"What?"
That was Ruby's response to what Leaden had said.
Both Tai and Ruby had expressions of 'Are you kidding me' written on their faces. They, or mostly Ruby, had asked Leaden what kind of hero he wanted to be.
Remnant's hero, that was his answer. He explained to her that there were different kinds of heroes. Ruby was curious about Leaden, he didn't want to be a Huntsman but wanted to be a hero - and not just any hero, Remnant's hero on that scale.
The answer didn't do its job to clarify and instead raised more questions, specifically how and why.
"How can you accomplish that?" Ruby looked at her father, who beat her to the punch. She then reverted her eyes to Leaden and nodded.
They didn't expect the outcome. "Well," Leaden scratched his cheek with a smile on his face. "I have no idea."
They only blinked. It was the truth. During the silence that followed, only the breeze of air could be heard.
The atmosphere wasn't awkward, but no one could do more than stare at each other.
Taiyang decided that it was enough and put his hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You should go to bed," he sighed.
Ruby snapped her attention to her father. "But!" she exclaimed, "I still feel like I don't know him yet, and I didn't even show him my baby girl!"
Leaden chuckled. "Don't worry, Ruby. If you mean by baby girl your scythe, then I already saw you fight with it today, remember? Also, you will have another opportunity after the first semester of Beacon to spend time with me."
Yes, he had already seen the scythe in action. The reason why she was at the Dust shop and now her eagerness to see his weapon. The signs were obvious, she was a huge geek.
"I guess." She sighed in defeat.
Leaden and Tai met eyes, and in that moment, he understood that his father wanted to have a talk with him.
The three headed inside, but as they did, Leaden glanced one more time at the house and realized he didn't have a chance to observe the house from outside. The darkness of the night didn't help, so he decided he would do it in the morning along with exploring the island in detail this time.
Leaden walked up the stairs and was met with a hallway. There were two doors on the right side and two on the left. He recalled that his room was on the left side, along with the bathroom. On the right side were Yang's and Ruby's rooms.
There were two closed doors - one was his, and Leaden guessed that the other belonged to Yang. He heard Ruby say goodnight to him and his father, and nodded with a smile.
Leaden's attention was fixed on what was supposed to be his room, but he wasn't sure anymore. With a deep breath, he grabbed the handle and opened the door.
He couldn't believe his eyes. The room looked so different. The small bed he used to sleep in was replaced with a bigger one, the toys were nowhere to be seen, the blue, childish closet was white and a bit bigger, the wall painting was a clean white instead of blue, and there were empty shelves that weren't there before.
Leaden turned around to face his father, his own face showing stunned surprise that he couldn't hide. "Do you like it?" his father asked. Tai wore a hopeful smile that both clarified and complicated things for Leaden at the same time.
Leaden realized that his father had upgraded the room in case he returned, and it was clean because he had taken care of it. This was proof that his father hadn't given up on him.
His father chuckled. "Sorry, it's a little plain, but I didn't want to put a color you might not like. You can choose the color you want, and it will be done."
Leaden wrapped his arms around his father, not even realizing the act itself. It felt so natural to him that he didn't feel like himself.
The sudden hug took Taiyang off guard, but his surprised expression soon turned to a warm smile as he put his hand on his son's back.
"I love it the way it is, the way you chose it to be," Leaden quietly said. He was surely not used to this sort of thing.
Taiyang kept patting his back. "Thank you, my night little dragon."
Leaden froze, not expecting such a nickname from his father. His face dropped the warm smile and he tried to process what he had just heard.
Leaden felt his throat go dry as he struggled to form a proper word. 'Is this what people call cringe?' He could sense the smirk on his father's face without even looking. "Please don't." He finally managed to say.
The smirk on Tai's face turned into a wide grin. "Ohh, this was better than I expected," he said. Leaden broke the hug and facepalmed. "With the girls gone, it seems I won't be bored. And here I thought you weren't like Yang." His father said, as if he was proud of some accomplishment.
"Moving on," Leaden rolled his eyes, searching for a change of subject. His eyes landed on the empty shelves. "I really like the shelves. Now I have a place for my books."
Accepting the obvious change of subject, Taiyang smiled. "Good thing I made them, then."
Leaden smiled before disappearing from his father's sight. Taiyang, despite having seen it before, was still stunned. After a couple of seconds, He reappeared out of thin air, carrying a bunch of books that clearly weren't there before. "I don't have that many books, anyway," he said.
He appeared to have six books with him, and Leaden didn't waste any time to put them on the shelves. He couldn't help but feet weirded out by the fact that the shelves were made specifically for booka. He discarded it as an absurd coincidence.
Taiyang stood behind Leaden and asked, "I meant to ask you about your semblance. How does it work?"
After finishing putting his books on the shelves, Leaden turned his attention to his father and smirked. "Curious now, are we?"
"Actually, yeah." His father didn't even try to hide it and nodded. "Ruby said, according to Ozpin, that it was a sort of teleportation. When you pulled your sword out, which is another subject I want to discuss, it was obvious that it's not a simple teleportation and now you confirmed it again."
"You are right, it's not that simple," he replied. "My semblance isn't teleportation but I use it to teleport. There's a difference." Taiyang nodded again, and Leaden took it as a cue to continue. "My semblance is basically like a pocket dimension, but I enter it too. it allows me to come back within a few meters of where I was standing."
Taiyang was amazed. "That sounds extremely helpful."
Leaden scoffed, "Believe me, it's absurdly a thorn in my side. For me to store a single item, I need to keep that item with me for 24 hours, holding it with my hands or keeping it in my pocket. It must be in my possession for a day, and if I let go of it, even for a split second, it won't work. 24 hours means I have to sleep with the item or stay awake until the time is up. How many times do you think I woke up and the thing I was holding fell off? For smaller things, it wasn't much of a problem; I put it in my pocket or inside my jacket. It was annoying during summer, but I managed. The problem was with big items. For my sword, I didn't sleep at all for 24 hours."
Leaden realized he had been ranting about how much his semblance was a pain in the ass. He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled "Sorry, I didn't mean to complain."
His father laughed and slammed his hand hard on Leaden's back, "It's fine!" Leaden endured the pain like a champ and managed to keep the smile on his face.
Of course, Leaden didn't tell his father everything about his semblance. He didn't want to turn this into a lecture, explaining every detail. For example, he didn't say that he had a short time limit to act within the dimension, so he needed to be quick. He also couldn't willingly come back to the exact same spot he was in unless the time ran out and he was still inside.
But that would result in losing half of his Aura as a price.
He met his father's eyes and was surprised to find no trace of the humorous face his father had.
The strange thing was that his father was still smiling. It was a subtle shift, but Leaden caught on to it. His time with Adam made him learn that people's expressions were absurdly complex, but his father was on a whole different level.
Leaden couldn't describe or explain what exactly had changed. He knew it wasn't Aura related, so he only could guess. Maybe his body language changed or anything, but what mattered was that the feeling was real. He was about to be interrogated but not in any serious manner. It was like asking your kid if he broke the glass while playing.
Leaden felt pity for those who must have experienced his father's serious side. He felt pressure from his father's lack of seriousness, as it must have been child's play for him.
It sent a shiver down Leaden's spine, and he realized that this was how a true Huntsman should be. Although he had met many Huntsmen and Huntresses in his life, none of them displayed this level of professionalism - the ability to get what you want without lifting a finger.
To be intimidating, one would usually need a reputation or to act tough, making themselves look like someone not to be messed with. But Taiyang was different; his mere presence was enough. He didn't need a legendary fighter's reputation or aggression. Moreover, he had the face of a gentleman, which made it more absurd to Leaden.
His father might not be able to beat his uncle or mother in a fight, but that didn't change the fact that he was a more professional Huntsman than either of them could ever be.
"I meant to ask about your sword, but I didn't want to have this conversation with Ruby listening," Tai said, eager to know. "I thought Raven would have given you a better sword. This sword of yours seems like something you bought from a store."
Leaden was confused. Why was his father putting so much pressure on him just to ask about his sword? He felt the demand for an answer, but he couldn't understand why the question was so important to him.
"Because it is. I bought this sword from a blacksmith in Mistral. I used to have a different sword before; Mother gave it to me as a gift. It was an absurd sword with a long blade that can be fused with Dust."
He felt his father's relief for the answer he gave him. It was a subtle change, again. "And what happened to that sword?" His father asked with curiosity. All the previous pressure and demand vanished like its existence wasn't there to begin with.
"Eh, I threw it in the fire. It's old news now." The answer threw Taiyang off guard, but he had no intention of asking why.
Tai chuckled softly, though his concern was evident "Raven must have been furious," He said
"She definitely was," Leaden replied, laughing. She was pissed. Leaden left the punishment he took out of the conversation. He knew that his father must have known, he wasn't naive, but chose to ignore it for both of their sake.
"I guess that's enough for today. You should rest,"Tai said, placing a hand don Leaden's shoulder and giving it a small squeeze. "The Bullhead will take your sisters at 10 am. Make sure to get enough sleep."
"Can I ask you a question before you leave?" Leaden asked, making sure he had his father's attention. "What subject do you teach at Signal academy?" He wanted to know before calling it a day.
His father smiled proudly, put his hands on his hips, and straightened his back. "I teach psychology. It's a subject I heavily influenced during my work as a Huntsman. You can't expect to force your way through every situation. You need to have a level head, and know when to talk your way through, negotiate your way through, trick your way through, demand your way through, and force your way through. Unfortunately, even a few of the prodigies get it right. Yang being Yang barely passed, and Ruby was average. I'm disappointed." Taiyang laughed.
Leaden nodded. His father was showing off but he deserved it, he thought. His father was a monster.
"If that's all, then, goodnight...my moony little dragon." Taiyang smirked.
"Father, no! You know what, the room could use more black in it!" Leaden's frown made his father laugh as he hurried his father out of the room.
"Alright, alright, I'm out of here." Taiyang gave him a final smile before closing the door.
The moment the door closed after him, he processed the conversation, and looked around the room. Finally, he let out the feelings he was suppressing the moment he walked inside this room. He was feeling his heart aching like it was being squeezed slowly.
Leaden was truly happy that his father had made this room for him and never gave up on him. However, an equal part of him felt guilty for causing his father to do this. The thought of his father cleaning and upgrading the room for seven years with the hope that he might return one day, and the feelings his father must have had when each day passed without him coming back, tore Leaden's heart to shreds.
Leaden's gaze lingered on the bookshelves for an unknown amount of time before he finally switched off the light. He went to bed, hoping for a good night's sleep, though he knew well that it was unlikely to happen.
# # #
It was 8.30 Am. This was the most comfortable bed he ever found in the last seven years. Yes, the last time before that was his previous bed in this same room. It was soft, so soft that you could be sucked into a world of dreams without even the need to feel sleepy.
Yet here he was, laying on the bed with his eyes open, unable to sleep no matter what he did. He kept staring at the ceiling for who knows how long.
A scratching sound entered his ears that attracted his attention. He blinked a couple of times before turning his head to the right and left to search for the source of the sound. He lifted his head from the pillow to try and identify where it was coming from.
At last, he realized it was coming from the door, how he never thought of that, it was beyond him. Maybe it was because of how low the scratching sound was, he thought. He was just giving excuses to ignore how he was out of it. Because of lack of sleep or not, it didn't matter.
He approached the door, held the doorknob and opened. He found nothing. Or that was what he thought.
He heard barking that confused him, and when he looked down, he found a small ball of fluff with a head and a tail. Leaden tilted his head and the dog tilted its head too. Leaden smiled and bent down to be closer to the small dog's level. The dog seemed to be in a good mood, with its tongue out and its tail wagging non-stop.
Leaden held the dog between his hands and lifted it to eye level. "Where did you come from, little one?" he asked, chuckling as the dog licked his face in response.
"Okay, Okay, settle down buddy." Leaden laughed as he put the dog down. "You didn't answer my question though. What are you doing here?"
"His name is Zwei." Leaden turned his head to the right and saw Ruby smiling like a maniac. Her smile almost split her face in half.
With her face so close, he couldn't resist being creeped out. His eyes and mouth twitched, and he felt his blood run cold. "How did you sneak up on me like that?" he said, forcing a smile.
The question took Ruby by surprise. Her mouth made an O expression, but it was quickly turned into a smirk. She puffed her chest up and put both her hands on her waist. "Hoho, I didn't sneak up on you, I just used my semblance."
Leaden stood up, leaned against the wall and hummed. "Your semblance?" To think about it, Leaden didn't know Ruby's semblance. yet. "Can I see it?" He asked curiously. The smile never left his face.
Ruby grinned. "Sure thing." But then, she stopped, and narrowed her eyes with a pointed finger at him. "Wait, did you sleep in these clothes? Also, you look like a mess! The bags under your eyes too! Did you even sleep?!"
Leaden stared at Ruby. Ruby's words felt alien to him. This wasn't the first time he missed a day's sleep. He did it a lot back in the tribe. No one ever commented on his lack of sleep, so he always assumed he didn't look any different. That's why, Ruby's concerns felt out of place, and reminded him that he was living in a completely different life that had its own absurdities. It was absurd for him, but he had to remember that this should be the norm. He was the absurd one not Ruby.
He smiled like he completely didn't have an internal monologue. For Ruby, she thought that Leaden's slow answer was because of his lack of sleep. "I had coffee last night. I guess it kept me awake. Or I was too happy to sleep. Either way, it doesn't matter. I will take a shower and meet you outside."
She slowly nodded. "Alright, if you say so." She wasn't completely convinced. "I'll wait outside. Dad is training Yang for the last time before the bullhead arrives." With that, Ruby headed outside, taking Zwei with her.
Leaden didn't waste any time, and brought a change of clothes. He threw what he was wearing in the basket.
But before getting under the water, he was curious what was so concerning about his face, and looked at the mirror. His red eyes were kinda dull. Maybe because of the bags under them, but he didn't know. His hair was missy, but that can be fixed. Nothing to worry about, he thought.
He didn't understand what was the big deal. His mind wandered around the question whether to consider this the normal or it was absurd. The thing about absurdities, it existed everywhere, even within what was considered normal. So, Ruby, a normal person, can still have an acceptable level of absurdities that if exceeded can't be called normal anymore. Ruby's overconcerned state, was it normal or it's one of her little absurdities?
The answer was important to him. If he wished to live a normal life, he had to know what is considered absurd and normal for this people. His own views wouldn't help. He was someone who exceeded the acceptable level of absurdities. He was absurd.
He sighed and decided that it was no use thinking about it now. He made sure the water was hot rather than cold. He liked taking his shower using hot water, be it summer or winter. It helped him relax.
The water washed away any absurd feelings he had. It made him feel new again. He got out, dried himself, and wore his clothes. Instead of the white shirt, black jeans, black jacket, and the white shoes. He wore the opposite, black shirt and a white jeans. He had a white jacket but didn't plan to wear it today. He used his semblance to bring his black shoes and he was now ready. He looked at the mirror. No messy hair and his face looked more lively.
The bags were still there but he had a solution. He used his semblance again, and this time he brought sunglasses.
"Perfect," He smiled. The moment he walked out of the house, he was welcomed with an interesting sight.
The sun was bright, and he felt good wearing the sunglasses. An endless green carpet that was pleasant to look at. The birds chirping also added to the scenery. Leaden could enjoy the view for hours without being bored. But what interested him wasn't this beautiful scene, it was another thing entirely.
Yang was on the ground, most likely got her ass kicked. His father was scolding her for something he couldn't hear. Ruby, on the other hand, was practicing with her scythe. The interesting part was that his father mostly focused on Yang which gave him a hint that Yang, despite being the more experienced, had major flaws in her fighting style.
He got a taste of it last night.
He approached them with a grin. "Good morning, Father and little sisters!" He received a smile, a surprised face, and a scowl. It was obvious who had each.
The surprised Ruby was in front of him in no time. "Leaden! You look like one of those rich kids!" There was this glint in her eyes.
Leaden chuckled. "I am rich."
"You probably stole the money." Yang scoffed and crossed her arms, the scowl never leaving her face.
"How did you know?" Leaden widened his eyes in mock shock. All eyes were on him. "I'm kidding. I stole it from thieves. I'm like Robin Hood, but I keep the money for myself."
"I don't think that's better." Ruby said in disappointment. His father just shook his head and sighed. As for Yang, she gritted her teeth so hard. She seemed to want to pick a fight again, but ended up ignoring him.
Leaden patted Ruby on the head. "You are right, it's not." He enjoyed her bewildered face.
Ruby pouted. "How weird. You don't make any sense." It wasn't the first time he didn't make sense for her. Ruby felt she should be used to it.
Leaden smirked. "Not weird. I am absurd, have you not known that already?" He put down his hand, walked past her, and turned around to look at her. "Won't you show me your semblance?" He stretched his arms out as an invitation. "Come on, now. We don't have much time."
The excitement was visible on Ruby's face. She didn't expect his request for a spar. The excitement soon turned into determination, it was her chance to show off what she could do.
Leaden put away his sunglasses. His smile showed his confidence. He noticed his father and Yang stopping what they were doing to watch. His father was amused the whole morning. Leaden knew it's not like his father enjoyed watching Yang holding a grudge, but it was more like he knew that in the end she would forgive Leaden, and enjoyed teasing him.
"Kick his butt, Ruby!" Yang cheered. Leaden found it cute that Yang was considerate of her language in front of her father, and especially Ruby.
Ruby was determined, she was taking this seriously. For her, it was the real test to be worthy of joining Beacon. But something puzzled her. "Where is your sword?"
"I don't need it, I won't even attack you." He answered honestly with a smile. "I will be on the defense. If you prove to be a challenge, I will consider using my sword, even my own semblance." He wasn't trying to be arrogant, at least in his head. He only wanted to see her semblance and fighting style up close. He already saw how she kicked ass last night.
Ruby didn't take that lightly. The thought of Leaden underestimating her made her more eager to prove herself. On the other hand, Leaden could see how restless Yang was. He felt if he said another word, it would turn into two on one.
Ruby closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Everything around her became silent. She couldn't hear the chirps, she couldn't hear Yang's cheers for her, but only her own breathing in and out.
When she opened her eyes again, nothing was visible to her. Only the enigma of what was her brother. It's like she pushed everything else out of her sight, and only had her fully undivided attention to him. He was casually standing there, smiling, and his hands beside him. The image of him didn't belong to what she was experiencing. That was the person who openly challenged her, but didn't treat it seriously? The person who didn't show any guilt to stealing, but acknowledged that she was right? The person who wanted to be a hero, but refused to take the path of one? Nothing made sense about him. Not before and definitely not now.
Ruby tightened her grip around Crescent Rose. And with no hesitation, covered the distance between them in an instant. Leaden's dumbfounded face made her unconsciously grin. If he wanted to see her semblance, she would show him. He was frozen in place to her as she readied her scythe to strike. The blow would cut a normal person's head off.
Her grin turned to shock when Leaden, who was frozen before, ducked under Crescent Rose and rolled out of the way to make distance between them again.
She landed on the ground, and realized that she was in the air for a few moments. She felt it natural to be on the same eye level as him.
"Woah!" Leaden put his right hand on his heart, and released a breath he held.
He looked at his hands and clenched his fists. "I surely didn't expect that. I thought your semblance made people unable to sense you, somehow." He slapped his forehead. "But, of course! If you are that fast, no one would notice your presence until it's too late."
His lips twisted to a smirk. "But that would only work to take people off guard. Against Huntsmen-level opponents, you would fail most of the time."
"What do you mean?" Ruby narrowed her eyes. She didn't want to ask the question if that would make her seem ignorant and inferior in his eyes. But she already knew that she still had a lot to learn.
The smirk on Leaden's face turned to a genuine smile as he raised a finger. "Well, most experienced people learned to be on guard almost, at all times. A person with Aura can boost their senses as you already know. But people tend to forget that it's not an automatic thing your Aura does; you need to actually do it. That's what I meant by taking people off guard. A Huntsman is trained to do that effortlessly, like breathing so, they are hard to catch off guard. My point is, someone like that will sense you coming, even when you are this fast."
"I see," Ruby said, looking at the ground. She was disappointed, not because of her weakness, but because she realized the gap between her and experienced Huntsmen and Huntresses.
"Don't worry, even with that, you aren't someone to be underestimated. At least, you are not as predictable as Yang." He heard a growl from Yang as his father kept her in place. He smirked, he said that on purpose to tease her. "I will demonstrate to you what to expect from the average Huntsman, Ruby. Come at me like you did."
Ruby nodded, her determination never faltering. It wasn't like her attack never failed before; her uncle had dodged Crescent Rose easily, but it was never explained to her before why that was the case. She just assumed it was a matter of skill, and it still was, but it was a bit different for her.
Leaden closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. Ruby moved slowly around Leaden. And when his eyes opened again, she took this as a sign to unleash Crescent Rose on him.
From his right side, she jumped and repeated the same attack, hoping for him to repeat the same dodge. Which he did. Leaden ducked under the scythe, only for Ruby to land on him with a kick.
He reacted fast and, with his left hand, grabbed her right leg. Ruby used this to support another kick with her other leg, but only for Leaden to grab her other leg.
Using his grip on her legs to stand, and looking down at him from her position, she noticed that Leaden purposely blocked her kicks with his opposite hands to make his arms form a cross as a shield for his head.
Before she could do anything, he suddenly let go of her, and took his distance again.
She landed on the ground without taking her eyes off him. The gears in her head started working again. She wanted to surprise him by trying something new.
She soon realized her own stupidity. Leaden didn't know her fighting style so, of course, he would expect anything, but then a thought hit her that made her eyes widened.
"Wait," she muttered.
Why was she under the assumption that Leaden was familiar with her fighting style? Because he had told her yesterday that he saw her fight with Crescent Rose.
That was the thing: which fight did he mean? Yes, her fight with Roman. So he must have known that she was about to chase him but intentionally prevented her from doing so.
He helped Roman Torchwick escape.
This realization was so random, coming in the middle of their spar, and now she couldn't help thinking about it. Because she also knew that he could have done it to protect her.
Which was it? She didn't know. But she already knew this was how things were with him. You never knew for sure; you were only left with guesses.
From this moment forward, Ruby was determined to figure him out. She wouldn't give up or forget.
"Are you still with us, Ruby? Come on, now, this shouldn't have discouraged you or even shake you. Or was I wrong?" He smirked.
"Huh?" She was snapped out of her thoughts.
"Come on, Ruby! You can do this!" She looked around to see her sister still cheering for her, and her father sitting beside her, smiling.
She was disconnected from the real world to concentrate only on the spar, but now she was brought back.
She looked again at Leaden, and decided that whether Leaden helped Roman or protected her didn't matter at the moment.
She had something to prove, after all. No need to come up with something new. On the other hand, Leaden was curious on what made Ruby pause. He knew better to think that Ruby was discouraged. But then, she shifted her grip on her scythe.
He didn't have time to process that the scythe transformed into a sniper. He was forced to roll out of bullets' way. The situation seemed endless as he continued to dodge what was coming at him. He couldn't tell how much time had passed, but it felt like an eternity. His heart was pounding in his chest.
That's when, suddenly, he felt bullets coming at him from every direction at almost the same time. 'How?!' He didn't have time to think, so he jumped, but Ruby must have anticipated this because two bullets hit his shoulder and chest.
Aura protected the person but said protection didn't include protection from pain. That's why Ruby's shock when Leaden didn't even flinch was understandable. It was his turn to anticipate her next move. As he landed, he, using his aura to strengthen from shoulder to hand, blocked the blade of the scythe with his arm, and stopped it completely.
The moment of his landing was a good opening for Ruby to attack, he knew that. Not giving her a chance to react, he quickly grabbed the blade. She couldn't pull it from his grip as it was now a battle of strength.
He looked at a stunned Ruby, "You know, You should put the Aura applications lessons that you take at the academy into more use," he said with a smirk.
"I keep telling her that!" Tai said, with not very happy Yang at his side.
For example, if Ruby used her Aura to strengthen the scythe, it would have gone a lot differently. Leaden noticed Ruby's lack of practicality, that's why he decided to block it. Otherwise, he would have been forced to use his semblance.
Leaden let go of the scythe, and he wasn't surprised when Ruby did the same. "What?! How did you know what I wanted to do?! Are you psychic?!" Despite Ruby's high pitched voice, she wasn't very pleased.
Leaden smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Not at all. It's because I know you are smart, that was the reason I could and did predict your next move. When I took hold of your scythe, you could have just stood there dumbfounded, but because you are you, I knew you would let go of it, instead of trying to forcibly pull it out of my grip, to catch me off guard."
Ruby didn't know whether to blush from the unexpected compliment or be unhappy about how things had turned out. "It doesn't change the fact that I lost against someone who didn't use his semblance or weapon." The result was her saying that with a red face.
Leaden chuckled. "And that should give you a hint. Aura is one's greatest strength, not their weapon or semblance," he said, raising a finger to make his point. "You should apply at least the basics, and with how you fight, you will be a nightmare. But you mustn't be overconfident. It's better to overestimate your opponent than to underestimate them. Utilizing your Aura more would help you extremely."
Ruby processed what Leaden just said and was about to speak, "I wouldn't suggest that advice," but their father spoke before she could. Leaden removed his hand from Ruby's shoulder.
They looked at the approaching Tai with attention, waiting for his input on the matter. "While I agree with Leaden on the Aura part, Instead of overestimating or underestimating your opponent, you must make the right decision. Underestimating or overestimating your opponent could be deadly, and cost you your lives," he said with a stern voice. It wasn't something to joke about. "This isn't a video game where you could have another chance."
Tai looked at Ruby specifically and continued, "But just like video games, the more you play it, the more you know exactly how to act in most situations, and that's when you become a pro. Being a Huntress is similar, the more you encounter different situations, the more your judgment will improve. Beacon will help you gain this experience. You should focus on your Aura training for now." Tai put his hand on his daughter's head, ruffling her hair. "You are more than ready to go to Beacon," he said with a smile.
Ruby beamed, the energy coming back to her. "I will do my best! I will be the best Huntress in Remnant!"
Leaden and Tai stared at her and laughed happily.
Even Yang, from a distance, couldn't help her watery eyes as she smiled. Proud at her little sister, but also, happy to see her family together again and laughing cheerfully.
But of course, things weren't that easy.