AN: Hi folks!
I do not own League of Legends or RWBY they are owned by Riot Games and Roosterteeth respectively.
Wonderful, now that that's over with, onto the story that you (supposedly) came here for!
(Riven POV)
Riven ran over the landscape with little concern for the scenery. Her face was locked in a state of calm determination, and her feet struck the ground with a steady rhythm that mimicked her breathing. The champion's entire lower body was splattered with mud, and her face, arms, and shoulders were patterned with small scratches to match the more permanent scars.
The tired champion didn't have the mental presence to notice any of these blemishes., but truth be told, she wouldn't have cared about any of them anyway. Her arms and legs had long ago gone numb and they moved without conscious effort. Her mind was foggy due to the extended running, and the only thought she maintained for any length of time was her mantra: keep running... they have to know... keep running... they have to know...
Riven was briefly roused from her stupor when a landmark came into view. After two and a half days of constant running, a stripe of green marked the edge of the Emerald Forest and the last major scene change before she reached her destination. Being in unfamilliar territory, she'd been forced to take a winding, zig-zagged, and altogether inefficient route in order to make sure she didn't miss anything. After all this, the confirmation of her route was plenty cause for celebration, but the only reaction that the running woman made was to subconsciously adjust her makeshift leather harness.
Said harness held only two things: her ever-present broken sword and a yellow trinket, which had been tied there with a short piece of string. The trinket was her only connection to the summoners, but she was used to working alone so the isolation was a welcome inprovement. The dense fog of exhaustion returned as Riven went back to her mantra.
Keep running... they have to know...
Upon entering the forest, Riven pulled herself back to full alertness so she could watch her surroundings and her footing. A single well-hidden rock could end her run instantly and force her to limp or crawl the rest of the way, which might take a few days.
However, the roots and rocks were hardly the only things that would slow her down in a forest like this. If what the summoners had told her was true, she needed to be constantly on her guard.
Hardly a minute later, that guard was justified when the tired champion came upon her first animate obstacle for some time. A small pack of four beowulves blocked her path. They had locked onto her scent, so they would catch up to the runner if she just kept jogging through the forest, making direct engagement the only option. As the grimm approached her, Riven planned her movements before springing into action.
With one smooth, well practiced motion, the swordsman did a quick clockwise spin and pulled her broken sword from it's loop, bringing the edge down through the first beowulf's neck. As the man-eating wolf fell to the ground, Riven's next opponent approached on her left. She flipped her sword around. In a swift, two-part motion, she delivered a heavy chop to the wolf's side, then leaped forward with a counterclockwise spin that sliced cleanly through both her remaining opponents. The battle (if you could call it that) was over before her first victim hit the ground, and the champion continued on without breaking stride
I'd better keep my sword out. Riven thought to herself, There are far more things in this forest than those wolves.
Her thoughts were soon confirmed when Riven hopped over a particularly large root to find an ursa blocking her path. The large beast seemed to have been sleeping moments before, but now it was pawing towards the delicious human that had woken it up for lunch.
I might be able to just run past this one though, it's probably slower than those wolves, and it might lose interest in if I just keep going.
It didn't. Riven could hear the grimm's pounding footsteps behind her and quickly decided that it was getting closer. Scanning the forest in front of her, she came up with a quick plan to get rid of her pursuer.
After gauging the beast's general position, Riven leaped into the air and planted her right foot on the trunk of a large tree in front of her. The champion knelt on the bark for the briefest of moments before she pushed off the tree to jump even higher. She quickly turned around, and delivered a vicious overhead slash with a staccato battle cry. The resulting attack carried so much force that the blade cleaved the ursa's entire head in two and pushed the now dead grimm on its back as Riven landed its stomach.
Darn Riven thought as she pushed her self back into a standing position, I broke my stride. Now that I've stopped, it's gonna be tough getting back into rhythm.
Still panting heavily, she slumped against a tree and watched as the ursa began to disintegrate. Riven briefly forgot her haste and stared, chest heaving, as tiny red and black particles blew away like ashes in the wind.
She had seen things vanish before, (the longer League matches would become impossible if the remains of minions, monsters, and champions weren't teleported away for revival shortly after death) but only with the help of summoner magic that, she could only assume, had no influence here.
Not yet anyway Riven reminded herself, They have to know... keep running...
Her mantra reestablished, the champion turned back around and resumed her travel. With the exception of a few black flickers in the corners of her vision, Riven's run was peaceful until she reached the cliff. Beacon Academy, the goal of her long journey, stood on top of said cliff.
What stood at the bottom scared her though. It was a voidling, a small four-legged minion of Malzahar. The little creature itself didn't bother Riven so much. She had killed many of them on the fields of justice, and this one fell as easily as the others with a couple quick chops of her sword. No, what worried her was the fact that voidling was here in the first place. It was only a scout, even better, it was a scout that would not be reporting to its master, but its mere existence was a sign of horrible things to come.
That's why I'm here. They have to know.
After a very arduous climb up the cliff, Riven staggered forward a few steps, breathing heavily. She found a level area on the plateau and reached into her harness, pulling out the trinket and throwing it at the ground in front of her. The tiny trinket immediately began to grow like a plant until the leaves were level with Riven's shoulders (much larger than a normal ward) and a yellow orb appeared just below her head height.
The orb flashed green for a moment, giving Riven the 'all clear' before the familiar blue lights of a teleport spell began swirling around the stem of the ward. Riven gave a weary nod and, still panting from the run, began traipsing towards the academy's closest door. From what she could remember, the whole process of teleporting in the summoning equipment and the summoners themselves would take several minutes. Besides, the broken sword weighed heavy in it's owner's harness.
Limbs aching, Riven examined the area around the door and found that it didn't have a handle, something she was annoyingly used to with Institute security being what it was. There was, however, a small black box on the wall next to it with a small red light and a button. Tiredly assuming that pressing the button would open the door, Riven pressed it and was surprised when a calm but stern female voice came out of the box a couple seconds later.
"Not to be rude, but who are you, and what is that behind you?"
Riven, again, shook herself mentally.
Of course, they have to have some form of actual security here.
Blaming her tired brain for the oversight, Riven gave the response that the summoners had told her to give to the headmaster. Hopefully, this was either the headmaster or someone who worked for him or her.
"Umm... I'm Riven... I'm a... champion... in the League... of Legends," she said, pausing every couple of words for a lungful of badly-needed air, "and I've set up... a beacon... so that the summoners... of the Institute... of War... who run said league... can warn you... of a serious... upcoming threat... and discuss ways... for Beacon Academy... and the Institute of War... to cooperate... in its elimination." Riven recited before adding:
"I also kinda need food... water... and something... to sleep on... 'cause I just finished... my longest run... in five years... through unfamiliar territory... and right now... I feel like someone... lit me on fire."
I've fought Brand and Annie. she added mentally, I'm one of the few people who knows what that feels like.
The box replied with a sigh. "Come in, I'll be down there in a minute." The light turned green. The door opened to reveal a hallway with doors and lights lining both walls along with a couple of benches. Riven staggered in and the door slid closed behind her. She had only taken a couple steps before she heard hurried footsteps around the corner.
Moments later, a woman rounded the corner and the first thought that popped in Riven's head was the woman's striking similarity to Fiora. She had the same stern no-nonsense look that Fiora always wore when Riven faced her on the fields of justice, she carried herself in the same proud, confident, self important way, and even wore slightly similar clothes to the Demacian champion. On the other hand, this woman had longer blonde hair, and wore a white blouse and a shorter cape that tapered off into arrow shapes.
The woman, who Riven assumed was the one talking to her through the black box, was holding a cup of water (gimmie gimmie gimmie) and a thin, blue, rectangular object. She was giving it a look that reminded the tired champion of summoners when they were going through exceedingly annoying paperwork. Riven had just enough time to remind herself that this woman was likely doing something like that due to her arrival before the woman spoke.
"Hello Riven, my name is Glynda Goodwitch" the woman said without looking up from her (assumed) paperwork. She held out the cup of water which Riven quickly took and began draining. "We don't have any rooms prepared, but if you'll give me a minute I can get a bed ready for you and wake you up in time for dinner."
Riven finished the water with a loud gasp and looked up. "I don't really need a bed. I'd be fine sleeping on one of those benches."
Glynda looked up with a face that looked torn between surprise and relief before reverting to forced stoicism. "Go ahead" she said, gesturing to the nearest bench, "it appears that I need to arrange a meeting for some foreign dignitaries anyway."
With that, she brushed passed Riven and began tapping on the glowing rectangle in her hand. Riven would have loved to watch the first meeting of Valoran and Remnant, but tiredness won out over curiosity and instead she flopped on the nearest bench and fell asleep almost instantly.
(Ozpin POV)
Headmaster Ozpin sat at his desk drinking his usual cup of coffee. For most headmasters, the chance to sit down away from his work is a rare pleasure. The strange thing about this specific headmaster was that he could do almost all of his work with lots of time to spare for anything he pleased. This left him with plenty of opportunities to monitor classes, council students, and dismantle criminal organizations, because that's just how he rolls.
Today, however, he simply sat in his office, drinking coffee and relaxing after a hard day's work. There weren't any imenant crises, and niether the queen nor any of her pawns were vulnerable yet. There was nothing to do. There were no problems to solve. There was only coffee to drink.
Still, Ozpin knew that opportunities like this don't last, and was simply enjoing it while it lasted. So when his desk lit up with a holographic notification, the headmaster was only briefly annoyed that his moment had ended. He simply sighed and placed his coffee on the table and opened the message from Glynda.
A strange, exhausted woman appeared at the northeast entrance and placed a beacon in the courtyard. She claimed to be a champion in some sort of league and said that the managers want to meet with you about a threat approaching the school.
Is it Friday already? Ozpin thought sarcastically in his head as he typed a quick response. If her claims are valid, escort them to my office. I'll meet you at the bottom of the elevator.
Once the message was sent, the headmaster grabbed his scroll and mug, put his cane under his arm (just in case), and headed to the elevator. While the lift did the opposite of what its name implied, Ozpin brought up the feed from the northeast security cameras on his scroll to gauge his visitors.
The first thing that caught his eye was a yellow plant-like pole in the courtyard surrounded by a glowing blue circle on the ground. There were also points of light floating in the air with their own smaller circles under them. As he watched, the lights gravitated towards five equidistant points on the circle and a few short bolts of electricity arced between them. Glynda was standing nearby, alternating between watching the light show out of fascination and watching the sky to see what kind of aircraft would require such an elaborate beacon.
Seeing no progress and no need for redundant over watch, Ozpin glanced over the other feeds until he found what he was looking for. In the corner of the FOV of the door monitor was a very dirty white-haired woman sleeping on one of the hall benches with a broken black sword tied loosely to her back.
There goes my prospect of an early, redundant interview, the headmaster thought, but it was a long shot. The managers that Glynda mentioned will certainly be better sources anyways.
The lift came to a stop and Ozpin stepped out, returning his gaze to the feed of the strange beacon. The five points on the circle had become columns that reached approximately 50 feet in the air, and strange lines that appeared to have been etched into the ground occasionally pulsed with more blue light. After a minute or two of waiting, a small whirlwind started up around the circle.
A couple seconds later, several bright flashes of light went off that temporarily blinded the camera and made Ozpin frown at his scroll. When the lights dimmed, the scene was rather different. The blue lines were still there, as was the yellow plant-pole, but in place of the columns; there were five hooded figures of varying height that held blue orbs in front of them. The figures waved their hands around the orbs and a few more lines appeared in the ground around the perimeter of the circle. One last pulse of blue light surged through the lines, the orbs dimmed, and the figures lowered their arms.
After a moment of silence, the figures cheered. There were high fives and handshakes all around, and a few even shared hugs until one of the travelers pointed at Glynda and they turned to face her.
"Hello." the huntress said as though the light show that had taken place in front of her was entirely normal, "Welcome to Beacon Academy. I assume you are the ones that Ms. Riven was talking about?"
"Yes" the middle traveler replied, "We are the summoners of the League of Legends and Institute of war. We are here to discuss a grave threat that has been pointed at Beacon Academy. I apologize for the delay; the teleportation process is very tricky when preformed over such a long distance in so many dimensions. Accuracy is key in such things, and even with a beacon, it takes time to..."
"Stop talking her ear off over teleportation." interrupted another summoner to the right of center. "We have more important topics to discuss. Like, are you the headmistress?"
Glynda, having dealt with far more annoying people due to her line of work, replied calmly. "No. The headmaster is waiting for you inside. I notified him as soon as I got the message from Ms. Riven."
"How is Riven by the way?" a female summoner on the edge of the group said, "We didn't get a chance to check up on her after she placed the ward. Did you get her some food and water?"
"She's currently sleeping in the hallway just inside." Glynda replied, gesturing to the door. "I gave her some water and I was planning on waking her up for dinner while you all are meeting."
"Thank you for your hospitality" said the center summoner. "We do need to ensure the health and safety of our champions, and it is heartening to know you have taken care of her for us. Let's hope that the rest of our interactions are similarly co-operative." At this, the summoner gave a sharp glare to one of his colleagues who responded by rolling his eyes.
"One time Kobe. I mess up one time, and suddenly I'm perma-banned from social interactions." The summoner said in an undertone that was clearly heard by everybody (including the security camera).
"I just want this to go smoothly Phreak. You're still allowed to talk, just not in a way that makes everyone hate you." Kobe said in a calm, serious tone that didn't keep the grin from his face. "That applies to you too Jatt."
"What about me?" piped up the only female summoner.
"Nika, you're the one who would be handling this talking stuff in the first place if I hadn't taken it by force. Just let Jatt, Riv, Phreak, and I handle all of the business stuff and you can say anything you want."
"Deal. Let's meet this headmaster."
Glynda agreed, and the group followed her up to the door. Glynda raised her keycard to open the door, but Ozpin opened it with a few quick taps on his scroll. He could just barely see Glynda mouth "showoff" at the camera before she walked inside, the summoners following right behind in various fashions.
Some of the summoners whispered to each other, some stared at the towers a moment before following the others, and one ran over to Riven was sleeping. After turning her over so she was lying on her stomach, he his hands flat a few inches above her back and muttered something the camera couldn't pick up. A small shower of green lights fell from his hands and the cuts on the champion's skin closed. The summoner gave her a brief once over before nodding and returning to the group.
Strange. Normal green dust can't do that and he didn't use any transistors to control the effects. It could be some clever aura-based manipulation, or something else entirely.
Having lost security coverage of the visitors, Ozpin put away his scroll and pulled his cane out from under his arm. A short minute of waiting later and Glynda rounded the corner with the summoners in semi-orderly tow.
"I assume you got all that." she said, pulling out her riding crop and slapping the elevator call button with it. Ozpin gave her a slight nod before directing his attention to the visitors who were looking at him with varying anticipation.
"Good afternoon summoners, welcome to Beacon. I am Headmaster Ozpin." The few summoners that weren't paying attention before looked straight at him at those words. "I believe you wanted to speak with me?"
"Yes," Phreak replied, "but I thought we'd be meeting somewhere more… official-looking." He gestured vaguely around at the empty hallway to emphasize his point.
"We will be." Ozpin said, "We can hold a meeting in my office shortly. In the meantime though, could I have your names please?"
"Which ones?" piped up Nika, "Our real names or our summoner tags?"
"Whichever you prefer." Ozpin replied with a grin.
(Ruby pov)
At first, the hallways were silent as usual. Anyone standing there would have been able to hear a fly buzzing around a light fixture halfway across the building. With only the slow, distant drone of the occasional professor to give away the presence of other humans, it was pure peace and quiet. Then the dinner bell buzzed. After that, there was a slow noise buildup inside the grimm studies classroom. The sound grew and grew until it peaked and the door flew open. What followed was an explosion of chatter, yelling, and general noise as student poured out of the tiny opening.
"Finally! I thought that would never end!" yelled Yang, the first person to push their way through the door, "Seriously, how is it even possible to talk about King Taijitu venom for an hour and a half straight and still have enough to assign us reading homework over!"
The rest of her team filed out behind her as she said this, and her sister was all too eager to turn it into a conversation. "I know right? I mean, I can understand him telling us about what the venom does to you, how much it injects, and how to treat it," Ruby said in her usual rapid-fire style, "but then he went into all that stuff about how it was made and the chemical makeup and the density and viscosity and who knows what else!"
Blake rolled her eyes. "I'm going to say the people who paid attention." she deadpanned. The two sisters looked at their teammate, then each other, looking for signs of comprehension.
Weiss sighed. "She's saying that anyone who paid attention would know what else Professor Port said." the Schnee heiress said when it was clear that neither sister understood.
"And just because I can see you're dying to know," she added in her most sarcastic voice, "the rest of the talk was on the history of the venom's discovery and research."
Yang gave her usual signal for 'I couldn't care less if I tried' and Ruby snickered. However, Blake stood by with her hand on her chin and brow furrowed. This was rather normal for the aloof and introverted member of the team, but her teammates gave her curious looks anyways.
"What is it Blake?" questioned the fearless leader.
Blake stood silent for a moment before responding. "While I am glad that at least half the team pays attention to those lectures," (Weiss preened in her best rich kid impression in the background as she said this) "I do have to agree with Yang. What possible use would that information hold?" The team looked at each other with thoughtful expressions on their faces until they heard a familiar voice behind them.
"Keeping you from eating dinner on time perhaps?" The four girls turned to see team JNPR standing behind them with a grinning Pyrrha at the front. "Seriously, if you keep standing there we'll be the last ones in line."
Realization of their hunger was punctuated by several of RWBYs' stomachs growling simultaneously. "To the food court!" Ruby yelled, and her team raced off, leaving a small cloud of dust and a laughing, stumbling JNPR in their wake.
Once they had gotten their various meals, (a process that included Yang forcefully pulling Ruby away from the dessert cart for the fifth time that week) RWBY and JNPR sat down at their usual table near the door, and Jaune began their usual banter.
"I still can't believe that happened." he said with a chicken leg in his hand, "The timing was just too perfect."
"Hey!" Ruby replied holding her first of twelve cookies, "We were hungry okay?"
"Pyrrha was like 'hurry up', and then you guys just went BWOOOOOOOOOllllgh."
"Reeeaaly hungry."
Jaune's response was cut short by someone tapping him on the shoulder. Everyone at the table looked up (whether from the tapping or the sudden lull in conversation) to see a tired-looking white-haired woman standing behind him. She was holding a half-eaten biscuit in one hand, and a tray of food in her other.
"Can I sit here?"
"Sure!" Ruby responded before anyone else had a chance to comment. She motioned for JNPR to scoot over (which Nora did for them by pushing the others to the side and patting the now empty bench next to her), and the woman sat down at the end beside Nora and across from Ruby.
As soon as she sat down, the woman started shoveling food in her mouth like she hadn't eaten in days. The RWBYJNPR crew sat in a still silence watching her for a few seconds before Yang decided to break it.
"Sooooo, I'm Yang..." She motioned for her friends to follow her lead.
"I'm Weiss"
"Blake"
"And I'm Ruby!" Ruby finished, glad that she had a conversation that she knew how to handle. "The fearless leader of team RWBY! And this is..." she said, gesturing at the other side of the table.
"My name's Pyrrha" Pyrrha started in her usual friendly tone.
"Ren"
"NORA!"
"And I'm Jaune. I lead team JNPR."
The woman glanced around the table as each name was said, shoving more food in her mouth than one would think possible, only stopping to take an occasional gulp of water. She nodded lazily each time someone said their name and went right back to her dinner afterwards.
"Sooooooo..." Yang pried, a bit unnerved by the massive amount of vanishing cuisine, "What's YOUR name?". The stranger put her water down and swallowed the food in her mouth before responding.
"I'm Riven, I'm a champion in the League of Legends, and..." she trailed off a moment as though just remembering something, "I probably should stop there." she finished. Everyone else at the table frowned in disappointment (Nora's far more audible than anyone else's), and Ruby was the first to voice the teams' curiosity.
"League of what?" She said before Weiss cut her off.
"Ruby, she's trying to eat." the heiress said as though she were correcting a small child, "Besides, I don't think she can tell us any more than that."
She was cut off by Riven raising her hand and loudly swallowing her mashed potatoes. "Actually, keep me talking. It'll keep me from eating too fast." Ruby's face lit up, and she began almost quivering with excitement; she was so eager to talk to this mysterious person.
She called herself a champion! Does that mean she's a professional fighter? Like a huntress but even cooler? And she said she was in the League of... Legends... I think? I didn't quite catch that bit. But if so then THAT'S EVEN COOLER! Does that mean that there's more fighters like her? Come to think of it, why haven't I ever heard of this league before? I'm up to date on everything that has to do with fighting. Maybe they've just formed and she's like one of the founders or something? That mean's she's probably SUPER cool. Maybe she's recruiting! Am I a good enough fighter? Probably not, but she came to Beacon, so she'd be here to recruit students, right? I wonder how she fights. I didn't see her weapon when she sat down. Maybe she just fights hand-to-hand like Ren does sometimes?
Ruby was so caught up in the possibilities that she almost missed Riven's follow-up statement. "Also, I can talk about the League, just not why they sent me here. Mostly because I don't really know myself."
Weiss's face donned a shocked look (probably due to being wrong twice in a row) while Riven continued as though she were talking to herself. "I mean, I already delivered the message and set up the beacon, are they just gonna send me back once I'm recovered?"
Ruby couldn't contain the barrage of questions any longer, and so began speed-talking like she always did when she was excited. "Recovered from what? Wait, you delivered a message? What was it? You said you were from the League of Legends right? What is that? What's a champion? Does that mean you're, like, a professional fighter? Where's your weapon? Is it cool?"
Yang put her hand over her sister's mouth to try and stem the infinite flow of questions before they scared Riven away. Normally she just let her sister ramble on, but this stranger didn't look like she had the patience or the energy to deal with it calmly. Riven took another large gulp of water before answering.
"Umm, yeah. I'm a champion in the League of Legends," and that was all that she got out before Ruby pulled her sister's hand away to ask more questions.
"And what is that? If you're..."
A small explosion interrupted Ruby's interruption. All of team JNPR, along with Blake and Weiss, immediately hid under the table to escape the literal and verbal firestorm. "RUBY! SHE'S GETTING TO IT!"
At the moment, Riven wasn't getting to anything, what with her shock at the nearby explosion jerking her out of her drowsy stupor. She simply stared at the burning blonde while clutching a piece of ham (now lightly roasted) in her right hand.
Yang glared down at Ruby before realizing that she had silenced nearly half of the cafeteria with her outburst. The brawler nervously sat down, scratching her head while her friends casually returned to their seats. The silence was interrupted by Riven slamming her empty cup on the table. The entire table turned to her as she picked up her tray and stood.
"Actually, I'm done eating and really tired so I think I'll just go back to sleep now."
Ruby felt like someone had cancelled her birthday.
NO! You can't go yet. I have too many questions still!
"Wait!" she yelled, dashing in front of Riven with her best pleading puppy dog face. "Can't you stay? I'm sorry about Yang; she just blows up like that a lot. But she'll be nice from now on! Please? I still wanna talk to you!"
Riven sighed. "Sorry... Ruby right?" Ruby nodded enthusiastically.
YES! She remembered my name! Maybe she'll recommend me for this cool League! Am I getting ahead of myself? Yang would probably say so. I guess it really depends on-
"Yeah, I need to get some more sleep." Riven interrupted Ruby's rapid thoughts. "I haven't gotten any for the last three days."
"Okay... Fine." Ruby sighed. She looked down at her shoes in a moment of defeat before another idea sent her back into ramble mode. "Wait, does that mean you aren't sleeping well or that you've gotten literally no sleep for the last three days? Wow, that's a lot. Is that really possible?"
"Ruby," This time it was Blake that cut off her rambling. "either way, she needs to sleep now."
"Right," Ruby said, embarrassedly twiddling her fingers, "can we talk later then?"
Please say yes. There's so much more I need to know about! There's you, this league thing, what a champion is, what you're doing here, what's going on, what weapon you use...
Riven gave a small smile as she began to walk away. "That all depends on the men upstairs." With that, she walked out of the cafeteria and Ruby sat back down.
"I hope we get to talk again. I mean, she's a CHAMPION! That mean's she's extra-special cool right?"
"I dunno sis," Yang replied, back in her normal, playful mood, "Pyrrha here is a champion of Mistral and she's nothin' special."
"You do know I heard that right?" Pyrrha said without looking up from her potatoes.
"It woulda been wasted if you didn't." Yang shot back with a playful wink.
Pyrrha chucked at that, glad to return to normal, fun banter. She opened her mouth to reply, but Blake's musings interrupted her.
"I wonder what she meant by 'the men upstairs'."
(3rd POV)
The headmaster's office was silent for three and a half seconds (as noted by the steadily ticking clock behind the desk), though it felt much longer. The deputy headmistress was standing in the corner a few feet away, and the Headmaster himself was leaning forward in his chair with his hand folded under his chin in a thoughtful pose. The summoners were seated in a semicircle in front of his desk, anxiously awaiting his response to the bombshell they had just dropped.
Ozpin heaved a great sigh, and sat back in his chair before saying: "So what you're telling me is that this school of highly skilled hunters-in-training needs to prepare for a war?"
Rivington replied after a moment's silence. "It's not quite as pressing as we may have made it sound. The Institute of War has plenty of practice delaying and suppressing wars. It's the entire reason for the League's existence after all, but we have other methods as well."
Jatt continued the explanation. "We have been stunting the Void's progress for a long time now. We have a lot of influence over the actions of some of their agents, but that is mostly due to the fact that one of them is a champion in the League, as are three of his pawns. Unfortunately, he doesn't need us anymore, and he'll most likely bail on us once he realizes we're on to him. We can't use much of that influence right now without losing all the power we have over him."
Phreak picked up the briefing from there. "One way or another, there's going to be an army of monsters attacking this school. We're doing everything we can to slow them down, but we can't stop them entirely. You need to be ready."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think we're not? This is a school for hunters. These children may be young, but even the freshmen have already been through almost a full semester of monster hunting."
Phreak held up his palms in a calmly defensive manner. "It's entirely possible that they are up to the challenge, but I doubt it." Nikasaur shot him a warning look, but Phreak merely shrugged and kept going. "We know just how powerful some kids can be," Ozpin heard one of the summoners mutter something that sounded like 'clammy hand mumu', "but these are real monsters created specifically to consume the world."
Ozpin cracked a grin at that and Glynda rolled her eyes to punctuate her next statement. "That's exactly what these children have been trained to hunt."
The summoners looked at each other with surprise and confusion evident on their faces. Eventually, Jatt broke the silence. "I guess we'll have to see them in action before we can say for sure, but" he said, looking pointedly at the headmaster with a serious expression, "you know your students better than we do. You also know that taking out a few monsters in a skirmish is one thing, but holding back a siege is another. These kids are being trained to hunt monsters, but do you honestly believe they can win a war?"
At this, the headmaster looked down at his desk and began scrolling through the student files. "I've been trying to make sure they never have to." he said quietly.
The room was silent for a full minute while Ozpin opened up Ruby's recommendation letter from Qrow and read through it despite having memorized it months ago. He stopped at the postscript and went over the last sentence several times.
Right then, Zyrene spoke up. "Well now they have to. Let's get to the point and start discussing how they will." Everyone in the office turned to glare at him at this except Ozpin, who merely smiled and agreed.
"Yes, let's."
(Riven POV)
Riven was dead tired when she exited the dining hall, but she was still awake enough to realize that she didn't have a room to sleep in, and that another nap on the bench would most likely result in a back that would be somehow even more sore. Luckily for her, she happened to meet Glynda on her way out.
"There you are Riven." She said as though she were checking chores off a list. "I've set up a room for you in the guest dorms which are that way" Glynda pointed her thumb to the left "at the end of the road on your right. You are in room #308."
Riven nodded her head in understanding and took the keycard that the deputy headmistress handed her. "You should try and sleep tonight. I'll be coming by your room to take you to a meeting at 8:30 tomorrow morning. What you do afterwards will be decided at that meeting."
8:30 Riven made the mental note I get to sleep until 8:30. Whatever that means here.
She tiredly walked to the door and out into the courtyard. Once Riven finally got to her dorm room, it took her a full minute to figure out how to use the card to open the door. Eventually she figured out that she had threaded the wrong side of the card through the slit in the box next to the door, but that was only after several tries and a lot of colorful language that only a soldier would have in their vocabulary.
As soon as she saw the bed, Riven felt the 72 hours of exertion weighing on her like bars of lead tied to her back. The soreness was burning her muscles like she was swimming through magma, but she forced herself to take a shower and stretch first.
Normally, Riven wasn't the type to prioritize appearance over... anything really, but the only cleaning she had received since she started her 600 mile run was the healing spell that she assumed one of the summoners cast on her while she was asleep. While her cuts and bruises were gone, there was still dried blood splattered on her arms and clothes, some dirt that she hadn't managed to brush off before going into the cafeteria, and a lingering smell that reminded Riven too much of her days as an exile.
The champion hadn't had the room or reason to bring any sort of supplies with her on her journey, let alone towels and soap. Luckily thou, the guest room was stocked with those things to begin with. It took Riven a minute to figure out which soaps she was supposed to use, seeing as she didn't use soap at all if she didn't have to. Once that was taken care of, she stripped and stepped into the shower, all the while musing on her current predicament.
Okay, they wouldn't call me to a meeting just to send me back to Valoran, so that means they have another job for me here. Riven thought while she covered her hands in soap. Or maybe they just want me to say something or be part of an example of something. Either way, it looks like I'm staying for a bit.
At this thought, Riven sighed and slid down the wall of the shower until she was sitting with her knees to her chin while water rained down on her head.
At her core, Riven was an extreme introvert, and her years as an exile did nothing to change this. Being in a densely populated facility for any extended period of time made her very uncomfortable. In the League she could retreat to her room, the gardens, or the training grounds whenever she needed to be by herself. But here, there were always going to be people around no matter where she went.
At least it's not completely different, I'm still surrounded by fighters by the looks of it. Maybe they'll understand.
Head swimming from exhaustion, Riven finished her shower without any more interruptions. After a few minutes of rather painful stretches, she dried herself off and slipped on the thin cloth shirt and pants that had been left on the bed for her. She had barely crawled in the bed before she lost herself to unconsciousness.
AN: So that's the first chapter! Tell me if you thought it was good/bad, paced too fast/too slow, too much dialogue/too little, etc. Also, yes, I am planning to use real people for the summoners, (mostly casters, pro players/streamers, and Riot staff) so please tell me if any of them seem OOC because I don't really have their personalities pinned down. I know this is a lot to ask this tiny number of readers and I'll understand if you just don't care enough. But I do want this to be as good a story as possible and it won't be as good if I make all the judgment calls. Sorry, but until I get a beta reader, you are going to have to fill the part.