"The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly."
Braddock Slate was a lot of things to the city of Vale: A troublemaker, energetic, and a guy with a bad habit for getting into trouble.
"Get back here you little punk!"
It was a phrase he was used to hearing since he had been old enough to pilfer his first candy bar at the age of six, when his sweet tooth overwhelmed the strict lessons taught to him by the good Sister Maribelle of the Vale Combine Orphanage.
But the lupine Faunus would not be denied as he felt his feet propel him over the barrels that were currently obstructing his path, smirking as he heard the security officers behind him already panting hard as they were already starting to lag behind him.
"Gotta lay off the doughnuts fellas, maybe then we can actually have an actual chase!" The blustery wolf would smack his ass mockingly at the gasping duo before running off with his haul of various foods and ingredients, knowing full well what was in store for him upon his return. "Sister Maribelle may not be happy for me doing this again, but at least our bellies will be full for a while."
The amber-eyed young man would continue his run through the forest as he spied around for any forest critters worth hunting, even though their orphanage wasn't too far from the docks and city scape of Vale. The people of the city didn't really care much about the people outside of their fancy city walls, unless the cameras were involved- and even then, it was just a mere show of pittance.
"As if one day of televised philanthropy can make up for the other three-hundred plus of ignorance and disgust you show us." Brad would skip to a stop as he heard the sounds of twigs breaking around him, followed by the familiar angry snarls that belonged to the creatures of Grimm. "And I thought the beat cops were gonna be the most annoying thing on my plate today, guess this is what I get for waking up on the wrong side of the bed today."
He would take a deep breath as his ears registered the snarls of the beowolves that were now surrounding him, a good half dozen were now looking to make a meal of the lupine Faunus as he tied the sack of pilfered goods and tied it tightly closed as he threw it upwards into the nearest tree branch as the Grimm made a mad dash for their prey.
"I don't have time to mess around with you freaks today!" He would snarl and reach behind his back, retrieving the set of pugil sticks that he carried with him at all times. Finding comfort in the familiar weight in his hands as he pounded the ground around him, the Dust capsules hooked into the weapons causing a massive burst of Gravity energy to explode around him and send his enemies flying back against the trees followed by yowls of pain and surprise. "You dare to call yourselves wolves, but today I'll make you bow to your Alpha!"
Brad would growl angrily as he cracked another Beowolf across the face with his heavy pugil stick before bashing another on the crown of its skull plating with the second one, a sadistic smile crossing his face as the beast slumped to the ground in a heap.
It was like a bloody dance troupe of claws and fangs as the Grimm continued to pursue and attack the young Faunus who retaliated with one brutal smashing blow after another, the remaining Grimm seemingly deciding to think better of attacking him as they began to backpedal and whimper in distress.
"No, you don't get to run away!" His amber eyes would focus as he combined the smaller pugil sticks into his main weapon, Aganos. The heavy pugil stick as much a part of his being as the necklace of Saint Dorothea that hung around his neck, growling angrily as he slowly stepped forward to punish the remaining Beowolves as they decided to charge him recklessly as if they realized the odds were still in their favor. "Now suffer the wrath of a true wolf's fury!" Braddock would swing the heavy pugil stick in front of him, sending the Grimm soaring back through the trees and separating his weapon into its smaller components.
"Now to finally get back, it's almost time for dinner after all and I bet the kids are starving." Brad would sigh and raise his hand slowly as the sack of food calmly floated down to meet him, his telekinetic Semblance proving to be a blessing as the wolf Faunus calmly walked back to the orphanage.
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"Yes, I know that we're behind on our land tax again but please understand that we're a church, we're not really built for profits-" Brad could hear the hushed tones of Sister Maribelle Amethyst desperately trying to plead her case to the mysterious landowners that their church sat upon, it was a rare and generally unwelcome occurrence for the returning young man as he entered through the church's side entrance and snuck around to the kitchen.
"The boss has granted you plenty of leeway lady, now it's time for you to pay what you owe or we set fire to this place and let God sort out the ashes!" He would try and remain calm even as the wolf could hear the menacing tone in the man's voice, unpacking the food and ingredients he had stolen from the docks and set about preparing for that night's meal. "Honestly the boss was being plenty generous when he allowed you to keep those mongrels you have with you. Honestly, when did humans start being such bleeding hearts for those creatures anyhow?"
His grip on the cooking pot would tighten upon hearing the hateful slurs coming from the man's mouth, his instincts demanding he unleash Aganos and crack their skulls like a pair of eggs despite knowing that the sister would cast him out. "Stealing's one thing, but no way she would condone murder." Biting back his anger, Brad would force himself to focus on chopping up the vegetables that he had set out in front of him while telekinetically moving the cooking pot to the water pump for later.
"Hold on now Markos, the good Sister here may not have the Lien to pay us in the traditional sense but perhaps we can work out another "arrangement"" The sleazy man's compatriot would snicker in agreement as the wolf Faunus carefully steadied the knife in his hand, lest he send it flying into either man's eye socket. "Yeah, I'm betting there's a lot going on underneath this Habit of hers. I'm pretty sure that the big man upstairs wouldn't mind if you gave us a little peek-"
It was as if the woman had secretly been feeding on his anger, the sound of her famous ruler spread terror throughout the orphanage as many a child had felt her wrath at one point in their life.
Except in Brad's case, it was more than once.
"First you have the audacity to try and shake us down for money we don't have, then you dare to set fire to the house of Saint Dorothea and her children, but how dare you insinuate that I am some kind of whore you can use for your amusement!' Before he could snicker at the woman's snappy retort, the sound of the ruler connecting with flesh would ring out once more, causing him to yelp out of fear. "You will leave this place and bother us no longer; your employer will have his money soon enough! Now begone from my sight while I pray for your wretched souls, good day gentleman!" The sound of the church door slamming shut would echo throughout the halls as the children came in through the back entrance.
"Hey everyone, Brad's finally back- and he brought dinner for us!" Periwinkle Alistair, the oldest of the orphan girls staying in the church would call out loudly, brushing off the Dust from her Signal Academy uniform. "It looks like we're eating good tonight everyone- as long as you pitch in!" The rest of the brood would come charging in after her, each of them eager to start doing their part to help.
"Hey hey, wash your hands first everyone. We ain't having mud pies tonight guys!" The silver-haired young man would usher the children to the wash basin and make sure that they were ell into washing up even as he felt the steely-eyed gaze of Sister Maribelle bearing down on him. "Peri, take over for me will ya?"
The brunette-haired girl would sigh and shake her head despite the mischievous smirk on her face as she rolled up her sleeves, looking after the kids as they lined up one at a time to wash up or direct those that had already cleaned up to their tasks. "I'll handle cutting the veggies, you kids just make sure they're washed and clean."
Brad would sigh gratefully before stepping outside into the hallway and facing Sister Maribelle's emerald-eyed glare, his ears drooping in anticipation of his latest lecture about how his thievery would lead to damnation.
"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't steal anymore, this year's crops will keep us well fed for the year Braddock. Besides, you and Peri were raised on my potato dishes and look at you both: fit to be prime candidates to be Huntsmen." The sister would beam with pride at the thought of her oldest being the ones to finally end the scourge of the Grimm, even as the lupine Faunus tried not to roll his eyes at the absurdity of becoming an actual Huntsman. "Really, I know you would do so well with your abilities. Aren't you tired of being just a pickpocket?" She would look at him with an imploring gaze, having tried time and again to set the young man on the path of righteousness with varying degrees of success.
"If it weren't for my pickpocketing, this place would be echoing with the sounds of hungry stomachs Sister. You may not like what I do but it means you can save up money to deal with those suits at the door." He mentally prepared himself for the harsh bite of the ruler as the older woman's expression became serious, she had raised him not to talk back to her in such an uppity manner after all. "So, go ahead and whack me if you have to, but I won't stop doing whatever I can to support this place and do my penance later on!"
The sister would stare at him quietly, her grip on the ruler firm as she debated on her next action before lowering it to her side. "...so, you heard all of that did you? I do my best to keep you children from worrying about such serious matters, you have enough problems just trying to grow up into proper adults." She would reach out and pat her amber-eyed pup on his head, smiling even as he tried to squirm away from her and stand proud. "But I suppose that I can't expect to shield you forever like I do with Periwinkle, if only I had the funds to send you both to Signal so you could refine your skills properly."
Brad didn't have the heart to tell her that Peri was more than aware of the situation with their landlords and had been working closely with one of her classmates (whose father was a detective in the Vale Police Department) to try and deal with the situation, as far as she was concerned her dear "daughter" was keeping her nose to the grindstone and training hard.
"Go wash up for dinner now Braddock, we'll discuss your penance some other time." It was shocking enough to be denied the usual smack of her wooden ruler, but as he looked upon her in the dimly candlelit hallway, she looked older than her youthful appearance usually belied. "Go on now dear, you know how much faster things get done when you all work together" It was as if her years of stressing and fretting over her children were finally catching up with her, even her loving smile seemed to be worn and battered by the woes of life.
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Dinner had been a blur for the wolf Faunus as he stood in front of the wash basin by himself, the pale moonlight serving as a calming force as he stripped out of his clothes and proceeded to wash himself with nothing more than a rag and a bar of soap.
"I really wish Sister Maribelle would at least save enough money to fix the water pressure in the shower, I get that paying off the imposing suits so they don't torch the place is important and all but I feel like I'm constantly being watched whenever I take a night shower." Brad would close his eyes and focus his hearing, making sure that he was truly alone even as he continued to clean the sweat and grime of that day's adventuring off of him. "Then again, what kind of sick pervert would be snooping around a church?"
"The really sick kind of pervert." Brad would reel around in shock in horror at the sound of Peri's voice, doing his best to cover himself while desperately seeking a place to hide from her sudden intrusion. "Then again, if I had an ass like yours, I'd be worried about some creepy fucker getting his hands on me too."
He would do his best to try and come up with some kind of witty response to her banter, but the best he could muster was a strangled cry of surprise even as the brunette-haired girl stripped out of her clothing in front of his widen amber eyes.
"Water's not too cold tonight is it, kind of wanna stay out here tonight and enjoy myself ya know?" She would finally take notice of his shocked expression and laugh quietly, even as the hint of a blush appeared on her face as she sauntered up to the water basin and soaped up her luffa. "C'mon Brad, it's not like we haven't bathed together before, it'll be just like back when we were kids." Peri would giggle to herself as she started scrubbing herself clean, making sure he got a good view of her in all her bare assed splendor.
"Th-that was different, we were children..Sister was doing her best to raise us both at the same time!" The wolf would hurriedly finish cleaning himself as best he could before while keeping his gaze on the moon, even though a small part of him was tempted to look in her direction out of curiosity. "Besides, you're like my sister! There's no way this can't be awkward for you too." He would sigh in relief as he felt clean enough to try and make an escape back to the church, only to feel her hand gripping his tightly much to his chagrin.
"But..I'm not your sister, you're a man and I'm a woman..it's only natural for the two of us to be together like this." Peri's voice would be soft, but he could clear the hurt and fear in her words as he felt her move closer to him even as his heart began to race at the thoughts racing through his mind as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Is it because I'm a human? Or is it something else?"
The silver-haired young man would shake his head quickly, his cheeks blushing furiously as he felt the warmth of her body against his before finally turning to face her. Making sure to take in every inch of her beauty, from lips to navel. "I've never had anything against humans, Sister Maribelle taught us that hate is never the answer to conflict."
Brad would instinctively sharpen his hearing once more, hoping that their surrogate parent wasn't looking for them at that moment and sighing in relief when he heard nothing out of the ordinary. "It's just, we barely see each other anymore since you started attending Signal and..now that things are changing for us. I'm not sure how we're supposed to-"
Before he could say anything more, he felt her lips press against his in a fierce display of passion. Her grip tightening as he finally relented and returned her kiss with equal gusto, tasting the remnants of their surprisingly well-cooked pork dinner along with what he suspected was her lip gloss.
It should've been the greatest moment of his life, being alone in the moonlight with a girl who adored him more than anything in the world, and he had even gotten to see her naked. It was the kind of situation guys his age would brag about to their friends while around hanging around the locker room.
But their moment of happiness, this revelation of love blossoming amongst childhood friends would be shattered by the sounds of explosions going off in the distance.
"What the hell was that?!" The wolf would strain his hearing to their limits as he instinctively began reaching for the clean set of clothes that he had brought with him and dressing quickly, even as he faintly heard Peri's voice asking what was wrong. "Did you bring your weapon with you?" His sense of smell already being overwhelmed by the familiar taint of smoke as he dressed quickly, telekinetically retrieving Aganos from its usual resting place beside the old oak stump and assembling the full weapon without hesitation.
"Brad what's going on, why are you asking about my weapon.." He heard her words trail off as the realization was no doubt dawning on her as well, the lupine Faunus already running toward the church at full speed, ignoring the pain of thorns and brambles stabbing his feet. " Braddock wait! We have to call out for help!"
In his heart he knew she was correct, but all his mind could focus on were the panicked cries of the children coming from inside the church, even as the Sister was no doubt doing her best to keep them calm.
"If there really is a Saint or whatever up there, please let me make it in time to save them!" Brad would make it out of the forest in time to see the church he called home covered in a blaze of fire as a group of men in black suits talked amongst themselves, one of them seemingly laughing at the chaos unfolding in front of them. "Bastards! Don't you know there are children in there?!"
His question would be rewarded with a flurry of gunfire as the thugs were less than thrilled with his sudden appearance, leaving the silver-haired Faunus with precious time to dodge their bullets before rushing forward with a furious roar.
"You said all the brats would be locked up inside the damn building, where the hell did this one come from?!" The lead thug: a man in a conspicuous white coat and bowler hat would watch the furious Faunus's movements closely, raising an eyebrow at how someone so scrawny was able to heft around such a large weapon while moving so quickly. "This mutt's not half bad, almost a shame I have to waste the kid, but I was told not to leave any witnesses." He would raise his weapon and calmly aim for the young man's ankle, not even blinking as he watched the enraged Faunus lose his stride and go sprawling to a heap on the ground.
"Sh-shit!" Brad would try and force himself back to his feet, but the searing pain in his ankle kept him from doing anything more from flopping around like a fish on dry land, the screams in the church had all but died down to hushed prayers as the man in the white coat slowly approached him. "Why? Why did you do this to us?! Was the protection money from a secluded orphanage really that important!" The silver-haired young man would try and look up at his assailants, the man in the bowler hat would calmly be lighting a cigar as their eyes met.
"Money? Nahh, that's not why we decided to throw a Molotov cocktail party at this fine establishment." The man in the bowler hat would kneel and blow a puff of smoke in his face, snickering as the agitated young man tried to recoil away from it. "It's the principle of the situation: Your dear Sister Maribelle made a promise to pay me every so often, no matter how bad things were going. If you're going to blame anyone here for your misfortunes then make sure to cuss her out something fierce, then again..I'm pretty sure they don't allow dogs in Heaven now do they?" The man in the bowler hat would smirk wickedly as he placed the barrel of his gun against the side of Brad's head, the wolf Faunus panicking as he realized the end was near even as his bladder emptied and the last thing he heard was the sound of a loud pop.
And then there was nothing but darkness.
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What he awakened to next was not the peaceful strumming of a harp, nor was it the loving face of Saint Dorothea welcoming him unto her gentle bosom.
Rather it was the sound of a rather dreary song that described a man who came from nothing, and nothing was where he would return. And watching over him was a weathered old nurse who had no doubt seen more than her fair share of death.
"I hate that the Doctor seems to enjoy this garbage, it sets a bad tone for the visitors. All this talk of falling and heads being on fire, no doubt this is giving the poor lad nightmares." She would reach over to turn off the radio that was playing the tune, only for Brad to grunt in defiance in a vain attempt to try and stop her from doing so. "My Goodness, you're actually conscious! It's a miracle!" The nurse would quickly stop what she was doing and begin checking his pupil reactions, his reflexes, asking him questions he was ill-suited to answer in his condition before finally stepping away to contact the Doctor in charge of him.
"You're very lucky to be alive right now young man; it's a one in a million chance to survive a bullet to the brain like you did and even then there's some kind of residual damage but from what Nurse Raskin tells me that you seem to be in good condition." The doctor, a kindly old man with fox whiskers reached out to pat him on his shoulder and while the lupine Faunus pretended to feel assured by this gesture, he felt no warmth, not even a tingle.
Half of him was gone.
"You took quite a while to come back to us young man, but I suppose two years is an understandable amount of time to recover from such a brutal event." The doctor's words sent a shockwave of realization through the half of his body that still had feeling, even as the older man continued to hem and haw over the miracle that was his awakening.
"Two years? You're saying I've been unconscious for two years?!" He wanted to reach out and strangle the man in his blind fury, but his muscles refused to listen to his demands. "What happened to the church? Did the authorities catch the man with the bowler hat? What about my friend Peri, is she here too?"
The expression on both his doctor and Nurse Raskin's face turned somber as they glanced at one another, as if they were debating on what to say to him before the older man once again reached out to comfort him once more. "We can talk about that another time young man, for now you need to rest and work on waking up those muscles of yours." The doctor would whisper something to the nurse before standing up and giving him a warm smile. "Welcome back to the world of the living my young friend, cherish the chance you've been given."
Brad still had questions that demanded answers, and he was desperate to get them to the point where he even tried stopping the man with his Semblance, but only succeeded in causing himself more pain as he watched his nurse inject something into his unfeeling side before his eyelids grew heavy and darkness claimed him once again.
"They're lying to you; don't trust anything they tell you"
He didn't recognize the voice that spoke to him in the darkness, only that it was feminine and carried an air of authority to it. As he looked around for the source of, he would find himself surrounded by birds with pitch black feathers and red eyes looking at him with a menacing gaze.
"You've survived thus far, prove to me that you have what it takes to rise up from death and become more than just a sheltered puppy."