The Guard

~~~SSS~~~

Things around the Schnee household had been getting…. Complicated, for lack of a better term. Master Jacques has been making changes to how the company was run. Lady Willow used to be more forceful in keeping the spirit of her father's company alive and untarnished. That was no longer the case.

"Those faunus sure are making noise, huh?"

Following the gaze of his subordinate, he saw a crowd of faunus protesting outside their gates. This was likely in response to a recent law from the council that prevented employees of certain "Industries of National Importance'' from forming unions and prohibiting the use of strikes. The reason they were outside the Schnee manor was due to Jacques' overt backing and financing of the bill. The man wanted to ensure he could control his employees more

"It's not going to get better any time soon. I doubt the company will risk losing their profit margins to appease the workers." There had been issues at some of the mining camps already. Thankfully he was too old to be sent personally, because if he did, he had no idea how he'd handle it.

Hadrian Purpura had no love for the faunus. He would admit that freely. His father taught him about the uprising they had "won" back in the day. He even agreed that maintaining dust production was a measure of Atlas national security. But even so, as a working man himself, he didn't like the recent law and its meaning for his fellow blue collars.

Among the many signs and banners with clever yet insulting messages, Hadrian saw a collection of faunus with a symbol that was growing more and more recognized. It was a sad looking creature, a cat of some sort. A puma perhaps? Either way, the more organized sub group within the crowd was making their way forward. In the lead was a tall man with black hair and matching beard.

"Belladonna…" He could already feel a migraine on its way. Dealing with this guy really got annoying. Being in charge sucked some times.

"He's the leader of that new animal movement. What was it? The White Hand?"

"Don't you ever pay attention, Graves? It's the White Fang."

"Shut it, both of you." Ugh, they should have expected this to happen after the late night bill signing. These animals crawled out of the woodwork every month or so, but it was picking up recently. How they were still allowed passage to Atlas proper was beyond him.

Thankfully he didn't have to bother with speaking to the man. The gates would stay shut and nobody would go in or out. Well, until they were ordered to disperse the crowd from the very much private property of the Schnees. He had already ordered a squad to prepare themselves and don their riot gear, a strange thing for private security to own, but he didn't really care.

Down below, they could hear the man using his loud voice to request an audience with Jacques Schnee. Unfortunately for him, the man was out and the only people present were his staff and his children. He doubted that Ghira would want to speak to a tipsy Willow.

Thankfully, Jacques gave him liberty to do most whatever he wanted to get them out. So in order to save him from getting annoyed, he pressed the button on his radio so it would transmit through the gate's speakers.

"Master Jacques is unavailable, so I would advise you to disperse your… group. If you continue to bother the peace here, we will use force to disperse you ourselves. It's up to you." The men locked eyes, Ghira on the ground and Hadrian on the wall. Cold gray eyes met determined yellows. The faunus may have been a few inches taller than him normally, but from this vantage he was less than intimidating.

The large man placed a hand in front of a few less than happy protesters. His men had also put their hands on their weapons at the aggressive looks. Thankfully the large cat man had a good grip on the people around him. Commotion from behind him had him turn.

~~~SSS~~~

Tulip was nervously following her charge as she walked towards the gates to their property. The young heiress had heard one of the other servants talking about the mob at the gates and had demanded to see them for herself. She had tried to talk the growing teen down and return to her studies, but with little success as per usual.

"Young miss… are you sure about this? I'm sure the men at the gates are more than capable of holding out."

Winter Schnee scoffed. An action that usually got a talking to from her father. She'd been growing more rebellious lately. She had been preparing to train with her saber before they had gotten side tracked, sparing the rear garden another disturbance.

"I'm sure they are, but I wish to see it for myself regardless." Tulip let out a silent sigh as she continued to follow the girl she was in charge of. That Lucy girl… she really was such a gossip. It didn't help that Oran had been the one who started the whole rumor mill. Ugh, those two were trouble enough on their own.

She was going to have hair as white as a Schnee if the stress kept building.

The pair eventually reached the gates after walking across the fairly spacious gardens. I really need to do more cardio… The scene at the gates wasn't great, but not as bad as it had been made out to seem. Contrary to word of mouth, there were no lynched effigies of the family.

Winter approached the gate which had a rather large man on the other side. His outfit was quite something. She had to avert her eyes before any blood filled her face.

That's a really hairy and muscled chest…

"Lady Winter! What are you doing here!?" The older man in the tower looked down on the two women with plain surprise on his face. She gave him a look to silently explain it wasn't her idea.

"I heard word of some sort of… occurrence… taking place here, and as the eldest available member of the Schnee family, I felt it my duty to see it for myself. What is the meaning of this crowd?"

"Bunch of faunus pissed at the decisions of democratically elected officials. So they've come in a show of force in a vain attempt to intimate your father. If you wish, we can disperse them within the hour." That got a vocal reaction from the crowd, causing Tulip to flinch back a bit.

Winter looked from the guards by the gate and in the watch tower to the group of faunus and humans outside. She saw the girl's lips pull down as she read a few of the signs. Tulip herself was upset at a few that had negative insinuations about the kids as well as the parents. Truly despicable behavior.

The man followed their faces and sighed to himself.

"I apologize for those who are more… foul… language. Not everyone here is a follower of the White Fang and its beliefs."

"It's distasteful, yes, though I must ask why such a group is here at all. My father, powerful as he is, is not on the council."

"Heading there was the plan originally, but some members felt that we could get our point across clearer if we came to the biggest backer's home." She could see that the man wasn't exactly enthusiastic about changing their location, and it looks like Winter noticed that as well.

"Forming a mob outside our place of residence will not work for your goals either. My father cares not for any moral line, only about his bottom line. Your time is wasted here."

That clearly wasn't something many in the crowd wanted to hear and the large man seemed to struggle for a moment to get them back under control. A few of the guards on the ground were getting nervous and glancing at each other. Tulip felt that all too much. She wasn't a fan of being here with just a gate for protection.

"Miss Schnee, you've seen what there is to see. Perhaps we should return now?" Please please please. She really just wanted to go back and only worry about tea and cleaning. However, the young girl refused to listen.

"I am curious, why are you all here anyways? Surely there are actually productive things to do?" A few bristled at her words, but the big man gently shook his head.

"We are here protesting the removal of certain rights that your father helped remove. Such actions in pairing with other recent rollbacks and loophole creation affect the primary faunus workforce of the SDC. We want to try and convince him and the council to undo the harmful legislation."

Fat chance, master Jacques would never. The man cares more for lien than he does his children. Ever since that night…

"And you believe this would change his mind? I can promise you it won't. Like I said, he cares for profits, not protections." Winter is a smart girl and Tulip knows the girl has no real love for her father. It was quite a sad family. The faunus at the gate sighed in a resigned fashion as those behind him began getting more and more frustrated. "I would ask that you all leave our home, though I do wish you all well for the future. There is always hope for change in the future."

With that the girl turned and left and the maid made to follow. Tulip spared one last glance at the upset crowd and the man trying to lead them away. Likely to SDC headquarters or city hall. With all the success the White Fang has had, it wasn't going to be long until they disbanded.

There were a few faunus that worked for the family, though she wondered how long they would stay. The triplets seemed too jovial to care, the bull had too much job security, and a few others were loyal to the ones they served. That or the good paychecks.

Tulip noticed the white knuckled grip Winter had on her weapon. Perhaps she could help the girl relax after the scene at the gate. "My lady, perhaps a calming herbal tea?" The girl shook her head as she power walked to the back.

"That is appreciated Miss. Petál, but I think blowing off a bit of steam is the remedy I need."

More training was on the munu… The master was unhappy with the increased focus on martial training instead of business focused education. She had even been summoned by the man to try and subtly influence the young heiress into changing her path. Though that was easier said than done, the girl was a force of nature and had more determination than anyone else in Atlas.

Letting out a sigh, she acknowledged the wishes of her charge.

"... Yes miss."

~~~SSS~~~

Been a while since I updated this. Had the idea, and many others, floating around. The issue is making them more than just a few paragraphs. I have a lot of prompts and ideas but can't figure out how to write most of them.

Ugh…