Here we go!
Cover Art: Z-ComiX
Chapter 26
The floods were here.
Ruby couldn't see them from where she was, but the signs were enough – not to mention the distant shouting rose up from the city, indication of the annual event. The river in the Collegium had swelled up and begun to run wild, never breaching its banks but clearly by magical means. The water splashed up invisible barriers and rushed down into the culvert, before being magically transported away and not impacting the Upper and Merchant Districts where the wealthier citizens resided. Instead, according to the person from the Black Arcana, it was all transported down toward the Slums. The floods were something they were used to, so Yang should have been fine.
Except that they were early. Days early.
When you lived under the constant threat of it, you learned how to read it. Even from up in the Collegium, she could tell there hadn't been enough rain. Did some water burst up from underground in the mountains? This is too much. No one is prepared.
They weren't the only ones watching. Even though it was raining, the momentous once a year event drew out Arcanists and Initiates and Newbloods alike. They crowded the banks, certain in the safety of the spells and keen to watch the water rush by rolling and heaving.
"It's not usually this bad," Jaune said. "I've seen it happen a few years now. This is a lot of water."
"Is it?" Weiss asked. "I've never seen it."
Imagine never seeing something that hit the city every single year. Ruby's fists tightened, imagining the nobles safe in their palaces because Arcanists diverted the water away from them, but didn't those below. It had been explained why. The farmlands needed the water. They couldn't make lakes to contain it indefinitely. Knowing didn't help. Not right now.
Please be okay, Yang. Please be safe.
/-/
Yang clung onto a small outcrop of stone and caught her breath, looking down to the street below which was now covered in water some twelve feet deep. The fall was no longer fatal, and more people were climbing. Some were swimming to the wall, either latecomers or those who fell. It was those most likely to die, she knew – as did they – for the more they tried and failed, the less stamina they'd have to try again.
Already, a few bodies floated face down in the water like logs of wood.
There was nothing she or Blake could do for them. The water hadn't yet reached the rooftops and given people a place to rest, nor had it grown to its highest point and reduced the climb. Some people had made it to the rooves already and were taking what breaks they could. Yang stuck grimly to the wall, experience telling her that stopping for long could prove just as dangerous.
At a time like this, developing a cramp could be deadly.
"Argh." Blake gasped for air against the wall, stuck close with arms and legs spread out. "This is awful!" she yelled, voice raised to be heard over the rain, the splashing water and the desperate cries from above and below. "It's inhumane!"
"Keep climbing." Yang suited action to words and did just that, forcing Blake to shut up and follow. She wasn't sure if talking wasted energy but it sure as hell wasted time. Her fingernails were chipped and cracked, her fingers scraping and scratched from sharp stone, but she grunted and hauled herself up another few feet, eyes straining against rainwater for a single handhold.
A stone sticking out. A hole big enough for fingers dug in by an enterprising thief wanting an easier way up. The methods were there if you knew how to look for them. Ruby climbed the walls almost every day, but she was so much smaller and lighter. I've spent too much time fighting and relying on the tunnels to escape. I'm out of practice.
Life or death brought all the forgotten techniques rushing back.
Looking down again, she was pleased to see Blake keeping up. Badly. There was no denying that. She'd fallen three times early on, with Yang halting her own progress to help. At any other time, it would have been nice to see her doing better than the Arcanist at something, but any pleasure she might have gleaned was ruined by the ticking clock of rising water.
Magic meant little here. Blake toiled with sweat and frantic breathing, doing her best to follow Yang's path and trust in the route she chose. If nothing else, she was fit for a noble. Yang would give her that.
"Yang. Look out!"
Yang looked up and caught a face full of black. Pain rocked through her and she fell back. The fingers of her left hand refused to let go, making her swing out and hang from it as she watched a large rock tumble down and splash into the water below. More than just rainwater ran down her face as she hung there, stunned but refusing to fall. Droplets of red splashed down from her own onto Blake's face. The Arcanist looked horrified.
"Get 'em off!" someone yelled furiously from above. "A plague. A plague of Dredgers. Kill the-"
The man was wrestled away by other Merchants, dragged down and – she hoped – beaten. Doubtful given the guards, but she could dream. Ignoring the agony and the urge to touch her face, or curl up and cry, Yang swung herself back against the wall and forced herself to keep going.
"Yang…"
Blake went ignored. There was no time for it. One hand before the other. Fingers scrabbling for purchase. Boots kicking against the wall in search of the ones her hands left behind. No more rocks came but the shouting above was louder. Darkness swam in at the edge of her vision, promising the soft warmth of rest if she'd just let go and fall. A short drop, water to break her fall and then a slow, long descent into darkness.
Fuck. That.
It was with dogged determination that she scaled the final ten feet. At the top, hands reached down to help her. Yang ignored them. It was tempting to take them at the last, but one of her best friends died because he reached out to grasp a hand. The hand of someone who didn't have his best interests at heart and who had, with a cruel laugh, swung him back out. He hadn't struck water, but the lip of a roof, shattering his skull and dying. So close to the end. It took her months to hunt down the merchant responsible.
These ones weren't that. They gripped her clothing and shoulders, helping her up and over the lip. Yang landed on her side, gasping and choking as she looked over several other cold, wet and tired forms huddling for warmth. A guard came and dropped a dry blanket over her, and she curled into it, chattering about a thank you.
Not everyone was as charitable.
"Throw them back!" a woman screamed.
"Not in our city!" a man echoed. "Thieves will steal and kill, mark my words."
"This is punishment. Diving punishment. Wash away their sins!"
The crowd was held back by several guards who formed a tight ring around the wall. It happened every year. For all those that came to help, just as many came to hurt – and more than both combined sat in their homes by fires, eating warm food and doing nothing. At best, a tenth of the Merchant's District would be out tonight. Five per cent to help and five per cent to try and stop them, with the rest staying home. Some of those might care and think how horrible this was while others would laugh, and more just wouldn't care either way.
"Yang?" Blake was up apparently and crawling through the huddled bodies. "Yang, where are you?"
"Here."
Blake crawled over, soaking wet and heaving for breath. Ignoring her complaints, the Arcanist rolled her over and removed the blanket, touching her face. Yang hissed and tried to draw away. Through woozy eyes, she saw Blake's fingers were red.
"He threw a rock at you. He… He tried to kill you."
Yang smiled weakly. "Nothing new there. Nothing new."
"This… I… This city." The Arcanist scrunched her eyes shut and stooped, helping Yang up onto her feet. "Come on. We need to go."
She tried to warn Blake, but her words were slurring a little. Blake picked her up regardless and carried her to the edge of the gathering, where they were quickly stopped by a guard in uniform.
"Halt. No one is to leave these points until you have been processed. You will be kept safe and fed in the District holding cells. This is for your own safety."
"My friend has been hit with a rock!" Blake snapped. "Are you really saying this now?"
"The one responsible has been detained. You do have my sympathy." The man looked like he didn't mean it and would rather be somewhere else. "Even so, leaving you free to roam the district is a recipe for disaster."
Blake hissed something beneath her breath. "I think your superior is calling you."
"Hm?" The man looked back over his shoulder. Yang couldn't hear or see anything, but he acted as though he could, straightening and saying, "Sir? They're – Wait, they're with the guard? Yes sir." He spoke to the thin air before turning back to them. "Why didn't you say so? Go on, then. Make sure to report to the barracks and see that injury tended to."
"We will," Blake lied, pulling Yang along. "Good luck with the rest."
No one made to follow them. Most from the slums would be happy for the cells – for they provided shelter, warmth and food that wouldn't be found anywhere else. Though cruelty was common in the prisons in the slums, it was less so in the Merchant District, or so she'd heard. There were always stories but what was a little ill-treatment compared to death? At any other time, Yang might have taken it.
They couldn't now. Not with Blake here and Ruby's situation. If Ruby came down – and she was sure to after realising the floods happened – and found Yang in a prison? It wasn't hard to imagine what she'd do. Fighting her nausea, she focused on putting one foot before the other, letting Blake guide her with an arm around her shoulder. The Arcanist brought her into a quiet alleyway that was partially sheltered and sat her down, then removed the cloak and ran a finger over her wound again. Yang winced.
"Can you hear me?" Blake asked.
"I'm not dead."
"No. But are you dizzy? Does it hurt?"
"Yes and no. I'm stunned." Yang made to shake her head to ward it off, but Blake caught her cheeks before she could and shook her head.
"Don't. You might have a concussion." She wouldn't have been able to climb if she did, but she let it go. Better safe than sorry. Blake stood and dusted herself down. "We need somewhere to stay. I can use my magic to convince someone. If I want, I can make them see us as their long-lost daughters. How likely are the guards to do checks of the city?"
"They won't. Too much to focus on."
"Good. Come on, might as well use it on these people here." Blake tapped the building they were against.
"No."
"Not them?" When Yang nodded, Blake sighed. "Why!?"
Yang pointed up in answer, to the wooden beam by the junction of the wall and roof. A symbol had been carved into it with a knife. It was a raindrop with a line underneath it and an X in the raindrop. It wasn't perfectly round, but more jagged. Hastily whittled into the wood with a sharp blade.
"Thieves signs?"
Yang was surprised a noble would know of them, even if she wasn't spot on. "Slummer's Symbols," she corrected. "Our way of communicating."
"And what does this one mean?"
"Means the people inside help when the floods hit." Which would explain why the lights were dark, the home abandoned. Its inhabitants were out by the walls providing food, blankets or muscle to pull Dredgers up to safety. "You can't hit 'em," Yang said. "Can't harm 'em."
"My magic won't hurt them at all."
Yang stuck her jaw out. "No."
"Yang, seriously? This is life or death. We don't have time to be picky."
"Life or death of more than two people. If someone hits 'em, they might not help next year. Or the year after. How many die then? We – We don't have much, but we have honour. We look after those that look after us. P – Pick someone else."
"You're freezing, Yang. Or you're going into shock."
"Pick. Someone. Else."
"Stubborn pain in my ass." Blake growled and hauled her up. "Fine. What am I looking for?"
"Lights on. I – If lights are on, they're in."
"And if they're in, they're not helping anyone," Blake finished for her. "No one would leave a candle burning in a house while they're out. Not if they don't want the place burning down. Well, at least that's not too hard. Plenty of lit windows…" She said it with some inflection in her tone. Disappointment. Surprise. Distress.
"Not everyone helps," Yang mumbled. "Few do."
"Which is why you need to take care of them. It's fine." Blake approached another building and slammed her fist on the door. The approach was so brazen, so blunt, that Yang wanted to laugh. From a depiction of Shadow Arcanists, she'd expected more. Maybe it's because everyone is so distracted. No point being subtle when every guard in the district is occupied.
When the door opened, it was a confused and portly looking man who did so. His eyes toom them in but soon went above, perhaps seeing someone a head taller?
"Who are you?" he asked.
Blake said nothing. Her attention remained on him and Yang could see thin wisps of grey smoke about her fingers, curling between them. An illusion? Making up voices? Whatever it was, the merchant held a full conversation with nothing, speaking on investments and finances – something about receiving money.
"An interesting idea," the Merchant eventually said. "Why don't you come inside and we can discuss it further?"
And just like that, they were in.
/-/
Ruby's shaking could have been mistaken for being in the cold, and probably was. She was hardly the only one huddling up under her robes. The river pounded against the wall of the Collegium, vanishing into a yellow glow and disappearing – never quite breaching into the river visible on the other side. The visible display of magic, the Black Arcana's work, gripped most there, but not her.
"Shouldn't someone do something?" she asked, trying not to sound like she knew about the floods. Being from Menagerie, she wasn't supposed to. "If the city is flooding, people will be in trouble."
"The Lower District," Sun said. "Floods each year. It's bad. My Dad always did what he could to help, but it was never enough. There was a bunch of them that'd go out with food and rope to try and help people up. There'll be people doing that now."
"Why don't the Arcanists do something?" she asked weakly.
Sun's eyes remained on the water. "I don't know."
"There has to be a reason," Weiss argued. "The Collegium wouldn't stand by without one."
"Of course there's a reason, Lady Schnee." Martyn Malneux's voice carried. He was stood with some of his friends, watching them with a sneer. "The reason the Collegium does nothing is because it's for the betterment of the city that the Dredgers be washed away."
"Disgusting comment," Jaune pointed out.
"Oh, I'm not commenting on those that die, Lord Arc. I'm only explaining the reason."
"And that is?"
"Isn't it obvious? The city has a population problem. There isn't enough room within the walls and the farms outside are overcrowded. Why else do people choose to risk their lives living in the Outskirts? We can't house more and more people, so the floods help cut the numbers down. Think of it like a cull of dangerous animals. Without the flood washing away the rot, we'd be knee deep in Dredgers. Stealing, killing and murdering-"
"That's not true!" Ruby screamed.
"What would you know, Rose? This isn't Menagerie and they're not people. They live in squalor, rummaging around in the water – dredging for lost coin in the river like rodents. They breed like rats as well. Nature has a way of keeping things in balance. This is just that."
"They're still people!"
"People, yes, but so is every murderer a person. Or every Rogue Arcanist, Wildmage or other disgusting cretin." Malneux leaned over and spat into the river. "I'd donate more if I could. With any luck, that drowns a Dredger."
A few others laughed and spat into the river as well, echoing the sentiment. Most didn't. Most shook their heads and tutted and looked away, but that didn't matter. Ruby's hands balled into fists and to see them gather and spit, wishing death upon the slums. Upon her and Yang and people like them. Her breath came out hoarse.
"Stop that!" Weiss barked. "Are you nobles? If so, then act like it!"
"What would you know about being a noble?" someone called back. "Daughter of a merchant."
"Bought their way into the royal bloodline. Your blood isn't blue."
Weiss bit her lip and refused to acknowledge them. Sun of all people drew her back and took an aggressive stance, standing alongside Jaune. The onlookers didn't seem to care, more focused on loudly boasting about how they would watch the floods from their mansions and manors. Again, it wasn't everyone – not even a quarter of the Arcanists who did so – but there were few who tried to stop it. They showed their disgust at such comments but did nothing.
It wasn't an unusual reaction to her. How many would look at the floods and say "oh, it's such a shame" but make no effort to help. How many would "spare a thought" or "keep them in their hearts" while sitting home in warm comfort where they'd never have to deal with such things? How many turned a blind eye?
The Black Arcana kept the water from impacting the Upper District. It should. The floodwater was already at a point where it should have been pooling out and flooding the Collegium and the Noble Quarter. The Merchant's too. The whole city should be flooded, even if the worst would still hit the slums.
"Second wave!" someone yelled. "There's a second wave coming!"
What? That shouldn't happen! The rainwater was meant to pool and overflow when it got high enough. The flood came after, the river bursting its own banks and flooding. It was only ever one instant. That was all it'd ever been.
And yet as Malneux and his cronies whooped and laughed, Ruby and the others looked up the river where a visible swell could be seen. A thick torrent of raging white kept in course by Black Arcana constructions that prevented it striking and damaging the Collegium. A second wave. A fresh swell that would strike suddenly and raise the water level in the confined areas of the slums.
Ruby's heart sank.
A single flood was bad enough – deadly to many – but this would be worse, especially with both coming a whole week early. It was normal to see where the water rose to and hide above it, then catch your breath and try to survive. People would think they were safe now, might even be sleeping or resting. If this fresh wave struck when they weren't ready for it…
"See? This is what I mean. Nature washes away the filth."
They had no idea.
No idea what it was like to live under the spectre of the floods. No idea what it was like to watch people you knew and loved be swept away. No idea what it was like to count down the days, not knowing if you'd be alive once the week was over, or worse, if you'd be alive but the rest of your family wouldn't be. They had no idea. And how could they? They'd lived their lives without ever having to consider it. They were protected.
The water rushed in.
Amusement. Joy. Sorrow. Sympathy. The emotions were writ all over their faces, and yet not a one of them would do anything. It happened. It was normal. There was nothing they could do. Nothing they wanted to do.
If that wave hits, Yang might die.
Excuses. Excuses, all of it. They had power. They were Arcanists for crying out loud! If they could transfer the flood water further down, they could take it out the city entirely. Maybe Martyn was right. Maybe they let this happen because they wanted to control population. Because they claimed there wasn't enough room in the city, even when the noble buildings she'd walked by weeks before had been large enough to home two hundred people at once. Not enough room because they refused to give up any of their own.
The nobles didn't understand what it was like because they'd never experienced it.
Something burned under her skin.
I wish they understood. Her teeth gritted together as Martyn laughed. I wish they'd learn what it's like!
Fire poured down her body and into her feet, then below – leaving her in a rush. Ruby's eyes opened, breath escaping as she staggered. The feeling. It was just like when she'd burned of the surges in the slums! Legs suddenly weak, she slumped to the side, crashing into Jaune. He caught her more by accident than anything, turning with a question on his lips.
It died when the ground shook and rumbled. Groaning stone cracked and everyone's voices cut off suddenly. Sun was bowled off his feet and Weiss crouched so she wouldn't face the same. People screamed as the very rock beneath them cracked open, a fissure ripping through the ground under Malneux's feet. He stared down at it in horror.
That cost him. Where his friends all dodged and ran, he stood with one foot on either side of an expanding gap. His piercing scream as it grew so wide he fell echoed over the Collegium, followed swiftly by an impact and an oof. Jaune cursed pushed her down onto her knees, leaving her safe and hurrying to the edge. From her position, she could see over as well. The chasm wasn't deep. Only six feet or so. You could climb in and out easily.
"Malneux!" Jaune yelled. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes." Startled, but alive. The noble rose and dusted his robes down, more embarrassed by his scream than injured. "What is going o-"
A loud crash echoed behind. Everyone turned, Ruby too, in time to see the south-west wall of the Collegium collapse. Wide eyed, Ruby stared, knowing full well what had caused that. Or who. The fissure Malneux was in had carried on, weakening the ground beneath it and causing a section of wall some ten metres wide to sink and crumble.
Did… Did I do that?
"The river!" an Arcanist screamed. "Get him out the river!"
Out? But Malneux wasn't in the river. Ruby looked back in confusion but could only whisper "Oh" brokenly, realising what the Arcanist meant. The expanding crack went two ways – one into and through the wall cutting off the Collegium from the Noble Quarter, and the other way toward the River Vale itself. It had reached both now, cutting through Black Arcana protections not designed to deal with it.
The River Vale had come crashing down into a fork, and with the water backed up as the protections filtered water further down, it took the easier – the emptier – route. The shallow ravine that Malneux was stood in soon became a raging river. Jaune swore and dove in. His boots hit down and he tackled Malneux against the wall of the ditch, pinning him there a second before the water struck with the force of an avalanche.
"Jaune!" Ruby screamed.
Their heads were submerged. The water splashed and roared all around them, freely splashing up and flowing over and into the Collegium without the protections to stop it. People cried out and fled, few staying to try and help. Malneux's friends, cruel as they were, hurried over to try and help pull him out. Ruby made to do the same for Jaune, but Sun pushed Weiss into her arms and jumped over their heads.
Between them, they managed to get hold of Jaune's arm and drag him out. Connected to that was Malneux, soaked and struggling for breath, but alive. Alive and now aware of just how terrifying it could really be.
"The Noble Quarter," Weiss moaned. "It's going to flood!"
Good.
If they wanted to talk about how their deaths was nature taking its course when they used magic to alter the course the river took, then so be it. This was nature. This was how the floods were supposed to be. The river breaking up and down the length of the city. The water would drip down to the slums eventually, it being the lowest point in the city, but it would be slower. Much slower. There wouldn't be a sudden rush washing people away.
Any satisfaction she felt was washed away as Sun helped Jaune to his feet. Limping and wet, hair dripping and face pained, Sun had to practically carry Jaune away, taking him back in the directions of the barracks.
"W - We should get inside," Weiss said."Our rooms are on the upper floor. We'll be safe there."
Already thinking like a Dredger. When the floods came, you sought higher ground. More than that, being away from ground zero when she'd caused it might also be a good idea. Luckily, the Arcanists running around were too busy trying to deal with the damage to ask where it came from. Pulling Weiss up, Ruby ran with her back to the dorms.
/-/
Grand Arcanist Ozpin watched from his tower, which granted the perfect view of the Collegium and Upper District slowly filling with water. Though it would only ever be two feet deep at best, they would still complain as though it were the end of the world. Naturally, such would be his fault. He could already feel a summons to the King coming.
"How troublesome. What do you make of this, old friend?"
"Sudden," James said, his white robes still and his steely eyes on the scene below. "Too sudden. This was no accident or result of the floodwater."
"A new river cut directly into the Noble Quarter, pumping water designated for the Lower District directly into the homes of those who would insult them." Ozpin chuckled. "Poetic, is it not?"
"Poetry implies a poet."
"It does." Ozpin closed his eyes and sighed. "It seems Glynda's actions did not go unnoticed. This appears to me to be a message to us."
"A declaration of war."
"No. Not yet. A warning. A threat. If we seek to harm the slums, our resident Wildmage will return the favour. Destroying the wall to make it clear it is no protection. Flooding us and the nobles to send her message. She is quite the problem."
"She won't be for long," James promised. "You asked for aid and I'm here, Ozpin. I've brought the best the Atlas branch of the White has to offer. Specialists. Each one White and Crimson and masters of both. They're a dedicated team designed to hunt down and eliminate Wildmages."
"That Wildmage is in our city," Ozpin said. "I hope you will remember that when the time comes."
"We'll do our best to limit damage, but you know that's not always possible where a Wildmage is involved. They don't go down quietly. And if this one has made her home there, she won't be leaving it." Ironwood hummed. "Better to lose a few to ensure stability. Any losses can be blamed on the Wildmage herself."
"They are still citizens of this city, James, their less-than-stellar reputation aside."
"Atlas doesn't flood, Ozpin. I know nothing of these… what do you call them? Dwellers?"
"Dredgers."
"Dredgers, then. I don't know them and don't have any of your little prejudices. They're victims here, that much is obvious. Innocents." The man's eyes hardened, lips drawing down. "I won't forget that, but I won't let it get in the way of what needs to be done. If your Wildmage can already do this, then she's growing at too fast a rate. Soon, she might be out of our reach entirely."
"I hope you know what you're doing, James."
"I do. And you're right. This." Ironwood indicated the drenched Collegium, with water already seeping up several inches. "This is a warning. It could have been much worse. Your Wildmage doesn't want to declare war on you yet. A sign that she's still weak. A time for us to strike. Better to be the first to attack; the first to declare war."
Ozpin said nothing. The Grand Arcanist watched his Collegium fill in silence.
"With your permission, Grand Arcanist of Vale."
"Yes." Ozpin let his eyes close. With a reluctant sigh, he bowed his head. "You have your permission. The White Arcana will support you as best they can. Bring this to a close, James. We cannot allow this Wildmage to persist. If you cannot capture her alive…"
Ozpin looked away.
"Kill her."
Ruby's Wild magic strikes back at the Collegium without her really meaning it to. Yang and Blake survive and find refuge, and a few little teasers and reveals in other areas. The flood is something that would persist for some time, by the way. It's not a wash in, wash off, but more like a sudden rush, lots of death, and then several days to a full week of the water just staying there, slowly draining away but made difficult because of how much there is.
And because of how the city has allowed it all to pool in one spot, rather than dissipate and drain from everywhere at once. There's only so much that can drain into the ground if you limit the amount of contact it has with the ground.
Next Chapter: 2nd February
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur