Lotus awoke to the vibration of her scroll, its motion alerting her sixth sense and waking her instantly. Her hand shot out and snatched it reflexively, pulling it to herself. A message from Ruby was apparent across the front, "Where are you? We're headed to the dining hall for breakfast."
"Be there in a few," Lotus quickly typed the message out before setting the scroll back down. She unzipped the sleeping bag and pulled herself free, standing up to stretch and arch her back. She smiled in satisfaction as quite a few 'cracks' emanated from her spine. Lotus twisted a few times for good measure, setting off another small series of pops.
Lotus yawned and picked up her bag, content to just change back into her combat outfit in the comfort of the empty classroom. In a few minutes, she was once again dressed her best, having switched out of the tank top and shorts that served as her sleepwear. She packed up the clothes and sleeping bag before heading off to the locker room.
The school had provided each of the initiates with lockers of their own to store their things in until rooms became available to teams. Lotus dropped off her bag and then followed the general flow of other students on their way to the dining hall. A few signs here and there had been set up to guide new students.
'How could they not find it?' the dining hall itself was letting off a wide assortment of smells that wafted across the campus, pushed along by the light breeze that rolled over the plateau. Lotus was once more left wondering just how bad humans senses must be if the signs were at all necessary.
A long line of students wound its way out the front of the dining hall. Lotus joined the queue and peeked through the windows, but couldn't spot Ruby or the others from where she was. The building itself was too large for her sixth sense to cover all of it, either. She couldn't sense any familiar figures nearby, except…
"This is ridiculous," the Schnee grouched, standing on tiptoe to try and peer over top the other students, "Why is this line taking so long?"
'Ignore her… ignore her…' Lotus chanted the two words over and over, trying to avoid even looking at the Schnee. She was already dressed in her outfit from the previous day, that damned snowflake emblazoned across her back, perfectly groomed white hair that fell past her shoulders as if she was attending a gala instead of a combat school... 'No, don't think about it. Ignore her… You're starting a new life. That brat means nothing to you anymore…'
Another familiar presence lit up in Lotus's sixth sense, a dim beacon of hope to get her out of the Schnee's presence. Her eyes darted to the side, already calling out when the pair came into view.
"Coco! Velvet!"
The pair paused on their way into the dining hall, heads swivelling to find the source of the voice. Velvet spotted Lotus first and pointed her out to Coco, both cracking a smile and heading over to her.
"What's up, kid?" Coco stopped in front of Lotus, arms crossed and hip cocked to the side. Her eyes scanned the line on either side of the faunus, "Why are you waiting with these losers? Come on." She waved for her to follow, leading her and Velvet as the rabbit faunus fell into place next to Lotus.
"How's it going, Olivia? It's been a while!" Velvet's ears were excitedly perked up and pointed in Lotus's direction.
"Never been better," Lotus smirked at the Schnee as they passed and nodded her head so that Velvet would pick up on her as well, "Watch out for that one. Nasty personality, but what can you expect from a Schnee? Common decency?" Lotus's tone made it clear exactly what she thought of that possibility.
The Schnee girl's face grew heated and she began to stammer out a response, but the trio disappeared through the doors before Lotus could catch a word of her retort. Velvet glanced back a couple times, but didn't remark on her presence.
Coco smiled over her shoulder and pointed out how the lines had been divided, one for newcomers and another for returning students. The line for older students was significantly shorter, "You're kind of small even for a first year, but they won't mind as long as you're with us."
"Oh? Did I make it into the cool kid's club already?"
"Damn straight!" Coco pulled her sunglasses down to wink at Lotus, "You're lucky Velvet has a thing for shorter girls."
Velvet's cheeks turned bright red and she threw up her hands to hide her face, "That isn't why at all, Coco," the rabbit faunus pulled her hands away enough to peek at Lotus, "Don't listen to her. She's obsessed with fashion and wanted to dress you up."
"Speaking of which," Coco spared an admiring look up and down Lotus before pushing her sunglasses back up, "Nice look, kid. Who'd you go to for that outfit?"
"Madam's Matchmaking," Lotus pointed out the band on her left arm, "Her semblance lets her change the color on any piece of clothing," Lotus snapped her fingers, "Like that."
"Tell me more~"
Lotus gave Coco the rundown on how to get to the shop, as well as she could remember it, anyway. There had been a lot of twists and turns in order to get there. Lotus was only mildly surprised that Coco had never been there herself.
"She's specializes in combat outfits," Lotus eyed the buffet as she spoke and set her sights on a simple salad, 'Better not have anything heavy before initiation…' She grabbed up a water bottle as well once they reached the end of the line and turned to face the collection of tables.
Orange hair bobbed up and down as Nora waved to her. Lotus gave a smile to Coco and Velvet, "We'll have to catch up more after I pass Initiation."
Coco spotted Nora waving as well and smiled, "Catch ya on the flipside, kid."
"Good luck, Olivia!" Velvet called out as she walked away.
Lotus flashed the pair a smile and left to join up with the two Mistralians. A quick scan through the line showed her that both Yang and Ruby were almost through as well. Lotus took a little pleasure in seeing that the Schnee had only just made it inside, and still had a couple dozen people ahead of her before she'd even reach the trays.
"Good morning," Ren said nonchalantly as Lotus sat down on the bench across from them. His hand slowly sawed back and forth, slicing down through a thick stack of pancakes on his plate.
"You made it!" Nora cheered, inhaling half a pancake in less than a second. Her own plate was stacked twice as high as Ren's, with a hefty amount of syrup poured over top. Lotus didn't even bother questioning it. She'd more than become used to Nora's eating habits over the last few weeks. The girl could put away more than most and didn't gain a pound because of it.
Lotus slowly picked away at her salad, "Why wouldn't I have made it?"
"Well, we were looking for you last night but didn't see you!"
"Oh," Lotus shook her head, "I wouldn't have been able to sleep in that room. Too many people. My sixth sense would have been going haywire every time someone moved in their sleep or got up to go to the bathroom."
"Are you going to be alright in a room with three teammates?" Ren asked with concern, pausing in his motions to give Lotus a worried glance.
"If it's the two of you and Ruby? I'll be fine," Lotus confirmed with a nod, "As long as I trust whoever it is then there's no problem."
"Awww," Nora shoved another pancake in her mouth and spoke between bites, "We trust you too!"
Lotus wasn't able to put it into words, but that single admission gave her a warm feeling in her chest… 'It's been a long time since I've felt like this…' What was it? Hope? 'No…' Lotus couldn't quite put a name to it.
Lotus felt the presence of both Yang and Ruby approaching before they each set their trays down on either side of her. Ruby gave her a nervous smile and munched down on her pizza. Yang gave a loud and melodical "Helloooo~".
"You ready, Yang?" Lotus asked.
"Bet your ass I am!" Yang gave her a determined smile, "Those Grimm won't know what hit 'em!"
"I like your energy," Lotus swallowed a bite of her salad, "Just don't get left behind because you're too busy punching beowolves."
"What do you mean, 'Get left behind'?" Yang leaned closer, eyes suddenly intense, "I knew Qrow told you something. Spill it!"
'What's the harm?' Lotus leaned in as well, though she doubted anyone from the nearby tables would be able to hear them anyway, "We're going to get launched into the Emerald Forest and have to find some chess pieces at some old ruins," Lotus held her hands up, "That's all I know for sure."
"Chess pieces… at some old ruins…" Yang's arms were crossed while she tapped her fork against her chin, "Best to get as much air time as possible then, eh?"
Lotus laughed, "What? Going to try and fly the whole way there?"
"Hey, I can get some distance with the recoil on my gauntlets. Throw in some gravity dust…" Yang nodded to herself.
"You aren't going to beat Ruby and me," Lotus grinned, "You're welcome to try, though."
A fire seemed to light in Yang's eyes, "Oh hoh?" her eyes darted past Lotus to Ruby, "My little sis is certainly fast. Sure you can keep up?"
Lotus laughed, "You just worry about yourself, Xiao Long. How embarrassing would it be if Ruby passed initiation two years early and her older sister failed?"
Yang's eyes narrowed, "Isn't gonna happen."
"We'll see. Meet you at the finish line~" Lotus teased.
"You'll be fine, Yang," Ruby chipped in from the other side, lifting her eyes from her tray to give Lotus a disapproving glower, "Don't let Olivia get to you."
Lotus raised her hands defensively, "I'm only making it a little more fun, Ruby," she turned and slapped a hand on Yang's back, "You'll do fine. Honestly, there's hardly anyone here that compares to us."
"Really? Who else is there?" Yang's eyes roamed around the mildly crowded dining hall.
"As much as it pains me to say it," Lotus nodded her chin off towards the girl in white, "That Schnee has a decent aura reserve. More than Ruby or Ren, less than you or Nora," Lotus shivered and made a gagging sound after the compliment, "Ugh, that just felt wrong to say."
"Anyone else?" Yang spared the Schnee a curious glance, but otherwise ignored her.
Lotus searched with her sense and pointed out a girl with long red hair a few tables away. She sat by herself on the bench, "The red head is strong," Lotus felt like she knew her from somewhere but couldn't place it, "Aside from that…" the cat faunus was nowhere to be seen, and Lotus wouldn't have singled her out anyway, "I... think that's it for new students."
"Wow, now that you put it that way…" Yang shrugged and picked up her tray, "Guess I'll get in some early introductions."
"As long as you aren't going to get buddy buddy with the Schnee…"
"Pfft, of course not," Yang shook her head and walked around the edge of the table, headed for the red head that had been sitting alone.
Ruby tapped Lotus's arm to grab her attention and leaned over to whisper, "You don't recognize her!?"
Lotus frowned, "Who?" and followed Ruby's pointed stare, "The red head? What about her?"
"That's Pyrrha Nikos!" Ruby whispered fiercely.
Lotus raised herself up to look over Ren's shoulder and get a better look, but now that Ruby mentioned it… "Huh, she looks so different without the gold and leather."
"How could you not recognize her?"
"I know more than one person with red hair...?"
"Still…" Ruby seemed lost for words, devolving into hand gestures and stuttering.
Lotus placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair, "Is she your idol or something? Go say hi, maybe you can get an autograph."
Ruby withdrew into herself, "M-Me? No way!" her index fingers poked against each other, "I don't want to disturb her…"
"I think Yang beat you to that," Lotus commented, watching the blond brawler seeming to get along well enough with the Mistralian champion, 'I wonder if Yang recognized her too, or if just Ruby did.'
With another glance around the room, though, Lotus could see that a lot of other eyes were directed in Pyrrha and Yang's direction. Most seemed too nervous to introduce themselves, either. One other person aside from Yang appeared not to notice the slight tension surrounding the Mistralian champion, as Lotus watched the Schnee marched past their table and head for the bench to sit next to Pyrrha.
Some quick words were exchanged, but it seemed as though neither were particularly comfortable with the Schnee's presence. Yang picked her tray back up and excused herself, heading back over to the table with the others.
"Wow, did you guys know that was Pyrrha Nikos!?"
Ruby nodded while the other three shrugged.
"Pay per view isn't exactly tempting when you're a poor orphan, Yang," Lotus added in, noticing her visible confusion.
"Yeah, but that's Pyrrha. Freaking. Nikos! That's like not knowing who Spruce Willis is!"
The three Mistralian's exchanged glances, "Who?"
Yang's mouth dropped open in shock, and Ruby put a hand against her face, "Uh-oh. Shouldn't have said that."
Yang took a deep breath and opened her mouth, ready to launch into a tirade about whoever Spruce Willis was before she was cut off.
The speakers let out the sound of chimes, "Would all first years please head to the locker rooms to prepare. Initiation will begin in fifteen minutes." Lotus recognized it as the voice of the blond from the previous day.
"Wow, that's too bad Yang. Guess you'll have to tell me all about Spruce Willis some other time," Lotus feigned a pout and snagged a last large bite of her salad before standing up, "Really, it's a pity."
"Yup, gotta get ready!" Nora and Ren both stood up as well, grabbing their trays to dump on their way out. Nora snagged one last pancake to eat on the way.
"I'll let you borrow all his movies!" Yang shouted after them, staying behind with Ruby to finish up her food quickly.
"What have we done?" Lotus whispered in mock horror.
Nora laughed, "It probably isn't that bad. Maybe we'll enjoy it!"
"He must be an actor of some sort," Ren stated flatly, "Judging by my few interactions with Yang, I'd guess she's into action films."
"Ugh, the worst ones," Lotus sighed.
"Whaaaat? I love a good action flick!"
'You wouldn't say that if you lived it. There are a lot less dramatic speeches in real life. Not to mention they usually end with the 'bad guy' getting killed, and if I'm being honest, I don't think I've really fit the 'hero' type up until now,' Lotus had no doubt that she'd be the antagonist if anyone made a movie about her life, "Some boozed up private investigator like Qrow would be the one to eventually catch me. I'd die in the final act, plans thwarted while some inspirational music played in the background...'
Lotus could feel both the Schnee and Pyrrha around twenty feet behind them, both on their way to the locker rooms as well. A quick glance back showed that the champion seemed to be tolerating the other girl's presence. Lotus ignored them for now and led the other two into the locker rooms, splitting off from both of them to return to her own locker.
Oath sat nestled inside, edge gleaming and ready for use. Lotus had spent a part of the previous day with Ruby, making sure that her weapon was entirely ready for today. Aside from the day they'd built it, Oath had never looked cleaner or sharper. 'I should do something nice for Qrow… I couldn't have asked for a better weapon.' Lotus slipped on her gloves as well, each infused with purple gravity dust that formed lines along their exterior.
It seemed as if both the Schnee's and Pyrrha's lockers were nearby, only a single row away. Lotus paused while getting ready to listen in on the conversation.
"So, Pyrrha. Have you given any thought on who's team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual such as yourself."
'Ugh, sucking up to the champion, huh?' Lotus could feel Pyrrha's desire to escape the conversation. The way her feet were angled, the way her head was always slightly off to the side, as if ready to leave at any moment. Clear signs that she was done with the Schnee's attempts. 'Might as well help her out.' Lotus wouldn't hesitate to admit that any excuse to harass the Schnee was an excuse she'd happily use.
"The weak ones, maybe," Lotus stepped out around the corner and leaned up against the end of the lockers, eyes on her fellow Mistralian, "I'd steer clear of any team with a Schnee on it. She's probably out to hire you for an exclusive ad campaign. 'Faunus slavery, approved by Pyrrha Nikos!' I'm sure your agents would love that bit of marketing," Lotus shrugged, "Bet it pays good, though. They have more than enough money to throw around."
The Schnee glared at Lotus, "My name is Weiss, not 'Schnee', and I am not trying to get Pyrrha to do an ad campaign!" Pyrrha backed up from between the two, awkwardly glancing back and forth.
"Could have fooled me, Princess," Lotus clipped Oath to her back in its compact form, "Why else wouldn't you just stay in Atlas with the rest of the racists where you belong?"
"I- How dare you!?" Weiss's hand trembled on the hilt of her rapier, muscles quivering as she glared at Lotus.
Lotus tilted her head to the side, eyes challenging, "Aaaaah, I get it now! Watching slaves getting beaten to death in the mines wasn't good enough for you," Lotus pointedly glanced down at the rapier and smirked, "You wanted to be able to kill them yourself."
"That's… I would… No, I would never-!" Weiss blinked back tears and turned on her heel, quickly marching off with her head down and shoulders shaking.
A brief silence passed between the two girls left standing there before Lotus breathed out a sigh of relief, "Whoo, you dodged a bullet there, Pyrrha."
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at Lotus, "That was entirely uncalled for."
"Was it?" Lotus shrugged, "Tell that to all the faunus with SDC brands burnt into their skin. I'm sure they'd be empathetic for a Schnee who got her poor little feelings hurt."
"I doubt Weiss is responsible for any of that."
"Give it a few years," Lotus watched the princess disappear around the corner and out of the locker room, "She'll be stacking her body count soon enough."
"You don't know anything about her," Pyrrha glared, "You can't just assume something like that about another person."
"Why not?" Lotus remained relaxed despite the tension in the air, "You humans do it all the time. I guess it was too much to ask for a pampered Mistralian to understand, though." Lotus shook her head, "I was hoping for better out of you, Nikos."
Pyrrha flinched back at the words, "I am not a racist."
Lotus sighed and turned back to her locker, "Any friend of a Schnee's is an enemy of the faunus, Pyrrha. That's just how things are."
Lotus could feel the Mistralian champion leaving, back straight and head held high. She shook her head, 'Two that I'll need to avoid…' Lotus hadn't been able to stop herself. The Schnee's voice alone grated on her nerves, and to hear her sucking up to Nikos? Watching the princess leave had been the most satisfying part of Lotus's morning so far.
Yang and Ruby entered the locker room and ran to their lockers, each snatching out their weapons. Ruby did a quick inspection of Crescent Rose while Yang slipped the condensed Ember Celicas over her wrists. They each stopped what they were doing as the voice once again rang out over the speaker.
"Would all first years please report to the Beacon cliffs for Initiation."
"You ready?" Lotus asked the pair, doing one last thorough check of her own attire.
"Ready to kick your butts," Yang confirmed with a thumbs up and a smirk.
"Well, you're zero and two for our fights. Maybe you can run away faster?" Lotus laughed to show she was joking, "Just don't get caught by a King Taijitu or anything."
"The Grimm would be lucky to get a piece of me," Yang offered a fistbump which Lotus took before the blond turned to her younger sister, "How about you, Rubes?"
"I'm nervous…" Ruby idly ran a finger down the length of Crescent Rose's blade, her aura sparking lightly, "You're sure we can do this?" Her question was directed at Lotus specifically.
"No problem," Lotus gave her a confident smile, "Follow my lead and everything should be fine."
Ruby nodded, some of her anxiety ebbing away, "Shall we?"
The three were joined up with by Nora and Ren as their small group headed out to the Beacon cliffs. A sparse forest that ran along that edge of the plateau blocked line of sight to the edge itself, but the path was clearly marked. The tree line opened up to reveal a line of students, around thirty in all so far with more to come, spread out across the edge of the plateau.
The group of five joined them, noticing that everyone was standing on their own individual platforms of sorts, 'Launch pads?', and were patiently waiting for everyone else to arrive. Lotus took up the last pad on the far right, with Ruby on her left, then Yang, Ren, and Nora closer to the center. The tall ginger racist and his friend that had been with him at the cafe were both further down. His eyes scanned those gathered until he spotted Lotus and grinned darkly, tapping his friend to point her out.
'Good luck keeping up, human,' Lotus mentally sneered and turned away, fine with ignoring what amounted to nothing more than a nuisance.
Pyrrha and Weiss both joined the line at different times, a fact that gave Lotus at least a small amount of hope for the champion, 'Pretend to have the moral high ground all you want. I could tell you didn't want to be on the same team as the Schnee either.'
The last of the students finally stood in line, nearly forty in all. Ozpin and the older blond woman both stood at the edge of the cliff in front of them. Ozpin's eyes scanned across them all and he nodded, taking a final sip of coffee from his Beacon branded mug.
"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
The blond spoke up once Ozpin had finished, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors of the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today."
Ozpin started once again, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
There was some muttering among the students that Ozpin waited for, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the Northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your Initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
No one replied.
"Good! Now, take your positions."
Everyone got ready, many lowering their center of gravity closer to the platform itself to try and remain in control after the launch. Lotus heard the platform furthest away snap outward with a loud metallic clang, launching its occupant high above the trees. The pads went down the line, drawing closer and closer to Lotus's own.
"Looks like you'll have a little advantage, Yang," Lotus smiled and raised her hands in a 'what can you do' motion, "Guess there won't be any excuses when we still beat you there."
"Ha! Good luck with that," Yang pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, "At least I came prepared."
"See you at the ruins!" Nora cheered as she was fired off, Ren simply nodded as he followed suit. Yang blasted off with her gauntlets at the exact moment the pad launched her, flying off with quite a bit more force than any of the other students. Ruby gave a weak smile and was shot off the cliff as well.
Lotus braced herself, shrouding her limbs with her semblance and gave a confident smirk to the headmaster, who nodded in return. Lotus lowered down, her weight and center of gravity centralized to the finest point she could make it…
The launch pad grinded, it's gears protesting as it failed to move.
"What the hell?" Lotus looked down at it, but the cause for the malfunction wasn't clearly visible. It looked to be the same as any of the other pads that had already sent students into the trees.
Ozpin's face frowned in confusion, "I'm sorry Miss Mandevilla, something appears to be wrong with your pad…" he stepped forward to look more closely along its edge and tapped along the side with his cane. The inner workings continued to grind, "If you would like, we could reset one of the other pads. It should only take a couple minutes-"
Lotus didn't bother to listen any more. She was losing ground, fast. With a few quickened strides, the faunus hurled herself off the edge of the cliff, semblance kicking into overdrive to give her the maximum distance she could manage. It still wasn't nearly as far as the other students had been flung by the launch pads, but it was better than waiting any longer.
Lotus unfurled the two appendages from her arms and used them to grab a tree as she passed, changing her downward momentum into a horizontal one. The limbs returned to their shroud form as she rolled across the ground and up into a sprint, already making a beeline for the last place she'd seen Ruby. There was a lot of ground to cover.
Trees and large boulders blurred past as Lotus ran through the forest. Her sixth sense scanned her surroundings constantly, heightened to an extreme level.
That focus was what allowed her to dodge the first shots that rang out in her direction, her body contorting midair to narrowly avoid the bullets that whizzed past.
Lotus skidded to a stop, eyes narrowed at the two boys that walked out from behind the tree, laughing.
"Nice shot, Dove. You almost had her," the ginger hefted a large war mace with a fire dust crystal embedded in the center of it, "Too bad she didn't wait any longer. We could have set up a proper ambush."
Lotus sneered, "I don't have time for you. Get out of my way before you get hurt."
"Oh?" the ginger scoffed, "But Dove went through all that trouble using his semblance on your launch pad. We wanted to get you all alone, and now we do. No friends to back you up…"
Lotus could feel another familiar presence, circling back around the two boys at the edge of her sixth sense. She raised her hands, palms up, "The two of you don't stand a chance. I'd suggest you walk away and try to go after the relics like good little boys."
"We'll get the relics," the ginger spat on the ground between them, "After we're done with you." He brought his mace up and charged while Dove raised his weapon and fired. Lotus watched as, the instant the larger boy had his back turned, a bladed black pistol attached to a ribbon flashed out of the foliage behind Dove and wrapped around his arm. The shot meant for Lotus was fired into the ginger's back instead, flaring his aura and distracting him right before his swing.
Lotus stepped into his guard and caught the mace by the haft, whispering, "You should learn your place," her fist slammed into his chest with the force of all four appendages. The steel armor itself dented inward, caving in against his chest. The boy's aura shattered instantly as he dropped to his knees, clutching at the piece of armor that had sunk an inch or two into his ribcage.
Lotus heard several of his bones snap under the pressure.
Blake charged out of the forest, yanking back on her weapon as she did so to pull Dove off balance. Her foot collided with the side of his head and he was sent flying across the forest floor. Blake whipped her weapon free and caught it by the handle grip, pointing it in pistol form towards the downed Dove.
Lotus watched her bow twitch in confusion as she turned to look at the ginger. The large boy was still clutching at his chest, and Lotus could hear his breath rasping, each inhale weak as he struggled to draw in air.
'Murder won't look very good, even if it was self-defense,' Lotus bent down and reached a hand beneath the boy's chest piece. With one quick pull, she ripped off the front plate. The boy immediately inhaled deeply, then began to cough in pain, rolling on to his side. Lotus could smell a little stomach bile mixed in.
"Thanks for the assist…" Lotus gave a wary smile to the other faunus, "You didn't happen to see the girl in a red hood around, did you?"
Blake pointed towards where Lotus had been headed, "I saw her land that way," she glanced over the other students, "What are we going to do about them?"
Lotus waved her hand dismissively, "Ozpin was lying about the teachers not intervening. With how many weaklings there were on that cliff, a lot of them would have to die each year without supervision," she kicked the ginger in the ribs, eliciting a pained grunt, "They'll pick them up soon enough."
"You're sure?"
"No doubt," Lotus confirmed, turning away to face the direction of Ruby, "I need to hurry… you can tag along if you want until we find another person, but I did make a promise…"
Blake raised her hand, "I understand, Olivia. Lead the way."
Lotus nodded and set off once again, slowing her pace enough so that Blake could keep up. It was unfortunate that she needed to, but after her help with those two fools, Lotus wasn't about to ditch her fellow faunus.
As they drew closer, the sound of multiple shots rang out, echoing through the trees. Lotus recognized the heavy thud of Crescent Rose's massive rounds being fired and glanced back at Blake.
"Where is that?"
Blake slowed and focused on her hearing, listening in to each shot. Her ears twitched atop her head, disturbing the bow. Her amber eyes opened, focusing a bit off to their right, "That way."
Lotus burst into a sprint, willing to leave Blake behind for the moment with the sounds so close. After another thirty seconds of running, the tree line broke open into a wide clearing. Oath appeared in her hands by reflex as Lotus aimed it at the back of one of the dozen beowolves. Her shotgun boomed out, ripping a hole through one of their chests. Those nearest whipped around, snarling at the new intruder that had stumbled upon them.
Lotus ignited the blade with lightning dust and let it fully extend, now three full feet of electrified blade. She dashed forward and attacked the grimm, a flurry of slashes and cuts that tore them to shreds as easily as a hot knife through butter. In only a handful of moments, the grimm lay in pieces on the ground.
A cloud of black grimm's dust hung in the air, as the last of the beowolves began to disintegrate. Lotus scanned the clearing and spotted Ruby, finishing up a fight of her own, and behind her…
'No…' Lotus rubbed a hand across her face in annoyance, 'The Schnee of all people!?' Lotus was dimly aware of Blake arriving, the pair of them still obscured by the thick black cloud.
"Looks like the heiress found her first," Blake remarked sadly, eyeing Lotus to see how she was taking it, "Do you want to try and get her to break the rules?"
Lotus watched Ruby for a few more seconds, then shook her head, "The Schnee would never do that. Not after what I said to her…" Lotus could see Ruby smiling at her new partner, both of them congratulating each other on their kills.
Lotus's heart ached as she turned away. She felt betrayed, even though it wasn't Ruby's fault. 'The first person you make eye contact with' was one of the most ridiculous ways to pair people up that Lotus had ever heard of. Lotus stepped back with Blake, out of the clearing and back behind the trees.
"... Let the humans partner up…" she gave Blake a weak smile, "You needed a teammate, right...?"
"Are you sure…?"
Lotus held out a hand, "... I wouldn't make another faunus take a Schnee for a partner..."
Blake took an extra second to consider, but accepted the handshake with a smile, "I think we'll get along just fine."
With only a brief moment to reorientate herself, Lotus nodded her head in the direction that the ruins should be in. The two set off at a brisk pace, leaving behind the pair of humans that were only then beginning to bicker…
"We've successfully recovered Winchester and Bronzewing," Oobleck's voice buzzed through the pad that Glynda held, announcing their success, "The damage they sustained doesn't appear to have been from a Grimm, though…"
"Well done, Barty. I'll fill you in on the details later. For now, get those two extracted and wait for further instructions."
"Sir," Oobleck's coms buzzed off, disconnecting for the time being.
Ozpin swirled his coffee and watched the display that currently tracked both the Black Lotus and Miss Belladonna, "Now that is an unforeseen turn of events."
"Professor?" Glynda frowned from nearby, watching another portion of the feed, "Are you going to do anything about the attack?"
"It was more like self-defense, Glynda," Ozpin sipped his coffee, 'And would have ended much worse for both those boys if not for Miss Belladonna's arrival.' Ozpin had no doubt that a frustrated Black Lotus wouldn't have hesitated to tear those two apart on any other day, 'It is not that simple to turn over a new leaf. At least she shows restraint when others are present.'
Still, an ex-assassin and an ex-White Fang member had ended up partnering together, of all things. Ozpin couldn't help but feel the threads of fate manipulating events to their own liking. 'If only you had been here, Amber…' with the Relic of Choice locked away, he could not manipulate events as he usually would each year. A simple suggestion in their minds of which piece to grab was all it would take to bring them together. Ozpin could have guaranteed that Miss Mandevilla end up on a team with her friends from Mistral and Miss Rose.
'Now? I can only hope that none of them beat her to grabbing the piece she needs…'
Yang blasted over the trees, firing off round after round of her gauntlets to propel herself further than any of the other initiates. The trees were rushing up to meet her, and with a quick succession of shots, she hit the ground in a roll.
"Whew!" Yang raised a hand to whip off her glasses, "I can go the distance!"
She pocketed the shades and squinted through the forest, 'Now, where was I supposed to go?' "Pretty sure it was that way."
Yang began her march through the forest, keeping an eye out for either the grimm or other first years, "Hello!?" she called out loudly, cupping her hands together, "Anybody there!?"
There was no response other than the rustling of wind through the leaves above her. Yang let out a 'hmph' and kept walking. She called out occasionally, and was continually met with silence for her efforts, 'Why did they have to shoot us out into such a big forest? This isn't even a challenge!' Yang was half tempted to rush off and try to get to the ruins first, but she didn't want to do that alone. The entire point was to find yourself a partner before you got there.
Yang stopped in the middle of a clearing. The grass reached up almost to her knees, and the area was surrounded on all sides by massive trees, "Helloooooooo!?" Yang called out once again.
The bushes nearby shifted, drawing Yang's attention towards that edge of the clearing, "Hello? Is someone there?" her voice was clipped and excited.
The pair of massive ursa growled in response, shuffling out of the tree line and into sight, large red eyes burning in Yang's direction. The blonde let out an exasperated sigh, "You didn't happen to see any other students around, did you?"
The larger of the two roared and stood up on its hind legs, its body covered in a multitude of dull grey bones. Pieces jutted up from its arms and back, resembling teeth that really didn't belong there.
"I'll take that as a no," Yang pumped her fists, loading the next shot in each of her gauntlets, "How about some ruins?"
The lead ursa charged across the gap between them, forcing Yang to dive out of the way to avoid it. Ursa were strong, but slow. Anyone dexterous enough like Yang could keep out of their grasp without too much effort, making their strength mute. Yang fired off a shot and watched it explode against the ursa's flank. It roared in pain and spun back around.
Yang fired off a few more shots and then turned back in time to roll away from its sudden charge. She switched targets, aiming for the other ursa while the first recovered, "I could do this all day!"
A red and gold spear flashed out of the trees and pierced deeply into the neck of the smaller ursa. It tried to growl in pain, but only gurgled as it slumped to the ground. Black ichor leaked from the wound, and the body itself slowly began to disintegrate.
Yang turned to see a familiar figure standing at the edge of the tree line and smiling at her, "Nice shot!" the blond cheered as she was forced to flip backwards to avoid the larger ursa.
Yang dashed back into range of the ursa and punched it in the chest, firing off her gauntlet at the same time. The grimm recoiled, knocked backwards by the force of her punch and the shotgun round blasting it in the same spot. She followed it up with another, and another. A quick succession of rounds pounded into the ursa's chest, until it finally crashed backwards through a tree, a smoking crater left where its chest had once been.
Pyrrha pulled her spear free from the ursa's throat and looked over the damage Yang had caused, still smiling, "A little on the extreme side, don't you think?"
"Whaaaaaat?" Yang looked over the smashed trees and scorched earth beneath her feet, "I think that was just right." She took the time to reload completely, having used the majority of her rounds since getting launched off the cliff, "So, I know this is sudden, but I'm sort of in a competition with a friend to see who can get to the ruins faster. You in?"
"How could I refuse a challenge like that?" Pyrrha chuckled, "Lead the way."
Weiss was beginning to think coming to Beacon had been a mistake. Here she was, out in the middle of the forest for Initiation, with a child that wouldn't stop complaining and just let her think for a second.
The heiress scanned the forest around them and sighed, "I should be that way."
"That's what you said the last five times!" the small child stomped behind her, arms crossed and a pout on her face.
"Yes, and now I've narrowed it down," Weiss tried to explain. She knew her voice was coming across as impatient. She couldn't help it, especially after how her morning had gone already, 'That faunus girl was so out of line! I would never do anything like that!', but it was the price of being a Schnee, after all. A price that she thought she could get away from, but apparently, there was no getting away, not for her.
"Oh, okay. Five more circles and we should be well on our way then, right?"
"Hey! I'm doing my best! I don't see you offering up any suggestions!"
"I said we should turn left back at that big rock!"
"I meant good suggestions! That would have led us right back to where we were before!"
"You mean like we are now anyway!?"
Weiss put a hand up, letting herself relax for a moment so that she could take the edge out of her voice, "Fighting won't get us anywhere, either. Let's put our heads together on this. What can we do?"
The child finally managed to listen to reason and paused with her mouth open. She closed it and slumped, "I don't know… My friend was supposed to meet up with me. She knew where the ruins were."
"Well, your friend isn't here right now. We have to figure this out. The ruins were supposed to be on the other side of the forest, right?" Weiss scanned the tree tops and pointed up towards a noticeably thicker branch that reached up past the foliage, "Can you climb that and get a look around? If you can see the cliffs we started at, then we should keep heading away from them."
"Pfft, can I climb a tree," the girl replied mockingly. She pulled her ridiculously massive scythe off her back and charged up the side of the tree in a burst of speed, then used the blade to wrap around a branch and launch herself even higher. In only a few seconds, she clung to the top of the branch that Weiss had pointed out.
'That wasn't half bad…'
Weiss cupped her hands together to shout up at the girl, "Do you see anything!?"
"Yeah!" she called down, then pointed mostly back the way they'd come from, "The cliffs are back that way!" she shuffled on the branch to look ahead, "We're not far off. We need to head a bit more to the right!"
"Okay! Come on down!" Weiss yelled finally, then turned to face the direction the girl had pointed out. There was the sound of a gun firing, and then the thud of the girl landing next to her.
The pair set off together, at times having to cut their way through the underbrush, but maintaining their path as well as they could. Weiss was partially distracted. Each time she opened her mouth to say something, her mind went to their previous conversations.
'She was expecting a friend and found me instead… Not that I mind so much, this girl wouldn't have been my first pick either, but at least she's better than getting that faunus as a partner. That would have been a nightmare,' Weiss's cheeks tinged slightly from her own internal monologue, 'Not because I'm racist! She was just cruel! Who says things like that to someone they don't even know!?'
And she'd embarrassed herself in front of Pyrrha Nikos by crying. No, that morning had not gone very well. Getting stuck with a child as a partner was the least of her worries. 'Still… I'll take this over attending a school in Atlas. Everyone would be more kind, but I'd never know if that was because they liked me… or my family's money.'
"So…" the girl awkwardly coughed to try and break the tension, "What's your weapon's name?"
'My…?' Weiss frowned at her but answered, "Myrtenaster. I suppose I'll ask what yours is called."
"Crescent Rose!" the girl hugged the scythe in its collapsed state, rocking her arms back and forth like she was holding a baby, "We're going to travel the world together, saving people and killing monsters!"
"I'll admit… you did well against the beowolves back there. Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon, though?" Weiss had been wondering, and now was as good a time as any to ask.
"The headmaster let me in two years early," the girl confided, giving a self-conscious shrug, "I beat up a bunch of bad guys and they caught it on camera…"
"So you're a vigilante?"
"I prefer superhero."
There were a few seconds pause in the conversation while the girl waited for Weiss to challenge her interpretation of events. Instead, she gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry you didn't meet up with your friend. Who was it?"
"Olivia," the girl seemed to skip a step when she said the name and shot an uncertain glance at Weiss, "She… doesn't like you."
"You mean that faunus girl!?" Weiss placed a hand against her face and closed her eyes, 'Of all people…'
"She isn't 'that faunus girl'. She's Olivia! O-li-vi-a."
"I didn't mean-," Weiss threw her hands up in exasperation, "I'm guessing she told you I was a racist."
"... I mean…" the girl nervously played with the frill on one of her sleeves, "Olivia said you were… I told her that she should give you a chance…" two wide, hopeful silver eyes turned to stare into Weiss's own, "I was right, wasn't I? You might be a bit bossy, but you don't seem like a terrible person…"
"I'm not," Weiss confirmed vehemently, "Also I'm not bossy."
"You're a little bossy."
Weiss sighed and shook her head, "I should have left you to the beowolves…" when the girl's face paled, Weiss waved her hands in front of herself, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
"Oh," the girl smiled, "You know, if you say jokes like that in front of Olivia she might actually like you."
"Why would I want her to like me?" Weiss asked, once again frowning at the girl.
"Well… Olivia and I are friends… and now you're my partner…"
"I see what you mean," Weiss crossed her arms, "Unfortunately, it isn't up to me whether or not we get along. I have done nothing wrong. She has insulted me on multiple occasions."
"Can you really blame her…?" the girl hesitantly glanced away and then back to Weiss with a bit more determination in her eye, "Olivia said the SDC uses faunus slaves for their labor."
"That's ridiculous. All of our workers are employees. They get paid for it," Weiss shook her head in exasperation, "It's no wonder she hated me on sight if she's that misinformed."
Weiss could tell the girl was uncomfortable with her answer, but refused to phrase it any differently, 'Honestly, who would believe something like that?' Weiss's tutors had been teaching her all about it since she was barely out of diapers. The SDC didn't use slaves, that would be illegal.
The pair ducked as the sound of rushing wings swooped overhead, the trees swaying in the sudden buffeting breeze stirred up by its forty foot wingspan. The girl whipped out her scythe and watched it pass. One beady red eye stared down through the trees at them before it's attention shifted ahead, in the direction they were going.
"Looks like it's going for the ruins. We should hurry," the girl stated, replacing her scythe to her back.
"You're right. It's massive. They'll need our help," Weiss sheathed Myrtenaster and began to run at a brisk pace. The girl kept up easily enough, seeming hardly affected as tree trunks and bushes blurred by.
The elder nevermore disappeared from sight with another loud screech.
Gunfire answered it in the distance.
"How about a cute little pony!?" Yang snagged the golden knight piece and raised it up for Pyrrha to see.
"That sounds splendid," Pyrrha giggled, looking at the rest of the pieces that remained, "It appears at least one team beat us here. Do you think it was your friend?"
Yang crossed her arms and laughed, "No, she would have stayed to gloat."
Pyrrha's next words were interrupted as an unholy screech erupted from the trees at the edge of the clearing. Both the girls were instantly on alert as the enormous nevermore soared into sight, it's gaze fixated on the two of them. They shared a glance before retreating behind one of the pillars.
They weren't an instant too soon, as the ground around them was scattered with thick black feathers, each quill thicker than their forearms. The feathers buried themselves into the ground with enough force to crack through the stone floor, sending streaks of broken stone out like a web from each point. One of the feathers pierced through the pillar between the two of them, its point extruding out a foot past their faces.
Yang fired off a half dozen shots at the nevermore's retreating form, trying to lead her shots well enough to hit it. The blasts that managed to hit didn't seem to have the slightest effect.
"Maybe this isn't the best place to take cover?" Yang suggested with a tentative laugh.
"We should get out of the clearing," Pyrrha agreed. The two of them tracked the nevermore, seeing it swoop in a long arc, preparing for its return trip.
"Best to go now, I think," Yang took the lead as the pair of them sprinted out from behind the pillar and towards the trees they'd come from. They managed to dive into cover before the next volley of feathers slammed into the ground behind them, burying even deeper in the soft earth and showering their backs in dirt.
They watched as the nevermore once again banked off, preparing for a return trip. Yang glanced at the devastation it had already caused, and the ruins that it now guarded, "If we run now, we'll be leaving it for someone else to deal with. We need to help everyone."
"Agreed. It's too dangerous for us to leave," Pyrrha nodded her head behind Yang, who turned to look at a pair of boys that were headed their direction, "Others are already arriving. Are you ready?"
Yang reloaded her gauntlets and stepped out of the clearing, "Let's do this!"
Lotus slowed as Blake held up her hand, both stopping to listen more closely. The cat faunus's ears twitched beneath her bow as Blake concentrated, eyes closed for the moment. They snapped open as she nodded with her chin in a direction ahead of them and slightly to the left.
"Gunshots," her ears twitched a few more times, "A lot of gunshots."
"That's around where the ruins are. We should hurry," Lotus broke off into a run, confident that her partner could keep up. Blake had been holding their pace for a good amount of time, and hadn't even broken a sweat yet. 'Damn it. Others beat us to it,' Lotus felt the hole in her chest deepen, 'Please still be there…'
They'd been stalled even longer by a herd of boarbatusks that had been on their heels. Despite their overall lack of strength, the boar grimm were more than capable of keeping up with the two faunus, and they'd been forced to deal with them. They'd lost even more time because of it, time that Lotus couldn't get back.
After another minute of running, Lotus could hear the shots for herself. One set sounded familiar enough, 'Yang', while there were quite a few others mixed in, "You weren't kidding. That is a lot."
"What do you think they're fighting?"
Lotus considered the question, "Something heavily armored or very mobile… Either that or an entire swarm of grimm came through."
"You think they'd leave a grimm that strong for us to fight in initiation?"
Lotus let out a short laugh, "I killed a deathstalker in these woods around a month ago," at Blake's shocked expression, she shrugged, "I had help."
The sounds of gunfire drew nearer. Lotus could now see flashes through the trees, dust rounds being fired up into the air as well as some fighting taking place on the ground level. A multitude of grimm had been drawn in by the fighting, beowolves, ursa, and boarbatusks were all in combat with the gathered students.
The shots aimed up were met with a loud shriek. Lotus watched as those that had been firing all ran back into cover before a flurry of black feathers pierced the ground where they'd been standing. Pyrrha and Yang numbered among them.
"Nevermore," Blake confirmed.
Lotus was too busy counting the amount of teams that had already arrived to pay any attention to the grimm, 'Six!? Six teams beat us here!? If I ever see those boys again...'
Lotus wouldn't hold herself responsible.
Three loud 'thump' sounds announced Nora's presence as her grenade launcher fired, exploding in the air and offering some cover for another group of two that ran back across from the ruins. Ren was there right beside her, using his semblance to hide the two of them while Nora was out in the open.
"Ren!" Lotus called out as she arrived, pushing past a couple others to stand at the edge of the tree line and peek out. The nevermore had been knocked off course by the grenades and was now circling away, preparing for another attempt.
"Olivia!" Ren's face was washed with relief, "What took so long?"
"My launch pad was sabotaged and we ran into trouble on the way," Lotus replied flatly, not wanting to show too much of the burning hatred she felt, "Did you cross yet?"
Ren nodded, "It was too hectic to double check, but… I didn't see the matching piece. Someone already has it. We've only been here a couple minutes, but other teams have already gotten across to take their own."
'Damn it!' Lotus's fingernails dug into the aura on her palm. She looked across the clearing to the ruins. The ground between was littered with dozens upon dozens of thick black feathers that had pierced into the ground every which way. She turned back to look at Blake, "I hope you're agile."
Blake scoffed, stretching her legs, "That's one way to put it."
Lotus peeked out from behind the tree line. The nevermore had banked off to its left, and was slowly making its way back for a return trip. She gave Nora a quick smirk, "Do you mind?"
"My pleasure!" Nora dipped out of the trees, Ren in tow, and fired off another volley of grenades. They all exploded midair, creating a thick cloud of pink mist that blocked sight to the ground below.
Lotus charged out of the woods, headed for the ruins with Blake right behind her. The nevermore shrieked in frustration from above, soaring past. The wind generated from its wings whipped through the pink cloud, dispersing it enough for a pair of beady red eyes to lock in on them. It wheeled off, quickly preparing for its next strafe.
Lotus and Blake ran between the feathers that already marred the ground, keeping pace with each other and an eye on the nevermore. With only a couple dozen feet left to go, the two dove into cover. Lotus's eyes darted to the chess pieces that remained, confirming for herself that the match to Ren and Nora's was indeed missing. Her heart dropped out of her chest entirely.
'I was too late…' First the two boys had chosen initiation of all times to get their vendetta, then Ruby had made friends with the Schnee, and now this? Her anger boiled into a cold fury, 'Why!? This should have been easy!' The nevermore screeched once more, drawing her ire.
"Choose whatever you want, Blake," Lotus could tell her voice had fallen into a monotone, stripped of emotion along with what hope she'd had left, "I'll take care of the nevermore."
Blake paused in the middle of grabbing one of the pieces, "Wait, what? You can't take that thing on alone! That's crazy!"
"Is it?" Lotus used the feathers that had stuck into the stone ruins to pull herself to the top, now standing in the open, forty feet above ground level, "I'd just call it 'letting loose'..."
The nevermore's red eyes glowed as they locked on to Lotus, both wings adjusting their arc to instead prepare to swoop down on the exposed faunus. Lotus drew Oath from her back and set it to its sickle form, igniting the lightning dust along its edge as she did. There were frantic shouts from both Blake below, and Ren and Nora from across the clearing. Lotus ignored them and focused instead on her prey.
It had been long, too long, since she'd put her all into killing something.
The nevermore approached, hurtling towards Lotus in a partial dive. 'Sixty feet… forty feet… twenty,' she drew Oath back in her arm, and with the strength of all four appendages, hurled her weapon end over end in the grimm's direction. Already so close and incapable of avoiding the weapon streaking towards it, Oath buried itself into the nevermore's chest, curved blade biting all the way down to the hilt.
A scream of pain washed over Lotus as the nevermore blew past, its body and muscles seizing up from the lightning coursing through its veins. It careened off to the side and slammed into the ground, beak and talons leaving deep furrows through the soft earth. It thrashed there for a few more moments, body straining to get itself upright and into the air. Its struggles weakened, each attempt appearing less likely than the last, until finally, it collapsed on its side. There were a few more futile attempts, then silence. The surrounding black feathers began to turn into a black ash, signalling the nevermore's true demise.
Lotus activated the gravity dust in her glove and weapon, watching as it tore itself free in a shower of black ichor before spiralling end over end back to her hand. She caught it deftly, transforming it back to its full length blade and slashing it through the air to rid it of blood in one smooth motion. Lotus collapsed it and returned Oath to her lower back before dropping down off the ruins.
Blake hadn't yet moved, and was instead standing their aghast at what had just transpired. Lotus nodded her head back across the clearing, "Let's go. It's safe now." Her voice still lacked any emotion, but it was better than giving in to the anger she felt. She started to lead the way, hands at her sides, forced to remain loose instead of in fists.
Lotus could feel the slight hesitation in Blake's steps, the way her eyes furtively searched Lotus's figure, 'Did that scare her?', she shook her head, 'I would hope anyone might appreciate having a strong partner…' She decided to leave it alone for now.
"Holy crap, Olivia!" Nora exclaimed as they drew closer, "Nice shot!"
Her friend's exuberance did manage to cheer Lotus up a little, but it was immediately quenched as a reminder that they wouldn't be on the same team. Several of the other students there were looking at her with a mixture of awe and fear, while most others were still further into the tree line fighting smaller grimm and hadn't noticed.
Lotus waved it off, "I got lucky, that's all," she eyed the remaining students in the distance, noting that Pyrrha and Yang were among them, and that Ruby and Weiss had finally arrived. 'I can't deal with the Schnee right now…' Lotus raised her hands behind her head, trying to appear relaxed, and turned back to Blake, "Ready to head back?"
Blake nodded, eyes firmly set, "Let's get out of this forest."
Nora and Ren came with them as they travelled back at a more leisurely pace. Lotus interjected into their conversation here and there, making it clear to Blake that the two Mistralians were 'some of the good ones', but ultimately left it up to her whether or not she wanted to reveal herself as a faunus. Aside from that, she simply listened to them talk. Lotus couldn't help but get the feeling that Blake was lying about her past, 'Takes one to know one,' but left it alone for now.
With the Beacon cliffs back in sight, the four climbed back up along a winding trail to return to the top of the plateau.
'At least it can't get any worse…'
'If there is a god, they hate me…'
Lotus seethed beneath the surface, but outwardly tried to appear calm and composed. It was a difficult task, all things considered.
"Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Olivia Mandevilla, and Weiss Schnee. Your teams both reclaimed the black rook pieces, and will henceforth be known as Team Rainbow," Ozpin stood with his head held high, looking over the four girls in front of him, "I wish you all the best of luck."
The crowd cheered loudly, but those that knew Lotus were not among them. They looked on in concern as she refused to even glance at the heiress, 'Ruby and Blake… Ruby and Blake…' it was the only way to calm herself down.
'This is going to be a long four years…'
What is a story without tension? I couldn't let Olivia get what she wanted, that would have been too easy. Now she has a long road ahead. Will her disagreements with Weiss push her back towards her previous life, or will she come to accept the Schnee heiress?
I just want everyone to know that Ice Queen is bae. I don't enjoy writing the insults or bullying, but it fits Olivia's character. After her time with the White Fang, and having a mother figure that actually was branded, it would have been extremely OoC to have her 180 and be accepting of Weiss.
I'm going to try and update Black Lotus each Sunday. This chapter took longer to release since it was quite a lot to get through, and I didn't want to do a low effort chapter on something that was so important.
Thanks for reading,
- Sybaen