The Children

18

My name is Winston Taurus. The Mistral refugees and I have been on this ship to Vale for about three days now. Med bay is cramped with sick, injured, or dead. People are worried as all hell about so many things. The sudden war, killer trees, possibly more trouble over in Vale. And here I am stealing people's stuff when they leave their cabins.

It's night time, and I'm now in the far back of the ship. Much less people here at this time. Lately, I've noticed some kid that has a very neat looking cane. Might be worth a lot once we hit Vale. It doesn't look like he's gonna let go of it, though. At least, when he's awake.

Creep through the halls, a couple doors down and take a right. Door locked? Nope. Morons. I open the door as slowly as possible to prevent making noise. Thank god they oil these hinges. It's dark inside, little bit of moonlight coming in through a port window. My faunus eyes help me see in the dark, though. Room looks clean, overall-

You: Get to the fucking point!

I spot the kid that carries the cane everywhere, fast asleep. And on the nightstand close by sits the thing I'm looking for. It takes me a few minutes of slowly walking, pausing every so often when he moves in his sleep, before making it close enough to grab it.

The moment I even touched the damn thing, my whole arm suddenly feels like it's on fire. Letting go in shock, I stumble back and hit a desk nearby. Causing a VERY loud ruckus. The kid suddenly wakes up and soon spots me. Not wasting time, I ditched the cane and made a run for the door. I would have made it, if it weren't for this old guy with booze on his breath that showed up. I think it was bourbon. He must have been slightly sober, because the moment he saw me, he tried to-

You rip your hand from Winston's head and take a step back, pacing about in the empty room. You try your damndest not to pop the little bastard's head with your OP mind powers. Floating before you, red hair with small horns popping out and blue eyes, Winston sports a dizzying look from your brain probing.

You: Fuck it, I'm skimming through. Grit your teeth!

Placing your hand back on Winston's head, almost covering half his face, you exert more energy and just steam role through his memories. It is not pleasant for the poor kid.

Winston: That Qrow guy tried to stop me but I was able to over power him. Before I could run I got knocked out by that Oscar kid and tied up. A few questions and promise of not being arrested later, he let me join his little merry band of underaged soldiers. After some teenage bonding moments we became friends and I got assigned to check out some place where unchecked bullheads are coming and going, and bring back anything or anyone valuable. And that's why I'm here. My brain feels watery.

You remove your hand, smoke steaming from Winston's face. The right eye now bloodshot. Disconnecting your magic, the boy falls to the ground as you step aside to think.

You: Shit. That child molester is getting wise with me. Need to throw him off, somehow.

Winston, kinda forgotten at the moment, slowly gets to his feet as he stares at the ground.

Winston: Heh. So you managed to pry out my secret mission with your wicked magic.

You: Oh hey, your still alive?

Winston: So I bet you want to know my backstory. How I came to be the broken soul I am now.

You:...... No, I honestly don't. So how 'bout you go lie down and die.

Winston: Alright, fine, twist my arm. It all started when I was born.

You: Dammit all.

Winston: Throughout my early youth, I've always been treated as unwanted.