They say that there is no God, that the Universe around us has no will or hopes… They say that the Universe simply is, and that in order to believe anything else one must surrender a certain degree of sanity. They say that in order to see reality one must give in to reason, and surrender all aspects of the soul to the endeavour of truth. They say many things, it seems, and for all that they say, ironically, so little truth comes from them. Humans and truth have a very rocky relationship, so to any that would sit back and watch, and for all of the accolades they attribute to the truth, it so rarely sees the light of day.

They say that the Universe simply is, and to believe anything else is simply not the truth. Well, if you couldn't tell from my tone, I'm not one to believe whatever they say. I say differently. I say that everything happens for a reason, and in order to have truth, you have to follow your instinct. It's there for a reason, and to deny such a simple yet useful evolutionary trait would be a waste. So, instead of learning truth, I went out to find it for myself.

I found a lot of things after my Dad died. One night I wake up to hear breaking ribs in the next room over. I heard my mother in the most terrified voice I'd ever heard try to get answers from the 911 receptionist. I learned what CPR does to a person when it's done right, and I learned that even if you prayed with all of your might, for what feels like an eternity, God doesn't answer your prayers… And I don't blame him, not anymore. It's kind of like being a self- help guru with a phone line. After a while, the requests start getting so damn ridiculous that you shut the whole thing down, deciding that people need to help themselves once in awhile. If I was God, I would be in the same mindset.

But, that didn't stop me from being a bitter asshole. While I watched them lay his body into the ground, I thought my heart was going to drop out of my body, it felt so heavy. That feeling took years to go away. I took that pain everywhere I went, and in a way, it defined me. I saw what that same pain did to my mother, the way it twisted and broke her from the inside out, and the way she became a whole new person after watching her husband fall back into the Earth. You see, the pain defined both of us, but where her heart broke in half, mine grew a second skin and weathered the storm.

For me, life became a simple routine. I went to school, I came home, I comforted my mom however I could, and then I went upstairs and did my work. Sure, I dabbled in video games a bit, but my life revolved around a pretty monotonous cycle of work and home life. If this sounds generic, bland, and depressing to you, that's because it really was, and while I still had my good times, the bad just seemed to loom over everything else like a dream that you just couldn't forget about. I stuck to my cycle to forget about my pain, and I looked at things as objectively as possible to do the same thing. That taught me to be analytical and patient about problems, but in the end my emotions were still stagnant.

For four years, I struggled with my cycles and my emotions, with my regrets, my pains, my successes and failures, my friendships and fuckups, my woes and worries. I confided in my family, I cried for help, but in the end the pain remained. I felt lost, and to this day that pain still lingers. It never truly went away, but for a time I thought that I had found a solution. A man came to me, telling me he had the answer to my problem, telling me that he could make it go away, could make my happiness undiluted.

That man's name was Ozpin.

Three years after that night, that was when Ozpin first came to me. It was New Year's Eve, to be exact. My mother and my sisters had gone to my Grandfather's house for the evening, and had decided that I deserved the night alone. That left me the entire night, from dusk until dawn, to do as I pleased. And, what I pleased was to sit up in my room, oblivious to my own world, and immersed in another one that happened to be locked behind a screen. Nights like that, I thought, made me feel like I was the deepest mother fucker alive, like I had the answers to everything at my fingertips. It's funny, really, that for all the times I felt like that, I never would have thought that the worlds would come back into my own with me.

I had just finished an episode of RWBY, actually, and was about to get up and grab another drink, when I heard a rather loud crash downstairs. My adrenaline kicked in, and before I knew it I was sprinting downstairs, both scared out of my wits, and trying to find the courage to not go back and hide in my room until whatever, or whoever, had broken in was gone.

I rounded the corner of my entry hall, and broke into the kitchen, trying my best not to crash into anything, when I got a look at the intruder. At first glance, it was obviously a hobo, or sleaze of some kind, as his outfit was truly atrocious. Before me, standing at a rather firm posture, was a man above six feet tall, with an ash grey, windswept haircut. He was dressed in some kind of dark green suit, and had a cane in his right hand. His left hand housed a mug, with some kind of symbol I didn't recognize on it. His eyes, though, were what really scared me. The rest of his face looked kind of aged, and sunken from stress, or malnourishment, but his eyes tore into me with a kind of fire that was hard to forget.

But, all observations aside, I reversed paths as fast as I possibly could and made for my room. When I got back up there, I took my hunting knife off of the shelf I normally had it on, and turned around, ready to drive that green pimp out of my house, by any means necessary. But, before I could even take another step, that same green pimp was standing in my doorway, looking at me with the same fire in his eyes as before. Except, now, I had nowhere left to go. I only had one option left.

"Alright, buddy, unless you wanna take your chances with this thing, I would advise getting out. Now."

I let the emphasis fall on the last word, trying my hardest to not show my building fear, and trying to put on as much of a show, to try and make him leave. That was the only card in my hand left, and it had to work.

It didn't.

"Well, this is a frightening turn of events, now isn't it? I do hope you will forgive my rather… Forceful entry. You see, this was all required, and there was no other way for me to get to you in time for-"

"No, I don't think you understood me, old man. You're in my house, illegally, I might add, and I really don't give a damn what you need, or how much time you've got. You're on my turf, and unless you have a keen interest in the tip of this here knife, I would suggest you leave. Oh, and I wouldn't take very long in that decision, either. I'm kind of impatient, you see."

I was fairly certain he heard me, but as for what I actually said, I don't think it made a single lick of difference.

"Oh, goodness, I was hoping we could keep things civil, if you don't mind. You live so close to the city, it is only natural that your doors were locked this late at night, and although I was hoping for a more discreet entrance, and I do say, you are quite hard to get alone, I did have to wait for the right moment-"

"HEY! I don't think you're listening to me, are you? You've got one last chance before I gut you. Leave, NOW!"

I took a step towards him, trying one last time to flesh out any doubts in his head about my hesitance to stab him, hoping it would be enough.

"Now, now, put that away. Forgive me for saying so, but your form is so horrible I could mistake you for some kind of motor-inept chef. But, your combat abilities aside, I don't think you really want to hurt me, anyways. After all, by now you must have some idea as to who am, yes?"

I narrowed my eyes in frustration, beginning to lose whatever semblance of composure I had, when a nagging feeling in the back of my head suddenly became apparent. I stared at his figure, trying to piece together whatever my instinct was telling me, but my loud mouth seemed to have other priorities and interrupted my pondering.

"You really must be off your rocker, if you think for a second that I have any idea as to who the fuck you are. Keep talking, and we'll see how far you'll be able to make it down those stairs before this thing ends up in your spine!"

I took another step towards him, flourishing the knife in my hand a little bit, then taking yet another step, closing the distance between us to mere inches. My room wasn't a very big thing, so there couldn't have been more than five feet between us to begin with. Still not moving, the man stayed perfectly composed in the presence of my violent outbreak, watching me with a keen eye, his gaze never leaving me.

Finally, he sighed heavily, lowering his head.

"Well then, since you seem hell-bent on making me into mincemeat, and I am under strict orders to make you see reason, you leave me with no choice."

The man suddenly took a hard expression, and with a motion too swift for me to comprehend struck me in my right side neck with his cane. The impact of the wood on my body didn't exactly hurt, but the shock of the blow drew me down onto the floor in front of him. Once there, I found myself unable to move, completely at his mercy.

He appeared over me, looking down at me, the soft, somewhat pitiful look returning to his eyes.

"Forgive me for the abrupt shock, but I needed to be certain you would hear this."

With that, he turned his back to me, sipping on whatever was in his mug, then turning back around to face me, strewn out on the ground in front of him.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose...direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

With the same swift crack of his cane, I felt my limbs loosen up, and my motion restored. I was caught between a maelstrom of shock and fear, but a hand in front of my face knocked me out of my stupor.

"Come now, Mr. Cortes, surely you know by now who am I am? I've heard that I'm quite popular around these parts."

I let the hand stay in place for a few seconds, taking in the details of the man's face. The calm, almost eager expression, the spectacles, the shaggy grey hair… And the mug. It all fit.

"Holy… Fucking shit. You're Ozpin."

He nodded slightly, keeping his hand extended, waiting to make my acquaintance. How he knew my name was something I was going to have to inquire about, but for now that was the farthest thing from my mind.

"This… This can't be real, can it? I mean…. You're not supposed to exist!"

He looked me in the eyes, shoving his hand a little bit closer to me, smiling now.

"Everything is only as real as you want it to be. Reality is a complicated thing, Mr. Cortes, and especially now you will find to be much more fluid than you've previously come to know."

Finally taking his hand, I ascended from the floor, meeting him face to face for the first time that night. Feeling his hand in my own solidified this experience for me, let me know it wasn't my stressed mind playing tricks on me. He was really here, in front of me, and not trapped behind a screen. Fucking Ozpin was standing here, spewing out worldly bullshit for me.

"Just… Wow, fuck me. Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, is standing here in front of me. Boy, Monty would've been pissing his pants right about now if he could see you here…"

"Yes, the creator loved all of us a great deal, I've come to discover, but that is beside the point. You're taking my presence here awfully well, are you sure you are comprehending all of this?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm good. I'm just… A little bit in shock still, is all… I mean, motherfucking OZPIN is here, breaking into my house and beating me up, like it's some kind of poorly written Fan Fiction from a frickin weaboo in California, and now you're here asking me if I'm okay, and… I just find that shit to be quite hilarious sir."

"While I would advise you to manage your language, Mr. Cortes, I would also ask you to consider the very reality of what is happening in front of you. I am a Headmaster, as I am sure you remember, and in lieu of my normally busy duties I have spent the last month of my time here, in your world, where my own is considered but the creation of a man by the name of Monty Oum. While this may be the case, we are not limited by this man's creations, and we are as real as any other realm. It has been recently discovered that a link exists between the two of our Universes, albeit a relatively weak one. Now, normally this link is inaccessible to either party, but a team of aetherochemical engineers found a way to strengthen the link, and allow passage between the two. That is how I came to be in this world. But, this link is still fragile, and only will last for a certain time. As such, I only have so much left until I am called back to Remnant."

"Wait, wait, wait… Red flag going up here. Just fill me in on one thing, Headmaster… Why are you even here? It seems like a whole lot of effort to just come for a visit to a depressed fan." I said, shaking my head. It seemed no matter how much I tried to wake up from this crack dream, the more it forced itself down my throat.

Ozpin sighed heavily, turning around, then beckoning me towards the staircase.

"Come, we'll talk downstairs. It would be best if we were both sitting down for this, and quite honestly your room is a bit stifling for this kind of conversation."

I noticed Ozpin pulling on his scarf, and unbuttoning some of his suit, and realized that not everyone would share my adapted heat resistance.

"Oh, forgive me, I forget that not everyone shares my tenacity for heat. Come on, we'll go into the kitchen."

When we were settled in the noticeably cooler kitchen downstairs, Ozpin took another sip out of his mug. I sat directly opposite him, on the corner of the table. I was shaking slightly, and Ozpin seemed to sense my nerves. He placed a hand on my shoulder in a reassuring manner, looking me in the eyes before starting.

"Easy now, nothing to be afraid of. I do think you will appreciate this story. But where to begin..."

"As far back as you can go. I want to hear everything I possibly can."

Ozpin sighed slightly. He did not sip from his mug, or adjust his glasses, two ticks that I had noticed from him so far. Instead, he simply stared at the table in front of him, as if gathering his thoughts was too much of a task for him. After a long pause, he looked me in the eyes again.

"Two years ago, in the winter season, I was standing out on the cliffs of Beacon, facing the emerald forest. It was orientation day for that year's students, and I had sent them on their way. I was partaking of idle chatter with Headmistress Goodwitch when something quite odd caught my eye. Near the bottom of the cliff, there was a man I did not recognize. He was wearing clothes that I had never seen before, and looked to be in serious condition. His limp was distinguishable even from that distance, and he was strewn with blood from head to toe. He did not have an Aura strong enough to withstand even a weak punch... And he was being hunted by a pack of Beowolves."

"Jesus… What the hell was he thinking, going into the forest like that. Was he armed, at least? Some jerkoff trying to prove himself on a dare?"

"No, he was unarmed. He looked more dressed for sleeping than anything, to be correct. One thing was certain about the man, however; His screams told me that he was beyond terror, no… He was worse than terrified. As such, I descended the cliff to aid him. Just as he was cornered on the rock wall, I managed to intervene and eliminate the threat. When I turned back around, the man had no words for me, only incomprehensible muttering. I could pick out only single words, like 'home' and 'where', 'family' came up quite often, as did 'afraid'. He was in no condition to do anything, even stand. In the time that I was near him, he fell into unconsciousness, and I hauled him back to the medical center on campus. I allowed them to perform a full analysis of his state. What we didn't expect was for him to emit radiation."

"What?!"

"Yes, he was as radioactive as a common kilogram sample of unrefined Dust, what your people refer to as Polonium. He was placed into quarantine as soon as this was discovered. He was a mystery, for many reasons. We knew nothing of him, not even a name… He was not registered under any nation's databases, he simply… Didn't exist. He was a John Doe for the next year and a half, all the while his radioactivity continued, his identity a mystery. He was comatose for the entire time, not waking for nearly three hundred days on end. Then… He woke up."

Ozpin's face toughened when he uttered those words, lined with acid and spoken almost regrettably.

"On the second day of the fall season, just this past year, he awakened. At the very moment he did, the radioactivity ceased. In its place… We picked up Epsilon waves, the telltale sign of an Aura. Somehow, he had "grown" an Aura, and was all of a sudden bright eyed and energized… Well, as much as someone in his position could be. Following his awakening, I began to talk to him. His wounds were quite slow to heal, and he had some… Obvious side effects of his treatment from the doctors. He was a mess, physically and mentally-"

"Forgive me, but get to the point. I feel like this is all unnecessary side information."

Ozpin looked my way, grunting in annoyance, but continuing.

"The man, quite frankly, was not of our world. He was of yours. He had an extensive knowledge of myself and many of my students, many of whom he had never met before. He knew my name before I had even began to talk to him, and he seemed to show oddly accurate amounts of knowledge about the runnings of Beacon. I asked where he was from… He said not a place, or a country, but "Earth". He knew he wasn't there anymore. He was not of Remnant, but here."

"Yes, and why does any of this matter to me? While the whole world traveling thing is quite interesting, you could have gone to anyone in the world, the best of scientists, the president, literally anyone. Why me?"

"I asked the man his name. His name… Was Lawrence Cortes."

That name made my blood go cold. I stared at Ozpin, not sure whether to apologize for my rudeness or begin to assault him. That name belonged to my Father.

"Heheh… You know, that's really funny, man… Maaan, to think that you'd go and try to tell me that my father, who has been dead for two years, mind you, not only is alive, even though I saw him lowered into his damn grave, and is currently residing in some kind of fantasy fucking land. Just… Great!"

I stood straight up from my seat, walking right past Ozpin, doing my best not to show the tears forming in my eyes. My loss was bad enough, I didn't need him coming here and flaunting it in my face, treating it like some kind of joke. I knew reality, and I wasn't about to have him come in and make me question it.

"Look, if you're here to do something, just do it and get out. I won't have you sitting here, in my home, making me question something that is the truest fact in the Universe."

"In this Universe, maybe, but not in mine. Don't you see? Lawrence is still alive! He himself sent me here, to find you! But he knew you wouldn't believe me, even if I serve as some kind of familiar character to you. That is why he sent me with this."

I stopped my rage filled pacing behind Ozpin to see what "this" was, to be greeted with a small disc that was projecting a holographic image just above it. It looked some kind of recording, of a man in a hospital bed. Ozpin said nothing, but his eyes spoke to me. They said "Come here, and see for yourself".

And so I went. I stood before him, and watched.

In the video, the man in the bed looked a mess. Bandages all along his right side, his head wrapped in a cotton Turban, but his glasses remained on somehow. The glasses… Were the same design that my dad always wore, even though the lenses were cracked.

"This is rolling, you know" I heard Ozpin, in the video, say to him.

"Eh, shut it, I know. Well… Here we are. I'm… Not quite sure what to say, to be honest. I barely made it here, and now that I am here, I'm not sure if I'm even the same person that I thought I was. But… Here goes nothing."

The man in the video paused, then turned his gaze, which had previously been turned towards the bed in front of him, towards the camera, or whatever Ozpin was using to film this thing.

"Scott... You're watching this. You have to be, or else Ozpin failed and didn't get to you. But… I know you are, and you're watching this because what he said wasn't enough to make you believe. Well, I'm here to make you believe. And I'll do that by saying this; Do you remember, all that time ago, when we took the walk to the baseball field and back? You were in middle school and it was the middle of the summer. You started crying, because you were scared… You knew how old I was, and you were scared that Mom and I were gonna die before you could do anything we would be proud of… And I told you that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon… But then, that night happened... Look. I know you, and I know that everything I just said to you speaks to your heart. You are a strong, kind, caring person. I know you're strong, and I know that you're hurting. You're my son… And I love you. I know that."

The feed cut there, as his hand went to cover his mouth, silencing the beginning of a choke from him. But, there was simply nothing left to see. I stared into the emptiness the video left for a few moments, processing everything that had just happened. I shook my head, trying to drive off the tears yet again. I felt weak, and spineless. I felt like I didn't belong here, like it was too much to exist in that moment. I walked to the door that led to the yard, and ran out it as quickly as I could. I fumbled my way to the steps, and sat down heavily upon the lowest one. I rocked silently against the loud winter wind that seemed to force me backwards, trying to meld my mind back into a comprehensible shape.

This was all madness, all of it. This had to be some kind of vivid dream, the kind that is so realistic you can't tell the difference. Maybe I was dead, gone to sleep after one too many energy drinks, maybe I was alive, driven insane by my inner demons. Anything seemed to be a better solution to my predicament than going back inside and facing the green monster in my kitchen. I knew he wouldn't come out here, he didn't seem the type to intrude on grievances, but keeping him waiting was the last thing I wanted either. I felt so alone that I could vomit in that moment, as if all my fear would just seep out with the bile.

"I… Just… Fuck… What do I do? I don't know…"

I was helpless, had been helpless. I couldn't even contain my own sorrow, let alone help heal anyone else's. Because of me, Mom was alone and scared, just like me. Karma has a funny way of making you see life in retrospect. But, regardless, it just proved that I was weak. I didn't deserve anything. I was… As alone as a snowflake in the middle of a storm. I wasn't like anyone else, and I didn't feel connected to anything.

As that thought flashed through my mind, the wind suddenly swept me forward, pressing against my back, nearly making me fall over. After composing myself, I looked to the sky, the stars partially blocked by the clouds of the snowstorm. But, just above me, the night sky managed to poke through.

I smiled, in that ironic, self-loathing sort of way. I was so alone, but I realized something that made me feel just a bit safer.

Sure, I was alone, but even when no one else was there, I had the infinite expanse of the Universe watching over me, and the force of the wind at my back. No matter what, I had that.

I closed my eyes, and meditated for a few moments on my rather deep realization. I giggled a little bit as well. I had a habit of taking small coincidences in the world and turning them into rather overbearingly meaningful sayings. But, for whatever the cost, it made me feel better.

Satisfied with my mental state, I stood from the stairs and made my way back inside. There, Ozpin was pacing dutifully behind the counter, turning his head as soon as he heard the door open.

"I… am sorry, Scott. It was wrong of me to push all of this on to you in such a short time. If I was not under pressure, I would have done this very differently. But you must understand that the time is getting closer, and I do not have much more to debate this with you. In just under an hour, my time here will be at an end, regardless of what you want. If you have made a decision, I need to hear it, now."

"I… Ozpin… I'm going."

Ozpin looked at me, right in the eyes, and smiled as wide as I had ever seen him smile. He did not speak, did not move, he just smiled. He continued this for a few awkward moments, leaving me confused and baffled, but eventually he began to move towards me.

"I will not sugar coat this. This is a one way trip, and it will be most likely that you will never return. On top of that, there is a very high risk of… Mutation."

"Come again?"

"There is physical distance we must traverse in order to reach remnant. We are not 100% sure of anything right now, but what we do know is that if the travelers are unprotected, you will be exposed to extreme doses of cosmic rays. We are not sure of the full effect of these rays, and there is no telling what could happen. You must be willing to accept whatever comes out on the other end of this journey."

"I… I'm not sure if I fully understand, but if I think about this any longer, I am likely to lose my nerve. I want to go as soon as possible."

"What of your family? Do you not want to say goodbye?"

"It would be worse if I did. I would be guilted into staying by my conscience. Please, if it is possible, I want to go now."

"... So be it. Come, then, take my hand. Place both of yours atop my cane. Make sure your grip is firm. Your life my depend on it. Before I go, you must know this; The journey is unique every time. It could take a minute, or a day, or a year, and you will not know how long has passed. But whatever you do, do not let go of me, do you understand?"

I nodded, moving over next to him. I did as he told me, and placed my hands over his, the hand which gripped his cane. The instant I did, I felt a chill go up my spine.

"Easy, now. The Beacon has just locked in on our signal. In a few moments, the device that keeps me rooted here will deactivate, and we will be pulled back to Remnant. Tricky technology, very prototypical, but it still works. Just hold on…"

I breathed nervously as we stood there, waiting for something to happen. What it was supposed to be, I did not know. He was being very cryptic about all of this, maybe to keep me calm, but I felt it having the opposite effect.

Soon enough, I felt a certain charge in the air that made my hairs stand on end.

"There it is. The device is off. It will be only seconds now."

I closed my eyes, and reaffirmed my grip on Ozpin.

"Ten… Nine…. Eight…. Seven…."

He whispered to me a countdown. With every number that he uttered, by heart rate rose. Aside from my internal stress, I became eerily aware of my surroundings, even with my eyes closed. It was if the energy around me was feeding into my senses…

"Six… Five… Four… Three…"

My muscles were starting to tense up, twitch even. Ozpin's grip beneath mine tightened suddenly, and his free hand came around my waist.

"Two… One…Go."

That one, little word changed my life…It also put me in the most agonizing pain of my life.

Well, hello there! Me name is Hanji, and I'm the writer of this little tale you've stumbled on. I'm always up for tips and suggestions, so feel free to tell me something if you want to see it happen! I hope to make this a very detailed and exploratory story, and if you'll humble me and keep reading, I'd forever be grateful. See you on the flip side. ^_^

Cheers, Mates!