Oscar followed Jaune into the next room, and found a series of pillars. "Brothers, I hate this puzzle." Jaune sighed. "Takes so much time."

"Do you read the signs?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah, but that perspective stuff is confusing." Jaune nodded.

"Perspective?" Oscar said, confusedly.

"Read the sign." Jaune chuckled.

"Oh, right." Oscar laughed, approaching the plaque on the wall. It read:

When you walk through the door, you don't enter another room. Your perspective changes. Press the red switch.

"Huh." Oscar shrugged. "I guess I can see why that could be confusing." He turned and looked behind the pillar to his left, and there was the red switch.

They heard a gate opening down the hallway. "Oh boy, here we go…" sighed Jaune.

They entered the next room, which sure enough was identical to the previous one, the only difference being that the door was in a different place.

Jaune read the sign this time:

Press the green switch.

"Let's find the red switch first," Oscar said. He looked behind the pillar to his right, but that switch was blue. So he strolled over to another pillar by a leaf pile, and found not just the red switch, but a Grimm!

It leaped at Oscar, but by this time he was used to Grimm pouncing on him and dodged, causing the amorphous blob to smack right into Jaune and slide off his armor.

"Oh look, a Myxogastria!"

"What should we do to pacify it?"

"You see how much it's wiggling? Wiggle with it."

"You can't be serious-"

DING!

Myxogastria. Easygoing slime Grimm. Wiggle with it.

"Oh."

Seeing no other option, Oscar began shaking his hips to an imaginary rhythm. Jaune joined in, and so did the Grimm. Everyone was happy, and soon the slime left without contest.

"Alright," Oscar sighed, relieved. "Back to the puzzle."

"We've found the red and blue switches." Jaune followed. "Now what?"

"The only one we haven't seen is the green one, so we know exactly where it is!" Oscar beamed, already wandering towards the final pillar.

"You know," Jaune admitted, "I like where you're going with this."

And sure enough, the switch was there. They pressed it and the gate opened.

In the next room, they could already see the green switch. "So we know where all the switches are, right?" Oscar explained.

"Yeah." Jaune agreed.

"So if we know just one switch, we can find the other two from the layout of the room!" Oscar clarified further.

"That… makes sense, actually." Jaune smiled. "You're good at this!"

"Thanks!" Oscar smiled back.

They found the switch, of course, and opened the gate.

As they progressed, they found Summer caring for a patch of roses, in front of a charming little house. As she stood up, she noticed them, and came to greet them. "Oscar! You made it! And I see you've met Jaune!"

"Mhm!" Oscar nodded. "Met a few Grimm, too!"

"I'm sure that must have been fun." Summer smiled. "Come in, I have something to show you."

She took them inside the house, and while Jaune had a seat in the living room, she led Oscar into a hallway and stood him in front of an open bedroom door.

"It's yours." she said.

"Really?"

"Yes, go on in! The one thing I want for you is to be happy, and-"

Suddenly, they heard a voice from the kitchen. "Uh, Mrs Rose? Is the oven supposed to be smoking?"

"Uh-oh!" she gasped. "They're burning! You check out your room, I'll take care of it!"

"Alright!" Oscar smiled.

The room was beautiful. Stuffed animals lined the red walls, the bed was perfectly made, and the whole room smelled of roses.

Oscar decided to take a nap. It had been a long day, after all, and according to the clock on the wall, it was about 9:24 PM on the surface.

As he drifted off to sleep, his dream surprised him. He was in a pristine, grassy field, full of flowers. A man was sitting on a hill. He was wearing a black coat over a green sweater. His glasses barely covered his eyes, and Oscar took special note of his jagged gray hair.

He approached the man.

"Hello, Oscar." the man said. "It's wonderful meeting you in person." Oscar knew his voice immediately.

It was Ozpin, the voice in his head.

"Ozpin?" Oscar inquired.

"Yes, it's me." Ozpin nodded. "Come, sit. I've been meaning to tell you something." he offered, patting the ground next to him.

Oscar sat gently next to Ozpin. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Well," Ozpin began, "you seem to be getting along well with Summer and Jaune."

"Of course!"

"But the Ruins are quite small, don't you think? Only about 5 different puzzles to get used to?"

"You make a good point… but what do you mean?"

"What I mean is, you can't live here forever."

"But I don't… want to leave."

Ozpin paused.

"...Do you remember Sadie?"

That memory pained Oscar. Sadie could have been his friend, maybe even more, but she betrayed him. Tried to kill him.

"...yeah."

"If my gut is telling me right, she is up to something. Something that could potentially take thousands of lives. And someone's got to stop her."

"And that would be me?"

"Correct."

"...How do you know any of this?"

"Let me ask you this. If Sadie fell into the Underground, how did she trap you without a Semblance or magic?"

And then Oscar woke up.

He thought about his dream for a while. If he left, then Summer and Jaune would miss him. He'd definitely feel bad about that. But if he didn't, then he'd get bored of the Ruins, and he'd want to leave anyway.

Or Sadie…

He had to go.

As he stood up, he saw a sugar cookie with chocolate chips on his bedside table. He took it and kept it in his pocket, because he had just woken up and he wasn't exactly hungry.

He found Summer looking at old photos in her armchair, Jaune washing dishes in the kitchen.

Without hesitation, he walked up to her and asked, "I want to leave."

Summer looked at him, shocked. She tried to dodge the subject. "Do you… want to see some old pictures?" she said nervously, showing him a photo of a young blonde girl, about 6, and a red-haired girl, about 4. "Yang and Ruby. Aren't they cute?"

"Yes, but…" Oscar said, his voice breaking. "I can't stay in the Ruins forever. I want to go home."

Silence. Even Jaune had stopped washing dishes.

"...follow me."

Summer led Oscar into the basement, which was dark and dilapidated. Torches stayed barely lit along the brick walls. They walked until they reached a massive door.

"Oscar," Summer began, seriously, "I must tell you something. Six other children fell here before you. None of them returned, because of him."

Oscar began to regret his decision. But the only way to go was forward.

"If you leave, he… Qrow… will kill you. Do you understand?"

Oscar nodded. "I'm not turning back now."

"Then you have one final test." Summer said determinedly "Prove to me… that you're strong enough to survive out there!"

A rustling noise to Oscar's left caught his attention. Rose petals rose from the ground, and shot towards his body. Luckily he dodged just in time.

"You have two options!" Summer yelled. "Fight back or turn back!"

But so far on his journey, Oscar proved he could resolve a conflict without fighting. Most people could be reasoned with. And Summer was one of those people.

"No! I won't do either!" he yelled back, dodging petals from his right.

More petals from the front. He dodged to the left, but just barely. They scratched his arm, and he began to bleed. Damn it.

"What are you trying to prove by not fighting back?" Summer yelled, holding back tears. More petals from the right.

"If I fought you," Oscar said, dodging petals from the front, "and killed you, how would your daughters feel?"

Hearing that, Summer began to slow down her attacks. "I…"

"How would they feel," Oscar asked, "if I had killed you because you asked me to?"

Summer stopped.

"I… I know the Ruins are small, but we can make the most of our time."

"It can't last forever. Nothing does."

"Please, stop making this so hard… just go upstairs."

"You have Jaune. You have the Grimm. I mean, they're troublesome, but they don't mean any harm."

"Please…"

"You've gone so long without me. What's a few more years?"

"...I understand."

She approached him, and put her warm hand on his shoulder.

"You've passed your final test, Oscar. You've shown me that you are strong, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well."

Oscar smiled, but then he remembered his arm. Luckily, Jaune had showed up just in time to heal it.

Summer smiled at Oscar. "You're free to go."

Oscar walked towards the door, but Summer called after him. "Oh, one last thing."

He turned to her.

"Once you walk through that door, don't ever come back, OK?" she said, beginning to cry.

"Alright," he nodded. "Thanks, guys."

"Our pleasure, Oscar." she smiled. "And goodbye."

"See you sometime, bud." Jaune smiled.

And Oscar left the Ruins.

He was met with a vast, wintry forest. "Weird," he thought, "it was August last time I checked.

He then heard a high-pitched beeping sound, but not from his phone. He didn't quite know where it did come from, actually.

He decided to ignore it.

As he walked, the snow crunched under his feet. A pleasant sound, which would have made up for a long walk if he didn't begin to hear more snow crunching behind him. He looked behind himself.

Nobody.

As he walked, Ozpin returned. "Who do you think that is?" he asked calmly.

"I hope no one." Oscar shivered, both from cold and from fear.

"Well, we'll see." Ozpin chuckled.

Oscar stopped, and realized a branch was in his path. He decided to step over it.

A gunshot rang out.

Oscar looked behind himself.

The branch was broken in half.

Yeesh.

Oscar kept walking until he reached a wide, open gate. He could now hear, even clearer, the footsteps behind him.

They got closer.

And closer.

And closer.

And suddenly, Oscar felt a little warm. No, not just a little. He was hot. Sweating, in fact. His stalker spoke, filling him with fear.

"Hey, don't you know how to greet a Huntress?"

"...No?"

"Turn around and shake my hand."