Chapter 1 – The Mistaken One
"They don't really know what happened, huh?" A tall, muscular man with a green overcoat said while leaning against a stack of crates. "Is that why you're returning to Mistral, Adam?"
Another man but with red hair emerged from the darkness of the train car. Adam Taurus, a man who had been on the run from police and huntsmen alike in Remnant following the fall of Beacon. For a while, he hid out with his subsect of the White Fang deep inside the deep red Forever Fall forest, but they scattered once their hiding place had been discovered. As their valiant leader, Adam gave them a plan of attack. Beacon wasn't their first target and it wasn't going to be their last.
"Sir, what if we need you? What if we don't know what to do?" A grunt asked.
Adam went silent and thought things through before answering, "you all should be aware. High Leader Khan has ordered my return to Mistral and that is where I will be heading. If you truly believe in the justice that I'm striving to obtain, you will do exactly as I say." Adam shut his eyes as he knew for a fact that the members would listen despite their predicament. "Head to Mistral. We'll go from there."
While on the train, Adam hid as long as he could. Utilizing the skills he had honed over the years to stay out of sight, Adam managed to evade capture this far. This other man approached him without care.
"Of course. Sienna Khan requested I make an appearance." Adam noted. "Why are you here, Hazel?"
"If you know who I am, then you must know why I'm here." Hazel retorted while crossing his arms. "Answering that would just be a waste."
"Truly. But if you really must travel with me, don't be seen with me." Adam stated.
"I understand." Hazel moved to leave the car and return to a more comfortable area. "But when we get off, we stay together."
Adam clicked his tongue in slight annoyance. His plan didn't hinge on a babysitter and he knew that getting Hazel into the White Fang headquarters was going to be incredibly difficult if not nearly impossible. He stood there in the darkness for a little while before ultimately nodding his head agreeing.
"We stay together." Adam repeated with which Hazel nodded in affirmation.
Adam ducked out of sight as Hazel returned to the passenger car. As he walked past, he noticed the child he had seen prior at the train station. He was riding by himself and seemed skittish. Typically, Hazel would move past and not think about it, but he couldn't help but see himself in this boy.
"Hey, boy." Hazel barked out, unintentionally startling the child. The boy looked at Hazel with huge eyes that appeared to be on the verge of tears. "Calm down, I'm sorry." Hazel moved out his hand and motioned towards the vacant seat opposite the boy, "mind if I sit?" The boy looked blankly at the man for a few seconds before nodding his head violently. "Very well." Hazel sat down and watched the trees go past the train as an ocean of green. The rain pattered and ran against the glass as they barreled further into Anima's countryside. "I noticed you were alone. It's not the wisest for a child to be out by himself. He could get hurt."
The boy looked at the man blankly once more. Hazel figured the boy was shy and didn't have the ability to talk to a stranger he hadn't met yet.
"You don't need to worry about introductions. It won't matter. I'm just here to keep you company." Hazel grunted.
"Okay." The boy said meekly. "Thank you."
Hazel smiled if just a little bit. "Where are you headed towards?" He noticed the boy turning white a little before adding, "if you don't mind my asking."
"Haven. I'm visiting family." The boy said affirmatively.
Hazel nodded. He was glad to know that the boy was going with a safe destination in mind. "Family will always treat you right."
The boy smiled awkwardly as to hide how uncomfortable he felt. He didn't seem to be able to add much more information, or rather, it seemed like he was forcing himself not to say anything else. Hazel thought the boy was raised right to not trust a stranger. Especially a stranger like him.
"Very well. I'll leave you be." Hazel stood up and stretched his arms before stepping back into the aisle. "Stay safe, okay?" And like that, Hazel moved away from the boy.
However, the boy's eyes remained trained on Hazel as he sat down in another chair on the far end of the car.
"We should be all right now." A voice said. Not any voice that could be heard by people nearby. Only the boy could hear this voice. A trusted voiced that helped guide him this far. "I'm sorry that I abandoned you for a moment there, Oscar."
"No, it's fine." Oscar said in response. "I just did exactly what you said. It was frightening, regardless. You must really be afraid of him, huh?"
"Fear is one of the most common emotions humanity may experience, yes. But it was for the best that you didn't reveal much about your destination with him." The voice said. "I knew to restrain you when I felt necessary."
Oscar laughed to himself, "you saved me, then. Thank you, Oz."
"There's no need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you." Oz responded. "I know things are unnatural for you, Oscar. If you want to talk about it, I'm always here."
Oscar fell silent for a moment. It wasn't that he felt it was unnatural to him anymore. He ran away from home and boarded a train and yet it all felt certain. Like he had done this before. There were billions of questions he had and he wasn't quite sure they would be answered. Especially when he didn't really know much about Oz to begin with.
"Oscar?" Oz spoke again.
"Yeah. It's just," Oscar tried to articulate his emotions how he seemed fit, "it's just that I don't understand what's happening to me."
Oz took a few minutes before saying, "that's perfectly normal. It's only natural that you'd feel confused."
"I'm just so unsure about all of this yet I've never been more certain before in my life. It doesn't make sense to me." Oscar placed his right hand against his forehead and leaned his arm against the seat's arm rest. "I was a farm hand. But now…" Oscar closed his eyes. "…now it's like I'm possessed." He waited for a response from Oz, but garnered nothing. "I know I'm not. You're not some spirit. That would be too easy."
"It doesn't quite matter what I am as that's more of a question of what you are." Oz responded.
"Of what I am?" Oscar was lost in thought trying to decipher what Oz had said.
"Oscar, what exactly do you think you are? Who are you?" Oz questioned.
"I…I'm not sure." Oscar's cheeks turned red and tears welled up in his eyes. "But I'm only 14. That's not something I should care about yet."
"I…" Oz started. "…we'll talk about this later. For now, you should try to get some rest. When we arrive in Haven, we have a lot of ground to cover."
"That's okay, I guess." Oscar said as he slipped off into dreamland.
Meanwhile, Emerald Sustrai woke up from her slumber with a start. She hadn't been sleeping well for a while and part of that was because of the atrocities she helped commit at the fall of Beacon. No matter how she tried to push those thoughts away, they always return. Emerald sat up in bed and looked around the room. Same space as it always had been. It felt more like a prison cell than a bedroom, but it didn't matter to her. A bed is a bed. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She was sore all over. Cinder had been training herself ragged the night before and Emerald was feeling it this morning. She quickly got dressed in the same outfit that she had scrubbed clean the night before. She remade her hair how she always wore it. This was her normal now. She opened the door and walked into the hallway. Immediately she was greeted by the sight of Tyrian Callows.
"Good morning, little cherub." Tyrian sneered.
"It's too early to deal with you." Emerald grimaced in response.
"I overheard you from your room." Tyrian didn't waste any time. "If you really didn't care for where you are, you'd embrace those dreams of yours." He licked his lips hideously.
Emerald didn't even continue the conversation with him and kept walking away. Not acknowledging him further. As she continued down the hallway, her mind wandered over a plethora of topics. She knew Cinder's schedule and figured she was back to training once more. To go and greet her now would only mean that Emerald's semblance would be running ragged once more, but she decided to do it nonetheless. She descended the spiral staircase that lead to the training grounds and found Cinder in the midst of a battle against Mercury.
Mercury swung his leg up and twisted his body in a spiral in an attempt to get the upper hand against her, but Cinder dodged his attack and attacked his core with her left arm. Mercury fell down to the floor, winded and obviously annoyed that he was losing. Cinder didn't look as if she broke a sweat. Emerald figured it was best to wait until the battle was over before doing anything. Mercury jumped up once more, propelling himself to the wall behind Cinder and launching himself directly towards her. She conjured swords made of obsidian from the dust in the air and formed an X to catch Mercury's boot. He grunted as she grinned.
"I fold." Mercury spat out.
Cinder uncrossed the swords, throwing them aside and allowing them to return to dust. She smirked victoriously. She knew that Mercury would never be able to best her now, especially since she had mastered the craftmanship magic.
"Cinder! Good morning!" Emerald rushed out onto the training grounds to greet whom she deeply appreciated. "That was a great match, you've improved greatly."
"It was nearly overnight, too. I almost had her on the ropes a few days ago." Mercury groaned.
"Okay, so, what's on the agenda today? What do you require assistance for? I'm ready to do things right." Emerald smiled expectantly, but Cinder only scowled.
"I don't need your help." Cinder said with a sharp tongue. "Not anymore at least."
Emerald and Mercury looked at each other in near disbelief. Neither of them had heard her speak in months and suddenly she was just fine again.
"Because of Salem, I've regained what I lost. I don't need a parrot anymore." Cinder started to walk away. "But don't forget." She stopped to say something else. "I will need you again later."
Cinder ascended the spiral staircase and moved out of sight, leaving Emerald and Mercury in the dimly lit grounds. Emerald felt stinging in her eyes. She knew they were tears, but didn't know whether they were from joy, anger, or sadness. She clenched her hands into fists and fought back the tears. After regaining her composition, she looked at Mercury with sorrow, and then headed back up the stairs. Mercury sighed.
"Oscar, wake up." Oz alerted the farmhand as they arrived in the station.
"Are we there yet?" Oscar mumbled as his eyes slowly began to open.
"Not quite, but Hazel is about to make his move. I want you to try and make yourself as unnoticeable as possible." Oz instructed.
"I don't think I can really do that." Oscar grunted. "But I'll try anyways."
Hazel walked past Oscar as he headed out towards the station. The man looked to his right as if expecting to see someone waiting and then moved out into the forest.
"We're safe for now. I'm sorry to have awoken you like that, but we needed to be sure he was going…I need to be sure he was leaving." Oz said with reservation.
"That's fine. Do you have any idea how far out we are from Haven?" Oscar rubbed his eyes.
"If memory serves, we should be arriving within the hour. If you want to return to sleep, you can." Oz responded.
"Good, I will." Oscar yawned.
"One more thing before that." Ozpin interrupted. Oscar waited as Oz began, "did you consider at all what I asked earlier?"
Oscar scanned his memory and remembered what Oz had asked from him. "No, I don't believe I did."
"Hmm." Ozpin was disappointed. "Very well, I suppose. We can discuss this more at a later date."
"Oz? One quick question." Oscar said before closing his eyes again.
"Yes?"
"Will I still be me? Can that happen?" Oscar briefly opened his eyes, expecting to see a man sitting across from him that he could give the name of Ozpin to.
"I…yes. Yes, you will." Ozpin said without certainty.
"I see." Oscar felt faint as sleep began to overtake him once more.
"I'm certain there will not be any complications at least." Oz added after Oscar fell asleep.
Hazel walked into a clearing and saw Adam leaning against a tree that stood alone in the center of the circle, "Adam, I'm going to ask you once again." Hazel stood inside the tree line. "Do they really know what happened?"
Adam looked at Hazel directly. Before he said anything, bushes in all directions shuffled as people – Faunus – moved into the clearing. They were all White Fang members. Adam's White Fang members.
"Hazel, who do you mean when you ask that?" Adam chuckled cruelly.
"The White Fang." Hazel stared Adam dead on.
"They don't know anything yet. And that's why we're going to inform them about the truth of our situation." Adam smiled. "Our revolution is now."