AYangThang: After today's episode of terrible writing Yuri is just not in me at this moment in time. Soooo, have this completely unrelated pairing instead...

An Innocent Soul's Reprieve
Chapter 1

She was cute, spunky, wise…

There was a lot to like about her. She spoke with a soft and candid response that could toe the border of bluntness without being rude about it. Emotionally, she was something else entirely. Something he didn't have a word for, and his young mind twisted around these ideals. The stirrings of something new and uncanny coiled within him. Oscar had never once had the time to let his eyes wander over a pretty girl in his life until now…and fawn over her he did, even as his body warred with him.

It wasn't as if she was scantily clad, or anything of the sort. In fact, he was thankful that Ruby seemed more aware of the other people around her, coming out of the shower covered in at least something more than a towel. Clad in the same outfit she always wore, she dried her hair, chatting with Nora idly about ways to push themselves further along in their training.

Nora's ideas, as always, were impossible to achieve. Jaune warned them as such, but Ruby, amazing girl she was, laughed along with Nora's crazy plans anyway.

Her smile called to him, the radiance of it probably an almost impossible burden to carry on its own. He wanted to reach up and caress it away. Ask her how she truly felt, and see once again the tormented soul he knew rested underneath the surface. The night he saw her cry, was the pinpoint accurate moment when he realized he wanted to understand that pain. To drag it out of her and throw it away…but he couldn't do that, and such a helpless feeling made him only desire her all the more.

"She is quite magnificent, isn't she…?"

"Shut up." Oscar growled, slamming his eyes closed and cramming another spoonful of breakfast into his mouth as the others at the table drew their attention towards him.

Ruby smiled, letting the bath towel fall from around her dark tresses, offering him a kind smile. He blushed and looked away, Nora wiggling her eyebrows teasingly at the young male among them. Ren, however, seemed to take sympathy on his plight, distracting Nora with another pancake painstaking prepared strictly for her enjoyment. Then, they all went back to discussing their training for the day.

Oscar let his eyes fall back onto the woman he admired, mentally berating himself for doing so. It was wrong to look at her that way, or so he felt.

"There is nothing wrong with taking an interest in a pretty girl."

Oscar suspected that was true. There was nothing wrong with liking someone. However, that did nothing for the unwanted reaction his body handed to him as a result of that admiration. He ignored the much older male trapped in his head. It was all he could do, since Ozpin was stuck there and couldn't leave. Shoving oatmeal into his mouth, he tried to mentally force his erection to subside in any way he could without drawing attention to the table.

The long winded, seemingly amused sigh in his head was not his own. The words that came next, he dreaded to hear.

"I do understand your situation, you know. It's every young man's plight to come across something that intrigues him eventually. No matter what that intrigue may be, he will always be drawn to his curiosities. If that curiosity happens to be a woman, well, let's just say, I'd consider that rather normal…healthy even…unwanted reaction included."

"I know that, okay!" He stood up and yelled, slamming his napkin on the table and storming off in the direction of the room he had been given. He had been rooming with Qrow, but the man was out now and would be for some time. By himself, he could finally sit down in his bed and curse without people looking at him. He could feel the ache he knew well when he left himself unattended, but dealing with it was not something he wanted to do.

"You do realize we are connected, don't you? I feel what you do, as I do inhabit your body. So, you can sit there and continue to hate yourself for it, or, you could choose to do something about the matter."

"Just go away." Oscar murmured weakly.

It was a moment later when a knock came to the door, and with a grown of annoyance, he opened it to find Ren standing on the other side, a rolled up magazine in his hand still fresh in a plastic wrapper. The docile man cleared his throat, simply holding out the reading material. "You'll have to excuse the girls. We've been on the road a long time. Modesty is a commodity, and though we do try to preserve it, the facts of life are simple enough."

Oscar took the offered pornographic reading for what it was. A peace offering of sorts, but he had no intention fo reading it as he thanked Ren and closed the door behind him, throwing himself on the bed with an annoyed grunt. He was going crazy, he just knew it.


He dreamed about her sometimes.

He didn't mean to do so, he certainly didn't want to explain the days he skipped out on breakfast simply because he couldn't bear to look at the woman who had captured his heart…or the very least the rather dirty part of his mind. He had been raised to respect women, and though he knew his reaction to Ruby had to be normal, he still doubted it was respectful.

He couldn't even look at her without wondering what her hair would feel like woven between his fingertips. He couldn't stop his eyes from lingering a little too long on her lips, wondering if they were as soft as they looked. He never dared to let his eyes linger over her breasts, he refused to stare at her hips. Yet, the primal part of his mind told him those areas were important too. He remembered his aunt once tittering on with the farmer's wives. Talking about childrearing hips, and the yeilding form a woman was sopposed to have when in an embrace with a man.

His aunt had even spoken to him about romance at great length. All sorts of things he found to be nonsense at the time. Put into perspective though, he had indeed wondered what it would be like to place him palms on her hips and hold her close to him that way….to feel her entire body pressed to his.

It was then he made a very unhappy realization. He knew exactly what to do with a woman, and yet, he knew nothing at the same time. He should have never had the slightest clue…but then again, he did share his mind, body, and thoughts, with the man in his head. Ozpin had live many lives, it was no wonder if he had a girlfriend or two in all of those lifetimes.

Oscar growled to himself. That was no reason to further allow his mind to wander. Ruby was too good for him, anyway.

"Women do not like that…"

"Like what?"

"As a rule, making choices for another person tends to be an insult. Women should be allowed to decide for themselves who is, or isn't, too good for them. Do not get me wrong, this is no time for you to be starting on with a fledgling romance. However, to presume her feelings on the matter, or any matter, is a scatterbrained idea that will only result in travesty."

"Then what in the hell should I do?" Oscar groused.

"That is for you to decide."

"She isn't going to like a guy like me." Oscar pointed out. "I have an old fart, who used to be her headmaster, trapped in my head. She would be crazy to want to be with a guy like me."

"I often thought the same. I have, over the lifetimes, come to terms with the arrangements that this particular fate forces upon me, and now you as well. It takes an extraordinary person to accept the sort of person you will become. You have many lifetimes of experience to draw from, and that will impact your preview over the years to follow. You do not have one single man's experience, but rather, a collaborative one. I am merely the one giving voice to those experiences…that being said, a heavy burden such as this should not be endured alone."

"So, like what do you mean? I should get a girlfriend?"

"What I mean, young man, is that like it or not, that is precisely what you are. A young man, with burdens and gifted wisdom that will age you far beyond your years. You should take great effort to do what you can to come to terms with the gravity of the situation. Make it easier to cope. If that means that you 'should get a girlfriend' as you so put it, then perhaps you should consider it."

"She isn't going to say yes, you know that…right?"

"That remains to be seen. If you want the truth, and not mere conjecture, I am not the one to speak to. You must find Ruby. Ask her yourself."

"Yeah, and I'd just bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Oscar grumbled. "Perverted old fart…"


The days went by in agony. It was painful to see, not to mention experience, the awkward deliberations of a wayward teenage boy. He was younger than Ruby, and that was something Ozpin made sure to remind himself of. He continued to observe Oscar's embarrassed reactions to the girl. He couldn't have made his interest in her more clear unless he pulled the girl aside and simply kissed her….a rather deep desire of Oscar's recently that gave Ozpin far too many ideas.

He was not a complete master of this new body that housed him, and so, he was unable to satiate the desires that so drove him absolutely crazy. He had, on more than one occasion, needed to wrestle control away from the boy and drown himself in more than one freezing cold shower. When that ceased to be enough, he had taken to dealing with the matter with the help of the magazine that Ren had presented as an available option.

Still, it was not enough.

Ozpin could recall the touch of a woman's affections, and his heart ached when he realized, he would probably never experience Glynda's touch again. At least, not for a very long time. He could impart those memories to Oscar, but they were dear to him, and very personal, so he chose not to keep those precious moments to himself. Still, things could not go on like this, he needed more than what he had. He could feel that same loneliness in Oscar's soul too.

Oscar had probably always been lonely, and Ozpin had grown used to several decades of comfortable romance with a very attractive blonde woman. To be denied of those creature comforts confused Oscar greatly, because Ozpins desires were now infused with his.

Something had to be done, and Ozpin realized that the boy likely only needed someone to talk to. Like all young souls, a good talk or two with the girl would be enough to begin to curb his anxiety.

Ozpin found Ruby on her own one late night. The girl took to looking up at the stars often enough. Ozpin had always instructed Oscar to leave her alone in times like that. He had no way of knowing what Ruby was thinking, and had a vested interest in not setting off any emotions that may force her eyes to activate. They were ever so powerful, and ever so dangerous.

However, this night, he chose to take that risk while he had control of Oscar. It was easier to do while the boy was sleeping, and Ozpin took great care to ensure that Oscar's soul remained that way when he carefully approached Ruby. After all, this would not be an innocent gesture, and Ozpin knew that too.

He cleared his throat. His voice mingling eerily with Oscar's own. "I do hope that I'm not intruding."

Ruby looked over at him, long since used to seeing the professor wander around freely at night. It was the only time he could do what he wished while stuck inside Oscar's body, without the boy complaining about it. "Nah, I'm just thinking, that's all."

"Oh?" He asked innocently enough. "About what?"

"Just stuff." Ruby replied lightly, the casual shrug offering everything he needed to know.

"I see." Ozpin murmured before nodding. "Well, Ruby, if I may be so bold, it seems tonight is a night of reflection for both of us. It's one of the reasons I'm still awake."

"What are you thinking about?" She asked him.

His smile fell then. "Glynda, Vale, the upcoming times ahead." He murmured with a sigh. "Ruby, I won't trouble you with nonsense. That's not why I'm here. I simply wished for you to know, I can see your pain. I understand it. You choose to shoulder that pain on your own though. The others choose to do so together, but, I have never once seen you grieve among them. You always choose to do so, alone."

"I'm used to being alone." Ruby said, leaving it at that.

Ozpin had always thought to himself that if he were a younger man, he would have been quite taken with Summer Rose. She was just young enough to be out of his reach, and he was already happily involved with Glynda at the time of meeting with Ruby's mother. In the past few weeks, he thought the same of Ruby Rose. He felt, if he were a younger man, he would be quite taken with her…but he was not a younger man, and though the body he inhabited was young, Ruby didn't know him as such.

She identified him as an adult, a proud and powerful hunter. Her headmaster. She was his pupil, and she had not chosen to change the way she viewed him. She didn't banter with him the way she did her peers. Instead, she listened to him, just as she had always done. He couldn't take advantage of that, he didn't want to. Still, he didn't want to see her crying by herself, either. Even when she smiled, he knew she was in great pain. Even when she brushed her feeling aside, he knew she wept silently when no one looked.

"I wish I could say that it gets easier." Ozpin replied softly. "However, I think you and I both know, that's about as true as it is false."

"Yeah…"

"Confiding in others can help to ease the sting…for some, at least."

"It doesn't really matter if I talk about it or not." Ruby told him. "It won't bring them back. They're gone, that's just the way it is. I've accepted it."

"You're very much your mother's daughter, Ruby." Ozpin said. "I've always thought so. It's why I know you don't really believe a word of what just came out of your mouth. You haven't accepted it, because the pain is too much, and the reality is too cruel. To accept it, means you can accept others dying too…and that's the rationality you use to deny it."

"What makes you say that?"

"Your mother was the same. She would have run off too, if it meant being sure she was the next in line." Ozpin declared, reaching for Ruby's hand, holding it in his own. "She wouldn't stand to lose anyone. When she did, hell was to pay…it was that need for retribution that ultimately allowed for her demise. It's tragic that history repeats, but here you are, sorely ill-prepared to be out here, and yet seeking danger anyway. You are not like her in many ways, but in your reckless desire to protect those you care for, you are one in the same."

Ruby said nothing to this, then again, Ozpin supposed there was nothing for her to say. To make a comment one way or the other would do them no good, and she was well aware of her own self-destructive tendencies. He forced another smile, gently patting the back of her hand as he stood and began to walk away. "You should get some rest. I intend to ramp up your training quite a bit more in the coming days. I would suggest you conserve your energy."