The Horrors of Apathy

Brunswick Farm

Night had fallen on the small settlement as everyone except Qrow was gathered in the main room. The veteran huntsman had taken to keeping an eye on the storm, which was finally starting to clear up. Though the smell of alcohol told Wayne that he was just looking for another excuse to quietly get drunk. 'Of all the times for a guy to try getting inebriated,' thought Wayne, 'I've seen him fight drunk before and it's not pretty.'

"So was this the kind of stuff you guys were eating when you were traveling across Mistral," questioned Weiss as she looked at the food in her can, breaking Wayne out of his thoughts.

"Oh, well we ate all kinds of things," said Wayne as he shoveled a little bit of his own food in his mouth, "canned food, rations, vegetables and fruits from farmers, pastries from thankful villages, and meat from just about anywhere we could find it."

"Where else would you find meat besides towns and villages?" Questioned Weiss.

"We'd shoot it or chase it down out in the woods," answered Aegis from his position next to Yang.

"Out in the woods, as in wild animals," said Weiss with a raised eyebrow.

"Call it hunting wild game," said Wayne, "Dad showed us how to hunt 'em down and Mom showed us how to clean 'em."

"I'm hoping you mean you made them nice and presentable when you say 'clean.'" Weiss said.

"Oh we washed the meat, yeah," said Aegis as he animatedly explained the process, with his mouth full, "But first we had to cut 'em open and slice off the edible parts. Let me tell you that's pretty messy on its own, but when you work on birds you gotta pluck out the feathers and they stick to everything because of the blood and-."

"No, no, I don't need to hear anymore," said Weiss, "I'm losing enough of my appetite as it is."

"What'd you do to cook it?" Questioned Yang. She wasn't super interested in the topic itself, but the conversation helped keep her mind off of the extreme creep factor of the farm. They'd learned, thanks to Calavera speed reading through the leftover diary entries, that the farm used to belong to a man named Bartleby. Like many others, he and his family as well as a few other settlers tried to make the farm livable, even despite the Grimm. It worked for a time, but the bodies were all they needed to know that it ended badly.

"Pretty much the usual way," said Aegis, "Wash off the blood and cook it skewered over a fire. Had a whole section of our packs dedicated to seasonings."

"Speaking of which," said Blake, "What, uh, seasoning did you put on your food Yang?"

"I don't know," replied Yang, lazily, "It's not near as spicy as advertised though."

"I see," said Blake as she tried to think of something else to say. Their relationship had been somewhat strained lately. Of course everyone had been feeling a bit down, and staying in the overly creepy house hadn't helped much. Wayne wasn't looking forward to going to sleep tonight, even if he was tired, gosh was he tired.

"Hey everyone," chirped Ruby as she walked into the room, "Uncle Qrow says we should probably get some sleep. He'll wake us up early tomorrow morning so we can leave."

"That sounds good," said Blake as she and the others got up and started preparing their sleeping bags. Maria Calavera just jumped up and hobbled over to another chair in the corner.

"I'll go to bed when I want," she remarked, "Not because some kid told me too."

"She was just relaying instructions from the old man," commented Wayne as he readied his own sleeping bag, "So complain to the old Qrow if you don't feel like sleeping." The old lady simply hmphed at that statement as she continued reading. Ruby smiled at the small banter between the two as they all went to sleep. Unfortunately, that night was anything but restful.

The Next Morning

Wayne had absolutely no idea where he was. All he knew for sure was that it was underground in a rocky tunnel that appeared to have some kind stream running through it. The huntsman in training splashed down the tunnel with each step, a hand on one of his weapons as he did so. The tunnel was old and decrepit, with a number of other smaller tunnels that turned off at one point or another. 'If this is a dream,' thought Wayne, 'I'm really not in the mood for it.'

"Not so much a dream," said a familiar voice that resembled his own, only deeper, "More like a premonition." Wayne pulled out his weapons then as the saw a shadow dart around a turn in the tunnel. 'Oh we are not doing this tonight,' thought Wayne as he chased after the figure. The tunnel curved, wound, and twisted in numerous directions as he followed his quarry, often just missing it as it turned a corner or down another tunnel.

Eventually, the tunnel opened up into a wide chamber, and in the center of it sat the figure of the aura shadow. "I thought you'd have learned not to ignore your instincts by now," said the figure as he stood up.

"You make it sound like we had much of a choice," said Wayne as he proceeded into the chamber with his weapons still raised. "Yes my instincts have been screaming at me that something's off about this place, but my instincts also tell me that Qrow's right when he says we can't go anywhere with this storm."

"Ah yes, the drunk huntsman," said the figure with a dismissive wave, "Even if he wasn't loopy half the time, his bad luck semblance is still a problem in and of itself."

"It just creates the occasional inconvenience," said Wayne, "He's not to blame for this storm or the fact that we wound up here in the first place. That's all on you know who."

"That's another problem," said the figure, "Whatever's out there is quite possibly a Grimm and you're all clustered around an object that attracts them. It's probably already led whatever's affecting us here!"

"What are you talking about," questioned Wayne, sensing something akin to fear coming from the figure.

"Can't you feel it?!" Exclaimed the figure as a mass of black mist erupted from his body, shooting out of his back and coating the floor, "This negative energy is not our own! It's coming from an outside source!"

"What is," Questioned Wayne as he held up his arm to block the sudden wind that filled the chamber, "What outside source?"

"It's a feeling as if our will is being drained," explained the figure, "You must've noticed everyone feeling tired, it's affecting them too."

"I thought you didn't care what happened to them," said Wayne as he lowered his arm, "why the sudden concern?"

"I DON'T!" replied the figure as the wind and the mist increased, threatening to engulf Wayne. "In fact this feeling, this apathy, is feeding the dark half of your soul. But your body still isn't ready to use the aura shadow at high power yet. Remember we are one and the same, two sides of the same coin in a way. So if you die then I will die as well and while a number of the others around you have considered giving up, I can't allow it because I want to survive and so do you!"

"And what exactly do you suggest I do then," Wayne called back, having to raise his voice over the noise.

"What should you do," questioned the figure as the mist around them suddenly started taking shape. Several long, skinny arms with elongated nails emerged from the mist, reaching towards the both of them. Wayne looked around the room and realized that the entrance had been overtaken by these figures as their heads formed into what looked like skulls whose faces were stuck in an eternal expression of anger or agony. "You should run, you should leave this place with what you can and never return."

The hands shot out then, reaching for both Wayne and the figure. The huntsman in training quickly switched to his sickles as he began desperately cutting at the numerous arms. Even as he did this, the shadows closed in all around them. "You should WAKE UP!"

Wayne awoke with a start as he desperately looked around. He was back in the main house with everyone else. The only indication that anyone had heard him wake up was Blake rolling over and Calavera snorting a bit before resuming her snoring. As for Wayne, he was breathing heavily and despite the cold, was almost sweating. Deciding he wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon, he got up and made his way to the window. Outside, the storm had subsided and the air was still as the sun had started its rise into the sky.

'#$% I'm tired,' thought Wayne as he leaned on the windowsill, 'but after that dream, I really don't want to go back to sleep.' The student bumped his head against the window as he tried to think of what to do now that he was up. 'Yang and Blake found a trailer earlier, and Qrow's supposed to wake everyone up in just a short while. I really don't want to, but I may as well go out and do something.'

With that in mind, Wayne did a quick check on his weapons and grabbed his coat before heading out into the snow-covered farm, making sure he moved as quietly as possible so as not to wake anyone.

It was still cold outside, but not unbearable and with his night vision he had no trouble making his way to the storehouse. Once inside, he kept himself busy by finding a hitch which attached to Yang's bike before organizing the other supplies on both his and Aegis's bikes. The work itself was slow, mostly given to the fact that he kept making little mistakes while organizing due to his exhaustion. 'It's true then,' thought Wayne, 'something about this place is sapping our will to do anything. The sooner we get out of here, the better.'

He continued working for some time as he managed to attach the hitch to the back of Yang's bike, though he noted he'd need some help to weld on the attachment piece. He then proceeded to roll out both his and Aegis's bikes and then Yang's bike after that. By the time he rolled out the trailer, the sun had been up for a little while, leaving Wayne to ask one question. 'Where is everyone,' he thought as he groggily walked back to the main house, 'Qrow should've woken everyone up by now.'

Once he opened the door, the sound of a shattering bottle told him all he needed to know as he headed to the room where Qrow had been keeping watch. What he found was a poor, tired drunk being embraced by his concerned niece. He decided it was best if he held back in the doorway so as not to disturb the moment. "Oh Wayne," said a somewhat surprised Ruby, "You're up too."

"Had a heck of a time trying to sleep," said Wayne as he leaned against the doorframe, "But I'm in no hurry if you all still need a bit."

"Appreciate it crescent boy," said Qrow as he stood up, still a bit groggy, "But It's probably time we got out of here." Wayne nodded as he went to rouse the rest of their party. As it turned out, no one seemed to be in the mood to do much of anything and it took a bit of coaxing by the ones already up, and a slight threat about setting off some lightning dust, to get everyone to wake up and start moving.

Outside, everyone was relatively groggy as Weiss went to work on welding the attachment head on the hitch while Ruby and Qrow pushed the trailer the rest of the way to bumblebee. Wayne would've done more of the welding himself, but given his tired state and the dream of the aura shadow last night, he thought it best to let someone who was better rested take care of it. Though looking at everyone at the moment, they were barely better rested than he was. "Is there really a reason we can't go back to bed," groaned Oscar, "I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm still exhausted."

"We should still probably make breakfast," said Blake, who was sitting on the steps next to Oscar.

"Do you really feel like making it though," questioned Oscar.

"To be honest, I really don't," replied Blake in a tired tone.

"I never thought I'd say this," said Aegis, who was draped over the rail, "But I don't think any of us should attempt it right now. Not unless we wanna fall asleep on a searing pan or start a fire."

"Hey guys," said Ruby as she and Qrow reached the bike with the trailer, "Is the bike all set up." Yang nodded lazily in response.

"Well all we got to do now is hook this thing up and-," Qrow said as he put his foot on the trailer, only for the tire on the opposite side to immediately pop. The veteran huntsman did his best to bite back a curse as he walked around to examine the tire.

"My, my," said Calavera from the porch, "you people are just magnets for bad luck aren't you?"

"Lady," said Aegis, somewhat angrily as he put a hand on her shoulder, "the last thing any of us need to hear right now is how bad our luck is. If you got something helpful to say we're all ears, otherwise pipe down." Maria simply scoffed at that but she didn't say anything else on the matter. The comment still got to Qrow, however, as the huntsman went and planted himself on a wood pile, drinking from his signature flask.

"I'm starting to think the universe is against us getting to Atlas," said Yang as she plopped down against the well.

"Flat tires happen, especially on old trailers like those," said Ruby, "We can probably find a spare."

"There should be one in the storage buildings somewhere," Wayne spoke up as he finished checking to make sure his bike was in working order. "Aegis, Oscar, we'd better get to it." His brother and Oscar both groaned a bit about it, but they followed him regardless.

As they looked around in the storage buildingings, Wayne couldn't help but notice that Oscar seemed to have something on his mind. "You look a bit troubled over there," said Wayne, "Everything alright Oscar?"

"I guess I've just been thinking," said Oscar, "after hearing everything and after all the rotten luck we've been having recently, maybe we shouldn't even go to Atlas."

"Oscar," said Wayne, "you know we need to get that relic to Atlas. Sure we've had a rocky start, but that happens to the best of us."

"But that was back when we thought we could still save the world," said Oscar, "now we know we're just delaying the inevitable."

"And what exactly would we do with the relic besides taking it to Atlas," questioned Wayne with a raised eyebrow, "I don't see us burying it out here or tying a rock to it and dropping it in a nearby river."

"Why not though," questioned Oscar, "Think of how long it would take someone to find it out here. Do you know how many missing objects are probably buried out here already? Sure, Salem's got literally all the time in the world but we don't. If we just get rid of it in some random spot, it'll probably be just as safe as it would be if we took it to Atlas."

"You're forgetting one very important detail," Wayne pointed out, "That lamp attracts Grimm and Salem controls Grimm, at least to a degree. Meaning if we abandon it out here, the first one to find it will likely be Salem and you'd better believe it'll be within our lifetimes. And even if that wasn't the case, we nearly lost our lives to get that blasted lamp, so we may as well finish what we started."

"But we can be finished right now," said Oscar, "After everything we've been through up to this point, don't you think we've done enough?"

"If you think you've done enough then you can catch a ride home when we get to Argus," said Wayne, "Unlike us, you didn't really ask for this fight or to have another soul floating around inside you. I'm sure Ruby will understand your reasons, though it will make her a little sad."

"Now don't bring Ruby into this," said Oscar as he put his thumb and pointer finger to his nose.

"But that's what you'll have to do," said Wayne, "You leave now and you might not ever see her again."

"What is with you?!" Groaned Oscar, "Why, after everything we've learned about how pointless this is, are you still insisting on taking that stupid thing all the way to Atlas? Why are you subjecting yourself to this?!"

"Because it's what a true huntsman would do," said Wayne, his exhaustion and irritation clear in his voice, "Or at the very least it's what my mother and father would do. To be perfectly honest I'm just as tired and frustrated as everyone else right now and the thought of traveling anywhere else but home sounds terrible. But I'm gonna do it anyway even if I have to walk because then at the very least I can pass that lamp off to someone else and tell 'em it's their problem now. Besides, if a naïve girl like Ruby is able to tough it out, what excuse do we really have?"

"Alright, alright," said Oscar as he held up his hands in surrender, "let's just get out of here and then we'll see." It was at that moment that Aegis walked in, dragging an air compressor.

"Hey guys," said Aegis tiredly, "I may have this wrong, but we can use one of these things to air up a tire right?"

"Well we need a tire to do that first," said Wayne as he managed to spot one hiding behind some wood posts, "And I think we just found one." The three friends gathered up the rest of the supplies they needed and headed back outside. But when they got back to the trailer, they noticed something strange. Team RWBY and Qrow were nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd everyone get off too?" Questioned Aegis as he set the air compressor down.

"The girl in the red hood got startled by something and dropped the lamp down the well," answered Calavera, without looking up from her book. "Her and her friends went down the well to find it. As for the, oh so charming man, he went inside to get wasted on more alcohol. Downright stupid if you ask me."

"Well I guess that just leaves us to get this spare on," Said Oscar. Wayne and Aegis agreed as they got to work. With Aegis's strength, holding up the trailer and swapping out the tire was easy. But it still needed to be aired up, a job which proved slightly more difficult because once the compressor was turned on, communication was nearly impossible from the noise. 'This thing is gonna give us all a headache,' thought Wayne as he rubbed his temple, 'if we weren't so exhausted we'd probably be able to ignore this easily, but right now, uuuugh.'

They were so focused on airing up the tire that it took Wayne a moment to notice that the porch was empty. "Uh guys," said Wayne, trying to be heard over the racket of the air compressor, "Where's Maria Calavera?"

"WHAAAAAAT?!" Both Aegis and Oscar yelled back over the noise.

"WHERE'S THE OLD LADY?!" Wayne yelled back. It was then that Oscar and Aegis noticed she was missing as well. But one look at the ground told them all they needed to know.

"You don't really think the old bag of bones went down the-," Aegis said before Wayne stopped him.

"With everything going on right now, we'd better not take any chances," said Wayne, "Oscar, keep an eye on the compressor and shut it off once the tire reaches full. Aegis, you and I are going down a well." Aegis didn't look thrilled about the prospect, but nodded nonetheless as the two of them leapt down the stone well.

Surprisingly, the interior of the well was actually a series of tunnels that looked like they'd been mined out to allow the flow of the water beneath their feet. "You sure we shouldn't just wait for Ruby and the others to find her," said Aegis, "They'd probably run into each other down here."

"'Probably' being the key word," said Wayne, "They're looking for the relic right now and this place is a small maze of tunnels. It's very possible Miss Calavera could take a wrong turn and get lost, which at this point is not something we need when we're doing everything we can to get out of-."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Came the sound of team RWBY screaming further down the tunnels. The two brothers didn't hesitate as they broke out into a full on sprint down the tunnels, drawing their weapons along the way. Another sound echoed through the tunnels as they ran, a kind of groaning that didn't sound human. 'I knew it,' thought Wayne, 'something really is here and it's been right underneath us the entire time.'

The two brothers turned a corner then, only to stop short as they came face to face with the horror that had been plaguing them since they arrived. Before them stood several Grimm that resembled tall, lanky skeletons with their bodies twisted and contorted in multiple, unnatural directions. Their humanoid forms gave them the look of the living dead as they slowly shambled towards them. Wayne responded by opening fire while Aegis formed a naginata-style blade on his weapon and swung.

Several of the Grimm were knocked over easily as their fragile-looking frames broke without much issue. That was until several of them started snarling. It was then that a feeling of great exhaustion came over them, making their weapons seem like they weighed tons as the two brothers collapsed to their knees. "What's going on," asked Aegis, "I can barely lift my weapon, in fact I barely want to lift my weapon."

"Same here," said Wayne as he let his weapon drop to the ground, "I think they're draining our will." As Grimm slowly approached them, Wayne did something he hadn't done in some time. He let his semblance run out of his weapon without giving it much control at all. The result was a number of crescent blades pouring out of his weapon, cutting up more of the Grimm and causing parts of the tunnel to collapse.

The surprised Grimm backed up a bit as their hold over the brothers wore off a bit. "Run!" Exclaimed Wayne as they hastily retreated down the nearest tunnel and tried to go back the way they'd come. The idea of retreating from a Grimm, especially ones that didn't seem terribly strong, irked at the brothers. But they also knew that it was a bad idea to try and fight a power they didn't fully understand when their friend's lives were at stake.

Speaking of which, another collection of frantic shouts reached their ears, prompting them to continue towards where they hoped Ruby and the others were. But with every turn they took, more and more of the humanoid Grimm appeared, and with them, the strange ability they used to sap the brother's will. Before long, even walking became difficult as the two brothers finally arrived close to where they'd been hearing team RWBY. But as before, the Grimm were there too, casting their will draining gazes upon them as the they finally collapsed to their knees.

'Have to keep going,' thought Wayne as he and Aegis practically drug themselves across the floor, 'we can't stop now.' The Grimm slowly ambled towards them, either because of their natural sluggishness or maybe they wished to watch their meal suffer a bit more before consuming them. "This is no way to go," said a voice in Wayne's head then, "after everything, are you really willing to let this be the end Wayne Ursario?"

'I don't have much will left to speak of,' thought Wayne, 'neither I nor Aegis can even stand right now.'

"You can't," said the voice of the aura shadow, "But I can. Remember where I come from and think for a moment. These Grimm are sapping your will, but if what I'm feeling is correct, they're draining you by inflicting you with hopelessness and despair, amplifying your own inability to care. In short, they are filling you with the negativity of apathy, making you think in the end, 'it's fine, what was even the point in the first place?'"

'But what is the point anymore,' thought Wayne as the Grimm closed in, 'We already know Salem can't be killed. But if Ruby and the others manage to get away, then I guess that's good enough right?' "But you don't know if they'll make it," said the aura shadow, "But if you switch with me, you might have a chance. I'm not suggesting you actually use the technique itself, but open up your emotions like always and let me fight." Wayne thought about it for a moment, trying to decide if it was better to die by Grimm or let his mind be potentially consumed. As he pondered, one of the Grimm reached down with the claws of its long fingers about to enclose around his head.

In the next instant, the Grimm's whole arm was gone. " #$ ! All this bull #!" yelled Wayne as he unleashed a crescent blast that pushed away all of the Grimm surrounding them. "Get up Aegis," said Wayne as he turned to his brother for a moment, "stop thinking and just let the rage mode out. Let's show these pathetic creatures what real beasts are!" That was all it took for his brother's eyes to go red.

What followed, was a scene of pure carnage as the Ursario brothers tore through the gathered Grimm with an animalistic fury. "It will not end here!" Declared Wayne, "We've survived Beacon, Mistral, Haven and I even went toe to toe with the $ #ing fall maiden! If I'm going down it's not gonna be to some Grimm whose only ability is projecting their sluggishness onto everyone else!" If he'd been in his right mind at that moment, he'd almost feel sorry for how simple it was.

The Grimm were not like most Grimm they'd met in terms of physical ability. They were slow and relatively weak. Neither Wayne nor Aegis really felt much when one of them did manage a lucky hit as they fought their way through the tunnel and into another passageway. In fact, they'd almost forgotten what they'd come down there for when the voices of team RWBY sounded again.

Wine Cellar of the Farmhouse

'This is just terrible,' thought Maria Calavera as she picked herself up off the floor of the wine cellar. 'If only I'd read just a bit faster, I would've found out about these things before they dropped that stupid lamp down into the well.' In hindsight, she should've seen the signs even before that. Everyone's bad moods and sudden lack of motivation, the people of the farm dying in their sleep. It had all been the work of the Grimm that were closing in on them now, the Apathy Grimm.

When Maria had come to the entry in Bartleby's diary about the Apathy, she'd rushed down into the well to warn team RWBY. Another possible mistake on her part, given that the three boys were much better fighters than her, but she'd felt there was no time to explain and that bringing more along might actually have made it worse with the Apathy's ability to sap one of their will. She'd done her best to help, finding team RWBY and telling them to simply run. It had worked, for a spell anyway, as they dodged one group of Grimm after another while racing down the tunnels.

A number of the Grimm had shown up and blocked their original route, but they'd managed to find another exit which just so happened to be a hole in the wine cellar under the house they'd been sleeping in. But the Apathy had been there too, and now here they were, sprawled on the ground with their wills practically gone and the exit just out of reach up a small flight of stairs. Maria could only watch helplessly as one of the Apathy reached down with its bony, clawed fingers towards Blake, the unlucky Faunus girl who'd been just the slightest bit behind. "BLAKE!" yelled Ruby, the one Maria knew as the girl with the hood.

That was when it happened, some kind of flash that caused the Apathy to retreat and their hold over them to stop. "What in the world was that?" Questioned Maria as Ruby pulled Blake to safety while Weiss rushed up the stairs to the cellar doors.

"I forgot," said Weiss as she tried and failed to open the doors, "They're chained on the other side!"

"Let me at it," said Yang as she ran up the stairs after Weiss. But just as she managed to get halfway up, the Apathy recovered from their shock and reasserted their power over them. Everyone collapsed once again as their will seemed to drain away. Maria looked around as she collapsed against the railing of the stairs. Both Ruby and Blake were sprawled on the floor while Weiss and Yang were on the stairs, unable to go another step.

As if things weren't bad enough, the sound of roaring suddenly filled the air as some kind of commotion was getting closer to them from the tunnels. 'Now what,' thought Maria, 'More Grimm, and these things seem territorial given what I'm hearing. They're tearing apart every Apathy in their way to get to us.' Looking around one more time, the old woman's gaze lingered on Ruby as a thought occurred to her.

'It's a long shot, but we're dead for sure if we don't try something,' thought Maria as she crawled over to where Ruby was at. The roars she heard earlier were getting closer, and so were the sounds of carnage. "Ruby," said Maria as she managed to make it to the fallen huntress in training, "I need to know, are your eyes silver?"

"Y-yeah," said Ruby weakly, "ever since I was born, they've been silver."

"Then I need you to listen and do what I say," said Maria as she held Ruby's head so that she was looking into her eyes. "I need you to think about the people who love you. Family, friends, focus on the way they make you feel." The silver-eyed girl was confused at this request, but did so anyway. "Life is precious and beautiful," Calavera continued, "and it needs to be protected."

Those final words were all Ruby needed to hear as she felt power well up inside of her. At that same moment, a pair of beasts that the old woman couldn't make out due to their speed and ferocity, tore through several of the Apathy Grimm, tearing up not only them but parts of the room as well. At first, they didn't seem to notice team RWBY and Maria, but soon enough both of their eyes turned towards them. That moment was also the moment Ruby herself sat up with her silver eyes creating an incredibly bright light that disintegrated any of the Apathy still remaining in the cellar, while also surprising the two beasts that had entered.

"Ow, what happened," said Aegis as he rubbed his head, wondering why the room had been so bright a second ago.

"I think Ruby did that silver eyes thing again," replied Wayne, who was back to his old self in a half-kneeling position, also holding his head. Their thoughts on the situation were interrupted when Yang advanced up the stairs and punched open the doors that had been keeping them in.

"Wayne Ursario!" Called Weiss from the stairs, "I don't know what you and your brother are doing down here, but it's time to go!" Wayne was about to ask what for until he noticed that more of the Grimm were showing up.

"No argument here," said Wayne as he and Aegis made their way up the stairs with team RWBY and Calavera. As soon as they exited the cellar, they found themselves back in the farmhouse, and more specifically in the room that was designed to look like a bar, complete with a drunk Qrow sitting on the other side.

"Those Grimm were under the house and the well the whole time," Blake observed as Ruby tried to wake up Qrow.

"Hey, what are all you doing back here?" Questioned Qrow grumpily with a notable slur to his speech.

"We're getting out of this place you drunk!" Said Maria. Yang and Blake took that moment to rush outside to warn Oscar.

"Not just yet we aren't," said Weiss as she eyed some of the bottles of alcohol on the shelves before grabbing one and throwing it at the cellar entrance.

"Oh I like this idea," said Wayne as he grabbed a couple more and tossed them.

"Hey, what in the world do you think you're doing," said Qrow as he watched the two of them pitch bottle after bottle at the cellar entrance.

"Aegis, you and Ruby get him out of here," said Wayne as he pitched one of the larger bottles into the head of an emerging Apathy Grimm. His brother and Ruby complied as they grabbed the veteran huntsman by the arms and started dragging him out of the room. They could both hear the older man's protests as Weiss pulled out her weapon and flicked it, sending a small wave of flames onto the emerging Grimm. With the alcohol covering the entrance, it ignited instantly, turning it into a quickly spreading fire that would soon consume the whole house.

"Alright," said Weiss after watching the spectacle for a moment, "we can definitely leave now." Wayne nodded his head as they both turned and ran outside. Everyone else was already waiting on the trailer, except for Yang who was on her bike that had been hitched to the trailer and Aegis who was on his own bike.

"Go, go, go!" Yelled Wayne as he leapt on his bike next to the trailer and switched it on. He got a mild surprise when Weiss jumped onto the back of his bike and grabbed him around the waist, but didn't question it as he gunned it out of there. By this time, the farmhouse had caught on fire, and the last any of them saw of it as the group pulled away was the smoke coming from the farm.

Some Time Later

Wayne wasn't sure how long they all rode through the snow down the winding, twisting trail. But one thing he knew for sure, the farther they'd gotten from that farm, the more alive he and everyone else felt. In fact, he would've been fairly content to just keep on riding a little while longer if Weiss hadn't tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "I hate to ask," said Weiss, "But could we stop for a bit, there's something I need to tell Ruby."

Wayne nodded in response and waved to Aegis and Yang, signaling them to slow down until they all came to a full stop. "What's the hold up," questioned Aegis.

"I just wanted to apologize to Ruby," Weiss began, "I'm sorry about telling you to give up."

"It wasn't just you Weiss," said Yang as she turned around on her bike, "I also said to give up. I know we can't quit now, not until we get the lamp somewhere safe."

"It wasn't anybody's fault," said Blake as her ears drooped, "It was those monsters back there."

"They are known as the Apathy," explained Calavera, "They are able to sap one's will to go on by filling them with negativity. The ones we encountered under the farm were originally brought by Bartleby himself. His farm was hemorrhaging money in its final days and his answer was to cut down on huntsman protection. But he needed everyone to stay calm for it to work, so he got a pair of them away from their pack and brought them back to the farm. But the rest of the pack followed their brethren all the way to his farm and got into the water tunnels."

"That last plan of his was clearly not his best," commented Aegis as he crossed his arms on his bike, "Because of those things, I didn't want to blow anything up for the first time in my life."

"When you think about it," said Calavera, "His plan actually worked. No one was worried or panicked, angry, or scared. But they weren't anything else either, then they were simply gone."

"And we almost were too," said Wayne, "I've never heard of these Apathy Grimm until now. Just one more thing to read up on when we got the chance."

"I personally should've known," said Calavera, "All the signs of the Apathy were there. But I guess my mind isn't as sharp as it once was these days. Though even when it was, this is the first time I've ever seen a whole settlement withered away like that."

"But you knew about my eyes," said Ruby, "Which is something else I've been wondering. How did you know what to say to make my eyes do, whatever it was they did?"

"Well if it isn't obvious by now," said Calavera, "Before I lost them, I had silver eyes of my own."

"If you don't mind my asking," Said Wayne, "How exactly did you lose them in the first place? Is there a price for the eyes?"

"Before I answer that," said Calavera, "I'd like to ask you and your brother a question."

"What kind of question would you need to ask us?" Questioned Aegis as he, Wayne and Weiss dismounted their bikes and gathered around the trailer.

"Did you say your last names were Ursario?" Calavera asked.

"Yeah that's us," said Wayne, "Comes from our Mom's side of the family. They're all bear Faunus. Why do you ask?"

"Because I met the Ursario clan around the same time I lost my eyes," replied Calavera, "Let me tell you what happened on that faithful day, back when I was known as the Grim Reaper."

The group has managed to escape the clutches of the Apathy, and have now found out that they've apparently been traveling with someone kinda famous, who also knows a little bit about silver eyes and the Ursario. Wonder what's the story behind all of that. In the mean time, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and a quick apology but as I feared, some of my updates my be a little later in the coming days or weeks. But I shall try to keep up as best as I can. So as always, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or let me know if you've got any neat ideas to help the story along. Be sure to stop in next time as we hear the story of Maria Calavera's lost eyes and her encounter with the Ursario clan. 'Til next time.