"Ha!" Jared said, looking at the still-horrified faces of Team RWBY upon seeing their guide for the week. "This is so gonna be worth it."
"Professor Oobleck?" Weiss asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, girls, seeing as you've opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission." Oobleck said, talking fast, per the norm, as he paces in front of the students. "I can assure you, we will not be establishing a single base of operations; rather, we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon. I packed all of our essentials myself, plotted our air course, and readied the airship. And…" He zooms up right to Weiss' face. "It's Doctor Oobleck. I didn't earn the PhD for fun, thank you very much!"
"And I'm just tagging along for the ride." Jared said, when Oobleck quickly backs away. "You guys have me here just for little hints and such."
Weiss looks over at Blake Belladonna, who is equally disturbed, "Uh…"
"Come now, children; according to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind!" Oobleck said, as an afterthought to clarify. "...schedule!"
"He isn't like me." Jared said, watching Oobleck zip off to the airship docked farther ahead in a second. "It's the best time of the year."
"Well, alright, then!" Ruby said, positive and upbeat before suddenly becoming as depressed as her team halfway through. "Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oooobleck- okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse."
"Save the world?" Nora asked.
Ruby's team turns around to see Nora and team JNPR approaching.
"You're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt...sad!" Nora said, being dramatic, before her stomach rumbles. "Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not your fault, though, Ren…"
"Well, you always go off world saving missions with me." Jared said, walking towards Nora. "All of you, Team JNPR."
"But you always split us up!" Nora said, when Lie Ren, for his part, simply crosses his arms and turns away. "I don't know if I'll be with you tomorrow."
"Sounds exciting. Where ya going?" Jaune asked.
"Oh, just outside the kingdom…" Ruby said.
"Hey! So are we!" Nora said, happily.
"Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village." Pyrrha said.
"We set out tomorrow." Ren said.
"Then you can party with us tonight!" Neptune said, as he and Sun approach the two groups. "We're shadowing a crime specialist. All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges."
"Wow, just wow." Jared said, when Jaune is awestruck. "I like being here. A bit more laid back and stuff."
"We normally go to the city with you guys, or we could go across all of time and space with you Jared, which means stuff's always exploding and junk, so we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know...normal." Sun said.
"Well…" Ruby said.
Oobleck appears from the airship to call to Team RWBY, who are embarrassed.
"Four minutes, ladies!" Oobleck said, as he goes back inside as their friends smile awkwardly at the girls.
"Well, uh…" Ruby said, throwing a thumbs-up. "Wish us luck!"
"Make sure to check your Scroll later, Jaune." Jared said, smiling. "You'll see why."
With that, the friends disband, either back to Beacon Academy or towards their mission.
Airship...
The airship is flying over buildings and streets amid deafening turbines.
"I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter." Yang said, looking at Oobleck.
"I admit I fancy myself more of an intellectual, but I can assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles." Oobleck said.
"Like the mushroom?" Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Those are truffles." Blake said, leaning over.
"Like the sprout?" Ruby asked, still scratching her head in befuddlement.
"Those are brussels." Yang said, also leaning over.
"You really are clueless, Little Red." Jared said, drinking some bubble tea. "He was saying he had some nice fights along the way."
"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw fit to assign me to this particular...assignment!" Oobleck said, continuing on with his rambling.
"What does history have to do with this?" Weiss asked.
"Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager." Oobleck said, turning sharply on Weiss.
"And that means...?"
"The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, but it is also the location to one of the kingdom's greatest failures!"
"Mountain Glenn." Ruby said.
"That's right! It was an expansion of Vale...but in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city." Yang said.
"Yup, it stands abandoned to this day as a dark reminder of what happened." Jared said, holding his cup of bubble tea.
"And a likely place for a hideout." Blake said.
"Precisely!" Oobleck said, adjusting his glasses and smiles.
Street...
The airship comes in over a spot of street amidst the ruined buildings and structures of the ruined area.
"Now this is what I call fun." Jared said, when the airship is hovering right above the ground, as he is holding a controller with the Augma headset on. "Ordinal Scale Activate."
A sword appeared in Jared's hand as he, Yang, Blake, Oobleck, Weiss, and Ruby all jump out of the craft with weapons drawn.
"You're going in with augmented reality." Ruby said, as Oobleck is simply holds his coffee canister before the ship flies away from the destruction. "No dual pistols or a lightsaber."
"I left them in your dorm room. This is all I need." Jared said, smiling.
"Ladies!" Oobleck said, calling the attention of Team RWBY. "You still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as Huntresses has begun! From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?" The girls nod, but he suddenly looks at Ruby, startling her. "Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school."
"But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't." Ruby said.
"She's not wrong…" Oobleck said, talking to himself before looking at Ruby. "Very well, Ruby; leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return."
"But I, well uh…"
"Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with…"
"She brought Zwei with her." Jared said, when the bag's zipper opens and out pops Zwei's head, causing everyone to stare at the uninvited guest. "One of my favorite dogs ever."
"Get back in the bag." Ruby said, whispering to her dog through the side of her mouth.
"That's a nope from the Corgi." Jared said, when Zwei merely barks in response.
"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought...a dog?" Oobleck asked.
"I, uh…" Ruby said.
"Genius!" Oobleck said, backing away long enough for Ruby to give a confused shrug before speeding past and snatching the pet away from the silver-eyed girl.
"And here comes a massive boost to Ruby's ego." Jared said, when Ruby tumbled to the ground as Oobleck spins Zwei in the air. "You could say that there's a Zwei Cooper in town."
"Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!" Oobleck said, and Zwei barks happily in his hands.
"I'm a genius!" Ruby stated, proudly after being stunned for the unexpected reaction from Oobleck.
"You're right, a total ego boost." Weiss said, walking towards Jared with Yang.
"You saw this coming from a mile away." Yang said.
"Yup." Jared said.
Weiss and Yang both facepalm at their grinning leader.
"So, what are your orders, Doctor?" Blake asked.
"Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it!" Oobleck said, suddenly lets go of Zwei, suspended in the air for less than a second before dropping down, to put his hands behind his back for a serious pose. "As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being...Grimm."
"Uh, what?" Ruby asked, as she is just as confused as her teammates for the redundancy.
"Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment."
"What?!" Yang exclaimed, and she turned to look like the other girls at the lone Beowolf wandering into the street, joining them in unleashing their weapons.
"I'm just gonna sit back and relax." Jared said, with his augmented reality sword out. "There's no need for me to fight right now."
"Stop!" Oobleck said, angrily.
"Huh?" Blake asked, lowering her Gambol Shroud like everyone else to listen.
"There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity: sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent."
"So...what now?" Ruby asked.
"We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey." Oobleck said.
"How long do we wait?" Blake asked.
"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months...and there's the whole pack." Oobleck said, and there are five Beowolves are already following the first.
"We do have the bumper family pack here." Jared said, laughing a lot.
"What?" Weiss asked.
"And those Beowolves have now seen us."
"What?!" Weiss asked, a bit louder.
"AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US!" Oobleck said, coming right up to Weiss' ear to shout.
"I take it tracking them is out of the question?" Ruby asked.
"An accurate assumption, yes."
"What's the plan, then?" Yang asked.
"We kick names, take ass." Jared said, as Team RWBY turns to their teacher as the creatures close in, black bars converging dramatically over the approaching animals. "Well, mostly you guys."
"He's right. Show me what you're capable of." Oobleck said.
"Cover your ears, Zwei!" Ruby said, swinging Crescent Rose to prepare it for shooting. "And Jared, take good care of him."
"Got it." Jared said, picking up Zwei who covered his ears by curling into a ball. "It's okay Zwei."
"Now this is what I call fun." Yang said, running towards a Beowolf. "You say that I can't take out a Grimm."
"I meant that you can't handle your temper tantrums." Jared said, with Yang knocking out the Beowolf in one fiery punch as they pass. "Maybe I should shut up."
"You should." Yang said, as several Grimm stopped chasing her. "Where are they going?"
"After Blake." Jared said, watching the Grimm heading towards Blake, as the Faunus stands still and waits with hand on her hilt until one of the enemy swipes at her afterimage. "That's what."
"Your talking is kinda distracting." Blake said, slicing her would-be attacker in half before slashing through another and cutting down on one more. "You're not really fighting here."
"Maybe because he thinks us fighting is more important." Weiss said, running from several black-coated beasts behind Blake. "Than actually helping us." She jumped into the air and taking one down with Myrtenaster. "Which is stupid really."
"Tell me about it." Blake said, as Weiss dashes towards the Grimm with rapier held high and slays four of them in a straight line until she stops. "He is playing with Zwei."
"At least he is protecting him." Ruby said, when a wave of Beowolves are converging on her, but the scythe wielder shoots multiple bullets at the oncoming force. "How's it going with my good boy?"
"Besides him being absolutely adorable." Jared said, watching Zwei chasing his own tail. "Not much."
Zwei stops to watch his owner fire forward and, after a dramatic mid-air stare-off, cut the single remaining Grimm in two.
"Heh. Piece of cake!" Ruby said, lifting her weapon towards Oobleck.
"Do not celebrate yet, for I am certain this is the first bout of many. Shall we continue?" Oobleck asked.
"I'm not sure that letting Team RWBY doing all the work is a good idea." Kirito said, his voice over Jared's Augma. "Like, they need your help."
"Nope." Jared said, as Ruby cuts through another Grimm. "They don't."
"He's right you know." Asuna said, while Blake is slicing the previous shift. "You should go out there and help out."
"I don't need to." Jared said, looking over at Oobleck rooting through a plant as Grimm parts fall around him. "Got to go."
Jared ran off, as he and Oobleck are center in the faces of tired Huntresses.
"Excellent work, girls!" Oobleck said, happily crying ad the newest batch of slain monster corpses start smoking. "Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh, well! Moving on!"
"Hey, Doc, y'know, I was actually looking forward to seeing a 'pro Huntsman' in action. Like, fighting, or at least, helping us fight?" Yang irritably asked, as they're following Oobleck, with Ruby sheathing her scythe and beckoning Zwei to follow.
"Ah, but I am in action! Scouring the ruins of this once-great city for any signs of irregularity!" Oobleck said, over his shoulder, before fully facing Team RWBY. "Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism, girls. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination!"
"And nope, not in the form of the Daleks saying 'Exterminate!'" Jared said, looking at Yang's reluctantly-accepting face. "You're ignited today, Yang."
"Remember, this is a job, and you all signed up for it. I do hope you understand that." Oobleck said, coming up with a serious rebuttal to what Yang said.
"Well, yeah…" Yang said, trying to sound more resolute with her answer. "O...Of course!"
"Hmm…" Oobleck, walking towards Yang with his opaque glasses.
"Now today isn't that bad." Jared said, as he is playing fetch with Zwei. "Good dog. Aww, I love you already."
"Jared." Kirito said, his voice over the Augma. "You're seriously gonna be a mage today. Or a sniper."
"You know you could say we can come to Beacon." Asuna said, her voice over the Augma.
"Not now, Asuna." Jared said, watching Team RWBY get another victory. "That's what I call a sweet, Sweet Victory, girls!"
"So, no Mr Blue Sky." Yang said, as Oobleck is amid the noise of fired shots.
"Nope."
Oobleck and Yang away are walking from the group.
"Tell me, Yang. Why did you choose this line of work?" Oobleck asked.
"Huh?" Yang asked, coming up with an answer, under Oobleck's gaze. "Well, to fight monsters and save…"
"No, that is what you do. I want to know why you do it. The honest reason as to why you want to be a Huntress." Oobleck said, cutting Yang off.
"The honest reason? I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?" Yang asked, coming up with an answer, while considering her reason.
"I see."
A couple minutes later...
"Now this is what I call fun." Jared said, still playing around with Zwei as he spotted a Beowolf's claw head towards Weiss. "Right, Zwei?"
Oobleck is sitting on a high windowsill writing in his journal while Weiss fights off Beowolves below, "And you, Miss Schnee? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So...why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?"
"It's exactly as you said: I'm a Schnee." Weiss said, after she impales the last foe on her blade and drops the body. "I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty."
"Interesting." Oobleck said, nodding his head and walking away with Jared.
"It is a nice day to play with a dog." Kirito said, his voice over the Augma. "What will you do with us later?"
"Oh, I don't know." Jared said, walking towards Blake to see her slash a door down and releases a swarm of small Nevermores from the building. "Maybe bring you guys with me to the Moon."
"The Moon?" Asuna asked, while Blake back-flips under before she shoots all the Nevermore with her blade's pistol form. "That does sound like fun."
"And what about you, Blake? You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose." Oobleck said, as he examines the inside of the doorway.
"There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption...someone has to stop it." Blake said.
"Very well. How?"
"I, Uh…" Blake said, and suddenly she cannot answer the question.
Oobleck "Hmm's" to himself, then dashes away with Jared, leaving Blake to bow her head in troubled thought.
Later, Ruby is using her weapon in the most practical fashion and lifting a whole turkey on the sharp end of her gun to tease a jumping and flipping Zwei with. That is, until she spots her teacher and Jared watching, quickly sheathing Crescent Rose.
"Sorry! Uh...are we ready to keep going?" Ruby asked.
"Nope! I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon." Oobleck said, throwing his bag over to Yang, who makes a sound when she catches it. "You four, set up camp in that building. Oh, and please do make sure there are no more of those... creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come, Ruby."
"Great." Weiss said, walking away with Jared, Blake, and Yang. "He's probably gonna ask Ruby some questions about her life choices."
"He already knows what I wanted to do in life." Jared said, skipping around. "But still, this isn't right."
Oobleck and Ruby start walking away from the rest of RWBY, who each look at their leader, knowing what she'll be asked.
Street...
As Oobleck and Ruby round the corner of a building.
"Whaaaa…" Ruby said, looking at the wide forest stretching below the ruin, and in the midst of it, a line of giant elephants with the black and white features of animals of darkness marching through the trees. "What is that? It looks awesome!"
"That, my dear girl, is a Grimm." Oobleck said.
Ruby stares at the lumbering mass of monsters in amazement and awe before pulling out her gun, "Let's kill it."
"I'm afraid your sniper rifle will do nothing more than agitate a Grimm of that size."
"But...what if it attacks us?" Ruby asked.
"Fret not, Ruby; those Goliaths are not concerned with us. Ruby, not every Grimm is mindless, or rather not every Grimm is still mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they've undoubtedly lived hundreds of years, and in that time between killing humans and attacking our borders, they have done one important thing: They've learned. They've learned that when they attack our borders, they're likely to die, and what we lack in strength, we make up for in will, and that killing one human will only bring more." Oobleck said, as one Goliath swivels its thick neck to look at the figures watching their procession, eyes glowing as fiery red as any other Grimm.
"Then why are they still so close to the city? What are they doing?"
"Waiting." Oobleck said, and the Goliath turns its head forward again and moves on with its kin.
Oobleck turns around and walks away as well, and Ruby puts away her weapon, not moving.
"Doctor Oobleck?" Ruby asked.
"Hmm?" Oobleck asked.
"I was wondering…" Ruby said.
"Wondering why I've been interrogating your teammates all day?" Oobleck asked, as he stopped walking to turn back and look at Ruby.
"A...Actually, I was wondering...why did you want to become a Huntsman?"
"Look around and tell me what you see."
Ruby takes a look around, "Lots of old buildings, uh, empty streets…"
"I see lives that could have been saved." Oobleck said, as he continued walking with Ruby beside him and Zwei at their heels. "As a Huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I'm able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland, and I see lives that could have been saved, but I also see an opportunity; an opportunity to study these ruins and learn from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger." He stops for his final answer. "I am a Huntsman, Ruby, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be."
Oobleck and Ruby continued walking.
Building…
"I don't know if I can do this." Jared said, sitting up on the ledge and looking out at the view. "Traveling with the Doctor, and saving the day with you guys."
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, as she, Blake, and Yang has done as instructed, building a fire in the center of the room and huddling around it or standing up. "Want to explain?"
"I don't know."
"I can't believe we didn't find anything…" Yang said.
"We've always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always have luck on our side." Blake said.
"That's not what I meant." Weiss said, going off topic.
"Huh?"
"Earlier, about...upholding the legacy. There's more to it than that."
"Yeah...no, me too. I mean...I don't know." Yang said.
"I don't know, either. I know what I want to do, but I figured I'd always take things one step at a time." Blake said.
"Well, it doesn't matter. We know why we're here. Right?"
"I don't know at this point." Jared said, looking over at Weiss, Blake, and Yang when the three girls merely stare at him in silence. "After traveling for so long, I don't feel like myself. I'm tired. I'm so tired."
"Ah, wonderful; a textbook campfire!" Oobleck said, as he suddenly come rushing into the room.
"Fire!" Ruby said, coming in behind Oobleck and immediately sits next to the blaze alongside Zwei. "So...warm…"
"Very good! Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?"
"Yo." Ruby said, lifting an arm while still looking into the fire.
"Come on, Little Red." Jared said, as Oobleck rushes off. "Saved ya a seat."
"Thanks." Ruby said, getting up to go over to her lookout point, and to give Jared some company. "I really appreciate it."
"Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean...what did you tell him?" Yang asked, as she walked in front of Ruby, stopping her.
"Hmm...no, he didn't. Weird. Oh, well; good night, guys!" Ruby said, continuing on her way, without a second carefree thought.
Yang looks disappointed in the lack of an answer. Blake is similarly troubled as she unrolls her mat, Weiss tries lying down but fails to sleep, Yang half-heartedly eats her dinner of bread rolls.
"The Army of Ghosts is coming up." Jared said, placing his hand on top of Ruby's. "As well as Doomsday. I don't know if I should be happy or sad."
"You know that Rose is gonna go." Ruby said, looking over at Jared. "I haven't lost anyone yet. Anyone close to me."
"I know. But the Vytal Tournament will change everything. As well as the Year that Never Was. Our lives will be different."
"Yeah. Can we change history?"
Soon, all three Huntresses are on their backs around the fire, weapons within easy access, wondering why they are there.
Ruby, meanwhile, is sitting in the windowsill of the room with Jared as Zwei goes over to them upon hearing the howling of Beowolves. She pets her pooch on the back.
"Don't worry. Things will be better tomorrow." Ruby said, smiling.
Master and pet look out onto the rubble with Jared and stare in silence.