"You've been staring into the sky for quite some time, John," his friend Mike said, sitting right next to him. In his hand was a piece of bread that he got for breakfast. He took a nibble out of it, and the fvor was… bnd. He wondered how the bakery in his vilge could fail so badly at something so simple.
John blinked, as he stared at the sky for quite some time now. He looked down, trying to wipe his eyes. After he finished wiping his eyes, he stared at Mike with a dumbfounded look. "Hey, Mike, I have a question to ask."
"Yeah?" Mike asked, biting a piece of bread. When staring at his friend, he started to get worried. Did something bad happen?
"Would you believe that killing a boar can have no body yet have pieces of meat?" John questioned, his expression remaining the same.
"What?" Mike blurted out, the pieces of bread flying from his mouth, not expecting that kind of question to leave John's mouth.
"Would you believe that a weapon can appear out of thin air?" John continued asking, much to Mike's confusion.
"Uh, what are you saying—" Mike tried to crify but was cut off quickly.
"Would you believe that I met a person who does those things that appeared normal to her?"
"Person? Another Faunus?"
"Human," John replied.
"Human?! You met a human?!" Mike excimed with an armed look. He grabbed John by the shirt, worried for his friend. It must be because of that human that did this to him! "Tell me, did they do something wrong to you? I'll call—"
"No, Mike, you've got it all wrong." John shook his head, bringing his dazed expression to an end. He looked at his friend seriously. "What I'm saying is that the human I met was strange. She does things that don't even make sense! And what's even more strange is that…She stared at me like she'd never seen us before or maybe it was just,e"
Mike blinked, letting go of his shirt. "Pfft, that's impossible. It's probably just you John. Who on Remnant would not recognize a Faunus when they see one?" he said, disbelieving what John had said.
"I'm telling the truth, Mike."
"Hmm, so what happened after that?"
"Well, she said that she had to go home to meet this person called Steve. I'm pretty sure that's her companion," John noted with a thoughtful look.
"They must be near the vilge if that's the case. If the vilge chief hears about this—" Mike began.
"He'll go rampant and would probably get those humans out as far as possible," John finished his sentence.
"He won't kill them, right?" Mike asked, worried.
"Humans may hate us, but we don't stoop that low like the White Fang," John said, shaking his head.
"You're right," Mike nodded, agreeing with him. While they were Faunus, the same as the White Fang, they had different viewpoints on things. They saw violence against humans as useless and believed it would only make their situation worse. The White Fang, on the other hand, insisted it was the only way to achieve true equality. "So, should we meet these humans? They sound pretty interesting based on how you describe them."
"I don't think we'll come across them again, and yet, there's a chance if they lived close by. But I don't think—" John paused as another voice intervened in the conversation.
"GUYS! Mike! John!"
"Hof? What are you doing here?" Mike asked as the person named Hof stopped in his tracks, holding onto the edge of the bench, gasping for air. "Give… me… a… second."
After a couple of seconds, Hof calmed down as his breathing steadily returned to normal.
"Didn't you hear?"
"Hear what?" both John and Mike asked in unison.
"There are humans at the gate!"
"What?!"
+++====+++"Hello, same as us!" Alex greeted cheerfully to the murmuring crowd who looked at them in fear and distrust. Yet Alex saw none of that, as she was blinded by positivity.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Steve followed after her with the same enthusiastic voice as Alex. Though it was forced, unlike her, he could already read the room. Adding to how they greeted them back with weapons near their throats, it was painfully obvious.
"Did they just say they're the same as us?"
"How shameful of them. Absolutely shameful."
The murmurs of the staring crowd began to rise. Steve heard it clearly and tried hard to keep the smile on his face from falling off.
"Hey Alex, I don't think they like us very much. It reminds me of that one vilger who kept pushing us away because we apparently ruined his business," Steve whispered to Alex's ear.
"Rex, Steve, they're just a bit surprised and all." Alex assured, locking eyes with him. "Just remember, don't be hostile or look hostile. Just smile and wave."
Steve appeared unconvinced by her words but nodded nonetheless. "Got it."
"What is your state of purpose in this vilge? Answer!" the guard said seriously.
"Okay, why don't you lower your weapons, and we'll answer," Alex suggested with a smile, gesturing for them to stand down.
The guards shared a look with each other before nodding and lowering their weapons. "Alright, if you do anything fishy, we will not hesitate to attack," one of the guards warned with a growl.
Alex ignored that warning as it flew over her head. "Thank you. So, I'm Alex, and this is Steve. We're from, uh, the overworld." She introduced herself and her friend in the most gentle, sincere tone she could muster.
"Overworld?"
"What did they mean by that?"
"A new pce?"
"A city maybe?"
Again, the murmurs of the crowd began to get louder as the two new arrivals began speaking, raising curiosity among the group of Faunus.
"We found—I mean, I found this pce by chance and wanted to greet you all and feel welcome! Right, Steve?" Alex nudged Steve with her shoulder. A fsh of hesitation crossed Steve's face, but under the stare that Alex was giving him, he had no choice but to act his part.
"That's right, Alex!" Steve excimed, nodding.
"Greet? What did they mean by that?"
"Are they gonna kill us?"
"Quick, Connor, hide in the shed!"
"But, Mommy—"
"Quick, Connor!"
Meanwhile, the guards looked at the two like they were staring at weirdos. "Should we get the chief?"
"We probably should," the other guy nodded.
"Alright, why don't you guys sit there and wait," one of the guards said, gesturing to the bench at the side.
"We would be gd to! Come on, Steve," Alex replied happily as she pulled the t-shirt of her friend.
"Alex, you know I can walk, right?"
"Doesn't matter."
+++===+++"I feel like they don't like us that much," Steve noted. The stare they had been receiving was akin to the stare he would give to a creeper, full of wariness and fear. He wondered what there was to fear about them. They were harmless and looked harmless. He hadn't even worn his armor, and yet they were afraid of them? That didn't make any sense.
"Of course, they just met us after all. It's perfectly normal," Meanwhile, Alex stayed positive about the situation they were in and tried to think rationally.
"Say that to the five guards guarding us," Steve muttered, looking down. He took some gnces at the weapons the guards were holding, curiously. He had never seen any weapon like it. It was like a sword and a stick combined.
"Cheer up, Steve, it's not like they can harm us. We've faced worse, remember?" Alex assured like a mother would do to a child by patting his back.
"Hmm, it is true," Steve nodded, a smile returning to his face.
"That's the spirit," Alex said with a smile on her face, csping her hands. When she looked the other way, she spotted someone. "Oh, look, there's Jun! Hi, Jun!"
"He doesn't appear to hear you, though," Steve pointed out with a ft look.
"Then we just have to say it louder," Alex said before shouting at the top of her lungs, "JUN! JUN!"
Steve stared at her like she was a child; the motherly side of her just moments ago disappeared like thin air.
On one side, the two guards couldn't help but want to plug their ears. "This girl is so loud. We should cmp her mouth shut."
"Won't that make us the bad guys?" the other guard said with an anxious look.
"Unless you want our eardrums to burst, would you?"
"Uhm…"
"JUUUN!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
The three guards felt they might remember this day as the worst day of their lives.
"JUN!"
