Chapter 1: Friendships Forged In Blood

Danielle's PoV

"You can't keep sneaking me into your house" I mutter as I sit with Weiss in her bedroom and she answers, "Yes I can. It's worked so far" I chuckle, and I say, "Our parents would kill us if they saw us now" Weiss shrugs and answers, "I don't care" I nuzzle her forehead with mine and I say, "I'll try to be here when you wake up, but I can't promise anything, okay?" Weiss nods and she curls up next to me and mutters, "Goodnight Ari" I stroke her cheek and I say, "Goodnight Weiss" Weiss nuzzles my shoulder as she falls asleep and I begin to follow suit.

"What the fuck is going on here?!" I jolt awake and I swallow hard when I see Weiss' father and several Atlas guards. Weiss looks at her father with fear in her eyes and she stammers, "F-Father… It… It's not what it looks like! I swear!" Jacques growls and yells, "Not what it looks like?! It seems to me that you are sleeping with the enemy!" I stand up and I say, "If you want to yell at someone then yell at me. Don't blame Weiss for this, asshole" Jacques glares at me and growls, "Take her away" The guards grab me, and I struggle in their hold as Weiss cries, "Father! Please! Please reconsider! I love her!" I hear the sound of a slap and I growl in anger as I struggle harder.

I look back at Weiss who is cradling her cheek with tears in her eyes and I tear myself from the guards hold and I tackle her father. I raise my fist, ready to strike him when Weiss grabs my arm and shakes her head. I stand up and I pull Weiss into a hug and I kiss her forehead and I mutter, "I love you, snowflake… don't ever forget that" Weiss wraps her arms around me in a hug and Weiss whimpers, "I love you too…" I pull away and I wipe away her tears and I willingly follow the guards.

A Few Hours Later:

"Get in there, freak!" I groan in pain as I am thrown in a cell and I glare at the guys who threw me in here and I snarl, "When I get out of here, I'll kill you. All of you" The guys laugh, and they walk off.

I growl lowly and I hear, "Welcome to the SDC Mines" I look over at the source of the voice and I see a guy with auburn hair and blue eyes. I look away and the guy walks over, sitting next to me and he asks, "I'm Adam. Adam Taurus. What's your name?" I look at him and I say, "Aurelia. Aurelia Phoenix" He nods, a grin on his face and he says, "It's nice to meet you Aurelia" I send him a smile and I say, "Likewise, Adam. So, how long have you been here?" Adam shrugs and answers, "A few weeks. I'm planning to make a break for it soon though. How about you come with me? We could escape together" I nod, and I say, "Sounds like a plan. Anything is better than this hell hole" Adam smirks and he holds his hand out and I shake his hand.

A Few Months Later:

"Adam!" I yell as my best friend is held down by SDC workers. The boss of this mining facility smirks and asks, "Now freak, are you going to play nice or…" He brings a hot branding iron to Adam's face and Adam tries to shuffle away but fails. I struggle and the boss' gaze snaps to me. He laughs as he saunters over to me and he grabs my jaw in his hand as he purrs, "Who's this? You're cute… for a faunus that is. Oh, I'll have fun breaking you" He laughs cruelly, and I send him a glare.

I sneer at him and I spit, "Do you know who I am, asshole?" The boss backhands me and kicks me several times, effectively snapping a few of my ribs. I choke on blood and he sneers, "Know you're place, freak. Nobody cares who you are" He kicks me again and Adam yells, "Leave her alone!" The boss turns back to Adam and grabs him by the throat as he slams the branding iron on his face. I am pulled up to look at Adam as smoke flows off of his face and the stench of burning flesh plasters the air.

Adam cries out in pain and the boss drops him and he walks over to me. He grabs me by the throat and gives me the same treatment. I cry out through my clenched teeth and Adam yells, "No!" He jumps at the boss but is pushed down by a guard and knocked out. The boss laughs sadistically and throws me down next to Adam. He straightens his suit and sneers, "Get them out of here and into their cell. The rest of you! Get back to fucking work!" I struggle and Adam is picked up and we are taken back to our cell.

The guards throw us on the ground, and they walk off. I scramble over to Adam and I shake him slightly and I ask, "Adam? Are you okay?" Adam groans and he rasps, "Hurts…" I pull off my shirt, tearing it into rags and I clean his wound and I wrap a makeshift eyepatch around it. I swallow hard and I say, "I'm sorry… that's all I could do for it at the moment" Adam weakly waves me off and he asks, "What about you? Your going to get a beating for not wearing a shirt" I shrug, and I say, "As long as you don't get hurt anymore then I don't care"

Adam sits up and he asks, "Why do you care about me so much? I got you into that mess…" I send him a look and I say, "Adam, we are family. I'm not leaving you with these people" Adam sends me a soft smile and I mutter, "We should probably rest… we make a break for it tonight" I hold up a ring of keys that I stole from a guard and Adam smirks and mutters, "Sounds like a plan. Are we leaving the guards alive?" I shake my head and I say, "Of course not. We make a break for it, freeing the others that are locked up here and then we kill the guards, stealing as much dust as we can carry and then we make a break for the White Fang" Adam nods and I walk over to my bunk and I pull a spare shirt from underneath the pillow and I pull it on. I send Adam a grin and he climbs on his bunk and we both fall asleep.

Hours Later

I nudge Adam and I climb over the bull faunus and I shake him awake. He sits up and asks, "Is it time?" I nod and I say, "Yeah. Let's go" I unlock the gate and I walk down the corridor of cells, unlocking each one. The faunus prisoners look at us and I say, "We are getting out of here. Let's go" They all nod and we head to the storage room, grabbing pickaxes and I mutter, "We outnumber them. Alright. Everyone pick your targets. Don't let anyone leave. Understand?" Everyone nods and I yell, "CHARGE!" A battle cry comes from the others and we run at the guards.

I throw my pickaxe at a guy and it hits him in the head, killing him instantly. I pull it out, dragging it through the stomach of another guy, blood splattering my face and clothes. I smirk darkly and I run towards Adam, helping him out with the guards surrounding him.

I send him a nod and I hear, "They are all dead…" I turn around and I say, "Good" I jump onto a stack of rocks and I say, "We have all been cooped up here for months! We have been beaten, shunned and insulted! Some of us have even been raped or used as slaves! Well no more! Today is a day for celebration! Today is the day that we finally get our freedom! Now, my brothers and sisters! Are you going to stand aside and let the humans treat us like this? Or are you going to come with me and fight for the faunus who can't fight for themselves?! Are you going to stand aside or help me make humanity finally feel the wrath of the faunus?!" Everyone cheers and I drop off the stack of rocks and Adam sends me a grin and I walk over to the facility doors and I kick them open. I breathe in the fresh air and I say, "Today is our first day of freedom. Let's move" Everyone nods, and we head for the White Fangs Base of Operations.