RWBY: MRRN

VOLUME 5, CHAPTER 7: Truths, Training and Transportation

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.

Ruby was on the balcony with Oscar, who had been training ever since Qrow started his search for Huntsmen. Right now, they were in the middle of a hand-to-hand match while Jaune, Nora and Ren were watching.

Ren could sense his teammates' distrust towards the young farm boy who harbored the spirit of the man who had forced their friend into something against their will. By no means did Ren trust Ozpin either, but he wasn't about to show enmity towards Oscar for something he had no control over.

"Oscar's picking up on these skills rather quickly," Ren pointed out to his teammates. Neither of them responded.

"Jaune? Nora?"

"Don't, Ren," the Arc replied. "We can't trust him, not after what he did to Pyrrha."

"Ozpin needs to work to regain our trust, definitely," Ren agreed. "But we cannot hold Oscar responsible for deeds he himself did not commit."

"We don't know Oscar at all," Jaune replied. "For all we know, he may just be some kind of trick or masquerade to earn our trust back. Maybe Oscar isn't even real."

"Jaune!" Ren sternly told his team leader. The Arc was taken back by this, almost never hearing Ren's voice rise.

"What Ozpin did was reprehensible. If he's truly sorry for what he did, then he will atone for his mistakes. But I'm willing to give Oscar a chance; we don't know the full story of his reincarnation works. We can't just jump to conclusions because we don't trust him."

Ruby cried out in pain after Oscar punched her in the face. He immediately tried to apologize, but left him open to the scythe user kicking him to the ground. She then cheered over her victory.

"You need to engage your Aura during combat," Ozpin told Oscar.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" he asked with frustration in his tone.

"To make you more likely to remember on your own. As I said, even though you'll inherit my muscle memory and experience in time, you must strengthen your own body and Aura." Ruby walked over to Oscar and helped him up onto his feet.

"How was that?" she asked with a smirk. Oscar's eyes glowed, meaning that Ozpin was now in control.

"Very impressive, Ms. Rose," he congratulated. "However, Oscar doesn't have the experience you and I do." He engaged his green Aura, meaning he was getting ready to fight.

"Um…maybe we should take a break," Ruby nervously suggested. Without warning, Ozpin unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks on her, prompting her to quickly raise her arms and block as many as she could. However, some of them managed to land on her and eventually knock her down.

"You're improving, but you're still lacking," Ozpin declared. "You must be aware of any and all openings."

"Got it," Ruby responded. Oscar's eyes glowed again and he immediately collapsed onto his hands and knees. The reaped hurried over to him to make sure he was okay.

"It's so exhausting," Oscar said.

"At first, yes," Ren pointed out. "Activating your Aura for the first several times requires immense concentration, but eventually, it becomes second habit. Then you can start focusing on your Semblance."

"Excuse me, but Ozpin never fully explained to me what an Aura or a Semblance is," Oscar brought up.

"No surprise," Nora commented.

"Aura is the manifestation of one's soul," Ren explained. "It can be used for a wide range of abilities, but they differ depending on experience and training. Every Huntsman and Huntress has theirs activated, commonly for defense. Our Auras allow us to be protected from attacks, but if it's hit enough times, it will be depleted."

"What about Semblance?" Oscar asked.

"Semblance is a more tangible form of Aura. It's what many would consider to be like a superpower and it differs for every person. For example, my Semblance allows me to mask negative emotions, hiding me from Grimm. Ruby's allows her to move at superhuman speeds. Nora can absorb electricity to become stronger."

"What about Jaune?" Oscar asked. The Arc looked away with some shame in his scowl.

Even now, despite his improvements in his fighting, he still hadn't unlocked his Semblance. He still felt like a hindrance to the team, which he hated feeling like. He wanted to be more; not for himself before he was blackmailed by Cardin Winchester, but for those he had travelled with.

"Have you ever fought Grimm?" Jaune asked Oscar, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Well…only the small ones," the farm boy answered. "We never fought any big ones like Ursae or Death Stalkers."

"Ever held a sword?" Jaune questioned.

"Where are you going with this, Jaune?" Ruby asked, her eyes focused on the Arc leader.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just trying to be careful around the man who traumatized and nearly killed our teammate."

"Oscar is not Ozpin," Ruby defended. "Don't be unfair to him." Just then, Oscar's eyes glowed.

"Mr. Arc, I had no choice," he stated. "The Maiden powers were too dangerous to let fall into Cinder's hands. I made a desperate decision."

"And Pyrrha paid the price!" Jaune barked. "You don't get to play with peoples' lives, Ozpin!"

"I'm not proud of what I did, but I believed it was necessary for the safeguarding of Remnant."

"Necessary?" Nora scoffed. "Easy for you to say when you weren't the one in that capsule."

"None of you understand the danger Salem poses. She's powerful enough as she is. I needed to secure the Maiden's powers or she'd have access-"

"SHUT UP!" Jaune shouted. He threw his arm back and punched Ozpin in the face. As soon as he was laying on the ground, Ruby and Ren immediately hurried to his side.

"I'm sorry, all of you," Ozpin apologized before he allowed Oscar to take over. As he did, he groaned from the pain of Jaune's punch.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked. "Did only you feel that?"

"I don't think Ozpin felt anything," Oscar revealed. Ruby glared at the leader of JNPR and marched over to him.

"What was that for!?" she barked. "I know you're angry at Ozpin, but that only hurt Oscar!"

"He's lying," Jaune dismissed. "We can't trust anything about him. For all we know, he may not be real."

"You don't even know him! What Ozpin did was wrong and he must make up for it, but that doesn't you get to hurt Oscar."

"He's a fake!"

Jaune stumbled when he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. When he recovered, he put his hand over it and realized what had just happened. Ruby had slapped him.

"Stop it!" she demanded. "I don't trust Ozpin either, but I won't hurt Oscar just because of it! And you won't either!" Nora was about to speak out in support of Jaune, but Ren put his hand on her shoulder, silently telling her not to do so.

"You weren't there," Jaune growled. "You didn't hear Pyrrha scream."

"No, I almost watched her die!" Ruby reminded him. "I nearly watched Cinder kill her, so don't you dare act like you're the only one who cares about her!" Jaune shook his head and decided to head back inside.

"I didn't ask for this!" Oscar told the Arc. "I didn't ask to have Ozpin in my head, so give me a break!" Jaune simply glared at Oscar before walking inside. The farm boy groaned in frustration before leaving the balcony area.

-0-

"Here we are," Glaucus told the group as they arrived at a stop for the Anima Express. Safirlas went ahead of the group and accessed the terminal to check on the time that the Express would arrive.

"Okay, it should be arriving in about twenty minutes," Saf announced. "It's about ten Lien a ticket. We'll pay once we get onboard."

"Hopefully, we'll also get to meet Team COAL," Pyrrha brought up. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"You seem to know them, Saf," Math addressed. "Do you think they can be trusted?"

"Mostly," the spear martial artist answered with an unenthusiastic tone.

"You don't sound very happy to see them," Ruo pointed out. "Why do you dislike them?"

"It's just Luna I dislike," Saf answered. "That girl's a sadist…and I don't like sadists."

"Neither do I," Math agreed. "Is she really that bad?"

"She…" Saf sighed. "She's not evil. But the way she is…she doesn't kill to protect others. She kills because she enjoys it; she enjoys inflicting pain."

"Does she do it to her own teammates?" Pyrrha asked.

"No," Saf replied. "But still…"

"We need all the help we can get," Glaucus interrupted. "Do you believe they'd work with Cinder or no?"

"No," Saf answered.

"Then right now, your dislike for their teammate will have to be put aside," the Gray Wanderer stated. "For now, we need every fighter we can get if Haven is to survive."

"I know," Saf answered.

"What do you know about Team COAL?" Pyrrha asked Safirlas.

"They're a second-year team…well, third now at Haven. They're comprised of Cole Stone, Oren Fields, Aria Azul and Luna Crescentia."

"How do you know them?" Math asked.

"Mostly through Luna. She was a big flirt when we first met. At first, I thought of her as a friend, but when I saw how sadistic she can be in combat…it just disturbed me. I still talked with her teammates sometimes, but I preferred to keep my distance from Luna."

"Just because of how sadistic she can be?" Nasser asked. "Hey, as long as she's not hurting us for entertainment, I'm fine."

"She did that in a way in her early years," Saf replied. "When I first met her, she was a horrendous cook. Almost everyone who ate it, including Professor Lionheart and my team and I…I never thought I'd eat again after I ate what she made." Math covered his chuckles with his mouth, laughing at the small misfortunes.

"That's not funny!" Saf barked at her brother.

"It is funny," Math admitted while continuing to chuckle. "I'm sorry, but it's funny. She used you as an experiment for her cooking. Did it happen multiple times?"

"Only once," Saf answered. "After that, she got better with cooking and now she often cooks for her teammates."

While Robin spoke with Safirlas, mostly teasing her about Luna's terrible cooking, Math saw Pyrrha standing by herself looking off to the north. He walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Jaune, Ren and Nora are there," Pyrrha stated. "It's been months since I've seen them. I…I didn't make things right with Jaune before he left."

"You'll have that chance now," Math told his beloved. "They're sure to have made it there." Math saw Pyrrha's hand move down her torso until it was over the spot where Cinder had shot her the night Beacon fell.

"Cinder…" she spoke softly. "I wasn't able to stop her."

"We failed against Cinder and Nachtfel because we fought alone," Math told her. "These aren't our battles alone; they're everyone's. If we're to stop them, we cannot repeat our mistakes." Pyrrha looked to Math and noted the mature sincerity in his eyes.

Pyrrha going up against Cinder alone was not arrogance, but a desire to keep her friends safe. Despite that, there was still selfishness in what she did; instead od heeding the advice of her teammates and leaving with them, she single-handedly went up against Cinder, which nearly got her killed.

Now, she wanted revenge against Cinder for all the destruction and death she had caused. She wanted her to answer for all this needless death just so she could have the Maiden powers. She needed to see justice done.

But Math was right. Both of them fought powerful enemies alone…and it led to their bodies being maimed. They couldn't stand against those monsters alone, nor did they have to.

Ruby, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Robin, Ruo, Nasser, Safirlas…so many friends stood with them, despite their own losses. They didn't need to stand alone against the evil that was wanting to destroy the world for their own selfish gains.

"You're right," Pyrrha agreed. "We're all in this together." Math smiled and kissed Pyrrha's cheek.

"Math…what if Ozpin is there?"

Math's warm smile dropped at the mention of that name. Ozpin was once someone he held in high regard for knowing of his condition, yet allowing him to enter Beacon due to his accomplished skills as a warrior. He felt he owed Ozpin so much for allowing him this opportunity.

Now, he felt nothing but scorn and hatred for the former Beacon Headmaster. He had lied to his team about the mission north of Vale, which nearly cost them their lives and got Alan Kura killed. He had forced Pyrrha to take the Maiden powers, despite the promise of offering her a choice.

Math honestly wanted to cut his head off for what he did, but from what Glaucus told him, he'd also hurt whoever Ozpin's current host was as well. As much as he wanted to make Ozpin hurt, he wasn't about to go that far.

"I hear the train," Ruo announced as his ears picked up the sounds of the Anima Express.

"One part down," Nasser stated. "Another to go."

-0-

Vernal poured the tea for Yang, Weiss and Raven, sitting at her table in her tent. Despite Raven's attempts at peace, tensions remained high with the two girls: Yang for abandoning her, Weiss for kidnapping her and holding her for ransom.

"Let's not beat around the bush," Yang stated. "You said we needed to know the truth if we wanted to go after Ruby and we will. What is the truth exactly?"

"How much do you know of Ozpin?" Raven asked, answering Yang's question with another.

"He was a prodigy," Weiss explained, though unsure of why Raven would bring up Ozpin. "He was the youngest Headmaster ever to be appointed."

"Because that's how he designed those schools," Raven pointed out.

"That's impossible," Weiss denied. "Ozpin wouldn't have been born when the Academies first started training. How could he have designed them?"

"Because that man has a very big secret," Raven revealed. "Reincarnation." Both of the girls looked at each other in confusion.

"The creatures of Grimm have a master named Salem," the Bandit Chief continued. "She's the one truly responsible for the destruction of Beacon. She's the one Ozpin has been at war with for millennia." Weiss scoffed.

"I've heard a lot of far-fetched stories, but I'm having trouble believing this one," the heiress replied.

"You're free to believe whatever you want," Raven spoke. "I'm simply telling you what I know. Too bad Qrow didn't do the same."

"Qrow said he'd look after Ruby," Yang brought up. "What did he not tell me…or her?"

"Well, for one, your Uncle Qrow and I didn't attend Beacon to become Huntsmen," Raven explained. "We attended to learn how to kill Huntsmen." Yang and Weiss gasped at this revelation as Raven poured some tea.

"Yeah, he didn't say," she guessed. "Apart from the Grimm, Huntsmen were the ones who often ruined our raids. Things got so bad that we needed a counterforce or we'd face starvation."

"Who said you had to be bandits?" Weiss questioned. "There are ways of living without having to hurt others."

"This isn't one of the Kingdoms," Raven replied. "Out here, it's kill or be killed. Now, if I may continue…" Weiss sat back, allowing Yang's mother to continue her story.

"Qrow and I were the perfect age to get in. The entry exams were child's play compared to what we had been through. That's when we met Taiyang and Summer." Raven sipped her tea before looking over to notice that neither Weiss or Yang had taken a drink.

"Over time, I realized we gained Ozpin's attention. I thought he was interested in Qrow and I, but it was Team STRQ as a whole. Sending us off on extra missions, giving us special treatment, turning a blind eye to when we got in trouble, regardless of how bad. Ring a bell?"

It did for Yang and Weiss. The Paladin Incident, which had gotten dozens of people killed partially because of their irresponsibility. Under normal circumstances, they should've been left to deal with the consequences of their actions, but Ozpin was hellbent on getting them out of jail.

"I know about the Paladin Incident," Raven informed. "He didn't get you and your friends out because he had such a forgiving heart. He did it because he wanted you to fight his war. I would know how much he loves to play favorites."

"What are you talking about?" Yang questioned her mother, making her smile a little bit.

"I was in a sparring match with a young man during my second year," Raven revealed. "He was a pervert, always making 'harmless' comments towards Summer and I, even when she was dating Forest."

"Hold on," Yang stopped. "Summer dated Forest, Math's mentor?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "They were sweethearts for a very long time until Ozpin caused their relationship to fail, but I'll explain that later." She stood up from the table and turned to look at the map of Remnant on her wall.

"This young man angered me to no end. Summer always told me not to get violent, but he crossed a line when…he groped me. I challenged him to a fight and won, but the beating I gave him was so bad that he was sent to the ER. Many of the teachers demanded I be expelled for doing what I did, but he refused and allowed me to stay."

"You…sent someone to the ER?" Weiss asked.

"Odds are, you two would've done the same if you met that young man," Raven claimed.

"This war…did Ozpin ask you to fight it?" Yang asked as she stood up.

"Simply 'asked' is an understatement if you ask me," her mother responded. "Now, I realize it was guilt tripping."

"I take Forest was also a part of this, then."

"He was. Like our team, he was roped into this war against Salem. We believed in it with everything we had, but as time went on, we started to doubt Ozpin. Always keeping secrets, telling lies and half-truths, wanting everything to go his way, even if it posed more harm than good. Ozpin's selfishness cost Forest one of his teammates…and Summer her life."

Yang's eyes widened. Was Ozpin truly responsible for the death of Ruby's mother? Was he the reason why Yang never had a mother growing up?

"Why should we believe any of this?" she questioned. "For all we know, you may've just made this up." Raven smiled.

"You're catching on," she stated. "You need to question everything you know. You need to get your answers like I did. Or you'll end up as blind as Qrow…" Yang glared at her mother, her fists tightening in anger.

"Or your fool of a father."

BLAST!

Yang activated Ember Celica and blasted Raven's table apart, scaring Weiss. Her eyes were now red, nearly matching her mother's.

"Don't you dare insult my family like that!" she growled.

"Yang," Weiss addressed as she held her hand.

"You should listen to your teammate," Raven stated. "She hasn't let you down yet."

"You don't know ANYTHING about my teammates, my family or me!" Yang roared. "You abandoned me when I was a baby! You never contacted me! You never spoke to me! You never did anything! You chose these murderers and thieves over your own family!"

"They ARE my family," Raven sternly replied.

"No, they're not," Yang snarled. "Dad told me of what they put you through. They abused you, treated you like garbage. What kind of family doesn't show you love and respect!?"

"I was mistreated because I was weak," her mother responded. "I had to prove myself before I could earn respect."

"And what about your team? Summer? Tai? Qrow? Do they mean nothing to you?"

"They made their choice. They chose to waste their lives fighting a war that cannot be won, against an enemy that cannot be killed. I wasn't being a coward, I was being smart."

"You're not a coward?" Yang challenged. Raven glared at her daughter.

"No, I'm not," she denied. "It's not cowardly to choose not to fight a war you cannot win."

"What is cowardly is that you abandoned everyone who cared about you to save yourself, including me! You left me when I needed you! Why? WHY!?" Yang's eyes finally changed back to their lilac color as her head dropped, looking defeated.

"I spent years looking for you, wanting to know why you left. Why don't you love me?"

Raven's glare changed to sympathy, seeing the damage she had inflicted on her daughter. She slowly reached out her arm to touch her shoulder, but stopped herself and turned around.

"Leave."

"What?" Weiss asked.

"Leave," Raven repeated. "Now." Yang raised her head to look at Raven.

"Raven, we need to-"

"Ruby is a lost cause," Raven repeated. "It's only a matter of time before Ozpin sacrifices her life as he did Summer's."

"Then I need to go," Yang stated. "Open a portal."

"You want to die a needless death like Summer and almost like your friend, Pyrrha?" Raven questioned.

"Pyrrha?" Weiss asked as he stood up as well. "What does she have to do with this?"

"Ozpin forced her into this war," the Bandit informed. "He tried to force her to accept a power that he claimed would be her choice. Ozpin cannot be trusted and he will throw away your life the minute it suits him. He doesn't care about anyone but himself."

"Who are you to criticize!?" Yang snarled. "Who are you to get on ANYONE being selfish or callous to the lives of others? I'm going after Ruby, now open a portal, dammit!" Raven scoffed.

"You are stubborn," she stated.

"I got it from my mother," Yang replied. Raven almost smiled before Yang finished with "Summer."

At that moment, Raven halted any movement and time completely stopped. To hear her daughter straight up denounce her as her mother was a crippling blow to her pride. She'd thought Yang would be proud to be her daughter, despite everything that happened.

However, in Yang's eyes, she was a coward, a hypocrite, and not worthy of being called a mother. She had abandoned her when she was a baby and blamed her for not finding her sooner. She insulted her family by calling Tai and Qrow fools and Ruby a lost cause.

"Raven!" Vernal called out as she hurried into the tent. "They're here."

"They?" Weiss asked before screams of agony were heard and then silenced.

"Salem's forces," Vernal clarified to Raven. "Four of them are demanding to speak with you. If you refuse, they'll slaughter more of our tribe."

"I'll speak with them then," Raven said as she took her helmet and looked to the two girls.

"You two stay in here and don't make any noise if you want to stay alive." She put her helmet on and walked out of the tent, leaving Yang and Weiss by themselves. The two of looked through a small hole in the tent to see four people walking up to Raven, three of which were immediately recognized.

"Mercury and Emerald," Yang whispered. "Holy crap. Is that Cinder?"

"This isn't good," Weiss pointed out.