Chapter 74

First of all I apologize that I haven't been able to upload recently. I'm working in social welfare, so we've been hit hard by the virus recently, especially with a lot more economic downturn and all. I'll be starting Uni in August, but until then I should be working this job so I'll be kinda swamped for a while. Thanks for your patience, and I'll try to upload more frequently.

'OSCAR!'

'OSCAAAAAR!'

'FARMHAND! COWS NEEDA MILKIN!' Kamina yelled, earning himself an elbow from Jaye. 'What? I don't know what farmhands do; it's a valid assumption.'

'He's not a farmhand anymore you asshat.' Jaye replied, glancing across the white city. 'He probably didn't get very far; it's only been around an hour since we noticed. In fact, he'll probably come back on his own once he's done sorting… whatever it is he needs to get out.'

'You can get pretty far on a train in an hour.' Nora pointed out, and Artemis shook her head.

'Well sure, if he's been ON the train for an hour. But considering the distance from the house, approximate time of departure and waiting times, he's at best been on the train for 35 minutes. Most likely even less since he's unfamiliar with the area.' She reasoned, earning herself a raised eyebrow from Jaye. 'What? We traveled together for like a month, I was bound to pick up SOMETHING from you lot.'

'And that's assuming everything came precisely on time the moment he walked in. Possible, but unlikely especially at this time of day.' Apollo continued, folding his arms as he squinted across the street. 'So, most likely 20 minutes at best.'

'Still, that is a considerable distance from our area of searching. 20 minutes on a train is a solid head start.' Ren pondered. 'The city's enormous; he could have gone anywhere.'

'Can't you track Oscar or something? You know, use your super-secret assassin skills?' Nora said, smiling nervously as Saphron raised an eyebrow. 'I meant super-secret secret skills! No assassins here, no sir!'

'Yeah, good luck with that in a city full of people.' The raven-haired boy scoffed. 'If it wasn't the peak hour then there'd be a chance, but there's no hope of finding a clear trail that can be traced back to Oscar. Any footprints he might've left would've been stepped on a bunch of times already; it's not like I stare at the ground and follow a trail of "Oscars" stamped into the dirt.'

'But they always do it in movies!'

'Yeah, because they're MOVIES. The real world is different.'

'Even if we're in the city, frostbite is a valid concern.' Kamina cut in, waving his hands between the two. 'We'd best narrow down our options.'

'This is all my fault.' Jaune lamented, shaking his head at the stone pavement beneath his feet. 'I overreacted!'

'I still don't really understand what happened. Was it about the mission?' Saphron asked.

'It's… kinda hard to talk about.' Nora replied.

'I know, I know. Top secret.' She turned to her little brother. 'Did he… do something wrong?'

'No, he didn't.' Jaune sighed, unable to meet his sister's eyes. 'We just got some new information, and it's going to be a lot harder than we thought.'

'I mean, if it was easy then it wouldn't be important, right?'

'I think we're all just a bit unsure of what to do next.' Ren said, and Saphron touched a finger to her lower lip.

'You could stay in Mistral, get your licenses at Haven and come back to Argus!' She suggested. 'There's a lot of good you can do here. I-I know your mission is important, but it's not like you're the only ones who can do it. It's not the only mission that needs doing.'

'Unfortunately, you're wrong there.' Jaye said cryptically, and Artemis elbowed the boy as Saphron's expression only turned more confused at his vague words. Jaune sighed heavily.

'It's… not that simple.' He said, and they felt the tension rising as the inability to communicate sat heavily over the group. Saphron, evidently feeling it too, stopped as they rounded a corner.

'Well, I should go pick up Adrian from daycare.' She sighed. 'I'll let Terra know what's happened, and we'll meet you later.' She turned back down the street, giving them a passing smile as she stepped behind the wall. 'Good luck.'

'We'll move on ahead; we can each track to a certain degree, so we've got better luck going around.' Jaye said, gesturing at his motley crew to disperse. 'Mina, let's go.'

'Uh yeah I don't think so.' Apollo said. 'We aren't letting you out of our sight.'

'Really? I thought we were past that.'

'We would be if you hadn't killed our parents.'

'… Is this going to be a running thing from now on?'

'Yep.' Artemis took the raven-haired boy by the arm. 'Let's go pissant, and you'd better show me a good time.'

'… I told you to come back in five years.'

'And I told you to move your ass, not your gums. Let's go.' The cat girl dragged him off with a huff, and Jaye raised an eyebrow at the fox boy as he went. Kamina wiggled his fingers at the boy, earning himself a distant curse as they turned the corner. Apollo shook his head at the two, folding his arms.

'I still don't know how she does it.' He said, shaking his head at his sister vanishing with the surly boy. Kamina placed an arm around the much smaller boy, steering him away from the street corner.

'Does what?'

'You know, try to get along with Jaye.' Apollo said. 'Every time I look at him, I can only think of what he's done and not why he did it, and it's making it hard to talk to him.'

'But you can talk to me just fine.' Kamina said, bewildered, and Apollo shrugged.

'It's different.'

'How so?'

'You didn't kill my mother.'

'Well I was the one who tracked down your parents in the first place, don't see how that makes me any better.'

'Yeah, but you weren't the one with their blood on your hands. He was.' Apollo sighed. 'Yeah I mean, I know it was a team effort, but it's different knowing that his face was the last face they saw before they died. I don't know how Artemis is doing it.'

'Hmm.' Kamina said. 'Maybe you just need to take a step of faith.'

'I love my sister. She's everything to me.' Apollo shook his head, pausing as they approached a street corner, and Kamina took his hand off the boy's shoulder. 'And I admire her strength. She struggles, every day, to continue to act like herself in front of him, all the while fighting against what we're feeling.' He turned away from the fox boy abruptly, discreetly wiping a tear away from his face. 'I can't do it like she can. She's trying to get past it, but I'm here still clutching on to the past.'

'Nothing wrong with that. At least, that's what I tell myself.' Kamina said, his voice suddenly quiet. They stood in silence for a long moment, nothing but the hiss of cars passing by behind them, and the smaller boy noticed Kamina clutching at the locket beneath his shirt.

'I'm sorry for bringing it up. I know she meant a lot to you, just like my parents did to me.' Apollo said, and Kamina waved dismissively.

'Don't worry about it. We've all got things we can't get over.' He said, hand still wrapped around the silver accessory. 'Indigo was everything to me. Jaye and I; we grew up without families. In the world on our own, Indigo was a guiding light to us in the dark when we were searching for our places in the world.' He stared deeply into the stone pavement, his fingers trembling on the metal locket. 'She was my confident, my truest friend, and the closest thing to a mother I've ever had. I mean, think about it; we're nearly 5 years apart. Not the biggest of age gaps, but enough that we felt it pretty tangibly. Sure, I mean, we were friends so it's not exactly the same, but she fulfilled everything I ever could have asked for, whether she and I realized it or not. And now that she's gone, it's like I lost my mother, my big sister and my best friend all at once.'

'I'm sorry.' Apollo began to tear up again, and Kamina seized the boy in a bear hug.

'Ah come on man, don't cry. You're gonna make me cry too.' He laughed, ruffling the boy's hair. 'We all have our demons, and we're gonna carry that weight. But one thing's for sure; it's a lot more manageable if we share it.'

'But Jaye doesn't.' Apollo said. 'He barely ever talks to us, and when he does it's usually something superficial or dumb that we can fight about.'

'Can't really blame him.' Apollo said, grinning at the boy. 'I mean you guys are what; fourteen? Fifteen? For me, our age gap is like Jaye and I, which means I'm a lot more comfortable with sharing stuff with you two than him. But with him, it's like with me and Indigo you know? You've got half a decade between him and you; whether it should, or not, it draws a line.'

'It's a stupid line.'

'I know buddy, I know. But look at it human; with Indigo gone, he's the oldest of our little pack, and Qrow isn't exactly the best talker.' Kamina grinned. 'Me? I've got Jaye to confide in when I need to, but he's on his own now. He lost the woman he loved, and even though he has the blondie now it's not the same. It'll never be the same.'

'If he loved her so much, why'd he leave her to go to Beacon?' Apollo crossed his arms. 'It doesn't make sense!'

'Hey, he made his choices. I'm not saying they were GOOD choices, but they were his choices.' The fox boy stretched out his arms above his head. 'There's honestly a lot more to it than what you guys know, but this is neither the time nor the place to talk about it. And honestly, I don't think he'll ever tell you. He… tends to keep things to himself.'

'He doesn't have to be on his own; he has us.'

'But he still is. That's what sucks about relationships; you can't control how you feel, even if you know in your head what you need to do.' Kamina smiled at the boy, pushing him along the sidewalk. 'But he's trying, I know he is. I bet he and Artemis are having this exact conversation right now.'

Meanwhile, Jaye and Artemis

'Can't you like, sniff him out or something?' Jaye sighed, dodging the beer bottle thrown at his head by the third person he'd asked for information from already. Artemis rolled her eyes.

'No, I can't. I'm a cat, not a dog you dumb shit.'

'Really? Cuz I could've sworn you were a dumb bitch. My mistake.'

'Then why can't you sniff him out? Pretty sure you're the dog here. Oh wait, forgot, it's the age isn't it you old hag.'

'At least I aged beautifully. I'm the most fabulous bitch in the room.'

'Must be a tiny room.'

'Isn't smaller than you.'

'Says the midget barely taller than his swords.'

'At least when I hold a knife it doesn't look like a greatsword.'

'Too bad it doesn't, then maybe it'd help you make up for something.'

'Says the washboard.'

'I'm just saying; tiny bitch tiny stick.'

'Insufferable little brat.'

'Oops, did I hit a little too close to home?'

Few hours later

'I've never seen him this bad.'

'Come on, let's get him up.'

The two sisters seized the unconscious man by the arms, rousing him from his slumber as they pulled him up off the staircase of the house. They sat him up, Qrow groaning as he rubbed his eyes.

'Why am I on the stairs?' He slurred, and Ruby placed her fists on her waist.

'Probably because no one's home Uncle Qrow.' She reprimanded. 'We've been out looking for Oscar.'

'Oscar?'

Terra's face of surprise and horror was evident to the group as she approached, Jaune and the others close behind.

'I'm sure this looks great to the neighbors.' Terra mumbled, earning herself an elbow from her wife and a stern look. Blake glanced at the group as they earned, meeting Ren's gaze.

'No luck?'

'No, you?'

'Don't worry.' Jaune said. 'We aren't going to Atlas without him.'

'We?' Ruby asked hopefully, the smile spreading across her face as she smiled across the three. Jaune returned the smile, turning back to his sister.

'Sorry we won't be staying.'

'No, you're not.' Saphron rolled her eyes, smiling lovingly at her baby brother.

Terra smiled at the bunch. 'How about we get out of the cold?'

As if on cue, the door latch clicked as it swung open. Turning their confused eyes to the open door, they nearly jumped in surprise as Oscar's voice rang out from the silhouette in the doorframe.

'Oh, I was wondering when you'd get back.' He said, stepping out onto the porch. Decked out from head to toe in new gear, it couldn't be denied that his choices still bore some resemblance to Ozpin. The group erupted into chaos, pouncing onto the poor boy as Nora screamed. They tackled him into the house, the chaos following, before they finally released him. The girls crowded around him once more, seemingly moving in stop motion as they fawned over the boy.

'You had us worried sick!'

'Are you okay?'

'What are you wearing?'

'Is something cooking?' Terra called over the cacophony of voices.

'Oh, uh, yeah. I thought maybe you guys would appreciate a hot meal after spending all day looking for… me apparently.' Oscar said, raising his hands into the air. Jaune pushed his way between the girls to stand before the boy.

'It's my fault we were all out there in the first place.' He said. 'Oscar, I am so sorry for earlier. I was way, way out of line and what I said-!'

'No, it's okay.' Oscar cut him off quickly, raising his hands to calm the blond. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. 'These past few days, I've been scared of the same things you were. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be me. But I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left.'

'Good. This team isn't the same without you Oscar.' Jaune said. The two boys shared a moment, rudely interrupted by the blaring alarm.

'The casserole!' Oscar yelped, and the two women laughed, pacing into the kitchen.

'We're on it chef.' Terra called, and Oscar made a gesture of thanks to them. Ruby smiled widely at the boy, earning a gentle blush from him.

'Uh, combat gear looks good.' She said. As if trying to slip away unnoticed, Qrow creaked his way conspicuously up the stairs, and Ruby's face fell once more. 'Where are you going now?'

'I don't wanna get in the way of your celebration.'

'You've been gone all day just sit with us!'

Qrow sighed heavily. 'Look, Ruby, I'm glad you kids worked out uh… whatever all that was, but fact is we're not a single step closer to Atlas.'

'Actually, I think I have an idea. Well, it's not really my idea, I heard Jaye say it in a… hopefully joking way, but it's sort of a no-going-back kind of idea.' Jaune said, and Qrow's face instantly fell grim. Ruby turned to the boy.

'Well, let's hear it.'

'With Cordo on watch only Atlas airships have the clearance to leave for Solitas.' He said, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. 'So… uh… we steal an Atlas airship.'

The girls broke the silence.

'That's… not just breaking the law. That's… that's definitely worse.' Weiss said.

'How would we even get onto the airfield?' Yang asked, and Jaune raised a finger into the air.

'That part I haven't quite figured out yet, but I'm pretty sure Jaye would have a few suggestions.' Jaune started, but Qrow cut him off with a firm voice.

'Okay stop! Just… stop.' He sighed, placing his hands down on the banister. 'Look, if this thing goes south it's not something we can just… fight our way out of. This is the Atlas military we're talking about!' He heaved a heavier sigh. 'For your sake, just drop this.'

The mood turned somber for a long moment, before Ruby's brows furrowed in indignation. She turned back to her uncle, hands balling into fists.

'I want to hear him out.' She declared, and Qrow gave her a stern look.

'Ruby-!'

'I want to hear him out!' She raised her voice at the surly man, and Qrow was briefly taken aback. 'I know you're trying to protect us, that you're afraid we can't do it. But right now, I don't really care what you think! Just because you don't have an idea doesn't mean we're out of options. Oz hasn't been here to tell us what to do but we still managed to get this far anyway. We've been in bad situations before, and we didn't need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do! We just did it our way!' She glanced back at the group behind her, smiling at them. 'And I say we do it our way.'

Qrow studied the kids quietly, noticing the door open out of the corner of his eye. Ruby smirked at her uncle.

'And if you think you can keep us with us kids, we'd be happy to have you.' She finished, hearing the door open behind them. Jaye raised an eyebrow at the circle of people seemingly in the middle of some profound "finding themselves/breaking free of chains" moment, eyes falling to the occasionally possessed boy in the center of the room.

'Told you he'd come back.' The raven-haired boy said, nudging Artemis with his elbow. She swatted at his arm, pushing her way past to embrace the newly found boy. Jaye raised an eyebrow at Oscar. 'New threads?'

'Uh yeah.' He replied awkwardly, patting the faunus girl on the back. 'Were you guys looking for me too?'

'Actually, we picked up your trail and followed it to a battle gear shop, then the grocery store, then followed it right back here.' Kamina chirped. 'Explains what you were doing, though we haven't figured out the grocery store bit.'

'Oscar made dinner.' Yang said.

'There it is.' Apollo said smugly, turning to Jaye. 'And you said I'd gotten him mixed up with someone else, because there's absolutely no reason for him to get groceries.'

'I reasoned it was some deep, spiritual connection he had with the vegetables that brought him there. You know, just farmer things.' Kamina grinned, blocking Apollo's elbow. Jaye raised an eyebrow at the apparent stand-off between the group and the surly man halfway up the stairs.

'So uh… what's happening now? Are we fighting? I'm on Yang's side.' Jaye asked, and Ruby smiled at the boy. 'No fighting?'

'We're going to steal an Atlas airship.' She said, and the boy's face lit up devilishly.

'HAH, CALLED IT! LET'S GO BOIS.'

End of Chapter 74