The bullhead touched back down on a landing platform near the east side of Vale's shopping district. It was a large strip, filled with many other bullheads that were taking off to carry passengers to different locations around the city. Lotus stepped off the ship with Qrow, the two of them being the only ones that had ridden the bullhead from Patch.
With a quick glance around, Lotus could tell this landing strip was one she would be familiar with in due time. A set of green and silver ships were set off to the side, one long line with Beacon's emblem emblazoned on the side. Many of them currently sat in disuse, kept clean for appearance's sake, but altogether untouched in the months between classes. A few were still missing from their places in the line, earning a question from Lotus directed towards the experienced huntsman.
"Are students forced out of the dorms between semesters?" Lotus asked, giving Qrow a frown, "How do breaks work?"
They started to make their way off the tarmac as Qrow replied, putting his hands in his pockets as he slouched, "There's two semesters. Each semester is four months long, and there's a month long break between them. Students can remain in their dorms for that time if they choose to, but most are from Vale or the surrounding towns and go home over the break. At the end of the second semester, the school closes for a few months, but essentially becomes a hub for students that passed their second year and above to keep taking missions if they want to."
Lotus pondered the information, trying to work out exactly what that meant for her, "So I'll have to find a place to stay for a few months at the end of the year… What's the point in taking missions between the years? Does it go on your record?"
"Yeah. Those missions factor into your rank when you graduate and get your hunter's license. People going for the highest rank will do as many missions as they can, whenever they can. It's the difference between getting a 'B' rank and an 'A' in a lot of cases."
The streets were bustling with activity as the pair made their way past gaggles of shoppers going about their daily activities. Qrow led them through the throngs, a meandering trail of annoyed people left in their wake since the older huntsman didn't bother to step out of anyone's way. The flow of the crowd was forced around him, and Lotus was thankful for the space left over as she followed in his footsteps.
The school was on the border of the shopping and residential district, a large stone walled building with a flat topped roof that spanned the entire block by itself. Out back were a track and a field, making Lotus pause for a second, wondering what sort of sports or games hunters in training might play.
"Alright, here we are," Qrow announced, waving his hand nonchalantly towards the large oak front doors at the end of a very clear path. Lotus rolled her eyes and started to walk forward before Qrow raised a hand.
"Hey, wait. Pull out your scroll and add me to your contacts. Ya know..." Qrow looked away for a second, seemingly embarrassed, "Incase you need help with anything again."
"I'm a big girl, Qrow," Lotus replied, patting him on his prickly cheek, "I'm glad you were there last night, but honestly, I'm not some overly emotional damsel that needs to be comforted every night before bed."
Qrow laughed with a shake of his head, "Clearly not," but continued to reach into his pocket to pull out his scroll, "I'm giving you my number so you can ask about any of the material you're going to have to get caught up on. I am a teacher, remember?"
Lotus looked at the older huntsman suspiciously, a question she had been pondering for the last few hours now being vocalized, "...Why do you care so much?... Nobody is this nice, Qrow."
Qrow eyed her sadly, and shrugged, "I used to feel the same, until I met my team," he looked off towards the school, staring at the enormous building in front of them that surely held a wealth of knowledge behind its doors, "I want to make up for my mistakes. My sister robbed you of your chance at a normal life, and that isn't right."
Lotus frowned, looking between the school and Qrow, "You aren't Raven. You don't owe me anything."
The old huntsman sighed, allowing himself to cave in to the guilt that weighed on his shoulders as he spared Lotus a glance, "The world isn't that simple, kid. There are a lot of things I could have done to keep Raven from ever leaving, if I had noticed soon enough." There was a pain that creased his face, an ache in his heart that he now wore on his sleeve, "No matter what she does, she's still my sister. Raven is my responsibility."
The young faunus considered his words, feeling the truth behind them that she herself felt. 'I can't bring myself to hate Widow, either. She's still… like a mother to me." Lotus nodded to Qrow, and pulled out her own scroll with a sigh, "You win, ya old bird."
This time at least, Qrow didn't seem to mind the nickname, content as he was with getting the young faunus to agree. They exchanged numbers, Lotus careful to not let him see any of her other contacts. It wouldn't do for Qrow to get curious and dial up 'Cindy', 'Stilts', or 'Tsundere' just because he caught the number on her contact list.
With that out of the way, Qrow bid her farewell, and returned the way they came as he headed back to the bullheads. Turns out that as far as anyone in the city was concerned, the bullheads were the only way up to Beacon. According to Qrow, though, there were a few trails that led up to the top of the cliff, but they were all from within the Emerald Forest.
Lotus watched him go, until the head of faded black hair disappeared into the crowd, becoming one with the mass of people still going about their daily lives. The young faunus turned back to face the large double doors, breathed out one final sigh in preparation, and began the next step in her journey.
Ozpin sat behind his desk and read over the reports once more, trying to piece together all of the information he could possibly deduce from personal accounts and footage. A light appeared near the corner of his screen, expanding out to show the camera in the elevator. Someone had made a request to reach his personal office.
The headmaster idly pressed accept as he recognized Qrow, standing inside and impatiently tapping his foot against the floor while sipping on his flask. The video cut out as Ozpin closed it, then began minimizing the reports he had been going through.
'The biggest drawback to these holographic screens is that you can see what's on them from the other side…" Ozpin mused not for the first time, wondering if perhaps he should get some older equipment installed. That would simply make it a pain for when he did want to use that particular feature though, so like every other time, he let the idea fall to the wayside.
The elevator doors dinged open and Qrow stepped in, placing his flask back into his pocket as he entered. One of Ozpin's oldest allies and confidants, in this life anyway. It pained him a little that he must use his friend in the way that he planned. 'It is for the greater good...'
Qrow sat down across from Ozpin, dropping into the chair and letting his arms fall to the sides, clearly tired. Ozpin waited for him to speak. The ancient man had long since gotten used to being the person in the room with the most patience, and he often found people more forthcoming when they spoke first.
The huntsman sighed, "I just dropped Olivia off at the combat school to take her exams. Kid's more wound up than I first realized, but still… she's not a bad egg, Oz."
'If only you knew, Qrow,' Ozpin thought to himself, leaning forward with his elbows against the table, fingers laced in the air in front of his face. He found it easier to hide his own emotions this way, "I went over what footage we had of her fight against the Grimm. Needless to say, she had it well handled up until the deathstalker."
Qrow nodded, "The way she finished it off was damn impressive. Must involve her semblance somehow. No way could a kid that size brute strength her fist through a deathstalker's armor like that."
Ozpin smiled slightly, hidden behind his hands, "Yes. I rewatched that final strike against the deathstalker many times. I'm surprised Ms. Xiao Long was left relatively unharmed after their fight."
Qrow shrugged, "She didn't attack Yang at all after her aura broke. Ruby just panicked when she saw her sister go down like that."
Ozpin nodded, "It says much about the child that she would have that level of control over her own strength at such a young age. If she had used a similar strike against your niece, I fear there would have been irreversible damage done to Ms. Xiao Long."
The huntsman paled slightly but shook his head after a moment, "I don't think she would go that far. Kid's got a soft spot buried under all that angst."
Ozpin laughed, "I am counting on it, Qrow."
The immortal composed himself after a few seconds, now looking firmly into Qrow's eyes as he spoke, "I believe she could end up on our side… but there is also the potential for the child to grow into another Raven. We both know which option is preferable."
Qrow couldn't quite bring himself to deny it. Olivia shared many of the traits that his sister had when they first came to Beacon. There was a hardness there, a force of will that he had only seen in hunters that had long since graduated from the academy.
Ozpin sighed, dropping his hands to let Qrow see the slight smile he now bore, "I have faith in you, Qrow. Continue to mentor the child when you can, alongside your regular duties. The world can't afford another Raven. We can't afford it."
"I'll do my best, Oz," Qrow stated, drawing himself back up out of the chair to turn back to the elevator.
"I know you will, old friend... I know you will."
Once Qrow had left the office and was safely away, descending back down the length of the tower to the floors below, Ozpin pulled the articles up that he had been reading and connected to the combat school's systems.
The video he had been listening to on repeat was also brought back up, displayed beneath the article itself.
"All I ever wanted was to be the hero!" The sound clip played over and over again, recapturing the moment before Olivia jumped into the frey.
Once again, Ozpin's eyes were drawn to the articles above it. His mind fought to understand the conflicting information in front of him.
'Those are words that I never would have expected to hear out of 'The Black Lotus.'
Still, he could feel the raw emotion behind those words. Her heart had been laid bare, revealing the deepest desire of her soul in that one single moment. Ozpin had not lived for centuries without learning a very simple truth, 'Anyone can change for the better.'
The Headmaster of Beacon turned his attention to the camera he had pulled up, overlooking the training arena in Vale's combat school. The young faunus sat in the bleachers, awaiting her turn to take the test. Ozpin scrolled down his list of contacts until he reached the name of a very old friend. She would need to be forewarned before the headmaster put his plan into motion.
'Well then, 'Olivia Mandevilla', let's make your test a little more interesting, shall we? I wouldn't want to bore someone of your caliber.'
Lotus stepped into the combat school's front entrance and took a look around, almost immediately spotting a bright red sign with white text and an arrow pointing to a door on the left of the hall.
'Apply Here'
Upon approaching the door, the sound of metal on metal could be heard and Lotus's sixth sense flared, detecting a large number of people in the room ahead of her. With a quick peek past the door, she found that the room in question was a large coliseum of sorts. Several other people her age lined the seats, watching the current applicant display his combat prowess against the droids that filtered in.
"Over here," a much older woman's voice snipped from Lotus's right side, drawing her eyes that way. The woman was bent over a small table in front of her, eye half on the fight while she jotted down notes. There was a tall stack of papers precariously balanced next to her.
The old woman turned her eyes back to Lotus after a few seconds, using the hand holding her pen to push her glasses further up her nose, "Well? Are you here to become a huntress, or just gawk at boys?"
Lotus didn't need to be told a third time, and headed over to the woman's table. A hand swept out towards her, holding a piece of paper along with a clipboard. A pen dangled from it by a small chain. Lotus accepted it from her and looked down, eyes having to adjust to read the very fine print that made up the paper. The bottom had a single line, next to the word 'signature'.
The old woman kept her eyes on the fight, and spoke sideways so that the faunus could hear, "By signing this paper, you are acknowledging that you have unlocked your aura. You also accept full responsibility for any and all injuries to yourself, and in the event of your death, acknowledge that the school cannot be held responsible for the events leading up to your demise."
Lotus laughed as she picked up the pen and signed on the line, holding it back to the old woman. The wrinkled face turned towards her and smiled, "Very good. You've passed the first test. I have neither the tolerance or time for the spineless." She waved her hand in the general direction of the bleachers that most of the other potential students currently occupied, "Sit anywhere. You will be called into the arena when it's your turn."
The faunus nodded, black hair swishing as she turned towards the seating area and made her way there. Every single person in the room had their aura unlocked. It was a wide assortment of boys and girls, spread out amongst the seats, all nervously eyeing the stage and each other. Lotus took her place at the front and center. A lone, unflinching figure in a sea of anxiety.
The stage before her had been set up into the mockery of a small group of buildings, both spread out and densely packed together in places to offer a variety of possible scenarios for the combatants.
The boy on the stage was just finishing up his fight. It had been sloppy, but effective for what little parts Lotus had seen of it. The boy rubbed a hand across his sweaty forehead, looking back up towards the proctor as she announced his victory.
He left the stage, heading back up the stairs to speak with the old woman. She signed a few things, made some final adjustments, then handed him a packet, "Please proceed to room 1A."
The boy nodded his thanks and exited the room. The old woman watched him go for a moment before turning back to the stack of papers to her side, "Sky Lark, please approach the stage."
As she said this, a group of unmarked Atlas droids had entered the arena and were busy pulling the bodies of the others back out, making way for a new set to take their place. Lotus felt outwards, getting an idea for Sky's aura level and yawned, sitting back in her chair. He wasn't anything special.
Lotus wasn't surprised in the slightest when the boy barely scraped by, managing to at least use his halberd within its effective range and finish off the last battle droid before his aura had a chance to break.
'Only six?' Lotus could kill more in her sleep. The showing by the boy had been anything but exciting, and with a quick glance around the room, she realized it would be much of the same.
Lotus sighed and let herself slide into her chair, deciding to rest for the time being. Her sixth sense was more than capable of acting as a second set of eyes to 'watch' the 'fights'.
The next half an hour went as she had expected. 'Apparently there aren't many capable fighters around Vale that didn't go to combat schools.' Lotus guessed that made sense. Vale was better patrolled, and didn't have as much of a bandit issue as Mistral.
'Peace breeds weakness.' She had heard the words used in reference to Vale once up a time, when asking someone that had been there what it was like. Lotus could see now what he meant.
As time went on and the number of applicants continued to diminish, Lotus slipped further and further into her own daydreams. There was very little happening to keep her attention, and the minimal effort required to pass this portion of the 'exam' was disheartening.
'I really hope there's more people worth my time once I get into Beacon…' It was starting to look like the only ones that could give her a challenge would be those that had attended schools. If Yang was the only potential threat, then Lotus would have to keep their rivalry going, Qrow be damned.
Lotus audibly sighed with relief as she felt two aura levels enter through the doors that were actually substantial. With a glance behind herself though, that relief turned into panic. Her gaze locked with Nora, who's hand was nervously gripping the haft of her hammer as she stared back into the faunus's eyes. Ren stood next to her, currently oblivious as he spoke with the old proctor.
Lotus gave Nora a nervous smile, followed by a timid wave. Her eyes looked around at the coliseum's now mostly empty seating. More of the applicants had already taken the exam than she'd realized. With a meaningful look back at Nora, Lotus nodded to a section of seats that were empty, and headed over to them herself.
Once Ren had noticed Lotus as well, the two finished up their paperwork and, seeming to communicate wordlessly with each other, tentatively headed in the faunus's direction. They sat down in the row behind her, keeping a firm hand on their weapons.
Lotus sighed and made a show of carefully removing the weapon from her hip, sheath and all. Without drawing the attention of the proctor or those around her, she handed it back to the pair, "I don't want to fight you guys... Please hear me out."
The two of them glanced at each other uncertainly, but finally, Ren nodded and accepted the weapon being handed out to them. They eased up and leaned forward slightly, conscious of the other applicants that sat only a dozen or so feet away.
'Okay, you prepared for this,' Lotus told herself, breathing out slowly as she took a moment to recall every bit of the lie she had crafted. It had changed slightly with recent events, but overall remained the same.
"I… I had to kill the council members… It was the only way to stop them…"
Ren and Nora's eyes widened, both withdrawing slightly and giving each other a glance. Nora's eyes flicked back to Lotus's, "So… you did kill them? That wasn't someone else?"
"No... it was me," she admitted it quietly. 'Saying it was someone else wouldn't have been believable. It was clearly me, weapon and all.'
"Why?" Ren demanded in a whisper, eyes narrowing as he moved Lotus's weapon further away and put a hand on his own. Nora tensed as well, but whether it was to attack Lotus, or defend her from Ren, she couldn't tell.
"Do you remember when I told you I was working with hunters?" Lotus asked quietly, letting her voice fall down to a whisper. In preparation for her next line, she let her mind wander to the faces of those she had cared about. Copper's cold, dead eyes staring back at her. Jace lying on the pavement, his chest slashed wide open. Her parents...
The pair nodded in response, remaining as they were.
"They… they died. I barely escaped, but not before I found out the truth," Lotus let her eyes focus back on the two of them, letting the very real pain show in her expression, "The council members paid to have them killed. My group was investigating them. We'd found out that they were hunting down huntsman and huntresses, one group at a time."
"What?" Ren sat back in confusion. Nora's eyes widened, her hand subconsciously moving forward. She stopped herself before placing it on Lotus's shoulder, though. Her hand was frozen in midair, only a few inches away.
Lotus shook her head, "Before you ask… I don't know why they were doing it. The more we looked into it, the more we noticed hunters disappearing. It all led back to them. The missions those dead huntsman were being sent on? They were requested by the council members responsible for having them killed."
The young faunus gave them a minute to process the information, shifting uncomfortably while she waited for them to respond. When neither were forthcoming, Lotus continued, "I had to stop them. If they kept going at the rate they were, the city would have been left defenseless before long."
Ren and Nora exchanged a look, nodding in agreement before turning back to Lotus. It was Nora that spoke this time, inching forward to finally let a hand fall on top of the girl's shoulder, "We… noticed that the huntsman were disappearing. We travelled around so much it was hard not to notice."
'The best lies include a grain of truth.'
Widow had taught her that.
"Why didn't you tell someone, though?" Nora asked, eyes now filled with pity, "You didn't have to kill them, did you?"
Lotus shrugged timidly, "Who would I tell? The last person my group tried to go to betrayed us. Anyone could have been in their pocket. It also doesn't help that I'm…" 'A faunus.'
They both caught on to her meaning, troubled looks crossing their faces. Another grain of truth, planted among a field of lies. The discrimination of faunus was far worse in Mistral. While neither humans had to deal with it themselves, they had seen it in action enough times to understand why Lotus may have hesitated in turning to the police.
Ren's expression softened, and his hand returned between himself and Lotus, holding out the faunus's weapon. His eyes focused on her as he spoke, "We're sorry for your loss, Olivia."
Lotus accepted the weapon back, setting it to the side for the moment instead of immediately reattaching it to her hip. In a sudden burst of movement, Nora surprised her with a hug. Lotus stood and turned to face her, wrapping her own arms around the orange-haired girl.
Even though her story had been mostly fake, the people she had used for inspiration to bring forth her emotions had been real. As Lotus stood there, pressing forward into the other girl's tender embrace, she couldn't help but be reminded of the pain she kept hidden, so deep that even she could forget about it at times. The warmth of the other girl felt nice, though. Her pain began to slowly ebb away.
"I want hugs like this every day," Lotus admitted. She was surprised by the shakiness in her own voice.
"You got it!" Nora cheered, hugging more tightly and lifting the girl up off the ground before letting Lotus plop back down, breathless.
"Olivia Mandevilla!" the old crone yelled out, drawing the group's attention back towards the rest of the room. A few of the remaining applicants were eyeing the trio, but Lotus ignored them. Her eyes flickered over to the stage and she realized it was being swept clean, made ready for her turn.
"Give 'em hell!" Nora shouted, pumping a fist into the air.
"Do your best," Ren followed up, giving Lotus a small encouraging smile.
The assassin couldn't help but laugh and shake her head, "This is going to be a piece of cake."
Lotus rebelted her weapon and walked down to the stage, taking a moment to get a feel for her surroundings. 'Everyone was sent to the same classroom afterwards, no matter how well they did. No point showing off too much…' She sighed and drew her sword, shrouding her limbs with her semblance out of simple habit rather than necessity.
Instead of the battle droids stepping on to the stage, though, an unfamiliar voice spoke over the intercom, "Would all current applicants please proceed to the arena." The male voice boomed out, slightly distorted with static. Lotus looked around in confusion, eyes settling on the rest of the potential Beacon students that were all now eyeing the proctor, waiting for confirmation.
The old woman lifted her head from where she had been jotting down more notes and narrowed her eyes, "You heard him! Get down in there!"
There was a rush as the others hopped up from their seats and entered the arena, hesitation vanishing under the iron gaze of the old proctor that held their literal futures in her hands.
"Thank you for your cooperation," the disembodied voice once again spoke over the intercom, "Due to a shortage of battle droids, we have been forced to improvise the next portion of the examination."
Everyone stayed in place, glancing at those around them in confusion, 'What the hell is going on?'
"The last group of examinees will partake in a mock battle royale. You are worth one point. Each opponent you defeat will be worth one point, plus one point for however many applicants they have defeated. Collect five points total, and you may leave the arena."
The group stared around at each other in shock, wondering if this was truly the method in which they would be judged. Lotus glanced up at the proctor, and saw that she was now keeping her eyes focused on the crowd of participants, her papers long forgotten.
The faunus glanced around, quickly taking count of the number of people in the arena with her. There were twenty in all. She breathed out a sigh of relief, 'The three of us can all pass, plus some other schmuck.' Her eyes met with Ren and Nora's, and the three of them nodded in unison, separating from each other to space themselves evenly among the others in the arena.
Several others were now realizing the same, and eyed everyone around them. There was a general milling of applicants as people spread out, not wanting to be the center of attention. Lotus laughed, feeling out with her sixth sense as she got a crazy idea.
'Why the hell not?'
The assassin stepped into the center of the arena, turning slowly to eye each of the other participants in turn with a smirk and lowering herself into a readied stance, sword now coursing with lightning dust along its edge.
"What are we waiting for?" she said loudly, cracking her neck. The group of candidates that encircled her all shared a nervous glance, most turning away from her entirely to face others nearby.
"Beat that one, and you automatically pass," the discordant voice shocked everyone. A few hesitant smiles started to pull at people's lips, now turning back to eye the lone black haired girl with renewed determination.
'Hahahaha! Yes!' Lotus silently cheered, the smirk breaking out into a wide smile that only served as a warning to those that could see it. The girl had been singled out... and didn't show an ounce of hesitation about that fact.
Lotus removed the shroud from her limbs and instead allowed her appendages to unfurl around her in preparation, 'Six arms are better than two~'
With a final few moments to allow tension to build, the buzzer sounded, and all hell broke loose.
Lotus immediately dropped, several shots streaking over the top of her from where other applicants had already been aiming at her, seeking to drop her as fast as possible. Her invisible limbs blocked a few others, bullets ricocheting off her impenetrable defense.
A wave of young warriors all sprinted towards her at once, intent on securing their place at Beacon. Lotus didn't wait for them to attack her as a group. She pushed off with an appendage, crossing the distance to one side of the circle in a flash. Her sword streaked downwards towards one of those that had attempted to shoot her right at the start.
The boy didn't have the chance to shift his gun back in time, and could only gasp in pain as Lotus's electrified sword struck him across the chest. One appendage speared out simultaneously, adding it's strength to the blow. His aura shattered as he was flung backwards into the building behind him, crashing through the wall and crumpling to the ground.
'And down goes the weakest link,' Lotus laughed, leaning forward as the end of a spear swept through the air where her head had just been. She turned her momentum into a spin, turning back around in a crouch to slash her sword across the stomach of the girl that had tried to attack her from behind.
The girl yelped as the lightning enhanced blade raked across her abdomen, quickly followed Lotus's foot connecting with her chest and knocking her back into two others that were charging in her direction. The trio sprawled across the ground, momentarily out of the melee.
Lotus dove to the side as the wall behind her exploded outwards, another boy sent flying through it, quickly followed by Nora. The girl smiled and gave Lotus a cheeky wink before hefting her hammer and transforming it into a grenade launcher. She spun on two boys that were busy fighting in her area and fired it off. A cloud of pink exploded outwards from their feet as the pair were blasted away from each other.
"I called dibs!" the orange haired girl shouted, transforming her weapon back into its hammer form to chase down the two combatants.
Lotus returned to her own battle, the three fighters now struggling to their feet. Each eyed the others, then turned to face Lotus, nodding amongst themselves. The trio paced forward cautiously, moving in synch to try and surround the assassin from three sides and back her against the wall.
Lotus scoffed in their faces, 'You're forgetting an entire dimension of movement!' The assassin spun back around towards the wall they had backed her up to and planted her foot against it along with a couple of her appendages. Lotus flexed both her real legs, and invisible ones, and snapped them, launching herself high above the trio.
Three faces turned up to look at her in surprise as she flipped over the top of them. She landed behind the middle boy and didn't bother wasting any time. Lotus momentarily transferred an appendage into her offhand and reached out, grabbing the boy by the back of his breastplate.
Adding another appendage for good measure, she ripped him off his feet and above herself, arcing his body overtop her own. Lotus used her full force to slam him back down to the ground, his head taking the brunt of the blow against the arena floor as his aura burst in a flash of bright green, signalling his defeat.
Lotus transitioned into a crouch, readying her three remaining appendages, and shot forward, low across the ground. Her target panicked, seeing the ease at which Lotus had just dispatched her momentary ally, and slashed downwards in an attempt to cut Lotus off in her approach.
The assassin's own blade met the girl's, hitting it with enough force to knock it from her grasp and up into the air. She followed it with an uppercut to her chin, crumpling the girl in a heap. 'Three down, one to go.'
The third member of the now defunct trio hefted his glave in Lotus's direction, trying to catch her off guard with a horizontal swing aimed at her back.
A burst of gunfire caught him from the side, as Ren's dual machine pistols unloaded into him. The boy's aura flickered, but stayed intact as he abandoned his own attack. The boy turned and dove through a window in retreat.
Lotus laughed as she paused to transform her sword into its pistol form, giving her 'savior' a salute. Ren nodded before returning to his own opponent.
Using her sixth sense to track the boy that had fled, Lotus aimed her pistol and fired through the thin walls, feeling his aura drop sharply as the shots connected with his chest. The boy cried out in pain as the last shot broke his aura.
'And that's game over,' Lotus transformed her weapon back and sheathed it, turning to face the rest of the battlefield with her hands relaxing behind her head. She surveyed the carnage with an amused twinkle in her eye.
It appeared as though Nora had already taken down three of her own, two of which were sprawled out across the ground and covered in a thick pink powder from her grenade launcher. Lotus spotted the third lying outside the ring, slumped against the wall beneath a massive web of cracks that signified the impact zone.
Ren was currently in the heat of combat. The blond boy he faced was using a shield and a mace to great effect, blocking the shots that Ren fired at him and the swipes from his dual daggers.
The assassin could instantly tell that it was a bad match up, 'Ren will need more than his speed to get past the blond's defense...'
As the faunus watched, the boy got in a 'lucky' hit, knocking one of Ren's guns from his hand. It skittered across the ground, coming to rest at Lotus's feet.
With a confident sneer, the blond over extended his next swing, seeking to finish the fight. Ren's remaining weapon caught the mace by its haft and diverted it to the side, using the blond's own attack to pull him off balance. The boy instinctively pulled his shield up to better defend himself, covering the majority of his upper torso from whatever Ren might try to do next.
Doing so proved to be his folly, as Ren's palm struck against the shield, a blast of his aura sending a shockwave through the boy's body. The blond shouted in pain and surprise as he was hurled backwards off the arena and into the wall behind him, body slamming into the unforgiving stonework with a sickening crack. His aura flashed as he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Ren turned around, looking for his other weapon. Lotus scooped it up and tossed it to him, grinning as he caught it deftly. She stepped up next to him with her hands on her hips, giving the bodies surrounding them a passing glance, "How many are you at?"
"Three," he replied simply. The pair of them stood for a moment, overseeing the fights that were still going on while Ren caught his breath. Between Lotus, Ren, and Nora, there were still seven 'points' left to claim. Both Ren and Nora only needed one more each, while Lotus had already achieved victory.
As she thought that, Nora claimed her final point. With a mighty heave of her warhammer, the mass of steel caught her opponent in the chest and knocked him out of the ring, creating another series of cracks in the stone wall's surface to match Nora's previous opponent.
The girl threw both arms up and cheered in delight, turning back to face Ren and Lotus with a huge grin. Nora skipped over to them, eyeing the bodies lying around, "Come on Ren~! You still need one more, lazy butt!"
"Whatever you say, Nora," Ren replied flatly, but flashed her the tiniest of grins before heading back into the frey.
"Not too bad," Lotus grinned, playfully pushing Nora, "Could have used a few more explosions, though. Pink really adds to the decor."
"I know, right?" Nora smiled in agreement. The pair both watched as Ren began his fight against another combatant.
Lotus couldn't help but be impressed by Ren's display of both speed and skill. He had mastered his own style, combining an up close dagger and pistol style with a finesse that allowed him to parry most blows with ease. The attacks aimed at him were from much larger weapons, and still he diverted them, like water flowing around a rock.
Ren claimed his victory with a final series of blows that brought his opponent to his knees, the last strike, a blow to the other contestant's temple. The other fights were winding down as well, with only two others that remained standing.
The trio joined back up and stood off to the side. Lotus sighed as she watched. The last two seemed to have been lucky to even make it this far.
"So, how do you think you'll do on the written exams?" Lotus asked the pair, sparring an eye for each in turn.
"I suspect that we may not know as much as we believe," Ren replied, eyes still on the last to contestants.
"We'll do fine!" Nora shouted gleefully, patting a hand against both Ren and Lotus's backs.
The fight finally came to a close as one of the boy's auras sputtered out, incapable of being maintained any longer. The four of them all headed off stage, climbing the stairs and grouping up near the proctor's table as she shuffled around four sets of papers.
The old crone handed out their packets, simply repeating what she had said for all the others that came before them with a dismissive wave.
Nora led the group as they stepped back out into the hallway and headed off towards room 1A. It didn't take long, as it was the first classroom in the hallway. They opened the door to find a large room filled with desks, each pushed as far from every other as they could be.
The desk were already mostly filled with other kids, each hunched over the test in front of them with a critical focus. An older gentleman stood near the front of the class, behind his desk. He kept a watchful eye, pausing only for a moment to beckon the group over to him.
The man handed out an exam paper to each in turn, "Take whatever seat you wish. If I catch you trying to cheat, you will automatically fail." He turned a sharp eye towards them, "And I never miss a cheater."
Even Nora managed to remain quiet under the oppressive atmosphere, the only sound to be heard were the quiet scratching of pencils on paper, and the occasional sound of someone erasing one of their mistakes.
Lotus sat down at one of the vacant desks and let out a nervous sigh, 'Okay. I've got this, right?' The assassin flipped her paper over to the front side and picked up the pencil, taking a moment to fill in her name and date before dropping her eyes down to the first question.
Q1: Name the four most common Grimm native to Vacuo, and what steps you might take in avoiding their detection.
Lotus stared at the question, racking her brain to try to remember if she'd ever heard anything about the Grimm in Vacuo. After thirty seconds, the assassin's mind could only draw a complete blank.
'Okay, maybe I should just skip this question…' Lotus let her eyes moved past it to the second question on the paper.
Q2: What are the three most important steps that must be followed in the creation of Hard Light Dust?
Lotus's stomach dropped lower and lower, forming a pit in which no hope could escape. 'I don't know any of this…' She slumped, head dropping to rest her forehead against the desk in front of her.
Eyes closed, Lotus could now only hear the sounds of the others scratching away, answering the questions that had already sent her into a downward spiral of misery.
Lotus's head shot back up, her sixth sense subconsciously tracking the movement of the pencils around her. 'Can I…?' Lotus let her sense focus outwards, paying specific attention to the other combatant that had come in with them. Aside from Ren and Nora, his paper still had the most left to complete.
The spider faunus flipped to the same page as him in her packet, hand moving back to her pencil as it poised over the answer box. She could decipher the movements of his pencil… mimic them if she wanted to. Lotus's pencil scratched away, an echo of the one she was copying.
With that answer filled out, she felt out around herself once again, keeping her eyes locked on the paper in front of her. The girl to her left was just starting to write out the answer to the next question. Lotus copied her movements as well.
Lotus continued, searching among the other occupants now for others that might have skipped earlier questions, only to go back to them. Luckily, she found a couple that had, and was able to fill those out as well.
After half an hour, Lotus looked down at her exam, entirely completed. A twinge of guilt flashed through her chest, cutting through the hope that had grown in place of the pit in her stomach.
'Is this… okay?' Lotus internally struggled, arguing with herself. On the one hand, she might not get into Beacon if she didn't cheat. Would they really accept someone that couldn't answer a single question on their entry test?
'But Qrow managed to get in…' The older huntsman had admitted to being from the Mistral boonies. He'd grown up a bandit, and had likely shared in Lotus's current experience.
The faunus groaned audibly and dropped her head back against her desk. Many of the other students were already handing their papers to the examiner and filing out. A few with a slight spring in their step, others with an air of dejection. None of them knew the battle that was currently taking place in the young assassin's mind.
'Can I risk my one chance at Beacon on a 'maybe they'll let me in'!?' People literally died so that Lotus could attend the school. Jaune and his father, sacrificed by Widow to protect her daughter's secret.
Lotus's heart went out to both Ren and Nora, as they slumped to the front and handed their papers in. They each spared a glance back at her as she remained at her desk, now the only one left in the room. The examiner quietly remained where he was, only glancing her direction every now and then while he looked over some of the papers that had already been turned in.
The weight of the scroll in her pocket was the final deciding factor. Qrow had told her that this would happen, had promised to help her, going so far as to give the young faunus his number.
'I'll…' the war raged on in Lotus's mind. The faunus didn't know what she was going to do. Her trust had been broken so recently, so viciously by someone that she had loved unconditionally.
'Would a 'hero' cheat?'
Lotus took a deep breath and stood up from her desk, approaching the examiner as his eyes glanced up towards hers.
'I'll… trust Qrow.'
Lotus ripped the paper in half and dropped it in the trash can next to the man's desk, her voice was quiet and hoarse, "I didn't know any of the answers."
The examiner eyed her for a few more seconds, then smiled deeply as he sat back in his chair, "I know."
Lotus stepped back, eyes going wide in panic, "What? How!?"
The older man chuckled, reaching down into the garbage bin to pull out Lotus's exam paper, "Do you think you're the first spider faunus to go through this school? I told you, I always catch cheaters."
The pit in the faunus girl's stomach grew into a gaping hole, her eyes looking down at the ground as her dreams were shattered in front of her. 'This is it. I failed.'
"Well, don't look so down. You didn't cheat, did you?" The old man laughed, shaking his head good naturedly as he eyed Lotus's paper, "You admitted to your own lack of knowledge. That was brave. Far braver than most that resort to cheating."
The old man let the paper fall back into the garbage bin, his eyes moving back up to meet Lotus's as he smiled, "You pass. Congratulations."
'I… pass?'
"But how!? I didn't know anything!" Lotus shouted in confusion, eyes wildly going back and forth between the man and the paper he had just thrown in the trash.
He chuckled, "My dear, do you believe the Grimm will be fighting you with exam papers and pop quizzes?" he shook his head, "If you have made it this far, then you were already a capable enough candidate for Beacon's initiation. All that mattered was that you answered honestly and to the best of your ability."
Lotus stood slack jawed, incapable of stringing two words together, let alone a comprehensible sentence.
The man sighed, "You're free to go, just don't forget your packet. I'll have everyone's papers graded by tomorrow morning, so you can return and pick up your syllabus then." He gave Lotus one last smile before turning back to the papers on the desk in front of him, "See you in class, Ms. Mandevilla."
Lotus staggered out into the hallway to find Ren and Nora waiting on a nearby bench. Nora hopped up and ran to her, "Oh my gosh I barely knew any of that! How'd you do?"
The faunus girl shook her head, "I didn't know a single question. How about you, Ren?"
"I knew some of it," he replied, now standing up to join them. There was an awkward silence as both of the girls realized they'd been outdone by Ren, and admitted as much right in front of him.
"Taking tests makes me hungry! Are you two hungry? We should go have lunch together!" Nora broke the silence, grabbing each of them by a hand and pulling them towards the door.
"Yeah… That sounds like a great idea, Nora."
With Ren's nod of assent, the trio set out to find themselves a nice meal to share, along with stories from the two years since they'd last seen each other.