As I'm sure that everyone reading knows by now Monty Oum has recently passed away. Despite how I felt about some of RWBY's choices in storytelling, I have nothing but respect for Monty for the work he's done all these years from Dead Fantasy to RWBY. May this chapter be a tribute to the legacy he left behind.
Here's a new chap with Naruto and Velvet! Enjoy!
Chapter 7 (A Love That Transcends Race): Start!
Vale City was one that prided itself on its forward progression. With shops that carried the finest in dust and weaponry, and an academy that trained only the most promising of future Hunters. It seemed that the people of not only the city, but the entire region itself, had a move ahead type of mindset. Except there was one flaw in not just Vale, but all of the kingdoms period.
A majority of the citizens had a sour look on their face when they saw the young woman with the blond haired young man as they walked around the city. This girl had long brown hair and eyes of the same color. But the most noticeable feature was the two long bunny wars on top of her head.
Velvet noticed all the glares she was getting and they made her feel more and more conscious of her Faunus qualities. She held on tighter to her beau's arm in fear. This of course, not going unnoticed by her boyfriend.
"You okay Velvet?" the whisker marked blonde asked.
The brunette timidly nodded: "Yeah, I'm fine." Velvet knew Naruto wanted to have a day where they're out together in the city, something she wasn't necessarily excited for as she immediately knew how she would be treated by the majority of the citizens here. But for the sake of her boyfriend, she was willing to endure.
"I know this is probably tough for you Vel," Naruto spoke up. "Don't worry about these jerks and their glares. Today's just about you and me, okay?"
The rabbit Faunus returned the warm smile Naruto had given her as they walked through the city hand in hand.
"So, where do you wanna go first?" The blonde asked.
"Well…I am a little hungry…" Velvet admitted.
"Lunch it is." Luckily, there was a restaurant nearby and the two walked in. The two were greeted by a waiter standing near a cashier and was looking down at it.
"Good afternoon. How many will I be serving?" The waiter looked up and got a good look at the two that were standing across from him, or rather the young woman with the two rabbit ears.
"Yeah, give us a table for two." Naruto said.
"I'm sorry sir," The waiter started. "All our tables are filled…"
"What?" Naruto asked. He looked over the waiter's shoulder and saw that there were indeed a couple of free tables available, but that was before the waiter moved in his line of sight and said:
"The empty tables you see are reserved for other guests…"
"Oh, is that right?" Naruto didn't believe the man's words for a second as he immediately knew that this was some half-assed attempt to not let Velvet eat here; the brunette must have sensed the blonde's tempter starting to flare so she gently touched Naruto's shoulder and said:
"I-I…don't want to eat here…" Naruto looked at her in disbelief.
"Velvet…"
"It's fine Naruto. Let's find somewhere else to eat."
"Maybe you can find a nice zoo to feed her…" The waiter mumbled under his breath, the comment however didn't go unheard by Naruto.
"What did you say?!" He shouted, causing the waiter to jump in surprise.
"I…uh…"
"Naruto, please!" Spoke the female brunette. "Let's just leave, okay?"
Naruto glared at the waiter for a few seconds before he complied with what his girlfriend wanted and left the restaurant. "Where does that bastard get off saying something like that?!" He furiously asked.
"Don't worry about it Naruto, let's go to the mall and have some fun." She said, trying to get the whiskered blonde out of his bad mood. With luck, she managed to do that and the two were at the mall. After grabbing some food from one of the nearby restaurants, they sat down and ate; this of course didn't go without the two getting some dirty looks from people.
The bunny girl could feel the glares she was getting and started to cower a little under all the heated stares. Naruto also took notice of this, closed his tray, and stood out of his chair. "Come on Velvet, let's head to some stores. Anywhere you want to go." He said, keeping an upbeat attitude and trying to ignore all the looks.
Velvet had no objection to this as she didn't want to sit around a place and just be the target of death glares so she nodded and followed the action of her beau as the two travelled to the upper wing of the mall and looked around the stores. After ten minutes of looking around, they settled on just sitting on a bench outside and taking in the sights.
"So, there any other stores you wanna check out?" The blonde asked. The rabbit faunus placed a single finger on her cheek and thought about the possible options.
"Actually," she started. "There is this huntsman shop a little ways away from the mall that I want to go to that's a little ways from the mall."
"Got it, let me just head to the bathroom first and we can go."
"Okay, I'll wait for you here." The brunette smiled as she watched her beau take a leave, leaving her to her own thoughts. She rested her chin in the palm of her hands, enjoying the tranquility of the area as she was left to her own thoughts. Before she knew it, a small boy walked up to her. The boy had brown hair and eyes, just like her and he was giving her the wide eyed look only an innocent child could.
The boy then pointed to the two appendages on the top of the Faunus's head and he asked: "Why do you have two bunny ears on top of your head? Are you a bunny girl?"
Velvet smiled warmly at the child and answered: "Yes, I guess you could say that I'm a bunny girl. I was born with these ears."
The child seemed to beam when he heard that and the next question he asked was a very natural one for him: "Can I touch them?"
Velvet looked at the child and nodded. This was a simple request from a child. It wasn't going to kill her to comply with his wishes. She learned her head forward, offering her ears for the child's hands to play with. The boy smiled with delight and raised his hand to feel the appendages before.
"THOMAS!" The boy jumped when he looked behind him and he saw a woman whose hair and eye color matched his and she looked aghast. With gusto, she rushed over to the boy and firmly grabbed his wrist. "What are you doing, you shouldn't be around this…this thing!" She said. "And you," her eyes looked over to Velvet. "Just what were you trying to do to my son?!"
The Faunus flinched when she heard that and sadly enough, it wasn't the first time she was addressed as such. Choosing to ignore the insult, Velvet opted to try to apologize to the woman. "Ma'am I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to do anything to your son, he just-" She didn't get to finish as she had water thrown into her face by the older woman who had a cup of water in her hand.
"You stay away from my son, you animal!" She pulled her son away and stormed off. Velvet's hair shielded her eyes thanks to the water that was splashed in her face, something she was thankful for at the moment, because it now shielded the tears that were now streaming down her face. She got up from the bench and sullenly walked away.
XXX
"Whew man! Talk about relieving…" Naruto said as he finished up in the bathroom. He turned to his left and walked back to where he left Velvet. He didn't have to walk very far because in front of him stood his own girlfriend, damp face and all.
"Velvet? What the heck happened to you?" The blonde asked. He received no response from the Faunus. She just stood silently, her hair still hiding her eyes and her eyes finding the ground a very peculiar sight.
"Velvet, hey." Naruto said. The brunette ignored her beau again and tried to walk right by him, but the blonde wouldn't have it as he grabbed her firmly on the arm. She turned to face her beau and she revealed her tear stained face, causing Naruto to look on in concern.
"Vel, what happened? Who did this to you…" He asked.
"Please Naruto," she started. "I don't…I don't want to…" She started crying once again. Naruto's heart sunk when he saw that sight and he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I wasn't there to stop what happened…"
"There's nothing you could have done." Velvet told him. "That's just how things are, Naruto. For an animal like me, this is just another day."
"Hey…" Naruto tightened his hug around her. "Don't say that Velvet. You're NOT an animal, to hell with anyone that tells you otherwise." Velvet buried her head into his chest before he continued. "You're Velvet Scarlatina, you're a huntress in training, you're one of the smartest people I know, and most importantly..."
Velvet looked up at Naruto's cerulean eyes with her tear stained brown one. "Most importantly?" She got her answer in the form of a kiss from Naruto.
"Most importantly, you're my girl. And I wouldn't give that up for anything."
Velvet rested her head on Naruto's shoulder as they continued to embrace each other. Velvet finding comfort not only from her blonde beau's words but from his arms. "Naruto," she silently called out to him.
"Yeah Vel?" he asked.
"Thank you." She said, kissing him afterward.
"Don't mention it." Naruto said with a grin. He stopped the embrace and opted for taking the brunette's hand in his. "Come on, let's get back to the dorms and get you out of those wet things."
Velvet smiled as she and Naruto walked began their walk back to Beacon. The life of a Faunus was one that came with a lot of hardships and obstacles thrown in your way. But this moment taught her that as long as you had at least one person that showed you love and affection, all the hardships were a little easier...
Chapter End
I'm gonna be honest with you guys. This chapter took as long as it did (Besides the issue stated in the update) not because of a lack of ideas, but simply because I lacked the motivation or drive to work on FTLOR. Combine that with my somewhat perfectionist tendencies when it comes to storytelling and you'll have a chapter that took some time. Hopefully, the next chapter can bring the spark to writing this story back.
Catch you all next time in For The love of RWUBY!
