XL - Old Growth

To those who might care, there is a new little collection of mini stories that I'm going to be posting. It's the fic "Schnee Servant Stories", based on the daily lives of the staff in the Schnee manor. Check it out if ya feel like it.

~~~(XL)~~~

"Professor- I mean Headmaster Ozpin!?" The mysterious head of the school was standing in front of him. Sipping from his mug calmly. Why the man was here left Oxon's mouth gaping in confusion.

"Just Ozpin is fine, you're not my student after all." He took a sip momentarily before talking again. The man seemed to like doing that. "I hope I am not disturbing you?"

He was, he really was. But Oxon couldn't do anything or say anything that would raise suspicion. Cinder told him this was one of the people to be the most wary of. "Uh, it's alright. I wasn't exactly doing much…"

"It is a lovely afternoon, isn't it? Autumn has always been one of my favorite times of year. Something about the changing of the leaves is a marvel that never gets old, no matter how many I have seen."

"Uh, right?" Oxon got to his feet to be polite, wiping off some grass and dirt from his shirt and pants. He didn't have anything to say, he just hoped the older man had a reason for this conversation. Hopefully one that wasn't based on anything he'd done.

"Mr. Adhmad, I've heard about you from a colleague of mine. Nothing bad I assure you." Hah? "I'm merely curious about someone of your situation. It's not every day that someone manages to travel alone for months without aid. Yet you managed to eventually find your way here, mostly by your own power."

"It... It was hard, sir." He saw the amused raise of an eyebrow, right. "Uh, Ozpin. Thankfully I ran into someone who helped me. Mr. Branwen found me out there, wandering Sanus, and he brought me here even though I attacked him. Without him, who knows where I would be now?"

Either dead in a stream somewhere or found Vale with even less body mass.

"Yes, Qrow talked to me a little bit about your situation. I knew vaguely about you two years ago when you were brought in, I had been interested in talking with you then. Though I was informed by him last night that you were here at my school." That confirmed the suspicions that Cinder had, Qrow and the headmaster were a part of something. "I must confess, I was a bit frustrated to hear you had disappeared from the hospital before he and I could talk to you. I see Haven picked you up though."

"Sorry about that…" He awkwardly rubbed behind his ear. He also wished he'd stayed. Behind. "I just, I was so focused on independence and wasn't thinking logically. I hope it didn't cause any issues?"

The gray haired man shook his head lightly with a small smile. "Oh, no, you needn't worry about that. I was merely going to offer some assistance, but it seemed like it was unnecessary. You have found somewhere to stand on your own."

"Ah, well… Yeah, I had people help me out so I could get scouted. I'll be heading to Mistral after the tournament ends, though, I'll definitely miss this place." He wasn't sure he actually was, the fact that he didn't know when or how he would be released frightened him. But he'd make it, he just had to. "Uh, I do wonder why you are here si- Ozpin, I hardly think I'm important enough for you to talk to. Especially with how busy you must be due to the festival."

"I am busy indeed, but never so much that I can't enjoy a stroll on the grounds. Though I will admit to wanting to ask you about your home. I don't know every town or village outside the walls, but I am curious about yours."

"About Prism? Why?"

"The situation in Mantle all those years ago was a turbulent time, so to learn of a refuge created by disgruntled citizens is intriguing, the fact your name isn't based on color is proof enough." He lowered his cup and fixed Oxon with a sad smile. "I am sorry to hear it was lost. I know a little about the pain of loss. If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask me or one of my staff, nobody needs to dwell in their heads alone."

"You, you've lost people?"

"Yes, it's part of why I work hard as a teacher here. I do so to help prevent others from suffering the same fates. Every student that passes through these halls is one more soul that stands against that dark fate. I just hope we have prepared them enough."

"I- " What was he supposed to say? The man clearly believes in his institution, that it only had to worry about the creatures of shadow. It was too bad that Oxon knew otherwise. The White Fang were arming and rallying for their imminent assault. He didn't know how successful such a mission was going to be on such a well armed school, but once Cinder stole whatever it was she was after, they'd be done. He wasn't planning on sticking around with Cinder once she had what she came for. After that, he'd make his way somewhere quiet.

Maybe some far flung village needs a reliable woodcutter? Yeah. That sounds good. I can settle down somewhere that isn't within the sights of the kingdom and its men.

"Well, Prism was a wonderful place, not as temperate a climate as Vale is, but we had a long enough growing season to harvest enough for the whole year. Hunting and livestock helped a lot as well. We were situated at the base of a mountain with a complex cave system." His teacher, Elder Biltmore had lived in one. The older Forester had taken Oxon under his wing, much to his father's complaining. Thinking of his old man had him absentmindedly thumbing his medallion. "My father led the guard, he was someone who I think you would like. He always told me that no matter what arguments and disagreements you had with someone, that you could and should always count on them to have your back against the Grimm. After all, nobody benefits from their victories."

"Your father is a wise man. Not everyone can put everything aside so easily." Yeah, he was something else. Too protective of everyone to have that same worry about himself. Oxon wished he was the same.

"He was, I regret not learning enough from him. For trying to be different from what he knew was best…"

"I'm sure he would be proud irregardless of how you have lived your life, every parent wants their children to be safe and happy. And for you to be as well off as you are, no doubt he's smiling down at you."

"Maybe…" Definitely not. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain in his chest. There was no way his father would ever accept his actions.

"Well, I should leave you be, but I wish to share one last thing with you." Oxon turned his attention back to the man. What now? "The creed of a huntsman is a simple one: We are to be a light in the darkness, I'm sure you know how necessary that is. I know you have done well to embody that, your efforts in the city have shown you have what it takes. Don't forget that."

With that, the mysterious man walked off. All Oxon could do was stare at him and think. Just maybe..? Oxon shook his head and laid back down on the roots of the tree. Thinking was worthless for him, for someone in his situation.

He might not have chosen this path himself, but he was stuck on it. There was no point in complaining about something so out of his control, either he continued forward, or he would be swept up by the darkness. He just had to have faith that his friends were stronger than Cinder thought.

He laid there until the sun was almost set. He was brought out of his near unconscious state by a leaf falling onto his nose. Checking the time, he realized that he forgot to eat dinner. It sucked, but he'd probably be fine enough until tomorrow. A little hunger never killed him. Standing up, he watched as the night sky became as flaming as the trees on the ground. He walked back to his dorm, still looking at the grand colors.

What a lovely sight.

Speaking of lovely sights, Oxon was almost back when he saw Weiss standing out in the middle of the lawn near their dorms. What she was doing outside alone at this time of night was unknown. He saw her waving at the sky as he got closer, following her gaze, he watched the ribbon laden ship departing from the school.

"She's gone already?" He saw her jump slightly at his sudden words, but she gave him a kind smile when she turned to face him. He hoped her talk with her sister earlier today went well, her other family didn't seem as good to her.

"Yes, sadly she was only here to offload security resources for the festival." She turned back to the craft as it slowly went out of sight. "I still wish I had been able to introduce the two of you. Though maybe once things calm down we could try?"

Well, he'd already met the specialist. Though it seemed like the conversation between siblings went better than his. That was good, he knew he'd love to speak with Taxus, his brother was always a good influence and source of stability.

"Maybe, if nothing happens before now and then. The last few months have been pretty hectic. So much crazy sh- stuff has happened." If she wanted to let him visit her home, he'd accept. That was if he'd be able to complete his "job" without being caught, though. Huh, maybe the Schnee manor needs a landscaper?

Now wouldn't that be funny, I could trim bushes into comical shapes.

"Oh don't get me started, I still think it's a miracle our team has managed to stay out of trouble this long. If I knew Vale would be like this, I'd have trained a bit more before coming here."

"I'm pretty sure no amount of preparation could prepare you for the troublesome Blake and Yang duo. Ruby at least tries to keep things normal."

"You weren't there for the food fight." He shared a laugh with her about that. It was a shame he missed the girl cut loose like she had that day, it wasn't every day that Weiss Schnee used condiments as weapons.

"Fair enough. Abrupt as this topic change is, do you think you're prepared for your fight tomorrow?" They wouldn't know who the opponents were until a few minutes before the fight, so it must be a bit stressful.

"Yang and I have prepared all we can, we just have to have faith in our abilities." She walked up and leaned into him with a content face. It was fairly chilly out as well. "You'll be there to cheer for me, right?"

"It may be hard to cheer louder than Ruby and Nora, but I'll try my best." He placed his hand awkwardly on her back as she nodded to him. "I have faith in the fortitude of you and Xiao Long. You'll definitely go on to the finals."

"Thank you." She looked around the grounds before glancing back up at him. "I don't suppose you'd be available for a brief stroll before we need to turn in?"

He was tired, hungry, and he sorely wished to go to sleep and have a big meal early tomorrow. "Of course. I always have time for you, Weiss." Her smile put the maple trees to shame, and he let her lead him in their short night time walk. The cold breeze sent a shiver down his spine, and Weiss huddled closer. He moved into the breeze and he hoped that he'd be able to block the rest of the night's wind from getting to her.

Neither saw the crow perched on one of the light poles. It's beady eyes watching the two walk off. It blinked once before flying off in the direction of Beacon Tower.

~~~(XL)~~~

Ruby was happy to see and talk to Penny again. The girl had just beaten team CRDL in the two in twos, putting her in the singles. The totally real girl had also been very excited to see Ruby, much to the pain of her spine and ribs.

Penny had introduced her to her teammate, Ciel. It was strange meeting someone more high strung than Weiss. But maybe it was just an Atlas thing.

"Ruby, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about." The secret android glanced over at her teammate before leaning in and whispering to Ruby. "I want to stay at Beacon."

What!? But that was crazy! "Penny, they'll never let you do that."

"I know, but I have a plan." If she was confident, then maybe it could work. That would be so cool! If only Sun and the other transfers could stay too… Speaking of transfers.

"Well, if you're going that far, do you think you could add another person to your team? I know Ox isn't exactly happy on his own team, so if you do, maybe we can get him on board?"

"Friend Oxon? He is currently romantically involved with friend Weiss, correct?" Ugh… Ruby really needed to help Penny work on her speech. "Perhaps that would be worth looking into. He hardly seems the type to be nosey."

"Yeah! Then the both of you can study with us all the time!"

"It's been precisely one minute, ma'am." Ceil was really monitoring the seconds? She really was just like Weiss.

"I'll talk to you more soon, Ruby." She hoped so, Penny was a great girl and a dear friend. So having her here permanently would be the best thing ever!

"Our next match will begin in 15 minutes!"

Right! Ruby had almost forgotten what was next! "Oh my gosh, that's right! It's time for-"

~~~(XL)~~~

His conversation with the wise headmaster yesterday afternoon kept playing on his mind. "be a light in the darkness, I'm sure you know how necessary that is". The headmaster didn't know him or what he'd done. He was as part of the light as the Grimm were, he'd helped them invade the city after all.

He was making his way to the stands when he got stopped by a familiar face. Flynt Coal was leaning up against the wall casually looking him in the eye. He didn't bother to suppress his groan at this. He was in a hurry to watch Weiss' match.

"Coal."

"Adhmad." Neither seemed particularly happy to see the other.

"We gon' do this a fourth time? Cause honestly, you rank pretty low on things I care about."

"I'm not going to start anything if you don't." He must have been waiting for his team to join him. This was just an unfortunate chance meeting.

"Alllllrighty then." Oxon made to leave but was stopped when Flynt got a look in his eyes and pushed himself off the wall.

"You know what? Nah, I got something to say to you." Great… He saw the guy take in and release a breath before speaking. "I'm a big enough man to realize when I've made a mistake. I thought you were just some nobody off the streets that your team and the Schnee dressed up all fancy, like some sort of pet that heeled on command. But clearly you have enough skill to back up your words."

"It's nice to hear this and all, but like I said before, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks of me. I got mad when you insulted Weiss." She wasn't anything like this fool thought her to be. "I don't take kindly to that kind of badmouthing."

"Yeah, I guess I can understand that. But still, her and her fam-" Oxon held his palm up to silence him. Not the damn point he was trying to get across.

"I can't speak for her dad, Brother's knows she likes to vent to me about the bastard. If you want to hate the guy, go for it. Hell, she'd probably agree with half of what you'd complain about." That got a surprised look from the Atlesian. Seriously, this guy. "What, you think her life is all peaches just cause she's rich?"

"She's the heiress to the SDC, why wouldn't she?"

"Life ain't a fairy tale partner, and her family life certainly isn't close. Have you ever wondered why she left Atlas to study at Beacon? Hell, I'm pretty sure Winter Schnee is a well known figure in your military, that's both daughters. Think about it, why would two thirds of the Schnee kids decide to choose lives so far away from their family?"

"That's… I never thought of it like that."

"Exactly, look, I don't like you, and you don't need to like me. Seriously, your opinion means nothing to me. But I'm sure you, Weiss, and I can agree on one thing: Papa Schnee is a bigger dick than Beacon tower." That got a disbelieving chuckle out of the guy. He shook his head and gave Oxon a bewildered look.

"You certainly are something, aren't you?"

Oxon just shrugged. "So I've been told. I'm not going to apologize for what I said back then, so don't bother. But I can admit, looking back… it's easy to see I was an asshole. But even if you don't like me, just give Weiss a chance, yeah?"

"You definitely don't know the definition of the word "tact", do ya? I can dig it, just this once, though.. Still kinda pissed at the things you said during the fight, but I can move past it. You really think Weiss doesn't take after her old man?"

"Course she doesn't, if you talk to her about it without the attitude, then I'm sure you'll get along just fine. She's a nice girl with a good head on her shoulders. You know, if you ask, maybe she can pull a few strings to get your pa hired or something. If he had his own shop, he should be competent in management, yeah? Knowing her, she'd come up with something, she's surprisingly devious when she wants to be." Yang never did find out who switched her conditioner with olive oil, Weiss wasn't happy when she found out about that bet of hers and Blakes.

"I think I just might." Good, that was one less antagonistic d-bag to deal with, hopefully.

"Cool." He walked past the musical huntsman as he hoped he hadn't missed too much of the fight. He paused momentarily to glance back at FNKI's leader. "Oh, give my apologies to your faunus partner for the burnt tail thing.

My team leader can be a real vindictive bitch when she wants to."

~~~(XL)~~~

Wiess and Yang were already fighting by the time he showed up. Ruby seemed upset that he didn't get the chance to wish her luck before it began. He gave her the story of his encounter at the landing pads. Thankfully she realized it wasn't his idea to be so late.

Their opponents were a duo from Haven that he didn't even remember the name of. One of the guys had a pair of large swords and was losing handily to Yang; he couldn't swing quite fast enough to catch her or stop her punishing blows. Weiss was paired against a rather competent burn dust user. He used a pair of bladed fans that sent out elemental attacks occasionally.

He would have been a difficult enemy for Oxon. The pure speed and fast burn dust usage would sneak through his semblance all too easily. Though, Weiss seemed like a far superior user of dust. His hits were rarely able to land due to her knocking them aside with her own dust. Wind, ice, water, and more kept the flames at bay.

"They're doing really well." Blake and Ruby nodded in agreement. They watched as Weiss sent a blast of shock dust that sent one of the fans flying out of her opponent's reach. Oxon let out a loud cheer at that.

"WOOOO! LET'S GO WEISS!" He was up and out of his seat, fists raised in support. Soon after, Ruby copied his pose but beat him in volume. He wasn't sure if she could hear him, but on the big screen, he saw her smirk grow.

Emboldened by her minor victory, Weiss pressed the advantage. She formed a sphere of glyphs around the boy, launching ice spikes at him. Once he was disoriented, she began to dash around and between them, scoring a brutal amount of hits in a short time.

The poor guy tried valiantly to block her or throw off her rhythm, but she'd just switch glyphs and continue. Eventually the toll became too much and his aura flared into the red.

"Well with that dizzying display! Miss Schnee eliminates Mr. Pavonini from the match!"

He saw her turn her body in the direction that he and the rest of her team were standing. She gave a wave towards them. Oxon tried to wave back to her but doubted she could see him in the crowd, but he liked to think she could.

She then went to reinforce Yang, freezing the large swords to the ground in time for Yang's semblance to ignite. The blonde rocketed forth and slammed a fist into his jaw with a sound akin to a thunderclap. He flew so hard that he slammed into the hard-light barrier, his swords still frozen in the arena.

"And with that hearty blow, Mordred joins his comrade in aura depletion.

"A very good fight by all. With this, team RWBY will be moving onto the singles rounds. I'm sure we're all excited to see how well they do!"

"Yeahhhhh! YANGGGG! THAT WAS AMAZING!"

"Wooooo!"

"Go team RWBY!"

The three of them cheered on their partners/ friends in their victory. Yang soun in place as she waved her hands above her head, giving the crowd some love. Weiss gave the camera a polite bow, a satisfied smile on her face.

The three quickly made their way down to the common area to meet up with the duo. They found them waiting by the exit to the shuttle bay. Ruby rushed forward in a burst of rose petals and "glomped" her teammates. Weiss almost fell over but for Yang keeping her steady.

"Ruby! Please have a little bit of class!" Blake and Oxon approached at a more reasonable pace. Blake joined in on the team hug, it was a cute sight. He snapped a quick photo and sent it to their numbers.

The two teammates piled on the compliments to the other half for their win. Yang seemed pleased that she could move onto the next round nice and cleanly. The blonde wrapped her arms around the other three and lifted them up in one final, spine crushing hug. None of the three seemed happy at that.

"You two were fantastic." He finally said once the hug dissolved, Blake rubbing her spine. Yang offered a fist and he bumped it with a roll of his eyes. "Mostly Weiss, your brute strength is scary, but not as impressive in my opinion."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say mister. We allllll know why you say that." He scratched his cheek and futilly tried to ward off his blush.

"Hush Yang." Weiss walked past her teammates and stood in front of him. She was puffing out her chest in pride, well earned pride. "I thought I might have heard you yelling. Did you enjoy the fight?"

"Oh definitely, your skill with those glyphs was something else. You had that guy by the nose the whole time." She seemed to very much enjoy the words he was saying. He meant every one. "It was truly a beautiful display."

"W-well I definitely trained hard for this day, so it's to be expected." She fiddled with her hands behind her back for a moment before looking back up into his eyes. "But it makes me happy to hear you say so."

The two looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Yang put her head between them.

"O~kay love birds, enough of the mushy mushy. Yangy is hungry enough to eat a horse." She placed her arm around his neck with one and around Weiss' with the other. The "squad" as Yang called them made their way to the festival grounds to get some food. Apparently Blake had seen a promising sushi stall. Whatever that was, but they hadn't done him wrong with new food yet.

The five laughed together as they rode down, spirits high. All of them and their friends had made it to the third round. It was time to celebrate.

~~~(XL)~~~

Later that night, team CMOS were all in their room. Each doing whatever they pleased. Oxon was carving a chunk of Aspen he'd acquired. Mercury was doing pushups in preparation for his upcoming singles fight with Yang, something which worried Oxon. Cinder and Emerald were both on their respective devices; he was focused on getting the feathers just right when Cinder spoke.

"Oh."

Oxon looked up from his wood carving, a white bird in mid flight. "What?"

"Oh nothing. We're just going to be making a slight, hmm... alternation in the plan."

"What does that mean?"

Bitchy McFire looked at her large device with an overly satisfied look. "It means that this will be even easier than we thought."

Oxon glanced up from the wood to see what she was going on about this time. What he saw almost caused him to drop the inanimate bird. The letters were mirrored, so he could not see much, but he did see blueprints for some robot that looked suspiciously like Penny Polendina. He knew the girl was a bit odd, but he'd passed it up to sheltered upbringing. He'd been fairly similar to her after all. Though at least he spoke like a normal human.

Atlas had made a real life android. One that looked and acted innocent girl. No wonder she was able to tear through her opponents in fights. It also explains why she was always flanked by Atlesian soldiers, literally everywhere.

And while he was shocked and a little nervous about talking to her in the future, he worried about just what Cinder had in store for the girl. They hadn't… killed… anyone since Tukson, but he'd been Fang, not someone innocent. But, was Penny innocent? Or was her personality an act? Just military programming?

Either way, things were beginning to come to a head.

~~~(XL)~~~

…Soon…