February/1/2016

Greetings humble readers, Cluny here. It's been a full year, since that tragedy, it feels more like a hellish nightmare we wish would come to pass. But, no matter how much our hearts ache for it to be a lie, Monty Oum has been gone from this world a whole year. I may sound totally heartless and idiotic writing this… but believe me, this is the hardest thing I've ever had to write. As I tap on the keys of my laptop, I have to stop… the tears keep welling in my eyes.

I know I wrote in my farewell to Satoru Iwata that quote from Gen. George S. Patton Jr. that it's foolish to mourn the departed, and that we should instead celebrate their lives… but when someone as great and as wonderful as Monty passes… it hits us hard knowing that when we wake up from our fantastical dreams that… such a great person will not be there when we awake up. I know, I sound childish right now… but can you really blame me? I only knew one of Monty's relatives… but even still I pray that he's okay… a young kid who was a year younger than me in middle school and was as crazed about anime as I was when I was younger.

"Keep moving forward." The credo that Monty lived by, I swear the man must have been a Buddha in a previous live. There's a lesson to be learned from those three words. A year after the fact it still has a powerful meaning behind it. In a way, Monty was like a father figure to all of us who write RWBY stories of our own.

I remember when I first saw the greatness that was Monty's animation and combat/dance choreography skill in action. A decent length, action packed high octane video on YouTube called Haloid. I must have been about 15. 8 years and I still remember looking at it in awe as Samus Aran went toe to toe against not only a portion of the Covenant army, but also a Spartan whom I thought was Master Chief until the helmet and power armor were – quite literally – stripped from her over the course of battle. My interest in Monty's work expanded as I looked and saw his Dead Fantasy series. After a few years, I graduated high school and started stay at home life in college. Then, I believe the winter of 2012 came blowing through and I sat down on my laptop and decided to indulge in the Rooster Teeth series that put the rag-tag team of dedicated gamers, and amusing combination of personalities on the map.

When I saw Monty's involvement in the later seasons of RvB, I was whisked back to 15 year old me, watching CGI greatness for the first time. When I found myself at around… Season 10… I became fully indulged in seeing the CGI backstory on the mercenaries of Project Freelancer. Watching Monty's spectacular fight choreography and animation was simply mind blowing.

I fully delved into Monty's work around the later part of Summer 2013. I was bored and surfing the web doing whatever it is that 20 years olds do, and I logged on to YouTube. There on the Rooster Teeth recent uploads tab… was a peculiar looking video thumbnail. I read the name, "R-W-B-Y." At first it seemed, I dunno, weird for a title. But, my 20 year old curiosity got the better of me and I clicked it. I watched this action packed first episode and was enthralled by it. As each new episode came out, I got caught up in this animated epic.

A month or so after the series had ended, I started working at a Tae Kwon Do school as the After School Coordinator. Basically I went from homebody to a glorified babysitter… but hey, I was raking in cash, for a short time, and let it pass. One evening as the kids were getting picked up, I decided to pull out my phone, access the wifi for the place and watch a few episodes with the remaining students. I got caught and decided to only commit such an act when I was alone. Well, that worked until the fall of 2014, when I started showing two kids in the after school program Monty's epic work. We made it a sort of Friday tradition of watching a few episodes before the class started. It was December 5, 2014 and as I was getting ready for bed, I got an impulse to write, an impulse I hadn't gotten in quite a while. I grabbed my laptop and in a matter of hours, while watching Volume 1 of RWBY, typed out chapter 1 of what would become my Melting the Ice AU.

I started showing the story to the two children I watched on Fridays, they absolutely loved it. As I kept writing the story, I saw that Monty had been hospitalized. I pledged to the Go Fund Me and was happy to have made the contribution. Monty needed help, and I willingly gave from my heart to keep him going.

February 1, 2015 started out like any other. I was looking on my phone and saw an announcement that hit like a sniper's bullet. Monty had passed away. I soldiered on, but as I kept going, there started to form a sharp, burning pain in my chest. I put on the one song I knew could help ease the pain in the most relieving way possible, My Immortal by Evanescence. The first verse lulled my pain slightly, but as the chorus began, I lost my nerve, and let my sadness flow forth. I remember crying like I'd lost a family member. That's what Monty was to us, he was family.

I read the official announcement to the conditions of my hero's tragic passing and then the two kids I had introduced to his greatness came into my head. I decided to tell the older of the two the tragic news. To this day I remember feeling choked up, as the words slowly came forth. I didn't let the loss hinder my progress. No, to do so would have gone against Monty's credo. I kept writing and saying what I knew to be true on people's fan arts on Facebook, my most memorable words were "Monty is smiling."

For those who've stayed around, I want you to do the following. Go to a quiet place in your home or the place in your neighborhood with the best view. From there, take out your phone and earbuds, and look up Jeff Williams' song Wings. Play it and admire the view, and imagine a sunset, with six birds flying toward it. If you feel like singing it, by all means, sing to your heart's content. Wings was a song that Monty loved, to not play it in memory of Monty would just be wrong.

Thank you for bearing with me. Believe me, this was a bit of a tricky thing to write. Also one of the most meaningful thing's I've ever written. To those who have supported the progression of Melting the Ice and the side stories, A Rose Wolf Halloween and A Whitemane Christmas, I'd like to thank all of you, it's seeing the number of views every day that I write that keeps me going. I'd like to also say my thanks to Monty, as he was the inspirational figure for me writing these stories. And never forget the great man who started it all. We miss you, Monty, and we know you'll never be forgotten, as we keep moving forward to our dreams.

~Cluny the Warlord 1992

In memory of Monty Oum (June 22, 1981 – February 1, 2015)

Thank you…