𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

[inheirence]

Player Information
Name: Elly
Age: 28
Contact: PM or honeycrisp
Other Characters: n/a!

Character Information
Name: Oscar Pine
Canon: RWBY
Canon Point: Post-Volume 7
Age: 14
History: "I know we can still figure this out. All of it, together."

Personality:

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. For Oscar, who had long been drawn to the world beyond his aunt's farm, greatness came in the form of a voice in his head and a destiny that threatens to consume him whole. It terrifies him, and his journey from then onwards only brings more fear, a quiet horror clinging to his heart that he's unable to completely shake off. But as he himself says, it's what you do in your fear that reveals who you are.

Initially, his desire to do the right thing and sense of duty are what push him forward. While arguing about leaving for Haven, Ozpin tells him that the two of them "have a grave responsibility to uphold", and the moment the word responsibility is uttered, his expression falls and his anger crumbles. Doing what you must, regardless of your personal feelings, is a principle already ingrained within him due to his family's lifestyle — despite his dearth of enthusiasm for the job, he's shown putting his back into it, never slacking or complaining. He maintains that same diligence when following Ozpin's directions and getting combat ready, even continuing to train after nightfall and the others had stopped to eat, though sometimes with a bit of mouthing off directed Oz's way.

As his bond with his new allies grows, however, his thoughts begin to shift from saving the world because he has to, to saving the world because he wants to. An introvert by nature and lacking in social experience, he spends a lot of time hanging back during his first weeks with them, and he only speaks up if someone else starts a conversation with him or when he's prompted to by Ozpin. But while their enemy strives for division, he takes strength from unity, and the way they welcome and include him, and come their departure for Argus he's now sitting closer and chiming in on his own. His biggest influence is Ruby, who tells him that it's because she's afraid that she can be brave, and just as she was once inspired by the heroes of her favorite storybooks, so too is Oscar inspired by her.

But the courage he demonstrates during the Battle of Haven is immediately tested in the aftermath of the truth about the war they're fighting coming to light. It's Oscar himself who provides the means to the answer in a rejection of Ozpin's way of doing things, and it leads him to question whether the magic that binds their souls together is effectively slowly killing him. At the same time, he becomes insecure about his place amongst the group after Qrow and later Jaune take their anger out upon him, but while Ozpin withdraws and isolates himself, Oscar persists in trying to connect with them, even deciding to trade in his old clothes, his last link to his former identity, for new garb that draws inspiration from each of his their looks — an expression of his desire to belong. His resilience is rewarded with acceptance, and he's left with a new perspective about what's truly important, for as much as he doesn't want to die, he no longer finds it as frightening when compared to potentially not being trusted by his friends.

By taking positive and constructive action rather than let his worries fester, he takes a step forward in maturity as well, and though he's still the jumpiest of them all, after Oz guides him through setting aside his panic to land a crashing airship, he gains more of a sense of calm and conviction overall. Once in Atlas, he's met with political schemes and moral quandaries, and he becomes something of an angel on the shoulder for Ironwood, who also struggles with overwhelming fear. With the same thoughtfulness and support he has for his companions, he urges Ironwood to not let it control him or forswear placing his trust in his people, and Oscar continues trying to counsel him and believing in him right up 'til Ironwood shoots him.

This is who Oscar is — stouthearted, empathetic, and selfless. Some of his greatest strengths, however, are double-edged swords, for his credo of putting others before himself sometimes means he devalues his own feelings, especially with his friends. Although Qrow and Jaune both hurt and scared him, he never blames them, and the thought of fighting back, trying to run, or arguing for himself doesn't even cross his mind while Jaune has him up against the wall. Instead all he does is meekly hold up his hands in surrender, and when Jaune later apologizes, he's taken aback and interrupts to brush it aside, genuinely seeing that as unneccesary. He was perfectly capable of anger with Lionheart, and Ozpin when he first came around, but with people he cares about, he's far too willing to make excuses for them and not nearly willing enough to stick up for himself. And it's his responsibleness that drives him to go running off to speak to Ironwood alone, so wrapped up in his sense of needing to fix this that he leaves his worried team behind and practically runs to his death.

Abilities & Skills:

AURA ⚙ A power born of the soul accessible to all beings in the world of Remnant that possess one. When active, it serves primarily as a color-coded personal forcefield that prevents Oscar from taking damage, and though it still leaves him open to feeling pain, it's able to insulate him from the cold as well as slightly accelerate his recovery if he does become injured. He can additionally channel it through an item via touch to increase its durability and damage. Invoking Aura expends the finite amount he has at hand, however, and once it breaks, he needs to wait for it to replenish.
SEMBLANCE ⚙ An individually-tailored superpower fueled by Aura that can range from something passive, such as spreading good/bad luck, to superspeed or teleportation. Oscar's lies dormant and unknown for the time being.
REINCARNATION ⚙ Within canon, he shares his body with Ozpin, and they're able to switch control of it between them both and descry each other's thoughts when they wish to. Ozpin's very soul is bleeding into Oscar's, bringing memories of places he's never been and feelings of familiarity towards people he's never met as they grow closer to an eventual mergence.
COMBAT ⚙ Their connection also includes the gradual bequeathing of Ozpin's skills and reflexes unto Oscar, allowing him to adapt to combat as though he were playing a New Game+ and gaining double EXP from each encounter. He's been trained to fight using both his cane and his fists, but while he could take a second-year student of a military academy in a 1v1 and defeat a large saber-toothed Grimm with a single blow, his noviceship shines through in his struggles with stamina and awareness of his surroundings.
MAGIC ⚙ A gift from the Gods that was lost to most after their renunciation of Remnant, but as Ozpin's reincarnation, Oscar is one of the few people to still carry it within him. While Ozpin was originally powerful enough to unleash beams of pure magical energy, control the elements, and transform humans into animals, after creating the Maidens and bestowing some upon the Branwens, what's left to Oscar is just a fraction of that. He only first tapped into it moments before his pull point, so his experience with it is scant as well, but he unlocked enough to blast open a hole in a metal floor and form a bubble-like barrier around himself to survive the landing.
PRACTICAL SKILLS ⚙ Growing up as a farmhand made him accustomed to manual labor and adept at cultivating land, tending to crops, and handling farm equipment, as well as being at least passable at cooking and sewing. He may not know how video games are played, but he knows how to change a tire!

Inventory/Companions:

⚙ His combat gear, currently in need of a good wash
⚙ The Long Memory, a simple cane that can be retracted into its finely-decorated handle and clipped to his back when not being wielded
⚙ A state-of-the-art Atlesian Scroll

Choice: Witch

Reason: How Oscar tried to guide Ironwood away from the worst version of himself throughout V7 is similar to the effect Witches have upon Monsters in a Bond, and while he ultimately couldn't, his words did get through to Ozpin, who credited him with saving them both in the end. Being a stabilizing presence for others is a blossoming talent of his, but it'll be a bitter reminder of his failure with Ironwood, too, and keep him wrestling with that. And with him stepping into his ability to use magic in canon, I want him to continue going down that path and develop his powers to be his own!

Sample:

He's more exhausted than he's ever been in his life, and given that he used to hoist farming tools barely smaller than himself around all day, that truly is saying something. Every step he takes is a fight to stop his knees from crumbling, the adrenaline that carried him this far having left him somewhere between his first sighting of an unbroken moon (not even just one, but two) and the winding down of Miss Nessie's meeting. His begrimed appearance had drawn in concerned Witches offering him aid, but he'd assured them he wasn't hurt, certain there must be others among the crowd more in need.

It's only now that the guide for the Haven bids him a kind farewell, and he closes the door to his new apartment, that he lets himself have a moment's break. Though there's so much about this latest upheaval that's more than he can take in right now, he'll at least take in where he'll be staying, his eyes wandering thoughtfully across the space before him. The little resemblance to the dorms of Atlas Academy should be a good thing, but despite the impersonal, militaristic aesthetic of the room he'd shared with his friends, it had held traces of a home, like a wildflower blooming amidst the concrete — how Jaune brought the faint smell of coffee beans with him whenever he got back, or how Nora's dreams were so whimsical that on nights when his troubled heart warded off an easy rest, he would listen to her talk in her sleep and pretend he was dreaming them, too. Other times, he'd pull out a book borrowed from the academy library to read by the light of his new Scroll, only to find himself stared down by Ren, who gently but firmly told him not to strain his eyes like that.

His chest is starting to feel as heavy as his legs when a sob cuts through the silence. Like a deer in headlights, he freezes, but as more follow, he realizes they're coming from the other side of the wall, and a pang of guilt stabs at him — he shouldn't be hearing this. But now that he has, he can't possibly ignore it.

The sun's first rays of light find him dithering outside the adjacent apartment, a tried and true casserole held firmly against his side with one arm. From the sounds of shuffling within, he knows he's not going to wrest them from a peaceful slumber, but his free hand remains frozen in midair. In a matter of hours, he's been ambushed by an enemy agent, betrayed and nearly killed by a man he trusted, fallen from a city kept afloat by ancient magic to the barren crater below, and ended up in a whole different world, but task him with making a good first impression on a stranger and he's still a little daunted. His thoughts drift once more to his companions — if Team RWBY were peeking out to watch from next door, all encouraging smiles and thumbs up, this would be easier.

Picturing them is almost as helpful, however, and he lifts his chin and readies himself to knock. Hi, I'm your new neighbor. About when you were crying earlier— Wait, no, don't say that. I mean... I hope we get along. If you ever want to talk—

The door is flung open before he can finish that thought, and he's suddenly face-to-face with someone just as caught off guard by this as he is. The ensuing seconds of the two of them gaping at each other seem to stretch on forever, and it's the casserole slipping slightly in his grip that finally makes him remember he should speak up.

"Hi," he blurts out, the words he'd been practicing tumbling away as he offers his best attempt at a smile. "I, uh— do you like food?"

Nailed it.