Chapter 25
POV: Rocket
Nora: This is perfect! We can just take little boy Ozpin to Lionhardt, and have him set things straight!
Ozcar: Please don't ever call me that again.
Qrow: Well, we're not sure that's the best idea.
Nora: Ugh, it's never simple, is it?
She stormed back over to the couch and plopped down.
Ren: But I thought all the headmasters took orders directly from you?
Ozcar: That was certainly the intent. Four lieutenants, I can trust, especially during times of reincarnation. But Qrow has been telling me about your encounter with Professor Lionhardt the other day. He isn't just acting irrationally, but he's also disobeying specific instructions I had left him. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I also don't want to rule out any possibilities. No one outside this room knows I've paired with Oscar, and I think we should probably keep it that way.
Qrow: Lay things close to the chest until we get a better hand.
Ozcar: Precisely. Now, we have two steps ahead of us. First, we need to enlist the aid of more huntsmen
Ren: But I thought the Mistral Council-
Qrow: Doesn't own every huntsman. I've been here enough times to know where I can find some.
Ozcar: Just so long as they're trustworthy.
Qrow: You can trust them to put up a good fight. I'll throw together a list tonight-
Crash
The table he had put his feet on shattered, leaving a pile of glass shards.
Nora: Good luck with that…
Ozcar: After that, we can move on to step two. Getting all you into fighting shape.
There was a moment of silence.
Ruby: But… don't we already know how to fight?
Ozcar whipped out his cane. It was now inches from Ruby's face.
Ozcar: You can only fight, so long as you have the crescent rose, but you're still lacking in hand-to-hand combat.
Then, the cane moved over to Jaune.
Ozcar: I'm happy to hear that you've improved, Mr. Arc, but sad to say that you have not yet unlocked your semblance. All of you have come a long way, but you have an equal distance in front of you before you will pose any sort of threat to Salem and her forces. And, though Oscar can give me temporary control, he'll need to strengthen his body, and his aura.
Oscar: Wait, what?
Ozcar: He'll inherit my muscle memory in time, but practice will expedite the process.
Nora: Well, if Qrow's out looking for huntsmen, then who will teach us?
Then, Ozcar suddenly put his cane to the ground, and pushed off, flinging him almost to the ceiling, before he landed gracefully on the chair. He began spinning the cane as he talked.
Ozcar: Well, I was the headmaster of an academy. I'm pretty sure I can do.
Everyone was shocked at how easily he moved. Ozpin hadn't really been at the peak of his youth, and we had never seen him fight.
Ozcar: We have approximately one month before classes resume. Salem will probably attack before then, leaving us not much time, but at least it's something.
Rocket: I just have one question. Shouldn't Ruby and I work on mastering our silver eyes? After all, it will make a huge difference if we can easily take out Cinder.
Ozcar: No, the silver-eyed powers are difficult to master, and neither of you would be able to do it within a month. Your time would be better-spent practicing with more conventional weaponry. Just one more thing: Don't expect me to go easy on you.
Then, the greenish glow passed through him again. Immediately Oscar lost control of the cane, not knowing how to spin it, and soon flipped over the back of the chair. We peaked over the chair to check on him.
Oscar: You've got to be kidding me…
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Weiss woke up again in a wooden cell. Her hands were bound together with a simple rope, but it was enough without Myrtenaster. She looked up and found that it was getting late. The guards were still awake, though. One of them was drinking heavily, but the other one noticed her.
Bandit 1: Well well well. Look who's awake.
He nudged the other bandit, and he stopped drinking to look.
Weiss: What's going on? Where am I?
Just then, a young woman pushed aside a nearby tent flap and stood up straight. She had brown hair, drawn back into a ponytail, and bright blue eyes, almost the color of Weiss'. The bandits jumped down into attention. The one with the drink quickly put it behind his back.
Bandit 1: Vernal…
Vernal walked right up in front of the cage, holding Myrtenaster. She began inspecting it. Weiss, immediately annoyed by this other girl's mere presence, stood up.
Weiss: What do you want.
Vernal: Straight to the point. I like it. We don't normally traffick people. Not really worth our time. But, once we realized we had a Schnee, that all changed.
Weiss: You're going to ransom me back to my father. Is that it?
Vernal: It's a shame you're a Schnee. That kind of wit would probably do well around here.
She glanced angrily back at the two guards, still at attention behind her.
Weiss: I would never sink to your level.
Vernal: Just keep quiet and cooperate. Before you know it, you'll be back at your mansion.
Vernal started walking away but then paused.
Vernal: Don't make this complicated.
Weiss then remembered she had a slight lever.
Weiss: What's going to make this complicated, is when my sister finds out I didn't make it to Mistral. You know my sister, don't you? Winter Schnee? She's a Special Operative of the Atlas military. She's in Mistral now. And when she hears I've gone missing, she'll-
Vernal: You really don't get it, do you?
The two guards began chuckling.
Weiss: Wha- What's so funny?
Vernal: If you remember, Atlas just closed its borders. That includes recalling all military personnel. She actually left just yesterday.
Weiss was crushed. Her only hope of being rescued… There was nothing she could do. Well, I guess there's one option.
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That night, once everyone had gone to sleep, Weiss was still awake. She quickly sat up and opened her hands. In her hands, a small summoning glyph formed. The glyph glowed bright for a second, before disappearing. Now standing in her hand was the knight. Or, at least, and action figure sized version of him.