Black Paladin

Chapter 13: Going on a Field Trip.

Ruby walked back into the team room from her talk with Ozpin and Yang asks, "What happened?"

Ruby laughs nervously, and explains, "I told Ozpin about that the lady from last night, and when they mentioned a connection to Torchwick I told them the information that Blake got from the rally."

Weiss says, "That was a risky move."

"Interesting tactic." I say,

Blake says, "No, I think you handled it well."

Ruby sighs slightly, "I hope so."

Yang: "I'm sure everything will be alright, Ruby. Oh, I know what will cheer you up!"

Yang produces a cylindrical package the length of her forearm.

Ruby asks, "What's that?"

Yang says, "I don't know yet, Dad sent it to us. I thought we could open it together!"

Ruby yells, "Ooooh! Something from home!"

Ruby zooms over and wraps herself around Yang, trying to take the cylinder from her. The package pops opens, and a smaller, hairy, black cylinder falls out onto the floor and starts to shake. It pops into a dog. The whole team leans in, staring at it.

The animal barks twice. While Weiss, Blake and I are shocked, Ruby and Yang are hopelessly excited, with Ruby jumping about.

Ruby yells, "Zwei!"

Blake asks, frowning "He sent a dog?"

Weiss asks, incredulously "In the mail?"

Yang says, "Oh, he does stuff like this all the time!"

Blake jumps onto Ruby's bunk.

Blake demands, "Your father or your dog?"

"Are we sure that Beacon allows animals?" I ask, entirely unsure how to handle the strange little creature.

Weiss begins, aggravated "Are you telling me that this mangy... drooling... mutt is going to wiv wif us foweva? Oh, yes he is, yes he is! Oh, isn't he adorable!" Weiss finishes, happily twirling Zwei around.

I reach to pet the little animal, but before I can reach it, Zwei leaps away from my hand, and yelps.

Blake demands "Please keep it away from my belongings."

Glynda's voice come over the intercom, "Would all first-year students please report to the amphitheater?"

Weiss says, "Well, we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for the week."

"We can't exactly take him with us either Weiss." I say.

Ruby sets Zwei down and he walks over to Blake still on the top bunk, and barks repeatedly.

Yang says, "Look, there's a letter! 'Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang.'"

Suddenly dozens of cans of dog food spill out of the small package, piling up around Zwei.

Weiss asks, "What is he supposed to do with that?"

A can opener falls from the package, bouncing off Zwei's head.

Yang says, "Well, that settles it! Come on girls, Zwei will be here when we get back!"

"Are you telling me your dog can use a can opener?" I ask, confused.

Weiss talks to Zwei as we leave, "Oh, I'll miss you so much, we're going to be best friends, I can't wait to see you, I can't believe how cute you are." as she continues her speech deteriorates into incomprehensible babbling.

Meanwhile, Blake jumps down from Ruby's bunk and jumps across the table, avoiding Zwei completely. I look at the small creature with trepidation, before walking away.

After we left our team room, we congregated in the auditorium.

Professor Goodwitch began, "Quiet! Quiet please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin."

Headmaster Ozpin announced, "Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it is a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

Ozpin steps away as the students all begin to file out of the amphitheater.

Ruby said, "This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the southeast!"

Yang agreed, "Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip by night!"

Weiss said, "Let's check "search and destroy"."

I asked, "Do you think the system will let us?" as we walked toward the hologram screen.

Ruby looked through the menus for a moment, and said, "Here we go! Quadrant 5 needs Grimm cleared out!"

Blake said, "Well, it's in the southeast."

Yang said, "Sounds perfect!"

Ruby selects it and types in our team name. However, the screen announced "First year students cannot apply for 'Search and Destroy' type missions."

Weiss said, "Wonderful!"

"I can't help but feel vindicated." I mumble, before Yang slaps me.

Blake said, "Any other ideas?"

Ruby said, "We mail ourselves there!"

I respond, "Ruby, not all of us are as durable as your ridiculous dog."

Ozpin says, startling all of us, "Well, that's one option. Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first-year students. It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that you five will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

We all glare at Ruby, who nervously rubs her head.

Ruby asks, trying to sound innocent "Whatever makes you say that?"

Ozpin says, "I'm still curious how you all found yourself at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a hideout in the southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago."

Ruby stutters, "Um... well…"

Ozpin says, almost amused "I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So how about this: instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them?"

Ozpin selects some things on his scroll, and the hologram screen makes a noise, as I look at it, it says 'Allowed'.

Ruby says, "We won't let you down. Thank you, professor."

Ozpin waves his hand, and says, "Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far. But you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent back to Beacon if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory. Good luck."

As we walked toward the airships dock, we talked.

Yang remarks, "That wasn't exactly uplifting."

Blake says, "But it's the truth."

Ruby responds, "It's gonna to be tough, but I know we can do it!"

A group of students runs past us.

Several students ran by yelling, "Hey! Team CFVY is back!"

A large number of students gather around to witness the return of Team CFVY. Blake goes up to Velvet Scarlatina.

Blake asks the clearly exhausted rabbit faunus, "Velvet? Are you okay?"

Velvet sighed, and responds "I'm fine. I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me."

Weiss remarks, "Your mission was supposed to end a week ago! What happened?"

Velvet says, "Nothing happened. It was just...there were just so many…" she looks up and notices Team RWBY's worried expressions, "Oh, but don't worry. You first-years are just shadowing Huntsmen, so you should be fine."

I reach up, and scratch the back of my head, and say, "Umm, well that's not exactly true."

Velvet looks up shocked, and says, "I should go. Be safe, okay?"

Ruby says, "We can do this. We've never backed down before, and we're not going to start now."

Blake shakes her head and says, "Right."

Ruby says, "Besides, it won't only be us out there! We'll be fighting alongside a genuine Huntsman!"

Yang says, "Yeah!"

We all look toward the airship, and discovered who we will be shadowing, and the shock almost topples the five of us..

Professor Oobleck asks, "Why, hello children! Who's ready to fight for their lives?"

Weiss asks, "Professor Oobleck?"

Oobleck says, as he paces, "Yes, I'm-afraid-those-bags-won't-be-necessary, seeing-as-you've-opted-to-shadow-a-Huntsman-on-what-is-now-essentially-a-reconnaissance-mission. I-can-assure-you, we-will-not-be-establishing-a-single-base-of-operations; rather, we-will-be-traversing-several-miles-of-hazardous-wasteland-and-making-camp-in-any-defendable-locations we-may-stumble-upon. I-packed-all-of-our-essentials-myself, plotted-our-air-course, and-readied-the-airship. And;" turning to Weiss. "It's Doctor Oobleck. I didn't earn the PhD for fun, thank you very much!"

Weiss looks over at Blake, who is equally disturbed.

Weiss stutters, "Uh…"

Oobleck says, much more slowly, "Come now, children; according to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind..." He pauses for a moment before yelling, "...schedule!" and then runs into the airship.

Ruby says, still positive and upbeat, "Well, alright, then! Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oooobleck-" she slumps, sounding upset, "Okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse."

Nora asks, "Save the world?"

I can't help but say, "Subtle Ruby, subtle."

We turn around to see Nora and the rest of team JNPR approaching.

Nora asks, being overly dramatic, "You're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt... sad! Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not your fault, though, Ren…"

Ren, for his part, simply crosses his arms and turns away.

Jaune comments, "Sounds exciting. Where ya going?"

Ruby says, casually "Oh, just outside the kingdom…"

Nora yells, "Hey! So are we!"

Pyrrha says, "Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village."

Ren finishes, "We set out tomorrow."

"Then you can hang with us tonight!" Sun says, walking up and pointing over to Neptune, who is cowering behind a pillar, "We're following a detective. Doing investigative stuff. We get badges and everything."

Jaune is awestruck.

Sun continues, "We normally go to the city with you guys, which means stuff's always exploding and junk, so we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know... normal."

Ruby responds, "Well-"

Oobleck appears from the airship to call to us, and at least I am thoroughly embarrassed.

Oobleck yells, "Four minutes, children!" Before he goes back inside as their friends smile awkwardly at the girls.

Ruby says, "Well, uh…" She throws us a thumbs-up. "Wish us luck!" With that we got in the airship.

As we approached the city, I stretched out my senses. As I begin scanning the area, primarily for Nevermore, I felt the seven things on the Bulwark. Wait, seven? I looked around, and felt something scurrying about in Ruby's bag, and sigh. "Ruby?"

She looks over, tense, "Y-yes, Obsidian?"

"Why did you bring your dog?" I ask calmly.

Four very different reactions took place. Weiss's head shot up, turning to Ruby, angry, and somewhat relieved. Yang looked amused, highly so, and Blake dashed as far from Ruby's backpack as possible, and was hanging on the far ceiling.

"What were you thinking?" Weiss asked, "We are hunting some of the most dangerous creatures in the world, and Zwei is…"

"Weiss wait." I said, focusing on him. "He isn't…" As I did his focus focused on me from overtop of the backpack, and as I focused, he did, and after a moment, my eyes began to redden, and Zwei moved. In an instant he transformed into a ball of fire, and launched himself at me. He threw me into the wall of the airship hard, jumped back up onto Ruby's head, and growled. I can honestly say I have never been intimidated by such a small creature.

Everybody but Yang and Ruby was in shock, me more so than the rest.

"What was that?" Blake demanded.

I look, dazed, to Yang laughing while bracing herself against the wall of the airship, she muttered "Well...Ruby and I got Zwei, and we wanted a super dog, and well…"

"We spiked his food with fire dust, and gave him regular infusions of our Aura to...help." Ruby finished, to a triad of highly stunned people.

"So, why…" I began, standing. Before taking a grumpy flaming dog to the chest, and falling back down, growing exceedingly aggravated, much to the amusement of most of my team.

"Why did you think it was a good idea?" Blake askes, staring at the dog.

"Well, we weren't exactly the pictures of common sense." Yang says, fondly.

"Aren't" I mutter, as Zwei launches himself again. I reach up, catching the dog, "Stop." Zwei looks up at me, and barks. I smile, slowly put him down, and sigh, "Did you even consider that he would be in danger from the…" I pause, feeling Oobleck coming, and regress my minor transformations.

Dr. Oobleck walk into the back of the airship and sees Zwei. He asks, quietly, "We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought... a dog?"

Ruby mutters, confused "I, uh…"

Oobleck yells, "Genius!" He backs away from Ruby, holding Zwei, and began twirling him in a way reminiscent of Weiss, "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!"

Zwei barks happily.

Ruby says, after standing stunned proudly states, "I'm a genius!"

"So, I had a question Dr. Oobleck." He looks over to me, and I continue, "Did you get assigned this job, or did you volunteer?"

"I was assigned to this mission." said , "however, I regularly volunteer for missions like this in fallen cities."

Yang comments, "I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter."

Oobleck says, "I admit I fancy myself more of an intellectual, but I can assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles. Besides, given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw fit to assign me to this particular... assignment!"

Weiss asks, "What does history have to do with this?"

Oobleck asks, "Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager."

I choke, "No, not at all!"

Oobleck pauses, and looks at me, "Regardless, the southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, but it is also the location to one of the kingdom's greatest failures!"

Ruby says, "Mountain Glenn."

Yang says, "That's right! It was an expansion of Vale... but in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

Oobleck says, "Correct! And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder."

Blake says, "And a likely place for a hideout."

Oobleck adjusts his glasses and smiles, "Precisely!"

After we touched down, Dr. Oobleck gathered us, and briefed us, "Ladies and Gentleman! You still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as Hunters has begun! From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?"

Blake asks, "So, what are your orders, Doctor?"

Dr. Oobleck explains, "Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it! As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being... Grimm."

Ruby asks, "Uh, what?"

Oobleck says, "Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment."

Yang asks, "What?!"

"Left." I saw, pointing Balta.

We all turn to look at the lone Beowulf wandering into the street, and began drawing our weapons.

Oobleck demands, "Stop!"

Blake asks, "Huh?" as we all lower our weapons.

Oobleck explained, "There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity: sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent."

Ruby asks, "So... What now?"

Oobleck explains, "We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey."

Blake asks, "How long do we wait?"

"Not long, they're around the corner." I say, raising Balta again.

The girls and Oobleck look up, as five Beowulves are already following the first.

Yang asks, "What's the plan, then?"

We turn to Oobleck as the creatures close in.

Oobleck says, calmly, "Show me what you're capable of."

Ruby swings Crescent Rose, says, "Cover your ears, Zwei!"

The dog does so, curling up into a ball.

As the Beowulves charge, we split up and deal with them.

Yang sprinted forward, and proceed to punch them, hard. Blake simply allowed them to come to her as she used her semblance to dodge, and bisected them one after the other. Weiss used her powerful mobility, and cut them down to size. Ruby did as Ruby does, and fired Crescent Rose with almost perfect accuracy, punching holes in the charging monsters before launching herself at them, and cutting them to ribbons.

I calmly floated about a foot off the ground, knives calmly piercing Grimm, and using whips of lightning for any that got close enough to bother with.

That small pack dispatched, we walk back up to Professor Oobleck, and Ruby remarks "Piece of cake."

Oobleck's uplifting response of "Do not celebrate yet, for I am certain this is the first bout of many. Shall we continue?" just confirms that today is going to be fantastic.

After hours of all but mindlessly culling the Grimm population of this shell of a city and protecting Oobleck, who I was beginning to doubt even understood how difficult for the rest this must be, remarks, "Excellent work, children! Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh, well! Moving on!"

Yang irritably asks, "Hey, Doc, y'know, I was actually looking forward to seeing a "pro Huntsman" in action. Like, fighting, or at least, helping us fight?"

Oobleck responds casually, "Ah, but I am in action! Scouring the ruins of this once-great city for any signs of irregularity!" as he turns to us, he continues "Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism, class. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination! Remember, this is a job, and you all signed up for it. I do hope you understand that."

Yang remarks, sullenly "Well, yeah…" she pauses, and tries to sound upbeat, " O-Of course!"

Oobleck mutters, "Hmm..."

As we walk away from the scene of our second round of 'defense the teacher' Yang turns to ask, "How aren't you tired?" The other three turn for my answer, and I can feel Oobleck's curiosity faintly as well.

"Ten long years of doing this daily." I respond, once again realizing just how much training I actually got in Spartum compared to the norm. "Ten long years of doing this and more…"

A shudder from the other five, and I realize they didn't understand what 'time in the forest' meant when I described it. "If it makes you feel better," I continue to the tired girls, "ten years allowed me to hone my ability to go days without sleep, so we won't need to assign watch schedules for the next three days or so."

"We might be out here for days?" Weiss asked.

"Weren't you listening to Velvet?" I ask, "We might be out here for weeks."

The pain that resonated from their collective whine was amusing.

As the day progressed and the Grimm count started exceeding even my lower daily numbers, and all five of us grew more effective at killing the basic Grimm we were encountering Oobleck started hitting all of us with questions.

Yang was first, when Oobleck asked, "Tell me, Yang: Why did you choose this line of work?"

Yang asks, "Huh?" after a moment under Oobleck's gaze, she answered, "Well, to fight monsters and save-"

Oobleck interrupted, asking, "No, that is what you do. I want to know why you do it. The honest reason as to why you want to be a Huntress."

Yang pauses and says, "The honest reason? I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?"

Oobleck says, "I see."

Then he moves on to Weiss, asking "And you, Miss Schnee? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So... why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?"

Weiss pauses after killing another Grimm, "It's exactly as you said: I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty."

Oobleck nods, "Interesting."

He moves to Blake, asking, "And what about you, Blake? You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose."

Blake responds, "There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption... Someone has to stop it."

Oobleck asks, "Very well. How?"

Blake pauses, "I, Uh…" she doesn't have an answer.

Oobleck mutters, "Hmm's"

Then he asks me, "And you Obsidian, experienced as you are, I doubt you wanted to go off to fight Grimm forever, so why become a Hunter."

I respond, the line of thought unwavering, "I was raised under a specific set of principles, those with power are…"

Oobleck interrupts, "You were raised in a society where power equals freedom, and you escaped, you could have done anything, but you chose to go to Beacon, to train to hunt monsters for possibly the rest of your life. I didn't ask how you were raised, I asked what drives you to be a Hunter."

I stopped, my knives stopped spinning, my whip faded, I stopped, and I turned to Oobleck, confused. "I am afraid that I don't have an answer for you." I looked down, and for the first time ever I thought about what I wanted from life, what freedom meant to me.

Then a Beowulf charged into my section of the kill line, and I moved back into the fray, putting self-doubt to the side, missing the look Oobleck sent my way, a mixture of pity, and concern, as he muttered again "Hmm."

As day began to fade into night, and our count spiraled into the hundreds, I heard Oobleck announce, "Nope! I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon." He throws his bag over to Yang, who makes a sound when she catches it. "You four, set up camp in that building. Oh, and please do make sure there are no more of those... creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come, Ruby."

As we walked into the husk of a building and after setting up cots, and starting a fire, Yang bemoans, "I can't believe we didn't find anything…"

Blake says, "We've always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always have luck on our side."

"And 'Southwest of Vale'" I make air quotes with my knives, "Isn't exactly a small area."

Weiss come out of left field, "That's not what I meant."

Blake asks, "Huh?"

Weiss explains, "Earlier, about... upholding the legacy. There's more to it than that."

Yang says, "Yeah... No, me too. I mean... I don't know."

Blake says, "I don't know, either. I know what I want to do, but I figured I'd always take things one step at a time."

I look around at the three, "He threw all of us for a loop, huh?"

Yang says, upbeat, "Well, it doesn't matter. We know why we're here. Right?"

We all merely stare in silence.

Oobleck rushes into the room suddenly, "Ah, wonderful; a textbook campfire!"

Ruby yells, "Fire!" and immediately sits next to the blaze alongside Zwei, "So... warm…"

Oobleck says, "Very good! Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?"

"I can handle it." I say, standing, "Experience and all that."

"No, this may go on for weeks, I feel it is best to save your talents for later in the week. You never know what is lurking around the bend."

Ruby raises her hand, answering, "In that case."

Oobleck rushes off, and Ruby gets up to go over to her lookout point.

Yang stops Ruby, asking, "Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean... what did you tell him?"

Ruby answers, "Hmm... No, he didn't. Weird. Oh, well; good night, guys!"

Without a second carefree thought, she continues on her way.

Yang looks disappointed, and Blake is similarly troubled as she unrolls her mat. Weiss tries lying down but fails to sleep and Yang half-heartedly eats her dinner. Soon, all the four of us are on our backs around the fire, weapons within easy access, wondering why they are there.

AN: I know this one's crazy long, and I apologize, but it attempts to make up for it taking so long. I also have a slight problem that Oobleck throwing doubts into whys and why nots of hunting on the first day of a search and destroy mission.

AN2: Just in case anyone was wondering, yes, this is exactly what Obsidian did for months/years on end. It's one of the reasons I justify him being so good at combat.

See you next time -V