RWBY: MRRN
VOLUME 5, CHAPTER 3: Surprises
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
Ruby groaned in annoyance at her Uncle, puking into the toilet of the bathroom. She had warned him not to get drunk, but she should've known better: on and off the job, Qrow was an alcoholic.
"Why can't you go one day without drinking?" she questioned her Uncle.
"It's a stressful job," Qrow answered before puking again.
"It's also stressful having to go look for you and drag you home," Jaune snarked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Geez, you're supposed to be the adult here."
"Oh, shut up," the scythe user responded. "I'll get started on that list when I'm feeling better."
"Don't take too long," Ruby told him. The reaper then made her way downstairs to get some bags and head out for the market since they barely had any food. Just as she was about to leave, there was a knock at the door.
"I got it!" Nora called as she zoomed over and opened it. To their surprise, it was a young boy with messy black hair, hazel and green eyes, tanned skin, and was shorter even than Nora. His clothing was poor and dirty, almost looking like he had come from outside the city.
"Can I help you?" Nora asked with her usual smile.
"Is…Ms. Rose here?" the boy asked. The minute Ruby's surname was mentioned, Nora dropped her smile and became very suspicious of him.
"Why?" Ruby asked, suspicious as well.
"Is everything okay?" Ren asked as he approached the two girls. "Who's he?"
"My name's Oscar…Oscar Pine," he introduced himself. "And you have…silver eyes."
Ruby's eyes widened at that statement. She had only heard it once before…the same man who had allowed her into Beacon two years early.
"What's going on?" Qrow asked as he came downstairs, looking better and followed by Jaune. When he noticed the young boy in the doorway, the scythe veteran looked at him very intently.
"Do any of you know him?" he asked. All of them replied negatively.
"Well, he knows all of you," Oscar spoke, much to everyone's confusion.
"He?" Jaune asked, but the boy had his attention on Qrow.
"He says…he wants his cane back."
Everyone became even more confused, except the scythe veteran. He took the cane from his belt and held it in his hand.
"It's good to see you again, Oz," he said, tossing the cane to Oscar.
"Oz?" everyone asked.
-0-
"I've told you already, Adam, the White Fang will not attack Haven Academy," Sienna told him as she sat on her throne and he knelt at the steps. "I am tired of repeating myself."
"High Leader, Mistral has long been one of the more racial kingdoms against our people, surpassed by Atlas," Adam informed. "If we destroy Haven Academy, it will show them that we are done with their mistreatment of our kind."
"No, it'll further justify their hatred of us," the Tiger Faunus corrected. "They hate the White Fang now much more than ever before."
"With respect, High Leader, humanity would've hated us anyway, even if the White Fang had never been created," Adam spoke. "They've always hated us because we're different."
Sienna deeply considered Adam's point. Humanity was racial against the Faunus simply because they were different. Even if the White Fang had never been formed, they'd still suffer prejudice every day just for being who they are.
"I am done watching my people suffer because humanity is unwilling to give us the respect we deserve," Adam stated. "Things always get worse before they get better."
"Not this time," Sienna believed. "Ever since the Fall of Beacon, humans have begun a movement of their own. They call themselves the Wild Hunt."
"I've heard of them," Adam replied. "They're based in Mistral, right?"
"And they want to expel all Faunus from the Kingdoms," Sienna continued. "Murders, burning down Faunus-friendly businesses, pressuring people to destroy Faunus homes…the Faunus in Mistral are suffering much worse than before because of YOUR actions. You think you're making things better, but all you've done is make them worse."
"Then I'll make them right," Adam stated. "We'll destroy the Wild Hunt and remind them that we will no longer tolerate their prejudice."
"Dammit, Adam!" Sienna barked, rising from her throne. She glared down at Adam for a few moments before recollecting herself and sitting back down.
"I was one of the first to advocate the use of violence when it was necessary. While I respect Ghira, I didn't agree with his methods: all peace did was bring more pain and we weren't allowed to fight back. My way of leadership told the Faunus not to lay down and let the humans trample over us, to fight back towards those who wrong us. But attacking the Academies…that could start a war. That's what working with these humans you spoke of did to us."
"Well, since you want to know more about the humans, you can talk to one of them yourself," Adam suggested before rising to his feet and turning his face to the large door.
"Hazel!" The doors opened to reveal a large man, probably eight feet tall with tanned skin, dark brown hair, a beard and hazel eyes.
"Took you long enough," Hazel responded before walking into the room. As he approached, Sienna's guards pointed their spears at him.
"So you're the human Adam told me about," the High Leader deduced. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't have you killed."
"Ma'am, I am not here to start a conflict," Hazel answered. "No one needs to die."
Adam mentally snorted at that. He knew that Salem had most likely instructed him to kill Sienna should she refuse to cooperate. He couldn't allow that; it'd alienate the White Fang from their cause if they were seen murdering Sienna Khan. Luckily, he had something in mind.
"You already did when you coerced my brothers and sisters into helping your associates destroy Beacon," Sienna stated. "We're suffering for it."
"I understand," Hazel calmly replied before kneeling. "All I ask is for a few moments of your time." Sienna was awfully tempted to order her brothers and sisters to kill Hazel on the spot, but she was capable of reason.
"The longer you stay here, the less of a chance you have of leaving here alive," she warned.
"I'll take those chances if you don't mind," Hazel responded. Sienna gestured for her guards to stand down and lower their weapons. The giant man then stood up as he prepared to address his case.
"I know you don't like me, you have no reason to. But I can guarantee that working with us, you and your people will get the equality you deserve."
"I don't think you truly understand what I want," the High Leader replied. "I want humanity to fear the Faunus, to know that we demand respect. But attacking the Academies could start a war with the humans that we cannot win."
"What if that is the only way?" Adam suggested as he started walking up the steps.
"Ever since we first came into existence, humanity murdered our kind, beaten them, treated us like dogs. Even if the White Fang had never been created, humanity would've looked for another excuse to get rid of us. They are incapable of giving us respect and equality willingly, so we turned to violence to let them know we are done being pushed around. I've willingly stained my hands with buckets of blood for the good of my people because…because sometimes that's what it takes. If we truly want equality, if we truly wish to make humanity fear us, then perhaps war is our best option. The Kingdoms are divided, fighting among themselves…but we're united."
"I've had enough of this conversation for tonight," Sienna stated, unconvinced by Adam's case. "Guards, escort them out." To her surprise, none of them moved a muscle.
"I said escort them out!" she repeated. Still, they didn't move. Just then, more White Fang entered the room, their weapons aimed for Sienna Khan.
"What's going on?" Hazel asked.
"Do what's right for the Faunus," Adam decreed. "If you will not take the path necessary to get our people equality and respect, then you're no longer capable of being High Leader. I will lead the White Fang from now on."
Sienna looked around, every weapon in the room was focuses on her. Even her own guards pointed their spears at her as she stood up. Adam was able to convince the White Fang to help him overthrow her and take over the reins himself.
"If you think that I'll just step aside and follow beneath you, you're wrong," Sienna defied. She froze when she felt something sharp against her stomach, prompting her to look down. Adam's chokuto's tip was on her stomach, almost ready to run her through.
"I could kill you, Sienna," Adam told her. "But I won't. You were there for us when we needed you, but they need me now." He retracted his sword and placed it back in its sheath.
"Take her away," he instructed everyone. The four guards gestured for Sienna to move, but she didn't budge. They tried getting her to move by holding up their spears to her back; what they didn't see was Sienna grabbing her chain weapon, then knocking them aside.
"You traitors!" she roared. "How dare you turn on me!"
"Sienna, stand down," Adam warned her as he placed his hand on his sword. She glared at him with immense anger.
"I brought you into the White Fang after Jacques Schnee killed your parents," she reminded him. "I placed you in charge of the Vale brotherhood. I praised you as one of our greatest assets. And THIS is how you repay me? By overthrowing me!?"
Adam was doing this to save her life. He knew that Hazel would most likely kill her on Salem's orders if she refused to cooperate. By removing her from power, there was no need to kill her, but he should've known she'd be too stubborn to accept defeat.
She rushed at him, unleashing a flurry of attacks, some of which landed on his blade. She then threw a kunai at him, which he deflected.
"Sienna, I don't want to do this," he insisted. "Stand down."
"Never!" Sienna roared.
It was obvious she wouldn't stop until she killed Adam for his treachery, something he wished didn't happen. How naive he was. Sienna charged at him one more time, preparing to kill him.
With great pain, he unleashed his Semblance to create a shockwave that knocked Sienna into the wall, blood splattering as she made impact and then fell to the ground, dead.
His mask alone kept the pain of having to kill his mentor hidden. He hoped that she would stand down when she saw she was at a huge disadvantage, but she was far too stubborn to listen to him.
"I'm sorry," he quietly apologized.
"High Leader?" one of the White Fang addressed Adam.
"Give her a proper burial," he ordered. "All who were here tonight will claim that Sienna was murdered by a human Huntsman in revenge for the Fall of Beacon." Several White Fang came over and placed her body on a stretcher as Adam walked up to the throne and the rest left the room.
"When were you planning on telling me about that?" Hazel questioned Adam.
"This was my business, not yours," he replied.
"It's OUR business now," Hazel corrected. "And I hate that you kept this from me."
"You were going to kill Sienna if she refused to cooperate," Adam revealed. "I tried getting her to stand down, but…" He sighed.
"This will come back to bite you," he warned. "If the Faunus realize that you killed Sienna Khan-"
"I know perfectly well what will happen," Adam interrupted. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to." Hazel shook his head in disappointment.
"I didn't want anyone to die today," he claimed before leaving the throne room. As Adam sat upon his newly acquired throne, he spoke six words.
"No. No one had to die."
-0-
"Oz!?" Jaune barked as everyone was in the room, he and Ren standing, Nora, Ruby and Qrow on the couches and Oscar on the chair. "As in Ozpin!?"
"Hey, cool it, kid!" Qrow responded. "You might want to go ahead and tell them."
"Tell us what?" Nora questioned.
"Hold on a minute," Oscar replied before closing his eyes. A few moments passed before a green light enveloped his body and he opened his eyes.
"It's good to see you all again," Ozpin greeted, much to everyone's surprise. Everyone looked in shock at the boy, unsure of what to think right now.
"Professor…Ozpin?" Ren asked.
"Yes," Ozpin confirmed. "Oscar is still present; he's merely handed me the controls."
"Why don't they look happy?" Oscar asked, but Ozpin did not reply. Ruby, Ren and Nora were all confused by this, Qrow was welcoming, but Jaune…the Arc looked ready to rip his head off, his fists tightened and his eyes narrowed at him.
"You bastard!" Jaune snarled. "I should beat the hell out of you for-"
"Jaune!" Ruby stood up and held her hands up, stopping the Arc. The armored swordsman didn't move further towards the boy, but his glare was still fixed on him.
"Mr. Arc, please allow me-"
"Don't even start!" Nora barked. "We know what you did to Pyrrha. How dare you do something like that!"
"I'm getting real nervous right now," Oscar spoke. "Why are they getting mad at us?"
"I'm sorry for what I did," Ozpin apologized.
"What?" Qrow asked. "Wait…Oz, you didn't force Pyrrha to take the Maiden's powers, did you?" Ozpin sighed in regret before turning to the scythe user.
"It's true," he admitted. "I became desperate…and I forced Pyrrha to take the Maiden powers."
Qrow's reaction was one of pure shock. He didn't believe that his friend was capable of such a thing. All this time, he had thought it was just a misunderstanding, that Pyrrha accepted them willingly. Now hearing that Ozpin had indeed forced it on her was…troubling.
"You…you did?" Ruby asked. "How could you?"
"I was desperate and I…I hoped Pyrrha would accept them willingly," Ozpin answered. "I won't sit here and justify my actions. I've wronged you, all of you…and Beacon fell because of me."
"Because of you?" Jaune asked, turning his head to Qrow. "Anything ELSE you didn't tell us?" Qrow groaned in annoyance at the Arc.
"I'm…cursed," Ozpin explained. "For millennia, I've walked Remnant, doing whatever I can to stop Salem."
"Cursed?" Ren asked. "How are you cursed?"
"For my failure to stop Salem, the Gods condemned me to an endless cycle of reincarnation," Ozpin answered. "Whenever my current body dies, my Aura merges with another of similar mindset. Therefore, my soul has become merged with Oscar's. It was hard for him to accept this at first…as it was for me."
"You can reincarnate?" Jaune asked. "That's definitely something I didn't expect."
"I didn't think so," Ozpin replied. "The Professor Ozpin you met wasn't my first form and clearly wasn't my last. But regardless of who I can reincarnate to, my memories, my experiences remain the same."
"So when does it stop?" Ruby asked.
"My reincarnation can only stop when I have defeated Salem," Ozpin answered. "We must do so now."
"Why should we trust you?" Nora questioned. "How are we supposed to know you won't do to us something similar to what you did to Pyrrha? Do you have any idea how badly you traumatized her?"
"Guys-" Qrow attempted to speak.
"Shut up!" Jaune barked, silencing the scythe veteran. "You weren't there! You didn't hear Pyrrha scream in agony! She almost died that night! Why should we trust Ozpin?"
"What he did was wrong, there's no argument there," Qrow agreed. "But he's not the enemy here, Salem is. She's the one who destroyed Beacon, who sent those people to trick Pyrrha into killing Penny…they're responsible for that night, not him."
"He might as well be," Jaune suggested. "How can you honestly side with him after-!"
"Alright, knock it off!" Ruby barked, pushing them away from each other. "Ozpin definitely needs to work to regain our trust, I can agree with that. But between him and Salem, she's the much bigger threat, the one who's actively seeking to destroy Remnant. We can't stop her if we're too busy fighting each other."
"She's right, Jaune," Ren agreed, making the leader of JNPR look back at him. "For now, Salem is the greater threat. If Ozpin is truly sorry for what he did, then he'll work to regain our trust."
"I could care less about him," Jaune dismissed.
"Mr. Arc, Mr. Ren, and Ms. Valkyrie," Ozpin addressed them all. "I've wronged you and your teammate and I am sorry for that. I was desperate and I let it get the better of me. I hope in time, I can make amends for my mistake and earn back your trust."
Jaune didn't know if he could ever trust Ozpin again after what he did. He openly admitted his atrocious decision and stated that he want to make amends, but was he sincere about it? Or was it just some big lie to get on their good side? For now, it seemed only Qrow and Ruby would treat him with some kind of friendliness.
"Oz, I have good news," Qrow spoke. "I know where the Spring Maiden is."
"You've found her!?" Ozpin gasped with an excited look on his face. "Where is she?"
"With Raven," Qrow answered. The excited scowl on Ozpin's face quickly degraded into a serious one. He had never suspected that Raven Branwen would harbor a Maiden, especially since she said how she wanted nothing to do with the war against Salem.
"Who else knows about this?" he asked.
"I showed the coordinates to Leo," Qrow answered. "He tried copying the file, but I stopped him."
"Why's that?" Ozpin asked, unsure of what was going on with the Haven Headmaster.
"Leo's being irrational," the scythe veteran informed. "He's left Haven completely defenseless."
"What?" the Beacon Headmaster gasped. "He knows that we need to keep Huntsmen on the campus at all times. Under no circumstances can we allow the Relic to be left unguarded. What else happened?"
"Leo asked about your cane, even though I didn't bring it up," Qrow informed. "As for the Maiden, he insists and waiting for support from the Council. He claims that the soonest we can leave is by the end of the month. Leo's not himself."
"No, he isn't," Ozpin agreed as he rose from his seat and paced the floor. "He isn't just behaving irrationally, he's disobeying specific instructions I had left him."
"But the Academy Headmasters take their orders from you, right?" Ren asked.
"That's the intention," Ozpin answered. "Four lieutenants I can trust, especially during times of reincarnation. But with Leonardo acting the way he is…something's wrong. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I won't rule anything out."
"It could be possible he's working for Salem," Nora suggested.
"As I said, I won't jump to conclusions, but I won't rule anything out," Ozpin repeated. "But I hope it's not that. If Leonardo is working for Salem, she'd have access to information on every known Huntsman and Huntress in the kingdom. From now on, perhaps it'd be best to not share any more information with him, including me being paired with Oscar."
"So play things close to the chest?" Qrow asked.
"Yes," Ozpin confirmed before turning to face everyone.
"We cannot wait until the end of the month for help from the Council; that's the most likely time Salem will launch her assault on Haven Academy. We have two objectives in front of us: the first is that we must recruit more Huntsmen."
"But what about what Lionheart said?" Ren brought up. "The Mistral Council-"
"Doesn't own every Huntsman and Huntress in the Kingdom…and I know where we can find more," Qrow stated.
"As long as they're trustworthy," Ozpin stated.
"I think anyone's more trustworthy than you," Jaune insulted.
"Kid-" Qrow started, but Ozpin stopped him.
"Mr. Arc, I know you don't trust me, but I am not your enemy," he claimed. "But I do hope in time, you and your teammates can forgive me for what happened."
"That's going to be a lot of hard work," Nora stated.
"Anyway," Qrow spoke to change the topic. "I already know many Huntsmen who could help us…and they can be trusted to put a good fight."
"Thank you, Qrow," Ozpin replied. "While he's out looking for Huntsmen, we'll move onto our second step."
"Which is?" Ruby asked as Ozpin activated his cane.
"Getting you four into fighting shape." Team RNJR looked at each other in confusion of what Ozpin meant. They were already trained fighters, they knew how to handle Grimm.
"Ozpin, we know how to fight," Jaune claimed, prompting the Beacon Headmaster to point his cane at him.
"You may've improved, Mr. Arc, but you still need to unlock your Semblance AND, to be blunt, your fighting skills are the least accomplished." Jaune groaned at this fact, knowing that the man he hated was right. Compared to everyone else, Jaune's combat skills were the weakest and needed the most training. He just hated that it was Ozpin who pointed it out…and was right about it."
"Ms. Rose, you can only fight as long as you have Crescent Rose," Ozpin pointed out again. "You're overdependent on it. You're severely lacking in unarmed combat." Ruby smiled nervously at this fact.
"All of you have a ways to go before you pose any true threat to Salem and her forces. And even though Oscar can give me temporary control, he'll need to strengthen his own body and Aura as well."
"Wait, what?" Oscar asked.
"He'll inherit my muscle memory in time, but training will expedite the process," Ozpin explained further.
"So who'll train us if Qrow's out looking for Huntsmen?" Ruby asked, making Ozpin chuckle.
"Last I checked, I was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy," he reminded everyone. "As of right now, our main objective is to get the Spring Maiden, get the Relic and leave Mistral."
"But what about Haven?" Jaune asked. "We can't just leave it to be destroyed. Even if we take the Relic, the White Fang and Iron Knights will want to destroy it."
"We'll need to gather as much help as possible," Ozpin stated. "Luckily, since many Huntsmen are out there on the frontier, a militia has been formed to keep Mistral safe. They're led by a young man named Silvio Steel. However, he is currently out of Mistral and we do not know his location, though once he returns, we'll inform him of the incoming attack on Haven and he will help."
"Militia?" Qrow asked. "We're basically turning to mobs with pitch forks to go up against trained warriors?"
"Silvio's militia is trained, I believe," Ozpin stated. "We don't know how trained, but some help is better than no help."
"Okay, so once this Silvio guy gets back, we can ask him for help, right?" Nora asked. "I guess things aren't so bad."
"Indeed," Ozpin agreed. "But none of that will matter if Salem gets to the Maiden first. We must find her before she does."
"Then what're we waiting for?" Qrow asked. "Let's get to work. I'll go ahead and get started on that list."
"And we'll start training right away," Ozpin responded. "All four of you have a ways to go before you're truly ready to face Salem, so don't expect me to go easy on you."
The same green light enveloped Oscar's body, showing that the farm boy was now back in control again. He looked up nervously at everyone and shyly waved his wand.
"I know you guys don't like Ozpin, but…hi," he spoke.
Author's Notes: Silvio Steel was a character created by Darth Stigma. He's been helping me with some plot points, enemies and characters for my series. I'm giving him a huge shoutout for his help!