Lotus rolled over, squinting into the light that streamed across her bed through the blinds, the gap swaying in a slight breeze from where the window itself had been left open. Widow and Lotus had stayed the night back in town, purchasing individual rooms at the inn for themselves with a promise of reuniting later the next day. They were in no rush to get back to the city of Mistral, and Lotus had promised Ren and Nora that she would hang out with them that morning.

With a startled yelp at the time, Lotus jumped up and began to hastily dress herself. 'I told them I'd be there at dawn!' and by the sun's position, it was at least a couple hours after that. Under normal circumstances, she hardly ever slept, but after the previous night's events, the nightmares hadn't shown themselves for once. They didn't bother her nearly as much anymore, but they were still there. Present every time she closed her eyes. The number of faces had simply grown over the years.

Lotus finished dressing and began to leave, but paused at her door, looking back into the room. Figuring it would help the disguise, she stepped back inside for a moment and snatched up Copper's sword. She drew it and checked the blade. Specks of dried blood still caked its edge. She groaned and headed into the bathroom to take her time making sure it was clean of any gore from the night before. 'Wow Olivia, where'd all that blood come from?,' Lotus thought to herself, adopting a close approximation of Nora's voice instead of her own.

Cleaning out the weapon kept her there for another fifteen minutes. 'I really should have done this as soon as I got back.' Now the blood had seeped into the moving parts. She seriously doubted that Copper had ever accounted for it during its creation. 'Then again he never planned on killing anyone.' A small part of her felt ashamed that she had used it to kill the man the night before, but… 'Copper would understand. I used it to kill one of the bandits, too. This time I was getting revenge for… another brother.' Perhaps she had been too hard on herself, initially. Now that she had grown, the weapon felt more right in her hands, much less out of place as when she was first training with the White Fang.

Lotus did a final inspection, twisting and shifting the sword-gun between its two forms, then powered the lightning dust on and off for good measure. Everything seemed to be in working order, and there wasn't a speck of blood to be seen. Lotus nodded to herself and dried it off before resheathing it and heading downstairs.

There were already quite a few patrons at the tables downstairs, and among them, Lotus spotted the two that she had been meant to meet up with earlier. Her shoulders slumped in remorse as she made her way to them, "Sorry, I don't usually sleep in this late…"

Nora looked up from her plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, letting her fork clatter to the plate as she jumped up and moved around the side of the table to throw a hug around Lotus's midriff. "Oh, no harm done! Ren and I took a little extra time this morning to gather mail while you were still asleep!" Nora cheered lightheartedly, stepping back out of the hug to gesture towards the chair at their table, "Do you want us to order you anything?"

"It would be our pleasure," Ren chipped in, giving Lotus a light smile as he set his own fork down.

Lotus rubbed the back of her head, "Heh, no that's alright. I can pay for my own breakfast."

"Nonsense! We never got to pay you back for all those supplies!" Nora gave Lotus a polite shove into the chair and pinned her there with her hands on Lotus's shoulders, "What do you want?"

With an amused smile, Lotus looked over at Nora's plate and shrugged, "Another order of what you're having would be nice."

Nora grinned and ran to the front counter, leaving Ren and Lotus alone for the moment. Lotus sighed and sat back, hand running along the sheath at her hip. It was a surprise, how comforting it felt. Between Copper's sword, and the black hoodie she wore, she could almost forget the years of murder and imagine herself as she had been when she met the two for the first time.

Ren interrupted her brief moment of bliss with a lightly asked question, eyes following Lotus's hand as it traced along the side of the weapon, "Is that your weapon? You didn't have it on you yesterday."

Lotus's hand froze, and the next moment she brought her hand back up to rest on the table. She gave Ren a shy grin and looked down at it as she spoke, "It was my brother's. He had just finished building it and was planning on going to school at Haven before he… died," Lotus gave a slight shrug, "I keep it as a memento more than anything. I fight better with my fists."

"So you're a brawler!?" Nora interrupted as she returned, hefting a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs down in front of Lotus, along with a pitcher of orange juice. Nora patted her on the back before resuming her own seat and digging into her half finished plate of food.

Lotus let out a small chuckle and decided on giving them the lie that she and Widow had come up with, "I guess you could say that. My semblance increases my strength and speed when I activate it. I could fight with a weapon, but it's just never felt right before," Lotus's eyes strayed back down to the sword, reminded by how complete she was with it, "I… I might learn how to use it, though. I want to become a huntress."

Ren nodded, "You would be able to honor your brother."

"Ren and I are going to Beacon once we're old enough!" Nora announced, throwing an arm around his shoulder to draw him into a sideways hug. Ren accepted it silently, apparently used to Nora's regular shows of affection. He hardly paused with his fork, expertly balancing the sudden shift while still bringing it to his mouth.

"How old do you have to be?" Lotus asked, curiosity thoroughly piqued. She had been determined to go to Sanctum a few years ago, right before… everything happened. With the final name on her list now looking like less and less of a pipe dream, the possibility of going to an academy was suddenly much more plausible. 'I could still make something of myself.'

"Seventeen," Ren stated.

"Which means we have a couple years, then we're going to take the entrance exams! Ren and I should pass with flying colors!" Nora nodded excitedly.

"So we actually are the same age…" Lotus mumbled to herself, then lifted her eyes back to the pair, "Why Beacon in particular? That's all the way over in Vale, right?" 'Near where my next target is…'

"Beacon is the place to go! It's the best academy in the world!" Nora explained loudly, gesturing with her fork, ignoring the bits of egg flying off the end of it. Ren looked like he wanted to chastise her, but let out a tiny huff instead and focused back on his own food.

Lotus rubbed a hand across her other forearm and asked quietly, "How… do they treat faunus there?" She shivered in fear. It was a bold move, but if she planned on going to Beacon as well, she might as well find out now whether or not her 'friends' would care about her heritage. Her eyes glanced back and forth between the two as she said it, waiting for their responses, knowing already in her heart that they would reject her. That they would stand up from where they sat, disgusted that they had shared a meal with a faunus, and storm out of the building.

"It's actually quite progressive, second only to Vacuo," Ren replied calmly. Lotus's eyes locked on his as she searched for a hint of contempt, a hint of malice. There was… There was none to be found. 'Do they not care? That's not possible… right?'

A scrape of chair legs was all the warning Lotus received before Nora had swooped back to her side and grabbed her hands, "Oh my gosh you're a faunus!?" Nora's eyes darted around Lotus's body, searching for her faunus trait, "I don't see anything!"

Lotus flinched, curling in on herself as her eyes looked around at the other patrons at the nearby tables. A few eyes had heard and were looking her way. She shied away from their gazes and caught Ren's eyes, who's eyes widened as he looked around as well.

"Nora!" Ren whispered fiercely. The girl turned in confusion before also catching the eyes that had all swiveled their way. Her cheeks colored and she let go of Lotus's hands, backing away to sit back down in her chair.

"Let's, um… let's go for a walk?" Lotus quivered and stood, no longer caring for the food in front of her. The other two nodded, grateful to leave the prying eyes fixated on the group as they left the establishment. Lotus breathed out a small sigh of relief as the door closed behind them, shutting their gazes away.

Nora immediately turned back to her as the door closed, "I'm so sorry, Olivia! I didn't mean to!" The girl's hands were twisting together in a panic, her eyes pained as they silently pleaded for Lotus to understand that she regretted what she'd done.

"Honestly, Nora. You need to be more careful," Ren admonished as he shook his head, leading them further away from the inn and out along the road. They walked outside the edge of the town, just on the other side of the road that Lotus and Widow had travelled along the day prior and stepped into the shade of a large tree. Lotus slumped down against it, sitting down in the grass with her knees pulled up in front of her.

Nora's face was twisted in distress, her eyes going from Lotus back to the town, watching for anyone that might have followed them outside the inn. Thankfully, no one poked their heads out. Lotus sighed and let herself relax a little, letting the cool breeze roll across her skin as she looked up at the young woman.

"It's okay, Nora... My friend and I weren't planning on spending very long here, anyway. We were going to leave later in the evening… I'll just have to let her know to keep her guard up," Lotus gave the pair a half-hearted smile, trying to show there were no hard feelings, "Besides, we can take care of ourselves."

"I'm still really sorry!" Nora said, sitting down with her legs crossed next to Lotus. Ren mimicked her on Lotus's other side, both trying to comfort her with their presence. Lotus glanced between them, realizing finally that neither had outright rejected her as she suspected.

"You're both… okay with me being a faunus?" Lotus asked timidly, afraid to bring the topic back up in case they might both remember their own bigotries now that they were away from other people. Lotus didn't really care about the opinions of those in the town. It would just make the rest of the day awkward, and if anyone gave her too much trouble, she could just kill them. Ren and Nora, though...

Nora held herself back this time, simply offering a hand on top of Lotus's shoulder, "Of course we are! Don't be silly!"

Lotus caught Ren's eye again. He firmly looked back into hers, unwavering as he replied, "Yes. Once we become hunters, we'll be able to protect others. Both humans, and faunus. The Grimm don't care what you are, so why should we?"

"That's… very noble," Lotus replied with a light and timid laugh. She could remember Jace saying something similar once up a time. With growing confidence, Lotus gave a brief glance to the both of them and summoned her courage, reaching out a hand to one of her hoodie's sleeves and drawing it back. Her black veins were exposed to the both of them, and she waited with bated breath to hear their responses.

"Cool~!" Nora grinned, leaning closer to look at them.

Ren frowned, "So what kind of faunus does that make you?"

"A spider faunus. It was a long time before I even knew what I was," Lotus chuckled and pulled the sleeve back up, resting both her hands on her knees again.

"Aren't faunus always the same as one of their parents?" Ren asked in confusion.

"Not necessarily," Lotus used her hands to help explain the concept, "If a human and a faunus have a child, it's a fifty percent chance on what the child comes out as. If they are born as a faunus, then they'll always be the same kind as their faunus parent. Now, if you have two faunus as your parents, and they aren't the same type, then the child will always be a faunus, but the child will be a random type. My mother was a fox faunus, and my father was a bear faunus."

Lotus brought her hands together in a loud clap and then gestured slowly to herself, "Spider faunus."

Ren looked thoughtful as he pondered the explanation. Nora still looked just as confused, but smiled all the same, content to just accept the fact that Lotus was part spider.

Lotus smiled, "I was kind of lucky. I wouldn't want it any other way… aside from being human, maybe."

"What!? Faunus are so cool, though! You have better senses than we do! I wish I could see in the dark…" Nora trailed off at Lotus's frown.

"Having better senses is nice, but I'd rather be able to go wherever I want without having to be afraid of humans, or having to constantly hide a part of myself," Lotus raised her arm again for good measure but didn't pull back her sleeve again.

Ren seemed to have caught on to her earlier admission, "Are spider faunus special in some way?" his face paled slightly and he raised his hand up, "I'm sorry if that came out wrong… We just don't know much about faunus. They don't… tend to talk to humans much, if they can help it."

"It's okay," Lotus grinned, "I can hardly blame you for being ignorant in that regard. Spider faunus aren't very common, which is why I didn't know for so long. In fact, the only reason I found out is because I met my mentor. She's a spider faunus, too." Lotus trailed off for a moment, mind in thought. 'Do I give away one of my biggest advantages? It is Ren and Nora…'

"To answer your question…" Lotus let her sixth sense search out for a moment, then pointed back over Ren's shoulder without turning her eyes in that direction, "There's a squirrel on the back of that tree." The tree in question was around thirty feet away. Lotus's finger tracked it, feeling it move up and down the trunk out of sight, until finally the small brown furred animal scurried to their side of the trunk, then climbed its way to the canopy above, "I can sense vibrations through the air. Like sound, but a lot more acutely." Widow's words from long ago flickered through her mind and she smiled, "I could fight you with my eyes closed and you'd never know the difference."

Nora let out a low whistle and turned excitedly to Lotus, "Now that I have to try out!"

Lotus laughed hesitantly, "Maybe some other time. I'm not sure how well the townspeople would take it if we just started sparring. They might think I was attacking you or something," Lotus paled slightly as well, "I don't want to chance a shot from the old man's double barrel."

They both looked confused, but Ren spoke first, "Do you mean Arthur?" At Lotus's own look of confusion, he elaborated, "The old man we had dinner with last night."

Lotus's eyes were downcast as she nodded, "He was so nice, too."

Nora's mouth opened in surprise, "You think he would try to hurt you? He's really nice, though!"

Lotus shrugged uncomfortably, "You never know until they find out… You two are pretty much the only positive experience I've had with humans…"

Ren shook his head, drawing Lotus's attention, "I don't think he would care either, Olivia."

"I wouldn't be so sure…" Lotus stared up into the tree's green canopy above them, watching the leaves gently sway in the breeze. She nervously began pulling up the grass beneath her right hand, hesitating in asking the question she really wanted to. Ren seemed to notice, and offered his hand towards her shoulder.

"May I?" he asked simply.

"Uhm," Lotus remembered the last time Ren had used his semblance on her. It felt good, but had made her want to sleep immediately after, "Maybe just a little bit? I already slept late enough into the day…"

Ren nodded his understanding and let his hand fall against Lotus's shoulder, only two fingers lightly brushing against the fabric of her hoodie. A soothing calm washed over her, from the tips of his fingers down to the tips of her toes. It was less intense than before, but her body relaxed, and she stopped pulling at the grass, content to simply lie still instead.

"Better?"

"Better," Lotus confirmed. She sat in silence for a few more moments before summoning up her courage, "So… I said before that I wanted to become a huntress… and we're the same age… and you are the two nicest humans I've ever met… Would it be okay if… If…"

Ren caught on sooner than Nora, who realized what Lotus was trying to ask only a moment later. They both shared a smile before Nora threw her arms around Lotus once again.

"We would be honored if you attended Beacon with us," Ren replied firmly, returning a comforting hand to the faunus girl's shoulder.

"Oh, that would be so fun! We would make a great team!" Nora pulled back from the one way hug and gave Lotus a very serious look, "And if anyone tried to mess with you, we'll break their legs!"

Lotus's next laugh was clear of all the anxiety she had felt before, "I'll hold you to that," she smiled at the girl, letting her know that she didn't actually expect her to break anyone's legs. Nora returned a vicious smile, showing her teeth. 'Maybe she really would…' Lotus only brightened more at the mental image.

Lotus jumped to her feet the next moment as a familiar presence approached from across the road. Nora and Ren flinched in surprise, then followed her gaze, both noticing the taller, older female that was headed their direction.

"Hey, Widow!" Lotus chirped out nervously. She pointed to each of the two humans in turn as she said their names, "This is Ren, and this is Nora. They're friends."

Widow's face melted into a warm smile as she regarded both of the humans flanking Lotus, "It is nice to meet you two. Olivia has mentioned you in the past, so it's nice to put a face to the names."

Ren and Nora returned the older woman's smile and glanced at Lotus before turning back to her, "We're glad to have met her."

Widow's smiled changed slightly, her eyes turning hard and cold as she regarded the two humans. Her mouth didn't betray her intentions, and the warmth was still in her voice as she spoke again, "Even though she's a faunus?" Lotus's appendages appeared the next instant, hovering in front of Ren and Nora, prepared to defend against any attack. Lotus knew that look. It was a dangerous look. One wrong word and Widow would happily bury her daggers into each of their chests without a second thought.

Neither seemed to notice the shift in Lotus's stance, or the invisible limbs flexing in front of them protectively. Nora broke out into a much wider smile and nodded enthusiastically. Ren nodded as well, adding, "That means nothing as far as we are concerned."

Widow's senses took in Lotus's display, and her eyes softened again, "Well, any friend of Olivia's is a friend of mine." The older woman's body relaxed, hands falling back down completely to her sides as she now truly looked the two humans over. Not with suspicion or doubt, but genuine curiosity.

Widow sighed, "I'm afraid we'll have to cut your reunion short," her eyes turned back to Lotus apologetically, "I just got a call from Mistral. They need us back as soon as possible. Sorry, little spider."

Lotus groaned and leaned back against the tree behind her, letting her semblance dissipate, "Sorry guys. If they bothered to call us then it really must be important."

"Who called?" Nora gave a little 'hmph', and crossed her arms.

'Believable lie, believable lie… uhhh…'

Widow chimed in, saving Lotus from her failed attempts to come up with an excuse, "We work with another group of hunters. We're called in to help whenever there's a pack of Grimm too large for them to handle alone," Widow shrugged, "It pays well, and never gets boring."

Ren and Nora accepted the answer, nodding along.

"The airship is due back in less than half an hour. We'll hire it to get us back to Mistral, as quickly as possible. Better start getting ready, little spider," Widow commanded, gesturing back towards the inn where she had left her stuff.

Lotus initiated the hug with Nora this time, startling the girl as she pulled her in tight and wrapped her arms around her. Nora hugged back and laughed a moment later, raising the faunus girl's spirits more than she thought a simple laugh could. Lotus released her and turned back to Ren, putting a tentative hand to the boy's shoulder, "I'll miss you guys."

"Don't forget about us. We certainly won't forget about you," Ren's lips quirked into a smile and he returned the gesture, putting a hand of his own on Lotus's shoulder. "Do you want me to…?"

Lotus nodded, holding up her other hand with her fingers spread slightly apart. Ren understood the message, and there was a very brief flash of soothing energy that passed down Lotus's body once again. Her toes curled in their shoes at the sensation as her eyes momentarily closed. 'I'll make sure I get into Beacon just for that…' Lotus scoffed at herself internally for ever thinking all those years ago that she might not want to have the boy's semblance. 'It's like an instant massage across your entire body… If that's how he feels all the time…' She shivered at the thought. It was almost too good to be true.

Nora smiled, seeming to understand why Lotus's next words came out a little breathlessly, "I could never forget either of you."

They finished their farewells, an empty feeling returning to Lotus's heart despite Ren's semblance still pulsating lightly through her skin. Even still, she motioned to Widow that she was ready, and the two headed back to the inn, packing up in time to catch the ship back to Mistral. Ren and Nora were there, as well as the old man, Arthur, and his wife. They waved goodbye as the ship lifted off, angling back towards the far distant mountain that the city of Mistral had been built upon.

Widow watched as her daughter returned the waves of the humans below them as they were quickly lost to sight. Widow had paid a premium fee for expedience, emptying her pockets of the lien she had brought along on the trip.

'So, my little spider wants to leave again. I thought she gave up on the silly dream of becoming a huntress… Doesn't she see it would never work out? The humans will only break your heart, little spider, just like they did to me.'

No, it was unacceptable. She couldn't allow Lotus to go through the same things Widow had. She refused to let her life be ruined with false hopes. Widow knew well enough how terrible it was when your world came crashing down around you. It was inevitable. Humans never changed, and as always, faunus were forced to adapt. Forced to cut ties with those around them, whether they liked it or not…

'You can't leave me, little spider. Mother knows best…'

Lotus sighed for what seemed like the millionth time, sitting in the small side room that Malachite had set up for them while they waited for their guests, "Do we really have to work with someone else to get this done? Seriously, have we not proven ourselves yet?"

Widow grumbled, arms crossed as she leaned back in her own chair. She gave Lotus a reproachful look, "I don't like it either, little spider. Our targets are going to be very well defended, though. The contractor insisted that we partner up with another team to make sure the objective is completed."

"You are going after several members of the Mistral Council all at once," Malachite chipped in, fanning her face while sitting in another chair nearby, "Even one poses a risk since they all increased their security because of the last time you killed one of them. The Council believed themselves untouchable. Now, with four of them gathering together? It would be a suicide mission to go with just the two of you."

Lotus and Widow's eyes both turned to the door before the sound of the door knob rattling announced the presence of the two others that would be joining them on their venture. Malachite stood and welcomed them in. Lotus and Widow stood as well. Two men entered, although one was much younger than the other. It was hard to gauge his age, but Lotus figured he might be a year or two older than herself.

The pair were nearly identical, and with the age difference, Lotus figured they were probably father and son. Each had grey hair, and grey eyes that never stopped moving, taking in everything around them, wary of threats that could be lurking in every shadow.

Widow stepped forward and offered a hand to the older man, "Looks like we'll be working together on this. My name is Widow, and the one behind me is Lotus."

The man accepted her hand, giving it a few rough shakes, "My name is Marcus Black. The welp with me is Mercury. Don't hold us back and I'm sure we'll get along just fine."

Widow gave him an icy smile, "Oh, we can hold our own. Shall we get down to business?"

Malachite stepped back to the table and unfurled the map of the Mistral Council's safehouse, pinning the edges down with a glass to keep it from curling back up.

Marcus gave a hard smile as he walked forward to look at the blueprint.

"Let's do this."