"Hey, freak! The White Fang called, and they want you to head back home to them!"
Lux rolled his eyes as the same drunken loudmouth that had stopped by his family's house every week of his childhood since he was nine belted out more insults in the building's direction. "You thirsty, furball? 'Cause I got something for just that!" the man roared, winding up and hurling the bottle in his hands at one of the windows. John darted forward and caught the bottle before it hit the wall next to him.
"I think it would be best if we handled this," he said as the other three moved behind him.
The man began to laugh giddily. "Hey, you see this, beastie?" he screamed at the house, "They finally saw fit to send Huntsmen to lock you awa—" He stopped as his diagonally-scarred left eye locked onto Lux. "Wait a minute. You're the mutt that tried to take my eye out!" Blaze and John looked over at Lux and Saffron with raised eyebrows.
"I was nine," Lux said defensively.
"I told him not to," Saffron added.
"Whatever happened back then is irrelevant," John said, turning his attention to the drunk old man standing before them, "Unless you want some trouble with the authorities, I suggest you walk away from this house and never come back."
The man grunted and muttered "Whatever" before turning and stumbling his way back down the street. Lux darted over to John and snatched the bottle out of his hand.
"Hey asshole! You forgot your booze!" he growled and hurled the bottle at the man. The bottle reached the peak of its arc before it shattered in midair. Lux flinched at the gunshot next to his ears and glanced at John as he holstered his smoking pistol.
"I think you're hurting your case," their leader said.
"I couldn't agree more." The four of them turned to see a man in a green tunic standing at the door of Lux's house. A long scar ran down over his right eye all the way to his cheek.
"Hey, Dad," Lux mumbled as he slouched over sheepishly.
"We've talked about this several times, Lux."
"That asshole deserves it!"
"Whether he deserves it or not doesn't matter! You need to learn to avoid escalating a situation where escalation isn't necessary!"
"Believe me, I got a lot of that at school."
"And yet here you are, just as impulsive as when you left."
"Dad, my friends. My friends, dad," Lux said, motioning to his father and his team.
"John Steele," John said, offering his hand to the Faunus.
"Ophir," Lux's father replied, carefully grabbing the gloved hand and shaking it. John quickly realized why he was so cautious: the man's fingers had sharp claws at the ends. "Sorry about the claws, but I'm not a cat, so they aren't really retractable," Ophir explained as Blaze stepped forward and shook his hand as well, "And who might you be?"
"This is Blaze," Lux answered, "He's not all that talkative."
"Good to know," he noted before turning to Saffron, "It's good to see that you've still got Lux's back, Ms. Tractus."
"He certainly doesn't make it easy, Mr. Twilight," Saffron replied.
"Why don't you come inside?" Ophir suggested, "It's been a while since you've stopped by."
"I wish it wasn't, but we were stationed in Atlas for most of the time," Lux said as he led the others into the entryway, "Then there was Beacon, and, well…you know how things have been ever since."
"I do," his father replied, "I've had to dust off my sword and shield to help deal with the Grimm attacks at the city borders. Fortunately, your mother hasn't had to get involved yet, but I've been refreshing her fighting skills, just in case."
"Where is Mom, anyway?" Lux asked.
"She's here somewhere," Ophir replied, "I'll go find her." He turned and left the room through the nearest doorway. "Burgundy?" he called, "Where are you, dear?"
"May I make a prediction?" John asked once Ophir was out of earshot.
"Uh, sure?" Lux replied from the side of the doorframe, unsure of where this was headed.
"You're a wolf Faunus."
"No shit."
"Your father is also a wolf Faunus, except he has claws."
"Yeah, they're great for rock climbing. I always got to be deafened by the wind in my ears. It went as well as you'd expect."
"Since offspring of the same species of Faunus as their parents most often occur when the parents are the same species, or at least close enough, I'm guessing your mom's also some sort of canine Faunus."
"Well, that conclusion is all very well thought out. Unfortunately—"
"Lux!" a woman's voice cried out, and moments later a woman with long red hair burst out of the doorway…and stepped directly on Lux's foot with her hooved foot. Lux let out a yelp and began hopping up and down until he lost his balance and fell over, clutching his injured foot the whole time.
"—you'd be wrong," Lux managed to say through the pain.
"Lux, are you okay?" the woman who presumably was his mother asked.
"I'm fine," he hissed, "You get used to it by the fifteenth time."
"Try slow dancing with her," Ophir remarked, causing Burgundy to glare at him, to which he added, "Kidding, dear."
"You're his mother?" John said, his confusion visible on his face.
"Yep!" Burgundy replied.
"Biological mother?"
"Look, I'm a rare case, okay?" Lux interrupted, still on the floor, "The topic you're heading towards is not one I want to hear about."
"Rare because he still behaves like a child," Saffron muttered.
"I heard that!" Lux growled as he finally picked himself up onto his feet.
"What brings you home, sweetie?" Burgundy asked, "I heard rumors that Atlas was pulling its troops out of Mistral."
"Well…that rumor is true," Lux said hesitantly, "We're just not following that order."
"What?" both of Lux's parents said in unison.
"Who's idea was this?" Ophir asked, prompting Lux's teammates to immediately point in his direction. Lux's father immediately brought his stern gaze onto his son. "I see. And I would hope you had a good reason for this. Did you?"
"Does everyone in town know about Akane yet?" Lux replied, causing his father to soften.
"Yes, they do," Ophir said, "Her family hasn't left their house since they got the news."
"I'll find her."
"Lux, there's not much you can do for her. They must have had to wait for her team to make contact, so even if they're still alive now, they won't be lasting much longer."
"I've heard arguments like that several times today. I'm not listening."
"Lux, you're going to get yourself and your team killed."
"It's not like there aren't towns in our path."
"If Akane and her team were near a populated area, they would be able to check in. Her most likely location is going to be away from the towns, meaning that's where you would have to go."
"Good to know."
"Do you at least have enough resources to last out there?"
"Our supplies are predicted to run dry weeks before we are likely to find them," John replied before Lux could.
"Lux, this is suicidal, even for you," Ophir insisted, "Please, you can't just let your friendship cloud the fact that you will die if you go out there."
"We can handle Grimm, Dad," Lux said, "As for bandits, we just apprehended a major member of the Nebula Syndicate."
"Which happened when we still had access to Atlas resources," John reminded him.
"Lux, as happy as I am to see you again, you should have just returned to Atlas," Ophir said with a sigh.
"Yeah, yeah, I've gotten myself into big trouble," Lux replied, "But I can get myself out. I can get my friends out."
Ophir let out a sigh. "I'm sure you can," he said, "It's just been stressful ever since Beacon. Grimm attacks have been getting worse, and to make matters worse…" He fell silent, then continued as if nothing had happened. "I don't know if I could handle losing you on top of all our other problems."
His father's aborted statement didn't go unnoticed by Lux, nor did the piles of glass he realized had been at the door.. "Dad, have people…treated you and Mom differently since Beacon?" he asked
"Unfortunately, the White Fang's participation at Beacon has left an impression on people," Ophir sighed, "Not everyone will respond to their reign of terror with submission. More…strongly-willed individuals will convince their fellow citizens that the only way to ensure their safety is to fight back. And when those leading the charge are targeting the wrong people, it changes the way people behave towards each other."
"Have people been threatening you?" Lux growled, one hand on the hilt of one of his weapons.
"Lux, people on the edge of the city have the Grimm to worry about. They would do well to not spread fear amongst their neighbors."
"Don't lie to me!" Lux roared, "Who? Where can I find them?"
"Lux, helping defend our fellow men and women has rebuilt their trust in us tenfold," Ophir said, desperately trying to put out his son's short fuse, "In any case, your mother and I can handle the few people who make rash decisions."
Now it was Lux's turn to soften. "You're right," he backpedaled, "I just…I guess you're not the only one who worries about his family."
"We'll be fine," his father said, giving his son a warm, reassuring smile, "Believe me, it wouldn't be our first time fighting off people who believed the Faunus were beneath them."
"I assume you four are staying for the night?" Burgundy asked, to which Lux nodded, "Your father and I will get something set up for you, then."
"Mom, you don't have to do that."
"No, we don't. But you adventurers have a lot to work out before you go on your rescue mission. I think we'll hold down the fort, just so you don't leave it completely defenseless." Burgundy had almost left when she turned around and added, "Besides, you've never once made your bed. I think I'd better do it, so you don't embarrass yourself in front of your friends."
Lux's face turned so red that it seemed like he was bleeding.
"So, we can sell the MREs for a bit more money," Lux mused, running calculations on his Scroll.
"Lux, you're trading our food for money we will be using to buy more food," John protested.
"Better tasting food."
"Next proposal."
"Fine."
"What if we redistribute our funds?" Saffron suggested, "Dust and ammo are more likely to be in short supply in villages, but we could probably restock food without leaving them too worse for wear.
"Viable, but what if the villages that are still standing are too far between?" John asked.
"Then, we scavenge for food. There's got to be something we can find out there."
"Lux, you're the other brainiac here. Thoughts?"
"Let's see," Lux muttered as he entered some numbers into his Scroll. "If we put two-thirds of our funds into Dust, it'll last us three months, plus a few weeks, if we're lucky," he reported, "Food, on the other hand, will only last us just less than a month. If we can reach a village before then, we should be set to last long enough to do a somewhat decent search of the area up to Shion. Then, maybe we can hitch a ride back before they realize we're rogue Atlas personnel."
"Then, if we find your friends, we can take a train to Argus, turn ourselves in, and hope for the best," John concluded.
"Or, and I can't stress this enough, we don't return to Atlas and instead we stay here and help the people we left behind," Lux countered.
"In a city whose lower levels will likely see us as a threat to be taken out?"
"Look, we'll figure it out once we actually find Akane and her team," Saffron said, preemptively cutting off an argument between her teammates, "Right now, we should focus more on making it to that point."
"Right."
"Of course."
"Maybe we can help tip the scales in your favor," Burgundy said. Before the team could look up at Lux's parents, several cards of Lien landed in between them. Lux counted the extra money to find that it was roughly a tenth of their current balance. While nowhere near enough to drastically benefit them, it could still increase their ammo supply to last an extra week or two.
"Mom, Dad, you don't have to," Lux said, "I'm sure we can manage without taking money away from you."
"Just think of it as our investment for the "Making Sure You Make It Home" fund," Ophir replied, "We expect it to be paid back with interest." Lux got up from the floor and wrapped his arms around his parents. When he drew away, however, he looked at his parents with a somber expression, his wolf ears drooping in shame.
"You know I can't promise that, right?" he asked.
"I know," his father replied, "Just do the best you can."
"That promise I can make," Lux said, the corners of his mouth twitching upward.
"I know that you can't stay long, but why don't you stay until morning?" Burgundy said, "I think you'll appreciate a real bed within a week of using a sleeping bag."
"You're sure you got everything you needed from the market?" Ophir asked as his son stepped out the door.
"Yes, Dad, we're sure," Lux chuckled.
"I know you're not headed to somewhere cold, but I thought you could use this," Burgundy said, holding out a blue scarf with a yellow and red design at the ends, "It never hurts to be prepared, and if you have to, you can use it to strangle someone!"
"I suppose that's one use for it," Lux said, unsure of how to respond, "Bye, Mom."
"You always did love that scarf," Saffron remarked as they began moving towards the edge of the city.
"Yeah," Lux said, his cheeks reddening a little.
"I suppose this shouldn't be too bad," John said, "I just hope nothing big happens in Atlas while we're gone."
"John, if something big were to go down, I don't think we would be enough to decide a victory."
"Yeah, I guess that's true." John's reply carried up to the rooftops where a handful of armed men and women watched the group. One of them held his scroll up to his face.
"They're finally leaving, boss," he said, "You want us to follow them?"
There was a faint hiss of static before it was replaced with a new hiss: a voice. "No," it said, "Give them a two-day headstart."
"Are you sure?"
"We need them out of range of the city so they can go missing, just like how it would seem their friends did. Besides, the more challenging the hunt, the more satisfying it is to cut them down."
I have a question for those who are reading this. Could I get away with giving this a T rating? I plan to have roughly the same level of violence as in the show (possibly a few more graphic scenes), but with a bit more swearing. Should I bump it down to Teen, or leave it as is? In any case, I'm excited to write the next chapter. I've had a lot of fun creating these characters, and especially the one that will debut in the next chapter.
