"You three did what!?"
Ghira's voice resounded out from the guest room in the church of the Great Weaver as two of the three Faunus in front of him flinched in response to his rage.
"Attacking someone is one thing, but this is a line too far. Do you have any idea how much damage you could do to human/Faunus relationships with your little stunts today?!" Ghira roared, making it impossible for the entity of the White Fang who were present to not look over. "I've expressed multiple times how much I trust the three of you, and now you've gone and nearly hospitalized multiple people! If word of this ever gets out, those who benefit off our enslavement will milk it till the cows come home! Making it infinitely harder for anyone to take our message seriously! Did you even think about that before you acted so rashly?!"
His accusation made both Adam and Blake flinch under the man's hard glare, neither able to make eye contact or respond beyond ashamed flinches. They both looked up to the man and to hear his stark disappointment and anger hurt them in a way that made any protests immediately die on their lips.
The third however, was noticeably less concerned by the high leader's outburst.
"Oh come on Ghira, you're overreacting. Nothing serious is going to come of this." Sienna assured the man in an almost bored tone, picking at some dirt in between her nails. "If word gets out about this, I think you'll find we have multiple witnesses who are both credible, but also can provide proof that they were the victims in this whole ordeal. Besides, upscaling prices is illegal. So I doubt their going to be in any hurry to expose what happened out of fear of the legal hammer coming down on them, especially considering how hard thing's already are in this shit hole."
Rounding on the woman, Ghira's eyes narrowed in frustration at the woman's lack of concern over her actions.
"Sienna, I don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation." He said slowly, making frustrated gestures as he approached the much smaller woman. "I've spent over half my life preaching about equality for both humans and Faunus, and now, my right hand, my second in command, and my own daughter are caught fighting civilians! I understand there's a time and place for standing your ground but-!"
"A time and place? Ghira, if we did it your way, then the only time we'd be allowed to defend ourselves is after we're critically wounded and lying on the floor bleeding out!" Sienna cut in, frustratedly rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Don't you see that people aren't interested in peaceful protest anymore? Company has entire teams these days devoted to covering up scandals! And with prices rising everywhere, people can't just boycott companies anymore without putting their livelihoods on the line! We need a new approach! One that actually gets people listening to us again!"
"And this is your approach? Beating them into submission?" Ghira shot back without missing a beat. "Can't you see that's not going to work in the long run? You can't just scare people into listening to you. You need to change them! Make them understand their worldview is wrong! Otherwise all will have left is a dictatorship built on fear."
"Oh please, there you go again with the over dramatic wording. Why am I not even surprised?" The tigress said, throwing her hands into the air in exasperation. "I'm not going to go around in circles with you on this matter Ghira. If nothing else, you need to acknowledge that we're losing members because we stopped getting results! We can't function on ideology alone. We need support from our people! And we won't get that unless we can show them we're still capable of leading!"
Opening his mouth to reply, Ghira was cut off before he could begin as a hand was placed between him and Sienna, a figure calmly stepping between the two.
"That's enough, not of you." The stern voice of Mr. Naabhi said, his normally calm and gentle tone replaced with a harsh, forceful one that, while still quiet, somehow drowned out both of the other two arguing Faunus.
"You both have excellent points in your view, but neither one of you is willing to listen to the other. Right now, you could spit out a way to cure cancer and neither of you would even think to I've it a try." He chastised. "If you're going to behave like this, then the conversation is over as there never was one to begin with. Words hold power, but only if you can hear them, so how about you take tonight to cool off, then try talking again tomorrow morning. After all, we'll only be here one night, so you'll have plenty of time on the road to work things out."
His words did little to calm either of the two Faunus. However, neither could really argue against them, forcing them to begrudgingly take a step back, turning towards their respective sides of the room.
"Very well." Ghira grumbled as he stalked back toward the bathroom on his side. "We probably shouldn't leave in formation tomorrow anyway. Not after that stunt. Best if we appear as little militaristic as we can. We don't want to draw Grimm here."
"Kinda late for that." Sienna replied shortly. "I imagine this is a regular occurrence as the people here have nothing better to do than try to rip off Faunus who pass through. Something that won't change so long as people think they can get away with it."
This obvious jab drew a growl from the high leader, but Ghira managed to restrain himself, not rising to the bait Sienna had thrown his way, simply continuing on his way before disappearing as the bathroom door swung shut behind him. Causing the younger members of the room to let out a breath.
"Brothers, is it always like this in the White Fang? How can anyone stand to live like this? This is so stressful." Amber groaned, turning her attention back to her Scroll, holding it up towards the ceiling trying to get a signal.
Her question made the redhead Faunus look up from cleaning his blade, calmly setting it aside as he turned his full attention back to his leader.
"It wasn't always like this." He explained. "Believe it or not, but Sienna used to be Ghira's most trusted partner. Someone he could rely on when Mis. Bellowdana wasn't around. They were the best team the White Fang had to offer back during the war. But that all changed when it ended and they drifted off into their own…leadership styles."
"Leadership styles?" Eric asked, leaning back on the couch to look over at his partner. "What do you mean, leadership styles?"
Shifting around uncomfortably, Adam shot a look over to the two leaders, both of whom were trying to wind down after both the long day of travel and the confrontation. With Ghira disappearing into the bathroom and Sienna slipping outside. With all the other members had made themselves scarce when the argument had begun, letting the redhead speak without fear of being overheard.
"Basically, you know how at the end of the war the White Fang spread out across the kingdoms, establishing themselves in every kingdom and quickly integrating with the local unions?" The team nodded at Adam's questions, prompting him to continue as he glanced again at both doors. "During that time, Ghira, not wanting to call out specific kingdoms, chose to run the White Fang from Menagerie, treating all branches equally and without favoritism no matter which kingdom it was in."
"And so what?" Cinder asked, absent mindedly twirling Midnight's blades. "That's a good thing, right? No favorites means no complaints. They all get treated equally and results are entirely up to the individual leadership. Seems like a perfectly healthy way to run a business."
Frowning at his teammate's crass behavior and mannerism, Adam shot Cinder a glare as he continued, making a point to add an edge to his voice that forced the dark haired girl's attention.
"Okay, first. We're not a business. Second, while I do see what Ghira was trying to do, the unfortunate truth is that you can't treat the kingdoms equally when they are far from being equal." The Faunus explained, making both the girls on his team look over from what they were doing, now giving the redhead their full attention
"You can't compare somewhere like Vacuo to say Atlas. The treatment of Faunus in those places are totally different. As such, treating them the same is like trying to compare an anime to a live action movie. It's nonsensical as they are two completely different Genres with different limitations and skill requirements, with very little crossing over."
"Huh. I guess I never thought of it like that." Cinder said idly, speaking over Eric's comment about how in reality, live action and anime did have a lot of similarities to each other. "Still, while I do understand that frustration, don't most social scientists or whatever all agree that peaceful protests are the most effective method to getting your message heard? How different is it in different kingdoms to rally a bunch of oppressed people to form a picket line and stand around in front of a store to try and dissuade people from shopping there? I mean, if there's an unlawful arrest, can't you just ship one of those fancy pants lawyers in to pick the pockets of the cops and make a nice pay out to the organiza-?"
Bang!
Cinder broke off as Adam drove his fist into the wall, hitting it with so much force, a crack spiderwebbed out from the point of impact across the stone, drawing the attention not only of his team, but everyone else in the room.
"Peaceful protest? Unlawful arrest? Is that really all you humans can say?" He asked, voice quiet and strained as his body shook. He face unreadable from both his mask and the shadow cast from his lowered head. "Do you have any idea how sick I am of hearing that? How many times has it been said by those in power? In privilege? Those who don't have to have to live under the thumbs of others? How many times do we have to hear that?"
Shakily, Adam raised his head, a fire burning in his eyes that was fueled by an uncontrollable rage. One that Cinder could only describe as pure, unadulterated hate. One she had seen in her own eyes before she had met Summer.
"I've seen the cordial talk between humanity and the Faunus. Heard the hollow promises of chance, seen how little they make it their priority. How long are we expected to wait? How long until the hundreds of promises made by politicians are actually going to be fulfilled? How long do we have to endure this kind of treatment until our justice is finally given to us? By the generosity of humanity, of course. Because everyone knows we Faunus are to stupid to get it on our own!" Adam's voice shook with frustration as he struggled to keep his body still, the pure anger and frustration clear in his eyes even behind his mask.
"First it was the Great War, then it was the destabilizing of the kingdoms, then it was the rising gang violence, and now it's the prejudice directed towards Atlesians. How long are we going to have to wait before it's our turn? Before policy makers give us the attention we've been asking for for years? Because despite every single one saying they plan to make Faunus rights a priority, they have yet to do a single, fucking thing about it! And why is that? Because it's not a big enough headline for their re-election campaign!"
As he spoke, Adam became louder and louder, his voice picking up as he finally opened up with all his frustrations and thoughts, thoughts he normally kept to himself, offering only the barest skimming of the surface until now. Something his team only just now was realizing.
"Can we please just say it? The majority have grown complacent with our suffering. Just accepted it as a part of life. And because of that, we have been left out to dry by anyone who could actually change our situation! Letting companies continue to exploit us with minimal backlash. Have you ever thought that maybe when we lash out it's because we want to be hear? That maybe we have been gagged by the media and now are reduced to simply being a tool to promote a temporary outrage towards some trivial matter to distract from real issues? That maybe, just maybe, the reason some of us won't shut up about it is because that we are sick of being ignored? Have that even crossed your minds?!"
With that last cry, Adam turned and stormed out, not even looking back as he slammed the doors leading to the room closed behind him as he disappeared into the main part of the church, leaving his team staring dumbfoundedly after him.
Slowly, the three turned toward each other and exchanged shock looks, staring at each other for a few seconds of stunned silence. Then, being the first to snap out of her trance, Cinder opened her mouth and said what was on all their minds.
"Okay, what was that about?" The dark haired girl asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as she looked at her team. "Don't get me wrong, I knew Adam was obsessed with Faunus rights, but that felt like more than his normal rants. I mean, I've never seen him lose control like that before. It was almost like he was a different person!"
At her question, Eric turned toward the dark haired girl, blinking the dumbfounded look from his face as it turned more somber and serious.
"I'm guessing that was Adam's pent up frustration toward the world finally coming out." He said, setting his shield on the ground. "Adam is more sensitive than he likes others to believe. He's always tempered his arguments when bringing it up before now to try and keep the peace, but he must have finally snapped. After all, none of us have really taken him too seriously before and he must have just gotten fed up with us dismissing it so easily. Especially now that for the first time in a long time, people and the media are talking about rampant racism and it's not even about the Faunus."
"Oh please. Not this nonsense again." Cinder scoffed, folding her arms and kicking her feet up. "Like I already said, while I get the treatment of Faunus isn't equal, it's far from the biggest problem in the kingdom right now. I mean, yes, the guys in this town are bigots, but I imagine in the main kingdom things are nowhere near as bad as-."
"Funny how we assume things are better without any actual evidence." Eric cut in darkly, crossing his arms to meet Cinder with an equally hard look, making said girl freeze, her calm arrogance dropping from his face instantly.
They stayed like this for several seconds before the knight let out a sigh, dropping his head and the scary face he had been giving his teammate, taking on a more sober, less angry one.
"Look, I get you have some pent up trauma that has something to do with the unfairness of the system. I'm not going to argue about who's got the worse end of the stick. But speaking as someone who grew up in Gaius, things aren't as great as the media like to portray it. See, while they like to pretend that things between our settlement and the main kingdom are all hunky dory, in reality we have to face constant ridicule from Atlas haters and companies alike. See, we receive supplies from a train-line that runs from the main kingdom all the way to our mountain home, and while this should be a smooth operation, every time when we go to pick up our shipments we are met with a band of mischief makers who think it's funny to troll us by attacking our main food source."
Leaning back in his seat, Eric began to count off on his fingers each event as he listed them in an almost monotone tone.
"Sneaking onto the train, breaking into the carriage, dumping food and water onto the ground, making bug or vermin infestation before the train departs, spray painting the cars with profanity, or breaking the lock so it falls off or gets frozen shut. And those are just the ones I've seen. Imagine what kind of high jinx they do when I don't get to go down and pick up our supplies. I remember one of my colleagues found firecrackers stuffing inside our coats, which after going off rendered then heavy winter outfits useless. I imagine things would be even worse if we weren't on a secluded mountain that's near impossible to reach and even harder to get into. Something our dear friend over at big name news studios don't seem to think is big enough stories to cover. So imagine what it must be like for the Faunus who have to live side by side with these people."
Getting to his feet, Eric calmly stretched his arms as he turned toward the door, calmly making his way over, not giving Cinder a chance to reply to his statements as he pressed on.
"I know I may not have grown up in the main kingdom, but even so, I've seen my fair share of that kind of behavior directed towards the Faunus. Not at the shameless level of this small town, but the same idea. Vandalism on private homes, refusal of services, etcetera. And that's because unfortunately, people tend to just ignore what makes them feel uncomfortable."
With that, Eric proceeded to follow Adam out the door, disappearing as the doors swung shut behind him, leaving the girls to simmer on his words.
And after a few seconds, Cinder turned to her partner, calling out to her in as quiet of a voice she could muster.
"Hey, that all true?" She asked, sitting up a little straighter as she set her blades to the side. "Things really that bad for Faunus and Atlesains? I haven't heard of any of that stuff. I mean, I know it was happening in Atlas, but I never really paid it much thought. Things really that bad between our two species?"
"Yeah, probably." Amber replied, not taking her eyes off her Scroll. "Almost every major event throughout history has been white washed by the victors. The Faunus have been seen as being below humanity for as long as anyone can remember. As such, many of the abuse they've suffered and the victories they've won has been written out of the textbooks save a very select few that don't paint humanity in that negative of a light. It's only pretty recently that they've been set in the spotlight and given all this attention. And that's mainly thanks to the White Fang and other Faunus activists, such as Mr. Naabhi, who have spoken out against the abuse they've suffered. And the fact that, despite them aiding in the war effort, they still aren't being treated as equals. Even though that's what they were promised."
With that, Amber turned her attention back to her Scroll, swiping angrily on the screen as she began to type something different into the search engine she was using, muttering a soft curse under her breath as she did so.
Noticing this, Cinder sheathed her blades as she stood up, making her way over to her partner where she knelt down to try to see what had her so inwrapured
"What's got you so invested?" The dark haired girl asked. "It's not like you to come off so indifferent to a cause that's so prevalent in our society today. What? Are you looking into the whole store thing to see how that affected my notoriety? Don't tell me you're starting to pick up my bad habits. I'm pretty sure that'll piss Adam off even more than normal. And that's my job."
Letting out a sigh, Amber sat up on the couch, lowering her head in defeat as she held up her Scroll, showing it to her partner, letting her see what she was looking up.
"No, I always check up on that." She replied as she passed her device to her partner. "Apparently, it's trending. I suspect the entire kingdom will have seen it by this time tomorrow. Fortunately, your not in it, so I don't have to worry about that. I was looking up something else somewhat interesting I learned today."
"History of the Great Weaver? Isn't that what these crazy idiots worship?" Cinder asked, raising an eyebrow at Amber's choice of bedtime reading. "This is what's got you so wrapped up? A bunch of crazies and their ridiculous claims that everything is predetermined or whatever? That's what all this is about?"
"Yeah, sorry." Amber apologized, throwing her head back. "It's just…I've since Howard and the Seraphim, I can't stop thinking about the present state of the world. We stopped the Seraphim, we brought an end to the darkness of the past. And yet instead of a bright, new future, it just seems that ugliness just keeps growing. I mean, wasn't Howard the one pulling all the strings from the shadows? How come we took out the mastermind and he still ended up multiplying in strength? I mean, doesn't that just make our actions feel…I don't know. Kinda trivial? Like we tried so hard and fought so much, and yet, at the end of the day, we're sitting here asking if it really mattered."
Seeing this, Cinder's face softened. Honestly, she had felt the same way. It had infuriated her how not only had Howard made bail, but had been allowed to go about his business after all the work they had done to put him behind bars.
Mind you, she understood that discovery was ongoing and it wasn't like the old geezer was let off the hook as every account save a very small personal one had been frozen during the investigation. But she would be lying if she said she thought that was a fair punishment.
Hell, even in the grave this old man was somehow winning as he had become a Martyr blustering the Seraphim's numbers exponentially resulting in them suddenly becoming a large enough force the Vale military was actually considering action against them!
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Cinder said tiredly, leaping over the back of the couch and landing next to her partner. "But as my dad sometimes reminds me, not every story has a fairytale ending. Sometimes, there are just holes and mysteries that go unanswered."
Looking over at her partner, Cinder gave Amber a comforting smile, placing her hand on her's and giving it a squeeze.
"Believe me, I wish once we defeat the bad guy, the clouds parted and sunlight shows down on the kingdom, driving all evil back into the shadows as the many idiotic man children we helped rose up, fighting back their oppressors with makeshift weapons and armors. Though I suppose in Jiao's case, that would probably break his back having to lift anything heavier than a microphone. That dude's a joke."
Making a face at this remark, Cinder felt her heart fill as she heard Amber laugh, her radiant smile playing on her lips as she held one hand up to hide it, the dark haired girl making a point to look away before Amber noticed she was staring.
"Unfortunately, not everyone is just going to magically side with us because of a fight. People tend to just find blaming their problems on others easier than accepting the truth, so those problems are just gonna keep going on." She determined, leaning back looking at the ceiling of the room and the tops of the expensive tapestries that adorned the walls, a slight groan of disgust thinking about how far this money could have gone in the hands of someone who didn't feel the need to stroke their ego.
A few seconds passed as the two both thought about exactly what she was talking about, neither needing much prompting to come up with an uncomfortable large number of explanations.
However, before Amber could start drowning in the sea of negativity, Cinder gave her hand another squeeze, causing her to turn to her partner where their eyes meet, the dark haired girl's filled with a rare moment of overwhelming kindness and compassion, something her partner couldn't remember the last time she had seen.
"But, while we may now get those kinds of endings, I am happy with how this story ended." She said, "Because, I now get to become something more than just a lump of anger and hate. Now I get to be your new lease on life. And while I may not be perfect, I am grateful for the second…or third…or however many chances you gave me. Brothers know I didn't deserve them."
Caught off guard at this, Amber took a couple seconds to process everything. But when she did, she felt her chest fill with a happy warmth she was very much starting to associate with her hot headed partner, causing her to turn her hand palm up, letting her return a squeeze to Cinder's hand.
"Thanks." Amber said, closing her eyes and leaning back with a satisfied smile. "I really appreciate everything you've done for me, Cinder. I know I still have a lot to work through, we both do, but I do hope that, when the day comes when we graduate, you'll at least consider sticking with me as we begin our journey into the life of a professional Huntress."
Laughing slightly at this, Cinder smiled smugly at her partner. "Oh please, like I'd ever part with you willingly. I mean, you're so nice, I'll bet I'll be able to pawn off a good chunk of your share of our job money! Just promise me you'll cut back on the long winded speeches on history and what not, that gets old really fast." She joked, making her partner join in the laughing before sitting up straighter and shooting her own grin toward her partner.
"Well, funny you bring it up," She said in a mischievous tone with an expression to match. "During my research into the, as you put it, bunch of crazies actually have been doing quite well for themselves. Even managing to assemble themselves in Mistral and gain quite a following in both the main kingdom and larger cities like Argus. This is mainly because they had an incredible grasp over both aura use and semblances, something that wasn't very common during that time and that they were able to accurately predict both the split of Atlas as well as the attack on Vacuo. All done while remaining pretty much unknown until those points. Of course, some skeptics point to the numerous prophecies that haven't come true and the fact the predictions were based on faulty interpretations after both events, but-!"
With a loud groan, Cinder slumped to the side, pressing two pillows over her ears as she jokingly started going, "la, la, la!" rocking back and forth slightly as she pretended not to hear Amber.
But soon the two girl jabs became laughter as they playfully swatted at each other, turning the more serious conversation into a moment of peace for the two, letting the children who had been forced to grow up in this cruel world go back, and just be teens instead of adults. Something they cherished and allowed themselves to indulge in until it was time for bed.
For at morning first light, all the problems of the world came crashing back down onto them.
The next day.
Amber stifled a yawn as she and the entirety of the White Fang made their way to the garage where their vehicles were stored, Ghira and Sienna unlocking and opening the doors as they went over the plan one more time.
"Remember, we leave together, getting a good ways down the road before spilling off into our normal formation." Ghira explained. "Ms. Alsprings, Ms. Rose, you two will be with me in the front car. Sienna, you and Adam will be in the back car if anyone tries to follow us. I don't think this will happen, but keep an eye on our rear and make sure nobody is following us. Once we reach a split in the road, we'll engage our original formation as at that point, we'll officially be in no man's land. An area so dangerous, even most Huntsmen don't-."
But before he could finish, Ghira turned on the light and immediately froze in his tracks, his mouth falling open as he stared at the trucks in front of him, a small gasp being the only sound to escape from his lips.
Hair raising on the back of her neck, Amber and her team wasted no time rushing forward, moving past Ghira to see what had draw such a reaction from the man, only to freeze in their tracks as the saw what lay in front of them, the dark skinned girl's hands flying up to cover her mouth.
The White Fang trucks had been destroyed! Tires slashed, windows smashed and the windshield covered in spray paint. The doors had been opened and the seats inside had been cut open, stuffing spilling onto the seats, whoever had done this had also left the glove compartment opened and trunks trashed as paper shreds littered the floor of the garage, with canned food opened and poured onto the ground in a deliberate act of vandalism.
Worse however, was the truck that carried their weapons. The locked back doors had been pried opened and the insides looted, with multiple cases of bullets lying on the floor as those responsible had ripped rifles from their cases as they had made off with the expensive weapons and munitions, though not before discharging a few rounds into the roof of the van they were kept in, leaving very visible damage in the vehicle that one would think someone would have heard in the small town.
But the most vindictive thing of all, was sprayed onto the hood of the trucks, the words, "go back to the woods, Animals!" In clumsy, messy writing, telling everyone the exact nature of the crime, leaving Amber In complete shock that someone would be so vindictive to do something like this!
"Damn it!" A scream from the other garage draws Amber back to reality, making the girl look over her shoulder to see Sienna looking in from the doors, her face red and panting with anger.
"It's the same with the other trucks." She reported, not even bothering to question what was happening as she stepped inside hands trembling as they tightened into fists at her sides. "Every one of our vehicles has been destroyed. Even tried to steal the engine before dropping it just outside the garage. Meaning robbery wasn't the ultimate goal, it was to send a message."
Coming to a stop next to Ghira, the woman turned to survive the damage, eyes narrowing as they fell open the missing guns, face contorting into a snarl as she spun to address the other members of the White Fang.
"Search the town, top to bottom!" She roared, throwing her arm out in a sweeping motion. "Find the degenerates who did this and retrieve our stolen property! Then, we are going to stick the heads of these worthless individuals on a pike and place them around this backwaters shit hole! A reminder to-!"
Before she could finish, there was a cry of surprise as one of the officers, the girl, Ilia, was knocked over, falling to the ground as one of their members bolted out the door, not even looking back as both Sienna and Blake called out to him.
"Adam!"
By the time the words had left their mouths, Adam had disappeared, pelting down the street in a full sprint disappearing around a corner in a heartbeat, leaving the two to exchange a look.
"Where's he going?" The black cat Faunus asked, standing by the door staring after him. "We need to get those weapons back! We don't have time to be charging around town without a proper- Wha!"
Blake broke off as before she could finish, another, much bulkier figure pelted past her, nearly knocking her over with the massive shield strapped to his back as he raced after his partner, him to disappearing around the same corner.
Staring at the scene playing out in front of her, Amber suddenly felt a sickening sense of déjà vu come over her. Of course they hadn't clued her in on everything that was going on. Why did she expect otherwise?
Not wasting a second more, Amber took off after her teammates, running full sprint after them as she yelled back over her shoulder, not even looking to see if the other could hear her.
"I'll bring them back!" She called back over her shoulder. "I don't know what's going on, but I'll find out! Please don't do anything rash until I get back!"
Now, Amber knew she technically didn't have the power to make that kind of call, but at this point, she honestly didn't care. She was so done with allowing her team to act on their own! From now on, she was taking full control of her team even if that meant restricting their freedom somewhat, they could hate her if they wanted, she refused to let that happen again!
Turning sideways, Amber leapt up and ran on the wall to make the same sharp turn her teammate had, not slowing down for even a second as she ran full sprint after them, groaning slightly as she was eventually forced to kick off the wall and do a roll to keep her speed up, the early morning making her muscles stiff after waking up just an hour ago, but refusing to slow down despite the ache in her limbs.
She was not letting another Music Fest happen again, no matter the cost!
Fury poured through Adam's veins as he slid to a halt in front of the Garleds Garages office, letting him ignore any pain as he promptly kicked open the door and stormed inside, ignoring the cries of surprise from the man behind the register as he looked up at the young man who had just entered his building.
"H-hey! You can't be in here!" The man said, walking over to try and stop the raging bull. "We open in twenty minutes. If you've got a problem, wait until business hours before-."
But Adam ignored him, pushing past the man as he stormed into the back, finding a small, dinghy storage room where several boxes of products lay scattered on pallets or shelves, waiting their turn to be put up for display in the main shop of the building to try and squeeze a little extra cash from wealthy tourists.
And there, in the very back of the room lining the shelves with merchandise was Harper.
Seeing his culprit acting so carefree, Adam felt his anger intensify, growing into a raging inferno that threatened to completely engulf him!
Without wasting a second, Adam began making his way towards the young man, hands tightening into fists as his malice leaked out with his aura as he advanced, his entire body shaking with the effort of not taking his head off from here!
Sensing his approaching, Harper turned around, getting Adam with a smug, knowing smirk, calmly crossing his arms as he met the Faunus with a cocky gaze, not even trying to hide the fact he was the one behind the vandalism.
"Well, hello Faunus." He said with a smirk. "What brings you here this early? We're technically not open yet so I'm going to ask you to leave. Or did you oversleep and your little pack left you behind?"
Not responding to the taunts, Adam quickly closed the distance between them, making a point of keeping himself between the young man and the door, trapping him in the small room with no way out other than past him. Something Harper realized in real time as his grin slowly faded and was replaced with one of fear.
"H-hey! Stay back!" He snapped, moving back onto to bump into the wall, prompting him to go for his gun instead, hand reaching back clumsily as he fumbled around as he tried to pull it from his pocket.
"I'm warming you, don't come any closer! I will shoot! I'm not- Gah!"
Harper was cut off as Adam, in one quick move, lashed out with his leg, kicking the revolver from his hand before grabbing the man by his neck and lifting him off the ground, slamming him against the wall as he tightened his grip on his throat, completely cutting off his airway causing the young man to immediately grab his arm as he began struggling to escape the Faunus grip.
"You enjoy it?" Adam hissed, squeezing the man harder as he gave him a shake. "Make you feel powerful? Like you're actually worth something? Does it?! Well, I hope you're happy. You vandalized our trucks while no one was here to defend them. That makes you feel like a big man, huh?!"
Squirming in his grasp, Harper pulled himself up slightly, freeing some of the pressure from his neck, letting him to put a weak gasp, managing to utter a few weak, quiet words as he fought for breath.
"I…don't…know…what…-." He wheezed, clawing at Adam's arm, desperately trying to free himself as he tried to come up with excuses.
But the Faunus was having none of it.
Tightening shifting his grip, Adam resealed his windpipe, rendering him mute once again.
"Yeah, I bet it did. The town's oh so noble tough guy taking down the big bad Faunus organization. Bet that's going on your wall with all the other Faunus hating trophies you've got. Yeah, I bet ripping us off is the crown jewel of your achievement." Narrowing his eyes behind his mask, Adam was overtaken by a sense of disgust at the squirming thing in his hand. This thing had caused so much grief in a single night! All because he couldn't accept that there were people different from him in the world, that he wasn't the best thing in existence.
Shaking with rage, Adam tightened his grip, feeling his spine shifting underneath his grasp, each disk rotating under the pressure of his fingers as the soft skin and muscles squished around with no resistance. Reminding him of a slug had once seen in Menagerie, and how good it had felt when he had popped it like a balloon.
It had been so easy, the thing was slow, stupid! He could crush it without a shred of effort. And when he had, he remembered the funny sound it made as it splattered its guts everywhere. As well as the feeling of satisfaction at doing it. It was simple, it was effortless, it was-
"Natural!"
Shifting his grasp, Adam didn't even take notice of the fact Harper's face was turning blue, or that his clawing, flailing hands were weakening, eyes fluttering shut as they rolled back into his head. This was just the way things should happen, the way things should be.
Those who didn't change shouldn't be allowed to exist, that was how nature worked. So why should those who didn't change get to spread that weakness to others? Forcing their outdated view of the world onto others? Why shouldn't they just be cut from the shaft and left to die so that those remaining could thrive without their poison bogging them down?
"So, how much did you think you'd get from selling our weapons? Because here's some free advice, don't get your hopes too high. This shit hole of a town is so small, it's not gonna be hard to track them down and get them back. And then, arrest everyone who not only bought them, but sold them too." As he spoke, he raised his voice slightly as he could see the light fading from Harper's eyes, a trail of drool leaking out his mouth as he legs stopped kicking and one hand fell limply to his side as he no longer even had the strength to lift it anymore. The other rested on Adam's arm, its grip completely limp as now he held on more to keep his arm up rather than trying to push the Faunus off.
"But you, I'm not going to give you the chance to rot away in prison for this. We both know this place will be too lenient on you for your crimes. So instead, I'm going to teach you and everyone in this place a lesson about justice!" With this, Adam drew his sword with he free hand, casually resting it against his outstretched arm before running it down the length of his limb, bringing it to a stop right in between his hand and Harper's neck.
At this, the young man's eyes flew open, his strength returning as sheer terror pumped through his body at the steel press up against his neck, drawing a slight trickle of blood to run down onto the Faunus hand.
"W…wait!…please!…I really!….don't…know what-."
The young man's protests were brought to a stop by a simple shift in Adam's grasp, his fingers digging into his throat as he pushed his thumb harder against his windpipe.
"Still playing dumb? Can't you even give yourself the decency to be honest in your final moments?" Adam asked, his contempt clear in his voice. "Do you really think so little of the Faunus that you believe such a transparent lie is going to work?"
Spitting in disgust, Adam tightened his grip as he watched Harper's eyes roll back into his head, foam bobbling up at his mouth as he neared death, something that filled the Faunus stomach with a burning, uncontrollable heat, that quickly spread from his chest to his entire body, making every part of his him shake.
And while he didn't know what this feeling was, he knew he liked it!
"You know what? I'm not even going to beg. If that's the hill you want to die on, I won't argue the point. But just remember, you chose this path, not me. So don't you dare complain when I send you to the other si-!"
"Adam, that's enough."
The sudden, sharp voice broke Adam from his thoughts, drawing his attention to the door of the room, the faunus not even needing to look over his shoulder to feel the two standing there.
"Stay out of this." The redhead snarled over his shoulder, not taking his furious eyes off Harper's pain expression. "This doesn't involve you. This guy is the one who messed up the trucks! He's the one who stole from us in the middle of the night, and he's the one who committed the crime that we both know isn't going to be punished in this shit hole! We need to set an example for EVERYONE so this kind of stuff stops happening once and for all!"
Not taking his eyes off his prey, Adam heard Amber take a step toward him, the familiar click of her heeled boots seeming to echo as she called out to him again, using the same, soft, yet stern voice as before.
"And you think this is that way?" She asked, taking yet another step closer. "You think hurting, killing him is going to make others comply with your beliefs? Because it won't. You, pulling a stunt like this, all it's going to do is give people like Anondoser more ammunition to implement more anti-Faunus laws. Laws that more people are likely to follow as they can sight this instant as a justification for their bigoted beliefs."
Amber was now within arm's length of Adam, but she didn't reach for him. Instead, she tucked her hands to her sides as she walked to his side, entering his peripheral vision.
"I understand your angry. You've been subjected to racism for as long as you can remember. And that's not fair." She said, fixing her teammates with a softer, gentle look. "You want what's owed to you and you want it now, there's nothing wrong with that. But this isn't the way to get it. You kill this…person, and all you're going to get is temporary satisfaction that will fade and leave nothing but more bitterness and resentment as you long for more. And that feeling is just going to keep stringing you along until you're nothing, but a shell of your former self."
Snarling at this, Adam gave Amber a sideways glance, his eyes narrowed behind his mask.
"So then what? I'm supposed to just give up on justice and forgive this guy? After everything he's done?" He breathed out heavily, slamming Harper's body against the wall as he angrily dug his blade deeper into the young man's neck. "No, I'm not going to just let this guy get away with that! What happens the next time a Faunus comes through town? What happens to them in a place that doesn't treat them like people? You can't honestly expect me to just let him go! Not when he still knows he can get away with anything so long as the victim is a Faunus!"
At this outburst, Amber took another step toward Adam, her eyes staying glued on her teammate as she approached, hands remaining at her sides.
"I'm not asking you to forgive him." She replied, gently raising her hands as she approached, offering a surrender as she entered striking range of the Faunus. "You can hate him, despise him. Hell, you can wish death on him and his family, but you can't hurt him. Not here, not like this."
"Why?" Adam snapped immediately, fixing his team leader with a cold glare, eyes staying glued to her as the rest of his body shook. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill this piece of filth and be done."
"Because, you are a huntsman." Amber replied without missing a beat, coming to a stop next to the Faunus, holding his furious gaze with her firm, gentle one. "Because you have to hold yourself to a higher standard. Because killing him isn't an action the Adam Taurus I know, the one who always made sacrifices for his team, the one who was willing to shelve his needs and emotions to ensure his friends could deal with their own inner demons, would take."
At this, Adam immediately felt his resolve falter, his hand gripping Harper's throat loosen as he stared into his team leader's sincere eyes.
She truly believed in him, thought so highly of him despite his many screwups. That alone made the anger hidden in his chest start to die down, replaced with a warm, fuzzy feeling he couldn't quite place, disarming him of some of that anger.
And yet, despite seeing how much confidence Amber placed in him, a part of him, some deep part he wanted to bury, resented her for that.
"How dare she act as judge and moral authority on this matter?" That part whispered. "I don't recall her being a champion for Faunus' rights. What had she done to earn the right to look down on us like that? She doesn't know persecution, or what it's like to be treated as a lower kind of being. Where does she get off lecturing us like that?"
Shaking his head, Adam tried to dismiss those thoughts from his mind, focusing instead on the young man still in his grasp, tightening his grip on his neck as he locked eyes with his leader once again.
"He deserves it." Adam hissed, hands shaking as he tried to pretend he was trying to convince Amber of this. "If he lives, he spreads this way of thinking, justifies his way of thinking and pressures politicians to make laws that legalize his actions. Why should he, someone who could bring untold suffering upon countless others be permitted to live? What about those Faunus who died in dust mines? The ones who starve in the streets? Do they deserve their fate while this thing doesn't?!"
Panting, Adam held Amber's gaze, trying to stay strong in his convictions as he struggled to breathe almost as badly as Harper, his hand tightening not to cause the young man pain, but in an attempt to mask his own.
The two stood there, eyes locked for several seconds, each one feeling like an eternity to the Faunus as he gazed into Amber's brown eyes. Eyes that, even from where he stood, Adam could tell were filled with their own type of suffering and pain, something he really didn't want to acknowledge right now.
But they stayed like that for a few more seconds, forcing Adam to stare into her eyes before she finally, after what felt like millennia, responded in that same soft, yet firm tone.
"You're right, the people who starve, who died in mining accidents, they do deserve to live. More than some other who still draw breath." She said, eyes flicking to her own hands for a split second before returning to her teammate. "But just because they did doesn't mean killing them is going to change anything. Justify it anyway you want, but even if the one responsible, or even someone less worthy were to die, all you're doing is causing more death and suffering. And not only to the individual, but the people who hold them dear."
Slowly, Amber reached up and placed her hand on Adam's arm, gently resting her hand on it as she looked up into his eyes, staring past his mask, past his rage and into his soul.
And in that instant, without even needing her semblance, Adam could feel her emotions loud and clear, echoing through his head as if they were his own. And as they did, he felt his legs buckle underneath the immeasurable pressure of crushing pain, loss and guilt, all things she had felt in droves over the course of her own unfair life.
"Sure, maybe he doesn't deserve to live. Maybe the world would be better off without one more racist in it. So maybe, you should just kill him now." As she spoke, Amber gave Adam's arm a light squeeze, all while still maintaining eye contact. "But you won't, because we both know, you are better than that."
At this, something inside the boy shifted, letting him take a deep breath, releasing so much of his rage that boiled him from the inside out.
No, release wasn't the right word. More like he was able to push them back behind a door he could force shut, letting the rational part of his mind take over, jerking his way from his more emotional desires.
With that, he dropped Harper, letting him fall to the floor where he began coughing violently, hands pressed against his raw throat as he greedily gulped down air as above him, Adam slid his sword into his scabbard, turning away from the blond as he let out a frustrated groan, folding his arms as he fixed the wall with an angry gaze.
"Geez. Wait to put a lot of pressure on me. Guess I know how much you think of me right now even though I kinda never asked." The redheaded Faunus grunted, making a point to not looking at Amber as he spoke, a slight edge carried in his voice. "You know, I may not be as well versed in history as you are, but how about next time you do some research into the subject of racism in the old kingdoms. See how far that kind of thinking got people back then."
His words, while seeming somewhat harsh, still made the dark skinned girl smile softly. It was a relief to her that, despite his very justifiable anger, Adam wasn't beyond the realm of reason. Enabling her to let out a quiet breath she had been holding, her hand moving up to her chest where it came to a stop, resting just above her rapidly beating heart.
"I'll consider it." She said honestly, earning her a grunt of approval from her teammate before he stalked off, storming out of the building letting the door slam shut behind him as he disappeared back in the direction of the garages.
With the raging bull out of the shop, Garled poked his head inside the back of the shop, quickly stocking in where he angrily approached Eric.
"What the hell was that about?!" He demanded as he reached the knight, stomping his foot as he came to a stop, jabbing the huntsman in the chest with a finger. "Care to explain to me why you let your ward just charge into my shop and start laying hands on my employees? You're in charge of him, right? Why the hell didn't you keep that animal under control?!"
Frowning at this, Eric reached up and brushed the man's hand off, wiping his hand across his armor a few times as if trying to remove a stain as he replied.
"Okay first, Adam isn't an animal or my ward. And second, your employee broke into the garage we were renting and vandalized our vehicles as well as stealing all our weapons and food we needed for the bad lands, effectively leaving us up a creek without a paddle. And considering the fact we have a couple of kids with us, my friend was kinda understandably upset."
Raising his eyebrows as this, the man took a step back, looking from Harper to Eric, anger shifting from uncomfortable beast to a calm irritation as he forced his voice into one of measured control. "Stole from your vehicles? Explain."
"That's a lie! I didn't do anything!" Harper snapped immediately, jumping up from the floor. "I was shooting the shit at the creek with the boys last night! We were getting wasted, then trying to shoot the empty beer bottles while drunk! I never touched those stupid animals', smelly ass shit!"
"The doors were locked this morning, meaning whoever did it locked them shut after they vandalized the trucks. So they must have had access to the keys." Amber said, stepping forward with her arms folded, drawing the manager's eyes to her. "If this were a regular robbery or a hate crime, the chain would have been cut, or the lock smashed, left open. On top of that, whoever did it had some experience with firearms but not the higher, military grade we are carrying as whoever did it accidentally discharged a few shots within the garage. And as of right now, Mr. Harper here is one of the only people in town we've met, and who fits the criteria for this crime. And while there's no hard evidence, right now he's the only one we know who has the means, motive and knowledge required to commit this crime."
Scoffing at this, Harper folded his arms and downed a superior grin, straightening up so he could look down at Amber even though they were roughly the same height.
"Hah! Well if that's your evidence then go ahead and slap me in cuffs! I'm sure such irrefutable evidence will definitely get me convicted in a court of law! I mean, it's such a solid, not at all circumstantial, claim that I would dead to right without question! Hell, I bet the judge and jury have no trouble deciding my sentence and have it down within the hour! Especially given that the clams are coming from a bunch of no good, filthy animals who managed to get out of their cages!"
Guffawing at his own joke, Harper turned and offered his hand towards his boss, grinning as he waited for the high five he was expecting for his blatant cruelty towards the Faunus, as well as the admittedly faulty evidence aimed towards him.
However, the smile quickly faded as instead of being met with reassurance, he was instead greeted by a thoughtful gaze as his boss placed one hand on his chin, scratching his scruffy beard.
"The creek is well within walking distance from the garages." He muttered softly, stroking his chin as his gaze stayed plastered to the floor, his mind piecing together the accounts of both parties as he employee's mouth fell open, a look of utter disbelief appearing on his face as he took a step toward his boss, frustration growing.
"Oh come on! Don't tell me you're seriously entertaining this idea!" He yelled angrily, gesturing toward Amber and Eric in a frustrated, unbelievable manner. "The Faunus are just a bunch of self-entitled animals who always get allowances and favoritism from the government! They know all they need to do is cry racist and everyone in the kingdom comes run'n to defend them! That's all this is! They want to make humanity look like a big bully and make up some bogus story about me because the red cow man doesn't like me!"
Despite the growing anger from Harper, Garleds didn't respond to him, or Eric as he commented, "buddy, you're doing a splendid job painting that picture of humanity without needing any help." Instead turning and walking into the main room of the building, with the others quickly following.
Calmly, he walked behind the desk and opened his register book, then turned to the wall of keys where he began running his finger down the numbers, coming to a stop at numbers sixteen and seventeen, face hardening at what he saw.
There, on the wall where a spare set of keys we're supposed to hang, stood two empty hooks.
"Well, that answers that." Garleds grunted, reaching under the desk and pulling out a toolbox before turning to face Amber and Eric once again, a hard, solemn expression plastered to his face. "As compensation for your losses, you may use the garages for the donation of your stay. You also have my assistance in not only repairing the damage, but also in finding your stolen goods. I hope you'll find this an acceptable resolution."
"I-! Yes! That's most agreeable." Caught off guard, Amber quickly bowed slightly before realizing how weird she looked, standing back up quickly before gesturing towards the door. "I'll show you what the damage is and then we can see what we can do about fixing it."
Grunting with a nod, Garleds followed Amber and Eric as the two made their way toward the door, reaching it pretty quickly before pulling it open causing the bell on the top to jingle as it hit it.
However, they were stopped by Harper as he slid in front of them right at the door, using his own body to block the frame as he held his arms out wide, a deep scowl spread across his face as the huntsmen present immediately noticed the gun he was clutching in one hand.
"Umm, hello? Where are you going?" He asked his boss, staring up at the much taller man. "Why are you catering to the whims of these bestiality freaks? I didn't do anything! They made all this up as a smear campaign on my name! Why are you playing along with them?!"
Stomping his foot, Harper took a step forward, hand moving with him, forcing Amber to physically step between the two, using herself as a shield as the young man got right up in her face.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take a step back." Amber said firmly, her own hand raising with the young man's gun, ready to snatch it out of his grip if it became necessary. "Please don't interfere with huntsmen work. Student or not, doing so is a crime punishable by imprisonment unless the accused has a very good reason for doing so. Please don't make me arrest you for obstruction."
Despite their close proximity, Harper didn't seem to hear her, his eyes remaining fixed on Garled as he tried (and failed.) to shove Amber out of his way.
"This is a scam! Can't you see that?" He demanded, trying to weave around the dark skinned girl in front of him. "They're trying to steal money, that's all this is about. That's all it ever is about! They came up with some elaborate con to try and get us to pay for their shit! I bet they dug a bunch of shit out of a landfill and put it in their vehicles so when you show up, they'll demand you replace it, letting them steal from our community without having to lift a finger! That's all they care about, don't you see?! You can't cave into their demands and just-!"
"Get out."
The dark, harsh words uttered from Garled's mouth brought all of the young man's protests to a screeching halt, his eyes going wide, face pale as he stared up at his boss.
"What?" He breathed out, not believing what he was hearing despite the fact the man hadn't stuttered or mumbled, speaking quite clearly and loudly in all honesty.
"I said, you're fired. So get out." Garled snapped, glaring daggers at Harper from above Amber's shoulder. "I don't have proof you vandalized a paying customer's vehicles, but I don't need it. This is a private business and I have the complete authority to do whatever I please. And quite frankly, I don't want an employee who not only lies to me, but places his sniveling, pitiful, fragile ego first with zero regard for anything else. So, get out or I'll drag you out myself!"
Taking a step back, Harper stared up in disbelief at his now former boss, his mouth hanging open and eyes wide as he stuttered and stumbling as he tried to process what he had just been told.
"I-! But-! You can't-! What am I supposed to do about rent? About food?" He cried, almost sounding like a child. A demeanor that only increased as his hands hung limply at his sides, almost dropping his gun as he stared pitifully up at Garled.
"Not my problem. You should have thought about that before you betrayed my trust. Now move." The older man dismissed, waving his hand angrily as if showing away a fly. "You brought this on yourself, now it's on you to pick up the pieces. Just be grateful that's all the punishment you're getting for this stunt."
His words carried a fair amount of reason, something Amber found herself unintentionally impressed by. She wasn't going to lie, when Eric described Garled, she kinda pictured him as a cartoon villain who was so blatantly racist, it almost came off as comical. Good to see she was wrong and that he was actually a somewhat reasonable business owner.
Unfortunately, Harper didn't seem to see it that way.
"But-!" Opening his mouth to argue some more, one word was all he got before his former boss finally had enough.
Pushing Amber to the side, Garled, in one clean move, threw his fist forward and slammed it into the man's face, immediately knocking him off his feet and out the open door landing in the dirt with a cough, his gun slipping from his hand and skidding far outside his reach.
Groaning, Harper reached up to find blood leaking from his nose, making him stare blankly at it as he pulled his fingers back, his dazed mind struggling to keep up.
Fortunately, Or unfortunately depending on how you saw it, things were far from over as before he could recover, Garled strode over to him and began viscously kicking him in the stomach, snapping him back to reality but rendering him helpless to stop the attacks.
One, two, three, four, five! Five kicks to the blond's stomach before the older man was satisfied. Taking a step back, Garled calmly took out his wallet, opening it and flipping through his bills before taking out a handful before looking back down at Harper in disgust.
"Here, you're pay for this half month of work. Take it and never come back here again." He snarled, dropping it onto the young man, letting the bills scatter, landing around him in the dirt, some even blowing away in the wind as he wheezed weakly, curling up into a ball, hands pressed over his stomach.
With that taken care of, Garled gave one last look at his employee before turning on his heel and walking in the direction of his garage, followed quickly by Amber and Eric, neither of whom reacted or even looked back, quickly putting as much distance between themselves and Harper as they could, the two teens trying their hardest not to smile with satisfaction at the do punishments done to the blond.
However, in their haste, they overlooked one very critical detail. For as they turned the corner and disappeared from the shop's line of sight, Harper slowly pulled him up onto his elbow, glaring at the spot the two huntsmen had disappeared, a look of purest hatred filling his eyes.
And later that day, when Garled returned to the shop, he found the money he'd left on the ground still there, and the gun that had been knocked to the ground missing, its owner taking it before storming off, his insidious revenge already taking form in his mind.
Yeah, if you couldn't tell, this is an Adam focused arc. Shocking, I know.
In all seriousness, one of the biggest struggles with writing this is my research into racism and white superiority theory. And while I've said before if you want to write something you should be able to understand it from both sides, I'm not going to lie, this is one thing I don't get.
Most of what's preached in those kinds of theories is outdated studies conducted by people who wanted to be superior to others and the other half is religious dogma. Most of which is just bible passages taken out of context and sometimes, just made up. Like seriously, who has the free time and energy to make up a bunch on nonsense lies just to make themselves feel good about being born a certain way? (Other than politicians.)
Either way, I hope you enjoyed. I know this chapter was kinda slow, but next one is really long. So it'll make up for it.
Anyway hope to see you next chapter. Bye!