"This is never gonna work." Velvet whispered as she kept herself close to Hansel.
Her head was ducked down to prevent being spotted by any of the pedestrian villagers. Her entire body, save for her calves, feet, and the fingertips that were keeping the long brown cloak over her body closed, were totally concealed. Her ears were extremely irritated by the thin black bow she had found on the same corpse that she had found the tattered, brown hooded cloak on.
Hours earlier, Velvet had asked Hansel to pull her ears back as far as he could. He did so with much verbal concern for Velvet's well-being. For this, she had to constantly push him past such concerns and tell him to keep going. She did not make it known to him the searing pain that pulling her ears back caused.
She knew that it had to be done, despite the pain. Velvet did not want to run the risk of the two of them being seperated and not being able to assist each other in an event that required such action. After several hours spent convincing Hansel to allow her to risk herself in such a manner, Velvet then was tasked with convincing him of tying her ears back.
Hansel kept his eyes down as well, concealed by a pair of dark wrap-around sunglasses he had happened to find from an area that he was characteristically vague about. The lower half of his face was now covered with a large blonde beard that he had spent the past few days growing out for this exact purpose. A small trace of hair upon Hansel's scalp gave an outsider a good idea as to the area where a flowing mane had once exerted its domain. He was doing a slightly better job than Velvet of looking casual and inconspicuous, even going so far as to bow his head in adknowledgement of those walking past.
"Oh. He seems like a nice boy, doesn't he?" One elderly man said to his female companion of the same age as they passed.
"Yes. So respectful and courteous." His wife concurred. "That other girl, however. She's mighty suspicious."
"My thoughts exactly." The elderly man lowered his voice, but was still heard by Velvet as they walked past down the walkway. "She does seem a bit...odd. But we shouldn't pay much mind. Such people are best left alone."
Velvet felt simultaneous relief and shame as the couple changed the topic of their conversation. It perplexed her as to why people would care so much about her.
Oh, that's right. You're a stranger to these people, moving like a creep in their village. You'd be the same if you saw someone as suspicious as yourself.
Every fiber of her being screamed for her to undo the bow as she walked down the street, but she resisted. Her knuckles turned white as she pressed down on the cloak in a failed attempt to take her mind off of the pain. The clamor around her provided a small outlet to ease her mind, but only for a moment. Soon, the noises only served to spike her anxiety and fear of being discovered.
"What's the name of this village again?" Velvet whispered, trying desperately to find a new outlet.
"I didn't catch the name of it. I'm sure we'll know soon enough. All I'm concerned with right now is whether or not this place has a Dust shop, maybe even some seamstress who can mend our clothes. If we have time, we can stop in some place for supplies. How's that sound." Hansel mumbled.
"You're taking the lead here. I'm just following for now. I don't care where you lead us, so long as it's not some place that requires us to get violent or run away from an angry mob. Got it?"
"Of course, of course. I'll try my best. But hey, life happens. You can't blame me if fate takes its course and we end up having to run or fight our way out of here."
"You know how I feel about running the risk of hurting innocents. These people don't have to pay for our crimes. Got it?"
"Of course. Now how well do you know this village?" She asked, daring a sideways glance at her friend.
"Well, if I don't know the name of the village, then wouldn't that be just a tad bit of an indicator that I know nothing about this place that you don't?" He said, chuckling softly.
Velvet, initially offended, realized that this was his attempt at humor, and she felt the need to return the favor.
"Well, excuse me. You always seemed to be the man with a plan and all. I guess it's true what they say: the legend is always bigger than the man behind it."
Velvet's double entendre made Hansel's face turn a beet red.
"Did you just- Was that supposed to be-never mind." Hansel laughed once more, nodding to a pedestrian as he did so.
In the same fashion as the couple preceding this blonde, middle-aged woman donning a similar, newer cloak to Velvet's(the only difference being that a small clasp attached the collar of hers around the woman's neck), the woman spoke foully under her breath about Velvet's appearance. She kept her eyes forward so as to not meet Velvet's, and furiously flitted her hair as the two's paths intersected. The woman, who appeared to be the same age as Velvet's mother, quickened her pace in what she felt was an attempt to get as far away from Velvet as quickly as possible. A sting surged inside of Velvet as all of these details came together within her mind. It pained her to think of the manner in which human nature functioned.
Even though her ears were hidden, she was still discriminated against for a small discrepancy about herself. As it had always been ever since she was a child, nearly everyone would turn against her for one small detail. She had become accustomed to being judged for what she was, instead of who early on in her life. She had heard tales recently of certain Fauna( those that the media had associated her with) that had refused to simply cope with the conditions of her kind and silently push for reform as she had. Velvet did not agree with the new violent methods of the radical group, and aimed to keep herself under the radar(as she was failing to do now).
Hansel must have noticed that Velvet was still feeling uneasy, despite his attempts to assuage her anxiety. She felt his hand slide over her shoulder for a small second. A small smile passed over her lips, and she relieved one of her hands to lay it upon the hand that occupied her shoulder.
"We're gonna be fine, ok? I promise. I won't let anyone hurt you."
"Ditto." She said with a smirk.
Hansel replaced his hand at his side and the two continued to walk down the moderately busy walkway. Raising her hand in the slightest, Velvet lifted her head up and began to scan the wooden shop signs for the stores they needed. She understood that such a demeanor would only serve to arouse more suspicion, but she felt it the less risky option. Should she lift her head up fully, she feared that someone would be able to spot her, thus compromising their concealment. In her mind, it was the lesser of two evils.
Soon, they came across the first shop that they sought: the local Dust shop. The two slipped inside the nearly store to see a middle-aged man behind the counter directly in front of them. He raised a hand and waved at the two while offering his greetings. Velvet offered her own soft verbal greeting while Hansel remained silent, not caring to remove his sunglasses.
The man, as so many people in the town seemed to possess, had a large, black handlebar moustache. A set of crow's feet occupied the spaces at the corners of the eyes that narrowed as he smiled at the pair of teenagers that had entered his store. His forehead, thanks to a visibly receding hairline, took up a large portion of the front portion of his head. What hair did remain on the man's head was tied into a ponytail that Velvet found to clash with the lack of hair on the other end. The ponytail was draped over the shoulder of the man, giving Velvet reason to take in his clothing.
His vest was olive green with a shirt that was a shade lighter. The level of care that he took in his appearance was shown by the combination of such a top with his tan khaki shorts underneath. The entire ensemble was completed with a pair of black sandals and white socks that encased his feet.
"Hello there. Welcome to 'Dust of Remnant'. I'm the owner here. Can I help you with anything?" He placed one of his hands on the glass counter in front of him, and proceeded to rub his protruding stomach with the other.
Within the three glass counters that formed a 'U' shape facing the store's door, Velvet was silently mesmerized by the array of Dust crystals and rounds situated on lush silk carpets within the glass cases. She had never seen so much Dust and so many forms of it in a single place.
Upon the walls, on small metal pegs, rested cartridges of Dust Bullets, ripe for the firing. Where there weren't such cartridges, long glass tubes with brass frames ran into the shop from the ceiling and down to behind the counter. Inside the tubes were different forms of Dust. Like the crystals, they were arranged according to their element. There were few colors(she assumed that they were mixtures) that Velvet didn't recognize, and she made a mental note to ask Hansel about them later. Regardless, the crystals held her in awe in a manner that only a Hunter could know.
"Uh, yeah. I was wondering if you had any Wind and Fire crystals." Hansel asked, concealing his voice by making it sound more gruff than usual.
"Well, ain't that an interesting combination. You planning on trying to mix 'em?"
Hansel laughed and removed his hands from his pockets. He placed them on the metal edge of the counter and firmly pressed his palms down.
"Mixing wind and Fire usually doesn't end so well, in my experience."
"Ain't that the truth?" The shopkeep laughed heartily, pausing for a brief moment to conduct business further. "Let's see what I have."
The owner began to scan the contents of his counters. He pursed his lips, intently searching for the necessary crystals.
"Aha, there you two are." He moved over to the end of the counter that he had remained behind and extracted a set of keys from his pockets. He slowly entered the key into a slot that was blocked from Velvet's sight and turned the key. He took one more look at the two teenagers in his shop (likely to make sure that they weren't collaborating with each other in some attempt to rob him) before sliding the glass door open.
"How many vials do you need?" He asked, looking up at Hansel once more.
"Two each, please." He asked, his gruff voice faltering for just a moment.
Velvet noticed no change in the owner's expression, giving her the impression that he did not notice. Her anxiety level lowered slightly, yet she still made sure to remain vigilant for obvious reasons. She watched intently as the shopkeep lifted out 4 small vials of Wind and Fire Dust. He was set to hand them over to Hansel when he quickly retracted them. Hansel looked taken aback and raised his eyes to the face of the owner.
"Son, if there's one thing I've learned with 45 years of life, it's that you can never put too much caution in doing business with a stranger. Especially, no offense, shady-looking young folks like yourselves. I hope you'll understand." He said,his face taking on a stern expression.
Hansel smiled and nodded. "Of course. I understand completely. You're just looking out for your own interests. I'd do the same thing if the shoe was on the other foot." In compliance with the store owner's caution, Hansel reached into his pocket slowly and pulled out a long, brown leather wallet. From it, he extracted the appropriate amount of Lien and carefully placed it into the waiting hand of the owner. As soon as the plastic touched his hand, the store owner flipped the money, likely to determine it's authenticity. When he saw the black bar on the white backing of the currency,he smiled and placed the two vials onto the glass counter. The two met eyes before the owner allowed his eyes to fall on Velvet once more, and the large brown box over her lower back.
"What about you, hon? Any Dust for you today?" He asked, placing both of his hands on the edge of the counter once more.
Velvet raised her hands and awkwardly chuckled. "Oh no, thank you. I don't use Dust."
"Really? How, may I ask, does that work? If you don't mind my asking?"
Velvet felt silently flattered that she had aroused such an interest in such a self-proclaimed expert of Dust and Life itself. She smiled and walked over to the counter, careful to not reveal her face. She kept her vision on the keeper's face, which showed a hint of annoyance.
"I'm terribly sorry, but would you mind taking off your hood? It's for security purposes. I hope you understand." He said.
Velvet froze as the last few words left his lips. She moved her eyes over to look at Hansel, only to see that he had gone rigid as well. Her young mind scrambled for a plan, eager for a way out of this whole situation.
"Well, sir, she can't do that." Hansel replied in a slow,shaky tone.
"And why might that be?" He interrogated.
Oh dammit. This is it. We're going to be caught, or have to hurt this poor man because he's obviously going to try to apprehend us.
"Well, sir. It's just that..." Velvet's voice trailed as she trembled in fear. With every shiver and small jump, the small satchel and her box strapped to her back moved ever so slightly, giving an outsider an indication that she was making small movements that would otherwise be unseen to the naked eye, aside from those of a Faunus.
"It's just that she has a rare skin condition that makes her extremely sensitive to light. Any contact with the sun or any type of light, and she gets a severe burn all over. It's not pretty." Hansel quickly chimed in and, in Velvet's eyes, saved the day for both of them.
"Really? Why not just stay inside then?" He asked, squinting his eyes to convey the suspicion he felt.
"Well, sir,if you must know," Velvet added in. "I don't want to be defined by my condition. I would rather be defined my actions and my personality. I refuse to be beaten by what is happening to me biologically. I want to be who I am on my own terms, not on that of some biological part of myself or of those who judge me for what I am on the inside." As committed as Velvet was to the lie, her small monologue wasn't a stretch from her ideas concerning her association with the minority of the Fauna. She truly longed for the day that the entire world would judge her for her heart, not the rabbit ears that she had simultaneously been blessed and cursed with.
To Velvet's surprise,a smile crossed the man's face when she fell silent.
"I understand. Hell, I know a few people who would do well to follow that same piece of advice. It's an admirable thing, hon. Really is in my opinion. In fact, since you're so adamant about living a normal life, how about I cut the price of your Dust costs in half? Least I can do for someone so brave as yourself and her friend."
Velvet let a sincere small cross her lips as she slowly raised her head in order to allow the keeper to see it.
"Thank you for your generosity, sir."
"Think nothing of it. It's people like you who make me glad that I got up this morning. Speaking of which, haven't I seen you two someplace?"
A large gulp slid down Velvet's throat, the idea of themselves being captured now becoming a reality once more. Her eyes darted downwards as she saw the man hand half of Hansel's Lien back to him. In response to the question came two grunts, the second in a lower tone than the first, in the negative followed by a swift "No, sir. Not from around here."
"I see. Are you two celebrities, though? I swear I've seen you two somewhere. Were you on a TV program or something?"
"No. I'm sorry, but we're not. I'd love to keep talking, but we have about a million different places to hit while we're passing through this place. You got a seamstress here in town? We got some clothes that need mending."
"Of course. There's a nice couple of guys just down the street who do that, along with smithing. Perhaps they could help?" He asked, furrowing his brow once more.
Hansel extended his hand over the counter and shook that of the owner who followed suit. The two raised and descended their hands and forearms in a strong embrace, moving them up and down swiftly. With that, the two parties bid each other adieu, Velvet's party walking toward the door. All seem to go according to plan until she heard a sharp beep from behind them. She turned in an inconspicuous manner and took note of the fact that the owner had opened a Scroll and was, apparently, recording.
"Yeah, can you tell if it's them from this angle?" He whispered into the Scroll.
"I'm sorry, but the male doesn't match the description and we can't get a clear view of the second subject. Did you see any distinctive features? Anything that may tell us it's her?"
"Yeah.She lifted her head up just enough so I could see the top of her head."
"What did you see, sir?"
"She's a brunette Faunus. With rabbit ears that look like their tied back."
"I see. Thank you, sir. We'll send a Deputy to your location. Thank you for the tip."
"Hey...there's a cash reward, right?"
Velvet heard the dispatcher stop for a moment, then return with an air of annoyance.
"Thank you. Goodbye."
Oh, no. This is why we can't have nice things, Velvet.
Velvet walked ahead of Hansel and whispered in his ear to follow at her speed. Hansel followed as she directed and asked what the matter was. She informed him of their new dilemma, bringing a grimace to his face. He called out her name, prompting her to look at him.
"What are we gonna do, Velvet?"
Velvet put her hands over her mouth.
"Well, for one thing, we need to get out of the village. The Sheriff and his deputies will be on us soon, and we need to be out of here by then. So my idea is to simply escape before we attract too much unwanted attention."
"Sounds good to me. Let's do it."
The two turned a corner when they caught sight of a Deputy just as he caught sight of them. He pointed and called out to the pair. The distance of the town square separated Velvet, Hansel and the Deputy.
"You two! Stay where you are!" He commanded.
The citizens that inhabited the square had their attention turned to the area that the Deputy pointed into. All of the eyes around became locked on them, sending chills down her spine. They began to walk towards Hansel and Velvet, likely trying to assist the Deputy in their apprehension. Some of them began to shout, others commenced to drawing makeshift weapons from assorted locations. Very quickly, the crowd achieved the appearance of a Lynch Mob to Velvet, the comparison reminding her of such heinous actions towards her kind during The Great War.
"Oh, Dammit. Things just got a lot more complicated." Hansel said through gritted teeth.
When doesn't it?