AN: Happy Thanksgiving, American readers.
"Alright, Ozpin. Explain this for the stupid people."
"I'd hardly call you stupid, Taiyang.", the headmaster replied.
"Hey!", that was from Ruby.
Taiyang smirked. A father had needs, and as much as he doted on his girls, winding them up was just instinct sometimes. "But no, seriously. She's probably a terrorist. I get the whole 'keep your enemies close' thing, but, isn't that going a bit far?"
"She isn't. I placed a call to Menagerie for exactly that reason.", Professor Goodwitch interjected.
"Ah, Glynda, as always, you read my mind…", Ozpin began smugly.
"But wouldn't they say that?", Taiyang pointed out.
"Most people do not know this, but Menagerie's government and the White Fang do not exactly see eye to eye. We received a first-hand account of that from the Belladonna girl. The chieftain himself assured me this Riven was a veteran, certainly, but also a friend of the family.", Goodwitch reported.
"Evidently, Ghira did not leave his former organization alone.", Ozpin found this quite plausible. For those that disagreed with Sienna's leadership, leaving the moment the Belladonna's did was the safe option that would protect them from reprisals. He let Taiyang get the door for his limousine, offering a gracious nod before easing his aching bones into the interior. The ancient man took care not to show it, of course. It would not do to let people know just how much age was getting to him, especially so shortly after the incident with Amber. Salem had trouble keeping track of the years and often forgot such things unless it was waggled right under her nose like someone might tease a dog with a steak.
The Xiao-long-Rose pair and professor Goodwitch joined him soon enough. Ruby herself seemed just as consternated as her father, but likely for different reasons. The girl was fairly young, after all.
"But they're criminals!", the girl pointed out, predictably. "Shouldn't we, um, well, be arresting them? Those were the guys who did all the dust robberies!"
"Not quite.", Ozpin corrected in a kind and patient manner. He was going into lecture mode here: "Those were the mercenaries hired on to intimidate shopkeepers with a numbers advantage and haul off the goods. Or rather, the friends and colleagues of those that young Roman got arrested. Given he simply left them there, they are unlikely to be all too friendly with the man. Showing mercy to the hired help will make it easier to catch the one actually at fault."
Ruby took some time to wrap her head around that. Taiyang and Glynda, of course, had already surmised as much. Still, the widower didn't quite seem all too happy with his freshest hiring choice all the same.
"Alright, I get all that, Ozpin. And I appreciate you playing this with an open hand, but, how do you know this Riven character won't be engaging in criminal activity in Beacon? And how do you know she's even up for the job?", Taiyang continued to push. Oh yes. He was not a happy pappy.
"For one, she's certainly intelligent enough to make deductions mid-negotiations and roll with them. It has barely been any time at all since the robbery and she has not been active in the gang prior to today, so, she figured out that members of the gang had been arrested from our earlier insinuations.
That shows a keen mind and -with Glynda's additional information- suggests an officer. It is reasonable to assume she has trained people before.
Her request to let the men go shows that she will leverage what she can to support her allies. Add in her general demeanour and you have the profile of someone who is perhaps much more like James than General Ironwood would care to admit.
In the short term, she poses a risk. But I do not think that risk is to the students. If anything, it would be to myself or other authority figures, which may be targets of the White Fang. Hence why I put her under Glynda's wing. Her semblance is versatile enough that she can handle virtually anything a huntsman might throw at her and she is competent enough not to be taken by surprise by a threat that has already been identified as such."
While the stern woman looked quite pleased with his assessment for a moment there, before her cold mask reappeared right back on to her features, the Xiao-Longs took a bit longer to process the headmaster's monologue. Ruby needed a few translations as well, apparently. "General Ironwood's first name is James" was a whisper from Tai he definitely caught. It had made him smirk a little, but also made him aware he might need to be a bit clearer in his phrasing around students below Beacon's usual age of admission. A good reminder, in Ozpin's eyes.
"You still need to actually see if she's good enough to hold her own.", Taiyang pointed out. Hrm. Perhaps he'd picked up some habits from the mental health animal he'd been issued. He was like a dog with a bone there. Of course, the man was also loyal to a fault and very much a protector even before he'd become a father.
"Very well, Taiyang. We will let you assess her. But when that is done, it is done.", Ozpin stated firmly. "Your daughter was not grievously harmed and I will not have my friends fighting my employees."
The man got the message, at least. A curt nod and the rest of the drive to the landing pads was far more trivial and light-hearted.
The next morning, Riven was staring at the small aircraft that would carry her to Beacon Academy with some skepsis. She had her sports bag full of belongings over one shoulder, rifle on her back and machete at her hip. With Professor Goodwitch accompanying her, she found the local law enforcement didn't so much as spare her a second glance even in the better districts of the city.
This flying death trap, however? Well, she hadn't bargained with that.
"You don't like flying?", the professor asked neutrally.
"Not really a frequent thing for me.", Riven remarked vaguely, then took a deep breath and stepped into the vehicle.
The flight up to Beacon was far smoother than expected. The professor explained that she'd be attending an assessment of her actual combat capabilities, which seemed reasonable enough to Riven. Paperwork, well, she'd heard of it. Noxus was fairly lax there. If you weren't good for your word, your signature was meaningless anyway. But it was a requirement for large scale logistics, and thus, Riven was somewhat familiar. Familiar enough to hate it with every fibre of her being.
She was not really concerned about the mandatory health check-up either. It'd given her a pause, but when she thought it over, it seemed sensible for a society not built on a foundation of 'if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger'. Unusual for her upbringing, but, logical.
Beacon itself was an impressive structure. It towered as high as the grand citadel back home, but without the foreboding, oppressive aura about it. The architecture seemed light and friendly, as well as aspirational in the manner in which it reached for the heavens regardless. There was also plenty of green around the pathways, well kept by whomever did the gardening.
She saw the odd student about, usually in small group. Being an object of sudden curiousity shouldn't have caught her off guard either, but it certainly did. It had been years since she'd been First Blade of Noxus. Years since she'd been paraded around as a child hero for a corrupt regime. Somehow, the way the students looked at her reminded her less of that, less of her trial in Ionia, but more of the way people looked at a circus or a dancing bear: Clueless, aimless interest, rife with speculation. It wouldn't keep, but she decided to ignore it all the same outwardly.
When the professor led her to the combat gym, she found the Xiao-Longs already waiting, alongside a woman who reminded her of a ginger version of Ahri. 'Extra soul-less', she thought and snickered despite herself, prompting the woman to frown at her. Oops. The blonde teenager she'd beaten up last night was on her feet again, still looking a bit pale and frightened at the sight of her. Still, "Kick her ass, dad!" had her hiding that well enough.
"Two birds one stone, hm?", she remarked, as her gaze drifted to the elderly head master.
Ozpin smiled in return and nodded. "Quite so. Taiyang is a seasoned huntsman in his own right. Even without your history, I may have asked him to assist regardless. I believe offering you the chance to blow off some steam at each other is more a perk than the point, but it is a perk nonetheless."
She looked the man over. He was unarmed. Sensible, she supposed, and set her bag down, putting the rifle and machete atop it.
"You sure you don't want to use your weapons?", the man asked, almost looking insulted by what she'd just done. Apparently, among people with their souls as shield, this was a faux-pas? Interesting.
Riven shrugged and hopped into the arena: "Those aren't my weapons. People just throw down less when you have some visible."
This seemed to mollify the fellow somewhat and he moved over to his side of the arena, limbering up and beginning a series of stretches. Deciding to make a show of taking him seriously, she elected to do the same.
During this, Goodwitch approached her and quietly said: "We'll need you to place your scroll in the aura reader."
Riven blinked, cluelessness written all over her face. It took a few moments for the penny to drop. "We don't have those in Kuo Koana.", she said. She had no idea if that was true or not, but, from what she knew of the political situation, it was plausible enough.
"I see. Does your scroll track your aura?", Goodwitch asked.
"Hasn't been necessary.", Riven admitted and produced the device, starting to work her way through the menus.
"Options. Health. Aura monitoring. Place your thumb on the reader and it will calibrate.", the professor helpfully supplied.
Riven did as advised and soon found her aura showing as a blue bar at 100%. She had no idea how the device knew this to be the fact and didn't waste much thought on it either. Instead, she paid attention as Goodwitch walked her through the aura reader. She noted a scroll was already in place and, when she added her own, she could see the monitor on the wall display 'Konte vs. Xiao-Long' with their respective aura levels beneath it.
Nodding to her potential new boss, Riven hopped back into the ring, while Goodwitch herself strode purposefully to the middle between her spot and Tai's.
"The rules for this combat capability assessment are as follows: You will do your best to remain in the ring during the fight. Ring outs will not be a loss, but will be an interruption, whereupon both combatants will immediately cease combat, return to their sides of the ring and resume the bout on my signal. The assessment ends when one combatant is at ten percent of their aura."
The students that had trickled in visibly perked up. Apparently, this was unusual for them and there was quite some chatter. Chatter that Goodwitch promptly crushed with a loud crack of her crop against her palm.
"For the student body present: These changes to the standard rule-set will allow the headmaster and myself to better assess my new assistant's combat style and potential. Beacon only allows the best and failure to impress will cause a cessation of any further employment negotiations."
The Noxian listened attentively to the rules of engagement, then turned her full attention to her designated opponent. It made perfect sense to her. All agreements aside, beating up a child meant nothing in the end. They clearly wanted to see if she was actually strong enough to swim, instead of be sunk effortlessly.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
"Engage!"
Both Riven and Taiyang were at it within a split second. Both combatants were deceptively quick, their movements as hard to follow as their styles were similar. It almost seemed as if Tai were fighting his mirror to his daughters, the efficient use of elbows and attempts to gain a grip amidst those close strikes mirrored by the criminal monster who'd smashed poor Yang into the ground in seconds.
More practised eyed noted some differences however. Where Taiyang's stance was firm and his centre of gravity low, Riven seemed light on her feet, constantly moving her footwork and using the momentum from the attempts to duck under Tai's guard to fuel the force of her strikes. Both of them had a penchant to try and trip their opponent up, interestingly enough, as well as strike to the joint with their kicks. Tai moved like water and Riven like air, their aura meters still close to full almost a minute in.
It wouldn't get better in that regard soon either. Tai seemed to have finally caught hold of Riven's arm, seeking to pull her along her own uppercut and spin her into a joint lock, only for him to suddenly eat a savage elbow to the ribs with her unattended limb and find his own leg swept out from under him by both of Riven's. The fight devolved into a jumble of extremities as it went to the ground. To the uninitiated eye, it looked like the pair were rolling around like a pair of drunkards in front of a bar, but the higher year students and staff saw a very different engagement entirely.
Taiyang had been the premier hand to hand combatant of his age. To find someone who could keep up with him among the former White Fang was somewhat worrisome. Still, Riven only reached to his chest, leaving him with the onus to try and remain on top so that he could leverage his greater mass more. She didn't seem to mind this, deciding to focus more on outright damaging her opponent with any limb not currently involved in attempts to control him. Thus, while Tai did end up, literally, on top, he'd taken blow upon blow to pin her down and even then, he seemed to need to limbs to control one of hers.
It was a losing proposition. Provided, of course, one did not know Taiyang's semblance.
"Burn her, dad!"
"Burn the witch!"
Tai was more than happy to go along with both of his daughters' suggestions. He could see the Faunus' eyes narrow as he took a deep breath, then exhaled a large bout of flame right into the woman's face. The torrent of fire would surely roast through her aura in short order!
He lasted about half a second, after that. There was an odd, green flash of light, an energy pulse from the Faunus that made all his muscles freeze, including those in his chest. With the fire unable to escape his lungs, Tai's eyes grew wide as Riven ruthlessly bashed her skull into his face, then fully abused his full paralysis to slam him face first into the ground, squirrel on to his back and mercilessly punch the back of his head over and over again with singular determination of the sort he hadn't experienced since his divorce with Raven.
Tai found that he could move again mere moments later, but those had been enough to decide the fight. His fire had sent her hurtling towards yellow herself, but the incredibly brutal punches to the back of the head had brought his own aura to the verge of shattering. He just lay there in a daze as Goodwitch called the fight. A paralysis semblance was just so...incredibly unfair! Still, he felt that could have gone either way. If he'd known about it beforehand, he would've handled the fight differently.
Riven, meanwhile, looked around at the shocked expressions of the man's daughters and the students. Perhaps she'd gone a bit too hard on the man? It seemed disrespectful to not give it her all once he'd started bringing magic into things. To her, anyway. She may well have lost had he just relied on technique. She knew that. And she knew he knew that.
So, she reached down to pull the dazed man upright and let him lean on her shoulder on the way down.
"Let's get you some water and a healer, buddy."
The crowd could wait until the warriors were done.