RWBY Character Anthology

Night (Oscar Pine)

He gasped violently as he sat up, a cold sweat trickled down from his forehead. The last time Oscar woke up like this was on that morning when he first saw Ozpin on his own reflection.

'There could only be one explanation,' he thought.

"Ozpin?" he asked his other half.

The old soul didn't reply.

"Are you... was that... your dream that we were having just then?"

'... I think you already know the answer to that.'

Oscar sucked in his breath and gave out a tired sigh. Even without Ozpin telling him, Oscar already sensed the professor's weariness. He pushed back the quilt off of him, slid off the bed and made his way out the door.

'Don't stray too far,' Ozpin's voice echoed in his mind.

"I won't."

He padded his bare feet onto the floorboards carefully, headed his way to the backdoor while carrying his boots in one hand. By the time he reached the door, he stealthily slipped on his boots as he tried not to make a sound.

A small thump reverberated the floor, bringing him to turn his head around. There he saw a pair of silver eyes reflecting the small light that she held in her hand.

"Oscar?" Ruby asked with a low, tired voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah..um..." the boy stammered. "I just needed a breath of fresh air. Sorry... if I woke you up."

"No," she shook her head. "It's fine. It's just that I need to tell you that you shouldn't go out there around this time of the night."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to walk too far from here-"

"-No, that's not it," she interjected.

Oscar then saw her face shift into a melancholic expression.

"That's not it," she repeated. "It's just that... Jaune's... training by himself outside at the moment..."

Ruby then lowered her head woefully.

"Ruby?"

"It'd be best that you shouldn't disturb him."

In the back of his mind, Oscar heard a faint murmur from the old soul, as if the late professor managed to put two and two together. Oscar, on the other hand, felt an unfounded sense of guilt and concern wash over him.

"What's wrong?" the boy asked.

After a short, but hesitant pause, Ruby steadily approached him and grabbed his wrist gently, gesturing him to follow her. The tips of her fingers felt cold on his skin whilst the palm of her hand emanated a gentle warmth. Without a word, she led him towards the closest window in a slow and silent motion. As they walked further along, Oscar could faintly hear the sound of a male voice's cry, followed by the sound of air being cut by a strong force.

By the time she reached towards a window, she stepped aside for Oscar to see what was happening outside.

There Oscar could vaguely see the familiar stature of Jaune Arc, swinging his sword with an incredible amount of force. For a while, Oscar stood in silence, watching Jaune slashing his sword in the air in his battle form. And then, in the corner of his eye, Oscar caught a glimpse of Ruby's hand clenched right close to her chest. When he looked up, her eyes were transfixed on Jaune's stances, a wash of saddened emotions reflected on her face.

There were no words to say at that moment, as neither one of them felt it was appropriate to speak. Even without Oscar's notice, Ozpin then slipped through and took over Oscar within that instant, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder in a kindly, comforting gesture.

Ruby turned her head towards Oscar and noticed the change in the boy's expression and demeanour. It didn't take long for her to realise it was Ozpin who was present now.

"Go back to bed now, Miss Rose," the professor then said as he turned his back towards the window. "We'll be having a long day ahead of us."

Without waiting for a reply, the old soul then returned his authority back to Oscar. The very moment he switched back to Oscar, the boy then noticed his hand on her shoulder and jerked as he put his hand away.

"Ah..." his voice cracked in panic. "Sorry."

The mere gesture of it brought a small giggle out of the silver-eyed girl. Just like that, Oscar felt a small sense of relief to see her saddened eyes lifted into a small cheer. He in turn chuckled a little out of embarrassment and then turned back towards the window. Ruby then turned back to the window as well as she said;

"Ever since we've been travelling, he's been doing this by himself without anyone's notice. He doesn't want to be disturbed."

She briefly lowered her chin, and then turned to the boy with as she quickly added;

"Oh, but, if you needed to go outside for a little while, you could go, um, but, just try not to disturb Jaune until... well, you know-"

"Okay," Oscar nodded. "Well, I guess I'll just go back to bed and-"

The backdoor then squeaked open, which was then followed by Jaune entering the room. The very minute Jaune's eyes spotted the two, his eyes widened briefly, only to relax with a faint smile.

"What are you guys doing up so late?" he asked.

In reply, Ruby and Oscar nervously laughed as if they were caught in the middle of some mischievous act.

Meanwhile, Ren and Nora poked their heads out from the corner of the hallway to spy on what had just taken place.