Okay, this chapter may not seem entirely canonical with what I've already written, but it's in the past. Just keep that in mind.
You know, I've found I'm pretty good at interludes, rather than continuing a story. Maybe during the next story I'll put in more interludes.
Sitting behind the register of her general store had a bored expression before she decided to pull a bottle of soda from her breast pocket and began to drink. A few moments later, she stopped drinking and lay the bottle down onto the table in front of her with a lazy smile. It was pretty good. Then a long belch erupted from her mouth and she belatedly covered it with a giggle right before a sound like an explosion ripped through the air. Yep, today was going to be a good day.
"ROSE!" came the yell of another woman. "DID YOU JUST STINK US OUT?! GROSS!"
Rose turned to the livid white-haired woman with her handkerchief held over her mouth and glaring at her and smiled a little sheepishly. "Sorry Snow." She said, not in the least bit apologetic. She sniffed the air and, while a little fouled, was no serious issue.
The other three women with a stake in the store, on the other hand, held a different opinion, if their glares were any indication.
The door chime to Winter Rose's General Store dingled and Rose's attention was pulled to the front. As drilled into her by Snow, she had a duty to take care of her customers whenever they appear in the shop while she had control over the counter. She may have relaxed, somewhat, since her days of loneliness and ferality, but she had kept her focus and ferociousness, which had cleanly transitioned to business sense, particularly whenever a particularly affluent character drifted into her shop. Though she didn't exactly drive up the price sharply for such individuals, they still had to pay more than the working class unless they noted otherwise. Thankfully, almost none of the higher class and richer members really mingled with the cheaper individuals.
Today, however, she'd be cheaper than usual as her sharp and intelligent smile turned friendly at the sight of the bundle of energy that had opened the door to her humble shop with Snow. Still psychotic of course, but friendly. "Hey Ozzy! Who's your friend?"
A child with very messy brown hair and mischievous hazel-brown eyes which were brought out more clearly by his green t-shirt and darker green pants smiled at her from behind his inappropriately severe-looking oversized sunglasses. The eight-year-old gestured to his companion, a similarly-sized girl with long blonde hair, more severe rectangular glasses over somewhat flinty pale green eyes, and wearing leggings, a far-too-big white button-up and a purple blanket for a cape who happened to be glaring at him hard enough to try and set him on fire. "This is Glynda. She's a friend of mine." His face suddenly scrunched up as Glynda's did the same. "Did something die in here?"
Rose raised her eyebrows at the two children in front of her, still smiling at them. "Funny. No, I just farted, that's all."
His eyes widened in glee as he turned to his friend. "I told you that girls fart too!"
She crossed her arms and glared back at him. "No, we don't!" She argued back, her anger rather cute.
Rose smiled kindly and conspiratorially. "Actually, it's ladies that don't fart. You're still a girl."
Glynda gaped at her, aghast. "But, but you're a lady!"
Rose gave a bark of laughter at that. "Nope! I'm not a lady. Heck, I'm not even a girl. I'm a monster, and that disqualifies me from any kind of lady-like behavior!" She declared with a grin.
Glynda's eyes went wide, suddenly afraid. "A monster?"
Ozzy sighed with a slightly nostalgic smile, likely remembering his reactions to this particular fact. Rose smiled at that memory too, as she remembered how this particularly mature child had helped her figure out how to say it "appropriately for civilized society". "Well, you don't have to worry about me, I'm one of the good monsters."
"What's a 'good monster'?" Glynda asked worriedly.
Rose came around the counter to crouch in front of the girl. "There are many types of monster in the world, but there is a type of monster, a good type, that designates itself to protecting those who can't protect themselves. Hunters."
The girl's eyes went wide, this time in awe and adoration. "You're a Huntress?"
"Yep."
"Rose! What are you doing over there?" Snow called.
"Just visiting with the customers!" Rose shouted back, then paused, thinking about her family and what they're doing at this particular moment (a game they'd recently discovered called "Poker", though the current bets used were a combination of favors and sweets) and smiled sneakily. "Hey Kat! Get your hand off of Snow's Kitty treats and get over here!"
There was a gasp before a yell happened in the back, which preceded the sounds of a struggle and Rose cackled. It was so much fun getting her family riled up. She straightened before the raven-haired member got up to the front before hiding behind Rose to get away from their Icy member. She looked a little worse the wear, though most of that was the minimal damage to the black Yukata she was wearing and a few strands of hair loose from the bun it had been done up in that morning behind her black cat-ears. Then she noticed the two in front of her and cocked her head at them, glowing golden eyes studying them with interest. "Rose, who are these two little morsels?" She asked humorously.
"Well, Kat," She said, naming her 'sister' with what she currently went by, "This is the young Mister Ozymandias Arbigotti and his friend Glynda With-No-Last-Name."
"Hey, I have a last name!" Glynda said outraged. "And that is not Oz's last name!"
"Yes it is. And no you don't." Rose said simply, still having much fun. "Just like how Kat is not quite Blake's name."
Confusion cut through the girl's ire. "What's that supposed to mean."
Kat knelt down and smiled at the girl before pointing at her head and wiggling her ears. Glynda saw what Kat was pointing at and gasped. "You're a faunus-person!"
"Yes, I am." Kat said simply. "And don't worry about Rose here. She confuses us too, and we've had several lifetimes to get used to her."
Rose smiled and offered the young girl a small cylindrical object, keeping the girl from focusing on the fact that Kat was a faunus. Not too many people were really fond of faunus at the moment, especially not in the workplace. True, the girl was young, so the prejudice might not be there yet, but it was better to not focus on it.
The girl looked at the object that was shoved into her face, surprised at it's sudden appearance. She looked up at Rose, who nodded encouragingly and offered it a little more obviously. With some trepidation, she took it, and Rose answered her unspoken question. "Every witch should have a wand. Especially if they wish to play with Dust." was all she really said. And once the girl understood, that's all she needed. She looked the well-crafted object over, awed at the gift she had just been given.
A very loud sneeze broke the austere air to the room, startling Oz and Glynda, who barely held onto the object in her hands rather than dropping it.
"Holy cow, Dragon, did you just give yourself brain damage?!" Rose called out teasingly.
"Nope, I just- ack!" The blonde in question cut herself off as the sound of something beating on cloth sounded through the air for a moment. "Just set myself on fire is all."
"You better not have set fire to my candies, flame face!" The faunus yelled back, though without ire.
"Don't worry! Just my leather trench coat is all." The blacksmith called back.
"Um, how do I use this?"
Rose pulled her attention back to the little girl and her question. "Well, for now, you just wave it around like any other kid on the block with a new toy." She said with a teasing smile. "But when you grow up," she paused to push a button on the handle, which made the object extend to it's full form, rather than stay in it's storage form. It was a powerful black Riding Crop. "You wave it around while covered in Dust and you make things explode." Rose finished impishly to the even more awestruck girl. "Just, uh, don't let your parents find out, okay?"
"Why?" She asked distractedly.
"Because," Rose paused to fish out a packet of purple Dust to go with the present she'd just given away to the young child, which she handed over as she finished with, "Dust can be very dangerous, and most adults Wisely do not trust children with such a thing."
"Then why give it to me?" Glynda asked suspiciously.
"Because either I am not as wise as most adults, or I trust you enough not to blow yourself up in the process of learning." Rose finished as she pressed the button to retract the crop back into a simple cylinder and straightened. She looked over at the clock, then at Oz as she rose an eyebrow. "Is it my imagination, or did you tell me that you needed to do something with a friend at about 9 o'clock, Oz?" He nodded vigorously and opened his mouth to tell her what it was when she interrupted. "Then you better get going! It's 8:55!" He looked up at the clock in confusion, yelped at the time, and then bodily dragged Glynda out of the shop. "Have a good time you two!" She shouted as the door closed.
"That was unusual." Blake commented.
Rose shrugged, a happy smile still on her face. "He's a good kid with good potential. Can't wait to see what he can and will do, and his friend could be interesting as well, she just needs the right push." she explained to the curious cat-eye.
"Who was that?" Snow asked as she finally made her way in.
"Oh, nobody important, Snow. Just a friend and his friend." Rose said to wave away the curiosity. She turned to Snow with a malicious smirk on her face. "Now, aren't you worried that Dragon might steal your SnowBalls?"
"Nah, I-" Snow cut herself off, eyes widening in shock and realization. True, Rose had a tendency to eat anything in sight, but Dragon's tendency to do so with sweets was legendary in comparison to Rose's voracious apetites. She whirled around and ran back into the back room to make sure that Dragon did no such thing, the sounds of an ensuing fight causing the monster and her pet cat to laugh hysterically at the comical nature of their family. Life couldn't be any better at the moment.
So, it's short, and not quite the next part of the story, but I liked it, even if it did come right from the top of my head, rather than from the pages of pre-written words. Still, I think it's funny, and I think it works well as an homage to Monty Oum, who recently passed away. I know it's a little late, but as the guys at RoosterTeeth said, we should honor his passing with joy for he is now in a better place, and to honor his life and creativity with creativity of our own! Here's to you, you wonderful man.