Dedicated to the late Monty Oum, who touched many lives.

Ruby and Weiss woke up screaming. Yang gave a small startled shout as the two flailed around in their respective beds. The blonde fell off of her bunk, landing with a thud next to Blake, who was already up from her bed. The brawler quickly scrambled up and rushed to the other side of the room, leaping up to snag Ruby from her bed. She grabbed Yang to and pulled them both to the floor, instincts telling her to clutch both to her chest. She had enough experience comforting a younger sister after nightmares.

She received a few blows to various parts of her body as the two smaller girls resisted at first, but they soon relaxed. Instead they started sobbing into Yang's shoulders, Weiss on the left and Ruby on the right. Blake hovered in front of the three like a worried mother.

Nora wouldn't stop crying. Ren was unresponsive. Jaune and Pyrrha had no idea what to do. The red head was hugging Nora and the blonde tried to get his friend to speak, to show any sign of being alive other than his breathing. The dark haired student had a dead, glazed look in his eyes, rings under them and his normally pink eyes dull with sorrow. The J and P of JNPR had no idea why a simple nightmare completely shattered their teammates, but it frightened them. The two were acting like someone close to them had died.

They had no idea how close to the truth it was.

Roman sat down on a train car, a bottle of alcohol clutched in his hands, his breath already holding the stench of the booze. He vaguely registered footsteps behind him, his green eyes shadowed by his hair, his signature bowler hat nowhere to be seen. He didn't react when glass stilettos came into his view, nor when their owner sat down next to him. He silently gave up the bottle when a slender hand reached out for it and moved his only visible eye to watch the figure next to him.

Amber eyes were screwed shut as Cinder gulped down her chosen poison, tears making slow, glistening tracks as they flowed down her face. She finally took a breath and handed the bottle back to Roman, leaning into his side. The orange haired man gave no protest and, instead, placed his head on top of hers. They both stared out at the cavern they were in, seeing various members of the White Fang stumble out of their barracks. They probably had nightmares too.

Emerald and Mercury woke up at the same time, choking back sobs as they both leapt out of their beds. They stared at each other for a while, noting that Cinder was not in the room, probably meeting with Roman at Mountain Glenn.

Mercury was the first to move, walking across the room and giving his friend a hug. She instantly wrapped her arms around him, comforted by the presence of her longtime companion, even as tears continued to fall from her eyes.

Adam viciously cut into some training drones, Wilt and Blush tearing into their metal bodies. He was a spinning whirlwind of blades and death, a deathly serious look upon his face, his white mask glinting in the moonlight.

Ozpin sat in his office with a cup of coffee in his hand, sipping at it as he watched purple explosions bloom into existence in the Emerald Forest. Glynda always had a short temper, the destruction happening to everything crossing her path proof of that. He sighed, pulling a flask out from his suit and pouring amber liquid into his mug. He would need more before the night was done. Anything to numb this aching sorrow.

Yatsuhashi startled awake with a muffled scream, jolting the rest of the team awake. He refused to speak at all, refusing to even open his eyes as he curled up on his bed. Tears were seen streaming out of the corners of his eyes, which frightened Velvet enough to jump into his bed and try her best to wrap her arms around the giant. In the end, only all three of his teammates slipping into his bed was enough to calm him down.

Cardin pulled himself onto the roof that Jaune and Pyrrha usually practiced on, his pajamas on in lieu of his uniform or his combat gear. He settled himself on the edge of the roof, gazing unseeingly out into the night, ignoring the explosions in the forest.

The next day was silent and somber, rain pouring from the sky as if the heavens themselves were crying. It wouldn't be hard to believe. The day carried on as normal as it could, although people pulled on muted colors instead of their normal bright clothes instinctively. The classes were slow, the professors either mirroring the same sadness that their students had in their dull eyes, or too busy trying to comfort their children. No one knew why so many people had the same nightmare at the same exact time, but they did know one thing.

A God Died.

That wasn't that far from the truth. I am not lying when I say that Monty is essentially a God. He created a whole world by himself and made it come into being by making use of his skills as an animator. He is the father of all of the characters that are in RWBY and is responsible for all the stories, pictures, comics, songs, videos, and more about RWBY. He has changed me in many ways. I probably wouldn't have written anything if not for him. He inspired me and all of us on this site. In 2 years we made 6,000 plus stories all about RWBY, even before we knew what the actual plot was. We made stories and fan art before the first episode came out. The trailers were enough for us to do all of this, to make all of the things that we did. And who made them? Monty Oum did. Yes, he had help, but that doesn't matter. He was the one who brought RWBY into being. I made this little story to honor him. I don't care if it is below my normal quality of stories. I made this for one man and one man alone. One who changed my life.

I want to challenge you to do the same. Make something, anything, to show our love for Monty. I don't care if it's a poem, a picture, a song, a video, a story, or even a simple post on whatever social site you go on, be it Ifunny, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and more. I can't say that I knew him, I have never even seen him in person, but I mourned for him, for his loved ones, his friends, his family, and everyone who was hurt by his death.

This is a tribute to Monty Oum who only lived to the age of 33 and died on Sunday February 1, 2015.

This a testament to the lives that he touched.

This is a tribute to the life that he lived and the world the he created.

This is myacceptance that he was someone I looked up to.

This is my proclamation that I will continue to write for him and his world until the day I die. Every single word on this story and the ones that I will write in the future is dedicated to that beautiful man.

Please keep his friends and family in your prayers. And if you are not in a religion, keep him alive in your hearts.

Even if the body itself rots and crumbles to dust, they become immortal through the actions of the lives of the people that they touch.

You will live on in our hearts Monty Oum.