Four and Twenty Black Birds

A RWBY Fic

By Kraven Ergeist

Chapter 3

Training continued all throughout the week.

Surrounding the kingdom of Mistral was a wide open grassland, ensconced in woodlands and bordered on one side by a winding river and the other by the main road leading into and out of the city. At night, the road was treacherous and the surrounding forest perilous and prowling with Grimm, but during the daylight hours, the wide plains were home to grazing wildlife and provided a tranquil and isolated venue where a Huntsman and his pupil might train in peace.

Sitting cross-legged across from one another, Qrow and Magpie remained unmoving. Sitting in a pile next to them were Qrow's sword, his scroll, his wallet and his flask. The only remaining items on his person were six coins of varying value, scattered around various pockets. So far, Magpie had managed to filch three of them with her power, but no amount of concentration seemed allow her to garner the rest, so long as the first three were in her possession.

"So your semblance seems to have a certain degree of flexibility," Qrow observed, withdrawing the remaining three coins from his pockets. "It'll work on a single item, but if you spend enough time in someone's presence, you can eventually start grabbing more and more items."

Magpie nodded, biting her lip. "Yeah, but I have to really think about it at that point. And I can't seem to get any more than two or three at most."

Qrow nodded.

"You might be able to train yourself to increase your limit someday," he said sagely. "But for now, let's focus on figuring out what those limits are."

The two of them slowly made their way through a series of experiments with Magpie's power – testing the distance at which the effect took place, the duration of time that it took to do so, and whether it made a difference if the items in questions were kept together or separately, in pockets, pouches or in bags. Though it would have been more accurate to say that Qrow was the one going through the experiments, while Magpie kept getting distracted by chasing butterflies and spotting the odd passing caravan that drove by on the distant road.

"Okay, so it looks like your kleptomancy kicks in between about forty-five seconds to three minutes in someone's company, depending on proximity," he observed, pacing as he reviewed his findings. "Your maximum range seems to about thirty feet or so. And it doesn't seem like you can pick which item you're grabbing, or else you'd be going after the higher value coinage I'm carrying, so it seems the items targeted are truly random. It's too bad there's no one else we can test with – I'd be interested in seeing how being around multiple people would affect your power…"

He trailed off when he noticed Magpie braiding dandelions into a woven grass wreath, completely ignoring him.

"Hey," Qrow said sternly. "Focus, kiddo. We're doing this to help you here."

Magpie flinched, dropping her crafting project, and winced under the reprimand.

"Sorry Mister Qrow," she said hurriedly, hanging her head in dismay. "This is all just so boring though!"

The Huntsman sighed, scratching his head.

"It's just Qrow," he said, before walking over to where his wallet was sitting to fetch another coin. "Just a few more things I want to try out, and then we can do something more fun."

He noticed the glint in Magpie's eyes when she saw the coin's value. He'd been using one and two-lien pieces up until this point, all of which the girl now held in her possession to spend as she pleased – part of the bargain for coming out here to train in the first place. But the coin he held now was larger and fatter, and was worth a full ten lien – which by her own admission was more money than Magpie or her mother had usually seen in a week.

"Same deal as before," Qrow said, holding the coin out in the palm of his hand. "If you can snag this from me, it's yours to keep."

Thus far, the number of items Magpie could steal with her kleptomancy seemed limited to three. However, as she had put it earlier, allowing her to keep what she stole seemed to reset the whole process, but it only seemed to work when both parties became aware that the item had been stolen. Her semblance seemed to work on some sort of quantum level, where the act of observing the item seemed to have an effect on its outcome.

Qrow wanted to test this hypothesis.

"I'm going to sit right here," he announced, sitting down in front of her, the coin still held out in his open palm. "So far, you've been able to grab every piece of change I've held within three minutes, so this should be no problem for you at this range. But there's a catch – this time, I'm not going to take my eyes off of it."

Magpie swallowed, slowly shaking her head.

"It's never worked when someone's watching before," she complained.

Qrow pursed his lips, pensively.

"Well, like I said, you get ten lien to spend how you want if you can pull this off," he said, a hint of snark in his voice. "So let's call this positive reinforcement."

This seemed to confound Magpie, but she relented in her protesting and fixed her gaze on the coin in his hand. Patiently, the two of them sat, focusing on the small silver piece. Three minutes passed before Qrow finally called time, and Magpie hung her head in defeat.

"It's no use," she whined. "I just can't do it!"

Qrow nodded encouragingly.

"Don't worry, we're just trying to establish a baseline here, that's all," he said comfortingly. "Let's change this up a little bit. This time, I'm just going to hold the coin in my pocket. I'm going to keep it in my hand, but I'm not going to look at it. Let's see if your kleptomancy will kick in then."

Again, nothing. They tried several variations of the same basic premise, but even after waiting three minutes each try, Magpie couldn't seem to filch this last coin. Even when Qrow removed his hand entirely, and instead, position the coin his pocket in such a way that allowed him to feel the weight pressing against his skin, it seemed that as long as he was physically aware of the item at all times, then it wouldn't leave his possession, much to Magpie's growing frustration.

This more or less cemented the notion Qrow had that something was happening at the quantum level, though of course he was no expert.

"Guess it's true what they say about watched pots never boiling, huh?" Qrow remarked, tossing the coin in the air with a spin before catching it.

Magpie just sat with her arms crossed, a grumpy expression on her face.

"Whatever," she pouted, clearly dissatisfied with her performance.

Qrow had to stop himself from laughing at how adorable she looked in that moment. He was brought back to his days teaching Ruby how to use her scythe. As bubbly and as optimistic as his niece was, she had her off days too, and would often get frustrated at her perceived lack of progress.

"Alright, alright," Qrow said, a mischievous grin forming on his face. "I've got one more exercise for you. It's not really a semblance thing this time, but I promise this time, it'll be a lot more fun."

Magpie was still sulking, but she did give Qrow a wary glance as he withdrew the ten-lien coin from his pocket, her interest still clearly piqued despite her forlorn attitude.

"You can still walk away today with a nice little handful of change," Qrow promised playfully, passing the coin back and forth between both of his hands. "All you've got to do is keep your eye on it."

Magpie did as instructed, keeping her eyes on the coin with laser focus.

Then her eyes nearly popped out of her head when the coin seemed to magically disappear with a wave of the old man's hands.

"What?" she blurted incredulously, completely spellbound. "How'd you do that?"

Qrow gave the girl a sly wink.

"It's called sleight of hand, kid," he said simply. "Anyone can do it if they work hard enough at it."

Magpie leaned forward on her hands and knees to peer more closely at his hands as they waved around in front of her.

"But where did it go?" she asked, dumbstruck.

Qrow shrugged sheepishly.

"Why don't you check behind your ear?" he asked, coyly.

Blinking in disbelief, Magpie started patting behind her ears with both hands, brushing back her long black hair, and feeling around in vain for where any wayward coins may be lying in wait.

"I can't feel anything," she muttered in confusion.

Qrow's grin widened as he reached behind her head and palmed the coin into his fingers, withdrawing his hand to seemingly produce the coin from thin air.

"What!?" Magpie gasped in astonishment, looking at the coin as though it were magic.

Qrow was finding it more and more difficult to contain his laughter. He had pulled the same trick on Ruby and Yang growing up, and the two girls had spent days trying to figure out how he'd done it before they had eventually grown out of their interest in such tricks. It was kind of nice to be able to captivate someone with some simple sleight of hand again.

He vanished and reproduced the coin a few more times, appearing to move it from one pocket to another, and even pretending to swallow it before sneezing it back out. Each little trick captivated her more than the last, as he kept the poor girl guessing as to where it might appear from next.

"The thing to keep in mind is misdirection," he explained, holding up his hand, before waving it in a fluid motion, the coin seemingly appearing between his fingers in a flourish. "If your mark is focusing on one thing, you can move stuff around where their eyes aren't focused."

Magpie nodded, her eyes still locked diligently on the coin.

"Got it," she said.

"It's going to take some work, but if you're willing to learn, then I can teach you how to do some of this stuff," Qrow said, idly twirling the coin end-over-end across his knuckles, before making it vanish once again. "It'll be useful to know this stuff if you want to be sneaky about slipping other peoples' belongings out of your pockets without being caught."

Magpie nodded again, still completely captivated.

"Okay," she said.

Qrow smiled, brushing his hands off.

"Well, I think that should be about enough for today, kiddo," he said dismissively. "Go ahead into town and get yourself something from the market."

Magpie blinked, somewhat confused.

"But…what about…?" she started, clearly wondering when she was going to get her promised ten-lien coin.

Qrow smirked back at her. "Check your pockets."

She flinched and patted herself down, before discovering the wayward coin jingling with the rest of the pocket change Qrow had endowed her with over the course of the day.

"Did you do that?" she gaped at him.

"Nope," Qrow said fondly. "That was all you. Remember - keep checking your pockets. And be less obvious about it, or you're going to attract the wrong kind of attention, alright?"

"Okay," Magpie said, slowly climbing to her feet amongst the tall grass and dusted herself off. "I'll try to remember, Mister Qrow."

"It's just Qrow," he told her, glancing up at the sun as it passed through the sky. "I think that's enough training for one day. Now you run along and have fun. But be back at the inn by nightfall, okay?"

"Okay!" she said, turning to head back

Before she ran off, however, she doubled back to place the grass-woven wreath of dandelions over his head, before leaning in to kiss his forehead.

"Thank you, Qrow," she said sweetly.

Qrow said nothing as he watched her bound her way through the high grass, brushing her hands through the greenery as she made her way back to the city. He leaned back on his arms, leaving the wreathe of flowers around his head, and wondered just what he was getting himself into. His eyes drifted shut as he tried to remember his time with Noire, a fleeting memory of another life that passed by like a dream. He had been another person back then, carefree and ready to throw caution to the wind. Back before he had learned just what a shit place the world was.

Noire had deserved better. Magpie deserved better. But for better or worse, they had gotten him – a ragged old man who brought bad luck with him wherever he went. He knew it was only a matter of time before his luck started rubbing off onto Magpie. He could try to limit the amount of time the two of them spent together during the day, but all that did was decrease the chances of anything bad happening. She was already down on her luck as it was. With a semblance like hers, he could only imagine how his luck might affect her. All it would take was one unlucky break, and this kid's life could be ruined beyond any hope of repair.

Either way, she couldn't stay with him. Not for the long term. It didn't matter if she was his kid or not, no one deserved to grow up with his luck. Qrow would just have to hope that Ozpin could find a home for her, even if that home ended up being with the professor of Haven Academy or something.

For now, however, he was her guardian. And even if he couldn't be around her all the time, that didn't mean that he wouldn't be keeping a watchful eye over her.

Within the space of a moment, he was a bird on the wing, flying above the slums of Mistral. He didn't have to look very hard to find Magpie as she meandered through the streets. No one seemed to take notice of her new coat, as he'd hoped. He'd picked out something in drab colors that wouldn't stand out for this exact purpose. Combine this with her diminutive stature, and she blended right in with the rest of the slum dwellers, especially now that the sun was setting.

She passed by a food stall, selling some kind of fried noodle dish, which she ordered using some of the money he'd given her. She didn't sit down, instead opting to carry her dinner with her in a styrofoam cup. He noticed with a hint of pride that she didn't linger anywhere for very long, just like he'd taught her. Several temptations crossed her path, including some kids kicking an old dirty soccer ball around the muddy streets, making a loud ruckus. But Magpie walked right on by.

After she'd passed them, however, one of the kids playing soccer peeled off from the crowd. It wouldn't have caught his attention, except that Qrow thought that he might have recognized the boy from somewhere. He might have been mistaken, but the way he tailed after Magpie – not close enough to catch her attention, but keeping just within line of sight – looked highly suspicious from his particular vantage point.

He swooped in to get a closer look, and sure enough, it was the same boy that had attempted to pick his pockets in the upper market. He had dark scruffy hair, a cheeky grin on his face, and skinny arms and legs extending out of muddy rags. Whoever this kid was, he sure did seem to get around, but he didn't think it was a coincidence that he was catching the same boy around Magpie. If he was after her because he thought she was an easy mark, or worse yet, to get to him…

Then he saw Magpie duck into an alleyway between a general goods store and the local pawn shop, and Qrow began to get worried. Had she noticed the other boy? Was she trying to lose his trail? He flapped his wings, following after her, gaining altitude to get a better vantage point, and eventually found Mag leaning against the alley wall.

What was she doing? Was she trying to get caught? Qrow readied himself to swoop in in case she should need a helping hand, when he heard the boy calling out to her.

"Mag," his voice was hushed. "Mag, it's me."

Magpie's eyes came up as he approached her, widening in recognition.

"Jackdaw!" she exclaimed, running up to him and throwing her arms around him. "It's really you! I was so worried about you!"

Qrow felt a deep welling pit growing in his stomach. This was an unexpected development. Who was this Jackdaw kid, anyway? He was aware that kids growing up in the slums tended to form bonds of convenience, but his little girl was far too young to be involved in any sort of relationship.

Then the boy put his hands on her little shoulders.

"Sorry, sis," he said in a remorseful tone. "Ever since mom died, I…"

Qrow banked suddenly, nearly missing a collision with an awning. He had to flutter his wings to steady himself, and finally settled down to perch in a ledge above where the two kids were speaking.

They were siblings! Qrow could hardly believe it! Noire had another kid he wasn't aware of! He hadn't even thought to bring up the possibility with Magpie, but here they both were! It was difficult to judge at this range, but the two of them looked pretty close in terms of age. Either this kid was a half-brother by another father, he was adopted, or Magpie had been just unlucky enough to have a twin brother to deal with.

While Qrow collected his thoughts on just what this revelation might imply, the two kids continued to whisper to each other in conspiratorial voices which, thankfully, his bird ears were carefully attuned to picking up.

"Where've you been all this time?" Magpie demanded in a protective tone.

"The boss has been lookin' out for me," the boy assured her.

Qrow's ears pricked up at that word. Boss? Just what kind of mischief were these kids involved in anyway?

Magpie seemed to bristle at her brother's words.

"Jackie, I don't like that man," she said in a frightened voice. "Mom always told us that Corvo and the the Blackbirds are dangerous. You shouldn't hang around them anymore."

Qrow mulled over that name. He hadn't heard of anyone named Corvo anywhere in town, but he had seen a black bird logo spray painted here and there across the slums. From the boy's description, they sounded like a local gang.

Jackdaw pulled away from his sister.

"Mom's dead, Mag!" he blurted, seemingly unafraid of being overhead anymore. "We gotta look after each other now. Corvo can keep us safe. The Blackbirds can be our home now."

Magpie was shaking her head.

"I've…I've found someone else who can help us, Jack," she said, hesitantly. "He's a Hunstman. He knew our mom. I think…I think he might know who our dad was too."

A sharp twinge of pain ran through Qrow's heart. The words she'd used were "our dad." It seems they were twins after all. Twins borne of a twin. What were the odds? Of course, given his luck, it was no surprise. That made two kids he had left to fend for themselves.

At her words, Jackdaw's expression changed to one of anger.

"I don't care who our dad was, Maggie!" he blared. "He left us! He doesn't care about us! We've gotta find our own way now!"

Qrow had to stop himself from flying right down there to interject. But if he revealed his hand here and now, neither one of them would appreciate learning that he was spying on them, and he couldn't afford to lose Magpie's trust if this was the type of mess that her brother was entangled in. Besides, he had not been a part of these kids' lives for ten whole years. What right did he have to step in now?

Magpie looked like she was about to cry.

"I'm just worried about you, Jackdaw," she said in a muffled voice. "I don't want to see you get hurt. Please don't hang around the Blackbirds anymore."

Jackdaw shoved his hands into his pockets.

"It's outta my hands now, sis," he said in a resigned tone. "They're makin' a move tonight at midnight. Got a big score planned. They want you there."

Qrow felt a chill run down his spine at the boy's words. What was this kid trying to get his little girl involved in?

Magpie seemed similarly resistant.

"No, Jackdaw," she shook her head. "You know I hate working for Corvo. All he ever wants is for me to steal stuff for him."

Qrow felt his blood beginning to boil.

"That's all anyone's ever gonna want from you," Jackdaw said, cruelly. "News flash, Magpie – that power of yours is the only thing that anyone's ever gonna care about. As long as people know about it, you're just gonna be a target. If you don't get in line with the Blackbirds while the gettin's good, someone worse is just going to come callin' after you. And they're not going to ask so nicely."

Qrow saw tears beginning to trickle down Magpie's face, and he was about ready to fly down there and smack this boy upside the head.

"Don't make me do this, Jackdaw," she whimpered. "I hate working with the Blackbirds! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!"

His sister's words seemed to soften the boy's heart somewhat.

"I'm just doin' this to protect you, sis," he assured her. "The Blackbirds look after each other. That's the best deal either of us are gonna get. The best we can do is throw our lot in with 'em and hope for the best."

"And I'm telling you, we don't need the Blackbirds anymore!" Magpie pleaded with her brother. "You can come with me and stay with Qrow!"

Jackdaw took a step back, shaking his head warily.

"That's right," he said, nodding smugly. "You got yourself a nice, friendly Huntsman to take care of you and buy you stuff now. That jacket looks pretty nice, sis. Bet that cost your Huntsman friend a pretty penny."

Magpie clutched the hem of her jacket nervously. "I…"

"That's how it always starts, doesn't it?" Jackdaw continued. "How long do you think it's going to last, huh? How long until he gets bored and tries to foist you off on someone else, huh? Just like all those foster homes we been in?"

Qrow was reeling. How much time had passed since Noire's death? Months? Years? He hadn't wanted to bring up such a sore topic with Magpie, but heavens above, how long had these kids been shuffled about, unwanted and unloved? It was small wonder they had fallen in with local gangs. It was doubtful, especially with Magpie's power, that any foster home would have kept her for long. But a street gang? A kleptomancer would be an invaluable asset on the streets of Mistral. Qrow was beginning to feel like it was nothing short of a miracle that Magpie had found her way to his doorstep.

Magpie couldn't respond to Jackdaw's accusatory tone, and he finally backed off.

"Go back to your Huntsman if you like," he griped. "I'm sticking with the Blackbirds. But if you were any kind of sister to me, you'd come and help me out tonight."

Magpie reached out to the boy, but he was already turning to go.

"Jackdaw, wait!" she begged. "Please, don't go!"

Her brother was already disappearing down the alleyway, and after a moment of indecision, Magpie went running after him. She ran full tilt, turned through a series of corners, finding no trace of him.

"Jackdaw!" she shouted in a panic. "Jackdaw!"

Her voice echoed through the slums, her words spilling out as she plunged blindly forward. The sun was already setting, and the alleyway was all but devoid of any light to guide her. She stumbled over piles of trash and waved her hands through steam being vented from the surrounding buildings, before finally running headlong into someone standing in her path.

WHUMP!

She slammed her fists into the man, not even bothering to turn her eyes to look up at him, pounding his chest furiously with her tiny hands. A pair of arms came up around her and held her tightly, and she found herself sobbing into his coat.

"Hey, hey…" Qrow said in a soothing voice, holding the girl steady. "It's okay kid. It's okay."

Qrow's resolve had finally wavered. Magpie didn't ask why he was there, or how much he had heard. She just continued to weep and wail, unable to utter anything intelligible as he simply held her there, stroking her shoulders.

"It'll be okay, Mag," Qrow promised her, crouching down to look into her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. We'll figure this out, alright? We'll find your brother before he does anything stupid, okay?"

Magpie looked back at him, her eyes full of tears, her heart swimming in a sea of conflict.

"Qrow…" she whimpered, tremulously.

Qrow ruffled her hair, smiling back at her.

"I get it, okay?" he told her. "Your brother sounds like a real piece of work, but I get it – he's still your brother, and you've got to take care of him. I get it. We'll work on it together, okay? So no more crying. We'll figure this out. I promise."

Magpie simply pressed herself into his embrace, trembling in fear and pent up emotion. There was so much she wanted to tell him, and so much that she was afraid to give voice to. But for now, she was simply glad he was here.

Not knowing what else to do, Qrow scooped the girl up into his arms and began to make his way out of the alley, carrying her as she continued to tremble and shake. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her, but couldn't give voice to any of them for fear of breaking the poor girl's heart.

And so the two simply remained in silence together as he carried her through the slums of Mistral. And they stayed that way all the way until they made it back to the inn.