LXI - Seedling
~~~(LXI)~~~
Of course the kid would run off… Most everyone kept treating him like a less than useful mascot. That or ignoring him completely. Then Jaune's reaction an hour ago to the whole "Ozma" situation…
I don't blame Pine for wanting out. Oxon then thought of his advice from a few days ago. Shit, I did tell him he could head home if he wanted. Was this my fault too? Shit…
"What should we do? He might be on his way out of the city!" The young girl paced back and forth in the living room. She had a very concerned look on her face as she worried about Oscar.
"Ruby calm down, I'm sure he hasn't gotten far." Ren put a calming hand on her, though he didn't activate his semblance on her. He and Nora gently pushed her to sit on the closest couch, hoping to calm her down. "Oscar is a smart kid, but it should be fairly easy to track him down."
"Yeah, why don't you take your team to check on the gate?" Jaune was running through many calculations as if he were in a battle or playing Remnant the Game. "We can take the commercial and recreation district. Though maybe we could have someone check the docks?"
The group looked to Oxon for a moment before he raised both eyebrows and frowned at them.
"I'm currently a fugitive with a fake name, if I'm shouting out for a lost child in the middle of a half-Atlesian city, soldiers will notice. I can't help it if I get arrested." The others grumbled but accepted his reasoning. Jaune's sister nodded her head like that's pretty much what she thought. Oxon was frustrated as well, he wanted to find the kid too, mostly to talk to him and see if this was really what he wanted. "I can hold the fort here. Maybe he'll come back in a bit. We wouldn't want him to get back to a locked house."
"Right, okay!" The red cloak fluttered as Ruby burst out of her seat. "Blake and Yang will take the docks while Weiss and I check the gate guards. If he went through there, they'll have a log of it. If not, we stay there in case he tries to leave through there!"
"Sounds like a plan, what about you Saph?" The older Arc snapped out of her proud expression and blinked a bit.
"I need to get Adrian from daycare soon, once I do that, I could call Terra. Maybe use her tower access to track his scroll." That was a good idea, if he was still within range, then they would be able to locate him. If he wasn't, then they'd know he has already left.
"Perfect idea sis! That would be a huge help!" With a plan of action, the groups planned routes and ideas of where was most likely to find Oscar.
With plans finalized, the groups left the home with a nervous sort of buzzing.
Oxon was then left to his own devices. With a lack of things to do, he looked around the bookshelf for something to read. Most of them were either romance novels or science books. None of either was something he found interesting.
Geologic Timeline of Remnant, Supercomputers For The Modern World, Dust and Microchips: Issues and Insights. Ugh, none of this is something I can understand. They don't have anything on biology or anything else?
Moving away from the disappointing shelf, Oxon went over to his pack and rummaged through it. He'd donated most of the food taken from the farm to Jaune's sister. It was the least he could do and they seemed excited at a few of the preserves he'd swiped.
With nothing else, he pulled out a chunk of some dark oak wood. The material was pretty and wouldake a nice piece once he had an idea. He had a few ideas floating about: a coniferous tree, a bird mid flight, a squirrel, a bull, or a moose. Many possibilities for items he would want, but that wasn't why he did it anymore. Back in Beacon, he'd learned that he enjoyed seeing the smiles on the faces of those he gave his tokens to.
Well, the women here have been kind enough to let us stay with them… Perhaps I could make something for them? A fun thing for the baby might make them happy.
Oxon thought for a moment what they would enjoy, when an idea came to him. The carving he planned was unlike what he normally tried. But he was confident in his carving abilities and quickly got to work.
He'd only gotten the carving's rough shape when suddenly there was then a familiar voice floating through the house after said door closed. "Where did everybody go?" Oxon rushed into the main room to see Oscar standing there with a confused expression on his face. There was also the entirely different outfit he was wearing.
"Pine, where the hell have you been? We thought you ran off! Everyone is out looking for you!" The kid had the decency to be surprised, if he knew his sudden absence would cause such an uproar, Oxon would have smacked him upside the head.
"Uh, I went to pick up some clothes I ordered."
"Ordered? We've only been here nineteen hours!" How the hell did the kid shop that fast? Did he disappear last night too?
Thankfully, the kid decided to clear that up at least. "I used the Haven Academy computer to pick something out when I knew we were coming here. Ozpin was still there and he used an old account of his to pay for it. It just got finished around noon."
Putting aside the pretty well thought out itinerary, Oxon tried to scold the kid for wandering off. "Did you seriously go shopping without telling anyone? What if something happened to you?" Oscar frowned a bit at that.
"I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to?" The kid tilted his head in a sort of annoyed confusion. Oxon pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled to himself. Oscar wasn't wrong per se, but him running away was a conclusion everyone had come to.
"No… no… You're not a prisoner and can do whatever it is you want, just maybe tell someone else before heading out." With one last sharp pinch, Oxon took in and released a deep breath. "We'd thought you'd decided to leave, for good. The rest are probably going to be out for a few hours yet. I don't suppose you have any of their numbers?"
It was time for Oscar to be embarrassed, lightly scratching his cheek, the boy looked to the wall. Oxon narrowed his eyes at the odd fidgeting.
"Pine?"
"Ah, I may or may not have broken it when the train crashed."
Oxon could only stare in stupefaction at the scenario. Not an hour and a half after the rest of the household left to search for the kid, he came back. And now they were unable to call them all back.
"What about you? Can't you call the others?"
"Oscar, the last scroll I owned was confiscated by Weiss when I helped raze Beacon, and I'm too broke to get a new one." He didn't need to say that what little lien he had was spent on ammunition and wood for carving. He didn't think he needed one until this moment. Hindsight and all that…
"So… we just have to wait here then..?"
"Yuuuup…"
The two stared at each other before Oscar started to chuckle. Oxon raised an eyebrow at the boy who only began to devolve into a fit of laughter. "And where's this little fit comin from?" The kid raised a single finger as he fought to control his breathing.
"It's just." Snrk! "The others ran out so fast and now it's us waiting for them to come home!"
Oxon had to admit, it was a fairly amusing bit of idiocy. They had nothing better to do besides wait. Rolling his eyes, Oxon sat back down and resumed his work on the wood. Hopefully they will come back soon.
~~~(LXI)~~~
Hours later, there was a commotion outside the house and Oxon and Oscar shared a smile. It seems like they were finally back. Oscar slipped out of the kitchen to greet the group. Soon after he'd left, Oxon heard the door to the house opening. From his position inside, he heard the group gasp in shock as the kid spoke to the mob.
"Oh, I was wondering when you'd get back."
There was a slight pause as everyone's brains were probably trying to catch up with their eyes. "OSCAR!" The assembled huntsmen and civilians yelled all at once. There's a loud shriek and then a very loud thump from the entrance. At this point Oxon decided to investigate the reactions of the others.
Walking into the main hallway, he saw the kid at the bottom of a group tackle hug. Oxon couldn't help but chuckle at the scene in front of him. After maneuvering around the pile, Ruby helped Oscar up as everyone shared a laugh at the scene.
"You had us worried sick!"
"Are you okay?"
"What are you wearing?"
He saw Oscar pause and try and think of what to say. The kid was awkwardly rubbing the side of his head in a strangely familiar fashion. "Uh…" they put together the pieces and realized there was no big threat of him leaving a d that he just got an outfit upgrade.
Weiss was the first to put things together and turned from Oscar to glare at Oxon. "Why didn't you tell us he was back? We've been out there for hours!" He understood her annoyance, but he had a good reason.
Oxon gave the girl a flat expression. "You seem to forget that I don't have a scroll anymore, I gave it to you… that and Oscar apparently broke his in the train crash." The kid looked embarrassed at having the others finally being made aware of that. "It's not like I can send a carrier pigeon after you all. If we'd gone looking for you guys, it could have turned into a whole other debacle if you got here while we were out."
The girl nodded at his words before moving inside out of the street. Seeing the situation seemingly having resolved itself, the rest of the group stepped into the house. Terra sniffed the air for a moment. "Is something cooking?" Once she said it, the others also started smelling the aroma of the casserole Oxon and Oscar made.
"Oh, uh, yeah. I thought you guys would appreciate a hot meal after... spending all day looking for me, apparently." A heavy cough from behind him made Oscar jump a bit and look at Oxon with a happy-guilty expression on his face. "Sorry… We thought you guys would want a meal prepared for when you finally got back after going on a goose chase I unintentionally sent you all on."
Good, don't kick me out of our plan.
Jaune, seeing that Oscar was safe, stepped forward with a guilty look on his face. "It's my fault we were all out there in the first place. Oscar, I am so sorry for earlier. I was way, way out of line, and what I said-"
Oscar stopped the blonde in his verbal tracks. "No, it's okay. These past few days, I've been scared of the same things you were. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be... me. But I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left."
Jaune smiled good naturedly. "Good. This team isn't the same without you, Oscar." Everyone shared a smile. Suddenly, a smoke alarm goes off, causing a bit of confusion for the others, and mortification for Oscar.
Oscar gasped as the sound rang out from the kitchen. "The casserole!" Oxon could only put his head in one hand.
"I told you to set a timer!"
"With what scroll!?"
Saphron giggled at their reaction and quickly stepped past them. "We're on it, chefs." The woman's wife quickly followed her and went to save the hot meal.
"Uh, combat gear looks good." The two boys turned to see Ruby awkwardly smiling at the young farmhand. Oscar quickly returned it before noticing the older huntsman stumble up the steps. And it was definitely not a sober man.
Ruby gave her uncle a hard look as she spoke to him in a stern tone. "Where are you going now?"
"I don't want to get in the way of your celebration." Damn it Branwen…
"You've been gone all day! Just sit with us."
Qrow sighed at the upset girl. Look, Ruby, I'm glad you kids worked out, uh, whatever all that was. But the fact is, we're not a single step closer to Atlas.
"Actually, I think I have an idea. But... It's sort of a "no-going-back" kind of idea." The young girl turned to her fellow leader with a hopeful expression.
"Well, let's hear it."
"With Cordo on watch, only Atlas airships have the clearance to leave for Solitas. So... we... steal an Atlas airship." The boy nervously shrugged at his closing statement. And it was pretty obvious why, that was a pretty risky idea.
Amid the shocked faces, Adrian giggled in Maria's arm. "That's not just breaking the law. That's... that's definitely worse."
"How would we even get onto the airfield?"
"That part I haven't quite figured out yet. But I-"
Qrow, trying to break apart the plan, waved his arms in a way to call timeout. "Okay, stop. Just... stop! Look, if this thing goes south, it's not something we can just fight our way out of. This is the Atlas Military we're talking about. Ugh... For your sake, just drop this."
Well, that was a buzzkill… It was a risk, sure, but what other options were there? No boat captain would be willing to run a blockade, SE with private transport airships. Oxon was about to suggest trying to hide the lamp in Vacuo when Ruby stepped forward.
"I want to hear him out."
"Ruby…"
Ruby had had enough of the older man it seemed. "I want to hear him out! I know you're trying to protect us, that you're afraid we can't do it, but right now, I don't really care what you think!" A shocked expression spread over Qrow's face at her harsh rejection.
"Just because you don't have an idea, doesn't mean we're out of options! Oz hasn't been here to tell us what to do, but we still managed to get this far anyway. We've been in bad situations before, and we don't need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do. We just did it our way! And I say we do it our way. And if you think you can keep up with us "kids"... we'd be happy to have you."
Qrow looked down sadly. He's been having a rough few weeks, and what little control and influence he had on the group seemed to have vanished. The man was once a top tier huntsman that answered directly to Ozpin. Now he was just a depressed tag-along.
Maria laughed at the way the diminutive girl took control. "Looks like you didn't give her enough credit either."
Qrow didn't say anything to Ruby or even look at her for a moment. Eventually he raised his head and looked back to Ruby while she stared back at him, a determined look on her face.
Oxon smiled and made to join the others in the common area. The day has been a hectic one, and Oxon definitely needed to relax a bit to cool off as well. He only walked three steps before he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. Looking back he saw a grinning Yang.
"Where do you think you're going?" What?
Oxon didn't like being called out so suddenly. "Uh, to relax?"
Her grip tightened and her smile became a bit more toothy. "Exactly, and didn't you promise to have a little spar with me?" Oxon paled as he realized the girl took his offer seriously. He'd only said that out of courtesy, not out of real desire.
"It's been a long day, don't you we should postpone it?" He tried to gently remove the metal fingers from his shoulder, but found that he could not. "Why not relieve stress by playing a game or something? You once said you wanted to teach me that fighting scroll game before."
"Relieve stress?"
Was she listening to him!? Perfect! Oxon gave what was hopefully a good natured smile. "Yes, so why don't we spar tomorrow morning when the others are figuring out the plan? Yeah? Besides, Nora still has Bulls Breath." He can't fight without his main weapon after all.
"Oh Ox, I de-stress by fighting. Now come along." She began walking to the back of the house to the small back yard the Cotta-Arc family owned. "And don't worry about your ax, I think it'll go better if you don't have it."
Fighting it to be bodily dragged behind her, he stumbled quickly to catch up with her. "Better? How is me not having my main weapon better for me!?"
"I never said it would be better for you." Oh no… "There's a lot of lingering stress from Beacon that I need to work out, and what better way for that then to beat you senseless in a friendly brawl?"
"It is going to be friendly? Right?" Oxon was terrified of the girl normally, but now that she wanted to beat him up as a form of therapy? He wanted to run.
"... Sure…" Her words did not inspire confidence. Oxon prayed to just emerge alive.
~~~(LXI)~~~
Two days later, the group has their plan for stealing an airship. The plan was… less than simple. There would be three groups all in charge of completing separate tasks that varied in importance.
Weiss would smuggle Maria into an airship and commandeer it. Weiss sent a message to the old base commander, confessing that she did wish to return home after all. The olderAtlesian was incredibly happy to oblige her. The other old lady, Maria, apparently knew how to pilot various aircraft and would fly it to the pick-up point where the majority of the team would be waiting.
Ruby Jaune and most of them would wait there with their gear and load the craft quickly. They had no idea what schedule the other pilots were on, so a quick escape was required. Then they would be flying straight to Atlas.
The third group was the one he joined. The disabling of the radar tower. It was critically important that it was completed swiftly so that the base didn't see them returning to pick up everyone else. Oxon regretted his choice a few minutes into the ride.
In the forests surrounding the city, Yang drove Bumblebee with Blake sitting behind her and Oxon behind Blake. Yang made a joke about a kitty cat sandwich, the slap to her head was worth it if the laughter was anything to go by. It was enjoyable for nobody besides the blonde.
His helmet and glasses may have protected his upper face from flying insects, but his mouth was an open target for the bastards. Not to mention the hair. Gods the hair… Yang's blonde locks easily traveled back and covered his face, and Blake's raven strands were no better. If he was closer related to the girl in front of him, he may have begun hacking up hairballs.
Was that racist? Yeah, it probably was… Sorry Blake, Kali, and Ghira.
Blake had her Scroll out and was receiving instructions from Terra. Thankfully the woman had an old scroll that she gave to Oxon. It allowed him to be in the loop about the minute to minute as well as track his aura.
"Okay, remember, one: the radar box is seperate from the rest of the communications equipment. So if you disconnect it properly, it won't take out comms for the rest of the city." There was a brief pause and then the woman spoke in a begrudging voice. "Two: this conversation never happened."
"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've disabled Atlas security."
Terra stared back through the screen with an unamused look. Oxon wished the girl in front of him could see the flat look on his face as well. "I don't think that is what she was worried about…"
Blake scoffed as Terra rubbed her temples and restated her condition. "Never. Happened." With that the woman ended the call. Likely to complain to her wife about the crazy people her brother in law brought into their home.
The three soon arrived at the drop off point. Oxon got off first, and the moment he got his helmet off, he began to pull the black and yellow strands of hair that had gotten stuck. The two girls were still sitting on the bike and giggling at his actions. The girls didn't understand the poor taste their shampoo had, no matter how nice it smelled.
Once she got her fill of watching Oxon paw at his tounge, Blake stepped off the bike and proceeded forward towards the tower. Yang called out to her with a concerned look. "You sure I shouldn't come with?"
"More intruders means we're more likely to be seen. Besides, stealth isn't exactly your, um…" The faunus girl was clearly trying to find words to say it in a nice way. But Oxon? He had no such kindness after multiple miles of bugs and hair in his mouth.
"You're loud, Xiao Long…" Yang stared at Oxon incredulously before looking back at Blake and crossing her arms. "It's nothing personal, but if any of us are suited to helping, it's the one who knows how to move through the trees easily."
Maybe it's a little personal. She's got far too much hair…
"Ox! don't say it like that!" Turning to her partner, Blake gave a nervous smile to the unimpressed blonde. "It's kinda, uhh. I mean… it's not that, you're great! And I'll hurry back."
Yang softened her expression moments before she slugged Oxon harshly in the thigh. "Go." He fell harshly to the forest floor, clutching the hurt limb.
Owwwwwwwww… Yang you bitch!
Blake smiled back at the girl before heading off with a wave at them both. "Heading in on foot. Won't be long."
"Yes! It's all going to plan!" There was a brief pause in the transmission from Jaune. The boy cleared his throat quickly before speaking again. "I mean, uh... roger."
The two remaining teens rolled their eyes at the joyous blonde's manerisms. Yang watched Blake leave with a concerned look on her face. It didn't last, and soon the usual grin was present on her face.
Once the girl was gone and the scrolls silent, Yang sat on the ground next to Bumblebee while Oxon walked over to lean against a tall pine. The two had nothing to do but wait and back the girl up. Neither expected to, but they were armed just in case.
Oxon after finally regained Bulls Breath, leaned it against the wood to be prepared, just in case. Oscar had asked him for a quick spar this morning and managed to convince Nora and Ren to let him have the rest of his weapons back. After a week or so with his smaller hatchet and revolver, it felt good to have his full arsenal back. Thankfully it seemed like the electric flower duo took good care of his weapons, no dire maintenance needed.
So while there was nothing to do but wait for Blake to finish up, Oxon pulled out a block of wood and began carving at the material. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to make yet. Ruby had been given one during her birthday, but the others had theirs back in Vale. He needed to replace the sloth army, Nora had been dropping not so subtle hints. Once they were in Atlas, he'd get right on that. For now though?
"Hey Yang?" The blond looked up to him with a curious expression. "This is probably a strange question, but… what kind of things does Blake like?"
The girl looked at him with a surprised look. "Like gift wise?" She scratched her chin as she began to think.
Oxon tried to ask a few people: her mother said she had a love for fish and would appreciate a tuna or sailfish, her father had nothing but knowledge of her love of period dramas which wasn't something Oxon could carve, Sun was useless. Ilia had some ideas, but he had a feeling that making a cat was too on the nose.
"Back at Beacon, she was one of the few people who I never had a chance to make a carving for." She wasn't alone, he never made one for Jaune, Pyrrha, Penny, or the rest of team SSSN. He probably made too many sloths, but the ginger girl had been all too enthusiastic about her army.
"You're making one of your statues for her?" He nodded in affirmation. "Hmmmmm… I can't say for sure, perhaps a panther or something? She's super regal and a large, graceful predator would suit her."
Oxon hummed in thought. That was a good idea, better than him making a wooden salmon or tuna. He gave her a quick thanks and got to work. He had to search the internet for a reference, and once he found one, he definitely agreed with the blonde. This was a creature that suited her.
Pulling out his knife, he got to work on the wood block. He began humming a familiar tune he learned from an older farmer. It was a bittersweet song, but it gave him comfort and put him in a good groove.
"Hmm hm hmm hm hmmmmmm, hmmm hmm hm hmmm hmmm hmmm~
Hmm hmm hmmm hm hmmm hm hmmhmm hm hmm hm hhhmh~"
"What are you doing?" Oxon lost his concentration momentarily as the lilac eyed girl gave him a curious look, there was a slight smile on her lips as well that he could only barely see.
"Oh, sorry. I was just humming a song I learned long ago. Sorry if I was bothering you."
"It's fine, not like there's much else to do out here, you wanna share with the class?" He cringed internally at the prospect of singing here. He did sing back home with his brother and father on rare occasions, but that was then, it had been too long.
"I don't know…"
"Come on! You owe me, man!" Oxon blinked at that? Did he? She saw his confusion and pounced on her chance, she detached her arm and waved it in front of her face. "Your coworker gave me a gift last time we met, I still demand a fitting price for it. And if that has to be you embarrassing yourself here in the woods? Then I'll take it."
Oxon winced at that. Yeah… that made sense to him. Rubbing the back of his ear, he looked around them, hoping no one was about to suddenly appear. "If I do this, does that mean you'll start to forgive me?"
"Sure, it'll be a good start." Ugh, he really didn't want to do this. Him and his stupid mouth got him into this situation, but of it meant a better relationship with the girl, then it would be worth it.
"Just don't tell the others. I'm not exactly a fan of my voice… Singing isn't exactly something I enjoy doing either." When he looked back up to the girl, he saw her with her scroll out and a not so innocent smile on her face.
"No way. This is prime currency right here. How much do you think Weiss'll pay me for a video of you singing like some kind of woodland bard?" She saw him pale and pressed the record button. "C'mon now, get to the music bud!"
With one last depreciating groan, Oxon cleared his throat and began to sing.
"Now my friends you've asked me what makes me sad and still.
And why my brow is darkened, like the clouds upon the hill.
Run in your ponies closer and I'll tell to you my tale.
Of Utah Carol, my partner and his last ride on the trail.
We rode the range together and rode it side by side.
I loved him like a brother, and I wept when Utah died~"
"We were rounding up one morning, when work was almost done.
When on his side the cattle started on a frightened run.
Underneath the saddle that the boss's daughter rode.
Utah that very morning had placed a bright red robe.
So the saddle might ride easy, for Lenore his little friend.
And it was this red blanket that brought him to his end."
Oxon undid one of his gun belts to hold a sash above his heart. He never wore red articles, even back home out of paranoia that Babe might turn on him. For this moment though, he used the white sash that had the bull and the squirrel embroidered into it. Fitting in a sort of way.
"The blanket was now dragging behind her on the ground.
The frightened cattle saw it and charged it with a bound.
Lenore then saw her danger and turned her pony's face.
And leaning in the saddle tied the blanket to its place."
"But in leaning lost her balance, fell in front of that wild tide~
"Lay still Lenore, I'm coming" were the words that Utah cried.
His faithful pony saw her and reached her with a bound."
"I thought he'd been successful, and raised her from the ground~
But the weight upon the saddle had not been felt before.
His back cinch snapped like thunder and he fell by Lenore."
"Picking up the blanket he swung it o'er his head.
And started cross the prairie, "Lay still Lenore, " he sai-"
Oxon didn't manage to finish when his scroll went crazy with words. Oh thank fuck… He and Yang paused as they both paid attention to the words Ruby was yelling about.
"Yang, what's going on?"
"What do you mean? Has something happened with the ship?"
"The radar is still up! I thought Blake would have disabled it by now." That… was a worrisome issue. The girl was right and as much as she regretted it, Blake had a lot of experience in this sort of work. The tower should have been down minutes ago.
Yang, worry visible on her face, got up and looks over to the relay tower. It was a good walk away, but not so far to take this long. Perhaps the girl foind a few more guards than expected.
"What do you think happened?" He didn't want to think she'd been captured or pinned down, but whatever happened couldn't be good. They really should have followed her a bit more!
Yang took out her scroll and rejoined the group call. "I don't know…" Yang and Ox watched their scrolls as Weiss' signal came back into range. Immediately the girl began talking to them.
"Why is the radar still up!?"
"We don't know, Blake isn't responding."
"What do we do!?"
Yang spoke to the group over the comms. "Keep the ship in one piece." She sent Oxon a nod and he returned it.
"We going to back her up now?" Yang gave him a "no shit" look to which he grinned. She then got a smirk on her face, not a kind one either. "Yang?"
"Have you ever ridden a motorcycle at top speed?" He did not like how she worded that.
"I'm guessing the ride from Brunswick to Argus didn't count?"
"Nope." She put on her aviators and he did the same with the pair he bought in hopes to counter Emerald. His helmet went on next. He was still upset that his idea didn't pan out. "It so does not."
Oxon felt a chill travel down his spine as he got on the vehicle. He had a feeling the nice drive they had when Blake was on it was not going to happen again. Oxon hoped she'd be at least a little gentle with him.
~~~(LXI)~~~
Blake looked down in fright at the form of Adam below her. "It's nice to finally have time to ourselves. Don't you think?"
Blake frantically looked around her for an avenue for escape. "Leave me alone!" Hoping to make him leave, she shot a series of bullets at him. But it only fed his semblance…
"But I've waited so long for you to be away from them. You're all alone now, Blake. No friends, no backup, just the two of us." Desperately, she kept for the zip wire, hoping to make a get away.
~~~(LXI)~~~
This chapter was supposed to be one long one and published on the 27th, but it felt too chaotic and needed to be split in two. The second half will be posted on the actual anniversary.
Omake: A Pine Like Any Other, Falls Like Any Other.
"So, you want to have a battle kid?" Oxon looked at his unlikely opponent with a mix of surprise and amusement.
Oscar spun his cane casually in the backyard of the house. It hadn't been a full day since Yang tore him apart in a "friendly" manner, so he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about this.
"I've spared with Ruby and team JNR, and they said you would be a good opponent." Of course they would.
He had yet to beat Nora or Ruby, the high speed and absurd strength were things he'd failed to properly plan for. Ren was a more even fight. The small arms and blades he used were a poor match for Oxon's heavy defense and superior stamina. Oxon wonost fights against the quiet guy, though there were times the speedy martial artist managed to pin him. Jaune and he hadn't fought since Beacon, but from what he was told, the blonde had gotten much stronger.
Around the two was a small crowd, team JNR and the Cotta-Arc family were all present. Adrian included. Well, if this was what the kid wanted. Since the last two keepers of his gear were present he turned to the ginger with a questioning look.
"Think I can have my ax back? I've had to have proven myself by now." The girl looked on the fence, Oxon just hoped she'd lean his way.
"It's fine Nora, I think we can trust him." He gave Oxon a grin. "I'm not so cruel as to fight a man not at his best like a certain blonde."
The peanut gallery chuckled for a few seconds at the memory of Oxon getting his ass handed to himself the previous night. It wasn't fair, he wanted to say, there was no way in hell he'd manage to have a decent unarmed fight against Yang. She'd kicked New Leaf out of his hands seconds into the fight too…
"If you're sure." Nora unslung the weapon off her back and tossed it to him. It felt good to have it back, it had only been a week or so, but to Oxon it felt like a lifetime. "You try any funny business and it goes somewhere unpleasant."
Ignoring the odd yet terrifying threat, Oxon smiled at the girl. "Deal."
Giving the weapon a few experimental swings and twirls, he was once again back in his groove. Resting Bulls Breath on his shoulder, Oxon gave the farm boy a grin. The kid returned it.
"Hope you're ready for this, I'm not exactly one who holds back." With a fluid spin, he chambered a round and brought the weapon in an offensive stance. Oscar brought up his own weapon in a fencing pose in response.
"I would hope you wouldn't hold back."
The two stood still for a moment before Oscar took the initiative to strike first. The boy was fast and precise, the muscle memory of thousands of years was a good base to begin on. Oxon batted away the blows aimed at his less armored sections and let sturdier areas take the rest.
His cane wasn't a sharp weapon, so he had no fears about it breaking through his gear. Though Oxon would admit, the kid could hit hard.
"Hmmm…"
Oxon went on the offensive after a heavy blow to his sternum. The kid dodged back to avoid the blow, only to get hit in the neck by a thrown New Leaf. The kid flinched at either the pain or shock of the sudden blow, which Oxon readily capitalized on.
Charging forward, Oxon landed a trio of blows to the boy's limbs, hoping to stun him into dropping his weapon. Annoyingly, or proudly, the young kid held firm and knocked Oxon back with a blow to the nose. Using that defensive attack, he dashed back to regain a bit of distance from Oxon. After a second of analysation, he lunged forward, aiming for Oxon's exposed throat.
Easy.
Oxon stepped into the blow and wrapped his left hand around the end of the cane. With a smirk, he pulled it towards him, aiming to remove the weapon from play. His smirk turned to surprise when instead of fighting to hold on, the boy hopped into the air and used the force of Oxon's pull to help him. The kid then twisted his body and kicked Oxon in the jaw with both feet.
"Yeah Oscar!"
"Woooooo! Break his legs!"
After stumbling back from the blow to the face, Oxon sent a glare to Nora and Jaune. They were unintimidated and he even saw little Adrian cheering happily at the violence.
Cracking his neck and rotating his jaw, Oxon sent the grinning former farm hand a nod. "Well done, using the momentum from my strategy to aid your own. I feel like you baited me there." He'd never seen the boy use a similar strategy before, or anyone for that matter.
"I may have been informed on your fighting style ahead of time." Oxon sent a quick glance and saw a smug Jaune and grinning Nora.
Figures…
"Disarmament is a good strategy, though it leaves you open to taking blows during an attempt. I assume that's one reason why you wear such heavy armor?"
He shrugged a bit. "Partly, also it's a bit of a family thing."
Oxon was done with the talking, if the kid had been told how Oxon fought, it was time to shake things up. Oxon and Oscar began trading blows in a close range. Oxon had given up on defense and was focusing on tearing the boy down, defense and all. The boy did admirably well for a near minute, but Oxon's strength powering through his guard began depleting his foe's aura. His on the other hand only drained at a slow pace.
The blessing of a good semblance let him gain a defensive shell while dismantling the others defense. When Oscar did manage to land a few strong blows, it only broke the outer layer and barely touched Oxon's heavy gear. Said gear also kept a majority of the blows from using much aura; a gun or sword at this range would have been a much different fight, but Pine was just poorly matched.
After a stroke g blow to his wrist, the old cane went flying out of his hand. The kid adopted a basic boxing stance, but froze when Oxon trained Fratris and Bulls Breath on him. The kid was brave for sure, but right now he realized he had no solid options and raised his hands.
"I give." He took the loss well and gave Oxon a satisfied smile. "That was a good fight! I'd like to do that again some time."
Oxon also had a soft grin as well. "I'd like that. Perhaps I can teach you a few tricks?"
"Please."
Their conversation was interrupted by an excited Ruby. "Guys! Everything is ready to go! We've got to get over to the rendezvous point before the others start their parts." Right, Oxon was going to ride with Yang and Blake to the tower. Something he noticed Blake seemed slightly frustrated about. Eh, probably just didn't want to be squished on the bike.
He turned his head to his sparring partner. "Well, time to get the show on the road, yeah?" Oscar panted slightly from the fight, but otherwise seemed fine. Thankfully his role was just to stand and load the aircraft.
"Yes, let's hope it all goes smoothly."
"You kids got this, it's kind of scary how well my baby brother planned out the theft of military property. I wonder where he went wrong?" She was joking, he knew, but it was a valid question nonetheless.
"Eh, probably the two former terrorists. That or all the crazies he seems to constantly run into." The woman gave him a flat look of "thank you for stating that, now I'm even more worried". Eh, it was true, the guy has come a long way from dressing up with his sisters. "Don't worry, he's definitely a good influence. He's helped me out with a few things before in Beacon."
Her expression softened slightly. "I just hope he stays safe. Atlas is quite a distance away…"
He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking around to the front of the house. "Hey, give him some credit, he's made it this far. He's only going to get better." He didn't see the reaction of the older Arc, but he hoped he helped her a little bit. He never really worried about his own sibling until recently. And she'd gone though far more stress and uncertainty than he had.
Further inside the house, sitting next to the Arc children group photo, was a new item on the mantle. It was a simple thing, made of wood, not a fancy trophy or treasured book. It was a statue of a familiar teen wielding a sword and shield and posed heroically. It was crude and the details imperfect, but to those who knew the figure would know it was perfect.
A brave knight to watch over his family while far away in a daunting quest.
~~~(LXI)~~~
To the reviewer that asked about omakes, they are indeed canon, the only one that's in a gray area is the one about Weiss' study session. It was mostly a more comedic idea I had.