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Chapter 01: Summer Vacation

Velvet Scarlatina hated storms.

Especially in summer, when they encroached upon the normally warm and peaceful weather. She hated the way thunder sounded to her overly sensitive ears, she hated the smell of ozone they left in their wake, and most of all she hated the rain. Her Faunus ears made wearing hoods or hats impossible, and they didn't fit comfortably under umbrellas either. As a result, any time she was caught in the rain, she ended up thoroughly soaked. Just like she was now.

The day had started well enough, a typical Vale summer morning. The slight breeze & few clouds in the sky could hardly be considered fair warning for the current deluge, so she had decided to leave the house without a jacket. She hadn't had any real plans for the day, as she hadn't had much contact with the other members of her team since her first year at the prestigious Beacon Academy had ended– not that it was much of a change from their interactions at school. Her team's interactions seemed noticeably less familial than the other teams at the academy.

Velvet would've like to think it was just a lack of things in common, and not about race, but she hadn't learned enough about them to be sure. She frowned to herself. It was unfair to make the assumption that her teammates held any sort of bigoted views against her, but the facts were there. Yatsuhashi, the sword-wielding giant of a man, hadn't responded to a message in over a month. Fox, the person she felt the closest to on her team, for what little that was worth, had left Vale to visit family in Vacuo and hadn't been in contact since. Her team leader, the always stylish Coco Adel, had become increasingly short with her replies since the start of the summer. At this point, she averaged at a single-word reply to every third message.

Which brought Velvet to her current situation. From her family's house in the suburban outskirts, she'd headed into Vale proper to relax in the park and complete her few remaining assignments for school outdoors, rather than be confined in the house and waste another day. Taking the first raindrops to land on her as a sign to leave, she had begun the long trek back to the bus stop. The conventional bus stop. There was no way she was paying airship prices for anything less than a trip out of the kingdom. But that meant that the storm caught her in full force, rendering her denim shorts & black tank top (which she'd elected to wear instead of her combat gear, perhaps unwisely) defenseless against the downpour.

The sound of a car approaching behind her caught her attention… But not soon enough.

SPLASH

"Fucking fleabag!"

The words were shouted out of the passenger-side window of the car that had drove as close to the curb as possible to spray one of the deeper puddles forming on the road into her. Velvet sputtered and wiped the rainwater from her eyes as the car sped around a corner before she had a chance to fully register the incident. A depressingly familiar lump formed in the Faunus girl's throat as she processed the casual racism she'd just been subjected to, which was then firmly pushed down as she assessed her sodden clothes & then looked at her watch.

"And it looks like I'm not going to make the bus either," she mumbled to herself, realizing she would probably have to wait almost an hour for the next one. Setting herself in motion again, she turned the same corner that the car had taken and saw a small gas station further down the street. She decided to stop in and buy herself a drink from the small store next to it that most Vale gas stations seemed to have attached to them.

Reaching the forecourt of the gas station she saw that it was not one of the large chain-brands that littered the Kingdom. A large sign read "Slates" in cracked and peeling letters. The only car currently using the pumps was a small red sports car with the kind of after-market chromed wheels that could assure onlookers that the owner was probably an obnoxious cretin.

Passing the pumps quickly to avoid the smell of gasoline, she entered the store to find it dimly lit which her eyes quickly adjusted to, but mercifully dry and warm. Velvet hadn't even realized that she was starting to shiver until she found herself out of the cold. She headed towards the refrigerator at the other end of the store, suddenly very aware of the dryness in her throat.

Down the aisle, there was a pair of young men at the cash register- probably in their early twenties- waiting to be served, looking as though the lack of a cashier was a personal insult to them. She paid them no attention until one of them shouted.

"Hey ass-hole! How long is going to take for you to come and do your job?"

Velvet turned around, dread welling up in her. She knew that voice. This was the jackass who'd shouted abuse at her from the car window. The offending shouter was reasonably tall, and had the look of someone who worked out but only to be seen doing so. The skin-tight tank top he was wearing showed off his large tribal tattoo-laden arms. The arms, however, were offset by a pair of disproportionately skinny legs left visible by the knee length shorts he was wearing. The other one must have been the driver, slightly taller than his friend but nowhere near as jacked, grey sweatpants and a black hoodie covering his skinny physique. He sat on the counter while his friend antagonised the member of staff who was presumably in a storeroom somewhere.

Velvet decided against making a scene. As a trainee huntress, she was more than capable of dealing with the pair, but therein was the problem. A Hunter or Huntress attacking a civilian was a much more serious offence than a common assault– it was considered borderline treasonous for those sworn to protect the kingdoms from Grimm to cause harm to those they protected.

The loud mouth in the tank-top started again. "Hey, if you don't get out here then we're-"

"Unless you want to come back here and help out then shut the fuck up!" a deep, gravelly voice bellowed back from a door behind the counter "And if you even think about leaving without paying, I'll break your noses!"

The pair of men were taken aback by the response, having the air of people who were not put in the their place often enough. Velvet couldn't suppress a small giggle at their expression, which then caused the two of them to look directly at her.

"Is something funny?" the one in the tank top spat.

"Yo, that's the same fleabag we drenched a minute ago, look at the state of her," the one in the hoodie sniggered, the malice in his voice evident.

At this the larger man began to walk down the aisle towards Velvet. "So what then, you thought you'd follow us here and start something? Is that it? Or are you just here to shoplift?"

Velvet bristled but forced herself to remain calm, rolling her eyes & silently turning her attention to the selection of drinks on offer.

"Don't turn away like you're too good to talk to us." She could hear him approaching. His friend had left the counter and was trailing behind him, but she steadfastly refused to turn to face them.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, you mangy cun-"

"Oi prick!" The same gravelly voice from before came forward, though now it was quieter and laced with unadulterated venom and fury. All parties turned at this interruption to see the source.

The pair of racists went pale.

Having exited the storeroom, the absent cashier was walking around the counter: He was a towering six-foot-eight, broad-shouldered slab of muscles that were clearly defined even through his uniform. More importantly, he was a hulking slab of Faunus muscle, with mocha coloured skin, dark shaggy hair offset by a short snout-like nose and jaw, and yellow eyes glistening in the gloom of the store. A bear Faunus.

"You think you're just gonna walk in my store & talk that kind of shit then leave? Nah, that's not how things work," he snarled, his accent doing nothing but adding to the menace. If Velvet had to guess, it was a Lower Atlesian accent.

"Fuck off fleabag, go get your manager," the larger of Velvet's would-be assailants tried to retort. However, his voice didn't have the same confidence or aggression it held moments ago.

The large Bear Faunus made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle, and then something strange happened. He vanished.

Velvet, being a trainee Huntress, had seen enough in the last year to know that this was only strange, rather than impossible.

A fraction of a second after vanishing from the other end of the store the Faunus reappeared with a dull cracking sound that reverberated endlessly around the store, wisps of a thick black smog trailing from his body. He was now inches from his quarry, and his hand shot out to grab the tank-top wearing racist by the scruff of his neck and pin him to the wall.

"The sign outside says 'Slate's.' I am Mr. Slate. Now I suggest you two get the fuck out before I put you both through the windscreen of the car Daddy bought you." Letting the man go, the newly introduced Mr. Slate followed this up with a vicious right hook to the cheek, which sent the man sprawling. Within moments, he was sprinting for the exit. His accomplice tried to follow but was dragged back by Mr. Slate.

"What did I say would happen if you tried to leave without paying?" Slate asked, his voice low and dangerous.

The hoodie-wearing man reached into his pocket and handed over his wallet. "Just take it, I don't want trouble."

At this, the bear Faunus smirked. "Yeah, you do." With that, he head-butted him.

Velvet winced as she could clearly hear the sound of the humans' nose breaking as the attack knocked him from his feet.

"And you." Velvet felt her stomach plummet as the man turned to her. "Don't you go to Beacon?"

It took a moment for Velvet to process what she'd just been asked. "Y-Yeah, I start back for my second year in a couple weeks."

"Thought you looked familiar. You're one of last years fresh meat. I'm heading into third year."

Taking a longer look at what she supposed could be called her rescuer, Velvet realized that he indeed didn't look much older than herself, gargantuan size notwithstanding. She chose to ignore the 'Fresh Meat' jibe.

"But hold on," she started, slightly confused. "You told them this is your store?"

At this he laughed.

"Nah, my old man is 'Mr. Slate', I'm just here to help out for some extra Lien over the summer. Name's Gangrel." He hold out a paw-like hand, which Velvet shook.

"So how come I've never seen you around Beacon? I mean, I'm not exactly the most social person on campus, but you're not exactly hard to spot?" Velvet inquired.

Gangrel chuckled. "I had a load of assignments to catch up on last year. My first year was the Vytal Festival in Atlas. I took my team over there for the tournament, since I'd not been home since I moved."

Velvet's eyes widened slightly at that- a first year team travelling to another Kingdom to compete was a lot more of a bragging right than a local team entering, as the academies only tended to send their best, while the host Kingdom tended to use the bi-annual tournament as a chance to showcase the majority of their fledgeling teams.

"Awesome! What team are you on? How did you do?"

"We were took out in the second round by the team that took silver."

Velvet noticed that his accent changed the Os in 'took' to a U, and he pronounced the word 'out' as "aht."

"And I'm on Team GRAP, and trust me, the rest of my team are about as happy with that name as I am." This caused Velvet to genuinely laugh before realizing something. "Hey, wait, isn't your team the only currently enrolled all-Faunus team?"

"Yeah, Team VOID were in their last year when I was in first year, never did get to see if the stories about how brutal they were had any truth in 'em…. What team are you on?"

"Team Coffee, so not much better as far as naming goes." Velvet frowned, not wanting to think too much about her team.

"The team with the big fucker on it?"

"Coming from yourself?" Velvet snarked back.

"Yeah coming from me, there's not many people I have to look up to. I bet he does some damage to the Grimm."

"Yatsuhashi isn't even the one you want to watch out for, that'd be Coco," Velvet replied.

"So where's the rest of your team then? It's weird only seeing part of a team, even on breaks."

Velvet lowered her head at this, her rabbit ears visibly drooping. "Fox went to visit family in Vacuo, I haven't really seen anything of the team over the vacation. We're not really... close like that." Velvet silently cursed the emotion creeping into her voice.

"It's not because of…?" Gangrel let the question hang in the air as he nodded towards her Faunus attributes.

"I honestly don't even know," Velvet whispered, forcing herself to ignore her eyes starting to heat up.

"Shambles," Gangrel growled out. Seeing Velvet's confused look, he continued. "It's a shambles, an absolute embarrassment that we've got Grimm at the doorstep and we're still fighting over this shit. I mean, I've had to deal with it but never from my own team, thank Oum."

"It's sad," Velvet agreed. "We've got idiots like those two you just kicked out practically making themselves a White Fang ad campaign, and then the Fang do something insane, which just creates more human bigots."

"The really sad thing," Gangrel said with a sigh, "Is that the White Fang were never necessary. They used to be a union. Watching them turn into what they are now was painful."

The sentence was punctuated by the sound of another car pulling into the gas station. The Bear Faunus smiled. "Anyway, before we get into morbid discussions, I've got customers to deal with." He paused, seemingly considering something. "Actually though, can you do me a favour?"

"Depends what it is, I've got to catch a bus soon," Velvet replied.

"I'm meant to be heading to a party in the Kennels tonight. One of my team is coming, but I'm meant to be meeting an old friend as well, and he's just getting over a messy breakup."

"So you're going to pass him off onto me?" Velvet asked, slightly incredulous.

"Not in any creepy way, just so he doesn't end up drinking alone if my teammate gets me involved in any….antics." Gangrel smirked at the last word.

"Okay, put your number in my scroll. I can't make any promises, though." Velvet handed her scroll over to her new acquaintance. "Did you say the party is in Kenwood?" she asked, remembering that part of town had a reputation for being rife with almost every kind of crime imaginable.

"Yeah, it's on the old industrial estate though. Not the main housing blocks."

"Is it safe to be around Kenwood late at night?" Velvet asked.

Gangrel's bemused smirk was her answer.

"Okay firstly, you're a huntress, and secondly, the Kennels aren't as bad as they're made out to be- I've lived there since I came over from Atlas."

The door opened as the customer from outside entered the store, halting the conversation. Gangrel headed back to the counter to serve him, and Velvet checked the time. To her surprise, it was later than she'd expected.

"Gangrel, I'm going to have to head home, but I might see you later."

"One sec," Gangrel said.

Velvet paused long enough to get a jacket thrown at her.

"You're gonna get soaked through again without a jacket. That one's mine, just bring it to the party tonight."

With a smile of thanks and a wave, Velvet walked out of the store and headed towards her original destination. She opened her bottle of drink, and then she realized she hadn't actually paid for it.

Looks like I'll have to go to that party for a bit just to pay him back she thought to herself. The hulking Bear Faunus wasn't her type, but he was definitely someone she could see herself being friends with. Anything to break up the monotony her summer had slipped into was a welcome change.

Looks like, despite everything, today wasn't a total waste, she thought to herself happily.

Author's notes:

Notice: As of February 2017, this story is being proofread chapter-by-chapter by Air Force Muffin, so a sudden increase in typos from one chapter to the next means the chapter hasn't been proofread yet.

This is my first RWBY Fan-fiction, caused by re-watching Vol.1-3 & realizing outside of battle Velvet Scarlatina is never seen with her team. Combined with her treatment at the hands of humans, I wondered what is actually keeping her from joining the White Fang. She has the skills to do well there.
Then I realized Adam Taurus is not just someone you see strolling down the street casually, so I needed someone to introduce them. From here. my OC team GRAP (Grape) was born, along with the initial spark for the rest of the plot.
About Gangrel Slate: Yes, he's an OC. No he's not a Self-Insert. I will actively try to stop any of my characters straying into Mary-Suedom. There's a post on my Tumblr giving some more details on the members of Team GRAP (remove the ALL the parentheses from the URL before entering it into the search bar, FFnet doesn't like URL's for some reason): http(:)/(/)st(u)diogibl(e)201(6).()t()u(m)b()lr.()co(m)(/)post/149667130592/
Gangrel's accent, described as "Lower Atlesian," was based on a Yorkshire accent, Yorkshire being the part of the UK I'm from: working class, used to have a lot of mines, now there's a lot of factories & warehouses- it seemed fitting for a Faunus from Atlas to have an accent like that considering the Schnee Dust Company is based in Atlas & uses cheap Faunus labour.