XIV - Secondary Growth
~~~(XIV)~~~
Oxon made his excuses to leave once he finished his call with Cinder. The three girls were confused by his sudden escape back to his dorm, but thankfully they let him leave without pressing him. Once back in the privacy of the room, he began to pace and mumble to himself.
"They'll be arriving tomorrow, damnit, I almost forgot they'd also be showing up. If Cinder herself is coming, that probably makes her the 'C' in CMOS. The other two will be new faces, and if they're like Cinder, then they will be just as dangerous."
As if by thinking Into reality, his scroll went off with two files being sent to him. The first was about a silver haired boy around his age. The name in the File read "Mercury Black" and the info in it was sparse. The picture showed an arrogant grin on the boy's face, it was also clear it was a selfie. Though basic info like his fighting style was given.
"The hell is "leg pistols" supposed to mean?" The data hardly gave any clues to what that meant. The other image was of a girl he'd seen once before.
Red eyes and green hair were fairly unique in most instances. But it was the way she'd sent a grown man and hardened criminal to the ground in fear, with a single look. The scarce info on her file was her name "Emerald Sustrai" and she used chain pistols. While odd, it was at least a bit easier to understand than Mercury's.
He of course got no info on his new leader. He wasn't surprised at her lack of information, she seemed smart enough to realize he wasn't fully loyal, it was fear that kept him obedient. He couldn't do anything but obey her and she knew it.
His big worry was Emerald and Mercury. Were they criminals like Cinder? It was likely that they knew about her and her plans since Emerald had worked as a messenger for her before. Mercury had to be the same he reasoned, he just hoped he was more reasonable than the boss.
He checked his scroll once more, but there was no new info since he'd last checked. His current orders must still be in effect, though he was still confused as to why. Sure, they stopped Torchwick when he was stealing from the docks, but that seemed like not enough to warrant this possible revenge plot.
Oxon had wracked his brain for hours about possible situations he might find himself in as well as reasons for him being recruited like he was. Sure he was OK at fighting, but surely they could have found better. By the time he looked at the clock, he realized that it was nearly time for dinner. Suddenly his stomach remembered how empty it was with a furious growl.
He didn't want to go out, but staying in his room stressing himself to death wouldn't do him any good. With a quick shower, he made his way to the cafeteria. Grabbing a simple burger and fries he found teams RWBY and JNPR already seated and eating. He sat down on the end next to Yang and listened in to the already underway conversation.
"Can't believe we got put in charge of the dance. I thought it was the job of the upper years?" Ruby was slumped on the table with the remnants of her meal in front of her.
"Well, 'pparently team CFVY got slotted for a last minute mission, they do some of the prep work, but we'll be in charge once they leave." Weiss seemed like the only one happy with the responsibility for reasons unknown.
"Dance?" Oxon hadn't been told anything about that. Though he had been to a few back home, he didn't know the dance culture here in Vale.
"Yeah, you know, the annual dance?" He looked at Yang with a questioning expression. Of course he didn't, he wouldn't ask if he didn't. "It's a big celebration for the second semester, the biggest event of the year other than the festival."
Oxon still didn't understand why it was a big deal, but he nodded anyway. The last one he'd attended was the final harvest festival back home. Those had always been enjoyable for him, fresh food, drink, and music went long into the night.
"More like a big distraction." The blonde and him looked at the hidden faunus who was clearly uninterested in talking about the dance. From the groan given by Weiss and Yang, this wasn't the first time either.
Oxon guessed not everyone enjoyed social events, even though he had lost enjoyment from the recent social events held by the gang. The last few 'boys nights' at the club would have excited him a year or two ago, but now? Now he was unable to create a convincing smile, real or fake.
He blamed the loss of his family and his current situation. While he enjoyed certain hobbies, scant little brought him any real and lasting joy. Even his new weapon and armor, while happy to have them, the joy was muted by the reasons for him needing them.
He slowly ate his food while listening to the conversations around him. He was distracted by his dark thoughts as the meal went on and missed a few questions aimed at him. Eventually he decided to turn in for bed early and made his excuses to leave for his room, missing the concerned looks from team RWBY.
~~~(XIV)~~~
Oxon awoke, though he found himself in an unfamiliar place. Dark trees surrounded him and an eerie presence permeated the air, the whole place seemed almost gray. He had lived long enough in the woods to know something was watching him.
He reached for his weapon, only to find his double bit wood ax. The wood is freshly polished and the blade gleaming. Confusion shot through him as he held his old tool, he knew it had been reforged with his rifle, so why was it in this form?
He didn't have long to ponder the mystery when a sudden jolt shook his mind free. Looking at his stomach, he saw an arrow protruding from his stomach. Gingerly touching it, his hand came back stained red. Looking further up the shaft he noticed the fletching on the arrow. Green and blue stripes on two, with the third dyed a brilliant gold.
Snapped twigs sounded from further into the stand, turning towards it only resulted in the tip of an arrow piercing through his shoulder. The whistle of more loose arrows spurred his body into action. Oxon ran as fast as he could through the brush, chopping through whatever stood in his way. He just needed to escape.
Remember Ox, when chasing an animal, if you don't kill it in one shot, let it run. You can always follow its trail. Even the strongest beasts will fall to blood loss eventually. A beast is a beast, to be hunted without mercy.
More of those familiar arrows narrowly missed him as he tried to escape. Vines, branches, and thorns scratched at his face and clothes. He ran until he found himself on the edge of a cliff, he couldn't see the bottom due to the swirling mist below.
He heard footsteps from behind him in the forest. He readied his ax in preparation for the confrontation. He didn't expect to see the massive red fox slink out of the trees, smoke pouring from its mouth as it grinned.
"Well then little boy, what brings you out here? So far from home, you haven't realized you've wandered into her territory."
Oxon held his ax out in front of him defensively. He didn't know what manner of beast this was, but it didn't seem benign. It approached closer to him, and it's almost familiar green eyes met his.
With another smoke filled breath, the creature spoke. "Running, running, running like a lost fawn, right into the jaws of a predator. Truly you were cursed with a disappointing amount of intelligence. You fled the hunter, but in doing so, you've found something worse."
As the beast neared, Oxon backed up to the edge of the cliff, stones tumbled off the side into the fog filled chasam behind him. Realizing that he had nowhere to go, he prepared to at least go out fighting. To his confusion, this only seemed to amuse the smoking canine.
"Might want to step away from there, little squirrel."
Before he could ponder those words, a scraping sound echoed out from the chasm. Glancing down, he saw two bright lights growing closer to the surface of the fog. He just managed to jump away from the edge when a massive scaled form shot upward.
"I see I have a guest in my home today." The large beast resembled a snake with dark black scales, yet its features were too sharp to be anything he'd ever seen. "I knew I smelled the metallic scent of blood, but to think, a meal has shown up just when I was feeling hungry."
Any words Oxon wanted to say became lodged in his throat. Mesmerized by the golden eyes, his body could do nothing but back up from the towering creature. He didn't get far when a plume of dark smoke encompassed him for a brief moment.
"Well now, isn't it rude for a guest to decline such gracious hospitality?" Suddenly he was forced forward, closer to the great beast whose mouth had begun to flicker with flames as it leaned closer.
"It's as my dear friend says. You've come into my land. So allow me to get to know you a bit further." With its declaration, the monster rose up and suddenly shot downward, flaming maw wide enough to swallow him.
The last thing he saw was sharp teeth lit aflame. Then darkness.
~~~(XIV)~~~
Oxon's eyes opened as he took in a sharp breath of air. He felt cold sweat clinging to his body as he looked around the dark room. Every shadow causes a spike of fear and anxiety to latch onto his already strained heart.
After a few deep breaths he managed to calm his frayed nerves. Looking at the time he saw that it was three in the morning. Shuffling out of bed he washed his face off in the sink. He looked at his face in the mirror and saw dark rings under his eyes.
He knew he wasn't going to be able to get any more rest, so he did the only thing he felt was right. He walked down to the training room. He got dressed in his armor and walked to the exercise room. He planned on getting some cardio in before combat training, the added weight if his full combat regalia should add some extra resistance and get him used to the armor more.
After a few miles he realized that this was that wrong activity for that morning. While it would be great normally, the mindlessness of the exercise allowed for his thoughts to wander, and not exactly to healthy places. Shaking his head of the memory of his dream he moved to the combat area.
With his weapon in hand, he started up the program and scrolled through the options. He'd done a bunch of the basic combat scenarios in the time he's been at the school. Today, in order to bring his mind away from its dark thoughts, he needed something different. Near the bottom he saw the "horde mode" option.
Unlimited foes until red aura reading or by voice command. That sounds good to me. And it even auto scales the difficulty?
Content with the program settings, he checked his guns and armor one last time. After confirming the condition of his gear he started the program and got into a ready stance. Off the bat, six different constructs materialized, each with a different weapon.
"Alrighty then, come at me you stupid shiny bastards!"
~~~(XIV)~~~
"Stupid shiny bastards…"
Oxon winced as he rubbed his sore ribs. The training bots had gotten progressively harder and he'd been reduced to taking more hits than he'd like. At the end they'd been so punishing that he had time to reload a single round for his rifle.
The program did its job. He was too busy fighting the hard light constructs that he was able to put his issues out of his mind. Thankfully any bruises he'd received were already healing due to his aura, though he was still incredibly sore.
The training had taken multiple hours and thoroughly exhausted him. He'd started with his cardio near four am and it was now almost eight. A cold shower later and he was on his way to get himself food. He made his way sluggishly to the cafeteria, the lack of sleep and hours of heavy training weighing heavy on his body.
Thankfully the meals at Beacon are high quality due to the nature of the school. The students need high calorie food in order to maintain their active lifestyle. Loading his tray with eggs, bacon, and waffles, he made his way to where team RWBY normally sat. He arrived to see a heated discussion between Nora and Ruby.
"Pancakes are far better food than cookies!" Unsurprisingly, it was about some inane debate about sweets. Said ginger also had what had to be at least ten pancakes stacked up on one plate.
"Pancakes are a food for one meal, maybe two if you count brunch." RWBY had the remnants of a real breakfast, but also had a half dozen miscellaneous cookies. The short leader was even brandishing one as if it were a projectile weapon.
Once again not sitting on the same bench as JNPR, he chose to sit by one of the neutral parties in this argument. Weiss was staring off into the distance and trying to ignore her partner/ leader. Blake was reading a book and shutting the world out, which he could understand. And Yang was being Yang, she was throwing fuel on the fire by prodding the two sugar addicts.
He sat down, and it must have spoken to her concentration on her book that Blake never noticed he joined them. He glanced at the others on JNPR and found Jaune trying to be neutral and help them compromise. Pyrrha and Ren we're simply watching with a content smile and a patient expression respectively.
"Ah hah! See, even Bull Boy agrees with me!" Oxon had been taking a bite of his waffles when there was a sudden finger very close to his face. It seemed his choice of food that morning had made him an unintentional part of the debate.
Ruby, who was sitting on the other side of Blake and uncomfortably close, had a look of betrayal on her face. Nora seemed to be vindicated by his "support" for her favored food. Honestly, he didn't have the energy to respond and continued to lazily chew his food.
"Oooooooxxx… Why have you forsaken me! I thought you liked our team more!" If by "liked" she meant forced to interact with them, then yes. "How dare you betray us for pancakes!"
Much like the white haired girl, he began to zone out and let his energy return to him. Yang however, wanted to fan the flames.
"Well is he really on your side? I mean, he's eating a waffle, not a pancake." Nora's grin lost a little life while Ruby regained her grin. "So what do you think, Ox? You gonna pick a side? Or are you going for a third faction?"
"Will I be left alone if I become my own group?"
Nora responded to his question with her usual enthusiasm. "If there is a new false queen on the field, then I will crush them as well!"
"Can I decide on neutrality?" His monotone reply was ignored by the other warring factions. Also, did she really call him a false queen?
"Hurry Oxon! Denounce the false prophet!" Ruby tried to buy his allegiance by shoving a cookie on his plate, into his eggs… When she saw his dead eyed reaction to the cookie egg mix, she giggled nervously and slowly removed it. "Heh, sorry?"
"Why was that a question?" His frayed mind really wasn't up to the task of interactions today. Sighing, he contemplated his options. He was already on good terms with Ruby, so siding with Nora might get her team to relax their views on him. Besides, why the hell does Ruby eat cookies every meal?
"Well, I'm not partial to either, but if I have to choose..." He looked at the two sugar fiends who nodded at him vigorously. "Well I guess it'd have to be pancakes then."
A look of great shock spread on Ruby's face, while Nora looked as smug as Yang usually is. He hoped his play would work out. And if he were honest, he'd probably have sided with Nora anyways, the fluffy food appealed to him more.
"Although, for comparison between pancakes and waffles? I think waffles win. The little squares are nice." Her grin faltered but never left.
"I can accept a little heresy in the name of fighting the cookie cult." Nora's eyes narrowed even as she smiled. "But know that I don't accept your waffle loving ways."
Ruby, seeing as she had lost, had given up and decided to morosely eat her remaining confections. Yang gave a few pitying pats on her back.
"Maybe next time sis." Her humor had tried to be hidden, but the younger girl must have realized it since her pouting increased. "That's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes."
With that last terrible pun, conversation moved to more common topics like training. Oxon remembered he would meet up with the rest of Cinder's group soon. A prospect he was not enthusiastic about.
"So Oxon, you said your team was showing up?" With the sugar debate finally concluded, it seemed Weiss was finally willing to rejoin the conversation. He only wished it was about something else.
"Yeah, the boss lady said they're showing up sometime after noon. Gonna miss not having to share the room." He hadn't shared a room since he'd been a child. The prospect of sharing a confined place with three others, one of whom scared him permanently.
"Yes, I can understand the desire not to sleep with three others." She put a finger over Yang's mouth just as she was about to speak. "No, Yang, that wasn't an innuendo."
"Booooo…"
"Surely they can't be as bad as some people. They do not snore or take all the hot water do they?" Clearly those issues were from personal experiences. And by the glares the R, W, and B sent Yang, the blonde was the culprit.
"Gods I hope not." That would be a real hell on remnant. Evil and assholes.
"You hope not?" Jaune, speaking to him for the first time in a good few days, finally did so. Annoyingly, it was only for it to be him catching Oxon on his slip. "Teams were formed months ago, have you even met them?"
Oxon had a passive face outwardly, but on the inside he was kicking himself. Mental curses aside, he had to at least keep his story straight. With a bit more caution and thinking, he told them a version of the truth, one he'd have to send Cinder so that it would stick.
"You mean a teacher picked you up in order to fill an empty spot?" While it was almost true, it was still half a lie. He nodded to confirm, which just led to more questions. Though ruby seemed quite interested in this information.
"And you were training to be a huntsman and got personally scouted?" This time it was Pyrrha that questioned him with an odd look on her face that confused Oxon. This definitely couldn't be a lie, he had no idea what the hell he was doing here. Sure he could fight bots and Jaune, but he had no illusions about many of the others he'd watched train.
"Well not necessarily." All of team JNPR suddenly got very interested. "Sure I learned how to fight back home, dad was head of the guard, but that is because we were so isolated that we could only rely on ourselves. We were so isolated that when I was found by that Haven professor, I didn't even know what a huntsman was. Honestly, I have no clue what I'm doing."
While not the actual story that involved that one scraggly huntsman and the injured lady, it was almost close to the truth. He also couldn't tell him he was snatched up and brought into a very clearly criminal group who was trying to enter the school. He hoped Cinder and his team would run with his words.
Oxon had been looking down and scratching the back of his head at the end. So when he looked back up he just saw stunned faces of the eight teens. Ruby looked at him in complete shock, Jaune had some odd look of jealousy, while Nora and Ren seemed to look at him in understanding.
The group was completely silent and the tension at the table was starting to get uncomfortable for him. "Yeah, so, uh. That's why I haven't really met my team yet. Hope I can get along with 'em. Ha ha…"
Yang was the first to recover. "No wonder you were on moderate bots for your training the other day. I thought it was just to get a light warmup in the new gear… But that's your actual skill level? Not to be rude of course."
"No offense taken, I mean my father trained me how to fight, but I'm nowhere near the level you guys probably are on." He said that, though his eyes slid to Jaune for only a scant moment. Green eyes met blue for only a brief fraction of time, but it was clear the blonde was conflicted over the news.
"No wonder you didn't wanna spar the other day." Ruby seemed to have put a few clues together from their other interactions.
"Yeah, and while I know how to fight, the last time I trained with other humans was a year and a half ago, and even then I mostly fought the occasional Grimm when I was out logging." Mostly beowolves and the rare ursa. His track record with humans was less than stellar compared to beasts of shadow.
"You at least have your aura unlocked before right? You didn't get it unlocked after you got here did you?" The blonde girl's question was odd. Of course he did, there was no way he'd be alive today if he didn't. Grimm would have killed him as a young boy, and Ruby would have severed his spine in their first meeting.
"Of course I did, I even discovered my semblance a few years back." Seriously, his home may have been isolated for a near century, but they knew about aura! "It gives me a bit of extra defense."
"Heh, well at least you got that over Vomit boy over there." Yang began to chuckle as she pointed at her fellow blonde. Was she seriously implying Jaune had been without aura before starting here? That was either ballsy or incredibly stupid.
Looking over to the angrily flushing boy, he assumed it was the second option. Said boy was clearly feeling something about this whole situation. Unknown to Oxon, Jaune was silently comparing the two of them and their similar yet starkly different backgrounds.
Looking at the time he saw it was time to get ready to meet his team. "Well sorry to leave suddenly, but I need to go see my team. Make a good impression and all that." Leaving the stunned huntsmen in training, he headed out the door to get ready for that day's headache.
~~~(XIV)~~~
Jaune was not having a great week, which was unfortunate since the semester hadn't even started yet. Sure it had started off fine, training with Pyrrha each day in order to catch up with everyone else. It all went wrong when he met some gruff guy fighting against some of the training bots and was offered a spar. Said guy said he wasn't all that strong but clearly had more training than Jaune did.
Then said guy had beaten him down in a quick manner and insulted him repeatedly until Pyrrha arrived. He had hoped to avoid the jerk until he left after the festival, but it seemed like that was now out the window. How that jerk got on good terms with team JNPR's sister team was unknown, until Yang had blabbed about him helping Weiss out with some other transfer.
And now said grumpy transfer is almost like a second Neptune. Though at least it didn't seem like Oxon was trying to flirt with the snow angel. Small mercies there.
By far the most frustrating part however, was learning how Oxon got here. Like Jaune, Oxon apparently had no formal huntsman training, he never went to a combat school, and was also from some small place in the sticks. That's where the similarities end.
Oxon was chosen to study at Haven. Whoever scouted him knew he wasn't huntsman trained, but brought him in anyways. Jaune was not unaware of the irony in their situations. While he'd told his team about his transcripts, team RWBY did not yet know.
"Oxon Isn't huntsman trained. I admit, I was not expecting that." Weiss seemed to still be processing the bomb that the tall teen had dropped.
"Well if he's not a big fighter, then maybe you might be able to beat him, eh Jaune? Some guy from who knows where vs a guy trained by a champion, sounds like a good chance to me." Yang was clearly trying to be friendly, she didn't know they'd already fought once before. That still didn't stop the burning shame and anger he felt.
"We may have already sparred once… It didn't go as I'd hoped." Loss followed by harsh words, a common occurrence when he fought most others, Cardin especially.
Yang got the hint. "Oh. Ouch, sorry dude. Well either way, he might be the closest to your skill level, probably easier to beat than Cardin."
Yang may be onto something, Oxon was better than him, but maybe not by much. He'd need to up his training even more to overcome him. A look at Pyrrha showed she felt the same and the two shared a nod.
"And you gave me grief when I was planning how best to fight him in the tournament." Weiss seemed unimpressed with the hypocrisy from Yang. "When I plan how to fight a possible opponent it's "Weiss, stop trying to beat the guy who helped you" and now it's "go get him Jaune!", I see how it is."
"Eh, I ain't trying to beat the guy down. Just putting a healthy goal in front of lover boy. Huh, maybe we can get Neptune to participate. Make it a three way brawl for the lady's hand."
Nobody at the table had any questions on who the "lady" was supposed to be. Especially with the look Weiss was sending the brawler's way. And that was Jaunes' other issue.
Neptune seemed like an alright guy, but the fact Weiss was taken with the bluenette hurt. He even called her "snow angel" and got her to like it. Life was truly unfair. Then Oxon shows up and now, whenever the teams are together, all she does when he tries to talk to her is ignore him for that jerk.
"Either way, oxon will probably need help as well. Since he is most likely the least knowledgeable person here, he'll likely struggle early on." Ruby was still looking at the door said guy had left through.
"Hmmm… Well it would be a good way to repay his kindness from before." Weiss nodded to herself as she was making a plan to help him. So she'd be spending more time with the guy.
Great…
~~~(XIV)~~~
A few hours later, Oxon stood and watched as two familiar faces and one new face got closer to him. Cinder was leading the green and silver haired duo towards him. He felt his skin crawl as the bitch's eyes locked with his.
"Hello Oxon, it's a pleasure to see you again." Cinder offered her hand and he was obligated to shake it. Unsurprisingly, her hands were far hotter than a normal person had any right to be. Wincing at the subtle power move, he moved to greet the others.
"Hey there, name's Mercury, it's nice to meet ya." Neither of the two offered each other a hand to shake. Oxon already disliked him and his stupid smug face.
The silver boy's grin was removed after a swat to the head from Emerald. "Don't be a prick, it's not even been thirty seconds since we got here and you're giving me a headache." The girl then turned to Oxon and introduced herself a bit more politely than her partner.
Emerald seemed to be the most normal of the three. Though with how this group was nothing but criminals, he doubted the authenticity of it. The two went back to stand behind Cinder, leaving him the only one in front of her.
"Well now, would you be a dear and show us around?" Cinder smiled at him and while Oxon knew she was an evil bitch, he couldn't lie, she was very attractive.
Oxon led the trio around the campus so they could familiarize themselves with it. He didn't know who it was, but he could feel someone staring at him from behind. This whole situation was making him increasingly uncomfortable. Along the way, he gave a status report on his mission and told them the story he'd used on teams RWBY and JNPR.
"Well, not how I'd have done it, but if you got in good with the Schnee and her team, then I ain't gonna complain." Mercury was casually walking with his hands behind his head, looking like a tool.
"Yes, well done. Though your apparent negative standing with Nikos' team is unfortunate." Cinder kept a neutral face as she took in the info he'd given. "And you said this was due to a spar gone bad?"
Thinking back if the fight and subsequent tirade against the blonde swordsman brought back forgotten questions. "Yes, their leader, Jaune Arc, couldn't fight worth a damn. Honestly I could have fought him without a weapon and still won."
"Really? The partner of the Pyrrha Nikos lost to some backwoods lumberjack?" Mercury got a glare from Oxon at that remark.
"Fuck off you geriatric looking prick." Gods, he hated Mercury and it had only been a few minutes. How was he going to survive this semester?
"Oh no, the tree fucker is mad! Whatever will I do?" The asshole pretended to be terrified in the most ridiculous manner.
"Now listen here you-"
Cinder raised a hand to silence any further barbs. "Enough. It's interesting that someone like that would make it so far. It might be wise to investigate the boy."
She looked at the three of them and thought for a moment before continuing. "Oxon, I'll leave you to continue your work with team RWBY. Emerald and Mercury, perhaps you can try to help poor Oxon with team JNPR." Oxon growled one last time at Mercury but nodded at Cinder.
"Don't worry ma'am, I'll make sure Mercury and I don't mess up as well." that two faced shit. Oxon narrowed his eyes at the girl for that hidden barb.
"Good, then let us head to our new room. We can prepare further there."
~~~(XIV)~~~
One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three.
Each trio of swings from his ax ended a training construct. He'd been pushing himself to complete harder settings at the behest of Cinder, who wanted him ready for the tournament. He wasn't convinced he'd catch up in such a short time, but he wasn't against getting stronger. While he was training harder at her command, he'd truly come to the ring to clear his head after the meeting about their plans moving forward.
They planned ways to get in good graces with other teams, while letting him deal with team RWBY and try again with JNPR. What made him escape to the training hall was that each one of the three arrivals made him stressed enough to bring on a headache.
Cinder was self explanatory, the lady was calm at all times yet ready to reinforce her ownership of him if he stepped out of line. Emerald had latched on to his failure as a way to look better in her leader's eyes, there was something going on there, he can just tell. And Mercury was just a massive douchebag.
He was so focused that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him get closer after completing the round.
"Hey Oxon?" Ruby's quiet, yet close voice made him jump involuntarily. Turning around, he saw a concerned looking Ruby.
"Ruby, what are you doing here?" His hand instinctually gripped his weapon a little tighter. He was alone with the small girl, much to his discomfort. If he'd never run into her before, he was sure he'd get along with her, but he was deathly afraid of her and her scythe. It would take a bit longer to get over it.
"Well we thought we'd see you and your team at dinner tonight." Her innocent question made him relax slightly. "They came in today, right?"
Sighing in a mix of frustration and acceptance, Oxon told the young girl about his team. He wasn't a good actor, and it was hard to hide the frown that stuck to his face when thinking about them.
"Not what you expected, huh? I know that our team was kind of rough at the start too." Ruby grimaced at his explanation. That was the issue, they were exactly like he'd expected. Sociopathic criminals that clearly had not a single decent bone in their body.
Not like I can judge. I'm working with them after all.
"Can't say that they were. Honestly, at this point I'd take Yang instead, or even Jaune." At least those two would be less infuriating than the group he'd found himself in. He still had to try and make nice with Arc, but maybe he could just leave that to the other two.
Ruby caught on to his intent when mentioning her fellow leader. "Jaune mentioned you guys fought once, what happened? It's clear you two don't get along."
Because how are you supposed to protect others if you can't even protect yourself? Prism had fallen even when people far stronger than me fought on the walls. Someone like Jaune or I would have been a liability. Yet he thinks he's a hero?
"It's nothing all that important, really." The look in her eyes told him she didn't believe him. "It's just that I wasn't expecting someone who actually trained to get into a huntsman school to be like him. I, I might have said some things I shouldn't have."
The young girl kept staring into his eyes. "He tries his best, you know? I don't know your situation, but Jaune is a good guy, and he's my friend." Something about her expression made him break eye contact and look away. "I consider you a friend too, for what you did for Weiss, and I want my friends to get along."
He was surprised to hear her say that. Them? Friends? Sure he sat with them at meals, but besides that, they didn't really interact with them. He wasn't sure why he felt so warm at what she said either.
"I… Look, I'm not sure what you want me to say." This conversation was quickly becoming a lot heavier than he anticipated. This girl was far too kind to someone like him. It almost made him want to tell her the truth so that she'd realize just who she was talking to, then she'd understand and leave. "I'm not exactly the greatest example of kindness or something. You could ask Arc about our run in."
"Maybe so, but you helped Weiss out? And you didn't even know who she was when you did." At first maybe, but after that was because Cinder told him to get close to Ruby and Blake. He might not have known her, but it wasn't fully out of kindness that he helped her. "And if you really don't get along with your new team, you can still sit with us, you know?"
Taking in and releasing a deep breath, Oxon simply nodded at her offer. The dark haired girl smiled and gave Oxon a quick hug, petrifying him in fear. "Maybe we can get you and Jaune to train together again. That usually helps people get along!"
She zipped off to the door out of the room but stopped before leaving completely. "We'll see you at breakfast tomorrow right? If not, I'll send Yang after you." Her glare wasn't really that intimidating, but he had a feeling she actually would send her sister.
Scratching behind his ear he nodded without looking at her. "Yeah. I'll see you all tomorrow, I guess."
Her smile brightened significantly before she was gone in a burst of petals. Massaging his temples with his hand he turned back to the machine. It wasn't that late yet, so he had time for another round or two.
Getting ready for the trial, his mind was still focused on the conversation.
"Damnit…"
~~~(XIV)~~~
Oxon sat down next to Weiss the next morning for breakfast. Cinder didn't care if he was not together with the team if it meant he was being productive. Ruby seemed happy to see him join them.
"Hey Ox." Yang offered a fist for him to bump and he accepted it. "Glad ya made it. Ruby was getting ready to send us after you if you'd stood us up again"
"Yes, Ruby told us about your less than perfect introduction with your team." So Ruby had told them? Not like he was upset, this meant he didn't have to explain it himself. "I'm guessing they were unhappy to have someone unprepared with them."
Hmmm. Maybe?
"It's whatever." He shrugged at her rushed apologies at her unintentional insult. Unlike them, he wasn't really worried about being a "perfect team" with the three. He just needed to do his job and not get burned further.
The heiress remained unconvinced, but she let the matter go and moved onto a different topic. She asked if he wanted help studying or training, since he wasn't prepared for the life of a huntsman, she offered to help.
"That would be appreciated, I'm out of my depth here, so every little bit helps." He may have been forced here, but it's not like he wanted to be at the bottom. He still had some pride.
"C'mon man, you got the highest scorer for academics offering to teach you, at least try to smile." Yang was grinning at him with a gleam in her eyes. "A private study session, who knows what will happen?"
"I study?" Oxon's flat tone did nothing to dim the grin on the blonde girl's face and he could hear the shorter girl kicking Yang. "Nothing like what you think is ever going to happen."
"Thank you, the last thing I need is another person obsessing over me. Anyways, if you are not busy after breakfast, I can meet you at the library to get you started." It seemed like the girl had a plan made already.
"Sure thing." He was about to let it end there before pausing. "Can it be intro level stuff? I don't know how much I don't know after all."
"Of course, it's no good to start off on advanced ideas without a solid base."
After they all finished eating, Oxon and Weiss agreed to meet up in an hour at the library. Oxon was not looking forward to the act of studying itself, he was a more physical kind of person. Even so, he knew the importance of book smarts.
He just hoped it would not be too bad.
~~~(XIV)~~~
Definitely forgot that Neptune doesn't meet team RWBY until the end of the break. Since I already wrote about him and Weiss a few chapters ago, I'll just need to adjust some stuff. Might have to fudge with the timeline a bit. Eh, nobody's perfect.
For those curious about what his armor is supposed to look like. I took inspiration for his left full arm guard from Zephyr, from Tales of Arise. Though it will be a bit different than what's in the game. The ax-rifle is a historical weapon. Though to my knowledge, nobody put an ax head on a lever gun.
Speaking of ax guns, I have issues with Port's gun. That blowhard put the two blades right on the back of it. How the hell is one supposed to aim and fire that with blades digging into you? And he'd swing it by the barrel? After using the gun function, the barrel would get hot af. Plus smooth metal would be far harder to grip than wood. Sure it looks cool but I'd use an oak branch over it
~~~(XIV)~~~
Omake
An hour after they finished eating, in the library, Oxon felt his eyebrow twitching as he looked at the screen in front of him.
"Weiss?"
"Yes Oxon?" Her confused tone wasn't helping him.
"You said this was beginner lever stuff, right? A short introduction to basic huntsman knowledge?"
"Yes, this short video should allow you to lay a decent foundation for future learning." She seemed proud of her selection, like it's what she would use herself.
"Then why, Weiss, is this video sixteen hours long?" The video titled "How To Be a Huntsman - Part 1" was pulled up in front of him on the library computer. Oxon was greatly regretting accepting her offer.
"Well, there is a lot of stuff we need to catch you up on." She clearly didn't understand. In what world would a sixteen hour video. And the fact it was in multiple parts was also concerning.
How she expected him to sit through this video was beyond him. Looking at the clock it was already 11:27, if he watched this video to completion in one sitting, it would be the next day by the time it was over.
Letting out a depressed sigh, Oxon decided to at least watch a little bit before giving up. Though when Weiss gave him a thick notebook and a few pens, he realized it got worse.
"Fuck me…"
Weiss whapped him on the back of his head as she pressed play. "Language! We are in a place of learning."
~~~(XIV)~~~
Is this cannon? Is this just a silly little fun skit? That's for you to decide. :)