A/N: Hello, all! I'm back, with the fifth chapter of this Arc for The Catalyst. I'll admit, could've gotten this out a bit earlier, as in last weekend, but, I decided to take just a wee bit of time off (Work sucks and I needed the break. Sorry.)

Enjoy what is technically a part 1 of 2, though the second part might be a bit shorter this one.

RWBY was made by the late Monty Oum

The Catalyst

Chapter 8

Oscar came awake to the sound of rain outside and and a pounding headache. He winced, feeling how stiff his body was, before sitting up and looked around after blinking his eyes for a moment to adjust against the sudden glare overhead.

He found himself in a small, cramped room. There was a single table that was loaded down with various papers and documents and a single bed, that he was currently lying on. The only other furniture in the room was a rickety wooden chair, and it was currently occupied.

"Qrow?" he croaked out hoarsely through a thoroughly parched throat.

Though his tone of voice was low, the salt and peppered-haired, older man stirred. He glanced his way tiredly before instantly jolting to his feet. He all but sprinted over to where Oscar was lying down as he shouted, "Oscar! You're awake!"

Oscar winced at the sheer volume of noise, closing his eyes and clutching at his head, only to be forced back down on the bed by a pair of firm, calloused hands. "Easy now, Lad," the man said while standing over him. "Don't go doin' anything' excessive now. You've took quite a serious bashing there."

Oscar blinked at that with his eyes closed before asking as he opened them, "An', how long was I out?"

Qrow winced at that question as he turned to pour some water in a glass from a pitcher on a nearby stand that Oscar hadn't noticed before turning back to hand it to him. Then he said as Oscar sipped gingerly at it, "Three days. You were right knackered there after that pounding, I'll tell you wot."

Oscar winced at that bit of news before forcing himself back to a sitting position. He sat there for a moment in silence and sipped from the glass while he thought things over before he looked over to Qrow and asked, "And what's exactly happened while I was out?"

The older man sat down heavily beside him and rubbed a hand through his hair, leaving it a spiky mess, as he sighed and said while nodding his head a few times, "It's, been bad, boyo. Whatever happened in that asylum, still goin' on. The locals have lost three more constables after they went in to go get their boys." He shrugged before muttering while looking away from Oscar, "A'par'ntly, Offi-sah Winchester, ha'n't said anythin' as to wot'ver wen' on in thar. Nor as to how he got so injured."

Oscar blinked at that as he sat there. "So, if that's true… Then, no one knows about me? Or, what we saw in there?" He thought out loud, frowning as he rubbed at his chin.

"Aye, boyo," Qrow answered, nodding again. "That's cer'ainly wot it seems like."

Oscar blinked at that before asking, "Then what did he say happened? About how he was injured, and what killed his men?"

Qrow said nothing to that, merely shrugging in answer.

Oscar frowned deeply as he pondered on that for a moment before nodding to himself as he said, "Most likely, the reason why he hasn't said anything on the matter is that he made no mention of being there in the first place. He's a brute of a man, but not a necessarily dumb one. Probably told what was left of his men not to mention him in their report. Probably came up with a plausible explanation as to his own injuries, like a bar brawl or something."

He looked over at Qrow in confusion as he then asked, "Speaking of which, I could've sworn that I saw him shoot you. What happened?"

Qrow grinned at that and chuckled before standing while lifting up his shirt to reveal a bandaged torso as he said, "Oh, he did shoot me. Unfortunately for 'im, I'm a rather lucky indivi'ual, and he missed."

He sat back down then with a heavy sigh and scratched at the back of his head as he stated, "Always 'ave been, too. Lucky, tha' is. Survived things a man shou'n't, even as those around me didn't."

He shrugged at that, unable to say anything more to it as memories took him over. Oscar couldn't say anything to that, either.

After all, he had never fought in a war.

Instead, he asked, "Well, where am I, anyway? No offense, but I don't think you could even afford a flimsy shack like this."

Qrow laughed again at that, this time in a deep belly laugh, before he wiped a tear from his eye as he answered with, "Oh, uh, this is your uncle's place."

Oscar blinked and did a double take at that before finally sputtering out, "And, why didn't you tell about this?"

Qrow blushed and looked away while scratching at his nose as he muttered, "Uh, I ferget. Twas drunk, a'fer all."

Oscar gave his a droll look at that answer as he asked, "Is that also why your accent keeps dropping, too?"

The man chuckled at that as he stood to leave and said, "May'aps, may'aps." He then stalked over to the room's door and told Oscar as he opened it to step out, "Stay here and rest up, Boyo. I go out and see what's goin' on out there for ya, 'kay?"

Oscar nodded in answer to that as he watched him go.

/ /

Three days later and Oscar could be found elbow deep in the notes and research left behind by his uncle, Oz. He wasn't surprised, honestly.

His uncle had always been methodical in his approach to everything from his private studies to teaching at Vale University to his time as a detective himself and that was plainly seen in these notes. They were always well-written, thought out and elaborate.

They were also all over the place.

He smiled at that as he ruffled through the papers in his hands. His uncle was also an excessively messy individual without someone like Goodwitch keeping a firm hand on him and his habits. As was shown here, cause he was having a hard time finding anything.

Case in point, it was clear that the reason why his uncle had come here in the first place was in relation to what had happened at the abbey. He was still unclear as to had happened to him while there, but he distinctly remembered the gear within gear symbol that was all over the room and the notes therein.

Apparently, it had something to do with something called, The Circle, an archaic, no, an ancient, order or entity - it wasn't very clear to him as of yet - that was largely about maintaining Order and society with a side of control that society and reincarnation. He wasn't sure about the reincarnation aspect, but it kept coming up throughout his uncle's research.

As for Dr. Author Watts, and his heinous experiments, he had found even more evidence of that in his uncle's research. In whatever mad pursuit of achieving his obsession, that of stopping Death itself, and, to a lesser degree, halting the aging process, the man had stumbled upon the reason for the original colony's death, that of an entity of unknown origins.

For it did not originally dwell on Patch Island, only having been brought here by unknown means during the original habitation of the island, and in so doing, wiped the colony from the world.

Watts had found some means of calling this entity, which he named the Red Apparition for its seemingly ghostly demeanor, and used it to power his increasingly macabre experiments on the residents of his asylum. Eventually, as the entity seemed to grow in power from all the death and agony being produced around it, it broke whatever chains he had made to bind it and proceeded to slaughter anyone and everyone around it once more, just as it had done centuries ago.

Watts had apparently known that something like this could, or would, eventually occur, and had strategically disappeared long before that happened, leaving his staff, and his personal assistants, to deal with the fallout. None of them had survived, apparently.

And Watts had since vanished. Whether or not, he was dead, or continuing his experiments elsewhere was impossible to be determined. But Oscar felt like he would surface again sometime soon.

A man so sick could only disappear for so long before the world gave him up again.

He sighed as he starting looking through a series of old photographs and etchings of events in and around the island, looking for something to explain how to either stop the Red Apparition, or of his uncle's next stop was.

Apparently, whatever it was that his uncle had been searching, it wasn't here on the island. A pity that, as his uncle had also left without taking care of the problem here. If he had, then maybe what had transpired wouldn't ha-

He gasped, eyes widening, as he looked at the photograph before him. It was an old black and white photo, tinged brown with age, save for the one spot of color. A figure in red. A figure in red that was getting closer, seemingly flowing through the crowd of people in the photograph.

He dropped the photo at that. It landed in the pile on the desk, face down.

He sat back in the chair at that, gasping for breath. Remembering the entity he faced only days ago. Of that burning, silver gaze. Of the hate therein.

Once his heart had quit pounding so hard. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly and heaved a sigh before picking up the next photo.

Immediately, a chill went down his spine and a shuddering breath escaped him as he looked at it.

The figure was there, in that photo, too.

He gasped out a breath and dropped the photo once more on the pile. This time it landed face up. As he watched, glancing between photos as he did so, the figure kept getting closer, moving toward from between the still images. Closer and closer it came, that familiar, hated silver gaze starting to appear.

Oscar inadvertently clutched at his chest as he felt his heart pounding violently within, holding that gaze. His vision began to dim as he started to hyperventilate at that. He blinked, starting to lose consciousness, as he made to grab at his cane once more.

"Pine!" A voice suddenly called.

Oscar stirred, shaken from what was going on, to look towards the closed door of the room. He did not look back down, too afraid of what he might see staring back.

At that moment Qrow came barging into the room as he said without looking at Oscar, "Pine! I 'ope ya found some way ta fix what'ver tha' 'ell this is. A bunch more people 'ave tak'n ill. Mos'ly old folk, but plen'y of young'ons, too. An' tha' place, there's been a dark cloud ov'rhead ever since we left!" He shuddered then as he said, "Gives me th' willies, jus' lookin' at et. Shit!"

Oscar shuddered as he made to glance at the pile of photos and stopped himself before he could see that… thing again, coming closer. Instead, as he turned toward the older ex-soldier, his hand brushed against a golden token of the gear within gear symbolizing The Circle and, instantly, the feeling of dread he had vanished, allowing him to think again.

Hmm,death, and agony He thought, a hand to his chin. He frowned then. Yes. That could work. But he didn't like it. Still, there was no other way.

"Pine?" The older man asked him then, desperation in his voice.

Oscar nodded as he finished formulating the plan that he had come up with before answering with, "Yes. Yes, I think I do, Qrow."

The older man grinned at him then as he said in relief, "Really? That's great news. Wha-what can I do to help?"

Oscar grimaced before saying, "Chickens. We're going to need a bunch of chickens, and a bit of luck."

Qrow blinked at that before shaking his head and said, "Alright, weird. But you got it. Where are we taking these chickens, anyway?"

Oscar's grimace turned into a full-on scowl as he answered with, "The asylum."

A/N: Welp, things be getting serious, huh? Obviously, the Red Apparition is Ruby, and also a caricature of, well, Death. Or, in this case, The Grimm Reaper, in its aspect of a Herald of encroaching Death, Disease, and Decay (That's why the building itself began to collapse around Oscar in his "fight" with the eldritch being, by the by.)

But, what is The Circle? And, how can it counter so powerful an entity? Guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out.

Ta-ta for now! Essiter out!