Oscar was paralyzed with fear. In this situation, he saw two likely options: do as the voice said, and shake their hand, or likely die.

Actually, he was probably going to die either way.

He took the risk, and grabbed the hand that had been reached out to him. It felt cold and metallic. He began to shake it, slowly and carefully.

And for whatever reason, the hand began to rotate, making a mechanical whir as it did. "Huh?" Oscar exclaimed.

This was followed by uproarious laughter from behind him.

Oscar had been got.

Quickly, he whirled around to see the one who pranked him, a beautiful girl with thick blonde hair, still wiping tears of laughter from her violet eyes. Her leather jacket looked like it just barely insulated her from the cold. "Man, the spinning arm trick!" she chortled. "Always gets a good reaction!"

"I, uhhh… definitely wasn't expecting that." Oscar said, relieved that he wasn't going to die.

The girl regained her composure and shook Oscar's hand. "Name's Yang, by the way. Yang Xiao Long. I'm a Lieutenant Huntress for the Royal Guard. Nice to meetcha!"

"I'm Oscar. Oscar Pine. And it's nice to meet you too." he nodded. It was nice to know that there was at least someone doing alright out in this cold.

"So," Yang said determinedly, "you came to Frostblue Forest through Mom's, right?"

Ah, right. This was the same Yang who Oscar had seen in one of Summer's old photos. It had certainly been a while since that photo was taken, for by this time she had to be about Jaune's age.

"The Ruins, yeah." Oscar nodded.

"Well, when you stepped through that door, you KINDA triggered a security system that alerts the whole Royal Guard to your existence???" she explained nervously.

"Welp, there goes escaping," he admitted.

"Well don't worry, because I got your back!" she beamed. "I'll try my best to help you out with my sister Ruby, who's kind of a softie anyway, but once you get to Usafa, then you're on your own."

"And that's…"

"Just past Yukishiro Town."

"Thanks!"

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction. "Shoot, here comes Ruby." Yang warned, lifting a cardboard box next to her guard station. "Quick, hide under here."

And Oscar did so, and through the conveniently-placed eyeholes he saw an almost familiar-looking red-haired girl dash into view, holding a mechanical scythe almost the same size as she was. "YAAAAAANG!" Ruby yelled. "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?"

"Relax, Rubes, just watching for the kid." Yang said calmly.

"There are more important things to take care of, Yang!" Ruby stressed. "You know, like fixing the puzzles?"

"Those are your puzzles, Ruby." Yang reminded her, a little more serious now. "They're your responsibility. And besides, who's the lieutenant here?"

"Oh! Sorry, Yang! I'll go fix them right away!" Ruby called as she dashed off into the distance.

As she left, Oscar left his hiding spot. "It's safe now, right?" he asked.

"Yep!" Yang nodded. "Keep going down the path, and you'll get to Yukishiro in no time."

"Thanks, Yang!" Oscar smiled.

"One more thing, though." Yang requested. "Ruby doesn't know her mom is still alive. If you do meet her, don't tell her, ok?"

"Ok!" Oscar said as he headed off. "See ya!"

Pushing forward, Oscar soon came to a crossroads. And there was yet another light hovering in front of him, those ones that gave him that weird feeling when he touched them. He decided to touch this one too, because at this point they felt important.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ozpin commented. "The snow reflecting off the trees. Makes you want to keep going forward, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Oscar agreed, "but which way is forward?"

A sign nearby read:

North: Ice East: Ice South: Ice West: Yukishiro Town (And Ice)

"Helpful." Oscar shrugged, heading west. He soon came to what looked like a shoddily-made guard station. As it turned out, a Grimm was inside!

The anserine Grimm hissed and bit at his face. As he dodged around, his Scroll dinged. The notification read:

Cadhan. Playful goose Grimm. It's just playing around. Play with it!

So, for no particular reason, Oscar decided to play tag with a goose.

He led it on a pursuit, a wild goose chase if you will, through the trees. And although the Cadhan played a little rough, the two had a lot of fun together! After they were done, he gave it a pat on the bill and sent it on its way.

Returning to the path, he passed by a more well-made sentry station. In fact, it almost seemed to glow. He checked inside to see if anyone was home…

And indeed, someone was.

An orange haired girl in a green skirt jumped out at him, with a full introduction prepared. "Salutations!" she chirped. "My name is Penny Polendina, and I am a Sergeant Huntress for the Underground Royal Guard. You have been marked as a potential target for the Royal Guard of Frostblue, and any resistance to capture will result in termination. Thank you!"

"Welp," Oscar thought. "I am going to die."

"No, silly!" Ozpin chuckled. "You reasoned with Summer, you can reason with this girl!"

"Yeah, but I don't know this girl!" Oscar growled. "What does she want the most?"

Oscar had to think quickly. He was about to get blasted by Penny's ever-glowing laser cannon…

"Uhhh… uhhh… I want to be friends with you!" he called out in desperation.

"Really?" Penny squealed. "I would love to be your friend! What is your name?"

"It's Oscar…" he said, once again relieved he wasn't going to die.

"Salutations, Oscar!" she chirped once again. "My name is Penny! It is nice to be friends with you!"

"Likewise…" Oscar sighed, overwhelmed.

"I would love to do friendly activities together, but I have guard duty to do. I will see you later, Oscar!" she smiled, reentering her station.

"Bye, Penny!" he smiled back, moving on.

He then came across Yang relaxing by a tree. "Met Penny, huh?" she inquired.

"Sure did…" Oscar said, still a little tired from the encounter.

"She's super tough!" Yang said, impressed. "Surprised you even got to me!"

"We're, uh, actually friends now." Oscar explained. "I just… told her I wanted to be friends and she left me alone."

"Yeah, well, you know how younger people are." Yang nodded. "Anyways, I wanted to give you a little heads up about Ruby. So, she's got this scythe, right?"

Oscar nodded.

"It shoots bullets."

Oscar facepalmed.

"But don't worry! These bullets are dust-powered, so if you stay perfectly still, you won't get hurt at all." she explained. "Remember that."

"Alright, I will." Oscar confirmed, moving onwards."Thanks!"

The road ahead split in two, so he decided to go left. He was greeted by an eyeless snowman. "Oh, thank the Brothers!" it cried in relief. "Someone who can bend their knees! Please, pick up my eyes. They're on the ground in front of me."

A little confused, Oscar took the snowman's eyes and placed them back onto its face.

"Thank you, kind stranger!" it cried in joy. "Thank you so much! I can see again!" The snowman reached into its own body and took out a piece of itself. "Here, take this piece of me." it offered. "I want to see the world. Keep this with you, and take it past the magic field keeping us all inside the Underground."

"Will do." Oscar nodded, still quite confused. He then turned back around and returned to the fork in the road, as there was nothing else of interest down this path.

Oscar now decided to keep going west. He saw a large patch of ground where the snow was much thinner than normal, and who else but Yang and Ruby having a conversation on the other side of it.

"So, back to General Nikos…"

They noticed him.

Oh no.

Ruby pulled out her Scroll. She looked at it, and back at Oscar. At the Scroll, at Oscar. At the Scroll, at Oscar. At the Scroll, at Oscar…

"Yang…. Is that…"

"Yep, that's the kid." Yang said, before mouthing the word "sorry" at Oscar.

"OH MY GOOOOODS!" Ruby shouted with glee, before regaining her composure. "Oscar Pine, if that IS your name!" she commanded. "You will not pass this area! Take one step and be electrified! HAAAHAHAHAHA!" She then procured a red crystal from her pocket. Holding it in the air, she proclaimed, "Go ahead and try!"

"Alright, here goes…" Oscar thought. He took a light, deliberate step…

"OWWW!"

Ruby fell back and dropped the crystal, but Yang snatched it just in time. "Uh, Rubes, I think Oscar needs to hold the crystal." she chuckled.

"I'll go give it to him!" Ruby smiled as she took it from Yang. Ruby then began to take a winding path through the electric field without getting shocked.. "Ok!" she chirped, handing the crystal to Oscar. "Now go ahead and try."

"Seems easy enough, actually." Oscar thought, as he followed the tracks Ruby had left in the thin layer of snow, and made it through without harm.

Ruby was silent. She seemed a little upset.

"I mean, if you hadn't done that, I never would have solved it." Oscar acknowledged. "I gotta give you credit there."

Hearing that, Ruby perked up immediately. "Really? You think I'm cool?"

"Sure I do!" Oscar smiled.

"Thank you!" Ruby squealed, before striking a pose that could be either heroic or villainous. "But your compliments don't make me any less eager to capture you! See you at the next puzzle, Oscar! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You must have come a long way from the surface, huh, Oscar?" Yang inquired as her sister strutted off into the distance.

"Yeah. My parent's farm is a long ways away." Oscar confirmed. "Good for me, heh."

"Rough childhood?"

"Yeah. Their stupid superstitions about me are why I'm even here in the first place."