This whole weekend has been one of my busiest in a long while. It's twelve noon, I have a lesson this afternoon (and had one this morning) and my nephew's twenty-first birthday party to attend this evening. Right then. Let's crack this shit out quick. Time trial mode.

Cover Art: Z-ComiX

Chapter 25

It hadn't stopped raining for two days.

It was something Yang was used to, as was just about everyone in the slums. The only person who wasn't used to it was Blake, and she took an inordinate amount of pleasure in watching the Arcanist pout and fume, hiding under her hood and complaining how rain tickled her faunus ears and made her fur wet. It wasn't her being vindictive. Not at all.

This afternoon – though it felt like evening with the dark rainclouds – they were out in the market square. Something that was neither a square nor designed as a market. It was really just an open space of ground the slums used as that. Coin didn't often change hands here, but trades were common. A bit of cloth for some food. Food for a favour. Your firstborn for a load of bread. Or not in that case, but it felt like it normally.

Not today. With the early rains already here, they all knew the floods would come about a week behind. It rained up the mountain first and took time before the rivers burst their banks. Yang sat on a stone step ignoring the water that soaked her clothing and listened to people planning for the floods.

"Why are we here?" Blake asked, huddled beside Yang with her hands buried in her cloak. Rather than sit with her, she rested on her heels, afraid to get her ass wet. Afraid to get anything wet. Apparently, Menagerie was a lot warmer than Vale. Blake had more on than anyone else, yet she was still shaking.

"Why not be here?"

"Because it's cold, wet and miserable. Give me a reason."

"We're here," she explained with a little laugh, "Because it's considered the right thing to do. People come here to plan and work together to survive what's coming."

"But we already have a way out. We don't need more."

Yang sighed. "It's not about helping us. It's seeing if there's anything we can do to help others."

"I was under the impression only you and Ruby mattered."

"Then you're under the wrong impression." Yang eavesdropped on some people nearby talking about shoring up one of the taller buildings. They were going to invite people in and use it as shelter. Many hands made light work and they might be able to get it watertight in time. "I wasn't always one of Junior's enforcers, you know. Once upon a time me an' Ruby were just street brats trying to get by. We wouldn't have survived the floods alone."

Blake looked over. "Someone helped you?"

"Yeah. Local shopkeeper took every kid he could fit into his home and had us sleep on the second floor. It was cramped and wet, but the building held. Ground floor was flooded through." That was a long time ago and the shop was gone now. "It was terrifying. Whole building creaking and groaning like it was going to come down. Our saviour told us stories to keep us distracted until the floodwater drained away. We all lived. Others weren't so lucky."

"Sounds like a good person. What happened to them?"

"Died." Yang grinned. "Syphilis."

"Ah."

"He was a bit of a whore-monger from what I remember. Real bastard at times. Used to pelt you with stones if you tried to steal any food from his shop. He had a reputation for breaking fingers if he caught you."

"And yet he let you into his home to hide."

Yang shrugged. "Just cause you act one way doesn't mean you're always like that. He was a cantankerous old bastard, but he wasn't evil." Yang held up her left hand and drew attention to her littlest finger, which was a little crooked. "The rumours were accurate though."

"He broke your hand!?"

"To be fair, I was hiding under a cupboard after stealing some sausage meat and he stepped on them without noticing." Yang grinned and waved her hand away. "Worth it. You ever tasted sausage before?"

"Yes," Blake said. "Whenever I wanted to."

"Tch. Alright for some. Was our first time and Ruby looked like she was dying of bliss. Worth a little pain for that." They did what they had to. Such was life. "Anyway, I made it a habit to come back ever since. People have helped us with food, shelter and more in the past. Like to see if I can't pay it back some way by helping anyone else."

"And have you?"

"Once or twice. Little things." Less than she'd have liked, but she didn't own a place to keep people. "I've helped reinforcing homes and carrying stuff. Me and Ruby were on fishing detail last year and that helped a couple of people."

"I suppose fish would be swept down with the river," Blake said.

"We weren't looking for fish…"

Blake didn't say a word.

"People do what they have to," she said, gesturing to several older women arguing. "You look after yourself first, but once you've got that sorted, you can look to helpin' others. Have a look in a few days. You'll see people come to leave their children with those three."

"Do they run an orphanage?"

"Ain't no orphanages here. They're weavers. Widows. Own a place between them and can take a small number of kids to look after."

"And the parents?"

"On their own – but it's easier to survive if you're not looking after young, and at least they know their kids will be safe."

Blake hummed. "I guess crisis brings out the best in people."

"Yeah." Yang snorted and stood. "Good ol' crisis. Come on. We're helping build a raft with some guys from Mac's. Don't suppose you can do anything subtle to make it float better?"

"Not my expertise. I can try. This is important to you, isn't it?"

"Hm. If people don't stick together, they die." Yang shoved her hands into her cloak and shook off the water. The rain still pelted down, splattering off the streets. "People stuck by us and now it's my turn to stick by them."

"Even if Junior had a way out for you?"

"Even then."

/-/

"You need to drink."

"Ruby, I'm fine." Jaune pushed away the glass being offered, or forced, into his jaw. He laughed, though it was a little less good-natured and a little more annoyed by now. "It's been a week. This was sweet and cute five days ago. I'm fine."

"Bro, a cute girl is doting on you. You're not meant to complain."

Jaune shot Sun a glare while Ruby giggled and Weiss only sighed. The four of them were sequestered under one of the many sheltered gazebos set up around the Collegium, enjoying the cool air as the rain fell. It was a novelty to her, considering rain before had always been the harbinger of pain. Seeing it now, hearing it chime among the leaves and patter down on the wooden roof, she could understand why some found it beautiful.

"I'm better," Jaune insisted, pushing the glass away. "And any more drink and I'll explode. As for you, Sun, maybe the fact you act like that is why you don't have a cute girl doting on you, hm?"

"Ack." Sun gripped his chest. "Too cruel. Lady Weiss, please, defend my honour."

Weiss flipped a page in her book. "Pass."

Ruby inspected her friend for a few seconds. He did look a little more colourful than he had for the last few days. The worst had been when she found him outside, so washed out of colour that she'd thought she was looking at a painting that had worn dry. His cheeks were redder now, his eyes brighter. He'd also become much chattier, more like his usual self. Grudgingly, she put the glass down.

"I was told you'd need plenty of meat and drink."

"And Sun forced it down my throat thanks to your insistence."

Ruby flashed the faunus a smile. Sun grinned back, winking. It hadn't taken long to find him, or to convince him to help her look after Jaune. As his roommate, Sun could make sure he didn't hide away or avoid the food that would make him better. "It worked," she said.

"Yeah. We'll accept out unending gratitude anytime now, your highness."

"I'm not-" Jaune sighed, seeing he was being ganged up on. "Thank you both. I have no idea what I'd do without you."

"Probably have an easier life," Weiss remarked.

Jaune smiled. "Probably. But that sounds boring."

"Glad to hear we're so entertaining," Sun said. "And speaking of boring, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss training. Can't believe so many of the newbies got sick. Bunch of weaklings. In my day, we'd have never-"

"Sun. You got sick in your first year…"

Ruby giggled again at Sun's betrayed expression, before she asked, "Is there an infection going around?"

"Nothing so dramatic," Jaune explained. "A combination of the weather, being away from home and getting used to a new environment has a lot of the new recruits coming down ill. They all share the same barracks, so it spread like wildfire. It does every year. They call it `Newblood fever`. Burns itself out within a week or two but has everyone moaning and groaning until then. Training is obviously cancelled."

Nothing too bad then. Illness was a problem in the slums, but it mostly came from the rats and other pests. Ironically, there hadn't been a proper plague in the slums in her lifetime, or for decades before according to Junior. The floods brought a lot of pain, but they also washed away the trash, pest droppings and wiped out whole populations of infectious rats year after year. Kept anything from getting too bad. Fever and sickness from the weather itself was common, but nothing that could really grip or ravage the city.

That was good. She could still remember the one time Yang got a proper illness and had to take one of the Alchemist's tinctures. It had been like living with someone who wore her sister's skin but wasn't her. The things she said. The way she acted. Ruby shivered.

"Cold?" Jaune removed his cloak and wrapped it around her without complaint. He was big, which made the cloak huge. Or maybe she was small. Either way, what might have been a romantic gesture instead looked like he was swaddling a baby. Sun sniggered. Weiss looked away. Even Jaune's lips cracked a tiny smile.

"I hope you freeze and get sick." she grumbled. "You're not getting this back."

"That's how rumours start," Weiss warned.

"Like there aren't rumours already."

"Well, Jaune did champion you in the ring against the Crimson Arcana." Sun pointed out. "Hard to say `mine` any more obviously than he did there. Fact he won only made it worse."

"I'd have done that for you as well," Jaune said.

"Really?" Sun swanned. "My hero. Kiss me!"

"You two really are bored," Weiss said with a put-upon sigh, closing her book and looking back in time to see Jaune fend off Sun's amorous attentions. "You are even louder than normal. So goes any hope of my getting some peace and quiet to read."

If you wanted peace and quiet, why did you follow us out here? Ruby wanted to ask. She didn't. Weiss never answered and always got upset and flustered when posed with questions like that. Either way, there wasn't anywhere else for them to be. Lessons were done for the day. It was raining, and thus the dorms were packed, the common rooms overflowing. There'd be no studying there, and Malneux was being his usual self.

Weiss didn't have any other friends among the nobles. No. Weiss didn't have any other friends.

Ruby wasn't blind, even if Weiss often accused her of being such when it came to ignoring how people talked about her behind her back. Yang always taught her to pay attention to what was going on, even if she didn't understand it. As such, she knew she was Weiss' only friend at the collegium. The `why` was unknown, but probably unimportant. It'd be some stupid noble crap she didn't care about. Weiss was nice once you got past her demanding nature and that was all that mattered.

Jaune and Sun seemed to like her too. Jaune was polite to most people, but he wasn't nice to them all. It was niceness in the same way Weiss was, always there but never quite real. He seemed to get on with her though, and Sun was easy-going enough that Ruby figured he could get along with anyone. Weiss included.

She might complain, but Weiss enjoyed the chatter.

"Deep thoughts going on in there," Sun said, poking her cheek. "Don't hurt yourself."

"The deepest thoughts she could ever have would be about food," Weiss snarked. Or teased. It came out snappy, but she had a feeling that was just Weiss not knowing how tease properly.

"Food is important."

"Please don't," Jaune said, leaning back. "After all the red meat you and Sun have forced down me, I don't think I could see food without feeling sick."

"I wasn't going to." Ruby trailed off as she peered at Jaune. He tensed under her gaze, wondering what the problem was. When she moved her hand toward his face, he kept still. It went past, slipping into his hair and giving a quick yank.

"OW!"

"Pft!" Sun buckled.

"What was that for!?" Jaune yelled, clutching his head.

Ruby held the hair between her finger and thumb. "I found a white hair."

"And you just thought you'd yank it out my scalp?"

"If that's your reaction to a white hair, Ruby, you can stay far away from me," Weiss said.

Sun burst out laughing.

"I'm not going to pull your hair out, Weiss. I was just surprised." Ruby held her grey sleeve up so they could see the hair against it. It was a bright white, almost the same shade as Weiss'. Not quite. A little darker. More grey than white.

"You going grey on me, old man?" Sun joked between laughter.

"It happens. My father went grey early and I'll probably do the same." He watched her closely as he brought his hand down. "Maybe don't pull any other ones out. I'd rather go grey than bald."

"Going for that distinguished older man look?"

Jaune grinned. "Maybe. You think it would suit me?"

"I think blond is where it's at," Sun said.

"You would," Weiss mumbled.

They laughed and Ruby let the hair go, watching it be whisked away on the wind. It fluttered toward the river and fell into it to be swept away. The water was choppy and rough, splashing up the banks as it rolled and roiled like an ocean caught in a storm. It's heavier than usual.

"Looks like it's going to be a wet one this year," Sun said.

"Always is," Weiss said. "We should be fine up here."

Ruby fought back the urge to ask what they thought everyone else in the city would be thinking. As someone who was from Menagerie, she wasn't supposed to know about the floods, let alone be so invested in how it affected people.

"It's only the second day of rain. It shouldn't be this bad."

Jaune stood. He didn't leave the gazebo, but he leaned over to take another look at the river. That prompted them to do the same. As the rain came down from the mountains, the water rushed with it, always a little behind. It took time for it to build up the natural reservoirs in the mountain and overflow. Since she'd only seen it from down in the slums, it was hard to compare it to the section that ran through the Collegium. Here, the river was barely ten metres wide. Down in the slums, it stretched out to forty or fifty at its widest point.

It was already beginning to breach its banks.

/-/

"It's coming!" People screamed and ran through the slums. "The floods are coming!"

Yang dropped her hammer and turned to stare at the people running by, shouting at the tops of their lungs to warn everyone else. Already, the sounds were travelling into the distance, the cries taken up. A shiver ran down her spine and she looked back toward the river. Impossible. It was only the second day.

"Yang," Blake hissed.

"I… It can't be this soon. They have to be wrong."

"It's here!" A boy, red-faced and no older than eleven, panted in front of her, hands on his knees. "The water is rising already. The farmland is starting to flood. It's already doubled the size of the river. I swear it!"

She didn't dare doubt him. Not with others echoing his words.

"Yang!" Blake hissed again, gripping her arm.

Shaken, she stooped and picked the boy up under his arms, handing him to one of the nearby people to take inside. Other children were already streaming forward, along with desperate parents who had been sure they had more time. So many had. People weren't ready. The slums weren't prepared.

A bell tolled and the matrons were already ushering children inside. Parents whispered instructions and kissed them. The market square was a hive of activity. Rafts were pushed into position and last-minute repairs put in place. Yang carted a crate of stale bread into the nearest building, ignoring Blake's complaints. Furious, Blake picked one up herself and dumped it down next to Yang's, letting the matron usher them out before grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around.

"We have to go! Now!"

"Junior," Yang whispered. "We have to warn them."

"For fuck's sake, Yang. We have to get out."

Yang broke out the Arcanist's grip and was already running. The rain grew heavier still, pattering down around them. Water splashed underfoot – not all of it from the rain. As they raced down the street the way they'd come, water began to coat the floor an inch thick. People splashed their way through it, running to whatever safety they could find. Animals too. Stray dogs and cats weaving through the crowds.

"We have time," she gasped to Blake. "It's not a flash flood."

Fighting against people running away from the river, they made their way back to the street Junior's building was on in time for the water to be shin deep. Slogging through it, she arrived in time to see Junior, Miltia and Melanie slam out the door, pushing water aside. Junior caught sight of her and yelled out.

"I'm here," Yang gasped. "I'm here."

"Fucking hell," he rasped. "We thought we were gonna be leaving you behind. Tunnels aren't prepped. This is fucked." He looked back to his building. It was solid construction, but too close to the river. It wasn't safe. "I'm taking the girls out. Got a farmhand that owes us and can give us shelter in a barn. You coming?"

"No. I…" Yang looked to Blake. Still hooded. "I have arrangements in the Merchant Quarter."

"Ruby?" he guessed incorrectly. "Guess there's some use her being up there. Fine. Go." He slapped her shoulder. "Get whatever you need from inside and stay safe."

Melanie gave her a quick hug. "Come back alive," she whispered.

"Don't snuff it," Miltia echoed.

Yang watched them go. The water continued to rise. It wasn't fast but that wasn't the real danger. No one got surprised by the floods. Only drowned. The water could creep up an inch an hour, but it was going twice as fast this time. In two hours, it'd be over her knees. Pushing through the building, she found the staircase and crept up and out the water, Blake on her tail and not looking pleased about how things were going.

"I just need some stuff," she explained, taking Blake to their room and pushing in. The beds and tables could be abandoned but Yang fell to her knees and pried up a loose floorboard. The coins from what Ruby had been able to lift came out in a pouch. Blake growled angrily. "We have time," Yang argued. "Got to think of after the floods as well. You think food is going to be easy to come by?"

"In case you've forgotten, I'm an Arcanist who deals with illusions. Theft isn't beyond me."

"Yeah, but you need people to have food in order to steal it. First comes floods, then comes sickness – then comes starvation." Pocketing the money, Yang made her way back, Blake behind. "That's the rules. Alright. I'm ready. What's the plan?"

"About time. Follow me."

The water was halfway up their shins when they got down and running was impossible. They trudged through it, sloshing one foot before another and wading through the shallow pond the slums were becoming. Linen stuck to her skin, soaking her body through and seeping that dangerous chill into her muscles. More dangerous for the elderly and weak than her but present all the same. Blake waded ahead, leading them away from the river overflowing its banks.

By the time they reached the square again, the water was ankle height there and running was easier, albeit for the crowds doing the same. Windows were being shuttered and barricaded. People were shouting out for missing family members. Up above, those in the Merchant District watched silently from the higher walls, looking down on the slums as it slowly filled up like a bathtub. Yang spotted some making their way to the tunnels and grimaced. They were in for a nasty surprise there.

Fear tore through the city, but Yang moved automatically, numbly. The fear she remembered feeling in years past had become muted and dull. It couldn't do anything else after being put through this year after year. By now, the floods – and the aftermath – were constant companions. It was what prevented the slums falling into a complete panic. The elders, those that had survived it for so long, knew what to do and passed that onto the younger generation. Even to those not their family. Afraid as everyone was, no one stopped to weep or cry or beg. Everyone was moving with purpose. Her and Blake were little different.

"This way." Blake tugged her to a nearby wall and began to scale it. Once she was up on the roof, she held a hand down for Yang to climb up. They weren't alone up there. At least ten people occupied their roof alone, more further along. They didn't stay still and kept running, jumping from roof to roof. Blake didn't miss that. "The water rises this high!?"

"The slums is a basin," Yang said. "Between the farmland outside and the Merchant district above, we're the lowest point. You need a second storey to be safe – and even then you'll probably get a couple of inches of water to deal with."

"This damn city. Fine. We're going up a district anyway."

"Not by the gates we're not." Yang said, pointing. Form their vantage point it was possible to see all the way back to the gatehouse leading up. It was close to the river and the water there had already risen to cover the door entirely. Aside from the fact no one would be guarding it, the water pressure would prevent anyone being able to get the heavy gates open.

If the water flooded high enough for people to swim to the upper level, it wouldn't have been an issue. It didn't, though. It stopped a goof fifteen metres below, trapping anyone to tread water for days or drown.

"How good are you at climbing?" Blake asked.

"Not as good as Ruby, but I can manage. We trying the walls?"

"It's our only hope. Tell me they're not going to station guards there to push us back in or poke us off with halberds? Tell me that or I'll gladly leave this pathetic city to the Grimm."

"They won't. They may look down on us, but they're not monsters. The guards will turn a blind eye if we make it up. A rare mercy from them, but they do what they can when the floods hit. They even fish people out if they can and take them to the cells."

"Imprison them?" Blake snarled. "Really? How nice of them."

"Upper District prison," Yang pointed out. "Dry, safe and fed. Trust me. It's a kindness."

Not that they could risk that right now with Blake being a Rogue Arcanist and the Collegium after Ruby. Yang followed the faunus as they leapt a building and headed north, jumping over streets already beginning to disappear under the rising water. It was a disgusting and murky blackish-brown, full of dust and minerals from up the mountain. There were already lumps floating in it. Rats and rodents at the moment. Those that couldn't swim. Give it a few days and it'd be people.

Coming closer to the walls, there were already people doing their best to scale them. Yang winced as one young man fell with a wailing cry and impacted the floor with a sickening crack. He didn't get back up. Up above, several merchants and hooded figures were at the lip and she saw one reach down and help pull someone up and over. Not many. Out of the tens of thousands that lived above, only about one or two hundred cared enough to help. It was enough. It had to be.

"Damn it," Blake hissed. "I can't cast anything with so many witnesses. We'll have to try another stretch of wall."

Yang stopped her. "We can't. It'll be the same everywhere. Trust me."

Everyone would be having the same idea – especially with how sudden this all was. No one was ready for the floods to come so early. Another person fell from the wall, the bricks slick with rainwater. Yang rushed forward and caught them, breaking their fall before they could break something else.

"You okay?"

"Y-Yeah," the frightened girl said. "Thank you."

"Wait for the water to rise a bit," Yang advised. "You can get a bit higher by swimming and that means less climbing. Plus, falling won't be the end of you."

"It'll be harder if I do…"

"I know. The water will make your clothing heavier, but you're already soaked through." The girl looked down sadly. Yang slapped her back and set her on her feet. "I've done this before. I know what I'm talking about. The longer you wait, the more likely they'll be to find some rope to toss down as well."

The girl nodded and went to catch her breath by the wall. There was no telling if she'd make it or not, but advice was the best she could offer. At least if she was rested, she'd have a chance. The climb wasn't going to get any less treacherous.

"How likely are they to offer rope?" Blake asked, having listened silently.

"Depends if they can find it. This wasn't supposed to happen for days yet. They'll be just as flat-footed as we are." Yang spared her a glance. "You might need to take a risk."

"My magic isn't useful here."

"You must know something that can help. Ruby's told me about the Collegium. You don't start off learning your specialty. There's no way you only know your shadow magic shit."

"It's not-" Blake shook her head, unwilling to argue it. "I know small things. I could control water a little bit, but that's not going to make a difference here. I could light the way if it was too dark to see and knock back an opponent charging at you, but I can't give you the gift of flight or lift you up a forty metre wall, and I can't make that wall any less a bitch to climb. I could hide and get us to safety once we're up there, but that's it."

"Tch. Fat lot of good your magic is."

"One of the first things you learn as an Arcanist is just how helpless we really are." Blake said mysteriously. "Pray you don't have to experience that as I did when my home fell."

"Yeah? Well mine is about to sink, so let's not experience that either."

"We'll have to climb it." Blake bit her lip and looked up. "Stay close to me. I can't do much, but I could turn a fatal fall into a less dangerous one." She looked sadly at the dead body nearby. "As long as you're close to me when it happens."

"Alright." Yang nodded. "Let's do this."

/-/

The last rocks crumbled away under a barrage of spell fire, weakened until they burst outward, water gushing out from caves and underwater streams to join the already roiling river and power down the mountainside. The river sloshed and rolled, hurtling down with force enough to sweep the strongest man away. Further up, more figures broke down the other natural barriers, causing water that had not yet filled basins enough to spill to pour out early.

"It's done," a tired man said, approaching the woman garbed in white. "We've breached the dams as best we can, Lady Goodwitch. From here, nature will take its course. The Collegium…"

"Will be safe. It is protected."

"Ma'am." The Arcanist, featuring only a single red gem, hesitated. "Is this necessary? Is this right?"

"The floods would come regardless of our intervention," Glynda said, watching the water flash by, ripping its way down the mountain. Natural channels and gullies carved over millennia would filter it down into a single point that fed into the River Vale.

"Even so, isn't this too much?"

"The Wildmage has made the slums her home. The annual floods are a part of that, and she will be prepared for them. It is not right that we do this, but it is necessary. The Grand Arcanist understands that." She eyed the man warily. "You may as well, in time. For now, trust that we do what is best for the city. The Wildmage will not act unless she is pressed to do so. We are here with the authority of the Grand Arcanist. What we do, we do because we must. Not because we wish it."

"I understand, Lady Arcanist."

He did not, but that was a good thing. Some knowledge was best left to those tasked to deal with it. If he joined the White, he might one day be privy to those things, and takes with responsibility such as hers. Until then, his ignorance was bliss. Glynda tightened her white cloak around her and looked down the mountain toward the city. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. There was little pleasure to be had in such things, but the White demanded it.

"Breach the second dams," she ordered. "We will flush the Wildmage out."

Oh my.

The floods are here and lo and behold, Ruby has made it worse. At least, that's what the White Arcana seems to be saying. For those wondering how the time trial went, this took 3 hours and 30 minutes. Approx. May have been a toilet and lunch break in there somewhere. Bit of a rush-job chapter but since I'm busy for the rest of the day, it is what it is.

At least Blake and Yang will have time to bond over shared misfortune. And we'll get to see how the city deals with the floods and what the aftermath is in the next chapter.

Next Chapter: 26th January

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur