(August 19)
The gang was still in shock that the person that they were shadowing with was the craziest teacher of them all.
Rex still had his look of disappointment on as he leaned to the side and whispered to Yang, "Why do I get the feeling that Ozpin did this just to screw with us for breaking his rules?"
Yang leaned in closer and said "Its most likely. He didn't seem that happy about us doing them anyway."
While Rex and Yang were talking Weiss decided to be the first to ask as she said "Professor Oobleck?" as she wanted to try and understand if he was the person they were going with, which she hoped wouldn't be the case.
Oobleck began answering her by walking back and forth saying, "Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, you lot. Seeing as you've opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you, we will not be establishing a single base of operations; rather, we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon. I packed all of our essentials myself, plotted our air course, and readied the airship. And..." said Oobleck as he got up in Weiss's face and said in an annoyed voice,
"It's Doctor Oobleck. I didn't earn my PhD for fun, thank you very much!" as he then backed away from her quickly.
Weiss looked over at Blake Belladonna, who was also disturbed by his craziness.
"Come now, children. According to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind... schedule!" said Oobleck as he zipped over to the ship in a instant.
Rex wasn't as surprised by his speed but still couldn't help but think "Jeez and I thought Ben could move that fast" as he let out a sigh of defeat. This was going going to be a roller coaster of emotions.
Ruby then looked at her team and said "Well, alright, then! Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oobleck" then she heard what she said and then said "Yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse."
"Oh, ya think" replied Rex in a snarky way.
"Save the world!?" said a voice from behind them as the team turned around to see Nora and the rest of team JNPR approaching.
"You're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt... sad! Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not your fault, though, Ren..." said Nora while Ren just folded his arms and looked away.
"Sounds exciting. Where ya going?" asked Jaune.
"Oh, we're just going to... someplace dangerous. Possibly death inducing. And we are not to let anyone know of our whereabouts. Cause if you do know, we'll tie cinder block to your legs and throw into the lake. So tell me this. Do you want know what we're doing" said Rex in a evil voice, trying to be funny.
Jaune became freaked out and hid behind Pyrrha as he said in a nervous voice "Nope, nope. We're good. We'll leave alone" as he shook in fear.
Rex just chuckled saying "I'm just messing with ya, man. We're just going outside the kingdom."
"Hey! So are we!" yelled Nora in excitement.
"Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village. We set out tomorrow" said Pyrrha in her cheery voice.
"Then you can party with us tonight" said a familiar voice, which turned out to be Sun and Neptune.
"We're shadowing a crime specialist. All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges" said Sun as the two then held up two shin golden-looking badges.
Rex looked at the way the two posed their badges and thought "Why do I get the feeling that those two are going to take that stuff really seriously. They're probably just plastic, not metal anyways."
"We normally go to the city with you guys, which means stuff's always exploding and junk, so we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know... normal" said Sun, trying to play of what he said as cool and not insulting.
"Geez. You make it sound like we're a bunch of disasters waiting to happen" said Rex in a mocking manner.
"Don't listen to him. He doesn't know when to stop talking" said Neptune as he held Rex's shoulder in assurance.
"Four minutes, ladies!" yelled Oobleck from the ship, which annoyed Rex.
"Oi" said Rex in an annoyed manner.
"Sorry. Ladies and Rex. Let's get a move on" yelled Oobleck as he zipped back into the ship.
Rex just groaned as he knew that this trip wasn't going to be fun.
"Well, uh... Wish us luck!" said Ruby as her and her team started to walk over and board the ship. They climbed on board and began flying away to the abandoned town.
In the air
Rex and Yang looked out of the side of the plane and saw them leaving the academy and began heading further into the forest, or at least above it.
"I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter" said Yang to Oobleck as she looked out of the plane then back to Oobleck.
"I admit I fancy myself more of an intellectual, but I can assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles" informed Oobleck in his informative manner.
Ruby was confused at what the Dr. said and asked "Like the mushroom?" trying to understand what he meant.
"Those are truffles" corrected Blake.
But Ruby was still confused and asked "Like the sprout?"
"Those are Brussels" said Yang to her sister.
"Good grief. Did you learn anything about food where you went to school" said Rex as Ruby just hung her head, feeling silly now.
Rex just patted her back as he said "Eh, you're still young. You'll learn these things out soon" as he slightly chuckled while Ruby just puffed her cheeks in a pouty manner, signaling that she was tired of him calling her kid or young.
"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw fit to assign me to this particular... assignment!" said Oobleck as Rex just looked outside the plane, whistling to himself.
"What does history have to do with this?" questioned Yang.
"Why, what a preposterous question, you silly little girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager" said Oobleck as he rambled on about history and body parts being connected.
"I'm sorry I asked" groaned Yang as she slapped her hand on her forehead.
"And that means..?" questioned Weiss.
"The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, but it is also the location to one of the kingdom's greatest failures!" informed Oobleck to the group of 5.
"Mountain Glenn" said Ruby as she recalled something like this being mentioned in her classes.
"That's right! It was an expansion of Vale... but in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city" continued Yang to what Ruby said.
"Correct! And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder" stated Oobleck in a dark and slightly depressed manner.
"And a likely place for a hideout" said Blake as she remembered how run down and broken the place was like to witness reports.
"Precisely!" said Oobleck as he adjusted his glasses.
Rex kept looking out of the ship, but as the ship kept flying away, he soon saw something in the distance. He soon saw buildings in the distance but as they grew nearer to it, he saw that the buildings looked old and broken. He figured this was Mt. Glenn.
The airship flew over the old town through several streets amidst the ruined buildings and structures of the ruined area.
Rex gazed over the destroyed buildings and began having flash backs to his own world.
"It feels like the Bug jar all over again. Probably with the exact ugly creatures in it, given the grimm in this world" he thought.
It hovered right above the ground as Yang, Blake, Oobleck, Weiss, Ruby, and Rex jumped out of the craft with weapons drawn, except for Rex and Oobleck, before the ship flew away from the destruction.
"Ladies and Rex. You still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as Huntresses and huntsman has begun! From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?" Said Oobleck as everyone simply nodded until the Dr. saw that Ruby still had her bag on her back.
"Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school" said Oobleck, trying to understand why she brought it.
"But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't..." said Ruby as she stumbled with her words as she tried to deter him away from the situation.
Oobleck pondered himslef in thought and said "She's not wrong... Very well, Ruby. Leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return" as he reached out his hand to take her bag away but she didn't let go of it.
Ruby began acting nervous as she didn't let go of her bag, which made the others curious as to why.
Oobleck looked at Ruby in confusion and asked "Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with?..." and out popped a certain dog from her bag.
Zwei.
Ruby began sweat nervously and felt a little embarrassed at her predicament as she looked back at Zwei and whispered "Get back in the bag" to Zwei as she tried to be quick in hiding him but it was too late.
The cat was out of the bag now. Wait?
Zwei merely barked in response at Ruby as she tried to hide him but realized her efforts were now futile.
Oobleck looked at Ruby in shock and dismay saying "We're here to investigate an abandoned, urban jungle, teeming with death and hostility, and you brought... a dog?"
Ruby looked at him, embarrassed and didn't know what to say until Oobleck shouted "Genius!" as he ran away from the group then he ran back and grabbed Zwei and spun him around saying, "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!" as Zwei just barked happily.
Ruby was stunned at the unexpected reaction, then she proudly stated "I'm a genius!" as she pointed at herself.
Rex snickered internally as he thought "Words I thought I'd never hear."
All Weiss and Yang did was both facepalm at their grinning leader, while Rex and Blake didn't really say anything.
"So, what are your orders, Doctor?" asked Blake to Oobleck.
Oobleck then stopped his spinning as he said "Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it!" as he yelled while he dropped Zwei onto the ground.
"As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being... Grimm" informed Oobleck to the group as he walked forward a bit.
Ruby looked at her team and they were just as confused for the redundancy as she asked "Uh, what?"
"Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment" said Oobleck as he turned to face the side of him and gaze behind them.
"What?!" exclaimed Yang as the team turned around and sure enough, there was a Beowulf right in front of them, a few yards away at the far end of the road they were on.
They pulled out their weapons as Rex formed his Bad Axes and was prepared to fight.
"Stop!" hushed Oobleck, making the others look at him in question.
"Why? It's right there. Why not just kill it?" asked Rex as he pointed the the creature with his right blade.
"There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent" informed Oobleck as he began spitting rapid fire questions.
"So... What now?" asked Ruby.
"We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey" said Oobleck as he stood tall and straightened his jacket.
"How long do we wait?" asked Blake as she began to lower her weapon.
"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months - and there's the whole pack" said Oobleck, which scared the team as they all turned back and now there was more Beowulf's showing up.
"What?" said Weiss in shock at the sudden increase of grim.
"And now they've seen us" said Oobleck as he continued to stare at them.
"What?!" Said Weiss again.
Rex got annoyed at all the weird repeating going on, so he turned towards her and yelled in her ear saying "HE SAID AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD, ICE QUEEN" but soon realized his mistake, and turned his head to see that some of the grim were now charging towards them.
"I take it tracking them is out of the question?" asked Ruby as she readied her scythe.
"An accurate assumption, yes" commented Oobleck as looked ahead of them.
"What's the plan, then?" asked Yang as she held up her arms in defense.
"It's simply. Hit them till they drop" said Rex as he charged at the wolves.
The girls looked at Oobleck wanting to know what to do as he then smirked and said "Show me what you're capable of."
Ruby smiled a big smile and she swung Crescent Rose to prepare it for shooting as she said "Cover your ears, Zwei!"
Yang ran towards one, and ended it by knocking it out in one fiery punch as they pass. Several stopped chasing after her and focused on Blake, who stood and waited with her hand on her hilt until one of the wolves swiped at her afterimage, the real deal slicing her would-be attacker in half before slashing through another and cutting down on one more.
Behind the Faunus, Weiss ran from several black-coated beasts before jumping in the air and taking one down with Myrtenaster. She dashed towards them with her rapier held high and slayed four of them in a straight line until she stops. A wave of Beowolves were converging on Ruby, but the scythe wielder shot multiple bullets at the oncoming force... while Zwei was busy chasing his own tail.
A huge Beowulf charged towards Rex as he quickly charged towards the wolf as well. Rex quickly spun his arms around and as the Beowulf raised its paw to slash at him, Rex was quick to respond and sliced at its stomach, killing it in the process.
Rex smirked as he saw more Beowulf's charging towards him as he then charged towards them. And just as he got close, he leaped up into the air and then spun himself around, acting as a spinning tornado and then as the grimm looked above them, Rex came crashing down and sliced through the several grimm as Rex then landed on his feet.
He stood back up and saw that the grimm chasing him were gone so he deactivated his axes. He then felt the adrenaline rushing within him. This just felt like old times. Him battling EVO's with Six and...his other friends. It still kind of hurt that he was far from his friends. While he knew this world also needed help, he still wished there was a way to get back home. He even wondered where Paradox was. It had been weeks since he last saw him and nothing ever since. What could he be doing at this time? And why hadn't he returned to tell him anything yet.
All of these things still were on loop in his mind but they were all ended when he turned his focus back to the others and saw that everyone else was done with stopping the beowulf's.
They all began to regroup themselves as Ruby looked at Oobleck and said "Heh. Piece of cake!"
"Do not celebrate yet, for I am certain this is the first bout of many. Shall we continue?" asked Oobleck to the group.
Continue they do, as the teams continued to separate and slash and shoot their way through the grimm. The girls ended up getting tired as Rex came out of them like nothing had happened, nor tired at all. His builds kept him alive and were the sole purpose of him not getting as tired as the rest. To some, they may think he's being lazy but they couldn't be more wrong.
He was merely using his resources.
Oobleck gazed at the faces of tired Huntresses and at Rex, who wasn't tired as much as the girls and said "Excellent work, girls and boy! Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh, well! Moving on!" as he turned around and walked away.
Yang looked at the Doc walking away and asked "Hey, Doc, y'know, I was actually looking forward to seeing a "pro Huntsman" in action. Like, fighting, or at least, helping us fight?"
Oobleck gazed over his shoulder and said "Ah, but I am in action! Scouring the ruins of this once-great city for any signs of irregularity!" as he turned towards the team and looked beyond the ruins.
"Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism, my dear. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination!Remember, this is a job, and you all signed up for it. I do hope you understand that" said Oobleck as he jotted down something in his notes.
"Well, yeah...O-Of course!" said Yang trying to find her wording, but soon turned her attention back to the fight.
With Yang
The team continued fighting the grimm and eventually split off as Oobleck followed Yang as he asked her "Tell me, Yang. Why did you choose this line of work?" as he held out a pen and paper.
Huh?" asked Yang in question.
But she soon began to think on what he said and said "Well, to fight monsters and save..."
"No, that is what you do. I want to know why you do it. The honest reason as to why you want to be a Huntress" asked Oobleck.
Yang considered his words and answered "The honest reason? I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?"
"I see. But I feel that this might run a bit deeper than just being a thriller seeker, am I correct?" he said as he jotted down in his note book.
Yang was surprised at his words and said "Yea."
"Could you per chance explain what those reasons might be?" asked Oobleck.
"Well, when my mom, Summer Rose, died, I soon learned that she wasn't the first person my dad loved. She was the second. The first... was my mom" said Yang.
Oobleck's eyes widen in amazement at this information as Yang kept talking "He wouldn't tell me everything, but I learned that the two of them had been on a together with Summer and Qrow, and that she'd left me with him right after I was born. No one had seen her since."
"Then one day, I found something. What I thought was a clue that could lead me to answers, or maybe even my mother. I waited for Dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out. I must've walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, I was totally exhausted, but I wasn't gonna let anything stop me. When we finally got there, I could barely stand, but I didn't care; I had made it. And then I saw them. Those burning red eyes... I thought it was my mom, but no. It was... a grimm."
"There we were. A toddler sleeping in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too exhausted to even cry for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter. But, as luck would have it, our uncle showed up just in time."
"My stubbornness should've gotten us killed that night. But I was still determined to learn everything about where she could be. So after he scolded me for being so reckless, my stubbornness didn't stop there as i trained myself to become strong and I was going to find your mom on her own " said Yang as Oobleck listened to her.
"Well that decisions made me do some things that almost made me end up in jail but my dad managed to get me out but he knew I would do something else bad so he made me a deal. Become a strong huntress and he would reveal the secrets about my mom, Raven. Where she is and all that. So I that's mainly why I'm a huntress. So I can learn about my mom. Which is why I need to be stronger" said Yang as she clenched her fists/
Oobleck then finished writing in his book as he said "I see. Carry on then" and zoomed away.
With Weiss
Oobleck went to find Weiss and sat on a high windowsill writing in his journal while Weiss fought off Beowolves below.
"And you, Miss Schnee? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So... why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?" asked Oobleck to Weiss.
Weiss began thinking about what he said band answered saying "It's exactly as you said: I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty."
Oobleck nodded at her words saying "Interesting."
With Blake
Oobleck hopped over to Blake who had slashed a door down and released a swarm of small Nevermore's from the building, which she back-flipped under before she shot them all down with her blade's pistol form.
Oobleck examined the inside of the doorway and asked "And what about you, Blake? You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose."
"There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption... Someone has to stop it" said Blake.
"Very well. But let me ask you this. How?" asked Oobleck.
Blake tried to think in thought but couldn't find the words.
Oobleck thought to himself at her dismay then dashed away, leaving Blake to bow her head in troubled thought.
With Rex
Oobleck ran over and found Rex knocking out a horde of wolves with his smack hands and crushing them as well with them. He noticed the Doc and walked over to him.
"Tell Mr. Salazar, why do you chose to fight? To stand for what's right? I've seen you standing up for faunas and against the White Fang. Against all odds, you always seem to smile and stand tall. So it made me curious. Why do you chose to do these things" asked Oobleck
Rex thought to himself at his question and said"Because no one else will."
"What do you mean by that? Care to elaborate"asked the teacher to the EVO.
"No one else was going to help Velvet that one time at lunch time so I decided to do something. When we were fighting those two big monsters at the beginning of the year, no one wanted to fight that thing head on, so I decided to. And when no one was wanting to stop Cardin from being a bully, I stepped in and did something. I mean, who else to do awesome things like the things I do" said Rex in his cheeky attitude.
But he soon let go of that attitude and continued saying, "But that's why I fight. Because not everyone is brave. Not everyone is willing to put their life on the line for others who can't fight. So it's up to people like me and my team to fight for what's right. Someone once said that the strong survive this crazy world and the weak die. Well I don't believe that. I believe that the strong shoulder protect the weak and it can make the world a better place to live in" said Rex in a confident attitude.
"I see. Very good" said Oobleck as he wrote in his book. And dashed away.
With Ruby
He ran to find Ruby, only to see her using her weapon in the most practical fashion and lifting a whole turkey on the sharp end of her gun to tease Zwei with.
That is, until she spotted her teacher watching, quickly sheathing Crescent Rose.
"Sorry! Uh... Are we ready to keep going?" asked Ruby to Oobleck.
Oobleck looked at Ruby and said "Nope! I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon."
He then threw his bag at Yang saying "You three, set up camp in that building. Oh, and please do make sure there are no more of those... creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come, Ruby" as they started walking away from the rest of RRWBY, who each looked at their leader, knowing what she'll be asked.
Ruby and Oobleck walked around a corner and Ruby gasped at what she saw "Whaaaa...
Before her was a wide forest, stretching below the ruin, and in the midst of it all was a line of giant elephants marching through the forest in a single file and marching away from the buildings.
"What is that? It looks awesome!" asked Ruby to Oobleck as she stared at the beats.
"That, my dear girl, is a Grimm" said Oobleck to Ruby as he too never took his eyes off the creatures.
Ruby pulled out her gun and said "Let's kill it."
Oobleck held his hand out and said "I'm afraid your sniper rifle will do nothing more than agitate a Grimm of that size."
Ruby was a little worried at his motion and asked "But... what if it attacks us?"
Oobleck gazed out at the grimm and said "Fret not, Rub. Those Goliaths are not concerned with us. Ruby, not every Grimm is mindless, or rather not every Grimm is still mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they've undoubtedly lived hundreds of years, and in that time between killing humans and attacking our borders, they have done one important thing: They've learned. They've learned that when they attack our borders, they're likely to die, and what we lack in strength, we make up for in will, and that killing one human will only bring more" as he kept staring at the enormous grimm elephants.
As he said this, one Goliath swiveled its thick neck to look at the figures watching their procession, eyes glowing as fiery red as any other Grimm.
Ruby asked "Then why are they still so close to the city? What are they doing?"
Oobleck just said "Waiting."
As he said this, the Goliath turned its head forward again and moved on with its kin. Oobleck turned around and walked away as well, and Ruby put away her weapon, not moving.
"Doctor Oobleck?" asked Ruby.
"Hmm?" said Oobleck as he faced her
"I was wondering..." said Ruby but she trailed off as she tried to figure out what to say.
"Wondering why I've been interrogating your teammates all day?" said Oobleck.
"A-Actually, I was wondering... Why did you want to become a Huntsman?" asked Ruby as Oobleck looked at her and said "Look around and tell me what you see."
Ruby looked around and said "Lots of old buildings, uh, empty streets..."
"I see lives that could have been saved. As a Huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I'm able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland, and I see lives that could have been saved, but I also see an opportunity; an opportunity to study these ruins and learn from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger. I am a Huntsman, Ruby, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be" finished Oobleck as they walked about to camp.
Later that night
Back at the one of the ruined buildings, the team did as instructed by building a fire in the center of the room and either huddled around it or stood up.
Yang grumbled in frustration saying "I can't believe we didn't find anything..."
"We've always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always have luck on our side" interrupted Blake as she began to sit down.
"That's not what I meant" said Weiss in reply.
Blake was confused at what she said.
"Earlier, about... upholding the legacy. There's more to it than that" said Weiss.
"Yeah... I mean... I don't know"stumbled Yang.
"I don't know, either. I know what I want to do, but I figured I'd always take things one step at a time" said Blake.
Well, it doesn't matter. We know why we're here. Right?" asked Yang but all the team did was merely stare in silence.
Oobleck suddenly came rushing into the room saying "Ah, wonderful; a textbook campfire!" as he marveled at how well it looked.
"Fire!" yelled Ruby and sat next to the blaze alongside Zwei.
"So... warm..." said Ruby as she just sat there near the warm light.
"Very good! Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?" said Oobleck in an exasperated way.
Ruby lifted an arm while still looking into the fire, simply answering "Yo."
Hearing this, Oobleck rushed off, and Ruby got up to go over to her lookout point.
Yang stopped Ruby and asked "Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean... what did you tell him?"
Ruby said "Hmm... No, he didn't. Weird. Oh well. Good night, guys!"
Without a second carefree thought, she continued on her way.
Yang looked disappointed in the lack of an answer but felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to as Rex as he patted her on the back. She appreciated the gesture and hugged Rex, which made him blush.
Blake was similarly troubled as she unrolled her mat, Weiss tried lying down but failed to go to sleep, Yang half-heatedly ate her dinner of bread rolls. Soon, the Huntresses and Hunter were on their backs around the fire, weapons within easy access, wondering why they are there. But as for Rex, he still looked back in thought about why he was really there. He still wanted to know why he was sent to this world.
Ruby, meanwhile, was sitting in the vacant windowsill of the room as Zwei went over to her upon hearing the howling of Beowolves. She petted her dog on the back as she gazed at the sky.
"Don't worry. Things will be better tomorrow" she said with hope in her voice.
