My vision started coming back to me before I began to think coherently. Blurred shapes slowly took shape and color. I saw my bed, yet there was something else there. Something black and red… I realized slowly that it was Ruby's hair. After that, the rest of her form started to come into focus. She was sleeping… in my bed…with her arms wrapped around my waist.
As my vision finally came fully into focus I noticed that her face was a few inches from mine, we were laying on top of the covers yet it seemed we had repositioned to be laying with our heads on the pillows. A dull headache reminded me of our sparring match last night. Oh right, there was a sparring match…
Wait…
Suddenly the reality of how compromising our situation looked, combined with the fact that this was after we went overboard on sparring last night hit me like a ton of bricks, causing my eyes to widen. It took everything in my power to not leap out of bed, not that I'd be able to right now. Ruby's grip on my waist wasn't terribly strong but it was enough that it'd take more than a gentle nudge to get it off.
What time was it anyway?
I fished my scroll out from my pocket and unfolded it, craning my neck to look up at it as I held it above me.
1:10 PM.
Eh?!
I started to panic as I put my scroll away, finally resolving to just wake sleeping beauty up. I reached my hand up and placed it gently on her shoulder, starting to gently shake her. "Ruby…"
She stirred, but the only thing she did was move one of her hands to reach up and grab mine, pulling it up and holding it close to her cheek like it was a teddy bear or something, "Nnnhhh…" She complained with a cute groan, still asleep. It was then that I noticed that she very much still had some evidence of last night's fight, her cheek was bruised and the area under her eye was a bit black… that didn't look serious. Although the hardest punch I gave was to her gut, so that was something to worry about.
I could feel the bruises on my chin and my cheek, it was a good thing we were both already spent by the time our auras shattered, otherwise this would have been much worse. We would need to avoid going this overboard next time…
My hand was now resting against Ruby's cheek, her own resting on top of mine. Gently, I run my thumb up against her cheek. My heart was beating out of my chest and my face was burning with the heat of the sun, yet… I just couldn't take my eyes off her. I was able to fully appreciate how beautiful she was from laying here like this.
Yet eventually I noticed she began to stir again, "Mmmhh…" She mutters, before slowly beginning to open her silver eyes, "G-Good morning…" She was clearly not fully awake yet, still holding onto my hand. Yet soon she blinked her eyes fully open, "Oscar…?" She sounded confused at first, her face igniting as red as her namesake once she realized the situation we were in, with one of her arms wrapped around my waist and her other hand keeping mine against her cheek.
"Uhm… Hi." I responded meekly, she remained staring at me for a second before immediately burying her face in the pillow.
"Oohh my god…" She mutters into the pillow, "Yang's gonna kill me…" She seemed incredibly tense, so I reached my hand up and started to stroke her hair, which seemed to work in getting her to start calming down, "Thanks…"
"Don't worry about it." I speak softly, "We should try and clean up our wounds a bit so they'll go down quicker. We did such a number on each other that our auras are still recovering."
"It was fun, though." She murmurs, "That was a better date than any stupid dance."
Wait what?! She considered that a date…?
She seemed to realize what she said as well, as she suddenly buried her face deeper into the pillow before grabbing it with both her hands and flipping over so she was on her back and still covering her face, "I didn't just say that…"
Swallowing a lump in my throat, I try to comfort her, "I mean… I-It was a fun date." My face was burning red as I looked away. We weren't dating, I knew that, but in the spirit of the dance, why couldn't we have gone on a date?
Ruby finally slowly removed the pillow from her face, which was still bright red, but she had at least calmed down. "Yeah, it was… Do you have some stuff we can use on our bruises?"
Nodding, I roll out of the bed and head for the bathroom. There were already some medical supplies there when I first came here, yet I also stocked it up with even more. After what happened on the train I refused to not have some supplies somewhere I knew I could reach them.
I heard Ruby get out of bed and follow after me, I eventually found the elastic bandages I had bought, these would be good for our torsos, since I certainly felt a few bruises all over the place, and I knew Ruby had to as well. I grabbed one roll and handed it to her, "Here… You probably don't want me standing here when you put these over your chest and stomach, so I'll be putting mine on in the bedroom."
Ruby nodded silently and then I left the bathroom, closing the door behind me and then removing my coat and lifting my shirt to start covering my stomach in bandages. Conveniently my chest was already bandaged, although I'd need to replace them later after Ruby had left.
"Do you see what I meant when I said you went overboard?"
There you are. Yeah yeah, you're right, we can't change it now though.
"Certainly not, just keep it in mind for the future. I'll return later."
Then he vanished once again, which was a relief at least. If I was going to be dealing with the fallout of this awkward 'morning' I didn't need him commentating it like he did everything else.
That was when my phone started ringing. Sighing, I lowered my shirt after finishing the first wrapping and then checked who it was. Cobalt? I answered, "Hey." I greeted after clearing my throat.
"Oscar! We've been wondering where you were all day, we figured you must have been up in your quarters but the door was locked. What's going on?" He sounded genuinely concerned, which just made me feel worse about all of this.
I tried to put his mind at ease, "I think I came down with something, so I came up here and locked the door so I didn't get anyone sick. I should be fine by tomorrow at the latest. I'll come back down when I think it's passed."
"Aah!" He bought my lie offhandedly, "I see I see, a most noble decision! We've been collecting the homework that's been handed out today, we have two more classes and once we have all of the homework one of us will come over so you can work on it while you recover."
I smiled, my team was too caring, it made me feel bad for lying, but if they found out what I was doing I don't think I'd hear the end of it for at least a week, a month if they found out I ended up sleeping in the same bed as Ruby; even if nothing happened between us, "Tell the others I'm grateful, thanks Cobalt, you guys are the best. When are we being assigned our mission?"
"Hmmm, I believe since we have already had one predetermined for us, the details will be emailed to our scrolls rather than us having to be there ourselves. That is what Professor Port said at least, he's apparently coming along with Professor Oobleck to help guide both our team and Team RWBY."
After that information, we bid each other goodbye for now and I hung up before returning to my bandaging. I finished with my stomach before lowering my shirt. I was about to sit down when I heard Ruby, "Oscar! I'm having trouble getting this thing to stick to my back… Can you help? You won't see anything!"
"Uhm… Okay!" I start over and open the door. Sure enough she'd wrapped up her stomach and her shirt was still over her chest, "You just need to stick the two ends together." I grabbed the end of the bandage and stuck it to the rest, "You were trying to stick it on the wrong way."
Ruby smiled sheepishly as she looked back at me, "Aah… Oops. Sorry. Yang was always the one to put these on for me whenever I got hurt." Once I finished I stepped back and she continued, "...I wanted to thank you."
Raising an eyebrow and tilting my head slightly, I curiously asked, "Thank me?" I wasn't sure what I'd done that warranted thanking, if anything my idea had taken a lot of time away from what we were supposed to be doing today.
Turning around she smiles, "Yeah! Last night was a lot of fun, even if we went a bit overboard. My mind's a lot clearer and I don't feel so… sad anymore." She rubs the back of her head, "I'll admit I wasn't feeling good at all. Fighting always helped clear my mind, and even if we both went a bit too far, I don't regret it."
Her smile was infectious, I felt one growing on my face as well. "Well… I'm glad to be of service." I performed a mock bow which caused Ruby to giggle in reaction. The sound of her laughter certainly helped lift my mood after earlier. "We should probably put a compress on that bruise on your cheek. I don't have any ice in here though…"
"Oh that's okay! We can go to my dorm, we have plenty of ice in the freezer and the rest of the gang shouldn't be back until classes are done." Ruby seemed certain this idea was safe. I was terrified of what Yang would do if she found out about the injuries her sister had sustained, but it was our only option.
So off we went, leaving the safety of my quarters and making our way to her dorm, which was thankfully unoccupied when we got there. Quickly we stuffed some ice in a plastic bag and then wrapped the bag in paper towels before Ruby took it and held it against her bruise. I did the same thing for myself.
When I looked around the room I had to marvel at how… unique her team's ideas were for it. Bunk Beds held up by questionable means, way too many books, and two extra desks where two of the beds used to be. Ruby noticed me inspecting the room and smiled at me, "Well? What do you think of casa de Ruby?" she asked as she went to sit down on her bed and pats the spot next to her, prompting me to join her there.
"It's impressive." In more than a few ways at that. "My team didn't do nearly as much to our room, it's still cozy, but it's not like this at all."
Ruby seemed proud of her accomplishments, "Yep! The bunk beds were my idea, Weiss didn't want them but she was outvoted." Reaching for something else to talk about, she turns to a new topic, "I'm excited for our first mission together! Our teams will be able to beat anything that comes at us as long as we work together!"
Before I could respond the door burst open and Yang's voice was the first to resonate through, "Yooo, Ruby! You here?" Then she, as well as the rest of the team stopped when they saw me here.
"Uhm… hey." I waved nervously, both of us were holding ice packs to our face, "Good to see you guys."
Immediately both of us were beset by concerned friends as Yang doted over Ruby and questioned what happened to both of us while Blake and Weiss inspected my injuries with curiosity. Ruby tried to fend off her sister, "Yang! It's okay! We were just sparring and I got a bit… overzealous?"
Yang gasped, seeming scandalized as she stepped back and crossed her arms, "Ruby!"
Weiss brought in a more levelheaded approach, asking me instead, "So… What exactly happened?"
I shared a look with Ruby, the both of us seemingly agreeing that just telling the truth was the best thing here as she nodded and I nodded back. I look back and begin to relay the story, watching as the three have varying reactions. Weiss seemed indignant that she was an indirect cause of this, Blake seemed… Intrigued? She was starting to write down some notes on something, but I had no idea what that was about. Yang, however, practically had hearts in her eyes when she heard the whole story.
"Awwwhhh! That's so adorable!" Yang kneels down and wraps us both in a hug as she squeezes us tightly against her, "You're so thoughtful Oscar, helping my baby sister work through her emotions. No matter how much it hurts!"
Ruby flailed, "Yang! You're not helping!"
I backed her up, "The bruises, Yang!"
Yang relented, letting us go and stepping back, "Oops, sorry."
Weiss sighed as she looked away, "I suppose it is a good thing you worked it out… I guess maybe I was being unfair."
Blake chuckled, "A little?"
The girls seemed to be taking all of this rather well, so I stood, "Okay, well, I need to get back to my dorm and let the others know I'm up and walking around. I'll see you guys soon, hope you're ready for our mission!"
After bidding farewell, I left and headed back to my team's dorm.
After letting them know I'd be back in the dorm it didn't take long for everyone to appear and question me about what happened. When I told them, Cobalt and Penny seemed overjoyed, while Whitley scolded me on being careless but ultimately seemed to think it was a good thing for both of us. Of course I left out the whole 'sleeping in the same bed' thing, I didn't need any of them to hear about that particular accident, even if it was cozy.
After that, the rest of the day and time leading up to when we prepared to depart for Mountain Glenn was uneventful. It was a lot of anxiety and preparations on everyone's part, while our teams were technically on separate assignments, we had the same goal so we'd be traveling together.
Doctor Oobleck gave the girls the third degree while we had our briefing with Professor Port.
"Good to see you all here! I haven't led an expedition like this in a long time." The professor cleared his throat, "Why seeing you all reminds me of my first expedition! I was under a professor much like you all were, you see-"
Doctor Oobleck saved us by intervening, "Excuse me Peter but we're already behind schedule and we should have been on the ship five minutes ago! If you can save your exhilarating stories for the classroom I would appreciate it!" To which Port relented and all ten of us got aboard an airship, standing and holding onto some safety handles that kept us from losing our balance.
On the way there we learned what Mountain Glenn was - A failed attempt at expanding the city that resulted in the tunnels leading to the rest of the city needing to be sealed off. Now the husk of the former city just served as a reminder of Vale's failure. We passed over into the city ruins and then all leapt out of the aircraft and landed on the ground.
Our objectives, according to the professors, were simple. Scout the area, find Grimm, track them if possible and kill them if not, and locate this hidden base of operations our foes were hiding at. Before we could even begin though, Oobleck got onto Ruby for bringing a bag with her. I had wondered why she'd brought it up until a dog popped up out of it.
Zwei was his name, and both professors seemed convinced that Ruby had a stroke of genius in bringing a dog that could possibly track Grimm. However judging by Ruby's sheepish look it seemed more likely that she had simply brought Zwei along because she didn't want him to be alone for up to a week. Not that I could blame her, he was adorable!
"Okay, students!" Port began, "Now it is up to us to find Grimm. Why, I think there's one there!" He pointed past us at a lone Beowolf, "But don't attack it, Grimm are known to venture far from their pack and if this one has the scent of our targets it could be invaluable."
Soon after, even more Beowolves appeared and began to follow the other one… At least until they spotted us. "Well!" Professor Oobleck began, looking at the eight of us, "Looks like it's time to see what you all can do."
Ruby drew Crescent Rose and planted it in the ground, ready to begin shooting, "Stay back, Zwei, and cover your ears!"
Sighing, Whitley pulled his gunblade off his back, "Well this mission was always bound to have some combat, I certainly wish it could have come a bit later though."
Cobalt laughed, "I knew this mission was going to be glorious! Let's make them regret ever coming here." He drew his glaive.
Penny's blades rose from her back and hovered above her, "Don't worry Whitley, by my calculations these Grimm stand no chance against the eight of us!"
Pretty sure this much firepower is excessive, but it made me smile anyway, it was cathartic. I drew my cane, "Let's make this quick, we have a job to do!"
Blake draws her weapons, "This won't take long." She speaks with no small amount of satisfaction in her voice.
Yang raised her fists, "I'm with Cobalt on this one guys, this is gonna be fun!"
Silently, Weiss drew her weapon. She looked about as annoyed with these Grimm as Whitley, but something told me she was going to enjoy this as well.
We charged at the Grimm and began taking them out. I took a wide swipe with my cane, knocking several of the Beowolves back and, seeing the smoke rise from them, I knew they were dead.
I looked to my right and saw Cobalt and Yang join together in a maneuver, with Yang smashing the ground and sending them in the air before Cobalt leapt up to them and brought his glaive down, cutting swathes of them in half. I internally decided to call this tag-team Molten Metal.
On my left, I saw Whitley and Weiss both using their family's glyphs to either blow back Grimm or shoot projectiles. Eventually the two of them shared a grudging look of acknowledgment before Whitley placed one on the ground as a large group ran up to them, sending the Grimm into the air while Weiss leapt up and created her own glyph, the kinetic power of which sent the creatures straight back into the ground with massive force. I'd call that team-up Snowstorm.
Finally I focused my attention back on what was in front of me, more Grimm came up to me. That was when Ruby leapt next to me and fired a round that sent several back. We smiled at each other before charging forward, with Ruby leaping into the middle of the horde, planting her scythe on the ground, and then kicking off the ground and delivering a roundhouse to the whole horde! I raised my cane and delivered a wide swing of my own. Ruby and I effectively ping-ponged several Grimm between the two of us before eventually Ruby leapt up into the air with her scythe, which allowed the Grimm to be sent flying further back and to land on the ground, dead.
I'd call this one Rosegarden.
Before long the horde had been thinned into nothing, with all of us being no worse off for it. Port applauded us, "Fantastic teamwork, students!" Meanwhile Oobleck urged us to keep going, after all we had a mission to do, so we all set out to continue purging Grimm.
We continued clearing out swathes of Grimm as we went, although none of them seemed to have the lead we were looking for. Oobleck was busy inspecting the area and questioning Weiss, Blake, and Yang while Port paid close attention to how we fought, giving commentary as we went. Luckily none of it was negative, not that I was surprised, I liked to think we were all competent fighters at this point!
Eventually however it began to get late, and Oobleck declared we needed to set up camp, before taking Ruby and Port to go scout the area and secure the perimeter. The rest of us began to set up camp, lighting a campfire and setting out all of our sleeping bags.
When that was done, we all sat around the fire while waiting for the others to get back.
Yang sighed and asked my team, "Man… Did Port ask you guys anything crazy? Oobleck was really drilling into us."
Whitley nodded, "He did talk to me. He asked me why I wanted to be a Huntsman. Same as Weiss." Weiss and Whitley both seemed just as conflicted about their answers. "For my part, I told him I wanted to honor my family name. Truthfully that's… Not the only reason."
Weiss sighed, "Yeah, I said something similar and it just wasn't the whole story. I know why I wanted to be a Huntress but…" She seemed to struggle on how to put it into words, and so did Whitley for that matter.
Cobalt shook his head, "Nothing on my end, Professor Port asked me where I learned to fight and I told him, from my grandfather before he passed." I had no idea that that was where Cobalt had learned to fight… Come to think of it, despite being the most jovial and extroverted of us (rivaled only by Penny) we knew precious little about his history.
When they looked at me, I shook my head, "Those two are in Ozpin's circle, they know about my… situation. It wouldn't do them much good to ask me a question like that."
"Although you certainly seem to be developing your own reasons to fight."
If I didn't I would have given up a while ago.
We all continued to talk about this and that until the others came back. Oobleck said that since there were so many of us, we could have two people on watch at a time, 'double the eyes means double the vigilance' or something to that effect. Ruby and I volunteered to go first, and while everyone else was going
While Ruby and I were sitting together and watching for Grimm, we heard them howl. Zwei whined and jumped into my lap, startling me at first but eventually I settled into petting him, "He's a good dog, where'd you get him?"
"My dad, he had to leave the island for a few days so he sent Zwei here. Bad timing, huh?" She smiles at me before looking back out where the Grimm were howling, "No luck today…"
"I guess not." I sigh, "...But I know what it's like to not have luck. Things could always be much worse, so we need to count our blessings. I learned that the hard way."
Remembering how I got here, Ruby nods, "Yeah. That was bad luck. I'd take no luck over bad luck."
"I think we'll be fine." I assure her, "The eight of us? We're like our own mega team."
Ruby perked up at that idea, "Ooh, a mega team? What should our name be?" Both of us began to wrack our brain for an answer. We sat there for a few minutes until suddenly it hit me.
"I've got it!" I clapped my hands, but quietly because the others were sleeping, "RSCPPBYS… Raspberries!"
Ruby's eyes lit up, "Oooh! That's perfect! We're Team Raspberries!"
We resolved to tell the others later and for now went back to watching for Grimm until it was time to switch out. Next up Weiss and Whitley.
I had long fallen asleep when I started to stir, I heard Ozpin's voice rousing me, "Wake up, Ozza. Something has roused the dog, and Ruby."
Slowly I sat up and indeed saw Ruby stealthily trying to find Zwei before she headed outside, carrying Crescent Rose in her hands. Both of my weapons were still attached to my sides so I followed after her.
Ruby had grabbed Zwei and looked startled when she saw me before she relaxed and smiled apologetically at me. She was about to speak when we heard some voices we didn't recognize speaking, so we both hid. When we finally saw the culprits, it was clearly White Fang.
"Tail them, we need to find their hideout."
Ruby seemed to already be planning to do that as she glanced at me, we shared a nod and then both started to trail after them. Eventually we saw them enter a specific building, Ruby whispered, "That must be where their base is, we need to go tell the others!"
We both started to head back, only for the ground beneath us to start to give way. We didn't have time to react before it started falling apart, with all three of us ending up hanging on just barely. First Ruby, then me, then Zwei, with Crescent Rose having been left up above. I was holding onto Zwei with my hand, and I tossed him up past Ruby and onto the road above.
"Zwei! Tell the others!" Ruby commanded, with Zwei seeming to understand and starting to run off. However soon more of the ground gave way and our hold was lost, the two of us plunged down below…
And landed on top of a building? We looked around after standing up again and noticed we were in some sort of massive underground complex, there were railways below us in the middle of what looked to be a whole underground city. Yet we didn't have time to gawk, we heard people coming.
I took Amber Pine and handed it to Ruby, who grinned at me before activating it and allowing the weapon to reach its full size. I extended the Long Memory, and we both took up positions on either side of the doorway we had heard the voices from.
Out came two White Fang members, one of them complaining, "Are you sure you heard something out here? Doesn't look like anything."
Once they were both far enough out we both raised our weapons and smashed them down, the combined attack sent them both sprawling onto the ground unconscious. "Nice work!" Ruby grinned again, then the two of us turned and started to head deep into the ruins. We'd find the guy in charge here, we knew!
Sure enough as we entered another massive cavern we saw the White Fang loading loads of robots, munitions, and other military-grade equipment onto a train. There were a lot of them, but between the two of us we felt we had a chance.
Ruby zipped forward using her semblance, striking down several of them before they could even blink, while I rushed forward and made a wide swing with the Long Memory, knocking even more to the ground. One tried to rush at me from my right so I turned towards him and jabbed him in the stomach several times before delivering one final jab that sent him onto the ground.
The commotion we were making garnered a complaint from an all too familiar voice, "What's going on out there? You'd better not be getting into a fight with each other! I've had quite the day already-" Out walked Torchwick, who stopped when he saw both of us, "Oh great. Both of my biggest headaches, here, now? It's cute, I'll give you that, reaaall adorable, but you're wearing me out!"
"Allow me to handle him. He's been a thorn in our side long enough."
Knock yourself out.
Ruby continued to deal with White Fang as they came while Torchwick grabbed his cane to try and fight us off himself, "Alright kids, fun's over-"
That was when Ozpin took over, Torchwick recoiled as my eyes and aura glowed, "Indeed it is." Our layered voice responded.
"Oooh shi-"
That was when Ozpin surged us forward, Torchwick had no time to respond before Ozpin's lightning fast flurry of jabs and pokes made contact. This guy was a pain in the ass to fight for me, but for Ozpin? It must have been nothing more than a mild annoyance. He landed a powerful blow to Torchwick's stomach and sent him back into the train before leaping after him, Torchwick raised his cane in a futile attempt to block what was coming, but Ozpin brought up the Long Memory before bringing it down. Torchwick's cane snapped in half under the powerful blow and I watch as we smashed the cane into his head, afterward Ozpin grabbed the now weaponless man by the leg and tossed him outside of the train, he flopped to the ground, thoroughly defeated as he tried to crawl away, only for us to leap onto his back. That alone was enough to finally knock him out.
The fight was ending just in time for the rest of the mega team to arrive as they seemed to have found another way in further down the tracks. They quickly joined the fray and wiped out any remaining White Fang that were outside, Ozpin pointed towards the train, "Get to the front, check for stragglers." Then he relinquished control back to me. I staggered and almost dropped to one knee, panting heavily.
Oobleck said he'd get into contact with Beacon while Port took everyone that wasn't Ruby and I and started for the front of the train, aiming to clear out any stragglers. Sounds of short conflicts echoed down the path but it seemed they had it well in hand for the moment.
Ruby walked over to me with a smile, "Looks like it worked out in the end, huh?" She retracted Amber Pine and held it out, "They brought back Crescent Rose, but thank you for letting me use my other baby while I didn't have her."
I smiled back as I took Amber Pine and attached it to my hip. It occurred to me that I seemed taller than usual and that was when I remembered I was still standing on top of Torchwick's defeated form. I stepped off, "What a pain this guy was… Glad we've got him now."
Ruby nodded, "Ooh yeah. Although I guess I should thank him, if he never robbed that dust store I would have never gotten into Beacon early. I'd have never met everyone… I'd have never met you." She grins nervously, taking a step closer as she stares into my eyes, which makes my heart flutter and chest tighten, "So uhh…"
That was when Oobleck spoke up, causing us both to look over at him, "Okay students! Soon several teams of veteran huntsmen will be here to secure all of the prisoners and confiscate the goods. I'm going to inform the others." Then Oobleck jumped atop the train and started running along it to reach the others expediently.
After that momentary distraction, Ruby and I looked at each other awkwardly before Ruby finally leaned forward and smooched my cheek, starting a fire across my face as she then quickly ran off to join Oobleck. I gently placed a hand on that cheek while I watched her go, trying to regain control of my thoughts.
At least I could watch over all of these soon to be prisoners to distract myself.
After the teams arrived, everything was secured and hauled off, our ability to disarm this whole operation was already the talk of the town. Some people used this to point out that General Ironwood bringing so many troops to ensure the safety of the Vytal Festival seemed pointless since Beacon had it so well in hand. He certainly didn't like that, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Since we finished our mission much earlier than the end of the week we were given, we had the rest of the week to ourselves, and then the Vytal Festival would begin. Of course it wasn't all good, Glynda kept Torchwick in custody somewhere and that's when we learned that his accomplice was never found. That meant she was still out and about somewhere, and from what we knew about her (which wasn't much) she'd likely try to free him sooner or later.
For our part, everyone spent the break training for the Vytal Festival and every so often we just relaxed and enjoyed the last bit of free time we'd have for a while. After all, this festival was a grand time and would be great fun, but it would also take all of our attention.
Before we knew it the Festival was upon us, with all of the visiting teams converging on the fairgrounds to watch or participate in the fights. The smell of delicious foods and the sounds of people having a good time set the mood of the fairgrounds, while in the colosseum all focus was on the current fight. Team RWBY vs Team ABRN, it was a fun fight to watch and ultimately Team RWBY pulled out the victory, which got everyone in our team cheering or applauding in one way or another. Afterwards, we decided to head out and look for them once they had left. We reasoned they would be eating, and sure enough we found them sitting around a noodle stand, with Team JNPR sitting with them.
"A glorious fight!" Cobalt declared as he took a seat between Yang and Penny, "It was truly entertaining to watch. It makes me eager for our fight."
Penny seemed just as eager, "It's going to be very fun! All statistics indicate that the team we're facing will be no match for us."
Ruby smiled at her, "Penny! Is that gloating I hear? I never thought you were the type." Penny seemed surprised by the accusation, which got a laugh out of all of us.
I took a seat next to Ruby while Whitley took one next to me, "This is going to be very intense, but I think we can make it through." I comment hopefully, "After all, we've made it this far right?"
Pyrrha spoke up, I didn't know her too well but she always seemed like a nice person. Her voice was one of calm confidence, "Indeed, we're all here based on our own merit as huntsmen-in-training and we shouldn't get cold feet now."
We all enjoyed our meal together before it was Team JNPR's turn. When we got up to leave I trailed behind, just enjoying the scenery and the sounds of the festival. It reminded me of a much larger and grander scale version of the town harvest festivals that was held back home. Just less dancing and more fighting, which was just combat dancing really.
However I was taken out of my thoughts when someone cleared their throat, just a few feet away in front of me, stood a woman with long black hair that covered one of her amber eyes, she was dressed in a beige jacket, gray pants, some sort of wrappings around her chest and some brown gloves. I'd never seen her before, and yet she seemed familiar somehow. She crossed her arms and offered a half-smile, "You were one of the two teams who took out that operation the other day, right? It was all over the news."
I cleared my throat and nodded politely, "That's right. It was a team effort, really. Some news outlets focus on the fact that Ruby and I were the ones who found and disabled Torchwick, but we'd have never been able to secure the rest of the train without the rest of the team."
"I don't like this woman, Ozza. Stay alert."
"Really?" Her smile grew as she took a few steps closer to me, sashaying her hips as she did so, "Really it seemed more like you were the one who saved the day. I hear Ruby isn't much without her scythe, but you? You were prepared." I took a step back to maintain personal space, but she was still very much in mine. "You're different from the others, Oscar. Strong, in charge, handsome." Normally someone saying something like that would make me blush, but this woman's words were making my skin crawl.
Before I could say anything, she turns around and starts to walk away, "I hope we get to fight, Oscar. I'd love to see you in action up close and personal." As she walked away I was left utterly dumbfounded and taken aback by her behavior.
I really don't like her. Something about her…is she trying to get me to do something for her? Butter me up for some reason?
"Keep her at arm's length but try to keep an eye on her as well. She must be up to something."
Agreeing, I headed to the colosseum, there were a lot of matches coming up, my team's included. Team JNPR won their match, and when it was our turn we squared off with a team from Vacuo who we beat handily, they were extremely disorganized and didn't seem to entirely view themselves as a team, tripping over each other and getting into arguments in the middle of the match. It was embarrassing just by proxy, honestly.
After all of the team fights had concluded for the day, the festival closed until tomorrow. So we all started heading back to our dorm. However, as we returned to the campus Ozpin told me to head to the tower, so I let them know I'd be back and left.
"Head up to Glynda's office and tell her it's time. She will take you there."
Where?
"You'll see."
I sighed at his cryptic response, nonetheless I took the elevator to the top and walked over to Glynda, who was having a conversation with Ironwood. They both turned to me, seeming confused as to why I was here as I stepped closer. When I finally spoke, "Ozpin asked that I tell you that it's time." A look of understanding dawned on both their faces as Glynda stood.
"I see. Come with us, then." Glynda's reticence on the whole thing just worried me more. We headed for the other elevator in the office, the one I'd never seen used despite having lived in this tower on more than a few occasions now.
We took the elevator down. Far down. I had no idea the tower ran underground, but we passed up the ground floor and just kept going. There was silence from everyone in the elevator, even Ozpin didn't make any comments while we waited, but I knew he was still watching.
When the elevator reached its destination and the doors slid open, the other two led the way and I followed. We passed through a giant room towards a large metal door that seemed to be held closed with some sort of scanner, Glynda pressed her hand to it and caused the door to unlock and open. Once we stepped inside, it closed behind us again and we continued forward.
Eventually we reached a regular sized room, it held a hospital bed with all sorts of medical equipment attached to it. Yet that wasn't as interesting as the person who was hooked up to those machines. A girl with light brown skin and straight shoulder-length brown hair. I was about to ask who she was when suddenly Ozpin's memories came flooding back to me again, causing me to grip my head and wince in pain.
This was Amber, the Fall Maiden. Information on what these maidens were and who Amber was flooded my mind so fast it made my head spin. Once I knew what this was, and who she was, I finally started to come back to reality.
Glynda looked at me with concern, "I take it he just showed you who she is? How's your head?"
"I'll be fine." I responded, although my head was still aching, it would go away quickly, Ozpin assured me. "Why bring me here though? What can I do?"
Ironwood spoke, "As you know she was attacked by an unknown assailant and had half of her maiden powers taken from her. She was rescued by Qrow fast enough that she is not completely lost to us, but her bouts of consciousness are getting rarer with each passing day. We intend to give her power to a specific candidate using an aura transfer machine that Atlas devised specifically for this purpose. We wanted to bring you up to speed so you would be aware when this student gains these powers."
I took a few tentative steps forward and placed my hands on the edge of her bedside, "Who and when?"
Glynda responded, "Pyrrha Nikos, she fits all of the criteria we're looking for. She's brave, morally upstanding, powerful and more still. We intend to introduce her to the power and give it to her before the festival is over. We had intended to wait at first but given the discovery at Mountain Glenn, we can only assume that our enemies will not wait that long before striking." I nodded along with her description, Pyrrha seemed to fit all of those descriptors from what I knew about her.
Glynda and Ironwood said they'd be outside and that once I had finished processing everything they would be waiting. Glynda knew that I was having trouble wrapping my head around the necessity to kill this girl all because of her powers. It felt cruel… I hated that I understood their reasoning.
I watched her for a few more moments and was about to turn around to leave when Amber began to stir, her hand moved towards and rested on top of mine as she opened her eyes and gazed up at me. Her eyes showed how weak and tired she was. I placed my other hand over hers as she stared, "You…Who…?" Was all she managed, yet I understood the question.
"Ozza." I responded softly, this situation felt all too familiar. Being with someone I knew was going to die, no matter what I did. I swallowed a lump in my throat, "I-It's all going to be okay. You've… You've been so brave."
"Ozza…" She whispered as she struggled to speak and stared at me. "You're… so kind…I… I know I'm going to die. You… are you my successor?"
"That is an interesting idea…"
We don't even know if that would work…
"I…" Before I could respond, she closed her eyes again, muttering about being tired. She wasn't in danger of dying yet, but her consciousness was fickle. I move my hands away from hers then lean down and wrap her in a hug. "...I wish I could be." I mutter softly, before letting go of her and turning around, walking back to join Glynda and Ironwood..
Thoughts of Amber stayed with me throughout the rest of the day.
The next day the duels began, with Whitley and I being the ones to participate for our team. We progressed to the next round and watched as teams RWBY and JNPR did the same. We ended up beating a duo from Atlas, both wore matching blue berets and similar outfits, which was typical of Atlas I was told. The more I heard about Atlas the more soulless it felt. A lack of individuality and expression felt antithetical to what Remnant was supposed to be, yet Atlas still held onto its ideas of uniformity. Not everyone there was like that I knew, Penny was all the proof I needed for that.
The only other remarkable thing that happened that day was that Ruby's uncle Qrow appeared. Ozpin told me he was another member of his inner circle and that he was a skilled and trustworthy fighter, although from what I saw of him getting into a fight with Whitley's older sister, he seemed fairly irresponsible and a drunkard. Still, Ozpin said I should introduce myself to him the night before single matches started, so once all of the matches were done and everyone was settled, I got up and went to visit Team RWBY's dorm and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Ruby called, and when I opened the door I was greeted to the sight of her, Qrow, and Yang all playing games on their television. "Hey Oscar!" Ruby's face lit up when she saw me, "What's up?"
Qrow looked over to me, recognition in his eyes, "Ooh I see. So this is the kid Glynda told me about?"
Yang grinned at me, "Yo, Oscar! Come play a few rounds with us!" They seemed to be playing some racing game, so I walked over and sat on the ground to join them.
"Thanks, guys. Yeah, I'm… Ozpin's host. I guess that's the right term." I didn't like talking about Ozpin being in my head as it was, especially not with people I had just met.
"Aah that sucks, sorry you got twisted up in this mess. Must seem like a whole lotta bad luck to you. Maybe it was destiny?" I couldn't tell if Qrow's apology was sincere or not, I just assumed it was while we started playing a few rounds.
"I mean, yeah, at first." I responded in contemplation while we played, "I didn't want to leave my farm and travel across the world to get here. I didn't want everything that happened because of that to happen, yet it did. I learned that we can't always choose what happens to us, but we have to make the most of it, right?" The others nodded along to my reasoning while I continued, "...I've never believed in destiny. It always seemed too convenient, why bother trying if it's all predetermined? No, I think destiny is just an excuse some people use to not learn. I could have said everything that happened to me was destiny, that the people who died for me were destined to, but that devalues their sacrifice."
Silence fell over us after my spiel for a few minutes as we tried our best to get the upper hand on each other. Eventually the silence was replaced with Yang gloating after winning the first round we played.
Ruby spoke up after Yang had settled down, "So, Oscar! Ready for the singles to start tomorrow? I hear you're up against that Cinder girl the day after, she weirds me out… you'll beat her though!"
I nod slowly, "I sure hope so. When I saw her fighting she looked strong. I'll have to bring everything I have against her."
We continued to play the game while my thoughts lingered on Cinder, nobody knew who she was or why she was so strange but there she was. I busied myself by talking with the other three about their thoughts on the fights and what Qrow was doing here, to which he said he wanted to watch his two nieces fight. That made sense, although from the look he gave me I could tell that wasn't the whole story. He must have been here to help make sure the maiden power transition went smoothly.
The next day was the first bout of singles. Most of the fights were enjoyable but some were unremarkable. Things started to get strange when Yang squared off against her opponent - Someone from Vacuo I didn't recognize. The fight was going normally at first until towards the end when Yang had clearly already won. The crowd had already started cheering her when, in spite of having won, Yang struck out at the downed fighter and broke his leg with a vicious punch. This caused all of us to recoil in shock and for the crowd, after the shock had abated, to start angrily yelling at Yang about how she was a heartless monster.
Professor Port declared that Team RWBY was disqualified from the tournament due to 'misconduct and unsportsmanlike behavior' while Yang looked around shocked and confused. I could tell just by looking at her from my seat on the stands that there was no way she intended to do what she did, but what happened, then?
Cobalt seemed angry, "There is no reason to believe Yang intended to do that! Someone must have set this up! Yang is far too honorable and kind a person to risk her team's honor in such a vicious attack!"
The rest of us agreed and made our way out of the arena. We knew Yang would need support, and while she would have her team, we didn't want it to be just her. Besides, my match wasn't scheduled for today. We weren't going to miss anything important.
Once we got outside we saw Team RWBY leaving the festival grounds, with civilians either angrily calling her a monster or asking why she would do such a thing. We quickly caught up to them and managed to ward off anyone from getting too close by pretending we were taking her to the tower for disciplinary actions. In reality we took her back to the dorms.
When we were at Team RWBY's dorm, Yang sat down and put her head in her hands. "I swear he was going to attack me! Th-That's what I saw at least…" She seemed genuinely torn up about all of this. Cobalt and Blake sat on either side of her and tried to get her to calm down, yet she started to cry regardless. Something about seeing someone as strong as Yang reduced to tears destroyed my heart.
I looked at Ruby, "There's no way she did it on purpose. Who would want to frame Yang like this?"
Ruby shook her head, "I… I don't know. She doesn't have any enemies on campus, she's always been so nice to everyone… I know Beacon will support her but I don't know about the rest of Vale…"
Blake looked up, "We don't need the rest of Vale. We're here, we'll find out who's behind this one way or the other."
Cobalt agreed, raising one fist to the air in defiance, "We will not allow these fiends to manipulate our friend like this! To smear someone's honor is one of the lowest things you can do!"
Whitley sighed, "I agree with you guys, but for now there's nothing we can do. The festival is still going on, and clearly whoever intended for this to happen has been planning for this. Maybe it was the same person who was in charge of the operation that was going to breach the city?"
Weiss thinks, "Torchwick? No… He's too much of an idiot. You're right, it's got to be someone else."
That was when Whitley got a phone call from his father, he looked at it and sighed. His sister and him shared a look. He stood up, and Weiss frowned, "You don't have to answer that you know."
Whitley shook his head, "He's not that bad Weiss… I will talk to him for both of us." Then he stepped out of the room to take the phone call while Weiss deflated.
With nothing else to do, we all consoled Yang for as long as we could, although eventually we had to call it a night and return to our dorms to prepare for tomorrow.
Today was the day I had been anticipating the most. The others decided I was the best representative of the team well before we even reached singles, so maybe my fight with Cinder was inevitable, yet it still felt convenient. She wanted to fight me and against the odds of me having to fight any of the other contestants, she got it. She couldn't have had a hand in organizing the matches, I knew, but maybe she had a friend higher up?
Regardless of how this happened, here we were. I was in the locker room on my side of the arena, the roaring of the crowd penetrated even this place while Oobleck and Port announced the next fight, there was a screen in the room so I watched them speak while I finished preparing.
"Next up is Oscar Pine versus Cinder Fall! These two have been favorites of the crowd this whole tournament, so this match is sure to get the crowd electrified!" Oobleck seemed as excited as the crowd was for once, which was kind of unnerving to witness.
Port picked up, "Yes indeed! Fights like this are what really highlights the excitement of combat and the true purpose of the Vytal Festival, a test of arms in the name of peace! It's almost time to begin, so let's turn our attention to the arena."
That was my cue, I took the Long Memory off my side and extended it as I headed out and towards the gates that would lift to let me in. As I got closer, the sound of the crowd's excitement was even louder, their beating on their seats and on the railing almost felt in rhythm with my heavy heartbeat.
I stepped out as the gate lifted, and Cinder and I walked out onto a platform above the arena, it would be lowered once the match began properly. We walked forward until we were a few feet away from each other. Cinder was holding the same dual swords she had been using the whole tournament, "I'm excited we get to fight after all." Her voice was enthusiastic with some underlying emotion to it that I couldn't place. It didn't sound positive though. "I won't pull any punches, so I hope you'll give me the fight I was looking for."
I twirled my cane in my hand as I met her gaze, "I will try my best not to disappoint. I have to say, it's rather serendipitous that we get to fight after you mentioned how much you wanted it. Don't you think so?"
Cinder smiled ever so slightly as her eyebrows lowered, "I hope you're not accusing me of anything."
As the arena began to lower, the two of us stepped back for the requisite space needed before we could actually fight. "Oh not at all. It's strange that you drew that conclusion to begin with."
Professor Port's voice boomed over the speakers, "Now for a most exhilarating matchup! Oscar Pine versus Cinder Fall! Ready…"
The two of us tensed up, raising our weapons in anticipation and preparing to lunge forward.
"GO!"
We both leapt forward at the same time, immediately she brought her blades up in a blindingly quick attempt to strike me. In response I raised the Long Memory and swung forward, deflecting her blades, I then followed up by trying to whack her head with the cane. She responded by ducking below the cane and sweeping her leg to try and knock me off my feet. I leapt into the air, much like I did with Ruby, and brought my cane down on top of her. Except Cinder was faster than Ruby and rolled out of the way, as my cane made contact with the ground I pushed up into the air and then landed on my feet facing her as we started circling each other.
Cinder seemed to be enjoying herself, a wicked smile plastered on her face, "You're not going down as fast as the others. I knew you'd be the fight I was looking for!"
I kept my expression neutral as I twirled my cane, "You're stronger than the others as well. It was almost too convenient that out of all the exemplary teams in this tournament, it seemed that mine faced only the most incompetent."
"It must be destiny then!" Cinder responded before leaping back and attaching her two blades together, they transformed into a bow that she then quickly nocked a dust arrow and loosed it. I responded by striking it with my cane, knocking it into the air as it exploded.
I grabbed Amber Pine off of my side, extending it out to a much smaller length than it usually was, small enough to hold in my off-hand as I pointed it at Cinder and began firing dust rounds off at her. Cinder responded by flipping back, although as she did so I fired a dart from the center, which seemed to have been enough to catch her off-guard as while she was busy dodging the bullets, she disregarded the dart until it was already upon her.
Once it caught her, it exploded and sent her flying backwards, yet if I expected her to be defeated by a ring-out, I would have been disappointed. She caught herself and then broke apart her weapon into swords again, racing forward as she charged at me.
I extended Amber Pine slightly so it was the same length as the Long Memory and braced myself as she began to slash at me. Our weapons clanged against each other as they continuously met, I managed to hold off her relentless barrage for a time before suddenly a swing she made was covered in fire, the strength of which was enough to break through my guard and send me skidding back a few feet, it hurt but not very much.
"That wasn't a semblance. Be careful, Ozza! I think I'm starting to figure out who she is."
Right!
Cinder's smile grew, she must have seen the confused look on my face. "It's a shame we have to abide by the rules… I think a no-holds barred fight between us would be a true spectacle." Then she charged forward again, seemingly ready to make another strike with her fire.
I leapt into the air and avoided the strike. Then I came back down while she was still facing away from me and brought my cane up before whacking her back with it, which caused her to roll forward before she stood up again, now facing towards me..
This time I took the offensive, rushing towards her with both of my weapons at the ready. She braced herself to block my attacks when I fired off several rounds from Amber Pine, she started deflecting or blocking them, but while she was busy with that I was able to strike her stomach with my cane, jabbing at it with enough force to send her skidding back just as she had done to me.
While she was still skidding backwards I raced after her, shooting even more shots at her with my trident. She managed to block a few of them but one struck home, sending her further back. Eventually she reached the edge of the arena but hadn't been knocked out yet. As I raced towards her however, her smile turned into a grin just as malicious before she took a single step off the arena.
"Cinder Fall has been knocked out of the arena! The winner of the match is Oscar Pine!"
That single act was witnessed by everyone, there was no doubt that she had forfeited the match. The crowd started to boo at her, calling her a coward and saying she was afraid of getting beaten. I came to a stop, confused as she raised her hands in the air in defeat.
"Oops, guess I'm out. What a shame…" She then put her weapons away and reached her hand up to her ear, "Emerald, do it."
That was when the big screen that had been projecting our match suddenly changed to one of Cinder's teammates. "People of Remnant! You have been lied to by Vale and its council! They have covered up crimes perpetrated by Atlas and by other malicious actors!" On screen, various images of Atlesian androids gunning down innocent people started to be shown, causing shocked gasps to emit through the crowd and the loud roaring of the angry crowd to reach a fever pitch.
"That's not all! Late last year Professor Ozpin, the former headmaster, was said to have died of old age! This is false! We have proof of Atlesian sabotage!" On screen flashed pictures of masked figures wearing Atlesian garb snooping around Beacon, the date on the images was last year. "The Vale Council has covered this up in the name of good relations! Will you sit idly by while governments collude to cover up the murders of innocent people and the most esteemed former headmaster?!"
When I looked to see what Cinder was doing, she was already gone. Then the power started to go off as the arena darkened. Followed by sirens and an automated voice alerting the people of a Grimm attack and encouraging evacuation. Suddenly hordes of civilians were charging for the exits.
I heard Glynda over the microphone, "Remain calm! Proceed to the exits in an orderly fashion and make your way to the awaiting airships! You will not come to harm!" That was when we heard pecking coming from the top of the arena.
I looked up to see the largest Nevermore I'd ever seen, the thing screeched angrily as it continued to make progress on breaking through the hard-light barrier.
How did it get here?! The defenses should have stopped it!
"This can only mean the defenses have already been overrun by Grimm. We need to move, now!"
I turned towards the exit and started to run, yelling at people to follow me and that I would keep them safe while escorting them to the airships. There were some awaiting the escaping civilians, but as we got out of the arena we saw even more Grimm running amok on the fairgrounds.
Soon I was joined by the rest of my team. Penny spoke, "Oscar! This is going against all statistical possibility, there's no way the Grimm should have been able to make it this far! What is happening?"
I swallowed a lump in my throat before answering.
"Beacon is under attack."
