RWBY: Son of Salem

Chapter 42

Marek

I was walking around the city alone since I figured we'd find Oscar quicker if we split up. My hood was covering most of my face and Saphron gave me gloves to hide my hands. "Oscar?!" I shouted. No response. "Where is that kid?" The streets were dark, making it a bit harder to see.

"Oscar?!"

Getting no response, I decided enough time had passed and started heading back to the house.

Minutes later

I got back just in time to see Qrow sit up from laying on the stairs. "Why am I on the stairs?"

"Probably because no one's home, Uncle Qrow. We've been out looking for Oscar." Ruby told him.

"Oscar?"

"No luck?" Ren asked as he and his team approached.

"No, you?" Ruby asked.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to Atlas without him." Jaune said.

"We?"

Jaune turned to his sister. "Sorry we won't be staying."

"No you're not." Saphron said with a smirk.

"How about we get out of the cold?" Terra suggested.

The door to the house opened. "Oh, I was wondering when you'd get back." Oscar said, standing in the doorway with a new set of clothes.

"Oscar!" RWBY and JNPR all jumped on the boy in a tackle hug.

I glanced at Qrow who shrugged. "You had us worried sick!" Weiss said.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"What are you wearing?" Nora grinned.

"Uh..."

The rest of us stepped into the house. Noticing something cooking, I glanced into the kitchen. "Is something cooking?" Terra asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I thought you guys would appreciate a hot meal after... spending all day looking for me, apparently." Oscar shrugged.

"It's my fault we were all out there in the first place." Jaune stepped forward. "Oscar, I am so sorry for earlier. I was way, way out of line, and what I said-"

"No, it's okay." Oscar cut him off. "These past few days, I've been scared of the same things you were. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be... me. But I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left."

"Good. This team isn't the same without you, Oscar." Jaune said.

Suddenly, a smoke alarm started beeping. "The casserole!"

Saphron chuckled. "We're on it, chef."

I was about to head over to the couch when I noticed Qrow started walking up the stairs. "Hey, where are you going?" I asked him.

"I don't want to get in the way of your celebration." he replied.

"You've been gone all day! Just sit with us." Ruby told him.

"Look, Ruby, I'm glad you kids worked out, uh, whatever all that was. But the fact is, we're not a single step closer to Atlas." Qrow replied.

"Actually, I think I have an idea. But... it's sort of a 'no-going-back' kind of idea." Jaune rubbed his head.

"Well, let's hear it." Pyrrha said.

"With Cordo on watch, only Atlas airships have the clearance to leave for Solitas. So... we... steal an Atlas airship." he nervously shrugged.

"Oh, yeah, great plan, nothing can go wrong at all." I said sarcastically. "I mean, it's just the Atlas military."

"That's not just breaking the law. That's... that's definitely worse." Weiss added.

"How would we even get onto the airfield?"

"That part I haven't quite figured out yet. But I-"

"Okay, stop. Just... stop!" Qrow interjected. "Look, if this thing goes south, it's not something we can just fight our way out of. This is the Atlas Military we're talking about." he sighed. "For your sake, just drop this."

"I want to hear him out."

"Ruby..."

"I want to hear him out!" Ruby insisted. "I know you're trying to protect us, that you're afraid we can't do it, but right now, I don't really care what you think! Just because you don't have an idea, doesn't mean we're out of options! Oz hasn't been here to tell us what to do, but we still managed to get this far anyway. We've been in bad situations before, and we don't need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do. We just did it our way! And I say we do it our way. And if you think you can keep up with us 'kids'... we'd be happy to have you."

"Looks like you didn't give her enough credit either."

End of chapter 42