We had been traveling for half a day now, avoiding Grimm and keeping an eye open for any signs of life. It was only around late afternoon that we finally spotted a trail, "Finally, some sign of civilization." I was relieved to finally be able to see people again, spending hours worrying about being attacked was wearing me out. Stepping out of the trees and brushing off a few leaves that decided to stick around, I started down the path. The road looked well traveled and I didn't see any evidence of Grimm being in the area, so it had to be safe!

"Don't let your guard down. That's when they get you."

I groaned as I went back to cautiously looking around while I was walking. I didn't even have a weapon right now so all I could do if a Grimm did see me was run as fast as I could.

Thanks for the anxiety…

"You're welcome."

That was supposed to be sarcasm, but I didn't feel like correcting him. I was much too tired.

After a while longer walking I eventually reached the town, and I'd never felt so happy to see civilization before. "Finally!"

The town was small, more a village than a proper town, but it had a train station and that was all that mattered. There was nobody out right now, other than town guards that eyed me wearily as I passed them. I was going to feel offended, then I remembered I must look like some homeless vagabond who crawled out of a ditch… And I probably also smelled like salt water.

I reached the train station, hoping it'd still be selling tickets, but I was disappointed to see a 'CLOSED' sign on the ticket counter. Deflating, I was about to take a seat at a bench when an elderly-sounding woman spoke up, "Excuse me dearie, are you new here?"

Whirling around, I spotted a hobbled and small old woman holding a cane, nodding quickly without speaking, she continued, "Sorry to say, but the next passenger train isn't due until tomorrow morning, you've got all night. You look like you've been through the blender, dearie, are you new here?" She had concern etched on her face, and I felt guilty for making her worry.

"Ah-" I clear my throat, "Yeah-I mean, yes ma'am, I'm Oscar." Using that name hurt me inside but I did it reflexively, being called something your whole life made it hard to change sometimes, even if you really wanted to. "I'm from Mistral. I…My ship was attacked by a Grimm, as far as I can tell I'm the only survivor." I lowered my head, looking down at the pendant around my neck in contemplation. Was I the one who should have made it out..?

"Yes, you were, and not just because of me."

I wasn't sure if I found comfort in those words, but the old woman offered comfort, "Oh dear! That's awful… The brothers must have truly blessed you if you survived all of that. Why don't you come to my home for the night? My grandson is there, he's about your age. Maybe you'll get along."

The idea of meeting more new people made me incredibly nervous, but I wasn't going to turn down such a polite and genuine offer, that would be rude. "O-Okay." The old woman beckoned me to follow, and started walking down the street, I followed close behind. The streets were eerily quiet, I knew people were often very careful with going out at night due to Grimm, but this was much worse than it usually was, at least at the town I was closest to there'd be more than one or two people out at night.

Her house was a simple two-story affair, a very quaint townhouse, but it was no doubt fancier than the barn I lived in, not that I cared for fancy. Once we were inside, I immediately felt the cozy atmosphere of the place wrap around me like a warm blanket. The lights were on, and the old woman called out, "Cobalt! We have a guest, he's going to be staying the night!" Then she hobbled into the kitchen, "Make yourself at home dearie, I'm going to put the kettle on and get you some tea, you must be parched after traveling so far!"

As much as I wanted to assure her that I was fine, I did feel my throat growing dryer by the second, and again turning her down would be rude. I was standing in the living room area, there was a couch placed in front of a television and a coffee table. I hesitated before walking forward, intent on sitting down. However a boisterous voice caused me to almost jump out of my skin as I turned towards the source, wide-eyed.

"Hey there, stranger!" The voice was friendly and deep, but had no sense of volume control. The person who owned it was tall, much taller than me, I was only about 5 '4''and this person easily cleared six feet! He had blue hair and was stockily built, he clearly worked out a lot. He wore a grin as he approached me, holding out his hand for a handshake, "They call me Cobalt!"

It took me a moment to fully process that I was supposed to shake his hand, but I did so gingerly, only for his tight grip to take me by surprise as he shook my hand. When he let go my hand felt sore and I nursed it by gently rubbing it. "...My name is Oscar, it's… Nice to meet you, Mr. Cobalt."

"Please, you look like you're my age, just call me Cobalt!" He pats my back, it was a hard pat that caused me to stumble forward a bit, and Cobalt to grin, "Willowy, eh? You should work out with me someday! What brings you to town? This place isn't exactly a tourist attraction."

Envisioning myself with lots of muscles made me shudder, I'm sure it wouldn't get that bad, but still, that was my natural assumption. Besides! I wasn't that weak! I had to have some strength to be a farmer, even if it wasn't much… "Well…"

Before I could start talking, Cobalt's grandmother called to us, "The tea is ready, I'm bringing it out." She arrives carrying a tray, Cobalt quickly went to her and politely took the tray from her, it held three already filled mugs of tea and a teapot in the middle.

"Come now, Grandmother, I told you to let me handle that. Just because I'm leaving for Vale tomorrow doesn't mean that I'm going to let you carry these things while I'm here." He carried the tray over to the coffee table and set it down, there was an armchair to the right that the grannie sat in.

"Thank you dearie, but you know that I'm going to have to do these things on my own anyway, once you're gone! I can take care of myself just fine." She smiles warmly at him, while he seemed unmoved by her reasoning and took a seat on the couch. Both of them looked at me, and I took that as a cue to sit down next to Cobalt on the couch.

"Right!" Cobalt declared, "Tell us your story, Oscar." He picked up one of the mugs and sipped on it, eyes trained on me.

"Right, well… I'd always heard Beacon was a great place to become a hunter, so I came here from Mistral. I… Really didn't like how things were handled in Mistral, I heard Vale was better. Wh-When I finally got a boat to take me here, we were attacked by a kraken…" I took a tender sip of my tea, trying to calm my nerves. I hated talking at length like this… "As far as I know I was the only person to survive, a huntsman sacrificed his life to save me. I-I'm not sure what he did, but he blew up the kraken." Instinctively, I gripped the pendant with my free hand, "He gave me this, told me to keep going. So here I am."

I was met with silence, for a moment I was worried that maybe I'd said something wrong somehow, yet when I looked up their looks were of shock. Cobalt reached out and gripped my shoulder, giving it a squeeze that honestly hurt a bit, but maybe that was just because I was still fairly sore across my whole body from the events on the boat. Even if it had been days since then. Yeah, that was it for sure."You've been through more than many would experience in their whole lives, in just a few short days! The fact that you're still alive means that you have the strength to be a huntsman. I'm going there tomorrow as well, perhaps this is fate. I hope you get in, maybe we could be in a team."

That was a lot all of the sudden, when he let go of my shoulder I rubbed it, "Ah- Thank you… M-Maybe." I didn't have the willpower to say anything else, especially given that I had no idea how my 'special circumstance' would change how I was treated at the academy.

"Glynda will place you in a team the same as everyone else, better that way so you don't stick out. We don't need you getting revealed before it becomes absolutely necessary."

That's reassuring, I guess.

Cobalt's grandmother seemed to have already finished her cup, "Well, I'm going to go to bed. Cobalt, remember to get some sleep tonight. The train leaves in the morning! You should probably rest as well, Oscar, if you're going to Beacon, you'll want to catch it as well." She got up and began to leave, with both Cobalt and I bidding her goodnight.

Cobalt finished his mug of tea before pointing something out, "I take it you lost your weapon on the boat? Not many huntsmen in training would abandon their weapon willingly." He certainly was perceptive, but I guess it was obvious.

"Uh… Yeah. Lost to the ocean… It was just an old shotgun though, I didn't have anything special." I sipped my mug, nursing and sipping from this tea was therapeutic, and it helped me actually speak, it gave me something to focus on.

"Aah, I see. You'll need to see a weaponsmith once you get to Vale! Perhaps they can fashion one for you." Cobalt's suggestion had merit, although I wasn't sure what Ozpin's plans were.

"I have a weapon for you waiting at Beacon, the same one I used. You might struggle with it at first, but you'll get used to it."

Well, that solved that then, although I did kind of also want my own weapon that wasn't Ozpin's. "I plan to." Was my short response, draining the rest of the mug and setting it down before grabbing the kettle and gently topping it off, careful to not overflow it.

Cobalt observed my movements, but if he thought my mannerisms were off he didn't comment on them, "Well, we will have ample time to talk on the train." He stands, "I'm going up to my room, if you need anything feel free to knock!" Then he heads upstairs, waving as he goes.

"Ah- Thank you." Now alone with my tea, I sipped it and mulled over the events of the past few days. Nothing so far had gone to plan and this was certainly not the smooth trip I was hoping for.

"It has been rough, but it's nothing compared to what we will face as time goes on. If anything, you can consider it a warm up exercise."

That's not very reassuring.

I still wasn't okay with Ozpin being in my head, I'm sure he knew that. Looking back on it, I sincerely wished he had never shown up at all.

Didn't you tell me on the lifeboat that you only merge with men? What's that make me, then?

"Truthfully nothing like this has ever happened before. Even the more effeminate people I cohabitated with were always men at the end of the day. Yet your soul speaks different from how you were born. Regardless of who you are, we can't avoid this anymore. I'm already here."

Is there really no way to split us apart again?

I knew there probably wasn't, but I had to hope. How was I supposed to be myself with him living in my head like this?

"Unfortunately not, this is how it has to be."

Sighing, I sipped my tea and set it down. I resolved that if that was the case, I needed to make myself as me as possible as soon as I could. Easier said than done, I wasn't even sure what that would look like… After spending my whole life posing as 'Oscar', I had never really figured out who 'Ozza' was.

When I finished the mug of tea, I noticed that the kettle was empty, it seemed that she probably guessed we'd all be going to bed soon so she didn't make a lot. I took that as my own cue to go to sleep, with how exhausted I was it only took a few seconds after I laid back on the couch to completely fall asleep, a 'dream' awaiting me.

I walked alone through a white, featureless room, unsure of where I was going. I saw a figure in the distance, and as I closed in it became apparent that who I was looking at was nobody I had ever seen before. A tall older man with white hair in a suit, standing with a strange looking cane in his hand, although he didn't seem to be using it for support.

"I figured I owed you this much. A face to face meeting, before I completely lose the ability to manifest myself in this form, even in a dream." The voice was familiar, I knew it then to be Ozpin.

"Here I thought my dreams were mine alone." I crossed my arms, although when I did I noticed a soft and foreign feeling, looking down, I noticed my chest seemed to be… More womanly, to say the least. "Th-This too? Are you trying to piss me off? You know playing with my emotions like this just makes me angrier."

"I didn't choose to present this form to you, this is one your mind conjured for yourself. Here, take a look." A mirror appeared in front of me, floating in place, and I got a good look as my eyes widened in shock.

My hair wasn't too different, it was fluffier, slightly longer, and felt thicker, the way it was layered made it feel unruly, my bangs framed my face on either side instead of getting in front of my eyes. My face was softer and more feminine, whereas before it was far easier to tell I was born a boy, even if I had been lucky enough to not have a particularly masculine face in the first place.

The rest of my body was more noticeable, underneath my usual white shirt and overalls were a pair of breasts, I didn't know sizes, but they weren't super big… They were nice to have. I had often wondered what it would be like to have them, and it didn't disappoint. Other than the obvious, my form was curvier, not by much, but my hips were certainly a bit larger. Overall, I was reminded of the girl I saw in the magazines, and as I stared into my own eyes, I saw the tears welling up as they clouded my vision.

"Too cruel… Even my mind dangles things in front of me I know I can't have." The mirror vanished, and Ozpin looked at me, a stoic expression that was betrayed by eyes of pity. All that did was make me feel worse.

"While there's nothing I can do about it now, I have been mulling over this conundrum of yours. If it will help you focus on the mission, then I see no reason to do anything but help you." Ever the pragmatist, I guess. He started pacing, back and forth. "I must be truthful, I think I could at least begin… Influencing your body to change, but it would come at a heavy cost."

"Wh-What? You mean you could do that this whole time?" I had to stop myself from raising my voice, remembering how he told me he couldn't awhile ago. "What's the cost?"

"To put it bluntly, influencing you with my magic to change shape permanently would be a gradual and slow process, and the act of doing it will speed the process of our unification. You will not lose yourself, but you will be influenced further by my person, you will start to remember things that I experienced, you may adopt some of my mannerisms, and the increased weight of casting this spell will mean that I will not be able to aid you in combat as frequently. Preferably you will use your time at Beacon to learn how I fought, it would come to you easily."

I looked down and away, thinking it over. "...How long would it take exactly?" I didn't want to be more like him, I wanted to be me, but this felt like one of the only ways that might be able to happen, at least in my mind. Were he not offering what he was, I would have rejected it flat out.

"It depends. Going at a sustainable rate would take a year at least, if not longer, and don't anticipate that you will look exactly as you do here. I'm not sure what exactly you will look like, but this is an idealized vision of yourself. You could look similar, you could look very different. We won't know until it happens. Nothing I do will be a replacement for the artifact I told you about, of course, I cannot match the power of such a thing."

I wondered if he truly meant that, or if he simply wanted me to keep doing what he asked of me. Not like I had a choice at this point anyway. "...Fine. Do it, at this point it's the only thing that'll bring me closer to actually being happy with myself."

Ozpin stopped pacing, holding his hand out, "Very well then." Unsure of what else to do, I reached out and grasped his hand with my own. Once I did, my vision was overtaken with white.

I awoke the next morning feeling no different to how I did last night, he did warn me it was going to take awhile for any change to manifest so I guess I couldn't expect much. As I stood and stretched, I heard steps on the staircase. Cobalt's voice greeted me, "Morning, Oscar! Ready to go? We can get you a ticket at the station if we get there before the train arrives."

Cobalt was wearing armor, plate colored blue like his hair, I had a feeling he really loved the color. It was segmented, covering his chest, head, parts of his arms, and over his lower and upper legs. He had a bag slung over his shoulder, and a cylindrical object at his side.

After taking in his armor, I felt underdressed. Was everyone at Beacon going to be wearing cool outfits like that? I was going to stand out like a sore thumb. "Y-Yeah, let's go."

Once we were outside, I looked up at the sky out of instinct. Years of farm work made me weary of what the weather was like on any given day, rain would be nice for the crops but too much of it could drown them, too long without it and they'd dry out unless we watered them ourselves. That sort of thing.

Today was overcast, maybe it'd rain. We'd be on the train by then, hopefully.

"Oscar, come on!" Cobalt urged and I jumped, looking over I saw him a few feet ahead and I hurried over. Even now I couldn't keep my head out of the clouds! The sun was barely out, so the occasional street light lit our way down the street as we reached the train station. There was still barely anyone out right now, although once we got into the station itself we saw a dozen or so people sitting around, probably waiting for the same train we are.

Cobalt went to take a seat and save one for me while I went up to the counter, there was no line. "Ticket to Vale City please." The exchange was made, soon I had my one way ticket to Vale and made my way back to my travel partner. When I sat down Cobalt pointed out what I had already been thinking of.

"You're going to need new clothes!" At least he used an indoor voice now, so it wasn't as embarrassing when he pointed that out, although it still kind of was. "Wearing a farmboy's outfit to Beacon's final test would be like wearing a full suit to a warzone. You'll want to get something sorted out in the next few days, before the exam starts."

"I know." I mutter, "I'm amazed they've stayed together this long. I'm not sure what I'll wear though… I've never needed to wear anything that wasn't an outfit like this." My outfit was looking more raggedy by the day, there weren't any tears or anything on it yet.

"You could wear a suit like mine, they're very flexible."

I'd rather not start dressing like you, you're already in my head.

We sat around in relative silence until it was time to depart, we heard the train approaching followed by its whistle, and the conductor, "All aboard!" That was all we needed to hear, everyone who was sitting around got up and soon we were all piling into the train. It looked similar to the last train I rode, cozy and easy to relax in, although sitting against the window next to someone as stocky as Cobalt made me feel like I was in danger of getting squished into the side of the train.

I just had to get used to it though, this trip was probably going to take a few hours if we needed a train to get there expediently. Cobalt seemed far more excited than I was, then again unlike me he'd probably been dreaming about going to Beacon his whole life. I tried envisioning what Vale City looked like, and probably due to Ozpin's blessing, I had a fairly easy time. It was still blurry, but I could make out multi-story buildings and busy streets in my head. The very idea of the place made me nervous, I'd never actually been to a city before…

Cobalt spoke, startling me out of my thoughts, "So what was your life like before you came here? You said you lived in Mistral but didn't say anything else about it." Genuine curiosity filled his voice, I felt obligated to tell him at least the basics, of course I'd have to omit the old man living in my head.

"All things considered, I'm ageless, not old."

Old.

My voice was soft and I tried to keep as quiet as I could without being inaudible. I hated the idea of annoying people by talking too loud, "W-Well, I was just a farmhand on my aunt's farm… Life was simple and easy, I only had to worry about fighting small grimm, and there was this one time I had to scare off a bear, but other than that… It was nice."

Cobalt raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued, "What made you come all the way to Vale then? It's not an easy trip to make as you found out, surely you could have simply gone to Haven."

I went with the same excuse I gave my parents, "...The classism in Mistral makes me sick, I hear Haven is just as bad. Beacon, on the other hand, I only ever heard good things about. I figured coming here would be better for me in the long term, even if it meant a long journey."

Cobalt gained a look of understanding, "Ah… I had no idea, that makes sense." He seems to not prod any further, much to my relief. I was afforded an hour of peace looking out the window before I spotted something unnerving. At first I wasn't sure, through the trees it was hard to make out, but I eventually discerned a large Grimm running on all fours, boneplating covering much of its body. Beowolf!

"They come in packs, keep an eye open."

Sure enough I heard another passenger shout in alarm, "Beowolfs! They're getting closer to the train!"

Cobalt was the first to react, standing up and heading for the cabin door, "I'm going out there! If they start attacking the train directly a lot of innocent people could die!" He opened the door to the cabin and stepped outside before I could protest that it would be too dangerous, though I felt he wouldn't listen regardless.

What do we do?

"Find a weapon, you can't expect a lone huntsman in training to take on a pack of Grimm on his own regardless of how much more skilled he is than you."

As nerve wracking as the idea of going outside on a moving train was, I looked around to see if I couldn't find a weapon. There wasn't anything particularly impressive, although Ozpin bid me to find a cane of some kind. I finally spotted an older man with a hefty looking walking cane at his side, he didn't seem that frail, so I figured I'd ask. "E-Excuse me, I need to go help my friend, can I borrow that?"

The old man looked confused, before he looked at his cane, "Ah, a strange choice of weapon…" He grabs it and holds it out, "Very well, as long as those Grimm don't get in here."

I thanked him and took the cane, it wasn't exactly a fantastic weapon but at least I could be a suitable distraction so Cobalt didn't get overwhelmed. Afterward I headed for the car door, past all of the cowering passengers, although I wasn't feeling so confident about this myself. If only I had my shotgun…

Uneasily, I opened the door and the wind immediately hit my face. It took my everything to walk past it and, hearing Cobalt already taking jabs at some of the Grimm while on top of the car, I climbed the ladder that was attached to the back of the next car. Sure enough, Cobalt was standing there. His weapon had extended from the cylindrical object at his side, now a full sized Glaive that he spun deftly in his hand, a Beowolf leapt at him and he slashed at it, sending it flying backwards.

I was almost too enraptured to actually do anything, but Ozpin reminded me of my objective, "Seeing a properly trained huntsman in action is a spectacle, but you need to help him, not watch him."

Shaking myself out of my trance, I walked forward shakily, trying to balance myself along the way as I saw one of the creatures on the other side of the car seemingly looking for the right moment to leap up towards Cobalt. "Hey, I'm here to help!" I called over to him over the sound of the wind rushing past us.

"With that cane?!" He sounded skeptical, "Be careful, Oscar! These things are no joke!" As if to punctuate that, one jumped at him and he deftly slashed downward towards its head, sending it flying backward like the last one.

I knew that already, but I didn't want to speak with how frayed my nerves were, instead I just focused on what was in front of me. I gripped the cane like a club, and when the beast leapt at me I batted it away, the cane rather miraculously survived, I was surprised it didn't shatter on first contact.

Cobalt was taking far more out than I was, I hadn't even killed one as far as I knew, they were just too strong to beat with a walking cane like this! Yet as they started to thin out, we had a solid minute of peace.

I relaxed, thinking it was over, I turned towards Cobalt as he looked at me, "Think it's over?" I asked, out of breath and using the cane to keep my balance, I didn't want to fall off this train after all.

"I think s-" Cobalt cut himself off as his eyes widened, "Oscar, get down!" Horrified, I whirled around, but my reaction time wasn't fast enough to do anything about the Beowolf leaping at me.

Time seemed to slow down, I saw Cobalt take a swing at the creature, I saw it get hit, but I also felt its claws slash into me, only slightly blunted by my aura, which was hardly strong enough to do much more than make the attack hurt less. The force of the strike was enough to send me flying back, clear off the train. I heard Cobalt shout my name, but as I felt my back connect with a tree I lost any breath I might have used to call back to him. Instead, I fell off the tree and landed squarely in some bushes, face down and lacking the strength to stand, the cane I had used was shattered, and my clothes were torn by the creature's fierce attack, even if my aura blunted it, it didn't stop it from hitting me completely.

"You will need to train your aura while we're at Beacon. If it was strong enough you could have completely negated that attack."

Thanks for the tip…

I groaned as I tried to stand, failing and falling back down a few times before eventually using the tree as a support to stagger to my feet. "So close…" I grunt under my breath, trying to take a tentative step forward. My stance was shaky and uneven, I had to hunch myself over to avoid losing balance completely. If only this cane hadn't broken…

"Keep moving. Cobalt might have killed that Grimm but there will be more if they sense the burst of negative emotion."

I knew that already, but nonetheless I tried to hurry along. Not that there was much I could do but amble forward slightly faster, eyes trained on what was in front of me. Step by step, moment by moment, my footfalls carried me closer and closer to my destination.

I wasn't sure what I would find in the way, but there's no way I could give up now. I'd die, and I'd never be able to be who I wanted to be. If Ozpin was right, then I needed to live, so even as I looked down and finally noticed that my chest was bleeding despite my aura having at least lessened the strength of the attack, I just resolved to move faster.

Can't stop now…

"Once your aura has recovered, it will help the healing process along. Just keep going."

If I was brought down by a single swipe like that, I wondered how exactly he expected me to play a part in saving the world. I wasn't a hero, I was hardly worthy of the title 'wannabe huntress.'

"Stop here. Your shirt is already in tatters, tear off some of the cloth and wrap it around your wound."

I stopped, it made me feel vulnerable to pull off my shirt like this, but it was barely a shirt anymore at this point. Between the boat, the trek to the village, and now the grimm, it had enough small tears and now several large claw-marks on it that it simply didn't had enough. I sat against a tree as I ripped it apart, it took a few minutes since I only had my hands to work with, but after I did I was left with enough leftover cloth to wrap around my chest and tie into some makeshift bandages/gauze. It would work until I got to a town.

How long until we get to Vale now?

"There's a few towns between here and there. If we can get to the next town you can get a new shirt and catch the next train. Hopefully."

Yeah, hopefully.

When my bandages were complete, I stood up again, grunting as a sharp pain shot through my body. Using a tree again to help me stand, I started walking forward again. The wound was covered now at least, but I must have looked awful, some random willowy 'guy' with bandages covering his chest, looking like he'd just crawled out of a warzone.

It started to rain at some point, I kept to the trees to try and minimize how wet I got, but I still ended up more than a little damp. I couldn't let some stupid water slow me down, though, so on I trudged.

I don't know how long I was walking for, it felt like hours. My bag was back on the train, I could only hope Cobalt would hold onto it for me. No food, no water, no supplies… I wasn't sure how I was going to afford a train now, but I had to find a way.

I had hoped to be greeted with a bustling township once I reached civilization, instead I saw billowing pillars of flame and smoke reaching into the sky as I cleared the treeline. Whatever was going on in this small town, it wasn't good. I didn't see any guards, and there were screams ringing deeper into the chaos. "Wh-What the hell…?"

"Stay low, try not to panic. It looks like this town has run afoul of a pack of Grimm."

I had no choice but to do as he said, sneaking my way into the town proper. The more sensible part of me was telling me to just leave this place, but what shred of bravery I had was telling me that if I could possibly help save someone, I should. Even if I'm more likely to get myself killed than to save someone.

"Just follow my instructions to the letter, and we'll get out of this alive. If I had to take over again, I will. You won't die here."

Ozpin's words were, for once, comforting. As I knelt next to one of the few not-on-fire buildings, I heard the sound of clawed footsteps, a Grimm! "Get down, this building is lifted slightly off the ground. You should be able to fit under it."

Oh great, enclosed spaces. Good thing I wasn't claustrophobic. I did as he asked, dropping down despite the pain in my chest just increasing, then I slowly but surely crawled under the building, just in time to witness the very same Grimm I had heard pass my hiding place. Another Beowolf… Were these from the same pack that attacked the train I was on?

"Most likely, yes. They were likely already in the area when all the negative emotion on the train whipped them into a frenzy. They couldn't attack the train anymore with how fast it was, so they switched targets."

If only I could have stopped them…

"No use thinking about that now. Keep crawling, get to the other side of the building, then we need to look for a weapon."

Doing as he asked, I crawled along this tight space, inch by inch and trying to ignore how dirty my bandages were getting. I'd need to change them if I didn't want an infection… Nothing I could do about it now, though. I pushed on, each movement took considerable effort from my already exhausted body, but I made it nonetheless.

When I got to the other side, I crawled out from under the building and shakily stood up, looking around. "There's a window right next to you." I looked and spotted it, indeed the next building had a window, it didn't seem like there was any activity in the household and it had yet to catch on fire. This was my best bet.

I tried opening it, but at first it didn't want to budge. Putting extra strength behind it, much to my wound's protestation, I finally managed to get it open. Clambering over the window, I managed to get inside and shut it behind me, closing the curtains behind me, "Gods… What now?"

"As I said, look for a weapon. We're not getting out of here without one."

You mentioned you have a weapon for me when we get to Beacon, Right? I asked while looking around urgently for a weapon of some kind, I didn't expect to find anything fantastical, and indeed all I found was a sharp looking kitchen knife. It was better than nothing, even if it probably wouldn't last long.

"I do. The Long Memory will be your companion, just as it has been mine for years."

If I'm going to do this, I don't want to just use your own weapon. I want one of my own as well.

"Oh? Do you have an idea?"

Well, a lot of things I used on the farm could qualify as a weapon. A whip, a scythe, sickles, shovels, pitchforks…

"A girl I talked to shortly before I died was a rather talented weaponsmith, when we get to Beacon maybe she'll be able to help design a weapon for you."

That sounds like a plan, then.

Armed with a kitchen knife, I walked through the rest of the one story house and tried to find any signs of survivors. Unfortunately, if anyone had been here, they were long gone. The place had furniture and everything, but no signs of life. They must have been out when the Grimm struck.

I found a bathroom, spotted a medicine cabinet and started rummaging through it. In it I found some wrapping bandages and disinfectant, perfect for my needs. Setting down both on the counter, I undid my bandages, wincing as I went and once more when the air hit the wound. Ozpin guided me through sanitizing the bandages properly, and once that was done I wrapped them around my chest, cringing as I felt the sting of the disinfectant make contact with my wounds.

Better to be clean than comfortable, I guess…

When I was done, I put everything back and discarded what was once my shirt. If the owners of this place were still alive I didn't want to leave this place a mess, and I'd have to pay them back for these supplies later, not that I had much of a choice right now.

"Worry about staying alive first."

I didn't exactly have much of a choice in that matter, and I didn't think I was going to find a shirt to wear here. Instead I just looked for a window on the other side of the building. After walking around for a short time, I found another window facing the opposite direction of the one I came in through. Opening it, I climbed out and landed on the ground, staying low.

What now?

"Stay in the alleyways, take any shortcut you find and try to avoid detection. We need to get to the other side of town, and if one spots you, you'll have the whole pack on you before long."

Grimacing at the idea, I looked around the alleyway I landed in. There was another alleyway that diverged around a corner, so I decided to follow it, rounding the corner I spotted an exit. Yet as I drew closer, I heard Ozpin in my head.

"Hide! I sense one coming."

Looking around, I found a spot just behind a dumpster. Not the most pleasant place to be, but I ducked there anyway. Gripping my knife tightly, I focused on keeping calm as I heard the creature's footsteps draw closer. Soon, they were right on the other side of my hiding place. Staying as still as I could and holding my breath, I listened as the creature's monstrous breathing hovered around this general area, before starting down the alleyway I just came from.

Once the sound of the creature had left earshot, I left my smelly hiding spot and started back towards the exit, staying low once more. As I got close to the corner, I pressed my back against the wall and peeked out, looking in either direction.

The direction I needed to head in was where most of the fire and brimstone was, while the way I came was mostly untouched by the flames right now. The rain was still falling from earlier, if anything that would at least put out some of the fire. Although unless it got a lot heavier I didn't see it putting everything out.

"Hurry over to that alleyway over there." I knew what he was talking about, just down the street closer to the inferno was another alleyway. I did as he asked, although hurrying like that only made me hurt more. I couldn't complain about it now though, not when making any noise might risk outing me to the Grimm.

Gripping my chest with my free hand as I made it to the next alleyway, I took a moment to catch my breath. Couldn't be much further now… I began to think about just how I'd avoid the rest of the pack and not get burned along the way. However, my train of thought was interrupted rather suddenly when I heard a shrill scream, "SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP! IT'S GOING TO KILL ME!" A woman's voice, I instinctively peeked around the corner to see what was going on.

A middle aged woman was running in the direction I came from, behind her was a Beowolf, as she continued to frantically try to get away she eventually tripped over a fallen piece of rubble. I immediately knew what I had to do.

"Ozza, don't! You're in no shape!"

Don't try to stop me! If you're going to do something, then help me kill this thing!

Placing myself between the woman and the Grimm, I squared off with the creature. I didn't like the odds here, and the creature already seemed to be sizing me up as a replacement kill, or at least an additional meal.

"I'm taking over. If you fight this thing yourself you'll be killed."

I didn't object as I felt my body being overtaken, once again put in the passenger's seat all I could really do was watch as Ozpin charged with swiftness I could only dream of having naturally, the creature swung a heavy clawed paw at me, only for Ozpin to slide under it and end up under the creature's belly, he stabbed upward with the knife. It struck home, lodging itself in the creature's chest and causing it to let out a loud roar.

Yet it wasn't dead yet, once Ozpin slid out from under the creature, he immediately leapt on its back. The creature stood on its hind legs and began swiping towards me, yet Ozpin seemed to anticipate this as he hung on one shoulder to avoid a slash that would have hit us. The creature roared as it slashed its own back, starting to stumble backwards, possibly trying to get us off any way possible. As it closed in towards a wall, we leapt off the back of the creature and it crashed into the wall. Ozpin looked around and found us another weapon, just a piece of rebar that had been disconnected from its building.

The creature got on all fours again and charged at us, only for Ozpin to jab forward with the piece of rebar with force I didn't think my body was capable of, as the beast roared at us, it was rewarded with the piece of metal shoving its way into its mouth and coming out the other side. We stayed this way for a moment, with the creature almost frozen in shock. Once Ozpin yanked the piece of Rebar out, the creature collapsed onto the ground and began to dissolve in black mist.

Yet he wasn't relinquishing control yet, "You." It was my voice, but… More authoritative and experienced than I was. "Come with me." We then began to head for where we came from, the woman quickly got up and said nothing as she followed us. He gestured to the house we came from, "Hide in there. Don't say anything, try to keep your emotions under control."

"Th-Thank you! You're a hero!" She thanked us, voice filled with gratitude, then she fled inside and closed the door behind her.

When she was gone, Ozpin relinquished control, all of the fatigue of our actions caught up to me at once and I staggered, falling on my knees and breathing heavily, "Gods… I hope we can avoid another situation like that."

"For both of our sakes, I agree. Keep the rebar, it's the only weapon we have right now. Catch your breath, then we need to get out of here."

I staggered back to my feet, gripping the rebar in both of my hands as I went back the way I was originally going. My breathing steadily came back under control, and I started ducking and weaving into alleyways as I went. Steadily I made it closer to the heart of the inferno, stopping just as I felt the heat start licking against my skin. The rain had picked up slightly, but not nearly enough to put out the fire.

How are we going to get past this? I don't see any Grimm but the heat alone is unbearable!

"You'll have to endure. As long as you don't come in direct contact with the flames you should be able to make it to the other side."

Great. Guess I had no choice. I took a deep breath and stepped out, looking past the fire and flames, I prepared myself as best I could in my current state and began running. The main road didn't have a lot of fire directly on it, although the buildings were a different story, as I ran past one of them collapsed and sent rubble and dust into the air. Catching some of it in my lungs, I began coughing and sputtering as I continued at a jog, trying to reach the other side. More and more it seemed like the very foundations of the buildings around me were starting to crumble and give way. When I finally got to the other side of inferno road I was covering my mouth with my hand and coughing into it, all of this debris and dust was making it hard to breathe.

I couldn't stop though, I needed to put as much distance as possible between this town and I. My breathing was labored as I stumbled my way out of the town proper and onto the road. I didn't see many people back there, I knew most of them were probably dead. There was nothing I could do in this state, I had to get to the next town over and let them know so they could send for help.

Using the piece of rebar as a walking stick, I started moving as quickly as I could down the road. At this point it was nothing more than a fast walk as I was hunched slightly, fighting off exhaustion and blurriness as my body fought to make me rest while my heart and mind wanted me to push forward.

Although my actual heart was beating out of my chest from all this exertion, I was sure if I had tried to do something like this before meeting Ozpin I'd have passed out long ago. Yet I wasn't that far from having my body give out at this point, I hadn't even had time to find supplies back there so I still had no food or water.

I continued on, my steps were heavy and getting slower by the minute but I had no choice. I knew if there was another town nearby it couldn't be far. I needed to warn them before the Grimm decided to go there next. The rain finally began to really pour down, of course after I had already left the town, just my luck…

Every footfall was met with an increasingly muddy road, these paths weren't meant to be traversed in this kind of weather, not on foot at least. Yet here I was.

Come out to Vale he said, Beacon is so perfect he said… See where that got me?

"In my defense I didn't anticipate any of this would happen. Focus on what's in front of you, if your body gives out now and I have to take over you're liable to be unconscious for a day or longer once I relinquish again."

That wasn't very reassuring, but I didn't have much of a choice, which seemed to be a running theme for me ever since he showed up. My body had been hurting for so long that it was starting to go numb to defend itself, which was cold comfort when I knew that if I made one wrong step I might fall and not be able to get back up for hours.

All that I could do was forge ahead. Every step got slower, but I couldn't stop. Even as my vision became increasingly blurry, I kept going. I lost track of how long I had been walking, the town I left was far behind and I looked for any signs that there might be another town in sight. It got darker and darker, making it harder to see, the road beneath my feet was the only indication I was still on track.

When I saw the first sign of civilization in the form of street lights inside a small walled off settlement, the moon had fully replaced the sun in the night sky. One of the guards saw me, wearing a simple arraignment of leather armor, "Who goes there-'' He cut himself off as he saw the shape I was in, "By the Brothers, get the doctor out here! This kid looks like he's about to keel over!"

He wasn't far from the truth. As soon as I was in front of the town gates, all I could manage to say with my dried throat was, "The town back there… The Grimm…" Then I finally lost my balance and collapsed onto the ground.

I heard shouting and orders being given out as my vision was finally fully overtaken with darkness.

I had no dreams that night, my whole body and mind were focused on rest and recovery. When I finally began to come to, I tried opening my eyes, there was light above me, a blurry figure stood over me, and yet my vision simply darkened again.

It took another few attempts to open my eyes, and when my vision began to come back all I could manage was, "Wh-Where…?"

The figure standing over me was an old man, "Ah! You're awake, at last! How are you feeling, boy?" He wore a brown vest over a dress shirt and had a pair of dress pants on, if you looked up 'Doctor' you might see an image of someone like him.

"Nnnhhh…" I struggled to speak, the doctor quickly realized the error as he reached across me and grabbed what I found out was a bottle of water, I raised my hands weakly and put it up to my lips, drinking down the whole bottle before I knew it.

"You look like you've been through hell, young man. What happened? The guards told me you mentioned something about Grimm…" He looked concerned, and as I began to regain my mental faculties, I tried explaining everything to him.

"I was… On a train to Vale, it was attacked by Grimm. I went to try and fight them off, but I ended up getting knocked off the train… Afterward I reached the next town over, but it was overrun with Grimm, I think they were worked up enough to target somewhere else when the train didn't fall. After that, well… I kept going until I got here." I left out a lot of detail, but I didn't think it was necessary, he only needed to know the basics.

"You've been through a lot, you say you're trying to get to Vale? You're still some ways off, the main road is past our town, from there it'd be another day if you walked. It's noon, you've been out all night and morning… Yet I don't know if you're ready to travel yet." The doctor was clearly concerned for me, I certainly didn't feel like I was in any shape to walk the rest of the way.

"We can't let that stop us. The initiation is in a short few days and if we miss it, it'll be a lot harder to explain your appearance at Beacon."

Sitting up and wincing, I look down as I instinctively put a hand over my chest. It was then that I noticed I wore a new shirt, just a plain white one, but it was still better than what I had been working with before, and the pendant was still around my neck as well… "I… I appreciate what you've done, but I have to get to Vale. It's… It's very important. I can't tell you anymore than that, but… Are the trains still running?"

The doctor shook his head, causing my heart to sink, "Word got around about the train attack you were talking about yesterday, a team of huntsmen have been dispatched to deal with the pack of Grimm you encountered I'm told, although I had no idea you had such an up-close run in. Until they report the job finished, I wouldn't expect any trains to come through here."

"I… See. I guess I need to start walking again, then." I was already resigned to my fate, yet the doctor seemed to have another idea.

"Look, you can't go walking out like that. You'll die, plain and simple. I'm surprised you're even able to sit up straight right now. If you're so dead set on going, I can take you. I have an old car, it's not much but I need to go to the city anyway to restock on supplies. Grimm or no, I can't run this clinic without any supplies." The doctor seemed hesitant to make me this offer, I knew he was going against his better judgment offering me this.

"Doctor… I dunno what to say… Thank you." I was incredibly grateful, "If I can repay you after we get to Vale, please, let me know."

Doc just shook his head, "You acting as my protection on this trip will be enough. I have a revolver… Somewhere around here, I'm going to need you to use it if some Grimm gets a funny idea about us. Alright?"

"...Alright. When do we leave?"

"I was going to leave tomorrow but… If you're on that urgent of business we can leave today, as soon as you're able to stand."

I made the effort, one leg after the other off the patient bed. At first as I tried to stand I was very shaky, but it all evened out and soon I was back on my feet. "Alright…" Before I could say anything else, my stomach grumbled, causing me to blush in embarrassment, "Ah… Do you have any food?"


After eating my first full meal since the train ride, I was feeling remarkably better than I was earlier. Ozpin told me that this resilience was due in part to my aura and in part to him working on speeding up my natural healing. The bandages would be completely unnecessary by the time I got to Vale he said, provided we didn't run into any further complications.

I certainly hoped there weren't any, but at this point I wasn't going to put it past the world to continue tormenting me further. The doctor gave me his revolver, it was old but serviceable, it reminded me of something my uncle might have had on the farm. He also gave me a holster for it, which I secured firmly on my hip.

Now armed with a proper weapon for the first time since the boat, together we headed to his garage, his car wasn't anything special, it looked well worn and old but I was in no place to be picky about vehicles. It honestly felt like anytime I ended up in a train something bad happened, maybe my luck would be better with a car?

Once we were both seated and buckled in, he opened the garage door with the press of a button, started the car, and out we went. "You said you had important business in Vale, Oscar?" I had told him my name over lunch, "You certainly seem dead set on seeing it done. What is it, exactly?"

"Well…" I swallowed a lump in my throat, "Truthfully I… Can't talk too much about it, but I came all the way from Mistral to get here and I need to get to Beacon by any means possible as soon as possible."

The doctor seemed like he had more questions, but he didn't pursue them, "Alright, keep your secrets. We've all got more than a few." The road in the town was paved, but as soon as we were outside of the town's limits it was back to dirt, which certainly didn't make for a very pleasant ride. Although after walking all day yesterday, I wasn't going to complain about a bumpy car ride.

We shared idle conversation, mostly I just asked him about his practice and how long he'd been a doctor, that sort of thing. I avoided giving too many details about myself, it felt scummy but the less people knew about who I was right now the better. Eventually we made it to the main road, it was the first paved road I'd seen in a long time. Dirt roads were more common where I grew up, and especially since I'd never left the confines of my small town before all of this, feeling the ride smooth out was all the sweeter.

Not that far now at all… Another hour or two and we'd be there.

At least, that's what I assumed was going to happen.

Instead we heard howls of Grimm from around the forest, it wasn't many, a small pack, but at least one of their cries sounded a lot louder than the others. I slipped the revolver out of my holster and double-checked that it was loaded with some of the rounds I had been given. They were infused with dust, so they were far more potent than regular rounds, but they'd still struggle against some types of Grimm. At the doctor's behest, I rolled the window down and waited to see if they actually showed themselves.

Sure enough, a minute or two later a small number of Ursa appeared, just small ones. This should be easy… I took aim out the window and took a shot. It wasn't easy aiming in a car like this, but the bullet found its target, connecting with one of the Ursa and exploding, sending the now headless creature flying backward. The others didn't seem very deterred, "Why are there so many Grimm out?! This isn't normal, is it?" I asked the doctor as I aimed and shot at another one.

"No! I don't know why they're so aggravated, I'm no Grimm expert!" He responded, keeping the car steady as I kept taking shots. I was internally grateful for the times my uncle let me shoot birds and bottles with his old revolver, the training was coming in handy in a way I'd never expected it would.

Finally it seemed that it was behind us, "I think we're clear!" Just as I went to sit back down however, a tree was pushed down in front of us and a much larger Ursa appeared, easily the size of three regular Ursa stacked atop each other, it didn't seem like we'd stop in time to avoid the tree, so instead the doctor swerved the car, however it seemed the old thing had lost its grip of the road and he quickly began to lose control of the vehicle.

"Get out, now!"

Ozpin suddenly took control of my body, his first action was to quickly pull off my seatbelt and then open the door and roll out of the car in time for it to crash into the tree. It was only after we were standing again that he relinquished control, I staggered slightly but didn't collapse this time thankfully.

The doctor didn't seem so lucky, he and the car plowed headfirst into a tree, the horn was blaring endlessly and yet I knew I couldn't try to help him yet, not with that beast there. As I stared it down, I fished out a few more rounds and put them into the revolver, aimed at the beast, and shot every round I had at it.

The creature roared in anger at first, although enough successive shots caused it to stagger, I had to keep going though. As quickly as I could with an old revolver, I loaded in a few more shots and took aim, but by this point it was already charging at me. It was at a time like this Ozpin would take over, yet he was silent this time as I faced down this creature that was far stronger than me.

I ran around to the other side of the car, we needed to leave! Yet when I saw the state the doctor was in, any hope of that happening drained away.

The doctor was bloody, glass shards covered much of his body as he breathed raggedly, as I called to him, he looked at me, "Listen… You need to get away, it'll… It'll focus on the easier prey…"

"I-I can't just let you get eaten!" My voice cracked, desperately I tried to think of something to do, but the doctor was already shaking his head, the Ursa was getting closer.

"G-Get far enough away than shoot at the gas tank,the dust in the bullets will… Solve this." He coughed and I saw blood splatter out onto the wheel.

"Go, Ozza!" Ozpin urged me on, the creature was almost upon us. With no other option and a heavy heart, I turned and ran further away. True to the doctor's words, the beast seemed intent on finding a way into the car from the passenger's side, shakily I raised the revolver and aimed it where I saw the gas tank. I hesitated for a few moments, but Ozpin urged me again, "Do it! It's a better fate." I hated that he was right.

A single shot rang out from the revolver, the bullet sailed right to its target, just as the doctor said once the bullet, infused with fire dust as it was, met with the fuel cartridge the power of the dust mixed with the gasoline and immediately caused the car to explode. The Ursa was blown backward and from the black mist I saw, it had been killed by the force of the explosion.

I slid the revolver back into its holster and stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily. After the adrenaline wore off, I fell to my knees and grabbed my head with my hands. Tears threatened to spill out as I swore to myself, "Damn it… Damn it! Why did this have to happen again?! I…I killed him."

"You didn't kill him, Ozza. You saved him from a far more painful death."

That may have been true but it didn't remove the weight of what I was feeling, the clawing despair of having, for the second time since all of this started, watched someone innocent die, except this time I actually played a role in their death, even if it was going to happen anyway. It didn't make me feel any better. I stared at the burning wreckage, my eyes misted over with tears. The only thing that pulled me out of it was Ozpin's voice.

"You can mourn him later. We can't afford to let your negative emotions run free out here. If they do you'll have more Grimm on you, and then his sacrifice will have been for nothing. Get up, we need to move."

I hated that he was right. I hated that I was here at all. After everything, I just wanted to go home. I didn't want to be special anymore… I moved my hands to rub my eyes dry of tears, although I knew there were still more to come, it at least temporarily cleared my vision.

Staggering back to my feet, my arms dropped to my side as I turned away from the wreckage and started to follow the road.

Vale was only a few miles away now, and Beacon awaited me there.