Snow. It’s cold, soft, and… white. So very white. Most kids love the snow, playing around in it, building snowmen and woman, playing snowball fights. Honestly, what’s there to love about it?

I for one, don’t like the snow. It’s cold, hollow, and just… cold. I looked up at the falling snowflakes that fell down from the sky again. It was the tenth time this week it happened and I bet it would snow again two or three more times by the end of the week. This time it was falling more softly.

“Viri… come close to the fire.” A voice said to me. I turned back to see a silver-haired woman in her early twenties with a number of jackets and scarves wrapped around her. Her eyes were a dull crimson colour, like mine, as she stared at me.

“Okay, mama.” I said, walking forward towards her, it was hard with multiple layers on me. I was eight at the time so I kinda waddled over to her. My mom chuckled a bit as she brushed some snow off of my bushy tail and pulled me close to the barrel with the flame in it. I snuggled up close to her, my fox-like ears flatten when she petted my head. I looked up at her as we heard people walk past our alley. We were so deep in it that we would be invisible to them, mom said it’s to make sure the bad people won’t find us.

We lived in a small town in the land of Atlas. Where the weather is harsh, and the people are harsher. You see both me and mama are something called a Faunus, an animal hybrid person that lives in the land and others like it. One place is where mama was born, a land with sand and the sun blazed down on the ground. I didn’t know what the sun looked like, never see it for myself but I was told it was big, yellow, and very, very bright.

Mama and I sat near the barrel for a few minutes, a snowflake falling close to my face, I instinctually stuck my tongue out to catch it. This got a giggle from mama which made me smile before she started to cough. Mama was sick for the past few weeks, and she hasn’t gotten any better. She rustled around a bit before pulling out a wrapped up package to me.

“Here honey, happy birthday.” She said with a smile. I looked up at her then at the package before taken it into my hands. It was hard to take the wrapping off since it was really a piece of cloth, so I bit into it and pulled before I unwrapped it and saw it was a book, the next one from a set that I’ve read over and over again. I stared at it before looking up at mama and saw her smile.

“How?” I asked, only to hear her chuckle.

“Mama has her ways, happy birthday.” She said. I wrapped my arms around her into a hug which she returned in kind before I opened the book and took a sniff of it. Yes, I sniff book that I got, I love the new book smell don’t judge. I read a few chapters in before it was time to go to bed. Mama crawled into our little makeshift shack with a few sheets to keep the cold out. I crawled in as well before snuggling up to mama. She kissed the back of my head before saying goodnight. I did the same and started to count in my head.

As soon as I hit three hundred I heard mama snoring. I turned back at her before slowly and carefully pull my way out of her arms. I sat up and headed out of our home and into the streets. Mama is doing everything to make my life better, I should do the same for her.

I went down different alleyways, turn some corners and made sure I knew my way back. I didn’t want Mama to worry sick that I was gotten myself lost, she was already sick as is. It was about ten minutes after I left when I got close to an end of the alley when I heard voices. I crouched down and sneaked my way towards the voices before peeking out. There were two figures, both in robes and facing away from me on a bench.

“I’m telling you, sister, there’s something here.” One of them said, who was female and I guessed that the other was female too. “You never question my judgement before.” The other figure, her sister, chuckled and spoke up.

“I can name just about a few occasions.” The other figure said. The first figure turned to the other for a moment.

“Okay, I didn’t know which cave it was the first ten times, you will never let that go.” the first figure said. I looked at the two of them for a few moments before I saw that, near the first figure, was a large pouch. My eyes widen at it, that pouch could have a number of items that could help mama and me with living out here. With that in mind, I got close to the cold snow and crawled forward towards the bench. Slowly and surely I got there and reached out to grab the pouch. I made sure they were still chatting as my gloved hand got close to the pouch. Holding my breath I grabbed it and pulled away, sneaking back into the alleyway to run. I got it! I got the pouch!

I ran as fast as I could, even if I heard a loud ‘Hey!’ from where I was. I retraced my path, through the twists and turns I soon got back home… but there were other people here, people I didn’t know. They were large, human, and male. They were muttering something before mama was thrown away from them, she was bloody and hurt.

“Bitch! You stole from us! After all, we did for you this is how you repay us!” one of them yelled at mama before kicking her. She let out a yell of pain as I watched.

“Faunus, nothing more than trash.” Another one said, spitting at mama. I stared at the scene before one of the men looked up.

“Hey, who’s that?” he asked, making the others look up as well. Mama looked, her one eyes was closed shut but the other showed fear in it as one of the thugs bent down and grabbed mama’s hair. “Oh, I see… that’s the little baby you love so much… we had a deal, Sarah, you do our work and we leave you alone… but you didn’t say anything about the brat.”

Her eye widens before she looked at me. “RUN!” She yelled before she was punched into the snow. I stood there, frozen in fear before seeing one of the men walking towards me. At that moments my body did one thing; run. I turned and ran as fast as I could into the alleyway. The sound of screams and grunts were behind me as the loud footfalls of the man chasing after me. I didn’t know where I was going, I didn’t care, I just wanted to get away… but fate is cruel as I turned and found myself at a dead end. I looked around in fear, hoping a way out would show itself but it didn’t. I turned back and saw the man walking up to me.

“Damn Faunus, nothing more than animals.” He grumbled as he got closer. My back was up against the wall as he towered over me with a smirk. “Maybe I could keep you, in a few years and some training you be a nice slave for me. How’s that sounds?” I trembled in my covers, hoping something would happen to stop him. “But first… some discipline.” he raised his hand up into a fist which I closed my eyes, too scared to watch.

But the hit didn’t come. I opened my eyes and saw someone grabbed the man’s arm and he grunted to pull free. “What the- let go of me!”

“Hmm, typical of you humans.” I heard the voice of the woman from before, the very same woman this pouch belonged to. The next sound that greeted my ears was a crack followed by the pained yell of the man.

“AHHH! THE FUCK!” The man screamed as I saw the woman holding the man’s arm, from the looks of it the arm was floppy like. “Wha- What the hell!” He turned around and looked at the woman, I still didn’t see as he was blocking my view. “What the fuck are you lady?!”

“Someone you have angered greatly.” The woman said before quickly adding. “Now kneel!” She said before grabbing a hold of the man’s other arm. The man screamed out in pain as he kneeled down, both arms were floppy. I looked up trembling at the woman… she was like me, a fox Faunus only her hair was blonde and skin was a bit brown, tanned from what mama said some people look like? With a frown, the woman put her foot on the man’s chest before promptly shoving him away with incredible force, the man’s saving grace so happened to be a dumpster surrounded by trash bags. “That takes care of that.” Said the woman before her gaze landed on me. I was trembling, tears ran down my cheeks, not caring that they could freeze from the cold.

“P-P-Please d-don’t h-h-hurt m-me…” I said with a stutter. I was terrified that the woman would do the same thing to me for stealing from her. Her steps were heard thanks to the snow and it only served to terrify even more.

“Are you alright, little one?” I heard her ask me. I looked up at her, her gaze didn’t look threatening, more worried. I was able to calm down a little from this, before remembering something big.

“Mama!” I yelled, pushing forward and past the woman before falling face first into the snow. That didn’t stop me from flailing a bit and crawling forward. “Mama, mama!”

“Where is your mother?” Asked the woman as she helped me up but instead of answering, I simply ran back and leaving the woman behind. I ran all the way back to our home in the alley, just to see all the men groaning and in pain. Like the one man that was with me, the others arms and legs were broken and standing in the middle was the other woman from before.

“Mortal men, think they can stand against me.” She whispered as she turned to me. Her hood was up but I saw glowing red eyes. I didn’t pay her much attention as I saw mama on the ground still bleeding out.

“Mama!” I yelled, running to her and shaking her. “Mama, mama wake up!” There was silence from her. I shook her some more before she started to cough. Her eyes open and looked at me.

“Vi...ri? Are you… alright?” She asked me weakly. I started to cry, feeling this was all my fault.

“I’m sorry mama, I shouldn’t have left you.” I cried. I felt her arm wrapped around.

“Shhh, shhh, it’s alright… You’re safe… that’s all I care about.” She whispered before started to cough up blood.

“Mama!” I yelled. She was breathing heavy as I heard footsteps from behind me. I looked back and saw the two from before, now staring at me. “Please! Help her! I don’t want her to die! I don’t want to be alone!” I cried, more tears ran down my face as I pulled the pouch and threw it at their feet. “Have it back, I don’t want it anymore! I want my mama!” The woman from before, the fox faunus, walked up to mama but ignored the pouch. She knelt down and just looked at her for a solid minute or two before finally placing a hand on mama’s forehead. I couldn’t explain what I saw happen next, the only word that could come to mind was magic and as if by magic, mama’s body shone a golden light and within a blink of my eyes her wounds were gone and her bloody stains have vanished. Mama let out a breath out of relieve, pushing herself up and pulling me into a hug.

“There there… I’m better…” She whispered to me before looking up at the woman. “Thank you… I figured you would find me again… after all this time.” I looked at her confused at what she meant. Did Mama know this woman?

“I’m sorry it took me so long.” The woman said with a sad smile while I was simply left confused. Up close I saw that the woman was a bit older than mama, some of her blonde hair had a few wisps of gray in there but after seeing what she did I didn’t question her age. Mama chuckled a little.

“It’s fine…” She looked around at the place and then at me. “Umm… not to sound like a teenager but… mind if we… crash at your place?” She asked the woman, making me completely confused on what’s going on.

“Umm, what’s going on?” I asked, voicing my confusion. Mama chuckled at this, pushing herself up and with me in her arms.

“Viri, this is Mavisath…” Mama looked at the woman with a smile. “She’s your grandma.” My eyes widen at this, this woman is my grandma?!

“Hello there, little one.” Said my supposed grandmother with a gentle smile and a wave of her hand. It then donned to me that I had tried stealing from her moment prior to all of this. I let out a nervous laugh as the other woman stepped up.

“It seems she just found out that she was trying to steal from her own grandma.” She said, shaking her head. Mama frowned at me.

“Viri, I told you that stealing was bad.” Mama scolded me, making my ears go flat on my head.

“Sorry, mama…” I said sadly. Mama sighed before pulling me closer, putting her forehead onto mine.

“Just don’t do it again, alright. Mama will know if you steal again.” Mama warned me. I smiled and nodded at her. My grandmother smiled at the two of us while the woman beside her, most likely her sister of the conversation from before is anything to go by.

“Now then… I believe we should get going, there is a very nasty blizzard coming this way.” I heard my grandmother say before a bright flash of light shone behind her. When I looked, I was slack jawed when I found a very well adorned set of doors before the opened by themselves, the light was too bright for me to see the other side. The other two walked through before Mama walked over to our shack of a home and grabbed a few things, all my books and some of her stuff.

“Can’t forget about these can we.” Mama said before she carried me through the bright doors. I screwed my eyes shut from how bright it was before, finally, opening them to look around. I saw that the place we were in was some sort of field, lots of green grass range as far as I could see, some mountains off in the distance and other colours that I haven’t seen other than in books. I looked up at all the blue sky with white clouds floated past before I saw something bright, very very bright.

“Ahhh!” I yelled, rubbing my eyes and saw many black dots in my vision. Mama laughed at me before saying.

“Viri, that’s the sun, don’t look at it straight on.” She giggled. I continue to blink to get rid of all the black dots but it’s not working. Curse you dots! The chuckle of my grandmother brought my attention to her, gone were the robes she wore and instead she wore a very pretty looking white dress. The woman beside her didn’t wore robes as well, she wore what looked like a black suit with a red shirt underneath. She was completely different from grandma; instead of a fox Faunus, she had what looked dragon horns sprouting out of her black hair. Her skin was a darker tanned colour and dark red scales covered her sides of her face and arms. I looked at the two of them, wondering how they changed so quickly.

“Now then…” My grandmother spoke before clearing her throat to catch both our attentions when I looked over I saw a few chairs set up and my grandmother was already sat down. “Why don’t we start from the beginning, Sarah.” She said.

It took some time, grandma somehow got some cakes and other foods to float in, literally, from the sky and set in front of us. I drooled at the sight of the food before wolfing down the majority if it. I learned that the other woman was named Axycia, Mavisath’s sister. It was also taken aback that Grandma and my aunt aren’t Faunus, more accurately, aren’t mortal. Another few minutes past and mama finished her story, our many jackets and sweaters were folded on a chair beside us and I sat on her lap, nibbling on a cookie.

“And… that’s it…” Mama said, brushing my hair as I nibbled on the cookie. Grandma hummed at this, her expression was one of guilt for not having found us sooner than she did.

“I am sorry for not finding you sooner, had I known you were living in such conditions I’d have dropped everything to help you.” Grandma said to mama. I frowned at this before mama gave me a squeeze.

“It’s fine, I thought it would be better for us but… after Ray passed… fate decided to be funny.” Mama said sadly.

“You mean fate is a b-” Auntie started to say but was cut off by mama.

“No.” She said firmly.

“What?” Auntie asked, looking at all three of us.

“Not when there are kids around if you do I’ll beat you with your chair.” Mama threatened, earning a giggle from me. Auntie crossed her arms and muttered something in a language that I didn’t understand. While this was nice and all, I still had questions of my own with one such question being why mama never mentioned anything about grandma before. I voiced this question to her when I had the chance.

“I wanted to tell you when you were a little older and when we were in a better isolation… that didn’t really work out well didn’t.” Mama said with a little chuckle. I frown a little before reaching over and grabbing another cookie, which I hummed happily as I ate it.

“I see you love the cookies I’ve made, your mother was a big fan of them when she was your age. She practically begged me to make them.” Grandma said with a soft chuckle and a smile. Mama chuckled at this as well as I looked up from my cookie, swallowing what I had in my mouth.

“So… What now?” I asked the three of them. Grandma and Auntie looked at one another before a door appeared once again, though this one was a tad bit smaller. Grandma stood up and walked over to said door before opening it, revealing a very well furnished room. She merely turned to look at me and mama before gesturing us to follow her inside, so we did. As we passed the table I swiped a few more cookies before entering the door with Mama and grandma. I looked around in awe at the place around us.

“This will be your new home, equipped with two bathroom and bedrooms. A large kitchen stocked full of everfresh ingredients and spices. Last but not least.” Grandma said before a large bookshelf materialized in front of my eyes, it was already stocked full books but it didn’t end there, the books shifted and moved aside before a door appeared between the now split bookshelf. “A direct hotline to myself and my sister, simply speak of whom you wish to see and it shall be done.” Finally, Grandma finished, all with a big smile as she turned to look at us. I stared at the split bookshelves in awe, wondering if there were any more secret passageways? Mama let out a breath of relieved.

“Thank you… so much.” Mama said with a smile. I looked up at her and gave her a hug, I could tell she wanted this so much instead of that shack in the alley.

“Sarah, I am very very sorry for what you have gone through but know this, I will find a way to make it up to you.” Grandma said to mama as she walked up to us. Her expression was that of sadness, she really did feel bad for never knowing about how we were living.

“It’s alright… this… this is fantastic mom.” Mama said before giving grandma a hug. This caught grandma by surprise but returned the hug with a tearful smile. I felt a little left out and squeezed my way in between them, which got a few laughs from the two. For a moment, I thought this was a dream as it was all too good to be true and as if on queue, fear began to set in because if this really was a dream then I would wake up soon and I don’t want to. I felt tears well up and blur my vision but a gentle hand wiped them away, when I looked up I saw that it was my grandmother giving me a soft smile.

“There is no need to cry, little one.” Was all she said and just by the sound of her voice, I found calmness. My fear vanished within an instant and without hesitation, I focused my hug on her as a way of thanks for all this though all I could do was hug her lower half basically only her legs, she was very tall.

This got a laugh from mama before she picked me up into her arms. “Now we have a home, time to get caught up with your schooling.” Mama said with a small smirk. I about to spoke out my annoyance over this, having had experience in a public school before mama ran out of money for me to attend. I didn’t want to go back to school or even a new one, I felt like an outcast when I did but before I could speak, Grandma spoke up.

“If you would like, I could tutor her. Homeschool her, I believe that is the term.” I heard grandma said, which got me confused. What’s homeschooling?

“Oh, you don’t have to do that… you’ve already done so much.” Mama said to grandma, who simply chuckled a little.

“My dear Sarah, it’ll be a pleasure to teach young Viri. Look at it this way if you will, you can trust me more than any ordinary school.” Said Grandma, the result of her words was a hum from mama as she thought.

“Well… you have a point there…” She said. I looked over at grandma for a few moments.

“Can I get cookies?” I asked her. This earned me a laugh from the both of them. My answer was given to me in the form of an odd looking cookie jar appearing in front of me, simply floating in midair. I smiled and grabbed the jar and looked inside for cookies.

“Thank you… so much.” Mama said to grandma as I pulled out a cookie. Mama hugged Grandma again, thanking her over and over again. Grandma was quick to return the affection while I sat and ate the cookies.

“Anything for my dearest daughter.” I heard grandma say to mama. I looked up at the two of them as mama pulled away, wiping her tears away. Grandma smiled before looking down at me with a smile. I smiled back as I pulled out another cookie and handed it to her. She smiled at this and took it before eating it.

Grandma soon left the two of us to explore our home. I was very excited to have my own bed, more so having a bed overall I believed things were looking bright for us.

Though I still didn’t know what homeschooling is.

Four years later

I figured out what homeschooling is. It was school at home. I feel a little dumb not knowing that. Grandma comes over to home and educates me in various topics from the basic history of Remnant, to very complicated math and science.

Right now she was teaching me math, mostly going over stuff we already did. I started to daydream and the corners of my notebook were filled with doodles of monsters and beings that fight them. Before coming here Mama told me stories about Huntsmen and huntresses of Remnant and so far my doodles reflect that.

“Are you even paying attention?” The words from my grandmother were clear as day, despite me being in la la land. I fumbled about on my seat and with my notebook before straightening up before nervously chuckling. Grandma has shown me that she is very patient, rarely ever annoyed or ticked off by anyone or anything for that matter. “Viri, I know this is boring for you but it’s important that you learn these things.” Grandma said to me in a sincere tone. She sat on the chair opposite of me of the table.

“Sorry.” I said as I looked at my notebook to find where we were. As I did my notebook glowed in a golden light and it floated over to grandma. I shrank a little as she looked at my doodles. She hummed as she turned several pages, finding more and more of my drawings.

“You are fond of the Huntsmen and Huntresses of Remnant?” She asked me with an arched brow, her gaze moving up from my notebook and onto me. I shakenly nodded, expecting to be yelled at for not having paid attention and not have written down any notes. “You’re just like your mother, fascinated with these Huntsmen like your father.” She said with a chuckle. I smiled up at her from this.

“Mama used to tell me stories about them, they sound so cool.” I said happily. She smiled at me before handing my notebook back, which surprised me a little as I was expecting her to lash out at me at any given moment. She then stood up from her chair.

“Come, young Viri, there’s something I’d like you to see.” Grandma said, offering her hand out for me. I looked at it for a moment before taking her hand with mine. She smiled and I began to feel lighter as if I was floating in midair and that seemed to be the case as I saw Grandma’s feet hover a few inches off the ground and so were mine. Before I could question it, the scenery changed from the dining room table to a large hall with statues and portraits of many men and women, all of whom appeared to be from different eras. I looked around at the statues before looking up.

“Where are we?” I asked grandma. She smiled at me as she let go of my hand walked ahead.

“This is the hall of Great Huntsmen.” She said to me before turning back towards me, once again offering her hand towards me. I was a bit nervous about this, I never been here before but I took grandma’s hand and stayed close to her. “Huntsmen have been around longer than you may think, in fact, you could say they have been around since the dawn of Remnant.” She said, showing me a statue of what looked to be a tribe of warriors, marking across their bodies and primitive weapons at ready. Behind the statue was a painting, a very detailed one depicting the very same tribe warriors just as they look in statue form only the painting showed the Grimm they were about to clash with. I looked up at the statue and leaned to the side to see the painting.

“Woah…” Was all I could say at this. Grandma chuckled at this before we continue on to the next one. This one depicted a single man holding the jaws of an Ursa Major open and the painting behind it detailed it, even more, showing the body of the Grimm riddled with spears and slash marks while the man looked to have been heavily bleeding. This must’ve been centuries after the last one as the painting also had a small village in the background with more people fending off the Grimm invaders. I frowned a bit, remembering the lessons in the public school I used to go to, saying that Grimm were monstrous creatures that would kill anything they find. The painting more or less confirmed that.

“Ah, here’s your mother’s favourite.” Grandma said as she walked a little ahead and I quickly followed her. The statue she was referring to was a little odd, this one being the first have the person smiling and the person being not only a woman but a faunus as well. The woman held what appeared to be a smithing hammer and a small shield. The painting behind the statue surprised me even more as it showed the woman riding a Deathstalker as they both fought a pack of Beowolves.

“She’s riding a Grimm!” I said in surprise before looking back at Grandma. “I thought you can’t do that!” Grandma chuckled this before walking up beside me.

“Ah but that’s no ordinary Grimm you see, that Deathstalker was raised by her since it was a lost little hatchling.” Grandma said to me, making me awe at the statue. I now understand why mama liked this Huntress a lot, she’s really cool. I looked down the hall to see what other huntsman or huntresses were here.

“This is so cool~,” I said before turning to face grandma. “When I grow up I’ll be like one of these Huntsmen! And I’ll be in this hall so others can see!” Grandma chuckled at this before she spoke.

“You know, I can train you under my wing.” Grandma said to me, though I was unsure if that was a joke or not. I stared at her for a few moments before I spoke.

“Are you… telling me the truth?” I asked her. She chuckled but nodded soon after before saying.

“I can teach you the ways to become an excellent hunter, even surpass your father and speaking of which.” Grandma said before stopping in front of another statue. I followed her and took a look at the statue when I stopped beside her. The statue was that of a man that was smiling. The painting behind the statue was that of a fight between him and someone that I couldn’t see, all I could tell was the man was using fire and the other shadows. On the statue’s base was the name ‘Ray Warren’. “He is your father, if you were wondering.” Grandma said as I stared at the statue.

“Woah…” Was all I could say. Mama did talk about him but, she never said he was this cool. Grandma patted my head, bringing me out of my thoughts and I quickly looked up at her.

“I think it’s about time we return, your mother will be home soon.” She said to me and I was clearly upset by this, having yet scratched the surface of this place. I pouted a bit but as I did this the hallway turned back into the living room.

“Awww…” I said, clearly upset that I couldn’t stay anymore. She chuckled and patted my cheek gently and saying.

“Oh don’t be like that, tomorrow will be better because then is when your training starts.” She said to me with a smile, offering up a new topic of homeschool. I couldn’t help but smile at this.

“Okay!” I said happily to her, seeing her smile more at me.

Author's Note

Okay! The start of the first chapter of the Rewrite of Molten Fox! Hope you all like it! :)