Owen barely remembered what he had been carrying around in his suitcase when he fell into the pond.
He was itching to take a look and see what was inside, yet the suitcase would have to wait for now, as there was a nasty mess waiting to be cleaned in the entrance to their room.

For that purpose, he had walked out of the aforementioned room to look for a mop.

On his way to the closet Owen let out an unconscious chuckle as he pondered about the likelihood of Taiyang's skull being made of steel.

Nothing in Remnant could unjam his suitcase but Taiyang's head did.

Owen shook his own head and muttered over his breath 'Talk about headstrong'.

Twirling the key in his hands, he reached for the lock, but something sprang to his eye. There was already a key on the lock.

Someone must have forgotten it.
Owen took the key and wedged it into his pocket. He'd give it to Glynda the next day..

He put his own key into the lock and twisted it.

Yang and Blake tumbled out of the closet and startled Owen, causing him to stumble back.

If he hadn't been so tired, he would have probably been able to dodge the door, he told his prouder self.

'Ehm. Hey girls' Owen flashed a grin at both girls in a mix of confusion and amusement at their predicament.

Yang, evidently surprised judging by her initial expression, tried to distract the attention from the closet, retorting swift and nonchalantly as if nothing had ever happened.

'Sup, Owen'
She wouldn't lose her cool so easily in front of outsiders.
Even if she was laying on the floor.

Blake haphazardly tried hiding her face with her hands. She was still laying entangled on top of Yang and getting redder by the minute.

Owen shook his head, stood up and offered a hand to help the girls up.

'Stop smiling, Cheesecake', Yang warned him and accepted Owen's hand.. Her warning didn't cause the desired effect, as Owen's grin just kept growing wider and wider.

'Where does this cheesecake thing come from anyway?', He asked. That question had been nagging him since they first met.

At his question Yang simply grinned, as if her smile was answer enough.

Once Owen had helped Blake stand up as well and the girls had dusted their clothes, Owen remembered why he had walked there in the first place.

''Would you be so kind to pass me the mop and the bucket please?'

'Sure thing' answered Yang, retrieving the utensils from the closet and handing them to him.

Blake looked at Owen, he had slippers on.
'Let me guess, you forgot to change your dirty shoes too?'

'What? Did you make the same mess on your room?' He asked back.

'Well, look at these guns here did' Blake pointed mockingly at Yang.

Yang pouted apologetically and fidgeted with her heels.

'Well, that explains one thing, but why are you here?'

'Yang didn't know where the janitor's closet was' Blake shrugged.
'...though she always helps tidying up the room, she's just never been here' She added, to save Yang's face. She did indeed always help.

Owen looked down, hiding his quivering lips. He had the required tools in his hands. He quickly nodded his thanks and walked away as swiftly as he could, without making it obvious that he was about to burst into laughter given the hilarious and embarrassing circumstances.

'See you tomorrow' He haphazardly waved at both girls and turned to his room.

'Good night, Owen' he heard before turning at the corner.

I could have said "catch you tomorrow" but that would be cruel, wouldn't it?

He heard some shushing sounds and whispers coming from behind him but kept walking away, he couldn't hold the air much longer.

Once he was out of earshot, he snickered as quietly as he could, wiping away some tears.

'Caught, but doing what? What were they doing?' He pondered.

This reminds me of something I must have read somewhere. But was was it?

Now it was Blakes turn to be embarrassed.
Yang shook her head.

'Well, that's what you get for being curious. There was nothing else besides of what I told you yesterday. I don't have anything to hide from you or the girls, but you had to keep pushing. Now you heard every detail of the story and even got a visit by Owen himself. Are you happy now, Blakey?

'Yang, if I didn't know you better, I'd think you planned this.'

'How would I know the door locks once you close it? I've never been here. You knew it, yet you failed to stop me', Yang huffed at her.

'I didn't think you would close it…'

'Well, you were being all secretive, I just followed through with your logic. I tried calling Ruby at least. She wouldn't answer her scroll though'

'I remember her saying she would hit the shower soon'

'Yeah, she had so many beowulf hairs on her clothes and herself, any hunter could have mistakenly shot at her'

Blake shook her head at the mental image, Ruby apologizing to professional hunters.

'At least someone got a laugh out of this' Blake pointed with her head to the closet door as she retrieved the key from the lock, which looked somewhat different from theirs.

At her remark, Yang expression became unreadable. Or rather quite obvious.
'Do you think I have to tell Owen his life is in danger if I hear about any of this somewhere?'

Losing interest in the different key for a moment, Blake turned back to Yang,
'I don't think so, at least he seemed smart enough to laugh out of earshot'.

'I hope I get a chance to wipe out that grin of his face soon', a humorous but murderous intent glistened off Yang's eyes.
Blake followed Yang back to their room, while writing a mental eulogy for Owen.

To Owen, who I barely got to know before he was pummeled to dust.

~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~

Jaune couldn't muster why any sane, healthy, young person would be in such good spirits despite having to clean up a big mess. Owen had been grinning like an idiot since he returned to the room with the mop.

'What is it, Jaune?' Owen asked, slightly confused by the questioning look Jaune was giving him.

Jaune just shook his head absently. 'Oh, nevermind'.

Still wondering why Jaune had smiled at him, Owen decided it was probably some joke in the comic Jaune was reading.

X-Ray & Vav.

Maybe I could borrow them from Jaune sometime. I never got to read them in ...my world. There is loads of things I still wanted to do.
A small pang of regret creeped into Owen's heart, but there was nothing to do about his current situation. And he was too tired to miss his former world.
Or his family. It was too soon.

But the day and experiences had been great. Amazing even. He should concentrate on the good things from now on.

As Owen climbed into his bed….couch, his frown changed into a small smile.

Snuggling to his covers, the exhaustion from the day had finally caught up to him and he was asleep within seconds.

He went with a smile to bed. Which was weird for him. He normally had great trouble falling asleep.

The next day, Owen was walking with Jaune and Nora to the cafeteria when he felt someone tugging at his jacket.

He turned around to see Blake standing there, an awkward expression on her face.

Owen was mildly surprised, but greeted her nonetheless.
'Oh, hi Blake'

'Hey Owen. You forgot those keys yesterday'
She handed him the janitor's keys, clearly labeled JNPR .

'I guess you have ours.'
Owen reached into his pocket and surely, the RWBY keychain was still there.
'Oh man, you literally saved my life there. I was about to hand them over to Pyrrha later in the cafeteria. She wouldn't be happy if another goofus lost the keys again.'

'Glad to hear it. I mean, that your demise was postponed. You know, Yang is most likely going to kill you and make it look like an accident'

Owen let out a nervous laugh.
So much was expected. It was a short, but good life though.

'...In any case, I shall take that one to the grave with me. I won't tell anyone regarding what happened yesterday...'

Owen had already mostly forgotten the incident of the day before.

Blake was relieved, but Owen wasn't done talking yet.
'...About you two...'
Owen was rubbing his hands while talking, which didn't help much in case of Blake's anxiety.

'That's not...! It's just...we wanted to discuss something and got locked inside'

Owen grinned seemingly at nothing.

Because closets are the best place for conversation.

'Ah, so there was more to it, I take it'

'It was nothing, really!'

Wait...is Blake….pouting?

'I believe you Blake, as I said, don't worry at all, it doesn't matter'

But letting the matter just go would be too easy. He was admittedly having too much fun...

'Do you hide often in the janitor's closet?' He asked nonchalantly.

Bad Owen, bad. You are here to make friends...

'No. Not really, I told you, Yang didn't even know there was a closet there.'

Blake was glad when Owen didn't question her answer or the reasons behind hiding to talk. She had admitted they were talking there, but she'd later realize her lapse in judgement.

Despite this, her cheeks reddened. She really disliked being questioned. Blake was growing impatient with herself. Something uncommon for the rather composed girl in black.

'It's not what you think. And anyway no matter what you think, Yang isn't into girls'

She muttered the last part under her breath.

Hm? Wait, what?

'Are you sure?' Owen asked, his poker face still in place.

'I think so…' Blaked scratched absentmindedly her bow.

'So you aren't sure about that?' Owen raised a brow.

She shook her head.

'What about you?'

Wait. Owen...why are you even asking this? He was a little shocked with his own curiosity taking the reins of the conversation.

'No, not really. But I really like her'

For a moment. Even Blake was a little surprised at the words leaving her mouth. It was already too late.

She felt so out of her element, answering questions without thinking twice.

In any case, Owen was a good natured guy and wouldn't...

'So you locked both of you in there to see if you could ask her if she liked you back… or maybe persuade her?'
Ok, Owen was mostly good natured. Today he was outright evil.

Now Blake's face couldn't get any redder, so she resorted to the only reasonable reaction in such a situation, she punched Owen. Or whatever she was trying to do with her hands was called. 'N..no!'

This is so unlike the Blake I know. Owen was almost worried.

He grinned. What else could he do but to use this and tease her further?

'Owen, really, it was just an accident, someone passed by and must have closed the door.

It can't be opened from the inside without the Janitor's own master key. Whoever made that lock was a genius'

'As I said, I believe you, I am just teasing you. Don't worry. My lips are sealed. I'm not one for spreading rumours'

She wasn't one for panicking, though she felt a little more relaxed now. 'Thanks'

While Blake trusted Owen as far that he wouldn't tell anyone about it, she knew he would tease both of them whenever he could. Probably until the end of time. If Yang didn't kill him first.
She had so say something. She had to get a good comeback. Anything, before it was too late.
'Why do you even ask all of this, Owen? What kind of pervert are you?'

'Wha...no..no, I just wanted to know you two better. And maaaybe have a little laugh at your expense, that's all.'

Blake hesitated, but seemed to accept the answer.

'So… jokes aside, is there anything else I can help you with, Blake?' Owen smiled disarmingly at her.

'Nothing, I just wanted to give you the keys and clear that up'

'Sure, Though to be honest now I wish I had taken a photograph. It was really funny.'

At this remark, Blake smirked as well. The chances to die in his sleep sank dramatically for Owen.

'Now I gotta go, please greet the others for me. Gotta hurry to eat something before class'

A visibly more relaxed Blake smiled and walked back towards her team.

Just as Owen turned around and wanted to break into a run to the cafeteria and beginner courses, he bumped into Glynda.

'Oh, I'm sorry Miss Goodwitch'

'Mr. Crown, I was looking for you, I need to ask you some questions...'

More questions? Owen raised a brow. He didn't think there would be further questions so soon.
Glynda, I know you don't work for the KGB. Or do you? Glyndovska Goodowitchka?

Owen cleared his throat to avoid snorting at his own bad joke.

'Regarding what, exactly?'

'Your Uniform'

'What? Is my attire not up to regulation?'

'No Mr Crown, it isn't. But that is not the point, the uniform is usually only customarily worn for some official duties or when we welcome foreign delegations. It is expected to be worn for regular activities and academic lessons but the younger generations seem to make their own rules.
I suppose you don't know it yet but the next Vytal Festival is being hosted in Vale by our Academy later this year. You will need an uniform at least for that occasion.

'I haven't been that long here, I hadn't heard about that.' That is Owen, being honest. He hadn't heard about it..

Glynda shook her head and returned to the task at hand 'What size are you?'

'Pardon?'

'Your uniform, we need to know your size in order to get the right fit'

Ah. I mean Checkmate, perverts.
'I am...regular sized I guess?'

'Ok.' Glynda motioned for Owen to follow her to the side, gaining a little more privacy from the students flooding the corridor.

'The following is off the record, just between you and me and no one else will learn of this conversation…'
Owen's eyebrows jumped up.

What is this about? A conspiracy?
No, not everything is a conspiracy Owen, he reflected while Glynda continued talking, oblivious to his far fetched assumptions... '...because the orders are placed without any remarks regarding to the student, but I have to ask if you are a faunus and if you are, are there any special requirements or adjustments needed to be made to your uniform for it to fit?'

Wow. I never thought about this. 'That's very considerate, but I am not a faunus, so there is no need for that'

Interesting, Glynda thought to herself. So what else it could be then that I'm certain you are hiding, Owen Crown? Which secrets do you conceal?
'Very well. One uniform will be issued for you, it should arrive within the next few weeks, that ought to be long before the Vytal Festival preparations are due'

'Okay'

'Now make haste, your class has most likely already begun'

Standing on the threshold to the classroom, Owen's stomach roared.
Then he remembered that he had originally intended to raid the cafeteria with Jaune and Nora to get something for breakfast. Being stopped twice on his way there, he naturally forgot about it.

When Owen entered the classroom, he sweeped with his eyes across the aisles and only spotted a few students.
It was the weekend, after all.

Most of them were people struggling with classes, working on essays or people who had earned an extended detention.

One of them was Cardin Winchester. He was clearly pissed to waste the entirety of a Saturday morning in a classroom.

Even more so if it was Oobleck who was in charge of the course.

'Ok students, everyone has his own tasks to work on, many of you want to advance your projects, a very welcome development, but some of you have been showing poor performance and participation in class. This is unacceptable. You are coming of age, every single one of you is here because you wanted to, so I expect and also suggest putting more effort towards your studies and your own goals.

Some of you know me from history lessons, but I will be able to answer most of your questions in other subjects as well, should you have any.

Now, please resume your work.'
Without even breathing between changing subjects, Oobleck addressed Cardin

'Mr. Winchester, I needed that essay last monday, I want it finished by noon on my desk.'

While Oobleck might have missed it, most of the students in the classroom heard the muffled huffing coming from Cardin in response.

After taking a sip of his coffee, Oobleck turned his attention towards Owen and addressed him directly.

'Ah, Mr. Crown, please, could I have a few words with you?'

Owen walked down the aisle towards Oobleck.
Making a small but controlled skip, he managed to barely avoid Cardin's extended leg and so prevented Cardin making him stumble on purpose.

I wasn't born yesterday, dumbass. Owen gave Cardin a sly look and continued walking without interrupting his stride towards Oobleck.

'I see you are an enthusiastic student Mr. Crown, I welcome that. Most students find history boring and cannot appreciate the lessons it teaches us, when there is but so much to be learned from it'

Oobleck had obviously completely misinterpreted what had transpired between the bully and the newcomer. He had probably seen Owen hop for no apparent reason. Owen simply chuckled at the reasoning behind the Doctor's words.

Regarding the chuckle as further encouragement, Oobleck smiled and continued.

'Well, Mr. Crown, if I recall correctly, you transferred to our Academy just a few days ago'

'Yes, that is correct. And please, call me Owen'

'Owen, all right. Where did you study before?'

Just saying Europe wouldn't roll with Oobleck, Owen pondered. He would try to dodge the question at hand.

'Didn't Ozpin mention anything to you?'

'Ozpin? No, I haven't had the chance to talk with Ozpin about your transfer yet'

You are terrible at gambling Owen, but as they say unlucky at gambling, lucky in love…or was it the other way around?
'I think you should ask that himself. I am not sure if I am allowed to to discuss it freely'

'You are an intriguing individual, I shall respect your wishes, Ozpin had mentioned some sort of confidentiality about this transfer...'

Oobleck cleared his throat to change the subject.

'From what I've heard, you seem to be a skilled fighter, nevertheless you are very far behind in your studies.

So let's get back to business. I need you to cover pages 34 to 87 if you want to keep up with your classmates.

Owen nodded and went back to his seat, this time avoiding the aisle where Cardin sat.

He sat down and opened the history book Pyrrha had lent to him and put some markers in the pages the professor had mentioned.

Owen skimmed through the pages, reading the different chapters.

"The role of the Faunus rights movement in a modern society and its impact in industrialized kingdoms."

This sucks. Owen shook his head. I already learnt my share a few years ago. I am too old for this shit.

"Co-dependence of the middle Kingdoms and diplomatic developments after the war"

At least there are some pictures...

"The importance of Vytal Island in diplomatic exchanges"

Skimming through the rest of the book, Owen noticed something...

'Professor,...'

'It's Doctor actually...'

'..oh, sorry, Doctor, why is the Fall of Mt. Glenn not a part of the course?'

'It is, but it isn't supposed to be discussed until the 4th year, just before graduating from the Academy.

Due to the amount of work and practical studies on the field usual for the senior years, we only skim the surface of the events, so feel free to ask anything about it.

I am legally obliged to leave some questions unanswered though, as my opinion might be biased in this particular subject.'

'Why is that?'

'While your question is one of those I shall not answer, you need some context to understand. Context your classmates already know through rumours.' Oobleck swept his hand meaningfully through the room,

'I was a hunter at the time when the Fall of Mount Glenn occurred.

I participated in the defense and evacuation of the city.'

That was certainly something Owen wasn't expecting to hear. He simply nodded and returned to his studies. Or at least he tried to.

His mind wandered to his previous conversation with Blake.

Owen shook his head in disbelief. Blake was totally different to Myra.

One would almost think different Faunus have different personalities, dummy. There it was. Myra again.

Shuu shuu, get out of my mind, woman. Owen answered his own delusions, which just acknowledged him with a chuckle and disappeared to the back of his mind.

I really hit my head hard. Thinking about it made him feel tired too.
He looked at the clock, conveniently placed at the threshold to the exit. It was almost 2 in the noon. He'll be free soon.

On his way out of the classroom, Owen looked again at Pyrrha's textbook and realized that he would need books of his own. He couldn't always keep relying on others.
'I guess I gotta go downtown today', Owen mumbled to himself.
Books were normally issued at the beginning of the semester, but were out of print when Owen arrived. One way or another, he would have to visit a bookstore.

Owen decided then to go and buy the books he would need for his courses, even though he had mentally already acknowledged he probably wouldn't be reading a lot, if he was being completely honest with himself.
It can't harm to try to use the downtime to learn something.

While walking to the buildings where the sleeping quarters were accommodated, Owen remembered Ren had previously mentioned to him he would take him to Vale to buy razor blades. Owen was hoping razor machines existed in Remnant, if just to indulge his lazy spirit. But he wasn't very positive about the possibility of finding one.

When Owen got into the JNPR room, it seemed to be empty. He decided a small nap wouldn't be a bad idea. He had almost passed out twice in classes that day already.

Owen sat down on the couch and snatched his mobile phone out of his suitcase, which he kept hidden on the side, between the furniture.
He had found his smartphone while rummaging through the suitcase a few hours before.

Owen held the phone up and opened an app.

Let's see what's on Faceb...oh, right…

Owen facepalmed himself.

Old habits never die.

Looking up from his phone, Owen noticed he wasn't alone at all, Nora came out from the bathroom, sporting a sport bra and some panties.

'Oh, hi Nora'

'Hi Owen'

Noticing her lack of clothing, Owen began lacing his shoes and was preparing himself to leave the room. Owen's cheeks were barely reddening but still. Although naughty thoughts visited his dirty mind from time to time, he liked to consider himself a gentleman.
'Uh...erm...I'll give you some space'

'Nah, I don't mind, Ren has always seen me like this and we are all friends, right?'

'Yeah, but…'

'Owen, I'm not naked, don't be weird'

Seeing Nora wasn't going to give up, Owen conceded and let her be.
It made sense though, the kids didn't seem to have many concerns about seeing other team mates in underwear. Maybe hunting academies resembled the military institutions of his world. Or maybe it is just Nora being Nora, Owen thought.

'Ok Nora, you are the boss'

'Nah, I'm not. Jaune is, but he isn't here, so I'll let cool headed people like Ren take decisions...or maybe you?'
'Are you cool headed, Owen?'

At this turn in the conversation, Owen looked up, making the effort of keeping his eyes unfocused.

'I...I think I am'.
At least, whenever the need arose in the past, Owen had taken the right decisions or he wouldn't be standing there.

Though he had a little trouble keeping his mind cool right now.

'Then I'll let you and Ren fight over Bossiness'

'There is no need for that Nora, I think Ren can take good decisions.'

'I think that too but how would you know?'

'I err…' Shit '...he seems like a level headed guy, I'm just guessing…'

'Uh uh' She tilted her head and looked Owen straight in the eye.'One thing though…'

Nora walked slowly to Owen, this time more properly clothed. Albeit just barely...
'He is mine' 'No bargaining'

'Sure Nora, I mean, I've noticed….'

'What?! You...is it that obvious?'
Nora was obviously more concerned about the prospect of someone knowing about her feelings than over the prospect that she only had put on a shirt so far.

Owen eyes were now very fixated in the far side of the room.

'No, no. it's ...ok, yeah Nora… I think pretty much everyone already knows, but that means you don't have to worry, no one will argue on whom Ren belongs with'

'...What… you mean like together together?'
Nora's cool demeanor was thrown off board. Now she was really freaking out. She was holding Owen by his collar, not aware of how awkward the situation was, yet she wasn't being forcefully.

'No nonono, Owen, he can't know, he can't ever know. I have never told him'

Ignoring the half naked redhead in front of him, or at least the rest of her body, Owen spoke to her face.
'Nora. Do you think a clever guy like Ren doesn't know?'

'You might be right Owen, but sometimes, even the cleverest are clueless in matters of the heart. I see it happen all the time. Even here in Beacon.'

Owen sighed. She is right though.

Owen continued, 'Well, I guess time will tell. I think it's best if you pretend no one knows'

Nora didn't know quite what to respond to that.

'Why?'

'It's more fun, it's thrilling.

Nora grinned.
'I like it. Ok then. Let this be our little secret'

Owen nodded and grinned at the tomboyish redhead. 'Of course'

Nora walked away and Owen just shook his head. Her mind was sometimes in the clouds.

A few minutes after Nora had left the bathroom, Ren came out, sporting a towel around his waist.

Owen blinked a few times. Not because Ren was sparkling.
When the hell did Ren get here?

'Hi, Owen. How was the Coffee Pot?'

Owen lifted an eyebrow 'Coffee Pot?'

Ren smiled 'That's how Yang named the detention class held by Oobleck. The girls have named quite a few of them.
Whenever Goodwitch holds the class, it's named Chamber of Woes. In case of Port, it's called Hunting for Compliments', though he rarely misses hunting on the weekend.'

Owen couldn't but chuckle at the silly names the kids had made. It remembered him of his own school years. Some classes really deserved names. To warn the innocent, the unaware.

'Anyway Ren, I was wondering, do you have something to do today in Vale?'

Yeah, I got to fetch a couple of things, why do you ask? Do you need something?'

Owen scratched his chin unconsciously 'Yeah, you told me you would ….'

Ren grasped his own temple and interjected.
'Right, razor blades, I forgot about that.
Nora and I were now going to grab something to eat at the cafeteria, do you want anything?'

'I'm fine, thanks'

'Ok, you could come with us to Vale after that if you want'

'That would be nice. If you don't mind, I'll take a nap until then, just kick me or something when you come back'

Nora, who had listened while readying up in the bathroom, answered while grabbing Ren's hand in one swift motion.
'He'll come to pick you up, now come on Rennie, Pancake time.'

Ren rolled his eyes only for Owen's amusement, as he didn't really mind Nora's enthusiasm.

When Ren came back, he told Owen they would be heading out alone, as Nora had some girly things to do with Pyrrha.
When asked what that could possibly mean, Ren simply shrugged.

Owen followed Ren to the Skyport and then they took an elevator down to the port, where the boats -which Owen had seen from the airship a few days before- were moored.

Ren explained to him that while slower than the airships, the boats would bring them directly to the part of the city were they could buy the things both required. By using the airship they would have to walk back and, in the end, waste time.

Owen made a mental note that while the boats were probably a lot slower than the airships, they seemed to commute more frequently, as he could see some of them travelling in both directions between the city and the Academy.

And they were definitely better if you wanted to talk with someone, you had plenty of time to do it and a nice atmosphere.

Ren and Owen enjoyed the view and chatted idly about nothing in particular.

When they reached the other side though, Ren remembered something Nora had asked him to retrieve, it was in the opposite direction of the shop where Owen could buy razor blades. The catch was that Nora's store was about to close, so Ren sent Owen in the right direction and would catch later up to him.

After buying the razor blades, Owen decided to look for a bookstore where he could find or order the textbooks he would need for classes.

Looking around, he saw a comic store and decided to take a look after he had gathered the required books.

He found a small shop dedicated exclusively to textbooks.
It wasn't as popular as other book shops like Tukson's, but it was quite crowded.
After paying for the textbooks he needed and stowing them into the bag Myra had given to him, he noticed a small corner dedicated to art and photography.
Having been an avid photographer in his previous life, he wondered how the technology worked when dust was involved.

Enthralled by the technology and explanations, Owen didn't notice a certain pair of ears standing out between the shelves.
"...the diaphragm opening, more commonly referred as aperture, is controlled by small electric pulses, dosed by specific amounts of dust, which…."

'So you are the new guy in Jaune's team?' Suddenly, Owen was startled by a soothing australian accent, accompanied by two perky rabbit ears and one pair of the most hauntingly beautiful eyes Owen had seen in Vale.

'Huh? Owen brain was still transferring from highly technical vocabulary to normal, coherent words. ...it hadn't made the switch yet.
'I'm Velvet, I'm a second year student at Beacon'
'Oh, yeah, sorry, where are my manners, I'm Owen, Owen Crown, team JNPR'
'Shouldn't it be called differently now?'
'Probably, but I think it's easier for everyone to remember if we keep it the old way'
'I guess that's true'
Velvet was usually shy, especially around humans, but she couldn't resist speaking to him, even more so if he was a fellow photographer. Some rumours said he was the son of a foreign academy director. Or even Ozpin's son.

'You are with team CFVY, right?' Owen's question broke Velvet's reverie.

'Yeah, that would be Coco, Fox, me and Yatsuhashi, though the team name could also be a word play on Coco's love for good coffee. I wish I knew where Ozpin gets his information.'
If Owen was Ozpin's son, he'd probably bite the bait now.
'He is a well informed man, I guess. Though his semblance might be making up cool team names'
Velvet smiled. 'What are you reading?'
'I'm just fascinated on how apertures work here…'
'...As compared to where…?'
Shit. I should pay more attention to what I say.

'Ah, well, where I come from, the aperture is controlled rather mechanically, with springs and levers'
Velvet eyes lightened up. 'That requires highly skilled miniature craftsmanship. Your cameras must be very expensive!'
'Well, I guess that might be true. My people is rather clumsy working with Dust, that's all.'
Owen shook his head. He was digging his own grave, how could he change the subject?
No need to talk about electronic shutters if they weren't even concepts in Remnant. Though he was sure they might impress Velvet. But it would make her even more suspicious.

A loud noise brought Owen back to the present.
Something had crashed through the window on the opposite side of the street. It was the shop clerk. Owen noticed the shop traded exclusively dust.

'I have a bad feeling about this' He spoke aloud rather absentmindedly.
Velvet nodded. Her ears were twitching.
'Owen, do you have any weapons?'
Though he had left his suitcase back in Beacon, Owen had made an habit of always carrying his Coinsword in its pouch.
'I've got a sword. Can you fight?' He looked at Velvet and noticed she only had her camera, yet she hadn't unsheathed it from its latch.
'I can handle myself. Lets go and help that poor guy'

Though officially, law and order wasn't the task of hunters in training, they could at least try to hold the perpetrators up until the police arrived.
Or so they thought.

Crossing the street, Owen held a hand and lifted the clerk, who was clearly shaken, off the ground. He brought the clerk to the other side of the street and propped him against the front of the bookstore.

Velvet and Owen observed through the tinted windows of the dust shop.

'I see at least 6 blokes in there. They look rather dangerous'

'Yeah. I'd say you go ask the clerk from the bookstore to call the police and then come back. I'll try to hold them off if they try to escape'

'Ok. I'll hurry.'

This wasn't planned. Owen knew there had been many robberies in the months leading to the Vytal Festival, but other than the ones he witnessed in the show, he had no particular knowledge about any of them.

His mind was racing. Should he intervene? Would he change the timeline of events?

Any doubts ceased to exist when one of the criminals exited the shop and held an elderly woman at gunpoint.
Owen simply rushed forward and slashed against the thief, sending him tumbling across the street. The criminal let out a cry of pain, a small gash showing at his upper arm. Small blood droplets staining his suit.

I guess different people have different amounts of aura, Owen thought.
An important piece of information nonetheless.

Hearing the cry of pain, Velvet rushed to the scene.

'Sorry, couldn't wait, he was about to shoot a granny in the face'
'Then that slash was well deserved'

Before Owen could grin at Velvet's remark, two of the bandits jumped at her. Owen rushed to her aid but couldn't help and wonder if they attacked her first because she looked harmless.

As it turned out for the bandits, it was a big mistake.
Owen was still some meters away when both robbers fell face first to the ground.
In mere seconds, Velvet had downed them with the swiftest martial arts he had ever seen.
It made sense for her to know how to defend herself if she didn't rely on her semblance for fights, but Owen didn't expect her to be so proficient at close quarters combat...or the bandits were simply useless. Though they didn't look particularly inoffensive.

'Watchout!' Owen's inner ramblings were put quickly to an end when he received a punch to the face. Having landed sideways and having hit his head on the curb, Owen shook his head, trying to regain his senses.
The criminal was about to stomp Owen's head against the curb when he was smacked out of the way by a rolled up comic book.

Someone lifted Owen up and spoke to him.
Through the haze, Owen realized Jaune was standing in front of him. Jaune seemed increasingly nervous as Owen was still quite unresponsive.
Owen slowly began to get his bearings back and lifted his sword from the ground. Maybe I should get my act together.

'...are you allright, Owen?'
'Yeah, I owe you one, Jaune'

'Don't be so quick to thank me, we aren't out of the woods yet'

Two of the assailants were approaching Jaune and Owen with a vicious look in their faces. Their evil grins didn't evoke much confidence in Owen.
Their arm long knives didn't help either.

Owen looked back to Velvet, who was fighting two guys on her own.
So there was more than just six of them. Shit. What the hell is the police doing?

'So Jaune, I see you are an expert at Comicmanship'. Owen tried to alleviate Jaune's concerns, as he looked like he was about to burst into running. Or tears.

Jaune's demeanor changed in an instant and he tensed up, prepared to fight
'I won't let any of my sisters tell me again comics are useless'

'Word. So, shall we?'

With a slight nod, both blondes jumped at the thieves, though Owen changed his target mid jump, startling both Jaune and the criminals.
Jaune quickly adapted and smacked the robber going for Owen in the eyes, making him stumble.
Owen hit the other criminal sideways on the torso, receiving himself a slash against his belly at the same time.
Gotta thank aura for that. Wouldn't want a knife rip through my innards.

In the same movement, as he was passing behind the attacker, Owen slashed him in the ass, eliciting a loud cry from the criminal.
Jaune had managed to hit his own assailant repeatedly with the comic without getting hit.

Seeing himself outnumbered, as his mate was clutching his own ass furiously, the criminal turned what was supposed to be an attack into a full fledged run.

Just as he rounded up a corner, he smashed into a handsome man with a pink streak in his hair.
The man reached out to help him up and then heard the distinctive voices of Jaune and Owen calling from the distance. 'Punch him in the face!'
From his position, Ren decided a backward roll with a kick to the face would be more effective, putting a quick end to the assaulter's doomed escape attempt.

Turning his attention back to Velvet, Owen was not less impressed than before when he saw her down the last of her adversaries.
She didn't have a single scratch.

'How did she do that?', he heard Jaune asking.
'No idea, she is just good, man' Owen simply shrugged. Talent and skills can't be bought, not even in Remnant.

'Are you alright?' He asked Velvet, when she closed the distance between them.

'Yeah. Though I must say, you two were pretty decent for freshmen too'
Sporting a blush he didn't even know he had, Owen nodded, whereas Jaune simply scratched his head shyly.

Ren waved at Velvet and then greeted his team members.

'I guess you got more razors than you bargained for, Owen', said Ren, pointing at the gashes in Owen's shirt.

'Yeah, luckily, the minds of the wielders were duller than their razors'
Jaune grinned like an idiot, while Ren politely smiled at the bad joke.
Velvet's howling laughter, however, caught them fully unaware.

Owen was disappointed at his own bad joke, he had to ask.
'That can't be possibly be so funny, Velvet, can it?'

She simply held her sides, still laughing and pointed frantically at one of the downed criminals who was still holding his cheeks in pain.
Between breaths, she added 'This dude has now a cross instead of an arse'
They turned around and noticed Owen's slash still clearly visible on the criminal buttocks.
At that ridiculous sight, the hunters in training lost their marbles and laughed as wholeheartedly as Velvet had before them.

Not far away from them, someone wasn't sharing their lighthearted laughs. In fact, this person was furious.

'At least it wasn't Red', the sleek man thought and sought consolation in that those hadn't noticed him watching. There was nothing left to do, as the police had just arrived to the scene The white suit wearing businessman walked back into the shadows and took his leave.

A few weeks had passed since the dust shop robbery and Roman's goons seemed to have adopted a low profile ever since.
Owen was quite distracted by his thoughts and missed Nora's narration completely as she gesticulated wildly.
What he didn't miss was Jaune's depressed and distracted demeanor, sitting at the other side of the table.
Owen felt a little guilty to let his teammate down, but he had been completely overwhelmed by the amount of studies he had to catch up to.
He barely had time to sleep and eat in between.
Gladly, he had made some friends. But friends should be able to rely on you from time to time. This was nagging at Owen's thoughts. He was being a complete disappointment as a friend.

Owen was taken away from his self loathing when he heard a cry of pain and someone pleading.
'That hurts. Please, stop'

He was quite shocked to see the strong, confident faunus he had met a few weeks before being so submissive. Why did Velvet let them harass her? She could easily kick all of their asses, yet why wasn't she willing to do it?
She wants to belong. She doesn't want to get expelled and if she kicked four students unconscious, her team would probably take the fall for it.

Cardin was being particularly harsh with her. Owen didn't remember him being so cruel.
Cardin might have been unusually frustrated, as Owen had thwarted all his attempts at bulling himself. Nevertheless, roughness or softness wasn't the matter at hand, it was him doing it at all.

To the outside viewer, Owen was pretty calm, observing the scene unfolding in front of them.

The leader of team CRDL was pulling on the faunus ears, which Owen knew, as Owen had actually put attention to his readings, were extremely sensitive.

Owen saw her biting down a cry. Velvet wouldn't give Cardin the satisfaction of her tearing up in public. It could be pride, shame or she didn't want to encourage him.
Owen's fists were shaking under the table.

Why would everyone look away? Oh I know bullies. They will pick those who stand up to them as their next victims. That's why no one intervenes, even if they disapprove. Bullies only stand down if everyone stands up to them.
I've been over this, fuck it.

When Cardin pushed Velvet and made her stumble to the ground, he felt like his nose had been broken.

Owen couldn't just sit there and look. While he had a smaller frame than Cardin, it wasn't something that would stop him from letting unwarranted violence and abuse like this go unpunished..
He was quite surprised when the next thing he saw was Cardin clutching his face. Cardin's hands were bloody. That's when Owen realized he had broken Cardin's nose, or so it seemed.

Cardin uttered a yelp, between hard gasps for air.

Owen knew from experience that actions spoke more than words and that he should leave it at that, but he was too pissed off to think clearly at that moment.
'Let her be or this won't stop at a broken nose'

In his pained gaze, Cardin still retorted. 'Are you two together?'

Owen simply smiled and his eyes narrowed. 'Why? Are you jealous? Are violence and abuse the only means you have to show your affections?
I think you can do better than that. Start working on it today, Winchester.'
Owen was being uncommonly dickish.

'Don't make me come back and break your legs.'

At Owen's remark, Nora -who had observed the whole exchange from the table- smashed her fists and chuckled gleefully in the background.
'Ren, I like this guy'
Owen couldn't help but smile. It takes just a few to bring down a bully.
Nora would be definitely in, that is a given, he thought silently.

Cardin wasn't a hunter with a particularly weak semblance, so what had transcurred was weird.

Owen noticed the gasps and looks from bystanders.
At first, he thought it was because he was threatening Cardin, but then he realized Cardin's nose was bleeding despite him being protected by aura.
He had hit him and managed to break through his defenses.
Right. Aura. How did I do that?

Owen felt a little remorse, as the way he had hit Cardin could have killed him, if he had applied more brute force.

After the bystanders had quieted down, the silence was suddenly broken by a very loud and very commanding voice.

'Mr. Crown!'

Owen snapped out of his thoughts to watch a furious Miss Goodwitch approach with fire on her sleeves, holding her riding crop up high.

'What are you doing?! Why did you attack Mr. Winchester?'
Owen shrugged and that only made Glynda even madder than before.
'He attacked a fellow student without provocation'

'That isn't an excuse to get involved. Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?'

Owen straightened his stance.
'No, perhaps my class has already begun but that is besides the point, it was you who didn't intervene.'
'That might be true, but this is a combat school, the students are meant to defend themselves.'

'Yes, but as teammates we are meant to assist our friends and teammates when they need help. As hunters, we are meant to react when we see injustice and it was you who told me this is a combat school.
I subdued him with the least amount of violence possible. I call that effective.'

'Your point might be very valid yet you will still be punished. Senseless violence is not allowed in this Academy.'

Owen would have normally disagreed, but he didn't want to worsen his precarious situation in the school any further, he was already on the ropes as it was. So he conceded to the detention.

Cardin would have laughed if he wasn't having difficulty to breathe properly. Yet Glynda heard his laboured snicker
'You will attend detention class too, Mr. Winchester!'

After Cardin was brought away by his teammates, Glynda addressed Owen.
'I will put Mr. Winchester on other detention class slot. You know you have earned this, Owen.'

Owen shrugged again and shook his head, 'Yeah, I guess so.'

'The class will be held this weekend, be sure to be punctual.'
Glynda let her gaze linger on Owen's eyes for a moment and then left the cafeteria.

Owen was still absentmindedly shaking his head.
'I'll see you there, Miss. Goodwitch'
He didn't regret it one bit.

The arrest would be held at the weekend.
Around this time, a package arrived from Patch, addressed at Owen.
When he opened it, he realized it must have been Myra's.
He recognized the Coat of Arms, he had seen it hanging above the fireplace in Myra's farm.

But why would she send him boots?
He didn't know Myra was also a shoe maker.
Talk about a talented girl.

He rummaged through the hay but didn't find any letter.
Giving up, he tried the boots. They fit quite nicely.

When did Myra check my shoe size?
Myra is amazing. He chuckled to himself.

Before he had enough time to think about it, Ren interrupted his train of thought 'Owen, don't be late to Miss Goodwitch's arrest'

'Glad getting to know you, dude', Jaune interjected jokingly, only to be tugged by the ear by Pyrrha. 'Glad you took your goodbyes, now come here, let's study'
'Ow, I wanted to go with Renny and Nora to Vale'
'When you can recite the whole chronology of the Great War, I might let you go' Pyrrha was ruthless.
'Jauney boy, we want you to be smarty leader. Don't worry, we can still eat some ramen later together, right Rennie?' Nora tried to encourage their leader from the sidelines.

'Yes Jaune, just take your time and be glad Pyrrha had no plans for the weekend. You'll be up to speed in no time. You might even catch up to Owen' Ren, always reasonable.

'Not that it matters, I'll be probably dead after Goodwitch is done with me.' Owen quipped, surprising them.

'Didn't you run out of the room like 3 minutes ago?' Jaune raised a brow.

'Yeah but I forgot my new scroll', Owen retrieved it from his bag and tried to synchronise it to his aura sensors, which were clearly malfunctioning.
'Damn. Anyway, see you later guys. Leave me some ramen!'

Jaune grinned. He had never seen Owen run so fast before.

'...be sure to be punctual'
Owen kept imagining Glynda's voice as he struggled to keep the pace through the corridors. She would kill him. Or break him into pieces and pull him together again. Whatever brought her more pleasure.

He raced into the room Glynda had informed him the class would
take place.
And he almost tackled Yang, barely stopping in front of her.

After the initial surprise subsided, he greeted the blonde brawler.

'Hey Yang'

'Hey Owen, this seems to be a recurring theme, everytime I meet you, you crash into someone'

Owen nervously scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
Yet something bugged him about the whole situation.
'Why are you here Yang?'

Now it was Yang's turn to absentmindedly scratch her arms.
'Would you believe me if I told you it has nothing to do with the Janitor's closet?'

Owen chuckled. 'Perhaps?'

'But I know why you are here. I'd punched Cardin harder than that, I think it was a good thing, he had it coming.'

'Thanks. I think?'

'Owen, I mean, you are weak…
I could have killed him.'

'Ah come on Yang, give me some slack. You know what it takes to keep a cool head sometimes.' Owen pointed at her 'And you are all talk, you wouldn't have done much.'

She shrugged but nodded with her head
'I guess you might be right, I hate his guts but I'd probably let it slide, once more…'
'Don't mind it...It was just a weak attempt to get even for the closet.
I heard you laughing afterwards.'

Owen grinned at her, not a worry in his mind 'Yeah, sorry but who wouldn't have?'

'Miss Goodwitch, I am sure of that.' Yang winked at Owen.

Owen still grinned. Until he realized that Yang had said Miss Goodwitch and not Glynda, to subtly warn him. He quickly turned around, just in time to see Glynda walking towards them, as if mentioning her name was her cue.

'Students!' Glynda turned around to the rest of the class, so that every student could see her and hear her voice clearly.

'You all seem to have lack of self discipline and resort to violence without hesitation. In this class you will learn what happens when someone stronger hits back.'

In other words, getting our arses kicked, Owen mumbled to himself.

Yang whispered to Owen under her breath 'I had to serve some time because I destroyed a fancy tree in the backyard while practicing with Blake, that's how I ended up here today. I'm not a whacko like you'.
She grinned, obviously trying to mock Owen.

As it turned out, Miss Goodwitch was a devout adherer of horticulture and was very upset by Yang's disrespect of the Academy's tidy kept gardens.

Glynda addressed one of the students in front of the class.
'Mr. Thrush, you attacked a person in Vale today, particularly a faunus. This Academy will not tolerate this kind of attitude. We are a prestigious institution and won't be represented by mindless violent individuals. No matter their status, race nor political affiliations. Is that clear?'

Russel Thrush gulped and nodded as Glynda carried on with her reprimand.
'This is your third and last warning. What would it be, expulsion or a some educational training?

Russel wasn't stupid. He had taken one for the team a few days before but didn't think he would get three warnings in such a short timespan.
'Training of course, my parents would kill me if I get expelled.'

'Very well, Mr. Thrush, then prepare to fight. Get dressed.'

After Russel had changed to his combat attire and came back, he noticed a big, hulking figure waiting in the fighting ring.

'Hello, Russel' Yatsuhashi Daichi, a second year, greeted him.

Maybe the death his parents had planned would have been less painful.
But Russel knew it was too late to retract himself now.
He was quite aware that one the faunus they had tormented before was in Yatsuhashi's team and a close friend of him.
I should think things through next time. If there is a next time at all…
Russel Thrush gulped loud enough to be heard from the seats a few meters away.

Breaking through his inner ramblings, Glynda explained to the rest of the students, 'Mr. Daichi has volunteered to train with all of you, use this opportunity, he is offering you all a part of his free time .
Bear in mind that I told him specifically to not hold back at all, so you will have to put some effort to last this test'

As the fight ensued, it became quite evident that Russel was no match for Yatsuhashi. Yatsuhashi slashed his aura down with no apparent effort.

After a few minutes, Glynda called the fight off and called Russel to the side. Owen didn't know if she was reprimanding Russel or giving him some pointers.
Most likely both.

Russel returned to the crowd as Miss. Goodwitch called the next participants into the stage.
'Mr. Crown, you will face Miss Xiao-Long.'
Glynda didn't give any explanation on why he would be facing a different opponent than the others. Yatsuhashi surely needed some rest, but he suspected Miss Goodwitch had different motives for her choice.
Yang fighting style was similar to her father's, but she had some ranged attacks as well and was a lot faster and had better reflexes than her father nowadays, at least that is what Owen supposed.
Maybe Glynda wanted to see if Owen's fighting had improved. Or if someone could actually beat some sense into Yang.

She probably wanted to smack both students and couldn't find a better excuse for them to beat themselves.

'Let's go' Yang shouted. Owen had hardly heard her shout before he narrowly avoided the first swing at his face. He reached back for his suitcase realizing that he hadn't taken his weapons along, thinking this would be a normal arrest or something more...theoretical.

'Miss Goodwitch, I have no weapons, can we just stop this until I get them?'

'That didn't stop you from hitting Mr. Winchester before, why should it now? Improvise, Mr. Crown'.

Damn. I barely could prevail against her Father with my weapons and I was lucky. How I am supposed to beat her without them? Maybe I'm not supposed to beat her. I'll try to dodge her attacks long enough.

Owen was jumping left and right, back and forth, dodging her punches by a hair's breadth. He wouldn't be able to keep this up and they hadn't fought for longer than three minutes.

He was slowly getting desperate and because of the exhaustion, he stopped being creative and he did the same move twice in a row.

Yang saw through his move and managed to hit him, sending him crashing against the railing in front of the desks.

Owen barely had time to regain his senses when he heard Yang rushing to him. He rolled out of the way, Yang close behind his heels.

'I won't be pulling the punches like my dad did, Owen'

Well, fudge...
I might as well try it…

When he felt Yang was close enough, he turned around, swinging blindly his fist at Yang in a single motion.

He managed to hit her, but it was pointless, it only fueled her spirit. She swung back at him, this time using her gauntlets for some
extra pun-ch, as she would often joke, sending Owen across the room anew.

This time, Owen successfully landed on his feet and intended to make a quick dash at Yang and hit her at full speed, taking Yang by surprise.

But it didn't happen as he had planned. The moment he thought of jumping into a dash, he felt a surge and jumped instantly into her across the room, hitting her with full force, his shoulder impacting against her belly.

Yang was knocked to the ground, landing on her bottom.
For a moment, she was out of breath.

Owen was as astonished as Yang.
What was that? He thought. Is this my semblance?
He felt ill. Something wasn't right.

Yang was a little disoriented but quickly looked up to Owen, who had extended his hand to help her up. He had a regretful look in his eyes.

'I'm really sorry Yang, I didn't know this would happen, I didn't mean to…'

But Yang was smiling. A smile that froze his blood. Her eyes were red, her hair was flailing in the air.

He felt the punch before he saw it.

For a moment, he was floating. Then he stopped abruptly mid-air. He guessed he had hit the wall at the other side of the room, but he still couldn't open his eyes.

When Owen's eyes finally settled into looking straight ahead, he saw Yang standing in front of him.
She yanked him off the floor.

He thought he was going to see stars again.

'Now we are even, cheesecake.' She said it almost in a friendly tone.
'I guess so...'
'Don't be a sore loser Owen, you owe me…'

'I owe you? Since when were bets allowed?'

'Since I put my mind on it.' Yang quickly quipped.

'Ok, whatever, I'll bite, what's the catch?'

'You are going to treat team RWBY to an ice cream in Vale at the time of your choosing.
'So I get to choose the day?'
'Yeah, I think that's only fair, I didn't warn you beforehand and I know you have been studying yourself to death the last few weeks. So I'll give you a little leeway.'

'That's most considerate, my Lord' Owen joked and bowed to the blonde brawler.

Just as Jaune and Velvet, Owen had received a small reward fee for stopping the robbery and capturing the criminals. It had at least covered what he had spent on books. But he still had some of the extra money left. Inviting the teams to some sweets sounded like a good cause to spend that extra money on.

After detention, Owen waved his goodbyes at Yang and proceeded to his room, where he would take a shower before going out to Vale City.

Walking out of the doorway, he almost bumped into Velvet.
'Oh, hi Owen' She sounded much chirpier than usual.
'Hi Velvet, what are you doing here? Don't tell me you messed up and got detention too?'
'About that… no, I just came to get Yatsuhashi back, we will be going out later with the team'
'Ah, that explains it. Didn't think you had an evil side'
Without noticing, Velvet had approached him and before he could properly react, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
'Thanks again for helping me'
Owen was flabbergasted and reached unconsciously with his hand to the cheek.
'You are…' absolutely adorable '..welcome'. He hoped he hadn't voiced his thoughts aloud.
She blinked a couple of times at him, smiled and hopped away to retrieve Yatsuhashi from class.
'See you around, Owen!'
She hopped into the classroom. Hopped.
Owen didn't need to be a genius to realize she was unusually happy.
His hand lingered on the cheek while he stood there in the hallway, lost in thought.
Like an idiot.

~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~

After a quick shower, Owen readied himself up and put his coinsword into the pouch he was carrying. After Glynda's class, he wanted to be always prepared.

Jaune and Pyrrha returned from the school library and picked up their jackets before going out, the evenings had been unusually chilly in the last few days.

'Are you ready, Owen?' Pyrrha asked him.
He simply nodded and rubbed his hands. He had been waiting for a nice evening outing for ages.
'I think you both deserve to relax a little this evening, you've studied hard. Don't let Ren and Nora wait for us, let's go' Pyrrha motioned for the door.

It was on their way to the airships that Owen remembered Jaune's motion sickness. He was about to ask Jaune about it when he remembered it was again something he couldn't possibly know.

After the group landed in Vale City, Jaune let out a shaky breath. 'Guys, go on, I'll catch right up, I need to go to take a lea...go to the toilet'
'Sure Jaune, we won't be far' Owen winked at him as he took his leave.

When Jaune was out of earshot, Pyrrha whispered. 'You know Owen, Jaune had been working a lot on his motion sickness and I think now he can ride along just as every person' It was evidently she was very proud of his achievements.

'He is motion sick? I didn't even notice' Owen replied.
Being honest, Jaune had kept his cool the whole flight. If Owen hadn't known before, he wouldn't even had noticed how nervous Jaune seemed before landing.

'We have been riding the airship a lot lately and whenever he feels like talking, I'll guide him to the airdock and we'll take a round trip in those. When we are deep in conversation, he will usually forget the airship completely. The motion sickness is still there but when he doesn't focus on it, it works out mostly'

Owen chuckled. 'You must be proud of him'

'Oh, very. Just don't tell him, it will go up in his head'

'So what did I miss?' Jaune interjected jokingly.

'Oh, they were giving out free X-Ray and Vav T-Shirts but you just missed them' Owen said jokingly, keeping a straight face.

'Wait, what…...Oh Owen, don't play with my feelings' Jaune spoke dejectedly and then grinned at his new teammate.

'Sorry Jaune, it was too easy. Let's go, Nora has probably eaten the whole foodbar empty by now…'

While eating delicious ramen -according to every poor student out there-, Owen proposed to go eating ice cream the next day, as he had lost a bet and would be spending team RWBY some ice cream in return.
Pyrrha settled that she would be spending the rest of team JNPR their share of ice cream.

Jaune spoke up at this, 'You don't have to, but thanks Pyrrha'

'Don't mention it, I think everyone in the team has pushed themselves so hard these last weeks that you have earned it.'
Owen turned to her, still smiling but curious .'But why are you buying?'
Pyrrha whispered to his ear 'Well, Ren and Nora are orphans and Jaune doesn't seem to have particularly a lot of money despite treating the whole team from time to time.
And I am pretty sure you must be quite broke. I saw you had bought a new scroll and books for classes a few days ago, both are things that are relatively expensive if I recall correctly.'
Owen nodded. He had bought TVs for less money in the past.

Now Pyrrha spoke louder, for the sake of the others 'You are spending all of team RWBY an ice cream, so no one should expect you buying sweets for our team as well and I just got my monthly share from Pumpkin Pete's.
So believe me when I say it, I feel very much like splurging.'

Ren turned to Owen
'Excuse me for asking, but it is something all of us wanted to know for quite some time, I think. Which Academy did you visit before?'

Owen tensed up. He had expected this question at some point but he had already worked out that telling the truth or at least a part of it would be better than telling a lie.

'I've never visited a Hunter Academy before coming to Beacon'

At his response, Jaune's eyes lit up. Owen had no previous training and used an ordinary sword as a weapon. It was just the same as him.
No, that's wrong. He didn't get into Beacon with fake transcripts.
Jaune grimaced internally.

'But how come you know so much about hunting? I saw you down at least two beowulfs the other day' This time, it was Pyrrha who spoke.

'I've just watched other hunters do it before. And I don't know, I seem to get lucky when I'm desperate' Owen grinned sheepishly.

Jaune was nervous. What if this guy was a spy sent by Ozpin to rat him out?
'Where do you hail from?'

'Europe. Don't try to find it on your maps. It's too small'
He hoped they wouldn't look, but he had been lucky so far. Many people wouldn't admit their ignorance about a place or things that were supposed to be common knowledge. They could still search for it though.

'Do they eat pancakes there?'
Of course Nora would ask something like that.

'Yeah, although I miss one sort of chocolate spread I'd always make my pancakes with. I sadly don't remember quite how to make it.'

'Pancakes with chocolate sauce?' Nora turned around and shook Ren's shoulders
'How could I not think of that Rennie?' Her eyes were almost gleaming.

Ren shook knowingly his head.
'Owen, you know she'll now pester you until you show her how it's done'

Me and my big mouth.
Maybe I still have a picture of the ingredients on my phone, I remember my brother sending me a message with a bottle of it attached...

'I'll see if I can remember how to make it. It's a hand-me-down recipe.'
Of a certain italian entrepreneur.

Despite the light hearted tone of the conversation, Jaune was still worrying. He had been wary of Owen since a few days. And now, knowing he had no previous training or that's what he told them at least, he wondered how he had won against Ruby's father, fought against the criminals and even tackled Yang, if just for a moment.

He remembered then he had also fought against the criminals himself and that quite successfully.

'Owen, just how much training do you have?' Jaune blurted out, realizing he had spoken aloud. It was too late now to retract himself.

'You mean before Beacon? I had to fight against Grimm in the forest a few times...'

Now Owen's demeanor changed suddenly. A somber look settled on his eyes The air between them turned surprisingly cold. '...and a few bandits.'

It might have been an evening gale, but Jaune didn't think it was just his imagination. He looked over to Pyrrha and realized she had noticed it too.

Owen was not very fond of bandits.

Owen realized he had somewhat changed the lighthearted atmosphere into something gloomy.
He had to change the mood back somehow.
'Man, I'm full, those were great ramen noodles'

'Right? I told you this place was nice Pyrrha' Jaune picked up the hint of changing the subject.

'Indeed, though I think my portion was too big' Pyrrha patted her belly softly, lost in thought.

'I would have gladly helped with that if you had said something, Pyrr Pyrr' Nora's bubbly air was exactly what they needed.

'And then I'd have to drag you all the way back to Beacon, Nora' Ren pointed out, a hint of a smile on his lips.

Owen remembered a conversation they had before and was quick to add 'It's not like she can't walk, she just loves riding on your shoulders, Ren'.

To which Nora's face almost took the same tint as her hair.

The group wholeheartedly laughed into the night, as they walked back to the airships.

One of us is now retreating
You knocked me down so hard I'm seeing a thousand stars
Come out where you are
'Cause I won't ever be caught crying
And I will not be taken lying down
It blows into smoke

The time we waste
Swallowed into space
It's the time it takes to blow
It's the ride we take

The many winged escape
It's the bough we break to blow away
To blow away
It's the times we say that no one's gonna take your place
It's a mistake to blow away
To blow away
We blow away

A/N: Whew. This chapter has been around for 3 years and I never managed to finish it and publish it until now. That happens when you focus too much on the future and neglect the present.

I had written author notes for this chapter, but I will have to find them in my notes first. I'll probably add them at a later point...

For future reference: Owen arrives at Beacon between Episodes 10 and 11 of Volume 1. Studying the timeline, there is a time gap of at least 4-6 weeks between these two episodes. If you want to know exactly when he arrived, it was a week after Ruby and Weiss made up ;-).
Time dilation and jumps of a few weeks will be common throughout the story.

I'll try to release it for the 3rd birthday of this Fanfic series (Tales of Remnant).
This one will be uploaded at the same time here in and in AO3

I keep working on later chapters. I am sorry it takes so long. though I warned you from the very beginning, I'm a perfectionist. A bad one, on top of that. Chapters come out rushed, I keep coming back to fix typos, correct some phrases and yet I still work in stuff that happens literal years later in the story. I guess I put too much effort in connecting the dots. I want a story that, if you happen to read it more than once (thanks!), you'll always find something new or something small, a detail that makes sense which didn't make sense before.

Sometimes I go back to my notes and I'm surprised by some things I'd worked out a few years back. There are some parts, some things important to the story that I even had forgotten until I read why I put them there in the first place. Once the whole story is out, it will be easier to connect the dots.

Most of you probably will wait until the tag "completed" appears in this story, so you won't lose patience. That is completely ok.

I've suffered with fanfictions from other authors too. Sometimes they came 5 years later to finish the story. It was always worth the wait though ;)

For those brave enough to follow this story chapter through chapter as they get released, hontō ni arigatou, ganbarimasu, you have my sincere thanks, especially for your trust and patience.

You will notice a difference in how Owen tells the story. In the first chapters he often speaks of "I", at least narration wise.

Later, the narration changes mainly to third person. This is not an error, but intended.

It's not about him anymore, it's about many other people's lives at stake.

The series is called "Tales of Remnant " for a reason. Tales are told, tales are written stories.

This is a recounting of what happens in Remnant.

I cannot divulge more than that for the moment, I just wanted to clarify the different styles.

Ps1: With this chapter, I am also releasing all of the revisited previous chapters. Maybe they are easier to read now and more enjoyable.
Happy 3rd Birthday, Tales of Remnant!

Ps2: I am still on the lookout for betareaders ;)
You must be young and in good health (since this will be finished around the same time as NASA lands on Mars, maybe later) and have some sense of humor.

Lyrics excerpt from "Blow Away" by Alison Sudol a.k.a. "A Fine Frenzy"