Chp IX: Ocean

Disclaimer: RWBY is not mine! And RT is definitely not mine!

"/I don't know the answers/Tommorow's still unknown/" ~ 'Home' by Jeff Williams

"So what's the plan?!" I called to Yang from my seat on Neo's 'borrowed' motorcycle.

It was ludicrous really. Neo and Yang had decided on a impromptu race without even saying anything. The only reason why we haven't been pulled over is because of how underpopulated Patch was.

That and the police probably couldn't have caught us anyways.

The wind blew in my face, prompting my hair to scatter all over. I couldn't even tie it in a ponytail because a. we were going way too fast and b. this hair was too short.

I missed my long, flowing hair. Even if it could be a pain sometimes.

I managed.

Neo suddenly gunned the engines and I had to tighten my hold on her if I wanted to avoid flying off the motorcycle.

We shot past Yang, whose eyes turned red. She quickly propelled her motorcycle forward.

"Why you-!"

Neo gave an infuriating grin.

Oh no. They were going to fight again. We had only been on the road for an hour but Neo and Yang somehow managed to cram an argument around every five minutes.

Warning alarms blared in my head.

"Can someone please answer my question?!" I screamed, trying to avoid the inevitable...or at least delay it. I also thought it would be a very important question to get the answer to.

"The plan?!" Yang called. "Get to Mistral, duh!"

...even I knew that much. "How?!"

Then the forest suddenly ended and we landed on a beach.

Neo screeched to a stop. The motorcycle took a swerve. I focused on my polarity to attach myself to the bike.

It failed. I felt the static magnetism connect and then broke apart,

I not-so-elegantly fell off, landing on the sand with a thump.

I covered my eyes. "Ugh…"

"We get on a boat," said Yang, answering my question. She had jumped off Bumblebee and was now pulling it with her to the shore.

I felt a nudge to my side. I looked up. Neo was holding out a hand.

How unusually generous of her.

I took it and pulled myself up. "Thank you."

'Now get the bike.'

I knew there was a secondary motive!

I ended up dragging Taiyang's motorcycle with me anyways. Neo seemed unnaturally smug the whole short journey we took to reach the shore.

I blinked. There was an actual cruise parking at the docks.

What. Was today just a lucky day? I would think Patch wouldn't have such glamorous vehicles parking at it a lot. Perhaps urban tourists just wanted to venture to a desolate island.

Yang held out a hand. "Meet the Pride of Sirens." She grinned proudly. "They owe my dad's Team a favor."

"Your dad's team…?"

I already felt bad about the motorcycle, now I felt bad about taking a favor. A cruise...all of the opportunities just screamed at me.

"Yup," said Yang, popping the 'p'. "Team STRQ. Dad always says they were the best of the best. And Uncle Qrow says they were the coolest team to ever graduate Beacon."

"Impressive," I said, though I had no idea how impressive Team STRQ actually was.

"We lucked out, the cruise just got here," said Yang. "It would suck to wait."

I squinted in the afternoon sunlight. "...I don't know. I think I would enjoy it."

I miss light. Even darkness is better than nothing. I shivered, a cold wave washing through me.

"Well that makes one of us, come on." Yang walked to the docks, Bumblebee besides her. Neo followed behind her.

I was stuck with Taiyang's much bigger, heavier motorcycle.

I decided to take operative and use my polarity to carefully drag it along behind me. The only problem was that it took enough concentration that my head hurt.

I suppose I would be doing polarity beginner practice on the Pride of Sirens.

Oh joy.

It made me feel like I was small again. Still figuring out how aura worked and finding my semblance, then working on it for hours on end so I could master it enough to shape a hairpin into a keyhole and other small things to make my life easier.

Is it nostalgia when it isn't happy memories?

The ramp of the cruise dropped down on the side of the deck as we walked onto it. The captain stepped out. He was what you'd expect from a captain, really. Not the barely-should-be-allowed-to-lead captain like Dolphin. He had the captain's hat. The grizzled feature. The white beard. The nice suit.

He looked at us. Then directly at Yang. "Heh. You must be blondie's kid."

Yang blinked. "Uh...yeah?"

The captain squinted. "And let me guess...the moody raven haired one...I think her name was Raven?"

"...yeah."

I have never heard anyone describe Raven Branwen as 'the moody raven haired one'. The merciless one, yes. Dangerous, yes. Cold-blooded, yes. Moody, no.

It seems with every passing day since my...rebirth, my views were getting revolutionized. I don't know how to feel about it.

And now that I think about it, Raven Branwen did seem a little moody when I met her.

I was too busy quivering in my boots at the time to notice.

And hungry. That too.

I felt someone's eyes on me. It was the captain's.

"You look just like your mother, young lady."

I froze. "W-what?"

Yang quickly waved a hand in front of the captain's face. "Oh, you have the wrong idea! Pyrrha's not related to mo-Summer at all!"

The captain blinked. "Really?"

Do I look like this Summer that much?!

"E-er, yeah," I said. "I don't even know her…"

"My apologies," said the captain. "You just look so much like her…"

"So...where are we headed?" he asked.

"Mistral," said Yang, one hand on her hip.

The captain chuckled. He made a 'follow' motion with his hand and started back up the plank.

"You'll have to be more specific, young lady."

Yang walked behind the captain, bringing Bumblebee along.

I was not aware motorcycles were allowed on cruise ships. Well, I suppose there was nowhere else to store the vehicles. I rolled Taiyang's motorcycle up the ramp.

Neo pleasantly walked onto the cruise, getting onboard far before any of us. She tapped her umbrella on the ground, a grin on her face.

I involuntarily twitched.

Hm...perhaps I should make her do something…? Except I have nothing to make her do. And quite frankly, I disliked handing work to other people.

'You're too nice' Nora had once bluntly told me.

Well perhaps I could finally start being less nice! There was no legacy for me to uphold anymore, I could-

"Pyrrha! Pyrrha~"

I jumped. I was on the cruise now. "Y-yes?"

Yang was giving me a less than impressed look. "Were you daydreaming or something?"

"No...just thinking. Sorry."

Being not nice, fail.

I feel strangely disappointed in myself yet not at the same time.

"That's nice, I guess. I was asking you where we should land? You're from Mistral, right?"

"I-yes." I looked at the captain, who had a fairly amused expression on his face. "Are we not stopping for passengers?"

"Not at all, I was supposed to pick up passengers from Atlas, but then the country shut its borders, so-" he shrugged. "I'm free."

'Atlas shut its borders?' Neo asked with an incredulous look on her face. 'Why?'

"Hey, I'm just a simple ship captain," said the captain. "I don't know what the Atlas higher ups are thinking."

Neo frowned. The news was clearly bothering her for some reason.

Though a whole country shutting down outside communications was certainly...unsettling.

Right, back to the question at hand. "Anyhow, do you know of the Docks of Shan Bai?"

The captain frowned. He brushed his beard. "...I've heard of it and they weren't ever good things."

...As expected. It was on Kuchinashi.

It's been a long time.

Yang frowned. "What's so bad about the Docks of Shan Bai?"

'It's on Kuchinashi,' Neo wrote. 'Only the home to the biggest underworld on Remnant.' She stared at me like 'how do you know about that? You're the Mistral Champion!'

"Oh," said Yang.

I gave a weak smile. "If you want to find bandits, that's the place to go."

The captain looked at us worriedly. "I don't know…it's not exactly safe…"

"Don't worry," I said. "We know the place well enough."

Or at least I did.

But who knows? The underworld is known for its ever evolving dynamics. Maybe things have changed a lot the last few years.

Yang blinked. "We do?"

Neo elbowed her.

"I mean, of course we do!"

"Alright…guess I do owe your old man's team a big favor," The captain turned. "I'll be at the controls if you need me."

He walked off, pulling a radio off his belt. "Get ready for sailing to the Docks of Shan Bai!"

Yang kicked out Bumblebee's stand. She looked at me and Neo. "I'm gonna check the place out. Call my scroll if you need me."

She headed in the direction of the ship's bow.

I carefully pulled out Taiyang's motorcycle's stand. I wasn't going to risk breaking someone else's property.

I stood up and stretched.

Neo grabbed my arm, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Oh no.

'You're going to be getting over that pyrophobia if it kills me."

'...not kill me. You get the point.'

I probably looked like a wild animal ready to run with the horror that was going through my body.

"I...uh, I have polarity practice!"

'That can wait.'

"We're on a ship?"

On que, the Pride of Sirens roared to life. Its horns blared and it jerked into movement.

"Neo, I think this is a very very bad idea."

'And what if you have to fight her again? You're going to faint just from looking at her!''

Ashes. Ashes. I broke into a cold sweat, my body trembling of its own record.

"I-I don't think that's the problem…"

Don't faint! You're not going to faint from an image you conjured in your mind!

Neo rolled her eyes. 'It's part of the problem.'

"W-well…" I tried to think of an excuse, except I couldn't. Neo's arguments were sound and it was miles better than actually having to deal with that woman.

The fire didn't end me. She did.

No, the fire just reminded me of everything.

It was the first step.

That didn't mean I was ready for it.

"L-look Neo, it's still too soon."

Neo let go of my arm. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then she pulled out her lighter and held it up right in front of me.

I backpedaled.

My vision turned red. Before I knew it, my polarity had activated and it flung the lighter out of Neo's hand. It landed on the floorboards feets away, teetering on the edge of falling into the ocean.

'Well that's a start. If you freaked out like that when you deal with her, maybe you stand a chance...I would say if she wasn't a Maiden.'Neo walked to the lighter.

"T-that's not funny." I ran a shaky hand through my hair. "Besides, who says I'll have to fight with...her again?"

"Maybe we'll never cross paths."

Neo picked up her lighter. She turned to face me and rolled her eyes. 'Do you seriously believe that?'

"Why would we?"

We weren't looking for her. We will never be looking for her.

I will avoid her at all costs.

'You're an idiot.'

"Excuse me?"

I the railings support my back. Mostly to steady myself and my beating heart.

'You think it's a coincidence your team is traveling to Mistral and she pretended to be a student from Haven?'

My brain functions shut down. Except that wasn't true. They were working and I wish they weren't.

I slumped to the floor. "N-no. They can't."

Neo regarded me with impassive eyes. 'Revenge is sweet.'

"This isn't about revenge! They don't stand a chance, Neo! They don't stand a chance…"

They couldn't die. Not after I had for them. That would defeat the whole purpose. They couldn't face her. They couldn't!

'So you're going to get over your stupid fear and help me end her,' wrote Neo.

A sense of stupid familiarity helped calm me down to coherency. "Of course you have an ulterior motive…"

Neo grinned. 'When don't I?"

She tossed the lighter. It landed at my feet.

I looked Neo in the eyes. "We're taking this slowly."

She shrugged. 'My name is Neopolitan.'

I placed an unsteady hand on the lighter.

For Team JNPR...and for Neopolitan, I suppose.

I needed to take a nice long shower and then a nap, preferably one without nightmares.

I was sweating like I had ran a marathon, which I hadn't for once. I was feeling woozy. I was completely stressed out. I was completely dead on my feet.

Too bad I didn't know where the passenger rooms were.

And Neo had abandoned me to go eat at the cruise's buffet.

I don't know why I deal with her. She's more of a detriment to my health than anything.

I found Yang leaning on the railings.

She was looking at a few pictures. Her hair glowed. Maybe it was the sun setting or maybe her hair was actually glowing. You never really know with Yang.

"Hello," I said, walking up to her.

Yang started. "Woah, Pyrrha are you a ninja or something?"

I gave a wry smile. "Contrary to popular belief, not all Mistralians possess ninja training."

"Haha."

I looked at the pictures she was holding in her hand...or her robotic hand anyhow.

It was a...selfie, was it? of Team RWBY. They all looked so happy.

Except maybe Weiss, but she could hardly count.

I put my arms on the railings. "So...what happened to Team RWBY?"

Yang's breath abruptly stopped for a fraction of a second. From the corner of my eyes, I saw her left arm shake. She quickly covered it.

"I-I mean, you don't have to say anything! Sorry to intrude!"

She shook her head. "No...it's fine."

Yang looked out at the ocean. "I was...kind of messed up, for obvious reasons, so that's one thing. Ruby-Ruby probably would have stayed a little longer if I had just listened to her and maybe we could've gone to Mistral together."

It would have been quite a problem for me if that had happened. I wasn't happy about what Yang had to go through...but it had a purpose?

"Weiss was taken back to Atlas by her father. Probably something stupid about Schnee appearance or something." Yang snorted.

Then...Weiss was likely stuck back in Atlas, especially with the recent shut down.

That sounded horrible. She never spoke of her home much and from personal experience, when you didn't speak about your home, it probably wasn't a very good one.

"And-" Yang's voice hitched. "And Blake just ran."

I blinked. "She...ran?"

Yang's fists clenched. "She ran off right after the Fall. Like-like nice knowing you, tata!"

That didn't sound like Blake. I was sure she cared about her Team. "Maybe she had her reasons?"

"What reasons?!" Yang's eyes turned red and I had to step back from her intimidating aura. "So a faunus did this to me. It has nothing to do with her!"

A faunus…? I suppose I never got the full story.

"She doesn't have to feel responsible just because her race did something! If I did that for the human race, I'd want to kill myself!"

Oh, I see now. I may be dense with my own emotions (thanks Nora) but I am proud to say I was good with other people's emotions.

Yang is mad at Blake for leaving her, yes, but she was also mad at Blake for taking all the responsibility.

In the end, Yang just really cares about Blake.

I think they need to reunite. To talk everything out with each other.

"Blake has...an unusual sense of responsbility," I said slowly. "But I'm sure she had the best intentions in mind. Have you tried contacting her?"

Yang looked away. "No."

"That could be a good start."

"It's not like I have any idea where she is." Yang put an extra aloofness in her voice. Sarcasm.

That was true enough. "Well, I think once we find your mother and Ruby, perhaps we could look for Blake."

"Drop it, Pyrrha, just...drop it."

I stepped back. "Alright...just, if you need me, I'll be there."

I took one more look at the visible photo in Yang's hand and started walking towards the controls.

I couldn't shake the disturbing resemblance I had with Ruby from my head.

The rest of the journey was quite uneventful. A lot of sitting around, dealing with Neo's lighter, and more sitting around.

I had gotten to the point where, if I didn't think about it too hard, I could hold the lighter...sort of.

The first time, I dropped it in under a minute, my mind flashing back to that woman.

Then Neo, being Neo, forced the stupid lighter back on me.

My record is five and a quarter minutes so far. But I can use polarity to move the lighter around me...albeit sluggishly and for a limited amount of time.

Neo also refused to count it.

Something about avoiding my fears.

It took three days of no stops to reach the Ports of Shan Bai.

We were greeted with suspicious, especially unwelcoming eyes.

Par for the course in Kuchinashi.

Yang scanned the port. Shady characters with hoods walked past. Small, rickety boats pulled out of the harbor.

...and starving children ran around looking for any semblance of food.

I spotted a man pickpocketing another man. It lead to a fist fight.

The buildings were all bland colors. Grey or tan seemed to be the only options. They all looked the same, though varying in length. The place smelled of pollution, a problem easily avoidable since the old times, long before I was born.

"This place give me the creeps," muttered Yang.

The captain shared her opinion and didn't even pull the Pride of Sirens into the port. He unhinged the ramp. It landed on the skinny road to the side of the lake.

I frankly couldn't blame him.

"Let's go," I said.

Yang swing a feet over Bumblebee. The engines roared to life.

Neo jumped onto Taiyang's motorcycle. I followed suit.

Neo and Yang glared at each other. Then both motorcycles started, accelerating from zero to their limits. I had to hold on for dear life. One thought repeated in my head as we skidded onto the streets of Kuchinashi.

Home sweet home, huh?

Author's Notes: Hallelujah! Another chapter guys! Oh and in case you missed this last week because of some tech difficulties...I still think it's completely depressing that Pyrrha, Neo, and Yang make PNY.

End Credits

Taiyang wiped at his eyes with a piece of cloth. His feelings were completely jumbled. It had been a long time since he had shed tears for Summer...though his heart still aches every time he thought of her.

And he was sure Qrow and Raven did too, though Raven would certainly never admit such a thing.

Gods, he needed a breather. A nice ride on his slick motorcycle should do the trick. He opened the garage.

And promptly did a double-take.

His motorcycle was strangely absent. The only thing left was the black cloak used to cover it. He walked over to where his motorcycle should be. A hastily written note sat on top of it. Taiyang grabbed the note.

Neo stole the bike (she's an ass). Sorry!

Love, Yang

Taiyang blinked once. Then twice.

"WHAT?!"

Reviewer Responses

Guest: Thanks!

Summer-Rose-RWBY: Glad I inspire the feelings. Will do!

niceguyasexual: Who knows? Nyahahaha ;)

Allison Illuminated: I do...like I said on the other story, it was a technical issue 0_o. And I hope you keep on loving these chapters!

TJMike: You'll see! Mwahahaha! (Preferably insert Cinder's evil laughter from Chibi)

merendinoemilliano: Glad it was cute! And Pyrrha's background will be unveiled...and I'm glad I could hit emotions, wasn't sure if I was good at them or not :)

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(Man that was good.)