XIII - Hardening Off
~~~(XII)~~~
Unknown: Good work making contact with the Schnee. Work on gaining her trust and learn about their team. Don't forget the other two. It is imperative that we know as much as we can.
It seemed the information he'd sent the other day was well received. Honestly what he'd sent was paltry information to him. But maybe it was just that they wanted proof that he would obey? Either way, he had to find a plausible way of interacting with them again.
While he may have gotten on the Weiss girl's good side, he doubted that would be enough to just approach them. There were also other targets that were on separate teams. While he met the Sun fellow, he knew not why Pyrrha was on the list.
Doing research on her was a lot easier than the others. She was a famous fighter from Mistral apparently, and won four separate tournaments before studying at Beacon. While she was on his target list, there was no way he would challenge her to a fight. She was hailed as invincible, and he was very much vincible, truly a horrible match up.
He looked at news articles written on her, being as famous as she was, not a lot was hidden from the public. Fight records, habits, and more were published for the world to see. It was slightly disconcerting how much was in public view, but at least it helped him.
After a bit of research on the Mistrali champion, he decided he'd done enough for the moment. What he learned was news to him, but not likely for his boss. Turning in for the night, he thought of ideas for his next moves.
~~~(XII)~~~
This morning's breakfast was similar to the previous day. He sat at the next closest table to teams RWBY and JNPR with his back turned and listened in on their conversation. using their voices to go off of, It seemed like the blonde from yesterday was still teasing Weiss on her "transfer craze".
It was then that his day got a lot more complicated.
"Hey, isn't that the same guy from yesterday? The new transfer you snuck off with?" Oxon tensed at the mention of him. Hopefully if he pretended to be focused on his food they would ignore him and continue on.
"Oooooooooooooo, does the blueberry boy have competition?" A loud voice from behind said, with the subtlety of an avalanche.
"For the last time, I'm not interested in Neptune, and least of all someone I'd only met yesterday!" A few snorts and coughs were heard from behind him. Oxon swore he heard a "snow angel" between a few.
"But, the man came in like a knight, vanquishing the monster harassing the princess. Tell me, was he riding a horse too?"
"Of course not! There is no way Professor Goodwitch would let a horse on campus. And you were there, Yang, did you see a horse."
"Awww, why you gotta be such a neigh-sayer? I'm just horsing around." The table groaned at the two puns. Oxon thought they were okay.
The other loud voice piped up next "Don't tell me! Was Yang telling the truth? Did he actually wall pin you!? Saucy Weiss-cream" The last sentence halted the conversation as said girl began to sputter denials.
Oxon himself choked a bit on his drink. That proved to be a mistake as they now paid him more attention. "So you can hear us!"
He thumped his chest to clear his airways and let out a few internal curses before turning to face the group behind him. He saw five girls and a guy sitting at a large table. By looking at the numbers, it seemed like two were missing, Nikos being one.
"Ah, sorry." He wasn't about to confess to spying, but it's not like they were being quiet. That would help him keep his cover going forward. "I wasn't trying to listen in, it was just... It's a bit hard to not hear."
The comment got nods from most of the members at the table as they looked at the blonde and the ginger. The ginger who was standing up with her hands on the table and staring directly into his eyes.
Uhhhh, please don't hurt me.
Instead of bodily harm or threats, she asked/ yelled if Oxon had a horse and if she could ride it. "Well no, I've never even ridden one before."
She seemed dissatisfied with the lack of a hoofed beast. "Well then what kind of knight in shining armor are you?"
Not sure how to respond, he said the first thing he could think of. "A pretty poor one? Sorry?"
It was then Weiss removed the hand that had been attached to her face since he'd turned around. She gave the ginger a piercing glare before turning to Oxon. "I apologize for my friend here, she simply gets too hung up in her imagination. I hope we didn't interrupt your meal?"
Not one to ignore the chance he had, he turned fully to the group. "I was mostly finished, so don't worry about it. You're the girl from yesterday right? Weiss was it?" Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, the largest miner and producer of dust across Remnant. Also the primary target of the White Fang.
"Yes, and again I wish to thank you for your help yesterday." This got the attention of the others in the group. They must have heard about the incident with the angry transfer.
"So this is the guy who scared off charcoal, was it?" The girl in the cloak looked between Weiss and Oxon before smiling kindly at him. "Thanks for helping my partner!"
Ah hell, it's the murder midget.
Oxon tried for nonchalance and shrugged. "Don't worry about it. It was just the right thing for me to do."
LIAR!
"I couldn't just ignore someone who was in a situation like that."
You only helped because you need dirt on her team!
"I was helped by a Beacon student earlier map wise, so I thought that was a good opportunity"
-to weasel your way into their group!
"-to pay it back."
"I thought you were a transfer student, since we had not seen you in the school until just now." The boy at the end of the table spoke up. Oxon wasn't sure what the random pink lock was supposed to represent, but Oxon didn't see much importance in him.
"My team is from Haven, they haven't shown up yet, so that's why I'm not with them." He had yet to meet his 'team' or even see their photos.
"So like monkey boy then?" The blonde, Yang if he remembered right, seemed to retain her Cheshire grin. "And Neptune too now, so you both attend Haven? They teach you folks how to attract Atlesians or something?"
"Yang!" The petite girl slapped the back of the taller girl's head to little effect. "We talked about this! Moving past my crass teammate, would you like to join us? Since your team is not here in Vale yet."
He wanted not to be involved in the school in the first place. He wanted to be back home, or at least back in the club. But since he couldn't have either of those, he decided to join them. He chose a seat that was furthest away from the little leader and opted to sit next to the other male in the group.
"Thanks for the invitation, I don't really know many people here so it's nice to not eat alone." Oxon was nervous after sitting down. His target, Blake Belladonna, was looking at him with a strange look. He'd spoken to Sun that night, so he didn't think she remembered him all too clearly. He'd washed out the hair dye recently. So he looked a bit different.
"Well it's nice to meet you! My name is Ruby! And I'm the leader of Team RWBY!" The little reaper leaned over the table to look at him with a bright smile that did nothing for his apprehension of her.
"You've already met Weiss, she's my partner! Then there's Blake and my sister, Yang!" Each gave a little wave at their names. Though he was surprised to learn Yang and Ruby were siblings, they looked nothing alike. "Oh! And that's Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren from Team JNPR!"
The male, Ren, gave a polite bod while Nora gave a very energetic wave. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Oxon Adhmad, I'm a member of Team CMOS, I really appreciate it."
The group chatted for the rest of the meal and Oxon joined in a few times. The remaining members of JNPR didn't show, but if he could keep up friendly relations with the six here then he'd have more luck getting info on Pyrrha.
Eventually the group split up to go about their own plans and Oxon left as well. He brought guns with him so he could restart his practice with them. He picked up the sword he'd used previously as well and attached it to the small of his back.
He started up a program to test his skill with his firearms. He held them up next to his head, barrels pointed upward. The constructs of light appeared signaling the start of the trial.
Bringing the right gun down, he squeezed off a shot at the closest head. The shot pinged off its shoulder, making it stumble instead of killing it. Two more shots to the center chest and neck finished it off. He spun to the next one and lowered his left revolver. He had to jump back to avoid a swipe from a hard light spear. With a single point blank shot he ended the second.
Two more shots fired from the left into a dagger wielding construct. He spun and emptied the rest of his guns into the final two rushing him at the same time. Holstering his weapons he was pondering his shots when he heard a sound from behind him.
Oxon instinctively turned and reached for the sword while his left hand reached to grapple the final hard light training dummy. When he grabbed a fist full of actual clothing he was surprised long enough to not stab the person. "What in the…"
"Ahhh!" Whoever it was had hidden their face behind their hand in a defensive manner. Which was fully reasonable since Oxon had almost stabbed them.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to sneak up on you, I just wanted to observe your form." The hands came down and revealed a nervous blonde teen. The two blinked at each other for a moment before Oxon moved the blade away from the guy's gut and released his hoodie.
Oxon wasn't comfortable with someone watching him train. His inexperience with huntsman culture made him cautious with his response. Surely it was common to try to learn as much as possible. In the end he nodded at the blonde and went back to training.
"You fight with a sword too? I haven't really met anyone else without any mecha-shift." When he was talking, Oxon realized this was the one he'd bumped into the other day. Looking at the simple sword on his hip confirmed it, and if what he said was true, that's all it was.
"You want to watch me?" Oxon was fine with it, but he felt like this was a perfect opportunity. He's a fighter with a similar weapon to the one he was borrowing. This could be a good test to see where he stands.
"Well instead of watching me, why not spar? I'll admit this is not my normal weapon, but I should hopefully be a good enough partner for a spar." He'd spent time observing other students' fights as well as some of the recorded tournaments. To say he was stressed about combat was putting it lightly. "Mine is in for repairs, so I've been training with this loaner for the meantime."
The blonde scratched his head nervously. Most likely at the idea of fighting someone who was using an imperfect weapon. "Well if you're sure? Do you normally use a sword?"
"My primary weapon is an ax, though my father taught me much about swordplay." That was true, but it had been a few years since he'd even held one. Oxon tried for a smile, but it had been a while and the reaction on the blonde's face told him it wasn't great. "Go easy on me, I'm a bit rusty."
~~~(XII)~~~
Oxon and Jaune, who had retold him his name, stood apart from one another in the training ring. Oxon was surprised to see that the sheath of his sword could turn into a medium heater shield, it put him further on guard. They circled each other for a moment, gauging each other.
Oxon again felt annoyed that he had no shield to compliment the blade he held, even a buckler would have been something. Oxon opted to hold his sword in a high guard, hilt above his head and blade pointed at Jaune. He made the decision to rush in and engage first to try and unbalance the sword and board user.
"Huaaahh!" With a loud clang, Oxon hit the shield with considerable force. The blow cause his opponent to skid back a few feet as he tried to remain upright. Oxon could tell he had not been expecting that much strength.
"Didn't you say you were rusty?" Oxon raised an eyebrow at that. He is rusty. That was a basic swing, powerful due to his build, but still a beginner swing. Instead of responding, he went in for another blow.
This one was also blocked by the shield and sent vibrations up Oxon's arms, feeding his semblance. Again and again the sword met the shield as the blonde hastily blocked each attack by thin margins.
I know I asked him to go easy on me. But surely he'd try to counter me by now? My firm is so sloppy that even Inky Toss could parry these strikes.
With the blows he'd given to the other teen, Oxon's semblance was charging up. His body coated in a faint blue aura. The teen opposite of him seems to steel himself before finally striking back.
The swing was telegraphed in an obvious manner, a manner easy to deflect, but he was cautious for a feint. The blow came, was knocked aside, and punished by Oxon. The fact that he easily countered the training huntsman surprised him, as well as the blonde if his face was anything to go off of.
"What was that? I know I asked you to go easy on me, but I haven't become so unreliable with a sword to fail a simple deflection." Oxon wasn't evening actual combat gear! Just simple exercise clothes and a shitty loaner. The boy's face became flushed with either anger or embarrassment.
Strike after strike was either parried, blocked, or sidestepped entirely. Oxon used one of the angrier swings to his advantage and knocked his arms wide. Jaune tried to back out and recover, but Oxon closed the distance quickly and delivered a devastating shoulder check to the blonde's sternum. The sword clattered away as he fell to the ground.
While winded, he tried to get up before a sword at the neck stopped him. "What in all the fuck was that!? I swear I could fight better when I was in the single digits!" Oxon was beyond bewildered at the fight that just happened. This Jaune had clearly been putting in all his effort into the spar, and even with Oxon's poor swordplay, victory had come shockingly easy.
"Tell me, are you new to fighting? Are perhaps proficient at firearms and just starting using melee weapons?" Oxon kept the blade pointed at him as he demanded answers. Was this really the level of an average huntsman at Beacon? We're the ones he'd fought just extraordinary?
"Of course I know how to fight!" The fallen teen pushed away the blade before standing up. He dusted himself off before giving Oxon a "withering" glare. "You said you didn't use a sword!"
He didn't, he was used to his ax and rifle. Sure, his father made him train with other weapons to balance him out, but his skills with them were average at best. To have such skills at a school as well known as Beacon, surely they were lax with their requirements.
"I haven't had combat training in a few years, the only things I've fought are Grimm and trees. I thought those training to be huntsmen were supposed to be strong." He looked up at the aura display and was shocked at what he saw. Oxon hardly took any hits and was sitting at a nice 97%, Jaune on the other hand, even after all the hits he's taken was still at 89%.
It should be a lot lower than that! He must have quite large reserves.
The blonde said something to Oxon, but he didn't register it. He was too busy coming to terms with what just happened. Working back through the fight caused many emotions to flicker about his brain. Confusion, disappointment, anger, and amusement. The last one spilled past his lips in an exasperated chuckle.
"By the gods, to think I was worried I'd be out of my depth here. Red must be something else compared to the rest of 'em." He shook his head before looking back at the red faced teen. "Please tell me you have some strong semblance at least? Surely you can't really be this pathetic in every fight?"
Oxon knew he was being an asshole to the guy. But with all the stress he's been suffering through, he wanted, no, needed a bit of release. He couldn't act like this in front of the people he was to investigate. But some clear novice who was nothing but Grimm bait? That seemed like fair game.
"I-"
Whatever retort the guy had was interrupted by a tall girl with red hair entering the room. "Ah Jaune, I was wondering where you went off to." She walked into the room with an air of confidence. When she got to the two men, she realized that the atmosphere between them was rather tumultuous.
"Am I interrupting something?" She looked to Jaune for an answer with a nervous smile. "Find a new training buddy?" Oxon recognized her as Pyrrha Nikos, the target of team JNPR. He knew he had to make a good impression, but his accursed mouth was quicker than his brain.
"I could probably find a better fight against a Paper Birch." As soon as he spoke he knew he fucked up. Her emerald eyes narrowed at the slight against what was clearly a friend.
"I see. It was nice to meet you," the Arctic expression said otherwise. "but we must go now. Jaune, let's find a different room to train in." With one last glare from the two, Oxon was left alone in the room and kicking himself mentally.
So Jaune is on team JNPR? Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. I've met them all now and really screwed it up with those two. I didn't think a teammate of someone like her would be like that. Ugh… Damnit, me and my big mouth.
Shaking his head in frustration, he decided to continue training with his guns. He had no doubts that they would be useful in the coming weeks. He reloaded them both and set up a new round of bots.
~~~(XIII)~~~
Oxon made his way into the cafeteria for the night's dinner. He didn't see either of the team's at lunch, so he had to wait until dinner to reunite with them. He was dreading the meeting, especially with JNPR.
He got himself some food and searched for the colorful group. He saw them at the same table they were at this morning, and thankfully JNPR seemed late. He got waved down by an excited Ruby, who was easily his least favorite of the four. He walked around to the other side and put his food down so that he was facing them.
"Hello again team RWBY, how has your day been?" He had to really be on his best behavior and not piss off anybody else today. It's not like he disliked that Jaune guy, it's just he was blindsided by his apparent lack of skill and didn't think much of him.
That's a lie, how can someone who trained their whole life be worse than me? Maybe those months alone helped?
He was definitely going to need to apologize though. As true as he felt his words were though, it was clear that the two teams were close. If he burned one bridge, he might risk burning both. He still needed to continue his mission after all.
"We've been alright, Rubes and I went to Vale to get some dust." Yang seemed exasperated at the experience. "Prices are through the roof due to the thefts by Torchwick and the White fang. Getting pretty annoyed, I gotta say."
"I am of the same opinion as Yang." Oxon slid his eyes over to the heiress who was cutting apart her food neatly. "Father has been increasingly frustrated over the situation here. And Yang, I offered to supply the two of you with dust."
"Wouldn't feel right, I got my own cash. Well more like an allowance from dad, but you get what I mean."
"While I understand your desire not to "mooch" off me as you put it before, your dust issues could easily be fixed." Weiss suddenly looked like a lightbulb went off and she offered a kind yet unnerving smile to Oxon. "Speaking of weaponry, what sort of arms do you use Oxon?"
He was caught off guard in the question, and looking at her teammates gave no answers. Ruby was face palming, Yang was chuckling and shaking her head lightly, and Blake. Blake was reading, not even remotely invested in the conversation.
Maybe she was a weapon nut? He saw no reason to not respond, if it meant he could get info in return, then he was fine with it. "Well I fight mostly in close quarters, back home I worked with lumber and trees so I picked up the ax."
Dad! Can't I just fight with an ax? It can fell trees and any Grimm that gets near!
Son, I wish you would reconsider your path. We've been warriors for generations, surely you want to uphold that legacy like Taxus?
Shaking off the memory, he continued to tell the attentive three fourths of the team his skills. "I needed something that could be a tool one moment and a weapon the next."
"And those guns you had this morning?" Ruby leaned over the table, most likely to see if he still had them. Sadly for her they were left in his room.
"Those are… New. I'm not familiar with sidearms and am trying to get better. Though I have experience with rifles." Oxon was proud of his skills, even if he didn't have an absurd scythe gun thing.
His answers pleased the blue eyed girl. He was about to ask her about her own weapon when he heard a loud voice enter through the nearby doors.
"Oh don't worry, fearless leader, if we see him again, we can just break his legs." He idly remembered that was the voice of Nora Valkyrie's team… JNPR… Well, this was bad, it wasn't hard to infer who she was talking about.
Weakling-Willow and his team came into the cafeteria and headed towards the food line. They hadn't seen him with team RWBY yet, but based on the last few days, they would soon sit at the same table as the four girls. He had to think of a way to cool the tension quickly.
"So that's the rest of team JNPR? Ren and Nora's teammates right?" His question was answered with a nod from Ruby who was busy eating a half dozen cookies? What?
Shaking his head to ignore the absurd dinner habit, he focused on the championship fighter on the team. "And they have Pyrrha Nikos on the team?"
"Oh P-money? Yeah she's a beast." Yang seemed pretty laid back for being friends with someone so well known. But he guessed she was used to it by now. "Don't focus too much on her fame and you'll get along just fine. I swear, sometimes she seems so nice she'd not even hurt a Grimm."
"While she very much will kill any creatures of Grimm, Yang is correct on how to interact with her." Weiss was speaking up now as she also watched team JNPR gather for their dinner. "Talking to her like any normal person is how to go about it, something I nearly failed at."
That was good advice, but that was if their first interaction was yet to occur. He already soured their relationship if the look she sent him was anything to go off of. He didn't know how he was supposed to act with the rest of the team. The N and R seemed fairly friendly. Jaune was different, whatever the reason for him being as pathetic as he was, he needed to be nice so as not to have the others constantly watch him.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Jaune and his team chatting as they got close. "First Cardin and now him, are Ren and Sun really the only good dudes here?"
"I'm sure with enough practice you'll be able to show everyone what you are truly capable of." It seemed like the Mistralian truly saw potential in that guy, did she need glasses?
Jaunes' easygoing mood seemed to disappear when he and Oxon made eye contact. He looked at the fact he and team RWBY were eating together with confusion. Pyrrha also recognized him by the frosty look on her face.
Well this is going well.
"Team RWBY, Snow Angel, other. How are you guys?" Since team RWBY was taking up one side of the table, team JNPR sat on the side with Oxon. Lie Ren sat next to him, then Nora, Pyrrha, and Jaune at the far end.
The two sisters gave happy waves to his greeting. Blake gave a polite nod while still invested in her book. Weiss though seemed displeased at the name he used for her and turned her head from him. That was interesting.
Yang gave the fellow blonde a grin and a fist bump. "Doin' well V.B, just Weiss-cream interrogating a transfer so she can make plans to beat him. You know, the usual."
Oxon raised an eyebrow at the now flushed Schnee. So she wasn't a weapon nut, she was just competitive. "Wha-what's so wrong about trying to get to know the competition? Knowledge is power after all!"
"And your first idea after someone helps you out is to plot their defeat? That's Weiss-cold, girl."
Oxon jumped in to defend the girl, closer ties with this team was important for some reason. "Well it's not too unusual, what with the tournament coming up. I know my team leader wants info on as many teams as we can get." Weiss really gave him a perfect excuse to ask questions about the people here, and it seemed like Weiss seemed to be vindicated.
"You see! I'm hardly the only one trying to win this festival." Her smile was turning a bit smug as she looked at Yang. Oxon guessed she had been getting grief on her methods for a bit now.
"And might I ask who you are?" His head turned to look at Pyrrha, who had yet to lessen her clear dislike for him. "Are you perhaps another transfer student?"
It seemed that Nora and Ren were confused by her tone as we're team RWBY. Swallowing his discomfort, he felt it was best to give a polite answer. "I'm Oxon, Oxon Adhmad of team CMOS. It's nice to finally meet the other half of team JNPR."
"Remember when I told you about that less than stellar incident with that Atlas transfer?" Weiss spoke to Jaune and Pyrrha who nodded, though it seemed like Jaune got angry at the memory, he seemed to like Weiss quite a bit after all. "Well Oxon here was the one who helped me out then. Sent that ruffian away quite handily."
If anything, it seemed like Jaune got angrier that Oxon was the one to help her out. Especially with the smile on her face as she remembered it. Jealousy, if he had to guess, deepened his dislike. Great, just what he needed. First Oxon insulted him after their spar and now he was seen as a rival for Weiss.
Fucking hell. Give me a break, universe.
"Like I said earlier Weissy, we should just break the guy's legs!" What was with this ginger and crippling others? Oxon felt himself sweating a bit as he recalled her wanting to break his legs just a few moments ago. But he guessed Jaune hadn't let them know it was Oxon who was the potential target.
"One of these days, that's going to happen by accident, and nobody will believe it's unintentional."
"Ehhh, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it."
Blake, after ignoring most of the conversation, finally looked up from her book, which was suddenly almost finished. He swore she'd been at the start just earlier. Though he did finally hear the girl speak. "isn't it 'cross that bridge'?"
She shrugged off the correction with a wave of her hand. "Ehhh, but that's boring though."
The rest of the meal passed by with casual conversation. Yang commented on Jaunes luck about not needing dust for Cocrea Mors. By the time everyone was heading out, Jaune called out to Weiss.
"Sooo, Weiss, since the break is nearing its end, I was wondering if you wanted to do something?" The blonde was acting on his feelings again it seemed, and he was aiming quite high. Without missing a beat, Weiss gave her answer.
"I think I would rather ballroom dance with that spiteful fedora wearing transfer student." With that she power walked away from the deflated blonde and off to the rest of her team.
Oxon let out a small snort at the scene which resulted in yet another glare from the leader of Team JNPR. He tried to apologize but Jaune quickly left to join Pyrrha who was waiting at the door. She gave him a gentle pat on the back and words of encouragement for his goal.
Oxon rubbed his head in disappointment at how the meal had gone. He was collecting glares from half of JNPR like they were going out of style. The other half of the team as well as all of RWBY noticed as well. He was going to have to do something about them soon.
~~~(VIII)~~~
It had been three days since his spar with Jaune Arc, and by talking to other students, he learned that the blonde swordsman was at the literal bottom of the hierarchy when it comes to combat and respect. The blonde had not won a single fight in combat class in the first semester. He was mildly surprised to hear that, though after fighting the guy he realized it was likely true.
He'd eaten with the two teams and Jaune had taken to outright ignoring Oxon. Personally he couldn't care less, but if he was to succeed here, then he needed to mend the bridge between them. He realized the best way was to either help him with his crush, or convincingly throw a fight. They both seemed difficult since A: Oxon was sure that any attempt to give him a win would be easy to spot after last time. And B: Weiss was clearly uninterested in the blonde.
Speaking of the girl, Weiss had caught on quickly to the issue between the two boys. During meals she had begun to use Oxon as a buffer from the blonde's many flirtations. Sitting next to him and talking to him even when the Arc tried to get her attention was just another problem for Oxon. The reason was that this seemed to cause more tension between him and the other members of team JNPR.
It wasn't like Weiss was a bad person. But he could understand her desire for peace. Jaune wasn't one to back down easily, much to both his and Wess' annoyance. The two flat out ignored him and talked about random nonsense.
Ren was the most collected of the group. But then again, he had yet to see the guy show any real emotion. Nora seemed to have enough for the two of them though. They must have heard about his and Jaunes' fight and the start of their 'feud'. The two weren't hostile to him, thankfully, but they were clearly siding with their leader, which made perfect sense.
The group was together for lunch and Weiss was questioning him about Mantle since he let it slip that his family came from there. "Well I've never been there myself. Though the climate is not too different, cold winter, less cold summer, lots of snow."
"Definitely correct on the snow. So, was the settlement near Atlas or Mantle?" The two had talked much ever since he'd become a glorified shield against Jaune, and while he was solidifying their friendship, he was failing to get anything on Nikos.
"On Sanus, actually, though we were in a very isolated area in the mountains. I grew up there in a decent sized settlement. Since leaving though, it's been a lot of new experiences for me." There were so many new foods and flavors he'd been able to try since traveling south. Pizza, burgers, even shops that had food from other kingdoms were easily found. Not to mention books, shows, and other media.
Nora surprisingly spoke up at that. "I know right? Ever since Renny and I came to Vale we've experienced a ton of fun stuff like arcades, pancakes, syrup, and pancakes!" He'd noticed her obsession for the floury food. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner she had at least a stack; Ruby was similar except with cookies each meal.
"You've had cookies right?" Ruby leaned over to look at Oxon with an excited gleam in her eyes. He's tried to sit far from her, but she seemed to follow Weiss around more so than Jaune.
"Well, not yet, but i'm not a huge sweets guy. I like spicy stuff more." A simple sentence caused Ruby to pout mightily at his preference.
"But cookies are the best food ever! They can be all kinds of styles and can be filled with all kinds of goodies!" She had put her hands on the table and was leaning close to his face, almost knocking Weiss out of her chair in the process.
Danger, danger, danger! Pint sized murder machine dangerously close!
Oxon was frozen solid in shock as he tried to calm himself down. He knew from interactions with her this week that she was fairly nice, but his traumatic trouncing was still ingrained in his mind. Thankfully her sister, who he knows he's seen before, came to his rescue.
Grabbing the younger girl by her hood she plopped her back in her original seat. "Chill out you spazz, the fact he doesn't eat cookies is good! It means more for your gluttonous cavern you call a stomach." She winked at Oxon, showing she stepped in on his behalf.
"Ah, thanks Yang." She gave a simple thumbs up in response. "I'm not saying I'm against cookies, just that I like spicy things more."
"Hmmmmm, well if you get any cookies n stuff, I can have them? Since you don't eat them?" How her facial muscles didn't get whiplash from the speed her expressions change, he'd never know. She went from excited, to depressed, to estatic in not even a quarter of a minute.
Though thankfully she seemed content to steal any sweets he had, which was none. Conversation moved back to other topics like the tournament, the upcoming semester, and even the White Fang. He didn't really have much input on any of the topics since he either didn't care, had no experience, or didn't want to speak about them.
He got a notification on his scroll from an unknown number. Checking it raised his spirits and got attention from the others.
"What's the scoop, Ox?" Glancing at Yang, he simply told her his gear had finally been finished and delivered. Finally he could train with his ax again.
"Ooo, finally got your combat gear huh? Means you gotta test it out! How about a spar?" Oxon sweat dropped at the thought of that. A fight with Yang? Definitely not. According to the year rankings, she was second only behind Pyrrha. Someone like her was far too out of his league.
She wasn't the only one to take interest. Weiss seemed to want to know more as well, likely so she could get a leg up in the tournament. Jaune seemed to finally look at Oxon, their fight was one sided without his primary weapons, weapons he now had again. Ruby had wide eyes like he got a package of cookies instead of gear.
"Maybe another time, it's brand new, so I need to get accustomed to it first." That seemed reasonable, he thought, but her grin didn't diminish one bit. He had a feeling she'd keep trying.
Oxon said his goodbyes and stood up to take away his tray and leave. He used the map that one faunus girl had given him to reach the bullhead area. There was a craft that read Vale Postal on the side. He signed for the packages and took them to his room. In the boxes were steel carrying cases for his armor and weapon.
Opening the longer case he saw his ax. It was once his favorite tool for his old profession, and now it was a whole new creation. His old lever gun, a fourty five inch rifle had merged with it to become a hybrid of the two and was now an even four feet. The wood had been replaced and now extended up the entire underside of the barrel and covering the feed tube. And at the very end near the front sights was his old ax head.
His ax had once been a large double bladed tool meant to cut down any tree or Grimm. Since he had to focus on combat instead of logging, he decided to have the blade reforged into one large blade with a large beard. He felt oddly emotional at seeing the new ax-rifle, like he was holding onto his past and moving forward at the same time.
Leaning it up against the wall, he opened up the larger case. Inside was the armor he had commissioned. On the top was the large scale mail shirt that he would wear under a hard shell chest piece. Its scales were mostly painted a rich dark brown, with a smaller number a lighter brown, and different shades of green. It looked just like he envisioned; like it was the moss covered bark of a tree.
Next was his chest piece. He could see that the leather was new and shiny, a great difference from the scratched and torn armor he'd arrived in Vale with. Turning it over he saw his crest engraved and painted on its back. A squirrel with a pair of bull horns was curled up inside an acorn. Placing that aside, he reached deeper in, taking out the various arm and leg protectors he found the final item.
A three food segmented sheet of metal was nearly folded at the bottom. Taking it out, he unfolded it and inspected the straps and joints. With this he was prepared for whatever foe he came across.
He placed his gear back in their boxes and put them near the door. Tomorrow he will test them out. Feeling excited about his new equipment, he got the best sleep since he'd gotten to the school.
~~~(XIII)~~~
It was early the next morning and Oxon was eating a light meal to prepare to train with his new armaments. Breakfast was looking to be calm until Ruby rushed up to sit next to him. She seemed to forget the concept of personal space as she got within scant inches of his face. Oxon is not proud that he almost spit out his orange juice in surprise.
"Yougotyournewweaponsright!? You'regonnalemmeseethemright?" The violent word vomit that spewed from her mouth was so fast that he only caught a few words.
She wanted to see his weapons? He was fine with it, but did she have to get so close to him? She was almost standing on his legs.
"Ruby!" Ah, Weiss, the more levelheaded of the duo came to his rescue. "I told you we were going to be more discreet!"
Well, it seemed like they had similar goals. Though the execution was not thought through as well. Or at least not coordinated.
"Well, I was going to the training hall after I ate, if you want to join me I won't say no." Maybe he could spar against Weiss, definitely not against Ruby until he was sure he got a hang of everything. This seemed to appease both the girls. The other half joined them right after laughing at Ruby and her obsession.
JNPR didn't show up that morning, and when he asked why, Blake glanced over her book to respond. "Nora."
The look on his face must have been amusing with the snort Yang made. "Blake's right, this early they're probably trying to drag her out of bed. She's like a limpet when she wants to be."
The group finished up breakfast and those that wanted to join agreed to meet at the training room. Oxon quickly gathered his gear and walked down to the gym. Once there he quickly got dressed in the locker room.
Once he had his full suit of armor he looked at the full body mirror to inspect the look. Seeing his outfit assembled made him unbelievably happy for once. The brown hues of the scale mail resembled tree bark, and the patches of greens resembled lichen and moss. His leather chest piece fit perfectly and covered from the bottom of his ribs to his neck. Dyed green forearm and leg guards protected him and the metallic half gauntlets protected his hands, while still giving full movement for his fingers.
His left arm was far different from his right. While his right was moderately protected by scale and leather, his left was covered in thick metal plates darker than the scale armor on his torso. Reaching from his knuckles all the way past his shoulder, he had a large amount of protection covering his left side. The engraving on the darker brown metal was inspired by tree bark, long winding groves traveling up and down, with a few knots here and there.
In total. Oxon was incredibly happy with what was made. The craftsmanship is unlike anything that his old home was capable of. He'd originally asked for a chain mail shirt, but the armorer must have decided to give him the better gear. The last piece was his sash that was attached to a green and white cotton belt.
Retrieving and loading his ax-rifle, he exited the male locker room. Upon exiting, he saw Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all waiting for him. They didn't seem to change outfits at all while he was gone. Were those their combat clothes? They were dressed in them since he met them.
"Going for the classics huh?" Yang was looking him up and down as he walked to them. His mail was making conspicuous amounts of noise. "Though, you look like every lumberjack's nightmare, a living tree."
Oxon supposed it fit. His goal was to retain a small amount of his past. Shrugging at the comment, he moved towards the scroll terminal to prepare for his training. He was interrupted by Ruby who was looking starry eyed at him, though by tracking her eyes, his ax.
"Oooooo, an ax gun combo!" She kept looking at it from different angles, trying to see everything. Oxon knew Weiss was interested because she wanted to beat him in the tournament, but it seemed Ruby was just interested in his weapon. "Can I see it? Can I see it?"
He blinked a few times at her question. She was already looking at it? A glance at a grinning Yang didn't help much. And the young girl's partner didn't seem ready to stop her either.
"Do, do you want to hold it?" A series of nods so fast her head began to blur was his answer. Unhooking it from its carry ring on his back, he handed it to the girl who proceeded to inspect every detail.
"Might as well prepare to wait a bit." Yang patted him in the back as they watched the younger girl fixate on every part. "She always does this when she sees something new. Though I gotta say, I wasn't expecting so much armor on ya. You going to a great war reenactment or something?"
"Well, it's the style my father had, so I wanted to follow him." His father may have had a similar weapon style to Arc, but the man at least knew how to use it. Though it had its own difference that he looked forward to trying out.
"Following familial traditions? It's admirable in its own way." Weiss had a scrutinizing eye for his outfit. He was still surprised to see no visible armor on any of the three girls. Perhaps they preferred to be speedy and flexible?
By the time he was ready to start the training bots, Ruby was still fussing over his new weapon. He coughed to get her attention, though it didn't work. Sighing, he walked up to her and tapped her shoulder.
"Oh! Yes? What do you need, Oxon?" He raised an eyebrow and gestured to his ax-rifle. Realization dawned and she blushed in embarrassment as she handed it to him. "Yup, right, training."
He set the bots for one level higher than he had previously. He was confident in his skill with these weapons, so he felt a higher level test was in order.
With a loud beep, the test began and a few hard light constructs formed around him. The two nearest to him had swords in their hands, and the furthest back had some sort of gun. The melee bots were closing quick and the longer ranged one was aiming at him.
Raising his left arm, blue bursts of light impacted his armored limb. Grunting at the surprising force. He took aim during a break and fired off a few shots at the being of light. One hit the chest and the other the lower jaw, causing it to blink out of existence. With the long range attacker dealt with. He turned to focus on the now close melee bots.
Using the back of his left palm, he knocked the thrust sword away from his face. Using the momentum of the move, he brought the large ax blade into the neck of the being. He took a hit to his exposed back from the third bot, and he had to hop back in order to make space to recover his guard.
The sword of light this one was using seemed to be a larger blade. A two handed grip and a greater length meant heavier blows.
The being ran at him with the blade held to its side and angled down. An upward slash. Being made of light and computer generation, it didn't have to worry about pesky things like physics. Oxon was expecting it to plant itself before the large swing, like most things, so it wouldn't fall over. So when it attacked as soon as it got in range, a surprised Oxon took the hit and pushed forward. Thankfully his new armor was doing its job in mitigating the blows. Once he got inside the guard of the construct, he planted the ax blade in its chest, barrel aimed at its head, and pulled the trigger.
With the last of the constructs dealt with. He looked up at his aura reading to see he was safely at 96%. The wonders of armor reducing the strain on his soul was evident. If not for his plate covered arm, that gun using bot could have drained at least 15%.
Turning back to the peanut gallery, he asked for their thoughts. Yang gave a simple thumbs up with a confident grin. The others were vocal however.
First up was Weiss. "It wasn't bad at all. You were smart to deal with the training bot that had range on you before dealing with the short ranged foes. Some people tend to rush into melee and forget about ranged foes."
Ruby rushed over to look at his weapon, again, does she not know personal space? "Oooh, it fired really smoothly, and the combo you did at the end was perfect for something like that. Crescent Rose also works in a similar fashion, I use rounds to adjust momentum and direction."
That was good info to know, if he caught her while empty he could get an advantage. Oxon thanked them for their praise and began to inspect his rifle, the barrel was still clean, with only a slight bit of firing residue. The blade had no chips or bends in it, since it only hit beings of light, he guessed they were easy to chop. His armor too was scratchless as it had been earlier.
He was happy with the condition and about to summon more when he felt a strong grip on his shoulder. Yang had walked over and put her arm around him and had a terrifying grin on her face. "So, beef boy, you think you're ready for a real spar now that you got the rust out?" Ohhhh fuck no. Not in her dreams!
Getting out from under her arm, he gave her a wary look. "I just got this armor, Yang, I'd like to enjoy it for at least a little while." He'd heard more than a few tales about how hard she could hit.
"C'mon, fighting bots is so boring though!" It seemed the blonde was not easily dissuaded. "If you're gonna reject me, why not fight one of the other two?
He had thought about it. While fighting Ruby was the last thing he wanted to do, Weiss seemed like the least dangerous of the three. He was about to ask to fight the girl in white when his scroll went off. Instead of a text, it was a call from an unknown number.
"One moment." He walked a bit away from them to answer it. "Oxon here, who is this?"
"Why hello Oxon, I hope you haven't forgotten about me and our agreement?" The sultry voice of that witch froze him to the spot. He didn't think he'd be speaking to her again, the team she created sure, but not to her directly.
"Cinder. To what do I owe the pleasure?" It wasn't a pleasure to talk to the woman, and no doubt she knew of his disdain for her. She didn't call him out on it, likely because she didn't care.
"It's about the rest of the team. We will be joining you at Beacon tomorrow mid-afternoon. By your progress reports, it seems like you get along well with Team RWBY, well done. I will forward you information on our other two teammates shortly, so please, be a good partner and introduce me to your friends will you?"
With that, the call ended and he was left staring angrily at his device. He heard footsteps behind him and quickly put his expression back in its usual neutral look. The three girls walked over after his call ended it seemed. He quickly saved the number in his scroll and turned to them.
Ruby, the ever curious child, asked him what the call was about. Well, not like his answer would be a lie this time. Though he wished he had more time on his own.
"Sorry girls, gotta go. It seems like my team will be showing up tomorrow. Said they wanted a tour or something, I should clean up the mess in our room." They begrudgingly accepted his excuse, Ruby had already retrieved her weapon in hopes of a spar.
~~~(XIII)~~~
Bum. Bum. Buuummmm! Cinder and co. are finally arriving! Thank you for reading this chapter! Kinda went longer than anticipated. Don't forget to review the fic! It really helps me know what y'all like, as well as gives me a boost of the ~good chemicals~
And before anyone says I'm just hating on Jaune. I really like his character. It's just that he was a pretty big idiot in volume 1. He really started to shine during and after the dance. It'll get better, trust me. Or not, I'm not your boss.