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His rest only lasted a few minutes at best, the cold and his friends voices calling out for him rousing him before long had likely passed. He could tell as much, as the gently falling snow hadn't built up enough to cover any of him where he'd fallen. At the very least, even though the brightness made his eyes and head throb achingly, the cold of the air and snow was a nice balm for the bruises he felt blossoming along his back, side and head. The latter of which he could blame for the headache, at least, though the light sensitivity worried him for the threat of concussion it posed.

All the more reason to get up and moving, then, as sleeping with a concussion could be very dangerous indeed.

Rolling over, he grunted, digging through the snow beside him until he unearthed the Bane. With it resting on his hip once more, a comforting weight to say the least of it, he forced himself onto his knees and reached up. Weak, frigid steel buckled under his weight and strength as he grabbed it and pulled himself through and free. The snow outside was deeper than he'd thought, though, and he sank up to his knee in the chill white powder. On his second step he grunted nearly tripping as a foot landed awkwardly on steel he couldn't see.

"Gotcha, big'n." A familiar voice grunted, Qrow appearing at his side and as much catching him as standing there like a rod for him to catch himself on. Chuckling as the Elite freed himself, the Huntsman waved off his thanks with a grim, resigned sort of smile, "All fine, trust me. 'Sides, probably my fault. Bit of a bad luck charm, you know?"

"I suppose I do." He didn't. At least no really, but then he understood little of their Semblances and magic save that it existed.

And so he found it easier to simply move on, turning eyes in their surroundings. The train sections they had separated had, as he remembered, been blown off the tracks. The wreckage spindled along for maybe a dozen yards, glass, metal and crates scattered around it like blood from a fallen warrior. Seeing him well, the girls began calling out to each other and, finally, scavenging the wreckage for whatever supplies could be found. And, of course, their own things, some of which had been left behind in the rear cars or their quarters.

Where his bag of apples had gone, he had no idea, but the back half of their car was crushed entirely. And that was where he'd been quartered, and they'd been left. What rotten luck…

He asked as Oscar approached, evident for his sloped shoulders and the way he fidgeted, glancing around them warily. As though he expected a beast to leap from the frost itself to consume him. Though in truth, from what little he knew of the matter, such was very probably possible. The ridiculous seemed to be the regular on this confusing little planet, after all, so he couldn't expect anything less.

"Are you well, child?" He asked quietly, striding to meet him while Qrow trailed off and away, always watching but keeping at a distance. As though afraid to be near the boy, for whatever reason. Why could be left to later, though, he decided, turning back to the boy and kneeling to check on him. "You seem uninjured, at least. And you haven't lost any of your things, have you? You appear all together."

"What?" His eyes narrowed and he blinked, shaking his head, "Yeah, no, I'm… Fine. Just scared. I feel like a monster's gonna jump out of a snowdrift or something at any moment."

"Such isn't impossible on this world." When the boy seemed to only panic more, the elite laid a hand on his shoulder so large it hid most of his chest, "But you are not out here alone. Stay near me, and I shall protect you with my life."

"O-Okay, yeah, sure." The boy nodded, seemingly comforted by the thought of an around ten foot tall veteran warlord with a plasma blade protecting him. For obvious reasons, he supposed. After a moment he blinked, eyes distant, and then shrugged and sighed, "Uh, Ozpin wants to talk to you first, though."

"About what, youngling?" He murmured as he rose, standing more surely now that the dizziness brought on by his throbbing head had subsided enough to be ignored.

"I don't really know. He, uh, didn't say." He shrugged, apparently not caring about not knowing. As though thinking along the same lines, he added, "I figure I'll, you know… Find out, in a second. So do you mind?"

"Ah." His reasoning made a lot of sense, really. And so with a small nod of his great head, he rumbled, "Very well, then. So long as you tolerate the intrusion, young Oscar."

The boy only shrugged, though, as though that thought wasn't one that really held any weight for him. Then, with a familiar, tiny shudder, his body language changed. Shoulders straighter, smile more easy and confident and eyes filled with more wisdom and certainty than before. Swiftly, the ancient warrior replaced the young boy while he watched on. It was, in truth, a rather odd thing to watch, if not an outright unpleasant one. It did raise questions in his mind, though, on the topic of souls and their fates. And of Oscar's, and what would happen to it in the end.

Questions, then, that he found best ignored.

"I wanted to ask you about Aura, actually." The ancient, divine parasite explained, gesturing for him to follow him away from the destroyed train and into the small clearing while the children continued digging their things out of it. At the confused tilt of his head and the perching of his mandibles, the man clarified. "About your Aura, specifically, Arbiter. And whether you wanted it to be activated."

"I am not of your people, ancient one. And so I do not truly know if I would even have an Aura, Ozpin." Or if he wanted that query answered, for that matter. Part of him didn't fancy knowing whether or not he was a soulless creature or not. After a moment of consideration, he decided he did.

"No, Uncle Qrow, I won't just 'let it go'!" Yang snapped, suddenly and loudly, tugging him out of his considerations far before he could make a decision. He turned and was met with her shoulder, brushing him aside and demanding, "The Relic attracts the Grimm, doesn't it, Oz? I saw them coming after you more than anyone else."

"I…" The wizard paused, considering her words for a moment before shaking his head and affecting a small, assuring smile. One that cried out to his ancient instincts, dragging on memories of the Covenant. But why, he couldn't say, beyond the gut reaction. "Oscar was… Merely afraid. That was the more likely cause of the Grimm focusing on me. And I was nearer to the cars we put the civilians in, if you recall. And besides, we need to know where the Relic is first and foremost."

"Nuh-uh, that can wait." Yang grunted, crossing her arms as the rest of their party began to filter in around them and he stepped back, watching them both. Eventually, he found himself beside Qrow, the two standing together as she argued further, pushing him, "And you didn't say it doesn't attract the Grimm, I noticed."

"I did not, no." The man sighed, turning a hopeful gaze on Qrow. When the other man could only shrug uncertainly, Ozpin pinched the bridge of his nose and finally, quietly, admitted, "Very well then, as this is an apparently unavoidable discussion now, seemingly. Yes, it attracts the Grimm. It's faint, easily overwhelmed by fear or the like, but undeniable. I believe it's due to their origins, how they were made and what they are, but I don't know for sure."

"So you did lie?" The Schnee asked, shaking her head as her team formed up. "What happened to your promise, then?"

"I did not lie, Miss Schnee." Ozpin argued as gently as he could, eyes flicking across the snow around them as he turned, looking further out while he talked. "I merely… Withheld some information. That's all."

"Yeah." Yang nodded, "'No more lies and half truths', right? Nice to see how far that got. Us, Mistral, I mean hey, at least you don't discriminate in who you lie to. What about Uncle Qrow? What about our mom? Did you lie to them too?"

"Hey now, that's enough o' that." Qrow warned, stepping in between the kids and the old man, who had turned to answer. To defend himself or admit to it would never be known, though. Instead, he let Qrow speak for him. "Raven chose her own damn way, and you know better than to use Summer like some kind of damn bludgeon. Your dad raised you better than that."

"My point isn't about that, and I'm not using either of them, Uncle. I… I'm sorry, okay. To you and Ruby both. Okay?" Yang grunted sharply at the last, thoroughly ashamed and clearly apologetic, but still too angry to let the heart of the matter go. Still, she spoke somewhat quieter and more calmly next, "It's just that I don't like the idea of fighting for someone that constantly lies to me like this. It's… Not right, to lie so often, and to-to everyone."

"I don't think this is the time or place for this discussion, Miss-"

"I do." He stepped in himself, eyes hard and appraising as he looked between the two. Firm and resolute, he gave the young Huntress hopeful a curt nod and turned back to Ozpin. "I do not wish to speak of it, but I served in the military of an empire who built their foundations on lies, Ozpin. Their lies brought about the deaths of literally innumerable innocents. By my blade, I killed countless good people because of such kinds of deceit. And I will not stand aside and be lied into war and murder yet again, ancient one. Speak the truth, or lose my blade. And my armies."

"Fine, then." Ozpin sighed, shaking his head and turning his back on them, searching the snow around them for the Relic while he spoke, "Yes, I lied about Leonardo's fate. I thought it better to keep the populace calm and honor a man who was once my friend rather than get everyone upset over nothing."

"Nothing?" Qrow murmured just loud enough to carry, "Oz, he killed… He got so many good Huntsmen and Huntresses killed."

"Yes, and that is shameful! But I was not willing to sour their sacrifices as being betrayals, or throw away all Leonardo's years of service for the missteps of his final years." The man argued firmly, shaking his head and turning his gaze from one of them to the next, lingering only long enough to be sure he was making eye contact.

Sighing yet again when no one interrupted, and then taking a breath to steady himself, he went on, "I just need you, all of you, to understand that I have a method to my, well, methods. The things I do, the secrets I keep, I have reasons for all of them based on more experience than all of you and your parent's years on this planet combined."

"Thousands of Leonardos, thousands of knives in the back from people saying that I could trust them. So yes." He finished solidly, sounding tired but satisfied in the way that someone who had won an argument would be. Smiling, and certain, he went on, "I withheld the information that the Relic could draw the Grimm onto us. Because I thought it was best for everyone here if I did so. To prevent the same negativity all of you are showing right now, which would draw every Grimm in the area onto us if they weren't likely already dead. Now, can we please set about finding one of the most important artefacts known to mankind?"

"It's here." Ruby murmured quietly from beyond her teammates, reaching under her cloak to retrieve the little bauble. It floated above her hand, small but clearly magical, and she smiled weakly at it. "It got scattered in the crash. I found it."

"That's… Good news, Miss Rose." Whatever he'd originally meant to say, he smiled and took a step forward, holding out a hand and smiling wider. "Please, hand it over and we can get underway."

"I…" She grimaced and licked her lips, looking first to it and then back to him. "So all those things you said, about having faith in Humanity… That was just for other people?"

"No, Miss Rose, that isn't what I meant. " The man assured her, smiling in the paternal, consoling way he'd seen some of his men smile. Even across the divides of species, such was a recognizable look. As was the falsity to it, much to his disquiet. Still smiling, he reiterated, "I just wish to take the Relic so that we may move on. So please-"

"I can carry it." She assured him, eyes narrow and hard in a way that caught the Arbiter off guard. Clipping it onto her belt, she gestured to it and smiled, "See? Now let's go."

"I'm sorry, Miss Rose, but I must insist on carrying it myself." He argued gently, taking another small step towards her, so his right foot was the one forward. The other, he noticed, had turned aside for better grip. As though he meant to leap for her. "The Relic is a burden and a target. I would not put it on anyone else."

"But I'm volunteering-"

"Even so, I would like to have it back."

"Why does it matter who carries it?" Blake asked, waving a hand towards it. "You said it was useless, so it's not likely to be a target right now."

"Because I am the one who-" He flinched and froze, body trembling as if under great strain for a long moment. Then he collapsed, trembling on hands and knees as though freezing to the core or bearing a great weight.

"Ozpin…?" Yang asked, weapons extended on instinct at the sudden turn. Around her, hands had fallen to weapons, wary of attack by Grimm or whatever else.

With a blink, he realised that he, too, had his hand on the hilt of his blade. To what end he wasn't certain, as he doubted he would cut down the boy if he attacked. Even were Ozpin his enemy, he would not kill the boy with him for it. And with his size, he could easily bind the warrior down and restrain him, until the boy was back under control.

"N-No." Oscar, he could tell from the pitch and the effort in the words, ground out. Forcing himself up, he rested back on his haunches in the snow, wincing as though in pain. As though under attack. "H-He doesn't want you to have it because- Because he doesn't want you to find out what he's hiding."

"What he's-"

"Jinn!" The boy interrupted, struggling still and clutching his head for it. "Say her name to summon her before I lose- Ah!"

"Please." Ozpin, voice steadier and lacking the struggle behind it, finally said quietly. Fearfully, even. Looking up at them with pleading eyes, he half rose so that he was kneeling, one hand stretched out for the Relic, "Please, Ruby. Don't. Don't say her name."

"I…" The girl turned a look on her team, lost, and finally on the Arbiter and Qrow, standing before him and to the side, looking as lost as the girl was. "U-Uncle Qrow…?"

"Listen, Ruby, just-" He took a step forward and the other three girls snapped to attention, weapons out and leveling on him as though to cut him down. Even the elderly woman, standing beyond the girls and looking wholly lost, flinched at the sight. The Huntsman sighed and raised his hands in surrender, shaking his head, "Just… Do whatever you think is right, kid."

"Ji- Mph!"

Ozpin moved before she could speak, the hand that had been in the snow lashing out. The ball of powder caught the girl in the mouth, gagging her, and he launched forward. The Schnee was the closest and stepped in, white glyph spinning behind her, but the warrior didn't pay her much note. A snowball caught her in the eyes, blinding her so that she couldn't block the fist that caught in her hair, the boy wrenching her to the side and hurling her into the blonde as she came for him.

The Belladonna was next, a shadow taking the snowball as she moved. Her ribbon wrapped around an arm as she landed in front of him and stepped back, yanking him to off-balance the man. Instead, though, the man dove in, slamming his shoulder into her gut as his cane as a hand dipped between her legs, gripping a thigh and yanking her upright to drop her into the snow. The Faunus fell, surprised and with her footing gone, and the boy used her as a step, leaping over her towards the hacking Rose.

He only made it a step further before the Arbiter slammed into his back, driving him down. He made to rise and the alien closed a fist around the boyish head and waist, lifting him up wholly. Snow slammed into his face but he ignored it, ordering, "Say the name if you so wish it, child."

"No!" Ozpin cried, sounding… Broken, almost, in a way that had the Arbiter wince in sympathy. "Miss- Ruby, please, don't."

"Jinn." The girl murmured in answer, the Arbiter nodding his understanding and turning, dropping the man into the snow with the Arbiter between them and the girls surrounding the alien and the boy.

For a moment, nothing happened, and the Arbiter almost wondered if something was wrong. Then, he felt something crackling around him, like the energy of an exposed power conduit. Or, more nearly, like a Forerunner teleporter system. Blue emanated from behind him as the very snowfall halted and he turned, looking up as a massive woman with skin as blue as the sky came into being, floating in the air.

"Aaaaaah!" She moaned, stretching languidly as chains and jewelry formed around her, fitted to her seemingly naked but featureless form. Letting her hands drop the spirit bobbed and smiled, "Wonderful. Simply wonderful, to see so many new people. Ah, yes, introductions." The spirit cleared her throat, intoning, "I am the Spirit of Knowledge, created by the God of Light to gift Humanity with the power of knowledge."

"A spirit…"

"Yes, Thel." The being chuckled, turning and leaning down to look him in the face. He staggered back at the closeness and for his shock, tripped, and fell into the snow. Her eyes crinkled in amusement and, idly, she mused, "To think one of you would find their way here, of all places… Tell me, do you intend on burning this world, too?"

"I…" She knew him and what he had done, and the realization had his heart racing even as his extremities went numb.

"Of course I know who you are, silly alien. And what you intend, and what you have done. Forgive me my mischief." The being laughed, a musical and mirthful sound, straightening and turning to the girl who had called her name. "I am the Relic of Knowledge, Ruby Rose. As the Old Man didn't tell you the rules, I shall. In each era, I may answer three questions. And you are in luck because I-"

"Jinn, don't." Ozpin interrupted, the spirit turning to regard him as the Arbiter collected himself.

"...Have two questions left in this era, and for the next roughly sixty-seven years." Another dark, mischief minded chuckle broke past the spirit's lips as she looked on the boy. Or, seemingly a more accurate understanding, she was looking through Oscar's body and at the man that dwelt within. "Hello, Old Man. Good to see you again, though you visit so rarely. And for once, you were even kind enough to show me the sky."

"Please…"

"Oh, cease your pleading, please, Old Man." She chuckled, the sound harsher and crueller than ever before, in their short time knowing her. "You know as well as I do that whoever summons me has reign on what happens. Not me." Her gaze flickered to the Arbiter, then, and she added, "Well, any summoners who are natives of the World, at least."

"You mean-"

"I am not bound to answer any questions you ask, no, Thel Vadam the Destroyer." Her nose crinkled as he felt the loss run through him, the warrior having dared for a moment to hope that she could grant him the answer to his gravest question. To his people's gravest query. At the thought, she smirked and turned to look down on him, head held back almost as though she thought herself a ruler high above him, head cocked to the side where she floated and considered him. "Knowing the answer to that question will do no one any good. I am the Relic of Knowledge, Thel Vadam, Night Ender. I am the one that answers only with the truth, and though I can not predict the future, I know for certain that my answer is true."

"Were it so easy to dismiss…" He sighed and shook his head, pushing aside his selfish, burning need to know the answer to his question. Instead, he rumbled, "Please, consider the matter for a time. For now, young Ruby..."

"What's your question?" She asked, watching him closely.

"Girl, the answer to his question will not-"

"The truth is the truth." She countered, asking him again, "What is your question?"

"I…" For a moment, he considered what to do. It would be so easy to give in and ask what he so desperately wished to know. What his people and their victims so wanted to discover. But… "No, Ruby." He finally answered, chest aching with it, "I cannot allow you to use a question such as this to satisfy my mere curiosities. Even if my question is so deeply valued to me, it would be hubris to risk your people on it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." No, but honor demanded as such, and he would not be a hypocrite of convenience. "Ask your true question, and let it be done."

"Okay…" The girl turned to the spirit again and he had to turn to grab Ozpin, armed with a stick and a fist of snow he'd dug up, before he could attack her again. He shoved the boy aside and the blonde's arms closed around him, looped under his arms and up, behind his neck. With a sigh, Ruby asked, voice cracking for her fear, "What is Ozpin hiding from us, Jinn?"

And then, all was darkness, before white broke through his vision, a tower seemingly painting itself into existence. And he was alone, turning this way and that, searching for his fellows. In his ears, once he was resigned to the solitude, he heard the voice speak, "Long ago, there existed a lonely tower. And in the highest room of that tower, behind innumerable barricades was a girl."

A blonde woman appeared before him, brushing her hair as her room was painted into existence, and the voice finished, "A girl named Salem."

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Dark Vampire Kisses :

Because you didn't pay attention to announcements~?

Green the Ryno :

Maybe, maybe not, but you won't be hearing it yet. If indeed it comes out at all.

Combine :

Yeah, he jinxed it. But then, he's new to this world, so he doesn't know what to expect in the first place.

Zenith Tempest :

If you are getting burnt out on RWBY then take a break. No one blames people who do that, it's normal to let things sit for a while.