Chapter Text
The wind howled through the night, his white skin frigid cold. He shivered under his breath. Gripping the sack over his shoulder, the young boy made his way down the empty street then into the slums of Mantle.
The slums were crowd full of people. Miners in their dull gray clothes pushed carts full of loads of Dust that they mined somewhere deep underground. The guards with top hats and white uniforms stood in the vicinity. Their stares were cold as a blizzard, silently watching over any movement. As if they were looking, waiting for someone to make a mistake. Every one of the miners has odd animal traits. When one guard looked his way, the young boy shuddered under his gaze.
The guard's eyes looked at the boy from foot to head. Worn-out gray clothes covered with snow and red hair almost turning white, save for his small black horns. The guard scoffed in disgust at the sight.
"Get to work!"
The young boy quivered his lips but did not say anything.
His feet felt cold, and arms ached from his mining work as he reached out for the nearest cart. Making sure no one saw him, he tried to rest for a couple of minutes.
"AH!"
A shout spooked him from his peace.
"Get back to work!"
Crack!
He turned to see one of the guards whipping a girl mercilessly. Her gray clothes and black ears identified her as a miner. She cried in pain.
"Please stop! Please!"
The young boy felt his blood boil when he heard the guard laughing.
"You want me to stop?" He sneered. His eyes stared down the poor miner girl beneath his cap. "Animals like you don't get to tell us what to do--"
He raised his whip. "Because you are all ANIMALS!"
Crack! Crack!
"Get back to work!"
The girl continued to weep. Her small form looked helpless against the guard's brooding. The whip cracked harder against her back, leaving deep cuts.
The young boy gritted.
Crack! Crack!
Slowly, the young boy picked up his shovel. He dashed forward and screamed.
The guard turned to the sound. The last thing he saw was the boy in red brought down the shovel to his head.
SPLAT!
"So, is this how you treat your superiors?"
The young boy blinked. He was not in the slums but a room, painted in white. The guard was nowhere, especially the girl. In their place was a man dressed in a pure white double-breasted suit with a red handkerchief in the breast pocket. He was fair-skinned and had black slicked-back hair and cold blue eyes.
"What happened to her?" The young boy asked.
The man didn't answer.
"What happened to the girl?!"
"Why should I tell you?"
The boy flinched at the man's tone, reminded him of the harsh cold winds in Mantle. He shivered. But the boy did not back down.
"You think you're so powerful that I should be scared of you?"
The man twitched his brow.
"You're not the boss of me!" The young boy shouted defiantly. "Neither was that girl or the miners!"
"We are tired of being treated poorly. Tired of being called animals! It's not our fault that we fought back!"
The man sat quietly.
"..I see. In that case--"
The room went dark. The man in white was gone.
But his voice was still there.
"We'll make sure you won't fight again."
A small fire lit in front of the boy in the form of three letters. SDC.
"Know your place, vermin."
The boy trembled as the fire grew closer. His hand and feet bounded to the chair; he couldn't move. As he felt the hot metal against his face, he writhed and screamed in pain.
A blizzard was reported by the forecast just after Christmas ended. The reports didn't say the exact duration. But they believed that the weather should return to normal at the end of December. It did, but the aftermath wasn't a pleasant sight to see.
Yang moved the curtains and saw nothing but dark bluish snow.
"Uh, Dad!"
Their log cabin almost caved in by a massive snowpack. The doors on the ground floor won't budge against the snow blocking its path. The family had to use the windows on the second floor as an exit. Summer decided to make do with the worn-out blankets that she found in the basement and had Yang and Ruby tie them together.
Opening the window, Taiyang tossed the end of Summer's makeshift rope.
"I'll go see if there's anyone caved in." Raven proposed.
"Alright, do that." Taiyang, dressed in his snow gear, tied the makeshift rope to the panel of the bed. "And I'll start digging this snow."
"I want to dig with you, Dad!"
The two adults glanced to see Ruby in her kid's red-themed winter attire enter the room. Yang came in after her and also dressed in her yellow-themed snow coat and black boots.
Taiyang laughed. "You'll only get frostbites, little rosebud."
Ruby pouted. "Then why is Yang coming?"
"Because Yang won't be digging with me." He turned to Raven, who nodded in return. He smiled. "Yang will be going with Ma."
"But Dad," Yang came forward, rubbing her sister's head to comfort her distress, and asked, "are you sure? My wings have claws. I could probably melt a ton of snowpack while I dig. It could save you the hassle."
"Thanks for the concern, kiddo. But I'll be fine." Taiyang patted her shoulder. "I only let you go with her for today because it's for your training."
Yang looked at Raven in bewilderment. "My training?"
Raven nodded. "Yes."
"Does that mean Yang can turn into a bird?" Ruby asked, remembering Raven and Qrow transforming into crows before. One minor detail she misunderstood was that Raven's bird form wasn't even a crow.