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RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, Salt and Sanctuary belongs to SKA studios.
Chapter 35: The City
Spectre sighed as he knelt down. He splashed some of the water in his face. The coolness of the river rapidly brought him back to full awareness. The trio had found this river a couple days ago and had been following it southward.
"How long do you think it will be until we get there?" He heard Ruby ask as he stood up.
"I have no idea." Weiss replied, annoyed. "It's a lost city. The keyword here is lost."
"I know, I'm just… bored." Ruby complained. "We haven't even had a good fight since we were on the boat."
"I know." Weiss said. "You've reiterated this point every hour since we landed, except for that one small pack that you killed."
"I'm not complaining." Spectre stated as he rejoined the two. "It makes life easier."
"That it does." Weiss agreed.
"Still bored. Where are the Grimm… or the Darkborn for that matter?" Ruby asked.
"The Grimm are gathered in areas of negativity, current or recent." Weiss replied. "It's why places like the Emerald Forest and Mountain Glenn have such high populations."
"I know, they're attracted to negativity." Ruby replied. "What about the Darkborn?"
"The only thing I can think of is that Azredak has them fulfilling other purposes right now." Spectre answered. "Besides, we are very far out in the wilderness. I doubt he'd be able to easily find us."
"Maybe, but we did see that one Wyrm yesterday." Ruby countered, kicking a rock into the flowing water.
"Yes, but I don't think it saw us." Weiss said.
"Probably not." Spectre agreed as he thought back.
The Wyrm had flown overhead and circled around for a few minutes. It appeared to have been searching, but it was alone. Spectre had no idea what to think concerning the monster. It had flown north after that.
"Spectre?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah?" Spectre replied, shaking himself from the memory.
"Look." Ruby said and pointed ahead of them.
Spectre looked and saw a most interesting sight. Spanning the river was a bridge. An incredibly old looking bridge. The three made their way closer. The stones were old and weathered. It appeared as if vines and tree roots had grown along it. Upon closer inspection, Spectre would bet that they were the only things holding the old bridge above the water. The three saw that part of the bridge appeared to be missing.
"It's a bridge." Ruby stated, pointing out the obvious. "Well… half a bridge."
Spectre tapped his foot against the ground. It was far more solid than the dirt and grass they had been walking on earlier. Looking down, Spectre could see the remains of an old cobblestone road. Spectre followed the road with his eyes and saw that wound deeper into the forest, in a roughly southwestern direction.
"What do you want to bet this leads to Aurum?" Spectre asked, pointing at the road.
"I doubt it." Weiss said.
"We don't have any other leads though." Spectre replied.
"True." Weiss conceded. "If this does lead to Aurum, how has no one ever found it before?"
"I don't know." Ruby said as they started walking. "But neither that bridge nor this road have been maintained."
"You have a real knack for stating the obvious." Weiss said.
"I have an idea about that, actually." Spectre interjected before the two could start bickering.
"And that is?" Weiss prompted.
"Just an observation about Remnant, but this world is very… isolationist. Very… sequestered." Spectre began. "From what I can see, there exists little to no land transportation between the kingdoms. When people do go between kingdoms, it's almost always by air or sea. And, if you're walking through a forest for a long time, every tree starts to look like every other tree. Whatever catastrophe drove people away from Aurum, either killed everyone who held knowledge of its existence, or they were never able to find their way back."
"There are nomads and bandit groups that travel exclusively by foot." Weiss pointed.
"Yes, but most of them live north of Vale." Ruby interjected. "Besides, a large portion of land on Sanus is uninhabited and unexplored."
"That goes for most of Remnant." Weiss added.
"With these thoughts in mind, it doesn't seem so far-fetched that Aurum could just disappear. But, obviously, Jaret did know of its existence." Spectre said.
"How did he know of it?" Weiss asked.
"No idea. But I think we'll find out soon." Spectre said.
The three lapsed into silence as they continued to walk. The road wound through the woods. The silence lasted long into the night. The only noises they could hear were the occasional chirping of bugs, and the distant sounds of flowing water. The further down the road they went, the quieter the river became.
They had to camp again for the night. As had become the norm, their journey the next day consisted of nothing more than walking. This pattern of walking and camping continued for two days. It was around noon on the third day when things changed. And Spectre did not like said change.
"Do you hear that?" Weiss asked.
Ruby and Spectre stopped to listen. They heard the faint sound of waves breaking on the shore. Spectre scowled at the sounds of the sea. They walked off the road towards the sound of the sea. The trees cleared and they saw the sea. A short distance from the tree line, the ground gave way to a small drop. From that drop was a beach, then the sea.
Spectre looked along the shore in both directions. Down the eastern direction was nothing but sand and sea. West, however, Spectre could see a structure near the horizon. Whatever it was, it stood tall.
"I think that's Aurum." Spectre said, pointing at the tower.
"Hopefully." Ruby replied.
The three continued their trek to the city. They stayed along the edge of the beach since they could see a ruin. They walked for a couple hours. The sun was beginning its descent when they finally came to view the ruined city.
The tall structure they had seen earlier was a massive crumbling tower that rose from the center of the city. The remains of the walls encircled the city, though much of the outer walls appeared to have weathered the centuries quite well. Many of the buildings were little more than crumbling rock shells. The city's main gate was lying flat on the ground, its moorings having been destroyed many years ago.
"I think this is Aurum." Spectre said.
"Yep." Ruby said, before turning to Weiss. "Do you still doubt the road leads to Aurum?"
Weiss huffed and smacked the back of Ruby's head. Spectre chuckled and they made their way into the city.
Nature had taken its toll on the ruin. Vines and moss grew on many of the stones. Roots had uplifted certain parts of the road. Doors, and other wooden structures were damp and rotted. The three split up and began exploring their find with great interest.
Spectre noted, with great interest, there appeared to be a river that ran right through the middle of the city. Bridges spanned the wide and deep canal. Interestingly enough, very little water was found in the bottom of the channel. There were a number of buckets in the bottom of the canal. Spectre figured that this was the city's primary water source, but he had no clue where the water was.
He stepped off the road and slid into the canal. Spectre tasted the water. It was salty. He spit it back out. South of him was the sea, so he started following the channel north. He walked along, kicking the occasional bucket out of his way. His boots splashed into another, larger puddle of murky water. He tested it as well. It was fresh water.
Spectre raised an eyebrow as he continued forward. He reached the city's northernmost wall. Right under the wall was a large, broken, misshapen iron grate. Beyond that was a man-made tunnel. A tiny trickle of water flowed from the tunnel and through the canal. Spectre figured that the tunnel led back to an underground freshwater spring.
However, he was more interested in the grate that was supposed to cover the tunnel. It had been bashed inwards. Spectre knelt and inspected the rusted grate. He ran his finger along the edge and was surprised when it came back. His pale fingers were black. He looked closer at what he had thought were dents. He was surprised to see that the gate was actually melted and snapped at those points.
He glanced around the edges of the tunnel. He noted two strange structures on the sides of the canal, right next to the wall. Looking closer at the tunnel, large sections of the rock had been torn free from the walls and ceiling. Parts of stone were stuck to the edges of the grate.
The Saltborn climbed out of the canal and inspected one of the things next to the wall. It was a winch of some sort. A massive chain was connected to it. The chain fell into a hole in the ground, right behind the winch. Spectre looked to the other side to see a similar winch, except that one was partially destroyed.
"What happened here?" Spectre muttered.
His musings were cut short by the terrified scream of one of his teammates. He hurried off in the direction it came from.
Ruby enjoyed exploring the ruins. Though many of the structures were old and crumbling, they held their shape rather well. Ruby walked down one of the roads and came across an imposing gate. The hinges of the gate, and the gate itself were incredibly rusted. The gate was further aged by how dented it appeared to be. It seemed so out of place. She pushed and the gate fell inward with a loud crash and a cloud of dust.
Ruby winced as the sound echoed off the ruin's walls. She entered and found herself in a courtyard that stretched to the remains of an opulent building. Large piles of gravel were right next to the wall. In front of her, a massive empty fountain protruded from the center of the courtyard. Ruby noted the fountain was decorated to like the Grimm. Beowolf heads appeared to be the spouts. Rising from the center of the fountain was an immaculately detailed Nevermore head. It would have been more impressive if half the fountain wasn't a pile of rubble.
Ruby turned to the large building. The northern wing had completely caved in. Oddly enough, the front door was smashed out. Ruby walked up and noted the marks on the door. Large, deep gouges were dug into the wood of the door. The hinges were broken off and still embedded in the frame of the door. Ruby turned around and looked back at the wall. She saw scratches on the stone that matched the size and shape of the gouges in the door, if a little thinner. She followed them to the wall next to the gate. She gasped as she realized that the piles of gravel next to the gate was rubble torn from the inside of the wall.
Ruby returned to the opulent building and climbed over the door. She looked around. The scratches that marred the door and courtyard were present in the building as well. Beyond that, this had probably been a really nice place. The floor had a beautiful mosaic tiling that repeated its pattern every few square feet. The remains of tapestries and paintings hung on the walls. A shattered chandelier lay in the middle of the floor, on top of a pile of splintered wood. To the left was a doorway filled with rubble and a scratched door right in front of it. Her right led to an open doorway that led down a hall.
At the back of the room was a grand staircase that led up to the second floor. Looking up, she decided that it would be a lost cause to try and explore. The stairs ended at a landing on the second floor. However, the boards looked incredibly rotten. She decided to venture down the hall on her right.
The hall stretched on for quite a ways. Doors dotted the hall while shattered windows allowed a breeze to flow through. Ruby checked behind each door. There was not really anything of interest behind most of them. She found a kitchen, a few dining rooms, and many piles of rubble. The only oddity was an iron door at the back end of the hall. The iron was quite rusted, and with several strong shoves, the hinges gave way.
Ruby gagged as she breathed the stale air and smelled heavy decomposition. She looked around. She shrieked as her eyes landed on a slumped over corpse. The body was incredibly well preserved all things considered. She walked into the room. It was strange. On the tables were ancient medical instruments. The corpse had the tattered robes and mask of the old plague doctors. A table in the back had a few old books, and several papers on it. Ruby walked over to them. She picked on up but couldn't understand the title. She looked at each book. None of the titles were understandable.
Two books stood out to her. One was titled De Natura Grimm. The second was titled Vitaeque Reddenda. She picked up the first book. She couldn't understand any of the text, but there were incredibly detailed drawings of the Grimm. Drawings and diagrams that were far more detailed than anything Professor Port had in his class.
She closed the book and set it down. The second book that caught her interest had a bunch of pages sticking out of it. She opened the book to view some of the pages. The text on the pages was as indecipherable as the books. Although it was handwritten, rather than printed. Also included in the pages was diagrams and drawings comparing Grimm anatomy to humans. She noted one page appeared to be a random collection of rectangles. Some of them had been crossed off. One had a circle. She closed the books and took them with her. Maybe Spectre could help.
Weiss's shriek caught her by surprise. She hurried in the direction of the sound.
Weiss was fascinated with the ruin. She was walking through a lost section of Remnant's history. Oobleck would salivate at the chance to view this place. She wandered for a ways until she reached the tower in the center of the ruined city. She walked around and saw that there was no entrance. The only thing on it was a golden plaque. She read the inscription.
Aurum
Numquam Mori
She didn't understand the inscription. She realized that the massive structure was a memorial of some kind. She turned and looked at the buildings surrounding the square. One caught her attention more than any other. It was the only building she had seen with a dome. The building was a large circular structure with a massive dome in the center.
Weiss walked towards it. The doors were massive and still intact, unlike the entrance to most of the other buildings in the ruin. Also, unlike the other buildings, was the fact that the doors were gold. She pushed them open, they were heavy, but they still moved with a loud groan. Weiss coughed as the dust settled and looked around. There were some holes in the dome that let the light in, so she could see just fine. She smiled at what she saw. It was a massive library.
It wasn't a very well-kept library, but it was still a library. A great many books lay scattered on the floor. Some of the shelves had collapsed, spilling their contents into great big piles. Weiss picked up one of the books. She was surprised at how well it was held together, unfortunately she still couldn't understand the text. She placed the book down onto a pile. She began walking around and looking at the covers of the books.
She frowned. None of the books matched the title she was looking for. The problem was that the book could be anywhere in the library. Looking through the shelves didn't appear to reveal any patterns to the organization of the library.
With a sigh, Weiss began looking through one of the piles. It didn't take long for her to realize that their goal wasn't in the first pile. Nor was it in the second or third. She was digging through the fourth pile, when she spotted it. A large black tome with gold lettering. Libri de Condemnabitur. Weiss smiled and opened the book.
She sighed, of course it would be the same unknown language that the rest of the books were in. However, unlike the rest of the books. This one appeared to be entirely handwritten. It also had several drawings and diagrams. All hand done. Some of them were… odd. One of the diagrams was of a human skeleton. It was immediately followed by a diagram of two more human skeletons. The odd thing was that each diagram had less and less information about it. She came across one page that showed a drawing of two beings standing on a planet. One was dark, one was light. The text was as indecipherable as everything else.
The next page appeared to be the start of a different section. She actually recognized the two words on top of the page. Memento Mori.
Weiss shrugged and turned the page. Her eyes widened as she looked at the two drawings on the page. She couldn't turn her eyes away from it. A metal point came to rest under her chin. It pushed up; her head followed.
"Isn't that interesting." A voice rasped.
The lanky being in front of her grinned wickedly. It had one of its swords pointed right at Weiss's throat. A jester's hat rested over its head.
"Lord Azredak will be most interested in this book, don't you think?" The thing rasped.
Weiss gulped.
"Scream for me." It rasped.
Weiss screamed.
…/…
"I'm disappointed." The Scarecrow said.
Kaira and Ronin glanced at each other. Jaret was lying before Azredak's projection.
"I sent it for the Lightborn, not the King." Azredak admonished.
Kaira and Ronin didn't say anything.
"And yet, it has failed once more. What shall I do with it?" Azredak asked himself.
"Lord Azredak, perhaps-" Ren began.
"SILENCE!" Azredak commanded. "It will not speak unless spoken to."
Ren nodded.
"Still, The King is a… fine prize. But tell, where is the Lightborn?" Azredak asked.
"They are traveling north, by sea." Kaira answered quickly. "That's why we returned with just Jaret."
"Its faith in me is most amusing." Azredak chuckled. "Bring the King to my new island. Saira will show you the way. When it arrives, it will receive its reward."
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Data Log BoS 035
Thank you to all who read this, your feedback is much appreciated. Feel free to leave ideas and recommendations for the future.
Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.
End Log S.T.K.
