When
Ruby got back to her dorm from meeting with Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood, her
team immediately rushed her. “What happened?!” said Yang.
“Uh,
um… well…”
Despite
what Ozpin had said about being discreet, Ruby went ahead and told them about
how she mentioned the possibility of a base in southeast Vale thanks to what
Sun and Blake had discovered at the White Fang meeting.
“That
was a risky move,” commented Weiss.
“No,”
said Blake, “I think you handled it well.”
“I
hope so,” said Ruby with a shrug.
“I’m
sure everything will be all right, Ruby,” added Yang. “Oh! I know what will
cheer you up.”
“What’s
that?”
“I
don’t know. Dad sent it to us,” said Yang, placing a medium sized box on the
floor. “We can open it together.”
Ruby
squealed. “Something from home!”
Ruby,
Weiss, and Blake looked on eagerly as Yang peeled back the tape on the box and
opened its flaps. They looked on in anticipation as a small, rotund, furry item
jumped to life. It barked. Ruby and Yang squealed, Weiss recoiled, and Blake
jumped onto Ruby’s bunk.
“Zwei!”
cheered Ruby, scooping up the corgi.
“Your
dad sent a dog?!” said Blake.
“In
the mail?!” added Weiss.
“Oh,
he does stuff like this all the time,” explained Yang.
“Your
father or your dog?” asked Blake.
Weiss
leaned in to get a better look at Zwei as he panted in her face. “Do you mean
to tell me that this… mangy… drooling mutt… is going to wiv with us foreva?!
Oh, yes, he is. Yes, he is! Oh, isn’t he adorable?!” she fawned.
Blake
was not amused. “Please keep it away from my belongings.”
Suddenly,
there was a message on the PA from Glynda. “Would all first-year students
please report to the amphitheater.”
“Well,
we can’t just leave him here while we’re gone for a week,” noted Weiss.
Yang
looked deeper into the box. “Oh. There’s a letter. ‘Dear girls. I’ve got to
leave the island for a few days so I’m sending Zwei to you to take care of.
Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both. Taiyang.’” Yang tipped
over the box and a mountain of cans of dog food fell out.
“What
is he supposed to do with that?” asked Weiss.
Yang
shook the box and a can opener fell out as well. “Welp. That settles it. C’mon,
girls. Zwei will be here when we get back.”
As
Weiss passed Zwei, she continued with the baby talk. “Oh, I’ll miss you so
much! We’re going to be best friends. I can’t wait to see you again. You’re so
cute!”
Blake
meanwhile jumped from Ruby’s bed to a table and to the door.
Ruby
however considered Zwei very intently. She didn’t feel right about leaving him
behind and surely Yang hadn’t considered the mess and mischief he would cause
while they were gone. But how could she take him on the mission with her?
Ruby
racked her brain until the idea hit her. “That’s it!”
As
Team RWBY made their way into the amphitheater, Ruby wore a rather large Beacon
Academy backpack. As they stood with Team JNPR, nobody seemed to notice that it
was breathing.
“Quiet.
Quiet, please,” said Glynda from the stage. “Professor Ozpin would like to
share a few words before we begin.”
“Today,
we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four kingdoms of
Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the world’s largest war in
recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of
oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who
traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself.
“We
fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms
of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something that
many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began
naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It
was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this
oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it is a trend that
has held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity
through diversity.
“As I
have said, today we stand together united. But this bond cannot exist without
effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace,
huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first-year students, you
will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman on a mission. Some of you
may be taken out of the kingdom for several days. Others may work within the
walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember
to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best.”
Ruby
turned to her team. “This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a huntsman
working in the southeast.”
“Yeah,”
said Yang. “We’ll follow him around by day, and give him the slip at night.”
Weiss
suggested, “Let’s check ‘Search and Destroy.’”
The
girls went up to one of the many holographic screens around the amphitheater
and found a search and destroy mission that required Grimm to be cleaned out in
a part of Vale known as quadrant five. “What about this one?” asked Ruby.
“Well,
it’s in the southeast,” said Blake.
“Sounds
perfect,” added Yang.
Ruby
touched the screen and it asked for her to enter their team name. She did so,
but a message popped up saying “Mission Unavailable to First-Year Students.”
“Wonderful,”
quipped Weiss. “Never mind the fact that this event is for first-years only.”
“Any
other ideas?” asked Blake.
“We
mail ourselves there,” suggested Ruby.
“Well,
that’s one option,” said Ozpin, walking up. “Unfortunately, we determined that
the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first-year students. It seems
that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking
suspicion that the four of you will make your way there no matter which job you
choose.”
Yang,
Blake, and Weiss glared at Ruby.
She
shrugged. “Whatever makes you say that?”
“I’m still curious as to how you all ended up
at the docks last semester. I’m interested to know how you really learned about
a ‘hideout’ in the southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported
seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club sometime ago.”
Ruby
smiled and tried to look as cute as possible—it worked on her father.
“I
doubt I’ll ever find the exact answers I’m looking for. So, how about this:
instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don’t we just bend them
a little?” Ozpin took out a full sized Scroll, gave it a few taps, and the girls
instantly received a mission confirmation on their individual Scrolls.
“We
won’t let you down,” said Ruby. “Thank you, Professor.”
“Do
not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you
must understand that the things awaiting you beyond the protection of the
kingdom will not care. Stay close to your huntsman at all times, and do exactly
as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent
back to Beacon if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory. Good luck,” said
Ozpin as he left.
As
they made their way to the air docks, Yang said, “That wasn’t exactly
uplifting.”
“But
it’s the truth,” added Blake.
“It’s
going to be tough,” said Ruby. “But I know we can do it. We’ve never backed
down before, and we’re not going to start now. Besides, it won’t only be us out
there. We’ll be fighting alongside a genuine huntsman!”
“Yeah!”
said Yang.
All
their spirits had been lifted, until they made it to the air dock and found
Professor Oobleck, looking like he was about to go on safari, waiting for them.
“Why, hello, girls! Whose ready to fight for their lives?!”
“Professor
Oobleck?” said Weiss incredulously.
“Yes.
I’m afraid those bags won’t be necessary, girls,” he said, seeing Ruby’s
backpack, “as you have opted to shadow a huntsman on what is essentially a
reconnaissance mission. I can assure you we will not be establishing a single
base of operations, rather we will be traversing several miles of hazardous
wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon.
“I’ve
packed all our essentials myself, plotted the air course, and readied the
airship. And!” he said, getting in Weiss’ face, “it’s Doctor Oobleck. I didn’t earn a Ph.D. for fun. Thank you very
much.”
“Uh…?”
“Come
now, children. According to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind…
schedule!” Doctor Oobleck then zipped away and aboard the airship.
Ruby
tried to seem upbeat. “Well… all right then. Looks like we’re going to save the
world with Dr. Oobleck.” After a pause, she went, “Okay, yeah. When you say it
out loud it sounds worse.”
“Save
the world?!” shrieked someone from behind RWBY. They turned and saw Team JNPR.
“You’re
going on world saving missions without us?!” said Nora. “I’m hurt! Sad! Maybe a
little hungry. That last one’s not your fault though… Ren!”
Ren
turned away from Nora. So he hadn’t made pancakes that day. Big deal.
“Sounds
exciting,” said Jaune. “Where you going?”
“Oh,
just outside the kingdom,” replied Ruby.
“Hey!
So are we,” said Nora.
“Ren
and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village,” explained Pyrrha.
“We
set out tomorrow,” added Ren.
“Then
you can party with us tonight!” said Neptune, as he and Sun appeared. “We’re
shadowing a crime specialist. All inner city detective stuff. We get junior
badges.”
Jaune
was struck hard with envy.
“We
normally go to the city with you guys,” started Sun, “which means stuff’s
always exploding and junk. So we thought that this might be a better way to
check out the kingdom when it’s, you know, normal.”
“Well,”
began Ruby.
“Four
minutes, ladies!” shouted Oobleck from the airship.
There
was a pregnant, awkward pause. Ruby finally said, “Well, uh, wish us luck.” And
with that, Team RWBY said goodbye to JNPR and to Neptune and Sun.
Aboard
the airship, Yang confessed to Doctor Oobleck, “I guess I never saw you as much
of a fighter.”
“I
admit I fancy myself more of an intellectual, but I can assure you, as a
huntsman, I’ve had my fair share of tussles.”
“Like
the mushroom?” said Ruby.
“Those
are truffles,” corrected Blake.
“Like
the sprout?”
“Those
are brussels,” said Yang.
“Besides,”
continued Oobleck, “given my expertise in the field of history as well as my
dabblings in archeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me
to this particular… assignment.”
“What
does history have to do with this?” asked Weiss.
“Why,
what a preposterous question, you silly girl. Why, history is the backbone of
our very society. And the liver! And the kidneys, too, if I were to wager.”
“And
that means…?”
“The
southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves. But!
It is also the location to one of the kingdom’s greatest failures.”
“Mountain
Glenn,” said Ruby.
“That’s
right!” said Yang. “It was an expansion of Vale. But in the end it was overrun
by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city.”
“Correct!”
said Oobleck. “And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder.”
“And a
likely place for a hideout,” concluded Blake.
“Precisely.”
***
The
airship circled above the derelict remains of Mountain Glenn and descended into
a suitable clearing. Team RWBY dropped from it all ready for action and Doctor
Oobleck with his thermos handy. The airship departed.
“Ladies!
You still may be students, but as of this moment, your mission as huntresses
has begun. From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say. Do you
understand?”
The
girls nodded, but Oobleck noted a discrepancy.
“Ruby!
I thought I told you to leave all your bags back at school,” he said, seeing
the rather large backpack still with her.
Ruby
was quick with a counter. “But, you hadn’t told us to listen to you, yet. So… I
didn’t.”
“She’s
not wrong…” Oobleck said to himself. “Very well, Ruby. Leave your bag here. We
can pick it up upon our return.”
“But,
I… uh…”
“Young
lady! What in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so
important to bring it with y—”
Zwei’s
head popped out. Ruby’s eyes widened as the rest of her team looked at her
worriedly.
Ruby
turned to Zwei. “Get back in the bag!” she whispered.
“We’re
here to investigate an abandoned, urban jungle, teeming with death and
hostility, and you brought… a dog?”
“I,
uh—!”
“Genius!”
declared Doctor Oobleck. He scooped Zwei out of the backpack and started
carrying him around. “Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose
and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such
as ours!”
Ruby
smiled. “I’m a genius.”
Weiss
and Yang facepalmed.
“So,
what are your orders, Doctor?” asked Blake.
“Ah,
yes! Straight to the chase. I like it!” Oobleck dropped Zwei. “As you have been
informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hotspot for Grimm
activity. Now there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of
which being—Grimm.”
The
girls leaned in. They didn’t understand. “Uh, what?” said Ruby.
“Grimm,”
repeated Oobleck. “A creature of Grimm. Approximately one-hundred yards from us
at this very moment.”
“What?!”
said Yang.
RWBY
turned and saw a lone Beowolf as it wandered into the street and sniffed at the
ground. The girls armed their weapons.
“Stop!”
ordered Oobleck. “There are a number of reasons why Grimm would congregate in
this particular area. The most likely of which would be their attraction to
negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely
held by our hidden group harboring ill intent.”
“So…
what now?” asked Ruby.
“We
wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may
subsequently lead us to our prey.”
“How
long do we wait?” asked Yang.
“It’s
uncertain. Hours. Days. Weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated
from the pack for months—and there’s the whole pack,” concluded Oobleck as more
Beowolves entered the street.
“What?”
said Weiss.
“And
now they’ve seen us.”
“What?!”
“And
now they’ve seen us!”
“I take
it tracking is out of the question,” said Ruby.
“An
accurate assumption, yes.”
“What’s
the plan, then?” said Yang as the pack charged them.
“Show
me what you’re capable of,” ordered Oobleck.
Yang gladly charged the pack head on, punching
several and breaking a few necks. Within a few seconds, she had several Beowolves
following her. But some of them became distracted by Blake, who stood still in
the middle of the street. They attempted to ambush her, but Blake dodged their
attack with one of her shadow clones and proceeded to slice and dice them.
Weiss
quickly garnered the attention of several herself, but thanks to her glyphs,
she was able to stay a couple of moves ahead of them. She launched straight
through the pack and with several fanciful and artistic cuts, they all fell.
Ruby
meanwhile was providing support with suppressive fire. Eventually, what was
left of the pack turned their attention to her. Ruby flourished her scythe and
shot right at them. With a few quick slashes, they all lay dead at her feet.
She turned to Doctor Oobleck. “Heh. Piece of cake.”
“Do
not celebrate yet. For I am certain this is the first bout of many. Shall we
continue?”
Doctor
Oobleck led the girls through Mountain Glenn, looking for anything that may
give him a clue as to where their query was hidden. While he did that, he
relied on the girls to fight off the many Grimm.
After
stopping to observe some long dead growth and allow the girls to clear away a
few Beowolves, Oobleck said, “Excellent work, girls. Unfortunately, there doesn’t
seem to be any signs of criminal activity in this sector. Oh well! Moving
along.”
The
girls followed, but Yang had a contention. “Hey, Doc! You know, I was actually
looking forward to seeing a pro huntsman in action. Like fighting, or at least,
helping us fight.”
“Ah,
but I am in action: scouring the ruins of this once great city for any signs of
irregularity. Not every mission is full of daring and heroism, girls. Sometimes
it’s just a heightened form of extermination. Remember: this is a job, and you
all signed up for it. I do hope you understand that.”
Yang
stammered. “Well, yeah.” She looked at the others for support, but didn’t find
any. “I mean, of course.”
“Hmm.”
Following that exchange, Oobleck started paying more attention to Team RWBY. He
noticed several interesting things, but when he examined Yang and compared her
to the rest of the team, he noticed that her shot-gauntlets forced her to get
quite close to her enemy, much closer than any of the others. He also noticed
how Yang was much more aggressive. This piqued his interest, and after another
pack of slain Grimm, Oobleck said, “Tell me, Yang: why did you choose this line
of work?”
“Huh?”
Wasn’t that obvious? “Well, to fight monsters and save—”
“No!
That is what you do. I want to know why you do it. The honest reason as to why
you want to be a huntress.”
“The
honest reason?” Yang sighed. She fidgeted for a second. “I’m a thrill seeker. I
want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures
as I can. And if I help people along the way, that’s even better. It’s a
win-win, you know?”
Oobleck
was quiet for a second. “I see.” He then turned to Weiss. “And you, Miss
Schnee. A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn’t
need the extra work. So, why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?”
“It’s
exactly as you said,” said Weiss. “I’m a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to
uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a
question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty.”
“Interesting.
And what about you, Blake? You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose.”
“There’s
too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality.
Corruption. Someone has to stop it.”
“Very
well,” said Oobleck. “How?”
“I…
ugh…” Blake suddenly looked very disappointed with herself.
Oobleck
turned to Ruby who had started to play with Zwei. When she noticed, she quickly
stopped. “Sorry! Uh, are we ready to keep going?”
Oobleck
looked around. “No, I believe that will have to do for today. It’s going to be
dark soon.” He suddenly tossed their camping equipment at Yang. “You three, set
up camp in that building. And please make sure that there are no more of those…
creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come, Ruby,” said
Oobleck as he walked away.
Ruby
ran after Doctor Oobleck. As they were securing the perimeter, they rounded a
corner at the end of a street, and Ruby saw something unlike anything she had
before. Several black and white creatures looking like elephants were several
hundred yards outside of the city limits. But they were large. They dwarfed the
trees around them.
“What
is that?” said Ruby awed. “It looks awesome.”
“That,
my dear girl, is a Grimm.”
Ruby
was shocked. The only Grimm she had ever seen that big was a Nevermore. But
they were the exception weren’t they? To see so many large Grimm in one
location was truly stunning. And Ruby loved the idea of the challenge they
posed. “Let’s kill it,” she said, pulling out Crescent Rose.
Oobleck
almost laughed. “I’m afraid your sniper rifle will do nothing more than agitate
a Grimm of that size.”
“But!
What if they attack us?”
“Fret
not, Ruby. Those Goliaths are not concerned with us. Ruby, not every Grimm is mindless,
or rather, not every Grimm is still mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before
you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they have
undoubtedly lived hundreds of years. And in that time, between killing humans
and attacking our borders, they’ve done one important thing: they’ve learned—they’ve
learned that when they attack our borders, they are likely to die. And what we
lack in strength, we make up for in will. And that killing one human will only
bring more.”
“Then…
why are they still so close to the city? What are they doing?”
“Waiting.”
Oobleck
waited for the herd of Goliaths to proceed by before turning his back on them
and walking back to camp.
Ruby
trotted after him. “Doctor Oobleck? I was wondering…”
“Wondering
why I interrogated your teammates?”
“Actually,
I was wondering, why did you want to become a huntsman?”
“Look
around and tell me what you see.”
“Lots
of old buildings… uh, empty streets…”
“I see
lives that could’ve been saved. As a huntsman, it’s my job to protect the
people, and although I’m capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I
believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher,
I am able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it
into the hands of every student who passes through my classroom.
“I
look at this wasteland and I see lives that could’ve been saved. But I also see
an opportunity—an opportunity to study these ruins and learn from this tragedy.
And therefore become stronger.
“I am
a huntsman, Ruby, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather
be.”
Ruby
recoiled slightly. To hear Doctor Oobleck speak so eloquently about his calling
to be a huntsman was inspiring and humbling. Doctor Oobleck wasn’t a huntsman
for the fame or glory, and he didn’t become a professor because he wanted to
escape the dangers of the field—he had a genuine concern for the world. But to
be more effective than just slaughtering a few Grimm, by teaching others, he
could effectively slaughter Grimm by the hundreds via proxy. How many Grimm had
he taken down total with assists alone? The numbers must have been staggering.
***
Back
at the campsite, Yang, Blake, and Weiss had gotten a fire going. It was
crackling nicely when Yang said, “I can’t believe we didn’t find anything.”
Blake
replied, “We’ve always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the
right time. I guess we can’t always have luck on our side.”
“That’s
not what I meant,” said Weiss suddenly. She had been quiet for a while
seemingly lost in reverie. Her sudden outburst surprised the other two.
“Earlier. About ‘upholding the legacy.’ There’s more to it than that.”
“Yeah,”
agreed Yang. “No, me too. I mean… I don’t know.”
“I
don’t know, either,” said Blake. “I know what I want to do, but I figured I
would always take things one step at a time.”
“Well,
it doesn’t matter. We know why we’re here. Right?”
Neither
Blake nor Weiss answered.
Their
silence was eventually broken by Doctor Oobleck. “Ah, wonderful! A textbook
campfire.”
Ruby
gasped. “Fire!” She knelt next to it. “So warm…”
“Very
good. Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover
tomorrow and we’ll need you to take turns watching over our temporary abode.
Any volunteers for first watch?”
“Yo,”
said Ruby.
That
was good enough for Doctor Oobleck and he zipped away to find a place for
himself to sleep. Ruby meanwhile looked for a place where she could post up for
a few hours with Crescent Rose and Zwei.
“Hey,”
said Yang as she passed. “Did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a huntress?
I mean, what did you tell him?”
“No,
he didn’t. Weird. Oh well. Good night, guys.”
Yang
was disappointed. She couldn’t see what Oobleck’s angle was. Neither could
Weiss and Blake. It couldn’t have been as simple as he was just curious. Was he
trying to teach them something? Did he think that they had chosen the wrong
career? A bit late for that advice. But if not, what was he after?
They were all
uncomfortably silent as they rolled out their bedrolls and settled in for the
night
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