Ozpin enjoys taking trips to the garden once in a while. He finds it fills him with the kind of tranquility he sometimes needs after a particulary hard week of work as Headmaster of Beacon Academy. He prefers going there by the end of the week, when there is lesser chance of running into one of his students, as they usually choose to spend the weekend in the City of Vale. Today his visit is rather bittersweet, but he is used to the feeling. He walks the yellow path made of the fallen leaves and takes a deep breath. The summer has ended way too soon for his liking. Autumn hasn't been the easiest season for him for a few years now.
Ozpin doesn't expect to see anyone at 7 am, which is why he is so surprised and curious when he notices a familiar figure in the distance. Ruby Rose is sitting on the bench in the garden, completely lost in thought. She stares at the bushes in front of her with a sad expression.
"Good morning, Miss Rose," Ozpin greets her to catch her attention.
Ruby jumps up, startled and almost falls off the bench. She relaxes a bit when she sees who's in front of her and quickly recovers.
"Oh, hello, Professor! It's a beautiful day, isn't?" Her whole attitude changes in a millisecond and she returns to her optimistic and energetic nature. He sits next to her.
"It is indeed. It's actually the reason I'm here. The day started too wonderfully for me to miss it by sitting at the desk," he tells her.. It is a part of the truth after all, "And what about you, Miss Rose? What are you doing here at such unusual hour?"
She grins at him sheepishly and rubs her neck.
"I don't know, really. I woke up at like four and couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I could go somewhere where I wouldn't wake the girls up. Weiss would kill me if I woke her up before nine," she adds. Ozpin has a feeling it's not all there is to it, but he lets it be, "It's weird. I've been here so many times before and I haven't seen anyone. I guess it is pretty hard to find if you don't know where you're going."
"We did all we could to prevent the students from stomping on the flowers or cutting them with their rather sharp weapons," he tells her half-jokingly and can't help, but feel proud, when she gives him a smaller, more honest smile.
Unfortunately, it fades quickly and Ozpin once again has to wonder what's going on in her mind. She doesn't say anything for a moment and neither does he. Many years of teaching have taught him that being patient is often the best strategy. And indeed, after some time has passed he can hear Ruby speak.
"I came here to see the flowers," she admits, pointing at the bush. Now that Ozpin actually pays attention to it, he notices the big, ugly black spots on the leaves, "But half of them has already fallen apart. I don't understand. I was here just a week before and it was fine," she emphasizes, clearly frustrated and upset "I tried asking the gardener and she said it was sick and there was nothing she could do."
"Everything has its time," he tells her as he thinks about a young woman hidden deep underneath the school.
"Yeah, I know, I just…," she sighs, "I wish I had more of it."
Loss isn't something he's unfamiliar with, far from it.
"But you have. And after the flowers are gone you can always plant the new ones in their spot. You can care for them and make sure that they are as beautiful as the previous ones."
It's a good advice even if it's something he has never quite figured out how to follow. To honor the lost lives by continuing his mission.
Ruby lights up and it seems like it was exactly what she needed to hear.
"You know what? You're right, Professor. The flowers aren't all gone and I can still cherish what's left. I'll go and fetch Weiss, Blake and Yang and we'll come here later, so they can see them too. Thank you, Professor," she says happily and runs off, leaving only the trail of rose petals behind her.
Ozpin gets up from the bench and examines the flowers on the bush.
Rose bushes.
Of course.
Ozpin struggles to move through the darkness. There is something holding him back, keeping his legs from moving. He can hardly see where he's going. He tries to move his hands to find something solid he can hold on to, but there is nothing around him. Just him and the ground beneath him. Ozpin isn't afraid. He may be lost, but surely, he can find something to help him find his way eventually.
The fog before him gets thinner and now he can make out a figure in the distance. He tries to run towards them, but he can't move. It doesn't seem to matter though, because the figure is getting closer to him anyway. When they are near enough he can actually see two figures – one significantly shorter. He tries once more to move towards them and this time, his legs do work, but he immediately trips on something.
He gets down to see what almost caused his fall. It is some kind of square stone, but he can't see much beyond that. He leans closer to read the encryption on the stone and freezes.
Summer Rose
Thus Kindly I Scatter
Instinctively he tries to take a step back, but the darkness doesn't let him.
The fog parts before him and reveals Salem and Ruby Rose standing in front of him. They smile at each other and Salem puts her hand on Ruby Rose's shoulder in a comforting manner. Ozpin hisses as his shoulder burns.
"Miss Rose!" he calls for her. He needs her to get away from Salem, now. Before Salem has a chance to take away, to hurt her, to twist her. But Ruby just ignores him and smiles coldly. And that's when he knows he lost.
She takes a step towards him.
"She told me everything," Ruby Rose says and it's like a stab in the heart. What did Salem tell her? What things did she change and manipulate? "She told me what you did to her. What you did to my mom."
Or did she just tell the truth?
"No, please, Miss Rose, Ruby, you don't understand," he tries desperately. He needs her to listen to him. He needs her to be the one thing that Salem can't touch.
"I understand perfectly. Salem has the power to give me anything I want. Why wouldn't I choose her over someone who's been lying and using me?"
He's been betrayed before. He's been betrayed by strangers, colleagues, friends and people he loved. And no matter who they were to him or how many times he promised himself that next time he would be cautious and wouldn't get attached, it always hurt. He almost gets consumed by the feeling, but he knows he has to fight it. He has to try and get to Ruby, to make her see sense, because it can't all end like this. He can't lose her to darkness. Not her.
"Ruby, please! She's trying to destroy the world," he pleads one last time, but to no avail. Ruby's going to burn and once again he can't do anything but watch.
"It doesn't matter if it helps to get rid of you," she says simply and looks him straight in the eye, "She is right about you."
"No! Ruby! NOOO!"
But his screams don't matter as Ruby follows Salem into the darkness.
Ozpin opens his eyes.
He is in his headquarters in Beacon Academy. Team RWBY has just qualified to Doubles Round at the Vytal Festival Tournament.
The war is coming, but it's not here yet.
He still has time.
"She was right about you," Cinder Fall, a maiden of his own making, tells him before she kills him.
He says nothing and continues the fight he knows he can't win.
Ozpin is no longer Ozpin, except he is, and his nightmare is playing right before him.
He is cold. He's kneeling on the ground and the snowflakes around him are still in the air. The time has stopped.
He tries to move, but he's held back. He fights against it anyway, because Ruby Rose holds the Relic of Knowledge and is about to learn everything. She's going to know who he really is and what he's done. And when she does, she's going to leave him, betray him just like everybody else did.
"Ruby, please. Don't," he begs, because it is the only thing he can do.
How could he allow things to get to this point? If he had just guarded the relic better, none of this would have happened. If only...
Ruby is careful not to look at him as she turns towards Jinn and that's when Ozpin realizes there is no stopping this.
He's about to lose everything.
He's not ready.
"Jinn… What is Ozpin hiding from us?"
The world around him disappears. No sound can be heard. There is only him and Ruby. The rush of adrenaline goes through him and his thoughts become scrambled. He can't let her win. She took so much, but she can't take her. He can't lose Ruby. He can't lose her, he can't lose her, hecan'tloseherhecan'tloseherhecan't
"NOOO!"
Ozpin looks at the young girl with a red cloak and silver eyes. He thinks about how much hope those eyes have given him and not because of the power they wield.
"She is right about you."
"I know."