Ruby woke up staring up at the sky. Oscar waved a small cookie in front of her face which she greedily grabbed and started gobbling up.
"You scared me!" Marigold gasped. "I didn't know what to think when Oscar returned with a huntress on his back!"
"I'm sorry for worrying you," Ruby laughed nervously. "I guess I forgot to eat…"
"You're still a workaholic," Oscar laughed. He handed her his box of Flower Scout cookies. "Take it. A bunch of our students are Flower Scouts and we always end up with tons of cookies."
Ruby took the box and immediately dug in. Oscar handed her his water bottle. She took small sips before digging back into the cookies at full force. The students noticed that she was awake and started gathering around.
"Are you a real huntress?" one girl asked. Ruby grinned. She looked pretty silly with cookie crumbs stuck to her face.
"Yup! I'm Ruby Rose!"
"You're the Ruby Rose?!"
"The one and only!" Ruby chirped. A barrage of questions came hurdling at Ruby. She took each of them with ease. She even showed off Crescent Rose. Oscar sat back with Marigold. He couldn't help but watch Ruby as she excitedly told stories and answered questions.
Marigold nudged him, breaking him out of his trance. She pointed to her scroll that had the time on it. They were way behind schedule.
"Well it looks like we're behind schedule," Marigold announced. "Say goodbye to the nice huntress and let's continue our hike!"
"Please let us ask her more questions!" the students begged. It was obvious to Oscar that they just didn't want to continue the hike. Oscar looked to Ruby, knowing how socially awkward she was. She showed no signs of discomfort. On the contrary she seemed to be enjoying the students' curiosity.
Oscar and Marigold consulted briefly. Oscar only shrugged his shoulders. He knew he couldn't force his students to follow along. In addition, he sort of wanted to stay with Ruby just a bit longer.
"But the assignments…" Marigold sighed.
"There are lots of ways to teach survival skills, but it's not common for students to meet a famous huntsmen. Let's let them have this chance," Oscar reasoned. Marigold groaned.
"Since this is a rare opportunity, we'll stay here, and you can continue talking to Ms. Rose," Oscar stated. Some of the students smiled. Others didn't really react. They splintered off from the main group to hang out in their smaller friend groups.
Ruby smiled. She didn't seem to mind. She continued talking about Crescent Rose and some of her adventures. The students still gathered around Ruby listened intently. To them, this was better than their usual lectures. Oscar sat on his rock with his elbows on top of his knees as they propped up his head. He watched Ruby and her exaggerated motions as she described her latest trip to Vacuo. She described the weird and powerful grimm she's encountered, some of which Oscar remembered being there for.
"Do you know any really cool huntsmen?!"
"Of course!" Ruby smiled. "I had the honor of being the leader of Team RWBY! The best team that ever attended Beacon!"
Oscar chuckled a little. He still had Ozpin's memories and those memories had plenty of evidence from their school days to prove otherwise. But they really did evolve into quite the team.
"Let's see… Your teacher's a really amazing huntsman!" Ruby grinned, looking over at Oscar. The students turned their attention to the rock where their teachers were sitting.
"You give me too much credit, Ruby," Oscar awkwardly smiled. Even Marigold was staring at him now. It was clear on his students' faces that they didn't believe it. Ruby noticed their expressions too.
"Really! In his first real fight he went head-to-head against Haven's former headmaster!"
"But I didn't beat him or anything."
"Yeah, but you knocked him down a flight of stairs! Nora said it was awesome!" Ruby excitedly recounted.
"And that had made things worse," Oscar thought to himself. He remembered how the action had attracted the attention and anger of Hazel.
"You also saved my life," Ruby grinned. Oscar's scar painfully throbbed. He gripped at his shirt above the scar. He looked at his feet.
"I couldn't let you die like that," he muttered. He could feel the memories starting to surface as he tried to calm his breathing. Ruby noticed his pain.
"Well besides that, my best friend is Weiss Schnee! She's an amazing fighter!" Ruby chirped. The students once again had their attention on Ruby. They started asking her questions about Weiss.
Oscar got up and left to group to get some space. He made his way to a tree on the edge of the clearing. He concentrated on slowing his breathing and calming down. His scar was still throbbing. It was like he could feel Salem's attack.
"Oscar?" Oscar jumped a little bit. Ruby had appeared behind him.
"Ruby! You startled me!" Oscar said. Ruby approached him. She reached out and rested her hands on the hand gripping his shirt.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
"It's alright, I'm fine," he smiled back. He knew Ruby could see through it. She hugged him.
"You've endured so much. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you." The hug helped him slow his breathing.
"Ruby, I'm fine, really. It does this sometimes."
"What?" Ruby let go of him. Oscar pointed to his torso where his scar was located.
"I don't know if it's psychological or something Salem did, but my scar starts hurting whenever I feel too many negative emotions. I've learned to control it, but just the thought of Salem set it off..."
"That's… weird…" Ruby scrunched her face into a look of concern. "If it's a curse I know you'll figure out how to break it!"
"Thanks," Oscar smiled. The throbbing had started to subside. Oscar realized that the clearing was much quieter than before. "Where is everyone?! Why are you over here?!"
"Your friend told everyone that it was time to leave. She asked me to make sure you were alright since she had to watch over the students."
"Oh." Oscar felt a bit grateful that Marigold had stepped up. "Do you want to come back to Signal with us? I'm sure Tai would be happy to see you."
"Thank you for the offer, but I need to report that I finished clearing out the grimm. I'm also staying at my dad's house tonight anyways."
"Oh."
"But, I am staying the weekend~," Ruby sang.
"Is that an invitation I hear?" Oscar jokingly replied.
"Perhaps," Ruby smiled. "I'll call you tonight to figure out the details. It would be good to catch up!"
"It would be."
###
Oscar awkwardly stood outside of the Xiao-Long household. He didn't know whether to knock or wait for Ruby to come outside. His hand hesitated in front of the door. He definitely did not want Tai to think of this as a date. He neither wanted to be threatened nor teased. But Ruby could be inside waiting for him to pick her up.
Oscar sucked up his courage and just knocked on the door. Tai would understand… probably… He heard Zwei barking from inside the house. He could even hear the dog's excited scampering up to the door to see the guest. Inside, he heard some laughing and Tai's muffled voice speaking to Zwei. The door opened and Zwei came bounding out.
"Hey Zwei!" Oscar bent down to scratch the very excited dog. He was glad Zwei was fond of him or else he probably would have been banned from the household a long time ago.
"Hey what's up Oscar?" Tai asked, surprised to see the younger teacher there. "I didn't expect you to be dropping by."
"I'm, uh, going to lunch with Ruby. Didn't she tell you?" Oscar stood up from petting Zwei. Tai thought a moment.
"She did mention going out to lunch to catch up with a friend. I guess that was you," Tai shrugged. "Come on in, Ruby's still upstairs. I have some guests, but I'm sure they won't mind."
"Thanks." Oscar entered the house with Zwei trotting behind him.
Raven was sitting on the living room couch, reading. She glared when Tai called up to Ruby from the bottom of the staircase.
"Hello, Oscar," Raven greeted. Her tone had only a small twinge of welcome in it. But that was better than nothing. Before he got his apartment, Tai had allowed Oscar to live in the spare bedroom. Raven treated him coldly at first, but in time she had grown fonder of him.
"Hi Raven," he replied. Oscar had also gotten more comfortable around Raven. When he first started living there, he jumped almost every time he saw her.
Bouts of laughter drew Oscar's attention to the kitchen. Oscar floated over to the kitchen doorway where Tai had just entered back into the conversation. At the table sat Professor Port, still gray as ever but with more wrinkles, and Dr. Oobleck, gray streaking his green hair. They were laughing about some story that Oscar had missed.
"Hello," Oscar piped up from the doorway. Oobleck and Port jumped up from their seats. They approached him with open arms.
"Why if it isn't the young prodigy!" Port stated in a hearty tone.
"Yes! It is very good to see you again, Oscar," Oobleck greeted.
"It's good to see you two again," Oscar smiled.
"Tai here tells us that you started teaching at Signal!" Port said.
"I have."
"What do you think of teaching?"
"It's been a bit of a learning experience. But I think I'm getting the hang of it."
"That's excellent to hear," Oobleck said as he adjusted his glasses. Oobleck and Port exchanged a quick glance and a nod.
"Have you thought about what to do next?" Port asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well it would be a waste to see such a talented young man never advance in life. You must take life by the horns and show it who's boss!" Port exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I follow."
"They're asking if you want to teach at Beacon," Tai answered for them. The question took Oscar by surprise.
"Me? Teaching at Beacon? But I graduated only a few years ago. Aren't I a little too young?"
"Yes, normally professors are older once they are hired by Beacon," Oobleck answered. "However, I believe with your accomplishments you will have no problem qualifying for the job."
"It's not everyday that we are able to hire heroes that saved Remnant," Port stated. Oscar bit his lip. He wasn't sure how to respond.
"I appreciate the offer but let me think about it."
"No worries," Port responded. "Whenever you feel you are ready, do not be afraid to contact either one of us. We will gladly vouch for you when the time comes."
"Thank you," Oscar smiled awkwardly. He was a bit unsure how to feel. Oscar felt a little knock on the back of his head. Raven stood above him, pointing to the front door. Ruby stood next to it, waving to him. He dismissed himself and made his way to Ruby.
"Wow! An offer to teach at Beacon?!" Ruby gasped. They sat together at a local restaurant. Ruby picked at her strawberry cheesecake, not quite eating it.
"Yeah. I was pretty surprised myself," Oscar sighed. He swirled the straw in his drink.
"Do… Do you want to take the offer?" Ruby carefully asked.
"I don't know…" Oscar sighed. He stopped playing with the straw and sunk into his seat. "The thing about still having the memories of my predecessors means I have knowledge of countless professions. But…"
"Are you afraid that you're just repeating the lives of those before you?"
"Yeah…" Oscar sighed.
"I think you'll be fine," Ruby reached across the table to rest her hand on his. "I know that whatever you choose to do will work out!"
"Thanks," Oscar smiled, feeling a little better. "I'm sorry for rambling like that."
"It's alright!" Ruby chirped. "It's good you're putting a lot of thought into your decision."
Ruby smiled. She went back to picking at her strawberry cheesecake. She had managed to skillfully pick at everything except the strawberry sitting on a throne of whipped cream.
"There's something on your mind, isn't there?" Oscar stated. Ruby looked up at him in surprise.
"Why do you ask?"
"Ruby, who do you think I am? I'm a former wizard," he joked to cheer her up a little bit. "Also, you haven't even touched that strawberry yet."
"You caught me," Ruby laughed nervously.
"You can always talk to me, you know. We always relied on each other for emotional support. That hasn't changed." Ruby looked as if she was considering telling him or not. She made a face as if she had decided.
"Oscar, I'm going to quit being a huntress."