"Words do not define us. Conscience does."

Most of the time, the concept of sitting down and doing absolutely nothing sounded plentifully worthless to Monty Oum. He had a work ethic; he was a man who absolutely enjoyed dishing out contributions hailing from his own imagination and creativity. He enjoyed being inspired by others. And though it made him a bit nervous, he too inspired others. It was a strange feeling, so to speak.

Sometimes he wondered if doing nothing in particular for a bit actually had more to it than he thought it to be. He understood some aspects as to why some people would enjoy sitting back without a single care in the world. He also understood that he was not one of those people. Bringing life to his ideas through the form of animating appealed to him too much for him to relax.

He wondered. And he wondered. Why he suddenly became filled with work ethic.

He made plenty of difficult decisions, following a path that led him to a worthwhile life of animating. As days, weeks, and months were scratched off of time's eternal calendar, he gained confidence. He forgot what it felt like to slack off and came to appreciate working. Of course, he did not just work on anything he was given. His dropping out of school showed that.

Oum had hope that he would one day impress, surprise, and gain recognition from and for people. As a young man, he aspired to walk a path that the people around him dared not to take without the risk of failure. Whether the path he wanted to take was risky or not he did not mind; as long as he was able to do what he could do by taking the path, he would take it.

Life in its early stages was far too bumpy for Oum to call "comfortable." His mother tended to stick around his business, and school life prevented him from fully dedicating his time to the things he wanted to do. He initially animated out of interest. Then interest turned into dedication and dedication turned into motivation. And the motivation he established as a young man turned into inspiration.

And inspiration gave him hope. It was a small and simple hope that flipped his life in a direction even he did not see coming.

Funny was how he described his own development. New things would pop up in front of him, new inspirations would spawn within him, and new ideas would combine his creativity and experience together. Was he a genius? He did not consider himself to be one.

Laying on his bed, the animator watched Ruby ruffle Jaune's short hair, smiling without a single care in the world. Jaune wobbled a bit every time the leader of RWBY lightly pushed his head as she played. Oum smiled as the knightly leader of JNPR remain still, blinking every once in a while as he let the red riding hood have her fun. The two tiny miracles squealed every now and then next to Oum.

As the two leaders played, Oum continued to observe their actions, which were as tiny as themselves. Ruby squeaked as she stopped ruffling Jaune's hair before proceeding to pounce on him. Jaune looked startled for a split second before he burst out in a fit of laughter as the red-haired girl tickled his sides. The small hunters rolled around the soft blanket with Oum making sure that they did not fall off the bed.

Perhaps it was the small details that made seeing new things all the more interesting.

It had to be.

Author's Notes:

I was gone for a bit. Story's gonna be updated a bit more often again.