The night life (Ended)

Saffron downed the last of his Caribbean Breeze then payed the bartender. He decided to sample the local bars and test the skills of his fellow bartenders. All in all he only found a few places who had anyone with any modicum of skill. As he exited the bar into the early night Saffron pulled out his pack of cigarettes placing one in his mouth. Using his semblance in a rather convent way a flame appeared lighting his cigarette.

A long breath in pulled the toxic smoke from the small device of death and into Saffron's lungs. He hated these things, addiction is a heck of a thing. Smoke curled in front of his face as he exhaled in a long sigh. Long had it been since he smoked the stuff you buy at corner stores, he ad switched to pure tobacco a while back, but the things still were killing him ever so slowly.

“Stars look nice tonight,” Saffron said looking up to the sky. Unfortunately the city lights kept the sky from being as magnificent as it could have, but the air was rather clear giving a nice view of what could be seen.

Taking another long drag on his cigarette Saffron shifted his gaze from the stars back to the world around him. Slowly he began to wander through the streets of Bellmuse hands resting in his back pockets. As he was done with the bars there wasn't really a destination to his walk, just a general motion. He was no Faunus so when he turned down streets with little lighting he switched to relying more on his hearing for awareness of his surroundings. Off all the parts of his body he was slowly eroding over time his ears were not one of them. Of course there were other people out, some of a more illicit nature than others. Down one street he even got propositioned by what he assumed was some form of escort. After politely refusing the offer to take his money Saffron decided to change course for a better part of town. Of course being himself he decided to take what he thought might be a short cut through an alley way.

The night breeze curled around Raziel causing her long hair to sway slightly with it. She looked out over the city from her vantage point on top of one of it's buildings. The night was always so much nicer than the accursed day. Everything was quieter, and didn't hurt her ears, everything was darker so her eyes didn't have to strain to filter out extra light. Unfortunately she would start studying at Syne tomorrow and would have to waste her nights sleeping.

With a long sigh Raziel stepped to the edge of the building just over an alley way. Jumping back and forth from each wall to slow her decent she made her way down to the bottom. With a quiet thud her shoes finally hit concrete. Sanding up straight and smoothing out her clothes she turned to see a man standing there with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “Oh hi,” Raziel said caught somewhat off guard.

Well this was unexpected. Saffron was not five feet down the alley when a fox Faunus girl landed almost on top of him. Standing there he watched her stand up and face him. She looked slightly surprised as she greeted him.

“Hi,” Saffron responded to her greeting trying to be as cool as possible, “That was... something.” Eying the sword that the Faunus carried Saffron mentally noted where the vials of dust he carried where. He didn't expect a fight, but anything could happen. Hell, this fix could be part of the white fang for all he knew. For now though he would keep the conversation going. Best to avoid a fight through peaceful chatter than through intimidation.

“So what are you doing out here so late? Isn't it past curfew or something like that?” he asked never taking his eyes off the fox's sword. If she drew that thing then he would not hesitate to fight.

This man seemed polite enough but he was watching Aka'Ken closely. Reading his body language carefully Raziel determined he wasn't looking for a fight only being careful in case she wanted one. She liked the man already, if one was not cautious one could get themselves killed very quickly in this world. “Why thank you,” Raziel said accepting the compliment. “I'm a fox Faunus. I'm naturally nocturnal.”

Even when still talking with her the man continued watching Aka'Ken. “Don't worry, he won't bite. Unless I tell him to, that is,” Raziel half laughed, “In any case, my name's Raziel. I just moved here and was out taking in the city while I still can.” She would rather not reveal too much about herself at the moment while she still didn't know much about this man. For now Raziel put on the most disarming face she could. A stiff breeze rolled in ruffling Raziel's hair and causing her ears to twitch.

“He?” Saffron questioned the fox, apparently named Raziel, referring to her sword as Aka'Ken. He had known people who had named their weapons before, but this was quite the unique name. Perhaps it had some deeper meaning that the didn't understand. “Well it's a pleasure to meet you. Name's Saffron May,” He said as his cigarette burnt out and he let it fall from his mouth. As it did he channeled his semblance causing the rest of the cigarette to ignite mid air and burn up before it hit the ground.

“As a Philosophy teacher I believe it is my job to try and enlighten whenever I have the chance,” Saffron began taking out another cigarette and lighting it with is semblance, “As such I offer this advice. From a heath standpoint smoking is horrible for you, from a philosophical standpoint though it helps relax you and think clearly. And so If you ever take up smoking it would be best to buy pure tobacco and make your own, at least that way you won't get all the horrible chemicals.” Saffron took a long, deep drag on his smoke, holding it for a second before turning up his head and letting out the smoke in a slow stream.

“Yes he's been with me for as long as I can remember,” Raziel said gripping Aka'Ken's sheath then hefting it slightly. He introduced himself as Saffron May. Raziel watched as the man began to glow ever so lightly, probably using his semblance, but for what? Before Raziel had time to even tense her muscles the cigarette but burst into flames.

“Well that's a unique use of your semblance,” Raziel commented as Saffron lit a new cigarette then began on his monologue. Raziel listened as he went on a philosophical tangent about smoking. When he finished and blew out a long trail of smoke like a chimney Raziel almost laughed at him.

“So you're a teacher?” Raziel asked, “You wouldn't happen to teach at Syne would you? I happen to be attending there starting tomorrow.” She figured at this point it was safe to assume that there was no reason to be guarded about herself, not about her cover in any case. Besides if he was a teacher there it would makes sense to reenforce her cover while she was here.

The smoke from his cigarette swirled about in the night air above him slowly drifting upwards. “Interesting,” he said to Raziel's comment on her sword. With his lungs now empty of smoke Saffron looked back to the fox girl continuing to smoke his cigarette though much lighter than before.

“Yes actually, just got the job there. So I guess that makes us both rather new to the school. In that case why don't you walk with me for a bit, I would guess that we are both going the same direction,” Saffron said motioning behind Raziel. Time for a test. Saffron thought. Lets see if she goes first lets me go first or if she walks next to me. Each would denote a separate personality. An ever so subtle smirk comes across Saffron's face as he thinks this. If this girl is a student then it would be best to know at least a little about her, especially in case he ever sees her name on his roster.

Why not walk with him for a while? If nothing else Raziel could potentially get him to reveal if the staff is suspicious of any of the students here. Or maybe learn this man's stance on the treatment of Faunus, and whether or not he will be an enemy. “I guess I was heading that way, with tomorrow being a school day and such I should probably get there at some point, so why not now?” Raziel said doing and about face.

Though she turned her back on Saffron she kept her ears on his movements. For all the knew he was trying to deceive her. She hadn't been able to sense any deception, but in her experience humans could be a rather dishonest race. That was something she could agree on with most members of the White Fang even if she didn't share their hatred for humans in general. “So then, Professor May, if you teach philosophy what is your view on the oppression of Faunus?” Raziel asked as she began to walk forward. Perhaps her words might hint towards a White Fang affiliation or they might not. After all a young Faunus girl might just be curious about how an authority figure views the plight of their species.

Interesting, the fox Faunus chose to lead. Sure his specialty was not psychology, but there was still much you could tell from the way someone walks with others. Taking her lead Saffron began walking behind the fox Formulating his answer as he did.

“There are those who are ready to admit what has, and still is, happening to your race. Then there are those that are not,” Saffron began, “For as long as there have been humans there has always been one major factor that can cause large groups of people to band together despise their differences: a common enemy. Now the Grimm have been the enemy of all sentient life for... well forever really. However, being human my race is ever looking for a reason to discriminate. In the case of the Faunus, you have more animistic features, and thus humans latch on to these differences.”

Saffron let his words have time to sink in before continuing, “There is a famous quote that goes something like this, 'Be watchful in your quest to destroy the thing you hate, lest you find yourself a part of it.' Before you ask, yes I am speaking of the White Fang. You can hardly talk about this issue without speaking of them.” Saffron was careful as not to show any distaste towards the organization. “Now the most common view of the organization is a terrorist group, those within it's rank would call it a freedom fighter group. From a more philosophical view however they are both.” He stopped there expecting that there would be the obvious question of what he meant by both.

Raziel listened as the philosophy teacher spoke to her on the oppression of the Faunus. These were definitely a different view on things than what she had been exposed to before. Raziel stepped out of the alley into another street almost being ran into by a drunk couple who seemed to make haste away as they noticed Aka'Ken.

“Don't worry he won't bite, unless I tell him to,” Raziel shouted at the couple as they retreated. She laughed at their fear. Not because they were human, but because they were scared by Aka'Ken. He was actually quite nice, unless someone was mean to Raziel then he got really angry. The teacher came to his comments on the White fang and Raziel's ears twitched ever so slightly. She knew that if he was a teacher at Syne then taking him on alone wouldn't be a good idea, but depending on what he said she might have to warn the others about him. He was obviously baiting her into asking the obvious question, so she asked it, “What exactly do you mean by both?”

“Yes both,” Saffron began as he watched the couple run in terror, “What is an organization other than what people view it as. To some the White Fang are resisting the oppression of Faunus by the humans race. To others they are nothing more than a terror group dedicated to killing and blowing things up. And so the way I see it they are both. Regarding the comment I made before, some of their actions have caused harm to innocent people, both Faunus and Human. Now I won't get into a debate on if they White Fang is evil or not, that is an Ethics debate. And while I am a philosophy teacher and ethics are a part of philosophy, I myself prefer not to delve to deep into the subject. I find that such debates can often lead to unnecessary conflict.”

Saffron took another long drag on his cigarette. While it was true he did not care for the ethics field of philosophy his reasoning was not entirely based on avoiding conflict. He believed that what is right and wrong could be split up into three distinct categories. The first being what is right and wrong based on social values and laws. The second being based on evolutionary traits such as the distaste for killing. And the third being an ethereal universal right and wrong that is unknowable. For this reason he would often get into some rather heated arguments with philosophers who study ethics and now avoids the topic when he can.

This teacher was weird. And he had perhaps the strangest outlook on the White Fang that Raziel had ever heard. Both a terrorist group and freedom fighters at the same time? Well if nothing else it was a unique way to look at things. The street seemed to be in a nicer part of town, not particularly a nice part but not bad either. Most people shied away when the noticed Aka'Ken siding on Raziel's belt. When Saffron finished the second part of his monologue Raziel couldn't think up much to say. So instead she just walked continuing towards the school.

As far as she could tell this teacher wouldn't be an issue with the White Fang, but Raziel would still be careful. You never knew who you could trust in this world. Anyone could be deceiving you at any time. Though Raziel sensed no deception from this teacher. Either he was telling the truth or he was an incredibly good liar. Either way she say no reason to mark him as a threat at the moment.

Saffron continued following the Faunus girl, as she chose not to speak he simply remained silent. No matter where you were the city was always a different place at night. All the lights came on, the stars barely visible in the night sky, most of the reputable people were in bed asleep, those with less than legal occupations come out to practice their trade.

Honestly he felt almost at home almost the so called low lives. With how and where he grew up it was not surprising. Half the people that drank at the bar he grew up in where criminals, the other half weren't exactly upstanding citizens either. Saffron wondered how similar the criminals were here compared to back home. Deciding that he had shared about about himself and his views on things, Saffron decided to ask Raziel how she sees things, “So Raziel. Being a Faunus yourself how do you see things? Regarding the oppression of your race I mean.”

“My view?” Raziel asked somewhat surprised, “Well Being that I am a Faunus it's kind of self evident. I hate the discrimination against us. I mean not all humans are that bad, but most of you are. It pisses me off. I mean aren't we all just people. But with that said I also don't like Faunus who hate all humans for no reason. I think that they are just as bad as the humans who oppress us.” All these things were true. Discrimination was a touchy topic for her.

“Anyway can we talk about something else, this is kind of making me angry.” Raziel said turning around and walking backwards to face Saffron. As she did she kept her ears listening behind her to make sure she didn't run into anything as she walked. “So then, Mr. May, why did you decide to teach here? In Bellmuse I mean”

“Sure,” Saffron responded to the fox girl as she turned around to face him. He saw that her ears appeared to be able to hear everything so he figured she would be alright walking backwards. “Why did I become a teacher here?” Saffron repeated the question more for himself than anything else, “In all honesty I haven't the slightest idea. I never really knew what I wanted to to as a kid, and eventually I ended up at a combat school and then at Beacon In Vale. I learned there that I wanted to teach, and well I saw an opening here and went for it. Never thought I would actually get the job, but I did. I never cared where I taught as long as I was teaching. I guess you could say that is one of the only passions in my life.” Saffron's cigarette reached it's end and once more he dropped it from his mouth just before it burst into flames and became nothing. This time instead of pulling out a new smoke he instead pulled out a pack of mint gum and began to chew a piece.

Raziel listened to the teacher as he spoke on his reasoning for being here in Bellmuse. He definitely seemed like a laid back sort of person. “Well that is interesting. Most people, as far as I know, have plans when they move somewhere,” Raziel said as the professor finished, “I guess that the next question you would ask would be a reciprocation of what I just asked you. Which is fair enough. I don't mind a little give and take.” Raziel turned back around to face the appropriate way as she walked. People still avoided her, and she still found it funny. “Well I never really had a family and so from a young age I had to learn to fend for myself, so hunting just kind of came naturally to me. I knew if I wanted to become a full fledged huntress that I would have to go to an academy. One time I went on a trip here and I thought it was beautiful and so when I say that an academy had opened up here I jumped at the chance to enroll.”

Strange but not unexpected. It was not unheard of for students to show up at academies with no prior combat schooling. There were plenty of unfortunate souls who had to learn to fight for themselves at a young age, for one reason or another. Saffron shrugged, honestly he was one of the lucky ones. Sure his life hadn't been glamorous, but he hadn't been running from or fighting Grimm his entire life.

Looking around Saffron realized how long they had been walking for, they were not that far from the school by now. “Well I guess we all come from different places and circumstances. What matters is that you overcome your circumstances. There was a wise philosopher who once said 'I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.' Though I do not agree fully with this it still holds a good point.”

“Yeah, I think I've heard that quote before. I can't remember where though,” Raziel said. They were getting closer to Leena school. She didn't like that. It meant that she would have to start being awake at Leena day time. “You know I don't like this whole school thing, not because of Leena learning or Leena people, but because I have to be up during Leena day. Do you have any idea how hard it is for a nocturnal person like me to suddenly start being awake during Leena day time? It's hell I tell you absolute hell,” Raziel complained from Leena bottom of her heart. She was dreading tomorrow, well Leena whole next week really. Just for shites and giggles Raziel decided to do a somersault as she walked. No real reason just because she could. “Well I feel like I learned something tonight, so I Guess you did your job Professor.”

“You know I can't really. I mean I have never had a problem switching my schedule,” Saffron said, “Though I imagine it would be easier for me considering I'm human and don't generally tend towards one time or another.” Saffron blew a bubble with is gum inflating it until it popped. As he followed the fox girl, Raziel, she did a somersault. Saffron diverted his eyes as she was wearing a skirt. “Well that's good. Any time I can help someone learn something I've done my job.” Saffron adjusted his sunglasses, he almost laughed to himself. Wearing sunglasses at night, honestly at this point he was so used to wearing them that light hurt his eyes without them on. If nothing else they looked cool, which was the whole point when he bought them. As they approached the outskirts of the campus Saffron spoke, “Well it looks like where finally here.”

“Looks like we are,” Raziel said noticing that they ad arrived at the school. Raziel looked around. The place was much larger than she was expecting. It looked like what she imagined an academy should look like, but the size was still larger than she expected. “Well then Professor May. I guess I might just see you around campus. Have a good night,” Raziel said taking her leave. For now she wouldn't tell the other White Fang members about this teacher, but she would keep her eye on him.

Now all Raziel had to do was find out where the heck her dorm room was. And considering the sheer size of this place that might be harder than expected. Still that would not deter her from finding it. Taking a confident first step in a random direction. If nothing else she would at least look like she knew what she was doing.

(Exit)

“Perhaps, have a good night,” Saffron responded to the student as she made her exit. Deciding to do the same and head for his room. Besides he needed a drink anyhow. The halls of the school were empty, but being that it was the middle of the night that was to be expected. Saffron finally made it to his room and entered. He placed his coat on the rack near the door then headed for the bar he had put in the room. He pulled out some honey liqueur and poured it into a glass.

At this point he didn't feel like mixing up anything fancy so this would do. He sat in a comfy chair and began sipping on his honey alcohol. For a while he just sat there mulling over his conversation with the fox Faunus. Honestly he couldn't care less why she had come here as long as she learned something. Saffron finished his drink then headed off to bed empty minded.

(End)