When I saw that for Ladybug week 2018 there was a pirates prompt, I knew I had to take it. I had pitched this idea around before even starting I'm More Than a Faunus, but I didn't think I'd start writing it for a while. Guess what? Pirates prompt has given me that opportunity and no one can blame me. Don't worry, I'm still working on I'm More Than a Faunus and Crimson Like My Blood, I just wanted to start this up. I also know this is late, but I still wanted to write it!

Disclaimer: RWBY is not mine, it belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.

Princess Ruby stood to the side of the ball, awkwardly trying to avoid any eyes that landed on her. Her sister was the main attraction, so it didn't take a lot for Ruby to blend into the shadows, but she still could feel eyes on her. She noticed Jaune weaving his way through party guests, delivering drinks as he went, but clearly bee lining for Ruby. Jaune had probably been one of Ruby's oldest friends, serving her at parties for as long as she could remember.

He stopped beside her and tried to blend in. "Hiding by the pillars?" He asked.

"Yup," she replied.

Smiling a bit, he whisper, "You should get out there with your sister. She loves to dance, and you might be the only person who can keep up with her."

"Yeah, yeah," Ruby giggled, "Yang's a menace on the dance floor. But this night's not for me, I shouldn't try and take the attention."

Jaune stifled a groan. "Ruby, you're the Princess of Vale, the night's always somewhat for you!" Ruby blushed a bit and stuttered, trying to downplay her position but coming up with nothing. "Exactly, you should get out there." Ruby sighed in defeat until a voice called out.

"Jaune! We need more drinks for the guests at the northeastern corridor!"

Nearly tripping over himself as he rushed to his partner's side, Jaune apologized, "Right Pyrrha, sorry, got caught up talking to Ruby."

Pyrrha swatted Jaune's arm. "How many times have I told you, it's Princess Ruby."

"And how many times have I told you, it's just Ruby," smiled Ruby softly.

Blushing in embarrassment, Pyrrha lowered her head, "Right, sorry Pri-Ruby. Sorry." Pyrrha and Jaune walked off, and Ruby's face fell. Why is it so hard to call me by my name?

A loud tapping noise filled the hall and everyone's attention turned to the man who clinked his glass. It was Ozpin, Hand of the King, bringing everyone's attention forward. "Tonight," he started, "we are gathered to honor the birth of King Taiyang of Vale. You have all gathered from far and wide, so we dare not waste your time. Now, a speech from your king."

Ozpin stepped to the side and Taiyang stepped forward. "Friends, family, acquaintances. I appreciate this amazing celebration of my day. I am so glad you all could attend, and I would like to thank my staff for the amazing job they've done. I'm glad I have my girls with me to celebrate, and also every single one of you, and I am humbled. I am sure this party will go down in history for one of the best ever thrown-"

"It'll sure go down in history, but not for the reasons you think," a voice called from the hall. Everyone stepped back in surprise. No one interrupted the king.

Taiyang's face fell before being replaced with slight anger. "Whoever said that, show yourself!" A faunus stepped out from the center doors that lead to the chamber where guests entered. The boy had blonde hair and a monkey's tail, but seems underdressed from his lack of a shirt. Most likely poor, but he looked fit enough that he wasn't starving. "Who are you?" the king demanded.

"Name's Sun Wukong," the monkey spoke as he walked forward with swagger, "and I know some pirates who've got the high ground." On cue, ropes fell from the pillars above Ruby, and faunus started sliding down from the rafters. They pulled out weapons and started attacking the party goers. Sun took out a staff and readied the pistol at his side. None of the guests seemed to be armed, but the guards would soon be alerted of the faunus's presence.

It was absolute pandemonium, no offense to any panda faunus, and the royals were trying their best to escape. Ozpin and Taiyang were yelling, trying to regain order, but no one was listening. Ruby stood on her tips toes searching for her sister in the crowd before she felt a blade at her back.

"Quiet." It was a female. The blade maneuvered Ruby around until she found herself being pushed out one of the side corridors, unnoticed in the chaos. The princess tried to turn her head and face her captor, but no such luck. By the time they had reached the outside of the castle, all the guards stationed outside had rushed in to battle the faunus.

The blade retreated from Ruby's back, and as she turned to face her captor the blade rushed back at her face and everything went dark.

When Ruby woke up she noticed a couple things. She was in some foreign place that wouldn't stop rocking her back and forth. After opening her eyes, she deduced she was somewhere on a ship. She also noticed her movements were severely restricted. Her wrists were bound together and her waist was tied to a large crate that rested against the side of the ship. Ruby realized she was no longer in her dress, but barefoot with a long tunic and an old pair of baggy slacks. She shivered at the thought that someone had changed her clothes while she was asleep.

Shivering from the cold lower deck, Ruby had no other option but to wait until someone checked on her. It wasn't long until someone walked down the stairs, footsteps echoing as they approached the level Ruby was on. When the person finally came into view, Ruby met eyes with a cat faunus, tall with long black hair and the most piercing amber eyes she had ever seen. They stared at each other for a few moments before the cat commented, "So you're awake."

Snapping out of her momentary daze, Ruby struggled with the many questions bouncing around in her head. She settled for the simple, "Where am I?"

The faunus chuckled and Ruby suddenly noticed the sharp blade attached to the girl's hip. "You're aboard my ship, Gambol Shroud."

"But I thought Sun-"

"Was the captain?" The cat finished. "Common misconception. He's my first mate, but not captain. I prefer working from shadows, so he takes up command when I'm doing the field work."

Ruby processed the information and mumbled, "Were you the one who…"

The faunus waited patiently for Ruby to finish, but the girl couldn't find her voice again. "Yes," the amber eyed girl replied. "I was the one who kidnapped you at the celebration."

"Why?" Ruby asked her, suddenly a bit bolder. "Why me? Why not my sister, the heir to the crown. Why not my father, the one in charge. Heck, why not Ozpin, Dad's right hand man?"

The faunus walked forward and Ruby slammed her eyes shut in fear. When nothing happened, she opened them back up. The cat had sat down next to Ruby and was cracking her knuckles. "Rose, I picked you because you're the most delicate. Your sister's a bomb waiting to go off," the princess opened her mouth to protest but was quickly cut off. "Don't act like it's not true. It's not an insult, your sister just has a fiery personality. Your father is the king, and I have no plans on trying to overthrow Vale, so I'll keep him in power. Plus, we're not strong enough to catch a king. As for Ozpin, he's too mysterious and unknown. He's the right hand which makes him important, but we don't know if he has enough influence on the king to cause enough panic."

Ruby waited in silence, processing the faunus's words. "Rose, you're important to your family and the kingdom looks up to you without even knowing it. Your family loves you, the servants love you, all for simple reasons. They'd do anything for you."

"That's why I'm here. Because they'll do anything for me."

The cat stood up. "Right." She turned away from Ruby and went to the stairs. She turned around to face her captive. "I'll get you some water and food, don't want you dying. You'll stay down here and away from the crew until we can talk to your father about ransom." Ruby lowered her head in shame. Of course her father would have to save her again.

The faunus made it up the first two steps before the princess quickly called out, "Wait," and then paused with unladylike embarrassment. "What's your name?"

Rolling her eyes, the amber eyed girl replied, "My name is Blake Belladonna, but you'll refer to me as captain."

Ruby looked down. "Okay."

"Ahem?"

"Okay, Captain." Blake nodded and walked up the rest of the stairs leaving Ruby to herself. The princess just hoped her family would find her soon. She didn't want to be a pirate captive for long.

After receiving her meal from Blake, Ruby had her hands untied under the notion she would not try to untie her waist. Ruby had agreed to Blake's terms, mainly because she had started losing feeling in her hands from the tight ropes. Left to her own devices, Ruby wondered what the rest of her time on the ship would be like. Would they ever let her walk around? Would she be rescued or ransomed back to her family? Would the faunus treat her poorly because she was a royal and they were pirates?

Footsteps echoed once again from the stairs, and Ruby waited to see Blake's face but was surprised to see it was actually Sun Wukong. He leaned against the wall when he reached the bottom of the stairs, and Ruby noticed a thin gold necklace around his neck. The piece of jewelry entranced her long enough to forget he was staring back at her.

"So the captain trusts you enough to partially untie you. That doesn't happen often," he commented with a hint of a smile.

Ruby looked down in shame. "Actually, she threatened me until I agreed to not try and untie myself."

He laughed and pulled away from the wall. "That sounds like Blake," he laughed. Sun walked towards Ruby before going to the barrel next to her and pulling out a folded up piece of cloth. He shook it out and the cloth was revealed to be a button up shirt. Sun took the shirt and slipped his arms into the holes, but never buttoned it up. He also pulled out a blanket and held it in his arms.

Smoothing the wrinkles on his shirt with his free hand, Sun shot a glance at Ruby. "What, you think I go shirtless all the time? Nah, it gets too cold for that. Unfortunately, the only clothes we have are torn or fancy people clothes, so I gotta wear this."

Continuing to stare at Sun, Ruby found herself unable to comprehend what he was saying. "So you have fancy clothes, yet you choose to wear torn clothes or to deface royal wear?"

He paused and thought for a moment. "Yeah, pretty much. Except for Blake, she's got her old outfit from-"

"From where Sun?" a voice called from the stairs. "Where did I get my clothes."

Sun looked from Ruby to his captain before placing a hand nervously behind his neck. He made a little, "Uh, heh," noise before stepping away from Ruby. "You got your clothes… uh… from the Vacuo Market, yeah, the Vacuo Market, totally. I remembered," then more desperately, "I remembered."

Blake nodded with an annoyed look on her face, and Ruby's confused eyes kept flicking between the two faunus like a tennis match. After a brief glare from Blake, Sun received a nod and he rushed back up the stairs, eager to get out of trouble. Blake turned to exit when Ruby called out, "Bl-Captain!"

The faunus turned back around and asked, "What, Rose?"

"Is this-um, is this where all the clothes are stored?" the crimsonette stuttered.

"Yes," was her response. Ruby blushed and Blake realized her problem. "Alright," Blake huffed.

"Huh?"

Blake walked towards Ruby and untied her waist from the crate before pulling her from the ground and tying her wrists together. "I thought-"

"I'm just moving you somewhere else, I won't keep your hands tied," Blake cut her off. Ruby just nodded and followed Blake. They reached the stairs and Blake ushered Ruby up them. Nervously, Ruby started ascending the stairs before she got a good look at the below deck of Gambol Shroud.

Doors covered the sides of the hallway, and Ruby noticed most of them were closed, signalling it was likely early morning or late night. Blake lead Ruby down the halls, their feet making loud clacks against the wooden floor. Despite this, no doors opened and the hallway remained empty, save them.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Blake turned a corner with Ruby in tow and approached a large door with black vines designing the outside. The captain fished a key ring out of her pocket and pushed three different keys into three different holes before opening the door. "That's a lot of security," Ruby squeaked out.

Shooting the girl a quick glance, Blake replied, "It's the same on both sides, locks and all. I'm the only one with the key ring, and Sun's the only other one who knows where the hidden keys are, so don't think about escaping. The locks are too complicated to pick without skill and time, so get comfortable." Blake opened the door to the room and pushed Ruby inside.

"On the bright side, I shouldn't have to tie you up unless you attempt to escape, and you'd have to be crazy to try that. Sit tight."

Ruby frowned as her wrists were unbound. "There's only one bed, who's going to sleep on the floor?"

Blake shot Ruby a look before smirking. "You think this is my room? No, my room's at the other side of the hall. This room was intended to be the cells, but my crew had it converted to fit the old captain. He's gone, so nobody even wants the room. The bed is like nails too. You might want to consider sleeping on the floor."

Stepping out of the room, Blake shut the doors and Ruby heard the locks click into place. Ruby approached the bed, unsure, and lay her hand flat on the middle. Flinching, Ruby quickly retracted her hand in pain. She pulled away the single sheet that had covered the bed. Beneath the sheet lay a literal bed of nails, equally spread out as to distribute body weight. Looking at the bed in horror, Ruby wondered how anyone could ever sleep on that.

She pulled the sheet all the way off the bed, resolving to use that as her blanket, and curling up on the floor. Ruby hadn't noticed how tired she was until she lay down on the floor. Despite her tired state, the constant rocking of the ship, and the cold wooden floor weren't going to let her fall into a restless sleep anytime soon.

That's my pilot. Hope you enjoyed, Ladybug is ready to set sail literally. We've got Blake the pirate, Ruby the princess, it's all your fanfic tropes in one. Anyway, let me know if you liked it, I've actually planned this story to go on longer than a one shot or just for Ladybug Week. I just used the prompt as an excuse to start this story. Anyway, I promise new updates for my other stories soon, but I'll probably spend most of my time hyping up for Volume Six. Anyway, can't wait for next chapter! Wait, I write the next chapter…