As mentioned before, no updates 23-29th December.

Chapter 21

It didn't really surprise Ruby when Weiss came back to their dorm with a white mantle wrapped around her shoulders. Almost like a shawl, it offset the grey and complimented her hair. What it did not compliment was Ruby's presence as a Wildmage, and that soured her thoughts no matter how much she told herself Weiss didn't know.

They weren't the only ones to show up to class the next day wearing coloured mantles. Apart from them and Malneux, who wore the red, about two thirds of the other Initiates in their years wore a mantle. There were more red than white, more white than green, then down to black, amber and finally blue. The Azure Arcana was sorely underrepresented, which suited her just fine.

It probably had more to do with the displays than anything. While the Crimson threw a full show of combat and the Emerald stitched people together, the Azure hadn't really gone out their way to impress. Even the Black at least showed off their wares.

There were still a fair few wearing naught but the grey Initiate Robes. As she understood it, there was no compulsion to choose so early and no real benefit to doing so. She could, if she wished, changer the colour of her mantle at the drop of a hat. It wasn't locked in until she made the choice to study in their school, the Azure Archives. Even so, a few people of varying colours were starting to intermingle, crimson hopefuls gathering off to one side while a few wearing white made tentative efforts to talk to Weiss.

Tentative. Very tentative. Half-hearted didn't even begin to describe it.

"You sure you want to join the White?" Ruby asked. "Won't you be lonely there?"

"I'm sure I can find someone a little older to discuss magic with." Weiss glanced her way. "And I'll always have you if I don't, won't I?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Then I'll be fine."

Ruby sighed. Her little attempts to sway Weiss away from the White hadn't yielded much success. That she hadn't been told off for it had more to do with Weiss being subtly flattered by her efforts than anything else, but even then, it sounded like Weiss' pleasure was fast running out. Ugh. Stupid White Arcana and their stupid Wildmage hunts.

She'd wanted to go and tell Cinder about her choice the night before, but been unable to dodge Weiss, who wanted to plan their whole future at the Collegium. She'd gone over what next colours they should take, whether they should both join the Black together after their respective first Arcana, and how if they didn't, they could still support one another in their own ways.

Honestly, she was surprised Weiss hadn't gone into marriage planning and how to tie her into the Schnee family. It was sweet, she supposed. Just kind of weird to have it happening so fast. Whether she'd act the same if she knew the truth – either the Wildmage one or her being a Dredger – was hard to tell.

"Looks like Martyn is looking to set himself up as leader of the Crimson," Weiss noted.

Ruby glanced over, seeing the tall boy waving his arms dramatically as he went on about his father, espousing the family virtues and the connections he had in the Crimson, which, if those around him played their cards right, Martyn might be prepared to swing in their favour. Additional training, access to better spells and more.

If it hadn't been for the duel between Jaune and Leon, she'd have said he was spouting shit. As it was, she knew he had the connections he promised. So much for us earning what we achieve on merit.

Well, no one had ever really promised that. The Collegium did favour nobles after all.

When the door opened and Arcanist Oobleck entered, Ruby stood with Weiss and everyone else, waiting for the wiry man to take his place behind the desk. He gestured for them to sit, waited for the scrape of chairs to come to an end, and then put his books down with a heavy thud.

"Well," he said, "I see that many of you have chosen your first Arcana. I hope you'll keep in mind that there is still time to change your minds should you wish it. There is no shame in doing so, but plenty to be had in stubbornly forcing yourself onto a path you won't enjoy because such nebulous concerns as family honour or expectation. Think carefully about your choices."

No one looked like they were considering that, even the ones who should. Telling the nobles that family honour didn't matter was a tough sell when they'd only just come away from that. Ruby thought he'd have better luck when they were a year or two older, though by that point it'd be too late for them to change their first gemstone.

Well, that was their problem. The Azure was really the only one that fit her. The Black would have been nice, but if they worked on carefully applied spells – as the sigils on their items suggested – then it might be impossible for her. Her magic was anything but ordered.

"Now I know you're probably all eager to jump straight into your chosen fields, but we still have some fundamentals to teach you first. The various Arcana expect you to be well-versed in the basics before they'll teach you anything."

Turning, Oobleck began to scrawl on the board. The words meant something now, though she had to concentrate and sometimes it was a case of guessing the missing word based on those around it. Control something flows of something and the cons – Constance? No, consequence – of power.

"I've spoken before on how your control is important in not causing any accidents, and young Lord Malneux gave us a fine example of what happens when you lose that control." He waited for the laughter to die down. Ruby's was among it, especially as Martyn fumed. "But today, I want to discuss the wider consequences beyond what may occur to you."

"For instance, while it may seem obvious that failing to control a water spell might make you wet, what happens to the water once it is outside your control? A single glass worth may not mean much, but when controlling much larger flow, such as attempting to divert a river, your lapse in concentration could flood the local environ, damaging crops, threatening households and imperilling the position of Arcanists within wider society."

Oobleck tapped his chalk on his sleeve. "No one wants to go back to the days of superstitious people suggesting we live in isolated convents like hermits. We've earned out place in the Kingdoms. Now, it's time to make sure that isn't impacted." He turned and started writing on the board again. "The White Arcana in particular focus on maintaining that, and they're not afraid to correct anyone who goes against them."

He dove into a lecture on how to segment their magic in different weaves, called threads. This, he explained, would let them balance the various aspects of the spell in such a way that if one fell, it would not take the whole spell with it. The concentration was more, the spell harder to cast, but at times when you had the time to be careful, it was the best way to go.

Of course, it was useless to Ruby. Threads and weaves didn't mean anything. Her power just came and went, more like the annual floods than anything else. I can agree on the control, though. I nearly lost it and started a storm in the slums. Even when she listened with half an ear, however, there was nothing she could apply to her own ability.

She went through the motions. There was no way for Oobleck to tell if she was following his instructions or not, so she brought a small ball of water out the glass jar provided and, with everyone else, worked on moulding it into various shapes, breaking it into two shapes floating together, then – which was much harder for everyone else, apparently – making one ball of water hover up and down, and the other move left and right. Asking them to split their attention two ways and make the spells do two opposite motions was too much for some, who splashed water on their robes and brand new mantles.

Weiss got it within a few tries. Ruby made sure she was just a little behind, even when the water felt like it might dance if she asked it to. Or flow stronger and stronger, flooding the room and drowning all of them. Swallowing, she clamped down on that errant thought and focused on keeping it small.

"Practice makes perfect," Oobleck said. "If you need to, you should practice with the river running through the Collegium. There are enchantments on its banks to make sure it cannot flood, so you'll be safe even if you lose control." He chuckled. "Much safer than playing with fire."

"The river can't flood?"

"Hm? Oh, Miss Rose. Did you say something?"

"The river, sir. You said it can't flood?"

"Indeed. As you may not know, coming from Menagerie, the River Vale floods annually, enriching the soil outside the city with mountainous extracts and providing our bountiful harvest. Of course, the whole river can burst its banks, which necessitated action by the Black Arcana to limit the damage."

"How does that work?"

"Well, I didn't work on it specifically, so I don't know all the details, but I believe it's an extension of the enchantment used in our washrooms. Essentially, water that bursts the banks is transported further down the river and kicked out there."

"Probably in the slums," Martyn said. "Wash away the Dredgers before they get uppity."

The glass jar on Ruby's desk shattered.

"Control, Miss Rose," Oobleck cautioned, missing how it happened or why. He didn't miss her glare at the fucking bastard who just spoke. "And Mr Malneux, you shall refrain from saying such things. The floodwater is not expressly sent to the Lower District, nor is it used in so callous a fashion. It is, to the best of my knowledge, diverted to the farm, were we want it to flood."

Ruby sat down again, wrestling her power under control. Weiss' glass had started to shake and crack as well, though Weiss herself hadn't noticed. A crack had also formed in the wood of her desk, running down one leg and making it splinter.

They weren't contributing to the floods. It wasn't like that. She nodded to Oobleck, whispering a quiet thank you for the answer and then pretending she had to focus on her spellwork again. The river did flood in the slums, but that wasn't the leading factor of the floods that washed people away. It was the water from the farms draining back down, the slums being on a lower level than the outlying farmland.

In a way, the Collegium pumping the floodwater out there made it worse for the slums, but since the city was placed on a slope anyway, the water flooding the Collegium would have run down to the slums either way. It was inevitable; though, she had to wonder if the Collegium couldn't find some other way about it.

"Can't they use magic to dig a big hole and pump the floodwater into there?" she asked. "Then people wouldn't die."

"It's just Dredgers," someone muttered.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, though the question is a good one and feeds into the topic of our lesson." Oobleck tapped the board again. "You see, while your concept may have merit, what would happen to all the water pumped into this hole?"

"It'd become a lake?"

"Precisely. And let us assume it takes five years of flooding to form a new lake. For the first five or ten years, maybe even twenty, it might not be a problem. But what occurs when we have ten lakes outside the city?"

"I… I don't know…"

"Does anyone know?" Oobleck asked.

"The fishing industry booms?" someone joked. The class laughed.

"Not incorrect, young man! Provided fish grew, we would see an increase in fish caught and a boost to the economy. That might be a good thing. However, so much water seeping into the ground might also impact the farmland outside, either eroding away and weakening the soil or causing sinkholes to expand. The impact of our works-" He slapped the board for measure, "-can often go further than we anticipate. The Kingdom might be quite upset if we caused a famine that wiped out half the population of the city, no? As such, we have to consider the deeper consequences of our actions. Does that answer your question, Lady Rose?"

"It does. Thank you, Arcanist."

"No. Thank you. A good question to teach a valuable lesson." He waved her down. "Now, who needs help with their spellwork?"

As he travelled among the class to offer advice, Ruby went back to pretending to be concentrating. The answer had helped mollify her a little. It was quite obviously the people of the slums being sacrificed for the greater good of everyone, but it at least made sense. If a famine did occur, they'd be the first to starve. And it wasn't the Collegium saying they couldn't be bothered to help, only that they couldn't find a way to limit the floods without impacting the city.

If she could think something up, the Collegium might do it. Something to consider in the Azure Archives, though the more she tossed on her plate, the harder it was going to be.

I already have to figure out what a Wildmage is, why we're hunted and whether Blake's shadowy enemies are real – and why the Collegium locks people away in the Sanctum. I can't fix the floods on top of all that!

Small steps. One thing at a time.

/-/

The grand bell tolled what felt like half an hour later, and Weiss and she let everyone else file out first before leaving. That both avoided the crowds and made it so that if Martyn stayed to be a pain, he'd look like he was waiting on them and lose face. Weiss' idea. Apparently, being seen to wait for another noble suggested you were below them. It didn't make sense seeing how Weiss often waited for her to finish breakfast, but her roommate assured her that was different.

Didn't explain why, though. Ugh. Nobles.

At least Jaune was easier to get along with. He still wasn't out from his work in the Sanctum, but she spotted Sun training outside topless and gave him a wave, rushing over with Weiss tailing behind. "Hey Sun! Hey!"

A few girls watching grumbled, though for once it was at Weiss and not her. They all assumed she was Jaune's girl, so her approaching Sun wasn't seen as a threat. Weiss was different. Weiss and Sun would be funny together, she thought without any real seriousness. They'd be cute, but she couldn't see them working out, what with Weiss being so important.

"Lady Schnee," Sun said, bowing. He winked at her. "Ruby."

Weiss scoffed at how casual he was but did nod back. "Sun. You seem well."

"I feel well." He stretched, angling his body toward the nearest group of girls. It wasn't lost on Ruby or Weiss just why he'd decided to come stretch outside the main school building at what coincidentally happened to be the time lessons ended.

No one complained. Certainly not the onlookers.

"Any news from Jaune?" she asked.

"None yet. Relax, his lordship is alright. He always comes back worn out, but he's up and about the next morning." Sun popped a joint and winced. "Ow. I try and have some food ready for him whenever I know he's coming back. He whines and says it's not necessary, but he scoffs it down like he hasn't eaten in days."

"That's thoughtful of you," Weiss said.

"Yeah well, Jaune's a pal. Stuck up for me, so I'll stick up for him. Brothers in arms and all that."

Sun had that rustic way of speaking that slipped out whenever he was working out. It spoke of the farms outside the walls, which she'd guessed a while back he came from. He wasn't posh enough to be from the Upper District, nor well-dressed enough to be from the Merchant's. The farms were considered higher than Dredgers and had the money to outfit a favoured son.

I wonder if the reason Jaune is so easy-going is because Sun wore off on him. Not a bad thing at all.

"So," Sun said. "Did you want me for something, or just here to prevent me getting any attention?"

"The latter," Weiss replied snidely. "Your showing off belittles you."

"Does it, though? Does it?"

Ruby elbowed Weiss in the ribs. "I just wanted to see if Jaune was back or recovered."

"He'll be fine. Little wound like that won't slow him down."

"How did it happen anyway?" Ruby asked. "Weiss just said it was on his arm and something about training going wrong." The details were scant, and since Ruby hadn't seen him herself, she didn't know anything more than that. Weiss hadn't even told her if it was a broken bone, cut or pulled muscle, just that he had his arm in a sling.

"Don't know what to tell you. He mucked up." Sun stretched his arms. "I wasn't there for it, so I figure it happened with someone else. You know," he said, "His other teachers."

The Sanctum. Ruby nodded and let it go. Weiss didn't know. He must have been training with the other guards there. Unless he'd been hurt in an escape attempt? No magic, but an inmate could have tried to brute force their way out and hit him with something.

"Do you know how long it usually takes for him to get back?"

"Usually a couple a days to a week. Never more than that. I figure he'll be back tonight or tomorrow night. I've been bringing food back last two nights just in case." He winked at her. "I'll tell him you were asking and to come find you if you like?"

"I think not!" Weiss said. "If you and Lord Jaune wish to canoodle, you can do so away from our dorm. I draw the line in the sand there, Ruby. Don't make me draw it in blood!"

"I didn't mean like that…"

Sun just kept on laughing.

"Ugh. You don't have to tell him. Let him rest if he wants; I'll catch him when I jog with you guys in the morning."

"Sure. Sure. If that's all, then? I don't mean to be rude, but there's this cute girl with brown hair who comes out about now…"

"By all means," Weiss snorted. "Don't let us impede your mating display. Come on, Ruby. We've put off that assignment in the library long enough and it's due in three days' time!"

"Then can't we do it in two?"

"No, we cannot!" Weiss gripped her sleeve and dragged her away.

/-/

Yang kept whittling on the hunk of half-rotted wood, carving away small flakes with her favourite knife. The wood peeled back, exposing the brighter kind inside. The work helped distract her and would, if she was lucky, be the right size to patch that drafty hole in the door. Junior insisted it was her fault even if the rats gnawed it.

It also helped give her something to look at other than the creepy Arcanist sat opposite her.

"Do you intend to ignore me forever?"

"I'd been thinkin' about it. You intend to sit there and brood forever?"

"Ruby insisted that if any harm came to you, I would be in danger," Blake said. The faunus was hooded as she always was, but her yellow eyes glowed in the dim light. Creepy things far as she was concerned. "I think it prudent I keep an eye on you given the dangerous nature of your employment."

"Long way of saying you're terrified of my sister."

"That girl," Blake hissed, "is capable of ripping down the entire city if she loses her temper! You would do well to remember that."

Yang reversed the knife and stabbed it down into the table, adding one more of a hundred incisions. "That girl," she fired back, "Is still my sister no matter her power." Wrenching the knife out, she pointed it at the Arcanist. "You'd do well to remember that."

"Do you often threaten those infinitely more powerful than you?"

"I do when they can't do shit about it without pissing off those infinitely more powerful than them."

Blake scowled and looked away, and Yang chalked up a win for her. There'd been few of those lately, ever since Ruby unlocked her power and life got a whole lot more complicated than it had been. Things had been easier when it was just the two of them. Not necessarily better – the extra food she got with the money Ruby stole attested to that – but it had been easier not worrying.

"I don't get this Wildmage shit."

"I'm not surprised," Blake said with a sigh. "I doubt you'd understand much about being an Arcanist."

"No more than you know about being a Dredger. At least we hate people for good reasons – you don't even know why you're afraid of Ruby."

"Because she is a Wildmage. Because they are powerful. Dangerous."

Yang snorted. "How? You Arcanists have power too. Why are you not hunted down and killed?"

"We used to be. Times changed."

"And it isn't time they changed for Wildmages, too?"

"If they were safe, yes, but Wildmages are dangerous to every Kingdom they exist in."

"See, that's what I don't get." Yang put the carved wood down and flipped the knife up and down in her hand, catching it by the blade each time. "You don't know why they're dangerous, only that someone told you they were. You don't have proof of anything. You're just blindly following what other people tell you. It's fuck'n stupid."

"They are trusted sources. It's accepted knowledge!"

"Still not something you've tested yourself or know the reason for."

"I've neither tested whether stabbing myself in the heart kills me – but that doesn't mean I have to try it. Sometimes, it's best to accept the knowledge others have bled and died for rather than stick your hand in a burning fire to see if it's hot."

Yang sighed and stabbed her knife down again. "That's shit."

"That's life. The Collegiums don't expend all these resources to capture Wildmages because it's a hobby. Whatever the reason, it's important enough for Arcanists to die for. Or to build signal bell towers all around a city district. I'd say that means it's a big deal."

"But you don't know what that big deal is…"

"No."

"Who would?"

"I wouldn't know," Blake said, shrugging. "The Grand Arcanist certainly, but as for those below? Presumably the Headmaster of the Academy, likely those close to the Grand Arcanist himself. There might be others, maybe the leaders of the various Arcana or those high enough to actively hunt Wildmages. I expect those willing to risk their lives doing so would know the true reason. How else would they be prepared to kill for it?"

Yang cocked an eyebrow. "Would those huntsmen know?"

Blake stilled. "I don't know. They might just be trained for the role and paid to do it." Her eyes narrowed. "If you're thinking about capturing one, think again. Leaving aside the fact they'd die before answering, Ruby would kill me for letting you put yourself in such danger."

"And what," she laughed, "You gonna follow me all day to be sure I don't?"

When Blake didn't answer, Yang groaned.

"Tell me you're not…"

"I have little better to do."

"Fuck me sideways."

"And if the huntsmen find out about Ruby, or those responsible for Menagerie, they may hunt you down to act as bait for her. If that happens, your sister will surely force me to join her in a doomed rescue attempt." Blake sighed. "I'd rather prevent that happening in the first place. If that means shadowing you, so be it."

"Do I get a say in this?"

Blake chuckled. "Did I get a say in it?"

"Yes. You did. But you forfeited it when you fucked with my sister."

The laughter dwindled off. Another win for her. Blake could complain all she liked, but she'd made this bed and she got to lay in it.

Having an Arcanist follow her about, though? Fuck. That sounded like a hassle, not least of all because she didn't share Ruby's fascination with them. That much power shouldn't belong to one kind of people. If it weren't for Ruby, Blake could kill me without a care in the world. And there'd be fuck all I could do about it.

No. Having an Arcanist about, let alone now sharing a room with her, wasn't nearly as fun as Ruby thought it would be.

"If you're going to be a drain on my resources, least you can do is earn us some-" Yang cut off when a hefty coin pouch tinkled onto the table. It was closed, but the noise it made was heavenly. "Where'd you get that?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does if you lifted it off Junior for fuck's sake."

"That man downstairs has no idea I exist," Blake said with a snort. "And should that change, I have no qualms making him forget. As for that, it's my own reserves. It should do to support me for a while, and if I need more, it wouldn't be hard to steal it."

"That normally how you Arcanists do things?"

Blake smirked. "It is my kind of Arcanist."

"Won't the bell towers sense that?"

"Not if I keep it subtle. Also, they're keyed to the slums. I could slink into the Merchant's Quarter and use magic there. It would be sensed, but how many Arcanists visit the Market Quarter in a day? No one would bat an eye at a little magic there." She tapped her fingers on the table. "I'll only be doing that if I can be assured of your safety, however."

"Gee. Nice of you to care."

"I always care when it comes to my life, Yang. You can be sure of that."

A meaty fist pounded at the door, shaking the frame. Yang cursed and looked over, then glanced back and froze. Blake was gone. The chair she'd sat in was empty. Shaking, she stumbled to her feet and away from the table, scanning the room and finding no sign of her.

She's using magic to hide herself. It had to be since the shutters were closed and there was no other way out. Far from calming her, it had her heart racing. She's using magic right in front of me and there's not a damn thing I can do about it! Her wide eyes swept left and right as she backed up to the door, knife at the ready.

It was one thing for Ruby to have that power. It was Ruby. She got a pass. Her sister could be a fucking cannibal for all she cared – she'd just demand that shit never happened in front of her. Another thing entirely to have Blake use her powers.

I'd never see the knife coming before I died.

The door pounded again. "Yang!" Junior yelled. "Open the door before I knock it down."

Swallowing, she tried unsuccessfully to settle her nerves. "Alright, I'm coming. Calm your tits, Junior!" Plastering a confident smile on her face, she wrenched it open. "What's so fucking urgent? I thought I had the rest of the night off."

"You did," he spat, "And then you didn't."

He looked nervous. That made her nervous. "What's happened?"

"Tunnels are being closed. Guards that could be bribed are being replaced. The rooftops are becoming dangerous." He looked down the corridor nervously. "Masked figured in black roaming late at night, and to hear it from two lads that tried to jump them, they ripped one man in two without a fucking thought or pause."

Huntsmen. Yang swallowed. "You're not tellin' me to go after them, right?"

"And invite their wrath here? I don't fucking think so. It's making people nervous, though. Guards who do their job is bad for business – and business is already bad ever since those Arcanists started showing up and causing trouble. This stinks of their meddling."

"And what do we do? We can't get involved with that."

"No, but we can make plans. Right now, I've got the feeling they're rounding us up in the slums and sealing all the exits. What do you think's gonna happen when the floods come?" He watched her pale. "Exactly. You know I take you and the girls out the tunnels to avoid it. I can't do that if they're sealed."

It was no exaggeration to say she and Ruby owed their survival to Junior, and not just for work and a roof over their heads. He was connected enough to know ways out the slums when the storms hit, and since he wanted his loyal followers safe and alive to carry out his work, he wasn't above taking them with him.

If those avenues were gone, they'd be stuck in the slums. Maybe that was their plan – let the place flood, capture everyone inside and see if the WIldmage showed herself. Ruby wouldn't; she wouldn't even be here, but she sure as hell would if Yang drowned.

"Me and a few of the other runners in town are meeting at Mac's." Runners meant those who ran the gangs. They weren't organised but tended to stay out each other's way the same way predators didn't bother fighting, because wounded gangs became weaker gangs. "I get to bring one person along and Miltia and Melanie aren't good if shit goes south."

"Right. I'll be there. Is it tonight?"

"Tomorrow evening. This is your early warning."

"Sure. I'll be ready, boss."

"Good." He turned away, though not without the final word. "It's in your best interests as much as mine. Whatever they're planning, we don't want to be stuck here when the floods hit."

Yang closed the door behind him, leaning her forehead on the wood with wide eyes. If things were as bad as he thought they were, it could mean a bitter winter ahead. And Ruby… Shit. Ruby would panic and try to help if she found out. And she wouldn't think twice of whether that exposed her.

"Well," Blake said from behind her, making Yang jump. "I've heard of smoking out a rat, but flooding is a new way to go about it."

Only ten days until Christmas. Welp.

Next Chapter: 22nd December

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