Worst Day Ever

Tannum "Cooper" Oakwood

-----

Without an absolute shred of doubt, Cooper had the worst day ever.

It was the weekend, in other words, no classes, no uniforms, and fun time started the second his rump got out of bed, but it's a shame he had to save it for another date and replace it with the most horrible thing imaginable.

First, there was the library, where they buried themselves in books, then the garden, where they buried themselves in dirt, and to top it off, they indulged in one other fun kind of burial. It didn't involve solving problems for an eternity or improving their scooping skills. Instead, they buried themselves in sweat while playing a game nobody in the world should have to endure.

It was called: training.

"Come on, Cooper," Roderick said and passed by him. "We're almost there."

"Stop lying." Cooper wheezed each word. "You said the same thing three laps ago!"

Stiofan laughed from further ahead.

"Shut up, Step—" He tripped and face planted in the grass. "Ugh. . ."

It's been well over an hour since they entered the training field, and Cooper was seconds away from having an asthma attack. His legs were lead, and his chest was about to explode. Running from the law for a living may have been his thing, but those chases were short, easy, and he had breaks in between.

Raccoons aren't meant for running long distances!

Alexander grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and towed him the rest of the way.

"Xander," he mustered the energy to smile, "I knew I could count on you."

He tossed him over the finish line.

"Ow. . ."

Roderick shook him. "We still got some sparring left to do."

"Leave me." Cooper waved him away. "Go ahead and kill yourselves. Don't drag me into it."

"I believe our dear comrade requires a moment of respite." Stiofan patted Cooper's shoulder. "Why don't we speak of our Semblances for the meantime? I've been curious for a while now. May I ask what yours is, Alexander?"

Alexander stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I blast things away."

What a shock. His partner spoke more words today than he has all week.

"That's impressive." Stiofan turned to Cooper. "Are you willing to share as well?"

"Aye, mate." He sat on his rump. "Turning invisible is my thing. A handy little perk I named Incognito."

Stiofan hummed and cupped his chin. "That is indeed useful for sneaking about or escaping the enemy."

"It would be even better if not for the three minute time limit and the daft five minute recharge time." Cooper frowned at all those close calls because of it. "Now it's your turn, Stephen."

"Paralysis," he said. "Any body part of a single target I strike twice will be rendered useless. Alas, it's as temporary as Incognito; two minutes to be exact. Also, as long as it is in effect, I cannot use it again on the same person until the paralysis passes."

Cooper hid the shivers that Semblance sent to the tip of his tail. The thought of not being able to move was a nightmare. How else was he supposed to run or fight when a part of him decided to nap?

Stiofan faced the last man on the team. "Roderick, will you kindly indulge us?"

The bloke in question found an interest in the trees. "Um. . ."

Cooper frowned at his odd behaviour. "Spit it out, already."

He muttered something out of earshot.

"What was that, mate?"

He spoke a little louder, but it was still incoherent.

"Say again?"

"I believe that is enough for today." Stiofan pulled the leader aside. "Why don't we begin our spar? Two against two sounds perfect. I'll pair with Alexander."

Roderick gave his partner an appreciative nod and helped Cooper to his feet. "Okay, I guess we're working together. You better get ready fast."

He dusted his rump. "Why is—"

Roderick dove to the side, and Cooper yelped before ducking under Alexander's dumb sword.

-----

Thanks to Stiofan, Cooper finally made it to the dorm room and collapsed, moaning his misfortunes away in bed.

Would it have hurt for his teammates to hold back a tid bit? Everything hurt for crying out loud, and don't get him started on Alexander's bloody shield. Not only did his arrows rebound against it the same way Jaune does whenever he chats up Weiss, he swings that thing with the strength of an angry gorilla.

Cooper's Aura saved his rump throughout, yet doubt made him obligated to make sure it still worked.

"Thanks again for the help," said Cooper. "Don't think I could've made it here on my own."

Beside his bed, Stiofan waved it off. "After seeing the amount of effort you displayed today despite your reluctance, it's the least I could do."

"Aw, how sweet. But if you really cared," he smacked his leg with a pillow, "then you wouldn't have tried to burn me alive!"

He smirked and crossed his arms. "Apologies, however, from what I remember, you nearly encased me in ice."

They stared at each other until they broke it with a mutual laugh.

"The Dust you use is rather fine, Cooper," said Stiofan. "Where might you have procured such a high end grade?"

Cooper shrugged and handed over a vial from his rucksack. "Nowhere in particular. Just picked it up in some Dust shop back in Mistral, really."

"Well, it certainly has quality." The First Guard held it to the sunlit window and examined it between his fingers. "Although, it pales in comparison to SDC standards. I could show my collection later if you'd like."

"People would have to sell an arm or a leg just to get a piece of SDC Dust." He snorted and shook his head. "You telling me you really have a whole collection?"

"Considering the SDC has a warehouse here in Vale," he chuckled and flicked out his scroll, "I can have as much as I need delivered to our door within a few hours."

Cooper's jaw hit the floor.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I wish to spend a few extra hours in the training hall."

Once Stiofan left, Cooper deflated, grumbling about unfair privileges.

Several minutes later, the door creaked open.

Cooper's nose twitched at the sweet warmth of freshly cooked batter entering the room. He flipped over and drooled at the magnificent sight of his leader holding a fork and a steaming stack of pancakes.

"Oh, you're alive." Roderick nudged the door closed. He set the plate on the desk and stabbed it with the fork. "These are for you by the way."

With a new found strength, Cooper hobbled his bone stiff legs over and gobbled the first layer without a moment to waste.

"That good, huh?"

Cooper stuffed his gob. "They taste like yummy clouds blessed by the heavens. You make these?"

Roderick jerked a thumb to the door. "I asked Ren to make them. Pyrrha's been telling me about how he makes the best pancakes."

"I can't argue with her. Where's Xander?"

"Went to the dining hall." Roderick pulled a tool box from underneath his bed, placed it on the table, and removed the accessories covering that mechanical limb. "Said something about chocolate muffins."

Cooper wolfed the rest of his pancakes and patted his tummy. "That's quite the arm you got there."

"Cost a lot, too. Can't let what happened during the initiation happen too often." He tossed his jacket. "The prosthetic may be tough and all, but it's not designed to be covered by my Aura."

Aura, a power manifested by the soul. Human, Faunus, and even animals can use it if they figure out how. No Grimm, though. Those suckers literally have no souls, and machines didn't count either.

Those adept with Aura control are able to subconsciously generate an invisible field of protection around their body and clothing, automatically healing minor wounds. Handy but prolonged use was exhausting. That's why people stuck with thin clothing or thick armour in order to preserve their Aura. Weapons were another matter. They're designed to act as conduits allowing Aura to flow through, not cover, and that metal arm wasn't any different. Any good smack could damage or break the thing entirely.

After undoing several locks encircling his elbow and twisting it off with a pop, Roderick dismantled and cleaned his arm with care, impressive considering he was missing one.

"Need a hand?"

He snorted. "Yeah, why not?"

Cooper pulled a chair next to him and followed per instruction of assembling the pieces. The parts were high-tech, possibly years ahead of their time.

"Where on Remnant did you find this?"

"Atlas."

That made sense.

The snowy place north of Remnant was technologically decades beyond the other three kingdoms. With the creation of the revolutionary CCT towers and their mighty robot army replacing good old flesh and blood, it was no wonder Roderick's arm came from there.

"Don't know the exact details, but my brother called in some favours to get it made and delivered." Roderick chuckled and waved his dissembled hand. "This is the fourth one."

Cooper blinked. "You had three others?"

"They got small, so I had to get new ones." He connected the hand to the forearm. "The older models were just normal prosthetics. You know, the kind that doesn't move."

Roderick must have lost his arm a long time ago, probably as a child, if it meant constantly having to get bigger models.

It was both sad and frightening. If something like that were to happen to his own self . . . He couldn't imagine what kind of torment that must be like.

"Why'd you change it?" Cooper said. "I mean, this is quite the upgrade from normal."

"Can't exactly fight with a rubber chicken, right?" Roderick clicked his prosthetic back to his arm and waggled his fingers. "I had to so I could accomplish my goals."

"And what would those be?"

"For one," he grinned and made a fist, "I gotta be the best leader you've ever had."

Before long, Cooper left the dormitory to give his bow a proper tune up in the maintenance room, but as he went to work, the idea of goals lingered in his noggin.

There wasn't anything noble or newsworthy about what he wanted. In truth, he didn't want to live out of another man's pocket anymore. That old buckaroo told him becoming a Huntsman would change everything. Was it actually true?

The voice of Cooper's former partner in crime echoed in his ears.

"Do you think you can just quit, Stripes? Nuh-uh. What we do is a sickness, an addiction. You're a thief, and no matter what you do to change, you'll always be a thief. People will find out, and they'll kick you to the curb where us no good criminals belong."

"Oh, come on. . ."

Cooper snapped out of his thoughts and spotted Ruby fiddling with her weapon and muttering a slew of frustrations from across the room.

As amusing as it was seeing her struggle, he wanted to help out. However, what if she doesn't want it? That first impression he made during the exam was much. His face alone might even be enough to scare her off.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

He flipped a coin, slapped it against the back of his hand, and smirked at the results.

"Hello, love."

Ruby jumped and juggled her weapon. "H-hey there, Cooper. Didn't see you there."

Guess he was right about her being wary about him.

"Do you need any help? You've been at that for a while now."

The gal kept the weapon close to her chest. "I-I think I got it."

Cooper understood her hesitance. If someone asked to touch his beloved bow, he would boot them in the rump.

"Don't worry. Just a peek wouldn't hurt, right?"

She bit her lip, staring as if this were a life altering decision, and ultimately gave it over.

The weapon was surprisingly not as heavy as he expected. The frame and many parts were made of a light metal alloy, durable and strong yet easy enough to swing with the ease of a wooden bat.

Heavy powder fouling from multiple Dust firings stained the chamber and the breech to the point no amount of scrubbing or weak solvents would work.

Dust had a bad habit of accumulating and going rock hard after a few uses which meant constant cleaning. That is exactly why he preferred arrows. Nothing to clean after shooting off those naughty gents. Well, that is unless the thing on the other end of the arrow counts as cleaning.

He rummaged through the cabinet containing the solvent sprays and tossed the useless junk.

Stronger solvents had a bad habit of making wallets oddly lighter, but they did the trick. If they were lucky, the academy would have exactly what they needed stocked and ready to go.

"Ah-ha!" Cooper brandished an expensive spray bottle. He squirted it into a rag, wiped the dirty parts squeaky clean, and voila. "There you go, love. Good as new."

Ruby's jaw dropped and she stared at the spray as if it were magic "I've never seen that brand before. What is it?"

Cooper shook the bottle. "There's nothing a little Shi-nee can't fix."

Her eyebrows knitted. "I thought that was a kind of toothpaste."

"And 'a powerful, one-hundred percent guaranteed formula used to clean Dust, dirt, grime, and stains with every drop!' " he said off the label. "If they keep this up, I wouldn't be surprised if they started a music band."

Ruby hugged her weapon. "Thanks, Cooper."

"Anytime, love." Cooper raised a finger. "Say, may I fancy a question?"

"Sure."

"Did you make it or did someone else?"

"I made it, of course!" Ruby's gob split wide open as she unfolded the weapon into a scythe bigger than the two of them put together. "Meet my sweetheart, Crescent Rose. A customizable, High-Caliber Sniper Scythe or H.C.S.S. for short! I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons."

"You don't say." Cooper bowed and removed his cap. "It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Miss Crescent Rose."

She giggled and folded it back together. "So, what do you got?"

"Say hello to this fella." He changed the staff into a bow. "At your service is a Biform Nexus Tactical Longbow or B.N.T.L. (Bentley) for short. Built him myself, mind you."

Her face slacked the same way people do when they see something they like but can't afford. "It's pretty. . ."

"And this," he showed his arrow magazine, "is M.R.A.E. (Murray), my Multi Range Arrow Ejector."

Ruby bounced on her toes and clapped in rapid succession.

"And together," Cooper grinned and attached them together, "they're Merry Outlaw."

Stars sparkled in her eyes with a drool seeping down her chin.

"Now that weapon introductions are over," Cooper collapsed it back into a staff and used the table as a seat, "how you doing, love? I haven't had a chance to speak with you since initiations."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Just trying to fit in. Getting used to the whole leader thing, you know?"

"I bet you've got a better handle on it than Radek," he said. "Poor bloke looks confused half the time."

"You mean Rod?" She crossed her arms and growled. "At least he doesn't have to deal with anyone giving him an earful when he does something wrong."

"Is Snow White still giving you a hard time?"

"Not as much as before." A lovely little grin fiddled with her lips. "Me and Weiss talked it out one night, and now she's at least trying to be nice to me, well, most of the time."

"That's a dandy way to settle things. How about the other gals? Is everything alright between them?"

"I think so. Blake keeps to herself most of the time and lets us do whatever." She glanced behind him and her grin widened. "And you can ask Yang yourself."

Cooper's heart stopped. "What?"

"Sorry I'm late, Rubes." A vise tight grip clamped his shoulder, and Yang's evil eyes crept beside him. "By the way, why are you here with my sister, Ringtail?"

Bollocks.