Safira was so, so, nervous. So nervous that a part of her just wanted to run for the safety of her home and hide under the covers until her mommy came to find her and tell her how it wasn't ok to skip school.
It was her first day, and after being dropped off with a kiss and a hug Safira was now standing in the front of class, more kids than she had ever seen in her life staring back at her, each one a different age and with different looks. heck, there had to be at least twenty kids sitting around in the elders living room, the place where they were gonna have their classes.
Nnnn…I-I wanna go home. The winged Faunus very nearly cried, desperately trying to not run away but losing her will to remain with every passing second.
Fortunately, or unfortunately maybe she still wasn't sure, she never got the chance to run. As a warm hand patted her on the head and drew her attention away from the stares, a hand that she eventually realized belonged to her best friend in the whole world.
"Calm down Safira, just take a deep breath, hold it for a second, and breath out. Everything will be fine." Sarah told her with a laugh, Safira pouting slightly for a second before following her imaginary friend's advice.
…and it worked. When she let out her big gulp of air she felt…better, not super-duper better, but better.
She would've thanked the older girl, but before she could the elder in charge of the class, a really, really, old guy named Snow, stepped forward and cleared his throat drawing the classes attention to him.
"Everyone, we have a new child joining us today. This is Safira Ha-Neul, daughter of Zephyr and Terra Ha-Neul. I expect each of you to treat her how she deserves to be treated…understood?" The old teacher said, his voice kinda strange at the end but Safira was really just too nervous to think about it much…plus adults always sounded weird so it wasn't really that weird.
The kids sitting around the elder's house, a place that Sarah said was weird for school but Safira didn't see why, all nodded before looking at her again, Safira flinching under their stares only to shuffle her foot against the floor.
"Now that introductions are out of the way we can beginning class. Ha-Neul, please take a seat wherever you wish."
"Ok!" The winged Faunus shouted back, trying really hard to sound as excited as she could, Mom did say that the other kids would like her better if she was really friendly. But as she turned to take a spot in the front she couldn't help but stop. They were all still looking at her…and no one was smiling.
I…I changed my mind, I don't wanna sit in the front. Safira decided as she nervously ducked her head and maneuvered around the outside of the group to sit in the back, her head down and her cheeks red the entire time. N-nothing's going right…I thought I people would like me more.
"Oh Safira, don't worry so much. I'm sure at least someone here will like you. There's just not really any time for them to get to know you now that class is starting." Sarah replied to the young girl's thoughts both ignoring Elder Snow as he began to talk about adding things together, something Safira had learned ages ago from her imaginary friend.
"Nnnn…" Safira whined, realizing only a second later that she was complaining out loud and that her new classmates were looking at her strangely causing her to blush even harder and lower her head.
"Ya, it's probably a good idea to not talk to me out loud around others little angel, that's just going to make it harder to make friends." The older girl commented with a giggle as she drifted away, Safira's pout only growing worse despite the fact that she managed to keep her lips sealed.
Once the floating girl stopped talking Safira focused on what the old man was saying…and she was really happy she did. While the math and English lessons were really boring, like really boring since Safira talked about that kinda stuff already, the history stuff was really interesting. Elder Snow talked about how a really long time ago all the different Faunus lived in something called "Tribes" which were like really big families. The Faunus in those tribes all had the same traits…which was kinda weird to think about since everyone in Menagerie had really different looks.
But eventually the old teacher decided it was time for everyone to take a break and eat lunch and that was why Safira now found herself standing off to the side in the Elder's big backyard. All the other kids having formed little groups as they talked and ate their lunches leaving her by herself.
This is perfect! I can just go up to a group, give them some of my lunch, and then we can be friends! The young winged Faunus thought in excitement, proud that she could come up with such a foolproof plan to make some friends.
"Well…I suppose it might work…you are all young after all and food is a good way for kids to get to know each other." Sarah commented with a shrug as she walked alongside the winged Faunus as the younger girl made her way over to the biggest group of kids. "Just remember, it might not be that easy."
Safira paused at that, blinking owlishly up at the worried looking older girl. Why would sharing her lunch not make her friends? Her mom's cooking was the best after all, why would people not want to be friends with her once she shared it?
But Safira didn't have time to ask, as she realized that a lot of the kids in the group were looking at her weird, so instead of asking what the imaginary person was talking about she instead tried to smile as wide as she could as she stopped before them.
"H-heya everyone! Can I join you? My mom gave me extra lunch to share and stuff so I just thought I should, you know, share!" Safira half shouted, her nerves getting to her, as she held said lunch. But despite how friendly she was being no one said anything, all the kids looking at each other kind of nervously, which in turn made Safira nervous. What did she do wrong? Did she say something she shouldn't have? What if…what if they didn't like her already?
"Breath Safira, just breath. Everything will be fine." Sarah advised as the young Faunus grabbed the bottom of her dress in worry, a habit she always fell back on when she was nervous and couldn't go to Sarah for help.
But before she could ask her only friend for help with what to do one of the kids stood up, crossed his arms, and glared at her. he was a little older than Safira, maybe a year or two and was about a head taller. His bright red hair was wild and unkept but somehow only made the black horns on either side of his head all the scarier. He was dressed in black pants and a black tee shirt and his brown eyes were narrowed as he slowly looked her up and down with a look on his face that made the winged girl really, really nervous.
"…Hmph." The boy snorted as he crossed his arms. "No, you can't eat with us, now go away."
Safira felt a cold chunk of ice settle in her stomach at the kid telling her no, but tried desperately to keep it off her face as she looked at the ground. "O-oh…w-why?"
"'Cause we don't wanna hang out with some stupid seagull girl!" The boy sneered, the icy pit in Safira's stomach quickly being replaced by a fire, the young Faunas openly gaping at the older boy in anger.
"Wha…Seagull! M-my wings aren't…!" Safira shouted back, she was just so angry, so angry that she couldn't even think of a good insult for the kid with horns.
"No? 'Cause it makes sense to me. You just came in outa nowhere, started squawking about food, and have really stupid wings. Sounds like a seagull." The boy continued, his mean grin only getting bigger. "So why don't you get outta here seagull girl? No one wants to eat with you."
Safira stared at the ground as she tried desperately to keep from crying, from both anger and frustration. She wanted to shout back at him, to throw something at his stupid smug face, to cry and run away, but she just couldn't decide which one to do. So, in the end she reached the brilliant idea to do both.
Shutting her eyes and screaming in to try and get rid of all the bad feelings in her chest, Safira immediately tossed whatever was in her right hand at that moment at the idiot who made fun of her wings. She heard the bully cry out in surprise and pain, making her smile slightly despite the horrible feeling in her gut, before she turned around and ran to the far side of the backyard and hid behind the wall of the Elders house.
It was at that point that the winged Faunus couldn't stop the sobs from escaping from her lips, her body twitching occasionally as she tried to keep herself from crying. What did she do wrong? All she did was ask if they wanted to eat together, was that so wrong? Did she do something wrong during class? But all she did was listen just like her dad had told her to!
Is…is it really 'cause of my wings? Is that why they hate me?
Only seconds after thinking about the two white wings on her back Safira yelped in surprise when she saw and felt a pair of arms wrap around her back pulling her into a really warm seat. She looked up in surprise to see her imaginary friend, now likely her only friend, staring down at her with a really sad smile as she pulled the younger girl further into her chest.
"Sorry Safira. I was hoping that the kids here would be better than making fun of you just because your different…but I guess I overestimated them." The older girl apologized, her grip growing tighter for a brief second at the mention of the other kids but Safira was too upset to think about why.
"Overestamated?" Safira tried to repeat the word she didn't recognize, Sarah flinching slightly before sighing.
"I thought they would be better than insulting you because you have wings…but I guess brats will be brats." Sarah explained with a huff, Safira laughing quietly through the hiccups at the brown-haired woman before staring down at the woman's lap that was half in the ground to give her a comfortable seat.
"Oh…did…did I do something wrong? I tried to be friendly like you and mommy told me to, but they…" Safira started to ask, trailing off when the miserable feeling in her stomach returned.
"No, not at all. You did everything you could to make friends with that group of idiots." Sarah quickly denied as she leaned forward to rest her chin on the top of Safira's head, the imaginary girl's hair falling across the Faunus's vision and tickling her nose. "Sometimes kids are just jerks and there's nothing you can really do to make it better…. well, not you per say…but I might be…" The older woman trailed off, a weird, almost happy and angry look on her face.
"What?"
"No, it's nothing, don't worry about it." The older woman replied with a really weird laugh. "But hey, look on the bright side, at least the classes are interesting right?"
"Oh ya! It was really cool! I mean, he isn't as good at math as you are, but all the other stuff was really fun!" Safira replied, her eyes bright as she thought back to the lecture.
"He's not actually bad at math Safira, he just was just trying to keep it easy to understand for all the other kids. Not everyone has one of me around to help them with math." Sarah replied with a roll of her eyes, Safira blinking up at her for a second before shrugging.
"Oh, ok." She really didn't get it, why wouldn't everyone want an imaginary friend to help them out? But she didn't really wanna think about it anymore. "Well, if no one wants to eat with me then you can! Mommy said she made my favorite foo-…where's my lunch?" Safira continued as she looked down, only noticing then that her lunch box was nowhere in sight.
"Safira…you threw your lunch at that other kid, you don't have any food now." Sarah explained apologetically, Safira staring down at her now empty hands with a blank expression.
She decided, then and there, that she would never like that bull-headed dummy.
"Your mother tells me that you have been avoiding discussing your schooling with her. Is there anything you would like to tell me about?" Zephyr asked as he slowly moved through his early morning stretches, Safira was trying her hardest to mirror her daddy's movements but flinching at his question. Ever since she had turned four the head of the Ha-Neul family had insisted that his daughter begin preforming morning exercises alongside her father, that even if she wouldn't pursue a life of combat the flexibility and endurance gained from early training would benefit her regardless. And while she really didn't like the really sore feeling it gave her she really did like spending time with her dad…assuming that he wasn't asking questions like that.
It had been two weeks since the winged girl had started school and nothing was going right. Sure, the lessons weren't really all that hard, and Sarah was always nearby to help with homework, but everything else just kinda…sucked.
Bullhead, the name she gave to the kid who was a jerk to her that first day, just wouldn't leave her alone. He was always there; making fun of her if she answered something weird or talked to Safira he was there to make fun of her. he was just…such a jerk! Sure, she wasn't exactly too friendly with the dummy but she didn't even do anything to start with and he was still a big meanny to her!
But at least Bullhead would talk to her, even if he was only to insult her. Every other kid in her class would either flinch and stare at the ground if she tried to talk to her or would just ignore her! And she just couldn't get why they were so weird around her. Heck, not even Sarah could figure out why exactly she was still friendless…or nearly friendless, her imaginary friend only able to offer her hugs when she needed them, which was nice but not really wat she needed.
All in all, the last few weeks had been absolutely the worst ever and the young Faunus has spent more than one night crying herself to sleep. She tried to hid how miserable she was from mom and dad, she was certain that her parents had picked up on her feelings even though she was really good at lying about how she was feeling.
A skill she was quick to put into practice as she continued her stretches. "N-no! not really…everything's fine!" Safira replied with a rapid shaking of her head, flinching slightly as she pulled something in the back of her leg as she leaned forward to stretch out her arms.
Her dad continued to look at her with the same look he always had on his face, a blank stare, so Safira was really sure that he bought her lie.
"I see…that's good then." Zephyr commented without changing his expression, Safira internally smiling now that she was sure she had fooled him. "Ensure that you do not cause any trouble for the Elder and do not shame our name in your class."
"Y-yes daddy." Safira responded after a moment, the young girl trying really hard to stop breathing heavily. All the morning exercises really tired her out, and she hadn't even gone to class yet! But thankfully her mom had breakfast ready for them when they went back inside.
"Zephyr, Sweetie, how was your exercises?" Mom asked with a really big smile on her face, Safira's mood instantly improving at the site of one of her parents smiling down at her and patting her on the head.
"Ok I guess…still really hard." The youngest member of the Ha-Neul replied as she took her seat at the table. The three Faunus ate their breakfast in relative peace, Safira asking about what her parents were going to do for the day while they asked her about her lessons. But eventually the time came for Terra to drop her off at class, the two women moving slowly through the city in the direction of the Elders home.
As they slowly approached Safira couldn't help but feel an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach, another day of school, another day of having no friends, of being alone 'cause of some stupid reason she didn't get. Sarah hadn't really given her any real reason for why she was all alone, even though the imaginary friend had been ghosting around the Elder's house the entire last week looking for a reason why.
But Safira's thoughts were interrupted when she felt a warm hand on her head, the person's fingers gently moving through her hair in a comforting motion. The winged Faunus looked up to see her mom looking down at her with a weird expression, almost like she was worried she was going to cry but not quite.
"…Mommy?"
"…Safira, I just wanted to…" Terra started, only to pause and seemingly chewing on her words for a moment before shaking her head slightly. "No, never mind. Just remember that if you ever want to talk about something, anything, both your dad and I are always willing to listen."
"…Ok?" Safira eventually replied with a confused tilt of her head before smiling, hugging her mom, and walking through the front door to the Elders home. Of course, her smile didn't last for long, as almost immediately Bullhead sneered at her as she made her way into the big room where they had their lessons.
"Hey Seagull, why are you making such a stupid looking face? Did you not get a chance to steal some trash before class?" the red-haired brat mocked, Sarah flying forward to glare down at the kid.
"If this kid doesn't stop trying to pick a fight with you then he's going to learn firsthand what happens when a ghost gets truly angry." The older girl threatened as she slowly began to circle the kid, Bullhead shivering slightly and looking over his shoulder like he thought someone was trying to sneak up on him.
Safira wanted to laugh, to giggle over her best friend's antics, but after the third time someone looked at her really weirdly for talking to herself they both decided that she should just try to ignore whatever the older girl was doing unless it was really, really important. Instead she tried to put on her best pouting face.
"No dummy! Mommy made me a really good breakfast so ha!" Safira replied as she stomped past the boy, keeping her chin up and her eyes on anything but the bull Faunus as she moved past.
The lessons for the day was mostly about words, and how to write sentences like an adult would. Safira found it so simple she was half tempted to just nap through the lesson, but decided against it when the Elder praised her for how well she was doing before commenting how awful Bullhead was doing instead. So instead of taking a mid-morning nap she instead decided that the best use of her time was to smile smugly at the jerk whenever Elder Snow wasn't looking.
Sure, daddy might not like her rubbing her smarts in the faces of others but…he wasn't at the class to see her make a face so she wasn't doing anything wrong! At least not until Elder Snow saw her.
But the morning lessons eventually ended, and as such Safira now found herself in one of the most depressing parts of the day, lunch time.
The winged Faunus had tried so many times to spend her lunch times talking with other kids during the brief break between morning and afternoon classes. Heck, she even tried to talk to some of the older kids! But even if they talked to her they would only answer in one word replies and at worst they wouldn't even look at her! Like she was some kinda weirdo or something.
I kinda don't even want to try today…what's the point of trying if no one wants to be my friend? Safira couldn't help but think as she kicked at a pebble a just minding its own business by her foot away from her little corner of the Elders backyard.
"Come on Safira, don't think like that. I'm sure that someone hear wants to be your friend." Sarah replied from somewhere over the girl's shoulder, the young Faunus not bothering to turn around to see where her imaginary friend was hanging around, especially when she was listening in on Safira's thoughts. "…here, why don't you go talk to that girl over there. She looks like she's a good person." She continued as she floated into view and pointed off at the back of the yard.
Safira followed her only friends finger until she saw another girl sitting by herself under one of the few palm trees that dotted the Elders backyard. She looked like she was around Safira's age, she was just as small as the winged Faunus after all, and was looking down at something in her lap. The girl's hair was black and cut short, just barely reaching her neck, and on top of her scalp Safira could just make out two very cute extra ears occasionally twitching when someone walked by her.
"U-umm…do you really think I should? She's…she's just gonna ignore me like everyone else…" Safira muttered under her breath as Sarah floated into her line of sight, gesturing over at the black-haired girl with a gentle smile on her face.
"She might, I can't guarantee that she won't, but if you don't try you'll never know." Sarah answered as she floated over to once again place a hand on the younger girl's head, Safira drawing more courage from the simple action than she probably should. "Don't worry, I'll be with you the whole time just in case you need me."
Safira took a deep breath, trying really hard to work up the courage to once again go over there and try and make a real friend, before finally nodding up at the older girl. "…Ok." She said simply as she started to walk over.
Safira could see the girl's ears twitch as she made her way over, the girl looking up at her after she figured out that the blue-haired girl was moving in her direction. The girl's eyes were a vibrant yellow, the color causing Safira's barely adequate courage to falter, but despite the unusual color the girls eyes were filled with…well, Safira wasn't really sure what, but it defiantly wasn't the same look all the other kids kept giving her when she tried to talk to them
She almost looked scared, but Safira wasn't scary at all so that couldn't be it.
Safira stopped a few feet away from the black-haired girl, the winged Faunus shuffling her feet as she tried to think of something to say. "H-hello…u-umm…what are you doing over here?" she started off, Sarah sighing heavily from over her shoulder.
"Safira, you're supposed to introduce yourself first. Its common courtesy."
"Oh! Uh- I'm Safira by the way…nice to meet you."
"…Nice to meet you." The other girl replied after a second, refusing to meet her eyes as she returned the greeting.
She replied with more than one word! That's more than anyone else has given me! Maybe she really will be my friend! Safira couldn't help but think in happiness, trying really hard to keep her excitement off of her face. The two were silent then, Safira trying desperately to think about what to do now, while the girl simply stared up at her warily.
"Ask her about the book in her lap Safira, and remember to breathe." Sarah continued, Safira nodding, sucking in a deep breath, and staring down at the really big book in the girl's lap.
"T-that's a really big book…you can read that?" Safira asked, kinda awed by the fact that a girl her age could read a book with so many pages.
The girl looked down at the book, her cheeks turning a slight pink color for reasons Safira couldn't identify. "N-no…my mom looked like she was enjoying reading it so I thought I would try to read it…but the words are really big and I can't understand them."
"Ah…Well I can read it for you! If you want me to of course." Safira offered, puffing out her chest in both pride over thinking of a way to make a friend and the fact that she was such a good reader.
The girl however didn't appear to believe her, looking up at her though narrowed eyes. "…Really?"
"Yep! I read all the time!" she continued to brag as she sat down by the girl's side and peered down at the page the girl had open…only to freeze in terror.
Words…so many words. The two pages before her were filled with line after line of horrifyingly small words, too many to count. And there wasn't a single picture anywhere in sight.
Oh god…how can anyone read this?! Her mom must be some kinda super genius! Wh-what am I gonna do? Safira couldn't help but think in panic as she looked up at her imaginary friend with a horrified expression. The older girl sighing and placing her hands on her hips.
"Alright, alright, I'll read it for you." Sarah said as she ghosted over the two girl's heads to stare down at the book. "But don't think you and I are going to have a conversation about you putting yourself on the spot by claiming you can do something far beyond your capabilities."
Safira couldn't help but flinch at that, for being nothing more than an imaginary friend Sarah could go on and on when she wanted to. And Safira couldn't even get away from her like she sometimes could when Mommy tried to give her a talking to.
But that was for later, first came impressing her kinda-sorta friend. "Yep! I can read this…Akechi glared at the woman who had managed to best him. Her Katana pressed against the soft flesh of his throat. To be captured by a female of another clan, likely to be s-subjected to their more unique forms of int-interrogation, how humiliating." Safira confirmed before repeating after the older of the two black haired girls only struggling a little on the words she didn't recognize.
But her few stutters didn't seem to matter to the books owner, the cat eared girl staring at her with an absolutely shocked expression. "Wow…I didn't really think you could read this…that's really impressive!" She complimented, a really happy look on her face that made Safira blush slightly. "C-can you keep reading for me? You know, if it's alright with you?"
Safira didn't even bother to keep the smile off her face, her cheeks practically hurting with how wide her smile was. "Sure! Yep! I'd be happy to…uh."
"Oh right…I'm Blake, Blake Belladonna. It's nice to meet you Safira." The girl now introduced as Blake said with a smile.
Safira opened her mouth to reply, to let her only living friend that she was happy to meet her too, but before she could she felt a really weird feeling coming from the back of her head. Like someone had hit her really hard in the back of the head mixed with not being able to breathe. She looked over her shoulder to see Sarah staring at Blake with a really weird expression, her eyes wider than a fish and her mouth so wide that if she was real she could catch flies in her mouth. But before the winged five-year-old could question why she looked so weird the older girl shook her head rapidly and focused her gaze on Safira, gesturing with her eyes to look back at the pages.
And so, the two girls spent their lunch break reading the book. Safira really didn't get the story, something about some Samurai, whatever that was, being captured by a bunch of women who…toyed with him? Sarah had been kinda vague when they got to that part. But there were swords and fighting and stuff occasionally so that was cool. Although the title of the book kinda confused her, she got where the Samurai part of it came from, but Safira didn't see anything about "Of Love" maybe that would come up later.
And just when they were getting to a good part, when the main character was talking about "unsheathing his katana" Elder Snow showed back up, clapping to get the attention of all the kids and gesturing for them to come back inside.
Safira couldn't help but feel depressed about that, finally someone had been willing to talk to her, even if they didn't talk all that much, and she really didn't want it to end! Thankfully, Blake seemed to have the same idea.
"U-um…Safira? If it's not too much trouble, I mean, if you're not too busy after classes…w-would you like to come over to my house after class? I have a lot of other books to read…" Blake trailed off as she looked at the winged girl with a hopeful expression.
Safira couldn't help it, she all but jumped for joy as she hugged Blake, her wings twitching in excitement as they too wrapped around the two of them. "MMM!" She hummed in agreement as she nodded so fast her head started to hurt. "I'd love to!"
Zephyr Ha-Neul walked slowly through the streets of Menagerie, his casual gait belying the anxiety in his heart as he made his way to the center of the small city.
The last few weeks had been hard on his family, but as a huntsman and more importantly as a father he couldn't let his emotions show. His daughter had struggled with starting school, not wholly a surprise but none-the-less disheartening anyway. Her grades had been adequate, for no child of Ha-Neul family would be allowed to remain ignorant under his watch even if his daughter didn't have a seemingly surreal ability to learn, but rather the issues came from her classmates.
His daughter was being singled out because of her wings, and if Zephyr was a lesser man he would have laughed at the uniquely human action in a land filled with nothing but those who each had a unique trait they were born with.
Zephyr couldn't truly blame the children, despite how much he wanted to, as their treatment of his daughter was purely the fault of their parents. There were few legends that Faunus-kind still passed on from parent to child. Tales of the shattering of the moon, a story to warn against arrogance. Tales of the First Tribe, the origins of the Faunus. The legends of the last king of Vale, the god who had walked among the living and had freed Faunus from their slavery in all but name.
But one of the most commonly told fables of old were the legends of those Faunus who bore wings upon their backs, of the destiny's these Faunus held and the changes they brought into the world.
Of course, Zephyr hardly believed in such tales. Fate was simply a crutch for those without the will to endure suffering in exchange for strength leaned on when things did not go their way. As such, he and Terra had made a conscious effort to insulate their somewhat sickly daughter from such tales. She didn't need to know what other would expect from her. but regardless of their own choices it was clear that others in the city of Faunus had no such qualms about informing their children of Safira's supposive destiny, hence why she was likely being ostracizes, who wouldn't be intimidated by such stories.
The Huntsman had tried to bring the subject up with his daughter multiple times over the last few weeks, as he would only have a few more days in the city proper before he would be called back by the Menagerie Expeditionary forces in order to further the Faunus's reach inland, but his daughter had simply tried to dodge the question.
Hence why he had decided he would pick his daughter up from school in place of his wife and, in no uncertain terms, inform his daughter of why others were avoiding her. many would consider it brutal to not try and soften the blow for a five-year-old, but if there was one thing that Zephyr had learned about being a parent it was that children practically existed to shock their parents, at least that was what Safira seemed to do. He was certain his daughter could move past this momentary setback and no, his belief was not simply based off of his love for her.
But his plans were completely derailed when he arrived at the Elders home to find that his daughter was not in fact waiting for him and instead had accompanied another child home, a child whose identity caused the Huntsman to blink slowly in shock, that his daughter had befriended that family's daughter in particular.
And as such he now found himself walking in the direction of the largest home in all of Menagerie, the home of the chieftain.
Zephyr couldn't help but respect the young head of all Faunus. He, like Zephyr, had been trained in the use of his Aura but unlike most had never stepped foot in a Huntsman academy. He had lived most of his early life in the wilds of Anima, fighting against the Grimm and protecting their people. He had forged a path forward for the Faunus through shear strength of will and a tenacity that the Hawk Faunus could appreciate. And it was because of those abilities that he had been chosen by the elders to become the represented of all Faunus, a man that Zephyr was more than willing to follow.
However, despite his respect, Zephyr was not exactly comfortable with the lion Faunus hosting his daughter even if it was only because their children had found some sort of common ground. He was the leader of all Faunus on Menagerie and as such there was no chance he was not aware of the legends that seemed to haunt his daughter, not to mention that the Elders had no doubt talked his ears off about how the young winged Faunus was a "miracle" a term that nearly always brought a frown to the Hawk Faunus's face.
And none of that even took into account how his daughter had only ever spoken to people outside of her immediate family a handful of times and had likely done irreparable harm to the Ha-Neul name.
But he had no more time to consider his scattered thoughts, as he had arrived at the massive wooden doors and, with a sharp disciplined motion, used the door knocker to announce his presence.
Not a minute later Zephyr could hear the heavy latch on the door being moved out of position as one of the doors swung inward to reveal the chieftain's wife, a beautiful young cat Faunus by the name of Kali.
"Ah, Mr. Ha-Neul. A pleasure to see you again." The young woman greeted with an easy smile, a smile that would have had Zephyr relaxing were it not for his years of training.
"Ms. Belladonna." Zephyr returned with a slight bow, as was expected of him. "Forgive me for the intrusion but I was informed by Elder Snow that my daughter came here after class. I have come to retrieve her." He explained careful to keep his tone neutral and his face lax. While he had nothing but respect for the Belladonna family he couldn't be certain that they would not use his daughter for their own political gains, as the reputation of the Winged Faunus was such that knowledge of her existence next to the chieftain of Menagerie could have far reaching consequences.
Thankfully Kali either didn't pick up on his thoughts or had simply chosen to ignore them, as her smile only grew wider as she stepped back from the door. "Of course, it's a shame that she can't spend more time with my daughter, but I will go and get them from the library. Is there anything I can get for you while you wait?"
"No thank you ma'am. Though I appreciate the offer." Zephyr quickly denied, the black-haired woman laughing lightly into her hand.
"So polite, I can see why my husband has such a high opinion of you, not to mention why your daughter is so sweet." The cat Faunus continued, her praise for Safira warming the Huntsman's chest though he refused to allow it to show. "Please come in, I'll go and get little Safira for you." She continued as Zephyr stepped inside.
"I appreciate it, Ms. Belladonna." The hawk Faunus replied with another bow of his head, the wife of the most powerful man in Menagerie simply waving off his words before turning and moving deeper into the house.
Zephyr remained where he was, not quite at ease but as close as a trained Huntsman could be. but not a minute later a man stepped into the entryway, the very man who was causing the hawk Faunus his current distress.
Ghira Belladonna was an impressive man by nearly any standards. He was tall, standing nearly a full head over Zephyr and based off of how much muscle the Hawk Faunus could make out beneath his open purple robe he was just as strong. his black hair was longer than most men would risk in the heat of the desert, wild and unkept, and the black stubble around his chin gave him an almost feral aura.
But the look on the young man's face undid much of his fearsome appearance. His eyes were bright, both in intelligence and in coloring just like his wife and daughter. His lips seemed to just naturally form into a smile, a quality that was sorely lacking in the world as of late. He was a point of calmness in a world of chaos.
"Zephyr! Good to see you again. I'm assuming that your presence here means that Crimson is in Menagerie as well?" Ghira boomed out as he lifted a hand in greeting, the leader of all Faunus naming the woman who was leading the efforts to extend their reach farther into the desert.
"Yes, our food supply was getting dangerously low so the decision was made to return until the next ships arrive. Until then I have been patrolling our more densely populated borders…is that acceptable?"
While technically as a Huntsman Zephyr was a free agent, allowed to take any actions he deemed necessary in fighting the Grimm so long as he broke no major laws. He had decided when he immigrated to the land of the Faunus to obey the local leadership. In order to forge a better world for his family.
"More than acceptable! I can't tell you how proud I am to have Huntsman and Huntresses like you working for the benefit of Faunus-kind. And tell Crimson that you may all take as much time as you need before heading out again. I realize your efforts are paramount to the future of our people, but spending time with our families helps to remind us of why we fight."
Zephyr remained silent as the young leader of the Faunus finished with a slightly more serious expression. The slightly older huntsman once again having to reassess his opinion of the young leader.
"My thanks Chieftain, I'm sure my daughter will appreciate my time at home."
"Ah yes…speaking of daughters, I have to say I was quite surprised to see yours come home with mine today. Such an excitable little girl." And there it was, the topic that Zephyr was both woefully unprepared for and fully expecting.
"Ah, I apologize on her behave Chieftain. I will ensure she has learned the proper respect for your family before she returns to Elder Snow's class." Zephyr apologized with a bow of his head, fully expecting some sort of reprimand from the leader.
However, when he lifted his head Zephyr was surprised to see an almost pained and confused expression on the young chieftain's face. "Ah, no, no. That's not why I brought this up…if anything I'm grateful for your daughter's presence in this house."
Now it was Zephyrs turn to look confused, though he would say nothing until his leader elaborated, as was expected.
"Not to say that I dislike her excitement, far from it considering her health, but it is rare to hear such laughter in this house." Ghira elaborated, a far off look in his eyes. "My daughter has always been quiet, often preferring the company of books to friends, and has always had difficulty making friends. Likely my own fault considering my position. So, to see that she brought someone home is…well, heartwarming."
Zephyr remained silent as he studied his fellow father. Being born with eyes as sharp as his meant that the Faunus huntsman was very difficult to deceive, he could make out the faintest twitches of muscles in someone's face, the slightest shifting of another's gaze. So, he could tell that when Ghira was grateful…he truly was. The was no obvious tell that the easygoing smile on the man's face was at all forced, that the content look was hiding any hidden agendas.
Perhaps this is the true reason he was chosen to lead despite his age…I misjudged him. The Hawk Faunus admitted to himself as the matriarch of the household walked back into the room with two young girls following her, drawing both men's attention.
"Daddy!" His little gem shouted in glee as she waddled forward as fast as she could to wrap her tiny arms around one of his legs. Zephyr could see just from the way she was moving that she was exhausted, the events of her day clearly more than her less than stellar stamina could handle, but at the same time he could see a happiness in her features that had been absent as of late. Her eyes alight with joy while her wings were twitching occasionally, a visible tick she had developed whenever she grew too excited.
"Safira, did you thank Mr. and Ms. Belladonna for hosting you today?" The hawk Faunus replied, a gentle hand on his daughter's head as he turned her back to the cat Faunus family before them.
"Um…no? Thank you Ms. Kail! Mr. Bel-Belladonna! I had a ton of fun!" The little blue haired girl replied after a second, looking up at the two older members of the house and bowing slightly, the Belladonna couple laughing good naturally at her sudden nervousness.
"Your quite welcome sweetie. In fact, we'd be more than happy to have you over again if you ever want to read with our daughter again. You'd like that too, right Blake?" Ms. Belladonna replied as she looked down at her near carbon copy, the youngest member of the family hiding behind her mother's hakama.
Even without the eyes of a hawk Zephyr would've been able to pick up on the youngest Belladonna's blush, the black-haired girl nodding shyly before looking at Safira. "Y-yea…it was fun."
"I'd love to! Can I daddy?" His daughter replied, at first with barely constrained excitement, before seemingly thinking about something and turning a curious gaze upwards to meet Zephyr's gaze.
The head of the Ha- Neul did not reply at first, his gaze traveling from his daughter's hopeful expression to the faces of Kali and Ghira, both of whom were watching the father and daughter with smiles on their faces. In the back of his mind he couldn't help but remember that his daughter's life could become infinitely more complicated if she involved herself in their family's politics, that she was weak and needed to be protected. But most of his thoughts were consumed by thinking about how happy, how full of life, his daughter was here. That she finally had someone her age to talk to.
"We will have to ask your mother, but I see no reason you cannot." He eventually replied, flinching slightly at his daughter's happy squeal before her small arms wrapped around his leg once again. Perhaps he was simply overreacting, after all, his daughter deserved to have at least one friend in her life, no matter what came from it.