The days came and went, and before Lotus knew it, her time had nearly run out. Initiation was only two days away. Since her last day on Patch, the spider faunus had spent the majority of her time continuing to study with Ren and Nora, the two constant companions that served as her saving grace. Without them, Lotus very much doubted that she could have delved into the material she was given with quite so much tenacity.
Aside from studying, she paid another few visits to the Daily Grind, only to find it absent the attractive cat girl. Either way, her time spent in the cafe was far from wasted. It was one of the few leisurely pleasures she afforded herself in the days leading up to Beacon. 'May as well enjoy my freedom while it lasts.'
Lotus messaged Ruby, giving her a time to meet the next day, right before the faunus would be entering Beacon. While she enjoyed the hyperactive girl's company for the most part, Lotus needed a day off for herself. Time had gone by far too quickly, and now she had been left in a sort of ominous wonder.
'Can I really do this?' It had been her dream, nearly life long at this point, to join one of the academies and become a huntress. Now… it was finally happening. Lotus could hardly believe it.
She had gathered what information she could from Qrow in the days prior, and knew that each 'team' would be separated into groups of four. The faunus had an easy pick of at least two, with only the fourth being a mystery. While it was tempting to choose Yang, Lotus still didn't know how well the fiery blond would get along with the two Mistralian orphans.
Lotus decided to shoot Yang a message as well, asking her if she would be free earlier in the day. The ex-assassin's inbox was already being filled with messages from Ruby. The girl was suggesting locales and stores for them to visit. Apparently the newest issue of 'It's Also a Gun' was coming out tomorrow. Lotus would reserve that little trip for the end of the day. She doubted the little weapon addict would be able to focus on anything else the rest of the day once she had her hands on a magazine like that.
Yang finally responded a little later, apologizing that she would be busy for the day with her other friends from Signal.
"That's fine. See you at Beacon!" Lotus messaged back, cringing at her own excessive enthusiasm. It was the easiest way to show there were no hard feelings. Still, it wasn't her style to be overly emotive, even through text.
"See ya there, Short Stack!"
Lotus shook her head and slipped the scroll back into her pocket. The faunus would give as good as she got once Beacon came around. Yang wouldn't know what hit her, 'Literally.' That was the best part about having an invisible semblance. The opportunities to mess with people were limitless.
With one last glance around the mostly vacant cafe, and a generous tip gifted to the barista, Lotus took her leave. The faunus allowed herself one final deep breath through her nose as the door closed, willing the aroma to linger as long as possible in her senses. She would most definitely be visiting on the weekends.
The midday throng of city goers was beginning to pick up. The sun sat lazily in the sky, mostly obscured by a thin misting of clouds that offered some reprieve from its rays. Lotus enjoyed days like this above any other. Mistral was an overall dreary place to live, with rain clouds never far away. So far, the morning had been a nice inbetween; warm, but not hot, thanks to the cloud cover.
Lotus racked her brain for what she wanted to do with her day. Paying Melanie a visit was off the table. Apparently, quite a few of Junior's men had been rented out for some 'under the table' work, leaving the sisters with a full plate. She didn't mind too much. Their time together was fun but lacked anything deeper than mutual stress relief.
After an hour of mindlessly wandering the streets in search of anything to pass the time, Lotus realized she had made her way back to the gate that led out into the Emerald Forest. The faunus turned around, ready to make her way back and find something else to do, when she paused in place.
'What in the world am I going to do? I have no hobbies. Everyone I know is either busy, stalking me, or has gone dark,' Lotus was hesitant to send any messages to Cinder or her companions. The curvaceous murderess had parted under the pretense that she would get in contact when the time was right. Even if Lotus wanted to leave the assassin life behind, she still couldn't ignore basic etiquette. The faunus could hardly explain away a breach of trust with a simple "I'm bored".
Lotus turned back to the Emerald Forest and strode past the gate, into the fringes of the tree line, 'I have nothing better to do,' the young huntress shrugged internally, 'Besides, I haven't even tested Oath on any grimm yet.'
A mild breeze rippled across the tops of the trees, too weak to pierce through the densely packed foliage to the ground below. The air below was humid; a condition the faunus was all too familiar with. Within minutes of entering the forest, her exposed skin had gained a new sheen from an uncomfortable amount of stagnant moisture that clung to her.
The trees themselves were beautiful, far grander than those that she was used to. The branches bowed towards the ground, many cracked with age. Here and there, Lotus spotted the signs of both grimm and hunters alike. Gouges in the bark from beowolves or ursa sharpening their claws, gashes and shattered wood that could only be caused by manmade weapons.
'This place is a battlefield…'
Year after year, students had made their way into these very woods to take the initiation exam; the final step to becoming a full fledged student at Beacon. From the sounds of it, many of them wouldn't pass. Qrow had at least been explicit in that respect, making it clear that neither she nor Yang should take their placements for granted.
Lotus still had her reservations. If the earlier showing had been any indication, they really wouldn't have much to fear at all. 'Pyrrha Nikos is a surprise… but not something to be overly concerned about.' One more capable participant wouldn't make or break their chances.
The ex-assassin had done a little digging of her own in her brief bouts of free time and looked up whatever information she could about the Mistralian champion. Thankfully, Pyrrha was from Argus, not the city of Mistral itself. As such, there was very little chance that the red head would recognized Lotus for who she was.
'If there are any others…' Lotus would deal with them as they appeared. There was no use stressing over whether or not other applicants might be from the same city as her.
'I wonder if I could pressure Lionheart to remove my wanted posters.'
While she didn't know the Mistralian headmaster personally, Lotus did know enough details about the mission that had started her rise to infamy to know that he was behind it all. When Lotus had initially brought it up with Widow, the older spider faunus had shot down her suggestion, claiming that it would only lead to more issues in the future.
'Can I really trust what she told me back then?' Her 'mother' was obsessed with keeping Lotus for herself, 'Was it all a lie? It certainly kept me in Mistral longer than I would have stayed otherwise…'
'I'll have to ask Cinder about it the next time she gets in contact with me.'
As far as Lotus was concerned, the spider faunus and ex-assassin was a force to be reckoned with, especially when she was taking a fight seriously. However, even with what Lotus could make up for in skills, she lacked in contacts. Malachite was a good resource for missions or information, but blackmailing someone as high up as Lionheart was a little out of her pay grade.
'Cinder, on the other hand, has connections,' and Lotus was more than willing to make use of them, 'What else are friends for?'
A sudden flash of her sense warned the spider faunus to dip low, now crouching behind an overly large boulder next to the makeshift path she had been walking along while deep in thought. Lotus peeked her head around the moss covered stone in confusion, surprised to have found a human so deep in the Emerald Forest, especially before she'd even had a chance to run into any grimm. The living infestations had been so intent on swarming her before.
'I suppose I was a little overwhelmed at the time.'
The man that stepped into view was of a more lithe build, reasonably tall with a black coat overtop a green vest and green scarf. While he didn't appear to be that old, his head was still topped with short and unkempt silver hair. The man's eyes idly roamed across his surroundings as he strode confidently through the forest, his hand firmly gripping a cane that he was using to walk.
In the opposite hand, he carried a small, black, narrow case. He gripped the handle lightly between a few slender fingers, swinging it gently with every other step. Lotus was preparing to step out from her hiding place and call out, when her sense focused in on the man's aura.
'Wh… What…?'
It was not only the enormous aura reserve that gave her pause, but another sensation entirely that froze her feet in place. Lotus had never felt anything like it before. Aura would best be described as a stream; a source of power that, once unlocked, could be tapped into, allowing a person to draw from their own souls in order to protect themselves.
The man casually walking through the woods ahead of her had two.
Both streams started separately, different to their very cores yet sharing enough similarities that by the time they converged, each bled into the other effortlessly. Lotus shivered, her eyes locked on to the man's back.
The second stream… 'It's ancient…' The spider faunus didn't know how else to describe it. With both 'streams' there to compare, the other felt so much fresher by comparison.
'Who is he? What is he doing out here?'
Lotus forcibly calmed herself, drawing upon years of experience to quell the unsettling pit that had opened up in her stomach, and began to follow. The faunus kept a respectable distance, relying on not her eyes, but her extra sense to keep track of the man that she now stalked. Without having to check via line of sight, Lotus also kept herself from being exposed.
The forest was still densely packed with foliage, becoming even more so as they headed deeper into the Emerald Forest. The faunus used it all to her advantage, slipping from tree to tree in quick, short bursts when she knew that the man she followed was directing his attention elsewhere.
Lotus stopped at the edge of a clearing that the man had walked in to, and spared a quick glance for their surroundings. The edge of the forest stopped, opening up for a long stretch of open field. Across from her, near where the line of trees began anew, sat a sprawling mess of broken rubble and decrepit columns. The archaic structure had been built into the shape of a circle, with half the supports long since destroyed.
It was here that the silvery haired man stopped. Lotus watched from her hidden vantage point, paying close attention as he retracted his cane and placed it on his belt, then set down the case he had been carrying. The man took his time in scanning his surroundings one final time before unlatching the case and raising the top.
'They're… chess pieces?'
Lotus wasn't sure if she needed to get her eyesight checked, but from what she could tell, the man had began extracting various chess pieces from the case and was reverently placing each of them atop one of the columns. Both gold and black pieces alike, twenty in all, were eventually placed in the ruins.
He stepped back when he had finished, admiring his handiwork, "I suppose this year truly will be in the hands of fate…" The man shook his head sadly and clicked the case shut before scooping it back up by the handle. He gave one final glance around the circle, each piece staring back wordlessly, before turning to leave.
Lotus took extra care to hide herself during his return trip. The faunus held her breath when he reached the nearest point, despite the distance still being close to twenty feet. Unless he was secretly another spider faunus capable of masking his presence, Lotus doubted he would notice her in passing.
The young huntress waited a few more quiet moments, allowing her senses to refocus back on the surrounding forests. There were no signs of his return. Lotus exited the treeline and headed over to the ruins. With a closer look, the structure was breathtaking, regardless of its current state.
The columns stood at a staggering height, easily fifty feet tall. Many of them still managed to support a ring of stone that would have been even more impressive were it was still intact. Intricate rune work had been cut into both the stone floor and columns, alike.
'I guess if there was a place to randomly place chess pieces, this would be the spot…'
Lotus eyed the pieces in question, getting a closer look. There were ten apiece of each color, creating a wide semicircle that made up the majority of the space. The edge was lined with the smaller columns, each holding only a single piece.
'Hold on…'
It could hardly be a coincidence that the timing of this strange occurrence matched up so closely with the beginning of the next Beacon term. 'We're going to get launched out into the Emerald Forest from the cliff, and then given an objective that not everyone can complete…' Lotus stared at the pieces.
'We have to collect these.'
It was the only thing that made sense, given what limited details she had been able to squeeze out of Qrow. If there were only so many spots available to be filled, then there would need to be a way to determine who succeeded.
'If there are twenty pieces, and teams are made up of four, does that mean there can only be five teams?' The number didn't quite match up. Lotus knew that Beacon must accept more than twenty students each year. Beyond that… 'I don't know enough.'
Lotus gazed longingly at them, an internal struggle beginning to rage, 'I should just take one now. I'm here anyway, and it will guarantee me a spot. It's not like I would have failed in the first place.'
The faunus's hand paused, outstretched towards the golden knight piece. 'What if this is another test?' The previous examiner had known she was cheating despite her best efforts, and would have denied her if she hadn't told the truth.
Lotus dropped the idea as soon as she'd thought of it, 'They can't test everyone by leading them out into the woods. This is a stroke of luck, that's all. It's my good fortune.'
Knowing all this ahead of time, the faunus had a chance to rig the system. Depending on the rules of initiation, she could try and secure herself on Ren and Nora's team, especially if she was willing to 'cheat'.
'What did that man say? Something about leaving it up to fate?'
'...Not a chance.' Lotus's life had been a constant struggle. Leaving something as crucial as who she would spend the next four years with up to fate would be folly.
Lotus swiped up the chess piece and pocketed it, letting out a small sigh of relief after her decision had been made. 'Good' or 'bad' wasn't a factor. This was her life, and she would never leave that up to 'fate'.
The rest of Lotus's day went by relatively uneventful. She kept in contact with Ruby, both coming to agreement on a time to meet up the following evening. Lotus would wait for the younger girl near the docks, if at a reasonable distance. Just the thought of the roiling mass of water being anywhere near her again brought the faunus close to vomiting.
Lotus tucked the chess piece away in her room and considered telling Ren and Nora about her plan over scroll messages, but decided against it. She would wait until there was more information to go off of. Who knew? Maybe that portion of initiation would only serve to pair two people together. If that was the case, Lotus was more than willing to give up the piece she had taken if it meant the difference between her friends being split from each other or not.
'They've known each other far longer than I've ever known… anyone.' Especially after spending nearly an entire month studying with the two of them, Lotus knew that the pair being separated would be devastating for them both. Ren may not outwardly show it, but he was just as attached to Nora as she was to him.
'And Nora would probably kill anyone that got in her way,' Lotus didn't want to be the person that thought that would be a good idea.
The faunus spent the remainder of the afternoon in her room, watching movies and ordering food for delivery, all while laying on her bed. Stuffed and comfortable, sleep began to creep up on the young girl. Her consciousness drifted off, eyes drooping against her will while the movie receded out of her perception.
A loud beep originating from the television interrupted her slow fall into the world of dreams, the sound grating against her ears with a high pitched intermittent squeal. Lotus blinked away the fuzziness from her eyes and reached out towards the bedside table, searching for the remote while the screen changed to a news broadcast.
"We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you dreadful news. The Headmaster of Haven Academy was found dead earlier this evening. As of yet, the investigation is still in progress, but our sources have come out to say that it appears to have been suicide. Other conflicting reports have stated that there were signs of a struggle. Lisa?"
"Stick around for more information as it rolls in. We will certainly be the first to-"
Lotus clicked the power button on the remote and dropped it to the floor, letting her head and arm slump back down to the bed, 'Great. There goes that plan.' The spider faunus rolled over and groaned as she felt other people beginning to stir in their rooms, likely awoken by the same broadcast.
Lotus shoved a pillow down over her head, though it did nothing for her sixth sense. 'He didn't kill himself, idiots. His schemes caught up with him…' the faunus yawned, '...I wonder if Tyrian did it. He didn't seem like the type to care about anyone once they're usefulness ran dry. Ol' Lionheart already messed up once.'
The young faunus did her best to block out everything and get some rest. It was nearly an hour later before the occupants in the other rooms finally settled down and went back to bed. Lotus fell asleep shortly after, thankful that the 'investigation' hadn't taken up the entire night.
Lotus drifted away, caught up in the tides of her subconscious mind, until the land of dreams welcomed her with open arms.
The assassin stood in a familiar bar, a dozen tables placed around the floor yet devoid of the usual purple clothed occupants, "Where is that woman?" Lotus was scheduled to take on a new mission today, one for a particularly wealthy client that had offered quite the premium in exchange for the "Black Lotus's" expertise.
A rattle of a doorknob drew her attention across the room to the single door that had suddenly appeared. Lotus thought nothing of it, 'It's always been there'. The door opened, a rotund blond woman stepping out with a smile on her face.
"Ah, Lotus. Nice of you to finally show up."
"I got here as fast as I could," Lotus argued, narrowing her eyes at her employer. They both knew that Malachite gained more from having the assassin around than Lotus did by being there.
"Right, of course. It's just been weeks since we saw you last…"
"Weeks…?" Lotus paused, thinking back to what she could have been doing away from the place for so long. Some part of her brain filled in the blank, "Ah, right. I was in Vale."
"Vale? Why in the world would you go there?"
"I…" the faunus scoured her mind, but this time the answer was much less forthcoming, "I don't remember."
"Well, either way, we have a high priced mission on the table. Are you interested?"
"Of course. Who else are you going to hire for it?"
Malachite smirked and pushed the manilla folder over to Lotus's side of the table. The assassin snatched it up, holding it in front of herself, "Four targets?"
"Yes, indeed. The address is at the bottom."
"I'll get it done," Lotus took a long look at the soon to be corpses. A blond girl, a younger girl with black hair that faded to red tips, an older muscle bound blonde, and a man with black hair that was starting to grey. Something stirred in the back of Lotus's mind, but faded as quickly as it had appeared.
The assassin left the building, heading out into the rain and muck, now suddenly standing in front of a cabin. The thought of how she had covered so much ground in such a short time didn't cross her mind. Only the knowledge that this was the place she needed to be, the place where her targets were.
Lotus could feel the occupants inside with her sixth sense, all situated around the living room, on both couches and the floor in front of the television. The faunus drew her weapon, a long sword with an inverted curve. The mechanisms clicked into place as it transformed outwards, growing to its full size.
She paused, looking down at her hand in confusion. Suddenly the sword was replaced with the more familiar shortsword. "Why am I even using this?" Lotus sheathed the weapon back at her hip and allowed her semblance to unfurl, not shrouding her arms, but instead leaving them free. This was a kill mission, after all. There would be no survivors to reveal her secrets.
Lotus opened the door, which was thankfully unlocked, and stepped into the two story cabin's front entrance. Off to her left, the occupants were still huddled around the movie they were watching, completely oblivious to the assassin's presence.
She started with the one closest, the older blond. Lotus's appendage shot outward, piercing him through the back in one fell swoop. Visceral, thick gore splattered from the front of his chest, bits of bone and blood raining down on the girls that sat on the floor in front of him.
None of them seemed to notice as the faunus extracted her appendage, letting the blond man's body slump to the floor, blood pooling out beneath him and running across the cracks in the floor. "This is too easy."
Crimson red liquid oozed from the tip of Lotus's appendage as she leveled it in the direction of her next victim. The older… huntsman?... The faunus paused, memories struggling to the front of her mind. They were quickly shut away, "I don't have time for this. I'm on a mission!"
Lotus shrugged off her doubts and repositioned the appendage before thrusting it forward into the man's chest. Almost immediately, he slumped over against it, arms dangling at his sides. She extracted her invisible limb, now coated even more red, and watched as the man's body fell to the floor.
A pang of guilt flashed through Lotus's mind but was swiftly ignored. There was no place for guilt in this profession. She had been doing this for years now. These humans were no different from any of the others. "Get a hold of yourself."
The younger blond was next, a simple strike to the lower back was all it took to end her life. Lotus screwed her eyes shut, the guilt coming more fiercely this time around. "What is wrong with me!?" She swayed in place, the body of young blond dropping to the ground as her appendages flickered.
"No! I need you! You can't leave me now!"
The world lurched, coming back into focus as the bodies of her other three victims disappeared. Lotus's appendages remained fixed in place, all four poised overtop the younger girl in front of her. A pair of silver eyes turned and caught sight of her, widening in surprise.
"Olivia! I didn't know you were coming here so early! I thought you were going to wait for me at the docks?"
"I… I'm not Olivia…" Lotus brought a hand up to her face to rub at her temple, a sudden headache beginning to worm its way through her skull. "Who are you?"
"What? I'm Ruby, silly! Did you stay up too late again? Do you want to borrow my comic books?" the younger girl was looking at her with concern. Lotus winced as the bodies of her previous victims reappeared, lying across the ground in their own pools of blood behind the younger girl.
"Ruby?..." the name was familiar… "You're Ruby?..."
"Uh-huh! What comic did you leave off on? I'll go grab it!"
"Ruby…" her eyes darted back and forth, past the young girl to the people she had killed, "Qrow… Yang… Tai…"
No sooner had she realized their identities then they disappeared once more, returning back to their original positions before she had enacted her brutal task.
"Hey, move away from the TV, kid," Qrow demanded, trying to crane his neck to get a peek around the young faunus.
"R-Right," Lotus stammered, stepping back out of the way.
"I hope you'll be joining us for dinner, Olivia," Tai stated, standing up off the couch to head towards the kitchen. He called back over his shoulder, "I'm making spaghetti again, hope you don't mind!"
"Are you ready to go another round?" Yang asked, rocking back and forth where she sat, excitedly eyeing the young faunus.
"What's going on? Why am I here? Didn't I have a mission…?"
The door slammed open behind her. Lotus spun around to face it, eyes taking in Widow immediately. The young assassin took a step back in fear and trepidation, eyes darting to the others in the room. None of them seemed to have noticed the intrusion.
"Lotus, what are you doing? You should have finished these targets off by now," Widow demanded, stepping past Lotus into the living room and drawing her daggers.
"I… I know them."
Widow gave a patient smile and a slight shake of her head, "What have I told you, little spider? I'm the only one you need." The older assassin slowly drew her blade across Qrow's neck. He didn't fall, only sat in place as blood poured down his chest, off the couch and across the floor. Qrow laughed at something on the television, the action causing another eruption of blood from his throat.
"Wait!…"
"There's no time for waiting," Widow scoffed, repeating the process to Yang. The girl reacted the same, which is to say, not at all. The blood pooled down into her lap, staining her clothes as she still looked up at Lotus, her question left unanswered.
The blond seemed to reach the end of her patience, "I'll go grab my gauntlets!" Yang cheered, hopping up to run upstairs, "And I won't be taking it easy on you this time!"
As Widow stepped over to Ruby, Lotus felt her semblance react. The appendages whipped out, grasping towards Widow. Four invisible limbs of corded iron that would hold anything in place. Her mother stopped, looked over her shoulder, and gave Lotus a disapproving frown.
"Now really, haven't we gone over this? Your semblance doesn't work on me, little spider."
The appendages vanished all at once, freeing Widow and allowing her to step closer to the young girl sitting on the floor, entirely oblivious to the assassin's presence.
"No! Stop!" Lotus cried out.
Widow's dagger sank into Ruby's chest and was then left there as the older assassin pulled away to admire her handiwork. Lotus fought against her stomach as it attempted to heave. Ruby frowned up at Lotus, "What's the matter, Olivia? You don't look so good."
Crimson red blood gushed out of the girl's chest and stained the floor, ebbing outwards. Each beat of her heart brought another flood of the dark liquid outside her body where it didn't belong.
"Everything alright in here?" Tai asked, walking back out of the kitchen to stand behind Lotus with concern written across his face. One arm held a sauce bowl against his chest while the other stirred it.
The young faunus could only futilely outstretch a hand as Widow stepped past and ran her blade across his throat.
"Ruby's right. You look awful, Olivia," the blond man stated, leaning in to take a closer look at her. As with the others, he didn't notice the blood pouring from his open wound. It ran down into the bowl of tomato sauce as he absentmindedly mixed it all in; a congealing mass of orange and crimson red.
A repeated beeping sound echoed out of the kitchen, drawing his attention away from Lotus, "Oh! Food's done. Hope you're ready~!"
Widow wiped her blade off on his clothes as he passed, then resheathed it, "It's time we got out of here. You ready?"
The young faunus couldn't focus. Each beep coming from the kitchen was getting louder, and louder. Lotus clutched her head, trying to block out the sound that was now pounding in her ears.
"Let's go, Lotus."
Lotus slammed a hand down on top of her scroll to shut off the alarm and stuffed her face into the mattress beneath her, letting out a muffled groan, 'It was all just a dream… and a pretty bad one at that…'
The young faunus rolled over to stare up at the ceiling. There was only one alarm she had set for the day, and that was for her meeting with Ruby. Lotus tiredly shuffled out of bed, only sitting up once her legs were fully dangling off the side. She quietly grumbled to herself as she got dressed, taking the time to at least put on one of her better outfits.
Lotus retreated into the bathroom and freshened up, starting with a generous amount of cold water to the face that helped her to finally pull herself together. The faunus fixed up her hair and adjusted the sleeves on the black shirt she wore, making sure they weren't going to ride up and reveal her trait.
The huntress eyed her sword on the way out, but decided to leave it behind, 'I'll have more than enough opportunities to use it in Beacon.' Besides, she could more than handle herself when they were only going to be staying in town.
Lotus stopped to buy a couple cups of coffee along the way to the docks, one decaf for the small red blur. The faunus shuddered to think what might happen if she was given actual caffeine on top of her semblance. Lotus wouldn't have a single hope of keeping up all day.
The ship from Patch was making its slow approach into the docks as Lotus stopped fifty feet away, giving the ocean the respect it deserved. 'Won't catch me any closer. No, sir. Not a chance.' She could already see the young reaper waving from the front of the ship, and raised one of the cups in acknowledgement, a fraction of a smile already curling her lips.
The nightmare had been disturbing, and Lotus was still shaking off the tidbits that remained, but it was hardly her first. The sight of Ruby hopping off the ship ahead of time and skipping down the docks to meet the faunus more than made up for the gruesome images her mind had provided. 'I've seen worse.'
"Hey Olivia! Glad you could make it," the younger girl announced. Ruby shuffled the box she was carrying to hold against her hip and reached out, accepting the cup of coffee that Lotus offered her.
"What do you have there?" Lotus asked, eyeing the box.
The girl smiled and carefully held it out, waiting for Lotus to take a firm grasp of it before letting go completely. The faunus recognized it now on further inspection. Her heart rose, though she tried to suppress it.
"I can't take all these comics, Ruby."
"Why not?" the girl sipped from the coffee cup, holding it with two hands while she hid a grin behind it, "I've read them all a few times already, and it's not like you can stop by Patch while you're in Beacon."
"We still have our weekends free. It doesn't take that long to fly to Patch and back."
"It's expensive, though," Ruby frowned, "Why don't you take the ferry? It's only a few lien. I'd say that's worth saving a hundred on each round trip you must be spending on bullheads."
The spider faunus's stomach rumbled in protest at the idea, and her eyes reflexively shied away from the ocean, "A hundred lien isn't that much. I prefer expedience."
Ruby narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but eventually gave up when Lotus showed no signs of breaking and shrugged, "Well, they're here already, and I'm not taking them back to Vale. So, that's that."
'They'll definitely help relieve some of my stress after classes, even if I already have Ren for that…' The Mistralian boy's semblance had been a godsend over the past month, keeping Lotus from having a meltdown, and Nora in her seat long enough to get any work done. 'Ruby did bring them all the way here…'
Lotus nodded, shifting the box over to support under one arm as the younger girl had done, "Thanks, Ruby. This really means a lot to me."
"No problem!" Ruby chirped, silver eyes darting across the nearby city streets, "So, where first?"
The faunus hefted the box at her side, "Let's head to my apartment. I want to drop this off before we go marching around the city, then I was thinking the Daily Grind for lunch? Ever been there?"
"No, what is it?"
"It's this nice little coffee shop in an alleyway off mainstreet. Kind of tucked away. I'm not surprised you haven't been there since its mostly faunus patrons," Lotus explained, already leading the younger huntress away from the docks and towards her apartment.
"Will they be fine having me in there?" Ruby asked, skipping up to walk alongside Lotus and matching her gait. It wasn't difficult, since the little reaper was nearly the same height as her despite their age difference. With a glance over to the younger girl, Lotus noticed that she had brought along Crescent Rose.
"There are humans in there now and then, but they're always with a faunus. You should be fine if we go in together. The staff knows me well enough."
"Sounds like fun, then!"
The streets were beginning to get more and more packed the further they went. Unfortunately, Lotus had neither the height, nor the stature to pull of Qrow's passive aggressive indifference and force everyone out of her and Ruby's way. More often than not, the two were the ones forced to dance around others, creating awkward pauses and rifts in their conversation.
Thankfully, the further from the mainstreet they got the less interruptions there were. Lotus and Ruby settled into a comfortable walk, side by side.
"Qrow helped me upgrade Crescent Rose! I was hoping I could show you later," the younger girl reached back and patted the red scythe folded up against the small of her back, "I took a little inspiration from Oath. Hope you don't mind."
"As long as it's sensible… What did you do, add lightning dust?"
"Nope! I took what you said about getting disarmed to heart and included gravity dust!" Ruby grinned.
Lotus cupped her chin with a couple fingers and gave it a moment's thought, "Hmm, not a bad idea. You'll just have to be careful. Your weapon can hurt you as easily as the enemy, especially in a tense situation where your attention is divided."
"I know. Qrow's been helping me practice for the past week to get the hang of it," Ruby gave her an accusatory glower, "You make it look a lot easier than it actually is."
The spider faunus shrugged, palms raised, "It isn't so tough when you can track the rotation without even looking at it."
"I wish I could…"
Lotus snorted, "You don't want the baggage that comes along with it, kid. Trust me."
Ruby nervously rubbed her hands together, pausing to spare Lotus a sideways glance and gauge her mood. Seeing that the faunus didn't appear to really be upset, she asked her next question, "What was it like... growing up in Mistral?"
Lotus let out a harsh laugh, lacking any true mirth as she returned the younger girl's gaze, "Wet, muddy, filled with poor faunus and humans alike that were desperate enough stab you in the back to get their hands on some lien."
"Is that why…" Ruby tugged at her collar as if she was hot, "...you're so…"
"So what?"
"So… fierce… when you fight?"
"Am I? Haven't really had the chance to check a mirror in the middle of combat, Rubes. What makes you say that?"
"Your eyes…" Ruby smiled, letting her voice raise in pitch to take any of the bite out of her words, "You look happy most of the time!" her voice lowered as she turned away slightly, "But when you're fighting, you get this look in your eyes… It scared me the first time I saw it. That's why I attacked you outside the club."
'Well that's disconcerting… I wonder if Qrow or Tai noticed.'
With Lotus's luck, they probably had. The ex-assassin didn't have to imagine what she must look like during a fight. She had seen more than her fair share of those that were exactly how Ruby was describing her. It came naturally to anyone that had survived more than a few scrapes in their day and lived to tell about it. More so if they had survived by killing the person they were fighting.
Lotus shrugged, "That makes sense. Guess I'll have to work on that," the faunus bumped into the younger girl, "Thanks, Ruby. I had no idea."
Ruby still seemed uncomfortable that Lotus hadn't really admitted to anything, only acknowledged that she probably did have an intimidating pair of eyes during a fight. The faunus caught on to the younger girl's trepidation and sighed, 'I should give her a little reassurance.'
"It wasn't so bad in Mistral, all things considered. For one, it was where I met two of my best friends. Do you want to meet them later?"
Ruby hunched her shoulders at the mention of meeting new people, "Eh, s-sure!"
"They're both a lot nicer than I am, Rubes."
"That's not it!" the girl interjected, waving her hands through the air in front of herself, "I'm just not very good with social stuff!"
Lotus frowned, "Well that needs to change, doesn't it? What do you expect it's going to be like once you're accepting missions and going to new towns? There's a lot of people in the world, kid."
The faunus pulled her scroll out and opened up her messages, sending Nora a quick text to ask what the pair of them would be doing later on in the day. The energetic ginger messaged her back almost immediately, letting Lotus know their afternoon would be free. The faunus snapped a photo of the girl next to her, much to Ruby's displeasure, and sent it to Nora, "Wanna meet a friend?"
"She's so cute! We'll meet up in front of the combat school at four, sound good?"
"Yep. She wants to show off her new weapon upgrade anyway. We can use the gym while we're there."
"We got a plan, see you then!"
Lotus slipped her scroll back into her pocket and turned on Ruby with a mischievous grin, "We're going to the combat school at four so you can meet them."
The younger girl returned the grin back, but with far more nervousness, "Can you tell me about them before then?"
Lotus patted her on the back, "Nope. You'll have to see for yourself what they're like," the faunus raised her eyes back to the street they were on and looked about, "Almost there. Couple more blocks and you'll be able to see the apartments."
Ruby stared at the ground as they walked, likely already feeling anxious over the future meeting that was slated to take place later that afternoon. Lotus couldn't help but mess with her. Ruby getting flustered over something so simple was endearing, in a way. If only because she was a polar opposite of how the faunus had ended up. Lotus felt like she was recapturing some of that lost time whenever she was with the high spirited girl.
Lotus figured she may as well change the subject to get Ruby's mind off her insecurities, though. It wouldn't due to have the girl wound up in a little ball of anxiety before she'd even met them, "Soooo. Ready to have a bit more peace around the house once Yang leaves? You'll have free reign on all her stuff."
Ruby's response was anything but what Lotus had been expecting. Her eyes remained glued to the pavement, "I'm going to miss her…"
"What? I would've pegged her as the nightmare sister that always takes an eternity in the bathroom doing her hair. Come on, what's the one thing you'll miss the least about her?"
The young girl pondered the question, focus taken squarely off her earlier panic. Ruby let out a small giggle, "You guessed it right the first time. Yang takes forever to get her hair done in the morning."
Lotus pretended to dip a quill into a bottle of ink and scribbled on an invisible note in her hand, "Got it. One point towards avoiding Yang in initiation. What else?"
"What!? No! You should totally be on a team together with her!"
There was a quaver in the young girl's voice that Lotus couldn't help but catch on to. Unfortunately, her train of thought was interrupted as they arrived at the front entrance to the apartment complex. Lotus opened the door and gestured for Ruby to enter ahead of her, taking note of the younger girl's flustered complexion as she passed.
The faunus began leading her upstairs as she hesitantly pressed for the cause of Ruby's alarm, "Why do we have to be on a team together?"
Lotus could feel the younger girl gripping the edge of her skirt, but didn't stop to turn around. The spider faunus let Ruby believe she wasn't being observed. Humans and even most faunus tended to forget or didn't understand how acute her sixth sense was. Lotus could feel the younger girl's eyes darting up to peek at her back, checking to make sure the faunus wasn't about to suddenly turn around.
"Because… because you're so strong. I want to know that Yang is safe, and she would be on a team with you…" Ruby muttered quietly, still gripping her skirt tightly.
The faunus couldn't help but let out a momentary laugh, 'Safe? Making an awful lot of assumptions there, Ruby.' Lotus was hardly a 'safe' person to be around. Her body count had exceeded most hunters' by the time she was fifteen. Two years longer had done nothing to stem the tide. The ex-assassin couldn't even begin to try and put a number to it. She'd long since given up.
Instead of revealing anything so gruesome, though, Lotus scoffed, "Your sister is strong, Ruby. Trust me. I had to sit and watch way too many spars not to get a feel for the average strength of each applicant. Yang might not be able to beat me, but she could have taken anyone in that room, bar none."
'Except maybe Nora, but that's besides the point.'
"You really think so?"
"Your sister isn't going to have any trouble in Beacon, I promise."
"I hope you're right…"
Lotus stopped at her door and let Ruby inside, pulling it closed behind them and setting the box of comics down on the carpeted floor. The young huntress let her eyes wander around the room, eventually settling on Oath where it sat propped up against the side of the faunus's bed.
"Shouldn't you keep this with you?"
"Why? Are you expecting to get attacked in town?" Lotus gave a pointed look at the scythe strapped to the young huntress's back, "Think the scary faunus girl is going to lead you into a trap?"
"Of course not," Ruby chastised with a roll of her eyes, "At Signal, they teach us to carry our weapons with us at all times. Qrow made sure I followed that rule the most."
"How come? Even without it, you're still more capable than any average person."
'Are they expecting to get in fights that often, even in a place as peaceful as Vale?'
Ruby shook her head, "You never know when you might need it. What if there was a grimm attack and you didn't have it? Better to have and not need, than need and not have."
Lotus couldn't help but feel like Qrow at least had ulterior motives. 'I still know so little about any of them.'
The faunus nodded in agreement for Ruby's sake, "It makes sense."
'If we were in Mistral it would, anyway. I suppose Qrow is from there. Old habits, maybe?'
Lotus geared up slightly, picking out the necessary accessories so that she could clip the curved sword to her back in its compact form. The pair of gravity dust gloves were tucked into her front pocket, left to loosely hang out. 'Why do they design jeans with such little pocket space?' It was frustrating, to say the least, 'I'll need to buy some more sensible clothes for sparring.' Coco had definitely shown a preference for tight fitting clothing when she'd taken Lotus shopping all those weeks ago.
The train of thought sparked an unfortunate revelation, one that she hadn't had time to really consider while studying for nearly four weeks straight.
"Eh… I thought of at least one other thing we need to do today. Kind of running out of time…" Lotus scratched her jawline in embarrassment, "I don't have a combat outfit."
"What!? Initiation is tomorrow! Why haven't you picked one out yet?" The little reaper looked offended at the very idea, constantly dressed in her own combat outfit as she was.
Lotus shrugged, "I've always worn my hoodie, but… I, uh, misplaced it." 'Threw it away, more like.'
Ruby let out an overly dramatic sigh and slapped her hand against her forehead, holding it in place for a few seconds before lifting her eyes back up to the faunus's, "We're going to get you a combat outfit after we visit the cafe."
Lotus grinned, "Yes, ma'am."
The young huntress nodded in determination and spun on her heel to march over to the door, swinging it open with more force than was necessary, "After you."
The faunus rolled her eyes and followed after, making sure Oath was secured. The trip to the cafe was relatively quick, a fact that Lotus was most grateful for. It wasn't long before she realized the crowd was now parting around them, since even in its compact form, her weapon was clearly visible.
'Qrow, you clever dog. I'll have to keep it with me more often.'
Walking around clearly armed in the Mistral slums was a good way to get the wrong sort of attention brought down on you, yet here in Vale, it seemed as if the populace took it for granted. The members of the crowd had become downright submissive. Lotus paid an eye to their expressions as they passed, and was surprised to realize that it was not fear that urged them, but deference.
'Do they actually respect hunters, here?'
Lotus supposed with how peaceful the city was the majority of the time, the citizens had subconsciously equated that as an accomplishment of the hunters that defended them. The faunus could only scoff at the idea. Their hunters were no better trained or equipped than those in Mistral, as far as Lotus had seen. The lack of rampant crime was likely due to an all around better council, or some other force for good that kept the population's darker desires at bay.
Without having to fight against the crowd, the journey to the Daily Grind was much smoother than the trip to her apartment. Soon enough, the young faunus was soaking in the delicious aroma once more. She led Ruby into the small interior while her eyes scanned the booths for the elusive cat faunus.
'Not here again. Ah, well. Maybe she'll be another Beacon applicant,' the girl had looked around the same age as Lotus herself, and had her aura unlocked.
The spider faunus picked out her usual booth and sat down, laying out a menu for Ruby to peruse. Lotus didn't bother to open hers, she already knew what she wanted. Once the younger girl had laid down her menu as well, the barista appeared at their table and took their orders. Lotus requested her usual soup and sandwich, while Ruby went for a grilled cheese and tomato soup.
The sight of the tomato soup made the faunus's gut wrench when she saw it, and had to pause a moment to realize why. It seemed like echoes of the previous nightmare had resurfaced. As much as she liked to think otherwise, watching Tai stir his own blood had been disturbing.
The pair of huntresses in training enjoyed their meals, basking in mutual relaxation while it lasted. Lotus sighed and stretched, arching her back in the booth and raising an arm high for added measure, "That was delicious."
"It was! I'm surprised my family has never visited this place," Ruby nodded emphatically.
"I'll be coming here pretty often on the weekends if you want to meet up every now and then," Lotus suggested tentatively, giving the young huntress a considering look, "No promises, though. I don't know how brutal the academy is going to be yet."
"You should be fine," Ruby gave a dismissive eye roll.
The faunus smiled but shook her head, "I didn't know anything when I took my exam. I've been playing catch up since. I'll still have courses to finish for the first couple weeks into the year."
"Wow, that must have be rough," Ruby replied kindly.
"Well, I had Ren and Nora to help. Mostly Ren. Nora's good for pep, but if you let her get out of control? Whew," Lotus breathed out dramatically for good measure, trying to get the point across.
"They don't sound so bad…"
"They really are good people. I know you'll like them," Lotus assured, giving the younger girl a boon to help ease her trepidation. The faunus checked the time on her scroll, nearly three in the afternoon, "If we're going to pick me out a combat outfit than we'd better get a move on."
Ruby nodded and reached for her wallet, but was stopped as Lotus placed a hand across hers, "My treat, kid. Don't worry about it."
The younger huntress narrowed her eyes, "Yang told me about stuff like this…" her face paled as her eyes grew frantic, "This wasn't a date, was it!? Oh gosh, I didn't know! I would have-"
Ruby was cut off as Lotus laughed, deep rumbles from her chest that caused it to quake as she held herself up against the table, "N-No, you dummy. What has your sister been filling your head with?"
The girl turned her head away in embarrassment, "Yang said to always pay for half, otherwise boys might expect something in return."
Lotus couldn't hold it in. She laid out across her booth, incapable of keeping herself upright and clutched her stomach as laughter poured out uncontrollably, "F-First of all, I'm not a b-boy, Ruby. Second of all, if a boy asks you for something like that, let me know. I will personally pay him a visit."
The faunus finally reigned in her amusement a minute later, soft chuckles escaping now and then that would send her into another fit. Lotus wiped a finger under her eye, feeling how she'd nearly started to cry, "I'm paying because I invited you, Ruby. Feel free to pay the next time you invite me somewhere."
Lotus left the necessary lien for their food along with a hefty tip and led the younger girl back out into the streets, "So, where are we headed? I haven't been to any stores that specialize in outfits for hunters. I didn't know a place even existed in this city."
"It does! I go there every now and then to get work done on mine if it gets torn up or the lace starts coming undone. They helped me put it all together!"
Ruby took the lead, heading further in the direction they had been going before dipping off into the cafe. They crossed the street a few times, having to change directions to follow the path that Ruby had memorized in order to get there.
'No wonder I never saw the shop. It's pretty far from mainstreet.'
Ten minutes later, and the pair were standing outside a moderately sized shop. The front was made up of two large panes of glass, the door that led inside placed directly in the middle. Behind each pane was a series of mannequins, all showcasing various outfits in a variety of vibrant colors and designs. 'Madam's Matchmaking' was emblazoned in thick gold lettering across the top, directly above the door.
'It's more like a costume store than a shop that sells clothes fit for battle…' Lotus could immediately see why the younger girl had chosen a skirt of all things to fight in. Many of the mannequins on display were sporting a similar look, albeit with different sizes and patterns, but still, 'That is just not my style.'
The faunus dubiously followed Ruby into the brightly lit establishment, the sound of a door chime echoing through the building. The young huntress rocked back and forth on her heels, waiting expectantly for the large middle-aged woman that bustled into the front of the shop, appearing through a multicolor beaded curtain.
The woman was moderately tall and exceedingly curvaceous. Her outfit was a myriad of accessories that somehow all blended together in a way that wasn't dreadful to look at. On the contrary, it was admittedly alluring in its complexity. Lotus couldn't help but keep her eyes latched on to the large woman as she smiled dotingly at Ruby and made her way around the counter.
"How is my favorite customer~" her voice was surprisingly robust, adding authority to the words she spoke, "In for another repair, darling~?"
"Not today!" Ruby chirped happily, turning on the spot to bring the older woman's attention to Lotus, "My friend needs an outfit for initiation tomorrow!"
"Oh, you poor thing~" the woman simpered, stepping up to get a better look at the young huntress, "My name is Madam Myrtle. It would be my pleasure to assist you this evening~"
Lotus took a hesitant step back from the overbearing woman before her, reflexively avoiding contact with a human, "Yes… Well… I was hoping for something simple and… suitable for combat."
"Look no further, dear! You just let Madam Myrtle take care of you, alright~?" the boisterous woman stormed off through the store and began plucking various clothing items off their hangers, moving from rack to rack in a frenzy of cloth.
Lotus leaned over to Ruby and whispered quietly, lest 'Madam Myrtle' hear her, "Is she always like this?"
"Yup! Fun, huh?"
"You're going to get along with Nora just fine," the faunus muttered, shaking her head.
It wasn't long before the shopkeeper returned with a load of clothes draped over her arms in front of her, "Now, go ahead and enter the fitting room over there," she pointed with her chin, hands incapable of doing so without dropping what she carried, "and I'll start handing you over each outfit. You let me know what works for you and what doesn't, alright?"
Lotus did as the woman bid and pulled the dressing room door closed behind herself. Aside from a small gap at the top and bottom, she was entirely obscured from wandering eyes. The first set of clothing was passed over, and much like when she was shopping with Coco and Velvet, each outfit had some things that she liked, and some she didn't.
It was nearly half an hour later before Lotus had finally settled on a look that she appreciated. The faunus stepped out of the dressing room to wild applause from the older woman, and a sincere smile from Ruby.
"Now then, let's see here…" Madam Myrtle did a quick pass around the back and front side of Lotus, getting an eyeful of the outfit she was wearing, "Some of these colors will need to be changed around. Not to worry, it's a simple fix!"
"Are you sure you have time?" Lotus asked uncertainly, "We need to leave soon to meet up with some friends. I don't know how long it takes to replace parts of clothing, but-"
The older woman put a finger to the faunus's lips and shook her head, "Oh, you misunderstand, dear. For me, 'tis but a touch away."
"Uhhh…"
Madam Myrtle smiled slyly and placed a hand against the armband on Lotus's left sleeve, "For instance. This would look much better if it matched your eyes, wouldn't you agree?"
"I guess so…"
Lotus blinked in surprise as, from the point that the older woman was touching the cloth, the color receded and was then replaced by a deep purple. The faunus stared between the accessory and the woman in confusion, causing the Madam Myrtle's grin to widen.
"I was on the path to becoming a huntress, believe it or not. That was before I unlocked my semblance, and destiny revealed itself before my eyes! You see, dear girl? I require but a moment to turn mediocrity into perfection!"
Lotus had to hand it to the woman. She had certainly taken what would have been a useless semblance to anyone else and found her true calling with it, "That's actually really impressive. What's next?"
The woman rubbed her hands together and set about recoloring the outfit, using only the gentlest of touches to transform the entire look into something that Lotus appreciated even more. By the end of it, Madam Myrtle stepped back to admire her handiwork, along with Ruby who was appreciatively eyeing her friend up and down.
Lotus wore a black long sleeve shirt, held together in the front by only three buttons that were closely placed near her midriff. The inside edge of the shirt was lined white, running from the bottom tips up to the collar. Her sleeves were rolled up a few inches, the inside edge colored the same purple as the cloth bands wrapped above her elbows. Each band was held in place by a pair of clasps that connected to the long sleeve shirt.
With her sleeves rolled up as they were, it left a few inches of her skin exposed. Black veins appeared, beginning at her wrist and winding their way beneath the edges of the purple cuffs. Lotus wore a tee shirt beneath, similarly purple, with a decent portion of the top visible due to how widely spread the opening of her long sleeve shirt was.
Lotus had insisted on a sensible pair of tight blue jeans, no matter how much Ruby had insisted that 'combat skirts' were the way to go. The faunus chose to continue wearing the same shoes she'd had previously; black sneakers with purple shoelaces. The final addition, a decently sized ammo pack attached to her upper left thigh, perfectly sized for the type of ammunition she would need for Oath.
"Well, what do you think, dear~? Be honest now, Madam Myrtle prides herself on customer satisfaction~"
"I love it," Lotus replied honestly, getting a good look at herself in the mirror. It wasn't overly flashy like a lot of the huntsman and huntresses she had come across in her time. Exposing an abundance of skin had never saved their lives. Quite the contrary, Lotus would have felt exposed in more ways than one.
'It's no hoodie, but…' the faunus's biggest decision had been to forego keeping her veins entirely under wraps. She was sick of having to hide who she was, humans be damned. Revealing her faunus trait felt empowering, 'And I'll be sure to teach anyone their place that tries to convince me otherwise.'
"You look great, Olivia!" Ruby cheered, giving the faunus girl a wide smile. Lotus returned it in kind, glad that she had agreed to come here in the first place.
"Alright, what do I owe ya?" the faunus asked, taking a moment to do a few stretches. The outfit was slack in all the right places, allowing a perfectly free range of movement. Lotus had to give a hand to Madam Myrtle, 'The lady knows her stuff.'
Lotus gladly paid the slightly exorbitant cost for the outfit. With the speed at which the shopkeeper had fulfilled the faunus's needs, it was no wonder 'customer satisfaction' was her biggest selling point. Lotus added in a tip and promised repeat business, sharing a heartfelt goodbye with the older woman.
"Thanks for bringing me here, Ruby," Lotus said, stepping back out into the fresh air of the open street.
Ruby rubbed the back of her head and smiled, "No biggie. It is the best place to go."
"How'd you even find out about that place? It's so far off mainstreet. Did you go exploring the city one day or something?"
"Actually, Myrtle went to Beacon around the same time my dad and Uncle Qrow did," the small reaper pondered silently for a moment, "I think she was a year ahead of them? My mother saved her on one of the joint missions they went on, back before Myrtle unlocked her semblance. She says I always remind her of my mom."
This was the first time Ruby had truly spoken of her absent mother figure. The faunus could see the deep seated loss in the girl's eyes, and her heart went out to her, "Are you? Like your mom, I mean."
Ruby gave a sad little shrug, "I was really young when she passed away. I only have secondhand stories to go off of. Most people agree with Myrtle, though. I'm the spitting image of Summer Rose."
Lotus began leading the pair of them away from the shop and out into the neverending throng of the city streets, heading for the combat school. It was nearly time to meet up with Ren and Nora, and they could talk on the way.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Ruby. It's never easy losing a parent. I can't imagine what it's like to never have known them in the first place."
Ruby shrugged weakly, "I visit her grave sometimes. Usually once a year, on her birthday. I share stories with her of what I've been up to, how school has been, whether or not I'm getting along with Yang… In a way, she's still there for me, even if I can't see her."
"I'm glad you have something the two of you can still share…" Lotus didn't personally believe in the gods. They had never done anything for her, and she had long since decided to pay them just as little attention. If an afterlife existed… the ex-assassin didn't want to think about what, or who, would be waiting for her on the other side.
"What about you?" Ruby asked, shifting the topic over to Lotus's family history.
The faunus sighed, "My family died a long time ago. Bandits. Nothing you can really do about it, that's just life in Mistral."
"Oh, Olivia- I'm sorry!"
"Nothing to apologize for, Rubes. I'm past it."
"O-Okay," Ruby stopped that particular line of questioning at the slight edge to Lotus's words. The faunus hadn't really meant to sound short tempered, especially after Ruby had revealed the skeletons in her closet. Lotus wanted to avoid delving too deep, though. Putting her entire family history out on display would hardly inspire confidence, especially if the younger girl wanted Lotus to protect her sister during their stay at Beacon.
Lotus sighed, "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Let's just meet up with Ren and Nora, alright?"
Ruby put on a smile and nodded, "Sounds good."
Whoo, longest chapter yet out of any of my stories. The next chapter will probably be a long one as well, if not over 11k like this one. I'm trying to get Lotus into Beacon as soon as possible. There's just a few loose ends that need tidying up before then.
If you'd like to take a look at the artwork I drew for Lotus's new combat outfit, go ahead and check out my Twitter (Sybaen). I've posted it up there to sate anyone's curiosity. (I have never, and will never claim to be a great artist. Not even a good one, really. It was mostly to help myself visualize it so that I could make the description as accurate as possible.)
Aside from that, thanks for reading so far!