(Y/n) = Your name
(F/n) = Fake name
(F/c) = Favorite color
(H/c) = Hair color
(S/c) = Skin color
Third Person P.O.V
Inside a train heading to Mistral, Maka was staring at a short teenager with tan skin named Oscar Pine. He wore a dirty and scuffed white shirt that laces across the chest. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows and there is a pocket on the left tricep. Orange suspenders hold up his olive pants, which are tucked into worn, brown boots. The pants are patched over the knee, and a quilted cloth hangs loosely out of his left pocket. He wears orange gloves with green straps overlapping across the back of the hand in an X shape, and around the wrist. His neck is wrapped with a torn bandage.
Oscar felt uncomfortable with Maka simply just staring at him without uttering a single word. He shifted around in his seat not knowing what to do.
Ozpin: "Don't be shy, she won't hurt you so long as you are respectful." he tried to reassure him.
Oscar slowly looked up with his eyes meeting hers.
Oscar: "So... um." he tried to think of what to say.
Maka: "What is your relationship with Professor Ozpin?" she suddenly asked.
Oscar: "Well... it might be a little hard to believe." he told her.
Maka: "...after everything I just experienced last week, I highly doubt it." she stated thinking back to the Garden.
Professor Ozpin: "Would you prefer that I talk to Maka instead?" he asked.
Oscar: "Please." he said out loud.
Maka looked at him in confusion as Oscar looked around the passenger car to only see that they were the only ones in it. As she was about to ask him what was wrong, Oscar closed his eyes and took a deep breath before a bright green light radiated from him. Maka quickly jumped out of her seat ready to run only for the glow radiating from Oscar to disappear. He looked over to Maka and smiled.
Professor Ozpin: "It is nice to see a familiar again. How have you been, Maka?" he asked with a smile.
Maka looked at him a bit confused. She sees Oscar, yet she hears Professor Ozpin's voice coming out of him. She shook her head thinking that going into the Garden might have messed her up mentally.
Professor Ozpin: "Surprised? I can't fault you for it." he stated.
Maka: "I... wait... are you Professor Ozpin?" she asked.
Professor Ozpin: "Yes." he responded.
Maka: "...what do you what?" she asked sounding angry.
Oscar: "Um... what is your relationship with her?" he asked sounding nervous.
Professor Ozpin: "Maka... where's Cara and (Y/n)? The last time I saw them was at Beacon and when we saw you boarding the train, I assumed they were with you or somewhere nearby." he told her.
Maka: "I... Cara's gone." she revealed.
Professor Ozpin's eyes widened as he looked down to the table in shock. The little girl he once knew was gone. Maka could see the sadness in his eyes before he closed them. He took a deep breath and looked back up to Maka recomposing himself.
Professor Ozpin: "Did she have any last words?" he asked.
Maka: "She said that... she didn't want to die before she... faded away." she said looking away.
Professor Ozpin: "I... I see." he answered quietly.
Maka: "(Y/n) died at Beacon. Cara said that he died when the bright light hit him." she told him.
Professor Ozpin: "So Miss Rose activated her eyes? So they're both gone." he said in disbelief.
Thousands of years he knew them. Many of them, he made countlessly mistakes with only the last few lifetimes he tried to amend their relationship.
Maka: "Well... not exactly. (Y/n) is alive in a way, though he's not him anymore." she revealed to him.
Professor Ozpin: "Could you explain?" he asked.
(Timeskip brought to you by Maka keeping an eye on Oscar)
It took most of the day for them to arrive in Mistral and when they did, the night had already arrived. Maka didn't have any real plan on what to do. She went with Cara to get "(Y/n)" back but she ended up dying and now she didn't know what else to do. She can't ask (Y/n), Eden, or whatever it was for advice since it can't respond to anything she asks. Though she did manage to teach him a few commands that a dog would know, but that was as much as he knows at the moment.
So despite hearing all the stories, Cara told her, she was going to follow Professor Ozpin until she finds someone she can trust. Oscar seemed like a fairly decent boy, he was socially awkward and shy but she didn't trust him since he and Professor Ozpin are in a state similar to what Cara and (Y/n) once had. They could share thoughts and talk to one another. For all she knew, he was already on Professor Ozpin's side.
But one thing was for certain, Maka wasn't going to hand (Y/n) over to Professor Ozpin or her mother.
The two found themselves walking down the streets of Mistral towards Haven Academy looking for anyone they might know. From what Professor Ozpin said, Qrow would most likely already be here since that was the instructions Professor Ozpin gave him if something were to happen.
As they walked through the streets, Oscar watched Maka peek her head into some of the local bars before moving onto the next.
Oscar: "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.
Maka: "Looking for Qrow." she responded as she looked into the bar.
Oscar: "I thought Ozpin said that-" he tried telling her.
Maka: "I know what he said and from what (Y/n) and Cara told me about Qrow, he's an alcoholic." she revealed to him before moving away from the entrance of the bar.
Oscar: "Who is (Y/n) and Cara exactly?" he asked.
She looked over to Oscar and thought she could at least tell the kid something. She didn't want to lie to him but she would only tell him somethings that Professor Ozpin already knows.
Maka: "It's kinda complicated... Cara was a human girl with the ability to control blood and (Y/n) from what Cara told me, he's a Grimm I think. Long ago, the two met and became friends. Traveling the world together only be attacked with by hunters with Cara at death's door. (Y/n), not wanting to see his friend die, fused with Cara with a special gem gifted to him by the God of Light. From that point on, they became one being. They lived and died a countless amount of times seeing many wonders and horrors of the world." she told him.
Oscar: "Really? It kinda sounds like a fairy tale. So what happened?" he asked.
Maka: "They... were separated by force and were unable to fuse back together. (Y/n) died at the Fall of Beacon and Cara died a month later with her body unable to sustain itself without (Y/n) and his gem. Now, (Y/n) is nothing more than a shadow of his former self. Though it sounds like that the (Y/n) I know wasn't exactly the original (Y/n) either." she stated.
Oscar: "Huh? What do you mean?" he asked.
Maka: "Well, at some point, Cara and (Y/n) lost their memories in their last lifetime or the one before that. The (Y/n) I met at Beacon was a more inexperienced version of himself." she told him.
Oscar: "A shadow of his former self... say did Cara ever figure out what made them lose their memories?" he asked.
Maka thought about it and recalled something out that Cara told her.
Maka: "She said that before they were killed by someone they care for, their soul or gem was "corrupted". And right before they died, the gem started to cra-" she was about to say only to stop.
The gem broke and shattered into shards. She remembered that her mother wanted to collect certain red shards but was only able to get the largest of the five red shards. Then she thought back to the Garden, (Y/n) didn't have another gem and the one that (Y/n) had at Beacon was strange. It was slowly created black cracks the entire time she knew him. And when she and Cara went to the tower to look for him, there was nothing left, no gem or shards. Now there was a question at the back of her mind.
Maka: 'Where are the other shards?' she thought to herself.
Oscar: "Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Maka: "N-No! I'm fine, I just... um... I think I just saw him go into that bar!" she lied pointing to another bar ahead of them.
Maka quickly ran off leaving behind a confusion Oscar as he tried to catch up to her. Once she got to the entrance of the bar, she looked inside and to her absolute surprise, she spotted a familiar looking man at the counter of the bar all alone.
Maka: "... I lucked out." she muttered to herself.
Oscar: "I-Is he here?" he asked as he gasped for air after running after her.
Maka: "Y-Yeah! See, told you I saw him. Let's go in." she told him.
They walked into the bar only to be stopped by the owner asking for an ID. Oscar quickly panicked but Maka only walked up to the man and gestured to him to lean down so she could tell him something. The man did and Maka whispered something into his ear resulting in the man sticking his hand out to Maka as he looked away. Rolled her eyes and handed him a good amount of Lien. The owner counted the Lien before looking away from the two.
Bar Owner: "You have five minutes." he told them before leaving them.
Maka nodded her head before she and Oscar went towards Qrow.
Oscar: "Um... excuse me?" he called out to him.
Qrow didn't turn back as he took a sip from his drink.
Maka: "He's talking to you, Qrow." she told him.
Qrow suddenly froze up before slowly placing his drink on the table and looked back to see Oscar and Maka.
Qrow: "You're... that Maka girl." he said a bit surprised.
Maka: "It's Maka, not Maka girl. I got a delivery for you." she told him as she gestured to Oscar.
Oscar just stood there not knowing what to say when Professor Ozpin chimed in telling him to ask for his cane.
Oscar: "Shut up, I'm getting there... umm... I'm supposed to tell you... I'd like my cane back?" he asked.
Qrow's eyes widened as he stared at Oscar in disbelief. He looked over to Maka who only nodded her head. A smile formed on Qrow's face as he nodded to himself and stood up from his seat. Oscar took a step back not knowing what was going to happen as Qrow grabbed a handle that was hanging on his waist.
Qrow: "It's good to see you again, Oz." he told Oscar before tossing him the handle.
Oscar caught it and accidentally pressing a button that made it extend into a cane.
(Small timeskip brought to you by Qrow celebrating Ozpin's return by drinking till he was drunk)
Maka found herself helping the drunk Qrow walk forward with one arm around her should while Oscar looked for the address of where he was staying. There was a look of anger on Maka's face as Qrow chuckled to himself, she could smell the alcohol in his breath.
Maka: "This is why I hate men." she muttered to herself.
Maka: "Did you find it yet, Oscar?!" she called out to him.
Oscar: "Still looking but I can't find yet." he called back to her.
Maka: "Great... you have to stop drinking." she told Qrow.
Qrow: "Ahahaha... Can't. Drinking brings back good memories and takes the pain away even if it's for a bit." he answered honestly.
Maka: "From what Cara told me, you never drank so much before." she pointed out.
Qrow: "Killing your best friend does that... we all regretted that day. We were so naive back then. We just accepted what we were told, never thinking for ourselves until it was too late. Hahaha... what shitty luck." he stated.
Maka: "Wait, I thought someone named Summer killed him?" she pointed out.
Qrow: "Summer did ... probably had it worsed of all. All of us in team STRQ were responsible for killing him but Summer... she knew him longer and cared for him more than any of us. After that day, she would just wander around the school looking for him hoping it was just a bad dream. There wasn't a day she didn't think about him... and things just fell apart after that day." he revealed.
Maka: "... (Y/n) and Cara never hated any of you for it." she revealed to him.
Qrow's eyes widened a bit as he looked over to her face as they continued to walk forward.
Maka: "It hurt them so much that it happened but they couldn't bring themselves to hate any of you. On that day, they accepted it and did what they could to look bad so all of you wouldn't have regretted it... but sounds like it didn't work." she told him.
Qrow: "... the weather... is shit in Mistral. Suddenly raining a bit out of nowhere." he said before sniffling.
Maka's eyes glanced over to see Qrow looking away using his free arm to rub his face. She couldn't help but smile.
Maka: 'We all regret things we do.' she thought to herself.
Oscar: "I think I found it!" he called over to them.
Maka looked over to see Oscar in front of a building.
Maka: "Finally, knock on the door and ask for a Ruby Rose! Tell her to come and help me carry her uncle!" she told him.
Oscar nodded his head and went to knock on the door.
Qrow: "Hey, kid?" he called out to Maka.
Qrow: "Thanks." he said before chuckling happily.
Maka couldn't help but smile as she continued to walk. Oscar got someone to answer the door and was now standing there nervously as he told the people inside what Maka told him to say. The slightly less drunk Qrow continued giggle happily as they got closer. Once they were close, Qrow removed his arm from around Maka's shoulder and stumbled towards Oscar and grabbed his shoulders.
Qrow: "IIIII found him and the best girl in the world! Hahahaha!" he laughed happily as he was stumbling inside.
Oscar: "Her uncle could use some help." he revealed to them as he fell onto the couch inside.
Qrow: "I found him!" he said once again.
Maka walked up to the door and looked inside to immediately spot three familiar faces wearing different outfits. The first Jaune, he retained his black hoodie, but he instead wore a modified pure white chest plate covering a bit more of his upper abdomen trimmed with gold lining and similarly-colored bracers. He also wore black gloves with gold-colored metal armor plates over his fingers, and he wore a red sash around his waist.
Behind him standing in front of a couch was Nora and Ren. Nora was wearing a white top that was similar to her old one through the heart cut-out on the top has a diagonal cut through it. Over the shirt, she wears a navy blue bomber jacket with a damaged print of her emblem visible on the back and pink stripes along the sleeves. The pink bands of the jacket tighten on her upper arms. Her skirt is slightly longer with pleats that create some flair and two wide belt loops at the waist for her matching belt. She wears knee-high pink socks just visible above her calf-length boots, which are white with pink laces and black mid-wedges, soles, and tips. Noticeably, her hair was now longer reaching her shoulders.
Next to her was Ren. Ren's hair down and is noticeably longer. His attire is similar to before in color. He now has a longer sleeveless tailcoat with black and silver trimming. Under it, he wears a black, sleeveless turtleneck with red, tasseled ropes over the hips, pants that get tighter below the knees, and calf-high open-toed sandals. From his middle finger to his biceps run gradient pink-to-black detached sleeves ending in metal armbands.
The three looked over to Maka and stared at her in disbelief.
Jaune: "Maka?" he questioned.
Maka: "...hey guys. You all changed in the last few months." she smiled.
Nora: "Maka!" she yelled out.
Nora suddenly jumped onto the large coffee table and ran over to Maka. She quickly braced herself as Nora came in and wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly.
Nora: "Where have you been?! Have you been eating?! You look pale!" she yelled.
Maka: "Y-Your crushing... me." she managed to tell her.
Nora: "Oh! My bad!" she quickly let go.
Ruby: "What is going on out there?! Can't a girl read her comics in peace?" she yelled from inside a room.
Ruby came storming out of the room looking very upset but stopped in place when she saw Nora and Jaune at the entrance with Maka looking over to her. Ruby was also wearing a new outfit. She sports a white high-neck décolletage blouse with brown studded wristbands on the arms. Her outfit retains the use of a black skirt with red tulle underneath, somewhat similar to her original outfit, but her waist cincher has been replaced with an overbust corset with red strip holding it in place. Ruby also wears thigh-high stockings reaching to a few inches below the hem of her skirt, decorated by an image of a long-stemmed rose. Her red-soled black boots contain four straps and buckles apiece. Her red cloak now had some tears on it and had a singular clip on the right shoulder in the shape of her emblem. Much like Ren and Nora, her hair has grown as well but it was only slightly longer.
Ruby's eyes widened and before Maka could even utter a word, Ruby turned into a red blur leaving behind a trail of rose petals as she came crashing into Maka causing her to stumble back as Ruby began hugging her.
Ruby: "Oh my Oum! Maka! It's great to see you again! What if you're here... oh my gosh, is (Y/n) here with you?!" she asked sounding incredible happy.
She pulled away from Maka and looked out the door to see Oscar staring at her.
Oscar: "You... have silver eyes." he stated.
Ruby blinked her eyes several times as she stared at Oscar in confusion.
Ruby: "Ooook? ... Who... are you?" she asked.
Oscar looked over to Maka who gestured to him to introduce himself.
Oscar: "Uhhh... well... My name is Oscar Pine." he told him.
Qrow: "Wait for it..." he commented drunkenly.
Oscar: "But you probably know me as... Professor Ozpin?" he revealed.
Everyone in team RNJR looked at Oscar in disbelief as a drunk Qrow began laughing happily before falling off the crouch face first.
Maka: "Come on old man, let's get you some water." she said walking over to Qrow.
She grabbed him by his cape and began dragging him across the floor towards what she saw as a kitchen. She gave him water and after an hour of trying to get him sober enough to talk and think clearly. They went back to the living room to see everyone crowding around Oscar as if he was a new toy.
Qrow: "Okay, okay. Let's all just take a second and remember that this is very overwhelming for everyone." he groaned while holding his head.
The four looked to Oscar one last time before quickly moving away to give him some space.
Oscar: "Thanks." he told Qrow.
He nodded and made his way over to the couch to sit down. Ruby and Nora sat down on the other couch while Ren and Jaune stood. Maka seeing the one other spot next to Qrow walked over and sat down. At least now, she was reunited with people she actually knew.
Oscar looked around the room nervously and when his eyes met Ruby, he quickly looked away.
Oscar: "S-Sorry! It's just I've never really met Huntsmen and Huntresses before." he stated nervously.
Ruby: "Well, uh... we've never met a person with two souls, so, first times all around." she tried to reassure him.
Maka: "Well, you kinda already met someone with two souls." she stated.
Everyone looked over to Maka in confusion.
Jauna: "What... do you mean?" he asked in confusion.
Qrow: "Well get to that in a second. First things first, we need to have a talk starting with Oz. Once that's over, you can tell them." he told her.
Maka: "...fine. It is a lot to take in." she admitted before crossing her arms.
Qrow: "Thanks. Now, Mind showing us your little parlor trick, kid?" he asked Oscar.
Oscar: "Yeah, okay. Just so you know, I'll still be here." he told them.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath like he did on the train and a green light radiated from him once again. When it disappeared, Oscar opened his eyes and a smile formed as he looked over to team RNJR.
Professor Ozpin: "It is so very good to see you again, students." he told them.
They all looked at each other bewildered before Jaune decided to take lead and ask him a question.
Jaune: "Wait, what just happened?" he asked.
Ren: "Professor... Ozpin?" he questioned.
Professor Ozpin: "Correct. And though I may be the one speaking, Oscar is still present, mentally. He's merely handed over the controls, so to speak." he told them.
Oscar: "Just don't make us do anything embarrassing." he told Professor Ozpin inside their head.
Professor Ozpin: "I'm afraid this all must be very perplexing." he stated.
Nora: "And alarming, and bizarre, and just really kind of hard to believe overall!" she told him.
Professor Ozpin: "Ahahaha... it's good to see you children still have your sense of humor. I know you've all been through tremendous hardship already. I'm sorry." he apologized.
Ruby: "I mean, it's not your fault." she told him.
Professor Ozpin: "It's all my fault. I told you once that I made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet, and I wasn't exaggerating... I'm cursed. For thousands of years, I've walked the surface of Remnant, living, dying, and reincarnating in the body of a like-minded soul. The Professor Ozpin you all met was not my first form and clearly wasn't my last. It's... an extraordinarily strenuous process on everyone involved." he admitted.
Jaune: "So, who... what... are you?" he asked as Qrow went to get a cup of coffee for Professor Ozpin.
Professor Ozpin: "I am the combination of countless men who've spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant. With every rebirth, my soul is eventually merged with another and I am changed, but my memories stay with me. This curse was bestowed upon me by the gods because I failed to stop Salem in the past. But we must stop her now." he told them.
Ruby: "...and how do we do that?" she asked.
Professor Ozpin: "We start... by ensuring the safety of the Relic of Knowledge." he said as Qrow gave him a cup of coffee.
Nora: "This is perfect! We were stuck at a dead end, but now, we can just take cute little boy Ozpin to Lionheart and have him ser things straight." she jumped up happily.
Professor Ozpin: "Please don't call me that." he told her.
Qrow: "We're not sure that's the best idea." he told her.
Nora groaned in annoyance and stormed back to her seat and sat down crossing her arms.
Ren: "But I thought the headmasters all took their orders from you." he pointed out.
Professor Ozpin: "That was the intention. Four lieutenants, I can trust, especially during times of reincarnation. But Qrow told me about your meeting with Leonardo. He isn't just behaving irrationally, he's disobeying specific instructions I had left him. Something's wrong. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I don't want to rule out any possibilities either. No one outside of this room knows that I've paired with Oscar, and I think it may be best to keep it that way." he told them as he stood up and walked to a nearby painting.
Qrow: "Play things close to the chest until we get a better hand." he told everyone.
Professor Ozpin: "Precisely. Maka, you've gone to school in Haven Academy. During your time here, has Leonardo act strangely?" he asked looking over to her.
Maka looked away from him purposely avoiding eye contact.
Maka: "I... don't really know Professor Lionheart personally. But from all my interactions with him, he was a kind man, always looking after the students but... some days he seemed nervous and even scared at times." she told them.
Professor Ozpin: "Mmm... interesting. Thank you for your input. Now, we have two steps ahead of us. The first is enlisting the aid of more Huntsmen." he told them.
Ren: "But the Mistral council-" he tried to say.
Qrow: "Doesn't own every Huntsman in the Kingdom and I've been here enough times to know where we can find some more." he told them.
Ozpin: "So long as they're trustworthy." he stated.
Qrow: "You can trust them to put up a good fight. I'll throw together a list tonight." he said before placing his leg on the coffee table.
Because of his bad luck, the moment he placed his leg on the table it broke with his mug falling off and shattering on the ground. He let out a sigh as he got off the couch to pick it up.
Nora: "Good luck with that." she said with a smile.
Ozpin: "After that, we can move on to step two." he said as he began walking again.
Nora: "What's step two?" she asked.
Ozpin: "Getting you five into fighting shape." he told them.
Ruby: "But... uh... we already know how to fight." she pointed out.
Ozpin quickly turned around and pointed his cane at her.
Ozpin: "You can only fight so long as you have Crescent Rose, but you're still lacking in hand-to-hand combat." he pointed out.
Ruby: "Well, uh, yeah." she admitted nervously.
Ozpin: "Mr. Arc, I'm glad to hear you've improved but sorry to say, you've yet to unlock your Semblance. All of you still have a ways to go before you're ready to pose any real threat against Salem and her forces. And though Oscar can give me temporary control, he'll need to strengthen his body and his Aura." he stated.
Oscar: "Wait... what?" he asked.
Ozpin: "He'll inherit my muscle memory in time, but practice will expedite the process." he told them.
Ruby: "But if Qrow's out looking for Huntsmen, then who's going to teach us?" she asked.
Without hesitating, Ozpin jumped backwards into the air, twirled around a bit before landing on top of a cushioned chair. There was a smug smile on his face as he twirled his cane around.
Ozpin: "Well, I believe I was the headmaster of Beacon Academy. We have approximately one month before classes resume at Haven. If Salem were to plan an attack, it would make sense that it would occur prior to students return. It's not much time, but it's better than nothing. Just don't expect me to go easy on you." he stated as he stopped twirling his cane.
The moment he stopped talking, he gave all control back to Oscar without warning causing him to panic and lose all balance. He stumbled on the cushioned chair before falling backwards, hitting the ground hard. He let out a groan as everyone walked over to see if he was alright only to see him looking very annoyed.
Oscar: "You've gotta be kidding me." he complained.
Nora: "Up and at em! It's time to get up and-" she tried to say.
Maka: "Actually, I have to tell you all something." she told them.
Nora: "You can tell us while we train! I need to burn some energy!" she told her.
Maka: "...you all need to sit down for this." she warned them.
Nora: "Aww come on! We were just sitting for like... forever!" she whined.
Ren: "Nora." he called her name.
Nora groaned and sat back down. Everyone else did the same with Maka looking nervous as they all looked to her.
Ruby: "So? What did you want to tell us, Maka?" she asked curiously.
Maka took a deep breath and walked over to the other side of the broken table.
Maka: "It's about (Y/n)." she revealed to him.
Jaune: "What about him? Isn't he here with you?" he asked.
Ruby: "Yeah! The last time I saw him was at Beacon. I heard he left with you to go somewhere. He didn't even say goodbye." she pouted.
Maka: "...You... saw him at Beacon but you also didn't see him." she told her.
Ruby: "Girl what you talking about?" she quickly said.
Maka: "Remember earlier when you said that none of you ever met someone with two souls before?" she asked.
Ruby: "Yeeeah?" she nodded her head.
Maka: "During and before the festival, didn't (Y/n) seem a bit... strange?" she asked.
Ruby: "Well... yeah a bit. He suddenly changed his hair color, he has become rather pale, his voice seemed a bit off, and his overall persona was different." she admitted.
Jaune: "Now that you mention it, it felts like he's not even there most of the time. He seemed more pessimistic most of the time. He would always try to avoid spending time with all of us." he agreed.
Nora: "Right?!" she yelled.
Ren: "Wait, Maka are you implying that (Y/n) has two souls?" he asked.
Maka: "A few days before the festival, (Y/n) was fused together with a girl name Cara. But before the festival started, they were separated. The (Y/n) you saw before and during the festival was Cara." she revealed.
The four just looked at each other in confusion and shock by the sudden reveal.
Ruby: "If the (Y/n) we were with wasn't (Y/n)... then where was he?" she asked.
Maka: "He was still there... just not in a way you would suspect. He would hide in Cara or my clothing, he would change his shape, or turn into my weapon." she told them.
Jaune: "Why? Why didn't any of you say anything?!" he asked.
Maka: "Cara and (Y/n) didn't want you getting involved with everything. They wanted all of you to live normally... but in the end, it looks like you all got involved. Things don't end well when you do get involved." she told them.
She looked at all of them slowly and when her eyes locked with Ruby's eyes, she looked away sadly.
Maka: "On the day Beacon fell, the (Y/n) you all knew died on the tower." she revealed
Ruby: "...what?" she asked with her eyes widening.
Maka: "Ruby... did you see a strange black cloud on the tower before you passed out?" she asked.
Ruby: "I saw some weird Grimm- ... that was (Y/n)?" she asked.
Maka: "The power of the Silver-Eyed Warriors can kill him. It happened before and sadly, he got caught in the light." she revealed.
Ruby: "I... killed (Y/n)?" she asked as she slowly covered her mouth as she started crying.
Qrow walked over to Ruby and held onto her as she cried.
Maka: "Well... yes and no. The version of (Y/n) you all knew is gone but Cara said that another (Y/n) was born in a place called the Garden." she revealed.
Ren: "The Garden?" he asked.
Maka: "It's the garden of creation and life. To be honest, trying to describe the place is... difficult. Being there is like a fantasy and when we arrived... (Y/n) was... unbelievable. But Cara died there because her body couldn't last without (Y/n) and his red gem." she told them.
After saying this, Maka went into her bag and pulled out a bottle full of black smoke swirling around inside.
Maka: "This is... (Y/n). Or the new (Y/n)." she announced.
Ruby: "Can I... hold him." she asked.
Maka smiled and walked over to hand her the bottle. Once Ruby grabbed the bottle, she hugged it tightly refusing to let go.
Nora: "Why is he in a bottle?" she asked.
Maka: "He's not like before. He doesn't understand much. It took me a long time just to get him to respond to (Y/n)." she told her.
Ruby: "Can I take him out?" she asked.
Maka: "Of course." she nodded her head.
Maka gave Ruby the corkscrew and she slowly managed to pull it out. However, the moment the cork came off, the black smoke inside flew out and flew towards Qrow, who was right next to Ruby. He panicked as the black smoke invaded his clothing before suddenly flying down to the ground with a red shard.
Maka: "A red shard?!" she said in surprise.
Qrow: "What the hell just happened?" he asked.
Maka: "Where did you get that shard?" she quickly asked him.
Qrow: "After that day... when we... you know. I found five shards on the ground where he died. Some weird bird flew down and took one leaving behind four. So we decided that we all should keep one to remember him." he told Maka.
Maka: "And the others? Where are they?" she asked.
Qrow: "Well... when Tai and Raven married, he gave his to her. So Raven should have two. And if I remember correctly, Tai has Summer piece." he revealed.
Nora: "What's he doing?" she asked.
They looked over and watched as the black smoke wrapped around the red shard before it began shaking around violently before a sudden flash of red light engulfed it. Everyone covered their eyes before lowering it once the light dimmed out. When they lowered their arms, they saw the black smoke slowly morphing into a more solid shape. Once it finished, they saw a baby black fox with red eyes sitting on the ground.
All of them watched as it attempted to stand only to fall down face first and rolled a bit before attempting to stand a bit.
Ren: "So he really is a Grimm?" he asked.
Maka: "There are reasons why (Y/n) doesn't tell anyone anything. Especially about him being a Grimm because... if he tells someone, he doesn't know if they'll accept him. From what Cara told me, it's not a lot." she said.
Ruby: "(Y/n)." she called out.
The black fox only looked over to Ruby.
Ruby: "Remember me?" she asked lifting her hand out to it.
Qrow: "Ruby... that's not-" he tried to say.
Ruby: "Please... remember." she begged.
The black fox looked away and continued to try and stand and walk.
Jaune: "...just how many... just how many more of our friends are going to die?!" he cried out before storming off.
Nora: "Jaune!" she called out.
Ren: "Come on, Nora." he told her.
Nora looked up at him and nodded. The two quickly went after Jaune leaving the rest in the room. Qrow looked over to Ruby to see her moving down to the floor and sitting next to the black fox attempting to talk to it. He smiled sadly at her before standing up and moving over to Oscar.
Qrow: "Come on, kid. Let's get you settled in." he told him.
Oscar nodded his head and the two went off to find Oscar a room leaving behind Maka, Ruby, and the black fox known as (Y/n).
Maka walked over to Ruby and sat down beside her while the black fox continued to try and walk.
Ruby: "Come on, (Y/n). You can do it. Ruby. Remember? R.U.B.Y." she spelled out her name.
Maka: "Ruby." she called out.
Ruby: "You remember right? It's Little Rose, remember? You used to call me that when we were little... please... remember." she cried.
Maka wrapped her arm around Ruby and pulled her over to try and comfort her.
(Timeskip brought to you by Ruby holding the black fox and refusing to let it go)
It's been two days since they started training and things have been going smoothly. Though, Ruby has been trying her best to get (Y/n) to remember something with no luck at all. Jaune was a bit quieter now ever since he learned that (Y/n) had died, now, two people he looked up to were gone.
It was the evening and dinner was right about ready. Ren told Ruby to go tell everyone that dinner was almost ready and she did all while carrying the black fox around. Once she told mostly everyone, she noticed that Oscar was nowhere to be found and went looking for him. Eventually, she heard someone yelling in the training room and made her way down there. When she arrived, she saw Oscar hunched over panting.
Ruby: "You're really getting better, huh?" she asked.
Oscar looked up to see Ruby at the entrance to the room holding the black fox.
Ruby: "Are you hungry? It's almost dinnertime." she told him.
Oscar: "Uh, yeah. That sounds good. I was about to call it a night anyway." he said to her.
Ruby: "So, you've never fought before?" she asked.
Oscar: "Just the occasional small Grimm... Nothing like this, though." he admitted.
Ruby: "Wow, heh. You look like a natural." she told him.
Oscar: "It's strange, I've only had this can for a few weeks, but... I feel like I've had it for a lifetime. Longer, even... I sound like a crazy person." he said as he sighed.
Ruby: "I mean, uh, yeah, just a little. But at this pace, you'll be combat-ready in no time! Isn't that right, (Y/n)?" she asked happily.
The black fox didn't say anything as it turned into a black cloud and reformed on the ground. The smile on Ruby's face slowly disappeared as she looked down at the black fox. She walked over to the black fox and picked it up again.
Ruby: "Well... I'll see you upstairs." she said to him.
Oscar: "How do you handle all of this?!" he asked.
Ruby: "What... do you mean?" she asked.
Oscar: "I'm... scared. I'm more scared than I've ever been in my life, than I ever thought was possible. I always knew that I wanted to be more than a farmhand, but this? Who would ask for this?" he asked.
Oscar walked over to the weapon rack and crouched down to his bag. He grabbed his cane and made it smaller before putting it back in the bag as Ruby walked closer to him.
Ruby: "We all went to Beacon because we wanted to help people. But, you're right. None of us asked for this either. We just have to press on and-" she tried telling him.
Oscar: "How can you be so confident?! People have tried to kill you! The world is about to go to war all over again! And someone you knew came back as that! How are you okay with any of this?!" he asked snapping his head to her.
Ruby didn't say anything as looked down to the black fox and began petting it on the head.
Ruby: "...when Beacon fell, I lost two of my friends and my best friend: Penny Polendina, Pyrrha Nikos, and (Y/n). I didn't know Penny or Pyrrha for very long but... that doesn't change the fact that they were two of the most kind-hearted people I ever met... but that didn't save them." she said walking away from Oscar.
Ruby: "Pyrrha thought that if there was even the smallest chance of helping someone, then it was a chance worth taking. And because of that, she died fighting a battle she knew she couldn't win. And Penny... was killed to make a statement." she told him.
Ruby: "And then there was (Y/n)... he was my first real friend. I could always look to him for help. We played... we laughed... we shared embarrassing stories... and when I went to Beacon, he looked after me and many other people... eventually, I realized that I love him. It made me so happy when he accepted my feelings... but now... he died and doesn't remember anything." she said crying a bit.
Oscar: "I'm... sorry." he apologized.
Ruby: "I am scared... but not just for me. What happened at Beacon shows that Salem doesn't care if you're standing against her or not. She'll kill anybody and that scares me most of all. Pyrrha... Penny... I'd be lying if I said that it didn't hurt, that I didn't think about them every day since I lost them, that I didn't wish I had spent more time with them. If it had been me instead, I know they would have kept fighting too, no matter how dangerous it was. So that's what I choose to do; To keep moving forward." she said staring up to the night sky.
Oscar slowly walked over to her as she quickly wiped away the tears. She looked back at him and smiled.
Ruby: "C'mon, if we don't hurry, Nora's gonna eat everything. it wouldn't be the first time... hey Oscar? This isn't gonna be easy, but the fact that you're even trying says a lot about you. You're braver than you think." she said before walking over to the staircase and leaving.
Elsewhere in Mistral at the bandit camp. Yang, Weiss, and Raven sat inside a tent at a table with both Weiss and Yang having new outfits.
Yang is wearing a tan jacket with orange lining and gold edging, unzipped halfway to show an orange crop top. The coat has darker brown short sleeves, a thick collar that completely encircles her neck, and two long gold-trimmed rectangular tails. She also wears fitted black pants. She wears knee-high brown boots with gold caps on the heel and toe and a purple bandanna tied around her left knee. She also has a pair of black fingerless gloves with long brown cuffs reaching to mid-forearm complete the outfit. The most noticeable thing she has is her new robotic arm.
Weiss is wearing a short, glittering dress with a color gradation of blue to pale blue at the hem, a sweetheart neckline, and a white, tulle petticoat. A white ribbon is wrapped multiple times around her waist and over the outfit is a slightly sheer long-sleeved blue shrug fastened at the collar with a large sapphire broach that has three pendants dangling from it. Completing her attire are dark blue wedge heels and sapphire drop earrings.
The three sat there as another young woman walked into the tent with a tea set. The young woman has tan-colored skin, short brown hair, and icy blue eyes. She has a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. Her outfit consists of a brown vest over a torn white shirt, with a collar that appears to spike up behind her neck. She also wears maroon-colored pants with the right side rolled up to her thigh. She also wore dark brown knee guards that go down to her brown boots. Her name is Vernal.
As Vernal began pouring tea for the three, Raven was looking through the journal (Y/n) gave to Weiss.
Raven: "You can wait outside. Thank you." she told Vernal.
Vernal left the teapot on the table and left the tent.
Yang: "So, what's the "truth"?" she asked crossing her arms.
Raven sighed as she shut the book and placed it on the table before picking up her teacup.
Raven: "You know, it's better when it's hot." she pointed out.
Weiss: "You know, you're really obnoxious." she retorted.
Raven: "...cute." she said before taking a sip from her cup.
Raven" The truth is that "truth" is hard to come by. Someone once told me that a story of victory for one person is a story of defeat for another person and he wasn't wrong." she said looking into her cup.
Raven: "By now, your uncle has surely told Ruby and her friends plenty of stories." she told them.
Yang: "Well, he's never given me a reason to doubt him before." she told him.
Raven: "That doesn't mean those reasons don't exist. You know you and your teammates might as well be the poster children for the Huntsmen Academies. Your motives vary but you all enrolled to try and make a world a better place. It's adorable." she said as she leaned back.
Yang: "It's what Huntsman and Huntresses do." she pointed out.
Raven: "Not all of them. Some people are just in it for the money and fame or just doing it look after someone but there's even more that are just looking to grow stronger. Your uncle Qrow and I didn't attend Beacon to become Huntsmen, we did it to learn to kill huntsmen." she revealed.
Yang and Weiss looked at each other in surprise before looking back at Raven.
Raven: "Daddy and Uncle left that part out, hmm? Aside from the Grimm, Huntsmen were the only ones capable of ruining our raids and hunting us down. our tribe needed a counterforce. And Qrow and I were the perfect age. The entrance exams were child's play compared to what we'd already been through. We were good. So good, that we caught the attention of Beacon's very own headmaster, Professor Ozpin. Even after we were put on a team, I could tell he was keeping his eye on us. Back then, I thought it was because he knew, but it was Team STRQ that he was interested in... and one other individual." she revealed to them as she stood up and walked away from them.
Yang: "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
Raven: "Tell me." she said before looking back to them.
Raven: "What do you really know about (Y/n) Signal. Or to you two, (Y/n)." she asked
To be honest, I stopped caring for many things. Since the Old Man keeps coming and taking everything I care for, what's the point in trying to care for things? There's only a handful of things I care for in the world and Sunshine is one of them. If something ever happened to her... I wouldn't know what I'll do.
-(Y/n) Signal.
The beginning of Volume 5 has arrived! What is going to happen? Who knows!
P.S. Also, asking for updates is VERY annoying (You know who you are -.-). It takes time to make a long decent chapter. You rush me, it'll not come out as good.
See you!