there's no place like home.

Well, if Summer and Qrow are being all soft and concerned for each other...

“ . . . ”

“ . . . fuck yeah I do . ”

This was the next Ozpin? A child... Younger than Summer's girl, by the looks of it. She didn't have a moment to consider it before at Haven, but the thought that Ozpin would merge with a child... Perhaps it wasn't his choice to make. Or perhaps that's just what the world required right now. Raven didn't know; she wasn't privy to the finer details of Ozpin's reincarnation. Yet she wasn't willing to give him that much credit.

She had already stopped by the library a little while ago. Oscar was asleep then as well... So he spent all this time napping? If it were Ozpin, she would have sneered at his lack of focus. But looking at him...Brothers, he was just a boy.

" You will sleep the day away at this rate, " the woman remarked coldly as she crossed from the library's doorway to his desk. If this was truly just a harmless nap, surely he would have been woken by the sound of her voice. Raven didn't wish to think of this as doing Ozpin a favor... No, that's not it at all. If Raven was expected to be here, working as their Spring Maiden, then the least Oscar could do was stay awake. She was keeping him in line.

The boy — peaceful as he was while he slept — became encumbered the moment his eyes even subtly opened . It was all in his face . . . the curve of his brow , the straightening of his slumber-induced smile , the age of his autumn eyes . Oscar was listening to the echoes in his ear wake as well when he saw Raven .

Oscar snapped up immediately when he did .

“ . . . Miss Branwen ! ” Brothers , how his heart hammered in his chest — how long had he been asleep ? ? And how many people just saw him passed out ? Theodore wouldn’t be thrilled , surely , and rightfully so — he had places to be . He needed . . . he needed to calm down — he probably looked like a frightened cat . After a moment of collection , he finally gathered his image .

A gloved hand came up to rub the bridge of his nose . “ I’m so sorry . Thank you for waking me up , I’m just . . . ” overworking ourselves ? . . . You know it’s not enough . After then , he folded his hands over the table , smiling at her .

“ Apologies . Can I help you ? Thank you for . . . ” his not-so-subtle exhale was heavier than he thought it would be . “ Thank you . Am I needed somewhere ? ”

“ Hey , Hon . Do you — ” Tai chuckles for a split second , covering his mouth . “ Do you need help with that ? I can help . ” His mouth twitches into a smile despite himself . “ Please — snrk — let me help ? ”

“ Yeah — I’m pretty sure child abandonment fills out its own papers , Raven . ”

a collection of dialogue prompts for or about characters who have been treated or trained as weapons by others, valued only for their capacity for violence, destruction, and harm. trigger warnings for mentions of murder and violence. change & alter as needed.

THE WEAPON:

"I'm not proud of the person they've turned me into. But it's all I know. And it's too late for me to change now."

"If there was ever any good in me, there's none left anymore."

"I don't know where the blood ends. Where my hands begin."

"I do what it takes to survive. And I don't care if that makes me a villain."

"I'm good at hurting people. I'm not going to apologize for doing what I'm good at."

"I'll never know who I could have been if they hadn't made me into this."

"This is your fault! You did this to me! You're the reason I'm like this!"

"Don't try and get close to me. You'll just get yourself hurt."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm... I'm not very good at being good."

"I don't really know how to be gentle."

"I'm not nice, and I'm not going to pretend to be. Deal with it."

"They made me a monster."

"They're all afraid of me. And they're right to be. You should be, too."

"I know I'm a villain. I don't need you to tell me that."

"Look at what they did to me! Look at what they made me into! It's their fault! They ruined me!"

"I wish they'd just killed me. I wish they'd just killed me instead of turning me into this. Being dead is better than being a monster."

"I know you're scared of me. It's okay. Everyone is."

"What does it matter whether I feel guilty about it or not? I still did it. Being sorry doesn't change that."

"Who am I if I'm not a monster?"

"No one could ever love me after everything I've done."

"Why aren't you afraid of me? How can you not be afraid of me?"

"I don't even know who I am without them pulling my strings."

"You want me to be the villain so bad? I can damn well provide."

"I don't want to be like this anymore. I don't want to hurt people. I want to be gentle. I want to be good."

"Who am I if I'm not what they've made me?"

"I don't need a weapon. I am one."

"Do you think I have it in me, to be good?"

THE WIELDER:

"You look so beautiful covered in somebody else's blood."

"And where did this little crisis of conscience come from all of a sudden?"

"You don't get to say no to me. Not after everything I've done for you. You owe me."

"You belong to me. You're mine."

"Where would you be without me? Who would you be without me? ...That's right. So let's try and be a little more grateful, hm?"

"I gave you everything, and this is how you choose to repay me?"

"I made you! You're nothing without me!"

"You don't make the rules, darling. That's my job."

"You are a dog, and I hold your leash. Never forget that."

"I didn't make you a monster. I just brought out what was already there."

"Look at you, coming when I call, eating out of my hand, doing everything I tell you... such a good dog, aren't you?"

"You think you can just walk away from me? Where are you going to go? Nobody else could possibly love a sick thing like you!"

"Monster is such an ugly word. I prefer to think of it as... helping you reach your fullest potential."

"I've got you trained so well, don't I?"

"I thought you knew better than to disobey me."

"Do you really think you can be a hero? After everything you've done?"

"Well, then, if I really ruined your life like you say, why don't you just kill me? We both know you're good at that."

"This is all you're good for. Don't go getting delusions of grandeur on me now."

"You couldn't survive without me. Don't ever delude yourself into thinking otherwise."

"I give the orders. You take them. Not the other way around."

"Destruction is really the only thing you're good at, darling. Take that away, and what's left?"

THE OBSERVER:

"You don't have to be what they tell you to be, you know? You're not stuck. You can change."

"You're not a monster. You're my friend."

"Being gentle doesn't come easy to you, does it?"

"You're a good person. I'm sorry they made you think you aren't."

"You kind of have a little... blood... on your face. ...Don't worry, I'll get it for you."

"I'm not scared of you."

"So, have you ever... you know... killed somebody?"

"You're sick, you know that? You're really sick. I can't believe you seriously do this kind of shit."

"Look, I know who you are. I know what you've done. And I'm not running away from you. You can't scare me off."

"You really are a monster."

"Why do you listen to them? Why do you take orders from them? You don't have to obey everything they tell you."

"So, let me get this straight: you know how to kill a man fifteen different ways, just with your bare hands, and you wouldn't even break a sweat... but you don't know what to do at a party?"

"You're not as mean as you want everyone to think you are."

"You say you're not a dog. So why do you blindly follow orders like one?"

"You don't have to do this. You don't have to be like this. You can choose your own path."

"You really are as bad as they say."

"Don't touch me. You have blood on your hands."

"I know you won't hurt me. I trust you."

"No! Stay away from me! Don't come any closer!"

"The world isn't just heroes and villains. You don't have to be one or the other. And just because you've been one doesn't mean you can't be the other."

"You don't have to listen to them. You don't have to obey."

The gods spoke your name long before your mother ever did.

It was never a question of whether the prophecy would awaken, only when.

There are older things than kings, and older promises than crowns.

I fear the prophecy less than I fear those who seek to fulfill it.

The realm has spent generations preparing for your coming. I wonder if it prepared you at all.

You have mistaken a prophecy for a promise.

Every man who has interpreted these words has reached a different conclusion.

The stars have not been thus aligned since the prophecy was first spoken.

There is another verse, though none alive dare recite it.

The oracle begged that your name never be written.

The prophecy speaks of two heirs, though history remembers but one.

Some truths were buried not because they were false, but because they were true.

You bear the face the prophecy described.

The realm has long awaited a savior. It never considered what such salvation might require.

The scroll has outlived kingdoms.

The prophecy did not foretell peace.

I have devoted my life to preventing what now stands before me.

There are some doors that ought never be opened, and some prophecies that ought never be read.

Fate has a curious habit of finding those who flee it.

Every attempt to thwart the prophecy has only strengthened it.

The gods delight in speaking plainly only after it is too late.

The prophecy named no victor.

You ask whether I believe the prophecy. I ask whether it believes in you.

There are many who would sooner see you dead than see the prophecy tested.

It is no blessing to know the shape of one's own ruin.

The child foretold has become the very thing the realm feared.

We have spent centuries preparing for the wrong heir.

Not every chosen soul is chosen for glory.

You were never meant to inherit the kingdom. You were meant to change it.

The prophecy concerns blood far more than birthright.

There are those who worship the prophecy and those who fear it. I have yet to meet one who understands it.

Your ancestors spent their lives hiding these words from the world.

Every generation has believed itself the last.

I would sooner question the gods themselves than trust the certainty of prophets.

Some prophecies awaken only when spoken aloud.

The oldest lie ever told was that destiny cannot be resisted.

There is a reason the seers refused to finish the tale.

You have inherited a burden no crown could equal.

Even the ravens refused to fly the night you were born.

The heavens marked your coming with uncommon violence.

There are prophecies written in ink, and others written in blood.

The prophecy was never meant for mortal eyes.

I begin to fear that we have misunderstood every word.

The final line has been missing for generations.

A kingdom may survive a poor ruler. Few survive a fulfilled prophecy.

The gods have remained silent ever since your birth.

I do not doubt the prophecy. I doubt our understanding of it.

The greatest danger lies not in destiny itself, but in those determined to hasten its arrival.