Chapter Twelve
Waking up with a start, Ozpin looked around frantically, faded remnants of a dream still coldly clinging to him. For the briefest of moments, he was convinced he was back at the Imperial Palace, sitting before his reader, being asked to say a war; that Oscar was beside him, at his own reader being asked the same question… Rows upon rows of soothsayers being asked the same question and the symbol of the Grimm appearing…
But he wasn't really there. He was in bed, Oscar sleeping peacefully at his back, the window wide open but no breeze coming through. Ozpin sat up, feelings scattered everywhere and overwhelmed. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down after that dream, trying to remind himself that he wasn't there, that was not now nor would he ever be a soothmaker.
He stood and went to the front of the apartment, lighting a candle, fighting to hold back, trying to recenter himself and contain everything within him that was flying apart. He held his mouth with his hands to keep from making any noise, his eyes watered and he fought back.
It was too much.
It was just too much.
As quietly as he could through his blurred vision, Ozpin put on his pants, threw on a shirt, and headed out. Up two flights of stairs he came to the steep, almost ladder-like steps that went up to the roof, a place he could feel without bothering anyone.
A sob broke out of him, and he bit back down on it, setting down his candle to try and figure out how to hop up the steps and get out. But his body wouldn't let him. He couldn't see, tears were streaming down his face with his sweat, and he couldn't gulp air fast enough. A noise escaped him, and he gave up, sitting on the steps with his bad leg out uselessly as he gripped at his mouth to try and catch all the sounds trying to burst out and he just sobbed. As quietly as he could.
How could you James…
A small wail escaped, despite his efforts, and he tried again to hold his mouth closed, hunching over, shoulders shaking.
"Oz…?"
He gasped, looking up and seeing Qrow and Yang looking out their door.
"Oh…" He stood quickly, trying to wipe his eyes, trying to hold back all the feeling. "...sorry…"
"Come here, Oz. You can cry safely with us," Qrow said. "People expect noise from my place."
"Oh… no… I…" but a sob came out again, and he just couldn't hold it all in.
"Easy, Professor," Yang said softly by his side. "We got you." Qrow was on his other side, and he was guided into their apartment, set on a cot, and he just started to sob uncontrollably. Whereas before all he'd felt was fury at the general, now the horror of it all was hitting him and the tears just wouldn't stop. Just when he thought he'd caught his breath, it started all over again.
Isolation and Misery.
A broken laugh escaped him.
Because of course. Misery.
He sniffled wetly, and someone handed him a handkerchief.
Eventually, he just let out a long sigh, and wiped at his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely.
"You pretty clearly had a filthy day," Yang said. Somewhere over the course of his sobbing, she'd put her corset on over her shift and a pair of slacks.
A hand rubbed at his arm, and Ozpin looked to the side to see Qrow there, looking down to the ground.
Ozpin let out a sigh.
"I am sorry," he said. He took a deep breath, felt his eyes water again, but nothing came of it. With another heavy sigh, he just leaned into Qrow, because he didn't have much energy. "The general used to be a friend, once upon a time," he said softly. "Today he demonstrated just how much I never really knew him. All that guidance I offered, he used in all the wrong ways. All those beliefs and philosophies we'd discussed… abandoned."
Yang looked away. "Sucks when someone you depend on just… abandons you."
Ozpin could only nod, looking around the room. Qrow's apartment had improved since last he'd been here. Two cots under the window, crates scattered everywhere for storage, and a table made from the scraps of whatever repairs Qrow had done around the building. Still no organization, still a mess, but actual furniture now.
"You're not alone, Oz," Qrow said softly, his breath moving Ozpin's hair.
Isolation and misery.
"Despite what I said earlier… I try not to be," he murmured. Adopting Oscar had been his first attempt to refuse the Grimm since the backbreaker fever, but he'd forgotten that he had more than just Oscar. Maria, Pietro… Qrow… They were all close to him.
"You've done a lot for me, Oz," Qrow said. "You dragged me out of the bottle."
"I didn't, that was your choice."
"Fye and filth, you did," Qrow retorted, "I was flush with lush, celebrating losing a job, and you just… dragged me out of it. You telling me that it wasn't my fault… I've held on to that."
Ozpin sat up straighter, looking over in surprise. "Is that why you've been drinking less?"
Qrow gave a flat look. "'Is that why?' he asks. Yes, Brothers damn it! To see that fancy-ass general just appear in his fancy-ass carriage and you were clearly not okay with it, just… agree to go. Fye and filth, why do you help everyone but yourself?"
"I wasn't trying to-"
"Yeah, I got that. You didn't want that fine boy of yours messed up in this. But you putting yourself on the line didn't avoid that."
Ozpin couldn't look into the wine red eyes anymore.
"You don't just abandon family like that," Yang said, violet eyes boring into his through the candle light.
"Abandon or defend?" Ozpin asked softly, looking down to where his good knee touched Qrow's. "I don't claim for it to have been a good decision. Or even the right decision. It was an instinct to keep Oscar away from someone who has become so dangerous. I've no doubt that the general would love to have another of my apprentices working for him."
"Reasons, Oz. That's a reason, not an excuse."
With a sigh, Ozpin leaned back against the wall. "No, I suppose it isn't." He took a deep breath and let it out. Isolation and misery. "Since graduating from my apprenticeship, I have been alone. I have tried to reach out. The general was one such attempt." He turned to Qrow. "I've mentioned my failed attempts at romance. Faculty at the university up the mountain, apprentices after they've graduated… All move on. I keep trying to reach out, but… I supposed I've just become… accustomed to thinking myself alone."
Qrow looked sullenly at him from the corner of his eye. "Well you're not."
"No," he said softly, eyes watering again. Isolation and misery. "I'm not." He shook himself, refusing to dwell on the Grimm that had ruled so much of his life. Sniffling, he looked back to Yang and Qrow. "Regardless of myself, you were trying to help. You didn't need me snapping at you when I returned, especially after giving me such a kindness."
Qrow's face went red, then he looked away. Yang looked back and forth and then gave a feral grin.
"Not a word, snapdragon."
"Nope. It will be poems."
"... fye and filth…"
Ozpin didn't understand, so he didn't comment. Instead, he focused on his apology. "You were right to be there with Oscar, you were right to defend him and yourself when I was being insufferable."
Qrow's face went redder. He let out a small cough, glared at Yang, and turned to Ozpin. "Look, you also had a right to set a boundary." He scowled. "You were a lit musket waiting to fire, and I tapped at the trigger. I just… don't handle rejection really well. You'd think after all these years I'd be used to it…"
"Sure, you can't think that?" Ozpin gaped. "Truly? Tai, Clover, your nieces, you aren't rejected by everyone any more than I'm-" Isolation and misery. He choked it all back down, "-than I'm always alone." It wasn't the same. Qrow didn't have a Grimm hovering over him… but Ozpin couldn't get into that. Not really. He sat up and placed a hand on Qrow's knee. "You are a person of value, you've started a journey of self-improvement. There will be setbacks, no one can fix themselves overnight, but can you really believe everyone rejects you, now that you're better than you were months ago?"
"That's because of you, Oz."
Ozpin shook his head. "A few words doesn't change a person, Qrow. You've worked to change yourself. You are a better man now, by far." He turned to Yang. "Do you not think so?"
She was smiling broadly. "Oh, don't mind me, Professor. I think Qrow will listen to your words more than me."
Ozpin blinked, and only nodded, wiping sweat from his brow. He looked out the window and saw the barest lightening of the sky. Brothers, he was tired. "Oscar will be up in a few hours. I suppose I should head back."
"No you don't," Yang said, standing and smiling. "You're exhausted. Take my cot. I'm usually heading out for a run at this time for conditioning. I'm sure Uncle Qrow can wake you and get you down to Oscar before he wakes up."
"I wouldn't want to impose…"
"Yang!"
"Oh, it's fine!" she said, grabbing a blouse. "Uncle Qrow can keep an eye on the clock for you." Once buttoned up, she tied her hair back awkwardly with her one hand. "Get some much needed sleep." And she headed out.
"... fye and filth, I'm going to talk to her when she gets back…"
There was something in this conversation, and Ozpin was certain if he was more awake he'd know what it was. But right now he was looking at the vacated cot and getting very, very tempted.
"Go ahead, Oz, I'll guard your dreams."
Ozpin lay down and wondered briefly if Qrow knew that was a Valean saying between lovers...
Oscar very deliberately stayed in the greenhouse the next day as Ozpin made his rounds of apologies. If he leaned over the lip of the roofline, he could see his guardian being scolded by Nana Calavera on the front steps, and her sass occasionally drifted up the air currents for him to hear the random word or Vacuo curse. Qrow's apology he didn't see much of, but he knew the aftermath when his neighbor came up to the roof to check on the crows: there was a soft look on his face that meant things had gone well.
Three weeks later it was time for Midsummer Feast. On the farm it was little more than a half day's work in the fields before going into the main village for the birth announcements and baptisms. Last year he saw how big a deal it was for the city, and now he had the dubious honor of explaining the traditions to the Valean Yang and the Atlesean Penny.
"I don't get it," Yang said. "Why doesn't Mistral do anything big for the equinoxes when the brothers have balanced power? Spring equinox is announcing all the births of the past year, midsummer is for the baptisms, fall equinox is announcing the deaths, and midwinter is death watch."
"No, that is incorrect," Penny said, scolding a finger. "Mistral is right to have both birth and baptism on the same day, but it should be on the equinox. Midsummer is about fire the way midwinter is about ash, it is illogical to supercede human affairs on a day when one of the brother's is in control."
"But that's what I'm saying!" Yang countered, running an arm over her damp forehead. "You shouldn't double up all the ceremonies to overshadow the brothers, that's why you spread them out over the course of the year, and that's why the holidays are all celebrated together, to gather the power of everyone's beliefs to send to the brothers."
"No, faith is an individual construct that is merely facilitated in a communal ritual and is what leads to mob mentality," Penny said, obviously quoting something. "It is individual ceremony that should be supported to prevent reduced intelligence such that led to the downfall of Vale."
"Light Brother's fye what a thing to say!" Yang said, straightening and looking like she was going to throw a punch.
"Hey, hey! Easy," Oscar said, hands raised and trying to intercede. "Look, nobody honors the brothers perfectly no matter where they are; the brothers are gods and we can't hope to be equal to them. Here in Mistral, it's a communal holiday the same way midwinter is in Vale. There's a parade that announces all the births of the past year, and the kids that are twelve go up the mountain to the Imperial Court to be baptized. As the procession goes up the mountain we throw flowers to give them good luck and good wishes - this time of year usually it's roses but any flowers will do. The rest of the day is dedicated to the Brother of Light, we feast - such as it is this year with the requisitions - and at night we have the light festival."
"That is a ceremony I have not heard about," Penny said.
"I didn't either until I came to the city," Oscar said. "I'll show you when we get there. It's really pretty."
The morning of the feast Oscar let the overheated Ozpin sleep in. His guardian had been in a dark mood since the meeting with the general, he tried to put on a good face but it was obvious it was still bothering him. After waiting for his turn at the outhouse he moved up to the greenhouse and checked on the herbs and watered them. He picked some lavender for recharging wreaths and poked at his pot of yerba mate. It was the most expensive herb needed for a wreath and he really wanted to grow their own instead of buying it, but Ozpin didn't know how it was grown, and had always purchased it in Vale and here in Mistral. If it grew in southern Vale did it need more heat? Oscar wondered, but eventually moved back down to the garden in the common area. Penny was already there at the gate, waiting patiently for permission to harvest certain plants. Oscar let her in and pulled everything he dared for the families of the building.
Most everyone with children were up at dawn for preparations, and as the sun rose children started to pile out first into the back common area, and then to the front of the building for the birth procession. Anyone who was twelve had flowers in their hair to denote their status, twirling around in their best kimono and waiting excitedly for the procession. Oscar had his farming duties to do, doling out summer squash, beans, tomatoes, plums, lychee, and mushrooms. The garden wasn't big enough to feed thirty-two families, but every apartment was grateful for what he was able to give them.
"They're here! They're here!"
Oscar looked up when the kids started shouting, and soon everyone was pushing out front to the street. Oscar ran up the stairs to the roof, also full of people, and they all pressed up against the roofline to watch as an open carriage with four horses pulling it slowly walked down the street. A man in fine silks was reading off a list, announcing all the births that had happened in the last year and could barely be heard over the cheering of the children. The little ones ran after the carriage in an imaginary chase and kids a little too eager threw a couple of flowers before the adults stopped them. The carriage moved down the street, curving down the lane until it was out of sight.
"Wasn't much of a parade," Yang muttered from next to Oscar.
"It's a lot bigger up the mountain," Oscar explained. "Oz took me there last year to see how it started. It's this big procession that breaks down and down and down to spread out in all the boroughs."
Yang scoffed. "In Vale everyone gathered in the central district to see the entire parade."
"I know," Oscar said. "Oz told me about it. Colored paper and candies, he said. The king was the one who announced the births at equinox and the baptisms at midsummer."
Yang shook her head. "Well, not anymore," she said. "The speaker of the ministry does it along with a speech about how precious every child is to the kingdom."
"A speech?" Penny asked, turning slightly. "I did not know speeches were important in Vale."
Yang openly laughed. "Are you kidding? It's all the ministry does in public, you'd think they were writing a courtship poem or something, they get so flowery sometimes. But when the senators hold low court you really get to see how they do their job. Dad said it's a sight to see."
"Yeah," Qrow said, coming up behind them, parting through the crowds on the roof. "Said it made all the bloodshed worth something. He still in the senate?"
"No," Yang said, a little surprised. "He's back in Patch now, has been since his term was up. Didn't he write you?"
"Probably," he admitted with a shrug. "Can't say as I read every letter for a few years. I do now, though."
Oscar held his breath, but neither of them looked like they were going to fight and he carefully edged closer to Penny as everyone waited for the baptism procession. "What was baptism like in Atlas?" he asked. "You said you did it during Equinox?"
Penny nodded, a bright smile on her face. "Yes!" she said brightly. "Baptism is at thirteen, however, and not twelve. We are all given free transport to the capital and lined up in these neat little rows at the finishing academy. The Generals all come out and lift their swords. The Major-General takes our oaths of fealty and the generals go down the rows and tap their swords to our shoulders. It's called a knighting ceremony and not a baptism, it took me a while to understand the word here in Mistral - it comes from the old times when the generals were knights and only squires could be baptized. The kingdom has of course evolved since then, everyone is baptized and there is no longer a king, we are much more balanced and egalitarian and that makes us the greatest country of the four kingdoms."
"Hah, careful there, Penny," Yang said with a light punch on the other girl's arm. "Your patriotism is showing."
"I do not think I am showing patriotism," Penny replied with a frown. "I am merely restating what was written in-"
"In your schooling books, I know," Yang said, shaking her head. "One of these days I'm going to point out - in detail - how one-sided and not egalitarian Atlas really is. Now, in Vale, we all get baptized by the Ministry - we don't swear fealty like you do, though. We swear instead to think critically, be self-aware, and admit our mistakes when we make them. How about you, 'farm boy,' what's baptism like in Mistral?"
Oscar shook his head. "I don't know what it would be like in the city. I was baptized on the farm. The village mayor took our oaths, that we work hard, work in serenity, work in peace, and work in loyalty to the Imperial Court."
"I wonder, then, what Vacuo children swear to," Penny asked, running a finger down her cheek.
"That's a question for Nana Calavera, probably," Yang said.
"Or Oz," Qrow offered, leaning over the lip of the roofline. "He's smart enough to know just about everything."
"He would say not everything," Oscar said, leaning on the roofline as well.
"Tch, what he doesn't know that fancy sand basin can tell him," Qrow said. "Guy's a class act."
"Not now, Uncle Qrow," Yang said with a huff. "I'd rather you not embarrass me on the hottest holiday of the year."
Qrow turned with a grin saying he was going to do just that and Oscar started to cover his ears, but whatever innuendo he said was cut off with the distant sound of bells up the mountain. The bells announced the end of the birth procession down the mountain, and the start of the baptism procession up the mountain.
"That's my cue," Oscar said, backing away from the roofline and working through the crowds to the greenhouse. He had two rose bushes, one he planted last year for midsummer, and a second one when Dr. Polendina moved in. The doctor explained their petals were antiseptic, whatever that meant, and were good for cuts and abrasions. He plucked every rose he could from the bush, fluffing out the petals into a basket. Like everything else in the greenhouse, it wasn't enough for the entire building, but he was able to squeeze out two baskets worth of petals, keeping a few fistfuls for the doctor that he would deliver later.
It was noon now, and back out in the crowds on the roofline he could just make out Ozpin's silver hair at the corner of the building, in the shade, quietly listening to dozens of people talking around him. Oscar smiled to see his guardian being happy, and he slowly inched his way back to the front of the building where Yang and Penny were. Qrow had disappeared again, and Oscar found a niche between the girls as everyone started to press closer and closer to the edge of the roofline. Everyone was looking down the street, waiting for the return of the four-horse open carriage. They could hear the approach now, shrieking children echoing off the canyons of streets.
All the twelve year olds were pushed to the front as the carriage made its appearance, the kids bowing as it passed and joining the multi-color mass of twelve year olds following the official. The sea of bodies spread out for over ten minutes as the children moved up the mountain, and everyone threw their rose petals and flower petals out. Oscar and the others from the roof, yes, but also from windows all the way down to street level. The noise was near deafening, everyone cheering and shrieking and clapping at the procession.
Then all at once a flock of crows dove down into view, cawing and playing in the flying flower petals. The birds flew in intricate patterns, playing in the air as they swooped in up and down and in and out, their wings making the petals linger in the air, flying in new patterns. Oscar traced them with his eyes, fascinated before he felt the familiar hum in his blood. He closed his eyes before his magic activated, and he realized this was probably how Ozpin had had the insight that outed him as a soothsayer.
Qrow reappeared and clapped a hand on Oscar's shoulder, laughing as his birds continued to play. "Knew they'd enjoy this," he said, barely audible over the noise of the crowds.
Once the baptism procession was out of sight the crowds thinned, going back into their respective buildings to begin cooking whatever feasts they could scrounge together. Nana Calavera was already out back, deftly building a cookfire big enough to handle several pots and pans worth of grilling. Several of the mothers immediately rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
As Oscar made his way to the back common area, he kept an eye out for his guardian. The summer sun was at its highest, and while they weren't in the furnace of an office, he worried Ozpin would be down with the heat. Eventually he found him under the shade of the building, by the narrow alley that led to the street, sitting on a stool from somewhere. Ozpin smiled to see him, and Oscar moved closer to check.
"I'm fine," was said before he could ask the question. "No fainting spells," Ozpin said brightly. "I know how to be careful."
Oscar gave him a flat look. "Yeah, after I started sending you home when it got too hot."
Ozpin shook his head in amusement. "Touché," he said lightly in Valean. "Abuela has been keeping an eye on me this morning. Now that the cookfires are going I don't have to stand on ceremony waiting for processions. It's tolerable here, for now, and I'm in ear shot of Abuela."
"Okay… if you're sure…"
"Go enjoy yourself, Oscar," Ozpin said, reaching out and touching Oscar's arm. "Play out in the street for a while, keep the little ones busy while the adults cook and talk."
"I'm not a kid anymore, Oz," he said, decidedly not pouting.
"No," Ozpin said wistfully. "But let an old man pretend for a while longer."
As it turned out, Yang and Penny were out in the street already. Yang had a large ball in her hand and was giving the instructions for playing lightball, the kids under seven listening in rapt attention. Several kids were picking up the trampled rose and flower petals, collecting them to be dried and used for herbal teas in the winter when things would inevitably get bad again. Penny was doing the same, eyeing each petal critically and explaining to the youngest children which petals to keep and which to discard for maximum medical efficiency. Oscar shook his head - knowing he would be no different picking through discarded foodstuffs. He disappeared briefly upstairs to pull out the book he was reading - one of the massive pattern books Ozpin had given him at the start of his apprenticeship - and sat on the front steps to enjoy the light as he read.
The noise of children screaming and laughing slowly died away as he absorbed himself in his book. He could read patterns much easier now, even the more complicated ones made more sense to him, and Ozpin had explained that was because his magic was strong enough that he could intuit and absorb their meanings much faster. Since doing his training readings he had doubled his reading capacity for patterns almost every week, and he could plough through the books with (almost) ease. He folded the corners of pages that had patterns he didn't know yet, marking them off for study later.
Once in a while he would glance up to give his eyes and neck a break. Penny had amassed a small mountain of petals from the streets and had a collection of five year olds sorting them by color. Yang was chasing a mass of children with her ball, shouting that she was a mighty dragon come to slay them and tossed with absolute precision, laughing with every strike. She eventually disappeared down the alley to the common area. People were moving up and down the street, rushing to get last minute ingredients or going to pick up their twelve year olds to guide them home.
During one such moment of people-watching Oscar saw a long white tail of hair, and he blinked to see a former client. He tried to remember the name as the girl walked down the street with another girl, both in linen skirts and blouses.
"I told you the soothsayer wouldn't be there today. Honestly, you are such a child, thinking anyone ran business on Midsummer Feast."
"I knew that, Weiss!" the girl in the red linen said. "I wanted to see if there was a name or an address or something. I don't know how I'm supposed to find my sister and my uncle in a city this big - you're the one who suggested going to a soothsayer!"
"Ruby, that is not how I said it and you know it. Honestly I don't know how - oh!"
The former client stopped in the middle of her tirade and the street, her ice blue gaze locking onto Oscar. "I remember you! You were the apprentice!"
Shyness bloomed in him and he fumbled with a reply. "Uh, hello. It's a pleasure to meet you again. Miss…" Brother of Light what was her name again?
"Weiss Schnee," she said brightly, and all at once Oscar remembered why the girl had stuck out. Schnee had come with her sister, who worked for the general. He stiffened, suddenly afraid of why she was here and what that meant. The other girl had been talking about a soothsayer, was this another trap? What should he do? He couldn't run back to Oz, his guardian admitted he didn't want their familial relationship advertised to the military and what was he supposed to do?
"... Miss, Schnee…" he managed to churn out, gulping.
"Weiss, please," the girl said with an Atlesean curtsy. "I understand formalities aren't as pressing here in Mistral and am trying to accommodate myself appropriately."
Wow, she sounded like Penny…
"This is Ruby Rose," she continued, gesturing to the brunette next to her - no, not brunette. Her hair was dark but there was a hint of red, eyes as silver as Ozpin's hair. "She has just arrived in Mistral and is looking for her sister and uncle who live here. She doesn't know where exactly, and wanted to make an appointment with a soothsayer to help her find them. Do you know when the professor will next be available for an appointment?"
Oscar blinked, trying to think fast enough to give a vague answer. "It's hard to tell in the summer," he said slowly. "He's susceptible to the heat, especially with his office on the fourth floor…"
"Oh, dear, how terrible for him," Miss Schnee, Weiss, said as she turned to her friend. "Professor Ozma is the greatest soothsayer of a generation," she explained. "My sister Winter said so before she started her apprenticeship to Lady Fria. Winter won't do readings for me, and I don't know where Lady Fria is currently working. I don't know of any other soothsayers in the city."
The other girl, Miss Rose, frowned. "I can't exactly send a crow to my uncle if I don't know where he lives. All I know from the letter is that Yang went to see him to recover - I don't even know from what."
"Yang?" Oscar asked, surprised. "Yang Xiao Long?" Then he stiffened. Brothers, what if this got Yang and Qrow in trouble? Weiss would report all this back to her sister and-
"Hey Oscar!" Qrow appeared from the alley. "Your dad wanted to say-"
"Uncle Qroooooooooooow!"
Ruby and her red linen disappeared in a flurry of trampled rose petals, dashing and leaping up to Qrow, grappling and arm and swinging. "Did you miss me? Did you miss me?" the girl nearly shouted, spinning around her uncle.
Qrow, for his part, gave a poleaxed stare before shaking it off and giving a flat, cocky smirk. "Nope," he said, before grabbing at her waist and tossing her into the air in elation. "Dark Brother's filth, what are you doing here?" he said, lowering her into a crushing hug. The girl Ruby hugged just as fiercely.
"I came to see you, obviously! Silly uncle!"
"Does your dad know you're here?"
Ruby froze. "Uh, about that…"
Oscar watched in unfettered curiosity as Qrow's eyes doubled in size, something like actual fear bleeding onto his features before grabbing his niece's shoulders. "Ruby, don't joke about this. Does Tai know about you being here?"
"... uhm…"
"Brother of Light and Dark I'm a dead man," Qrow muttered. "Change of plan, I'm throwing you out - get your tiny little ass back to Tai and tell him this was all your idea to up and disappear on him. And you'd better damn well be convincing so he doesn't travel all the way here to strangle me in my sleep."
"Uncle Qrow, it'll be fine! I wanted to see Yang, silly! Why would he be mad at that?"
"You mean he didn't tell you?"
Weiss leaned over. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" she asked.
"Uhm, no," Oscar whispered back. "Except that Yang-"
"Uncle Qrow, Nana Calavera said - Ruby! You're here! Look at my little sister!"
Yang ran down the alley and Ruby stared, pulling away from her uncle Qrow and darting to her sister. "Your arm…!"
"Time to get scarce," Oscar muttered, standing up and going up the steps to the front door of the apartment building. He moved down the dim hallway, glad that it was cooler than outside, and exited to the back common area. The bonfire was surrounded by adults, manning pots and pans and cast iron ovens, talking and laughing and sharing drinks. The shadows were starting to stretch out over the yard, and Ozpin was in a corner of the space, on his borrowed stool, with Dr. Polendina in his wheeled chair sitting next to him.
"Ah, Oscar, I'm glad Qrow found you!" Ozpin said, motioning him to join him. He did so, and watched as his guardian's face opened in surprise. "Miss Schnee, what a pleasant surprise!"
Oscar turned in horror and realized that Weiss had followed him through the building. Brother of Dark he was really bad at this…! "She just followed me," he said quickly, anxious of what Ozpin would do to see one of the general's soldiers here. "A friend of hers wanted a reading!"
"Well, not any more," Weiss said, curtsying again. "Hello again Professor. Thank you so much for your reading earlier. I'm very happy where I am now."
Ozpin smiled. "I'm glad to hear it," he said with absolute sincerity. "I'm not sure I formally introduced you. This is Oscar Pine, my son as well as my apprentice."
"What?" Oscar said, stiffening. But… the general?
Weiss nodded her head and offered her hand, which Oscar managed to take only through years of conditioning of manners.
"I didn't realize you were related," Weiss said brightly, leaning slightly against the fence of the common yard. "You both look very different. I assume he takes after the mother?"
"Yes, very much so," Ozpin said with an easy smile. "I learned he had the talent for soothsaying almost a year ago, and he's been my apprentice ever since. You'll forgive him at the moment, he's always a little shy about new people."
"But…!" Oscar started to say before snapping his mouth closed. A Schnee, this was a Schnee! The general… soothmaking the war…!
Ozpin narrowed his gaze slightly before they widened in understanding. "Ah," he said. "A moment, Miss Weiss, my son clearly wants a word with me. Dr. Polendina, this is Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee dynasty in Atlas. No, not dynasty, I forget the word in Atlesean. Regardless, Miss Weiss, this is Dr. Pietro Polendina, also of Atlas. I'm certain the two of you have much in common, especially now."
"Miss Weiss, it's an honor to meet you, I assure you. I remember seeing your mother some years ago, pregnant as could be - I assume it was you she was carrying…"
Ozpin stood and guided Oscar to a different corner of the yard, by one of the rain barrels as he leaned against it. "Miss Weiss can be trusted, Oscar," he said without ceremony. "Though I understand your fear."
"She's related to the general," Oscar said, worrying his hands. "How can you be sure?"
"Because of her reading. Do you remember it?"
Oscar shook his head.
"I'll show you the pattern when we're next in the office. She is currently in the middle of a paradigm shift. Her question was about how to be the best, but the sands talked more about her finding mentors who would teach her how to be a better person. If her paradigm shift goes well she will divorce herself from her family, and that includes her sister."
Now that it was mentioned Oscar could remember the reading. "So she's safe?" he asked.
"Yes, Oscar, she is safe," Ozpin replied, putting a hand on him. "Be at ease."
The relief was profound, and he sat on the rain barrel with his guardian for a minute to put himself back together. "I didn't know what to do!" he exhaled. "She just showed up on the street and then she saw me and…!"
Ozpin laughed, good natured. "That was because she needed to meet the dragon and the rose," he said. "Soon the black cat will follow. Did she meet Yang?"
"Sort of, Qrow's other niece came and… wait. What does Yang have to do with all this?"
The smile Ozpin gave was soft as he reached up and ran a hand through Oscar's hair. "Think for a moment, Oscar, about the names we are given. Names are important, not to a soothsayer, but to the client. Our readings are necessarily abstract, but there are symbols that represent people, correct?"
"Yes…"
"These symbols very consistently translate to names for the client," he said. "Yang's name means golden dragon. Her sister is named after some kind of rose. Weiss is snow, something I saw in Yang's reading when she first came here, and the rose was encased in the pattern for family, so it doesn't surprise me that she is Yang's sister. I'll be curious to see who the black cat is when they appear. They play significant roles with both Yang and Miss Weiss."
Oscar blinked, learning yet another layer of soothsaying. It had never occurred to him that the abstract patterns could double as names, too. "You know," he said, a little sour, "Just when I thought I was getting a handle on all of this I realize something new."
"So said any academic at university, believe me," Ozpin said with a bemused smile. "Regardless, I sent Qrow out to find you to let you know that I was going to head in for a spell. The heat is getting to me and I knew you would want to know."
"Oh, do you want me to come with you?"
"Certainly not! I want you to enjoy the holiday. If I'm not down by dinner, come up and grab me. Qrow said he wanted the four of us to eat together - though perhaps now it's five with Yang's sister here. What's her name?"
"Ruby, I think," Oscar said, thinking back. Then he looked down as he remembered why he had ducked to the back common yard. "She was shocked to see Yang's arm," he said softly. "And it sounds like she didn't tell her father she was coming here."
"Oh, dear," Ozpin said, frowning. He shook his head, shrugging the thought off. "We'll give them some privacy for now," he said. "I'll see you in a bit."
Oscar watched his guardian get up and move up the ramp Qrow had built before entering the apartment building. He stayed on the rain barrel, frowning as he looked out at all the adults. Even after living here for a year didn't didn't know all the families, and those he did know were only in passing. Between school and then his apprenticeship, he didn't really have that many people to interact with. Yang and Penny had changed that, and Qrow technically counted as someone he knew well, but he wanted to know more people.
Just… not in a big crowd like this. There were too many people, and as much as he conquered his shyness when he knew someone, he never felt comfortable in large numbers like this. He glanced down at his book, deciding to read it up on the roof. With the processions done far fewer people would be up there, and if all else failed he could hide in the greenhouse. Nodding, he moved up to the roof and sat in the shade of the aviary. The crows were happy with the playing they had done earlier, were cawing and clucking happily at each other, and he opened his book to study again.
It didn't last long, however, as a shadow crossed the edge of his vision, and he looked up to see Qrow's other niece, Ruby, approaching the aviary. She was wiping her eyes and both of them froze to see each other.
"Sorry!" Oscar said, jolting to his feet. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize…"
"No, I'm sorry, I thought no one would be up here…"
"I promise I won't be in your way just let me get by…"
"I really shouldn't be up here anyway and…"
"No, no! It's perfectly fine, I…"
"I don't want to make a nuisance of myself…"
"You couldn't ever be a nuisance!"
Oscar heard the words maybe three seconds after he said them, and he cringed at how terrible it sounded, his face heating up and wishing he could shrink into a dust ball and disappear. The girl, Ruby, was also bright red - from the heat or embarrassment he couldn't tell, and the pause drew out to make it all feel worse.
"I'm sorry," Oscar managed to say. "I know you have a lot to think about and I don't want to intrude."
"Actually, if you know Yang then I wanted to talk to you," the girl said. "I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose."
Oscar forced himself to look up. "Oscar Pine."
Another awkward silence, neither of them sure what to do.
"Do you know how my sister got here?" Ruby asked.
Oscar shook his head. "No. The professor might, he gave her a reading."
"Professor?"
"Yeah. My… my master, Professor Ozpin Ozma."
"Oh, the soothsayer Weiss was talking about."
"Yeah…"
Ruby looked down, twiddling her fingers as Oscar worried his hands. "Uhm," she said. "How long… how long has she been here?"
"She came about mid spring," Oscar said. "Just showed up at her uncle's door. She was sick for a while, weak, but she's come a long way. She comes with me on market days, she and Penny do a lot of heavy lifting. Yang says it's to get herself back up to full strength."
Ruby nodded, shifting her weight. "Do you know how long since…?"
"No," Oscar said, looking down. "I get the impression it was over the winter."
"And Uncle Qrow… is he really doing… better?"
That was something Oscar was more comfortable answering, and he straightened to show his confidence. "He is," he said, putting everything into his words. "He's not perfect, he still carries a flask, but he drinks way, way less than he used to. He works for Nana Calavera - she owns the building here - and he's gotten back to being a crowmaster." He gestured to the aviary.
Ruby perked. "Oh," she said, fascinated. "Can I see?"
Uh… "I don't know," he said. "I don't think anyone ever goes into the aviary except for Qrow. I know my key works on the greenhouse but not…"
"Oh, oh! You're the gardener, too?" Ruby asked. "Yang made you sound like two different people. So you're an apprentice to a really powerful soothsayer and you man the gardens up here and down there? Wow, you must be really busy but also it sounds kind of exciting. I mean gardening isn't the most exciting thing in the world but the plants here are really different from Vale and without the trees and rocky soil I imagine it must go much easier but the really interesting thing is the soothsaying. Like I mean everyone knows what a soothsayer is but I've never seen what they actually do, the pictures in the books don't really make sense and I've never seen a sand table reader basin thing before and I love the idea of someone doing a… what's it even called? A soothsaying?"
Oscar giggled. "It's called a reading, and the pictures don't really do it justice."
They talked through safer subjects after that. Ruby was bright and energetic, like that one girl who wanted a love fortune earlier that year, her speech was bubbly and jumped from thought to thought, but underneath it was a sensitivity and caring. She was a mixture of Ozpin and Penny, almost: soft care and perky energy. She kept eyeing the aviary, but neither of them tried to open it. The sun moved through the sky, the hottest hours of the day eventually driving them back inside where one could pretend it was cool.
They moved to Qrow's apartment, the two cots, crates, and scrap-made table. A far cry better than a half rotten pallet that it started with. Yang was there, but there was no tension, she stood and hugged her sister, gladly introducing them even ("Yang, we already met on the roof.") and sitting them down. Ruby watched in intense fascination as Yang navigated using the stove with one arm to make them tea, gossiping all the way and sharing what were probably embarrassing stories about her sister. She set down the tea on one of the crates and they drank together.
Qrow's return brought the tension back into the room, however, as he threw his red gaze across the space. Oscar stiffened, ready to duck out if he needed to, but Qrow sighed all the way down and muttered a curse under his breath. "Okay," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "Maria says dinner's almost ready and to bring down the plates. Come on, let's see how much you two are about to eat me out of house and home."
"Oh, is that a challenge, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked, trying to put on an evil grin that didn't make it to her eyes. Yang's villainous smile was better, and she gave a dark grin to her sister.
"I think it is, Ruby. Let's see what they're serving down there. Oh, I gotta warn you, they use different spices here. Have you ever had ginger?"
They moved out of the apartment and Qrow lingered, giving Oscar a long look. "Get your dad, pipsqueak," he said. "If he's up for it we can all eat on the roof to watch the light festival."
Oscar backtracked to his apartment. Ozpin was stretched out on the bed, not quite dozing, and he touched his shoulder. His guardian sat up quickly, stretching and looking better than earlier, less red in the face. He agreed to make the trek upstairs and Oscar followed for a few steps to make sure Ozpin could handle the climb. The roof would be the bigger question, and Oscar moved ahead to figure out what he could do.
Qrow was ahead of the game, however, at the base of the near vertical steps and saying definitively he would help Ozpin up. "I just put a crate up there," he said, "Grab some of your benches from the greenhouse and we can have a table set."
In the span of half an hour everyone was up on the roof, Yang and Ruby having raced each other to bring up all the food from the cookout down below. Weiss, also, was dragged up somehow, Ruby claiming her as a good friend. The sun was still low in the sky, but they all broke flat bread and dug into their food.
Qrow introduced Ruby to Ozpin, and she fired off a long string of questions in what must have been one breath. Ozpin laughed and answered each one in turn, making Oscar envious of his guardian's memory. Weiss prattled on about her sister being a soothsayer apprentice and Oscar stiffened, but Ozpin put a subtle hand on his knee to remind him not to worry. In turn Ozpin shared a few stories about Lady Fria, Operative Schnee's master, and what her apprenticeship was like. Qrow got up to let out the birds, several of them following the seed trail he left to the makeshift dinner table they had where he could tear up his flatbread and feed them. Ruby did the same with ease and efficiency, the others nowhere near as effective.
Weiss complained about being pecked and Oscar openly laughed at her, sharing stories about what life on the farm was like when a murder of wild crows were in a tizzy over something. Qrow added his own stories from his aborted apprenticeship on training the intelligent birds, and Ruby laughed more than once, saying she had similar stories.
"I'm going to be a crowmaster," she said brightly, "Like Uncle Qrow. I'm really lucky, I found my uncle and my master on the same day!"
"And when were you going to tell me all of this?" Qrow demanded, not as hostile as before but clearly still on his back foot. "Tai's already going to kill me twice over, why are you adding to the list?"
"Because I want to be just like you, Uncle Qrow!"
"Tch, what? Drunk and stupid and useless?"
"Nope!" Ruby countered. "Cool and brave and protective!"
Oscar saw a sly smirk on Ozpin, who quickly covered it by sipping his tea.
After eating they moved to the west side of the building, watching the sun set behind the mountain. Oscar's eyes drifted up to the Imperial Castle, and he shifted his gaze to Ozpin. He was looking too, his face sad and hurt before he worked to shake it off again. He snaked an arm around Oscar, and he leaned into the gesture, offering Ozpin what he could.
"It's almost time," Qrow said. "You bring up the lanterns, snapdragon?"
"Yeah," Yang said. "Though these don't really look like lanterns."
"Not to a Valean," he said with a grin, "but we Mistralans know how they work. Help me out Oscar."
The two of them opened up the paper frames, lighting the wicks right as the sun finally disappeared. Ozpin as the oldest touched each lantern. "Thank you, Brother of Light, receive our thanks with this gift of fire, the first gift you gave us, as we thank you for blessing the souls on Remnant as they do the work of you and your brother."
As the lanterns burned they started to lift up into the air, and one by one the night sky slowly began to glow with lanterns lifting up into the air, man made fireflies dancing in the sky like the flower petals earlier in the day, the entire mountain lighting up as the lights moved up and up.
"Wow," Yang and Ruby muttered at the same time.
"It's… it's beautiful," Weiss said, a delicate hand covering her mouth.
"Happy Midsummer," Qrow said with a grin.
Author's Notes: Short chapter, only two scenes again, but a big mountain of worldbuilding. All our time is in Mistral, of course, and they get the most development, but Atlas and especially Vale have their own cultures and we wanted to poke at them. Yang has more recent/current event knowledge about Vale compared to Ozpin, and it's nice to see that the country is back on its feet - but a LOT more on that later, there's still a war going on after all. Penny shows that Atlas has a very biased education program and that she hasn't yet cued in to the inaccuracies.
The holiday itself is borrowed heavily from the anime Ascendence of a Bookworm: baptism at age seven, massive procession, etc. Our own twist is that there are vows to be said to be confirmed as adults, different in each country. Mistral vows in particular mean something in this fic, take note of them.
Also, Hi Weiss! Hi Ruby! Welcome officially to the cast! With the intense focus on Oz and Oscar we tried really hard to keep the character development on the edges of the page: like Ruby just had a really rude awakening on what's been happening to her sister and Oscar and Oz give the family privacy to have that conversation, but we see snippets of the beginning and of Ruby trying to rally on the roof. Weiss is cleared as Good People by Oz, she doesn't really come into her own until later, but we get to learn another facet of soothsaying: names.
Next chapter: Oscar does several readings on Oz. It's a heavy hitter guys!