Summary: "What's your name?" "That's for me to know, and you to find out!" – "What's wrong?!" "It's nothing… Don't worry about it, goody two shoes." – "You-!" "Sorry. I wished you would never see this side of me." – "Something's wrong." "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." – "…" "Hey… You wanted to know my name right? It's…" – The story of Oz's first lifetime. Before the curse. Before Remnant.
AN: This is totally NOT canon. Then again, it's fanfiction… Just my take of a possible story of Ozpin's first life, before the curse and what possibly could have been the reason for his punishment. Using the information as of V5 E7 RWBY. This is subject to change… possibly.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the idea of the story and the writing~ RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth!
Chapter One: Silver
Oz's eyes widened, his breath seizing as he froze in fear on the ground, having fallen back in shock and panic. The large Ursa that had popped out of the bushes reared back on its hind legs and roared, moving to crush him under its giant paws.
*Clang!* The sound of a hard object hitting metal rang out. He opened one eye.
"You really do need to get a proper weapon, Oz." A female voice spoke with a light sigh, coming from the short cloaked figure who stood between him and the Ursa, easily holding up her blade against the Ursa's claw. The Ursa growled and swiped it's free claw at her. She easily jumped and twisted, pushing the first claw away from herself. Then, with a single smooth movement, she beheaded the Grimm. It's body fell to the ground with a thud and started to disintegrate, and she landed on her feet almost silently.
She turned to look at him with a small smile and pulled off her hood, her untameable mane of flaming crimson red hair flowing out from under the hood. Her bright silver eyes shimmering and sparkling with amusement as she held out a hand to help him up from the ground. "You okay?"
"Yeah. S-sorry… You know I can't use swords though." He sighed as he took her hand, allowing her to pull him to his feet.
Well. It wasn't that he couldn't use swords. It was just the fact that he refused to. For some reason, he could just never properly handle weapons with sharpened metal edges in real combat… If it was a dull wooden training sword he'd be completely fine, but when it came to using real blades, his body would just tense up, as if just the idea of using the weapon for combat was an atrocity.
"Don't worry too much about it. My job as the Warrior is to protect you while we complete our mission. Your job as the Wizard is to deal with the final ritual." She spoke lightly as she continued down the path they had been following, towards the next village. Oz followed closely behind her. Reminiscing over the memories of their time together, from the first time he'd met her until now.
"W-woahhh- Ugh…! Sorry..."
"..."
"... Silver… eyes…?"
"...Pft. That's the strangest first thing I've ever heard anyone say to me. Seriously."
"S-sorry! I'm Oz!"
"Well, Oz. It's nice to meet you."
"Uhm… What's your name?"
"That's for me to know, and you to find out."
"W-what?!"
"Hehehe."
"So you actually can fight in training with training weapons, but you can't use a real weapon in combat."
"Y-yeah…"
"Hm… Have you tried bows and arrows?"
"Yes… It's the same issue."
"Haha. You really are a strange one, Oz."
"I know… I'm weird..."
"Don't get so down. It's not a bad thing."
"It… isn't?"
"Nope! Just means you're just a bit too much of a goody two shoes is all."
"H-hey!"
"Hahaha!"
"The warrior, with hair as red as the dawn sky, and eyes as bright as the angels light will be the one to protect the wizard, whose hair is touched by the shimmering metal, with eyes the color of the earthen land. The two shall journey to collect the God's gifts from within the four temples of Trials, and gather them at the God's first altar. Flame to the South, Water to the North, Earth to the West, and Air to the East. The two shall complete the final ritual and save the world from impending darkness and doom. Thus the prophecy spoken of by the Oracle. The Gods have named the two of you to be our world's saviours."
"W-what…?"
"..."
"You're just going to accept it?"
"Well… Everyone knows that the four temples exist. We were chosen. Nothing can be changed about that. If it really is true and the world is in danger, then don't you think we should do something about it?"
"But anyone who even tries to enter the temples has never come back!"
"You're afraid."
"Of course!"
"Do you really want to live the rest of your life just an average farmhand?"
"... I…"
"Exactly."
"..."
"Aren't you afraid?"
"I'm afraid of regretting. Knowing that I could have done something, yet I didn't."
"..."
"Well, that's just the way I decided to look at life. If you really don't want to come, you don't have to. It's not like everyone believes in the Gods. There hasn't exactly been any proof of their existence."
"But you believe in them?"
"I don't know. All I know is... that I want to do the right things in life. To me, if I have even the slightest chance of saving this world, or creating a better future for others to live in… then it's worth it."
"..."
"..."
"Wait up!"
"Hm…? You're coming after all…? Aren't you afraid?"
"... I'm… coming because it feels like the right thing to do."
"Heh. You really are a goody two shoes."
"Stop calling me that!"
"Haha! Sorry, but nope! I'm not gonna stop just because you asked~ You're just too much fun to tease!"
He sighed, coming out of his thoughts, watching his partner as she continued walking down the path with an almost carefree energy in her steps, her hands behind her head, like nothing in the world could weigh her down. "Hey…"
"Mm?" She turned her head slightly to glance at him from the side.
"Why do you think we were the ones who were picked?" Oz asked quietly. "There's a reason that we were the ones who were picked wasn't there?"
"Not sure… Maybe we'll figure it out as we go?" She shrugged. "I mean, maybe there's no reason we were specifically the ones they picked to go on this saving the world journey, but I really doubt that's the case. You and I aren't just any average kids picked off the streets."
"What are you talking about? I'm just an average farmhand." Oz sighed.
"Nope. Well, at least not in my eyes. You have complete control over your aura. It's not something a lot of people have when they're as young as you and I are." She said turning back towards the path as they continued on, walking to their destination.
"Huh? What do you mean I have complete control over my aura? I thought everyone could control their aura. How's that make me special?" Oz asked.
"Everyone has control, but you were born with the ability to control it perfectly. It's like… if your complete control over your aura was like the ability to draw a perfect circle. You know how everyone can draw a circle? But no one can do it perfectly without multiple tries? You have the ability to draw a perfect circle even if it was your first try. In theory, you'd be able to do things with your aura that most normal people wouldn't be able to do." She explained.
"How do you know that?" Oz raised an eyebrow.
"... My semblance… it allows me to see things that most people can't." She hesitantly spoke. "There was a time where I was scared of my own abilities… Honestly, I've never liked it." She sighed trailing off. That was as much as she was willing to reveal about it at the moment.
"Your semblance… Wait but if you say I have so much control over my aura, why haven't I figured out mine yet?" Oz asked.
"The amount of control you have over your aura doesn't have any relationship to you figuring out how to activate your semblance or knowing what it is. Depending on what it is, it could never activate, or you could never figure out what it is if the circumstances are never met. Sure, you won't be able to use your semblance if your aura is completely depleted, but at the same time, even if you have your aura it doesn't mean you'll be able to use it unconsciously without knowing what it is unless it's one of those semblances you don't have control over."
"I guess so…" Oz sighed. He really didn't want to be the one just sitting around and hiding while she did all the fighting. It wasn't that he wanted to be a hero or anything, he just hated being the one that was being saved all the time…
"If you really want to be able to help out we'll get you a proper weapon you can use in the town, and I can help you. How's that?" She asked, as if she knew exactly what he'd been thinking.
"But… I can't even use a proper weapon…"
"Don't worry so much about that. I have an idea. Now let's go already. It's getting late and I think we can probably stay in an inn tonight since the village is nearby. We need to rest up if we're going to go to through with the first trial."
"Right…"
They settled down in an inn at the village when they got there in the evening. They'd used some of the food and dust supplies gifted to them by the church and village, so they'd have to restock in the current village before they headed to the temple for the trial.
They were headed for the first trial, the Trial of Fire inside of the Temple of Choice, lying in the South, where a dormant volcano lay. The temple had been built into the volcano, not only allowing nature to safeguard it, but showing that the trial was not just something to trifle with. No one who had entered in search of the "gift" had ever come out of it alive with the gift in hand. They would either come out empty handed and barely alive, or they'd disappear never to be seen again.
Oz lay in his bed that evening, with his arm covering his eyes. He really didn't know how to handle all of this… Honestly, he didn't know how she managed to stay so calm all the time, and act as if there was no burden on her shoulders, as if she wasn't even bothered by the fact that her life had suddenly been forced on to some path because they had been "chosen by the Gods" to complete a stupid mission they didn't even know that much about.
Even though he had decided to come along, it wasn't like he'd gotten over his fear… He'd never been through something like this. He never asked for this…
"Hey Oz, do you think you could pass me my bag?"
Oz sat up and turned to look at his companion who had just come out of the bathroom in their room, but he immediately yelped and covered his eyes after glancing at her. "W-what are you- WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING CLOTHES?!"
"Sorry, I totally forgot to grab them when I went in to shower… We're going to be spending a lot of time together, and I don't think decency will be something to worry about after a while honestly." She spoke with an amused look on her face. "I didn't think you'd freak out that much though."
He turned away and grabbed her bag from the corner of the room, blushing and throwing it back in her direction without turning around. "I'm not a lecher and I don't want to see stuff like that without a girl's permission! Nor do I want to see it if I'm not intending to- ...Ughh! Just put some clothes on already!" He groaned, covering his face, feeling the heat rushing to his cheeks.
"Are you sure you don't want to see this? You never know, life is short and you might never get the chance to see a girl's body again." She teased.
"No thank you, I'm fine!" He dove into the bed covering his head with a pillow. She snickered. He could only feel the heat on his face intensify in his embarrassment. "Put your clothes on already!" He yelled from under the pillow.
"Alright alright." He could hear the rustling of her clothes. "There. I'm done. My gosh, you're really too much of a goody two shoes aren't you. I knew it was the perfect nickname for you." She laughed. He huffed in embarrassment. "Anyways, let's rest up for the night. We're going to have to go find someone to help us forge you a weapon." She spoke.
"Right…" He sighed. He didn't really know what she was thinking… She knew he couldn't handle proper weapons yet they were going to actually go and try to find him a weapon…? Did she not believe him when he told her he couldn't handle weapons in combat? She seemed to be quite the eccentric type, and seemed to know what she was doing though… so he'd trust her with it… If he couldn't use it then she'd be able to use it so it wouldn't be a complete waste.
The next day, he'd find himself holding a weapon of his own, and though it wouldn't be able to last till after the journey was over, he'd find a way to preserve a part of the gift she gave him. It would allow him to fight, and gave him a way to help out when he never thought he'd ever be able to do so.
Two simple souls,
Fated to meet.
A Warrior and A Wizard,
Both bound to be.
The Warrior will know defeat,
And the Wizard will grieve,
As the two shall complete,
The mission received.
AN: Loool. I ended up rewriting this first chapter since it felt like there was too much unimportant stuff going on when I wrote it the first time~ In this version it's pretty straight to the point I think. OwO I had fun writing it too so, I think it's a better version. Kinda sulky right now cuz I'm in a bit of a troublesome situation but whateverrr~ I'll get it cleared up tmrw in a meeting and watch the RWBY episode that I haven't watched yet because I'm waiting till I get through the meeting so that I can cheer myself up afterwards LOL. XD