the White Fang doling out "justice" against humans in the name of correcting past wrongs, and now a Huntress of Beacon Academy, saving lives in the name of righteousness. And it took a lot on her mind to figure out what choice lined up with what her conscience sought.
As she produced a diary from her person, she also decided to light up a cigarette - after all, reliving your worst memories tended to put a lot of stress on your psyche, and Addison was no different.
The diary was full of entries - some about the White Fang, along with sketches of the one person closest to her at the time.
And all of them were so painful for her to remember ...
"THIEF! FIND HER!"
"WHAT PART OF 'NO CRITTERS ALLOWED' DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!?"
"WHERE IS THAT GODDAMN RABID FAUNUS!?"
The angry mob had chased young Addison down the streets as she sought the nearest alleyway that she could escape from. And with the gang of racist humans hot on her trail, losing them wasn't going to be easy.
No matter where she tried to run, the persistent mob had become more competent in hunting her down - it had become apparent that this was the final straw for them.
A couple turns, some trash cans and wooden props later allowed her to gain some distance. The brick wall that came ahead was pretty high, but there was enough material for her to start the climb.
Of course, she was running out of things to grab on to, so she had to hold the package between her teeth.
But then, time had apparently run out as one of the humans had recovered and was trying to grab her by the foot.
"GOTCHA, YOU FUCKING BITCH!"
Crap, ran the thought in Addison's head. They caught up this quickly!?
"Let go, damnit!" Addison screamed in desperation.
"NEVER! WE'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE, JUST LIKE THE RAT YOU ARE!"
The sheer panic on her face was enough for her to quickly raise the other foot and kick one of the men in the forehead, as she mustered the strength in her body to scale the rest of the wall and leap over the top and make it to the other side.
And she never stopped running…
After she couldn't hear the screams of the mob, she decided to stop in a nearby alley and catch her breath.
But she wasn't in the clear yet. She had found a nearby dumpster to hide behind in one of the alleyways, and she had to throw them off somehow. There was still a fair way to go before she could make it back to her dwelling, which was somewhat less damp, cold, and dirty than said dumpster.
But that was how things were back in the day, especially for a starving orphaned street urchin like herself, barefoot, covered in tatters and rags, and with plenty of dirty patches on her skin. She had been blessed with incredible luck given how previous attempts to find decent food in the area were scarce. That's why she repeatedly went after the same shop with the same 'NO CRITTERS ALLOWED' sign - there were so few good ones to find, after all.
Which made today's event even more fortunate for her - all the opportunities to repeat her successes were vanishing, and she was only lucky to barely escape her pursuers this time.
So it was fitting for her to start chowing down a bit on her still-hot meal. After all, she was still hungry, not to mention that she frankly earned it after still managing to escape.
Unfortunately, it was the scent of hot, tasty food that tipped off the gang of racist humans to her location. Any sense of satisfaction she had on her face had quickly evaporated.
"HERE SHE IS! I FOUND YA, YOU FILTHY RAT!"
That feeling of desperation and panic had shown up on her face as the gang began to surround her from all sides, ready to lynch her in an act of disproportionate retribution.
"YOU NO-GOOD CRITTERS ARE ALL THE SAME! YER' KIND ARE ALL LIARS, THIEVES AND MURDERERS!"
"I - I didn't do nothing wrong! I'm starving an' I'm just trying to eat!"
"I DON'T CARE! YOU MONSTERS ARE GOING TO GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU DESERVE! YOU'RE GETTING NEUTERED, OR YOU DIE!"
Addison could do nothing but scream and cry as the beatings commenced. Each blow hit like a truck with the weapons they used - crowbars, fists, lead pipes, baseball bats, and so on.
"No! Stop it! Please, oh God, please stop! I'm sorry! I don't wanna …! Someone, please help me!"
"SHUDDAP AND CRY ME A RIVER, BITCH!"
All she wanted was for the beatings to stop, as she lay against the walls, where her skin was now lined with bruises and scratches, and she started to bleed from the head. But all she could do was cry as red sparks started glowing from her body and her bleeding started to stop.
"Shit! She's got Aura!? Great, out of all the trouble this critter put us through, she just had to have Aura, didn't she!?"
After the one man finished his rant, the rest was seen lost in thought, trying to figure out a way around this new hurdle. Unfortunately for Addison, it didn't take long for the gang to think up of a solution.
"Then I guess we'll just have to beat it out of her!"
While she couldn't bleed any further as the beatings continued, she could still feel the blows and the pain that ensued, as if the one thing protecting her from a fatal blow didn't matter in the long run.
However, the supremacists were so busy in their frenzied anger that they failed to notice one of them had been impaled in the back.
"What the -?"
To their surprise, they saw a young, handsome teenage boy with yellow catlike eyes, short black hair with cat ears, clothed in black jeans, boots and shirt, with a white short jacket. The jeans had chains that would link to his weapon, a wakizashi inspired by the ancient blades of the Mistralian Orient.
"Racial slurs, rampant segregation, and now lynch mobs harassing a fellow sister Faunus of mine who can't even defend herself," the boy muttered. "Typical. You monsters make me sick."
"Sister? Heh - I guess yer' dirty caged kind don't learn, do ya?" Came the response.
"Whatchu gon' do, turn mah' legs into a scratching post, ya dumb critta?" Another dark-skinned member added, as the gang jeered to hyena-like laughter.
The young man sighed as he readied his stance.
"You know, I would've said, 'We either do this the easy way or the hard way,' but I guess for you, you already made your choice. Time's up, you sons of bitches. Since you lorded power over us for so long, let's see what happens when I take all of that away from you all, and more."
"C'mon fellas, let's teach him a lesson!" came the rallying cry as the mob charged.
But no sooner than the first racist swung his bat, did he realize that the boy already leaped behind him, having generated an afterimage. Push kicking the second man away to create space, he slashed the next two in the torso, killing them immediately. As the first man turned back to see what happened, all he would get is a throat leaking out blood - and a hard thud falling on the concrete.
While it was hard for Addison to react with fear, joy, and sadness due to beaten near to the point of unconsciousness, all she could see was the young man quickly leaping and slashing all over the place. She could see the grace and killer instinct that emanated from his prowess, and was happy the beatings stopped, happy that someone could teach the gang a lesson and actually save her in her time of need.
When only the last man was left, he was shocked and spiteful, but he seemed to recognize something about his assailant.
"Damnit … kill me all you like, but you Faunus are all born to lose … wait … aren't you a Belladonna?"
But the young man's golden eyes only stared back with utter contempt, ramming the sword in his face.
"What about it?"
With all the human supremacists dead, the young man turned to the street urchin, hoping to pick her up and whisk her away for safety.
But for Addison, she barely had time to react as she lost consciousness, with darkness closing in from the corners of her eyes …
"No … no … please don't die! Please wake up!"
As light returned to Addison's eyes, she saw the young man crying with tears in his face. "Wha … where the … I'm not ...?"
The young man wept tears of joy as the still-dazed girl barely processed what was going on.
"Oh, thank God. Thank God you're alright!"
But Addison still didn't understand what had happened.
"Who are you?"
"I," the young man replied in a matter of fact tone, "am just a regular guy who stands up for justice, especially for Faunus like you and me. When I saw what these Faunophobes were doing to a fellow defenseless sister of mine, I knew I had to do something. And so I took em' all out to the cleaners. You feeling okay?"
Addison nodded yes.
"That's nice to hear," the young man noted. "So, where's your parents, miss?"
Addison mumbled, with a sad expression on her face. "I … I don't know. I don't remember what happened, sir. I ... "
Addison began to cry at the thought of what happened to her mother and father. And the young man understood, sighing as he realized that Addison's parents were probably missing, neglectful, or dead, and that she had been living alone this entire time.
"Ouch. I'm so sorry," he had somberly concluded. "Maybe I can be your friend if you like. Is that okay with you?"
As Addison looked up, she was hesitant and scared. He was a stranger. Who knows what he would do to her?
"It's okay," he responded with a reassuring tone. "You can trust me, sweetheart. I won't hurt you - I just want to help. Is that okay?"
Now that she calmed down, she nodded back with a yes.
"Good. That's nice to hear," the man concluded. "So, where do you live?"
The dwelling was a massive mess. It consisted of large metal pieces, some plastic tarp, with lots of sheets lining up the walls to try and block out the cold. She had lots of junk, but few possessions.
"This is where you've been living for so long?"
As Addison shyly nodded yes to the man's question, she got a better, clear look at what he actually looked like. He was just a few years older, but he had a handsome face and was quite a slender hunk for his age.
"To be honest, this is wrong. All of it is wrong."
Addison was confused at first. Then tears began to form in her eyes, as if all the hard work she spent these past few years maintaining her home was invalidated by the insults of a handsome stranger that just saved her life. And he picked up on it too.
"Wait - I don't mean it like that! My bad, I'm sorry if it came put the wrong way," the man backtracked.
"What I meant was that no Faunus should have to live like this, especially not for a nice, innocent, adorable girl like you," came the clarification, while Addison blushed at his compliments. "The fact that you've struggled like this is a travesty, and it speaks volumes about just how much human society hates us just for being who we are."
Addison nodded, agreeing out of first hand experience.
"But, I have a way to fix all of this. Wanna hear it?"
"What do you mean, mister?"
"Well," the man proposed, "I have friends and family that can help you. We can give you nice clothes, a good place to stay, and all the food you can eat. We can support you and help you and every other Faunus in need. We'll make sure you'll never have to live like this again, because you deserve something better. Is that okay with you?"
"Mm-hmm," came the reply from Addison. The stranger seemed nice, and the offer was very tempting.
"Nice! That's great," the man enthusiastically concluded. But there was just one more question she needed to ask.
"Um, what's your name, mister?"
"Just call me Blake," the boy warmly smiled. "Blake Belladonna. What's yours?"
"Uhm … it's Addison. Addison Taurus."
"Addison, huh," he mused. "Beautiful name for a beautiful girl," Blake remarked, which made Addison blush from his compliments.
"So, how about you pack as many of your things as you can and come with me? I know a better place than this dump where we can stay in. Sounds about right?"
"Okay!" Addison beamed.
"That's nice to hear," Blake concluded. "Glad to know you'll be with us for the next little while."
So when they held hands and walked off together, Addison was unaware that Blake had an insidious grin on his face, a sign that he had benefited greatly from this encounter - and that the next few years would be very, very wrong...
To be honest, every time I look back on this moment, I just want to cry. No parents, no home, no safety, no rights … and all of a sudden the Prince Charming I'd never expect, swoops in to save my ass and sweep me off my feet. Blake Belladonna … just hearing his name makes me want to vomit. To think that everything was so shitty at the time - and that I had no other choice.
Sure, he was a handsome, nice guy and all, and he had so much to offer back then. Food, a nice home, support … how could I say no, especially for a guy that seemed so nice and wouldn't treat me like a … you know.
If I knew who he really was from the start, I would've told him to piss off … not that it would've done me any good.
Not that it would've done anybody good with him around - in hindsight, it all seems starving in the streets was the least of my problems. It's ironic - I trade one set of problems for another…
And that wasn't even the worst part...
And that's Chapter 1!
Yeah, this idea came again from Dishwasher1910's art, this time not from R.W.3.Y., but from a scenario where this time, Blake was the dominant male abuser, and Adam was the submissive female abuse victim.
The first thing you'll be asking is what the hell a Heifer is, and the second is "why did I write this fanfiction in the first place?"
A Heifer is a term for a young female cow with no calf. It's appropriate for a young, single oxen-themed Faunus lady named Addison. Plus, the burden is a play on her abuse and the term "beasts of burden."
As for why I chose to write this story, well, I have several reasons:
Needless to say, not only did I think the characters were gorgeous (Blake being a deceptively handsome guy that girls would fall for and fem!Adam being a cutie that you'd just want to hug), but their expressions conveyed a strong sense of pity.
Plus, for people left unsatisfied with their expectations of Blake since Volume 1 and Adam since the Black Trailer and Volume 3 (including me), I found myself excited with a new opportunity to actually explore their characters from a new perspective while keeping the concepts the same.
See, back in the Black Trailer, I considered Adam to be a mysterious rebel without a cause. Then out of the blue in Volume 3, I found it hard to believe that Adam was an abuser, since we never saw him actually abuse someone in an episode. Heroes and Monsters didn't count because Blake and Yang were in a fight, were willing to fight back, and were capable of defending themselves. I was always interested in what drove Adam to seek violence in the name of the White Fang, but since he's being written as a bland, generic evil strawman punching bag, I was disappointed.
As for Blake, I thought she would be the oppressed poor street urchin with a sympathetic backstory and problems that she could one day overcome since The Stray and Black and White, but unfortunately, she soured on me when she kept complaining about her problems which would immediately solve themselves in the next second - by just kicking so much butt in one or two blows to her enemies. Questionable decisions and her bitter mood did not help her case.
So, with this new idea that Dishwasher made up, I realized I could be get what I want while other members of the audience would get what they want. Through Addison, I could write an actual oppressive backstory for her that I thought we would get for Blake and Adam while showing actual abuse in the material itself. And with the new Blake, I can retain all of canon Blake's backstory while perfectly incorporating Adam's personality and archetype as a despicable scumbag that the audience is all too willing to loathe - as a self-righteous Faunus Rights Activist and as a portrayal of what domestic abusers actually are like.
I left Blake's name the way it was because it was originally made as a male name. As for why I chose the name Addison, here are the following:
* Adam not only refers to man (as in the first man in the Bible) in Hebrew, but it also means to be red (as in the redness found in human skin). Adam in canon series was the first male character, and had a red themed design to boot. Eve would be cliche, and loses the color meaning as well.
* While Athena was suggested, Athena's name meaning is unknown, and therefore provides no color reference.
* Lilith was considered at one point, but her name translates to night demons, implying black colors, whereas I was looking for red colors. Sure Lilith might be a redhead according to Jewish mythology, but I wanted to play it safe. Besides, I figured, why not keep things simple and use a derivative of a pre-existing name in order to keep the same color references and maintain consistency?
* Thus, Addison was chosen - because it's a derivative of Adam, now defined as son of Adam, and it sounds kind of girly enough to be used as a girl's name (why people consider names defined as son of X- as girl's names is beyond me).
Now, I know we're starting with a couple cliches here - namely the "oppressed street urchin beaten by thugs and saved by mysterious benefactor" trope, but I figured that was probably the same kind of backstory we were expecting from Blake, and that it's simple enough to get the point across. I made it vague enough because since I don't know the specifics with little info, and so that I could leave it to the audience's interpretation.
Also, I really wanted to properly depict the anti-Faunus racism in the show, and so I used a lot of animal terms, since Faunus are people with traits of one animal. Euphemisms like neutered, terms like Faunophobia to describe anti-Faunus racism, and my personal favorite - the "critter" slur - it retains a derogatory animal meaning, it's simple to remember, and it does so much damage and easily despicable to the audience because it's wordplay on the anti-black slur "nigger" of old, which still retains its sting when modern audiences resonate with the damage it could do. I'm not lying when I say I had a shit-eating grin and thought of myself as a genius for coming up with the term.
In terms of the format, the story is mostly going to be told through flashbacks - first in third person to describe the events, and in first person to describe Addison's personal thoughts in hindsight, stylized in italics. I apologize if it seems redundant, but I really want to capture how abuse really feels to people.
Anyways, I plan on prioritizing the relationship between the two of them, though I may consider retelling major events at Beacon, Menagerie and Haven from Addison's new perspective in order to give greater nuance to these events.
Take care, and I hope you'll like it! Don't pull your punches - any notes and any form of criticism (with substantial thought-out points and arguments, of course) will be helpful in your reviews for future chapters.
-AceTriad