Author's Note: Just as I am obligated to update EMRD after such a long break, the same goes for this story. I'll be honest, I'm still not 100% sure where this story is going to go just yet. I have some chapters planned and I have some thoughts about what's going to happen further down the road, but I don't know how everything is going to fall just yet. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
On a different note, I hope you all enjoy the style that this story is written in. You got a taste of it last chapter with the altered history of Remnant. It's different from my other story, but I hope it's still me, if you know what I mean. Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 2: Habitats and Homes

Life in a menagerie is hard. There are a lot of things that humans take for granted that we Faunus don't get. I'm pretty sure most humans don't spend their childhoods getting gawked at by people their own age and older.

Like I've said before, you don't notice that at first. You just find all of the people looking at you from the other side of the glass to be really odd. As you might imagine, privacy isn't much of thing for us.

Many families have raised their children under the eyes of humans through glass. Don't ask me why the Keepers have us do this. I really don't know the answer.

So yeah, we don't have a lot of privacy. We don't have a whole lot of choices either. We're provided food, both in the habitats and out of them. From what I've gathered, the Keepers find food that they think we will enjoy based on what animal traits we have. I get a lot of fish because I'm a cat Faunus. All of us cat Faunus get a lot of fish. Don't me wrong, it's enjoyable enough, but you'd think they'd give us just a little variety from time to time. At least the fish they give us isn't raw. Apparently it used to be in the old days.

We get toys to play with while we're in the habitats. Again they're based on what actual cats like to play with. There are balls of yarn and things like that. The Keepers like it when we play with the toys. I think it makes the visitors happy. It's pretty fun for us too. At least when we're kids.

I've actually done some pretty creative things with a ball of yarn. It helps when you have opposable thumbs and some imagination.

I said life in a menagerie is hard, but, honestly, you don't ever notice until you're older. When you're six, you don't really pay attention to the humans staring at you. It's a different story when you're sixteen and have learned some things.

Anyway, I've gone off track from what I wanted to tell you. I've never written a story, or an account, or a memoir, or a whatever before so I don't know if this is normal. But hopefully my deviation has helped put in some context that I might have missed earlier.

You're here to listen to a story. Like always, you humans want some entertainment from a Faunus. Well, congratulations! I'm actually willing to oblige this time. Maybe you'll learn something you didn't expect. After all, that's what the point of this story is. To tell you something. To help you understand how things need to change. But, more on that later.

For now, let me tell you about how my little adventure got started. Things started happening on Penelope's 17th birthday.

I was spending my day in one of the cat Faunus habitats.

I suppose I should describe the habitat to you. Well, it was pretty moderately sized as cat habitats go. I had a decent amount of space to work with and it and some large trees that had branches just sturdy enough to climb.

Over the years I've developed what you might call 'routines' for whatever habitat I'm put in. I've picked up some tricks from older Faunus and I've watched some of the actual cats held here as well. Oh yeah, I probably should've mentioned that earlier. Menageries don't typically have just Faunus. Anyway, I've caught glimpses of lions, and tigers, and so on and have borrowed things they seem to do to keep themselves occupied.

I've always done my best work in the habitat with the trees. Like I've said, the trees have sturdy branches and I'm actually a rather good climber.

So I spent most of Penelope's birthday performing my routine in front of crowds of humans. I spent my day climbing and lounging in the trees. I went swimming in the pool that was in the habitat. There was a small viewing area where people could watch me when I was underwater. I had some specific tricks for those people. When I got tired of swimming I would lay around and air dry. Then I did some playing around with the assorted toys the Keepers leave scattered about.

I remember on that particular day there were some people who were rather annoying. They would slam on the glass with their hands and try to get me to do certain tricks by gesturing and yelling. It was one of those times I was happy that the glass was sound proof. I couldn't hear anything on the other side of the glass.

I didn't oblige them either. Once I realized what they were doing, I climbed one of the trees that was further away and simply didn't move.

They weren't particularly happy with that and smacked the glass a few more times and sent a hand gesture my way. I was feeling peevish at that point, so I sent the gesture right back. Boy did that surprise them. I must confess to feeling satisfaction at the looks that were on their faces before they ran to find their parents. I don't think they believed the kids either.

I also remember a little girl in a rather cute pink dress who seemed almost seemed scared of me. I felt a little sad at that. I didn't like being in the habitat, but I didn't want to scare kids either.

I waited until she was really close to the glass before I slowly moved up to her. I didn't make any sudden moves. I could tell that she would bolt if I moved too quickly and startled her.

When I was close to the glass I slowly raised my hand and pressed it against the transparent plane. The little girl seemed to realize what I was trying to do and put her hand in the same place as mine. I think the other people who were there were shocked at what was happening. No one else moved and the girl and I locked eyes.

I gave her a gentle smile, one of the ones I save for Penelope, and gestured her to move closer. Eventually she moved close enough that her nose pressed against the glass. Her breath fogged up the glass a little as she stood there.

Then I slowly lifted my other hand and lightly poked where her nose pressed against the glass.

"Boop," I said and then whisked away towards one of the trees and quickly scaled it.

I still vividly remember the look on her face as I watched her from my perch. She looked surprised and genuinely happy. I'm pretty sure that was the most intimate moment I'd ever had with a human. Other kids were trying to prompt me to do the same thing, but I ignored them. I simply watched the girl until she left my sight. I don't know what she got from the experience, but I was simply happy that I had made a little girl less scared of me.

Those were the highlights of my day in the habitat on Penelope's birthday. Otherwise it was a day like any other. I just tried to do my routine every now and then and tried to ignore some of the looks that were sent my way. Apparently I'm really pretty, and that seems to prompt some kind of response from some of the more immature members of humanity.

To me, my day didn't really begin until after the menagerie closed. Here's something you might want to know. There are enough Faunus in most menageries that they need to have an area set up where we can all stay. They keep so many of us in the habitats for a certain number of days, and then they rotate us out. Some of us see more habitat time than others, but everyone, old and young, spends time in the habitats.

It's in this home area where the 'controlled repopulation' occurs. We're placed in an environment that helps us form a sense of community and where we can become closer, fall in love, have sex, and make babies.

It works too. When everyone has this much shared time and experience, love and relationships are bound to come up. I was born in this menagerie. So was Penelope. I'd be willing to bet hard, cold cash that one of the signs outside of the habitats I stay in has that information put on it.

That day, however, was my last scheduled day in the habitat until the next time I was rotated in. When the menagerie closed down I plopped myself down on one of the more comfortable spots and relaxed. If you're in a habitat, you sleep and eat and do everything there until you're rotated out.

I had just gotten comfortable when I heard a door open and someone called out "Come on, Eleanor. You're done." Those are words I still love to hear.

I immediately hopped up and started heading for the exit. As always, there was a Keeper there. I had done this drill before. I waited to the side of the door until the Faunus who would be replacing me came in.

It was Penelope's father, Forst. He saw me and we quickly embraced.

"Give her my best." He whispered into my ear.

"Of course." I said without hesitation. "It's her special day after all."

We stayed embraced until the Keeper cleared his throat softly. We disengaged our hug and exchanged nods. Then I followed the Keeper into a hallway and toward the homes of the cat Faunus.

"I heard about the little girl you charmed today." The Keeper said after a moment. I didn't answer. I certainly wasn't going to talk about that moment with a Keeper. He seemed to recognize that and changed the subject. "I also heard about what you did to those two boys who were harassing you." He added. "The guys and I had a good laugh at that. I don't think they expected a Faunus to give them the middle finger. We had a talk with them about their behavior." I grunted and didn't speak.

It wasn't that long afterward that we arrived at the home area of the cat Faunus. I guess if you think about it it's just another form of habitat, but instead of having trees and pools it had a series of really small houses where small families could stay and commune with each other.

We didn't like thinking about it as such, but it really is the truth. We probably have less privacy here than we do in the habitats. The Keepers always seem to know when certain Faunus are getting close and they end up having habitat time together and their relationships grow. The Keepers also always find out when one of us is pregnant. Then the couple in question is immediately given medical checkups to make sure that they are healthy and that the baby will be too.

Like I said, we try not to think about it too much. It starts getting uncomfortable.

Anyway, once we reached the collection of small homes, the Keeper clicked a couple of buttons on the device at his wrist. Then he waved his hand and said, "Okay, you're good. We'll come get you when we need you. But I don't think that'll be for a few days."

I gave the Keeper a nod and then walked down the… I guess you would call them streets, of our living area. I walked at a casual pace until I was certain that I was out of the Keeper's line of sight. Physical line of sight anyway. They likely had cameras everywhere, but still.

The moment I was out of his line of sight, I took off running towards my family's home. I reached the place in moments and quickly entered. I found Penelope in my bedroom. I launched myself at her with a cry of "Happy Birthday, Penelope!"

My flying tackle drove us into the bed, which was surprisingly softer than you might think, and we both burst out into a fit of giggles.

"I'm so happy you got out!" My best friend said. "I was worried that I was going to spend the rest of my birthday by myself." I let out a snort.

"Please. I'd have found a way to get to you somehow." We both knew that was a load of crap, but we appreciated the thought. I wouldn't have been able to leave the habitat, not to mention enter the home area, without clearance from a Keeper. The devices bound to our legs made sure of that.

"I know you would have." Penelope said, understanding my meaning. "Even still, I'm glad we'll be able to spend a few days just celebrating."

"Your father sends his best, by the way." I told her. The red head smiled.

"We've been spending time together all day. Dad always tries to spend what time he can with me." I nodded. Penelope's mother had been declared 'untame' a few years ago. Neither of them had taken it well and they had grown closer as a family as a result. And since Penelope and I had always been close, our two families had grown closer as well.

"Why aren't my parents pampering you or something?" I asked, looking around as if they were hiding somewhere in the tiny room. The red head sighed and I understood. "Them too?" I asked and Penelope nodded. Her red tail wrapped around her body and I held her close. "I'm not going anywhere." I said. "You know that, right?" She nodded and relaxed a little.

"I know." She said.

"Hey, Penelope." I said with a small smile. She met my eyes and I poked her lightly on the nose. "Boop."

She burst into a fit of giggles and swatted me lightly on the arm. I swatted back and we kept it up for a few minutes, laughing. We calmed down and simply sat there, enjoying each other's company. I don't know how you spend your birthdays, but as far as we're concerned, this is a great one. It's rare to spend a special day with someone you care about here.

"What did the Keepers give you?" I asked eventually. The Keepers always gave Faunus two things on their birthday. A special meal, usually something a little more exotic than our standard fare, and a special toy. We all tended to share the toys the Keepers gave us as a matter of principle. It helped provide a little more variety with what we could do in the habitats, but there was also an unspoken rule that toys that were gifts from the Keepers were to be treated with more respect than the normal ones.

Penelope smiled and said sarcastically, "I got something so completely unique everyone in town was jealous. I got some fish." We both burst into giggles again. "I saved some for you." She added, once we had settled down again.

"You didn't have to do that." I told her. "It's your special day, not mine."

"I know." She said. "But I wanted to. You're my best friend. That's what best friends do." I smiled.

"Then let me give you a birthday present of my own." I said. "I want you to have the part you saved for me." There was a great warm rush in my chest when I said those words. I'd never been able to give Penelope anything before. Other than my friendship, there was nothing I actually could give her. It was a wonderful feeling. It's a memory I always cherish.

"Are you sure?" Penelope asked. "I really don't mind if you have it."

"I'm sure." I said, with complete confidence. Penelope gave me a crushing hug.

"Thank you." She whispered. "It's a wonderful feeling. To be given something by someone I'm close to." I returned the hug with equal force.

"It's a wonderful feeling to give it." I said just as softly. We stayed like that for a while, simply basking in the feeling of being able to exchange a gift. We eventually came apart.

"What was the toy?" I asked. Penelope reached over and picked up something she had set off to the side.

"Hold out your hand." She said. I was immediately suspicious.

"Why?" I asked. She laughed.

"Because it's small and I want you to get a good look at it. It's not a live bug or anything, honest." I relented and held out my hands. Penelope dropped a small toy in my hand.

"What is this?" I asked. Penelope didn't answer with words. Instead she set the toy on my hand and turned something on the top. After a few twists she released the toy and it began to move of its own accord on my hand.

I jumped in surprise and the little toy fell onto the bed and continued moving. I stared at it in utter shock.

"They gave you a wind-up mouse?" I asked in awe. Penelope beamed.

"I don't know why." She said happily. "But they did. It's not like I can really use this in the habitats, but they gave me it anyway." The mouse stopped moving and I slowly reached for it.

"May I?" I asked. Penelope nodded and I carefully picked up the toy. I held it firmly in one hand and twisted the crank with the other. After a few twists, I set it down on the floor and simply watched it scurry along the ground until it stopped moving. "Wow." I said. I didn't know what else to say. I'd never seen a toy this complex given as a present by the Keepers.

I don't know how many hours we spent playing with that mouse. After years of yarn and balls and other little toys of that sort, this was something incredible. It had moving parts. I don't know if you realize just how rare something like this was for us. I don't feel shame in saying that we acted like a pair of five year olds for hours with that little mouse.

It was sturdy too. We used it on our dining room table and it fell of before either of us could catch it. It hit the floor and didn't seem to get any damage at all.

It was a wonderful birthday present. It made our night. I should've realized that it was too good of a moment. I should've realized that something had to go wrong.

Author's note: What do you all think? Good? Bad? Go fly a kite? Let me know in the reviews. Don't forget to follow and favorite! See ya next time!