Piercing through the ferns and dark trunks, the later afternoon sun cast an almost somber mood over them. Jonas and Mauber moved along slowly with Qrow out of sight up ahead, looking in detail for the spot he had woken up. None of them had said much after the bear attack. Jonas had come off his rock and saw that Qrow was alright before they silently yet stoically decided to carry on before nightfall. Twigs still shifted under their feet but stayed as hushed as possible. The impact of Mauber's staff was the only other real noise. He didn't say it to Mauber, but Jonas was confused about the whole ordeal. Qrow had come out of all that just fine, despite having been pinned down by a bear. Even in the few seconds it had been on top of Qrow, Jonas swore to himself he had seen the thing's paws fly wildly, so close to ripping poor Qrow up. Yet they didn't. He had stood up without a scratch or a bruise on him. He and Mauber had looked over him thoroughly and had found nothing, with Qrow's only major trauma seeming to be a case of shock. It made sense, the bear and more or less fallen off of Qrow after Jonas had taken his first shot, but it still seemed like a miracle. Jonas decided to break the silence between him and Mauber.

'How do you think it'll keep with him?' Jonas asked.

'I can't say for sure, but I wouldn't worry.' Mauber said.

'What on earth does that mean?' Jonas chuckled. Mauber looked back at him seriously.

'What I mean is he could be thinking anything right now, Jonas. He probably isn't feeling as impacted by it as someone else might've been.' He rubbed his nose, then paused.

'But why, doctor? His flesh and blood, it's the same as yours and mine. What reason?' Mauber sighed.

'What reason has he to fear death?' Both of them fell silent for a moment. It was a strange question, Jonas thought. But it made sense. Not for a moment after the attack had Qrow seemed to consider turning back. He was the one leading them on. His drive seemed hardly broken, even after a horrific moment like that which had left them all thoroughly shaken. Qrow, by all means, didn't seem afraid. Mauber, sensing the silence, elaborated.

'He has woken up with nothing, Jonas. Nothing but his name and the sentience which are all given. He has nothing tying him to the earth as the rest of us do. All he has is his drive.'

'But he can still lose that, can't he?'

'Maybe. But that doesn't seem to be letting up.' Mauber looked ahead to where Qrow had advanced down their path. 'His indomitable spirit, I meant it when I said that. It's not something all people have, especially in these times.'

'That reminds me, doctor...' Mauber looked around at him again, a severe yet withdrawn look on his face.

'There will come a time for that.' He said, quickly. Barely giving Jonas a moment to finish. 'We should allow him to focus on this for now. It will only dishearten him, I'm sure.'

Jonas stayed quiet, relenting to Mauber's advice for the time being, but doing so made him feel uneasy. It made sense though. Qrow had only a few day's worths of memory at most by then.

'Once his condition starts improving would be a more appropriate time.'

'But we don't know how long that's going to take if at all, do we?'

'No, I can't predict that. But we can help him where we can for now. To be honest Jonas, he doesn't seem like the type of person who would appreciate just being handed off to the authorities. It might be some time before he can receive professional help, what with the state the government is in dealing with that withdrawal of yours.'

'Not a withdrawal, a strategic enlargening of the reserve army.' Joans said. Mauber gave him a look and Jonas shrugged sarcastically.

'Regardless, we might want to keep giving him all the help we can.'

'Don't worry doctor, I have plenty of time for that.'

'Good. I couldn't imagine being Qrow and having to try and get through all this alone. The least in a country where he can't understand anyone. Has he picked up any words yet?'

'He just knows how to say thank you. Language is actually a good reason for me to stay around until we find out where he comes from he's likely to be staying here and needs someone to translate. It'd be wrong to just send him off to the English speakers without knowing anything else.'

'Of course.' Mauber said.

A minute or so later Qrow came back into view ahead of them, sweat now painting his shirt along the shoulders and down the sides of his body. His arms and back were still caked in some mud from being pinned down by the bear.

'Up here.' He said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. 'I've found the spot.' Anxious to get things over with, Jonas and Mauber sped up after him.

A moment of following Qrow later, all three of them now stood on the small plateau where Qrow had woken up the day before. Mauber immediately took to scouring the ground, crouching down and looking over the dirt while Jonas lingered over his shoulder. Qrow wandered around for a moment before clearing his throat to get their attention.

'I think this is exactly where it was.' He pointed to the spot he was standing on, a strained look in his eyes. 'But I can't remember for sure. My head was still a bit foggy when I stood up. But I was laying straight on my back, with no clothes on. When I did start waking up it was like I was waking up from fainting, not from sleep. I wasn't hurt.' Mauber nodded.

'Did you see any footprints around you?' He asked, cocking his head.

'No, not that I can remember. If there had been I probably would have noticed when I went to get my clothes which were back here.' Qrow turned around and pointed to where he had picked up the shirt and trousers. 'If they were anywhere, I'd assume they would've been around here.'

'That's a logical assumption.' Mauber said. 'And your shirt is where you found your name.'

'Yeah. I mean, I hope it's my name.' For a moment a thought struck him which hadn't until that point. The idea that it might not be his name. The idea is that all of this could be malicious. That someone might've been involved. Qrow's goosebumps suddenly pricked up and he paused for a moment.

'And you're absolutely sure you have no memory of how you got here?' Mauber asked.

'None.' Qrow said. Mauber stroked his chin, before starting to slowly pace around where Qrow was standing.

'There's something called chronic undress. It's where, in a deluded or delirious state.' Jonas furrowed his brow at that part. 'An individual will almost catatonically remove their clothes while they are out in the wilderness like we are now. No exact causes have been discovered but it thought things like temperature, weather conditions, and the subject's emotions can contribute.' Qrow cocked his head, intrigue on his face.

'So you think I might have done that?'

'It'd make sense, explain why you were as you were when you awoke. And if you were in such a condition beforehand, it may have contributed to your present condition.'

Jonas, who stood with his arms folded to the side of them having leaned the rifle against a tree, partly expected Qrow to look more destitute. But he appeared to be mulling over what Mauber was telling him thoroughly.

'Although that's just a possibility, of course. Unfortunately without your memory, there's little more I can present. If I may ask Qrow, have any memories arisen for you as of yet?'

'No.' Qrow said, his voice sounding even more coarse.

'Do you feel you could try and, I don't know, coax any out? Perhaps.' Mauber said, waving his hands encouragingly.

'No, no matter how hard I try, nothing comes up. Not even after coming back here.' Mauber's face seemed to lower a little. He glanced over to Jonas, who shook his head dismissively.

'I'll be honest Qrow, I was hoping that might not be the case.' Mauber clasped his hands behind his back. 'Unfortunately, I have only dealt with short-term memory loss in my time. Something as advanced as your condition I have no detailed knowledge on how to fix.' He opened his arms up widely. 'I may be old, but experience comes in all shapes and sizes. And your situation is most miraculous and most confounding.' Qrow kept an eye on him and finally walked off of the spot he had woken up.

'That's alright, Mauber. It's just been a day. I'm not expecting to have all my questions answered by now, and that's alright.' Qrow smiled wryly. 'This has been helpful enough, especially after what happened earlier. Thanks for keeping with me and not going home.'

'No problem.' Mauber said, smiling back at him. Jonas was glad they had been able to get there but now started thinking of the next steps that their trail here for the day seemed to be over.

'That doesn't mean we should stop here. We've all still got questions, I'm sure. And there are still some things we can do.' He stretched his back. 'Doctor, maybe take note of this.' Mauber's eyes pricked up and he reached into his bag, producing a small notepad and pen. 'No hard feelings Qrow, but I feel we should consult any information about missing persons next.' Qrow nodded, not seeming to surprise. 'If you do happen to be from another country, America or wherever, you'd likely stick out more on one of our missing person registers. You and I can figure that out tomorrow.'

Mauber looked gingerly up from the notepad upon hearing Jonas' idea in full.

'Jonas, I know we discussed this earlier. But don't you think if we're going to go that far as to go to the police and try to access a missing persons register or reports, it would be more conducive to actually report Qrow as a missing person?' Jonas furrowed his brow again.

'They are just going to ask more questions, and that bogs us down. I'd rather just see what there is first and if Qrow is mentioned at all.'

'You mean lie to them that the man with you is not a missing person? I understand you don't care much for the government at the moment Jonas, what with the things you've been through recently.'

'It's nothing to do with that, doctor. I'm trying to build a better picture...'

'Just go alone, Jonas.' Qrow said abruptly, both Jonas and Mauber looking at him. 'Go alone and don't mention me. Just look for the name. Qrow, B.'

'Qrow. B?' Jonas said. 'You never mentioned that last part.'

'It was what was written on the label on the shirt. Qrow, B. I don't know what the B stands for, and I didn't consider it much.'

'Ok. I'll do that first thing tomorrow. If nothing comes up, then we can consider reporting you to them. If that's what you want, of course.' Qrow considered it.

'What other options do we have? Take me to a hospital? That I don't need right now. I don't know how that works here but I can already imagine coming out with more questions after a whole lot of messing about.' Mauber laughed.

'Right you are Qrow.' He said. Jonas continued.

'They'll be full of war-wounded. It'd be quite a wait before anyone would see you.' Qrow nodded. It made sense. If this war was as close as Jonas made it out to be, Qrow assumed the effects were far-reaching. Mauber had continued noting things down now. 'After I've done that, I'll see if I can find any comrades still around town. Some of them might be up to come back here with me and take a look further up there.' Jonas pointed to the rest of the incline looming off through the trees behind them. 'Doctor, Qrow can come to your practice tomorrow. Try your best to get a better picture of this condition, do your assessments, or do whatever it is you that we weren't able yesterday.'

Mauber and Qrow stood in almost stunned silence. Mauber flipped shut his notepad and put it away.

'I'd say you took the words right out my mouth.' Qrow said. 'But I wasn't about to suggest any of that.'

'A plan's better than nothing at all.' Jonas said.

'Damn right. I'd say we get going.' Qrow looked through the canopy above them. 'Getting dark, and we don't want any more bears.'

'Yes.' Mauber said. 'Let's get moving.' He set off first, swinging his staff with each step. Qrow and Jonas followed swiftly behind, and they began making their way back.

...

At Mauber's practice, they sat over a table of coffee and tough wheat biscuits Mauber had pulled from the practice's small kitchen. Qrow looked down at one of his after he took a bite. It was drab and flavorless. Dipping the rest in his coffee, he shoved the whole thing into his mouth and chewed it down. They were in the same dusty room where he and Jonas had waited for Mauber to come back with the results of Qrow's examination, having been there for half an hour or so to collect themselves after the day's events and the trek back down. Jonas, who was sitting with his head in one hand while Mauber looked over some papers, stood up suddenly, his chair scraping as he did so. Mauber looked up.

'Alright?' Mauber asked.

'Never better.' Jonas said, stretching his arms out. 'But after what we went through today, you should be asking Qrow that question.' Qrow looked at Jonas and shrugged.

'I'm fine, just glad to be back. Glad we've got a plan.' Qrow rubbed his nose.

Mauber looked between both of them. It had been hours since the bear attack, and since then Qrow had shown no signs of distress or even dire concern over what had happened. As if something about him hadn't given, or he wasn't ready to. It puzzled him. This man, who at this point was one of the most unique and prolonged patients he had had, was ready to accept the full brunt of his condition but not the even more present life-threatening incident to which he had just fallen, victim. He wasn't sure whether to feel challenged or relieved that this case had gone beyond the bounds of his knowledge and ability.

'What kind of tests do you wanna do tomorrow, doctor?' Qrow asked.

'Well, there are plenty.' Mauber said. 'We could take a look at your responses to certain stimuli. It might help me get a better understanding of what might have put you into a chronic undressing state if that's what's responsible for getting you to where you were, of course.'

'What about the memory loss itself? Might we be able to get any better ideas about that?'

'We can just run through some more basic questions for that.'

Qrow was silent. He held up his mug to take a sip and left it sitting in his hand on his lap. Jonas looked at him.

'How are you, Qrow?' Qrow looked up.

'Fine, just thinking.'

'Anything you want to do to take your mind off of earlier? That wasn't fun for any of us I don't think.' He laughed. 'Until tomorrow there isn't much for us to do here.' Qrow sat back and stroked his chin. Outside it had turned dark. The street was unlit, and the houses across the street were silent.

'How about another drink?' Qrow said. Jonas looked at him, enthused.

'You looked like you hadn't forgotten what a good drink was, and I wasn't about to doubt that you'd be asking for another one again so soon.' He smiled. 'How about it? It's Tuesday, but I'm sure we can get away with it after what happened today, eh doctor?' Mauber chuckLed.

'Yes, of course.'

'Will you be joining us? Or is your reputation of too much value to be seen around Flemming street this late?'

'At another time I may not have.' Mauber said. He waited for a moment. 'But tonight I will, for your sake, Qrow.' Qrow smiled.

'Thanks, doc.'

'Call me Gert.' Mauber smiled back. 'Not everyone likes to, but you may.'

To Qrow, he wasn't drinking to forget the events of the day, but to try and make more sense of it. They all still had unasked or unanswered questions. But those would wait.

...

'Im Himmel gibt es kein Bier

Deshalb trinken wir ihn hier

Und wenn wir von hier weg sind

Alle unsere Freunde werden das ganze Bier trinken!'

The words thrashed around the room, Qrow lazily mouthing along with them. A cacophony of straining instruments accompanied the chorus. What were likely long notes from accordions and hurdy gurdys, along with what was certainly a frantically played piano somewhere. Lulling his head up, he felt something softly strike his chest, a splash covering his shirt. It was the guy his arm was around to the right, his glass half empty, and what was left in it violently swirling around.

'Tut mir leid Freund. Den Rest kannst du nach Belieben trinken!'

'What?' Qrow yelled. Without a moment's hesitation, the guy grabbed a fistful of Qrow's shirt. Yanking it up to his mouth, he sucked the spilled drink out of the shirt with an ugly noise. Qrow watched, his face unchanged. The guy finished, before looking up at Qrow with an encouraging grin. In his stupor, Qrow immediately did the same. It was rancid. Not that he noticed. He and the guy laughed at each before belatedly joining the chorus again.

'La, la, la, la, la, la!' It went on and on. Between bursts of singing, each man in the circle took drinks at his will. After a moment, the "La, la, las" got quicker. As they did, the circle convulsed, all of them moving in and out. The men began kicking their knees up, Qrow himself not missing a single step. They were singing independently of the instruments, it seemed. And as the singing reached its zenith of speed and noise, they all cheered.

'Oans, zwoa, drei, gsuffa!' One of the men opposite Qrow yelled. At the moment he did so, everyone in the circle finished downing their drinks. Cheering followed, Qrow among it. He was completely out of it.

Stumbling out of the circle, the people he was interlinked with not seeming to notice, he shuffled out into the main crowd. People were everywhere. Dancing in their own circle, by themselves, or with a few others. The bar and the walls of the room were invisible among the throng of people. He felt good. After the attack earlier, his entire situation was absent from his mind. Which drink he was on he didn't know, nor did it matter. In his hand was a blond beer which everyone seemed to be drinking. Earlier he had tried some of the Fassweine for the first time; it had left a mild taste. He looked at his empty glass and automatically started seeking another one. As he walked, he knocked his knee on the edge of a table and exclaimed in pain.

'Qrow!' He turned around and saw Jonas, who had heard him. Jonas was part of what looked like a conga line snaking its way through the crowd and ending at the edge of the room. He was grinning wildly, and seeing Qrow's empty glass, pilfered an unguarded one off of the tables and shoved it into Qrow's empty hand. They both laughed at each other and clinked their glasses, Qrow immediately taking a sip. Breaking from the line, Jonas looked behind him and suddenly seemed to beam with excitement. 'Gott im Himmel! They're about to sing a real good one, look!' He said, putting a hand on Qrow shoulder and pointing him around.

Climbing up on the opposite side of the table were three thin, fair-haired young men with drinks in hand. A bristle of hushes and whispers started to pass through the crowd around them. Jonas was still smiling ear-to-ear. The whole bar was looking.

The first of the three men, wearing a shirt about as stained with beer as Qrow's had become, lifted his arms up dramatically. The two men, on command, plunged their hands into their pockets and pulled out something in their palms. They lifted the items up to show the crowd; they each held two small gold medals. At this gesture, the crowd suddenly erupted into applause and cheering. Qrow looked to Jonas for an explanation.

'They're like me!' Jonas said, seeming almost to drunkenly giggle as he grasped Qrow's shoulder for balance.

They were probably soldiers, Qrow thought, showing off medals. As the crowd, the two men pinned the medals to their shirts and the first guy seemed to be holding court.

'Volk des freien Deutschlands!' He shouted, the crowd reciprocating with more clapping and cheering. 'Ich möchte...' He looked around at the crowd, an almost smug-looking grin crossing his face. 'Unterbrechen Sie höflich Ihre Nacht, wenn ich darf. Wie Sie wissen, wurden ich und meine Kameraden hier in Ihrem wunderschönen Dorf willkommen geheißen, während wir uns von der...unentschlossenheit unserer Regierung erholen.' Grumbles bristled through the patrons, some even jeering. 'Trotzdem wollen wir dazu beitragen, den Siegesgeist wieder von vorne mitzubringen!' The cheering resumed, and the crowd seemed to be satisfied again.

Qrow listened to the man's words, trying to pick up what he could from the German through tone more than anything. He sounded celebratory, almost like the mayor had seemed to be as he addressed the soldiers before. It seemed right, he thought, if they were fighting a war. Of course, the people here would want to celebrate their troops. But despite the leading man's positivity, the reactions of the crowd. Their smiling faces and their cheeriness. Their dismay at parts of what he seemed to say. It all felt, off. If Jonas had been right in what he had told Qrow earlier, that their army was being messed around with despite the almost dire straights they seemed to be in fighting these Nazis. Who Qrow thought seemed to be a big deal from how Jonas had talked of them. He watched the crowd again. Bearing their teeth at the man's every word.

He saw an old man in the crowd letting his drink spill over in his hand, almost like Mauber. He saw his eyes, dainty and almost innocent. He saw the goosebumps pricked up on his skin. He could feel them. He could feel his breath. He felt his own skin becoming hot.

Something brushed against his leg. Jumping, Qrow looked at the floor. Something dashed through the legs of the people in the crowd. He looked at it rigidly, and it looked back at him. It was the boy from outside Jonas' apartment. He sat with his back pressed against the bar, cradling his knees, small and hidden from the crowd which was still enraptured by the men on the table. Qrow got on his knees to look at the boy better. He didn't seem scared, but his eyes were beady and intent, and his lips pursed. His skin was almost bright white in the darkness of the bar, and his hair poked out from under his cap like straw. Quickly, Qrow realized the boy wasn't looking at him, but past him. His own vision was becoming ever more blurry and labored from drinking, but he followed the boy's gaze and turned around on his knees.

He found that the boy's gaze went under the group of tables where the three men were standing. On the floor under the table, there was a piece of yellowing paper. Qrow crawled forward, his drink still in hand, creeping around the legs of the crowd, who had started singing along with the men on the table. He grappled forward and picked up the paper. It was tiny but still folded in half. He turned back to look at the boy. Peering over his knees, his mouth and nose hid behind his legs, the boy nodded at Qrow slowly. He opened the paper. In black ink, scratchy-looking ink was written two words:

'Leave us.'

Qrow bolted back up. Anxiously, he scanned the crowd. Each one of them was still vigorously singing a chorus that boomed around him.

'Denn in Berlin sitzt ein aufgeblähtes Schwein

Sitzen dort auf geliehene Zeit

In diesem Wissen und mit unseren kämpfenden Fäusten

Lass uns einen trinken!

Nimm einen Drink!

Und sprenge sein großes Haus in die Luft!'

As the last line was sung, the song seemed to finish, and the loudest cry of the night rang out with a flurry of glasses as everyone cheered each other, and every drink was downed. A splash of beer landed on Qrow's shoulder and across the side of his face, with a little catching on his hair. He peered at the spot against the bar where the boy had been sitting. He was gone. The crowd was clamoring to find more drinks, and the bar had quickly filled up again. The men on the table patted each other on the back. Pocketing the paper, Qrow returned to his own drink and disappeared back into the chaos of the night.