Short chapter today as I need to take my father for his vaccine. Considering what happened to my mother, I'm going to be driving him there and back and keeping an eye on him for a bit.

Cover Art: Z-ComiX

Chapter 78

The dishevelled Arcanist who hesitantly introduced himself as Qrow shepherded Ruby into his living room and had her sit down. He continued to stare at her even after she'd claimed to have never heard of someone called Summer in her life.

What else could she say? Summer was her mother in Vale and this person was supposed to believe she came from Menagerie. The burning need to know how and why he knew her mom fought with self-preservation. In the end it was the fact he was of the White Arcana that won out, keeping her mouth shut. No, she had never heard of someone called Summer. No, her mother wasn't called Summer but Rosaline – a name thrown out of nowhere and not even all that original. It did its job.

Qrow continued to stare at her with that thousand mile look of his, as if he wasn't seeing her at all but someone else. He opened his mouth, closed it and snatched a half-drunken pewter cup of something off the closest table, swinging it back to finish the rest.

"So," Ruby said. "Lady Goodwitch asked me to work with you…"

"No. That's not happening, Su- Ruby." His voice rasped and he dragged his eyes away from her, turning and distracting himself in ripping open Glynda's letter. "I work alone. Always have." The parchment folded out the letter with a brief bit of magic Qrow ignored. He read it quickly.

Ruby let her attention slip across the room and as much of the house as she could see. It was a lot messier than she expected of a noble, with dust in the corners and clothes strewn around. There weren't any maids or staff to help him and he obviously lived alone.

Is he some kind of deposed or disinherited noble?

"Ridiculous." Qrow scrunched up the letter and tossed it in the air. "Burn," he whispered, and a thin trail of fire shot from his finger to incinerate it. That kind of control must have been impressive for an Arcanist. "That meddling old woman can't sit still. So, you know what this is really about, do you?"

"The Grand Arcanist's murder."

"And she up and told you that, a brand new Arcanist fresh out of lessons. What is going through her head?" He dragged a wooden chair out from his dining table, reversed it and sat with his legs either side of the backrest facing her. "So, you're from Menagerie."

"That's right," Ruby lied.

"And your mother's name was what, Margarette?"

"Rosaline."

"And your father?"

"Jacob."

"Rosaline and Jacob Rose…"

"That's right." Ruby met his eyes. According to Junior, people who lied looked away from eye contact. "Mom was the head of the House and Jacob married into it."

"Were they Arcanists?"

"No. I was the first in the family."

"New spark, huh?" Qrow's eyes narrowed. "You ever come to Vale before then?"

"No."

"Have any relatives or family in Vale?"

"Not that I know of."

"The Rose family…"

"Is dead," Ruby interrupted sharply. It felt horrible to do it, but she looked away, crossing her arms and sniffing loudly. "A-And I'd prefer if you stopped bringing it up. I'm an orphan. I have no family. I get it…"

"That's not what I…" Qrow clapped his hand to his face. "You're right. Sorry about that. Look, I'll say it loud and clear. Was there ever a member of your family called Summer? A sister, aunt or distant relative…?"

She wanted to say yes. Qrow was even giving her an opening, an excuse to claim Summer as a disinherited cousin sent off long ago for whatever reason. He knows mom. I want to know what he does!

And yet she couldn't. Blake had raised the very real possibility of Summer being a Wildmage herself, and if Qrow was one of their best Investigators, one specialised in taking down Wildmages, then he might be looking for just that opening. If the Wildmage trait really did pass through family then even a distant relative could endanger her.

"I don't know. Mom and dad never mentioned any, but I never asked. It could be that we had someone who lived far away or left the family. I was never told about them, though."

The Arcanist stood silent. He turned away from her again, sweeping a hand through his messy hair before letting it fall again. His hand came down his face to pinch the bridge of his nose and he sighed deeply.

"Lord Arcanist?"

"None of that," he said. "Qrow. Qrow Branwen. If you're going to be working with me, you'll call me by name. And it looks like we will be working together."

"It's okay if you don't want to. I can go back to the Collegium."

"No. I'm not sure what's going through that crone's head but there's no arguing with her when she's like this."

"Are you sure?"

Please send her back. Give her an excuse to back out of what was looking increasingly like a really bad situation. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what he did about her mother. What if it was bad? Ruby was happy with the little she did know, the little that told her Summer was a loving mother and nothing else.

"I'm not sure of anything other than the fact we'll both catch her ire if we don't at least give this a shot. Looks like we're stuck." He grinned roguishly, or maybe it was meant to be that. He looked hungover. "Let's make the best of it, yeah?"

"Yeah." Ruby answered the smile with a weak one of her own. "Let's…"

"The work of an Investigator is daunting." Qrow said, throwing down a map of the city and its surrounding area onto a table. He unfurled and used various cups and household items to pin it down. "You see the worst of people in this job. Arcanists using their gifts for horrible purposes and good people driven to horrific extremes. It eats at you."

"Um. Why is that relevant-?"

"The Grand Arcanist was killed here." He pointed to the Collegium. There was a charcoal X drawn onto it. "The bells rang within the Collegium, which means the intruder was inside when it happened. The safe money is that he was in the tower and engaged in combat with Ozpin. We don't know that for a fact, though. He or she could have been outside."

"Wouldn't the bells have rung elsewhere if that were the case?"

"No. They don't detect people using magic – only the magic itself. If it were cast from a distance and passed into their range, they would still ring. An intruder was detected all the way out here on a previous trip." He tapped the forest. "Someone hiding themselves under an illusion and detected only by a Huntsman-"

"That was us."

Qrow stared at her.

"I-I mean that I was there. It was me, Lord Merlot and my friend Jaune. He's a Huntsman. He was the one who saw the person and then we found tracks to prove someone had been there."

"Interesting. You know, Investigators don't believe in coincidence. Admitting something like that would push you straight to the top of the list of suspects. I wonder why it didn't here…"

"I was with Jaune," she said quickly. "At the dance. We were touching when the Grand Arcanist's tower fell."

Qrow nodded with understanding. "And he's a Huntsman. I see. You're quite possibly the only person it could not have been. That explains why she trusts having you here helping me." He looked away and Ruby breathed out quickly. "You're off the list then, but that doesn't count for anyone else. There are people with a lot to gain now that Ozpin is dead."

"Who?" she asked.

"Anyone who might take his position for one. You already know Arcanists are limited to two gemstones, but the Grand Arcanist can study four. You might not realise at your age how big a deal that is. You still have options open to you." He indicated her empty gem slot. "Put yourself in the shoes of someone thirty years older, who has learned everything she thinks she can learn. Someone who is suddenly told they can't study certain topics because they've already chosen their Arcana. It's limiting. Frustrating." Qrow laughed. "Aggravating. People make hasty decisions or pursue new research that would be oh so easy if they could just have access to a third Arcana."

"Not all Rogues are dangerous," he went on. "Sometimes Rogue Arcanists just break the rules in trying to tap into a third school of magic. Their reasons might be innocent, but it's still against the law. Those people are dealt with lightly. Punished and warned not to do it again. Most don't," he said, shrugging. "Some, on the other hand, aren't so easily cowed."

"You think someone would kill the Grand Arcanist so they could do it legally?"

"I think it's a possibility, Ruby. I don't think anything yet. First lesson, don't get hooked on an idea or you'll ignore evidence that goes against it. I'm listing possibilities, not facts."

"What are the other possibilities?"

"A personal vendetta, either against Ozpin or his family. Suppression of information, such as if Ozpin was coming too close to revealing someone of dabbling in things they should not. The last, and by far the most dangerous, is an attack on the city itself."

Menagerie. The Grimm. Ruby swallowed and nodded her head. It could also be the noble faction working against the Arcanists, but if they wouldn't trust her then she doubted they'd trust someone else who had magic. There was no way normal people could kill Ozpin and collapse the tower in front of so many people, nor set off the bells around the Collegium.

"Which do you think it is?" Ruby asked.

"That line of questioning is dangerous. I don't think it's any of those or anything." Qrow pushed away from the map. "Until proven otherwise." He reached for a coat and drew it around his shoulders. "Come on. We're going outside the walls."

/-/

Qrow Branwen was an odd one as Arcanists went. Ruby was starting to get what Glynda meant when she called him eccentric. While she and every other person from the Collegium went about in their usual robes, Qrow wore black hose and a grey tunic with a hide belt. He had a brown coat instead, patched with poorly stitched leather and cloth, with a reddish-brown scrap of cloth coming down to the middle of his back like a short cloak.

He also wore a shortsword on his left hip, a few inches smaller than the arming swords of the city guard with a simple steel crossguard and a dark red hilt. His coat remained open, with two strips of cloth like belts dangling down at his sides. He walked quickly with his hands shoved into his pockets. Ruby had to skip to keep up with his longer strides.

It was she who drew attention. Qrow looked like your average middle-class merchant down on their luck out for a night's drink. He ignored everyone around him, drawing her toward the city's gate out from the merchant quarter to the farmland.

"Lady Arcanist." One of the soldiers at the gate held a hand to his chest in salute. He looked nervously at her and all but ignored Qrow. "Is there something you need of us?"

Ruby glanced at Qrow, waiting for him to speak. He didn't.

"We're going outside," she said quietly.

"O-Of course." The man stood aside and none of the others looked prepared to get in their way. One pushed the small wooden door beside the larger gate open, letting them go through without incidence.

"You're obvious," Qrow said once they were outside. "How do you intend to catch someone dressed like that?"

"Well I wouldn't be dressed like this if I knew what was going on, would I?" she fired back, earning a raised eyebrow and a tiny curl of the man's lips. "Lady Goodwitch didn't tell me I'd have to blend in with people."

"Fair enough. Come in less obvious gear next time. Ours is a job that gets easier the less we seem like Arcanists."

"Is that why you live out in the city?"

His smile fell. "Something like that. Here, wear this." He pulled off his coat and handed it to her. It was a bit warm and tatty and most nobles might have balked at it. Ruby pulled it on. It was pretty nice by slum standards, even if it was much too long for her. "That'll cover your robes a little. Being an Arcanist is good for getting doors to open but people act differently around us. I'm sure you've noticed."

Hard not to. Ruby nodded and trod after him down the well worn path leading to the left of the wall, up the worn hill that led to the fertile farmland. The sudden rise – or the depression Vale was in – was the reason for the floodwater rushing back in to flood the slums. As they rose up the hill, the well-kept farm buildings became more distinct, with the thick forest surrounding the city known locally as the `outskirts` standing in the distance.

It looked different. There was the beginning of a picket wall being constructed between the farms and the forest, a wall wherein the bottom two feet was clay and rocks of various sizes packed together, with wooden spikes poking up for the next four, making it six feet in total. Not so tall a man couldn't scale it, but enough to keep out wild animals.

"That wall isn't going to stop a Grimm…" Ruby said.

"You've heard of the attacks then." Qrow kept moving, drawing them closer and between the farms. Long fields full of crops bristled off in either direction, with much lower walls only a foot high separating one field from another. "The farmers are being told it's wild animals, though that story has worn a little thin. Hard to explain away a thirty foot Nevermore as a barn owl. Either way, Grimm are a known quantity even if most people assume they're myth. Easier to believe it's bears and wolves causing so much mayhem."

"It doesn't feel right…"

"It's not. Misinformation is being used not to protect us but keep the people here happy. There's bliss in ignorance. If they knew what really lay out there and just how helpless they are to protect themselves from it, it's likely they'd flee into the city. Everyone would. Then we'd be in a situation where Vale doesn't produce enough food to feed its population. You can guess what happens after that."

"Wouldn't better walls do something? Don't tell me cost is the only thing holding that back…"

"Walls might help." Qrow allowed. "But then, they didn't for Menagerie. Walls keep things out but doesn't destroy them. At best, it delays. The numbers will grow and grow until they can overwhelm the walls entirely. If we want to do something, we need to be proactive. Hence the culling." He sighed suddenly. "Problem is, it's hard to get much agreement in the Collegium on that. The White knows the threat and does what it can, along with the Crimson, but the other Arcana are too busy focusing on their own objectives."

"The White stands alone?" Ruby asked sarcastically. "Like I haven't heard that before."

Qrow shot her an amused grin. "You've got quite the attitude on you. I expected someone sent by Goodwitch to be a little stuffier. You must have caused her no end of drama."

"I've no idea what you mean."

"Hah. Sure. I'll believe that. Just like-" He stopped. "Never mind. You and I are going into the forest. If this person is from Menagerie like Goodwitch suspects, they may be drawn to you. Or if not, we may at least find evidence of their passing through. This isn't a safe place for any Arcanist to be. The Grimm would attack them just as much as it would us." He paused suddenly. "You can defend yourself, right?"

"I know a few spells." Out here away from the Bells, she could use her wild magic fully.

"Hmm. Stay close either way. I'm used to dealing with Grimm."

"Shouldn't we have a Huntsman with us?"

"No." Qrow shuddered. "Not them. Don't trust them – never have."

Ruby frowned. "It's not their fault they're immune to magic."

"That's not what makes them untrustworthy. Their minds, their outlook on the world; it's all twisted." He slowly shook his head, vaulting a half-constructed part of the wall and waiting for her to scramble over. "The White may find value in them, but I disagree. Having guards for the Sanctum is one thing, entrusting such dangerous people to listless automatons is another."

"It's not their fault they're that way!" Ruby shouted, angrily thinking of Jaune.

"No." Qrow agreed, looking away with a strange expression. "No, it's not. Follow me. I know this place. A… friend and I used to run away and play in the forest together when we were younger."

"Nobles running in the outskirts? That sounds unlikely…"

"You'd be surprised. Not all of us are like those stuffy old fossils you're used to dealing with. Not all of us think the same way, either."

Short chapter as I said it would be. I had to go early to help my father and everything seems okay, much easier than it was with my mother. Then again, he only has high blood pressure and isn't on the same treatments she is. I just wanted to be safe.

Next Chapter: 28th February

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur