"Hazel?!"

Skyler blinked multiple times before rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. But there she was, in her slightly more mature looking glory, hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

"That's my name," she replied, "Don't overuse it."

Not really knowing what else to do after this sudden reveal, Skyler practically leaped forward and hugged her. Hazel felt a bit of heat rush to her face, but it quickly faded as she smiled and returned the hug.

"You have no idea how badly I've needed to see a friendly face today..." Skyler muttered, clutching her tighter.

"I probably don't," she replied jokingly as the two separated, and she looked him up and down, "Nice jacket."

"Nice... uh, bracelets?" Skyler tried, but failed, "I don't know, you've got me. You've hardly changed since I last saw you."

Hazel rolled her eyes, but still smiled, "Wow, Skyler. You really know how to make a girl feel special."

"Eh, I'll save the wooing you for Dante whenever we see him again."

Hazel frowned at him, a blush already spreading across her face, "Not five minutes after reuniting after almost a year and you're already accusing me of crushing on Dante."

"Old habits die hard."

Before anymore teasing could commence, they turned to the sound of Rose clearing her throat, "Yeah, sorry to break up this touching reunion, but are there gonna be introductions, or...?"

"Oh, right," Skyler then gestured to Bloodmane, "Hazel, meet Rose Greymalk. Rose, Hazel Tikal."

Hazel stuck out her hand and offered a smile, "Nice to meet you."

"Ditto," Rose replied, shaking the younger girl's hand before addressing Skyler again, "So is this one of the teammates you've mentioned before?"

"That would be a correct assumption, yes," he answered, "Hazel here is my partner. Or was? Or... well, I guess it'll all depend on whether we can get Team SHDW back together."

"I'll see if we can catch Walker at one of the airship docking bays," Hazel said casually, catching Skyler off guard.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh yeah, apparently Walker got a job as a cargo pilot. I haven't actually talked to him, but I saw him unloading an airship but couldn't get to him. Any word on Dante?"

After recovering from the small surprise, Skyler shook his head, "No. As far as I know, he's either still in Patch or on his way here. Hoping for the latter, but assuming the former. I mean, I left him a note telling him that I was heading here, but I'm not sure if he'd follow."

Hazel gave a sigh of disappointment, "Well, at least we can get three out of four of us at the worst. So that's not too bad. But in other words, what have you been up to, and what's the plan now?"

Skyler laughed nervously, "That's... a long story. I'll explain as we head back to where the rest of my current team is."

"Wait, 'current team'?"
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After a story and explanation on what's been happening with him, Skyler, Hazel, and Rose blinked a few times at the scene before them when they had opened the door to the house. Skyler took a few looks around to see what was new: An unknown boy was holding a familiar looking cane, RNJR's faces were in absolute confusion towards the boy, as well as surprise at the three's abrupt entry, and Qrow was passed out drunk on the floor (okay, that last one wasn't exactly new, but still).

"I'm gone for two hours at best," Skyler said, "I come back, and stuff just gets about ten times more complicated."
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After being updated on the situation (by this point, Hazel was getting a serious case of deja vu) and putting Qrow in a more comfortable place, all of the attention was placed on the new arrival, known as Oscar Pine, or, as they knew him better as, Professor Ozpin. That fact was a bit... much for Skyler, Hazel, and Rose. But once he started giving details, as well as their names without them actually introducing themselves, they became a bit convinced.

Oscar was currently sitting on a red armchair, nervously looking at Team RNJRS, Hazel, and Rose as they fawned over him.

"Did he age backwards?" Nora asked.

"He's possessed!" Jaune suggested.

"Or reincarnated!" Ren added.

"Mind transfer jutsu?" Skyler questioned, getting a few weird looks.

"Oh! Isn't it weird?" Ruby finished.

Oscar shrunk into his chair at every question, "It is very weird, yes..."

"Okay, okay," Qrow's now sober voice called out as the man emerged from the kitchen, holding a cup in his hand, "Let's all just take a second and remember that this is very overwhelming for everyone."

All of them stepped back and nervously chuckled while Oscar turned to Qrow, grateful, "Thanks."

Qrow then took a seat on the couch next to Oscar while Ruby, Hazel, and Nora sat on the couch perpendicular to Qrow's, and Jaune, Skyler, and Ren remained standing. Oscar then shared a brief look with Ruby, who giggled, causing Oscar to blush, which did not go unnoticed by a surrogate big brother figure.

"Ah, sorry!" Oscar said, briefly looking away, "It's just, I've never really met Huntsmen and Huntresses before."

"Well, uh..." Ruby replied, "We've never met a person with two souls! So, first times all around."

Oscar smiled and chuckled at Ruby, causing Skyler to look back and forth between the two suspiciously. Before he could say anything on the matter, Qrow cleared his throat.

"Not to break up the whole 'getting-to-know-you' game," the man said, "But we need to have a talk. Mind showing us your little parlor trick, kid?"

Oscar groaned, "Yeah, okay. Just so you know, I'll still be here."

The rest of Hunters looked at the boy in confusion as Oscar lowered his head and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a green and white aura shined from his body for a moment, and Oscar opened up his eyes, which were glowing, and he smiled. When he spoke, they all heard a familiar voice overlapping with a bunch of other voices, including Oscar's.

"It is so very good to see you again, students."

All of the Hunters shared brief looks of confusion before Jaune spoke, "Wait, what just happened?"

"Professor... Ozpin?" Ren asked hesitantly.

"Correct," Oscar, now Ozpin, replied, "And though I may be the one speaking, Oscar is still present mentally. He's merely handed over the control, so to speak. I'm afraid this all must be very perplexing."

"And alarming," Nora continued, "And bizarre, and just really kind of hard to believe overall!!"

Ozpin chuckled, "It's good to see you children still have your sense of humor."

He then turned to Bloodmane, "Hello, Ms. Greymalk. I'm glad to see you're doing well after all these years."

"It feels so weird to be talked to like that from a kid..." the Faunus admitted.

Ozpin chuckled again, "I can imagine. I'm glad to see you're handling yourself just fine after leaving Beacon, due to... Mr. Eve's situation."

Rose's mood instantly turned sour, "That wasn't the only factor. Perhaps the death of one of my teammates did the trick too?"

Ozpin then started to frown, "I know you've all been through tremendous hardship already. I'm sorry..."

"I mean, it's not your fault," Ruby tried.

"It's all my fault," he replied as Qrow walked into the kitchen, "I told you once that I made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet, and I wasn't exaggerating. I'm... cursed. For thousands of years, I've walked the surface of Remnant, living, dying, and reincarnating in the body of a like-minded soul. The Professor Ozpin you all met was not my first form, and clearly wasn't my last. It's... an extraordinarily strenuous process on everyone involved."

"So who... what are you?" Hazel asked.

"I am the combination of countless men who've spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant," he answered as Qrow walked back into the room and handed him a cup of tea, "With every rebirth, my soul is eventually merged with another and I am changed, but my memories stay with me. This curse was bestowed upon me by the gods because I failed to stop Salem in the past. But we must stop her now."

"And how do we do that?" Skyler asked.

"We start... by ensuring the safety of the Relic of Knowledge."
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Walker woke up to nigh unbearable pain coming from his left leg. He hissed, grabbing it, before opening his eyes and realizing that his injured leg was wrapped in a crude splint, consisting of duct tape and two pillows. Groaning in pain, he looked around to notice Weiss lying nearby, unconscious. Oh, and the fact that they were in a cage guarding by two drinking bandits, his sword, Barentain, leaned against one of the chairs, with Weiss' and his own hands tied by ropes.

He shuffled over to Weiss and began to shake her, hissing, "Hey! Weiss! Ice Queen! Wake up!"

The former Schnee heiress stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She looked around, startled st where they were, noticing the two guarding bandits, the same ones from earlier that had taken her. One of them continued drinking as the other noticed the two teens awake.

He chuckled before Weiss could say anything, "Well, well, well, look who's awake."

"Wha... what's going on?" Weiss asked, "Where are we?"

"You know..." a female voice said, as the owner of that voice emerged from her tent, "I never thought I'd see a Schnee and her little servant boy in this camp."

"Servant boy?!" Walker growled, already not liking this woman.

"Vernal?!" the other bandit exclaimed, immediately putting his drink down.

The two bandits suddenly stood at attention as the lady, Vernal, walked over to Weiss' cage, holding Myrtenaster in her hand. Weiss stood up while her captor admired her weapon.

Weiss glared, "What do you want?"

"Straight to the point," Vernal commended, "I like it. We don't normally deal in trafficking people. Not really worth our time. But, once we realized we had a Schnee..."

She pointed Myrtenaster at the girl, "That changed."

"You're going to ransom me back to my father, is that it?"

"It's a shame you're a Schnee. You'd probably do quite well around here. Don't know about Mister Shaky Pilot right there, but considering how interesting that sword of his design's is, I take it he's pretty good."

"I would never sink to your level," Weiss retorted.

"If my leg wasn't poorly splinted, I'd come up with a witty insult too," Walker added.

Vernal's expression changed to a frown, "Just keep quiet and cooperate and you'll be back in your mansion before you know it. As for pilot boy here, I'll send you back with her. I wonder how her father will react when he learns that his daughter ran off with a boy."

The female bandit began to walk away from Weiss' cage, "Don't make this complicated."

"What's going to make this complicated is when my sister finds out I didn't make it to Mistral," Weiss replied, "You know my sister, don't you? Winter Schnee? Special Operative of the Atlas Military? She's in Mistral now, and when she hears I'm missing, it won't take her long to find me... and you."

Suddenly, the male bandits start laughing, much to Weiss and Walker's surprise, prompting the latter to ask, "What's so funny?"

Vernal turned back around and laughed, "Oh, I don't know if it's more funny or sad, but you're clearly out of the loop. Your sister isn't in Mistral anymore. No Atlas personnel are in Mistral anymore. General Ironwood closed the borders and recalled all his little troops and tin cans. No one is coming to rescue you."

The bandits once again started laughing as Vernal walked away from Weiss, who closed her eyes forlornly. Walker growled at the Schnee's unhappiness and called out to Vernal.

"Don't let the air hit you on the way back in the tent."

Vernal turned towards him with a confused look, "What?"

"I know what I said."

Vernal just gave a confused scoff. But just before she stepped inside her tent, Walker used his Semblance to manipulate the air around one of her feet. Vernal tripped as she stepped inside, but caught herself and turned to glare at Walker. He just gave a sarcastic shrug as Weiss began to snicker. Vernal growled before stepping back into her tent.
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"This is perfect!" Nora exclaimed, jumping for joy and making gestures at Ozcar, "We were stuck at a dead end, but now, we can just take Little Cute Boy Ozpin to Lionheart and have him set things straight!!"

"Please don't call me that," Ozpin insisted.

"We're not sure that's the best idea," Qrow put in, causing Nora to pout and groan before going back to sit down next to Ruby and Ren.

"But I thought the headmasters all took their orders from you," Ren said.

"That was the intention," Beacon's Headmaster explained, "Four lieutenants I can trust, especially during times of reincarnation. But Qrow told me about your meeting with Leonardo. He isn't just behaving irrationally, he's disobeying specific instructions I had left him. Something's wrong."

"You think Lionheart's turned traitor?" Skyler asked.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions," Ozpin clarified, "But I don't want to rule out any possibilities, either. No one outside of this room knows that I've paired with Oscar, and I think it may be best to keep it that way."

"Play things close to the chest until we get a better hand," Qrow summed up.

"Precisely. Now, we have two steps ahead of us," the reincarnated headmaster then turned around to face the rest of the group, "The first is enlisting the aid of more Huntsmen."

"But the Mistral council-" Hazel started.

"Doesn't own every Hunter in the Kingdom," Qrow interrupted, "And I've been here enough times to know where we can find some more."

"So long as they're trustworthy," Ozpin said.

"You can trust them to put up a good fight. I'll throw together a list tonight," Qrow then put his foot on the table, but his Semblance caused one of the legs to break and spill his cup of tea.

"Good luck with that," Nora teased as Qrow groaned and cleaned up his mess.

"I think I can help with that," Rose put in, "Well, the whole 'getting Hunters to help us' thing. There's a certain team I'm thinking of that could help us out, if I play my cards right."

"Good," Ozpin nodded, "After that, we can move on to step two."

"What's step two?" Hazel questioned.

Suddenly, Ozpin has his cane in hand, "Getting you all into fighting shape."

Everyone once again exchanged looks of confusion, "But, uh, we already know how to fight."

"Rose is the only one I have no complaints about," Ozpin corrected, pointing his cane at Ruby, "You can only fight so long as you have Crescent Rose, but you're still lacking in hand-to-hand combat."

"Well, uh... yeah," the girl shrugged.

Ozpin then pointed his cane at Jaune, "Mr. Arc, I'm glad to hear you've improved, but sorry to say, you've yet to unlock your Semblance."

Then he pointed at Skyler, "Mr. Yin, while I am happy to hear you've discovered your Semblance, you have yet to fully utilize it."

Ozpin then gestured to them all, barring Rose, "All of you still have a ways to go before you're ready to pose any real threat against Salem and her forces. And though Oscar can give me temporary control, he'll need to strengthen his body and his Aura. He'll inherit my muscle memory in time, but practice will expedite the process."

"But if Qrow's out looking for Huntsmen, then who's going to teach us?" Ruby asked.

Ozpin then propelled himself backwards into the air with his cane, spinning counterclockwise into a barrel roll before landing onto the seat of the armchair, twirling his cane, "Well, I believe I was the headmaster of Beacon Academy."

All of the Hunters had various looks of disbelief on their faces as Ozpin continued, "We have approximately one month before classes resume at Haven. If Salem were to plan an attack, it would make sense that it would occur prior to students' return. It's not much time, but it's better than nothing."

He then stops twirling his cane with a smirk, "Just don't expect me to go easy on you."

Suddenly, he glowed green and white again, switching control back to Oscar. He had a hard time keeping his balance on the armchair before he fell backwards, the chair toppling over

Oscar groaned as everyone looked at him, concerned, "You've gotta be kidding me..."
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Back at the bandit camp, the two guarding bandits had fallen asleep at their watch. Walker and Weiss noticed this, and the latter silently used her Semblance to create a small summoning Glyph. A small Arma Gigas appeared in her hands, its sword at the ready. Weiss smiled before nodding at it. It then proceeded to slowly hack at the the bars of the cage.

"Have I mentioned how cool that is?" Walker complimented, "Because that is freaking cool."

Weiss blushed slightly before turning her attention back to the Arma Gigas.
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And now we finally got the introduction of Oscar Pine (as well as a bit of RoseGarden, but that's not the main focus here), as well as our first real bout of exposition via Ozpin. Get used to that. Because there's a LOT of it in Volume 5...

Sorry for the late update. I hit a minor case of writer's block. But it might get worse as this series progresses, due to the chapters getting more and more original. In fact, next chapter is going to be half original material, while the chapter after that is 100% original, so get hyped! Till next time guys!