"Professor Port has completed his assignment in the Emerald Forest. I'm glad to report that he has found the number of Grimm to have returned to a sufficient enough level for Initiation."

Ozpin nodded to the primly dressed blond woman next to his desk, responding with a warm, "Thank you, Glynda," before turning back to the papers on his desk. He was expecting two different visitors within the next few minutes, and wished to be prepared for both.

Right on queue, the familiar light appeared, signalling someone's desire to head up to the Headmaster's office. With one quick glance, Ozpin allowed the elevator's assent. The headmaster had requested that Qrow give him a report on the young Olivia's progress at the end of each week, among the rest of his duties. It wouldn't do to appear too interested, else Qrow may begin to suspect something was amiss.

Glynda noticed the display showing Qrow as well and grimaced. While the two of them were willing to work together on a professional level, the pair had never quite managed to get along. Opposites had not attracted, in this case. 'A pity. Glynda could do with a little loosening up at times. And Qrow… Well, Qrow will never change.'

"I cannot believe you are indulging him in his desire to help that single student instead of sending him to gather information on Amber's attackers," Glynda frowned disapprovingly, pushing her glasses up the brim of her nose.

'Ah, but they are one and the same, Glynda,' Ozpin thought idly. He could tell neither of them that fact. They would treat the child differently if they knew, and that would spoil the entire plan of gaining her trust. So instead Ozpin laughed dryly, "There is not much to follow up on, I'm afraid. We do not know what they look like, and I doubt they would be foolish enough to make themselves known so soon."

"Still…" Glynda began, but as the elevator doors dinged open she quieted down.

Qrow stepped into the room as the doors opened, eyes down on his scroll as he continued texting one long message. He held up a finger as Glynda opened her mouth to protest, not having to even look in her direction to predict what she might say, "One second. Niece is asking me to give her a written approval to use Signal's Weapon Design and Implementation Room whenever she wants."

The other two silently waited for the flustered huntsman to finish telling his niece 'No'. Which meant they were both shocked when he pressed send and lifted his head up, "That should keep her busy for the next few hours."

Of the pair, Ozpin managed to recover first and straightened himself out, "Ehem, now then. Would you like to present your report for us, Qrow?"

Qrow pulled out his flask and took a quick swig. He paused for a moment, letting out a deep sigh, "Ah, much better…" Qrow pocketed the flask and returned his gaze to the Headmaster across from him, "Kid's coming along just fine, Oz. Some issues we still need to iron out here and there, but she's made a massive improvement for only two weeks."

"Oh?" Ozpin raised his eyebrow, "And what do you believe was the deciding factor in this improvement?"

"Kid has a couple friends of hers from Mistral that are planning on attending Beacon as well. They've been each other's study partners for the last couple weeks. Looks like they get along really well and balance her out."

"And who might this pair be?" Ozpin asked, mind immediately going to the worst conclusion. If they were friends of the Lotus, then perhaps they were involved in the attack on Amber.

Qrow pulled his scroll back out and sifted through his images, turning the scroll to face Ozpin. The Black Lotus stood between two others, an orange haired female the same height as her, and a taller male youth with black hair and a pink stripe near his bangs.

'If they were involved, that would match up with two of the attackers…' Ozpin could be certain of nothing, though. Still… 'I wonder if they know her true identity? Most would not normally look so comfortable standing next to a mass murderer.'

Qrow looked back at his scroll, pulling up the names of the future Beacon students, "Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. They seem like good kids, too. Apparently they worked as messengers between towns growing up. Boy's semblance lets them hide from the Grimm."

Glynda's eyes widened, "That's a useful semblance. Have you tested it out to see it's validity for yourself?"

Qrow shook his head, "Haven't really had the chance."

Ozpin frowned from behind his hands, 'An easy cover up for not being attacked by the creatures of Grimm if the issue ever arose. They could pretend it was because of this semblance, instead of any connection they might have to Salem…'

"An interesting ability…" he replied instead, "What is your honest opinion on the pair, Qrow?"

Qrow paused, scratching at his chin with a few fingers, "The girl is one of the most hyperactive people I've ever met, and that's saying something. The boy on the other hand is entirely reserved. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up more than just friends."

Ozpin nodded, "How are Ms. Mandevilla's studies coming along?"

"Well enough. She'll need to continue some of her extra studies into the beginning of the term, since there's a lot for her to catch up on. She's been putting her all into it, though."

Ozpin noted the hint of pride in the man's voice. It seemed he had really taken a liking to the girl. 'Good…' Ozpin had been hoping for as much when he assigned him the task. Qrow had always gotten attached to people that didn't reject him like many others did. He had spent two weeks with the girl so far and it appeared as though their relationship had only grown more with time. He was truly becoming a mentor for the girl, 'And a mentor can sway your mindset, in this case for the positive.'

"Anything else of note that your informants may have been able to clue you in on?" Ozpin asked, pulling them away from the topic of the young woman.

"A couple things on that front," Qrow replied, "First and foremost, there's a new player in the city. Someone's got even the big fish running scared. Killed quite a few people already. Second point… that might include Roman Torchwick. He's gone dark completely. Hasn't made a peep in over a week."

"Is that so unusual?" Glynda asked, giving Qrow a frown from where she stood.

Qrow shrugged, "He's usually the big dog in the city. If the others were going quiet, I would have assumed it was because of him. With Roman disappearing too, though? Either he's been gutted, or he's just as scared as the rest."

'Could The Black Lotus have some involvement in that? She did walk out into the Emerald Forest on the same night Nicholas Arc and his son were killed...' Ozpin was opening his mouth to ask a misleading question that might get him the answer he truly desired when Qrow's scroll buzzed.

Qrow looked at the caller ID and grinned at the other two in the room, placing a finger up to his lips to signal their silence before setting the scroll down on Ozpin's desk. He tapped an icon on the screen, activating conference mode. A rather distressed voice came over the line.

"Qrow? Are you there? I can't see you," the voice of 'Olivia' came through.

"Yeah, sorry kid can't use the video feature at the moment. What's up?" Qrow answered back, giving a warning glance to the both of them for good measure.

"Ugh, we moved on from weapon maintenance to weapon enhancement and augmentation. Problem is, I didn't make my sword myself. Ren's no help, since his doesn't change forms, and Nora's is a big ass hammer that turns into a grenade launcher. I… need your help."

Qrow seemed to think it over for a few seconds, his eyes lighting up finally as he leaned forward towards the scroll, "Actually I have a great idea. How about you fly out to Patch again? We can use one of the weapon development rooms at Signal."

There was a pause from the other end, before Olivia hesitantly replied, "O-Okay. It's getting pretty late, though. Do you want to wait until tomorrow?"

Qrow smirked, though she couldn't see it, "Nah, you can just spend the night again. We'll spend all of tomorrow afternoon on it, too."

"You really think it'll take that long?"

Qrow chuckled, "Knowing how to take care of and rebuild your own weapon is no joke, kid. Besides, I've seen you sparring with that thing. I could throw pebbles and make bigger holes than that peashooter. You're going to want to upgrade it eventually."

"...A-Alright. If you think that's best. I'll see you there?"

"Yeah. See you then, kiddo," Qrow hung up on the girl and returned his scroll to his pocket.

Ozpin gave Qrow an amused smile, "Planning a playdate, are you?"

Qrow shrugged, a smile of his own across his face, "Two birds with one stone, right? Ruby is too all around positive to be grumpy around, and she knows her weapons. I think they'll get along well enough."

Ozpin nodded, "A good idea." 'And it gets her out of Vale. We'll see if there are any other murders tonight. It's truly three birds with one stone.'

Another flicker of light on his desktop drew his eye. Another request from the elevator. The video screen appeared and Ozpin could now see the raven-haired young transfer student standing inside, waiting patiently.

"Ahem," Ozpin gave both of them a glance, "It appears our time has been cut short. I have a meeting that I must take care of, if you would be so kind?"

Qrow shrugged, "I need to get going anyway."

"I will email you the remainder of the reports, Professor," Glynda replied with a curt nod. Both of them stepped over to the elevator and waited for the door to open. Once it had, the young woman inside paused, giving the pair of older hunters a glance, then walked past with a polite smile to them both.

Glynda and Qrow spared a glance back at her as they entered the elevator. As the doors closed, Qrow was already turning towards the blond woman to remark on something. Unfortunately, it was forever lost on Ozpin as the doors closed before Qrow could speak.

Ozpin gestured to the chair across the desk from him, his hands already reaching down to lift one of the transfer papers off his desk, "Cinder Fall, was it?"

The young woman gave him a polite nod as she sat, crossing her legs at the ankle and folding her hands overtop one another, "That is I, Headmaster. Thank you for seeing me this evening."

"Of course, Ms. Fall," Ozpin eyed her over the top of his own steepled hands, "As I understand it, you and your team would like to transfer to Beacon from Haven this year?"

Cinder nodded once, a simple momentary lowering of her head as she smiled, "For this year, and the next, Headmaster. My team and I… we no longer feel safe in Mistral."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow in surprise, "And why is that, Ms. Fall?"

An expression of doubt and uncertainty, 'Even a little fear?', crossed the young woman's face, "I did not believe it at first, Headmaster, but… Hunters from Mistral have been going missing more and more frequently over the last couple years. Many of those that I knew, students that graduated before I… Many haven't been heard from in a long time, and I fear the worst…"

'What? I've heard nothing from Leo about the disappearance of huntsman and huntresses… I'll have to get into contact with him.'

"That sounds truly heartbreaking, Ms. Fall. You have my condolences for those that you have lost. So, that is why you wish to come to Beacon? You seek the safety we may provide?" Ozpin allowed his hands to pull away from his face. He did not know the legitimacy of these claims, but the young woman was clearly troubled.

"Yes. I am worried for my team, and myself. I know many of those that have gone missing were quite capable…" Cinder shook slightly, drawing in on herself in a more defensive posture, "I know it is nothing to be proud of… running away as we are… but we are still students!"

Ozpin inclined his head, "I do not fault you, Ms. Fall. Know that you are more than welcome to join Beacon, along with your team. Your transcripts appear promising, and I look forward to seeing what you are capable of."

Cinder smiled at the news of her acceptance, letting out a slight chuckle, "I appreciate your kindness, Headmaster. Trust me when I say that my team and I will do more than exceed your expectations."

Ozpin inclined his own head, "I cannot wait." With that, there was a click on his keyboard as he opened the elevator doors back up, "Thank you for giving me a minute of your time. I will see you in classes."

"No, thank you, Headmaster," Cinder replied. She stood gracefully and reentered the elevator, giving Ozpin one final smile before the doors closed.

The headmaster of Beacon academy sighed as he sat back in his chair, hands already moving to grab his scroll and give Leo a call.

'Why do the number of distractions just keep piling up...? I hope for your sake that Ms. Fall is mistaken, Leonardo…'

Lotus returned her scroll to her pocket and gave her two study partners an apologetic smile. They were sitting in the library at the combat school in Vale, going over designs for their weapons, 'Or Ren and Nora are, anyway. I don't even know where to start…'

The weapon that sat before her had never been fully taken apart in all the years she had it. Lotus had made minute modifications of her own, tightening up the parts required for the transformation so that blood wouldn't leak into the gears, but that was hardly the same. Their paper was asking for them to diagram each individual part and give a clear description on how each piece was vital to the weapon's functionality.

"That's okay, buddy!" Nora cheered.

Her shout was firmly ignored by the old crone behind the desk. She had warned them several times over the course of the first day to keep the volume of their conversations down. On the second day, the librarian had glared at them for the majority of their stay. Now, two weeks later, she didn't even bother to look up from her book. Nora had no filter, it appeared, and no care for the sanctity of a library's silence.

"I'm sorry we could not provide more assistance," Ren followed after. Compared to both of theirs, his project was nearly finished already. The dual dagger and machine pistol combination had no change in forms, only the internal workings of the guns themselves that still needed to be highlighted. It was a task that Ren was comfortable with, knowing his weapons inside and out.

"Oh, I don't blame you guys or anything. I can't expect you to know how my weapon functions when even I don't."

"You said it was your brother's, right?" Ren asked, looking down at the sword that lay across the table on full display.

"It was," Lotus agreed, picking it up off the table to resheath it. There was little point in leaving it out now that she had a new destination, "I'll see you guys in a couple days. Qrow wants me to stay on Patch to work on it some more tomorrow."

Nora stretched out, hands clasped together as she raised them high above her head and arched her back, receiving a few heavy pops for her troubles, "Renny and I could use an off day, anyway, right Ren?"

Ren frowned, but gave in with a shake of his head, "While I don't wish to waste any time, since it is time that we will still have to make up later…" His eyes glanced over at Nora, frown disappearing as a slight smile tugged at his lips, "I know that you are not nearly as well equipped for so many days in a row of constant studying."

"Uh huh! I'm more of a hands on, kinda gal," Nora's eyes lit up as she quirked an eyebrow at Ren, "That reminds me, Renny. Did you finish that biology work on human anatomy? If not, I could help you out~" Nora's voice took on a more seductively playful tone towards the end, her intentions clear to both of the two sharing the table with her.

Ren's face went red, his eyes glancing nervously over at Lotus. One hand reached up to tug at his collar, "Well, I am almost finished… There were a few things giving me trouble."

"It's a study date, then!" Nora cooed, reaching out a hand to grab Ren's as she turned a smile towards Lotus. The faunus was already packing up her things, getting ready to leave the two lovebirds alone, "Have fun on Patch!"

Lotus grinned and gave the pair a small wave as she left, heading out of the school and towards the airstrip. She would need to cross the entire shopping district to get there. The young faunus whipped out her scroll, the young couple reminding her of a promise she had made the night before. Lotus opened up her contacts and dialed 'Side Chick'.

The scroll rang for a few seconds before the line was picked up, the face of her favorite twin coming into view. Lotus gave the best sexy pout she could manage as her own face was sure to appear on the other girl's screen, "Hey Melanie, babe~ I'm gonna have to skip out on tonight. I'll make it up to you though, okay?"

The girl grumbled for a moment, a pout of her own on her face, "I was looking forward to tonight…" the pout turned into a sweet smile, "You better have something special in store for me~"

"Anything you want," Lotus grinned.

When Melanie's eyes lit up, she knew what odd fetish the other girl's mind had jumped to. Lotus wasn't too into it, but the other girl liked dominating people. Lotus's chest still hurt from last time, when the girl had insisted on wearing her sharp stilettos and stepping on her. The view made up for it, at least. Skirts were nice like that when the girl wasn't wearing any panties underneath.

"Let's hope you keep that promise~" Melanie replied with a wink. There was the muffled sound of Junior's voice shouting about something in the distance, and the girl's expression soured, "Gotta go. When can I expect you next?"

"A few days, tops," Lotus laughed, "You go take care of business, now. Have fun~"

The scroll's video cut out as more muffled curses could be heard, and Lotus was left to continue her walk through the busy Vale streets to her inevitable destination. 'She'll be fine.'

To her surprise, it had turned out that Melanie was one of Junior's bodyguards, and while she was far from the best fighter Lotus had ever seen, the girl was more than capable enough to deal with the average pub crawler.

Having her own outlet for pent up frustration had been one of the major factors keeping Lotus in line these last couple weeks. The assassin's patience for other people was at an all time high. Between attaining the life she wanted, spending it with two people her own age that she considered friends, and a few nightly club visits sprinkled in each week, Lotus had never been happier.

Soon enough, she was at the airstrip and paying for her second ever trip out to Patch. Qrow had invited her another time before, with promises of Tai making something delicious for dinner, but Lotus had abstained. She was too busy with school work. Lotus hated to admit it, even to herself, but she was far behind.

The training she received from Widow over the years hadn't prepared her. Lotus couldn't fault her mother for that. Widow hadn't gone to a combat school, either. They'd both learned from their own experiences in the 'real' world. Lotus had hit a wall, though. The inner workings of even her own weapon were beyond her, and she was desperate for help.

Lotus chose to stand near the open bay door, watching the ground disappear beneath her as they rose up and began their brief flight across the water to Patch. She let her mind wander.

A small smile crept across her lips as she looked out over the ocean far below, 'I'm glad I met Qrow that day… and didn't kill him…' He wouldn't be able to help her now if she had killed him, but… it was more than that. Lotus could tell that the grizzled huntsman was having a positive affect on her life, just as the Ren and Nora were.

Lotus sighed. There had been people in her life that she regretted killing, though they were few in number. Qrow was the first she was glad not to have killed. Lotus laughed aloud as the small island of Patch came into view, 'That isn't an honor I'll ever be able to tell him he has.'

The ship flew another half mile past the island's shore, hovering down over the top of the airstrip behind the combat school. Grass whipped wildly in the gale force winds, an ever shifting haze of green that was distracting to the eye. The bullhead touched down, causing Lotus to momentarily have to shift her weight to compensate for the impact.

The young faunus gladly departed, hopping down off the side before the pilot had a chance to lower the ramp. He seemed used to it, though, only pausing a second after Lotus was off his ship before lifting back up into the sky. The bullhead roared away, back in the direction of Vale, and left the huntress standing in the middle of the field with no clue where to go.

"Olivia!" a voice cried out, high pitched. Lotus's eyes were drawn across the field, to a small girl in a black and red corset, arm furiously waving her down.

Lotus made her way over, small smile resting on her face as she tried to absorb some of the excitement the girl felt, 'Great. If she's going to the weapon's room as well, I'm going to make a fool out of myself. Damn it, Qrow.' Lotus began preparing herself for the insults she knew would be coming soon enough.

"Hey, Ruby," she replied, now walking beside the girl, "Watcha doin' here?"

The girl gave her a grin and waved her red cloak to the side, drawing Lotus's attention to the compacted scythe on her back.

"I was on my way to the Weapons' Room when Qrow gave me a call. He told me you were headed over for the same thing!" Ruby piped up happily, now leading the way across the school grounds. The pair walked into the front entrance, and Lotus had no choice but to follow the younger girl through the unfamiliar halls.

"Yeah, I uh… I have a lot of work to do on my weapon," Lotus admitted. Their path led them downstairs, into a basement area. Her eyes were wide as she took in the scene.

The first room they had stepped down the stairs into was large and spacious, with numerous steel tables situated around the sides and along the center. Chain hooks, blow torches, smelting ovens, molds, tools and equipment… as far as Lotus could tell, the place was packed with everything a weapon designer might ask for.

Beyond that, there was a small room, one door on the side they were currently on, and another on the opposite side. It led into the firing range, where Lotus could see paper targets hanging from the ceiling, the rooms separated by what she hoped was bullet-proof glass. Many of the targets had been used and then left, numerous holes already shredded through them.

Ruby wasted no time in gently setting her scythe down on one of the longer metal tables, her hands deftly going to work on its exterior. With a small screwdriver in hand, the girl picked apart some of the outside casing, opening it up to reveal the inner workings of her weapon.

Lotus whistled softly as she stepped forward and set her own weapon down, still in its sword form, "That looks like a pretty complicated piece of machinery, kid."

The small girl grinned proudly, spinning the screwdriver in her hand with a deft motion she had definitely practiced for hours on end, "Darn straight! I went all out building Crescent Rose!"

Lotus shook her head, getting started on trying to pick apart Copper's weapon. She decided to keep the conversation going, if only as a way to keep Ruby's attention off her own struggles, "So all school kids do name their weapons…"

Ruby gasped, hands freezing over the top of Crescent Rose as she looked up at Lotus in shock, "You haven't named your weapon!?"

The assassin frowned, "No. What's the point? Whether you name it or not, it still cuts the same."

It was Ruby's turn to shake her head, eyes downcast. Her hand rose up, pointing the screwdriver at Lotus like it was a teacher's ruler, "Unacceptable! Hunters name their weapons to form a bond with them! An unshakable connection that will last a lifetime!"

Ruby's hands dropped down on top of her scythe, running lovingly along its length. Her eyes still stared fiercely into Lotus's own, "There are many like it, but this one is mine!"

"I… I don't think there are many weapons like yours, Ruby."

The screwdriver swished through the air as it was once again being pointed at Lotus, "That isn't the point! Your weapon needs a name!" Ruby's voice now quivered with excitement, her hands dropping to the table as she practically leaned across it to close the distance between them, "Let me help you, pleeeeease!?" The girl practically begged.

Lotus sighed, giving up on her attempts to piece apart the weapon for the moment. She was making no progress anyway.

"Sure, I guess... It isn't really my weapon, though."

Ruby paused, "What do you mean?"

The young faunus lifted the sword off the table, one hand beneath the hilt, the other resting beneath the blade, "It was my brother's. He built it… before he died."

The small girl became subdued, shuffling from side to side at the mention of Lotus's dead relative. The faunus noticed and gave her a smile, "It's okay. It was a long time ago. I've had it longer than he ever did, so I suppose we could say I adopted it?"

"What… was his name?" Ruby asked slowly, eyeing both Lotus and the sword.

Lotus smiled warmly, looking at the weapon, "Copper." Her eyes lifted to Ruby's, her smile growing a little more melancholy as it lost its luster, "One of two brothers I've had in my life."

"Had…?" Ruby's eyes widened once more, seeming to understand the words that Lotus had left unspoken, "I'm sorry for your loss, Olivia."

Lotus gave a sad chuckle and set the sword back down, "So… got any ideas for a name? I've never really thought about giving one to a weapon before."

Ruby cheered up somewhat, walking around the side of the table to end up on Lotus's side. They both looked down on the weapon, thinking of an appropriate name to give it.

"Death Dealer," Lotus proposed.

"That sounds evil!" Ruby shot it down.

"The Crimson Terror," Lotus joked.

"That's lame!" Ruby shuddered.

Lotus laughed, "I thought so, too."

Ruby tapped a finger against her chin as she pondered their dilemma, "It should be something that reminds you of him, I think." Her eyes glanced over to Lotus to see how she was reacting, "A name that will keep the two of you connected. One you both might have chosen."

The young faunus thought about it, eyes clouding over, staring off into space as she tried to think of a name that both of them would have picked. What had they both liked? There wasn't much, since they had been six years apart. The one thing they shared in common…

Lotus's eyes lit up, the name suddenly coming to her, "Oath."

Ruby's silver eyes became a mirror of Lotus's own magenta, "Oh! I love that comic! Ozborne, the Great and Powerful! The legendary hero that could smite all evil with the mighty sword of destruction, Oath!"

Lotus was shocked that Ruby had even understood the reference, eyes whipping over to the younger girl, "They stopped printing those comics six years ago! How do you even know about them?"

Ruby's eyebrows knit together in confusion, "What? No they didn't! Issue #152 released last week!"

The faunus's eyebrows shot up her temple, "What!?" Could it be true? Her one guilty pleasure... Lotus's mind caught up after her initial shock, "Wait, #152!? I could only ever find up to issue #30!"

Ruby's jaw dropped, "You have so much catching up to do!"

Both girls jumped in surprise as a gravely male voice spoke from behind them, "I'll say. Just look at your weapon. You haven't even pulled the sucker apart yet."

Lotus's hand flew to her heart, now beating even faster than it already had been before, "Qrow! Don't sneak up like that!"

Qrow gave her an amused grin, "I thought you couldn't be snuck up on, spider girl?"

Ruby's hands were clenched down at her sides, shaking with barely suppressed outrage, "That wasn't nice, Uncle Qrow!"

"Neither was all that racket you were making on my poor headache. Now get back to work, you two," Qrow replied, placing a hand against his forehead as if in pain.

The small scythe wielder made a small 'hmph!' sound before stomping off around the table to her own weapon, leaving Lotus standing next to Qrow overtop the newly christened 'Oath'.

Lotus tentatively picked up one of the screwdrivers, similar to the one Ruby had in her hands, and turned the sword over in her hands. After about thirty seconds of this, Qrow took a swig of his flask before repocketing it.

"Alright, kid. You'll get nowhere just looking at it," Qrow scooted in next to her, grabbing a different tool entirely than the one Lotus held, "This is a magnetic merger. The reason you're having so much trouble figuring it out is because, apparently, your big brother was pretty smart."

Qrow placed the tool against the sword near the hilt and flipped a switch along its side. There was a small thrum sound followed by a pop, and the side of the hilt detached, allowing a direct line to the mechanisms within. Qrow handed her the tool, and Lotus began the slow process of finding where each and every point was that had been 'merged' this way.

Eventually, the weapon sat before her, completely taken apart into all its most basic pieces. Qrow then began pointing out each in turn, giving a description of their exact function, and why they were necessary for the entire transformation process to work properly.

When he had finished with his explanations, Qrow gave her a small smirk and a friendly pat on the back, "Now, put it back together."

Lotus stared down at the mess of bolts, gears, blades, pins, and thing she didn't even know the name for… there was too much to take in all at once.

"So… this is the part where you really help me, right?"

Qrow rolled his eyes, then got to work pointing out each piece in turn, "Remember how each fits together." After another half hour, they had fully reassembled it. Lotus gave Oath a few test swings, lit up the lightning dust edge, and transformed it back into it's pistol shape.

"Looks good to me."

Qrow picked the tool back up and handed it to her, "Now do it again."

"But I just got it back together…"

"Uh huh, and you're going to keep repeating the process until you can do it all on your own," Qrow replied, shoving the tool into her hands, "Now strip it apart again."

Lotus grumbled but got to work. They spent the next few hours there, repeating the process. With each iteration, Lotus became more and more adept. On the final run, it took her only five minutes, and she didn't have to stop and ask Qrow for any assistance.

Qrow gave her an approving nod and patted her on the shoulder, "Well done," he pulled out his scroll, noting the time, "We should get outta here. Tai usually has dinner ready at around seven."

The pair looked over at Ruby, who was just then finishing up cleaning each individual piece of Crescent Rose. The girl gave a confident thumbs up and began piecing her scythe back together at an incredible speed. In only a few short minutes, the entire scythe had been returned to its original form.

Ruby lifted it off the table, spun it around behind her back and transformed it mid swing, clipping the compacted weapon on to her lower back in one smooth motion.

"Show off," Qrow smirked.

Ruby didn't have the decency to look embarrassed, instead taking it as off hand praise, "Yup!"

Together, the trio left the school and began the trek to the Xiao Long cabin, or as the older huntsman with them would always call it, Casa de Qrow.

"By the way, Olivia. I have every Ozborne comic… if you wanted to read them," Ruby chipped in as they walked, giving the older girl a sideways glance.

Lotus gave her a wide smile, "I'd love that, Ruby. Thank you."

"Cool!"

As they traveled along the path leading to the cabin, Lotus couldn't help but compare herself to the young huntress in training that gleefully skipped ahead of them, humming lightly all the while.

'Is Ruby what I might have become if my life hadn't been so fucked up?'

Lotus let her eyes linger on the younger girl, a wistful smile growing on her face as her mind firmed. If she hadn't been able to enjoy the life she wanted...

'I'll keep you safe, Ruby. If it ever comes to it… I'll do whatever I can to protect you… to protect that future I could never have…'