Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.

Buzz Buzz The Zero Point Pathogen

Buzz Buzz The Word Virus

Buzz Buzz The Lost Sigh, Life's Forgotten Lullaby

Buzz Buzz What to do Sweetling?

What to do?

I stared out at the black wasteland that stretched out beneath me. Here and there, massive amorphous creatures crawled and oozed aimlessly. I strained my eyes, trying to find something, anything that would allow me to deny what I was seeing, that perhaps somewhere the tide had been driven back…

But I searched in vain; Specimen 1347 had not missed a single solitary speck of land..

"My lady," I said, trying to keep my voice steady, "How did this happen?"

"Alas, while my knowledge is as great and bountiful as my beauty." The Baba Yaga replied, "I know not how exactly my doorstep has become so befouled.."

I turned my eyes away from the horrific landscape below and to the Baba Yaga, who was currently sitting on a large boulder, "Please my lady, anything might be of help. What do you know?"

The Baba Yaga lifted her chin, "You ask for knowledge, and I shall give it to you," She held up a finger, "But I only do so because you have ever been a most polite admirer."

I bowed my head, "Your generosity is truly bountiful, my lady."

The Baba Yaga gave a small sniff, as if it was obvious and then nodded her head towards the wasteland below us, "It was a little over three years ago." She began, "I remember it distinctly as I felt a presence… a child full of the power of life… of anima, arrive within the land."

That must have been Jaune, my heart swelled slightly, so he had made it out.

"However, that was when I felt something else." She said, her voice turning solemn, "A foul-dark-starving presence… it followed… and yet was waiting." She shook her head, "It is difficult to say in your words; suffice it to say, the anima-filled presence… it was silenced."

I felt a heavy pit form in my stomach, "Silenced?" I asked, dreading the answer to the unspoken question.

"Silent. Not dead birdman." She replied, "The child lives. Not soon after this silencing, the foul-dark-starving presence… it exploded outward, devouring everything in its path."

I felt a sort of cautious relief, "My lady, the child, do you know where he is?"

The Baba Yaga nodded, "Of course, it is only meet that I should possess that knowledge, he is being held. Kept at the place of learning of this kingdom; the one where the warriors and warrioresses are trained."

Beacon Academy, I felt a surge of hope, Ozpin was there, as was Glynda and all the rest of the teachers, if anywhere was safe it was there.

"Do you know of a way I can reach it?" I asked her.

The Baba Yaga cocked her head, "I knew of such ways, but that place was where the foul-dark-starving presence emerged from in the first place. Those ways are certain death now."

My mouth suddenly went dry and I froze for a moment, dumbfounded. Damn it, how could I be so stupid, the Baba Yaga had said held, he was being held prisoner at Beacon. Which meant that Specimen 1347 must have taken it over.

But how? How could that have happened? Ozpin, Glynda, Port, Oobleck….

Ruby. Yang.

I swallowed nervously, trying to muster up the courage for the question I knew I had to ask.

"Did anyone escape?" I asked.

Baba Yaga looked down at me, then she nodded, "Yes, a group of mortals, led by several others, they fled down to the south, behind the soul-gate-fence; where the foul-dark-starving whisperer cannot follow… despite however much he tries."

I let out a sigh of relief, so there was a chance that Ruby and Yang had made it out. But the soul-gate-fence? I racked my brain, trying to think of where she could mean.

"The ancient place of the knights, birdman." The Baba Yaga said and then she leapt down from the boulder.

I blinked in surprise, and she quirked her head, "You were thinking so loud that it hurt my ears, birdman. She then turned to the cliff face and began walking forward. "Excuse me for a moment."

She walked past me and I frowned as I followed her. She stopped at the cliff-edge and looked down. I followed her gaze and then I gagged slightly.

There was a small horde of black, tarry creatures crawling up the side of the cliff. They resembled that of giant centipedes the size of a horse. Their jaws clacked and clicked as they made their way up the rock face, leaving oozing trails behind them.

The Baba Yaga shook her head, "It is meet that the dark-devouring one should seek to claim me and my beauty with such tenacity." She allowed, "But it is depressing to desire something one shall never have." She planted her hands on the ground and whispered something in the Old Tongue.

The power surged out of the ground, and I staggered to my knees before its sheer presence. The power continued to grow, swirling and churning like a hurricane, then the Baba Yaga lifted one hand from the ground and clenched it into a fist.

One moment, there was a horde of creatures perhaps several hundred strong, all climbing up the cliff, intent on reaching the forest at the top.

The next, they were gone.

There was no big flash, no screams of pain, no great show of force. The Baba Yaga had wanted them gone, and now they were simply no more.

Not for the first time I reminded myself just how quickly a certain human could end up the same way if I didn't mind my manners. No wonder, the forest had remained safe from Specimen 1347.

Then without warning a wave of rage and pain coursed through my body, and I let out a gasp, putting my hand on my heart as I felt it race.

Damn it… that's right, the Baba Yaga's empathetic aura, and here I was completely sober… which was troubling on multiple levels.

I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. For a wild moment I thought I overdid it, because suddenly the anger left me, leaving me feeling completely exhausted.

Then I looked at the Baba Yaga.

For the first time, I noticed the dullness in her eyes, the luster missing from her fur.

She had said that the event had occurred a little over three years ago. Which meant that she had been under siege from the all-consuming presence of Specimen 1347 for all that time.

And it was showing.

The Baba Yaga turned her gaze to me and I quickly bowed my head so that she couldn't see my face.

"You asked me for a path, birdman." She said, "The place of learning is cut off from you. Even my greatest whiperwhills cannot get you there before you are devoured."

She walked past me, "However, I can bring you to the paths that will allow you to reach those that survived its fall… Come with me." She continued on into the forest.

I followed her, sparing a last glance back at the roiling, black wasteland beneath us.

And as I did so, was filled with a certainty that something was looking right back at me.

I did my best to shake it off as I turned back around and followed the Baba Yaga.

We journeyed deep into the forest; the trees growing taller and thicker as we did so, casting everything in shadow. The undergrowth grew thickers, wilder, and at times it felt like the vines and strands grabbed at me, seeking to pull me to the ground.

Perhaps predictably, the Baba Yaga seemed to suffer from no such hindrance, as she seemed to simply slip through the forest like a fish through water; leaving me to flounder and bumble my way after her.

Occasionally I would see things lurking in the darkness, usually out of the corner of my eye. Flashes of movement, pinpoints of light that seemed to dance and sway at the edge of my vision.

I kept a hand close to Harbinger's hilt, ready at any moment for action. While I didn't think it was likely that the Baba Yaga would deliberately have me harmed, I had been around beings like her long enough to know they often didn't realize that things that were harmless to them were deadly to mortals. What could be a magical mosquito bite to her could suck me dry until I was a dried up husk.

Ahead of me the Baba Yaga stopped for a moment before what almost seemed to be a wall of vines, she gathered herself up and jumped, disappearing beyond them.

I eyed the huge mass of greenery skeptically, particularly the very sharp thorns that ran along the surface.

It was while I hesitated there that I was suddenly aware of a sharp buzzing sound. I turned my head and my mouth went dry.

There were hundreds if not thousands of small pinpoints of light in the shadows behind me; eyes. And every single one of them was looking directly at me. The noise took on a faster, almost frantic pitch and as one they moved closer.

I turned back to the wall of vines and taking a deep breath, leapt at it.

I tumbled onto the other side and plunged straight into a body of water. Coughing and spluttering as I shot upright.

"Now is not the time for a bath birdman."

I looked up to see the Baba Yaga crouching on a large branch that hung over the water, her eyes bright.

I bit down on my tongue to stop the acerbic retort that nearly wrenched itself out of me; reminding myself that a certain Qrow Branwen could be vaporized as a consequence of saying it. Instead, I looked around, trying to get my bearings.

We were in a small clearing, I was currently in a small lake that was at its edge. We were surrounded by walls of vines that stretched up in a roof far above our heads.

The sole source of light was a tall, iron lamppost that filled the entire area with a soft glow.

The Baba Yaga lightly jumped off of the branch, landing on the shore of the lake, "Come when you are clean." She teased.

I grumbled a little, making sure to keep it under my breath and referring to the lake rather than the eldritch creature and I began wading towards the shore.

The water was black as night, almost seeming to devour the light that touched upon it. I tried very hard not to think of the hundreds of different things that could be lurking under the surface, keeping my eyes firmly on the ground ahead of me.

It was a relief as I finally reached solid ground, unfortunately I was also soaking wet. I twisted my shirt and waved my arms, trying unsuccessfully to get rid of at least some of the excess water.

As I did so I felt something large in my pocket, I frowned and I reached into it and pulled out a large stone.

With a shock, I realized that it was the Essence of the Mother. I had been so caught up in everything else that I had completely forgotten about it.

I winced, no doubt Sarongar would be slightly displeased to have waited a little over three years for the plain-looking rock I now held in my hand.

I pocketed the stone quickly, that was something to take care of as soon as possible. I looked up at the Baba Yaga, but she wasn't looking at me, instead walking over to the lamppost.

She turned around and then beckoned to me.

I joined her at the lamppost and she gestured to it, "Put your hand on it." She told me.

I did so and a bolt of energy raced up my arm and I let out a gasp. The iron beneath my hand was practically thrumming with power; and I could feel it twist and turn as the Baba Yaga began murmuring under her breath.

Finally, she took a deep breath and withdrew her hand. There was a rumble and I looked up to see the wall of vines across from us churn and writhe. They shifted into a large tunnel, and then fell still.

"That is the way birdman." The Baba Yaga said, "Walk that path and you shall reach the survivors that you seek."

I bowed my head to her, "Thank you once again my lady." I said, "It has been a privilege to bask in your beauty once more."

The Baba Yaga preened slightly and then waved me off, "Go birdman, may you fly well."

I began to walk towards the tunnel when I saw something drop from the vine canopy above our heads.

I frowned and looked up and what I saw made my blood run cold.

A black, tarry layer was starting to form, covering the greenery completely, drops of it were starting to collect and fall, coming down like a foul rain.

"Hello, Qrow." The familiar voice oozed, "It's been a while, so nice of you to finally join us all for Armageddon."

I unsheathed Harbinger, "Yeah, about that… I'm afraid I'm gonna have to stop that from happening. I'm rather attached to this world."

"It's not really up to you anymore I'm afraid." Specimen 1347 replied, "I have another-"

"This is not meet." The Baba Yaga suddenly said, she lifted a hand and there was a deep humming sound. The vines above suddenly spasmed and warped, as though a giant invisible fist had slammed into it.

The black tarry substance of Specimen 1347 disappeared, leaving only vines. Within moments however, it was slowly leaking back in.

"Oh sweet forest child." Specimen 1347's voice echoed around the clearing, "You've been playing hard to get for so long, a bee in my bonnet. Give up the ghost, let me whisper my nothings into your ears. Let me in."

I watched in disgust and horror as things began forming, clinging to the vines with twisted, alien limbs and claws. Empty eyes and mouths opened and yawned at us, letting out low groans and growls.

"Birdman." The Baba Yaga said quietly, "Go now, I will close the way behind you."

I looked at the growing horde of monsters above us and remembered the exhaustion that I had felt earlier from her empathetic aura.

Endless hordes of an all-devouring darkness against an extremely powerful, but exhausted eldritch being.

It wasn't hard to do the math.

I sheathed Harbinger and bowed my head, "My lady, it has been a great privilege." On an impulse, I grabbed her hand and brushed my lips across the back of it.

The Baba Yaga's eyebrow lifted sharply and then she smiled softly, "Likewise… birdman."

I turned and ran for the tunnel, and I could feel as much as hear the creatures of Specimen 1347 leaping down at my back. There was a hum of power and a screech, a second later the tunnel caved in behind me and darkness swallowed me up.