Here's Arcanum.
Got a busy week coming up for me, and just a quick reminder to fans of Headmaster Arc who may be reading his fic, that there will be no update this Thursday due to me being at an award ceremony in Leicester.
Book 1: Wildmage
Chapter 5
Clad in a muddy brown robe and with the morning sun beating down on her, Ruby approached the gate from the Lower Quarter to the Merchant's, head low and eyes snapping left and right. Every guard was noted and memorised, every possible escape route and even the Arcanist atop the wall, who looked down not on her but the slums as a whole, was placed in her head, labelled and considered as she scanned for potential threats and more escape routes.
Ruby drew her hood up and adjusted her mantle, a simple piece of off-grey cloth wrapped around her shoulders, linked above her heart by the broach with the snarling wolf's head. Her hands lay flat at her side. It was hard to keep them there and not let them wrap about the knife she'd hidden under her robes.
Well, calling them robes was a bit much. It was a rug she'd stolen, cut short and worked a hole through for her head, then clumsily sewn a blanket onto the top as a hood. If one looked closely enough, or at the weave inside, they'd see how bad it was, but from the outside, and at a distance, it might have looked like a tatty set of robes from someone who had been travelling for too long and who hadn't had time to rest.
To better sell that image, she'd rolled around in some mud on the riverbank.
"Halt," a guard called, approaching her warily. "What business have you in the-"
Another tapped the breastplate of the first, then pointed to the broach on her chest. The first swallowed and stepped back, murmuring under his breath and calling out for the others to open the gate.
"Lord Arcanist," the guard said respectfully, allowing her to pass.
Ruby's heart raced.
That was it? That was how easy it was? She fought the urge to break into a spring the second she was through and instead walked calmly down the fancier roads found within the Merchant's Quarter, expecting an attack from behind at any moment. Or for the Arcanist atop the wall to shout out that she was a fraud. Or just to lunch a spell at her.
Nothing came. No one spoke. When she broke her façade to look back, the guards weren't even watching her and the Arcanist was still focused on the slums.
I'm through. It worked.
They thought she was an Arcanist.
Was it really as easy as a piece of jewellery and a cloak? Or was that just for the guards at the Lower Quarter? No one would dare disguise themselves as an Arcanist and expect to get away with it. The problem wasn't so much the average guards, who would back away out of fear, but other Arcanists. They had to have a way to identify their own, and she doubted getting into the Collegium would be quite so easy. That's what she had to do, though. Where else was she going to find out what a Wildmage was, and how to control her destructive magic?
Yang told me to find somewhere safe to hide. They'd never expect me to hide there.
For the first time in Ruby's life, she walked down the middle of the road in the Merchant's Quarter, walking in the open and not hiding on rooftops or alleyways. People moved out of her way, some whispering and others looking at her robes in disgust. More for their state than what she represented. A stall owner called out to her, gesturing and shouting about his fine clothes and exotic silks. Ruby pretended she hadn't heard him and kept moving. She only had about four lien on her, not even enough for a bolt of cotton.
Not wanting to run into the same people as before, Ruby crossed the bridge to the west side of the River Vale, then approached a gate to the Upper District on that side. Again, there was an Arcanist on the wall, but again they were distracted, paying little attention to the people coming in and out of the gate. Ruby joined the back of the queue and made sure her seal was prominently displayed.
"Next," a guard called. He was old and weathered, and looked bored, even at the sight of her robes. Being stationed closer to the Collegium, it was possible he was more familiar with Arcanists. He wasn't nearly as frightened or impressed as those on the lower gate had been. "Purpose?"
Ruby swallowed and tried to appear calm. If she was already being challenged here, she dreaded to think what the final gate would be like.
"Collegium." she said.
"Hm. Are you with the new influx of students?"
New students-? The Collegium must have been opening its doors to the rich and wealthy again, taking on the next batch of Arcanists. Ruby nodded quickly, taking the opportunity for what it was. "Yes. I'm joining the Collegium."
Just let me through. Please...
"Show me."
Nervously, Ruby took her broach between finger and thumb and angled it up so he could see it.
"That's not a Vale emblem."
"But it is an Arcanum," another guard said, listening in. "From one of the other Collegiums?"
Ruby nodded quickly.
"I don't recognise it. You?"
"No." The second guard looked to her. "We'll need to ask you to hang around for a moment. Why don't you come with me? I'll get you some food and drink and we can wait for someone to come and sort this out."
The guard had a hand on her shoulder before she could react. He was smiling and she knew it was meant as a friendly gesture, but Ruby's body shook. Caught. They didn't suspect yet, but she was caught. Swallowing again, she fought the urge to break away and run. That would only look suspicious. The best bet was to play along and then find a chance to escape.
Ruby let the man lead her into the guardhouse.
/-/
They left her in a small and comfortable room with a leather seat filled with goose feather and a table of rich dark wood. There was a bowl of fruit upon it which she'd been told she could help herself to. Her stomach grumbled and she picked up an apple. Running away on an empty stomach would just get her caught.
Like the ravenous creature she was, she fell on the offering. Nothing survived. It didn't occur to her that it might be for snacking. That wasn't how it worked in the slums. If food was put before you, you ate it. There was no telling when another meal might come around, so even if it left you so full you felt ill, you still forced it down. The fruit was sugary sweet and sour in places, but Ruby bit into it without pause, chewing for only as long as she had to before biting into another and starting again. The apples were reduced to cores, then nibbled clean until there was no flesh left. The banana skin were tough, but edible.
The bounty was too much for her, though.
These guards had life far too nice!
Two apples, three bananas, two limes and several grapes and oranges had fallen to her, but the bowl was still half full. There was no point wasting the meal, so she stuck a banana down her hose, filled her shirt under her robes with as many oranges as she could carry and began to upend the grapes into her pockets. It only made sense to stock up for when times were less generous, but she was so focused on the expensive food that she didn't think to watch the time, or listen at the door.
When it opened with a click, she froze. When a man in robes a dark shade of blue entered, Ruby panicked.
I got distracted. Horse piss!
And now an Arcanist had found her. Ruby stared at him, holding the grapes as though she could somehow use them as weapons. He was a tall man with grey-black hair and a moustache that tickled hi upper lip. Lithe and thin, even in his robes, he swept into the room and closed the door behind him, looking at her with an inquisitive expression.
"Hm. I was told I was meeting a young woman, not a boy…"
"I am a woman," Ruby mumbled, indignant even if she'd heard those words a hundred times before. Though her appearance might have been flat and underweight, her voice was not and the Arcanist's eyes grew a little wider.
"Ah." He coughed into his fist. "I apologise." His eyes strayed to the empty bowl on the table. "I suppose that explains your appetite. My name is Arthur, Arthur Watts. I am an Arcanist at the Arcane Collegium of Vale. You may address me as Arcanist, Sir or Mr Watts. Whichever pleases you."
He wasn't threatening her or bringing out the spells, even if he could. That didn't relieve her any, but it was a good sign. Maybe. Unless he was so confident he didn't need to show his hand. Silence permeated between them, the man standing there waiting for something.
"That was your cue to introduce yourself."
Huh, really? Why didn't he say so?
"Ruby Rose."
"Charmed." The Arcanist bowed faintly and then swept his robes back, sitting on one of the seats and gesturing for her to do the same. Seeing no other option, she did. "The guards at the gate called me to say someone had tried to enter the Upper District with an Arcanum not native to Vale. While that would normally be enough cause for intervention as it is, she also claimed to be a student. That is you, I assume?"
An Arcanum? That must have been what the seals were called. Ruby nodded.
"Arcanum are given only to official Arcanists, or those accepted into a Collegium. In the case of the latter, a student cannot leave a Collegium until they are fully qualified Arcanists. I find myself wondering just how you are here, outside of your Collegium and approaching our own."
The seal – Arcanum, whatever – had come from the faunus in the bar, and everyone knew the faunus came from Menagerie. It was a convenient excuse and Ruby went with it, having no other ideas or options.
"My Collegium fell."
Watts' eyes grew wide. "You come from Menagerie?" At her nod, he leaned forward. "Show me your Arcanum. Give it to me."
Ruby unclasped the broach and held it out.
The man snatched it and held it up to the light, humming as he inspected the wolf's head and the two empty sockets within it. "No gemstones. You're an apprentice, then? Or are you completely new?"
Not having any idea what he was talking about, she took the easy option.
"I'm new."
"I see. Did you actually get into the Collegium? Or were you sent this and told to attend?"
"T-The last one. I was on my way there when it fell."
"You are fortunate then," he said. "There were, to my understanding, no survivors from the fall of Menagerie. Unfortunate as well, for I'd hoped you might have answers to what happened." He sighed and placed the Arcanum down on the table. "No matter. Perhaps that is a mystery best left buried. So, upon the loss of Menagerie and its Collegium, you have travelled here in the hopes of joining our own?"
Ruby nodded again. Was that allowed? Would it prove her fake? There was no knowing, but it felt safer to agree with everything the Arcanist said. Nod, smile and do whatever he wanted as long as it didn't mean her walking into a cell, or the Sanctum.
"Good."
Her shoulders loosened.
"All Arcanists should be tied to a Collegium. To operate outside of one is a grave offence, one which might have found you sent to the Sanctum." The man saw her shiver and tapped his fingers on the desk. "You needn't worry about that. You did the right thing in coming straight to another Collegium. We cannot have rogue Arcanists wandering around the countryside causing problems. You did well, Ruby Rose."
"T-Then I can join?"
"No Collegium would turn away a rogue Arcanist. You're hardly that, but you were accepted into Menagerie, which makes you as close to an Arcanist as one can be without a gemstone." His eyes narrowed. "Of course, that is assuming your story is true."
Her heart froze. Had he caught her?
"This would hardly be the first time someone has tried to lie their way into the Collegium, be it out of greed, childish wonder or purposes more nefarious. An Arcanum can be faked, mimicked or taken from a dead Arcanist." He inspected the one before him, and then her. "This is yours, correct? It belongs to you and no other?"
There was a saying in the Lower Quarter, one known among all Dredgers. If in doubt, lie. If accused, lie. If caught, lie.
If your lies are found, lie more.
"It's mine."
"I'm glad to hear it. In that case, you won't mind me making sure. There are ways to test it, after all."
There were-!? Shit, of course there were. It wasn't going to be a free pass through any gate and into the Collegium, a place just as well guarded as the palace itself. The Arcanists were bound to have a way to make sure she was legit, otherwise anyone who knew what the seal looked like could mimic it if they had the skill or some money to pay off a metalworker.
Ruby eyed the window again, wondering if she could survive the drop. They were three floors up and there was no building outside for her to grab onto. The walls weren't exactly made for scaling, either. That would have defeated the point of them being walls.
Taking her silence for permission, the Arcanist cupped her Arcanum in his hands and whispered some soft words. Ruby tensed, ready to bolt past him the second he realised it was fake – the moment he'd show some surprise and let his guard down. He'd be vulnerable then. If he was like the other Arcanist, he might not have been trained to fight. They had guards for that. If she could blindside and knock him down, she might be able to steal his robes and escape.
A thin train of blue light shot out from the Arcanum in his hand and pointed to her.
To her left forearm.
Ruby froze, waiting for it to burn, sear or shackle her.
It did no such thing. It just pointed to her.
"Very good," Watts said, placing the Arcanum down and then pushing it across the table. "I had to be sure, you understand. The Arcane Collegium contains many grand secrets and works of art, any of which might be of value to those with nefarious intentions."
I – I passed? But how?
"It's on your arm, I presume?" Watts asked. "A common place for the mark. Show me."
Still confused, but slowly coming to realise she might have somehow gotten through this, Ruby extended her arm toward him. He took it and pushed her sleeve up, revealing the tattoo that the Arcanist had given her. Ruby's eyes widened as he touched a finger to her skin and the tattoo glowed faintly.
"This marks you as an Arcanist, specifically of the Menagerie Collegium," he said. "That's a shame as we'll not be able to overwrite it with our own, but it should not be a problem." He let her arm go and she pushed her sleeve back down. "In future, if someone challenges you, show them both your Arcanum and your Arcane Brand." He held out the broach to her.
Ruby clasped it to her mantle once more, hiding her shock in the quick movements. The tattoo was a part of the seal thing? But all it did was make sure the broach kept coming back. Which… now that she thought about it, was the whole damned point, wasn't it?
If an Arcanum could be stolen from an Arcanist, it would cause havoc. You could have just about anyone breaking into the Collegium and moving around the city at will, going through whatever gates they wanted, just like she had.
It wasn't that the guards had been lax in not questioning her more; it was that it was simply not possible for someone to steal an Arcanum from an Arcanist, because the tattoo would activate when it was taken too far away, making the damn thing reappear back on the Arcanist's person.
Did she know this would happen when she forced it on me? How-? Or did she just want to make me look like an Arcanist? There were too many questions. Questions she wasn't going to get an answer to as Watts stood suddenly.
"Come. You'll only be stopped at the next gate if I leave you be, and no doubt I'll be called on again. I shall escort you into the Collegium and handle your introduction myself. It will save us both time and energy."
Ruby stumbled out of her seat and ran after him.
/-/
"You will be joining the new students who are going to attend the Collegium. The official start of the new year is tomorrow, which makes you early. That is well and good considering the work that must be done to add you to the roster."
Watts stopped them at the final gate, one leading into the Collegium proper. It was the one she'd been the most worried about, and with good reason. Where the others had city guards, these were watched by the Collegium Guards. Men and women in medium armour with long red tabards and watchful eyes. Where others might have shied away from Arcanists, they nodded respectfully but calmly to Watts, then watched her like hawks.
There were also Arcanists manning the gates. Four in total.
Watts merely waved his Arcanum and said a few words to one of them, who nodded and gestured for the rest to let them through.
If Ruby had thought the Upper District was opulent, the Collegium had that beaten easily. The gate led into a huge expanse of grass and flowerbeds, with five paths of some white chalk-like pebbles cut across it, leading to the River Vale, which wound through the gardens. Five wooden bridges spanned it, then spread out in further directions on the other side.
The central path led to the largest building Ruby had ever seen, which looked almost like a palace in its own right, with ornate windows of brightly coloured glass, towering buttresses adorned with pennants and gargoyles and ornate sigils tooled from gold and silver set into the white-brick walls. It shone in the early morning sun, light reflected from gleaming white brick in a way that made the whole thing seem like it was glowing.
"That is the Academy of Magic," Watts explained, leading Ruby down one of the paths, white stones crunching underfoot as they did so. "It is not just a place for new students like yourself but is also used for many researching and working on their craft."
"Are you a teacher there?"
"I am not. I am a qualified Arcanist but have no interest in teaching."
"But isn't the Collegium a school?"
"Is that what you were told?" He laughed. "No, the Collegium is far more than just a school. The Academy of Magic, or the Arcane Academy, is but one facet of the Arcane Collegium. Its grounds make up one building and two dormitories, which you can see there and there."
He pointed down the paths leading to the right, where two large buildings stood – one bigger than the other and pressed up against the wall, and the other smaller and more ornate, stood amidst a copse of trees. There were people in robes streaming out of them, some of them as short as she.
"Accommodation for younger Arcanists. The larger one is for students from zero to no stones, while the second is for those who have earned their first stone."
"Stones?"
"Did they tell you nothing?" Watts sighed and held a hand to his face. Ruby squirmed, wondering if she'd made a mistake, but he spoke before she could. "No. It is not your fault, I'm sure. You did not have the chance to be taught."
Reaching up to his own mantle, Watts angled his broach down. It was the winding snake of Vale, but there was a difference. Apart from it being burnished to a silvery shine, there were two bright stones set into the slots. One of them was a dark midnight blue, lighter on the edges, while the other was a solid emerald. Blue and green, sparkling next to one another.
"Each of these stones represents that I have dedicated myself to master an individual Arcane School. It is a sign of specialisation. Magic is versatile, too versatile for anyone to hope to master in one lifetime. While you will be given a basic understanding of the Arcane Arts, you will have to choose what school you will follow, and it is that which you will be taught in detail. At that point you will graduate from a no-stone Arcanist, to a one-stone Arcanist."
He pointed to her empty broach, and to the eye sockets. "But you have two," she said.
"Yes. By the time you have mastered one, you will be considered a fully-fledged Arcanist, but the life and study of an Arcanist is not over there. You may, if you wish, elect to study a second school, represented by a second colour. Not everyone does," he said. "Some prefer to remain pure to the one school and master that, but many see securing a second gemstone to be a mark of honour."
"What do the colours mean?"
"They represent the different schools, of which there are many."
"What are they?"
"If I were to stand here explaining that, we would be here for hours," Watts said, sighing. "All of this will be explained when it comes time for you to choose your specialisation. Have a little patience."
"Sorry…"
"Really, it's fine. A little excitement is no big problem." Watts led her on, away from the students who were making their way toward the main academy building. "What I was saying before is that the Academy is only a small part of what the Collegium is. Apart from students, every qualified Arcanist in Vale has quarters at the Collegium."
Ruby balked. "They all live here!?"
"Yes. The Arcane Collegium is a home as much as it is a school. Toward the back – you cannot see it from here, but far at the back of the Collegium – are quarters for accommodation. It is where I live. Beyond that, there are parks, schools for even younger children, libraries and more. Everything that is required for people to live their lives exists in one way or another in the Collegium."
"But why? Why have that all in here when the Upper and Merchant's Quarters have them already?"
"Because it would be inconvenient for us to have to leave the Collegium every time we wanted something." He waved a hand, dismissing the issue. "You shouldn't worry about that anyway. Your focus will doubtlessly be on the academy, the dormitories and the specialist schools when you choose one."
"Specialist schools?"
He sighed again. "There is no end to your questions, is there? Again, Ruby, you shall learn of them when the time is right. Focus for now on what is important. We are here." He stopped them before a building that looked somewhat like a house of prayer, albeit one without windows and with two guards wearing purple robes stood outside.
They tensed on seeing their approach. They were different to the other guards. Apart from the fact they wore purple, they were also much more lightly armoured, with connecting metal plates forming a loose armour over black leather, but little more. It all seemed of very high quality, however.
"I have a student whose details must be entered into the Scriptorium," Watts explained.
"The new students have already been written."
"Extenuating circumstances. She comes from Menagerie and only reached Vale today. It wouldn't do for her to be unrecorded now, would it?"
"No." One of the guards stepped aside. "Wait here. I shall have an Arcanist come to escort you."
He stepped inside while the other stood watching, hand on his weapon. It shocked her that he'd do that so blatantly, and with Watts right there, but the Arcanist didn't seem to mind. He waited patiently and Ruby stood nearby, fidgeting slightly until the first guard returned, this time with another man who was much older and weathered, with white-grey hair and a wrinkled face.
"Scribe," Watts greeted respectfully.
"Arcanist," the `Scribe` replied. He was also an Arcanist, because Ruby could see he had the same broach, this time with yellow and brown as the gemstones. The man's eyes roamed over her. "One from Menagerie, I'm told. Interesting. Very interesting." His eyes flicked to Watts. "Also, unlikely."
"She was tested, lord Scribe. Though if you wish to do the same yourself." Watts nodded to her. "Ruby, show him your mark."
Pulling back the sleeve of her ratty cloak, and all too aware of how they scrunched up their noses at it, Ruby showed the old man the inside of her arm, where the tattoo she'd been given lay. The old man grunted and reached out to touch it with fingers that felt as dry as parchment. When it flared blue like it had with Watts, he drew back.
"Very well. Come on, then. Let's get her added to the register."
/-/
"You can leave the rest to the lord Scribe," Watts said, leading her out of the Scriptorium flanked by two more guards in purple tabards. "And don't mind the security. The Scriptorium contains the names, specialties and known abilities of every Arcanist in the Kingdom of Vale. Knowledge is power and must be guarded."
Ruby nodded, all too relieved to be out of the dusty rooms filled with guards watching her every move. Being inside there, in rooms dimly lit by candles, had only reminded her of a pressing problem that might have doomed her.
She couldn't read or write.
Through some sheer miracle – or more likely that they only trusted themselves to do it – she hadn't been asked to read or write anything down. The `lord scribe` had done all that, only demanding things like her name, her date of birth – she made that up – and whether she had any history of arcane arts in the family. She said no.
After that, they'd taken a little blood from her, pricking her thumb with a small knife and collecting a piece onto the paper, where they had made her push down her thumb to form a print. The scribe had then cast some spell on it before sealing the paper in a wooden box and pushing it into an alcove on a wall which contained what looked to be thousands of similar boxes. Given that had been only one room of the Scriptorium, she had to wonder how many more might have been stored there.
"The lord scribe will handle the paperwork to get you added to your classes," Watts said. "All that's left for me is to get you settled, and then I can get back to my research." He eyed her. "I'll also have some initiate robes sent up for you. Your current wear is… well, let us just say that it shows the rigours of your travel. As do you. You'll need a bath."
Ruby could only nod again, munching on one of the pears she'd stolen earlier. He rolled his eyes at that but didn't intervene. In all honesty, she was getting tired of spending so much time standing up and the wonder of being in the Collegium was quickly being replaced with fatigue. Yang would probably be looking for her now as well, which meant she needed to get back to the Lower Quarter and explain.
"Will we be done once I'm there?" Ruby asked.
"Yes. Someone will come to collect you for initiation tomorrow, after which you'll be expected to look after yourself. You'll have a room to yourself at first, but I expect you will be sharing. Most first years are placed in pairs. You'll find out yours tomorrow."
A room to every two people? That was lavish. I'm in the Collegium, she reminded herself, everyone here is rich.
The people she walked by as they entered the larger of the two dormitories certainly reinforced that. They moved with imperious expressions, bowing to Watts and murmuring "Lord Arcanist" respectfully, but ignoring her completely, except for those who sneered at her outfit. Well, being ignored by these people wouldn't be a bad thing. It was only bad if they started paying attention.
"This is a guest room," Watts said as he opened a door. "It has a lock on the inside. Feel free to use it as your own for tonight. I'm sure the wardens will find a room for you themselves."
"Wardens…?"
"The people who run the dormitories. They're student volunteers, not officials. You'll meet them tomorrow."
"Okay." Ruby stepped in and tried not to look too amazed at what she was seeing. There was a large bed on one side that looked comfortable with its fluffed sheet and cushions, a wooden desk at the end, pushed against the wall with a chair before it, a small bookcase and a chest of drawers. It was smaller than the room Yang and she shared but had at least twice the furniture. There was also another door leading off, which Ruby pointed to questioningly.
"Wash room," Watts said with a roll of his eyes. "Obviously."
Wait, they had entire rooms dedicated to washing? That was ridiculous. Yang would just drag the copper tub from downstairs into their room. It was a tub shared by everyone who worked at Junior's place and had begun to turn green in places. Poking her head inside, Ruby saw that her tub wasn't a tub at all, but rather a ceramic bowl of some kind, easily big enough to contain her.
How am I supposed to get water up all those stairs, though? And how can I light a fire under it if it's built into the wall?
Deciding that it might look a little too suspicious to ask that, Ruby just nodded and stepped back. If Arcanists could figure it out, she could figure it out. Unless they used a spell to do so, in which case she was screwed. Ah well, there was the river outside. It wouldn't be the first time she'd washed herself in it.
"I'll be leaving you here," Watts said, looking equal parts relieved and tired. "There are robes in the drawers. Someone will come to throw yours away in the morning, so you can leave them on the floor. Good luck with your studies." He left without anything more, and without giving her a chance to thank him. He didn't seem the kind of person to care.
Finally releasing the breath she'd been holding, Ruby collapsed onto the comfortable bed, ignoring how the mud she had all over her seeped onto the clean sheets. As she'd thought, the strange mattress was squashed down under her – and not with the crinkling of straw. It was like they'd caught a cloud in cotton and tied it up.
Well, they were Arcanists. Maybe they had.
And I'm an Arcanist now, she thought. Technically…
There was no telling how long that would last, but it didn't have to. She just needed to figure out how to safely use magic, then she could leave. Looking at her hands, she was glad to see they weren't tingling, and that the suffocating urge to use magic hadn't returned from the other night.
"It's only when I go a long time without it," she reasoned. "It's only been one night now, so it's not a problem." At least she'd be using magic here. Maybe it wouldn't come back if she was using it more often. "Now I've just got to find Yang and tell her everything is okay."
Kicking out of the bed, Ruby dragged herself reluctantly away from the promise of the bed nap ever and trudged over to the wooden drawers. She opened the top one and found several robes a light grey in colour stacked together. They were plain, punishingly so, but that was probably the point. With the gemstones representing what kind of Arcanist you were, maybe the colour of the robes was the same deal. Grey for nothing, or for new students.
"Initiates," she said, recalling Watts' words. "I'm an initiate."
Reaching out to touch one of the cloaks, Ruby grinned. Grey or not, the material was thin and soft under her fingers – way better than what she was wearing. Hauling her tattered robe off and tossing it aside, Ruby pulled a new one on and marvelled at how it waved in the air, somehow still cool to wear even as it protected her from the elements. The material must have been expensive.
They wouldn't notice if she borrowed a few, right? Looking around to make sure she wasn't being watched, Ruby tore through the other drawers, taking one from each and packing the rest back in so that it looked like there was the same amount there. She bundled the three robes up under her own and patted them down. She was thin enough that no one would see the extra weight and think anything of it.
Stuff like this would sell well in the slums, maybe even enough to feed her and Yang for a month. Ruby's eyes roved over the rest of the room, idly looking for other valuables that wouldn't be missed. Sadly, while there was plenty of silver and gold around, it was all either in the walls, lamps or on handles to doors. The kinds of things that would be noticed.
This'll do for now. Yang will be amazed when she sees it.
Amazed enough, maybe, to not explode over the face Ruby had decided the `safest` place to hide was literally in the last place anyone would think to look for her. And with good reason.
Creeping to the door and testing the handle, Ruby poked her head out, wincing when several passers-by looked her way. They kept moving, however, ignoring her, and she found some quiet confidence in that, enough to step out of the room entirely. The corridor outside had wooden panelling on the walls, with it turning to a deep red as it reached up toward an arched ceiling. Green carpets, thick and soft, lay underfoot, and torches evenly spaced down the corridor lit the way.
Everyone there was wearing the same robes as her, replete with broaches, and like her those broaches were barren, lacking any coloured stones. They were students like her, maybe not the `new ones` who were supposed to come tomorrow, but ones from last year.
Their ages surprised her. Some of them looked almost as old as Junior. Age didn't seem to mean much with magic. Maybe they'd only realised they had their powers recently. Like her, they'd still have to learn how to use them.
When no one made any move to stop or question her, Ruby began to trace her steps back the way Watts had taken her, joining on to a group of other initiates and blending in with them. They took her to the huge staircase, which Ruby made her way down, passing other students ascending on the other side, some chatting loudly with one another.
On the bottom floor, there were no rooms. Rather, it was all some kind of big living area, with loads of tables, chairs, benches and noticeboards. She couldn't read any of those, but people were commenting on what was on them, and she realised it was news about the city. Other initiates were sat around tables talking and some were even playing a card game in the corner, small stacks of lien in front of them as they gambled.
The bottom floor is like a tavern. The most well-mannered and snobby tavern ever, but still…
It was a place where the people in the dorm could gather to spend time with one another or study. That made sense, since the people here were all attending the academy. There were no guards on the building, either because they weren't important enough to protect, or they weren't important enough to have enemies. Ruby walked out without being challenged, the white stones of the path winding through the Collegium crunching underfoot.
Afternoon was just beginning to set in, and the sun was slowly descending, still bright but on its way towards the horizon and now casting grand shadows over the collegium where it would hide behind spires and towers in the main city. Tugging her hood up and affixing her broach in place, Ruby made her way toward the nearest gate. All she had to do was show them her Arcanum and her tattoo and she'd be out and free to find Yang.
Heh. Yang was going to freak when she saw her.
"Halt," a guard, this one in red, said. "Present your Arcanum."
Ruby did so, angling it out so he could see. The man looked at it, then at her robes, frowning, before he finally sighed and crossed his arms. "You're a newblood, I take it?"
Ruby flinched. "Hah?"
"An initiate." He chuckled. "Sorry. Newblood is what we call our initiates. Gets confusing if we give you all the same titles."
Theirs? Oh, the Collegium Guards. Watts hadn't shown her where they lived, but like every set of guards, they had to have a barracks within the walls they were stationed at, so they must have had their own guardhouse in the Collegium grounds. That would explain why they were so relaxed around the Arcanists. They literally grew up and were trained alongside them. That was probably something reserved for the best of the best, the most promising candidates and strongest guardsmen. The slums got the worst, naturally.
"Oh. Um. Yes." Ruby sketched what she hoped was a polite bow. "I've only just joined the Collegium today."
"I can tell. You'd know the rules otherwise."
"Rules…?"
The guard relaxed, as did those with him, ignoring her and going back to the conversation they'd been having before, leaving the first to handle her. He was a friendly-looking man, or was that just because she now wore nice clothing and didn't look like a Dredger? If he knew the truth, she was sure he'd be beating her black and blue. It worked to her advantage either way as he left his hand off his sword.
"I'm sure you'll have it explained better to you tomorrow during the initiation, but I can give you the basics. If you want to pass beyond the walls into the Upper District, you need to be a one-stone Arcanist. Unless you can present your Arcanum with a gemstone, you can't head out into the city." He smiled apologetically. "Sorry, lass."
"What!?" Ruby's voice came out weak. "But one-stone Arcanists are official Arcanists." At least as far as Watts had explained it. That could take years of study. "What about all the students here-!?"
"Confined to the Collegium. I wouldn't worry, we have everything you'll need here, including shops and places to eat, have fun or relax. There's nothing in the city you could want that you can't find here."
Except for her sister. Yang, who had no idea where Ruby was.
Ruby's breath quickened as she realised what he was saying. Confined, trapped, like a prison of its own. Why? What was the point in keeping all the Arcanists locked inside? Or just the younger ones. The older ones could obviously go wherever they wished. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe it was just because she was brand new and they'd get a gemstone in a week or two.
That would still be too long.
"B-But I'm not technically a student until tomorrow," Ruby reasoned, appealing to his logic. "If I come back tonight, it'll be okay. Right? I'll only be a few hours. It would just be like if I arrived tomorrow with the other initiates."
"I'm afraid not." The man's face hardened. "Collegium rules. Initiates are under no circumstances to be allowed to leave the Collegium."
"Without permission?"
"Under no circumstances," he repeated. "Once you enter the Collegium, the only way you leave is as an Arcanist. I'm sorry, lass. You're not getting through." He nodded at her. "Move along now. You've a busy day tomorrow." Some of her terror must have shown because he sighed and looked away. "Look, I get that you might be feeling homesick, but you'll be fine. If you need anything, talk to one of the Wardens in your dorm. They can deliver letters outside the Collegium if there are people you want to stay in contact with."
But she could not go out in person. Nodding woodenly, Ruby turned away, eyes wide and hands clenched into fists at her side. She had to force her feet to carry her away, and then not to break into a sprint as the guards watched her go.
The cloying sense of claustrophobia came crashing down, threatening to smother her. The dormitories, the fancy rooms, the shops and the parks and so much more. It all made a disturbing amount of sense now, as did the reason why they'd never seen initiates before in Vale, only ever fully trained Arcanists. It wasn't that they didn't exist, only that they were kept locked away in the Collegium.
Trapped.
/-/
"Where the fuck are you, Ruby?" Yang growled, checking yet another of her sister's hiding spots and finding nothing. They said no news was good news, but if she found what idiot said that, she was going to throttle them.
The Arcanists are still out looking for her, so she hasn't been captured. That means she's okay, just hiding. Hiding really damn well. Yang tried to be proud of that fact and not terrified. Ruby was no idiot. You couldn't grow up in the slums and be an idiot. Idiots died. Idiots ended up with their throats slit in dark corners.
Ruby was good at running, real good. And she was good at hiding and climbing too, things that made her excellent in her role as a courier and messenger.
"There's no reason to panic just yet," Yang told herself. "I told Ruby to hide. She's hidden. That's good." Scanning the street around her, Yang saw a few more Arcanists and Collegium Guards making their way across a nearby road, entering a bakery.
Maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to lead them to Ruby just yet. She wasn't sure if they believed her cock and bull story about some `guy` jumping in her window with magic looking for a place to hide. They'd questioned her for a good hour on that, along with Junior and the Malachites. They'd not said anything. No one was going to talk to the guards, not even if they were from the Collegium.
Yang growled and kicked a stone out of her path, jabbing her hands into her trousers as she stalked back to Junior's place, scowling fit to send any would-be mugger running for cover. Junior was going to have questions for her. Difficult questions. Growling, she shook her head and gave up the search for the night. If Ruby thought it was safe, she'd know where to find her.
All Yang could do was have a little faith.
"You better be okay, Ruby."
So, people will probably note that the way Ruby got into the Collegium is somewhat reminiscent of how Jaune got into Beacon in Professor Arc. It was just one of the few ways I could think to work it, and I didn't think it was worth making up some more convoluted and ridiculous way in the interests of chasing "originality" from Professor Arc. The two stories are different enough as it is.
Next Chapter: 2nd July
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