It wasn't a long wait at all before Blake received the notice that she'd have her combat exam at eight o' clock that night.
With some of her worries minimally assuaged, Blake made her way to the combat classroom to find that it was currently empty. Blake was more than thankful for that fact as her mind buzzed with thoughts about what was to come. She could feel the weight of Gambol Shroud on her back, and waiting meant that Blake was left in a position where she had nothing to think about other than the fact that she needed to be ready to fight.
There were several variables at hand, some which were much worse than others. For instance, Blake didn't know whether or not she was going to end up in a fight against another person or something else. It wasn't as though she'd never fought another person before, but Blake knew that the experiences of fighting a monster and fighting a person were just different.
Ultimately, Blake didn't know which opponent she wanted to face less.
In one fluid motion, Blake hopped down into the arena and landed on the balls of her feet with feline grace. This was going to be one of the most important days of her life, Blake was sure of it.
Because of that, Blake wasn't going to let herself be her downfall.
But she had her time alone before her opponent or any instructors arrived, and so Blake took the time to prepare herself for the battle ahead of her.
When she armed herself, Gambol Shroud sat heavy in Blake's hand, a constant reminder of how her the last few weeks of her life had gone, as well as the sins of her past. The last time that she'd really needed the weapon, she'd been doing nothing more than trying to protect herself against the threats of her old friends.
Friends no longer.
They were worse than monsters.
Blake repeated those words to herself several times over in a silent mantra until it at least felt like they were sinking in.
She took a deep breath in through her nose as she walked towards the center of the small arena that would be her battlefield. It wasn't anything like anything that she would have expected. She'd been expecting it to look something more like the arenas that she'd seen televised in the past. Blake had been expecting something flashy. Something like pillars of dust that could be broken off to aid in combat, or something like shifting landscapes. Blake had expected the grandiose, some sort of spectacle of technology-at least on the small scale.
But instead, this was just a vacant space with high walls at the edges so that nobody got out of the arena during a simulation fight. When Blake looked down into the ground it looked like thin grooves had been cut there, but she couldn't imagine any reason for them to exist.
It was nothing like what a battlefield looked like when she was out in the world. Nothing could match the arena of natural trees and empty roads, or half torn down campsites.
Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud, deciding to wield the sheath as a cleaver alongside the katana. Heavy in her hands, but comforting in a way. The last thing that she did before she prepared herself to do anything was make sure that she had the ribbon on the weapon wrapped around her arm in case she needed to take an aerial approach at any point.
It felt like ribbons were becoming all too common in her supplies these days.
Blake tried not to think about the one that covered her ears.
It wasn't one of the things that she needed to focus on. Not now.
Blake let out a quiet sigh and sank down into her fighting stance, just so that she'd be able to warm up. She didn't get the chance to do anything though, because the door to the room that she'd decided to occupy opened.
She almost jumped, standing upright and looking up at the door to see that Ozpin had come in, accompanied by a couple of other people that Blake hadn't seen before. There was Qrow Branwen, who she recognized, and a woman that walked with them that Blake had never seen before. Blake let out another sigh, this time knowing that she was coming off as irritated as she stood up straight and looked up at the three of them.
"Hey, kid." Qrow greeted her first, walking up to the edge of the balcony overlooking the arena and looking down at her her from where he was standing. "Doing alright?"
Blake didn't respond, just sheathed her weapon again so that she could truly prepare herself to fight.
Ozpin spoke up before Qrow could do anything else. "Blake," They greeted her, expression and tone even. "I see you found your way to the arena easily enough."
"I did." Blake confirmed, relaxing just slightly and dropping her arm away from the weapon. "Thank you for your invitation."
"Yes, well." Ozpin smiled slightly. "We needed to test your steel while we still had you. Blake, I must introduce you-" They gestured to the woman at their side, and she stepped forward to stare down at Blake. She had vibrant green eyes that Blake recognized quickly, but there was something about the woman's gaze that came off as being condescending. She didn't know what it was about this woman, but it was enough to leave Blake feeling a little uneasy.
"This is Glynda Goodwitch. She is the vice headmistress here at Beacon Academy and should you pass this exam, you'll find yourself attending classes with her." Glynda nodded calmly, confirming that Ozpin's introduction was correct. Ozpin nodded and moved on to Qrow. "And you of course have already met Qrow."
"I have." Blake answered with a slight nod. "Thank you for inviting me." She turned just slightly, to look at Qrow more directly. He smiled and shrugged in the most nonchalant manner possible.
"Qrow isn't actually a teacher here." Glynda spoke up, shooting the man an interesting look. "But he is an important figure around this academy because of the additional work that he offers."
"Yes, well." Ozpin spoke up, deciding that it was for the best if they cut off the conversation at hand. "We'll be waiting for your opponent to arrive, and then we'll be able to begin the exam."
Blake blinked, realizing what had just been put out for her to be aware of. It was apparent to her now that she was going to be facing a human opponent rather than some sort of simulation. The question after that was just who it was going to be that she ended up being pit against.
And after that, it was going to be a question of how quickly she was going to be able to parse out her opponent's fighting style so that she could take them down.
The door opened again, and all three of the adults in the room looked back over their shoulders to see who had just joined them.
Blake tried to stand up on the tips of her toes to get a better view, but she couldn't see all that much beyond the edge of the arena.
"Miss Schnee." Ozpin spoke calmly, and Blake almost instinctively felt her blood begin to boil over the name. She knew more than enough about why she shouldn't trust this woman any further than she could throw her.
Never trust a Schnee.
It was a phrase that Blake was sure she'd heard a hundred times over the course of her life. Blake personally knew people who relished in the possibility of being able to be the one to take down a Schnee at some point in their life. Among the White Fang, the Schnees were considered public enemy number one.
And that was terrifying, Blake realized, as the Schnee girl approached the edge of the arena.
Ozpin turned to look down at Blake. "Miss Belladonna, this is Weiss Schnee. Miss Schnee, Blake Belladonna. You'll both be taking your combat examinations today."
Blake blinked, her eyes locking with the white haired woman's eyes. They had to be the same age. She wracked her mind, hoping to think of anything that could potentially help her out in the fight against this girl.
Nothing came to mind other than the bragging of someone who'd claimed to kill a Schnee in the past, and even then, Blake seriously doubted that it was true. Nothing could conjure a grimm from nothing and make it stay. That was just an old wive's tale.
"Of course." Blake answered, keeping her voice calm as she stared up at her opponent. "Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine." Weiss replied, her eyes sliding shut as she slid down into a too-graceful curtsey. She stood up straight after a moment, hand sliding to the weapon at her side.
Weiss was nervous, Blake realized.
It was entirely possible that this heiress had never fought in a real battle over the course of her entire life.
If that was true, then Blake figured that she had an easy win being handed to her.
"Right." Blake deadpanned before looking back to Ozpin, Qrow, and Glynda. The three of them seemed to be talking quietly amongst themselves as they tried to think of terms for the fight. While that happened, Weiss made her way down into the arena with Blake.
It was the first good look that Blake really got to take of Weiss.
Weiss was thinner, smaller than her. Blake was willing to bet that any training that Weiss had received had been minimal. She was also willing to guess that killing and fighting people was something that the heiress had never considered.
If Blake was a good member of the White Fang, then she knew how this fight was supposed to end by those standards.
But she wasn't one of them anymore, Blake had to remind herself. This was just a spar more than it was anything else, regardless of what sorts of terms were put forward for her to pay attention to.
All that Blake knew was that she was determined to win.
A few minutes ticked by, until finally Weiss and Blake were no longer being left to their own devices. The first of the adults that spoke up was Ozpin, and every word that left their lips was commanding.
"We've determined the terms of your battle." Ozpin began, sounding entirely too calm as they stirred their coffee, almost like they weren't even in a combat room. "We determined that the best way to go about this is to use tournament rules. Meaning, you two are to battle until loss by ring out or loss by aura break occurs."
Weiss and Blake both nodded, a clear show that the both of them understood the terms clearly.
A slight quirk of a smile played at the corner of Ozpin's mouth, and it was almost enough to annoy Blake. She didn't dare comment on it.
"Now," Ozpin spoke again, keeping the attention of the two girls drawn as they made their ways over to the marked starting positions in the arena. "I must stress to both of you that this is not a simple battle. You two are both fighting for entrance into this academy, and as such you should consider this as a test of skills rather than as a simple fight to win." Ozpin paused and watched them both. "Also keep in mind that loss doesn't necessarily exclude you from entry into this academy."
Blake nodded, understanding. It was somewhat comforting, if only because it meant that the odds of the fight were being kept clear enough that she didn't have to worry so much. It seemed that all she was going to have to do was make sure to land a few clean hits and then she'd be getting off with her entry into the academy guaranteed.
Blake gazed across the arena to Weiss, who was arranging herself so that she stood in a fighting stance that couldn't have been more different from Blake's. The heiress stood with her head high and her right foot forward, but Blake did see her slide it back in an act of self-correction.
It was interesting, if nothing else. It told Blake to expect a by-the-book fight from Weiss.
Blake drew Gambol shroud once more. She decided to go into this with both parts of the weapon on hand, if only because it meant that the heiress would have fewer chances to land a strike. Perhaps it was cheap to do, but Blake didn't really care all that much. She was in this to win.
She sank down into her own fighting stance, pressing the balls of her feet down into the ground and tensing her legs so that she could leap at the first sign necessary.
There was an electronic beeping sound, telling her and Weiss both that the battle was about to begin, and the loud final beep set her into motion.
Blake pushed off of the ground quickly, eyes glued on her white-clad opponent as the other girl had to same sort of idea. When Weiss braced her weapon in front of her on the charge, Blake did the same with her own weapon, holding the cleaver sheath of Gambol Shroud to block.
The two met in the middle of the arena in a parry, and each skid past the other. Blake didn't let herself stop for a second, shifting the form of her sword into a kusarigama with the pull of a trigger. She threw the weapon, lodging it into a part of the arena and using the momentum so that she could continue towards Weiss without interruption and faster than she would have been on foot alone.
Weiss realized what Blake was doing quick enough. She crouched and waved her hands together by her feet, a glowing white glyph appearing that was enough for Weiss to push off of for a similar change in direction. It seemed like they were both trying to play a game of movement, at least for now.
For Blake, she was ready to misdirect Weiss at the first opportunity.
The two of them met again. Blake raised the sheath of gambol shroud in front of her to parry Weiss' strike once more before tugging on the ribbon of the kusarigama to bring it back her way. There was a gunshot, propelling the weapon faster than Blake necessarily wanted, but she could work with it. Speed was always an asset in some way.
She pulled it hard in her direction, rushing past Weiss and the ribbon catching the girl by the arm to tear her to the ground. Blake smiled, sure that she had the strike that she needed to land before her.
Weiss fell gracelessly. Blake caught her weapon. She shifted it back to a katana as quickly as she could manage before turning her grip so that she could direct a stab down at Weiss.
Before the hit could land, a turning black glyph appeared in front of Weiss to deliver a parry all her own. Blake grit her teeth in frustration, trying to free her weapon but finding herself unable to until Weiss was on her feet and her glyph had dissipated.
Blake hopped back out of the way before Weiss could get a chance to land a strike. No use in using her semblance just yet. Not when she was sure that Weiss had just begun to show the cards in her hand.
There was a moment where neither of the two girls moved forward, if only because they were both trying to size the other up. Blake dropped her weapons down to her sides in a manner that was almost nonchalant. She was sure that there was already a difference in skill level or at least direct experience already showing.
Weiss was good enough, Blake thought as her eyes focused on a space behind the girl's' head, but Weiss wasn't used to real fights.
It almost felt like a match where whoever made the first move was going to end up being the victor, Blake realized as she waited for Weiss to do something to move and fight.
Weiss raised her sword in front of her again, holding it out in front of her in preparing for something. Blake smirked, tightened her grip on her swords just slightly and waited.
Neither moved, not forward at least. Weiss shifted, dropping to one knee and plunging her sword into the ground. Blake watched as a glyph appeared, and more soon followed after, all in a straight line away from Weiss.
It was something that she had to avoid getting caught in, Blake realized. But at the same time, it might have been best for her to take the chance to bluff and get a solid hit in that way.
Blake thought fast, and finally settled on a decision. She didn't move from her spot, just moved so that it looked like she was bracing herself or preparing to do something that Weiss would hopefully misread. The fact that Blake was trying to bait how the other girl fighted was hopefully enough to work.
The glyph by her feet exploded into a sharp crystal of ice, and Blake activated her semblance, leaping out of the way of the hit while it struck her clone. She threw her weapon again, this time aiming to hit the spot on the wall behind Weiss.
Weiss didn't react fast enough. She was in the middle of the process of getting her weapon out of the ground when Blake pulled herself in the direction of the wall as fast as she could.
It worked. She raised her remaining weapon and held it out to the side as she sped past Weiss. The cleaver-like sheath of Gambol Shroud hit Weiss.
Blake hadn't been aiming too high on the girl's' body, but the strike landed on her shoulder. Weiss was knocked out of the way, and Blake landed, holding herself up mostly by the ribbon of her weapon and standing on the wall for the most part.
All of her weight balanced on her leg, and she watched as Weiss regrouped, aura visibly flickering.
Good, Blake thought to herself. She was winning and that was all that mattered.
It felt a little bit like Blake had ended up in a grudge match of sorts with someone who had no idea that there was any issue between the two of them. But of course Weiss didn't know, Blake had to remind herself as she tried to prepare her next strategy. Why would she?
After all, nobody here knew who the real Blake Belladonna was. That was one of the things that were keeping her safe.
Weiss was getting frustratedthough, Blake realized. The girl's face contorted into a look of anger and she moved into a charge, sliding along a long line of glyphs as though she was skating at Blake at high speed with her weapon outstretched.
Blake wrenched her weapon out of the wall and pushed against it to leap behind Weiss before she could make contact.
Weiss shifted her weight, turning and sliding to a stop as she faced in Blake's direction. The two of them both began to walk towards each other as though some sort of unspoken truce of sorts had been made.
Less mobility, Blake told herself now. Now this was a matter of just making a winner out of herself in close combat.
Weiss flicked her weapon at the side, and Blake watched as the dust chambers in it rotated in search of a new advantage.
Something to worry about, Blake supposed.
In theory, it was something that she could turn against Weiss if it became necessary.
But the two met in the center of the arena in relatively close quarters. The two of them had actually decided to stop at the center of the ring at their original start positions.
It was a chance for the two of them to treat it as a new fight beginning.
The fact that Blake hadn't yet taken a hard enough hit to matter wasn't something that she considered.
"You're strong." Weiss commented, holding her head up high.
"Yeah." Blake answered, holding her swords tight and sliding a foot forward so that she could move. "You're not so bad yourself."
Weiss smiled slightly and she stepped in, lunging at Blake with her blade.
Blake knew that her eyes widened slightly at that. She brought up the sheath of Gambol Shroud, holding it in front of herself so that she could at the very least make an attempt to block the hit, or at least misdirect it.
It wasn't enough. Weiss' strike went off center from where she'd been meaning to hit, and Blake had to grit her teeth as it attempted to cut through her aura and into her side.
Blake knew that she let out a sound that she knew resembled a snarl. The black haired girl had to twist herself so that she could retaliate against Weiss properly. The first hit against Weiss came from the sheath of Gambol Shroud, hitting the girl on the stomach with most of Blake's strength and making her aura crackle white dangerously.
Blake almost span as she brought around her second sword, cutting upwards in Weiss' direction with the katana.
The hit landed much higher than it should have, and Blake heard the sound of Weiss' aura breaking properly. It was like glass, almost.
Blake breathed hard, realizing then what she'd done.
The quick look at Weiss' face was all that she needed to confirm to Blake that things had just gone much poorer than they could have. This was not just bad, this was very, very bad.
Red welled up against the pearly white skin of Weiss' face, just above her right eye, and continuing below it.
It seemed like she'd just grazed the girl, but with a sharp weapon and Weiss' aura freshly broken, it didn't matter.
Blake almost felt guilty for it.
If she was a good member of the White Fang, she would have gone ahead and done something to try and finish the job. All it would have taken was an attempt to bring down the cleaver again and end it.
But instead, Blake dropped her weapons down to her side and relaxed slightly, hearing the sound of a buzzer going off.
She'd won.
Weiss Schnee would carry the mark of her failure for the rest of her life, Blake figured.
The adults on the balcony all moved to action, making their ways down to the arena to meet with Weiss and Blake personally and check for any sign that the injury was more serious than it looked.
Based on the way that Weiss was staring Blake down, Blake figured Weiss still had her vision.
But the heiress was dumbfounded.
The blank expression on her face was all that Blake needed to be able to figure that out.
"That's enough." Glynda nearly shouted, giving Blake a look that was probably meant to be enough to scare her off. Blake said nothing, just took a half-step back and watched as someone swept in the help Weiss up and begin checking that the girl still had her vision.
Blake waited, since she wasn't sure whether or not there was going to be anything else said to her. The situation was difficult, but Blake had won a victory. If anything, she could fall back on the truth which was that Weiss' aura had broken mid-hit.
Nobody had said anything about a need to hold back beyond tournament rules, and so Blake hadn't.
Ozpin looked between the two girls, humming quietly and continuing to drink from their coffee. They paused and looked over to Qrow, who was quick to make his way over to Ozpin's side so that a few words could get mumbled into his ear. Qrow nodded along with every word, until finally he decided that he wanted to go.
He walked over to Blake and gave her a gentle nudge of the elbow.
Blake didn't respond, just took a half-step away and finally took the chance to sheath her weapon again. She ignored the red that dripped down its tip. It wasn't the first time that she'd seen that sort of thing on Gambol Shroud, Blake reminded herself. This was an accident.
Finally, Ozpin spoke. "You both performed very well," They announced, nonchalantly and all too cavalierly. For a second, there was something about it that Blake felt was almost unnerving but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. Maybe it was the knowledge that Ozpin seemed to be all but completely unaware of the fact that there was a teenager bleeding in the ring.
Blake didn't know what that bothered her so much, considering that she was mostly able to brush off what had happened herself.
She didn't say anything, and she didn't try to move. Weiss was being offered a cloth to dab against her eye so that they could make an attempt at healing the wound. It wouldn't be enough, Blake knew. Her ears under her bow told her that on their own- without aura, the wound was going to have time to begin to scar before it was able to heal properly.
Ozpin sipped their coffee again. "I'm going to recommend that you both try and get some rest. There will be a decision made on whether or not you've both earned your entry into the academy or not by-"
The door to the training room opened, and a tall man stepped in, looking slightly sheepish but mostly just irritated. He stepped up to the side of the balcony, and Blake was able to recognize him finally once she got a good look at him.
General James Ironwood. Blake figured he'd been asked to provide council but had only managed to show up late.
She didn't think much of it.
Ozpin shot the man on the balcony a glare and then decided to continue. "You'll have the verdicts on your entry by morning." They explained calmly. "As I already said, I'm recommending that the two of you both do your best to get some rest before the morning comes around. Injuries need time to heal and your auras will need to be able to recover."
For the first time, Blake found herself actually shifting somewhat nervously at the suggestion. She didn't know whether or not Ozpin was aware of the fact that she was in Vale alone and without any sort of permanent living situation. The issue of tuition had already been brought up between the two of them, but that didn't make it enough for Blake to deal with. She still needed a safety net of some sort.
Her amber eyes slipped over to Qrow, and she watched him out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be well aware of the fact that he was being watched, but he also did nothing to mention it or talk about it.
"Understood." Blake said finally, keeping her voice calm and taking a half-step towards the stairs that would take her out of the arena. Nobody moved to stop her, and so she turned and began on her way out, leaving the others to tend to Weiss and her injuries.
She shouldn't have been surprised at all by the fact that Qrow was following close after her, like he was hoping to get through to her personally.
"So," Qrow said, having somehow managed to just appear by Blake's side by means which Blake wasn't able to identify. "You sliced that girl's face up pretty well."
"It was an accident."
"Was it?" Qrow asked, eyes searching for something that Blake was afraid to think about. Maybe he was just looking for guilt. If that was the case, then Blake didn't intend to give Qrow anything else to go on. "Because you seemed pretty bloodthirsty in the ring."
"It was an accident." Blake repeated, doing her best to convince Qrow as much as she was doing her best to convince herself. "Her aura broke mid-strike."
Qrow shrugged and nodded his head. "You know someone's aura shouldn't break that easy. Especially not a healthy one."
Blake paused, turning on the balls of her feet and almost stepping up into Qrow's face in a weak attempt to show some sort of dominance. "What are you trying to say?"
"Me?" Qrow asked, shrugging off her reaction like it was absolutely nothing. "Nothing." He mumbled. "Just have seen kids like you come through this place before. A little too strong, a little too ruthless." He shrugged, not sounding at all convinced when he spoke. "It's normal."
It wasn't, Blake knew. There was no way that it was. People like her didn't get far away from their situations normally to be able to just go to school like it was nothing.
Even now, Blake wasn't fully convinced that she was going to end up sticking around Beacon for all that long. The situation that she had run from was too messy for that, and Blake knew that better than anyone else in the world.
"So," Qrow asked finally, changing the topic. "Got a place to stay?"
"Why are you-"
"Kid, you came into Junior's bar looking for an inn." Qrow said, pointing it out like it was the single most obvious thing in the world. "People who have places to stay don't just do that. Especially not locals."
Blake's expression sank, and she knew fully well that she'd only managed to betray what she was feeling and worrying about it with that.
Qrow clicked his tongue against his teeth.
"If you need a place to crash, I've got a couch." Qrow said with a slight shrug. "I've gotta be up here in the morning anyways. If you don't mind a mess, you can stay at my place for the night until Oz has a verdict."
Blake looked away from Qrow, and she found herself reaching up so that she could hug herself in a weak attempt to make herself feel just a little bit more secure about everything that had happened that day and was being implied by Qrow's comments. But she wasn't going to let Qrow know how far he had managed to get into her head, and so Blake asked a question of her own in the hopes that it would help her to calm down and relax.
"Do you think Ozpin will take me?"
"After a fight like that?" Qrow asked. "Yeah, I think they'll take you."
Blake nodded along. She wasn't all that convinced, if only because she knew better than to let herself get her hopes up about much of anything after so many years with the White Fang and on the run. Her life had never given her any reason to believe in much of anything, and so Blake had to remain skeptical of Qrow's answer.
"You're sure?"
"Nah," Qrow replied, tilting his head back slightly. "But I know Oz pretty well, and I'd be willing to put my money on them wanting you." He paused. "Not to mention the Schnee kid."
Blake didn't respond, and that only earned a weird look from Qrow. He decided against commenting on it, and decided to just keep talking. The only difference was now, he was reaching into his pocket and looking for something that Blake soon discovered was a flask of foul-smelling liquid that she was never going to be able to forget the scent of.
It was too strong on the air, but she didn't let Qrow know how sensitive her senses were compared to his.
Qrow took a long swig and paused, looking Blake over before asking one last question.
"Where'd you learn to fight like that anyways?"
Blake's only response was to shoot the man a glare and hope it would be enough to shut him up.
It wasn't.