Moving down the path together, Oscar and Yang came across an area with a thinner layer of snow over it, and a snowball at Oscar's feet. "Hey," Yang offered, "wanna play Snowball? It's a game Rubes and I came up with."

"How do you play?" Oscar asked.

"You know mini-golf, right?" Yang explained. "It's that, but you kick the snowball into the hole instead."

"I'll give it a try." Oscar accepted, approaching the pellet of snow.

He gave it a light tap with his foot, and sure enough, it rolled forward, gathering snow. He tapped it at a bit of an angle, and it moved in that direction.

The course seemed to curve a little, so he navigated the ball around the curve until he came to a patch of ice, which he nearly tripped on. Avoiding it, he then shoved the now much larger ball into the hole, which was just close by.

"A little advice for you." Yang said. "You can't be scared to give the ball a good kick starting off. Start and end everything you do with passion."

"Thank you." Oscar bowed.

Moving further, they passed an ice-cream cart. The green-eyed saleswoman shot Yang a dirty look.

"Yeah, don't buy from her." Yang shrugged. "Rubes and I both got one, and we were sick for a week after. Doctor said the stuff might've been laced."

Oscar simply looked back at the saleswoman both cautiously and angrily, and moved on.

Then, they found Ruby standing in a clearing. "Well, well, well, look what the sister dragged in!" she laughed, definitely evilly this time.

"Yup! I showed him Snowball, like you asked." Yang winked.

Suddenly, Ruby turned almost as red as her scarf. "YAAANG!" she screamed in embarrassment. "YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO- ugh, forget it."

"So she DOES like me!" Oscar thought.

"Anyways…" Ruby smirked, retaining her composure, "this next puzzle is one by Lieutenant Yang! Hit it! she called, making jazz hands.

Nothing happened.

"...Hit it!"

Still nothing.

"Yang, where's the puzzle?" Ruby asked.

"Right in front of you." Yang said, motioning downwards.

Ruby looked down, and saw a piece of paper, picked it up, and shouted, "This is a word search!"

"Yeah, it is." Yang nodded.

"Tsk tsk, for shame." Ruby joked. "You know crosswords are harder."

"Oh, come on!" Yang rebutted. "Word searches are way harder. But let's see what Oscar thinks."

Oscar gave his opinion. "Well, for word searches, you just have to find the specific combination of letters. But for crosswords, you have to have some knowledge of what the clues mean, which I think can be harder. So… crosswords."

"YESSS! I KNEW IT!" Ruby squealed, jumping in place. "Take that! Debate solved!"

"You got me." Yang smiled.

Regaining her composure, Ruby continued, "Well, the puzzle itself did nothing, but I finally won that debate, so I consider this one a success! HAAAAHAHAHA! Ruby out!" she laughed, strutting over to the next puzzle.

"I'll go on ahead." Yang nodded. "See ya in a bit, kid."

"You too!" Oscar called, continuing down the path.

He came across a portable oven and a plate of cookies. Also, another light. As he touched it, Ozpin returned. "You like that girl, don't you?" he teased.

"...How did you know?" Oscar whispered, embarrassed.

"Oh, come now." Ozpin joked. "I live in your mind. I know everything about you."

"That's… a little discomforting, actually." Oscar admitted.

"You know, I was in love once." Ozpin related. "It wasn't pretty. But this? This is different. You two are made for eachother."

"Thanks." Oscar nodded.

He then looked over to the cookies. They looked a lot like the one he still had in his pocket. There was also a note attached to the plate:

Dear Oscar, This is NOT a gift, a declaration of love, or anything like that. This is a trap, made to keep

you distracted while I capture you. Please eat it.

With PUZZLES, Ruby (:3

Looking harder at the word "puzzles", Oscar could just barely make out the word "love" erased underneath it, and in different handwriting. "Oh, Yang." Oscar chuckled.

He then realized he hadn't actually tried his pocket cookie yet. He took it out, and bit into it.

It was just about the most heavenly thing he had ever eaten. No wonder Summer was shocked when he tried to leave- if he had eaten the cookie beforehand, he would've definitely stayed. With high expectations, he tried one of the new cookies.

A little different.

"It needs more sugar!" Oscar called into the distance, took another, and moved on.

He approached the next area, when a humanoid Grimm wearing a hat strutted from behind a tree. His Scroll dinged:

Boshidaruma. Stylish snowman Grimm. Show it beauty is what's on the inside.

Oscar thought of a plan. He approached it, showering it in compliments. "I like your hat! That walk, too!"

And with each compliment it got prouder and prouder. And when it let its guard down, Oscar snatched the hat right off its head.

It panicked, scratching at its head desperately, as if something was wrong with it.

"You know what?" Oscar said. "You look better this way."

It immediately calmed down, and grabbed its hat back, before tossing it aside. Satisfied, it left.

"Well, that was easy." Oscar noted, moving on.

He was met with a large open area, and what seemed to be a map on the ground. A red "X" marked something significant. "Better go see what it is." Oscar thought.

He headed to the area signified on the map, and found a small snowless patch. "Huh." thought Oscar, before reaching down to see if anything was there. He felt something click, and heard a gate opening in the distance. He immediately went to that spot.

Sure enough, there was an open gate!

Oscar headed through, and shortly after, he heard a pair of armored footsteps behind him.

"Oh, shit."

One of the people behind him calmly, but authoritatively began to speak. "Greetings, outsider. Lieutenant Belladonna of the Royal Guard. If you'll be so kind as to back up against that tree you're currently facing, Sergeant Schnee and I won't have to get messy."

Oscar wheeled around, and sure enough, a white-haired girl with a ponytail had a rapier to his throat. "Geez, these Royal Guard folk do NOT mess around." Oscar thought.

He began backing towards the tree, with his hands raised up to his head.

"That's right. Nice and easy."

This was it. If he didn't get a miracle now, he'd get captured.

"All we need is your cooperation."

And who knows what their ruler would do to him?

"See? Nobody-"

As Oscar shrunk against the tree, two familiar voices rang out.

"WEISS!"

The white-haired girl blushed.

"Oh, hey babe!"

The black-haired girl with cat ears smiled. "Hey." she said. "We're kinda in the middle of something here."

"Oh, thank the Brothers." Oscar thought. Yang and Ruby had arrived just in time.

"Shame." Yang smiled. "I was thinking of hitting up From Dust Till Dawn with you guys, but you seem busy. Nevermind!" she joked, walking away.

"Yang, wait…" the cat-eared girl called as she ran after her fellow lieutenant.

"Blake!" Weiss called, but to no avail. Somewhat annoyed, she turned to Ruby. "And I suppose you're going too?"

"Nope!" Ruby smiled. "I'd love to, but I have a puzzle to attend to. Maybe next time!" she said as she left.

"Well…" Weiss sighed, turning back to Oscar. "I can't really do much without a commanding officer. So I suppose you get off the hook for now."

"Phew!" Oscar said, wiping pretend sweat from his brow.

"But just you wait. As soon as Blake remembers her duty, it's through for you." she warned, following her boss's footsteps.

Oscar stood up, breathing a sigh of relief. He had met a few new people, done a few new puzzles, and even gotten a new crush. And the only way to progress in romance, like in anything, is to go forward.