[ There's a little "heh", but it's an empty sound as he reaches for his flask. He has a feeling he'll need to be refilling it more often than usual in the coming days.
... Or the coming hours, even. ]
Well, I think you know the big question, so I'll get right to it.
[ A delay, as he takes a long drink from the flask, heaving a sigh that turns into his inquiry. ]
[ ozpin has told the story so many times thusfar, that it almost weighs heavily in his stomach as he begins. he's modified it, with every person -- his students received the most censored version. i'm alive. everything will be fine. have faith. and james and glynda received most of the truth. it isn't good, but i'm alive. have faith.
qrow, though.... ]
I was in the Vault, with Pyrrha Nikos, and Jaune Arc -- another student. [ give qrow doesn't keep tabs on ozpin's students. ] Pyrrha was going to accept Amber's aura, but Cinder killed Amber before I could complete the process, and absorbed the remains of Amber's power. I told Jaune and Pyrrha to leave, to get you, James, and Glynda -- and they left the Vault.
[ ozpin pauses, there, and his brow furrows -- some of it is hard to remember, because cinder hit him pretty hard. and he could go into detail, about the fight, but strategy can come later. qrow needs to know the bare facts, not how cinder fights. he knows. he's seen amber. ]
... I was too slow. [ finally, with a weary smile to qrow. ] She broke my aura, and managed to best me. She then went to the top of the tower, where... well. I am certain you know the rest.
[ "I was too slow". A man who can literally slow time itself to a virtual standstill was too slow. The power of the Maidens is fearsome, no doubt, but that's something he didn't think Cinder would be able to do on her own. But then again, that kind of power doesn't often fall into the hands of one with such vicious, aggressive purpose.
It was their life's work to make sure it never did, and they'd failed pretty miserably.
He doesn't bother to recount the details of the aftermath just yet - of Pyrrha Nikos and what became of her, or what it brought out in Ruby. Because the question Qrow really wants an answer to has yet to be answered. ]
Alive, but where? All we found was your cane - where did you go?
[ and now, the crux of it. whether or not to tell the truth.
glynda, surely, would react poorly. she is already weighed down with too much. james, too, would react poorly, but in a much different way. internalizing it, with quiet guilt and pressure, until it beat him down, too. both of them are better off without knowing, not until ozpin is certain.
qrow, though, ozpin can trust to be honest. and open. and while he copes with his pain in a wholly unhealthy way, ozpin knows when he's feeling it. more than that, qrow is in the field. qrow is ozpin's eyes and ears, and he would understand why ozpin has been silent thusfar.
so, he pauses -- obviously weighing out whether or not to tell him, before... ]
I believe I was taken to Salem.
[ it's said evenly, with no show of fear or anxiety. calmly stated, as if talking about the weather. ]
He takes a deep breath in, heaving out a sigh as he runs his hand over his face a few times. Salem. It's not like he thought she'd sit and wait forever, she was bound to make a move eventually, and of course he knew she had to have a hand in what happened to Vale. Who else would be able to come up with a strategy to effectively coincide an attack on the school with an onslaught of Grimm - more than that, who else would want to? Cinder was obviously there under her command, to steal the Maiden's powers and take down the tower in the process.
He just thought they had more time.
But there's a bright side to this, as absurd as it may sound - Ozpin's been taken to her. That means, at the very least, she wants him alive for the time being. It's a very, very small comfort, but it's a comfort. ]
[ there's a soft huff of air -- barely a laugh -- at the expletive, because -- understatement. ozpin's life is hardly worth more than anyone else's, but what awaits him will not be kind. his world is going to burn, and salem is going to force him to watch. he has no kindness ahead of him, but he's far tougher than he looks. he'll hardly crack. ]
You are the only one.
[ quietly, watching him carefully, with a slight frown ]
Glynda and James were told that I was taken, but that I was not willing to say a name until I was certain who. And given that nearly all of my students approached me with with tears and "Professor Ozpin, you're alive", I hardly saw need to add additional stress to their lives by explaining what awaits me. They simply know that I am alive.
[ the latter, clearly, bothers him more than the previous -- ozpin hardly wants his students to think he's dead -- but they all received the truth. more or less. ]
Cinder, to my knowledge, has not told anyone. Mercury and Emerald both seemed to think I was dead -- or, at least, incapacitated, given Cinder had made it to the top of the tower.
[ He nods slowly - it's a secret he'll keep pretty easily. He managed to not tell Yang her own mother was still alive and in semi-regular contact with him, so. You know. Secrets are sort of his thing, too.
He shoves one hand in his pocket, taking another drink - do not judge him, Ozpin - before his expression lightens just a bit. ]
[ ozpin can always count on qrow to keep his mouth shut when he requires it to be, and he watches with mild disapproval as qrow takes another drink. you could at least enjoy some semblance of good liquor, qrow, for the love of -- ]
... yes.
{ mildly enough, though it's obvious ozpin is trying to hide a smile, appearing ponderous ]
I seem to remember an individual predicting that was going to happen, but I can't recall the genius' name for the life of me.
[ There hadn't been a trace of her up there, either - if only she'd been frozen as the dragon had been, Qrow would have been sure to throw her right off the tower in hopes that the fall would just break her into pieces. He wants to hope that Ruby's eyes just evaporated her, but he's learned not to bother being hopeful about most things.
Still, it's a minor victory all the same. ]
But until you remember who it was, her mentor will be happy to take all the credit for safekeeping.
Yeah... the kid's something else. She really is her mother's daughter.
[ He smiles a bit fondly, at that - he remembers the tears in Ruby's eyes as she recounted for him what had happened atop the tower, and he remembers seeing her set out some time later with a new team to seek answers rather than wait around getting nothing done. Ruby was an honest soul - she wasn't hard to hurt, but she was very hard to stop. It was because she could feel the pain of what had happened that she was so determined to make sure it never came to pass again.
It would, though. This was not a fight that would end without more tragedy. But Ruby wouldn't give up.
Yang, though... ]
You, Jimmy, Glynda, and my nieces. [ A pause - because there's one more name he's seen mentioned on the network, and she should be included too. ] And... Pyrrha. All of you should be the only ones to know I'm here. Even if she's outnumbered, Cinder's too dangerous to have all our cards out on the table. Besides, I'm used to hiding in plain sight as it is.
[ indeed, ruby is truly her mother's daughter. she's special -- a force to be reckoned with, surely, and suddenly their only real, legitimate hope at taking down cinder. though ozpin doesn't say that out loud. qrow has enough to deal with -- he hardly needs to add his favorite niece to salem's hit list to it. ]
Pyrrha told one of her teammates' about the powers of the Maiden. I do not know whether or not she will have the constitution to keep your presence a secret.
[ it's said quietly ]
But I agree. Cinder has already proven herself with little regard for their safety, or for others. I have already had to stop her from killing two of my less... reserved students.
[ jaune and ren had just lost a teammate, though, and jaune had lost his partner. ozpin would probably want to kill cinder, too, if he had suffered the same loss. ]
An edge, and a spy, would push the pieces further into our favor. She needs to be dispatched, and her power removes, before Salem potentially arrives here.
[ because at the rate that they're all showing up, it's only a matter of time ]
[ There's a bit of a squint as Ozpin speaks of Pyrrha - he knows he can't blame her, given that she literally died for them, but at the same time it does have an impact on his trust. ]
... On second thought, maybe the champ's been forced to keep enough secrets as it is.
[ Which... also brings into question whether he can talk to Ruby and Yang right away. He wants to, rather terribly really, but for them to keep a secret from Pyrrha might be hard given all that's happened. He'll have to decide that soon.
He finally puts the flask away, resting his hands on his hips with a sigh and a frown. ]
Cinder, we can handle. She might have gotten the best of you somehow, but there's no way she'd be able to take all of us at once. I mean, if Amber couldn't...
[ His lips draw tight - he doesn't need to finish that thought. Ozpin already knew as well as he did how Amber fell, and she was one hell of a warrior. But even if Cinder's just as strong as she was - even stronger, perhaps - she couldn't possibly beat Ozpin, Qrow, Glynda, and Ironwood all at the same time. ]
Salem, though...
[ His gaze darts back up to meet Ozpin's, eyes grim. ]
[ indeed, the four of them could crush cinder. he feels much better, now that qrow, glynda, and james are all here. even ozpin had been giving her quite the fight on his own, but he had made a mistake. and it only takes one, for a battle to go horribly wrong. unfortunately, that had been how the cards fell for ozpin. he had rushed, he hadn't thought it through, so determined to kill her and remove the power from her, that he had fallen instead.
salem, though... ]
Save the Maidens, and myself? No.
[ ozpin taps his cane against the roof ]
I imagine Cinder purposefully left me without a way to run away, and Salem has ensured to continue taxing my aura in Remnant to prevent me from activating my semblance. [ ozpin doesn't need to detail how that's going to go ] Though I am without such disadvantages here. I have recovered, more or less, and my semblance works -- though two students now know, more or less, what I can do, so I imagine it will take approximately thirty seconds for the entirety of the student body to know.
[ kids. he can't even be mad. ]
I have not seen any Grimm here, though I have not been here for very long, and most of the people here seem content, and happy. We may have a stronger advantage than we think.
Not for nothing, Oz, but right now the last thing I'm gonna do is assume we have any more of an advantage than we're used to. Salem punched us right in the gut - even if it looks like we're safer here, well...
We thought we were safe there, too.
[ And look where that got them.
...
Driiiiiiiiiiink. ]
Torchwick's stupid mug showed up on the network, too. Guess he got himself regurgitated, somehow. Not too surprising - guy makes me wanna puke, too.
Hope is a powerful thing, Qrow. Ignoring that we have it here, as an advantage, would be foolish. Our army is made up of children, and they are already having difficulty trusting me. Allow them to utilize hope as a tool, rather than a hindrance.
[ it's said gently -- not nearly chiding, but as a reminder.
at torchwick, though, ozpin's lips press into a thin line. it's rare that he looks outwardly annoyed and frustrated, but torchwick's conversation with him had sparked a lot of old wounds. ]
Torchwick is a nuisance, and can be easily dispatched of.
[ callous discussion of human life? ozpin must be having a bad day. ]
Our concern is Cinder. He can throw a fit all he wants.
at the question, he falls silent, carefully considering that. there's a million things he could have qrow do -- and, honestly, there are a million things qrow needs to do -- but the first thing that pops into his head is the first thing that remains, and so -- ]
Yang and Pyrrha went to a place called the dream docks, where you can return to your world via sleep, in order to "update" yourself on missed memories. Both of them returned to Vale, to... catch themselves up on what was missed. Against my advice.
[ which is said ... delicately enough ]
Ruby is currently waiting there, for them, until they wake up.
[ ozpin is certain she could use not only a guardian, but company ]
Students going against what grown-ups say is best? I'm floored.
[ He catches the suggestion, even if it isn't spoken directly, and it's not like he completely objects. He'd love to check in on his niece after hearing about all the insanity that this place seems to hold.
But. ]
What if someone else decides to stop by and check on her? Someone not on the VIP list.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Hesitancy does not become you, Qrow.
[ you're itching to ask. so ask. ]
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... Or the coming hours, even. ]
Well, I think you know the big question, so I'll get right to it.
[ A delay, as he takes a long drink from the flask, heaving a sigh that turns into his inquiry. ]
What happened in there?
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qrow, though.... ]
I was in the Vault, with Pyrrha Nikos, and Jaune Arc -- another student. [ give qrow doesn't keep tabs on ozpin's students. ] Pyrrha was going to accept Amber's aura, but Cinder killed Amber before I could complete the process, and absorbed the remains of Amber's power. I told Jaune and Pyrrha to leave, to get you, James, and Glynda -- and they left the Vault.
[ ozpin pauses, there, and his brow furrows -- some of it is hard to remember, because cinder hit him pretty hard. and he could go into detail, about the fight, but strategy can come later. qrow needs to know the bare facts, not how cinder fights. he knows. he's seen amber. ]
... I was too slow. [ finally, with a weary smile to qrow. ] She broke my aura, and managed to best me. She then went to the top of the tower, where... well. I am certain you know the rest.
[ here, though, ozpin pauses. ]
But I am alive, Qrow.
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It was their life's work to make sure it never did, and they'd failed pretty miserably.
He doesn't bother to recount the details of the aftermath just yet - of Pyrrha Nikos and what became of her, or what it brought out in Ruby. Because the question Qrow really wants an answer to has yet to be answered. ]
Alive, but where? All we found was your cane - where did you go?
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glynda, surely, would react poorly. she is already weighed down with too much. james, too, would react poorly, but in a much different way. internalizing it, with quiet guilt and pressure, until it beat him down, too. both of them are better off without knowing, not until ozpin is certain.
qrow, though, ozpin can trust to be honest. and open. and while he copes with his pain in a wholly unhealthy way, ozpin knows when he's feeling it. more than that, qrow is in the field. qrow is ozpin's eyes and ears, and he would understand why ozpin has been silent thusfar.
so, he pauses -- obviously weighing out whether or not to tell him, before... ]
I believe I was taken to Salem.
[ it's said evenly, with no show of fear or anxiety. calmly stated, as if talking about the weather. ]
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Shit.
[ Shit.
He takes a deep breath in, heaving out a sigh as he runs his hand over his face a few times. Salem. It's not like he thought she'd sit and wait forever, she was bound to make a move eventually, and of course he knew she had to have a hand in what happened to Vale. Who else would be able to come up with a strategy to effectively coincide an attack on the school with an onslaught of Grimm - more than that, who else would want to? Cinder was obviously there under her command, to steal the Maiden's powers and take down the tower in the process.
He just thought they had more time.
But there's a bright side to this, as absurd as it may sound - Ozpin's been taken to her. That means, at the very least, she wants him alive for the time being. It's a very, very small comfort, but it's a comfort. ]
Who else knows?
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You are the only one.
[ quietly, watching him carefully, with a slight frown ]
Glynda and James were told that I was taken, but that I was not willing to say a name until I was certain who. And given that nearly all of my students approached me with with tears and "Professor Ozpin, you're alive", I hardly saw need to add additional stress to their lives by explaining what awaits me. They simply know that I am alive.
[ the latter, clearly, bothers him more than the previous -- ozpin hardly wants his students to think he's dead -- but they all received the truth. more or less. ]
Cinder, to my knowledge, has not told anyone. Mercury and Emerald both seemed to think I was dead -- or, at least, incapacitated, given Cinder had made it to the top of the tower.
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[ He nods slowly - it's a secret he'll keep pretty easily. He managed to not tell Yang her own mother was still alive and in semi-regular contact with him, so. You know. Secrets are sort of his thing, too.
He shoves one hand in his pocket, taking another drink - do not judge him, Ozpin - before his expression lightens just a bit. ]
Silver lining - have you heard about Ruby?
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... yes.
{ mildly enough, though it's obvious ozpin is trying to hide a smile, appearing ponderous ]
I seem to remember an individual predicting that was going to happen, but I can't recall the genius' name for the life of me.
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[ There hadn't been a trace of her up there, either - if only she'd been frozen as the dragon had been, Qrow would have been sure to throw her right off the tower in hopes that the fall would just break her into pieces. He wants to hope that Ruby's eyes just evaporated her, but he's learned not to bother being hopeful about most things.
Still, it's a minor victory all the same. ]
But until you remember who it was, her mentor will be happy to take all the credit for safekeeping.
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I would expect nothing less.
[ but that gives him pause, considering something, as he watches the horizon ]
She has been handling this remarkably well, all things considered.
[ she is far from alright, but ruby is handling herself as a huntress would. ozpin can ask no more of her than that. ]
She was kind enough to tell me everything that I had missed. Had I know what... I missed, I would have never asked her to -- well.
[ qrow knows. ]
She will be thrilled to have you here, at any rate. Yang, too.
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[ He smiles a bit fondly, at that - he remembers the tears in Ruby's eyes as she recounted for him what had happened atop the tower, and he remembers seeing her set out some time later with a new team to seek answers rather than wait around getting nothing done. Ruby was an honest soul - she wasn't hard to hurt, but she was very hard to stop. It was because she could feel the pain of what had happened that she was so determined to make sure it never came to pass again.
It would, though. This was not a fight that would end without more tragedy. But Ruby wouldn't give up.
Yang, though... ]
You, Jimmy, Glynda, and my nieces. [ A pause - because there's one more name he's seen mentioned on the network, and she should be included too. ] And... Pyrrha. All of you should be the only ones to know I'm here. Even if she's outnumbered, Cinder's too dangerous to have all our cards out on the table. Besides, I'm used to hiding in plain sight as it is.
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Pyrrha told one of her teammates' about the powers of the Maiden. I do not know whether or not she will have the constitution to keep your presence a secret.
[ it's said quietly ]
But I agree. Cinder has already proven herself with little regard for their safety, or for others. I have already had to stop her from killing two of my less... reserved students.
[ jaune and ren had just lost a teammate, though, and jaune had lost his partner. ozpin would probably want to kill cinder, too, if he had suffered the same loss. ]
An edge, and a spy, would push the pieces further into our favor. She needs to be dispatched, and her power removes, before Salem potentially arrives here.
[ because at the rate that they're all showing up, it's only a matter of time ]
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... On second thought, maybe the champ's been forced to keep enough secrets as it is.
[ Which... also brings into question whether he can talk to Ruby and Yang right away. He wants to, rather terribly really, but for them to keep a secret from Pyrrha might be hard given all that's happened. He'll have to decide that soon.
He finally puts the flask away, resting his hands on his hips with a sigh and a frown. ]
Cinder, we can handle. She might have gotten the best of you somehow, but there's no way she'd be able to take all of us at once. I mean, if Amber couldn't...
[ His lips draw tight - he doesn't need to finish that thought. Ozpin already knew as well as he did how Amber fell, and she was one hell of a warrior. But even if Cinder's just as strong as she was - even stronger, perhaps - she couldn't possibly beat Ozpin, Qrow, Glynda, and Ironwood all at the same time. ]
Salem, though...
[ His gaze darts back up to meet Ozpin's, eyes grim. ]
Do we even have a contingency for that?
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salem, though... ]
Save the Maidens, and myself? No.
[ ozpin taps his cane against the roof ]
I imagine Cinder purposefully left me without a way to run away, and Salem has ensured to continue taxing my aura in Remnant to prevent me from activating my semblance. [ ozpin doesn't need to detail how that's going to go ] Though I am without such disadvantages here. I have recovered, more or less, and my semblance works -- though two students now know, more or less, what I can do, so I imagine it will take approximately thirty seconds for the entirety of the student body to know.
[ kids. he can't even be mad. ]
I have not seen any Grimm here, though I have not been here for very long, and most of the people here seem content, and happy. We may have a stronger advantage than we think.
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We thought we were safe there, too.
[ And look where that got them.
...
Driiiiiiiiiiink. ]
Torchwick's stupid mug showed up on the network, too. Guess he got himself regurgitated, somehow. Not too surprising - guy makes me wanna puke, too.
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[ it's said gently -- not nearly chiding, but as a reminder.
at torchwick, though, ozpin's lips press into a thin line. it's rare that he looks outwardly annoyed and frustrated, but torchwick's conversation with him had sparked a lot of old wounds. ]
Torchwick is a nuisance, and can be easily dispatched of.
[ callous discussion of human life? ozpin must be having a bad day. ]
Our concern is Cinder. He can throw a fit all he wants.
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[ he's done without it before and come out just fine
for varying definitions of fine]I'll look at things without the rose-colored glasses.
[ There's a little laugh at the dismissal of Torchwick, though, his head cocking to one side. ]
Torchwick's more like an infection - sterilize it quick, and there's nothing to worry about. Let it fester, and... well.
[ He tilts his head down just a bit, peering at Ozpin. ]
Little problems get bigger. If not us, then someone has to keep him in check.
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Hope would be good for you, my friend.
[ it might stop you from drinking a bit too much, thank you ]
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Killing him in this world would only paint us the monsters. People here are sympathetic to an ostracized soul.
[ and, ordinarily, ozpin would be too -- but torchwick has destroyed too much. ]
Besides, I am tired of violence, for the time being. I think we all need a moment to collect ourselves.
[ especially the students ]
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Then what do you want me to do, Ozzy?
[ It's not asked rhetorically, or sarcastically - he's serious. What do you want him to do? ]
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at the question, he falls silent, carefully considering that. there's a million things he could have qrow do -- and, honestly, there are a million things qrow needs to do -- but the first thing that pops into his head is the first thing that remains, and so -- ]
Yang and Pyrrha went to a place called the dream docks, where you can return to your world via sleep, in order to "update" yourself on missed memories. Both of them returned to Vale, to... catch themselves up on what was missed. Against my advice.
[ which is said ... delicately enough ]
Ruby is currently waiting there, for them, until they wake up.
[ ozpin is certain she could use not only a guardian, but company ]
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[ He catches the suggestion, even if it isn't spoken directly, and it's not like he completely objects. He'd love to check in on his niece after hearing about all the insanity that this place seems to hold.
But. ]
What if someone else decides to stop by and check on her? Someone not on the VIP list.
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[ with arched eyebrows, and he offers a slight shake of his head ]
You can monitor her from afar. I doubt Cinder wants to go near her, but just in case.
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[ But! He'll be keeping an eye on Ruby, for sure. Even if she's not aware of it. He'll have a bird's-eye view ]
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