Walking along the road was at least more straightforward than trying to walk on a dirt road. Occasionally a car would pass me by, but I didn't try to stop them. The last thing I needed was more people dying for my sake, even if the Grimm seemed to have mostly abated their attacks for now.

The weapon at my side helped make me feel less nervous about traveling, it seemed more than capable of taking out weaker Grimm. Unfortunately I only had a handful of rounds left, so I couldn't exactly go Grimm hunting with it right now. That being said, I fully intended to keep it even after I got my other weapons. It was the second momento I'd gained on this trek, a reminder of the second person who died to keep me alive. I needed to get stronger so that this would never happen again, I refused to let anyone else die, if I could help it.

Yet, it also made me incredibly worried about even befriending people in the first place. The people who died weren't even my 'friends' so to speak, but if this kind of thing happened again and I actually had a more long-form friendship with whoever died… I don't think I could take it.

If Ozpin had any opinions on my train of thought, he didn't voice them. He'd been quiet after everything that happened earlier, I doubted he was affected by it like I was, maybe he was tired? He did say that could happen if he had to intervene too often. I couldn't tell, all that I knew was that my walk was only filled with my own thoughts, rather than a dialogue between Ozpin and I like it might have been.

At one point I heard movement in the brush on the side of the road. I might have panicked before, but now I was just tired. I drew the revolver and pointed it at the brush, keeping it trained on there. It felt like several long minutes of rustling, before whatever it was just… Stopped. Maybe it was the wind? Maybe I was going crazy. I holstered my revolver and went back to walking. I could tell I was getting closer to civilization with every step I took.

Which is to say, as I got further down the road I began to see farmland cropping up. The sight of farmers working fields with their machinery, or tending to their cattle out on their pasture made me feel homesick. Yet I couldn't stop now, if Ozpin's memory served, I was approaching the Agricultural district, the outermost part of the city and the only way I was going to get in that wasn't crossing the mountains further east, or heading to the coast and taking a boat. This was one of the few parts of the city that had walls once you got close enough, the rest of it had more natural barriers.

Some farmers looked at me, or even waved as they saw me. I politely returned the gesture but didn't stop on my trek, they were probably confused to see me just walking along the road like this all on my own, but I was used to making people confused at this point. From this point on I was comfortable feeling safer, even this far flung part of the city was well defended by either police officers or huntsmen on guard duty. Grimm would have trouble getting close to a cow, let alone attacking a person.

Eventually, a police car pulled up next to me. I stopped walking as they seemed intent on talking to me. The passenger side window rolled down, there was only one cop in there, a man wearing sunglasses and the white shirt with crossed suspenders that was trademark to officers in this city, from what I had seen on TV and recalled from the still blurry memories Ozpin held. "Hey, kid. You look like hell, you good?"

I could believe that, i hadn't seen what I looked like but I doubted it was any good. Looking down at my shirt, I noticed how the once pure white color was now covered in dirt, mud, and even flecks of blood, probably from the doctor when he coughed… "My… Ride crashed, and Grimm attacked us a few miles back. The driver died, I managed to kill the attackers."

The officer lowered his sunglasses, a look of shock mixed with concern written on his face. "You need a ride into the city? You ain't in trouble, just don't want to leave you out here in this state." I wasn't in any condition to disagree, so I accepted. The officer let me get in the passenger's seat, and he asked me a few questions about the attack on our way into the city proper. When it happened, what happened, if I knew anything specific about where it happened, that sort of thing. I answered as best I could, keeping my responses short and to the point.

The city itself was soon upon us, and it looked exactly as it did in every newscast I saw of it. The old-style buildings, even in the industrial district, the bustling amounts of people going one way or the other, the various elevated pedestrian walkways and train-stations offered more expedient ways to travel if you needed to be somewhere quickly. If only I had the luxury of riding a train like the ones they have here, I'd have not had any problems getting to Beacon. The doctor would still be alive…

For the first time in several hours, Ozpin spoke up, "Mourn his loss but don't dwell on it, you can't undo the past."

I knew he was right, but the cloud hanging over my head was hard to dispel.

Eventually we reached the commercial district, near where the police station was, the officer told me he was going to report what I said to the chief and see about recovering any remains. He asked for my name, and I gave it to him, he said they would notify me if they found anything. I just nodded and he let me leave. I wasn't sure what I could even do with that information, but I guess it would be nice to know if he could receive a proper burial.

Once the officer was gone, I found myself on my own again. Except this time I was finally in the city, I should be overjoyed but all I could feel right now was an overwhelming numbness. I knew I should go straight to Beacon, but I decided to go for a walk instead. I got some more looks for the state of my clothing, but I didn't let it stop me. Instead I took in some of the sights, trying to get my mind off of everything with mixed results.

It was only when I heard a familiar voice that my mind got pulled in a different direction, "Oscar?! You're alive!" Turning around, I saw Cobalt jogging over to me. He looked just fine, you'd never be able to tell he had it out with a bunch of Grimm earlier. "What happened after you fell? You look awful!" Thanks, I already knew that.

I should be happy to see him but all I could do was shrug, "...A lot of stuff. None of it was good. I made it, though." Maybe it was a self-defense mechanism, but I just couldn't bring myself to feel anything but buzzing apathy, hovering around my mind like a bee to a flower.

Cobalt regarded me with concern, "Right… I've got your stuff back at my hotel, come on! I'll give it to you. Do you have a place to stay?" He fussed over my well-being as I followed behind, I appreciated his concern but ultimately I was just hoping I could get to Beacon and then find a place to be on my own for a while. Our walk wasn't very long, it seemed my wandering had brought me close to his hotel, a bit of serendipity.

When we got to the hotel and went inside, he declared, "Wait here in the lobby, I'll go get your bag!" Only for the clerk to clear their throat, "Excuse me but if you're going to stay here you'll need clean clothes first. We can't have you dirtying the furniture."

Cobalt laughed nervously, it seemed he had forgotten this was a business, "Right… Mind standing outside? I'll get your stuff." I shrugged again and walked back outside, I stood there waiting for him, watching people pass by on their business.

Does it ever get easier?

"It took me eons to get used to the feeling of loss, and I still feel it sometimes. So in your case, I don't think it does. All we can do is get you strong enough to make sure this never happens again."

At least you're honest… After I get my stuff I'll go to Beacon.

Ozpin didn't respond, which I took as him agreeing with my idea.

Eventually Cobalt emerged, holding my bag, "Here!" I took it from him when he offered, "Where are you going to go now?" He still seemed concerned for me, yet there really wasn't anything for him to worry about, was there?

"I'm going up to Beacon. I need to meet with the headmistress." I pointed towards where Beacon was, shining school on the mount as it was. It was the place I had been aiming for this whole time, now it was in sight and I didn't feel relieved at all, just uncertain. What awaited me there?

"Ah, alright." Cobalt didn't push any further, "If you need anything feel free to come find me, you don't have a Scroll do you?" I shook my head, causing him to sigh, "If you happen to come across one, let me give you my contact information. Got some paper?" I reached into my bag and rummaged through it, producing a notebook and a pen that I held out to him, which he then scribbled something in. "There! Now you can text me if you need something… If you get a scroll, at least."

I nodded, "Thanks. I will." I didn't mean it, how could I impose on someone like that? Just messaging them out of the blue to help with a problem, any problem, felt too much of an imposition. Even if he was offering. "I'm going to get going then."

"Right, I'll see you at Beacon in a few days if we don't see each other before then, alright?" I nodded in agreement and he grinned, "Awesome! See you there." Then he went back into the hotel, waving as he left.

He seemed to consider me a friend, it was nice, but it also made me worry about him. I'd need to be careful to not involve him in anything I did. I don't think I could handle another person dying.

"Not everyone will die if they help you."

You don't know that.

After that exchange, I started to walk. Ozpin informed me that I should be able to use the airship for transport, walking to Beacon was a difficult endeavor unless you seriously had to, right now with most of the students being off campus it meant that there would be less traffic, the school always kept at least one or two airships on call for anyone who needed to come and go during the off season. I thanked the cop for dropping me off where he did, having to walk all the way to Beacon from the Agricultural district would have made me cross the entire city, and who knows what that would have opened me up to.

Onward through the city I trekked, the urban sprawl was nothing like I'd experienced up to this point. The city itself seemed to have an ambience to it that almost sounded like it was constantly roaring. I knew it was just the sound of cars and other transports rushing through the place, but I had to wonder how anyone could sleep well in a place that had this level of noise in the background.

After growing up on a farm my whole life, I wondered how well I'd be able to sleep here with all the ambient noise. It seemed almost impossible to me right now, but maybe if I was tired enough it'd cease to be a problem. For now though, now that I wasn't talking with Ozpin or busy with the police officer, or really anything, the noise was invasive and made it hard to think.

On my way towards Beacon's airship landing, I spotted a clothes store. I stopped, peering through the window.

There were lots of clothes fit for huntsmen and huntresses, but in particular I saw a rather beautiful, yet simple dress. It looked like the kind of thing girls would wear at a town festival back home. I'd always wanted one of those… Looking around, I decided to head inside.

"Glynda will be more than willing to get you a new outfit once you meet with her."

That's not what this is about. I want that dress.

"Oh."

That shut him up at least. I grabbed one of the dresses and looked at its size. I learned what my size was for dresses and other 'women's clothing' in a book I read once that went very in depth on all sorts of fashion stuff, so all I had to do was look through them for the correct size. I was fairly lithe and small as it was, so the right size was easy to find.

Once I had the dress I walked up to the cashier and had her ring it up. "Ooh, for your sister?" She asked innocently enough.

"...Yeah." I lied as naturally as I breathed.

With the dress bagged up I walked away from the cashier, carefully folded it, then stuck it in my bag. Afterward I left and continued on my way to Beacon. It wasn't much and there was no way it got rid of how terrible I felt, but at the very least it helped in a small way.

"I take it that helps?" He could be referring to how looking at myself in the mirror usually felt, he could be referring to my grief. He was right in one way but not necessarily the other, not in a significant way at least.

Yes.

With no further questions I finally began to clearly see Beacon for the first time, it was on a cliff overlooking the city so it was still hard to make out everything but the details were a lot clearer the closer I got to the airship landing. It looked beautiful and grand,

I was so focused on looking up that I hadn't even bothered looking ahead. I ended up walking right into someone, both of us falling back. "Oh- I'm sorry!" I scramble to stand up and offer my hand to the person who I bumped into. I have to say though, I wasn't expecting who I saw.

Dark hair with red highlights and as she blinked open her eyes again, I saw silver eyes. Those were perhaps her most striking feature, other than her fashion sense being incredibly enviable. Was that a battle dress? It was the first time I'd seen someone wear one in person. The girl regarded me with a friendly smile despite having been knocked to the ground, "No problem!" She takes my hand and stands, I found she was my height.

Embarrassed, I felt I owed an explanation, "I was busy looking at Beacon." Then I point to the spires, "I'm on my way over to the airship landing and I was just super impressed with how it looks." The girl seemed to understand as she grinned at me while nodding her head eagerly.

"I know right! It's super cool! I always dreamed of going there, I had a year left at Signal before I joined but some robbers attacked a dust shop I was visiting to get some supplies for Crescent Rose and then I fought them and some guy detonated dust that one of them was holding and caused an explosion and then I met Professor Ozpin and he told me I could go to Beacon and then he died so I was really sad!"

This girl talked a mile a minute and it was extremely hard to follow, but I tried my best. I raised my hand to try and get her to slow down, "Please… One thing at a time. I'm not used to talking to people, really…" That was tough to admit, but it was true. Despite the conversations I held on my way here I still had much more limited experience talking with people than a regular person might, mostly due to my upbringing. "Crescent Rose?"

"My weapon!" I hadn't even noticed the folded up metal on her back, yet I certainly did when she reached back and grabbed it, the thing folded out into a scythe twice her size! I was so stunned I involuntarily took a single step back and widened my eyes. The girl didn't seem to notice as she held the thing close to her chest like one might hold a teddy bear, "She's my baby! I made her myself, y'know!"

"R-Really?" That just stunned me even more, this girl was able to put together a weapon that sophisticated despite just being my age? I could barely repair the stuff on the farm… "That's… Really cool." There wasn't really any other way to put it.

She seemed incredibly pleased with herself as she nodded, "Yep! Everyone at Signal had to! Although I think Crescent Rose is the best out of all of them." I had no idea huntsmen and huntresses did that, and so young too… I seriously felt underqualified.

"I can attest that her scythe is uniquely powerful, most weapons students make at academies like Signal don't last the entire time they're enrolled, let alone reach the levels of sophistication Crescent Rose has. This is the weaponsmith I told you about, her name is Ruby Rose."

Ruby Rose, huh… "Okay… So there was a robbery?" I wanted to try and piece together everything she was telling me so I could figure out exactly what happened.

She nodded again, folding up her scythe and placing it back on her back, "Yep, some goons wanted to take all the dust in the shop. I kicked them out of the shop and was beating them up, you should have seen it, I was all-" She made some noises and hand-gestures I could best call 'kung fu inspired' and I got the picture, then she continued. "Then some guy came out to try and help, I don't know what he did but he detonated some of the dust the bandits were trying to make off with. They still got away with a lot of it, but not as much as they woulda if we weren't there! I wanted to ask him about what happened but Professor Goodwitch intervened during the fight and then we were both taken to separate rooms and asked about what happened. I dunno what happened to him, but Professor Ozpin admitted me into Beacon a year early! That was a couple weeks ago, he died not long after that. I was really sad." She deflated and kicked up some dirt to emphasize her feelings on the subject.

"I'm flattered people mourned me, but they'll eventually learn it was unnecessary."

You'll forgive them for not knowing you're an immortal soul-jacking entity, right?

"...Soul-merging, I'm not stealing anything."

Ignoring him, I focused on the girl in front of me, she seemed ready to ask some questions of her own. "So you were on your way to Beacon huh, are you a student there?"

"Uhh…" I nervously wrang my hands, "I'm going to be, but… Well I don't have a weapon. I was going to go there to get that sorted out. I can't exactly fight Grimm without a weapon." That wasn't entirely a lie, so I didn't feel bad for explaining things that way.

Ruby seemed shocked, "What happened to it? I couldn't imagine if something happened to Crescent Rose! I think I'd cry, well, after I beat whatever made me lose it in the first place."

"Weeelll…" I guess I could tell her some of the truth, right? I was looking down at her hands and continued wringing them as I explained, "I came all the way here from Mistral, and when I was on the boat a kraken attacked. That's how."

When I looked up at her her face was a mixture of worry, curiosity and… Excitement? "Ooh! That's so cool!" It really wasn't, "You need to tell me all about it! My name's Ruby Rose!" She grins and holds out her hand for a handshake, which after hesitating for a moment I reciprocated. "Hey, I have an idea, wanna come meet my sister at our apartment? You can tell me all about the Kraken, and in exchange maybe I can help you make a new weapon!"

"I-Isn't that a bit quick?" I felt like I had to point that out, it felt… Odd. "We just met… Aren't you worried I could be some creep or something?" I looked away from her, it's not like I was opposed to it, I'd gone to the places of people I'd barely known often enough during this trek, but still…

"Nope!" She responded with certainty, grinning, "You don't look like a creep, and if you were then I'd just have to use Crescent Rose on you! So, wanna go?" She seemed so self-confident and sure of herself that I felt myself losing any ability to protest further, as strange as this was.

Wow, just like that? Just who was this girl? She trusted and gave so easily… I couldn't help but smile. "Y-Yeah, sounds like it could be nice..." I was supposed to be going to Beacon right now, but if I could possibly get a weapon and keep talking to this girl, I didn't see a problem with this situation. "Right now?"

"Yep! Come on!" I was about to break off the handshake, but instead she tightened her grip into one of iron and practically began dragging me, "This is gonna be sooo cool! I've always wanted to see a Kraken before, I thought they were myths! I bet it was giant!"

"H-Hey! No need to go so fast!" I wasn't sure if I should be flustered over her dragging me by the hand, or upset that she was dragging me by the hand. I had barely known this girl for a few minutes and she'd already gotten me to agree to going to her house to tell her about a monster. She was way too confident in social situations! How was I supposed to deal with power on this scale?

"It's less that she's confident and more like she has no sense of boundaries. Which means, as someone who basically never says no to anyone, you're at her mercy."

When you put it like that, it sounds like she's going to do something awful to me!

"She won't, but now you'll probably spend the rest of the day talking about monsters and weapons. You're lucky the initiation is not for another three days."

Ruby went at such a pace that she really was basically dragging me, but I tried my best to keep up. Eventually I began to start running out of breath, and I cursed how low my stamina was. However, after a while of walking we arrived at the residential district. By then I was completely out of breath and I had to catch it, breathing heavily as my body struggled to cope with what it was just put through. It was only now that we had stopped in front of an apartment complex that she noticed how bad of a shape I was in, "Oops! Sorry, I got a bit too excited." That was an understatement, but I couldn't stay mad at her for some reason. She was just too earnest.

"Ahh… I-It's fine." I was finally starting to catch my breath, starting to stand upright again, "N-Now I just feel bad about being all sweaty in your apartment… I don't want to make it a mess."

Ruby shook her head and gestured to the bag on my back, "Do you have clothes in there? You could take a shower and change! Just put the dirty ones back in your bag, easy!" Putting these clothes in the bag after everything felt wrong, it felt more appropriate to burn them, to rid myself of the stench of death, but the clothes didn't do anything wrong. Instead I just nodded my head.

"I-I don't want to impose…" I weakly protested, yet Ruby wasn't having any of it. Instead she walked into the complex and I had no choice but to follow her, we walked right past someone sitting at the front desk who didn't even look up from their Scroll, into an elevator, and then Ruby pressed a button and up we went. She bounced up and down on her heels, clearly excited. I wish I could share in that, instead I just felt overwhelmingly nervous, wishing for once that Ozpin would give some grounded advice.

Yet I didn't sense him, I could usually tell he was there, living rent free in my head. Yet it seems he shut himself off from the rest of my mind for now, because I didn't sense him. It was like I was back to being normal, except I knew he'd come back eventually. The question is, why'd he decide to hide away now?

I'd have to ask him later.

When the elevator let out a ring and the doors slid open, Ruby immediately rushed out into the hallway and, once again, dragged me with her. Over to a specific door, which she pulled out a key for then unlocked. Then she dragged me inside.

The apartment was fairly average, a living room, a kitchen attached to it, three doors, which I had to assume were the two bedrooms and the bathroom. Ruby made a grand gesture, "Here we are! It's not much, but it's home! Well, right now it is."

That's an optimistic outlook, to say the least. My depressed mental state had trouble processing it, but it still lifted my mood a bit. My train of thought was interrupted when Ruby went over to one of the doors and gestured at it, "Now go shower! You smell like saltwater and ash!"

She had no idea…

Timidly, I made my way over to the door and went inside. After I shut the door and was truly alone, even if it was just a door separating me from Ruby, I deflated and looked at myself in the mirror to see just how bad of a shape I was in.

My face wasn't completely covered in ash and dirt like I was worried, but the traces were there, evidence of the explosion in the smallest traces of dust, evidence of the dirt from when I rolled out of the car… My shirt was much worse off. What was once a white shirt was blackened by soot, dirt, blood and ash coating almost the entire front of it. It was no wonder people looked at me strangely…

My hair was slightly longer than I remembered it being when I left home, my bangs hadn't descended past my brow yet but they seemed to be getting there. It didn't usually grow this fast, even over the span of weeks, so I wondered if he was manipulating that as well? I would need to make sure he didn't go too far on that… Long hair would get in the way in a fight, but I felt he probably already knew that.

There were bags under my eyes, I looked utterly disheveled and exhausted, and I knew I was. Not just physically, but emotionally, I couldn't even fully express how awful I truly felt… I could hide it, I could even ignore it at times, but I felt the wellspring of dark thoughts threatening to explode out into a tsunami at any given moment.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I finally just turned on the shower and disrobe while I waited for the water to get warm. No change in my body yet… I knew it was going to take a long time, I had to keep reminding myself because of how eager I was to see something change.

With the water now warm enough, I stepped into the shower and the warm water hit my skin, it almost stung, I had gone so long without one that my body must have felt shocked by the sudden relentless torrent of water.

Sighing again, contentedly this time, I ran my hands through my hair to allow it all to get wet. I placed my hand on the wall of the shower and looked down at the drain, watching the water flow into the drain. I was worse off than I thought, dirt and grime followed the water in droves.

Closing my eyes, my thoughts turned back to the events of the past… I don't even know how long at this point. I saw Salty, the man who didn't even know who I was and still sacrificed his life all because he saw something worthy in me. I could almost perfectly envision myself back on that damn boat… Floating aimlessly in the water for so long, days of just Ozpin and I. I was incredibly lucky it wasn't longer. The burning village, I felt the flame lick against my skin, the ash and soot assault my lungs and the rest of my body. The heat, the burning heat… If it weren't for my aura, I would have suffered serious burns.

Even the rain afterward felt less like a relief and more like a mockery. Like the rain only picked up afterward because I got out of the village and no longer needed it, even if I knew how insane that was. It was at this point that I noticed that tears had finally welled up and spilled over, my breathing was heavy and uneven. It only got worse as my mind inevitably drifted to seeing the doctor, battered and dying in his car, pleading with me to flee and destroy the car with him in it. Glass, twisted metal, flame… A man who dedicated his life to healing, only to meet his end because he decided to help me.

At this point I was sobbing, breathing broken up and eyes stinging from the salty tears. Instinctively, I raised my head up to the showerhead and allowed it to wash out the stinging feeling. I remembered where I was, and that I couldn't stay here all day, grabbing a bottle of shampoo that was situated in the shower. I wasn't sure what the brand was nor did I care, anything was better than nothing.

My breathing was still uneven as I washed my hair, and continued my shower. When I was done with everything, I turned off the shower and stepped out, toweling myself off and digging out some clothes from my bag to dress in while stuffing the dirty ones in a separate compartment of my bag.

As I was getting dressed in a spare T-shirt, underwear and denim work pants, I heard talking on the other side of the door. Another girl's voice talking to Ruby, I focused on listening to them while getting dressed.

"If dad knew you invited some boy over to use the shower and tell you a story he'd kill you! It's super careless, you have to see that, right? What if he's like… A murderer or something!" Her voice was deeper than Ruby's, she sounded concerned, worried, angry… This must be her sister. I didn't feel offended by anything she said, after all she was right. I agreed because I trusted Ruby, and for some reason she trusted me despite knowing nothing about me. If I had been someone else, it could have been bad.

Yet Ruby seemed indignant, "He's not a murderer! He's just a cute boy, and I didn't invite him over for anything bad! Just to tell me about his travels! Besides, you know me, if he was someone bad I could kick his butt faster than you can say Ruby Rose!"

C-Cute? I could ignore the 'boy' part… I'd never been called cute by anyone before, despite the situation it made my face heat up. At this point I was dressed and just hovering close to the door, listening to them talk.

Her sister sounded concerned, I could best describe her tone as motherly laced with concern, it was less explosive than it was before. "Cute boys can be murderers! Ruby… I'm just trying to look out for you, Dad wanted me to make sure you were safe. Not just in a fight, but out of one too. I've always said you need to be more social, but that doesn't mean inviting strangers into the apartment!"

Ruby just sounded more annoyed, "Yang… I'm sixteen, I can look after myself. I won't invite a stranger over like this again, anyway! You know I prefer weapons over people, I just want to hear his story. Besides! He's super nice, you'll see."

I decided I'd listened enough. Gripping the door knob, the cold metal seemed to urge me to let go and just wait out the conflict. Yet I couldn't, nor did I want to, cowering in a bathroom like that was something I might have done a few weeks ago, and while now I'm still just as much of a nervous and hopeless social wreck, I had to try to be better. For everyone's sake.

Twisting the knob, the girls stopped talking as they heard the door begin to open. The cool air hit me first, it felt relieving to leave the humid bathroom finally and enter some comfortable air conditioning. I looked over to both of them, and took in Ruby's sister's appearance. She couldn't be completely blood related, if they were at all, she looked totally different to Ruby. Flowing blonde hair that looked carefully tended to, violet eyes, a tan jacket with puffy sleeves that showered off her midriff, a low-shirt T-shirt underneath and a pair of short shorts… She was beautiful, but she was also tall and imposing, at least taller than me. The exact kind of person you didn't want to piss off.

I expected her to be mad at me or something when she saw me, yet for some reason both of them just… Stared at me. I felt incredibly self conscious all of the sudden and began wringing my hands, looking down at the group. "Uhhh… Hi. I'm Oscar."

The first one to speak was the sister, "Oh my god he is cute. You didn't do him justice!" Before I could even react she was upon me, looking me over and then throwing an arm around me, "I forgive you sister of mine, this boy here doesn't look like he could hurt a fly, let alone you! He's too adorable!"

My face ignited pure red, this was all too much! I felt my brain short-circuiting, between the torrent of negative emotions just a few minutes ago to now being showered in compliments like this… It was hard to process. "E-Er, I-I, uh… Th-Thanks?"

Ruby huffed and crossed her arms, "Yang! You're gonna make him… I dunno, overheat or something!" She pointed towards the door, "Out!" For one reason or another, her face was almost as red as what I imagined mine was. She was probably angry, or at least flustered by her sister's antics.

The sister who I now knew as Yang laughed, patting me on the back, "Alright alright! I can see there's not gonna be any problem here, and I promised my friends I'd go out on the town tonight anyway. I'll be back later tonight, no sleepovers!" This girl was much too boisterous and straightforward for me to handle, if Ruby left me confused, then Yang left me scared.

Before I knew it though, she was out the door and gone. Ruby seemed to have cooled down and recovered rather quickly as soon as Yang was gone. "Okay!" She gestures to the couch, "Sit! Tell me about your adventure!"

"It's… Not that exciting." Hesitantly, I walked over and sat down, leaning back, the couch faced a television, although it was turned off. Staring at the blank screen for a moment, I blinked a few times and shook my head. I could power through this if it meant getting a weapon that was my own. Besides, Ruby was nice, I could do this.

She sat next to me and I tried my best to recount everything that happened, minus Ozpin. Starting from my decision to go to Beacon, then to the boat, I tried my best to explain the kraken in the best detail I could. Its black and purple colors, giant tentacles and red eyes, the way it was able to crush the ship like it was just a toy in a child's bathwater. It was… Difficult to keep my composure during all of that, Ruby's face maintained a mixture of excitement and yet anytime I looked over I saw a growing face of concern mixing into it.

My voice was soft, restrained. I had to put a lot of effort into not choking up. "...So yeah, that's why I have this pendant." I brushed my hand against it, "I haven't had it for a long time, but it's a reminder… to keep living."

Ruby's voice lowered, as if she was trying to match my volume and tone. "Do you… Want to talk about the rest of what happened?" She still sounded curious, but now instead of excitement it sounded more like concern, and as much as I wanted to turn her down, as much as I consciously wanted to say no, I started speaking regardless. Maybe I needed this, even if I was just venting to a stranger.

"I… Washed up on shore and eventually found a village. I met a nice old lady there, she let me stay at her place for the night. Her grandson was planning to go to Beacon as well, so we traveled together. Yet when we were finally departing, the train was attacked. I'd never dealt with larger Grimm before any of this, I had no idea how to fight them. Instead I just… Tried to help. Cobalt, my friend… He went to the top of the train cars to try and keep their attention, so I joined him."

Ruby was still completely enraptured, so I continued, explaining everything to her that happened with the Grimm and continuing on about my injuries and how I tried to patch myself up, how I got to a burning village and I voiced my earlier feelings about walking through fire and brimstone to get to the other side. Before I knew it I was describing my long walk to the next town, how I passed out, along with how I was rescued and treated. Talking about the doctor was the hardest part, explaining how he entrusted me to guard him on a trip to Vale, only for him to meet his end, in part by my own hand.

"I…" I swallowed a lump in my throat, "...Got here, a few hours after. It's… Not been easy." I wasn't sure who I was trying to fool with an understatement like that. Ruby seemed incredibly saddened by my story, so it wasn't her. Maybe I was trying to fool myself.

"Oh my god…" Ruby muttered, she reached out suddenly and put a hand on my shoulder, "Oscar… You didn't have to tell me all of this! If I knew just how awful it was I wouldn't have tried to make you talk about it..." Her voice reminded me of the one Yang had earlier, concern and worry dripped from her words.

"How were you supposed to know?" I shrugged meekly, "We just met, you can't expect a stranger to know what you've been through…" My vision focused again on the blank television, a fixed point to ground myself and to not lose my mind to sadness.I started to speak, "I-" only to be cut off when she abruptly wraps me in a tight hug.

"We know each other's names and we're sitting here together, so that makes us friends. Which means you can rely on me if you need support, okay? I can't compare anything I've been through to what happened to you, but… I can still tell you're hurting, and it's not good to pretend like you're not." She squeezed me, and normally I'd feel incredibly flustered about this, but all I could do was feel incredibly confused. Who was I to impose on someone who just became my friend like this? She deserved better… And yet I found myself returning the hug all the same, closing my eyes as I rested my head on her shoulder.

I hadn't gotten a hug in awhile now, it was nice, comforting. "Thank you." Was all I managed to say, and I heard her hum an affirmation of support. We stayed like that for a minute at least, I wasn't sure exactly how long, although eventually we broke apart. I'd never hug someone I just met usually, she had this strange way of getting me to lower my guard. It was kind of scary, but I knew she meant well.

Ruby seemed ready to move the topic forward, which I was more than a little grateful for. She clapped her hands together once, "Alright! Now for my part of the bargain, let's talk weapons!" Now that was a welcome exit from this angst filled highway. I began to describe to her the kind of experience I had with weapons, what I had used before, what I was good at, that sort of thing. Unfortunately most things I used were farming tools, and not things I'd actually fought with before. There was the revolver, but that would make a poor weapon on its own.

However, Ruby seemed to be getting an idea as she zipped back to her room and back literally too fast for me to follow, now she had a sketchbook and a pencil, "I have an idea! A lot of stuff you described would be super complicated to use as a weapon, buuut…"

It was a quick sketch, no detail or anything, but it got across what she was getting at. "A pitchfork?" I asked, looking over the drawing. It certainly looked like one, a long stick with a three pronged end.

"Not just a pitchfork, a trident! People use tridents for weapons all the time, and they're super similar to pitchforks." Ruby seemed in her element now that the conversation was all about weapons, no longer was she trying to mirror my speech nor did she have to worry about 'emotions' or other silly things like that. Now she just wore a big grin on her face as she flipped the page and began to sketch again, this time trying to add more detail to it.

I don't know exactly for how long we sat there just going over sketches, pitching ideas at each other about what it could look like, what the secondary function could be (Ruby was insistent that it had to shoot something), and other smaller details. I didn't know the first thing about weaponsmithing, but Ruby might as well have been an old pro at it. If she hadn't wanted to be a huntress, I could easily see her becoming a master weaponsmith of some kind.

It was easily just a few hours of passing ideas, revisiting ideas and the like, yet Ruby seemed to be forming a good idea of what she wanted to make in her head. "Alright! This will take my all, and even then it'll take a couple days. Here, so I can let you know when it's done!"

Just like Cobalt she wrote down her scroll information in the notebook I offered her, I really had to get one of these things… It was completely dark outside now, but I still had to go. "I should get going, I owe you for this. More than just a depressing story, how can I repay you?"

Ruby seemed to think it over intensely, gears turning in her head, "Cookies, oh- and the money to get the materials I need!" Her response was so simple and so blunt that it both confused me and made me smile.

"C-Cookies?" Money I could do, I just reached into my bag and produced the Lien that the strange business man gave me back in Mistral, there was a non-insigificant amount of it, so I just set it on the table in front of us.

"Yep! A whole box of fresh cookies! We'll call it even then!" She grinned at me, grabbing the Lien I set on the table and opening its pouch, starting to look through it with a satisfied look in her eyes. I had no choice but to accept her terms, as simple as they were. Afterward I left the apartment and finally, after a long diversion, started off on the path to Beacon's airship landing once again.

It was around this time that Ozpin returned, "Had fun?" He asked, his sudden reappearance almost made me visibly spooked, but I was able to restrain myself. Where have you been, exactly? This is the first time you've ever actually shut yourself off like that before. You almost had me worried.

"I told you I'd leave you alone if I deemed the situation too private for me to be watching. You going over to Ruby Rose's apartment seemed exactly the kind of moment I described. How did it go?"

She let me use her shower, then I told her about my trip to the city. She… Was very supportive. It was nice. Cobalt was also supportive, but she had a way of just making me lower my guard. I was willing to tell her anything even though I just met her today. Then we talked about designing a weapon for a few hours. She's going to make me a Trident.

"A Trident, hmm? Well, as long as you still train with the Long Memory and are prepared to use it, I have no opposition to you also using your own weapon. The Long Memory is not just my weapon, it's yours. Did you meet her sister?"

Yes. She's scary.

Ozpin sounded amused, "Oh? I suppose she would be to someone like you, wouldn't she?"

What's that supposed to mean? I huffed as I was now back to where Ruby and I had first met, pushing forward. I was glad for Ruby's distraction, it meant my first meeting with Glynda wouldn't be marred by depression. At least, I hoped it wouldn't be.

"It means that someone with Yang's force of personality has just as easy a time as Ruby when it comes to overwhelming your polite and timid sensibilities. She's ever more blunt than Ruby, and she fully knows what she's saying or doing and what it means. Just be glad she means well."

I'm not that much of a pushover! If someone wanted me to do something I didn't like I'd fight back! Ozpin didn't comment further, leaving me in a huff as I reached the airship landing used to transport students. There was a system for calling one of the airships down, and once I pressed it I was greeted with a voice over the communication device. They asked me what my business was, and I told them I had business with the headmaster.

At first they were silent, but afterward they asked for my name and what the nature of the business was. I told them my name was Oscar and that I had business related to the old headmaster. After another bout of silence, the person on the other side said I had been greenlit for entry, and thus soon enough an airship was landing in front of me. It was a beautiful, high tech machine, something I sincerely wished I had access to when I was trying to get here from Mistral, but something could have just as easily happened to it as what happened to the boat, I guess.

Once I got on the ship, I strapped in and looked out the window as we took off. I was used to heights from having to fix the roof of my family's home every so often, but this was new. I wasn't afraid, just… Fascinated. Everything was so high up that I felt like I was looking down on an incredibly complex ant hill in the form of Vale and its people.

The grand architecture of the school became more apparent as the airship closed in on it. With how dark it was it just made the silhouette of the school that was occasionally accented with lights all the more beautiful to look at. I could see why Ozpin loved this place so much, it felt like he'd put his heart and soul into its construction, or at least its design, I couldn't say just how much of it he actually built himself, if any at all.

When we landed, the airship pilot bid me farewell and I exited. I was now able to get a ground view of the place, and it was just as impressive as what I saw from the sky, if not moreso. All of the features I saw earlier were just more apparent, more beautiful.

"I can see why you said you weren't sure if you could do this place justice… It really is just as beautiful as you said it would be." I spoke softly as I walked forward through the empty courtyard, there were street lights lining the academy paths, the place was lit well enough even for the dead of night like this, but it still felt eerie. Like I was somewhere familiar during an unfamiliar time period, like a grade school in the dead of night.

"You'll become very well acquainted with this place over the years, I assure you. That feeling won't last."

I believed him, but that didn't remove the weird feeling in my chest. As if I was being watched. I looked around but I saw no one, and as I pressed on to where my instincts told me the headmaster's office was, the feeling began to dissipate. Maybe there were people out and about that I just didn't notice? Maybe Glynda was watching my approach from security cameras or something and no longer felt it necessary now that I was so close.

There was an elevator in the tower that held the headmaster's office. I hadn't really gotten a good look around the rest of Beacon yet, but that could wait. It was much too dark to do anything other than what I had set out to do inside the elevator, I pressed the button for the top floor and up I went. The ride was silent, no words of wisdom or sarcasm from Ozpin, instead it was just my growing anxiety at meeting the current headmaster of Beacon. There shouldn't be any, considering I had the old one living in my head, but it came with the territory - Despite everything that had happened to me, meeting new people was still an awkward experience for me. Not once had I deliberately sought out to meet someone new on my own accord, it just wasn't who I was.

Not yet at least.

The elevator soon rang out to indicate it reached its destination, the doors slid open and the very same room I was starting to remember more vividly by the day greeted me. The large office where the windows were clocks, and the turning of gears was the ambience that set the scene at any given moment. On the opposite side of the room sat a desk, at that desk was none other than the woman Ozpin helped me remember when I first started to believe him.

A middle aged woman with her hair tied back in a bun, wearing a pleated long-sleeve top and, I had to assume, the same pencil skirt I remembered from my - Ozpin's - memories. I stepped out of the elevator and swallowed a lump in my throat, trying to put on a brave face. I tried to speak as clearly as I could, "H-Hello ma'am, I'm Oscar Pine. I… I've come a long way to see you." So much for a brave face…

Yet Glynda didn't seem annoyed or even confused, instead she smiled at me. From what I remembered about her, this was not a common occurrence. "Welcome, come and sit." She gestures to the chair across from her. I hesitated for a moment, before crossing the space and taking a seat in the finely-made wooden chair. "I was told what you said to the pilot we keep on standby, so care to explain?" She asks, folding her hands together while resting her elbows on the desk.

I swallowed a lump in my throat as I started to wring my hands again, looking down at the desk, "Well… I… Came a long way to see you. We… Came to see you. Ozpin bid it so."

Glynda leaned forward, intrigued and seemingly not dismissing me out of hand, which was good, maybe she was anticipating this? "Oh? Then may I speak with him? It's only natural, I've been worried he might have gotten into trouble trying to find a new companion."

Companion was a word, I wasn't sure I'd use it to describe how I viewed Ozpin. He was more of a housemate. Yet still, I reached into my mind and spoke to him internally. Hear that? You're up.

Ozpin didn't say anything, but I felt him overtaking my body, as suddenly I was no longer looking at the desk, instead we looked up at her and sat up straight. "It's good to see you again, Glynda. I hope Beacon has not been too much of a chore while I've been gone?"

Glynda's smile grew a bit wider, yet her voice was still calm and measured, if tempered with a bit of relief. "Not at all. We're still in the preparatory phases for the next semester, the final applicants have been decided and all that remains is the trial. I was worried you weren't going to make it, did you meet with much opposition?" The two talked so easily to each other, it felt weird being the passenger during all of this. Was this what Ozpin felt like all the time when he watched me talk to people? I kind of felt bad for him, but at the same time I was also the owner of my own body, and I still didn't like that he decided I was the right residence to live in.

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose so. My gracious host has borne the brunt of it, I trust you know what needs to be done?"

"Indeed. I've gotten your private chambers all cleaned up and ready for use. Although once the semester starts he will need to live in a dorm room the same as everyone else. We can't have the other students asking questions, can we?"

"Of course not." Our tone sounded pleased with these developments, "He will need the resources to get appropriately outfitted for the trial to come. I take it you've set aside the funds?"

"Indeed." She reached into the desk and produced a sack of Lien, setting it on the table, "This will be more than enough to cover the cost of getting appropriate huntsman gear, I take it?"

We reached over and grabbed the pouch of money, then we slipped it into our bag alongside the rest of the Lien we still had from the man back in Mistral. "Indeed. If all is sorted then, I will not hold him up any longer."

"Before you go, Ozpin." Glynda's voice grew… Softer? More sympathetic? For Ozpin? "...He's here, I put him up in an empty dorm room for now. You and Oscar will most likely encounter him in what time is left leading up to the trial."

Ozpin froze up for a moment, I'd never known him to be one to do that, he always seemed in control of himself. "I… I see. So he's finally here, just a little too late… This will be difficult. Nevertheless, it will have to be done." Ozpin's mysterious words left questions in my mind, but he didn't seem intent on elaborating on anything. Instead he ceded control back to me and silently returned to observing the conversation, I only experienced minor whiplash this time, it seemed I only got exhausted if he was exerting himself. That was good to know.

"R-Right…" I mutter, looking down again, before looking back up, "So… Ozpin's quarters?"

Glynda stood and walked over to the second elevator in the room - Why there were two, I couldn't tell you. "The floor just below this one, get some rest. You've a lot to do tomorrow if you're to prepare for initiation properly."

I wasn't in any mood to argue. Instead I was finally starting to feel the weight of everything that happened to me today start to lean against me, driving out any energy I still had. "Okay." I softly respond, getting up and heading over to the elevator. As I got inside and pressed the button, Glynda called to me, "And Oscar…"

I looked at her, she wore the same smile she had when I first came in, "Welcome to Beacon." With that, the elevator doors closed, and I descended down a brief one floor.

The elevator opened to a rather stately room, far removed from my barnyard bedroom. I stepped out into the room, the floors were tiled in smoothed marble, with a large carpet spread out under the queen sized bed, there were a few light switches on the side, I turned on one and some electric candles began to illuminate the room with a dim light, ensconced on the walls as they were. There were overhead lights, but I chose not to turn them on. It was far too late for that.

I set my bag down next to the bed and looked around the room. Portraits of people I had vague memories of lined the wall - Headmasters of other academies alongside heroes of old and memories of the past. There was a large window opposite to the elevator, but there were curtains drawn shut over it. On the desk, I saw a few things of interest to me, so I headed over.

The first was a scroll, I picked it up and activated it, it seemed completely blank. If Ozpin had one before, it was probably wiped or destroyed for one reason or another. I set it down, this was meant for me, if I had to guess, and it meant I'd need to add that contact information I got to it, but not now. There was something else, a cylindrical object with a handle and a long knuckle guard covering it, the end of the cane itself was embellished with gold and black gears, overall the whole thing was incredibly ornate.

As I took hold of it, I felt a rush of familiarity. This… This had to be the weapon Ozpin was talking about. The Long Memory. It could extend and retract, I remembered that now, and once I extended it out to a comfortable length, I turned away from the desk and gave it a few practice swings. I still wasn't used to the thing, but I guess if I was going to have to carry it alongside my personal weapon I would need to get used to it. Retracting it again, I turned and set it back on the desk.

"You will come to love the weapon, as a part of yourself. Your other weapon may come close, but this one has the advantage of a very long lifetime of usage. Look closer at the desk. There is a button on the side there - Press it."

I did as he asked once I found what he was referring to, a painting that was close to the desk extended out, causing me to turn towards it in shock, only for it to turn around on itself and press back into the wall. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I saw.

It was an ornate brown staff with strange metal rings around a few key points on it and a beautiful floral pattern running the full length of it. Finally, it was adorned with an emerald gem. I walked over and grabbed it, this one felt less familiar to me, but Ozpin clarified.

"This is the staff I used a very long time ago. I've kept it hidden here in anticipation for someone to arrive. Someone who you will be meeting tomorrow. Give it to them, they're going to need it for the trials to come."

As cryptic as that was, I took the staff and placed it on the desk. Pressing the button again, the painting went through the process of turning back around and hiding the indent in the wall.

Now that everything seemed to be sorted, I turned my focus towards the bed. It looked comfortable, so comfortable that I couldn't resist. I removed my jeans, gun and holster but kept the shirt on, then I climbed into the bed and slipped under the warm and heavy blankets. It was soft, so incredibly soft and welcoming. I felt Ozpin receding into himself in my mind, he knew as well as I that I didn't like to feel his presence while I was sleeping, it was just too creepy.

With him gone, and the bed's hypnotic embrace warmly beckoning me to sleep, I gave in almost immediately. Today had been a long, long day…

Hopefully tomorrow will be less intense.