#and during rosegarden week too

[stardust948]

We finally got Rosegarden in Vol 9 but AT WHAT COST?!?!

[remnant-roses]

Rosegarden Week Day 4: After the War

A fic idea I had during the mid-season hiatus, but didn’t have time to write, but now it fits the prompt so...

I meant this to be a one-shot but it’s past 1 am and I need to sleeeep so now it’s a two-shot and I’ll post the second half Friday.

________________________

“I think I’m... done.”

He’d expected them to argue, to try and convince him to stay. But standing before them, his small frame battered, bloody, and broken, they averted their eyes. Even Ozpin remained quiet.

He’d kept their secrets, prevented Salem from using the relic, endured torment for their sakes. He’d suffered for them. He’d had to take lives for them. And it had shattered him. He felt hollow.

He just wanted to go home.

And they let him.

He allowed Ozpin to take over, to tell them the last things they’d need to know about the vaults, the relics, the war to save humanity.

And when the dust settled in Atlas, when the refugees poured out into the other kingdoms, he went with them, just one more body, lost among the masses.

He didn’t even tell them goodbye. But even through the numbness that gripped his soul, he felt a sting of regret when he thought of her face, silver eyes brimming with tears.

______________________

Just don’t... ever talk to me again. Just let me be normal. Please, he told Ozpin as he boarded the train that would take him back home.

There was no reply, but the guilt and sorrow that radiated off of that other inside of him was answer enough.

Ozpin would let him abdicate, even in the height of this conflict. Even when it looked like humanity was balanced on a knife’s edge.

Let this war pass him by. They could fight it without him. And if they couldn’t win, in time, the burden would roll on to his next incarnation. But Oscar... he’d given all he could. He didn’t have anything left.

______________________

He knocked on the farmhouse door, and felt like a stranger even on his own doorstep.

His aunt cried, off and on, for days after his return. First tears of relief, of joy, and then tears of worry and grief, and then of frustration and anger.

He understood. He wasn’t her son, but she had raised him, loved him, and he’d left her all alone here.

He told her what he could. Not everything, not even much. But enough to make her understand why he’d left - the voice in his head, the war for humanity. She’d seen the broadcast in that brief moment that global communications had been reestablished. She could grasp the basics - that he’d been caught up in a conflict for the fate of the world, and that it had chewed him up and spit him out. Left him broken.

He couldn’t bear to tell her any more, dreaded the inevitable probing questions, but then she surprised him.

She understood. She gave him space to think, to heal, in his own time.

And he loved her for it.

_________________________

It was seven weeks before his wounds closed fully.

The scar tissue pulled at his skin as he threw himself into the work of maintaining a farm, like a waking manifestation of the pain that still haunted his dreams and left him gasping for air when he woke.

He ignored it with a resolute determination, letting himself get lost in the monotony of tilling and plowing and tending livestock. It was backbreaking work, but he welcomed even the pain. It filled the empty hollows of his mind and left no room for reflection... or memories too painful to bear.

To think, he’d once resented the repetitive nature of work on the farm. He’d dreamed of adventure, of new and exciting vistas, of being important.

If only he’d known.

But at nights, he’d climb onto the roof of the barn and stare at the sky and think of a girl with eyes like moonlight, and wonder.

Was she still fighting? Was she even still alive?

Did I make the right choice?

__________________________

The seasons came and went, and war did not come to the fields of Mistral. Nothing of interest had ever happened here.

_________________________

It was 11 months since his return, when the CCT system came back online.

He hadn’t noticed right away. He’d been working in the fields, and there was no point in taking a Scroll out there when it had no signal.

But as he walked in the house that evening, he was greeted by the sound of tinny, faraway voices pouring out of his aunt’s living room, and then...

There she was, on the screen, her red cape and pale skin washed with blue in the light of the projection. Her hair was a little longer, her eyes a little sadder, but it was her.

She was saying something about the CCT, how exactly they’d managed to restore it, but the words wouldn’t process, they swam in his head until it was just noise. There was only one thought that mattered.

She’s alive.

“Isn’t it wonderful, Oscar,” his aunt was saying, “the world can talk to each other again...”

It was then she noticed the white-knuckled grip he had on the back of the sofa, and the tears streaming silently down his face.

He told her that night, told her everything. About RWBY and JNR, about the attack at Haven, about a drunk old crow, about crashed trains and snowstorms, about the fall of Atlas.

About the belly of a great black beast, and the torture he’d suffered at the hands of humanity’s greatest enemy. About the hollowness he’d felt when he left, and the crushing guilt that had slowly come to replace it.

She cried, and he cried, and she held him, and in the background, news reports played clips of familiar faces on repeat. Still out there, doing their best, without him.

There was one thing he left out - no need to tell his aunt about silver eyes and a kind smile, about how much it hurt to know that he’d left her behind, specifically.

That much, at least, was still his own.

He still watched the night sky, but now the questions he asked himself had changed.

Do they hate me for leaving?

________________________

He only heard from Ozpin twice in his time at the farm.

Once, about a month after the CCT was restored, when a Grimm had nearly gotten the drop on him.

Behind you, Oscar.

The voice was gone as quickly as it had come, without even an apology for breaking his pact of silence. But it had given him just enough time to see the Beowulf coming, to get his pitchfork up to block the jagged teeth as it lunged.

It took him an embarrassingly long time to dispatch it, even though it was merely a single beast, even though just 10 months before, he, or any one of his companions, could have killed it in mere seconds.

He was rusty.

And he was letting himself wallow, something every Remnant child was cautioned against. Hell, he’d probably drawn the Grimm in with his own guilt and self-pity.

He took up training again after that, practicing against hay bales and scarecrows in the early mornings before his daily duties began.

He wasn’t going to let himself be a beacon of despair. He wasn’t going to endanger his aunt, or himself, like that.

_______________________

It was a year and nine months after his return, the second time Ozpin spoke to him.

He was at the feed store, loading bags of dried corn into his aunt’s beat-up truck for the chickens, when Ozpin uttered a single word:

Oh.

And then he was gone.

Not gone in the way he’d been for the past two years, where Oscar had always been aware of a silent presence in the deepest corners of his mind. But fully, completely gone.

Oscar expected the sky to rip open, for people to scream, to cry, for something, anything, to look different. He pulled out his Scroll, checked the news. Nothing.

Something had happened. But life continued around him, unchanged. The clerk at the feed store gave him a funny look. He was blocking the loading bay.

He drove home in a daze, tears blurring his vision, and told his aunt to turn on the TV.

It took three hours for the news reports to start rolling in. Humanity’s greatest enemy, defeated. Faunus and human together, standing united. A mysterious silver light seen in a ruined continent to the west.

He and his aunt watched the footage in silence for hours, and he found himself searching for a red cape, for a mop of long blonde hair, any hint of what might have truly transpired.

When he climbed on the barn roof to watch the night sky that evening, his questions had changed once again.

They’d done it.

But what had become of them?

Of her?

 (to be continued)

[imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs]

Rosegarden Week 2021: 🌲29th March: Atlas Ball

Open air cafes were something Oscar never knew he needed until now. Growing up in a rural environment tended to give people the need to make sure everything they needed was at home or just a short jaunt away, so eating out was a rarity.

But when his stomach had grumbled and the whole of QRWBYJNR (and Ozpin) had made a fuss about how he hadn’t eaten anything, he’d pointed to the first eatery they came across and said ‘let’s get something there’. He hadn’t even really known what they’d served there.

But still, it was nice. The cool morning air of Atlas and the warm coffee he’d ordered was a nice contrast. It was still early enough that the traffic hadn’t picked up, so the streets were still quiet. And he’d tried a croissant for the first time, a buttery flakey roll that was much more filling than he’d thought it would be.

During his meal, however, most of his comrades had found other distractions. Nora and Ren had gone for a morning walk (‘walk’ Yang had snickered), Blake had crossed the street to a bookstore she’d seen when they’d first arrived at the café. Jaune and Weiss had decided to get their tickets ready for travel, Qrow said he was going to scout the area to make sure Grimm weren’t around and Yang said she’d make sure he keep his sobriety (he’d been doing a good job).

That only left him and Ruby.

That is, until Ruby saw that the bookstore Blake had gone into sold comics and a magazine called “Gunshow” and hopped over there with an adorable amount of joy.

Adorable. That was a word he was frequently starting to associate with Ruby. Not that anyone wouldn’t. Her infectious enthusiasm and courage were something to admire, even if someone didn’t consider her attractive.

“Like you do,” Ozpin’s voice said.

“I’m trying to enjoy my coffee,” Oscar said, hoping his link to the wizard didn’t extend to the butterflies in his stomach.

“I don’t blame you, Oscar,” Ozpin said, “coffee was an invention that I can appreciate. Ever since Bartholomew introduced me to it.”

“Who’s Bartholomew?”

“An old friend,” Ozpin said.

Oscar didn’t get a chance to ask what he meant by that, because from somewhere up the street, someone shouted “hey! Look out!”

Oscar turned his head in the direction of the voice in time to see what looked like a gilded ball, twice the size of a truck, rolling down the street. He thought it might be a globe, but right now he was too terrified to really care as the massive ball bore down on him.

Vacating his seat, Oscar broke into a dead sprint, hoping he could make it to an alcove or a doorway before he was flattened. Tables and umbrellas from the café snapped and flew past him, only serving to fuel his flight from the massive globe.

Suddenly, Oscar felt himself swept off his feet and air rush past him. In the time it took him to blink, Oscar was in a dark alley, the ball rolling past them with men in overalls running after it.

“Oscar, are you okay?”

Oscar looked up, realizing that he was safely in Ruby’s arms, bridals style (or maybe groom style? Did there have to be a distinction?).

Oscar nodded as Ruby let him down. Her left eyebrow rose.

“Oscar, what’s with the croissant?”

It wasn’t until she said it that Oscar realized he must have run the entire time with his croissant clenched firmly between his teeth.

“Sorry, forgot I had it,” Oscar said, taking it out of his mouth. He held it out to her.

“You, uh, you want a bite?”

She’d probably say no, but it was polite to offer anyways. Except Ruby didn’t say no, and instead leaned forward and took a sizable bite of his croissant. Right over his own bite mark.

“This is really good,” Ruby said, around her chewing, “but I like the ones with chocolate icing and raspberry filling.”

“Chocolate icing,” Oscar repeated, flabbergasted, “right.”

Ruby smiled and nodded.

“I’ll go see if those guys need some help with that ball,” she said. Oscar nodded.

As Ruby left the alley, Oscar wondered if she knew what an indirect kiss was.

[claralaclarividente-fics]

Life is Dream: A Rosegarden story

Chapter 1- Once Upon A Time

Ruby’s eyes watered as the crisp air breezed in front of her face as she fell.

She had watched as her two teammates swooped down the void, only to be swallowed by a golden glimmer. By then, time had slowed down, and she thought about what could happen. Only to be eclipsed by the thought of her sister alone, wherever she might have ended up, waiting for her.

The battle had been arduous, and she had had a hard time tracking down her friends’ whereabouts during most of it, but when it had all quieted down, when Nora had placed a hand on her shoulder with a million questions in her blue eyes, the roar of the answer thumped in her ears.

Penny had understood right there and then, hugging her friends one by one- ‘do what you have to do.’

Jaune nodded gravely, thinking that if he were in their position, he’d do anything to bring his teammates back. ‘We’ll take it from here on out.’

There was no guidance, no certainty of what could happen, of what laid beyond the darkness. But Blake was trembling, her grasp on Gambol Shroud whitening her knuckles. Weiss held on Blake, afraid she might jump alone.

The decision had been made.

A tingling sensation distracted her thoughts, and with a rueful wonder she realized golden shimmers began to dance on her skin.

‘This is it, then.’ She barely had the ability to think before lighting gold consumed her. She felt herself fall asleep and tiredly closed her eyes.

Oscar opened his eyes at the insistence of Emerald. She had probably been trying to shake him awake for a while now judging by the tender expression she tried to conceal with fake annoyance.

Sitting up on his bed, he noticed that the quarters he shared with the rest of his team was empty.

The sunlight streamed harshly through the willowing blinds, telling him that it was way too late to be sleeping.

“Should have woken you up earlier but you nearly fell asleep on your dinner last night, so we thought it would be better to let you sleep in a bit more.” She explained as she slid open her Scroll, checking the itinerary for the day.

Mind still heavy with sleep, Oscar placed his bare feet on the cold floor. The frigid clay under his soles roused him enough so he began mentally preparing for the day.

“What have we got today on the agenda?”

Emerald rolled her eyes and thrusted a paper bag into the teen’s hands.

“Breakfast rolls with honey. Seriously Oscar, you barely ate last night and now you’re insisting on intermittent fasting? This is why even Little Red’s taller than you!” She jeered at his sudden bouts of sleepiness over the past month.

Oscar smiled, pained. Everyone up until now had been walking on eggshells regarding team RWBY, hushing down when they mentioned them, fearing guilt and sadness. But Emerald, who in her pragmatism did what had to be done, and said what needed to be said, did not care too much about being gentle with expectations.

It was weird. A month had passed since the exodus from Mantle and Atlas, and the remaining members of team JNPR were crestfallen, yet tried to ignore the growing negativity stemming in their hearts. They treated Oscar with care, trying to ignore the four missing links in their lives.

Surprisingly, Emerald and Penny were the only ones keeping hope.

Penny was hopeful and reverent. She had been made of alloy, bolts and dolts. But now she wore shoes, sand was annoying, and she could taste food. Anything was possible in this wide world of theirs.

For Emerald, it was more about seeing impossible feats of ancient wonder, something in her ears whispering that there were more incredible feats of magic to be revealed in her time alive. She felt that third chances in life were rare, and thus, grasped at its stray hairs strongly.

So they stuck by Oscar as the task of repatriation began at dawn and ended at dusk.

It had been a grueling month at Vacuo, nobody was happy to have the Atlesians in their land. The citizens of Mantle fared better, they had been humbled when they huddled close together back at the crater in the Motherland. But the Atlas elite? They could not wait for Mistrali ships to come in hoards to get them to colder ground. They revolted, nothing was up to their elevated standards.

But Theodore was nothing but pragmatic, as all Vacuans were, and a night off in the deserts shut the bunch of them up. The ones who made it back that is.

“Alright, I’ll stuff my face with honeyed bread rolls and spiced tea if it makes you happy.” Conceded Oscar after he tied up his boots and threw on the airy cotton cape on his shoulders. He had decided on a lighter fabric for his stay in Vacuo, the gauzy green tunic emboldened with red and white trimmings, and his loose cotton pants were good enough for the mighty sun that beat on the roofs of the deserts.

Emerald smiled despite herself. She and Penny had taken on the big sister role whenever Nora wasn’t there to mother Oscar to hell and back. It had taken some time to get used to, but for anyone that was not privy to the Fall of Beacon, Emerald was just Oscar’s older sister, who emerged at the Fall of Atlas.

Over the course of the weeks she proved herself, as a true Vacuan, and as a true ally.

“C´mon then. There’s a bunch of convoy ships from Argus and Vale willing to take in some snooty idiots in exchange of supplies. Don’t make Nora wait for you more, she’s missed on her hugging quota for the morning.” With a pat on his head, Emerald walked Oscar to the door, and off they were.

The day blurred by Oscar’s eyes, now and again stifling an inconvenient yawn, but nevertheless, persisted during the course of his workday.

Every day there were less Atlesians to send off, and less Mantle citizens who wanted to leave. Like May tended to say, Mantle knows how to show their teeth.

The migratory system they had built recorded every single citizen that wanted to leave or stay under Theodore’s watchful eye. The controls were harsh since there was no way to know if Neopolitan had blended into the crowd at all. Given that Emerald told Theodore and every staff member in Shade that they were to expect Tyrian and Mercury sooner rather than later, security had been the top priority these days.

In between tending to the wounded and sick, delivering supply packets to the tents of refugees, and breaking up fights, Oscar was beat by dusk.

By that time, Theodore insisted Oscar to keep their sparring sessions until he felt that Oscar moved and fought with more fluidity than the day before.

“Squirt,” Theodore would say, “I know Oz has taught you some things, but he was a dandy and thought that battle was graceful matter.” The rippled headmaster would flex and show him how merciless battle was.

Under the strongman’s tutelage, Oscar’s body ached and grew. With Ozpin’s mentoring in his head, his magic grew and he felt something inside of his soul bubble to the surface.

But at the end of the day, when Jaune was sitting right by his side, and Nora was babbling a ten miles per second into his hearing canal, he felt his shoulders drop their tension. He shot a thankful glance at Ren, who was casually conversing with Emerald, but still kept an eye on the youngest of their group. Penny and Nora, two ginger parakeets with insurmountable force and joy lulled his thoughts, until he sagged forward and faceplanted in his tomato soup.

The resounding splash alerted Jaune who quickly pulled Oscar’s face from the cold soup by grabbing him by the collar of his tunic. Oscar’s lack of reaction, and his fluttering eyelids greeted the blond huntsman, flooding him with worry.

The chatter died.

Nora leaned the boy to her side and grabbed his tanned cheeks, wet with stock, and panicked at his quivering eyelids.

Semi-conscious as he were, Oscar saw the motions at the table like photographs forming a standstill gallery inside his mind, the sounds dull and his feeling numb.

Nora and Emerald crowding over him, worried expressions marring his face.

Penny and her cold hands framing his cheeks, her confused expression.

Jaune’s golden aura around his vision as it tunneled.

Lastly, Theodore’s frown before he closed his eyes and tumbled into sleep.

__________________________________________

Ruby tumbled out of bed confused.

Her heartbeat alert and scared, her eyes darted to the four walls surrounding her. Sweet and spices reached her nose, the colourful walls held handmade tapestries and idyllic paintings. The rug that had cushioned her fall was fluffy, and the blanket tangling in her legs felt like a familiar hug.

“Where am I?”

Ruby struggled to stand up, and once she did, she gasped at herself.

In front of her, a mirror held her image. But it was all wrong. She wore a frilly white dress, with white stockings, red lace and ribbons, and her hair was tied in two tiny pigtails. She looked adorable.

And she hated it.

“Where’s-“ she looked at the nearest wardrove, and opened its doors as fast as she could. Rifling through the cutesy dresses, she was taken aback by a familiar skirt.

Holding the black dress with the black combat skirt, she wondered how her Beacon outfit appeared in the room she was in.

She stopped dead on her tracks.

“I’m not in Atlas anymore, am I?”

Clutching the dress to her chest, she slid down to the carpeted floor. She felt a bubble of panic come over her as she remembered the last events of her life.

“Right, Neo struck Yang, and Yang… She fell. We fought Cinder. And she died. I think. Then we…jumped.”

Ruby looked her hands over, turning them this way and that, as if they were given to change at any moment now.

“And-“ Ruby wheezed, close to hyperventilation. She trembled as she remembered flashes of the fight against Cinder, how Blake evolved her Semblance and fought as three copies of herself, about Neo striking the wrong Blake, and being fallen by the original one. Cinder taunting how she used Jinn, revealing their plans. Penny fell to the golden plateau, and then in a fit of rage, silver.

No more Cinder. Probably.

Her heart running like a wild animal under her chest, she took deep breaths as she tried to calm down. She rubbed the black fabric between her thumb and pointer finger, the texture was light to the touch. In the bottom frill, she found her name embroidered by her own hand. It was supposed to be comforting, but it only fueled her confusion.

A few tears threatened to spill, but then several knocks on the door startled her.

“Darling! Breakfast is ready!” a familiar voice called out to her outside the door.

In a haze, Ruby stood up and let the dress fall from her hands. She marched to the door and opened it in a swift motion, scaring the poor woman in front of it.

“Little Red! What sort of behaviour is this!?” An old woman that looked and sounded like María Calavera chided her, hands on her hips as she glowered annoyed at the teen.

“María! It’s you!” Elated, Ruby swooped in to hug the woman, who patted her back confusedly.

“Oh dear, now you’re calling your grandma by her first name too! Did you hit your head when you woke up this morning? What’s wrong with you?” Not-María held Ruby at arms length, checking her head for any injuries.

“Huh?”

Not-quite-María tutted, before guiding Ruby by the hand to the kitchen area of the cottage they seemed to be in.

“Little Red, you seldom ever visit me, and now you’re calling me by my name! Your mother hasn’t been disciplining you as she should!”

More confused than ever, Ruby sat on the stool offered by Not-Really-María.

The old woman sighed before plopping a plate of sausages, beans with crema and tortillas in front of her.

“Repeat after me, Little Red: Abuela María. Ah..Boo-Eh-Lah. Abuela.” Ruby looked at Abuela María in mild shock.

“Abuela?”

The Abuela María nodded satisfied and patted her hand.

“Now, after we finish mending that cape of yours, please give this basket of goodies to your mother for me. Oh! And thank her for the nice fabrics she sent with you, will you?”

Still starstruck, Ruby stared at Abuela María, not yet understanding anything that was happening in front of her.

“My…mother?”

Abuela María nodded, quite exasperatedly at her not-quite-granddaughter. She flipped her gray-haired braid over her shoulder and began repairing the red cape as she mumbled about ‘youth these days’.

“Yes, dear. Summer Rose. My daughter, your mother.”

More confused than anything, Ruby brought her hand up and mercilessly slapped her cheek. Abuela María looked at Ruby curiously, halting her sewing for a moment before resuming.

“But-but!” Ruby stuttered, holding her stinging cheek under her palm. “We don’t look anything alike!”

“My dear!” began Abuela María. “Silver eyes run in our family! Look!”

Abuela María removed her thick rimmed glasses and pointed at her eyes.

But all Ruby could see was a puckered red bruise, swollen and hurt. It slashed from her right temple to her left, there was not much to be said about eyes, as there were none.

Feeling not quite in a dream, but more in a bizarre nightmare, she stood up, the wooden stool clattering behind her.

Abuela María, with her glasses still removed and acting normally, bit off the last thread on the eye of her needle and folded the red cape neatly, offering it to Ruby.

Smiling sweetly, but with her disturbing red scarring across her visage, she gifted Ruby a basket filled with fruits, cheeses and breads, and pushed her through the cabin’s threshold.

Ruby looked petrified at the old lady that looked like her mentor but was nothing like her.

“Take this basket to your mother, will you? Be careful of the Big Bad Wolf, don’t let it bite you!”

Laughing merrily, the old woman closed the door on Ruby, leaving her alone in the cabin’s porch.

Jarred and perturbed, Ruby walked away from the cabin thoughtlessly, and into the winding roads that crossed the forest.

Only once she reached a small ravine, did she sit on the forest floor and pushed to her face the cape that smelled like home, like Yang and Qrow and Weiss and Blake and everyone she knew, did she weep.

For the longest time she cried, but after a while she felt her tears dry up, her shoulders stopped their heaving, and her heart dulled to a somber beat.

Ruby wiped her tears with the cape and splashed her face with the cool water from the ravine. She looked at her reflection, and disliking the pigtails pulling the hair at her nape, she tugged at the elastics and ruffled her hair. She bunched the skirt in her fists.

Annoyed at her dress, she looked down to it expecting to see white ruffles on white lace, she was caught off guard when she found herself wearing a black version of the dress she had woken up into.

As much as she marveled at this feat of reality writing itself, she feared it.

Taking one last look at her reflection, and tugging on the hood on her cape, she trudged into the deep forest, following the map she was given and hoped for the best.

[teethhunter]

Better than a Dream

Rosegarden Secret Santa Gift for @jealouscartoonist  based of their Cinderella AU

The kingdom was absolutely bustling with news of the Grand Ball.

Rumor had it that this event was to find a proper suitor for the Crown Prince, Oscar.

It was to be the largest event of the decade, more open  to the public than many events but also with many important and influential people planning to come. There was much talk of the preparations happening at the palace in the weeks leading up to the event as even those with no plans or no means to attend enjoyed participating in the excitement.

Many were sent into a tizzy of daydreams of meeting the love of their life at the ball. With all that talk about the prince those daydreams tended to prominently feature him. For some the daydreams morphed into full on scheming and for others they remained fun fantasies that filled the streets with quiet whispers and giggles of just how romantic it would be to get a moment alone with such a charming and handsome prince.

The rumors, however fun, were patently false.

Yes this was to be an event of massive proportions and King Ozpin certainly hoped that a few people might find a spark of romance for themselves that night but he wasn’t doing this to marry off his adoptive son to the first or most enthusiastic party-goer who made a move.

“Just because that wasn’t what you meant to do, doesn’t mean they won’t try.” Oscar pointed out, voicing his anxieties as the day of the ball grew closer.

“Ah but that’s just part of the fun!” Ozpin replied, a far too pleased look on his face.

“Fun for you maybe…”

“And fun for everyone else too. They are making their own fairytales that prominently feature themselves. The human imagination is a wonderful thing.”

Oscar sighed, he should have known that a chat with Ozpin wouldn’t exactly quell his fears in a normal way but it did sort of help even so, just a little bit. “You’re sure I have to go?”

“You’ve never had a miserable time at a party thus far. You can see your friends, maybe meet someone new… Just try to celebrate with everyone.”

In this kingdom still bustling about a ball lived a beautiful girl named Ruby Rose.

Ruby had never been to a ball. In fact Ruby couldn’t at all recall attending a party where she didn’t have to do all the prep work and clean up, only getting scraps of the food that was served.

She lived in a lovely house with her stepmother Salem, and her two stepsisters, Cinder and Neo. Despite the high status of the family and the fact that they could more than afford to hire servants, Salem treated Ruby as nothing but a scullery maid herself. She made Ruby do all the work around the house while Cinder and Neo did seemingly everything they could to make it more difficult. Cinder was more direct in her ways of showing disdain, she would make huge messes right when Ruby had something important to do,or she would burn Ruby’s possessions for fun. Neo was more subtle, waiting until no one was looking to set up situations that would frame Ruby as having messed up. Putting bleach into the wash with the dark clothing Ruby was cleaning, or slipping an ingredient someone in the family was mildly allergic to into a meal Ruby was preparing.

Ruby had grown rather numb to all their antics after dealing with them for so long.

The step family was of course planning on going to the ball and all the talk of the prince looking to find a suitor had certainly gotten back to them. For the last month Salem had been coaching Cinder in this elaborate scheme to catch the prince’s attention, ensuring that they had planned down to the last little detail.

Ruby thought it all a little silly because no matter how much they planned there was always a change that Cinder wouldn’t run into the prince at all, or he wouldn’t like her if he did meet her, maybe even see through that thin veneer of faked kindness to how cruel Cinder could actually be.

None of that was Ruby’s problem though and she had the sense to not voice any of these opinions. She had other things on her mind.

For the first time in her life she was going to go to a ball. Salem had given permission (however offhandedly, it was still a yes!).

For years, during her limited free time she would work at Pietro’s mechanic shop in town to earn money. She had a certain talent for weapon repairs which were nearly always a necessity for anyone traveling outside the city limits where beasts and bandits lurked.

Most of the money she earned at this job was tucked away to someday move far away from her stepfamily but for the last few months she had saved up the money and bought herself a lovely dress. The style of it might have been a bit unconventional- particularly when in combination with the boots she was planning to wear with it- but the fabric was silky to the touch and a deep red color and trimmed with an intricate lace at the hem. She was incredibly proud to have this tangible proof of the work she had put in to get to this point.

The morning before the ball, Ruby woke up early to go to the market to do the grocery shopping. She knew if she wanted time to get ready she would have to get all of her chores done as quickly as possible because here was always a chance Salem would add new tasks to the list.

The excitement in the air was palpable everywhere she went. It was the only thing anyone around was talking about it seemed. Normally Ruby was happy to talk idly with the owners of the various food stalls but today she just nodded along politely as she filled her basket, not lingering for the chit-chat.

Ruby arrived home, basket heavy with produce heavy on her arm, with plenty of time to complete the rest of her chores. She put away all the food and went immediately to cleaning. She took extra care to avoid her step family as Salem was already getting the girls dressed up and ready meaning they would all probably be looking to take their anxiety out on her.

By early afternoon Ruby has finished up and finally can retire to her room to rest and get ready. Her room was in the cellar, not much larger than a closet. It could get cold and damp in there during the winter and after downpours of rain though right now it was pleasantly cool compared to the hot summer weather.

She had done a lot to make it cozy and comfortable. Every inch of wall was decorated, her bed piled up with blankets, and her shelf lined with books she bought over the years from a thrift store in town.

When Ruby opened the door to her room she saw something that made her blood run cold. Cinder, perfectly dressed up and ready for the ball, perching on the end of her bed, holding Ruby’s dress.

Cinder smirked with an awful twist to her lips when she saw Ruby, like she was laying in wait for this moment, a lit candle held in one hand.

The dress had been hidden at the back of her closet so there was no way Cinder just tumbled on it.

“I thought you were joking about going to the ball. You can’t be serious.” Cinder said with a mock laugh.

“No… I wasn’t joking.” Ruby’s voice already held a hint of defeat, already knowing where this was going to go.

“Do you seriously think anyone there would be interested in /you/?” Disgust radiated from Cinder in those words.

“That’s not why I-” Ruby was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

“And this dress.   You’ll be turned away at the door for wearing something so low class.” Cinder held the dress up as if appraising it for it’s every flaw, as if it was too hideous to look at for too long.

“I…” That hurt more than it should for how many insulting things Cinder had said to her over the years. She had grown a rather thick skin about it but this dress was really important to her.

“Really, dear sister, I should save you from the embarrassment. You could tarnish our family name.” Cinder brought the candle up until the flame of it licked the lace trim, making it curl, then crisp, then catch fire.

“Please stop.” Ruby whispers, knowing it was useless, she knew what was about to happen the moment she saw Cinder in here.

It didn’t completely catch fire, put a few flames eat at the edges and creep up the bottom of the skirt, leaving it a mess of holes and ash.  Cinder says nothing else to her, simply unceremoniously dropping the dress in a pile on the ground, stepping on it as if to put out a still burning ember on her way out.

~~~~~

Ruby waited until the last of the burning embers died down before picking the dress up and bundling it in her lap as she sat on her bed. She sat frozen like that in silence, her ears ringing as she tried to bite back tears. There was no way she could mend this in time for the ball. She couldn’t afford to get new fabric even if she had the time.

All she had wanted was to share this one special night with everyone who was so excited about it but that was ruined.

“I wish I didn’t live with these awful people.” She muttered to herself. “I wish they would just disappear.” She took a breath and all at once any anger she held just deflated into grief as tears finally spilled. “No… I just wish I could go to this ball.”

In her mind she had held this event as a moment of defiant freedom, that if she could never escape Salem and she lived the rest of her life like this then at least she got this one wonderful moment.

“You called?” A voice broke the silence, startling Ruby so badly she nearly fell off the bed.

In front of her was a familiar man- er Fairy, technically. He stood in proper Fairy Godmother attire, a clearly enchanted black dress with translucent red fairy wings fluttering behind him. In contrast with the traditional look was his much less conventional scythe-style magic wand at his side and the full martini glass held precariously in his hand.

“Oh! …. You.” Ruby sighed in relief as she got her bearings after being so startled.

“Well don’t go sounding too thrilled about seeing your Fairy Godmother kiddo. You summoned me, remember?” He put on the airs of being dramatically offended though his smile told a different story.

Ruby wiped the lingering tears from her eyes before she spoke. “No it’s… sorry, it’s good to see you actually Qrow.”

In all honesty she had almost forgotten that wishing for things summoned him. She didn’t exactly even know why that happened. When she asked before all she got was a shrug from Qrow and some half-excuses about the ‘mysterious ways of magic’.

It had been a long time since she’d wished for anything actually. Her memories of her childhood were blurry at best but she could vaguely recall how she’d make all sorts of silly wishes just to have him come visit. He was odd and always a little tipsy but he was also so much nicer than her step-family that it made her earlier years with them much more tolerable.

“I didn’t actually mean to call you, it was sort of an accident.” She admitted after a moment.

“Hmm, well even if it was an accident, I’m here now so why don’t you tell an ‘ol Qrow your woes. Looks like you’ve had a rough time of it.” He walked with a strut in his step over the small distance to her bed, sitting down next to her. He took a long drink from his seemingly never emptying glass as he waited for her to talk.

Ruby started and stopped her attempts to explain several times before she got all the words out, still stumbling over herself. She gave more detail than could possibly ever be needed but this was the first time in a long time she ever let all these emotions out. She had friends in town but she never ever let any of them know the cruelty of her ‘family’. Her Fairy Godmother already knew of these things so for once it was safe.

She began to cry again as her words flowed. Qrow was content to listen in his somewhat drunkenly glazed over state.

“-and now I can’t go because my dress is ruined and it’s not like I have anything else I could wear and the ball is in just a few hours and I’m never going to get a chance like this again.”

Ruby finally took a pause and Qrow chuckled.

“Well if it’s only an outfit you need then I can fix you up fine.”  

“Wait, really?” It hadn’t actually crossed her mind that he could help with that..

“Yeah that’s what I’m here for. Mmm, but there’s limits to it, I think you remember that.” Qrow said, fiddling with is scythe-wand as he got ready to do some magic.

Yes Ruby remembered there were limits, there were always strange caveats to any wish she made but right now she could barely bother to care. “Okay! That’s fine, I don’t mind as long as I get to go. Wait um what are the limits?” “It’ll wear off at the stroke of midnight. Indefinite magic gives the worst sort of headache to do.”

“Are you sure that’s not just a hangover?” Ruby mumbed, being immediately met with a shove and grumble from Qrow.

“Shush you. No sassing your godmother. Magic works in mysterious ways.

Speaking of which, magicking you up might make you a little harder to recognize.  Not that you’ll look different, just a side effect of illusionary magic.”

Ruby nodded along, none of those terms sounded awful and now she was just in a rush to make it happen.  “Okay goes away at midnight and I’m sorta in disguise, I can handle that.”

“Great, go put that dress on then and I’ll get you all set. Best to work from a base product to build onto y’know.”

`

“Get out of my room then please?” Ruby started ushering him out of her room so she could have space to change.

“M’kay, I’ll wait outside.” He swayed as he walked out of the room, leaning against the wall in the hall as she got ready.

Ruby carefully slipped the dress on, as if trying to prevent it from crumbling more than it already had. Dark ash smeared her skin as the burnt bits brushed against her. She put her boots and accessories on to finish the look. One glance at her small, cracked mirror had her frowning. She looked absolutely ridiculous. It took her longer than it should have to build back up the confidence to call Qrow back in but eventually she did.

“Oh good, you’re all ready.” Qrow came to stand beside her. “Time for the magic words, you know the drill.” He lazily waved his scythe-wand over her head while in a dramatic and slurred fashion exclaiming “Bippity boppity boo!”

Ruby could feel the hum of magic before she could see it. The dress seemingly mended itself all at once, fitting even better than before. She was so captivated by how well it worked that she did notice the other alterations until she took a step and immediately lost her balance, sticking her arms out to keep herself from falling. Her nice practical knee high boots were now sparkling ruby red heeled shoes.

“Why did you give me stilts to walk on?” She asked, still trying to keep herself upright.

“Isn’t that just what people wear to these things?” Qrow shrugged, completely unbothered.

“I’m going to trip and die before I get there.” Ruby commented half to herself, but she didn’t want to be ungrateful and he had done something wonderful for her.

“Thank you for this.” She eventually added.

“Yeah yeah, any time. I’d love to stick around but I do have things to do, places to be. So go enjoy that ball, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He said, seemingly uncomfortable with the appreciation and in a rush to escape it, he disappeared in a blink.

Ruby walks the length of her room several times, trying to get a hang of walking in these shoes.

She didn’t dare leave her room until she was certain her step family had already left for the ball because she dreadd what Cinder might do if she saw Ruby all dressed up- or worse what Salem might do.

~~~~

When finally she is sure it is safe to leave, she heads out immediately to the palace.

The ball was in full motion when she arrived. It’s the most beautiful thing she has ever seen with people laughing, drinking, and dancing the night away to beautiful music performed by a live orchestra. There were tables filled with the most luxurious snacks and servants going around to cater to guests as well. There were of course guards posted around but even they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Ruby was a bit out of sort, unsure what to do with herself but more than content to just take it all in.

She has been seated in a quieter corner, enjoying some snacks when a man sidles up next to her to start a conversation which leads into asking her to dance. She politely declined but this repeated itself once again with an entirety different and more persistent lad who was determined to dance with her. She wouldn’t be able to dance in these silly shoes even if she knew how to or wanted to so she less than politely bid him farewell and walked away, trying to find somewhere she won’t be pestered.

She weaved through the crowds, paying little attention to who was there. It was during this escape that she stumbled terribly, instinctually grabbing at something to keep herself from falling on her face. The tearing sound of fabric was audible as she realized she grabbed the sleeve of some woman’s dress. The horrified screech from that woman was what made her realize the person she had grabbed was none other than Cinder.

Ruby stole a glance at the scene, Cinder having clearly been mid-conversation, now with a torn sleeve and wine covering her whole front from a glass that had been jostled.

Ruby quickly ducked her head, hiding her face, planning how to escape, praying that Cinder hadn’t noticed who she was. As it turned out, an escape plan was unnecessary as Cinder stormed off and away from all the prying eyes watching this scene play out.

Ruby stayed knelt there, stewing in her own mortification, wishing in her head to just disappear.  

“Hey, are you okay?” Someone asked, bending down and offering her a hand up.

“I’m… fi- fine?” Her voice cracked mid word as she took his offered hand and finally got a proper look at him. Her gaze sliding from his face to the circlet on his head. Without that, she would have no clue who he was, she had never seen the prince before after all.

She had made no move to stand yet but Prince Oscar had also made no move to help her up either. They were frozen like this, hand held, staring at each other.

For Ruby it was the shock of meeting the prince and him kindly trying to help her (and he was as pleasant looking as everyone said).

For Oscar it was because when his eyes met her he was utterly and inexplicably captivated. His heart skipped a long beat and he couldn’t seem to look away.  

In the same instant they both snapped out of it. Oscar helped her up in one swift motion, completely red in the face as he processed just how long he’d been staring at her.

“I’m-” Ruby was instantly interrupted.

“No I’m-” Oscar tried to say.

“Sorry” “Sorry.”

They said in the same moment, looking down and away from each other.

They fumbled over each other’s apologies for another moment and finally got the courage to look at each other again. Another pause, just for a breath and they both laugh.

“It’s not a big deal. If I’m being honest you sort of saved me there? I had been trying to get out of that conversation for a while and that definitely took care of it.” Oscar explained, rubbing the back of his neck as he confessed that.

Ruby held in another laugh, it would be very difficult to explain just how funny this situation was to her personally. “Well I’m happy to be a help?”

She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as she was quickly becoming acutely aware of just how many people were still watching them. “I should probably go do- do something else, something ball related, you know.”

She turned away and tried to disappear into the crowd, headed outside to get some fresh air. “Wait!” Oscar called but she didn’t seem to hear him. There wasn’t a thought in his head as he followed right after her out to one of the balconies. It was quiet out there and a major relief for him to have a break from people constantly wanting something from him.

When she noticed him approaching he flustered again, he had no reasonable explanation for why he followed her other than this undercurrent need to get to know her.

“Are you enjoying the ball?” He asked, internally cursing himself for such a bland introduction.

Ruby was more at ease without so many people around. Even if it was a little nerve racking to be speaking to someone so important, she was somehow less on edge than when anyone else at the ball had approached her. “I don’t really have anything to compare it with but it’s sort of amazing?” It was true, it was all so grand and amazing, even if she did have to dodge a couple of people it was still one the most incredible things she’d ever been a part of.

“Oh, so it’s your first time attending a ball then? I’m glad it’s been good.”

“Yeah I mean, all the books I loved when I was little had castles and grand balls in them and I never thought it would actually be like those stories. Turns out yeah it really is.”  Ruby took a seat on the bench to finally get off her feet.

“I loved those sorts of stories growing up too. I guess it’s weird now to think about how people dream of becoming royalty, being a prince or princess. I went from living on a farm to being adopted into this and then those stories were less fun to read.” He hadn’t really read any books like that since he moved into the palace, now that he thought about it. They all lost their charm.

“I always wanted to be a knight in those stories actually.” Ruby admitted.

“Oh really?” Somehow that didn’t seem surprising at all, he had known her for no more than a few minutes but there was a certain spark to her that made that so believable.

“Yeah I just loved the idea of protecting people that can’t protect themselves, y’know?”

“Remind me to introduce you to the castle guards sometime, I really think you’d like them.” Oscar noted. “But that’s a really nice dream you have though. I think sometimes imagining things is more fun than the reality of it? I’m very lucky to be in this position but living it made dreams of it more dull...I’m sorry I’m rambling!”  

Ruby covered her mouth to conceal a grin. “No, it’s fine. I know what you mean but I want to believe that sometimes reality can be even better than dreams if it’s the right reality for you.”

“That’s- hm I think I’d like to believe that too.” Oscar mumbled, leaving them sitting in comfortable silence side by side for a long moment.

“Would you like to go back inside and dance?” He eventually asked, worried she might grow bored with him otherwise.

Ruby shook her head immediately “Oh please no! I mean I’d love to but… erm you saw me trip back there, I don’t really want to have a repeat performance.”

“Okay then do you want to go on a walk?” Oscar just didn’t want to leave her side, not yet.

“That would be nice actually.” Ruby didn’t particularly want to end their conversation either.

Like a proper gentleman, Oscar offered her his arm to link together which abated any of her lingering anxiety about tripping again.

Oscar led her through a quieter path out of the castle and out along a cobble pathway that snaked around the rear courtyards and into the gardens. Lit only by the moonlight it was gorgeous, overflowing with different flowers and vines covering every surface other than the path itself. Their evening was filled with conversation, once past the initial awkwardness they slipped into comfortably chatting about all sorts of meaningless things.

Time had melted away for the both of them.

That was, until the gonging sound of the clock tower atop the castle interrupted Ruby mid sentence.

She went pale.

“I have to go.” She said, pulling away from him. She could already feel the magic beginning to fade as she hurried away.

“Wait come back!” Oscar held a hand out like he wanted to stop her, like he hoped she would listen and turn around for even a moment.

Just before she was out of Oscar’s view she stumbled once more, the heel of one of the slippers getting caught between two stones in the path.

Oscar flinched, taking one step forward. “Oh, are you okay?”

She didn’t have time to waste and she hated these stupid shoes anyways so she just slid her foot out of it and kept on running.

Ruby was well on her way out when Oscar stooped down to pick up her shoe. The clock had struck midnight and that slipper had reverted back to its old form as a boot. “You left your...boot?” He muttered to himself in complete confusion as he stared at it.

Ruby’s dress was back to it’s charred state by the time she had left the palace property. She hobbled her way home with one boot and one foot with nothing more than a sock on it.

Sneaking back inside her home went better than she was expecting. She was able to get to her room and change out of the ruined dress without anyone seeing her. None of that stopped Cinder from being in a foul mood and barging demanding Ruby draw her a bath. This time Ruby couldn’t even claim that Cinder’s mood wasn’t her fault, even if Cinder wasn’t aware that it was Ruby who had interrupted her plans.

~~~

The morning after the ball Oscar sulked through breakfast. He just couldn’t get his mind off the girl he had spoken with at the ball.

Four of his guards who were more just friends of his than anything else often joined him for meals when there was no formal gathering in place. Today was no different but there was a certain tension in the air.

“Soooo, how was the ball?” One of his guards, Nora asked, breaking the silence with a smile that told him she was already perfectly aware of how it went. “It was fine. It was a ball.” Oscar answered blandly, still staring at his food that he pushed around on his plate.

“Just fine? Hmm well I heard you disappeared with some pretty girl and didn’t show back up all night.”  Nora pressed more, leaning in with an intense expression like she was rearing for a full interrogation. Ren put a hand on her shoulder to try and rein her in.

“Oh you met someone?” Jaune asked and Oscar genuinely couldn’t tell if he was teasing or if he was completely out of the loop. “What’s her name?”

Oscar shrunk in on himself with a quiet sigh.“I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”

“Wait wait wait, you spend all night with this girl and you don’t even ask her name? How are you going to find her again?” Pure horror present in Nora’s voice as she asked that.

“I guess I probably won’t.” Oscar said like he was trying to come to terms with that himself.

“If you are meant to meet again, I think your paths will cross.” Pyrrha chimed in right as Oscar was getting ready to leave the table.

The entire day following Oscar felt like he was in a daze. He couldn’t concentrate for any of his lessons, which got him scolded by one of his etiquette teacher, Glynda, and told to leave early since he clearly ‘had his head in the clouds’.

Even King Ozpin commenced on it in passing with that odd smile on his face that always irked Oscar just a little bit.

When he finally had enough of all the ‘knowing’ comments and teasing he dug out his commoner clothes from his closet and slipped them on. He used to sneak out much more often because sometimes he missed being looked at like a normal person. He hadn’t done this in a while and the clothes didn’t quite fit anymore but he really needed some space.

Oscar wandered aimlessly through the maze of streets in the city surrounding the palace. For the first time all day he felt relaxed as he blended into the crowd with on stares or comments. There was always the slightest bit of tension he held from always having to perform in a princely manner, but here no one expected anything of him.

He was window shopping at an antique store when someone passing by catches his eye.

Maybe Pyrrha’s comment about paths crossing if they were meant to wasn’t so silly because he sees this girl and his brain goes completely fuzzy like it was trying to piece things together while his heart skips in a way that’s becoming very familiar to him.

“Hey wait!” He called out, jogging to catch up with her, not paying mind to how odd this might seem to bystanders.

Ruby doesn’t immediately realize it’s her that’s being called out to. Not until he catches up to her. She started, stopping mid-stride to look at him. Despite his change of clothes she recognized him immediately. She was nervous and happy and confused all at the same time. She never thought she’d see him again and didn’t think he would care to talk to her again either.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you. I guess that was pretty weird to do.” Oscar said apologetically, realizing this was the second time in a row they had an awkward greeting.

“No, no it’s okay I just wasn’t expecting to see you again!” Ruby explained, unsure what to say or do now. “Do you come around here often?” She asked, just to fill the silence.

“Sometimes it’s just nice to be able to take a walk without people staring, you know?” Oscar answered, genuinely thrilled to talk to her about literally anything right now.

“Won’t people recognize you?” Ruby thought he was fairly recognizable, but then again she also had a whole night to take in the details about him.

“Well no one has so far, I think when people aren’t expecting to see me I sort of blend into the background.” The only person to recognize him thus far was her, but that was because he came running up to her so obviously.

“You weren’t expecting to see me but I didn’t blend into the background for you.”

“Oh it’s your eyes…” Oscar tapered off quickly, not wanting to admit that he’d been subconsciously scanning the crowd every moment he was out, hoping to run into her again.

“Hey, have you eaten lunch yet?” He changed the subject abruptly.

“I haven’t but-”

“Well, would you care to join me? There’s this little bakery I love around here.”

Ruby was anxious both because the longer the less chores she was getting done but also because she didn’t have the money on her to pay for lunch. But he looked so bright eyed and hopeful and that smile was killing her.

“I can’t be out for too long, but okay.” She answered finally.

“Really? Great!” Oscar was nearly bouncing on his feet as he offered her his arm reflexively, an overly formal gesture but sweet nonetheless.

Ruby laughed quietly but took his arm, ignoring the couple odd glances they earned.

Oscar led the way to this small corner shop filled to the brim with various baked goods. The sweet scent made her mouth water. She looked at all the different offerings as Oscar chatted with the old lady running the place, listing off the pastries he wanted to get.

He turned to Ruby after a moment and asked “What would you like?”

It hadn’t occurred to her that he was offering to pay for her until then, she didn’t have the money on her to actually buy anything so she was planning on just quietly not ordering anything.

She paused, internally scrambling to make a decision. “One of these?” She pointed to a flaky chocolate croissant that had caught her eye earlier. He picked up on her hesitance quickly and ordered both that and a couple of his personal favorites for her to try.

Once they gather up all their pastries they sit at the one small round table next to the window, settling down.

“ Okay, weird question but it’s been killing me ever since I last saw you.” Oscar asked.

Ruby nodded, giving permission for him to go ahead and ask.

“How do I phrase this,,,,When you left, you dropped your boot? But you definitely weren’t wearing a boot before that?”

Ruby blinked at him then laughed. “Yeah I get why you’d be thinking about htat for so long. It’s well, it was magic? And no I’m not joking! I really mean it.”

At first Oscar gave a slightly doubtful look but she seemed so genuine and there was no other good explanation either. “You know someone that can use magic then? Wow that’s pretty rare nowadays.”

There were traces of magic, some people were born with minor magical abilities and there were healers that cultivated that particular skill but it was rare to have someone perform magic for something like this.

“Yeah I’ve known him for my whole life I guess. Kinda an odd guy but also he’s always been there or me so I guess I can’t complain.”

With that they fell into easy conversation once again and once again time slipped away.

Until she was abruptly brought back to reality from a comment by the old lady running the shop.

“Are you two planning to just honeymoon it here or what? We’re losing daylight!” She asked, halfway between amused and annoyed at the two lovebirds.

Ruby froze, glancing out the window to note that indeed the sun was going down.

“Oh no, I have to go.” She should’ve already been working on dinner and none of her other chores were done yet, scrubbing the floors always was so time consuming.

She was out the door before he could even call out to her, almost impossibly quickly.

“I didn’t even ask you your name. Oscar grumbles as he buries his face against the cafe table.

~~~~

Quite predictably Ruby was immediately scolded when she arrived home. She hadn’t washed Neo’s clothes in time and all her other chores were left to do too. She had to work far into the night without dinner to get it all done, though she wasn’t too bothered after having a lovely lunch with Oscar. She figured that would be the last time she saw him, that fate decided to give her that nice little bit of closure with him, one nice happy moment she could think about as her knees ached from crawling on them scrubbing floors.

~~~~

Oscar however wasn’t at all satisfied in that being the last time they met. In fact had been skipping out on his lessons and duties, sneaking out in commoner’s clothes constantly. It was not like him at all, normally he was highly responsible and took his role seriously.

After several days of this, King Ozpin interrupted one of his escape attempts. “If you needed a break, you could always just ask for one.”

Oscar, very much having not expected Ozpin to be lurking by the exit he always snuck through to get to town, startled. “I’m- it’s not that- it’s-”

Ozpin just nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “You met someone.” He answered for Oscar.

Oscar just sighed and nodded.  

“Well, a little birdy was telling me about this girl who works at a mechanic’s shop. Pietro’s I believe? Interesting thing about her is she’s got bright silver eyes, a pretty rare trait.” Ozpin explained casually.

“I… didn’t tell you she has silver eyes?” As odd as it was, Oscar had grown somewhat accustomed to Ozpin’s odd ability to know things he really shouldn’t be able to and knew that the half shrug and smirk he was given at that comment was all he would receive.

Ozpin stepped aside, clearing the way to the exit and gesturing for Oscar to go on.

Oscar began lingering around that shop whenever he could. He didn’t see the girl that day, or the day after that. In fact it took almost a whole week and he was beginning to feel rather creepy for doing this.

He just wanted to know her name. If it turned out that she wanted nothing to do with him after that, then so be it.

But finally his determination paid off and she was there that day. He didn’t approach her while she worked, not wanting to interrupt and be incredibly rude.

Instead he waited until she was off shift and out of the store, making himself very visible as he approached her. He had a whole thing to say planned out but it all left his brain the moment she saw him and looked happy to see him.

“Sorry to ah- ambush you here but I- someone told me where to find you and-” He just couldn’t string a sentence together. “What’s your name?” He finally blurted out.

Ruby was surprised to see him but already grinning at his awkward entrance. “Ruby, it’s Ruby.”

“Ruby.” He repeated back to her with a look of wonder on his face that made her stomach flip. He said it like it was the most beautiful word he had ever heard.

“So Ruby, you work at a mechanic shop?” Oscar asked, as if he was looking for an excuse to say her name again.

“Yeah, I work on weapons mostly, it’s fun.”

“Weapons huh? How come?” He wanted to know everything about her, he realized.

“Well… same reason I dreamed of being a knight as a kid I think? It helps protect people, in any way I can manage. That and the way weapons are put together is sort of like a puzzle? I find it calming I think and-  oh, I do have to get going soon though.” She interrupted her self, knowing full well that they could talk for hours again.

“Come visit sometime!” Oscar said in a rush, not wanting to lose the chance to see her again.

“I can show you around, show you what it looks like when it’s not crowded with people for a big party.”

“If you’re sure that’s okay…” Ruby wanted to see him again too and seeing the rest of the palace sounded really interesting too.

“Absolutely! It won’t be a problem, no one around will mind.There’s always a guard up at the front gate, just tell them who you are and they’ll let you in.”

Ruby felt warm at the implication he'd mentioned her to enough people that the guards would know who she was. She nodded. “I’ll stop by as soon as I can, I promise.”

She left for home feeling light and with every intention of visiting him.

~~~~~

Bogged down by chores, it’s nearly two weeks later when she first gets a chance to visit. At the entrance to the castle stood a tall red haired woman in armor standing guard.

Ruby opens her mouth to introduce herself but doesn’t even have to as the guard is already opening the door. “It is very good to meet you.” she says. Ruby guessed Oscar really wasn’t exaggerating about the guards knowing who she was.

“Wait here and the Prince will be right down.” The guard assured.

Ruby stood in the main hall, looking at all the tapestries and portraits lining the walls as she waited.

Oscar showed up only minutes later, looking ecstatic and slightly out of breath as if he’d been running to get to her.

He reached out to her then hesitated. Like he wants to hug her or some show of affection but his etiquette training kicked in.

He held his hand out, palm up.

Ruby wasn’t entirely sure what to do but took a guess and put her hand very lightly on top of it.

His fingers curled around hers as he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

This was by noble standards a very appropriate greeting for a woman he highly respected- if not a little strange because of their status difference. Yet it felt more intimate than just about anything else he could have done. She stood there,red faced and dizzy as he lowered their hands but still held hers in his. “I’m glad you actually came.”

“I promised I would, didn’t I?”

“Well I’m very glad you keep your promises then… I missed you.” He mumbled the last part before clearing his throat.”May I give you a tour?”

“Of course, lead the way your majesty.”

Oscar walked with her hand-in-hand through all the major parts of the castle. Quickly his tour got off track to them discussing other things with him briefly stating what room they were in but otherwise not bothering to give details about it, much more interested in the conversation at hand.

The sun is setting once again when they part ways, Oscar inviting her back any time she wants.

~~~~

Rumor has it that the Prince is seriously courting a girl. She is over many times a week and several servants whisper of the fact they have seen the two snuggled up together when they thought no one was looking. Even without that damning evidence, the bright mood the Prince was constantly in told the story plainly enough.

Ruby had taken to visiting the palace rather than working at the shop. She knew Pietro would welcome her back no matter how long it had been since she last worked. Still, it made her a bit anxious to not be working on her savings currently but for once in her life she was so very happy.

~~~~

Oscar had been serious about properly introducing Ruby to his guard friends. She got along with them easily, so easily in fact that they had begun teaching her the basics of fighting out in the training yard.

Whenever Oscar knew that was going to happen, he tried to get out of his duties early to go watch, it was always worth it to see.

This time around he got there just in time to watch Nora flip Ruby, pinning her to the ground.

“Nora… please try not to kill her, I think Oscar might actually get mad at us then.” Jaune pointed out as Ruby stood up and brushed herself off. “Oh come on, I’m not that breakable.” Ruby laughed. “You next then.” She grabbed one of the wooden training swords and stood at the ready for him.

A few parries from either side before Ruby went on the offensive, half accidentally Jaune over the head with it.

“Ow okay please don’t kill me either.” Jaune whined cradling his head.

Ruby snorted in an attempt to hide a laugh, completely unable to feign concern. “Hm but if I kill you do I get to take your place and be a guard?”

“What! No! Now I’m afraid you’re actually going to kill me.”

“You don’t need to kill Jaune to have a place here. You are more than welcome to stay” Pyrrha said while sympathetically rubbing Jaune’s shoulder, the only one willing to comfort him in his dramatics.

“I think there’s another role you’d prefer over being a guard though.” Ren noted, backed by Nora wagging her eyebrow to punctuate it with implication.

Ruby was less embarrassed now by this than she used to be. This teasing was commonplace now. There was no way it wasn’t glaringly obvious to everyone that the prince was courting her. Honestly she hadn’t put a whole lot of thought into it, it sort of just had been washing over her. Shows of affection are basically constant and they weren’t exactly secret about it even if they weren’t exactly clear about what they were to each other either.

~~~

It became a regular thing for Ruby to join Oscar for lunch or dinner on days when she visited. It was during one of these meals that she first met the King who apparently had the time to join them that particular day. King Ozpin was quite kind and welcoming to her, that dinner actually wasn’t nearly as awkward as she was expecting it to be. The only thing was that he kept saying things that made it sound like he’d met her before. It was odd but also hard to put her finger on exactly. When the meal was over and they parted ways Oscar assured that he was just like that but that the King really did seem to approve of her.

~~~

Some days she and Oscar would go spend their time in the palace library together. Usually they would just quietly enjoy having the other around, leaning gently against each other as they read. Sometimes they would talk about the books they were reading and get completely sidetracked. On this particular day they were going through the shelves of storybooks, quick and simple to read but filled with nostalgia. One particular set of books caught Ruby’s eye, pages faded to yellow with age and a gold trim around the edges. She grabbed for them before she noticed what she was doing, thumbing through the pages looking at the print and little illustrations. She hadn’t noticed how long she had been standing there when Oscar snuck up behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“What’d you have there?” He whispered.

“These books, I just, I remember them from when I was little but I think you’re missing one?” There were three books she found on the shelf from this series but there should be a fourth one, the one she remembered best. “My mom- my birth mom used to read these too but my favorite was this one that had these warriors who could turn all the beasts in the forest to stone with their eyes? And well, they had silver eyes which I thought was so cool because both me and her had them too.”  Ruby explained, she couldn’t even recall how the stories went, just like she couldn’t really recall her mother. Sometimes she’s sure she just dreamed it all up.

~~~

Oscar wasn’t too keen on giving gifts. It felt odd to do when he had so much wealth, like he was trying to buy affection. Today though was different. It was Ruby’s birthday and he’d been looking for this particular perfect gift all month long. Once she arrived he could hardly wait to give it to her.

“You’ve had that silly grin on since I’ve gotten here, it’s making me nervous..” Ruby said, eyeing him carefully.

“Okay, okay, I was going to wait until later but, well- hold on.” He turned tail, running up to his room and back to go grab the unwrapped present, returning soon after. “Here you go.”

In her hands he placed a book with those yellowed pages and gold trim. She stared at the title ‘The Warriors of the Woods ’, her fingers tracing the letters in awe. Her cheeks ached from the grin stuck on her face as dragged Oscar into a tight hug.

“Thank you so much!”

“Happy birthday.” Oscar said as he hugged her in return.

~~~

Ruby’s step-family was growing ever more suspicious as she kept returning home happy and grinning, humming songs to herself. Nothing seemed to manage to sour her mood whatsoever and every happy moment she showed only earned her more disdain and chores from Salem. Ruby did them all without complaint.

~~~

With Ruby around so often, Oscar began constantly skipping his lessons. All of his tutors eventually came up with a way to circumvent this by simply pulling Ruby into his lessons as well. Oobleck more or less ambushed them in the garden and gave them no room to politely escape as he handed them textbooks, paper, and pencils, diving right into a history lesson of the internal politics of the Kingdom of Vale.

One thing Oscar had learned about Ruby early on was that she hated being forced to sit still if it wasn’t her choice. She began to fidget, then doodle, then as all this information droned on made her head buzz she began to drift off into a nap.

Oscar nudged her awake a couple times before taking his paper and writing her a little note.

‘Think you’ll survive?’ He slid that over to her just before she began to doze again.

‘I don’t know! Is he always like this?’ Her writing was scrawls that took Oscar a moment to decipher but once he did he quietly laughed.

‘Pretty much, why do you think I skip out on this and spend time with you instead?’ He replied.

‘Saying I’m better than this isn’t a compliment :( ‘

This was the first, but definitely not the last time Ruby was brought into his lessons. Any time they could get away with it they passed notes and laughed like little school kids to pass the time.

~~~

When Oscar was having a bad day, he liked to go climb up into the rafters of the stables. The palace had a large stable where they kept the horses and a few chickens roamed freely. It felt familiar and safe to him. It wasn’t often that he had a truly bad day but today he was feeling very off. Ruby had come to visit that day and while it cheered him up in the way it always did, it didn’t exactly fix everything. That day Oscar decided to show Ruby his hiding spot in the rafters. He led her to the stable and showed her how he climbed up there, sitting comfortably on one of the beams.

“You don’t have to tell me but, is something wrong?” She asked, he had been so quiet today and they had never gone to spend time out here like this before.

“It’s nothing… nothing in particular, just a bad day, I guess.” Oscar admitted. “It’s silly, I mean it’s hard not to feel guilty about having a bad day when I have so much going or me.”

Ruby scooted closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “I don’t really think it’s silly, if you want to talk about it, I’m right here.”  She rests her head against his.

Oscar took a moment to try to put it into words. “I’m thankful, for everything Ozpin has done for me. I’m a prince now, and he doesn’t even push all these outdated royal rules on me or anything. But… I didn’t exactly grow up this way? I grew up on a farm, and sometimes I just miss how simple everything was there and I miss my aunt and everything else.”

Ruby understood then why he would want to go hide out here and in a way she could imagine how overwhelming this must be for him since what she’s experienced of palace life was awfully overwhelming to her too.

She didn’t think about it for even a moment before she turned her head to press her lips to his in a sweet reassuring kiss.

Now, affection was shown quite freely between them in private, nearly constantly touching. Kisses, on the cheek, forehead, back of the hand, those were all commonplace for them nowadays. Yet this right here was their first proper kiss.

They were both a bit red in the face at the realization but it felt like it hardly needed addressing, like it was inevitable.

“Hey when you said Ozpin doesn’t push outdated rules on you? I mean he’s not going to have a problem with…” Ruby gestured between the two of them.

Oscar laughed, kissing her in return finally before answering. “I think he’s all for this. He approves of you and he wants me to be happy, and well, you make me happy.”

~~~

Ruby shouldn’t have been surprised when one night she came home to find that book Oscar had gifted her a charred pile of illegible paper in the middle of her room. Cinder had always had a knack for knowing just which of Ruby’s possessions would hurt the most to lose. That, and the whole family had been completely furious with Ruby being so upbeat lately that of course Cinder would do something like that.

Somehow it is so much worse than the dress being burnt. She re-read this book every night before she went to bed to remember what she could of the family she once had and to remember that someone cared enough about her to go through all the effort to find it for her.

She cleaned up the pile, feeling cold and empty and like she was entirely trapped here. Maybe it was just because she’d summoned him last time Cinder burnt something of hers, or maybe she just desperately needed someone to talk to in general but once she is calm she whispers “I wish I could see my Fairy Godmother.”

Once again Qrow appears in front of her in a blink. “Y’know, you can call me when you aren’t crying.” He sighs. “What’s it about this time? I thought the last gig went well. Heard you even snagged yourself a prince.”

“Where did you hear that?! I- never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“Am I wrong?” Qrow raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

“That’s not the point. But even if I did you shouldn’t pat yourself on the back about it. You nearly killed me with those heels.” Ruby was trying to sound serious but having something meaningless to argue over was such a relief it was difficult to keep that tone of voice.

“Oh I’m definitely patting myself on the back. When you two get hitched that makes me royalty by extension.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” Ruby mumbled, hiding a smile by ducking her head.

“Well, enough of that. You never answered my question, what’d you need?”

“I don’t know. Nothing, I guess. I think I’m just tired of this place.”

It was nothing he could fix anyways, not permanently at least probably. “Could you stay for a while? We could play games like when I was little?” She asked, of all things she thinks that might cheer her up right now.

Qrow seemed a bit confused and maybe even a touch startled at that statement  but hid it quickly. “Didn’t think you remembered any of that.”

“You were always around, it’d be a little hard to forget!”

“Hmm…” For a moment he looked to be deep in thought before he shook his head.  “I guess I can spare a little time.”

~~~

It was a few days before Ruby visited the palace again, longer than she had gone without visiting in quite a while.

When finally she does come by, Oscar is visibly worried.

He greets her with a kiss but lingers close. “Did something happen?”

“No, no I was just really busy.” Ruby said blandly.

Oscar had an expression that said he knew that wasn’t the whole story but he wouldn’t press her on it either.

“Just some family trouble, talk about it later okay?” Ruby added to try to quell his concerns.

Before they could continue their conversation they were interrupted.

“Ah, you’re here, excellent!” Said Ozpin as he approached the couple who took a respectful step away from each other. “See, I wanted to formally invite you to our next upcoming ball.” He handed Ruby a sturdy envelope embossed with her name in silver print on the front.

“We’re having another ball?” Oscar asked.

“Yes, it’s been a few months since the last one so I thought it’s time for another celebration.” Didn’t I tell you?”

“It must have slipped your mind.” Oscar muttered, half sure that Ozpin came up with this on a whim just today.

“This one is by invitation only. Hence why I wanted to personally ensure that Miss Rose received hers.” Ozpin shot a meaningful look Oscar’s way as he said that before turning to direct his next statement to Ruby “Mm, anyways, don’t worry about attire, we can have you fitted for a dress, one properly suited for a night of dancing.”

He left no time for either of them to respond before heading off elsewhere. They both are left standing there, confused about what just happened.

“Hey Oscar?”

“Mhm?”

“So, I don’t actually know how to dance?” She was embarrassed to admit it, since it seemed like something everyone around knew how to do but her.

“Oh, well there’s some excellent tutors around here, you don’t have to worry about that!” Oscar reassured.

“Okay but what if I’m afraid of embarrassing myself in front of the tutors?”

“Are you afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of me?” He asked and she considered the question.

“Somehow a lot less afraid.” Ruby answered, there was a level of comfort she’d reached in being that vulnerable around him.

“Then how about I teach you?”

~~~

That started what would become the weeks of dance lessons leading up to this next ball.

“It’s easier than it looks. I was nervous the first time around too.” Oscar said, standing in the large empty ballroom with Ruby as he started the record player on some basic waltz music.

He demonstrated the base steps alone, explaining them as he went.

“Okay, want to give it a try?” He asked.

“I guess, sorry if I step on your toes.” Ruby was still pretty apprehensive even after watching him demonstrate.

Oscar chuckled, putting one hand on her waist. “I’ve seen you practicing sparring with the guards, you’re actually really graceful.”

“When I’m sparring I’m supposed to be aiming to hurt people, and here not so much.” She retorted.

That was only met with a fond kiss and Oscar’s other hand finding hers. “Come on, giving it a try?”

She began to follow his steps but it was clear how uneasy she felt no matter how long they tried it for.

“Here, let’s try something different. You lead.” Oscar offered.

“Won’t that make it worse?” Ruby thought that would just give her more opportunity to step on his feet.

“No, I think it’s pretty awkward to learn to do these all backwards, it’s easier to learn if you’re in the lead role.”

“Okay…” Ruby reversed their position, putting her hand on his waist to mirror the way he had been holding her before. They were nearly the same height so it worked perfectly in that sense.

It’s awkward at first still but Ruby was much less nervous, actually it was Oscar that was stumbling more now because he wasn’t used to this role.

By the time they had made their way around the room once, she was grinning.

When the music ended she hugged him.

“Thank you, that was way less awful than I was expecting.” She mumbled against his shoulder.

“Ha, glad it was better than awful?” His arms wrap around her in turn.

“But you aren’t done quite yet. That’s just the very basics, and you still need to practice this more too.”

Ruby feigned a pout with a grin hidden behind it. “What? There’s more?”

~~

Until the day of the ball they continued to practice. Oscar had been made to take dance classes since he’d been adopted so he was more than happy to show off some of the more intricate steps and dances. Ruby’s personal favorite was dips mainly for that cute dazed expression Oscar got on his face when she could easily dip him and pull him back up for a kiss.

~~

Rumor had it that the Prince will be engaged to miss Ruby Rose by the time this exclusive ball is over with.

This rumor may or may not have been started singlehandedly by one royal guard by the name of Nora Valkyrie. Regardless of how it started, word spread far and wide.

~~

Word spread so far and wide in fact that it reached Salem. She was fuming, oh how could that wretched girl catch the prince’s attention so easily?

As much as she wanted to lock Ruby away and have done with her, Salem knew that if the prince truly cared for the girl then he might very well go looking for her. So she bided her time and came up with a plan, forging an invitation for Cinder to go to this new ball.

Ruby didn’t know any of this. Maybe Salem was a bit more cold and cruel than usual, but Ruby had already grown to expect the worst so she couldn’t even tell the difference.

~~~

The night of the ball arrived rapidly and Ruby had snuck out without finishing her impossibly long list of chores knowing full well she would pay for it tomorrow.

She wore a lovely floor length dress in a similar red color as her previous one, this time with her comfy boots underneath rather than those awful stilts.

Ruby was happy with how she looked, and so much more relaxed without the constant fear that her step mother or sisters would somehow ruin this for her.

Her confidence only grew when she met Oscar at the entrance and he offered her his arm. “You look beautiful.” He said, sounding so genuinely awestruck.

She really had to hold herself back from kissing him or even hugging him since there still was etiquette to follow for an event like this.

“Thank you, you don’t look bad yourself.” She replied as she took his arm.

Oscar didn’t leave her side all night. As he was Prince, they did have to make the rounds of talking with anyone particularly important but everyone was quite polite and seemingly excited to meet her too.

Once all the niceties were out of the way, they joined everyone else on the dance floor.

Ruby wasn’t nervous anymore, though she put her hand on Oscar’s waist to immediately take the leading role in this dance. Oscar just laughed and tried to stealthily kiss her on the cheek, an action many caught sight of regardless, because of course people were keeping their eyes on the prince and his girl.

For the whole night they only dance with each other which no one seemed to take issue with.

Well, no one took issue with until one particular unwelcome guest mader appearance. A song had just ended when Ruby felt a harsh tap on her shoulder, a fingernail basically gouging into her arm. When she looked up at who was trying to get her attention, she tensed,  staring wide eyed. Cinder stood here, a fake overly polite smile plastered on her face as if she didn’t know exactly who Ruby was. “May I have this next dance with him?” She asked, putting Ruby in a position to look very rude and possessive if she were to say no.

Ruby couldn’t find her words at all, even if there was little Cinder could directly do to her here she still couldn’t help but be afraid.

Oscar picked up on something being wrong immediately, he’d never seen Ruby look so vacant and afraid, and this woman who had approached looked vaguely familiar. He frowned slightly before looking at the guest. “Would you excuse us for a moment?”

Cinder, seeing how this wasn’t going her way and so incredibly angry with Ruby getting her way, did not in fact excuse them for a minute. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think you heard me, I said may I have this dance?” Her grip on Ruby’s shoulder now bruising as she tried to rip her away from the Prince.

Oscar immediately got in between the two of them, and the guards were there almost immediately. Cinder did not go easily or quietly, in fact it made for a rather impressive wrestling match to watch in the middle of the dance floor before she was actually dragged off.

Everyone was quiet, shocked, and confused but slowly the party came back to life with people chancing quiet conversation and then returning to their dance.

“I’m sorry- about that.” Ruby mumbled, voice trembling slightly.

“That wasn’t your fault… at all. But, you seemed to know her?” Oscar spoke carefully, not wanting her to feel obligated to answer.

“She’s my stepsister.” She answered shortly

Suddenly something clicked for Oscar about the ‘family issues’ Ruby had alluded to before and it left a bitter feeling in his stomach. “Hey, you’re safe now.” He said, pulling her close.

“Yeah, for now.” Ruby sighed, she would still have to go home to.. To whatever was going to happen now.

“No, for always. You could stay here, stay with me.” Oscar blurted out, more than anything just wanting to make sure she was safe and happy. It took him longer than it should have to realize just how that sounded. “Okay, uh to be clear that was not a proposal. I promise that will be much better thought out and not asked when you’re dealing with a lot of stress-” His explanation was interrupted with a kiss.

“You do realize you just implied you’re going to propose, right?” Ruby asked once she pulled away.

Oscar laughed, giving her one more peck on the lips. “I thought that was obvious.”

[mcmystery]

Hello miss, I found your art not too long ago and I have to say that it's really great and beautiful. I love your RG art and I can't wait to see what else you got. I'm curious too, Cerise and her husband have been together since the beginning or did they knew some other people before them? That all for now, keep with the awesome work miss. See ya

Hi!! Awww, I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying my work. I’m hoping to make some more RG content so look forward to that! (Especially with rosegarden week coming up in March, woooo!) Hm, I’m not too sure what you mean by the context of that question. If you mean that, did they date other people before getting together? Then, No. It’s true Cerise met her husband when she was 18 and him being 20, but for her history on that is: she pretty much went through life enjoying the time being around her family, friends and those in her village. She never developed feelings for anyone where she lived because she saw everyone as her family. It’s when she decides to leave home that she comes across Mr. Brunswick (future husband) during her travels and instantly falls for him, though he’s unaware of her (and her feelings) until he later meets her properly after she saves him from grimm. Mr. Brunswick on the other hand, was raised from a young age to take on his fathers job. His father was a bit strict and pushed him to learn a lot through books and studying. Though, after turning a bit older is when he decided to become a Huntsman instead and trained hard to pursue this goal. Even leaving home to train and get his license to be a registered Huntsman. He was very skilled at this, but when returning home found that his home and family had been killed due to either bandits or grimm. This pretty much threw him more into his work and only focused on that. The idea of being with someone or in a relationship was never on his mind until he met Cerise, and her confessing to him just hours after they met (by accident). He had to think about this before giving her an answer instead of quickly rejecting her. In time, he began to enjoy her company and slowly started to see her more than just that. So in short, Cerise lived life freely and didn’t develop feelings for anyone until she met Mr. Brunswick, and Mr. Brunswick lived a strict life that had no time to think about such feelings until he met Cerise.

[roz-ani]

Kidnapping Oscar and Ruby

The thing about me is that I like to think. A lot. And ever since volume 6 ended, I’ve been thinking about Oscar and Ruby being kidnapped by Salem’s flying monkeys. I’m sure you’re familiar with this theory, so I’ll get straight to the point. I love this theory. And since one of the rosegarden week’s prompts is “kidnapped”, it’s a perfect opportunity to discuss my idea. I’m not going to focus specifically on Oscar and Ruby. More on how Salem would capture them.

Why would they get kidnapped?

We should remember that Salem is interested in Ruby. We don’t know exactly why, but it definitely has something to do with her Silver Eyes.

What’s the point of kidnapping Oscar? Imprisoning Ozma’s reincarnation would make achieving Salem’s goal easier. Shouldn’t she kill him then? No, that would be stupid. She’d basically let her biggest enemy escape (reincarnation) and it would be harder to find him this time. 

When would they get kidnapped?

If there’s one thing I expect from volume 8, it’s definitely more screen time for Oscar. I’ll admit, Oscar disappearing has become some sort of meme now. Still, he was never kidnapped. I think the best time for that sort of event would be the volume 8 finale or 2-3 episodes before that. We can only guess what will the next season be about. There’s also a possibility it would take place in volume 9 if the writers decide to “connect” Atlas and Vacuo arcs. However, I think the first option is more possible. During volume 7, I came up with a scenario where Ruby and Oscar manage to escape from their kidnappers and get their own mini-arc while trying to survive in Solitas. We would get to see things like their team attack, Oscar’s backstory, a proper character development and some cute (not romantic, too early for that) bonding scenes. This isn’t a post where I want to discuss this, but I may write more about it in the future.

How would it happen?

Oh boi, we could talk about this for hours! We don’t know if Hazel, Emerald and Mercury came to Atlas (they might be still in Salem’s castle or in Vacuo), we don’t know what Neo and Cinder plan to do with the Lamp, Tyrian is running free and Watts is still in prison. Basically, chaos. I assume all (or most) of them will meet with Salem at some point in volume 8. However, someone has to get the Staff, and they need the Winter Maiden to open the Vault. We also don’t know what Ironwood will do after finding out about Salem’s army. Again, I don’t want to discuss it in this post, so here’s what I think can happen: Salem announced her arrival in a very spectacular way. She’d mention her “talk” with Ironwood to the people of Atlas. Her army of Grimm would also make them think if fighting her is a good idea. It wouldn’t take long to kill everyone in both cities... However, as we all know, Salem is merciful. She didn’t come here to kill people. She only wants a few things: the Relics, the Winter Maiden (mainly her power), the Silver Eyed Warrior and Ozpin.

She gets what she wants, she leaves. No victims, no bloodshed, no destroyed cities. Wouldn’t Ironwood announced he “killed” Oscar? How would Salem know he’s still alive? In my opinion, Salem knows how powerful Ozpin (Ozma) is. He wouldn’t just let someone kill him like that. But could our heroes trust her? The jury is still out on this, but I think she’d be lying. She has to show other Kingdoms, especially Vacuo, what she’s capable of. She’d give Ironwood and citizens of Atlas some time to give her what she wants. If the time were up, and she didn't get what she had "politely asked for", she would have ordered the destruction of Atlas and Mantle. I’m not really sure what will happen in volume 8. Whitley and Willow, Winter, the Happy Huntresses, the Ace-Ops, other villains... Maybe Weiss will try to help her family? Maybe some of our heroes will decide to defend the relic and the rest will try to evacuate people from the Kingdom? What’s Oscar plan to save it? Will Atlas fall on Mantle? We still have to learn about Nora’s backstory... CRWBY has a lot to work with, and they have to play it well. Regardless of what happens, in my vision, our heroes, after reuniting with Oscar, would have to face Salem in the finale.

But would they fight her? I don’t think so. Maybe they’d try to use the Staff, but we still don’t know how it works and I’m not sure if they would bring it with them. They would try to convince Salem to spare the kingdom and leave with what she already has. Obviously, she would refuse. Ruby and Oscar, maybe one of them at first, would agree to be taken, much to other’s disapproval. But Salem would agree to that.

 I’m not sure what would happen later:

Salem would betray them and order her army to kill everyone in the kingdom. Our heroes would try to fight her, but in the end Salem would leave with Ruby and Oscar, leaving others in Atlas.

It would be our heroes plan. The rest would attack Salem’s associates and try to get back the Lamp. However, their opponents would still win.

Some Salem’s subordinates, probably Cinder or Tyrian, would attack the rest of our heroes. Ruby and Oscar would try to help, but they fail. Salem wins again.

I have a few more ideas, but they differ mainly in details. Most of them ends up with Ruby and Oscar getting captured. I think they would manage to escape and, as I mentioned before, I have a few ideas what would happen after that.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Ruby could get kidnapped in V8 but with everything going on V9 will need to be something less stressful. Still I would be down for Oscar and Ruby reuniting and THEN talking about the trauma together. V8 though I do want self-reflection since Oscar is basically back in V4 status(all alone with Ozpin). Along with Ruby wondering what more she has to sacrifice whether it be Oscar or her life like her mom.

On the contrary Ghost; with the way things are going now with the events of the Atlas Trilogy, I feel like the showrunners are just going to keep upping the stakes. So perhaps Ruby being kidnapped for the next volume wouldn't be too bad of an occurrence.

I mean I've been an advocate for Ruby becoming a prisoner of Salem along with Oscar since V5. Salem has been interested in capturing Ruby since V4 and it wouldn't surprise me if she'll have her eyes set on capturing Oscar too; especially since she knows that Oz has been reincarnated.

As I was telling @crystalandbrass, what if…in V8, as a reverse parallel to V4, Tyrian Callows is once again sent to retrieve Ruby. In my interpretation of this hunch, I imagined Tyrian leading his own faction of Winged Beringels to ambush and overpower an unsuspecting Ruby who just happened to be out alone in Mantle with only Qrow as her company.

In the Wizard of Oz story, it was said that the Scarecrow was almost destroyed by the flying monkeys when they came to capture Dorothy Gale. So what if…we got a RWBY equivalent to that moment in which Qrow is overpowered by Winged Beringels and forced to look on helplessly as Tyrian relinquishes an unconscious Ruby Rose over to a Winged Beringel which takes her away to Salem.

Meanwhile, Tyrian stays behind to finish off Qrow only for the Branwen man to be saved in the nick of time by Jaune, Nora and Ren arriving to aid him; much like how he had come to their aid back in Anima in V4.

I quite like the concept of Ruby becoming Salem’s prisoner by the conclusion of V8. Perhaps this could lead into what some of Rosegardening Pineheads and Rosegardeners have been itching to see---a scene in which Oscar comes to Ruby’s rescue to parallel all the times she has protected and looked out for him over the past few seasons. I think it could be a neat moment for Oscar if he ended up challenging Salem to save Ruby.

Perhaps…we could even see my ole Oscar the Golden Cap Pinehead headcanon coming to fruition too with Oscar becoming so great and powerful in his magical abilities that he’s able to use his power to take control of Salem’s Winged Beringels (see my Oscar’s Luxx Pinehead headcanon right here)

In the Wizard of Oz story, the Wicked Witch was only able to control the flying monkeys through the power of the Golden Cap---a cursed magical artifact that allowed its wielder to control the flying monkeys at least three times.

Although Salem is the creator of the Winged Beringels on the RWBY universe, she did so via the power of the Grimm Pools and her own magic.

Therefore, this squiggle meister thinks it would be a really neatorrific magic trick to see Oscar use the power he inherited from Ozma that he has come to make his own during his time with Ozpin to take control of the Winged Beringels; making him the RWBY version of the Golden Cap.

Gold is in his name after all and much like the Golden Cap from Oz, Oscar is a vessel of magic. Just saying.

I mean, I doubt we’d actually see anything like that for V8 but it would’ve been something cool. As a Rosegardening Pinehead, I really love the thought of Oscar immediately daring to challenge Salem on his own upon learning that she has Ruby.

I can definitely see this being a possibility, particularly in the event that part of Oscar’s story and development for V8 would be the young huntsman coming to terms with the importance of Ruby to him; mimicking how his fairy tale counterpart---the little prince---came to revere his beloved true rose.

Perhaps it’s even a case where Salem uses Ruby to lure out Oscar. Imagine if… Salem ends up capturing Oscar by forcing him to surrender himself over to her as a means of protecting Ruby.

Or…as an alternative to that, imagine if…Oscar sacrifices himself for Ruby’s sake. Like it’s a case in which Oscar gives Salem an ultimatum in which he trades his life and freedom to become Salem’s willing prisoner in exchange for Ruby’s salvation. Basically picture a moment in which Oscar boldly proposes for Salem to imprison him and do whatever she desires to him--- torture him for the rest of his days, even kill him---in that moment, the little prince was willing to lay his life at the mercy of the wicked witch so long as no harm came to his rose as part of their deal or exchange.

Equivalent exchange, am I right?

Kind of like how Azlan surrendered himself to be “killed” by the Ice Queen in place of Edmund Pevensie in the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,

Bruh, imagine if…we got a scenario where Ruby is left unconscious for most of the finale after being poisoned by Tyrian and by the time the Silver Eyed Rose regains consciousness, she awakens to her allies begrudgingly informing her of Oscar’s sacrifice for her. Imagine a scenario in which for the majority of V8, Ruby and Oscar never truly reunite. Even though we spent more of the story with Oscar fighting to get back to his friends and Ruby; in the end it’s a case where they still don’t get to see each other or rather; Ruby never gets to see Oscar again since he gave himself to Salem for her sake. Thus, Ruby has to live with Oscar making that sacrifice for her and her mistakes this time.

Y’know what I realized---much like Ozpin (and by extension Ozma and all the Wizards in his cycle), Oscar has become the proverbial martyr to constantly pay the price for others actions even when he attempts to rectify them.

Between V5-V7, Oscar was mainly chastised because of Ozpin’s actions and past mistakes. He became an immediate foe to Hazel Rainart who he was forced to combat due to his beef with Ozpin concerning his sister. He was punched by Qrow (technically while Oz was in control but Oscar still felt the aftermath of that) out of the bird man’s anger and frustration towards Oz for the lies he told him and others. And just last season, Oscar literally got shot and sent to his presumed death by Ironwood for trying to correct mistakes made by both his predecessor and his allies.

And what’s worse about that is that Oscar had no say in any of that. He more or less just has to accept punishment for the actions of others whether he liked it or not. 

So imagine if…for another time---presumably the last time--- Oscar makes himself a martyr; paying the price for Ruby---only this time, it’s his choice to give himself up for the girl he loves. 

Doesn’t that sound like an interesting plot point to see? Perhaps this could be another way for Ruby to see the weight of her own actions and mistakes in a way.

In the Lost Princess of Oz story, I recall Princess Ozma being captured with her best friend (and closest confidant) Dorothy Gale being the one to lead a rescue party to save her. This is why I’ve been more inclined towards Oscar becoming Salem’s prisoner with Ruby the one to ultimately save him as his closest companion and potential love interest. I still like this possibility very much. 

Then again, this could also easily go the the opposite direction in which both Ruby and Oscar become unwilling prisoners of Salem. While in captivity, Salem makes sure to keep both smaller, more honest souls apart in order to play off of their bond and devotion to one another and sort of maliciously manipulate and torment them into submitting to her will. That’s another possibility that I like.

The way how I see it, V9 could potentially be a standalone Dark Domain season where either Oscar is captured by Salem after sacrificing himself for Ruby leading to her leading their allies into the Land of Darkness in order to rescue the imprisoned little prince or….it could be about Ruby and Oscar dealing with being prisoners of Salem.

For me, my money will always more be on Oscar becoming Salem’s prisoner especially if he does it in Ruby’s place because I still love my headcanon of Oscar becoming the Boy in the Lonely Tower with Salem imprisoning him in a castle of solitude like how she was first locked away before Ozma found her. I still love that theory.

But who knows. Neither of this ideas could become a thing, as far as I know. Even if the CRWBY Writers mentioned something along the lines of reading fan’s comments for certain things to happen for certain characters, I highly doubt any of em would lend to any of this squiggly Pinehead’s million and one headcanons. As always, these are only my theories, thoughts and ideas for things for RWBY.

Either way, I will say that I do think that something big could potentially go down for both Ruby and Oscar respectively next volume.

I do think we could get that self-reflection on Oscar’s part like you want Ghost---I’m just unsure how it will work given the whole 1-2 days’ timeline. Given the fact that Oz has been gone for probably a month or some weeks since the heroes got to Atlas, it would’ve been better to see more time pass in the story in order to make Oscar and Oz’s bond growing within that time more believable, y’know what I mean? At least for me. This is just my opinion here.

I mean I guess I can look at it from the perspective for their bond being forced to grow faster due to the emergency of Salem’s arrival OR….perhaps V8 could only be the start of Oscar and Oz finally learning to coexist with one another and in the event that Oscar does indeed become Salem’s prisoner---if he’s captured, that will prove the PLOT more time to have Oscar bond with Oz since for a second time, the young boy will be all alone with only Oz as his companion. That could be something. 

But who knows, y;know? I guess we’ll only know once more news of the next season drops, I suppose. In the meantime, I hope I was able to answer you, Ghost. Let me know if I did, please. 

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)  

[chaoslordjoe]

Iceberg Week 2020, Day 1-Double Date: What a Wonderful Wintery Day (feat. Rosegarden)

[Ah, Winter. Not the military sibling, but the season. It’s been ages ever since Ruby and her friends could enjoy a nice break in the Winter from all the chaos of Grimm, and the whole war they had the pleasure of being unintentionally drafted for.

Certainly, it was no problem for Weiss Schnee, and her boyfriend, Neptune Vasilias. She and Ruby/Oscar had gathered for a Winter double date that was on the books for a while. But due to schedule conflicts with their respective missions couldn’t be done right away.

But they were here now, and they in fact, did have all day. Ruby and Weiss sat at a bench having coffee while waiting on their boyfriends. On the other side of the park they were in had been Neptune and Oscar walking back to their lovers with coffee and sweets.

Oscar wore a bulkier overcoat that had been the same color as his coat from the war. This time, he wore thermal gloves and a red ushanka baring Ruby's rose emblem. And he wore spiked boots for good measure like he would back on the farm for harsh weather at this season.

Neptune, meanwhile, wore a red parka and hoodie, with thicker jeans and baring the SDC snowflake insignia on the back to symbolize his relationship with Weiss. Instead of his goggles, Neptune wore orange-tinted sunglasses while they trudged their way back.]

Oscar: And then Sherry realized that it was the Prime Minister's son whose drink she spilled. She was so freaked out that she had to ask his guards not to tackle the beer tap!

Neptune: Geez! Mistral seems a lot more stringent nowadays, huh?

Oscar: Try littering near the Parliament building.

Neptune: Think I'd rather stick with not having my goggle lens cracked into my eyes.

Oscar: Probably better that you avoid it. So Neptune, how long have you and Weiss been dating?

Neptune: About 10 months now. How about you and Ruby?

Oscar: Close to a year.

Neptune: Outmatched. Well then.

Oscar: Something like that. You guys met at Beacon, right?

Neptune: Yeah, in Semester 2 of Year 1. We went to the dance together, but I didn’t wanna make things weird in case Jaune wanted to go out with her instead.

Oscar: So you guys shared her?

Neptune: Nah, Jaune was originally gonna go for Weiss, but Pyrrha was feeling pretty lonely and he went out with her instead.

Oscar: Sounds to me like the War didn’t give you two much room to talk back in Vacuo.

Neptune: Well, with the Crown kidnapping folks for their Semblances, we really had our hands tied while you guys were Relic hunting.

Oscar: Yeah, fair enough. Where do you wanna get with Weiss now?

Neptune: Right now, we’re mostly just living close together due to our duties. The rest of the Schnees are still debating on how fit Weiss is for being head of SDC. Whitley is trying to screw things up with getting a bunch of their dad’s loyalists to lobby against her. And the military is having a hard time believing Weiss could be fit to cooperate with them since she and the others defected from General Ironwood’s task force during the Crisis.

Oscar: *frowns* You’d think that the General’s honorable discharge would’ve cut us all some slack.

Neptune: I hear ya. Honestly, it makes me wish I’d rather be living in Argus with her. But Vale is her home now, so I don’t wanna judge or force her into it. I just want things to be right after the war is all.

[The boys eventually arrived at their destination to see Ruby and Weiss sitting at the bench.]

Weiss: *looks up* Neptune! *skips over to Neptune and hugging him* Ruby and I were just about to come get you.

Neptune: *kisses Weiss’ head* Hi, honey. We just got wrapped up taking the scenic route.

Ruby: *hugs Oscar* You’re not giving Neptune too much trouble, are you, Oscar?

Oscar: *hugs Ruby back* Hey, he started it. I just wanted to finish it before meeting up with you.

Ruby: *looks at Oscar* What’d you get this time?

Oscar: One strawberry fudge chunk brownie for you, cookie. *hands to Ruby*

Neptune: And, some toasted spinach and provolone biscuits for you and me, Snow Angel. *hands to Weiss*

Weiss: *takes bag* Wow. I thought these were out of stock today. Thank you, Neptune.

Ruby: Thanks, Oscar. I don’t really know how to thank you for some of your gifts, but- -

Oscar: *cups Ruby’s face in hands* You don’t have to say anything.

[Oscar gave Ruby a kiss on the nose, which made her utter a surprised squeak as she pocketed her brownie. She held her coffee in her left hand as she took Oscar’s while Weiss and Neptune finished their coffee. Weiss leaped on top of Neptune’s back, prompting him to carry her in a piggyback manner as they looked into the snowy horizon of the park.]

Weiss: *rests head on Neptune's shoulder* It looks utterly beautiful today.

Oscar: It really does. Where should we start?

Neptune: Mmm…I kinda wanted to hang by the lake for a bit.

Ruby: Hey, yeah. Dad and I used to walk Zwei here, and that was our usual resting spot.

Weiss: Off we go then, Sea King. Giddyup!

Neptune: As you wish, Snow Angel.

@lewdnepvasilias666 @darksaiyangoku @haldidoodh @laserdog10 @iceberg-week @rozanime @rueleaf-art @the-blue-quetzalcoatl @razorblade180 @canonseeker @prokitty101 @phoenixfeather-ms @animefan299110 @ezroar So it begins...

[darksaiyangoku]

Okay, I have to ask; what is wrong with Lancaster???

Seriously, what’s wrong with it? Compared to a lot of ships in RWBY, it gets a lot and I mean a LOT of hate. And that to me makes no sense.

I mean, yeah everyone has their own opinion on certain ships and that’s fine. But a lot of people act like Lancaster is an objectively bad ship, which is complete fucking bullshit. All it is are two best friends who might fall in love with each other and end up together. What’s so bad about that?

Is it because the whole “best friends getting together” is cliché? If that was the case, why doesn’t anyone have a problem with Renora, WhiteRose or Bumblby then? What makes those ships so superior ? (I am aware that a lot of people dislike WhiteRose and Bumblby, but it’s not because of that cliché).

Is it because of Arkos? Newsflash; Pyrrha is DEAD. I’m sorry but that’s the truth. She’s gone and she’s not coming back. As great as she was, Pyrrha was never Jaune’s “one true love”, they only knew each other for a year. I’m sure he might’ve had a crush on her or something, but I don’t think it was anything more than that. And knowing Jaune, he probably thought Pyrrha was too good for him. He was never the most confident guy at Beacon.

Also this needs to be said; him dating someone else is NOT betraying Pyrrha’s memory! I’m not expecting him to move on straight away, but he can’t and shouldn’t mourn Pyrrha forever. Sooner or later, he will move forward without her. Will he find someone along the way? Probably.

Finally, is it because of Rosegarden? Even if you take Ozpin out of the equation, that relationship is on shaky legs. Oscar’s barely even a character in his own right. His sole purpose is to serve as his host, that’s it. If you add him being a potential love interest on top of that, he just feels shoehorned into the story with no real relevance other than “he’s Ruby’s boyfriend”.

Look, I understand why not everyone is keen on Lancaster, it is a pretty simple ship. But what’s wrong with that? In a world with crazy powers, monstrous Grimm, reincarnating wizards, and ancient gods, what’s wrong with a more simple ship?

I know a lot of Lancaster fans on here, YouTube and Reddit who were harassed, spammed or trolled simply because they ship it and it has to stop. If you don’t like a ship, that’s fine. But don’t come over to their group and start acting like a bunch of assholes and attack them just because they like a ship that you don’t.

It’s even worse the fact that all of this is happening during Lancaster Week as well. Every other ship got to have their own little week and now that it’s our turn, people are unhappy.

Honestly, the hate that Lancaster gets is undeserved and unfair. If every other ship has a right to exist, so does this one. You might not like it, but I do, and I would prefer it if you let me and my other fellow shippers ship Lancaster in good faith. If you don’t like it, just leave. Don’t spoil our fun just because something we like makes you unhappy.

[blackhakumen]

Fanfic #21: Recklessness Chapter 3: The Talk

Once both Oscar and Ruby got into a room for privacy, the farm boy already starting to shiver in fear by looking at young grim reaper's silver eyes alone.

She was holding on to Oscar moments ago outside of the ship, then while they've gotten back, she was completely silent throughout the conversation the others had, and now out of nowhere, Ruby just grabbed his arm and took him to a room together. All of this just so they could talk about something that happened not so long ago.

There are many expressions of Ruby that Oscar seen so far during his adventures; Determination, Cheerfulness, and etc. But this...is completely different for even him to comprehend. On one hand, there's anger and frustration, but on the other hand, there's also grief and sadness. With a mixture of emotions like that, he would easily expect this from Jaune, Yang, Qrow, or maybe from even Ozpin, but never from Ruby of all people.

So before any of this gets even more intense than it has to, Oscar took deep breaths and begin the conversation:

Oscar: Uhh...Ruby? Are you...mad at me?

Ruby: (Silent)

Oscar: (Took Deep Breaths) Well...to be honest, I wouldn't blame you if you are right now. What I did back there was probably the most stupidest thing that I've ever dime. Even if it was to help you. I only did it because...well..I want to do more for the team. I know you guys don't fully trust Ozpin or even myself, but I made a promise to help you the best way I can....('Sigh') but I guess even that leads to trouble. So.... I'm really sorry if my recklessness today cause you more trouble than it has to. And....if you really want to kick me out of the team (tearing up a little)....then, I completely understand-

Before he could finish that sentence, Ruby immediately rushes over to Oscar and hugs him tightly.

Ruby: What are you talking about, Oscar?! There's is no way I am kicking you of the team! None of us are!! Why would you even think I would do that to you?!

Oscar: (Startled but hugged back) I-I mean, you seemed upset earlier after everything that happened. S-so I thought you might want to kick me out...

Ruby: ('Sigh') Well, first things first, I am NOT kicking you out of team. You are our friend, Oscar, and none of us would even forgive ourselves if we abandoned you like that. So please don't ever think that me or anyone else here would do that to you, okay?

Oscar: O-of course.

Ruby: (Smiles a little before letting go of Oscar) Thank you. Second.... I'm not angry at you. To be honest with you, I'm actually both sad and disappointed of you.

Oscar: ( So I was right about the mix emotions...) Really now?

Ruby: (Crosses her arms while frowning) Well...yeah. The reason why I'm like this is because you of all people, would be crazy enough to pull a stunt like that! Jumping on the Grim's back just so I could get an opening slice?! I know it worked, but really?! You're better than that, Oscar Pine!

Oscar: (Lower his head down in shame) Yeah..... you're right......

Ruby: Please look at me, Oscar. I really don't want to see you down like this...

Oscar: (Raised his head up to look at Ruby) Y-Yes ma'am.

Ruby: Listen, I completely understand that you want to do everything you can to help us and all, but you went too far after that stunt you pulled. You could've seriously gotten hurt, Oscar. Or even worse if I wasn't there on time to save you... So please (tearing up)....please promise me, that you won't do anything stupid like that anymore, okay? I already lost Pyrrha and Penny, I don't wanna lose you too....(Crying Softly)

After seeing Ruby in the verge of tears, Oscar immediately hugged the Huntress for comfort.

Oscar: I promise. I know I said that I'll do anything I can to help you, but I promise that I will never do something as dangerous like that ever again. You have my word on that.

Ruby: (Hugs back) Thank you...thank you so much.

Oscar: You really don't have to thank me, Ruby. If anything, I should be thanking you for even putting with me.

Ruby: You're our friend, Oscar. We love you.

Oscar: A-and I love you guys too. I know things between you and your professor aren't the best right now.... guess that's why I was desperate to help out and stuff.

Ruby: (Letting go of Oscar before Sighing) This again? Look, I know none of us would look at Oz the same way as we used to anymore, but this isn't about him or his trust. It's about you and your safety. Though if I'm being honest here... it's our faults for not training you properly.

Oscar: Hey it's fine. You were focus on the task at hand. You can't fault yourself for that.

Ruby: I guess...but we still should've took the time and train you instead of dealing with our own problems 24/7...

Oscar: Well... I'm officially grounded for two weeks now (Shrugs with a smile) so maybe we could have our training sessions for ourselves till then.

Ruby: (Smiles Brightly) That's a great idea....(but frowns a little) but i still need to lead our team, you know?

Oscar: Yeah. That's understandable.

Ruby: Hmmmmm....(Came up with an idea) Oh, I know! We could plan out a schedule for our sessions starting tomorrow morning. How would that sound?

Oscar: (Smiles Softly) I think I would like that, Captain.

Ruby Smiles back while blushing a little

'Knock Knock Knock'

Yang: (From the other side of the door) Ruby! Oscar! Are you okay in there? Come out already!

Oscar: Look like it's time for us to get out of here. You're ready to go?

Ruby: (Holds Oscar's hand with a smile) I'm ready if you are.

Oscar: (Smiles Back) Yeah...I think I'm ready too.

@littlemisssquiggles

@miki-13

@keyenuta

@journalsandjasminetea

@oscarpineprotectionsquad

@rosegarden-side-blog

@joshy-draws-sometimes

@rwbyrosegardenweek

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 "Unforeseen Complications"

This is a re-posting from Oct. 28th, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

This RWBY review had to be put on hold while I finished Stranger Things 2. In all honesty if you're reading this instead of watching the new season... please re-think your life choices.

For those of you who have binged properly you'll already know that though RWBY doesn't do holiday-themed episodes, they're still bringing in the Halloween spirit this week with the rather terrifying title "Unforeseen Complications." We open on Blake, Sun, Kali, and a pacing Ghira, wearing his tiny reading glasses that everyone was gushing over when the promo picture first dropped. Luckily we haven't lost the adorable cat Dad (yet), but things aren't looking good, especially when he's given this much screen time in a show that just loves breaking up happy families. Ghira is prepping a speech in regards to Adam's recent power-play and the only thing that eases the tension is a warm, family hug.

And Sun's awkward fourth-wheeling. Honestly, that was funny about ten episodes ago. For a side character that's been thrust into one of the main cast's storyline, Sun sure hasn't justified his place there yet. He's done little in the way of really assisting Blake in her work and the injury that worried everyone last Volume was explained away this very episode, amounting to nothing. The guy either needs something to do or finally needs to clear out--which, I should add, Blake wanted him to do weeks ago.

Sun aside, Ghira remains a favorite among fans for his sweet nature, fair views, and unending support of his daughter. His speech here, laying out Adam's rogue faction in the White Fang and his involvement in the Fall of Beacon, isn't anything that the viewer didn't already know about. In fact, the scene is a little confusing if you don't catch that Blake's story is apparently taking place a month behind everyone else's. There's no overt indication of this using text on screen and given that we're following so many characters, there's no easy way to imply an ellipsis, let alone that we're jumping around a suddenly non-linear timeline. I had originally taken Ghira's warning that Adam intends to kill Sienna as an indicator that news of her death hadn't reached the island yet. However, it was pointed out to me later that Ghira mentions Haven opening in two months time whereas Ozpin, later in the episode, says that school starts up in a month. I'm not sure why RT has chosen this form--or why they've made it so convoluted--but I'm trusting that it will somehow benefit the overall structure of the Volume.

Ghira's call to assist the humans in Haven certainly doesn't get an outcry of support from the crowd, but he's entirely undermined when Ilia (dramatically) throws off her cloak and reveals herself, shouting that they should never help the humans when they've done nothing but harm the faunus in turn. Sun tries to grab her (he fails) but the damage is already done. As we see through the camera focusing on our two creepy fox brothers, Adam's splinter faction has wormed its way in deep. We know thanks to Ilia's scroll that Adam not only plans to attack Haven but take out their CTT tower as well. RWBY is chock-full of themes surrounding communication (or the lack thereof) and literally taking out the kingdoms' one way of contacting one another is highly reflective of that. Combine that with Ilia’s few words sowing so much discord. Divide them and they’ll fall, and all that. 

The real action of the episode though is with Team RNJR. After a full two weeks we finally get to see the gang's reaction to Professor Ozpin's return and oh boy, it did not disappoint.

Ruby: "Isn't it weird?"

She's so excited about this! Qrow reminds the kids that this is strange for everyone involved, including the boy you're hounding, so they sheepishly give Oscar some space. He admits that he's a little nervous because he's never met real huntsmen and huntresses before, which is a wonderful callback to Ruby's excited, "Can I have your autograph?" to Glynda in Episode One. She's come far enough now that she's the one people look up to with awe. There's also perhaps a bit of rosegarden here, but that's obviously a ship that can only happen if Ozpin gets a body of his own.

We then (bless) finally get some actual information regarding this Oscar-Ozpin situation. Oscar shows everyone his "parlor trick" where, with a flash of green aura, gold eyes, and white hair, Ozpin takes control of his body, making everyone emotional with a sincere, "It is so very good to see you again, students."

It's a remarkably light scene for all the revelations. Like I've been noting in all these recaps, Ozpin admits how pleased he is that Ruby and the others can retain their sense of humor in the face of confusing and traumatizing circumstances. We get another callback as Ozpin apologizes, saying that he wasn't exaggerating when he once told Ruby he'd made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child. We learn that he has been “cursed” by the gods for failing to stop Salem centuries ago. For thousands of years Ozpin has lived, died, and reincarnated in the body of a "like-minded soul," though there's still no explanation of what exactly constitutes "like-minded” in this scenario. 

Jaune: "So who... what are you?"

Ouch. Though not an entirely unwarranted question when you’re suddenly dealing with the impossible. Ozpin says that he is the "combination of countless men" who have spent their lives trying to protect Remnant. The implication that he only reincarnates as a man aside (seems like a missed opportunity there), this seems like a pretty firm confirmation of the merging theory. The person we know as Ozpin might not entirely erase Oscar, but it certainly sounds like they won't remain completely separate people for forever. Indeed, Ozpin says straight out that at some point, "eventually," they'll “merge” and become the new Ozpin, a man who retains the memories of all his past lives. It’s all still horrendously murky, but honestly, if Oscar doesn't have at least a little bit of a freak out over this I'll be sorely disappointed.

We still don't know who or what Ozpin was originally. Was he just a man who took on too much, cursed by the gods for his failure or arrogance? Was he the wizard, one of the few capable of wielding magic in Remnant, thus making his survival (and the curse to ensure as much) a necessity? Ozpin isn't saying just yet. After assigning Qrow to find them more huntsmen he turns his sights on Team RNJR, telling them that they'll need to get into "fighting shape" before they can face Salem.

There is nothing that I don't love about this scene. Bringing back Ruby's lack of skill in hand-to-hand after Yang's character short spent so much time emphasizing it? Check. Implying that we'll finally unlock Jaune's semblance this Volume? Check. Ozpin confirming that outside the confines of his headmaster persona he's a happy, dramatic showoff?

Triple check.

All poor Oscar asked is that Ozpin not do anything embarrassing while he has control of their body and what does this man do? Act extra as fuck of course, performing a backflip onto the chair and spinning his cane far, far longer than he needs to. Nora is the only one unimpressed by this display, but I personally can't wait to see Ozpin training the kids. It should be especially interesting given his sudden loss of control--Oscar coming back unexpectedly and losing his balance, toppling them off the chair. Training is hard enough. Training while you're stuck in the body of a weak, undisciplined child... that's something else entirely.

The end of our episode takes us back to Weiss, still guarded by Raven's bandits. It's a moment of psychological torture, with her captor taunting Weiss with her own weapon and demonstrating that the one tool she has, information, is severely outdated. Ironwood has recalled all his troops from Mistral, including Winter. She's not around now to save her little sis’ like Weiss had hoped.

Which is hilarious, because in no world does Weiss Schnee need saving. Our last shot is of the miniature knight she's made out of a tiny glyph and her confident smile. Can't wait to see what she's planning to do with that.

Other Details of Note

I was incredibly nervous during the later half of Ghira's speech where he's just going, "We have ALL this INCRIMINATING evidence on this ONE SCROLL that I'm going to WAVE AROUND out here in the OPEN where anyone could EASILY STEAL or DESTROY IT..."

The faunus press all using their scrolls instead of cameras or old-fashioned pen and paper. It's a small but enjoyable bit of world-building.

The voice acting for Ozpin as Oscar was incredibly well done. Jury's still out on whether the echo is just a byproduct of his control or is somehow more meaningful. One theory currently says it's used whenever Ozpin says something that references all of his past lives, not just his last two.

Qrow immediately gets Ozpin coffee. Or hot chocolate. Whatever it is. He might be in the body of a 14yo, but you know as soon as he has control he needs a mug in his hands.

... Qrow then breaks the table and the mug. Hello, semblance. I'm looking forward to seeing more of that as the Volume goes on. Does the bad luck get worse the longer Qrow stays in one place? Is that why he's so eager to leave and recruit more huntsmen? What exactly are the rules here? No one has laid them out and (like silver eyes...) no one seems very interested. 

Oscar upon learning that he'll be training too: "Wait, what?"

And you've gotta love Nora. She went from thinking over how she could bribe her powerful, dignified headmaster ("No wait, he has a school") to flouncing about and calling him their "little cute boy Ozpin." I really hope she ignores his request and keeps calling him that indefinitely. It's very amusing.

[littlemisssquiggles]

What did you think of this weeks episode? I personally loved it, we had rose garden and irondad 😍😍😍

Helloanon-chan. This episode is still marinating in my mind forme but what I can say off of first impressions is that I definitely enjoyedthis episode too. At long last, an Oscar-centric ninth episode of RWBY thatactually delivered, not just one some good development for my favourite little barn prince but also oneof the cutest Rosegarden moments to date. That’s what I will say for now.

However if I had to criticize one thing about V7CH9, it’s the reveal of a certainduo suddenly showing up at the end of this episode. I’m probably in theminority when I say this but I didn’t particularly like that. Not because Iwasn’t expecting them to show up but how the show decided to bring them in just like that withoutany prior build up out of  what we lastsaw of them back in V6.

[SPOILERS AHEAD! NUFF SAID!] 

So Neo and Cinder are in Atlas and will be part of the V7 Finale. Well ain’t that a surprise?

I’m sorry thismove reminded me too much of how the CRWBY Writers handled Adam Taurus’reappearance for the V6 Finale after going several episodes without showing him only to have himsuddenly appear for the final episodes of the season.

I didn’t like how the show did that for Adamand I certainly don’t like how the show did the same thing for this duo. I hopethat V7 doesn’t repeat a similar pattern to V6 by having too many things shovedin for the final few episodes. I just don’t want them to repeat the samemistake of spending several episodes jumping back and forth between two already actionpacked elements of the finale only suddenly sneak in another big one at the endwhile giving it zero focus.

Ididn’t like how we spent several episodes focused on bouncing between the JNR_QROWversus Cordovin Mechazord Battle and the Adam vs Bumblebee Fight only for theshowrunners to also shoehorn in the Leviathan Grimm at the end just for sake ofhaving Ruby’s Indomitable moment which I’ve already voiced how contrived thatfelt, at least to me.

It’sas a I said, we are in the Endgame of V7 now. The next few episodes will be thebuild up to the finale episode. Already CH9 set up the plot threads the final five episodes:

Wegot our heroes---JNR_RWBY down in Mantle with Qrow and the Ace Ops working withAtlas Military; inclusive of Penny and Winter Schnee, to evacuate the citizensof Mantle up to Atlas.

Wegot Tyrian and Watts who we know are down in Mantle too. Ironwood said that hewas going to take care of  them personally but I’m not sure what he meant by that. I assume he meant he was going to do what he could to prevent Watts from hacking into Atlas and essentially Amity Tower. However as we saw from the opening,Tyrian ends up fighting Qrow and Robyn Hill. So he will remain in Mantle to challenge our heroes while Watts does...I guess hackery stuff while avoiding running into our heroes.

And like I said, as of the end of this episode, we also know that---spoilers---Neo and Cinderare here too. 

I feel like Neo and Cinder are like our Jokervillains. 

Last season, V6 teased Neo and Cinder targeting Ruby. IfI recall correctly, Cinder asked Neo to help her get to Atlas and find Rubybefore. But after today’s ending given how things were handled, I’m wonderingsomething.

Are Neo and Cinder gonna go after Relic instead?

Sure their target is Ruby Rose and as we saw, Neo knows where Ruby will be for this episode. However,Cinder asked Neo if she found ‘what’ theywere looking for. Not ‘who’ theywere looking for. 

This makes me wonder if Cinder was asking Neo if shediscovered the location of the Relic of Creation or at least a way to get toit. With Oscar and Ironwood returning to Atlas Academy while everyone else isdown helping in Mantle, one of my concerns is that Neo and Cinder might hijackthe airship transporting Oscar and Ironwood and force them to take them to theWinter Maiden and essentially the Relic of Creation.

Thiscould’ve been a possibility if it wasn’t for the glaring fact that it doesn’tadd up at all with neither Cinder or Neo’s previously established motives. From what we’ve gatheredfrom V6, Neo and Cinder aren’t targeting the Relic or theMaiden---their target was Ruby Rose.

Sowith that in my mind, my assumption is now that Cinder and Neo know that Rubywill probably be all alone on her own in Mantle, that might encourage them tolure her away from the safety of her friends and double team her. 

Since Neo isable to shape shift her appearance to match any female that Ruby is affiliatedwith. What if…Neoshapeshifts into Weiss or Yang or perhaps even Penny to lure Ruby into a trap?

TheV7 opening shot of everyone standing against a background of Mantle showed Oscarthere as well. I doubt they just placed him there for style just to look cuteand badass at the same time. Oscar is supposed to be down in Mantle too, right?

So…doesOscar eventually come down to Mantle? But as we saw at the end of this episode,Oscar returned to Atlas Academy with Ironwood. At least…he’s supposed to?

Whydo I get the feeling that while down in Mantle, Ruby is going to get separated fromher teammates and lured into an ambush by Neo and Cinder? 

That’s how she’llprobably end up bare-shouldered. Maybe Cinder burns off her winter mesh in anambush.

What if…it’s a scenario whereour heroes succeed in evacuating Mantle and even thwarting Watts and Tyrian butthere is no time for celebration because Ruby goes missing?

Likeshe’s the only one to not return from her mission. I’m assuming everyone isprobably going to mostly disband in order to cover more ground and hopefullysave more people. But like I said, during her run, Ruby gets lured into a trapfar from everyone and ambushed by Cinder and Neo.

Perhaps…at some point, Oscartries to call Ruby to find out where she is but gets worried when a franticRuby replies that Cinder was in Mantle. 

We saw that Oscar has his own Scroll in V7CH6. 

Maybe it’s a case where Ruby is being chased and tries to call for help.She ends up calling Oscar and barely manages to tell him that Cinder is afterher when Neo appears out of nowhere and destroys her Scroll; preventing her from calling for more help.

Perhaps…that’show Oscar will end up down in Mantle. He’ll go down to help Ruby since she lost communication and they can’t afford to have anything thwart the evacuation on Mantle since it’s all huntsmen on deck basically.

So while JNR_QWBY work together with Ace Ops and even the Happy Huntresses to handle the People of Mantle and Tyrian, Ironwood will work to stop Watts while Oscar goes off on his own to find Ruby and help her against Cinder and Neo leading to that Fire and Ice-cream Vs. Rosebuds Rematch some of us have been banking on.

After all, Cinder was the one who killed Ozpin so there’s that beef. I know I definitely want to see Oscar find Cinder and Neo fight Ruby. Especially if it leads into Oscar unlocking his great and powerful semblance in order to save/protect Ruby.

I really want to see that. But I dunno. These are only my headcanons. Hope this answers your question anon-chan.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[littlemisssquiggles]

Pinehead Headcanons: Oscar Goes Missing...Again

This headcanon was sparked by @jealouscartoonist​’s illustration for Day 2 of Rosegarden Week. In their image they depicted the concept of what if…Oscar is sent to Atlas Academy on his own while teams RWBY and JNR are off doing their own thing---meaning missions on behalf of Ironwood and the military and what not. I guess you can consider this somewhat my response to that or at least my way of expanding on the thought. As soon as I saw it, it made me wonder a very curious scenario.

Imagine if…Ironwood attempts to separate Oscar from the others through the use of the Academy? 

Technically he is the man with the authority to commit such an act undetected considering that he is both in charge of the huntsmen academy and the Atlesian Military while also having two seats on the ruling council of the kingdom. 

Here’s what I’m thinking. I know jealouscartoonist may not like this idea but I can see Oscar attending Atlas separately from RWBY and JNR a possibility. Technically…wouldn’t Oscar be the equivalent of a first year huntsman student given his current lack of training while the others are pretty much second or third years by now. I know JNR_RWBY haven’t trained under an academy since Beacon but I’d like to think they’d all have advanced to another year of school by this timeline in the story since the plot has progressed over a period of several months to nearly a year since Vale.

 I guess what I’m trying to imply is that if Ironwood wanted to keep Oscar under his firm watch while also tethering his bond with his fellow huntsman comrades, this is one way I can see him doing so within the law, I guess. By having Oscar attend the academy as a beginner student with a different school curriculum than his friends who would be his upperclassman.

In the RWBY V7 Trailer, we glimpsed the RWBY girls dive-bombing from an Atlesian airship down to what I’d assume is a school training mission---Atlas-style, much similar to their first training mission in the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall back in V1.

So perhaps Ironwood would keep RWBY and JNR busy with training missions while Oscar will be off doing his own thing since he wouldn’t be able to join his friends on their missions. It’d be the equivalent of how things were between RWBY and CFVY since they were their second year colleagues.

And if I’m going off of using CFVY’s experience as an example, I guess off-campus training missions to help real life victims is part of the second year of training at the huntsman academies. So what we saw for JNR and RWBY during the V7 trailer, with what appeared to be them going on a training mission to a dust mine---that’s probably part of their training as second year students. Maybe. It’s a hunch at best.

Either way, even if JNR_RWBY and Oscar went to Atlas together, I don’t think they’ll be able to see each other on the same beat like how it was during their travels. I wouldn’t be shocked if their respective times at the academy does create distance between the older huntsmen and Oscar. Sure JNR_RWBY will all be together since they’re all around the same year academically. But Oscar, he might just be on his own or rather segregated from his friends and given special treatment from the General.

I wouldn’t even be surprised if we get a moment where JNR_RWBY are on break in a cafeteria scene and all the while Ruby is scouping out the room in the hopes of spotting a familiar freckled face. But unfortunately Oscar isn’t around. He’s never around and this soon becomes an issue.

I wouldn’t be surprised if, due to Oscar’s predicament with Oz being gone, Ironwood would vouch that Oscar stay close to him all the times so that the two can figure out a way to bring the old soul out of his solitude. 

Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ironwood convinced Oscar to sadly lie to the others about joining them at Atlas Academy when the reality is that it’s all a ruse to hide the fact that Ironwood has been experimenting on Oscar and his aura.

Or…maybe Oscar doesn’t even get to join the others at the academy. Perhaps unlike Ozpin who was willing to bend the rules to allow a 15-year-old huntress to attend his school ahead of her time, I doubt Ironwood would do the same for Oscar regardless of him being a successor to Oz. 

I’m more inclined to believe that James would keep Oscar under his surveillance so that they may figure out a way to bring Oz back or something along those means. One or the other, I suppose.

The overall theory is  to have Ironwood keep Oscar separated from JNR_RWBY. I feel like that is a plot point that could come to fruition canonically.

And y’know what? Is it weird that I actually wouldn’t mind something like this happening. Not just because it can potentially lead into my Pinehead headcanon about Ironwood betraying the heroes by using Oscar as a martyr in his scheme to stop Salem but partially cause, I’d like to think a subplot like this could lend to the golden opportunity to show Ruby strongly missing Oscar.

I think it’d be kind of adorable if as Oscar’s time spent with JNR_RWBY becomes scarce due to Ironwood, this kind of sparks Ruby’s inner mother hen and protectiveness of Oscar to go into overdrive. 

Picture a moments with JNR_RWBY hanging out together, laughing only for Ruby to frown sadly when she noticed the lone empty seat across from her between Ren and Nora where Oscar should be.

Picture Ruby trying to get in contact with Oscar constantly---perhaps our farm boy will finally get his own Scroll while he’s in Atlas prompting moments of Ruby ringing him up or leaving many messages on the hope the two could talk only for her attempts at communicating going to waste. Oscar never answers her. As a matter of fact, it’s like he wasn’t even there anymore (a nice allegory for the threat of the Merge if you will). 

Picture Ruby being teased by the members of FNKI---like Neon Katt for example, who mistake her protectiveness of her friend for an unspoken crush.

Like I’m just imagining Ruby trying to call Oscar for the umpteenth time in about a week of not seeing or hearing from him. Oscar has just ghosted himself from the group and it gets to the point where it starts to really worry Ruby. 

She of course, expresses her concern for her missing freckled farm boy to everyone---JNR, WBY as well as FNKI too--- only for Neon to bluntly ask Ruby if Oscar was her boyfriend (or someone she liked that way) since the red rose’s earnest behaviour reminded the cat Faunus of a love-struck girl hung up over not seeing her partner in some time.

This of course riles Ruby up and we get a hilarious bit where a flustered Ruby tries to awkwardly explain that she and Oscar are ‘just friends’. It’d be even more hilarious if the others joined in on questioning Ruby’s true feelings toward Oscar considering she’s only known him shortly yet acts so caring and defensive toward him.

I know there is no real necessity for the series to have Ruby justify on-screen why she cares so much for Oscar. Then again, this squiggle meister of course wouldn’t mind seeing something like that done if possible.

My hunch has always been that Ruby cares for the Oscar the way she does because she relates a lot to him. Unlike anyone else (besides probably Jaune), she knows what it’s like to be in his shoes---to be the youngest in the presence of older more experienced and possibly better huntsmen than her and have to work harder to prove yourself and show that you have a  right to be there.

 At least in Ruby’s case, she was fortunate to have Yang joining her at Beacon to look out for her and help her open up to others.

But with Oscar, he doesn’t have that luxury. He doesn’t have any immediate family to turn to or watch over him. He doesn’t even have Ozpin anymore. 

Oscar is all alone now so Ruby cares because she wanted to at least let him know that he still had someone there for him. 

That he didn’t just have to depend on Ozpin or Ironwood or handle things on his own all the time. He also had her on her side, looking out for him and standing by him no matter what.

I like the idea of Ruby voicing why she cares so much for Oscar since I can see it sparking JNR forming their own interest in looking out for Oscar. After all, it’s not just Ruby who has been in Oscar’s shoes. All three of them share this. I can see Ruby’s protectiveness of Oscar resonating with Jaune since it might remind me of how Pyrhha used to look out for him too. 

In a way, Ruby is technically Oscar’s version of Pyrhha and this realization could make Jaune see that he’s been where Oscar is as well as an underdog.

The same can be said for Ren and Nora. It was the same for them too. They wouldn’t be where they are currently if they didn’t have each other having their back through thick and thin.

I just think hearing Ruby say why she cares to much for Oscar would be an interesting way to sort of inspire JNR taking an interest in joining Ruby in looking out for the freckled farm boy too since in their own way, they’ve all been where he currently stands and understands the importance of having someone by your side as you go.

Personally I really need the Writers to do better on showing that Oscar is meant to be part of the team on his own bearings outside of Ozpin’s influence while supposedly emphasizing that the others care about him too.

No offense but each attempt they’ve done so far just makes me as the viewer watching feel like all of this is only being done because the Writers write it to be so for the purpose of the plot and not because the plot itself surrounding the relationship between these said group of characters that they’ve built upon thus far supports this development; y’know what I’m saying.

Take V6 C9 for example. I know folksl have heard me rip into this episode many times before and I apologize for doing it again here but…as a Pinehead and someone who’s favourite RWBY character is Oscar, I can’t look past how much the Writers mishandled him for that episode.

The writing decisions for Oscar’s part of that episode’s narrative still bothers me even now that we’re on the brink of V7’s premiere.

I understand that V6 C9 was meant to sort of express that Oscar is officially part of the group and everyone values him in that light and all that jazz, but I’m so sorry guys. That bit felt forced to me (like so many things about that one episode). I didn’t buy into Jaune’s sudden change in attitude towards Oscar or any of his remarks acknowledging him as part of the team since we didn’t really get to see him bond with Oscar in that manner. Hence my eternal disappointment of the CRWBY Writers not killing two birds with one stone by having Jaune and Oscar reunite and reconcile at the Pyrhha statue.

All of my gripes for this episode would immediately disappear if the Pyrhha leaf had led Jaune to finding Oscar standing at the foot of the statue of his former fallen teammate. That to me would’ve been more poetic.

But nah, I guess Jaune meeting the red-haired woman who might as well have been a ghost (since she vanishes immediately out of the story as quickly as she appeared) was a better, more fitting idea given how this subplot started.

 Yep, I guess revealing Oscar’s new huntsman gear in a rather contrived way was far more important than showing him and Jaune actually sharing a genuine heart to heart to help properly discuss and shed any previous animosity and misunderstanding left behind by their previous tense scuff. Yep. Good shit.

But that aside, what I’m mostly trying to say is, if we get another subplot for V7 where Oscar suddenly goes missing again prompting JNR_RWBY to go find him, I hope a better job is done to show how much the others care about Oscar.

If not the whole team then at least, show how much Oscar means to the members of his Golden Circle: Team RNJR. I still stand by my theory that Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren are destined to be Oscar’s closest confidants, particular Ruby Rose.

I do think a ‘Missing Oscar Part II’ story is possible to happen for V7 only this time, he’d probably been abducted by the Atlesian military and used as lab rat in Ironwood’s desperate attempt at saving the world pitting our heroes against the General and his forces as betrayal is in motion. And when it goes down, I’m hoping these four---RNJR--- are at the forefront of getting Oscar back---

Ruby as Oscar’s potential best friend (and love interest if romance is in the cards) and JNR as Oscar’s potential huntsmen team and surrogate family.

That’s my theory at least. Besides, if Oscar suddenly disappears again then I’m definitely banking on someone (probably Nora)  making the meta joke about Oscar going shopping. 

‘We need to find Oscar. He’s missing and he could be in danger!’ ‘...You sure he didn’t go shopping again.’

I think that bit is mandatory if we do get that story for V7. But as always, these are just my thoughts, theories and ideas.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Squiggle Scripts #022: “Playing Pretend”

Picture it.

Heroes’ Day Out!

While staying in Atlas, our young heroes of RWBY and the JN(O)R gang decide to take a day off to explore the sights. During their excursion, due to their differing interests, the group decides to split up into four pairs: Ren and Nora, Blake and Yang, Weiss and Jaune and lastly, Ruby and Oscar.

Ruby was really enthusiastic about checking out the Atlesian Delta Mall---a giant shopping precinct within the kingdom that was very popular with the local youths because of its entertainment arena home to an arcade and a giant movie complex among other fun areas. 

At first the Rosebuds were happily enjoying themselves. However things turn sour when Oscar gets separated from Ruby while exploring the wall.

During his search for his missing rose, Oscar’s lone trek across the complex leads him to bump into a rather interesting group of people Before Oscar got a chance to even apologize to who he bumped into, he suddenly found himself swarmed on all sides by four girls who practically towered over him.

One girl was a proud blonde by the name of Clementine Pell. Another girl, a brunette with glasses was Naomi Navy. The third girl, a walking body of pink, was Ran Orchid and finally the fourth girl, Yasmine Alba---a red-eyed beauty with long hair as white as snow.

Oscar swallowed nervously as the girls flocked around him.  Suddenly he felt like a worm trapped in a cage of hungry canaries.

Clementine: Well what do we have here ladies? Looks like a little prince has lost his way.

Naomi: Ooh you're right Clem! He does look like a prince.

Ran: He’s such a cutie pie. I love his freckles! I can just eat him up!  

Yasmine: Quit acting so thirsty Ran. What's your name, sugar pie?

Oscar: *awkwardly* Uh...I---Os---Oscar.

Ran: Ooh Oscar!

Naomi: Like Gold!

Clementine: So you're a golden prince.

Oscar: Uh, if you'll excuse I really need to catch up with my---

Oscar attempted to walk past one of the girls---the snow-haired one---but to his dismay, she snaked her around one of his.

Yasmine: What's the rush, darling?

Ran: Yeah, why don't you come hang out with us?

Clementine: You wouldn't want to refuse the company of four beautiful girls like us now won't you?

Yasmine: Won't you!

Oscar: I...I...

Just when Oscar believed he was a goner, a glimmer of red caught his eyes as Ruby Rose came into view.

Ruby: There you are!  I've been looking all over for you.

Oscar: *in relief* Ruby!

Instantly, Oscar wiggled his way out of the snow-haired girl’s grip and joined Ruby at her side. Ruby smiled at Oscar before training her attention on the four girls who eyed her with stern expressions.

The blonde one even got up in Ruby’s face.

Clementine: Excuse me but we saw him first!

Ran: Yeah paws off our little prince!

Ruby: *blinking confusedly* Your little… what now?

She looked at Oscar.

Ruby: Oscar, do you know these girls? 

Oscar: No I've never seen them in my life.

Ruby: *frowning crossly* Are they harassing you?

Oscar: I---

Yasmine: He was about to get to know us personally before you butted in.

Naomi: Buzz off!

Ran: Yeah, who do you think you are?

Ruby: Oh where are my manners? The name’s Ruby Rose and…

Ruby draped one arm around Oscar’s shoulder pulling him closer to her with a big beaming smile.

Ruby: I'm his girlfriend!

CNRY: *in unison* What!

Oscar: Wait...what? 

Clementine: *hands on hips; appearing skeptical* Funny, you don't seem like his girlfriend.

Yasmine: Yeah like a cutie prince like him would ever date ugly peasant trash like you.

Oscar: *frowning defensively* Hey! Don't talk to her like----

Ruby: It's okay, sweetie. I'll handle this.

Ruby glanced back at the four CNRY girls; the smile on her face now curling into a smirk.

Ruby: So you want proof, you say?

Before Oscar had time to react; the next thing the small farm boy knew, Ruby suddenly closed the space between them and planted her bare lips over his in a kiss.

At first, Oscar was caught off guard by the sudden invasion. His body stiffened at the first out of shock but after a while he slowly felt herself melt into the kiss and it was not long before that he actually started kissing Ruby back.

By the time the two parted, Oscar’s heart was like a drum in his chest. His cheeks were flushed; far more than usual as he just stood staring at Ruby.

He wasn’t the only one. When Ruby returned to the four girls, their faces were a perfect Picasso of astonishment, disappointment and unbridled rage. A masterpiece of human expression that brought the big Chesire-cat smile back to Ruby’s face.

Ruby: *smugly* Proof enough for you ladies? Or do you need more convincing?

Yasmine: *disgustedly* No thank you!

Clementine: Let's go girls. Before I lose my lunch.

Naomi & Ran: Totally!

Whipping their hair, the CNRY girls walked away; finally leave Ruby and Oscar to themselves once more.

Ruby: Phew! That was a close one. Sorry for that. It was the only thing I could think of. But at least they're gone now, right Oscar? 

Oscar: ...

Ruby: Oscar?

Ruby faces Oscar; finding him still staring at her.

Ruby: What's with that face! 

Oscar: I'm sorry! You...kissed me. You actually kissed me.

Ruby: *defensively* Yeah but it was a fake kiss. To help you with the---

Oscar: *frantically* I know I know! It's just...that was...well...my…

Ruby: …Wait, was that...your first kiss?

Oscar: *awkwardly*...Ye---Yeah. Pretty much, yeah. 

Ruby: Oh. Oh no. I’m so sorry!

Oscar: No! No! It's ok. Better you than those girls, right?  Besides...it was fine.

Ruby: *taken aback* Fine?

Oscar: As in good. *embarrassed* It’s…not exactly how I pictured our---I mean…my first kiss being but---y’know…

Ruby: *awkwardly*Well...uh...if it's any consolation, it was my first kiss too so…

Oscar: *incredulously* Wait...WHAT! That cannot be your first kiss. How?

Ruby: What do you mean how?

Oscar: I just...I mean I always figured you of all people would have kissed tons of guys before.

Ruby: Excuse me?

Oscar: I don't mean it any bad way. I just...I always figured a beautiful girl like you would have some tall handsome guy or y’know…several guys waiting for you back home in Vale.

Ruby: *snorts* That's…really weird but really sweet of you to assume but...no.

Oscar: *still in disbelief* Really? Not even at Beacon?

Ruby: Well at Beacon I was pretty much the runt of the school. Youngest huntress to be accepted, remember?

Oscar: Yeah but...you're also pretty amazing.

Ruby: *laughingly* Trust me. If you had met me back then, you wouldn't think that. 

Oscar: I doubt it. If you were just as cool and kind as you are now, I would've liked you sooner. *jokingly* Y’know beat out all those guys in line for your hand.

Ruby: *giggling* Oh please. I didn't even have a date to the school dance. Me having a line of guys chasing after me. That’s rich!

Oscar: I should've been at Beacon. 

Ruby: Why’d you say that?

Oscar: So I could’ve asked you to the dance.

Ruby: *snorts* Pffft! Again, really sweet of you Oscar but… you would’ve been 13. That’s younger than I was.

Oscar: *smiling* So? I'd still ask you.

Ruby: *blushing slightly* Well tell you what? If there's ever another dance, you'd be my first choice for my date.

Oscar: *grinning* I'm going to hold you to that. It’s a date. And…uh… speaking of dates…

Oscar took Ruby’s hand, looking at her warmly.

Oscar: Ms. Rose, would you do me the honour of going on a date with me right now?

Ruby:*snickering* Do me the honour?

Oscar: *embarrassedly* What? Tha---That’s how the guys asked out the girls back home. It’s a farm folk custom!

Ruby:*laughing* You’re not serious!

Oscar: *huffily* It is! You Valerian city girls just don’t know common courtesy.

Ruby: *teasingly* Jokes on you, I’m a Patch girl, born and raised. Besides I meant about the date thing. You’re not serious about that, right?

Oscar: Actually I am. We still have a couple hours to kill before we meet back up with the others, right? And…there’s a perfectly good movie theatre right over there that’s showing all three Grimm Samurais movies with a food court that gives out free popcorn to couples. Besides I think those crazy girls from before might still be lurking around. You mind playing my girlfriend for a few more hours?

Ruby: *excitedly* You had me at Grimm Samurais! Let’s go!

Oscar: *grinning* After you, snookums.

Ruby gave Oscar a weird look; brows raised. Oscar blushed.

Oscar: *defensively* What? It---It’s part of the pretend.

Ruby: Y’know what’s also part of the pretend. You paying for me.

Oscar: What!

Ruby: Now c’mon Oscar, what kind of pretend boyfriend would you be if you didn’t treat your cute pretend girlfriend to our pretend movie date? Isn’t that right pumpkin?

Oscar: *pouting* I’m going to pretend dump you.

Ruby: Can’t cause you’re pretend madly in love with me!

Ruby sticks out her tongue at Oscar playfully before skipping off before he could say anything else. Oscar only shook his head as he only stared after the Silver eyed huntress. He then sighed dreamily.

‘…Or maybe I’m just in love with you for real…’ Oscar thought; an affectionate smile already tugging at his lips. With that, the young farm boy caught up to Ruby; taking her hand in his again as she in turn beamed brightly and tugged him forward in eager excitement, as the two rosebuds entered the mall theater together.

And scene.

Squiggly Scriptwriter’s Commentary:

This has been sitting in my drafts for weeks and I didn’t realize how adorkably cheesy this was until I finished editing it. So much cheese. Hope no one reading is lactose intolerant.

This spawned from the random idea of what if… Ruby fake-out made out with Oscar to get him out of a sticky scenario with a group of fangirls. I quite like the romance trope of the fated pair fake kissing each other for show only for their real feelings to surface later in the plot.

I was planning on releasing this script earlier but…y’know busy bug syndrome got in the way. It wasn’t until I saw @blackhakumen​ beat me to the punch with his own version of the “playing pretend” trope for Rosegarden, that I finally figured it’s about time I finished this. You can almost say his work gave me the push to finally wrap this up! Thanks for the motivation boast with your script Black. If you haven’t, check out Mini Fanfic #64: My Boyfriend by Blackhakumen.

I haven’t written anything this cheesy for Rosegarden since my ‘A-Dork You!’ RWBY Squiggle Script. Good times. I still love that script.

A special thank you bunches of oats to my fellow Garden Rosebud @miki-13​ for loaning me their lovely OCs who cameoed in this script.

The CNRY girls are from Miki’s RWBY fanfic---‘Reconciliation’. If you haven’t already checked it out, I’d definitely recommend it to you guys. It’s a fantastic read that not only tells an excellent interpretive follow-up from the events of V6 but it also includes an original cast of interesting characters. Seriously check it out.

I hope you didn’t mind the cameo Miki. When I first thought up this script, I was originally going to go with a random character but then I remembered your CNRY girls. Sorry if me borrowing them was for something as cheesy as this. The CNRY girls served their part well. I just hope I did your girls justice here.

More RWBY Squiggles Scripts

 ~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Musings #70:  The Boy in the Lonely Tower. Imagine if…Salem captures Oscar and imprisons him inside a tower similar to hers from the Lost Fable?

This is actually going to be a very short musing because I wanted it to be a quick follow up to this musing post I shared earlier today. In this last musing, I proposed the concept of a potential Dark Domain Arc in RWBY. Now this isn’t the usual one I talked about before involving Oscar and Ruby surviving Salem’s Domain together while separated from their friends and teammates. This is an alternate version of that arc concept in which only Oscar is taken prisoner by Salem after surrendering himself over to her as a means of saving his comrades who were outnumbered and overpowered by Salem’s forces during the Battle for Atlas. For the full details on that theory of mine, I encourage you to check out the original musing post.

Anyways, in sharing this theory I missed something. Often in my theories, I have a habit of making parallels. Whether its parallels to RWBY and other series (such as Steven Universe and Kingdom Hearts) or in-canon moments and characters, I really like it when RWBY introduces elements that could easily be tied back to things they already did in the past. I think that’s always a nice way for a story to highlight that even the smallest of details that often get overlooked in a plot can tie into something else that happens later in the narrative.

That being said, in sharing my theory about Oscar becoming a prisoner of Salem, I didn’t realize the opportunity for the perfect potential parallel between the RoseGarden and Fairy Tale pairings.

As you guys may recall, in the original Fairy Tale story, Salem was once the beautiful maiden who was locked away in a tower by her cruel father for reasons unknown until she was eventually found and saved by the valiant hero, Ozma who freed her from her imprisonment. After that, the two fell deeply in love and the rest of their love story is history.

In another RoseGarden-themed musing post I shared before, I made a point about there being similarities between Salem and Oscar while at the same time indicating to similarities between Ruby Rose and Ozma. Both Ruby and Ozma possess righteous hearts that condemned them to become heroes and fight for the honour of protecting the people.

Picture …Oscar locked away inside a single room within an unexplored sector of Salem’s Domain inside her fortress in the Land of Darkness. A single room heavily guarded by Grimm and sealed off by dark magic which can only be broken by Salem or a power closer to hers (keep that point in mind by the way).

If Oscar becomes the boy trapped in the lonely tower then Ruby will become the valiant champion destined to free him from his enchanted imprisonment. I’m also picturing Salem stripping Oscar of his previous huntsmen attire and dressing him in robes more akin to what Diggs (well technically Ozma) wore during their reign as rulers of New Remnant. The more I think about this theory, the more I’m falling in love with this idea and the potential standalone arc it’s attached to.

Remember that image of Salem staring out her tower from the Lost Fable?

 Picture… a similar moment with a captive Oscar Pine, dressed in robes of pine green and oscar gold (Ozma’s colours ironically even though they’re also the colours in Oscar’s full name) staring forlornly out the window of his tower within the Dark Domain waiting for a freedom he wasn’t sure was going to come anymore and waiting for a hero---or beautiful silver-eyed heroine that he wasn’t sure existed anymore given the notion that for my theory, I had Oscar be taken prisoner following the destruction of Atlas leaving on a miserable note of him witnessing the kingdom fall from the skies with his friends possibly trapped within its walls.

I like the idea of Oscar being taken prisoner without knowing whether his friends survived the kingdom fall or not. Less hope for him to cling to and more ammunition for Salem and her minions to torture him with when they unceremoniously come to visit him during his incarceration. Picture this:

RWBY Squiggle Script #009: The Visitor 

Salem visits Oscar inside the tower for the first time since his imprisonment. At this point, it had been two weeks since Oscar was brought to the Dark Domain. Two weeks since the Fall of Atlas. Since he saw his friends possibly perish in the kingdom fall. Not that Oscar could tell anyways. Every day in the Dark Domain looked like night fall to the point that Oscar was slowly beginning to forget his memories of the sun since darkness is all he’s seen that day.

At this point, Oscar had been made to think of his lonely tower as his new home and had gotten used to a routine. He would be fed one meal a day and it was usually at nightfall---well what Oscar could assume was nightfall. He could never be sure. His meal would usually be fed to him through a small latch on the door to his room where someone would always push in his plate for him. Like an animal being kept at a zoo.

But on this particular night, things was different. Different because Salem appeared to Oscar, interrupting the dinner her had refused to eat again until he got too hungry of starving himself out of spite. At this point after spending a total of fourteen darkest days and nights trapped in a tower with barely any food and with the deaths of his friends still fresh on his psyche, one could already begin to fathom that Oscar was more than a little peeved to see the Wicked Witch appear to him in person.

Salem: Hello Ozpin. Oh right, I forgot. You don’t go by Ozpin anymore, do you? What are you called now?

Oscar: *bitter and angry* Oscar.

Salem: *dryly* Hmn. Oscar. Ozpin…Ozma. I liked your name better when it was still Ozma. Made it a lot easier when it was just one of you. Just Ozma. My Ozma before the Gods got to him. Turned him against me. After a while I just got tired of having to learn all of your other names. Not like they mattered.

Oscar: *angrily* What do you want?

Salem: *dryly* I thought I’d come visit. You are, after all, a guest in my home. I just wanted to make sure you were feeling comfortable during your long stay.

Salem then cracked a smile but her attempts at uncharacteristic small talk only served to upset Oscar further. Once more, after spending 14 days alone trapped in a room in a dark world far from the friends he knew could possibly be dead all thanks to the woman standing before him, Oscar wasn’t having any of Salem’s nonsense. And so the farm boy snapped.

Oscar: Why don’t you just kill me already? That’s why you’re here, right? You’re not fooling me so why don’t you do us both a favour and spare me your bull-crap!  

Salem: My, my, my and here I thought you were such a well-mannered young man.

She then chuckles lightly before snapping her fingers. The next thing Oscar knew, he’s suddenly forced to his knees by some unknown crushing pressure that rendered him immobile. Try as he may, he couldn’t move. It was as if he had lost complete control of his own body but not in a way he was familiar with. This wasn’t Ozpin assuming control. This was the work of Salem’s dark magic.

Salem: Why must you always pick the feisty ones, Ozma?

Salem snapped his fingers again and this time, Oscar finds himself slammed against the wall behind him. Pain sears through Oscar’s back and he couldn’t help but cry out as Salem suspends his body in front of her. She then pressed one pale, bony finger to Oscar’s right cheek. Her long blackened nails digging into his skin so deeply, it left a thin line of blood in its trail down Oscar’s face.

Salem: Trust me boy. As much as I would love to end your pathetic excuse for a life right here and now, I’m afraid killing you as is wouldn’t grant me the satisfaction I crave. You’d just come back. That’s the problem. You always come back no matter how many times I try to snuff you out. What I plan on doing to you will make death seem like mercy. And my intention is to make you suffer for every bit of pain you and those Gods caused me.

Oscar: *bitterly* Pain caused to you?! You brought this on yourself! I saw your past. What you did to Remnant! You used people. You used Ozma! You’re selfish!

Salem: And you’re a coward. Doesn’t matter how many lives you’ve lived or how many faces you’ve worn. You can play brave all you want, your arrogance isn’t going to help you this time. In the end you’ll just die like the rest of them. Alone, afraid and a bitter disappointment to those foolish enough to follow you. After all…

Salem gets close enough to whisper in Oscar’s ear.

Salem: …You couldn’t even save that poor Silver Eyed Girl. Such a pity.

Once again, Salem’s words only served to provoke Oscar even further. Oscar tries to lash out at Salem---to break free of her hold but her dark magic proves too strong. Every movement the former farm boy made only prolonged his torture which resulted in more amusement for Salem who couldn’t help but sneer at his futile efforts.

Salem: Aww. Hit a nerve, did I?

This caused Oscar to hiss again but his bravado ultimately crumbled to depressed tears at the thought of all the friends he lost back in Atlas, including Ruby. Especially Ruby. His sadness amused Salem further as she finally released him, dropping his pained form to the ground. 

With that, the Wicked Witch then slithered out of the room in silence, sealing it back shut with her magic and leaving a crying Oscar to nothing but his grief and his anguished tears. Alone again in the dark.  

And scene.

Once again, the more I think about this theory, the more I’m starting to really, really love it.

Another reason why I love this concept is because it can also present a chance for Oscar to awaken and master his magical potential. Imagine…Oscar becoming a prisoner of Salem forcing him to get in touch with his Wizard side, tapping into a power that only he as a reincarnation of Ozma and Wizard of Light can do. Perhaps this forced captivity will be what brings Oscar and Ozpin together as the two reconcile inside Oscar’s mind before Oz starts guiding Oscar on how to hone his magical skills.

Remember my earlier point about Salem locking Oscar in a room that can only be unlocked either by Salem or a power similar to hers?

Well what power does Salem possess? Magic. And who else can use magic besides Salem? Surely if Ozpin and all the other past Wizards inherited Ozma’s magical capability then so did Oscar.

Picture…Oscar using his time in captivity to train himself in using his magic, honing his control over it until he’s finally able to use it to break himself out of the lonely tower.

Don’t get me wrong. I still want Ruby to be the Ozma in Oscar’s version of the Lost Fable fighting her way through the Land of Darkness to come to his rescue.

However I also love the idea of Oscar learning to master control of his magic so that when the time comes for him to break down the door to his freedom, he’ll have to power to do so. And to his luck and pleasant surprise, waiting on the other side of the door is his beloved red rose who, along with their friends, survived the fall of the sky kingdom and braved Grimm infested lands just to be reunited with him again.

Pineheads. Rosegardeners. How does this sound for a potential arc? I would love it if something like this happens in the canon. But for now, as you know. It’s only a theory. Enjoy it while it’s still fresh.

More Squiggles’ RWBY Content

 ~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)