Chapter 1 - Year 1
Being back at Beacon was a little surreal, and Oscar felt way too small.
Bring on the transport ships on the way to Beacon without anyone he knew was also a little daunting, even if he knew what was about to happen.
Oscar didn't need to look around to know that Beacon didn't get any students from Signal this year since no one in his year signed up with him, no one looked familiar either.
But nothing was happening and Oscar was becoming bored with how long he had forgotten the trip actually took. And there were no seats. Why were there no seats.
Oscar found himself nearly faceplanting when someone ran into him.
"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" They were saying quickly grabbing Oscar and making sure he didn't fall.
Oscar whirled around and was face-to-face was a chameleon boy. "Ugh. I swear I didn't do it on purpose!" He apologised frantically.
Oscar blinked, then waved his apology away. "It's fine, are you okay?" He questioned.
The boy stared at him as if Oscar had grown another head.
"F—fine! I'm fine! You near hit the deck!" He stuttered out.
Oscar found himself laughing.
"Thanks for the concern…?" He asked.
The boy blinked, then seemed to understand. "Right! I'm Pascal!" He introduced.
Oscar stopped himself from snorting as he shook hands.
"I'm Oscar!" He returned not minding when Pascal's skin changed colour from what he guessed was embarrassment and remorse to curiosity.
Which was quickly stamped out when Glynda appeared via projection to give the usual speech and Oscar felt the planes start to descend.
Feeling so he looked back to Pascal. "Well! See you!" Oscar said, waving.
The boy looked surprised Oscar was even giving him time, and his skin changed colour. "Bye!" He managed to call back, and Oscar fled wanting to get off the plane as soon as he could.
Looking up at Beacon really didn't help since he still felt that he was still too small.
Oscar tried to ignore the many new students around him, several had most likely travelled halfway around Remnant to attend based on what they brought with them and most probably coming from Sanctum, or other schools. He quickly sidestepped what looked like the second coming of Weiss and her temper and made his way into the main hall.
Ozpin made the same speech. Oscar felt himself shiver at it and try his best to not give eye contact.
Though Oscar didn't spare a second to glare at him and Glynda when they were all corralled into the lunch hall, that was voided of tables and benches for the night. Oscar knew that the rooms were free, but this was the better way until they all had teams.
But it didn't make it any better. Oscar swept the room and noted that Pascal was talking to another Faunus, so he thought it better to leave the two alone and find an alcove to back into and try to sleep until Glynda woke them up and Ozpin threw them all off the cliff.
/
/
Oscar found he couldn't sleep. At all. Too many eyes. Too many people he just didn't know. He wondered how many of them knew what was going to happen in a few hours, and if they all knew their landing strategies, if they had them.
He briefly recognised that Glynda had called them all out to the cliffside, and he had a brief thought he should throw Silvis at her and Ozpin.
What he took more notice of was that every first-year raced to get out of the locker room to do as Glynda said that made him sigh wearily.
He should definitely throw Silvis at them.
Oscar couldn't help but tune Ozpin out as he recited his every year message, though several of the first years did screech in alarm when Ozpin pointed out exactly why they were there and the first to launch screamed out in terror.
"Oscar," Ozpin called.
Oscar turned to look at him, having been the last one to arrive meant he was the closest, and the last to go flying.
"…Yeah?" He asked curiously trying to not flinch when Ozpin sided his head at him.
"…You do have an emblem, right?" Ozpin was asking. Oscar blinked at him. "Because you'll need it." He added. Oscar quite literally hadn't thought of it as his peer next to him was sent flying. "And no, you can't use mine." Ozpin said.
Oscar didn't have a chance to respond before he was suddenly sent flying and cursing Ozpin's mother for all his worth.
Of course he would say that!
Oscar's Semblance worked only if he himself was on the ground, or had Ruby to level him out, so until it decided to work without him needing to be on the ground, Oscar needed to work out how to grasp trees and branches to slow him down that were near him that he could catch them so he didn't faceplant the ground at a good breakneck speed.
But he did find himself flat on the ground looking up at the sky, deeply frowning.
"This would be fine, I said, you'll be fine, I said!" He snarked at himself. "Forgot about the whole emblem needing thing, didn't you?" He asked himself, before groaning and clasping his hands to paw at his eyes.
Not good.
"Do you always talk to yourself?" A girl's voice asked curiously.
Oscar yelped and sat up in a split second to regard the girl, who would now apparently be his teammate for the next four years.
She didn't seem to be perturbed at him talking to himself, but she seemed curious enough to not question it further.
Oscar jumped up and shrugged a shoulder. "You'd be surprised at how cathartic it is." Oscar told her.
She laughed, as the wind tore around them, rustling the leaves, their clothes and her hip-length hazelnut hair went flying around her.
Oscar noted the wary look in his direction. "Okay, so, say I was about to say we're gonna get ambushed, what would you say?" She asked.
Oscar blinked, and one hand went to reach for Silvis. "I'd say point me in the direction of the nearest one." He said.
She grinned and pointed behind him. "Five seconds!" She responded cheerfully, making Oscar whip around and ready Silvis at the same time. "Oh! By the way!" She called, making Oscar look over his shoulder and note her that her weapon looked like an old-fashioned air-type racket he hadn't technically personally seen in a few hundred years. "My name is Gail! Gail Skyewind!" She told him.
Oscar blinked but understood the reference and had no doubt as to why she was a student.
"I'm Oscar!" He responded, in a way that didn't tell her he knew her background.
Gail grinned at her, before focusing on the incoming Grimm that spelt their five seconds was up.
Gail would be all about wind currents and most likely her Semblance was too, seeing if she could read the wind from before. Oscar took that into account and left her to her own side, knowing she probably was as good as her ancestors.
Hearing Gail yelp made Oscar automatically turn around and fire on the Grimm on her side, before going back to the Grimm advancing on him and quickly finishing them off.
Looking back to Gail, who looked a little surprised made Oscar chuckle nervously and paw the side of his neck.
"Um. Sorry, for, taking over, but I acted—" Oscar stalled when she waved both her arms.
"No! No! Thank you!" Gail stuttered, making Oscar blink. "No, I, uh, I didn't have it, so thanks." She muttered.
Oscar blinked as sided his head.
"You…didn't have it?" He questioned incredulously.
Gail shook her head. "No… Too many?" She sighed in frustration. "See, I come from a heritage family, so normally people see my name and assume I know everything. Um…I'm a black sheep." She said.
Oscar regarded her, then shrugged. "That's what schools are for. For training, you won't be a black sheep by the time you graduate." Oscar told her genuinely.
By the time he had spoken, he was looking off towards where Ozpin had probably put the relics this year and didn't see the enamoured look Gail had for him.
By the time Oscar looked back, she wiped her face clean of emotion.
"Yeah, we should…probably get moving?" He questioned.
Gail just shrugged. "Know where to?" She asked.
Oscar shrugged and pointed down the valley. "Probably that way…" He sighed.
Gail had no qualms about following her now teammate.
./.
Halfway down into the valley Oscar suddenly stopped and motioned Gail to stop as well.
"What's up?" She asked curiously.
Oscar wasn't sure how to answer that he was hearing something that didn't belong in this forest without telling her he knew the forest. "Doesn't sound right." He muttered.
Gail listened. "…Is that…music?" She questioned.
Something suddenly wrapped around Oscar's ankle, making the boy yelp in panic, before it yanked him down and he fell onto his back. Oscar struggled to battle his mind in reminder it wasn't going to be the Seer Grimm.
"Sorry!!" Another female yelled, appearing to jump down from the nearest tree. "I quite literally thought you were Grimm!" She yelled, rushing over and yanking what now looked like a vine off from Oscar's ankle.
"Do we look like Grimm!?" Gail screeched and Oscar groaned out his panic.
The girl's fox-like ears bent back from the noise and in shame.
"No, sorry, I, um…" She muttered.
Oscar sat up pawing his head. "Ow…" He muttered.
Gail grasped his underarm and hauled him up. "You good?" She asked, eyeing him for blood.
"No, I'm good," Oscar looked to the newcomer, whose ears were still bent away in shame. "At least you're prepared, though you might wanna double-check before flooring people," She quickly nodded, her ears struggling not to perk up at him in favour. "Do you have a teammate?" Oscar continued to ask.
She shook her head.
"Um, no, the first person I come across, besides you, um, pointed his sword at me and told me to get lost." She said in hurt.
Both Oscar and Gail watched as her ears flattened.
"Yeah, well, I'm not about to point my weapon at you!" Oscar said, outraged. "I guess you can stay with us until someone else wanders across our path." He said.
She nearly jumped for joy that he wasn't about to hate her, and Oscar pushed away from the idea of hunting down whoever held her at sword-length.
"I'm Nash!" She said in greeting.
Oscar tried not to trip over the one-two-many symbolisms or laugh.
They found Nash's partner by her crashing through the thicket with several Grimm on her tale.
"Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!" She was screaming as she ran past them.
The three shrugged and folded out their weapons into their versions of guns and took them out.
The other girl had her hands on her knees as she panted around what looked like a flute clinging to her teeth.
"Uh, are you okay?" Oscar asked.
She immediately eyed him. "Hi, there!" She said joyously, and with a little wink. "Come here often?" She asked blatantly.
Oscar blinked at her, while Nash hissed at her.
"Don't you have manners!" Gail said, outraged.
The girl just shrugged.
Oscar sighed. "Do you have a partner?" He asked in woe sighing as he looked up to the sky for help, or any more shits to give.
He tried not to shiver when she grinned suggestively at him. He had enough of those grins from being around Yang to know what she actually wanted.
"I do now." She purred at him.
One of Oscar's eyebrow rose. "I'm taken, Miss Nash here is the one by herself." He said.
She pouted, but shrugged, knowing the rules Ozpin set them.
"…You have a name, right?" Gail asked.
Oscar just didn't hope she was named after something that resembled the water since he could see that she was an ocean Faunus.
"I'm Reed Glyndwr!" She said.
And Oscar wanted to hit his head against the nearest tree, because of course her name was Reed.
/
/
Oscar was sighing in woe by the time they got to the temple, and seconds away from pawing his forehead tiredly as the three girls, two of which weren't his responsibility nagged and chewed on each other in the form of words.
He rounded on them, and they reared in surprised. "Could you, not? Please?" He questioned.
They muttered their apologies and stopped trying to one-up the other and Oscar stalked away from them, with Gail rushing to catch up, leaving Nash and Reed to growl at each other.
"Are we close?" She questioned.
Oscar pointed up to the ruined temple. "Looks it." He said, not voicing his surprise that the place still stood.
Gail grinned and ran up towards the temple to have a look around while Oscar looked back to Nash and Reed.
"Hey, uh, Miss Nash?" Oscar voiced. Nash froze in amazement, before looking to him in surprise. "We found the temple." He said in glee.
This spurred the two girls to rush up to him.
"Here!" Gail said, tossing what looked like a statue of a Beowolf to the one she had. "There's two, right?" She asked.
Oscar sided his head before absentmindedly tossing his to Nash who barely caught it. "One per pair, Miss Gail." He reminded.
"Oh, right!" She said, before tossing the one she held towards him. "You have pockets, right?" She asked.
Oscar resolved to pay for material to sew her pockets, so help him, gods, he wasn't having four years of holding her stuff like Ruby.
He didn't mind Ruby, girlfriend and all that, but everyone else, not so much.
./.
Oscar was sure he was this close to going over to the nearest tree and whacking his head against it several times due to the three females quarrelling behind him, not exactly caring for their surroundings.
He wasn't even sure what they were fighting over by now. But he was sure that it had gone from one topic to another that made him fear they wouldn't work too well together in a fight.
One of them swore at the other, and it made him sigh, and turn around.
"Guys…" He sighed pawing his forehead, hoping he wouldn't end up with a headache.
All three girls whirled to him hopefully, as if he solved their problems just by being there.
Before Oscar could speak, he felt his Grimm senses tingling, and all girls reacted when the ground quacked beneath them.
Spearing out of the forest behind them came thudding a huge Grimm.
It landed near them, Reed found herself losing her balance and landed on the dirt on her backside, Nash had her ears bent in fear, Gail was gaping in fear, while Oscar just stared for a split second before the three girls screamed.
"IT'S A BERINGEL!" Oscar wasn't sure which yelled loudest, but he was sure he was going to murder Ozpin if he lived through this.
Oscar quickly looked to Reed. "Sleep it!" He yelled.
She stared at him. "Are you serious?! It's a Beringel!" She shouted back as Gail barely dodged a swipe upwards, while Nash dropped to the dirt to avoid the same hit.
"Just do it!" He yelled at her, before looking to Gail. "Sweep it!" He ordered her.
Gail noted him, nodded as she used her racket to summon winds that hurled the creature off the ground.
Oscar quickly used his own Semblance to keep it in place as the creature roared back its displeasure and didn't need to tell Nash to wrap it up in vines as they all hear Reed start to play her flute.
After a minute or two, the grumpy Beringel stopped thrashing and seemed asleep.
Oscar looked to Nash.
"You got it?" He asked her.
Nash's eyes widening told him she hadn't realised he was helping her, but she nodded all the same.
With that he let go, and twirled his weapon around, unlocking its gun, eyeing up the weaker spots, as did Gail, and they both shot at it until it gave out its tell-tale signs it was defeated.
They were left panting in the sparse forest.
Oscar was definitely going to kill Ozpin.
"That. Was. Insane." Reed panted.
The wind tore around them, and Gail flinched. "Uh…Guys…" She started.
Before they could question, they were sounded by the remaining Beringel pack.
"AW HELL NO!" Gail yelled and they all ran for it.
Oscar's first thing to do was to murder Ozpin when this was all over.
/
/
Oscar wasn't really that surprised that Ozpin made him the leader of team ORNG.
Or that his teammates were to be Reed Glyndwr, Nash Elwood and Gail Skyewind.
He wasn't surprised at all.
He also may have lost count how many times he wanted Ozpin dead in the past twenty-four hours.
The one thing that Oscar did forget was the Beacon dorms were team orientated. Which meant he was bunking with three other girls for the next four years.
He wondered how well it would go down with everyone else.
Oscar quickly looked over to the other three girls who had just lugged their stuff into the dorm room, realised this fact and stared with varying different emotions ranging from desperate horror to downright glee at the idea they'd share a dorm room with him.
Oscar stared down at the team picture, ignoring the three bickering over who took what bed. Oscar demanded the wall bed, and he didn't care for the other three as the girls did. There was one point in time where the three girls silently agreed to something that made Oscar swear, he wasn't about to interpret, guess or otherwise think it wasn't about him in some way shape or form.
He did wonder how many times he would need to tell them he already had Ruby though. Or how many times it would take until they either registered this or dismissed the fact completely.
He vaguely heard the bell chime, and it registered somewhere in his mind there were classes that he knew by the back of his hand to attend to, as the other girls screeched in alarm. Reed was the one to the door first, but Gail was the first running down the hall in a panic that made Oscar just sigh in resignation. He glanced at their timetable and added another mental hit in Ozpin's life.
It was the exact same as Ruby's, back when she was a first year.
Speaking of, he switched the programs over on his Scroll to take out the camera to photo the team photo, before going over to the messaging program.
How far do you trust me?
—OP
He sent to Ruby, without the photo, curious to hear her response.
"Oscar!" Nash was yelling, popping her head back into the room, blanching when she saw he hadn't moved. "We have class!" She said, fearfully.
Oscar just sighed again. "Right. You all remembered your Scroll's, right? Because they unlock the dorm." He asked, putting his away in his pocket.
Nash gave him a look he couldn't quite understand, before she nodded, and motioned him to follow.
It was only then that Oscar shut the door with a wonder how much sleep he could catch up on, or sneak away with before his professors got pissed off at, or raised attention to him by asking what he had missed and he just spluttered out the entire years' worth of that curriculum in delirium.
He didn't need to explain that to the professors or get hauled up to Ozpin.
He also wasn't going to explain why he corralled his teammates into the middle section of Port's classroom any time soon to them. Because then he would need to explain that Port saw the back of the class as areas to throw stuff if he thought students were sleeping, and the front of the class as students to pick questions off from, even if they hadn't put their hand up.
The middle wasn't that different, but Oscar could be afforded maybe five minutes rest, or a complete zone out and Port maybe wouldn't see.
"Why are we sitting here again?" Reed hissed to them.
Nash's ears folded back in worry. "Not sure. Oscar said to." She responded.
"You're going the right way to get chalk thrown at you." Oscar hissed back, noting the time.
They looked at him. "You know him?" Gail asked curiously.
Oscar just groaned in woe.
The class soon found out that Port wasn't to be dismissed until he started ranting on his tyrants about his so-called Grimm conquests.
And other time, the chalk would be thrown in precise precision of one's right ear that left the ear ringing if it didn't hit the earlobe in the first place.
Most found out how much that hurt when they thought it was a good time to slack.
Both the rest of ORNG, and soon PRRL, found to watch Oscar for exact sleep time that they could catch up on since he seemed to have an inbuilt alarm system to find when to sleep and when to wake before Port launched chalk and his rants between Grimm.
Even Oscar knew it wasn't a good idea, ranting or not, to pull his Scroll out of time mode when he felt it vibrate on the desk.
It was probably Ruby replying to his trust question.
And damn did he want to know her response, as curious as he was.
But a little apprehensive when it vibrated a second time in quick concession, then fell silent.
He may have worried her a little.
Whoops.
Oscar flinched when he suddenly heard the chalk slamming near his head and realised that he had zoned out over his Scroll.
The room fell into a hushed buzzed silence, and Port turned to see who had zoned out on him.
"Ah, Pine," Port announced, his stance neutral if a little amused.
Oscar felt he needed to go find a shovel or something, as he wondered how big of a hole he had just dug himself.
"It figures I would have bored you." Port kept saying.
Oscar knew by now, by his voice and pleasant smile Port meant no harm, but that didn't mean he was off the hook.
Or that he wasn't screwed entirely.
Port scanned the students.
"Well, since Pine is so bored, and it looks like the rest of you are too," Everyone flinched, fearing the worst. "Why don't we talk about the recent Vytal Festival Disaster." He said.
Most perked in interest, hearing only rumour and what the news had told them about the Fall of the school they now resided in.
But Oscar flinched, seeing Port's interest back on him.
"Ah, and how could I have forgotten, Pine, you were there." Port announced.
Everyone turned to Oscar in what seemed like a little mix of horror and awe.
That was a technicality and Port knew it!
"You were there?!" Many hissed in awe.
"What were you doing there?!" The others added.
Port was swinging on his feet jubilantly.
"I, uh, fighting Grimm?" Oscar questioned.
It wasn't like he could say how and why he came to be there.
Since it involved time travel on the basis of two electrically Semblance-charged clashing Maidens.
And he doubted Ozpin wanted the tale told in its entirety without some rounding of the truth here and there.
"No, no!" Port was saying, happily. "By no means, you dealt a blow to their numbers that night!" He added, way too much enjoying Oscar squirming for his penance.
"I didn't do much…" Oscar mumbled.
His peers were already staring at him.
"I daresay it was much more then you say," Port argued. "Don't dismiss how much you helped, regardless of how you got there in the first place." He told him.
Oscar wasn't sure if that was a compliment or discourse for slight. Either way, he didn't react, fearing he'd get the wrong one.
"So, why don't we go through the Grimm that attacked that night…" Port was saying, making the rest of the class finally look back to him as he ran through the Grimm that took the school in the first place.
Oscar slid down in his seat to try and avoid further questions.
The middle ground was no longer safe.
At least, for him, it wasn't.
Oscar quite feared that all the neutral ground across Ozpin's teachers were not safe for him anymore.
"Ah, yes, Pine," Port stalled as if thinking.
Oscar eyed him warily.
"You were involved in the Mistral Event, weren't you?" He asked.
Every head turned.
Oscar slammed his head onto his desk.
Nope.
Chapter 2 – Year One
Ruby was regretting her life choices. A lot.
Why did she need a job again?
As Ruby stood in the train station, she paled, even more, seeing the number of people around her. And she near turned tail when she realised that most of them she would probably need to speak to, on some level. Because there was always that one crazy civilian lady that never leaves Huntress' alone.
The only reason she didn't turn tail was that she needed lien, she needed to live, and someone was expecting her somewhere here, and Oscar was waiting for her when the semester ended.
The things she did for that boy, she swore.
So, she made sure she wasn't littering the place with rose petals and made her way to the information desk to find out where she needed to go.
Ruby waited in line for her turn, going over and over in her head what she needed to say when it was her turn.
When it finally was her turn, all her preparations went out of her like sand that she mentally groaned at herself for it.
Why was she like this?!
"Next!" Called the attendant.
Ruby near on stumbled getting up to the desk.
"Uh, hi, uh…" Ruby stuttered, making the man stare at her. "Need to know where to go? I'm a contracted Transport Huntress…" Ruby said in a blurt of words.
He stared at her a second longer before her word blurt recognised something.
"Sure! The Staffing room is through that door there, if you've been accepted your Scroll will let you in, and you can meet the conductors there and they will give you the rundown." He told her, gesturing to a door behind him that said staffing only.
Ruby blinked before grinning in relief. "Thanks!" She said and bowed before trying not (and failing) to race to the door fast enough she blurred.
She wasn't running away.
Ruby's Scroll let her in, and she was stepping into the usual staff break room, where there were several men relaxing, and unfortunately, they all turned to her when she barged her way in.
"Uh…" Ruby muttered awkwardly when she realised they were all staring at her, then mentally cursed remembering that she never got the entering the room with tact down, at all.
"Hello?" The nearest asked in confusion.
"Uh, yeah, hi? I'm a contracted Resident Huntress from Beacon." Ruby introduced.
Ruby blinked in alarm when they looked at her as if she had suddenly lifted a veil of darkness from them.
"Yes!" The one near the vending machine yelled in celebration.
Ruby would have stepped back in confusion. "Uh…?" She asked.
The one on the couch just sighed. "Never mind him, he's just doing the Vacuo run, it's the longest run we do here, and it goes through several Grimm territories, and is unprotected because we don't have a Resident Huntress, until you, that is." He told her.
Ruby blinked in understanding.
"Oh…Then, I'm with you, I guess?" She questioned.
The man by the vending machine looked as if he was celebrating, while the one nearest her rolled his eyes.
"I guess you are. His name is Fulton, he'll tell you himself if he wasn't trying to high-five the vending machine." He sighed.
"Hey!" Fulton yelled. "Just because I get her first!" He added with a pout and crossed his arms.
The others rolled their eyes. "How long you contracted for?" The one on the couch.
"For twelve months, give or take." Ruby told him.
They all stared at her. "You. Are. Amazing." Fulton looked as if he was in awe.
"Uh…" Ruby cautioned.
"Again. Don't mind him. He's an idiot." The nearest man said to her politely.
"If you here for twelve months, you'll most likely end up with all of us at some point, since we all do one long haul each." Another said.
By now Fulton looked as if he had finished celebrating and was bounding over to her.
"Hi! I'm Fulton! I drew the short straw this month and get to do the Vacuo run!" Fulton finally introduced.
"I'm Ruby Rose!" Ruby greeted shaking his hand.
"I'm Rufus," The man beside her introduced, before looking back to Fulton. "If you don't leave now, and take Rose with you, you're going to get in trouble because you're going to be late." Rufus said.
"Crap!" Fulton yelled as he paled. "Hey, Rose! We need to go!" He said, looking slightly scared.
Ruby could only laugh as Fulton scrambled with his stuff.
/
/
The train that Ruby boarded with Fulton leading the way was the usual type of train used for long hauls – a mix of both sleeper and sitting carts with several diner carts thrown in the mix.
The only difference is that she entered in near the front, where, she guessed, Fulton would be driving.
"Okay! Quick tour!" Fulton was saying as he threw his bag through a door to his left, where Ruby assumed the controls were. "You can naturally stay wherever you like on the train, but you have a compartment to yourself here." Fulton was saying as he went over to it and gesture to the Scroll bar.
Ruby immediately understood and held up her Scroll for access.
The room was similar to other compartments she had while on trains.
Though she gathered she'd be by herself here, privacy she assumed since only her Scroll could open her door, unless Fulton pulled the emergency cord.
She could also gather that the couch could convert into a Pullmans bed for her to sleep on during the night. She walked in and gave a quick look around to take in the room and its contents. She recognised that she had a private bathroom on one side and a closet on the other side.
"I'm guessing you'll want to roam the train, so feel free to do so. This train in total has ten cars – a mix of sleeper and chair carts with two dining carts, your meals are free just wave your Scroll at the chef whenever you're hungry." Fulton was saying as he gestured that they really needed to hurry up."
"Sure." She told him.
"Civilians have been told that you're their Resident Huntress for this journey." Fulton warned her.
Ruby looked at him in confusion. "…Is that bad?" She questioned.
Fulton shrugged. "You might get pestered with questions? They might be insensitive and rude." He asked.
Ruby mentally blanched.
Anything but that.
/
/
The train left on time, much to Ruby's surprise, and to Fulton's mercy pleas that they not miss their travel windows.
Ruby soon found herself sitting in one of the diner carts with her eyes closed to send out her Grimm sensors.
She couldn't sense any, if anything, they seemed to be getting out the way. Which, according to Ozpin and Oscar, was because her eyes were silver, and they didn't have a death wish.
All for it, it meant her job was easier. Unless she was contracted to hunt a Grimm down, then it became hard, because if Grimm had become annoying, it was intelligent, and that meant it gave her a wild berth from the get-go.
Most Grimm learnt and didn't go back into territories they figured were protected.
Less work for her, but a whole lot of awkward conversations with civilians about how she was sure they wouldn't return.
Ruby did not jump when she opened her eyes to see an older lady sitting across the table from her.
"Uh..!?" Ruby screeched, knowing how close she came to shooting the lady's head clean off.
That would be an awkward conversation for everyone involved, and it would probably get back to Ozpin, and. No. Thanks!
Ruby went silent when the old lady levelled her with a glance.
"So, you're our Huntress?" She asked.
Ruby blinked before she sat to attention. "Yes, ma'am!" She answered in a panic.
Ruby got the feeling she was being disapproved of.
The lady snuffed at her, and Ruby was now totally sure she was being shunned.
"Um. Do…you need something?" Ruby asked as she gave a quick look around and perceived no danger, Grimm or otherwise.
"How are you doing your job, protecting us, while sitting there all pretty-like?" She questioned.
Ruby blinked. "I've been trained to sense Grimm, Ma'am, that sixth sense does not get in the way of movement or the walls of this train." Ruby told her.
"Whoa…" Came a child's voice off to Ruby's side.
Ruby looked to see a little girl, looking up at her with awe.
"So cool!" She squealed.
The older lady sighed. "Aderyn." She said.
The little girl, Aderyn, looked to the older lady and scowled as much as her little face would let her. "You need to stop being mean, Granny Blue!" She pouted childishly.
Granny Blue huffed even more.
Ruby had the feeling she was in-between a family fight. And she wanted none of it. She had enough family problems with her own family.
"C'mon Granny Blue!" Aderyn said, and she bustled over to the older lady and tugged on her arm to get her to move. "Let's leave Miss Huntress to her job, you're disturbing her!" She added.
"Of all the—!" Granny Blue grumbled but was led away by Aderyn.
Ruby couldn't help by sigh in relief.
./.
By the time darkness descended on the train, Ruby had been patrolling up and down the train for most of the trip since its departure, only stopping a few times for breaks, or for civilian conversation.
By nightfall, the emotions the civilians were giving off were less and less, due to the fact most of them were retreating to sleep.
Which meant that Ruby could rest, doze a little if she was lucky.
So, Ruby made one last patrol up and down the train before using her Scroll to enter her room, tiredly.
Ruby sighed when she sat on the couch, watching through the window as scenery breezed past, probably either thanks to Fulton or the train's automated night system. She could feel the need to rest, so she unbuckled her bag and put Crescent Rose by the exit then put her cloak on a hook near it.
It wasn't much later after a quick shower, Ruby tried to figure out how to unfold the couch into a bed via it nearly hitting her in the head when she finally got it to foldout.
She sighed in relief when she was able to lie down and stop walking, if only for a little while. Ruby laid back and sent out her feelings, sensing all the passengers, most of them asleep, or near enough that they weren't releasing negative emotions, some were still active, walking the train, in a higher probability of getting a snack, or having to find the restroom or showers.
It afforded her some time to doze when she felt that most nearby Grimm seemed to feel her and run in the opposite direction of the train.
It past Ruby's sleepy mind that Oscar would be in the hall, with all his other classmates, getting sleep before being hurled off a mountain into a Grimm infested forest, and she wondered if he had met any potential partners yet, since she had met all of RWBY before even getting chucked off that mountain by Ozpin when she was in his situation.
Ruby felt that the train's movement and noises were setting her off into her doze, so she let it happen without a fight, knowing that there was an alarm system if Fulton needed her.
/
/
By lunchtime, nearly all of the passengers on Ruby's train seemed to understand that the Grimm had an aversion to her when seeing several Nevermores give a wild berth to the train when they sensed her onboard.
Lunchtime also meant that Ruby was available to talk with the civilians while she ate in the diner cart. Aderyn seemed to still view her in some sort of awe that hadn't dissolved since meeting, and Ruby wasn't quite sure how to deal with it, besides patting the child on the head awkwardly and sending her back to her mother.
Aderyn's mother was a curious mother, that she seemed the polar opposite of Grandmother Blue. Where Blue was, like her name, sour and blue, her daughter was all smiles and positivity, like Aderyn.
Aderyn seemed adept at shaming her grandmother more than her mother, who seemed to not be able to shut her comments down, and always sent an apologetic smile at Ruby for not being able to do it whenever Aderyn was.
Food was bland, and repetitive, not that Ruby was complaining (she left that up to Blue), since she was more than used to rations and the food she was receiving was free on her end of things.
Hell, by her contract, she was even getting paid, to eat it.
Ruby looked up to see, who she rather guessed was Aderyn's mother by now as Aderyn and Blue were on the other seat across the row.
"I'm sure you've met Aderyn, my daughter, by now?" She started.
Ruby blinked, before sitting up straight from leaning over her food.
"Yes, ma'am, though I am not quite sure what I did to earn her awe…?" Ruby asked.
The mother laughed. "Oh, that I'm sure you did that just by breathing!" She said, then moved her arm over the table to greet Ruby. "I'm Theresa." She greeted while Ruby shook her hand.
"Ruby Rose." Ruby greeted back, trying to not jump at her name.
"Mama! Mama!" Aderyn said as she bounded over into her mother's side.
Theresa's whole face lit up at her daughter as she turned her attention to Aderyn, ignoring Blue's grumbling, and Ruby tried not to slouch in relief for the break in the conversation.
"What's up, love?" Theresa asked as Ruby felt her Scroll vibrate, and glad for the excuse already given, didn't mind pulling it from her pocket as Aderyn babbled about something she had seen briefly out the window.
Ruby could see the message was from Oscar.
Though the message didn't make much sense.
How far do you trust me?
—OP
Why was he even asking?
Totally not as far
as I could throw you, why?
—RR
She frowned when she got no immediate reply since she was expecting a broader explanation or further query.
Why?
—RR
Ruby stared at her phone in rising concern, why would he question her something then not elaborate?
"Are you alright, dear?" Ruby heard Theresa call, in concern.
Ruby looked away from her Scroll and saw Theresa and Aderyn looking at her in concern.
"Sorry, yes, I'm fine. I just…had a confusing message from my boyfriend, and he didn't elaborate?" Ruby ended up questioning them as well as herself.
Blue snorted and got a glare for her troubles from all three of them.
"Maybe he's busy?" Aderyn questioned.
Ruby grumbled half in annoyance half in concern. Then why send the message in the first place?
"Life is about unexpected things, maybe he got pulled away, it's probably nothing serious, Ruby." Theresa consoled.
"Do you know what he's doing now?" Aderyn asked.
Ruby thought for a moment then pawed through her Scroll to find his timetable.
Finding the right timeslot, she found herself sink in relief.
He was in class.
He couldn't reply because he was in class.
Him and his dorky annoying face, was in class, and she was going to throttle him.
Aderyn giggled at Ruby, who now had a grumpy look on her face, and she chucked her Scroll back on the table and slammed her arms across her chest.
"Him and his stupid face are in class." Ruby muttered.
Why on Remnant had she gotten concerned?
Theresa blinked for a second, then burst out laughing that confused the majority.
"Keep him. He probably meant no harm, and he probably stole a moment to message you in the first place." Theresa said.
Well, fine, she wouldn't throttle him. She would just settle for chucking her Scroll at him instead.
/
/
And damn her heart for leaping for damn joy when he finally answered after class.
Sorry! Port threw chalk at me!
I was only asking
because I was curious.
You wanted to me to
send you my group photo, right?
—OP
Ruby frowned before she remembered what he was actually talking about. She moved over into the door to let several passengers walk between carts as she took a second for a break.
Right. But what does that have
to do with trust?
—RR
The next message he sent took a minute or so, and she assumed the distance between them was having his reply take longer, and she assumed Oscar was sending a photo, which always took longer, even with good CCT signal.
She saw the message and finally understood the question.
She wasn't going to throttle him; she'd settle on murder.
OSCAR PINE!
She couldn't very well yell, but she growled in an emotion she didn't want to name.
;-)
—OP
That wasn't helping.
Not at all. She couldn't think of asking for how the team was formed, even a name, and order of formation.
If you've stopped glaring.
I'm actually kidding.
I am not holding these girls at all.
They're not you.
Also, help, they don't
take a god's damn
hint that I'm not single!
How can they be that oblivious?!
—OP
Ruby stared at the continued conversation Oscar was giving her in blatant awe.
Of course, he was kidding, it really shouldn't've been a thought, even if he suggested it.
At his words, she found all her frustration just leak out of her.
They're not you.
How was it that he always knew just what to say?
But he could totally deal with his teammates by himself for that how far do you trust me question!
/
/
Ruby wasn't expecting anything to happen, and low and behold without Qrow around, nothing actually happened, and the train made it to Vacuo on time.
She even had time to be bored before Fulton turned the train around and took her back to Vale!
Ruby didn't even have any interest in roaming, she just wanted the train back on the rails, since travelling took the majority of the school term, and she wanted to be back in Vale for Christmas break.
Ruby suddenly stalled when she realised it would be Christmas break on her return.
Christmas!
As in Ruby-Needed-To-Gift-Oscar-Something-Christmas.
Something. He needed something, right?
Ruby looked around her at all the stores near her, and found nothing of value, before she recalled something Oscar had recently told her about how he was doing at Beacon, and quickly looked for the time, seeing she had probably enough time, she bolted out the train station and into the nearest metals store.
"I need ore!" She yelled.
And cue the many frightened screams she invoked on her announcement.
/
/
Ruby opened and shut her main door with her foot and leant back against it with a sigh, before registering the delicious smell coming from their kitchen.
She opened her eyes to be greeted by a joyful looking Oscar as if her appearance caused the sudden light joy sparkling in his eyes.
"Ruby!" He called joyously.
Ruby couldn't control how fast she tackle-hugged him with a sudden need to be near him, to hug him, to make sure he was still there.
"You're here." She murmured into his shoulder.
Oscar chuckled but clutched her closer. "I'm here." He told her, one hand around her waist, gripping her close, and his other running through her hair.
By the time Ruby put her things away, hid Oscar's present and he had actually fed her, she was exhausted and slumped on the couch, with a fond-looking Oscar, who by now, she knew was just glad she was home.
She blinked when she tiredly recalled the date and jumped up. "I forgot!" She screeched.
Oscar halted in moving her hair from her face when she abruptly keened away and up onto her feet.
"Wait, what?" He asked, following after her.
"Stay here! I have something!" Ruby told him, and then she ran off into their room and back within a second of him blinking.
"I think you could've run the entirety of Remnant in that second." Oscar told her.
Ruby laughed and was tempted to throw the box his present was wrapped in at his face.
"Here!" She glared at him when she nearly stumbled and dropped it so he wouldn't laugh. "Hope you like it!" She added when she gave him enough time to see if he would laugh.
Ruby was a bumble of nerves since she went ahead and made it, without any of his input, or call of his likeness on it.
But she hoped she caught enough for there to be meaning.
She watched as he ripped the paper off, and paled when he stared at what was inside.
Inside nestled in the cushioned lining box was an emblem in a shape of a gear, with a blooming pinecone in the middle grooved out into the gears' metal.
Ruby really hoped she hadn't overstepped her boundaries.
"I know that Ozpin isn't a part of your life, in that way, anymore, but it still affects you in ways I probably don't understand, and since its apart of you, it should reflect in your emblem. And I remembered you said that Ozpin wanted you to have your own." Ruby babbled to explain her reasoning, trying to avoid how similar it was to her own emblem choice.
Oscar finally tore his eyes from the box, nearly dropping it to pull her into a hug.
"Thank you, Ruby." He muttered to her reverently.
Ruby blinked, not truly understanding, but understanding enough that he was appreciative of her and her gift.
Oscar went about fiddling with the emblem with where to place it but ended up settling for his belt, on the side, so it could be seen but not in the way of daily activities and when taking out Silvis.
"I have something for you too!" Oscar then said once he stopped fiddling with the pins to place the emblem and fastening it so it wouldn't fall off anytime soon.
Ruby watched as his hand went into one of many pockets and pulled out a small present sleeve.
"It's not much, but I was able to make it in my spare time up at Beacon." He told her.
Ruby took the packet in awe that he had actually made her something. He could have literally gotten her coal, and she probably would have smiled.
But inside tied to a red mesh of twisting metal was a white feather on a keychain that fit into her palm and was similar to the feather Oscar carried on his weapon.
She could immediately tell what Oscar was going for, and he had won in spades.
It was one more element in which they matched.
Ruby launched at him with fever to thank him, and she heard his surprised exhale when she may have put too much speed into hugging him.
"Thank you so much!" Ruby told him into his chest, and she felt him chuckling fondly at her as he ran his fingers through her hair.
It was one thing that was something of his she could take with her, added to her hair clips.
"You're welcome, Ruby." Oscar told her happily.
She ended up fiddling with the red mesh rolling it over her fingers as she watched the feather twist and turn in the air.
"Have you decided where you'll put it?" Oscar asked curiously as he came back to her side with two mugs of hot chocolate.
Ruby thought for a moment. With how much movement Crescent Rose took, she couldn't hang it off without the threat the pendant would break in some way. After a moment more, Ruby unbuckled one of the many buckles of her waist belt and lopped it around the front fastener.
"There!" She called as twirled to see the feather following her in a dance. She giggled before running around to hug and kiss Oscar on the cheek, before flying away, laughing at his look.
"Hey!" He called back and ran after her, game to play chasey until he caught her whenever she decided to let him.
/
/
With Christmas leave came spring break, and once more, Ruby found herself in a panic realising Oscar's birthday needed to be gifted.
Ruby was at a loss as to what to actually get her boyfriend when she was on the other side of the continent.
She was staring into a gift come what looked like a greenery store when the thought took her over.
Ruby needed to congratulate her being able to not scare anyone when she wanted into the shop without scaring anyone.
./.
When Ruby got home, she had been delayed a day and a half, much to her annoyance because it definitely meant she lost a day with Oscar.
And that she was coming home to him being there by himself already for a day.
Well, he had told her to wake him if he was asleep when she came in, and seeing most of the lights off, and him asleep in their bed? Naturally, she dive-bombed into it and into him.
"Oscar!" She called.
She barely heard the yelp in fright and a word in the language he only knew, before he realised it was her.
"You scared me!" He scolded her. Ruby just giggled, before manoeuvring herself into his arms properly, as he sighed. "One of these days Ruby, I'm going to accidentally hurt you when you decide to crash into me." He told her.
Ruby actually laughed, because no matter what he said, he could never. "You would never." She told him. Oscar just looked at her with a look of awe on his face.
"Anyways!" Ruby hopped out of bed, him crawling after her, still trying to wake the rest of himself up, watching blearily as she twirled back to him, with a packet. "Happy birthday!" She called.
"…Huh?" Oscar asked.
"Dilly Dally, it's your birthday!" Ruby reminded him, her tone scolding.
"Never ever say that again." Oscar told her.
Ruby just laughed and urged him to take his present.
Her thinking was that with her gift, she could bring back some of his roots from home.
Oscar opened the packet and poured out several small different coloured seeds.
"They're meant to grow all year round, and never die!" Ruby told him. "I thought you could bring back your gardening to your dorm room." Ruby added.
Ruby stalled a little in awe at how much Oscar showed his adoration for her through his eyes. At how much this boy actually loved her.
With the look, something inside her burst and she reacted by throwing her arms around him and giggled when he returned her hug and drew her close.
"Never change, Oscar." Ruby told him.
"I don't plan to, Ruby." Oscar told her fondly.
Ruby wasn't quite sure what she would do in her life if he wasn't in it for a fraction less then what he was already.