No relic chapter yesterday as I had to pick up and look after my sister when her son became violent over the fact he lost his driving license and started threatening her if she didn't drive him where he wanted. Started throwing plates and glasses around and shouting how it's her fault, etc. All because he wants to go out and get drunk but she's busy and doesn't want to have to pick him up at, like, 3am. Entitled little shit.

He's cruising for a bruising at this rate.

Spent the day chatting with her to try and calm her down and offer advice on how to sort this all out. If I've had this month hard, she's had it just as much if not worse. Still got her here today, will be taking her back home tonight, but she knows I write and is trying not to be a distraction.

Cover Art: Z-ComiX

Chapter 101

It was painfully clear Blake wasn't a fan of Maria by the way she stuck close to Ruby. Luckily, no one else knew the girl as she did, so they just assumed it was another Rogue wanting to keep to herself.

Maria Calavera didn't appear perturbed by it all and continued to chatter with Weiss, occasionally raising her voice to cackle or her staff to rap on Weiss' arm or back. It was such an odd dynamic to see her normally rigid roommate acting so chummy with another person, especially one who had even less manners than Ruby did.

"Do they know?" Blake asked her quietly. Ruby hummed inquisitively and Blake added, "About you."

"No. Qrow does. Not them."

"Hm." Blake nodded. Ruby didn't worry that Blake would tell them, not after Blake had looked after Yang. That deserved trust and Ruby was content to give it.

"You're not a fan of her, are you?"

No need to say who.

"That magic is forbidden."

"Isn't yours?"

"Here, maybe." Blake didn't rise to the bait. "It wasn't at home and even then there's nothing wrong with what I do. People are scared of the Shadow Arcana because they assume people who would want to learn magic to stay hidden can't be trusted. They think we'll use it for the wrong reasons." She snorted and muttered, "As if any school of magic couldn't be used as a weapon. The Emerald can kill as easily as they can heal."

"And necromancy is different? Maria could use it for good."

"It's the principle. To dedicate yourself to raising the dead means you're going against the natural order of the world. That…" Blake glanced back. "That's the domain of Gods."

Ruby looked at her askance. "I didn't think you were religious."

"I'm not. That's why a lot of people look into forbidden magics, though. It's because they want to be the first to manage it, the first to achieve, the first to do what everyone says is impossible. Most Rogues are arrogant, Ruby. They become what they are because they think they're better than everyone else, that they know better."

"Isn't that generalising?"

"I said most, not all. Some are dealt bad hands or want to help people or truly believe the Collegium is stifling. It really depends on what they've done and why. Does she look like the kind of person who became a necromancer out of some ideal it would help the world?"

Ruby thought back to what Weiss first told her of Maria, most of which revolved around why she herself had been tempted into learning Emerald magic from her. "Weiss said Maria did it because she was bored. Because she already had her two Arcana and didn't feel challenged by anything."

Even as she said it, Ruby felt a sinking feeling in her gut. Blake shot her a look as if to ask if that didn't prove her point, and for once Ruby couldn't argue. As reasons went, it definitely wasn't the best one to become a Rogue. Someone like Emerald, who wanted to help her sick mother, would have had a good reason. Maria had broken from the Collegium because she felt there was nothing left to learn, nothing they could teach her, and if that wasn't arrogance then what was?

Did it matter, though? If Maria was on their side, then it shouldn't be a problem. Then again, Blake wasn't saying she wouldn't work with Maria, only that she didn't trust her.

"You don't see yourself as a Rogue." Ruby said. "Do you?"

"No." Blake let out a quiet breath as she looked ahead. "I know I am one by the laws of the Collegium, but I didn't choose to leave. The only reason I didn't immediately join another Collegium was because I knew my Arcana wouldn't be welcomed. They'd find some stupid excuse to brand me a traitor and lock me in the Sanctum."

So instead, she'd given her Arcanum to a young girl she sensed magic within and used her as a way to influence things. Not with a view of harming Vale or its people, but funnily enough to save it.

"You see yourself as an Arcanist still."

"I am one," Blake said. "I'm a loyal Arcanist of a Collegium that no longer exists." Her eyes hardened under her hood, flashing gold. "I am no Rogue. I'm no traitor."

Not by the spirit of the law, but she was by the word.

"You sound kind of like the White now," Ruby said. "Wanting to stop what destroyed Menagerie and willing to break all the rules to do it. Is this your version of the White does not falter?"

Blake huffed. "If I'm to be like them then it's like what the White should have been. Before maintaining their power and getting in the way of every other Arcana to make sure they don't overshadow them became their number one priority. The White is a good idea in theory." Under her breath, she added, "And maybe it was a heroic idea at the time. It's people that have made it worse. Human greed has turned it into a shadow of what it's supposed to be."

Ruby had no argument to give there. Maybe Wildmages had also been bad once, and maybe the Arcanists were right to fear them, but times changed and not everyone was the same. The White really had become more self-serving, protecting their way of life, their power and not really pushing the Collegium to become better in any meaningful way.

The whole system was rotten. The fact that people were limited to two Arcana was just to make sure no one became too powerful. If that was a genuine threat however, then the White could have just made sure they were at the forefront of that. That they didn't, that they settled for the easier way out, made it seem like they were just plain lazy.

Worse, it created people like Maria, who were driven to break laws specifically because they felt held back. Maria Calavera wouldn't have even become a necromancer if she'd had the freedom to study the other Arcana. There was enough magic to keep anyone busy for a lifetime. The only one who could breach a third and fourth Arcana was the Grand Arcanist, and according to Weiss and Blake both, there had never been a Grand Arcanist not of the White.

By now it was all but a formality that Glynda would become the Grand Arcanist, not because she wanted to, but because the White couldn't afford, or thought they couldn't afford, to let someone from another Arcana be in power.

Why? What were they afraid of? There was no reason they couldn't control the person from afar or convince them to take the White as their third or fourth gemstone, so what was the problem?

There isn't one. They just want the power.

It was twisted. Corrupted. They genuinely thought and believed that the Grand Arcanist had to be their Arcana, that it would somehow be a crisis if it wasn't, but Ruby was sure none of them would be able to say why if pressed. Their dogmatic belief was nothing short of fanaticism, and they were convinced of it all the same.

That doesn't justify destroying the city and killing all the innocent people inside to get it, she thought, clenching her fists as they trekked through the forest. These people might have had their reasons, but she couldn't accept that. Not out of naivety. She didn't believe for a second that discussion would change the White. Ruby didn't hold any misconceptions that one person, or even a group of people, could convince them to improve. If the White really was to change then they'd need to be dragged down, beaten or exposed.

But that could be done without killing so many people. If the issue was within the Collegium, then it should stay in the Collegium. Normal people shouldn't have to deal with their problems.

"What will you do once this is over?" Ruby asked Blake. "If these people are gone, Vale is safe, and you don't have to chase them anymore. Are you going to stay a Rogue forever?"

"I'll go back to Menagerie."

Ruby felt a lump form in her throat. "Really?"

"Hm." Blake nodded. "I'll rebuild it. Or try my best. There are still plenty of villages in one on the island. A new city will form sooner or later, if only because the villages will become overcrowded. Maybe they'll take over the ruins and rebuild them. There'll be people with the spark of magic, too. They'll need someone to teach them."

"You're going to make a new Collegium? With you as Grand Arcanist?"

Blake laughed. "That won't happen in my lifetime. I'll teach people, train them how to use their magic and not hurt themselves, then leave it to them when UI grow old. The other Collegiums will come snooping when they hear, but I'll just say I survived the fall and stayed there. They'll invite me to another Collegium, but they won't be able to force me."

It had never occurred to Ruby that Blake might have her plans for the future, that she might have some goal beyond stopping these people. Maybe that was because she hadn't thought to ask or because she'd assumed Blake wouldn't have anything left with Menagerie destroyed. Or that she'd be so wrapped up in revenge that she wouldn't have thought past it. Obviously, that wasn't the case.

"Maybe Yang and I could go along once you're there."

It was Blake's turn to show surprise. "You'd leave Vale?"

"Why wouldn't we? Our home is destroyed, everyone we knew is dead and it's because of our own Collegium." Ruby spat on the grass. "No one cares about us here. And I'm an Arcanist now. I could request a transfer; say I want to help rebuild my home and that I'll keep an eye on things for the White." Ruby shrugged. It went without saying she'd send back bullshit reports, and Blake knew that enough not to ask. "Even in ruins, Menagerie has to be better than living in the slums."

"it is. Tropical sun, peaceful surroundings, and with you and me combined, the few Grimm that remain wouldn't be an issue." Blake began to smile as she warmed up to the idea. "No one would have to know about what you are. There would be no slums either. Even the poorest people back home could usually fish for their food and have enough to sell on the market to boot. We could make it even better if we worked on it," Blake added. "Make sure no one has to suffer."

It was a lovely ideal. An unlikely one too, but that didn't mean it wasn't worth trying. Ruby didn't think Yang would care too much. She already wanted to abandon Vale before the Grimm hit. They held no affection for the place that had killed all their loved ones.

/-/

"Tracks."

Qrow dropped down onto one knee and touched a hand to some indistinct mark on the ground that Ruby couldn't see. She'd never learned to track because she'd never been taught to hunt. Where would someone like her find weapons for it, let alone someone to teach her? If you could hunt, you weren't poor enough to be stuck in the slums.

"Grimm?" she asked.

"Grimm don't leave tracks." Qrow said with a snort. "They leave trails of devastation. You wouldn't be able to mistake the two." He stood and motioned for them to follow. "The Rogues must have come closer than normal, no doubt to spectate the battle."

"They'd want to see if they've won or not." Maria said. "Arrogant little snots, aren't they? I suppose it's easy to be when you're sending waves of monsters to do your dirty work for you."

Wouldn't she be the one to know about that? Ruby kept her mouth shut.

"We won't know if it's the one with the artifact or just sentries." Qrow said. "Either way, we're close. This is your moment, Shadow Arcanist."

Blake harrumphed and stepped forward. She waved her hands before them and whispered a mantra under her breath. Not required, never required, but a memetic component to help her concentration, like reminding herself how to tie the laces of her boots. Ruby felt the shimmer of magic wash over her like cool water, then disappear.

Sensing Shadow magic was so strange, not because it was entirely invisible, but because it was conspicuous in its absence. It was a blank spot that shouldn't exist, and she was sure that if you kept that in mind then you could detect it, but that would rely on you knowing something was wrong in the first place. The bubble closed around them with a visible shimmer that soon smoothed out until no sign remained.

"We cannot be seen or heard." Blake said. "So long as you remain within five feet of me."

"And magical sensing?" Qrow asked.

"Difficult. You would have to be looking for it."

"Impressive." He sounded genuine, smirking and looking around. "Spells like this would have been useful on some of my jobs. I can't imagine how many lives could be saved if we could take down the dangerous Rogues before they realise we're there and start throwing spells around."

"You would need to convince the White not to be deathly afraid of everything they can't control."

"Yeah." Qrow sighed. "Hopeless. I know." He shook his head and focused back on the task. "Everyone stay close. We're going to avoid combat if humanly possible. In an ideal world we could find the one with the artifact and neutralise them before anything happens."

"We're not just calling reinforcements when we find their camp?" Weiss asked nervously. "I thought that was the plan Lady Goodwitch put forward."

"That was her way of making it sound safer." Qrow explained. "Truth is, she knows we can't afford to bring our forces out for anything less than the real deal. What if we make her move in only to find it's a smaller camp, and then have the Grimm attack while we're distracted?"

Death untold. Vale might not fall immediately, but the walls would be breached and a lot of people in the Merchant's Quarter would die. Yang would be among that number.

"We have to be certain." Qrow said. "And unfortunate as it is, that might mean we have to put ourselves at risk."

"As Goodwitch well knows." Maria added under her breath. "I see the White has changed her."

"It changes everyone sooner or later." Qrow muttered back.

They moved on again, this time in a tight cluster centred around Blake. The tracks Qrow found weren't well hidden, or so he said. Ruby still couldn't make out much than the occasional really obvious sign like a scrap of cloth or discarded bit of food. Nobles liked to hunt though, or so she'd heard. They made huge shows of it, with horses and dogs and a whole bevy of armed guards, all to bring down one deer. Trust nobles to need a small army to kill a wild animal.

Yet again, they found themselves climbing up the steep slopes. The Arcanists had taken to the high ground again, likely for a good view or just for the defensible position. The ascent was made harder because they had to keep proximity with Blake, meaning that they had to take wide detours rather than risk climbs Maria couldn't make in her old age. An hour passed and the sun crept through the sky, baking down onto the backs of their necks. In the distance, the sounds of warfare had diminished. Was the attack over? She knew the Grimm tended to attack fast and reckless, and get themselves killed quickly as a result, but this seemed too short a time.

Qrow stepped up onto a low rock and peered ahead. He cupped his hands over his eyes to shield them from the sun, then hopped down again. "How would we detect Shadow magic?" he asked Blake. "We know they have Shadow Arcanists among their number."

"You don't," she replied. "I'm keeping my eyes open."

"And are you the best there is?"

Blake grimaced but didn't rise to the bait. "You look for the empty spots," she explained. "You don't focus too hard because then you slide off, but instead take a wide view and try to ask if anything is too calm. Too peaceful. Animals are a common method because they smell the humans and flee, but that won't help us here. Almost every animal for miles around has already fled the Grimm."

"Can you hide an entire encampment?"

"With enough Arcanists, yes. But also no."

"No? You hid Maria's house."

"That's a static position and I only taught her to hide the walls. It…" Blake grimaced. "Think of it more as turning the walls into mirrors than making them invisible. They reflect the open space around them, the trees and the wildlife. It doesn't cover everything. If these people had enough from the Shadow they could keep the camp hidden, but it would still be a suspiciously open clearing. Smoke from campfires would be revealed once it got high enough. The smell of cooked food would travel. Light from the fires would still reflect of trees and be visible through the woods."

"You can't hide light?"

"It's relative. Hiding fire in the sunlight is easy. Hiding a lantern at night is far more difficult. It's the different in illumination between the spell and the outside world that determines it. If the space within a hidden area is the same as outside, you won't see anything. If it's lighter inside, you'll notice. If it's darker, you'll also notice." She frowned. "You would see that as an odd area where shadow seems to cling, a strange darker spot in your vision you can't explain."

"It's not true invisibility then?" Weiss asked, curiosity shining through.

"You can't destroy light, sound or odour with Shadow Magic." Blake said, not as big a fan of having to explain her secrets. "You can only reflect the eye. I could cast illusions on people to trick their senses into seeing, smelling or hearing other things, but that requires me to know where they are and be close."

"Then in your professional opinion," Qrow said, "What will they do?"

Blake thought. "They won't hide their camp. It's too difficult and their Arcanists would be exhausted and helpless if they were located. They'll leave the camp exposed and trust in their numbers and the Grimm to defend them. Instead, their Shadow Arcanists will be acting as sentries, standing alone and hidden in a wide circumference under spells like the one I've cast on us."

Invisible sentries that wouldn't move or reveal themselves until they were passed, then who would sound the alarm and trap them between hidden attackers and the camp. Ruby shuddered at the thought, and she wasn't the only one.

"Should we wait until the cover of night?" Weiss asked.

"Menagerie has the highest population of faunus in the world." Blake said. "I might be fine seeing at night, but none of you will."

"Waiting any longer only gives them time to summon more Grimm." Qrow added. "No. This is a matter of haste. And loathe as I am to admit it, maybe of brute force as well. Stay here," he said, then began walking ahead.

"The bubble-" Blake began.

"I know." He stepped out of it and looked back. Ruby could tell he couldn't see them because of the ways his eyes narrowed and brows creased together. He seemed to be concentrating, trying to feel the way to sense the magic as Blake had told him. Apparently, it wasn't as easy as it sounded. "I'll walk ahead," he said, a little louder than he had to, more evidence he had no idea how close they were. "If the sentries see one person, they might be more prepared to deal with me alone than raise the alarm. That'll be your cue to step in."

"This is a bad idea." Weiss said.

Qrow didn't react, turning around to walk away.

"He can't hear us." Blake pointed out. "And the plan is sound. A single Arcanist is easily dealt with, especially by my Arcana. They'll fancy their chances."

"And if they plant a knife in his back!?"

"They'll quite literally have to walk through us to do that." Ruby said. "Their spell will fail at the same time ours does, right?"

Blake nodded. "And if they cast on his back, we'll see it coming and react. He's in danger, but he's the most capable of all of us to be in it, and he knows that. Let's just follow and see what happens. We have an Emerald Arcanist here if we need one."

"And if it's too late, I can always bring him back to finish the job." Maria said.

Blake's grimace was almost as big as Ruby's.

"Maria!" Weiss hissed. "That isn't funny."

"Bah. You kids have no sense of humour."

/-/

It was the smell of food that gave them away.

Ruby caught the scent first, all those years of hunger making her particularly good at picking up the faintest whisp of meat. Ruby patted the arms of everyone else within Blake's spell and pointed to Qrow. Blake shook her head, but luckily Qrow caught it a few steps later, pausing and visibly tilting his head back to sniff at the air.

A moment later he dipped into a low crouch and moved to the left, taking cover behind a wide tree. There was no mistaking the tang of dripping animal fat and oil, even if they couldn't make out any smoke through the thick canopy. Qrow looked back awkwardly, no doubt unsure if they were there at all. Ruby kicked a pebble lightly, causing it to skitter out the bubble and bump into his foot. Qrow looked down, up, and then nodded, taking the sign they were close by.

"Look for sentries," he whispered under his breath. "I'll stay here."

They caught the message and Blake motioned for them to stay close. There had to be someone keeping watch, even if it wasn't a Shadow Arcanist under a spell. They might not have had enough of them to keep watch all the time, but even the most mundane Arcanist had eyes. At least most of the time.

"Maria…" Blake said.

"Oh. Deign to talk to me now?"

Blake ignored that. "Do you remember enough of the spell I taught you?"

"You want to go it alone? I can keep a static area hidden, but I couldn't grasp moving reflections like you could."

"It'll be enough. Cast it here and none of you move. I'll go ahead."

Maria nodded and knelt, drawing a circle in the dirt beneath their feet. Ruby had never seen Blake have to do that, but maybe it was another memetic thing to help those less experienced focus. Whatever the case, it must have worked because Blake nodded and hurried away, quickly vanishing into thin air. Meanwhile, Qrow didn't turn to ask why they were suddenly exposed.

"Try not to move at all." Maria said. "I wasn't kidding when I said static. You so much as wave an arm and the air around you will blur awkwardly. This Shadow Magic is a lot more difficult than it looks," she added with a sigh. "That girl is a talented one to be able to move with it active."

Technically speaking, Ruby could do that as well – actual invisibility as well, the type that could only be pierced by a Huntsman like Jaune. That would reveal her Wildmagic however, which might soon be necessary anyway.

Nothing happened about the camp's edge for the longest time. It was less than five minutes but it sure as hell didn't feel it. Especially not when Ruby was afraid to even scratch the itch forming behind her left ear. Would they see anything at all? For all she knew, Blake and some other Shadow Arcanist were in a fight to the death right now, hurling spells and screaming at the tops of their lungs. There was no way to know.

Then, suddenly, there was a cloaked figure among them. Ruby tensed and Weiss nearly shrieked, but for Blake quickly pressing a finger to her lips. Her golden eyes shone out of her hood.

"Damn it, girl!" Maria swore. "You trying to give an old woman a heart attack?"

"You're under my spell again." Blake said. "You can move."

Ruby slumped, scratched her ear and hopped on legs that had started to go to sleep.

"Was it clear?" Weiss asked.

"No. Two sentries. One of which had seen Qrow."

Ruby tensed. "Where?"

"In the bushes over there." Blake pointed to the left. "And one further, in the low branches of that maple tree."

Ruby saw nothing in either direction. "What do we do about them?"

"Nothing." Blake said as if it were obvious. "They're dead."

Ruby felt a chill run down her spine, not only at the way Blake said it – which made it clear she was responsible – but at the fact none of them had heard a thing. Those people had died silently, or if they hadn't then the sounds they made had been masked to never reach their ears.

I'm starting to see why the White are afraid of the Shadow.

Not that it meant they deserved the persecution, but still.

"They weren't experienced." Blake said. "I'm convinced only one of them was an Arcanist at all. The other was either an Initiate or a Rogue who only knew the basics. Little mistakes like reflected sunlight or the one in the branches forgetting that even if I can't see him, I can see the branch bending when it has no reason to."

Blake stepped forward and touched a hand to Qrow's shoulder. He tensed up but refrained from attacking, looking back to ask, "Is it done?"

"The sentries are dead." Blake said. "And I think this is the place."

"How can you be sure?"

"I saw Grimm inside."

That'll do it.

Next Chapter: 5th September

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