Cold was the night, and Black was his horns. Red was his hair, and Black was his horns.
Blue were his eyes, Blue as the sky…
Somewhere, a bright blue sky shined down upon a beautiful landscape of fresh, spring grass and trees. And somewhere else, a bell rang.
A mining facility, owned by the powerful Schnee Dust Company, situated far away from civilization, stretched as far as the naked eye could see. It was a blight on the area's beautiful land; where the wire fences began, all beauty died.
Within the facility, there was little grass— only dirt or rock ground, with the occasional teeny-tiny flower managing to grow the slightest bit from a crack in the dirt.
These flowers would often be plucked and crushed by the SDC's human guards, due to many of their Faunus workers getting desperate enough to try and eat them… and either becoming incredibly sick, or actually getting a decent meal for that day.
The Faunus. While the few humans who watched over the camp did little more than… just that, the thousands of Faunus slaves did all the mining. They would be ordered to go down into deep, cramped tunnels to mine for dust, and afterwards, upon carrying it out, safely escort that dust to the facility's main building to be… assumedly boxed. No one had ever been allowed to go inside, especially not a Faunus.
And in return for a Faunus' hard work, they would be given little food or water, have to wear the most threadbare of attire, and said attire would have the bare minimum of protection for such a dangerous job.
That bare minimum being, they had sleeves.
Shifts would go on for hours on end, and the work was laborious. Adding onto that fact was just how dangerous the work of dust mining was— one wrong move, an explosion or a mine collapse would likely be triggered. And while it was publicized as otherwise, that the SDC made sure every site was safe and secure… such was common in a Faunus SDC camp.
But as the bell rang out across the grounds of the mining camp, Faunus began to pile out of a certain tunnel, onto the surface. They were all of varying degrees of malnutrition, and most had bags under their eyes.
What differentiates a Faunus from their human others was their traits. Some had dog ears, others the scales of a crocodile. Many had zebra tails and few had spider eyes. But no matter if one had heron wings, ape hands, a snake's tongue or a cat's whiskers, they were all Faunus. And there was one particular Faunus among the good hundred leaving this tunnel. A small, red-haired boy, with tiny, black horns.
And as he left that tunnel, the young boy's eyes found themselves traveling up into that sky. That bright, blue sky. The boy's eyes were just as bright, and just as blue— he'd been told by other Faunus they were even brighter than the morning sun.
And as he looked up into that sky, he saw a group of birds— white birds.
They flew up, up and away— far away from the tunnels, the dirt, the dust, and him.
Freely. The birds flew freely away.
He smiled. He wished he was just like those birds.
He wished he was free, too.
"Hey!" A voice above him called, and before he knew it, the young Faunus stumbled forward.
"Ah! O-Ouch!" He squeaked, shaking his head before looking up. An adult Faunus, one with zebra stripes along his face and arms, had bumped into him. "I'm sorry!"
"It's alright… just keep moving," the man admonished, shaking his head. "Now's not the time to daydream."
"I wasn't!" The boy huffed, standing up straighter and walking along with the rest of the crowd. "Not really, at least…"
They were all walking to the "Scary Building", as the little boy usually called it, which was almost clear across the whole camp. They made this walk almost every day, and even then were barely fed at the end of it. It was no wonder they were just so thin.
As they walked, the boy thought deeply. How come those birds could fly away, but he couldn't! He even knew some Faunus with wings like those birds… couldn't they fly? But then, answering his own question, he remembered… right! Their wings had weird little clip things binding them together.
But his curiosity got the better of him, and he tapped the leg of the Faunus in front of him, a woman with deer antlers. She swung back to face him, still walking as she did so, and in her hands was a small crate of dust, labeled with the SDC logo on its side.
Inside the tunnels, there would be small, wooden crates that would store about a pound of dust. These would only be needed in case said Dust was the 'super-dangerous' kind, and while the boy had always wanted to carry one… they'd always be way too heavy.
"Miss!" The Faunus boy began, his bony hands folding nervously in front of him. "Um… can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, kid!" She replied, beaming down at him. "What is it?"
"Do you know if… if…" the boy stammered, and he seemed very meek with his words, "…Are there Faunus like me outside the fences?"
"Hm?" The woman blinked, seeming taken aback by the question. Then, putting on a rather sympathetic smile, she giggled. "'Course there are. There's a whole island of them, pretty sure! Buuut, ah… can't remember it's name…"
"Menagerie," another Faunus, an older male with a monkey's tail, chimed in, "you're thinking of Menagerie. I used to live there… not much better than life here is."
"Huh? Why!" The boy asked, almost indignantly.
The two adults looked down at him. The man resumed, "Menagerie was given to the Faunus by humans, but… the island itself isn't very big at all. Aside from it being cramped, half of the island's an inhabitable desert, filled with dangers and…"
"…That sounds super cool!" The boy cried, smiling bright and big. "What're the dangers? Scary monsters? Spooky—!"
"Grimm. Half of the island is inhabited with Grimm."
"…O-Oh!" The Faunus boy nodded, looking down at his feet as he walked. In truth… he had no clue what a 'Grimm' was. He'd been called that by a couple human guards for not bringing back enough dust, but… who knew what it meant!
"…But, that's just from my time living there," the man sighed, shaking his head, "Maybe things have gotten better for 'em. Maybe they're worse."
"Well… I hope they're better!" The boy added, smiling innocently. "Maybe when I leave here, I'll go to M… Minjary!"
"Menagerie…?" The woman spoke, raising a brow slightly.
"Yeah! I—I'll go there, and… oh! Maybe there'll be some other kids, there, too! And… and we can play a whole bunch together!" He whispered dreamily to himself, his eyes sparkling as he looked back up. He was one of the youngest Faunus slaves in the camp, only about 5. Having lived his whole life there, he'd never met another Faunus, or human, his age.
"That's… if you ever get to leave, kiddo," the man replied, sadly.
"Not many of us do."
"M-My mother did! She got to leave…" The boy squeaked, but his voice got lower as he looked down at his small, skinny body. "Leave… without me…"
Both adults looked at each other, worriedly. The boy's mother had been hung by the guards not too long ago. It was punishment for repeatedly trying to escape the facility. It seemed the boy would never truly believe his mother was gone, even after he'd been the first one to see her dangling from that rope all those months ago.
"Ah, well," the woman forced a smile and gave the boy a quick wink, "I'm sure you'll be one of the first of us to leave here, kiddo. But… what would you even do? Aside from playing with other kids… what else would you be?"
The question surprised the black-horned boy, and a puzzled pout appeared on his face. He… never thought about that! All the times he'd stared up at the sky, between what felt like endless shifts in the dust mines, daydreaming about leaving it all behind… he never knew what he wanted to be, if he was free.
Would he want a job? Could Faunus get jobs?
Could Faunus go to school, with… other Faunus? Could they go to school with humans?
Could he have human friends? Could he be…
"…a Baker!" The boy cried happily, his hands forming small fists as he hopped once with newfound excitement. "I'd be a baker, so I could… um… what do bakers do…!"
"They bake."
"I'd bake! I'd bake a whole bunch, and…!" The boy was so happy he lost whatever he was going to say. "Yeah! That's what I'd do. I think!"
"Sounds fun," the Faunus man laughed, grinning at the boy. "You can bake lots of yummy things, and start your own restaurant."
"That's what a Baker does?" The boy asked incredulously, before groaning. "Nevermind! Too boring… even if it'd help me stop being so hungry. Hm…"
"Maybe… you could be a dentist?"
"Dentist?"
"They clean teeth."
"EW!"
"You could be a teacher! Teach people lots and lots about…"
"But I don't know a whole bunch…" the boy scratched his thin cheek, "I'd be a really bad teacher…"
The woman's expression made it clear her heart nearly cracked at that comment. "Aww, well… you could be… a huntsman!"
"What's that?"
"They're like Remnant's… superheroes!" The woman continued, putting on a friendly tone of voice, "They help protect all people from Grimm and other dangers, and if you grew up and became one… you'd make a real name for yourself!"
"A name for myself?" The boy asked, curiously.
At that, the man returned to the conversation, "Not that easy. First you gotta get through wanna those Huntsmen-Huntress schools… then you gotta get a license…"
A name for himself?
"…and to even do any of that, you gotta apply to get into a school at all…"
Was that what he wanted?
"…I don't even know if they even take Faunus students as…"
If he made a name for himself… would he be free? Would he—
"QUIET!"
Before the three of them knew it, they'd arrived at the front of the largest building in the facility. The… only building in the facility.
It was tall, metallic, and a stark black, and near it was a couple of empty dust boxes and tables that looked like they were made of black coal, with these thin, black tools laying on them. No matter how many times he'd walked here, all of it was unfamiliar.
The two adult Faunus he'd been talking with instantly turned away from him, facing forward. The group of about 100 or so Faunus all went dead silent, and stood still, facing the same direction. All in rows. The boy, looking about for confirmation, quickly did the same.
And then, the footsteps.
Heavy footsteps that were soft at first, but grew just the tiniest bit louder as an SDC guard walked up to and observed each row, making sure each Faunus had a sufficient amount of Dust in their weak, skinny hands.
The little boy quickly peaked at who was now standing next to him; an adult woman with the yellow eyes of a cat. For some reason, the boy found himself feeling a lot more worried this day, and he nervously reached his hand out to the side, hoping the woman would instinctively take it, comfort his worry…
…of course, he was being foolish. So the little boy's hand fell back to his side, and—
The footsteps stopped. A small cry left the young Faunus' lips as he realized the SDC guard was standing right next to him.
He was holding a clipboard, but as he stared down at him… he wrote down nothing. "Ah," the guard began, almost mockingly smiling at the little boy, "you come back with the least amount of dust… once again."
The boy looked up at the human guard, beginning to tremble. "I—I… I'm sorry…!"
"You say that every day, Faunus," the guard admonished, his face returning to an expression of dark, cold disdain. He put on a whiny tone, "'I'm sorry, sir! I'm really sorry! I'll do my best tomorrow…!' And apparently, that tomorrow has yet to come."
The Faunus boy glanced at the other slaves in the group, each row facing away from him, leaving him all alone. Taking a deep breath, he managed out a squeak, "It… It's really hard for me to—!"
"He was too busy talking to the rest of us," the Faunus standing beside him suddenly spoke, her voice robotic and sharp, "he was being a distraction instead of getting his own work done."
The boy's eyes widened. The guard smirked.
"Oh… thank you," he replied coldly, leaning down to the little boy's level. There was not a single hint of light in his eyes. "So not only have you not brought back a single sliver of dust… you were distracting your fellow Faunus."
"I—I'm…"
"Quit your damn apologizing, runt," the guard spat, putting his gloved hand on the boy's tiny shoulder, "This'll be your last warning. Fail to be useful again, and—"
"…Tired!"
It seemed the whole camp went dead quiet.
The guard leaned back and stood upright, staring down at the black-horned boy with wide eyes. The Faunus boy's head was bowed slightly forward, and his eyes were squeezed shut. Who knew such a small, frail thing could yell quite as loudly.
"I'm tired, sir! R-Really, really tired…!" He cried, looking up at the guard. "I-I'm tired of working so much! All it does is make me weaker and sorer and… t-tireder! I hate it!"
A few Faunus began to back away from the boy. Meanwhile, the guard stared down at him, his anger quietly building.
"I want to go home!"
"This is your home, you—!"
"My mom got to, so why can't I?! Why can't I be free like my mom is!"
"One more word out of your filthy mouth, and I'll send you right to her!" The guard growled, grabbing the boy by his skinny arm. All of the faunus now backed away, fearing the inevitable.
"Ah! I… I wanna play with the kids outside the fences, sir! Wh-Wherever they might be…!" The boy went on, his bright, innocent blue eyes gazing up into the guard's dead ones, his voice growing hopeful again, "I wanna go to M… Menagerie! Uh-Huh! I wanna go there, and… and meet other Faunus, like me! I wanna go to school, too! G-Go to school and learn all I can, so I can be smart enough to get a good job, and…"
"I'll hang you from a goddamn rope just like we did your mother!"
Silence.
All innocence faded from the little Faunus' face as he stared up at the guard, who then… looked over his shoulder at something.
"Better yet…" the guard muttered, grinning as he began to drag the young boy off by the arm towards one of those black tables near the entrance of the building.
A few in the growing crowd gasped as the little boy was held down against the ground, and when the guard picked up one of those 'long, black things' laying on the table, a branding iron.
"…how about we get you to learn your place."
Somewhere, a bright blue sky shined down upon a beautiful landscape of fresh, spring grass and trees.
And somewhere else…
screaming.
Loud, shrill, agonized screaming.
The child grabbed at his now bleeding left eye, trying so hard to cover it as the brand that had been pressed down over it began to burn across his face.
Blood poured in rivulets down his thin cheek and dripped onto the dirt ground beneath him, and every single one of the hundred Faunus who'd watched began to, slowly, walk away.
"Still need to learn more, little bastard? Still need to whine and complain for your freedom!?" The guard barked, roughly grabbing the little boy by his dirty red hair. "You still want to be free, don't you? Don't you!?"
"Ah! I-I… I…!" The Faunus child was shoved back against the ground. A small pool of blood was forming there, and he began to sob.
Half of his left tear duct had been burned out of use, and in that eye, blood mixed with the tears that managed to fall. His sobs came out in pitiful gasps, and through the pain and the fear he couldn't catch a single breath.
He was looked upon with disgust. The guard grabbed the boy by his hair again and dragged him inside the building, down a long, dimly lit hallway. Even still, the boy's screams echoed louder than anything else.
"Lets see how you get your freedom now," the guard mocked, opening the door to a dark, empty room and throwing the boy inside.
The boy let out a panicked squeak and tried to get up, but just as he did…
The door slammed shut, and he heard it lock. He ran to it, briefly pushing through the pain enough to pound against the door.
"P-Plea… ah… P-Pleuh… P-Pleease, sir…!" He pounded even more frantically, his bony little fists beginning to tire. "P-Ple—!"
"QUIET!" A voice boomed as he felt someone slam on the door from the other side, and the boy fell back, sobbing loudly and whimpering.
He meekly crawled backwards until he hit a wall, where he blindly scooted into the far corner of the room.
There was no light in the room. Not even a sliver from the crack beneath the door.
And typically, a Faunus could see in that darkness.
He couldn't.
Not one bit.
He curled up into the tiniest little ball, trying now to be as quiet as he could, the new brand over his eye still searing and bleeding profusely.
His retina had already quickly begun to decay, becoming redder and darker. He couldn't read what had been branded into his flesh, even if he could see one of the letters faintly in his dying vision.
It was a property label. S. D. C.
His sobbing eventually quieted into crying, and that crying eventually quieted into whimpering.
Although, that whimpering came in the form of… the occasional dry squeak.
He couldn't tell how long he'd been in that dark room, and when he tried to fall asleep, the pain of simply trying to close both eyes was too much to bear.
By now his left eye had completely become blind, and his right eye…
the only light to be found in the Faunus boy's once bright, blue eye, was what reflected off his quiet tears.
Was he stuck in here? Was this his punishment…?
Had he been bad? So much confusion ran through him, it was nearly worse than the pain.
Almost.
He was cold.
Scared.
Hungry.
Alone.
But if he cried too loudly…
he'd make the guards mad again. He'd be punished again… he had to cry as quietly as possible, even if it hurt so much more.
But still he feared. He feared and feared and feared. Could he… still be free? Doubt came to his mind.
He'd been bad… too bad. Too bad to ever be free, he was sure of it! No Faunus would ever look at him the same. They'd see the brand and know he'd somehow deserved it. Know he'd messed up in some way, somehow, and been punished accordingly.
He was bad. So bad. So, so bad. But he was so much more scared.
He was scared of the dark. Scared of the door opening. Scared that he'd be thrown back out to work and then, whether it be the next day or in the next year… he'd make a guard mad again.
Mad enough to hurt him again.
Mad enough to hurt him in any way they wanted to without a care.
Such a thought terrified him. The little Faunus covered his mouth with one small, bony hand and began to cry again. He tried his best to stifle the sound, but everything in him but his heart told him to just… cry. Cry and cry until it hurt too bad and you run out of tears. He didn't even know how he was crying so much. He hadn't drank anything all day.
Then, suddenly… the door opened, and a blinding light fell across the room. The child squeaked softly and shielded his face, but upon hearing the sound of footsteps, he fearfully looked up.
The shadow of a tall, thin human man was cast over him. The boy whimpered as the human man walked up to him, squatting down to his level with a cruel, yet wordless grin on his face.
The man had a mustache, circular glasses, and wore a hat over his head. He also wore a suit. The poor boy cowered away in his corner, trying to cover his branded eye with his hands.
"Look at me, boy."
The boy sniffled in response.
"Look. At. Me."
The boy meekly turned to face the man, trembling terribly. The man seemed both amused… and repulsed, by the sight of the young faunus.
He pointed at the brand now permanently burnt into his left eye and spoke, "Do you know what that brand means?"
The boy timidly stared at the man, afraid to give a reply. His eye filled with tears, and he bit back a sob.
"Oh, you don't get to cry," the man admonished kindly, before straightening his shoulders and grinning, "It means that you are our property. SDC property. We are allowed to do whatever we want to you, whenever we want it, and no one will give a care in the world. And someday, if you end up free, out there "making a name for yourself" like I've been told you so desperately want… that name will be worthless. Your name will never mean a damn thing, as every single morning in your life from now on, you'll wake up, you'll look at yourself and in your reflection you'll never see the person you wanted so desperately to be. You'll never be a person. You'll only see the face of a slave. A disobedient, dirty, disgusting slave who will never, ever, be free."
The boy stared at the man, long and hard, before he began to sob. He didn't care if he was loud this time, though… even still, his sobs were weak.
"I…I… I-I…!" The boy squeaked quietly, shaking his head back and forth as he tried to turn away from the man's ogling view, "I-I want my mama…! I want my… m-mama… mama… mama!"
The man stood up and coldly watched the little Faunus weep.
Maybe he found it adorable.
Such a pitiful display.
"Take him back out," he ordered, walking out of the room as another guard entered, grabbing the boy's arm. The child didn't have the strength to do anything more than cry, cry so softly as the guard dragged him across the hall of the building and, once at the exit, tossed him back out onto the dirty grounds of the mining field.
It was nighttime now. The little boy had gone the whole day in that room. That cold, dark room.
He looked up at the sky. Mostly covered in clouds, but few stars peaked out. They twinkled gently.
He only saw half as usual.
Everyone else was sleeping. Every one of the thousands of Faunus slaves made to work for humanity. Usually he slept with a random group, but that night… he didn't want to wake anyone up. Didn't want to be a distraction.
A bother. A burden.
So, gingerly, he stood up and staggered to the nearest spot he saw, where an electric box sat in front of a wall of wire fencing. He carefully sat down next to it with a small cry, and bundled himself up with his arms till he was as warm as he could get.
The brand had, for the most part, stopped bleeding too badly on its own. Blood still trickled down in lines, but… most of that was his tears. Tears that fell silently down his cheeks as he managed to catch his breath.
He was so tired now, and he needed to sleep… but he feared that, too. So, instead, he did what always comforted him. He looked up.
Looked up into the starry sky, his blue eye brightening one last time.
He hoped it wouldn't last. That he would wake up, and find himself at the end of his shift, coming out of that tunnel with all the other Faunus. His eyes, both of them, would find
themselves traveling up into that sky. That bright, blue sky. The boy's eyes were just as bright, and just as blue— he'd been told by other Faunus they were even brighter than the morning sun. And as he looked up into that sky, he saw a group of birds, white birds. They flew up, up and away— far away from the tunnels, the dirt, the dust, and him.
Free. The birds he saw that day were free. But they'd never fly over the facility again.
And he would never, ever, be free.
Cold was the night, and Black was his horns.
Red was his hair, and Black was his horns.
Blue were his eyes, Blue as the sky,
But Dead was the night, and Black was his horns.