Notice - 7th March 2021 - There will be no update today as I have been advised by my doctor to take a full 24 hours with no screen access. When I asked if writing would be okay, she replied "absolutely not - why would you think that any better" and I think I got the message. Had the choice of missing today's chapter or tomorrow and want to keep Knight of Salem up to date as I have been loving that story recently.

Cover Art: Z-ComiX

Chapter 79

Qrow moved through the outskirts with surprising grace for an Arcanist. His simple clothing worked to his advantage, while Ruby risked snagging her robes on every upturned root and sharp bush she passed. They made their way deeper, until the sounds and sights of the farmlands far behind faded away entirely, and only the chirping of crickets and tweets of birds remained.

"Are we really hoping to find a single person out in all this?" Ruby asked. "It's not like we'll just stumble across their footprints. This isn't even close to where Jaune, Merlot and I saw him."

"Have faith," Qrow said mysteriously.

"I might if I knew what we were doing."

They'd been travelling for an hour now and there hadn't been any Grimm to see, nor signs of people. That was a little worrying since there were meant to be the poor and desperate living in the Outskirts closest to the city, people they should have by all accounts run across already.

"Can you at least tell me what we're looking for?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing," Ruby repeated, voice and face flat. "So what, we're just wandering around aimlessly?"

"Pretty much."

There had to be more to it than that. Keep your secrets, I don't care. Crossing her arms, she kept up after him, scanning their surroundings but not seeing much other than trees, bushes and the occasional squirrel dashing up a tree. The ground quickly became uneven, gradually leaning upward until she had to clamber over rocks and small rises to keep up with him.

"I'm surprised you're keeping up." he said. "Most nobles can't walk this far."

Was that a challenge? Suspicion? "I did have to walk all the way from Menagerie."

"Hmm. How did you pull that off by the way?"

He's suspicious. Ruby's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't let her voice do the same. "I walked. It wasn't exactly easy."

"How did you eat?"

"There were villages along the way. I stopped at them and traded jewellery and clothing for food and coin. I gave up everything other than my Arcanum to get here."

"Not like you could have given that away if you tried. Well, resourcefulness is a good quality. As is endurance. Perhaps you'll tell me one day how you got past all the Grimm surrounding Menagerie, especially since no one else did."

"I've already told Lady Goodwitch. Ask her."

Ruby smiled snidely, knowing he wouldn't. Qrow looked annoyed as well but kept going in silence. He definitely had his suspicions and wasn't afraid to poke and prod, but if he thought she'd trust him with how little she knew of him, he had another thing coming. He's an Investigator. That's the last kind of person I need poking into my life before the Collegium.

"I have the distinct feeling you don't like me." Qrow said.

"I don't know you. Lady Goodwitch told me to come here and work with you, but I've only known you for a couple of hours. What do you expect?"

"Respect?"

"Respect is earned."

Qrow laughed and came to a sudden stop. "It's refreshing to hear someone say that for a change. Right. Right. I'll endeavour to earn your respect then, Lady Rose. And while I'd like to start by catching our errant Arcanist, it seems he hasn't fallen for my trap."

Ruby came to a halt behind him, pushing a tree branch out her path. "What trap?"

"My trap. Our trap. Us." Qrow planted his hands on his hips and looked around. "Strange. I wonder if this means he or she isn't operating out of this area. We should have been attacked otherwise."

The realisation slowly trickled in. "We're bait!?"

"In a word."

Ruby wanted to blast him with fire to the back of the head. He could have warned her they were going to be playing bait to lure out some potentially dangerous Arcanist. Forget eccentric, this guy was plain irresponsible.

"Don't look at me like that. You wouldn't have been in any danger. Besides, don't you think it's strange?"

"Not really. If it's one person then it's not like they'd notice every single person entering the outskirts. Maybe he's asleep or on the other side of the forest."

"Oh, I don't doubt that, but I was referring to the Grimm." Qrow smiled. "Or the lack thereof. Last I checked, we were supposed to be surrounded by an ever-increasing number of Grimm. So, where are they?"

The forest had no answers. It wasn't silent by any means, but the tapping of a woodpecker and the rustling of leaves and wind wasn't what he meant. Where were the Grimm? Why hadn't they been challenged? Yang and Blake had apparently been attacked after only going a little in, and the same was true for when she, Jaune and Merlot entered. Qrow and here were almost two hours into the forest and they hadn't seen a thing.

"Maybe the Grimm cull is working…"

"Perhaps." Qrow hummed. "Far be it for me to doubt the work of our colleagues but I'm not convinced. We're in the southern edge of the forest. Most of the efforts on culling the Grimm have been to the north, east and west. Do you know why?"

"Because… those directions are more important to the city…?"

"You're quite the cynical one, hm? No. It's because the teams culling Grimm are looking for Grimm, and the highest reported densities are in those directions. You don't hunt deer at the bottom of a lake or fish in the open forest. You go where your prey is. Those teams are heading west, north and east because their job is to find Grimm, not traipse around the forest."

"I get it. So, why is the south clear?"

"That's the big question, isn't it?" Qrow looked around and huffed. "I'd suspected it might be because our Rogue Arcanist was operating from here. He shouldn't want to stay near Grimm and the absence might be his own efforts at culling them."

That… made a lot of sense. She hadn't thought of it that way but the evidence Qrow had been looking at wasn't tracks or sightings of the Shadow Arcanist, but the absence of things that might hunt him. The lack of Grimm to the south was the suspicious sign.

I didn't even think about it…

"There's a possibility this is still the case and he or she is simple afraid of us and staying hidden."

"How would we even know?" Ruby asked. "If it's the Shadow Arcana then they can make themselves invisible."

"Two things." Qrow said. "First, while they can hide themselves, they cannot hide evidence of their passing. A campsite, food, smoke or fire. Secondly, I've a special little something to see through illusions." He smirked. "I wouldn't come looking for someone I know can turn invisible if I didn't."

"But they're not here…"

"They're not here," he agreed. "Do you know what that tells us?"

This time, Ruby thought on it for a few moments, wanting to have a better answer. If not to prove herself then at least to not look like an idiot. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy. It could mean a whole lot of things and she didn't know if she was meant to pick one or go with many. In the end, she chose the safe option.

"It could mean he lives in the city and only comes out here when he wants or needs to. Or it could mean he lives further away and is operating from a distance. Or…" Ruby bit her lip. "No. Never mind."

"No. Go on. Even the most ridiculous of thoughts has value."

True, but this sounded stupid even to her. "Well… what if he lives among the Grimm anyway?"

"Hmmm. That's an interesting idea. Not one the old fossils back home would feel comfortable thinking on, but an idea all the same. What if he can live with them? What does that mean? That he can control them? That he can cloak himself from them? One of those is more dangerous than the other, not only to us but to the long term survival of Arcanists in general."

"Do you mean the panic it would cause if we could control Grimm?"

"Exactly. You've heard or seen of the balance of power, I'm sure. Authority and magic don't always interact peacefully. There are those who claim authority by right of power and conquest, and well, what better a tool for both than magic? The Collegium goes to great pains to make sure we don't appear too powerful, too difficult to handle. I can't imagine how that might change if it got out even a single Arcanist could influence and lead armies of Grimm."

She thought he was being whimsical when he said he couldn't imagine the repercussions, but she wasn't so sure all of a sudden. What would they be? Extermination of the Arcanists? Exile? What would that lead to? If magic users were persecuted and hunted, then they'd probably start trying to defend themselves. Take vengeance. Establish their own settlements. Would that eventually lead to war? It might just. In the short term, riots and attacks and Arcanists being found dead or forced to kill people in self-defence.

That would only get worse if the Grimm started attacking and people blamed us for it.

It was amazing just how much the Collegium teetered on the edge of a knife. A push either way could doom it. Was that her problem, though? The Collegium chose that balance. They could have gone for an easier peace, but they purposefully made things like this. That they'd go so far as to alter people's memories, if that were true, only made it worse.

"What now?" she asked. "If our person isn't here and neither are the Grimm, do we go back?"

"Not yet." Qrow turned and began moving again. "I'm curious as to why the south is ignored. With how many Grimm I've had reported to me, there should be enough to fully encircle the city. Why give us a way out at all?"

Sighing, Ruby followed.

/-/

Yang looked up at the low bough of the tree and the Shadow Arcanist sat on it, her back propped against the trunk and one leg dangling down. She judged the distance before deciding against it. Maybe Ruby could have made it up, but she'd as likely fall down. Ahead of Blake, and by extension Yang, the farmland rolled on, with the watch towers standing tall above the buildings. Beyond that, the new palisade wall continued to be built, a curvy, wavy mess that less encircled the city and more drunkenly meandered around it.

"They built a wall outside of Menagerie as well." Blake said. "The first line of defence, they called it. It didn't make a difference."

Leaning back on the trunk, Yang sighed. "Well aren't you a bundle of sunshine this morning. Any other miserable thoughts you want to share with the world?"

"As things are going, Vale will fall."

Yang swore. I was being sarcastic. Not that she didn't in some small way agree, but still, there were things that could be known without being said out loud.

"There is a small difference, Blake. Menagerie came out of nowhere, but Vale knows another city fell. That means everyone will take the threat a lot more seriously here."

"I haven't seen any evidence of that so far. Same wall we built, same culls we took part in and the same hiding of the evidence our own Collegium performed. This might as well be a repeat."

"Is it that bad?"

"It's almost identical…"

"Then what's next?" Yang asked. She wasn't sure she wanted an answer to that question. She had a feeling Blake was going to give it either way. "If it follows the same path…"

"If all goes the same, the farmlands will be overrun first. Maybe they'll have people retreat back to the walls or maybe there won't be time. Either way, the gates will be closed, and the Grimm will turn the area outside into a wasteland. That'll continue for a while as they build up numbers or rest on their slaughter, whatever it is the Grimm like to do, and then they'll assault the walls."

"And from there, the end?"

"Pretty much." Blake's leg kicked above Yang's head, swaying in the air. "I'm not sure what can be done by then. I'm not sure what can be done now or why I thought Vale would be any different." A heavy, listless sigh. "Maybe it's too late anyway. The chance to make a difference was before the Grimm arrived in any real number."

"Giving up already? Going to run out on us?"

Could she blame Blake if she did? Well, yeah, and she totally would for throwing Ruby into this mess in the first place. The Grimm would have reached us eventually if she wasn't here though, and I'd have died in the floods. Sighing, Yang reached up and tapped the back of Blake's heel, making the Arcanist glance down.

"Stick around."

"Why?" Blake asked. "Because you'll make something work?"

"Probably not. Beats always running away though, doesn't it? If all else fails, us three will get out of this together and hit the road. If you have to run off to another city, might as well not be lonely while you're doing it."

Blake stayed silent for a long moment before a soft chuckle broke past her stony demeanour. "Was that supposed to comfort me?"

"Not really. If shit goes off, the three of us run. Maybe we drag some of Ruby's friends along if they want to come with. Nothing about that is comforting, but at having a plan is better than not, right?"

"Right."

Blake sighed and swung down from the tree, landing gracefully in front of her. Yang rolled her eyes.

I could do that if I felt like it.

"We might want to start making plans to run now. It won't be long until the attack comes."

"Fair enough. Not like I have much to bring along. Just me, some food and Ruby. Speaking of, we'll have to convince her this is the best idea. Which… may or may not be difficult. Depends how invested she is in everything higher up."

"The Collegium won't be any safer than the slums, Yang."

"Hey, I believe that. It's not me you have to convince. The problem is Ruby…"

/-/

"It's still here."

Qrow made a pleased sound as he approached the large circle of standing stones present in a clearing far away in the southern reaches of the forest. The stones looked like they'd been arranged in a rough circle, but they weren't hewn or carved in any way. The jagged spikes appeared more like talons reaching up from the ground.

"What is still here?" Ruby asked with a sigh. "Some rocks?"

"Just rocks, yes. I used to come out here when I was younger and wanted to get away from the city."

"Isn't that a little dangerous for a noble?"

"Of course. You tend to think you're invincible when you're young, however. I had my bow and my knife, and I'd been on a few hunting trips with my father by then. I assumed I could handle any animal I came across."

"Could you?"

"Never came up." Qrow walked up to one of the standing stones and ran his hand down its rough side. "I'm not sure if that was luck on my part or if the animals ignored this area. Probably not," he added thoughtfully as a pair of hares dashed out of the circle and away from them. "I suppose the wolves prefer the larger meadows the deer frequent."

Ruby closed her eyes and concentrated on the stones. There was no magic to them, or at least none that she could sense being active, but there was a lingering… something in the air. Something faint and distant, like the smell of an animal that had been by days past. It felt… familiar.

"What's that magic? Do you think the Shadow Arcanist has been here?"

"No." Qrow's answer was final. "What you're sensing is ambient magic from a discharge held a long time ago. There was a battle here, you see. I should know because I was in it."

"This is your magic…?"

"No. Yes?" His face puckered up. "Strange. I can remember a fight here but not the exact details. It was a Rogue Arcanist from what I recall. Someone powerful. She – no, he – was chased here. I was hunting him." Qrow nodded, more confident in his answer. "His name is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite remember. It doesn't really matter. He was enacting a ritual that would have caused great damage to the Collegium and I stepped in to stop it."

"A ritual? What's that?"

"Just a big spell that requires more elements. It's no different from any other magic but we classify spells as rituals when they require… a little more."

"Like human sacrifice?"

"What?" Qrow rounded on her in horror, then laughed. "Not that dramatic. Rituals are just for when the level of magic you're doing is something a single person can't handle on their own. You offset some of the concentration with ritualistic elements. How best to explain? A spell is all about following a very specific set of motions and laws, correct?"

Not for her, sure, but for everyone else. Ruby nodded.

"Now, if I told you to summon some water and make it swirl, you could achieve that with intense concentration. Even so, a lot of people will swirl their hands as so." He started to rotate his hands as if he was stroking an invisible ball. "This doesn't do anything to help but the act of moving your hands helps you visualise what it is you're doing. Like counting with your fingers makes the task easier."

"Okay…"

"Rituals are like that. Instead of having to achieve levels of concentration and focus beyond what any person can realistically handle, you offload the burden on chants, items and ritualistic circles. They're not necessary but they make the task easier. If the spell is big enough, they can feel necessary. The creation of the belltowers in the Collegium is one such example."

"Wouldn't that just be Black Arcana magic?"

"It is, but it's a creation so complex that one Arcanist cannot do it alone. They are made by three or four Black Arcanists working in concert – thus, a ritual. That was what was happening here. He wasn't summoning some terrible beast or opening a portal between dimensions or some such, but he was putting a lot of ambient magic into the air. That lingers."

So, that was what she could sense. The dying magic of a dead Arcanist. That felt so weird. "Why doesn't the Collegium have this feel to it? There have to be people dying there all the time. Old age and stuff."

"It does. As does any city. The leading theory is that the magic dissipates or is absorbed by people, slowly diffusing. Here, where there are few people and animals, it lingers. To be fair, this was only fifteen years ago. Give it another five and it will probably be gone."

"Is it strange the Grimm aren't led here? Or the Shadow Arcanist?"

"Grimm hunt active sources of magic." Qrow said. "As for our friend, well, he may be avoiding this area because of the implications. If one of us hunted down and killed a Rogue Arcanist here before, he wouldn't want to make his base in the same area. We – or I – know this place exists. It might also make him easier to track, more magic in the air for us to sense and be led to."

"What was the ritual the person was doing here fifteen years ago?"

Qrow's mouth opened and then closed. His eyes narrowed and he looked around, rubbing his arms. "I don't really remember the specifics. He was an arrogant man, and it was a choice of his life against another. A lot of the things you deal with in my – our – line of work don't always make sense. Or if they do, they only make sense to the madman doing it."

Ruby wanted to ask more on that but it really wasn't important to their current situation, or the fact it was getting on in the afternoon and they were still hours outside the safety of the city walls.

"Does this answer the question of why the south is clear? Or give us any ideas on what to do next? We don't even know if this person is responsible for Ozpin's murder-"

"Whoah there, that's still a secret."

"Who's going to hear us all the way out here?"

"You never know who might be listening. As for your other question, the answer might just be simple. Our intruder isn't active in the south because he is based opposite to it." Qrow pointed in what Ruby assumed was a northernly direction. "If he really is involved with, following or leading the Grimm as we suspect, then it makes sense they would stay near him. The fact they've been seen to the west and east is because Grimm naturally wander and hunt prey. The fact they are not here is because they are not wandering far from our target, and that means our target is north of the city."

"And we're on the wrong side entirely." Ruby complained.

"Or the right side. Unless you want us to be faced with an enemy who might well have the power to conceal his presence and command the Grimm." Qrow teased. "I, personally, do not. Our goal today was to isolate where he is, not to engage." Under his breath, he added, "Something like that I'd want a full team of Crimsons for."

Good point. "Does that mean we're going home?"

"For now, yes." He walked by and ruffled her hair. Ruby yelped and pulled away, and even Qrow appeared shocked by what he'd just done. "Sorry. I used to do that for… You remind me of an old friend." He rubbed his hand on his coat. "That was a little inappropriate."

"This Summer person?" Ruby asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

This was her mom she was talking about. Her mom who had apparently known a noble who was an Arcanist. Known him well enough to have him rub her hair and call her an old friend. Mom never mentioned that. Neither did dad. Why? Did something go wrong, or did she not think it was important?

"Hmm. Summer Rose." Qrow paused, looking away. "Of course, that's no business of yours, is it? You've never even heard of that person."

"I haven't. You just keep bringing her up…"

"Well I shouldn't. Summer is dead. Died a while back." Qrow shoved his hands into his pockets. "And she didn't have a child. That much I'm sure of. Come on, Rose. Let's get back before Goodwitch has my head for keeping you out late."

Didn't have a child…?

/-/

"You're back." Glynda looked up from her work with what Ruby could have sworn was an amused smile. It was gone before she could point it out, replaced with the professional calm she was known for. "How was your experience with Qrow?"

"I can see why you said he was eccentric…"

"Oh? Do tell."

"He's paranoid, stubborn, intrusive and made us walk for hours south of the city only to decide that's proof the Shadow Arcanist is north instead. We don't even have proof of that other than the fact we didn't find him or any Grimm to the south."

"No Grimm?" Glynda asked. "None at all?"

"Um. No. He said that was suspicious…"

Her eyes narrowed. "Explain."

She'd have thought Qrow would send a message to Glynda with all the details, but she must have beat it back. Glynda listened silently as Ruby told of the day's waste of time, her eyes hardening and fingers drumming on the table. Once Ruby was done, she sat back.

"He's right. That is suspicious. The Grimm should be spread out everywhere, not congregating to one side of the city. I can't believe none of the teams sent to cull them noticed."

"They probably just looked for the closest Grimm they could find."

"I realise that. Blasted Crimsons are so focused on fighting they don't pay attention to anything else. Let that be a lesson to you," she said sharply. "Think always of the bigger picture. Actions are meaningless unless they generate results. Killing Grimm is pointless if we aren't denting their numbers."

"Doesn't it buy us time?"

"I would certainly hope so. Sadly, I can't say that it has." She turned away and wrote something down quickly, sealing it an envelope but not handing it over. "Continue to work with Qrow. His methods may seem bizarre but he's our best for a reason – he gets results. Perhaps it's his eccentricity that lets him notice things others cannot."

"I think he wants to go north. Should we take an escort?"

"Qrow would never allow it. They'd only slow him down – his words, not mine. The man can fight, so you should be fine. We also can't spare any teams because we need to keep culling what Grimm we can find."

"Can't I take Jaune…?"

"The Huntsmen are already actively killing Grimm. None can be spared. That goes for your friend, Pyrrha, as well. Our focus is on preventing the Grimm gaining the numbers needed to storm the city. If there is a Rogue Arcanist causing this, Qrow shall be more than capable of dealing with them. Assist him but stay out of his way. He shall handle anything overly dangerous."

This seemed a little… dangerous for someone of her experience to handle. Reckless, too. Hadn't it been a rule before that she couldn't go outside without mastering a certain number of offensive spells? Whatever happened to that?

"I do have some good news for you, however." Glynda said. "Your friend Weiss Schnee has passed her trials and joined the White Arcana."

Ruby's face lit up. "Weiss did!?"

"Indeed. Her second try was successful, and she was welcomed in earlier today. I'm sure you will want to go and congratulate her."

"Y-Yes." This was great. Amazing. I knew Weiss could do it! "I… I'll go do that now. If that's okay?"

"Of course. You're dismissed."

Ruby shouted her thanks and raced out the room, taking the stairs three at a time and running away. Behind, Lady Goodwitch leant back in her chair and closed her eyes.

"I feared as much," she whispered. "Your decision has come back to haunt us, Qrow. As I warned you it would…"

Finally some good weather around here. Been out with my dog today – took her to the woods for a walk, hence this chapter being a little late in the day. No one else there, so we had fun chasing sticks and with her sniffing every single bush we came across. Fun time.

Next Chapter: 7th March

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur