DISCLAIMER: I do not own RWBY nor do I claim to. I just like the show and wanted to write a little something for it.
Note: This story was written for a challenge on the RWBY Amino as a 'what if' type of story when you had to take an event and change it, my entire which is to follow is a discussed 'what if'.
_[ STORY ]_
A young man with scruffy black hair sat silently on a train bound to the kingdom of Minstrel, his green-gold eyes staring at the scenery with a mix of wonder and regret. A feeling of pain swirled in his chest when his transport sped past a particularly vast expanse of land.
'One of the many battles fought during the great war was waged there, over 5,000 lives were lost over that two-day conflict,' a voice echoed in the back of his skull. 'Another what if.'
'The world is full of 'what if' there's nothing that could have been done, Marcus was about as stubborn as they come...this whole memory thing still freaks me out," the young man said to himself and the voice.
'Haha Oscar I remember when I was in your place, it's a bit scary, yes, but unlike me, you took this mantle on with ease,' Ozpin chuckled.
'I...I catch glimpses of memory none of them complete, but I know some of the ones I've seen are very old. How long has this been going on?' Oscar asked.
'I've lost count of the endless years, but I know for certain it's been several thousand,' sadness filled Ozpin's voice as he explained, 'I made a mistake that cost my soul to forever be reborn and all because of a 'what if'"
'Does it have anything to do with that woman in purple? I can't recall her name yet.'
'Salem...her name is Salem, and it has everything to do with her. She was once someone very dear to me. We used to do everything together. The village we lived in was small, everyone knew everyone, but one day she vanished. Months later the other villagers had given up. I was about to as well when she reappeared and wiped out our town with her new army, I...I never asked why she spared me…' Ozpin trailed off.
Memories tainted with anguish and fear flooded into Oscar's conscious mind with such intensity his breath caught in his throat and a single tear escaped his eye, he coughed a few times as he choked back more tears.
'I'm so sorry, I try and keep those suppressed when I first bond…'
"It's alright," Oscar said aloud he earned some odd looks for his words, he blushed.
Ozpin absently chuckled at the boy's embarrassment.
'what are you thinking about?' Oscar asked already knowing the answer.
'Just thinking, if she hadn't gone missing and become that possessed monster, what our lives would have been like, I had planned to ask for her hand what would have been a few weeks after she vanished. I often think what it would be like to have seen her opposite me exchanging vows or with the children we would have had. The world now would not be so overrun with Grimm.'
'Nor would there be the Huntsman school or the CCT,' Oscar added.
'Our existence is so intertwined with this world and its development that any number of things would be changed if neither of us had become what we are... we influenced the war, the kingdoms, the schools, and so much more. It's a terrifying realization.'
'True, but it did, and at least I'm not a bored farm hand dreaming of adventure any longer.'
Ozpin laughs a good hearty laugh at the boy.
_[ ~FIN~ ]_
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