The Way

by Twisted Fate MK 2

Ever since the fall of the Covenant, the Arbiter has sought one thing. A path to redeem himself of his past sins. Waking up on a strange world does nothing to change that goal. Though it does add some complications to it, in the form of the bestial Grimm and strange children. But if the gods wish him here, then he shall see their desires through.

2. Finding The Way Forward

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"Endless…"

"Yep! No one really knows why, either." The young Rose crowed from ahead of him, turning and walking backwards with her hands cupping her neck and a smile on her face. "All we really know is that they keep coming, so we keep hunting."

"Truly?"

"Yep!" She nodded, giving him a shrug and turning to her sister beside her, "Right, Sis?"

"Someone's gotta do the job, yeah." The blonde brawler nodded, fussing with her armored hand and pursing her lips at something he couldn't discern. Groaning at something he didn't understand, she asked, "Hey, sis, when we get to the house you mind looking at this thing?"

"Somethin' wrong with it?" Ruby asked, bouncing to her side and grabbing her hand without thought. The blonde grunted and turned her hand over, showing her the inside of her wrist, and the smaller woman whistled. "Ouch, Yang. You dented the inside of your armor plating?"

"Maybe?"

"How though?" She laughed, shaking her head wryly as she seemed to come to her own apparently very likely answer. "Yang, did you punch a rock again?"

"It was a wall, actually. Though it was made of stone." The felid member of their party offered quietly, smiling when the blonde chuckled. As though in surrender, or supplication of a sort, she offered a gentle addition of, "In fairness, it did kill the Chimera."

"Exactly!"

"Just shooting it would have worked just as well, though, Yang." The Faunus murmured, earning a loud 'Hey!' from the brawler.

"And not broken her prosthetic's armor. Again. For the sixth time this week." The Schnee sighed, sounding exhausted but for the small smile that split her face. As though she were fighting it, she shook her head. "Honestly, what will you do when Ruby isn't around to fix it for you?"

"It is a prosthetic?" He rumbled, reminding them of his presence behind them and seeming to drag their good humor down.

Why, he wasn't certain, but the prosthetic seemed a faux pas to mention. Enough so that they all slowed and distanced themselves, eyes downcast and bodies tensing anxiously. Blake and Yang in particular exemplified it, turning away from each other and splitting further away to either side of him. He wasn't an expert in Human mannerisms, though he and his kin had spent some considerable time studying Humans in an effort to attain peace with them. But he was wise enough to sense the discomfort and seek a way to move them past it, lest they be mired within it.

"You say these Grimm are without number and without mind, yet they are such a grave threat." He rumbled, simultaneously voicing his curiosity and pushing the conversation past the quite proverbial minefield. Ruby gave him a look and he gestured to her with his lighter armored hand, "How can they be such a threat if they are simple beasts?"

"Because they aren't 'simple beasts'." Yang murmured, seeming to force herself out of her silence to answer the question. As she talked, he sensed her ease, forgetting the prosthetic hand clenched into a tight ball and pressed against her gut. "They're dumb, yeah. But 'simple' ain't the word to describe them. They're monsters."

"Perhaps simple is the wrong word, then." In hindsight, he was very definitely sure it had been. But his wording had been poor for a feeling of being pressed to move them on, and so he didn't exactly regret the poor wording. Regardless, "You say they can sense emotions. That they are drawn unto you for feeling them."

"No one is quite sure how that works, but yes." Weiss offered, sounding crisper but eager to explain as they walked. In a quieter voice, she offered that, "Ozpin might know more, when we get to Haven Academy."

"He knows much, this Ozpin." At least it seemed so, from how they spoke of him. As though he knew more than any other, to the extent that one would say 'no one knows' and then 'Ozpin might know' in the same breath.

"Ozpin is…"

"A special case." Ruby offered her white-haired companion, smiling when the girl nodded appreciatively and tossing a gentle, "Thank me later."

"A special case in what way?" He asked, turning and gazing at the back of the silent Faunus for answer. Mostly to gauge her mood, in all honesty, though that seemed a doomed cause and she didn't answer. Instead, he turned to Ruby, who had turned her back to him but was watching him over her shoulder as they walked.

"He's the headmaster of Beacon Academy, one of the four great academies that train the best Hunters on Remnant." Was her simple answer, along with a small shrug. After a moment, she finally added, in a quieter voice, "Probably shouldn't have slipped his name without asking him first, actually… Didn't think about it."

"The norm for you…"

"Oh, you love me, Weiss-cream." The reaper crowed, smiling brightly and flashing around to her teammate's side in a flurry of rose petals. He spluttered in surprise, but she didn't notice, instead wrapping the other woman in a hug and smiling wider. "You missed your bestie, after all, didn't you?"

"I despise you…"

"That wasn't a no~"

"All of my hate."

"They can be a lot, big guy, I know." The blonde said, falling back to walk with him while the other two stumbled ahead and the Faunus silently took their center. He gave her a look and his displeasure, slight as it was, must have shown because she sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know, it can seem childish. Is a bit childish, how they act. But, I mean, is that a bad thing?"

"For your kind, perhaps not." Though a childling would have never gotten away with such antics on Sanghelios. He didn't press the issue, though, instead turning to the young woman and speaking more lowly, "I am sorry I caused offence earlier. I was taken aback for my failing to discern what I was seeing."

"It's… Fine." She shrugged, the movement sharp and agitated. Holding it up, she made a show of flexing the fingers and chuckled, "What did you think it was, exactly?"

"Armor." He answered simply, "The UNSC has advanced combat skins that could, after a fashion, resemble the like."

"You've said that name a few times, now." Yang responded with a raised brow and crossed arms, giving him a once over. Whatever she was looking for, she seemed not to find. Instead, she raised her voice, just enough for her team's attention to be drawn by her words, "Since we told you about Faunus, maybe you could tell us about them?"

"Such would be… A fair exchange." He murmured, looking between four sets of eyes when they suddenly rounded on him all at once. It seemed they all had been curious about it, and had been waiting until one of them broke the ice on the discussion. "I… Suppose we have time, though I can speak only in brief. I am not of them, and so would not seek to give you an impression as though I was."

"Don't ask a Human what it's like on Menagerie." Blake finally broke her silence to say, interested enough in him and what he had to say to break out of… Whatever he had inadvertently caused between the young team. At his perched mandibles and cocked head, she explained, "It's an old saying. Basically, it means that you don't ask someone to describe something they can't fully understand."

"And yet you do so here." He murmured, ensuring that this amusement made it through in his words. Hearing it they shrugged and murmured half-hearted apologies for the matter which he waved off breezily enough. "I shall keep it brief, then, as I speak on things not within my right. They are the body that defends the Human race and it's planets, across space. In war, they were tenacious and incorrigible. In peace, they are stalwart and pragmatic, as they defend their worlds and people."

"Their… Worlds?"

"So you truly know nothing of your people across the stars, then." Or so the confusion in the young reaper's words told him, at the least. Regardless, "It is my assumption that in the great war the Covenant waged, this world was… Lost."

"Lost?" This time it was the Schnee who spoke, confused but seemingly pushing past it. "You're saying that you think they lost a planet? How is it that this story just keeps getting more and more insane?"

"When did your war happen, Arbiter?" Ruby asked suddenly, voice harder then he'd yet heard it. When he turned to her, she wasn't looking at him. Instead she stared dead ahead, as though pointedly avoiding looking to him. When he didn't immediately answer, she added, "If you think that this war you're talking about is why we don't recognize what you are talking about, ask us. When did the war happen?"

"Over the last half a century, according to your people's count." His own calendars and measurements of time didn't run precisely the same as theirs, of course. But it was better to use theirs in dealing with them. Or at the least, it was a polite thing to do.

And after everything, he owed their species at least politeness.

"The history of Vale runs back well over a hundred years of thorough documentation, and thrice that of more spotty record keeping." Weiss offered him quietly, turning to give him a hard look over her shoulder as they stepped into a clearing. "Wherever you're from originally and however, our people have only ever lived on Remnant."

"Impossible…"

"And yet it's the reality you have to deal with." Weiss countered breezily as they came to a stop, the small woman turning to him and cocking a hip to rest her hand on. "Spend a week with us and you'll get very used to impossible nonsense. It's frankly the only reason that the existence of… You, or other Humans out there, doesn't really phase us."

"Truly?"

"Yeah, we... " Yang grimaced and cocked her head to the side, clearly looking for the right words to use. Eventually, she gave up, shrugged and smiled sourly, "We're used to weirdness. Fighting monsters, magic zaniness, ask Ozpin," she added as his mandibles flicked and he made to ask, "terrorists, and ancient relics of unknowable there's aliens. And, I mean, sure. Why not?"

"I am… Filled with questions." But he was sure he would have none answered, at least for now, and so turned his eyes to the clearing. Shaking his head, he looked out on the clearing and nodded, "Is that our transport, then?"

"Yep!" Ruby bounced, smiling and waving at the airship hovering high in the air. "Part of our contract. Don't worry, they won't say anything about you. They're professionals."

"Our compartment is also private, so they won't be there to judge." Blake offered, along with a small and oddly knowing kind of smile. She must have requested it, having told him of how people treated Faunus on this world.

Such stupidity, discrimination of the kind was, in a world with creatures which were quite literally attracted to pain and rage… And which would slaughter all equally.

The airship was an oddity to him. Like a boat of Sanghelios, almost, but with sails for wings and propellers for driving force. It was large as well, easily the size of a Phantom with change to spare. A heavy, prow mounted turret sat listlessly and unmanned, and he quietly suspected more guns were hidden away behind slats that looked able to slide aside all along the side. Quietly, it came down and stopped, hovering just off the ground and with a hole through the middle open for them to board. Complaining of sore muscles, damaged equipment, and chatting quietly besides, the girls moved to board it.

And, with a shrug and a sigh, he made to do the same.

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Mistral, he found, reminded him even more of Sanghelios than the forest had reminded him of Earth. The architecture, the mountains, all were so similar to the land of his home world in so many ways. They were different, of course, and there was no mistaking that. The arches dipped lower, and the stairs were too narrow up and down the paths for his larger feet. Statues dotted the area as well, like Sanghelios, but these were often more artistic and fantastic than Sanghelios' own more heritage oriented statues.

A difference in cultures, he supposed. One favoring military history and accomplishment, and the other seeming to do the same, but also extolling simpler artistry for its own sake. Or so he suspected, given the statue of a woman with bird wings spread high. He knew of Faunus, of course, but he doubted that there were those that had wings. Or could fly with them.

There had to be a limit to the dimorphism of the Faunus, he felt safe in assuming.

Regardless of his musings and the stares he received as he walked - and his gentle assurances to his young friends that no, he did not want to hide himself behind a hood and cloak - they made good progress. First to a small office where they reported their mission's success and received payment in small, seemingly plastic and colorful cards they called 'Lien'. Once that was done, they stopped for food, the children being so kind as to buy him a small bag of apples at his request.

Green and tart, sadly, but he was not one to complain over a still delectable treat.

"You needn't have been so kind." He had assured them quietly, using his powerful fingers to crack an apple in half and taking it into his mouth to enjoy. "I would have been fine enough without."

"You help fight Grimm, you get fed. Shit's simple like that, Arbiter." Yang shrugged, herself chewing on a sandwich she'd bought while he teammates gnawed on their own morsels and walked. In a teasing tone, she smiled and ordered, "Shush, big guy, and eat your food. We're gonna have a long talk when we get back to base."

As brunt and crass as she'd been, he hadn't been able to fault her logic. And beside that fact, he doubted that the others would hear him complain and not say the same. So he'd simply shrugged the words off and allowed himself to enjoy his treat, as childish as it seemed now. It had been a good enough distraction, at least, from the burning questions in his head. Questions he knew thinking on would bring no solace, even as his mind was dragged to them.

Chief among them were how he had come to this world, and what would happen to Sanghelios without his steady hand. War, he imagined, played some kind of role in both questions. Though the former was a far more complicated, or rather empty and vague, usage of the answer. It simply didn't explain the hows and whys of the situation at hand as well and clearly as he would like, simply chalking it up to 'something related to a war' and leaving it there.

"The Storm Covenant, perhaps." He privately mused as he walked, casually ripping pieces of apple off with his mandibles and looking at statues as they walked. "Though how they could possibly have this kind of technology and an opportunity to strike at me with it, I know not. Further, why they would send me here, and not simply into a sun to die."

Regardless, soon they were stood before a quiet home, and the quartet was leading him up the stairs. Inside were four more people Ruby introduced him to, ignoring their confused looks as she did. As well as a fifth, named Qrow, who was apparently up the stairs and in his room, 'resting' in the middle of the afternoon. His sharp, experienced nose tasted alcohol and he turned from thoughts of the man, knowing well the comforts alcohol could bring to one who felt a need to partake.

He himself had many times enjoyed them in the temples near his keep, ahead of trials and campaigns.

"And this is Ozpin." Ruby finally finished her introductions, and brief explanations of their meeting and what he was gesturing to a Human child seated across from him in a comfortable chair. After a moment, and smiling anxiously, she waved her hands at him unsurely, sitting in a seat beside him but apparently flailing for a way to explain what she needed, "He's, uh, also Oscar too, sometimes. You just, you know… Have to ask and find out, sometimes."

"Well, I… I don't..." He himself flailed for a moment, taken aback by the odd statement but forcing himself to calm and approach things more simply. He had, after all, been exposed to much that was odd in the last few years. Admittedly, of course, some of the odder things had been only today but such was irrelevant. "I am afraid that I do not understand. From your words before I had presumed I would be meeting some old, wise man."

"Yep."

"This... " He paused to gesture at the smiling boy, who seemed more amused than anything, "This is a child, younger than any of you, Ruby."

"That's another yep from me, big guy." She nodded, smiling apologetically and taking the seat the young blonde man dragged over for her, matched by one for him so that they could sit in a circle around a low table. And, presumably, so they could talk more easily. "He's not… I mean they're not... Not, you know, one person."

"It's an old man inside a little boy, Mister Arby Sir." Nora offered from beside him, sitting uncomfortably close and leaning in as though she was inspecting him. At her words, though, everyone groaned and complained loudly, earning a laugh from the excitable girl as she finally leaned away from him to wave them all off. "What? Don't blame me if you all have dirty, dirty thoughts. Not my fault!"

"Nora, you know what you did…"

"I accurately described the situation! Who wants to say I didn't?" She nodded, smiling and flicking her gaze between each of them as she did, searching for someone to challenge. To his surprise, that included himself, eyes meeting his and narrowing before moving on. When no one bothered, she folded her arms, kicked her feet up on the table, pouting when Lie Ren knocked them off, and then crowed, "That's what I thought! You are all just perverts."

"As Miss Valkyrie so…" His face pinched, but he forced himself on with a breath, "well, eloquently put, there are two people in this body. Myself, Ozpin, older than everyone here combined. And my host, whose body you see, who is… Well, a child." He smirked and, aside a bit as though speaking to no one, added, "Hush, Oscar, I am only teasing you. You know this."

"I… Would ask how." Among a host of other things, of course, but that was most prescient and likely to be answered.

"Sometimes I think of it as a curse, sometimes a gift. In both cases, the origin is the same, though. As are the functions of it." The man paused to reach out and pick up a steaming mug, smelling it before taking a sip and sighing contentedly. Coffee, his nose told him from dozens of meetings with Human officials who sang its praises as much if not more than their MACs. Finally, he began to explain in brief, "The gods of this world left it after an ancient crime. They chose me to… Guide it. When I die, rather than go to the afterlife, my soul moves to a new, like-minded enough to stand being with, host. Along with my memories, and my power."

"Immortality… Granted by gods..." It seemed insane, but then, there it was. Normally he'd have doubted, but in a world of animals that sensed emotion and preyed on people, Humans with scales and feline ears atop their heads, and super powers enabled by the soul he saw no logic in debating it.

"Not quite immortality." The man corrected, "Eternal resurrection. I can be killed after all. And have been, numerous times. A matter of course in my line of work, I suppose." His chuckle died as he grimaced and sighed, "No, Oscar, I am not flippant about it. I love my hosts like you do your parents and siblings."

"The boy is… Present, then?" It was such an odd thing to ask, but here he was, doing so. "He can hear me?"

"Yes, he is." The man nodded, watching him, "Unless he chooses to recede, or sleep, he always is."

"I see." A tool of the divine, like what he'd thought so many other things had been. Something welled up within him at the knowledge, but he knew better than to believe without evidence now. And knew well enough what the feeling he felt was, "What proof do you have, then?"

"Proof?"

"Of your claim to divine mandate." He gestured at the group around him then and added in explanation, "I scarcely know any of you. Your testimonies are not sufficient for such a grand claim as this, and I hope you understand it."

"Seems reasonable to me. I mean, everything you're saying is kinda proven by you. Why would you expect different?" Jaune, the young knight, offered as he looked around for anyone to disagree. When none did, he turned to Ozpin and asked, "So, what have you got?"

"Miss Rose, would you please wake your uncle?" The man finally sighed, seeming resigned to his request rather than offended. Likely, he supposed, because he got such requests often enough to have grown used to them. "I have need of his parlor trick to prove what I am capable of without unduly exerting myself. Or poor Oscar's body, for that matter."

"Sure, I can do that." She nodded, smoothing her skirt as she stood.

"And explain him when you do, if you would." The man added as he stood, "We'll be waiting in the yard out back."

To his surprise when he rose, the others didn't follow them outside. Instead, they broke up, Jaune and the other two he'd only just met vanishing to the kitchen for 'snacks' and Ruby's team heading upstairs. Presumably to shower and rest properly, after their mission and ahead of whatever came next. But he and Ozpin - and Oscar as well, he supposed after a moment - went outside together and waited.

After a few minutes, Ruby returned, carrying a small crow in her hands and smiling.

"Here you go." She said as she offered it to him, "S'my uncle, Qrow."

"It is a bird…" He blinked, slowly looking up to her and then pointing to it. "Your… You are saying that your uncle is a bird?"

"Kinda?"

"He can change into a bird, yes. I used my magic to give him that ability, so he could do things that others would have no hope of in our mission." Ozpin offered from beside him, giving the creature a hard look. "And he can turn back when he wants to as well. A parlor trick that would be quite useful around now."

As if on command he blinked, long and hard, compelled by a sudden ache that felt more like he hadn't blinked in hours. When they opened, the bird was gone, replaced by a man sitting on the ground. Staring at him with tired, red and very unamused eyes and nursing a flask. The man looked him up and down once and then again, and finally he sighed and took a long drink.

"I am not sober or drunk enough for this nonsense…" He finally said, taking a long sip from his flask and standing. "Magical crap and aliens? I don't get paid enough for this craziness…"

"Well, I don't pay you at all at the moment, so…" The man rolled his eyes and Ozpin chuckled, turning to him and offering a small smile. "I will have more proof for you as time progresses, but for now I believe shapeshifting is magical enough to satisfy. No?"

"It is, yes." Which meant that the gods existed, at least in some form, and the man had a mandate from them. And how could he bring himself not to aid a divine mandate when the evidence had been properly offered? But he had his own needs as well and offered, "If you would help me find out how I came to be here, I would offer you my sword. And given the chance, my people's aid."

"Your people?" The man, Qrow, asked as he stepped to Ozpin's other side, with Ruby flanking on the other.

"I am a leader of my species, yes." Contested as that privilege and duty was at times, it was still the truth. And more allies such as these, who could fly and cut down beasts far larger and more powerful than themselves so easily, would not go amiss. "Once I find a way to contact my people, I can bring them here, to aid you and I alike. And repay your kindnesses."

"Well, we all know the best place for that." The bird man said quietly, giving Ozpin a small smile. "Luckily, we're already headed that way. And James will love somethin' like this showing up on his doorstep."

"Indeed." The man nodded, turning to look up at the Arbiter with a small, genuinely warm seeming smile. "Let me tell you about Atlas, then. Since I am more than happy to accept your offer."

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Okay so I forgot the -ee thing's cultural specifics. My bad, will explain as the story progresses. Translation, when I find an in-this-story nonsense retcon to use as an excuse so I don't have to play with FF's doc system. XD

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Boulder Fly :

Good news, then! Irregular uploads, but hey, at the very least I do intend to continue.

Seyd :

In canon, the Arbiter makes 'friends' with many Humans, notable examples being academics like Doctor Evan Philips. I simply assume that as he has made efforts to make headway in understanding Human culture enough, he would pick up obvious words.

'Schnee' to me is an 'Obviously german' word. And so, in how I see his curiosities and studies, he would recognize it for that, if not knowing her full name and what it means.

KPMH :

Eh, everyone scrabbles by as they can. I can't physically handle most work due to… Things, so I make my way. Also, I do original works, comms, podcasts, and am developing a game, so I don't just get support for this. If that, you know, helps.

I am very happy I did well enough on Thel's verbage for you, though! Spots in this chapter felt less solid to me, though. Still practicing his unique parlance.

Combine 117 :

Ironically, considering your name, it is not an AU. It's a crossover.

Minecraft 93 :

Between 4 and 5, just prior to Chief's disappearance.

Zenith tempest :

Oh, no, there will be a lot of friction about things to do with each universe. Don't worry, I have certain plans in mind for that. And yes, the Sangheili won't take well to him missing, but what are they supposed to do about it?

If you remember, though, him respecting people prevented Earth being glassed when the Flood landed on it. Or, well, fully glassed, at the least. I won't get into much, but suffice to say that when he learns that won't eradicate all the Grimm, that won't be his go to.