Third Person POV
Ever since the Great War, each kingdom advertised safety within its regions. They painted the picture that inside their walls, a bastion of hope exists. One that is free from the forces of darkness. A safe haven where you can pursue peace away from death.
For the gullible citizens who thought of Grimm as the sole enemy of mankind, that idea sold pretty well. Especially since trained professional Huntsmen frequently thin down the horde soulless beasts whilst protecting the populace form their bottomless hunger.
*TAP* *TAP* *TAP* *TAP* *TAP*
???: "I saw him go this way!"
But unfortunately, the bigger the light means the darker the shadow it casts. Just as each person possesses the freedom to do good, whether Man or Faunus, they are also susceptible to commit evil.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
???: "Stop running kid! You're only making your situation worse!"
Mankind often forgets that its greatest enemy is itself.
???: "*tch*"
Emotions. Desire.
Two of the main factors that affect one's ability to commit any kind of action. It is also the main corruptors of those with rational thought.
So, when a young adult with a passion for fashion makes an off-hand comment regarding the flamboyant clothing worn by a gang leader infamous for his irate personality, chaos ensued.
Currently, the teenager crossed through a dead-end alleyway. Seeing that it was only 7 meters in height, he made a risk to try and emulate an action he saw once in a movie about ninjas.
He used his superficial amount of knowledge on parkour to go over the wall while strengthening his legs with Aura as best as he could, jumping from wall to wall until he went over the seven-meter wall. But, there's a slight miscalculation on his part; he didn't prepare his landing strategy.
Winging it is.
Trusting his instincts, he emulated the ninja from that movie as best as he could as he landed in a roll, his Aura flickering red as it finished absorbing most of the impact. But while it did protect him from being injured, it could not fully absorb the feeling of pain.
The teen grunted, temporarily paralyzed from his whole body hurting. It took him a moment to gather his wits before he limped away into the sea of people. Trudging through the foot traffic, he discarded the brown cloak he wore when he escaped to 'this side'. With a little change in the illusion spell, he was able to transform his face to his original look, returning the ash-gray hue of his hair, while the forest green hue of his eyes lightened up to sea green.
It wasn't only his body that changed, for his clothes also followed along. For his top, it was a white undershirt paired with a shirt jacket with its colors diagonally split from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist; the left half of it was gold and the other black. And for his bottom, he wore black pants with diagonal gold lines that came from his left thigh running to the end on the right side as well as black leather boots.
The young man let out a relieved sigh, as he took out a picture from his back pocket. In it, contained a blurred image of a young boy with unkempt brown hair and forest green eyes.
???: "*sigh* Right, better find this person before I lose my mind. Gods damn it, I'm a craftsman, not a private detective. They could have just pointed me to his exact location. But noooo, they just had to send me chasing after someone who'll easily be lost in a crowd."
Releasing another sigh from his mouth, he disappeared further into the busy crowd, bypassing the thugs who unknowingly missed the target of their boss' anger.
???: "Now that I think about it, it was probably a bad idea disguising myself to look like him… Oh well."
…
…
…
Violet: "You look pretty excited. Aren't you afraid of crowds?"
It is the day after their impromptu 'housewarming party'. Today is a Sunday, and team LJVN decided to stock up on their supply of Dust. Samson saw them, so he decided for their group to join up to explore the city. Glynda caught them before they could climb aboard the bullhead, lightly chastising them for not asking for her permission, before letting them go once Samson reasoned that this would also be for Aurum's sake.
It was a nice excuse to hide the fact that the main reason is that he just wants them to be treated to burgers. This won't be just because of food though since a change of scenery should help Aurum be acclimated to modern society.
Aurum: "It's my first time shopping with friends."
At his simple, seemingly harmless statement, Violet blinked in surprise, unconsciously sweating due to her slip. Thankfully, the landmine she stepped on was a dud. Their interaction may have been limited, but it wouldn't make her feel less guilty if the child's enthusiasm dampened because of her.
She may have her mean streaks, but she is still a softie on the inside, especially towards children. Being a big sister towards 6 other siblings may have played a part in it.
Her reaction made the others laugh, earning them glares of annoyance.
Aurum only spared them a glance, before tugging the hand of Nathalie. The stoic girl gave him a small smile before walking to the doors with him in tow. Not long after, the bullhead landed. Nathalie held Aurum's hands gentle enough to not hurt, but firm enough to keep him close.
The others followed after them, with the kids observing the sights with more vigor. In the few times that they were able to visit the city, it was only for a short distance with no time to settle the view in. This time, they had time to take in their surroundings as they leisurely walked to their destination, the dust shop called "From Dust 'Till Dawn".
Once they've entered, Aurum was treated to the sight of variously colored crystals protected by pillows in a wooden counter. It was manned by a man approaching his sixties, yet still exuded an energetic feeling. Looking around, the boy saw contraptions containing the powdered version of Dust of different elements, earning his curiosity more than its crystallized brethren.
The gems were beautiful, but glitters were always a weakness to children.
"Good morning grandpa. We're here to take the usual order."
The old man gave them a brief nod before getting to work. He crouched to open a cabinet containing pre-made Dust rounds already fitted inside a magazine for Nathalie and Violet's orders. He stood up and placed it inside a plastic bag made for ammunition and set it aside. He then grabbed a few dust crystals for Lapis' and put it inside the small briefcase the bluenette brought. The old man then a few empty small Dust canisters and left his station.
He went to the strange contraptions Aurum is observing and connected it to the machine. He waited as it slowly filled the necessary amount of dust for Jade's order, all the while observing Aurum's amazed expression with a small smile.
Collecting the filled canisters, he went back to his station and placed it beside the other orders before holding his hand out. Knowing what he wants, Lapis gave him the credit card of their team's shared bank account for Dust ammunition. Most of the money comes from Lapis since his semblance heavily relies on Dust.
He might not look it with his fashionable yet cheap wardrobe, but the team leader comes from a successful family that owns a few businesses all from the culinary service industry.
Incidentally, he is the resident cook of the team. He often borrows a small area of the domain of the academy's lunch ladies. It took a few bribes and harmless praises, but he was able to secure that spot after a month of perseverance.
Finished with their main objective, they left the shop. A glint passed between the males of the Beacon students, and before Lapis could even utter a sound, Jade volunteered to deposit it to the small warehouse service next to the Bullhead Hangar. Without wasting any time at all, the Faunus hastily grabbed the dust before running away from the group.
Lapis could only lament his situation.
Lapis: "Woe is me."
That earned him a playful smack from his girlfriend.
Since there was still time before Lunch, the girls dragged them all to the shopping district with Violet at the forefront with an evil grin. Lapis' wallet will suffer from a deficiency.
Arriving at a particularly famous clothing store, Violet and Ariene ran to the women's section, while Nathalie dragged Aurum along to shop (read: dress him up like a doll) for him. The other boys can only send him off with guilt while sighing in relief. At least they can stay on the guy's side along with a few lucky bros who sent them a sympathetic nod.
It took a full hour, but Aurum enjoyed his interaction with the stoic young woman. He didn't know why the others had that look, something that seems to be shared by Reagan and Lennox. They had fearful looks as they halted their connection to Aurum so that they do not have to experience it.
Moments later, he was released from Nathalie's grasp, carrying a few articles of clothing that she will pay for him. He neared the group of boys that were happily making idle talk. Samson, the most intuitive of the bunch, was the first to notice his arrival.
Samson: "Hey there bud. Finished already?"
Aurum: "Mn."
The group shared a few words with Aurum before he sat silently on the chair. He felt that talking with them is enjoyable, but as someone with a scarce amount of experience in socializing, he decided to just let them talk on their own as he listened. Eventually, he got bored with listening to them, so he sat still and stared off with a blank look, diving deep inside his consciousness to once again graze on chocolate grass.
…
…
…
He was merrily drinking chocolate milk from the river when he was forced out of his consciousness with a cute yelp of surprise because of the sudden aggressive mixture of sound coming from both of his ears.
Lapis: "I'm sorry, was the volume too loud."
Aurum suddenly felt something being removed from his head. Regaining his focus, he looked at the culprit, Lapis, who sported an embarrassed smile.
Lapis: "Hehe, my bad."
Aurum: "I-it's fine…What was that?"
Lapis blinked in surprise, before remembering the kid's circumstance. With a smile, he spoke,
Lapis: "Music."
Before slowly placing his headphone back to Aurum's ears. Learning from his mistake, he lowered the volume and put on his "Slow chill" playlist. Once again, music-filled Aurum's ears. But this time, the music felt mellow.
(AN: Cuco – Lover is a Day. I'll put a link in the comments)
Enamored with his new discovery, Aurum melted on his seat with a cute eyes closed expression rivaling cute cartoonish marshmallow artwork. The rest of the people within the shop let out a squeal meant for cute things because of him, even the boys, as Aurum listened on even if the lyrics did not register on his mind.
Because of this event, Cyrus had to wipe the blood off of Samson's bleeding nose, and Lapis' love for Violet once again grew. If their child was as cute as this one, then he had to push his plans for engagement sooner than he thought of.
But that isn't the point. What's important here, is Aurum's introduction to music. The birth of an artist. But that's a story for later.
Soon, the other girls joined the boys in cooing at Aurum, before they left the store carrying bags of clothing. No words were shared as the boys carried it all, except for Aurum, who was once again happily being dragged by Nathalie. They met up with Jade, who the boys mercilessly pushed their baggage on, and once again sent him to deposit it.
Traitors will pay for their insolence.
Thus, the group merrily headed for a popular fast food restaurant chain owned by Lapis' family, not knowing of the trouble that will come their way soon.