"P-P-Professor Oobleck?" Weiss stammered.
"Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, girls, 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..." Doctor Oobleck said before getting his face up close and personal against Weiss's.
Keep in mind that he said all of this in the span of about ten seconds in a single breath.
"It's Doctor Oobleck, Miss Schnee. I didn't earn the PhD for fun, thank you very much!" the doctor said before turning to me and Liya. "I went over the mission details. It looks like I'll be watching over 50% more students than the other huntsmen!"
"Yeah...sorry," I said. "Ozpin kinda slapped us on top of RWBY, not sure why. He didn't say anything about it."
"Oh, no need to apologize, dear boy," Doctor Oobleck said warmly. "I'm always open to teaching more students at a time when I can. One can never have too much knowledge, I suppose."
"You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."
I couldn't help the villain quote appearing in my thoughts, and I just sighed. "Well, I appreciate you helping us, Doctor Oobleck," I said.
"Of course," Doctor Oobleck said. "And given the chance, I'd like the chance to review how your story has been going."
"Oh, right," I said. "I have my final draft for the next chapter done. Mind if you read over it-"
"Of course! I can do it on the ride!" Doctor Oobleck said. I handed my scroll to the doctor, and he pocketed it briskly. "Come now, children; according to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind...schedule!"
As Doctor Oobleck quickly headed off to the parked Bullhead leaving a trail of dust that followed Oobleck at the same speed, the six of us collectively sighed from the doctor's antics. "Well, I guess we oughta get going," I said as I stretched. "If you don't mind, I don't mind having a Yang as a pillow on the ride."
Yang smiled and pulled me next to her. "If the doctor doesn't talk our ears off on the way," she said cheekily. "And I could use something to pet." I imitated purring, and she giggled.
"Ugh, is this what having a boyfriend is like?" Ruby said, shuddering. "I don't want one."
"Wait till you're 18," Yang said before seeing JNPR alongside Neptune and Sun, chatting with each other. "I wonder where they're going."
"Neptune and Sun are shadowing a detective. JNPR is going to be watching over a village," I said. "We should really get going-"
"Four minutes! Four minutes kids!" Oobleck called. Sighing, we made our way to the bullhead. As it took off, Yang gently pulled my head against her lap and began to brush my cat ears. I purred softly as I looked around. Ruby was watching with morbid curiosity, Blake was looking awkwardly away, Weiss was flickering between the Bullhead door, and Liya was leaning against her seat with her eyes closed.
Doctor Oobleck was reading my rough draft, scrolling up and down as he went over grammar issues, muttering to himself about how I was writing things, and small "hmms" of what likely sounded like being very impressed.
"Ummm, Markus?" Blake said. "Umm, you don't think I could happen to read that after Professor-"
"Ahem?"
Sorry. Doctor Oobleck is done reading?" Blake said, hopefully tapping her fingers together.
"Sure," I said as my eyes fluttered close. "Just don't change anything..."
"I won't," Blake said.
Yawning, I looked up to Yang and smiled. "You're amazing," I whispered.
"So are you," Yang said softly. I never really understood how Yang could be so beautiful. And I don't mean that in a "she isn't attractive" sort of way, just...she was already perfect.
How could she be even more so?
"Ahem."
Yang and I flinched, and I shot out of Yang's lap and straight up next to her. Oobleck was handing off my scroll to Blake for her to read, and the black haired cat Faunus took it eagerly, starting her reading at once.
"While I am one to appreciate the perks of young love, but this is a mission, Miss Xiao Long. Mister Onissa. Please keep your minds focused," Oobleck said.
"R-right," Yang said, coughing. "So...a huntsman, huh?"
"Why? Do you assume I am not?" Oobleck asked.
"No! I guess...well, I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter," Yang said.
Oobleck leaned back in his seat. "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," he said.
"Like the mushrooms?" Ruby asked, tilting her head like an adorable puppy.
"No, those are truffles," Blake said, not looking up from the scroll.
"Then...the sprouts?" Ruby asked.
"Those are brussels," Yang chimed in. Ruby just tipped her head, even more confused.
"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!" Oobleck said.
"What does history have to do with this?" Weiss asked curiously.
"Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager," Oobleck said. "But to answer your question, 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!"
"Mountain Glenn," Ruby said.
"I read about that. Too many were trapped with the Grimm," I said. Liya shuddered nearby, and Weiss immediately looked downcast.
"Yes. Now it stands as a mass grave and a dark reminder of our mistakes," Oobleck said.
"And a potenial hideout," Blake mumbled as she shut off my scroll and tossed it back to me. I caught it and pocketed it at once.
"Precisely, Miss Belladonna," Oobleck said before the Bullhead jostled a bit. "It appears we have arrived."
The doors opened and we could see the massive ruins of the failed city before us. The seven of us were silent as we approached the ground. While I'd seen Mountain Glenn in the show, as well as my fair share of abandoned wrecks of cities in movies and on television, nothing compared quite like this.
You could feel the death in the air as we landed. It was almost as if the people trapped here weren't quite dead...them still being stuck in this mass grave. It was eerie. Stepping out of the Bullhead, RWBY and Liya drew their weapons and looked around. I just hopped out and looked up, the skies as dark as the night during a funeral. As the Bullhead ascended, Doctor Oobleck stepped up.
"Ahem! Ladies and gentleman! You still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as Huntresses has begun! From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?" Doctor Oobleck asked. As we nodded, his eyes fell on Ruby, who jumped nervously at his sudden gaze. "Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school."
"But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't?" Ruby asked. Weiss was about to faceplant when Oobleck scratched his chin.
"She's not wrong... Very well, Ruby; leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return," Oobleck said, as Weiss hung her arms and jaw in the sheer definition of..."Why?"
As Ruby stammered, I just looked away for the inevitable reveal that was to come, and the 'plot twist' of the doctor's reaction. "Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with-"
And yep, there it is.
Zwei's adorable furry head popped out of the bag, panting as he looked around curiously. All was quiet. Too quiet. "Zwei, get back in the bag," Ruby whisper yelled, all while trying to act like nothing was wrong in the world.
"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought...a dog?" Oobleck asked. Faste than Ruby could hope to even think of some half witted excuse for bringing Zwei, Doctor Oobleck raced by and grabbed Zwei right out of the bag, holding him up and spinning him. "Genius! Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours! Excellent job, Ruby Rose!"
While we only ever saw Doctor Oobleck and Zwei's perspective in the spin, we clearly never saw RWBY's in the episode. Oobleck was spinning WAY too fast to be considered normal. He was such a blurry tornado tht I was pretty sure he was spinning at speeds faster than most amusement park rides could ever hope to reach.
I was still amazed that neither Zwei nor Doctor Oobleck were dizzy. Then again, this was Zwei and Oobleck we were talking about here.
"I'm a genius!" Ruby said proudly, as Weiss, Liya, and Yang groaned to themselves. I resisted the urge to facepalm myself.
"So...what's our orders?" Blake asked, once she had gotten over the addition of Zwei.
"Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it!" the doctor said, dropping Zwei and getting more serious this time. "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."
"Huh?" Ruby said, confused at why the doctor felt the need to say that twice. I'd already accepted that it was Oobleck being Oobleck.
"So...do we move?" I asked. Despite me knowing that there was Grimm here from Doctor Oobleck and the knowledge of the episodes I'd watched, I was still unable to detect the Beowolf that would show up soon. Doctor Oobleck's detection skills were seriously next level.
"Yes," Doctor Oobleck said. "Come." The seven of us rushed to a nearby building and waited. Sure enough, the Beowolf, as well as its pack, arrived just in time for the last of us to slip away undetected.
"Listen closely, 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," Doctor Oobleck said. "It was good that we were able to avoid getting spotted, we now have a potential lead."
"Alright...so what now?" Yang asked as she prepped Ember Celica for combat.
"Hmmm...Mister Onissa. Your weapon. Your...Dust, I was told you can use it as a method of propulsion," Doctor Oobleck said. At my nod, he gestured to Liya. "Take your partner and bring the both of you to that roof."
Liya and I looked to see where he was pointing. A skyscraper, barely holding together, stood as the tallest structure near us. "Alright. What's the plan?"
"Team RWBY and I will follow the Beowolves. You two shall provide a bird's eye view of the location, be our scouts if you will," Oobleck said. "As long as we all do our part, our mission will go off smoothly without a hitch."
"Yes, doctor," Weiss said.
I looked over to Liya. "Hold on tight," I said as I drew out the Dust in my belt. I was seriously not expecting her to grab me by the hips, and I nearly squeaked.
Regardless, I used my neural Dust to form a large platform under our feet, and we immediately accelerated into the air before zooming our way to the roof of the abandoned skyscraper, landing briskly. Grabbing my scroll, I called the professor. "We're good," I said.
"Excellent. Now, please give us a good description of the surrounding area for us to navigate," the doctor said.
"Wait a second. Couldn't we just stream it live to your scroll?" Liya asked as she peered over at my scroll.
"...that is also a good suggestion," Doctor Oobleck said. I switched the scroll from a voice call to a video call before flipping the camera and allowing the others to see a wide and open street, covered in debris from the surrounding building. There were at least a dozen Beowolves, maybe more, around the area.
"I see...they are moving rather slowly, so it appears they are more or less searching for something around here," Oobleck said quietly. "We won't have to move too much, girls. We may have to camp around here."
I heard a growling behind us, and I turned around to see something approaching me and Liya from the roof. Specifically, a large Beowolf with plenty of bone plate armor. "Umm, doctor? I don't think we'll be able to be your eyes in the sky for too much longer."
Liya turned around as well, drawing her rifle and turning it into a sword.
"Why do you say that? Is your battery dying already?" the doctor asked. I ended up switching the call off and shoving my scroll away in order to prepare for a fight. The Beowolf began to rush us, and without thinking, I turned and tackled Liya off the roof. Luckily, she kept her grip on her sword and I was able to conjure up a hoverboard for me and Liya to safely descend from.
Unfortunately, I hadn't factored in the Beowolf jumping off and landing with us. Without warning, a wide arcing slash of Grimm claws sent the two of us slammed into the adjacent building, smashing through a window and landing on a floor fairly high up from the ground. Luckily, the Beowolf hadn't made it and instead tumbled off the edge trying to grab us, falling to the ground below. If the fall didn't kill it, the cacophony of gunshots and slashes below suggested it likely didn't survive either way.
"You OK?" I asked as I got up, recalling my Dust back to my belt.
"Yeah. My aura took a hit though. Same as yours," Liya said as she got up, brushing herself off. "Why did you tackle me like that?"
"It would've charged us, and you would've been pinned while falling. I was trying to get us out of there," I said before chuckling dryly. "Clearly I wasn't fast enough."
Liya was quiet for a little bit before sighing and flipping her buster sword into its anti-imaterial rifle form. "Well...you tried at least," she said as she walked to the edge of the broken window, where RWBY was likely dealing with the entire pack of Beowolves. "Plus you know I was about to use my semblance on the Grimm, right? You know, send it flying back off the other side of the roof? Or up into the sky so I could shoot it or something?"
"Huh? I...oh," I mumbled, now sheepish. Blushing bright red, I coughed and stood up. "Sorry...instinct kinda sorta maybe took over?"
"Hah," Liya said dryly before she hopped down from the window. Face still red, I followed her, muttering to myself how stupid I was. When I rejoined RWBY, Liya, and Doctor Oobleck, Oobleck was already making plans for our next move.
"Sorry, doctor..." I mumbled.
"It's quite alright, Grimm can be rather sneaky beasts, after all," the doctor reassured me. "Plus it's not every day we see two students and one Beowolf sharing one flying board for a split second in the air." Ruby snickered and I looked away. "Now then, shall we continue?"
We spent several hours doing the exact same thing in the episode, fighting off any solo Grimm, locating packs and attempting to follow, only to have to kill them all upon being spotted or detected. We were making progress at a snail's pace, but it was progress nonetheless.
All the while, Doctor Oobleck was interrogating on their reasons to become a huntsman, Blake's uncertainty being visible after he talked to her. Yang seemed to fall deep into thought, and Weiss didn't give off any visible change in behavior. Not yet, anyway.
Doctor Oobleck even talked to Liya as well, but I didn't hear what they were saying since I was fighting Grimm elsewhere. I only found out when she came to me minutes later. "Hey, uhh, did Oobleck ask you anything?" she asked.
"No. Why?" I asked.
"He talked to me about why I became a huntress," Liya explained. "I wasn't sure what I'd tell him so...so I just sorta said I don't wanna talk about it."
"Still personal, huh?" I mumbled. "Well, if he asks me, I'll probably say I don't know. Since I was literally taken off the streets for this."
"True," Liya said. "Well, I'm off to go scouting again. Doctor Oobleck asked me to tell you that we're heading to sleep soon. He wants you back to clear out a campsite in one of the buildings. Call him when you're done." I looked up and noticed it'd indeed gotten much darker than usual, and that nighttime was upon us.
"Time flies," I said. "Alright, I'll see if I can have dinner whipped up before everyone's back."
"Alright," Liya said before heading out. I went over to a nearby wrecked building and searched the first floor. It was mostly unusable as a campsite due to the collapsed walls and cracked floors so I moved on to the next floor. And the next floor. Until I found a good camping location near the top of the building
It was much more clean, with some furniture and some dusty old office tables around. I decided to have the tables set up in a pretty large circle as cover. I pulled over old couches and cushions to set up as makeshift beds.
I set up a place for the fire to be, but I didn't have anything to start a fire with, nor a place for the fire to burn. In the end, I did the best I could with what I had. When the others came back, Doctor Oobleck had ordered me and Ruby for the first watch.
"Actually..." I said. "I was hoping me and Yang could do the first watch? We'd have each other to stay awake..." Yang's eyes gleamed in happiness when I said that, and I blushed sheepishly.
"Why should I say yes to this request, Mister Onissa?" Doctor Oobleck asked.
"Well...Ruby could do the last watch, it'd be easier to wake up for her then with Zwei," I said. "Also, you really think we're going to do something bad with you around? Or Ruby?"
Ruby didn't appear to have any objection to that, she was too busy cuddling Zwei by the fire that Weiss had set up.
Doctor Oobleck raised an eyebrow before nodding. "I see your point. However, if you two leave the perimeter, you shall see consequences," he said sternly. Yang and I nodded nervously, and the doctor smacked his hands together. "Very well! Eat up and get to sleep, we have a long day ahead of us!"
A half hour later, our stomachs were semi-filled and Ruby, Blake, Liya, and Weiss were heading off to sleep. Yang and I sat at the edge of the building, looking out at the night sky. Like we promised Doctor Oobleck, we weren't doing anything inappropriate or sneaky, just sitting side by side with our hands clasped together.
It was comfortable. While the entire city felt gloomy, cold, and just sad, Yang and I felt warm, content, happy to settle with the intimate atmosphere we were having. Ember Celica and my belt - I hadn't given it a name yet - were next to us where we sat.
"Hey," Yang said. "Has...has the Prof- sorry, the doctor asked anything?"
"You mean how he's been asking why did we choose to be huntsmen or huntresses in training?" I asked.
"Yeah. So he asked you?" Yang asked excitedly.
"No," I said. It almost hurt to see Yang's face fall in disappointment, but I was busy in my own thoughts. After some thinking, I did have a theory. "He didn't ask Ruby either, I imagine."
"How did you know that?" Yang asked.
"I think he asked everyone else except Ruby and me because...well, Ozpin brought us in. I guess he trusts Ozpin more than the ambitions of his own students, which does make sense," I said as I thought about what I was saying. "I guess he doesn't feel the need to ask Ruby and me that question because he knows some stuff about that already. If that makes sense..."
Yang stared at me, likely incredulous. "Well..." she said. "I guess that kind of works...still, I can't help but think."
"Think what?" I asked.
"About why I'm here. To be a huntress. I always thought I'd be here to help others. But...Oobleck helped me realize something," Yang said. I noticed her voice becoming a little more shaky. "I...I'm selfish..."
"Don't say that," I said, immediately figuring out where this was heading for Yang. "You are a sweet girl who cares for everyone. You fight to protect, that's what huntresses do."
"I told Oobleck that I do it to seek thrills, to travel the world and get wrapped up in adventures because that's the kind of girl I am," Yang said. She let go of my hand and wrapped her arms around herself. "I like to party, drink Strawberry Sunrises, dance and flirt, to be obnoxious because it's funny...while everyone else is fighting to protect people."
"Yang-" I said.
"I told Oobleck that if I save people, it's a win-win!" she said kind of loudly, before jerking and looking back to the sleeping girls a ways away. Lowering her voice, she looked down, and I swore I saw a tear roll out of her eye. "I acted as if saving people were a side effect or something...I'm not here to save people, I'm here because I'm a damn adrenaline junkie..."
"Yang!" I barked before also tensing up and turning to see if I'd woken anyone up. Glad to see that I didn't, I sighed. She didn't seem so choked up in the episode. Did I really mean that much to her? That she'd open up to me like this? "Yang. Your lifestyle is no reason to judge how you find your motivation," I said. "You like to help people, right?"
"Yeah," Yang sniffled as she rubbed her nose.
"Then that's it! You're the kind of girl who would go out of their way to help someone. Who cares if you like the rush it gives you? Oobleck wasn't asking that stuff to judge you, he asked that stuff so you could understand what being a huntress is. You just have to figure that out yourself," I said, poking her where her heart is. Normally, I would've turned into a blushing mess and begged for forgiveness for being a pervert.
But now...I wasn't worried about that. I was worried about my girlfriend, who was doubting everything she'd ever done to get to Beacon. "You're Yang Xiao Long. You're a fighter. And you fight to protect the people, that is all that matters."
Yang looked at me and smiled. Despite the wind blowing her hair into a mess, the quivering lips, and the teary eyes, she looked more perfect than anyone had the right to ever look. "Thanks, kitty cat," she whispered before wiping her eyes. "Gods, I must be a mess."
"You're only human. Well...and I'm faunus but you get the point," I said. "Nobody's perfect, no one does this for the reasons a comic book superhero would. It's OK to be selfish because your goals involves helping people anyway. And you always choose to help people."
"He's right, Miss Xiao Long," Doctor Oobleck said in a soft tone. Turning around, we saw that the doctor had returned from his local patrol. "I pride myself in providing my students with the resources of not only knowledge, but the skills to use knowledge in a way of self evaluation and improvement. It was never my intention to make you doubt your morals or motivations, only to remind yourself what is it you do and why you do it."
Doctor Oobleck bowed. "And for that, I apologize for causing such distress for you and the others so much."
"No...it's cool doc," Yang said as she wiped her eyes. "I get it. Just one of those hard but totally important things to do, right?"
"Precisely," Oobleck said. "I am glad to see young love such as this. No hormones, just compassion and affection." As awkward as this was, it was also nice to hear such things from the doctor.
However, the moment was ruined when a panting and bark caught our attention. "Zwei?" Yang asked as the corgi nudged her leg. "What is it?" Barking, Zwei rushed for the stairs. "Hey, get back here!"
"Go after him, I'll maintain watch for now," Oobleck said reassuringly. "Be back soon."
The two of us didn't wait any longer, rushing after the corgi without grabbing our weapons, running all the way down the many flights of stairs to the first floor. "What's he doing?" I asked as we watched him rush out of the building. "Think he saw something?"
"Maybe," Yang said as we rushed out. Unfortunately, Zwei was nowhere to be seen once we left the building. "Dammit, where did he go?" she said. "Markus, sniff him out."
"I'm sorry, what?" I said, incredulous. "I'm not a dog."
"I...sorry," Yang said sheepishly. "But where could he-"
She turned and blinked before seeing Zwei taking a leak on some of the wrecked buildings. "Zwei, really?" she groaned. I just face palmed at the fact that I'd forgotten this happened.
Then I remembered what happened next and panicked. Covering Yang's mouth, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to a nearby building. When we were in cover, Yang pulled my hand away. "What're you doi-" she was about to say before I shushed her and held up a hand. Zwei joined us moments later, panting obliviously.
"Thought I heard something."
Yang;s eyes widened and she fell silent immediately.
"What do you mean?" another voice said.
"Thought I heard something. Dunno what I heard," the first voice said, sounding apprehensive.
"Seriously? Nobody's out here man. I bet it's some Grimm crawling around. Come on, let's just finish our patrol and get back to base. This place gives me the creeps," the second person mumbled.
Peering out, I spotted two White Fang grunts armed with assault rifles walking a block away. Yang and I stayed incredibly still, for fear of them and their Faunus traits detecting us if we as so much as breathed a tiny bit louder. They disappeared around the corner a few seconds later, and I looked to Yang. "We have to tell the others. Can you call them?"
"Got it," Yang said, reaching in her pocket and pulling out her scroll and switching it on before growling in frustration. "Dammit, low signal! Back to the building?"
"Yeah," I said, and the three of us turned to run back to the building where the others were before a cracking sound filled the air. "Shit," I said before the cracking turned into loud crumbling.
Yang and I fell as a massive sinkhole formed in the middle of the street faster than any of us could react. Unlike RWBY, she couldn't grab onto a piece of the edge, and we ended up falling through a lot of ground before finally hitting something, my aura flickering painfully. The bottom, to be exact. Groaning, I looked up from the broken rock to see Yang lying unconscious next to me, and a lot of dust. I could barely see her aura flickering dimly as well, and I could tell she didn't have too much left. Coughing badly, I waved my hand around in an attempt to clear away some of the eye stinging cloud.
"Ow..." I mumbled as I picked up Yang and checked her over. Thankfully, Zwei wasn't here, likely having been running faster to avoid the forming hole in the concrete. Small blessings. Still... "That really hurt."
"Well things are about to hurt more."
Turning, I saw two more White Fang grunts, no doubt here to investigate the loud noise, weapons aimed at me. Sighing, I remembered that Yang and I didn't have ours and shook my head.
"Son of a bitch," I groaned as the first grunt came up and grabbed my arm to lead me and Yang to their base of operations. I guess some things are unavoidable.