"With each passing day, even the strongest, most powerful and intelligent warriors eventually come to meet the same fate as even the weakest ones that live among us.
"But with the passing of the sun and the shattered moon, even the strongest of us will live on through the ultimate test any hunter or huntress will face. The test of time itself.
"We are here today to remember Remnant's strongest, wisest and most powerful hunter to ever walk among us. He was a direct mentor to us all, some of us even had the honor to call him friend.
"Monty Oum, in my most humble opinion, the model hunter that all of Remnant's defenders should strive to be. He started out as one of my primary teachers when I myself stepped through the halls of Beacon, if you can imagine one scolding the likes of myself for the simplicity of mind I had back then as a hunter in training.".
"He took time out of his day, not only mentoring me sometimes in one on one, but he would personally take the time each and every day to meet with every single one of his students he had under him and ask them about their days, their training, their home life, and anything in between.".
"When he became headmaster of Beacon at the start of my third year, he continued that same practice, except with more students than before. He would always take the time to meet with every last student at least once a week and just know even if they felt alone, they could always come to him for mentor-ship, advice, or if they just needed a friend.".
"I myself came to him on a number of occasions. One time I just had needed to sit with someone and collect my thoughts after a particularly dangerous mission, and I had asked him not to say anything, but him sitting there most certainly let me know I was not alone.".
"Then, throughout my life as a hunter, to eventually becoming teacher and mentor to you all, I constantly sought out Monty. He preferred to be called by his name, no titles. Not even as headmaster. He saw himself as just another person that could hopefully help the next generation of great warriors to defend Remnant.".
"I sought out Monty constantly for advice. I considered him one of my closest and dearest friends. My eulogy does not give him near enough justice that he deserves. Remnant has lost one of its best. All we can do is what he always told us. Keep moving forward. Thank you.".
Ozpin then stepped away from the gravestone and crowd of students and teachers that surrounded the grave. He held no mug of coffee this day, only leaning on his cane as he kept his calm and stoic nature to the best of his ability. He then took a rather intricate looking ring off of his left hand and studied it.
He took in all the finer details. The carvings, the way it was woven and made of dust and metal. It was the headmasters ring, the one that is passed from headmaster to headmaster of Beacon. More of a keepsake than anything else. Ozpin could not think of a better person it belonged then with his former mentor and friend. He set the ring right on the grave itself, then took a few steps back.
Glynda stepped forward and addressed the students. "Take your time to mourn, as much as you need. When you are ready, feel free to take the path back to Beacon. The path has been cleared of Grimm, so you will not need to worry, despite negative emotions. Classes are cancelled for two weeks to give us all time to cope. We are all available if anyone wishes to speak with us at any time.". She then turned and exited the cliffside path back through the Forever Fall forest toward the school with Ozpin in tow.
Port then walked up to the gravestone and placed his hand upon it, speaking more to the stone then to the students. "As much as I speak of my heroic efforts in an attempt to teach the next generation, none are more heroic in my eyes then you were sir. Hopefully you have found your peace that you were searching for. Thank you.". Port shut his eyes and a single tear fell upon the stone. He reached behind him and released his blunderbuss axe from his back, making sure one last time it was to his liking. He set it parallel along the ground next to the grave. He then turned away from the grave and waited at the forest entrance.
Oobleck, carrying his favorite coffee mug with him, cleaned and pristine as the day he acquired it from Vacuo twenty years ago. He set the plain white mug next to the grave. He smiled and spoke out in what was the slowest anyone had ever heard him speak, "I hope wherever you are good chap, that this mug lets you drink the finest coffee that only you are deserving of. Thank you for all you have taught me too, dear friend.". He then stepped away from the grave and followed Port back to Beacon.
Ironwood stepped forward next and retrieved a lien dime out of his pocket and placed it upon the gravestone. He stepped back and performed a crisp military salute, dropped it and then turned and walked away from the gravesite. Before he got far, he turned around, glanced at the gravesite one last time, remembering the major battles against the Grimm he had faced and fought with one of his closest friends, as well as in the faunus wars.
One by one, the students from Beacon all stepped forward, leaving small mementos or last words. The crowd began to thin, and the air grew colder with the sky turning darker. Despite all the negativity and sadness, even the grimm were kept at bay just as Glynda had stated. The shattered moon began to light the world of Remnant, and a strange and ominous light shone upon the gravestone.
Only Qrow, teams CVFY, SSSN, JNPR, and RWBY were left at the site. They stood in a semi-circle around the gravesite, all completely silent witnessing the surreal moment before them. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Sun finally spoke up.
"Uh, Mr. Oum, sir. I didn't know you at all. But from what everyone has said, plus what has been displayed from everyone that did know you, you were an incredible guy and it would have been pretty cool to talk with you. So, I don't know what else to say, I am not very good with this kind of stuff. I don't have really anything to leave here, so I will leave you my necklace I have had since my mother gave it to me before passing away. I hope it brings you good luck and fortune in your journey before you.".
Sun then unclasped his necklace and laid it upon the grave. He then stepped back away and waited for the rest of his team to speak up.
Scarlett and Sage both simply took their rings off of their fingers and placed them next to Sun's necklace. They placed their hands on the grave and bowed their heads with their eyes closed. They stood like this for several minutes, both of them praying for Monty's safe travels to wherever his adventures take him next. They then stepped back and stood next to their leader, waiting for Neptune to say his peace.
Neptune then stepped forward and placed both his hands in front of him. "Instead of an item, mine will be a promise. You always had said to keep moving forward. We…well that is what I am going to do. I am going to go swi…swimming. I will defeat my fear of water. I will think about you watching over me as I fight this battle.". He then stepped back and took his leave with his team, with most of team RWBY having looked at him completely shocked with what he had proclaimed, excluding Ruby.
Yatsuhashi and Fox both stepped forward. Fox held a book in his hand. It was written by Monty himself. It was about how to deal with the mental stresses of being a hunter or huntress and how to be there for your team mates as well as ways one can cope with loss and regret. This particular version was custom printed in braille for Fox. It helped all of team CFVY in various ways, along with various other teams and hunters as well. He placed it next to the stone, and stepped back. Yatsuhashi knelt in Seiza position. He bowed his head and spoke a silent prayer to himself and to Mr. Oum. He then stood up, drew his oversized blade, then placed it next to the grave in a very delicate manner. He then began the trek back to Beacon with Fox, neither saying a word.
Velvet held behind her a very ornate framed picture of team CVFY, the best picture, in her opinion, she had ever taken. It was in their dorm, with Coco holding two fingers above her head in between her rabbit ears, Fox licking Coco's ear in a very humor like manner, and Yatsuhashi flexing on the other side of Velvet, the entire team smiling. She looked at the picture again, smiled, then placed it upon the grave. She couldn't hold back her silent tears as they fell drop by drop on the site. She wiped her eyes and wrapped her arms quickly around Coco and broke down, her loud sobs being the only sound heard. At the same time, Ruby as well had begun to shed several silent tears of her own, but still stood in her same spot as before.
Coco held her teammate for several minutes as quickly as she could compose herself, sniffling, stepped away and looked away from the grave, her eyes closed in silence.
Coco then took off her sunglasses that was sitting on top of her beret, folded them and placed them on the spot with all the other items adoring it so far. "My…my… someone is going to be well prepared for their next journey. You better take good care of my personal sunglasses. I don't just give those out to anyone you know.". She smiled at the site before her, turned and tapped Velvet on the shoulder, and held her close to her as they trekked back to Beacon.
All that stood left now were Qrow, JNPR, and RWBY. Another thirty minutes or so passed as they all stood there lost in their thoughts. Finally, Ren stepped forward with Nora holding hands. He shed several silent tears as he spoke, "Hello grandfather. I wish I had known you were still alive. I…we would have sought you out. We would have come to you to learn and hopefully you learn something from us as well. May your journey be forever fruitful, and blessed with no more pain and suffering as we all are currently suffering.". Ren then withdrew a packet of ketchup and a small napkin from his pocket and placed it on the grave site.
Standing beside him, Nora, she smiled up at Ren and held his hand tight as she spoke in an almost uncharacteristic solemn tone, "I give you my word as a Valkyrie, I will take care of your grandson as he has taken care of me. We always have, and always will. I hope you will watch over us in the coming days.". Nora then takes off her jacket with her emblem on the back. She places it on the grave. "It isn't much, but I hope it keeps you warm on your journey.". She then takes Ren's hand and together they trek back to Beacon.
Jaune and Pyrrha stepped forward, each taking an earnest look at each other, then back toward the grave. Pyrrha took her red scarf that she always kept wrapped around her waist and leg. She wrapped it decoratively around the stone, and spoke as she did this, "I hope wherever you are, that my scarf will give you protection, luck and warmth throughout your journey. Let it protect you as it has always protected me.". Pyrrha stepped back behind Jaune, and watched him closely.
Jaune took his ancestral blade, Crocea Mors, in its folded sheathe form and laid it upon the gravesite. It was more pristine then when it was first forged ages ago. "Well Mr. Oum, I never knew you myself personally, but I know you trained with my grandfather during his time in training and fought with him and you helped train my father as well. You always did say the classics and basics were extremely important. I never managed to get much use out of it, so I hope it will serve you well in your journey. Thank you for being a part of my life, even though I never knew you.". Jaune then walked with Pyrrha back to Beacon, neither speaking a word to the other.
At this point only team RWBY and Qrow remained. After what seemed like an eternity later, Weiss stepped forward first. She drew her rapier, Myrtenaster, and she held it in front of her two fingers placed behind it with her offhand. She closed her eyes and concentrated long and hard. The ground around the gravesite started to illuminate in a bright white glyph that started to change colors to red then yellow, green, blue, violet, black, and finally landing back on white. A massive pillar of light then burst up from the glyph and then settled back onto the site, the light fading but a faint but noticeable impression along the ground where the glyph had settled was in the same shape. As she sheathed her rapier back, she spoke out as if Monty himself were standing in front of her, "I bestow upon you an eternal protection. Anyone who dares to desecrate your final resting place, or any of the processions that were as well left behind, my gift to you from my family and myself will keep you safe. You helped my family when they were struggling to kick start our business of enlarging our dust trade. But I thank you mostly for showing an example how to be humble when I truly needed it and defiantly not deserve it. I guess you can thank Professor Ozpin for that one.". Weiss smiled and turned to her team, "I'll see you guys back at the room when you're ready.". She then strode back to Beacon, alone in her thoughts.
Blake decided then to say her words that she had been thinking about all day and how to say it. "You sir have truly seated a place in my heart, and hopefully all fannus across Remnant. You basically single handily ended the war, and started all the things necessary to make humans and fannus equal. You never looked at any of my family with any ill, or any fannus for that matter that I know of. You treated everyone with dignity and respect. You even saved my life as a baby. I wouldn't have made the wonderful friends I have now today if it was not for you." She then began to shed tears, "I…you helped me become a better person inside, without you even realizing it." She held behind her the old White Fang flag that she had held onto, even after being done with the organization. It was the same as the new one, except colored blue. She had it folded neatly and placed onto the grave. "This flag is a symbol from our people of the equality that you started that we will fight for and never give up hope for. We would never have started this path, despite what the organization has become today, without you. For that, I thank you sir. May your path, wherever you go, be good to you.". Blake then turned to Yang, placed her hand on her shoulder, nodded and waited for her partner to speak.
Yang gingerly squeezed Blake's hand, smiled, then stepped forward. She looked toward her sister, noticing her tears silently falling faster and more steadily. Her eyes laid next on Blake, her soft yet sad smile giving her strength. She then turned to Qrow, who glanced at her and then stared back at the grave. Finally, her eyes rested back on the gravestone. She unwrapped her scarf that was around her neck. She placed it down on the grave as well. She smiled and placed her hand on her hip. "No puns, no jokes, just honest truth. You helped our family and me in more ways than one. This scarf was one of my mother's keepsakes. It helped me, now I want to leave it with you to help you. Like you told me once long ago, keep moving forward. That is what I intend to do. Thank you.".
She turned to Blake, "Let's go. I have done my mourning. I want to enjoy my life as he would have wanted.". She held Blake's hand and squeezed it tenderly, "I want to enjoy my life with you kit kat.". All Blake could do was just blush as she replied warmly, "Okay.". They turned together in tow, but before they left, Yang turned to Ruby and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You gonna be ok sis?". Ruby looked down at the floor and nodded. Yang accepted that as an answer, turned and nodded to Qrow, then hiked with Blake back to Beacon.
Now the only two that remained were Qrow and Ruby. Ruby finally couldn't take it anymore. She broke down and cried in Qrow's arms. They both knelt down as Qrow held her tight keeping her warm and letting Ruby just let out her emotions. Qrow knew how close her and Monty were. Sometimes it almost seemed like he very well could have made her himself with how close they were. She constantly asked him for advice, went to him whenever she was being bullied at signal whenever him or Tai were gone, or even when Yang wasn't available to talk to for whatever reason. She always had Monty to go to for anything and everything. He even helped her build the prototype to Crescent Rose before she rebuilt it and modified it to what she liked. Finally, after about an hour of holding his niece, she cried out all her tears that she had at the time. Qrow stood up and gingerly moved toward the grave.
Qrow reached behind him and pulled out his hip flask he always carried. He made sure to not drink a single drop out of it. It was a special concoction only him and Monty knew about that were the duo's favorite to drink together. He placed it by the grave. "Well pal, I made you a promise. You might be laughing just a little bit, but happy that I am keeping my word. Yes, I am not going to touch the booze anymore. I made you a promise if you ever passed on that I would be done with it. Well, here it is. Take my last drink. You more than earned it. I don't believe in goodbyes, but I do believe in seeing you later. That, I know we will." Qrow smiled at the grave, then he turned to his niece.
"Hey kid, I am taking off. Do you need me around still?". She shook her head.
"Alright. Catch ya later pipsqueak.". He ruffled her hair and turned around to transform into an actual crow, and flew off into the night sky.
Now all that remained was the grave of Monty Oum, the countless items left by everyone, and Ruby Rose herself standing before the grave.
Ruby stood in silence, not knowing exactly what to say or how to even begin. Her trademark red cloak fluttering in the cool breeze as the moon continued to shine down on her. She took the time to read again for what was the hundredth time the words on the grave itself.
'Here lies Monty Oum.'
'For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death. We, the people of Remnant, release your soul just as you have ours and by our shoulders, protect thee.'
'Keep moving forward'.
Ruby then closed her eyes and spoke out softly. She knew somewhere, somehow that he could hear her.
"Hey, friend. I… I miss you. You always… you always looked out for me. I'm not good with these kinds of things. I never was with mom. You were always the reason I wanted to become a huntress. Why I wanted to give up my life to protect the ones I care and love. You always gave me a sense of purpose." Fresh tears began to fall from her face once more as she continued.
"Pl..Please, Uncle Monty. I wish you didn't have to go so soon. There was so much I wanted to do and share with you. I wanted to have you see me grow into a full huntress. I wanted to… to bake cookies with you again like we used to. I wanted you to see who I have become. I miss you. So… so much. I would give up my life as a huntress if I got to spend even one hour again with you. I love you Uncle Monty."
Ruby collapsed to her knees and began to openly weep. She held herself in a hug as she cried and cried out, her tears and snot running down her face. She didn't care. The only thing she cared about was wanting her favorite person to come back and see her again.
Ruby did the only thing she could think of. She composed herself enough to stand up and remove her cloak, Summer Rose's cloak. Her most valuable and prized item she carried with her. The cloak was Ruby Rose. She folded her cloak in the neatest way she possibly could. With both hands, she placed it on the center of the dirt pile, which was actually a perfect fit for it.
Ruby then stood back on her two feet. She stared at the site once more. "We all miss you Monty. We all loved you like family. You brought everyone together in more ways than you could have possibly known. I will do what you always told me to do. Keep moving forward. Except you always ruffled my hair like uncle Qrow does.". She chuckled to herself. "Thank you.".
Ruby then turned from the grave. She took a deep breath and activated her semblance and left rose petals around the site and grave. She stopped herself in front of the site again. She smiled and spoke her last words to him.
"Thank you, Monty. We all miss you and we all love you. We will keep moving forward.".