"So I just lay down?" Elise asked as she got onto the massage bed.
"Yes, yes." Annie nodded as she rubbed lotion on her hands. "Lay down and relax. I'll do the rest." She stepped up beside her.
"Okay, but how do I know it's working?" She glanced back. "Do I have to like do something special or something?" She looked back ahead as she felt hands on her back. "Or is it like some instantaneous kind of thing where I blink and I end up wherever and whenever?"
"Well if you don't stop talking it's never going to work." The woman lightly scoffed with a smile. "Close your eyes and take a deep breath." She softly spoke as she rubbed her back.
"Okaaay." Elise let out rather skeptically before doing such. Exhaling, she opened her eyes and blinked rapidly. Quickly looking around, she found herself in a thick forest. "Eh? Did it really work?" She spun around as she scanned the area.
Beside her, a woman with dark brown hair knelt down and hunched over two stacks of seven trees. She was tying them together in hexagonal shapes with thick rope. Standing up, she patted her dirty hands against her dirty overalls.
As she fully stood, Elise took a step away. This woman was the tallest person she had ever seen. She thought her father's brothers were big, but this woman was bigger. She was one and a half of her size easily.
Taking a deep breath, the woman pushed her chest out while bracing herself. Grabbing one of the bundles of logs, she grunted heavily and hauled it over her shoulder. Kneeling down on one knee, she grabbed the second and hauled it up as well. With an even louder grunt, she stood upright and began to walk. A rusty and dull axe swayed from her hip with each step she took.
After a bit of weaving between trees, she came out into an open field. In the distance, there was a farmhouse. Slowly, she trudged towards it. She passed by several other workers, each one of them doing their own part. Walking up to a building in progress, she set the bundles of logs down. Both of them rumbling the ground as she let them go.
"Damn, you make that look easy." A man with a cowboy hat came over. His fingers holding the brim of his hat. "You're new around here, aren't ya?"
"Yes sir." She gave a quick nod while standing up straight.
"Got a name?" He crossed his arms while raising an eyebrow.
"They call me Altina."
Smiling, he let out a low chuckle. "You're a woman of few words, aren't ya?" When she quietly shrugged to that, he chuckled a little more. "What brings you here?"
"The simple work." She replied while eyeing the building in progress. "Was told to build a log cabin. That's what I'll do."
"Well at the rate you're going, you'll be done in no time. You're even doing it by yourself, huh?" He laughed while placing his hands on his hips. "Damn. Would have been nice to have you around when I built that place." He pointed to the farmhouse. "I had to hire twenty people for that and they still worked slower than you."
"I do my best." She politely nodded.
Staring at her for a moment, he softly shook his head. "Why don't you come in and take a break, hm? This afternoon sun is brutal." He adjusted his hat.
"I'm fine. It's alright." She nodded once again before kneeling down. She then began to untie the ropes around the logs.
He went to argue but decided there was no point. "Well, you got any family around?" He leaned up against a log that was standing upright in the ground.
"It's just me." She answered as she began neatly wrapping the rope back up.
"No family name?" His brow furrowed.
"Nope." She shook her head.
"Hmm." He lowered his head slightly before pushing himself up. "Well, I'll let you get back to work." He grabbed his hat and tipped it before walking back towards the house.
At the front, he stopped by a man hanging a chiseled wooden sign on a post. "Be careful with that. It took forever for me to make."
"I am, I am." The man replied. Sweat beading down the side of his face as he hung the heavy sign.
Smiling, Elise stared at the sign for what felt like eternity. She had seen that sign over a million times. As a kid, she would run her fingers over the embossed words, Welcome to the Spruce Fanily Farm, over and over.
That sign still stood tall and strong to the day at her grandparent's farm with the rest of her family.
"This is cute." She glanced over at Altina before quickly back at the owner of the farm. "I need to see how the rest of this plays out. I love this."
Generations ago on the wide open waters, a mildly worn ship was racing away from a finely built ship with the Atlas symbol on the sails.
"We need to go faster!" The captain of the ship in poorer conditions shouted while spinning the wheel as fast as humanly possible.
"Whoa." Kris breathed out as she found herself standing on the ship. Only moments before she was laying across a bench. She watched the crew as they scrambled across the deck. Several of them picked up spears and hurled them at the large ship behind them. Looking back, her eyes grew wide as she heard canon fire. Seeing the balls of metal hurling towards her, she ducked down. "Okay! Not cool anymore!" She braced for impact.
But as the cannonballs hit the ship and made it rock, she didn't even so much as stumble. "Oh." She blinked and slowly stood herself up. Looking around, she reached out and went to touch the side of the ship. Her hand went straight through the wood. "Huh." She blinked.
"Captain!!" A dark skinned Faunus with goat horns stumbled up towards the bridge of the ship. "Our sails have been shredded!"
"I can see that!" The captain snapped back while pressing with his hand against his hat. A few blonde strands of hair were falling from it. He then eyed the torn main sails falling onto the deck. Glancing behind him as the ship slowed, he clenched his jaw. "I have an idea!" He declared. "Get everyone onto rowboats!"
"What?" The quartermaster blinked rapidly. "Captain, we have thirty something people on board! Plus the crew! We can't all fit!" He ducked down as another burst of cannon fire went off.
"Then tell the crew to swim!" He spun the wheel around to avoid the attack. "I need everyone off this ship so I can stop them!"
"And leave us to drown in rowboats?!"
"Aday!" The captain snapped. "Do you trust me or not!?"
Blinking, he quickly nodded while squaring his shoulders. "Yes, Captain Black." Without a moment of hesitation, he rushed back down the deck towards the rest of the crew.
Watching as an entire crew of Faunus and even more Faunus passengers evacuated onto small row boats that were heavily packed, Kris furrowed her brow. "What is going on here?" She asked her as the heavily battered ship she was metaphorically standing on quickly turned around.
"Time to go to hell you racist bastards!" The captain shouted as loudly as he could as he sent the ship straight ahead towards the other.
"Oh shit." The captain of the second ship rapidly spun his wheel around. He had his large ship ready to fire its cannons. It was sideways and with its large size, he was going to be able to maneuver and turn out of the way. "Come on!!" He roared. He was still trying to turn anyway.
Seeing the inevitable fate coming, many of the crew members believed they had a better chance swimming rather than going down with the ship. Over half of them began to jump and risk their lives with the sharks or even worse, the Grimm of the sea.
Waiting for the last of the men that were jumping to jump, Captain Black took a deep breath. Pulling out a pistol, he fired a shot towards the mast of his sip. Striking the rope that held the remaining sails, the cloth all came tumbling down onto the deck. "Here we go, Gods!" He loudly laughed as he spun the wheel as hard as he could.
"What the..." The captain of the large Atlas ship stared dumbfounded before stumbling as the side of the worn ship collided with his. It was perfectly done. Neither ship took much damage aside from a few scuffs. But it was still hard enough to knock a few more crew members off his ship.
"Hope you're ready for hell!" Captain Black declared as he vaulted off the bridge railing and landed on the deck. Sprinting ahead, he grabbed a hold of a thick rope while slashing at the bottom of it with his sword. He was suddenly jerked high up before swinging over the deck of the larger ship. Letting go of the rope, he fell with a battle cry. He tucked and rolled onto the deck before slashing the stomach of a man coming at him.
"Destroy that damn ship!" The other captain ordered. A few seconds later, the hull of Black's ship was littered with cannonballs and sinking.
"Oh." Ducking underneath a sword, Black lunged forward and drove his blade into his attacker's chest. "Thanks for doing that for me! I thought I was going to have to!"
"What?!" He bared his teeth.
"I'm taking this ship! Obviously!" He held out his arms. "I had to sink mine if I was claiming this one!"
"Like hell you are, pirate!" Grabbing his sword, he jumped down from his spot of command and snarled. "You son of a bitch... Do you know who owns this ship!"
"Oh I know exactly who owns this ship." He lowered his voice for a moment before charging ahead with a shout.
Hearing swords clashing, Aday grunted as he slowly climbed up the side of the large ship. His clothes drenched in water. Finally reaching the railing, he gripped it tight and hauled himself over. Taking several heavy breaths, he pushed himself up. His eyes immediately went wide as he saw the Atlas captain find an opening and slash at his captain's torso.
Seeing him falling back, anger shot through his body. "Captain!" He roared while charging ahead. With a rage filled battle cry, he tackled the captain off the ship before he could even respond. Turning around, he dodged between several dead sailor's bodies before kneeling down. "Captain Black-" He choked on his words.
Groaning, the captain slowly sat up. "Gods... damn... that hurt..." Looking down, the captain froze in place while staring.
"Captain... Black...?" Aday spoke while taking a small step back.
Taking a few deep breaths, the captain stared at the faint cut that stretched across his torso. His leather clothing had protected him just enough for the injury to not be fatal. But his tunic had been fully cut open and exposed his chest.
Well, not exactly his chest.
Aday furrowed his brow at the breast underneath the tunic. "Captain..."
With her breath hitching, the woman gripped both parts of her tunic and wrapped them around her torso. Gritting her teeth, she lowered her head. "Aday..." She mumbled.
Kris stared with just as much shock as the Faunus did. This pirate... looked just like her mother when she was younger. But she was different. She was so much different.
Clenching his jaw, he stepped over to where her sword had skidded to. Grabbing it, he stepped back over. "What's your real name, then?"
"Mary..." She kept her head down. "Mary Eve."
"Eve?" He laughed in disbelief. "You're kidding, aren't you?" As her gaze met his, his shoulders dropped. "You're not kidding. You're an Eve."
"Not by choice." She quickly stood. "Now if you're going to try and kill me for it, at least give me a fighting chance and give me my sword." She held out her hand.
Raising an eyebrow, he spun the weapon around before handing it to her. "Instead of running from the fear your name brings, you should change what it means." Taking a step away, he began to remove his own tunic. "Here." He tossed it to her. "We still need a captain for this ship. And you're the only one I know that's good enough to outrun these slavers. Plus there's plenty of Faunus still seeking refuge in Menagerie. Now we have the chance to bring more of them to safety."
Smiling ever so slightly, Mary swapped out her cut tunic for the soaking wet one. "Not a word to anyone." She pointed at him while making her way to the bridge.
"Aye, aye, Captain Black." He nodded as he went to prepare the sails.
"Okay. I'll take it back." Kris smiled as she peered over the side of the ship. In big bold letters, the words D.S. EVE could be read. "This is a super cool semblance."
Long ago before the four Kingdoms were designated, small villages were scattered all across Remnant. They did their best to keep out Grimm but they weren't always successful. Especially with the constant turmoil between humans and Faunus. Anger and hatred followed everyone everywhere during these times.
During the cold winter months in a small tribe of Faunus, a man with large deer antlers slowly trudged his way through some snow and towards a fire. "What are you making tonight?" He asked.
Glancing over, a woman with a deer tail gently nodded. "The hunters returned with plenty of elk. I've made soup for the clan." She gestured towards the large pot resting on some red hot coals. "We have some others making blankets from their hides. It will keep the newborns warm."
"Mhmm. Good, good." Taking a deep breath, he braced his right leg before slowly sitting down on a cleaned off log. "Did my son ask for the ivories?" He quietly chuckled.
"Of course." The woman softly laughed as her tail swayed. "He's making necklaces for the elders. He says they will bring them good luck."
"And good health with their age." He rested his arms over his thighs. The light of the fire flickering in his eyes. "He might not grow into the hunter I wish he'd be, but he'll make a fine craftsman. And a fine chief some day."
"I'm sure he will." She nodded while grabbing a wooden spoon. Carefully reaching over, she began to stir the large pot of soup. Though she quickly stopped as she heard a commotion.
Exhaling, the Faunus with large antlers turned his head. Seeing someone stumbling through the opening of their fence, he raised an eyebrow. The person stumbled before falling into the snow. They quickly got back up and kept moving forward.
"Help! Please!" He shouted while out of breath.
Eyeing the woman, the chief of the clan slowly got up. His right leg shaky for a moment. Slowly, he made his way over.
Panicky, the man looked up. He was human. Gasping for air, his eyes widened and he stumbled at the sight of the antlers. Trying to stop, he fell to his knees in the snow. Looking around rapidly, he weighed his oods. "Please! Help. I. Need. Your. Help." He put extra emphasis on each of his words.
Blinking, the Faunus crossed his arms. "You know, we speak your language."
Flinching, he pulled back. After a few deep breaths, he scrambled to his feet. "Grimm... Grimm attacked our wagon. We tried to fight them off. It didn't work. I barely managed to run away... but they followed!"
"So you lead them here?!" A male Faunus with deer legs growled a bit as he approached. A spear with feathers held firmly in his grasp. "Are you an idiot or something? You're going to doom us all!"
"Enough." The chief raised his voice just barely. Glancing at his fellow tribesman, he then looked at the human. "We'll give you a dry pair of clothes and food to eat. But tomorrow morning you leave us be." He waved his hand towards an elderly woman with small antlers. "Aid him while I deal with the Grimm."
"Of course." She nodded while gesturing a hand towards a tent. "Follow me, please."
Clenching his jaw, the human pulled away slightly.
Sighing, the chief shook his head before slowly making his way towards the front of the tribe. "Or you can remain frozen. It's your choice." He patted his shoulder.
Swallowing hard, he eyed him before looking at the older Faunus. Wrapping his arms around himself, he slowly made his way over towards her.
"Chief?" The Faunus with deer legs took a few steps while pulling his spear closer. "Do you need-"
"No. I can handle it." He waved him off.
"What do you mean you can handle it?" The human whipped his head around. "There's a pack of Grimm coming!"
"Just one pack? Then it'll be fine." He softly chuckled while slowly making his way out of the fortified fence.
"Wait but..." He trailed off. Watching him leave, he clenched his jaw a little before quickly rushing after him.
Raising an eyebrow, the Faunus with deer legs sighed. "Humans." He shook his head before heading back towards his tent.
The elderly Faunus softly shook her head as well. She went to follow only to be stopped by a hand.
"I'll go get him, mother." A young woman with small deer ears smiled. "You should be inside. It's cold and you know it's bad for your joints."
"Ohh." She waved her hand with a huff. "I'm your teacher. Don't try scolding me about things that are and aren't good for my health."
"Well if you weren't so stubborn it wouldn't be a problem!" She quietly laughed.
"Oh, just go get that fool!" She rolled her eyes as she made her way back to her place.
Laughing a little more, the young woman nodded before following after the other two.
Stumbling through the snow while trying not to trip over fallen trees and branches, the human heavily panted. His breath escaped from his lips in small clouds in the cold air. Hearing the growls of Grimm up ahead, his breathing grew even more rapid. Grabbing a branch for stability, he took a step. "Sir!" He called out. "Sir um..." He trailed off. He hadn't caught anyones name.
"Try not to shout."
A voice from behind him made him jump. Slipping on the snow, he nearly fell. He would have if it hadn't been for the hand grabbing his arm.
"You humans are quite clumsy creatures." The young female Faunus laughed.
Still breathing unevenly, he waved his hand. "Your... your leader, boss, whatever..."
Still smiling, she shook her head and held out her hand. "Follow me."
Hesitantly, he took his hand in hers.
Leading the way, she brought him closer to where the Grimm were heard. Keeping a safe distance, she looked for an opening and then pointed. "There."
Up ahead, the chief of the clan waved his hand calmly in the face of an Ursa. As he breathed outward, the creature itself slowly turned around before trudging away through the snow. And then he moved onto the next.
"He... doesn't fear them?" The human asked, confused.
"There is no reason for him to. He does not want to kill them as much as they wish to live to see another sun." She pulled away and gestured for him to follow. "He speaks to them. Somehow. Sometimes the easiest way to win a fight is to not start one. Not everything needs to be solved with violence, human."
Slowly following after, he furrowed his brow a little before looking away. "It's Jakob." He muttered. "Sir Jakob Aurora."
"Aquene." She nodded back while moving her hands behind her back. "Well Sir Jakob, let's find you some warm clothes before we have to cut off a toe."
Off to the side, Cheyenne stood disembodied. With a tilt of her head, she intensively watched the two of them walk away into the cold winter night. Turning her head, she stared off in the direction of the chief. The growls of Grimm had ceased. Softly breathing out, she grew quiet, lost in her own thoughts.