Cover Art: Aristeo Storm

Chapter 62

Raven heard the odd clatter of a dropped weapon and paused. Summer had heard it too, that much was obvious from how she looked back, but Raven was the first to move, her left hand pushing the hilt of Bromen down so she could draw with her right.

There was no good reason for someone to drop their weapon. None. If they needed a free hand, they could sheath it or rest it against something. Warriors treated their weapons with respect. Even the tribe had. Even back then, before they even knew what aura was, their raiders had understood that a well-maintained weapon meant the difference between life and death.

Huntsmen understood that even more from what she'd seen.

Raven and Summer sprinted past Willow on their way to where the sound had come from and came skidding around the corner in time to see several black shapes surrounding a downed figure. Grimm. Qrow had been right, then. Raven seethed at the idea of Atlas bringing Grimm into the city – not necessarily because she loved Vale, but because it was a cowardly move to hide it like this. It was a weak decision.

She didn't recognise the Grimm at all. They were almost humanoid, but the limbs were too long and spindly to truly pass as human. Moving on legs that seemed too thin to support their weight, they limped and flopped about, surrounding a person on their knees. Long, bony fingers caressing a face tilted upwards into one of their mouths.

Her brother's face.

For a moment, Raven was stunned. Qrow was the one who had been disarmed? Her brother? It didn't make sense! He was so strong, so capable, the one to drag them into a hollow tree and protect them over the winter. He was the strongest person she knew, and yet his weapon lay discarded and the Grimm closed in on him.

But the hesitation only lasted a second.

Searing hot anger quickly put a stop to it. Hot like lava, burning its way through her body as she tore her sword free in a flash of crimson. "Rarghhh!" she howled, lunging forward. "Get the fuck away from him!"

Her sword speared through the mask of the one leaning down to feed on her brother, right into its stupid, gaping mouth. With a twist, she yanked it sideways and was surprised at how easily she sliced out the side of its face. Most Grimm were tough in terms of resilience, even if they weren't overly strong, but this felt like cutting through butter.

The other Grimm shied back uncharacteristically. They didn't rush her or attack with raw aggression, but instead turned to look at her and leered – and while Raven felt an odd tug on her mind, something that felt off, she dismissed it. She was too fucking angry at them to worry about the particulars. Instead, she took a position in front of Qrow and finished the one she'd wounded, cutting it down with one good, diagonal slash.

It was only then that she noticed Summer hadn't come with her.

Summer was still standing where she had been, watching in shock and dismay.

"You getting involved or what?" Raven snapped.

"Huh? But… oh, but you've got it handled…" Summer said, seeming to droop lazily. Raven's eyes narrowed as her friend, never one to shy from a fight, wobbled and leaned against the closest container. Summer slid down it to her knees, seemingly losing the will to stand. "I don't… What's the point…?"

The point? Was saving Qrow's life not enough? Killing Grimm? Raven clicked her tongue and glared back at the Grimm. This wasn't Summer – and it sure as hell wasn't Qrow to fall to his knees like that! – so she knew there was something up.

"You're the ones doing this. Guess that makes this easy."

The Grimm moaned and groaned eerily as she tore into them, scattering the spindly beings and killing one on the spot. They retreated again, trying desperately to avoid her, but also to get to Qrow. They were drawn to him, but so pathetically weak that they didn't have a hope of getting by her. Raven cut down one with each swing, and when one tried to slip by, she caught its mask with her bare hand. Any other Grimm would have yanked her off her feet if she tried that, but the stick-figure flailed helplessly, utterly caught in one hand.

Even civilians could kill these bastards, she thought. A simple kitchen knife and an angry mother protecting her children would slaughter a whole pack. If not for whatever it is they're doing to Summer and Qrow. Some other method.

It was such a pathetic fight that she felt her enthusiasm for it ebb, and soon her swings became lethargic and half-hearted. She'd come to Beacon with Qrow hoping for good fights, and this was all she got? She was tempted to lay down and go to slee—

"No!" Raven clenched her eyes shut, shook her head and then bit her lip when that didn't clear the lethargy. Anger helped. It fuelled her. One look at Qrow, tears running down his face as he stared emptily upwards, gave her all the rage she needed to push back their influence. "Get out of my head, you sick fucks!" she screamed. "Rarghhh!"

Her crimson blade flickered and flashed, left, right, left, right. These Grimm didn't require anything fancier, and she went at them like a wild animal. It worked, too. The Grimm buckled and tried to spread out. They didn't flee, at least that was normal, but they kept trying to force her into the centre of a wide ring, keeping her under the influence of as many as possible while staying out of reach of her weapon.

And she felt their influence. It kept tugging at the edges of her anger, trying to defuse her, trying to eat away at what she was feeling so she'd lose interest and stop killing them. Unluckily for them, Raven had anger to spare.

Anger at them for what they did to Qrow, anger at Taiyang for always flirting, anger at Willow and Summer for being so obsessed with her brother, anger at the teachers for berating her, anger at her classmates for their arrogance. Anger at the tribe, anger at Balmung, anger at her parents, anger at the world for shitting on them from a great height.

The Grimm couldn't eat away at it quickly enough.

"Weak ass fuckers!" she howled as she cut down the last two, then the last one. Raven slashed and slashed, bringing her sword up and down like she was chopping wood with an axe. The Grimm's spindly fingers reached up for her, twitching at every blow. "Not! Even! Fun! To! Fight!" she grunted between each blow. "Weak trash!"

With one final cut, the Grimm was turned to ash and blown across the floor. The tingling in her head vanished, leaving behind only angry panting. Neither Qrow nor Summer had recovered, however. Willow came dashing around the corner with Taiyang in time to see the scene.

"Fix Summer!" she barked at them and marched to Qrow. Raven sheathed her weapon and made to grab his shoulders to shake him but remembered his broken one at the last second. Instead, and far less gently, she took his collar in hand and pulled him toward her. "Oi! Wake up! Snap out of it!"

"…all pointless…"

Raven frowned. "What is?"

"Failed everyone once. It'll only happen again."

"Failed who? You didn't fail me. You haven't failed anyone."

"Let everyone down. Failure. It's all for nothing. I can't change anything. It'll just be another failure…"

He began to laugh, but there was no mirth in it. Raven recoiled, stunned by both the sound but also by how horrified she was to hear it. It had a visceral effect on her she wasn't prepared for. Not him, not her brother. He'd been cheery and confident even as they risked starvation and freezing in the depths of winter. He'd kept her spirits up even in the orphanage, and never once let her think there wasn't a light at the end of the tunnel.

Raven had never been good with words. Probably never would be.

So, she punched him.

And a moment later realised she probably could have gone for a slap to be a little gentler, as his head rocked back and his nose erupted with blood. Hindsight was 20-20 and all that. Besides, she was Raven Branwen. Raven Branwen did not slap people like some preppy little high school bitch. She did feel a little bad as Qrow gargled on his own blood painfully.

"Bwuh—? Wha—? Ow! The fuck!"

But it worked.

"You back?" she asked. "You yourself?"

"The fuck, Raven! Why am I bleeding?"

"Grimm got you."

"I was influenced by the Apathy," he hissed, cradling his nose with his one good hand. "Not blind! I saw you punch me! Felt it, too. I was asking why you hit me."

"Ah well." Raven shrugged, not at all upset at being caught lying. "You're welcome for snapping you out of it." She released his collar and let him sink back with a groan. "So, Apathy, eh? That what they're called?"

"My nose!" he whined, spraying blood as he did. His words became a little muffled by it. "By ducking bose!"

Willow came jogging up as Taiyang saw to Summer. Drawing a handkerchief from her pocket, she held it to his nose, pinching the bridge as blood oozed into the material. Raven suspected she was just happy to beat Summer to nursing him.

"What happened to Qrow?"

"Grimm caught him and broke his nose," she lied. Qrow glared at her past Willow's fingers. "Called Apathy, apparently. Did something to Qrow and Summer to make them too messed up in the head to fight. I killed them."

"Apathy. I've heard of them. They're dangerous, especially if not caught quickly. I've heard even seasoned huntsmen can fall to them if they sap their will. How did you resist it?"

"Spite. I'm too angry to die."

"I can believe that…" Willow whispered.

Raven rolled her eyes and left Willow to fawn over her brother. He was pissed off at her, but she'd take that over the broken look in his eyes. He'd looked like someone close to the edge, someone about to throw themselves off and end it. That scared her. It scared her even now, the memory tickling at her. Better an angry Qrow than a sad one. She'd break his bones one by one if it helped him stay focused.

The container they'd been caught in was thankfully empty now, and Raven climbed into it. There were signs of restraints, but the Grimm had obviously found their way out of them. Leather straps hung limply on the container walls. No cages or the like, but the Grimm were so weak in a physical sense that the risk of them breaking out must have been low. Atlas had chosen the best Grimm to try and transport, at least from the perspective of reducing risk.

But she wondered if the Grimm could influence the people moving the containers. If so, that'd be a problem for Atlas if – or when, now – this was exposed. Raven couldn't bring herself to care about that after what almost happened.

If Qrow had come here alone, he might have died. Those fuckers might have taken him from me.

Unacceptable.

Not only from them but from Qrow as well. She'd never thought he'd be the weak link like this. Tch. It happened, of course. Someone couldn't be strong all the time, and mistakes happened. She'd just have to work Qrow to the bone and remind him to keep his guard up.

I'll make sure he knows this isn't to happen again. I can deal with losing our parents, but not him as well.

"Yo! Raven!" Taiyang called out to her. "You find anything in there?"

"Straps, leather, some chains." Raven gave one a kick and let the sound of metal on metal ring out. "Nothing too fancy. How is Summer?"

"Better. A little shaken but more upset with herself than anything. Gretchen is watching her." Taiyang came into the container, and Raven swore one flirtation and she'd strap him to the wall and close the door. "How do you imagine Atlas caught these things? If they were influencing the soldiers who had to do it, you think any died?"

"Maybe they did it one by one. Must be easier, then."

Or maybe they had ways of preventing the influence. Raven wondered if drugs would work – literally speed or cocaine. Dangerous as it'd be, maybe drug-fuelled emotions could protect you from emotion-sucking Grimm.

"They were pretty weak, so even a regular person could probably wrestle them into position. Maybe the guys who did it got a bonus for the risk," she said. "There must be some trick to handling them, or they wouldn't risk them in Mountain Glenn." Raven huffed. "What do you think they're doing with them there?"

"Mind control?"

Raven shot him a glare. "Be serious."

"I am being. These Grimm can control how humans feel emotions. That's pretty unique."

As much as she hated to admit it, he made a good point. "Emotional control, then," she grunted. "They didn't convince us to do things; they just made us feel lame. Out of touch, lethargic."

"Apathetic. I mean, the name is a giveaway."

"Fuck you."

Taiyang winked back at her. "Gladly."

Fucker. The only reason she didn't hurl an insult was because he'd probably find a way to twist it. If she called him an asshole, he'd make a joke about anal sex for sure. Raven let her cold eyes do the talking instead and was pleased when he shrivelled up. Best way to deal with him sometimes was to refuse to be baited by his shit jokes.

"R—Right," he recovered. "So, it might not even be bad research. Not to be used against people, I mean. It could be good in medical stuff, either to treat depression or calm people down in combat situations. Lesser doses, obviously. Atlas might not be doing this as some super weapon scenario. Not if they're doing it right next to Vale. You wouldn't trust a mind-control weapon next to people you wanted to use it on."

"Maybe it's meant to be protection from Grimm," Raven said. The idea came to her seemingly at random but she couldn't shake it. "Grimm hunt based on our emotions, so if you could switch your emotions off at the press of a button, or after popping a pill, that'd make you almost invisible to the Grimm, wouldn't it?"

"Hmm. Good point. That'd be a real gamechanger – if they could stop it driving people to giving up and just sitting there." He let out a sigh. "Does that change anything, though? Even if it's for a good reason, they're still breaking the law. Plus, it might be the bad kind of research too. Who knows that they'd consider fair used on a rival kingdom."

Raven agreed. "It changes nothing either way. They broke out their restraints and could have escaped either here or in Mountain Glenn. Almost got Qrow." Her teeth gnashed together. "Would have fucked up civilians."

Again, she didn't really care about random civilians in the same way the others did, but she also didn't dislike them enough to want them killed by Grimm. Qrow might have been all in on his "strong protect the weak" nonsense, but she didn't subscribe to it. Still, she did think that children and those unable to prove their strength should be protected, and the Grimm would have been indiscriminate.

"Fuck Atlas," she decided. "We expose this. Let them deal with their own shit."

"Yeah but… small problem." Taiyang gestured around them. "Expose what…? Far as any evidence will show, there's nothing here but an empty container and the world's smallest shipment of BDSM straps."

Because the container was empty and the Grimm were dead.

"Fuck." Raven hissed defensively. "I didn't have a choice! They were going for Qrow!"

"I know. Not faulting you. I'm just saying we're out of evidence." Taiyang rubbed his chin. "Unless…"

"Unless?"

"What if Atlas sent more than one container?"

/-/

Qrow still felt fogginess in his head several minutes after the encounter, and his aura was flagging low. Apathy drained aura after they did emotions, and usually sent people into sleeps they'd never wake up from. In his career, he'd had the pleasure of avoiding them. Apathy were some of Salem's most polarising creations. They were all-or-nothing when it came to their success rate.

They either completely overwhelmed and destroyed communities to the point where the locals would be too apathetic to even call for huntsman support… or they found and killed by local militia before huntsmen had to be called.

It wasn't often that someone like Qrow had to deal with them, though he'd had colleagues who had found the results of them. Villages deserted, beds filled with corpses or skeletons of people who had simply gone to bed and never felt the need to get up, cook, or eat food. Whole villages had died in their beds, too apathetic to get out even as their bodies failed.

Now I know how it feels, Qrow thought.

It had been so sudden and so overpowering that he'd been blindsided by it. Intellectually, he knew it was because there had been so many and all at once. Raven had received a lesser blast because the Grimm had been splitting their focus between her, him and Summer. That meant less concentration, and she'd been able to break their influence.

But it was still a galling failure for a seasoned professional like him.

I had to be saved by my teenage sister. Man, it's a good job Gretchen convinced me to bring them or it'd have just been the two of us.

Though the fact Raven had broken his nose was reason enough for him not to thank her too much for the rescue. She could have splashed some water on his face or taken him outside to get some fresh air.

"H—How is Summer?" he managed to ask past Willow's hand. He had his blood all over her fingers by this point, which was nothing a huntress wasn't used to, but still embarrassing on his end.

"I'm sure she's fine. You're the one who took the full brunt of the Apathy's attack. How are you…?"

"Dizzy. Frustrated."

"Good. I'm told even negative emotions are a good sign after dealing with Apathy. Better to feel something than nothing. Your nose is almost certainly broken." Willow sighed. "Your sister could learn to be a little gentler."

"You're telling me!"

Footsteps heralded Gretchen's arrival, the tan girl looking for some reason ashamed – as if it were her failure for letting him convince her to split up. "How is he?"

"He's fine. This was from Raven." Willow nodded to her bloody hand. "Summer?"

"Helping Taiyang and Raven look for another container of Grimm we can use as evidence. She got over it quickly enough. I think she got hit at a distance and not for very long. They must have started focusing on Raven when she attacked."

"That's good—"

"Evidence?" asked Qrow. "What do you mean…?"

"Ah. The Grimm are all dead and that's our evidence gone," she explained. Qrow cursed, which caused the blood to bubble at Willow's fingers. "Yeah, that was our reaction. But there's a chance they brought in more than one container, so that'd be good proof. The other three are looking for it."

He hoped they'd find one. The whole point had been to let the Grimm out so they'd cause a lot of damage – the kind of damage that'd be obvious. Claw marks, containers ripped asunder, broken support pillars. Signs of a fight with Grimm that Atlas wouldn't be able to deny. Just their luck that Apathy were too fragile for that. The only damage caused was by Raven, and mostly to his nose.

No way in hell am I letting Atlas get away with this – and Apathy would explain so much. It'd explain why there wasn't an alarm raised when Grimm started escaping the facility in Atlas. The security teams were hit by the Apathy and didn't raise the alarm. I bet they watched, uncaring, as all the Grimm in that lab escaped.

And by the time anyone noticed, it was too late. Grimm en masse loose in Mountain Glenn.

"Good news!" shouted Taiyang. "Or bad, depending on how you look at it. There are two more containers of Grimm."

Of course there were. Atlas always had been greedy.

"Call Beacon."

/-/

Headmaster Harold wasn't someone Qrow remembered having much interaction with even in the past. He was an ageing man on the cusp of retirement with eyebrows growing almost as long as Taiyang's hair, and a creak in his bones. It was obvious he was "in the know" as far as Ozpin was concerned, because he'd called Ozpin up, and quite obviously deferred to him. Maria hovered in the wings, less a part of it and more due to having been with Ozpin when the man was called to the office.

"This is a disaster," he said, as much to Ozpin as to the six students in the office. "Grimm in the city – and from Atlas, no less. It'd almost be better if they reached Mountain Glenn undiscovered."

"Don't say that, sir," Ozpin said. "We're lucky an accident occurred with students around to deal with it."

"But Atlas!" Harold clutched at his temples. "Atlas will be furious. And they'll want answers from me. What am I to say?"

"The Kingdom of Atlas will have its own problems spinning this. Go on the offensive would be my advice. Don't let them act like this isn't their problem. They're the ones who broke treaties and international law. If they bring up our students, tell them that's not the crux of the issue. Demand answers. Put them on the back foot."

No one else there seemed to think it strange how the headmaster was taking advice from a lesser teacher. Gretchen and Team SWRT were too worried about punishment or curious about what would happen to notice it. Harold reminded him of Leonardo, nervous and quick to follow the lead of others. Did Ozpin pick them because he preferred them that way – easier to control – or did the stresses and rigours of knowing about Salem slowly eat away at their nerve? It was a something Qrow was only vaguely curious about.

"This will still be an absolute mess," said Harold, slumping in his seat. "And what were you six doing out there at a time like this?"

"Gretchen and I overheard Atlas officers in Mountain Glenn making some worrying claims."

"And you didn't think to alert the authorities?"

"What? The word of two teenagers against an entire kingdom?" Qrow snorted, taking a more aggressive line with the man than he would have Ozpin. "No one would believe us. And Atlas would just not send the shipment the days you were looking into it."

"But to go alone. You've broken the law—"

"Actually," Maria interrupted. "They have provisional licenses as a part of joining an academy. They're allowed – even encouraged – to investigate threats involving Grimm."

Harold frowned back at her. "They didn't know Grimm would be present."

"But Grimm were present," Ozpin said, taking over. "And thanks to their hard work, we've dispatched teams to kill the Apathy in the other containers – after taking proof, of course. Atlas can argue we had no proof beforehand all they like. It doesn't change the fact our students were right. There were Grimm, and Atlas was shipping them through Vale and into Mountain Glenn. Nothing else matters."

Qrow tried to hide his grin.

Ozpin wasn't one to care about ruffled feathers or politics. This was a man who would stand up to anything and anyone who got in the way of his keeping humanity safe, no matter who tried to put pressure on him or threatened his career. He was a man of action – which was no small part of why Qrow had sworn himself to the Ozpin's service.

"I can see I'm outvoted," Harold grumbled, forgetting for a moment that, as headmaster, he was meant to have the final say. "Fine. But you will be there when I deal with Atlas, Ozpin. And these six still trespassed after hours. They will serve detentions at the very least."

That was unfair – and Raven made to open her mouth, only to have Summer clamp it shut.

"I'll take care of their detentions," Ozpin said. Qrow suspected they'd be made as relaxed as possible. The others seemed to realise that and didn't argue. "And I'll accompany you with Atlas if that's what you wish. One last question. Do you need another visit to the infirmary, Mr Branwen? What happened to your nose?"

"Grimm," said Raven.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"Grimm," Qrow said, with a roll of his eyes.

"I see." Ozpin smiled merrily. "Let us hope the Grimm remember to take it easy on a wounded man in the future." Raven kept her eyes on the ceiling. "Maria will see you to the infirmary. For all that you've made our lives quite difficult, I must commend you all for handling the threat in a professional manner."

Harold was displeased with the praise but didn't counter it.

"You kept the threat from involving civilians and dispatched the Grimm quickly, then called for support once the area was clear. That is the kind of action we expect from our huntsmen and huntresses. You do Beacon proud."

Willow and Summer smiled, Taiyang cheered, and Gretchen looked at Qrow with a huge grin. Even Raven looked pleased, though he could only tell because he knew her. She refused to show it, but the way she adjusted her feet was as close to pleased fidgeting as he'd see.

"You're all dismissed. Rest assured we will demand answers from Atlas and investigate further."

Filing out, they heard raised voices behind but ignored them, moving into the elevator.

"Mr Ozpin is pretty cool, isn't he?" Gretchen said.

"He's the best," Summer agreed.

"His lessons are better too," Raven said. Hardly a surprise given he was the combat instructor and Raven hardly paid attention in any other class.

"Is it just me or did the headmaster seem a little…" Willow struggled for a less-insulting way to phrase it.

Raven beat her to it. "Weak?"

"Well… yes…"

"He was definitely a little off," said Taiyang, "But most people are saying he's close to retirement. Maybe he just doesn't want anything to pop up and ruin that. He's probably tired of it all. Anyone would be after running a place like this for thirty years. They say Ozpin will be next in line."

"They could do worse than him," Raven said.

They could. And he would be a fine headmaster. And maybe if this led to the closure of the research facility in Mountain Glenn, Harold could retire peacefully without the crushing weight of Mountain Glenn's fall on his record.

Qrow was feeling positive about that when they exited the elevator.

Until Maria clasped his shoulder. "You're with me, brat. Infirmary for you. That nose needs to be set. Best hope it hasn't set already or I'll have to break it again."

"Crap…"

Next Chapter: 18th January

Like my work? Please consider supporting me, even if it's only a little a month or even for a whole year, so I can keep writing so many stories as often as I do. Even a little means a lot and helps me dedicate more time and resources to my work.

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur