It was Gale's first day at Beacon. Professor Ozpin had just finished giving an... odd speech before dismissing the students to lunch. Just as Gale sat down to eat, he heard a cry of pain come from behind him. Looking back, he saw a group of punks bullying a rabbit faunus girl. A kid with burnt-orange hair, the leader of them it seemed, was tugging and pulling on her ears. "Ow, that hurts! Please stop." After one last tug, he let her go as one of the other punks called her a freak. The girl turned away and quickly left the cafeteria, holding her ears and trying to hide the tears in her eyes.
'Despicable' Gale thought as he got up to find her. After looking through a few empty hallways, Gale found her sitting back against a wall, curled up with her knees against her chest and trying to stifle her crying. She heard Gale slowly walk up and stop in front of her.
Without looking up, she tried to keep her voice steady. "Go away..."
Gale knelt down to her. "But I want to help you."
She still didn't look. "..Why would you want to help someone like me..?"
"Because I dont hate faunus.."
"...You're lying..." She responded hesitantly.
"No really... Im from a village where humans & faunus lived in peace. I never hated them..."
She finally looked up, wiping back her dried tears, to see his warm smile & lavender eyes looking back at her. "R-really?"
Gale nodded. "Yeah. I was shocked really when I first came to Vale. The blind hate to faunus was disappointing."
She looked back down. "Yeah, well. The White Fang certainly hasn't helped anything. All they do is bring more hate to us all.." Her ears dropped down low, causing her to flinch as she moved.
Gale looked up concerned. "Your ears still hurt?"
"Yeah.. they are really sensitive" She said as she wiped away another tear.
"May I.. try something?" Gale asked.
"What?" She asked, a bit scared.
"Just relax" Gale slowly reached up, causing her to flinch slightly, and carefully began running his hand across her ears while channeling his cooling, icy aura to his palms to help soothe & numb the pain. "Wow. Your ears are really soft. They almost feel like velvet."
She giggled. "Well, that is my name. Velvet Scarlatina."
"I see where you get your namesake then, its a fitting name. My name is Gale by the way. Gale Yrimir."
"Nice to meet you Gale." She said smiling.
"Likewise. How do your ears feel now?"
"Alot better now actually. Thank you Gale."
"No problem Velvet." He stopped and sat down against the wall beside her.
"So.. did you really live in a town of humans & faunus?" Velvet wondered.
Gale sat back, looking up to the ceiling as he thought back. "Yeah, it was a small village set in the cold northern mountains. The weather & conditions were harsh, so the humans & faunus set aside their differences and worked together to survive & prosper there. They didn't have time for petty hate over something so trivial as race. I lived there from birth until I was 13, so I was never raised to think any different of faunus."
Velvet listened in awe. "Wow. It sounds like a great place."
Gale looked down. "Yeah well, the towns not there anymore though... A beowolf invaded the town and pretty much destroyed it. My parents and I were the last ones alive, and only after it clawed my back did my aura & semblance awake as I froze the beast solid. Thats why when we came to Vale, I decided to become a Hunter to protect everyone. I didn't want to lose friends and family like that ever again."
"Oh Gale, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked.."
Gale smiles and pats her shoulder. "It's fine Velvet. It's all in the past now."
Just then, the school's speaker beeps as Professor Goodwitch's voice begins speaking. "All first year students, please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first year students to Beacon Cliff." The speaker beeped off again.
Gale stands up and holds his hand out to Velvet. "Well. We better get going, huh?"
She grabs his hand and pulls herself up. "Yeah. Lets go. And Gale?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for helping me."