Playing For Keeps - Ch 64 (Adv) - Beyond Black and White (Patreon)

“You sure that was smart?” Qrow asked softly, hours later, when I finally returned from walking the Albains all the way down the stairs and waiting until they were out of site before going back up.

He hadn’t moved from the table, and though he glanced at me, he soon returned his gaze to the empty mug held between his hands.

“You asked me that Saturday night, too,” I reminded him, transferring the teapot to the sink and starting the kettle for coffee instead. Guess it had better be decaf, since it’s so late. “I don’t do things carelessly, most of the time, and I trusted you to stop me if you thought I was making a blunder.”

I pulled a Valic press from my [Inventory], causing Qrow to start, then shake his head. “Wish you could show me how you do that. It’d be so much easier to carry stuff with me when I fly.”

I blinked, absently starting a timer for the coffee. “Your magic already melds everything you’re wearing and carrying, and that’s not enough for you?”

“It’s weird and finicky,” he complained. “My clothes and weapon come along, thank the gods, but I’ve never been able to bring more than that. Being able to carry supplies… hell, even just a tent would be nice, much less the extra clothes and coffee and whatever other crap you’ve got.”

“A little of everything,” I admitted, then pressed, “But there has to be a pattern, right?”

Qrow shrugged. “Magic is weird. Even Dust barely obeys physics.”

“Yeah, but it usually has rules,” I argued. “Sometimes a spell can sidestep physics, but once you stop supplying it with the magical power to do that it goes back to behaving like you’d expect. Like, take the example of throwing a fireball. A hovering ball of fire with no fuel defies physics, sure, no matter if I do it with Dust or Amber does it with her internal magic. But once it’s thrown and sets something on fire, the fire just behaves like fire, because it is just fire. Magic is a shortcut, but it’s not… magic,” I finished lamely.

“Then why aren’t people using Dust for your kind of magic?” Qrow asked skeptically. “Or mine?”

“They don’t know how?” I spread my hands. “I don’t even know how my pocket space works. But I do know it’s connected to my backpack, and my friend Tukson told me that space-expanded bags do exist.”

Qrow frowned, but not as if he was upset. “I… never thought about that. They do exist, and I never understood how they work, but I wrote it off because I knew I could never afford one. Only one company makes them. Up in Atlas, naturally. I assumed it was some advanced application of Dust.”

“Maybe it is. But remember, Dust is magic. Crystallized and limited, but it’s the same thing. Amber disguises her wind and fire magic as Dustcasting for a reason — she doesn’t do anything that couldn’t be done by a talented enough Dustcaster.”

“And rich enough,” Qrow put in. “But I see your point. So you think there’s a way to use Dust to do what you’re doing?”

“Maybe, but my point was that maybe there’s a way for you to use mana, meaning the magical energy inside you, to do what I’m doing.”

“Okay, I’ll bite: How?”

I sighed as the timer went off and I plunged the coffee from the press, pouring us both a cup. “Absolutely fucked if I know.”

“Dammit.” Qrow deflated, and I rolled my eyes as I set his coffee in front of him.

“Gee, if only we knew some kind of immortal wizard who understood how magic works better than anyone in the modern age. Hint, hint.”

Qrow stared at his coffee for a while before taking a sip of it black, ignoring the cream and honey I’d put on the table.

I still preferred it with cream, preferably with the coffee poured over it, but ever since Vacuo I’d become fond of sweetening my coffee just a bit, with honey instead of sugar. It made the whole cup feel… softer, as well as sweeter. Okay, and maybe it reminds me of Amber’s nickname for me.

I assumed Qrow had his reasons for not inquiring further with Ozpin about the nature of his magic until now — arguably none of my business — but with the storm that was approaching… Running into Mercury, and indirectly Cinder and Emerald, really put the timeline in perspective. Day by day, the Vytal Festival was drawing nearer, and so was the deadline for [The Shining Beacon, Part 3].

Less than six months to prepare… and I need to make sure everyone I love is ready for a Named even stronger than Amphivena. Because there was no way the giant, two-winged, two-legged, draconic titan that Cinder awoke in Volume 3 could be anything other than the same Ladon the Wyvern that Ozpin had mentioned. And as a gamer, nothing draconic should be taken lightly.

I was drawn out of my thoughts when Qrow set down his coffee and picked up a bag I hadn’t noticed him bringing in. “Leo wanted to express his thanks again. He said he forwarded a little something to your bank account, and he wanted you to have this.”

He withdrew a sort of binder, sliding it across the table for me to pick up. It was like a crude book, with thick parchment sandwiched between two pieces of wood, bound with odd metal clasps. Logograms of some Animan language were etched into the front cover, their depth preserved by the varnish.

[You have received the skill book [Sì Shǒuhùzhě Bùzhòu (Fragmentary)]!]

[You cannot learn this skill. Required: Complete book.]

It’s a skill book… or I guess, a quarter of one? And I can’t eat the book until it’s complete…

Flipping the cover open, I found Leonardo’s handwriting in Common on the inside.

Jaune,

Qrow has given me to understand you are a practitioner of Xíngquán, learning from a young man born in Kuroyuri before it was destroyed by Crom Cruach. This is barely a fraction of what I feel you’re owed, but I hope you will find it useful, even in fragmentary form. While incomplete, this is every reference I have been able find to an advanced discipline of the martial art Xíngquán, called Qīnglóngbù. Translated to the best of my knowledge, it means ‘Stance of the Azure Dragon’.

How this stance connects to the rest of the art, I could not hazard a guess, but vague reference is made to three other stances. This particular stance was practiced in the region of Hanazono, and it is my hope that, between the two of you, the knowledge of it and the other advanced stances might be preserved… and preferably collated, hence the form this ‘book’ takes, and the title I have tentatively given it, ‘Four Guardians Stances’.

If I find anything about the other stances, I will contact you.

Yours, faithfully,Leonardo Lionheart

[Quest Alert! A self-assigned Quest has been created!]

[Five Elements, Four Guardians]

[You have received a skill book that is Fragmented, meaning the text is separated, lost, or scattered across the world and years. Reconstructing it in full may be impossible, but if you succeed, it might provide an edge in combat.]

[Time limit: None.]

[Reward: Skill book [Sì Shǒuhùzhě Bùzhòu].]

[Failure Penalty: The uncollected knowledge will be lost.]

[Accept/Decline]

Yeah, duh, accept.

I flipped through the rest of the pages briefly. Leonardo had provided his best attempt at translating into Common, but metaphor and spirituality were notoriously difficult to express in another language if you didn’t understand the concept as the original culture did.

Maybe I can start learning this language? I’ve got a [Linguist] skill; I might as well use it for more than half-remembered fragments of Terran Romance languages. Actually…

“Can you read this?” I asked Qrow, closing the book again.

He shook his head. “I recognize ‘four’, but I never learned Hunpo.”

“Well, maybe Ren does,” I muttered, slipping it into my [Inventory]. “Are we done in Mistral?”

“Yeah, I reckon so,” said Qrow, returning to his coffee. Silence fell between us for a moment. Then he said, “You’re paying for the tickets.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, the way I see it, it’s your fault we have to fly back the slow way. Unless you want to go apologize to my sister?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Somehow I thought you might,” he drawled. “It wasn’t important before so I let it go, but what was that about? I know you have a habit of mouthing off to dangerous people, but you’re smart enough to know the difference between Spider or the Alexandria and someone like my sister.”

I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “I know it wasn’t smart. But her whole spiel was just…” For once, all my CHA failed me, and all I could do was clench a fist.

Qrow sighed in turn. “I know.”

“I swore an Oath, Qrow,” I said finally. “To set an example. To protect the innocent. To right wrongs and help people. To improve myself relentlessly, in mind and body and soul. And to delight in the joys of life so I never forget what I’m fighting for. And she and her tribe of bandits just… piss on every part of it.”

“It was still an unnecessary risk,” he pointed out. “You didn’t seem to have the same problem parleying with Spider. Or with Roman Torchwick, for that matter, despite him actively working with the people who hurt Autumn.”

“It’s not the same. Or, maybe it is, but it doesn’t feel the same. Spider takes in orphans and gutter rats. Feeds them, protects them. Yeah, they’re criminals, and yeah, they hurt people, but it’s not their goal and Lil’ Miss Malachite seems to understand that there are lines she shouldn’t cross. Torchwick might be working with Cinder Fall and Adam Taurus, but he’s doing that to protect himself and his partner. Thieves and even assassins or not, they’re looking for an excuse to jump.”

“So are you planning to turn a blind eye to what they’ve done?” he asked. His voice wasn’t accusatory, it was more like he was trying to feel out my position.

“Not entirely. It’ll come down to fine details — and admittedly I’m far from the best negotiator — but amnesty over the Dust robberies in exchange for information on where it’s stashed, and where the White Fang are holed up? I’m willing to make that deal. If he goes back to high-stakes heists against rich assholes afterward… as long as he’s not leaving a trail of bodies, I have bigger fish to fry.”

“So it’s not the banditry you take offense to…?”

I waggled a hand. “I do take offense to it, but I’m a Huntsman. There’s a big difference between stealing to live, and surprise-attacking helpless villages to deliberately draw a Surge and ensure there’s no survivors to spread word.”

“Figured that out, did you?” Qrow laughed bitterly. “It would’ve been the first tactic in the old Chief’s book, if the bastard even knew how to read.”

“So yeah, it was a risk, and probably an unnecessary one,” I admitted. “Honestly, it’ll probably bite me square in the ass someday.” Almost certainly will, considering the the whole ‘Raven is secretly the Spring Maiden’ issue. “But I don’t see a world where she and I get along, and I don’t feel the need to pretend otherwise. As it is, she’s very technically still contributing to the fight against Salem, and as long as that’s true I’ll deal with the rest as it comes up. For your and your nieces’ sake, if nothing else. Although, speaking of…”

I trailed off, and Qrow dropped his head onto the table with a thud. “Gods, Yang…”

“I’m not that close to her,” I ventured. “But I know she’s still looking for her mom, off and on. I don’t know if Ruby knows that, but if she does you know she’ll want to help too. One of us needs to tell them we ran across her.”

Qrow cursed sulfurously, then sat up and rubbed his eyes. “I will,” he decided. “I’ll get Tai to come into Vale, maybe on Friday. We’ll have dinner with both the girls, and tell them.”

“Sounds like a plan–” I intended to mention my own plans for a date with Amber on Friday night, but was interrupted when my Scroll started buzzing silently.

Specifically, my black Scroll.

DM: Ko'origashigoroshi -› Ohm | Wednesday 02:41

Ko'origashigoroshi sent a photo!

‹Ko'origashigoroshi› Are these yours?

Frowning, I pulled out the Scroll and opened the image. And froze, when I saw it was of Blake and Sun seated back to back in a pair of wooden chairs. There were ropes binding their arms and legs to the chairs, as well as a larger one winding around both their chests. Sun’s mouth was gagged, the wad of cloth held in place with what looked like Blake’s ribbon, since her ears were free. Her teeth were bared in fury, her eyes flashing to hide her fear.

Roman stood in front of them, with a pair of White Fang masks in one hand and his cane in the other, held in a combat grip.

‹Ohm› I think you know the answer to that

‹Ohm› who else knows you have them?

Name: Jaune ArcLevel: 72 (Next: 7.73%)Title: InitiateRace: HumanAge: 18Job: Journeyman HuntsmanClass: PaladinSemblance: The GamerHP: 9253/9253MP: 5072/5072STR: 234 (100)CON: 297 (105)DEX: 167 (54)INT: 140 (51)WIS: 119 (53)CHA: 163 (53)Points: 167Money: 6,190,025LStatus: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]

A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server at https://discord.gg/H6V854Fvbg

Rewards that turn out to be hooks for yet more quests… this really is an RPG.

Hanazono (Japanese: 花園, ‘flower garden’) is a name for the region of Anima where the villages were named after flowers; e.g. Oniyuri (Japanese: 鬼百合, ‘tiger lily’) and Kuroyuri (Japanese: 黒百合, ‘black lily’, i.e. Kamchatka lilly).Hunpo (T./S. Chinese: 魂魄; ‘soul’) is the Remnan name for the language I’m rendering as Chinese, just as Konpaku does to Japanese (as noted last chapter).

The title obviously refers to the episode ‘Black and White’. It’s a bit early for that event (I would spuriously guess that heist occurred sometime in July in canon) but Roman is supposed to be constantly stealing Dust or planning to steal more. Likewise, Blake and Sun attempting to infiltrate a White Fang meeting was a plot point from ‘Painting the Town…’, which shouldn’t occur until at least September; that is a deliberate change from canon.

Discussion Prompt

How far do you think we can deviate the concept of 'magic' from the elemental evocations presented in RWBY canon? Given the limited number of true magic users, will it still feel like RWBY if they're able to use more varied abilities?