Disclaimer

I don't own anything. RWBY is not owned by me. It is owned by talented people. I'm a nobody. Please don't sue me.

Second Case:

By Sea

"Alright, that's it," Weiss snapped, glaring down the street with disgust. "I'm done."

Ruby sighed, slumping slightly where she stood. "Yeah, I think I was done about an hour ago."

It had been a long, pointless afternoon of searching, with the only highlight being a break to grab some more fishballs. Everyone they asked had acted shocked at the slightest implication of something unusual about the community or its citizens, with anger being the most common response to Weiss' more blunt questions about a possible illegal cult in the area.

To make matters worse, they had had the feeling of being watched the entire time, and had even caught the occasional glimpse of someone, but even Ruby, who turned out to be a spectacular sprinter, had never been able to catch them. It had made them both irritable, and combined with the complete lack of progress had complete frayed their nerves.

"Come on, let's just go home before it gets dark," Ruby said. "I think we're both done."

"I concur," Weiss said with a stiff nod.

When they reached the spot they had parked they found a man slouched near the car. He was short and round, with a long tan trench coat that wasn't at all appropriate for the hot early summer day. When they came close enough to see his face Weiss wrinkled her nose involuntarily at his extensive and untreated dry skin as he stared at them with eyes that bulged unpleasantly.

"Detectives," he rasped, revealing yellow teeth.

"Can we help you, sir?" Ruby asked.

"Not really," he said. "I might be able to help you, though."

"How?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms warily.

"I'm a fisherman myself, and that boat that had its crew gone isn't the first disappearances there's been out in that bay," he said.

Weiss frowned, wanting to kick herself as she realized that she'd neglected to research other incidents. While other cases involving strange magic circles may have been pointed out, she doubted that they would've told them about disappearances of ships or just sailors.

"I glanced at records, but I didn't see anything like that," Ruby said.

Weiss looked at her partner in impressed surprise, not having expected her to have done any research. Ruby saw the look and blushed slightly before focusing on the man again.

He chuckled slightly. "It's not too surprising. We don't always report too much, and if we don't find a body there ain't much proof anything really happened. Quite a few people have gone missing off our boats this year, though."

"And you've got a theory?" Weiss asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Yup, I do indeed," he said. "You see those rocks out there?"

Weiss squinted into the distance at the bay, or more particularly the collection of rocks and reefs which poked out of the water here and there. "Yes."

"Some of 'em have little sea caves, and somethin' lives in one of those caves," he said. "Late at night, if you're out on the water you can see lights comin' from a cave, and somethin' there takes people."

"Something takes people?" Weiss repeated skeptically. "If that's the case, why haven't you reported the situation before now?"

"We like to keep our business to ourselves. With you pokin' your nose in it, I guess it's time to help you so you can solve our trouble and be on your way."

"Thank you for the help, mister..." Ruby started, trailing off expectantly.

He stared at her for a long awkward moment. "Sage Winnow."

"Thank you Mr. Winnow," Ruby said. The man nodded and walked away, and when he was out of earshot she faced Weiss. "What do you think that was?"

"Most likely someone trying to get us away from our current investigative tack," Weiss said.

"Maybe," Ruby said. "We're kinda at a dead end here, though. Wanna check it out?"

Weiss frowned. "I suppose we could get out there a little before sunset and perform a stakeout."

"Awesome!" Ruby grinned. "This is gonna be great! Come on, I'll drive."

Before Weiss could say anything in reply her partner had already climbed into the driver's seat of the unmarked car, starting the engine and looking up at her expectantly. Weiss rolled her eyes and sat in the passenger seat, buckling before she spoke. "Where exactly are you going?"

"Um... oh," Ruby said. "Uh, uh... somewhere we can get a police boat? Do they have those?"

"Just take us to the marina," Weiss said.

The trip was fast, as the traffic had already cleared up and they only had to follow the small seaside streets around the busy harbor to reach the small marina on the opposite side of the bay. The area was the complete opposite of Innsmouth Street, with everything new and well cared for, from the smallest two person boat to the largest yacht.

Ruby parked, and Weiss led the way, stopping briefly inside of a service building before walking to the farthest pier. When they reached it Ruby took a moment to admire the amazing yachts all around them, which varied in size, but were all the best of the best. "Whoa," she said. "These ships are amazing – is that a satellite dish? On a little fishing boat?"

Weiss glanced at it disinterestedly. "Yes. Some people think that they should go boating, but have little to no interest in the actual activities involved."

"So what are we doing here?" Ruby asked, looking around. "I don't see anyone to rent a boat from, and even if we could these things look expensive. I don't think Goodwitch would pay for us to use something cool like these."

"It doesn't matter," Weiss said, stopping in front of a tiny yacht. Despite the small size it was gorgeous, the pure white vessel was obviously cared for well beyond all reasonable standards to hold ships to. "This one will do, I think."

"Wait, you can't just... get on a ship," Ruby objected. "Don't we have to rent it from someone, and, and get a crew or something?"

Weiss looked at her from the side of her eyes and smirked. "I've never heard of renting your own property before."

"Wait, this is your ship," Ruby yelped.

"This pier is my family's," Weiss said, gesturing to the large collection of extremely pricey looking yachts and fishing boats. "All of these ships are our's."

"Whoa," Ruby said. "You're really rich aren't you."

"Well spotted, Detective Rose," Weiss drawled. "Now come on, dolt."

"Whoa, I've never been out on a boat before!" Ruby cheered, running onto the yacht and all but blurring as she ran from place to place, taking the entire thing in. "This is awesome!"

"Would you like a tour?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, yes, please, please, please," Ruby chanted, vibrating in place.

Weiss smiled slightly. "Fine. You know, if this impresses you so much, I can't imagine how you'd react to taking one of the larger luxury yachts."

"Can we?" Ruby asked.

Weiss rolled her eyes and started the tour. It didn't take very long, as Weiss had selected a very small yacht. Ruby was starry eyed as she looked at all of the fancy, computer assisted controls, the powerful engine, and the immaculate cabin complete with a large, soft bed and a surprising amount of luxurious comforts.

After showing everything Weiss went back to the controls, and Ruby followed behind, watching in awe as her partner brought the ship to life and slowly pulled away from the pier.

"Where'd you learn to drive a boat?" Ruby asked.

Weiss shrugged. "My father loves going out to sea when he has to take a vacation. I was never fond of fishing or sunbathing, so I spent a lot of time watching how the ship works. Father wasn't fond of teaching me, but when we took the larger yachts he rarely piloted, and the crew never minded indulging my curiosity."

Once they were away from the docks Weiss pushed the throttle, and they began moving at an impressive clip. Ruby stepped back outside, and Weiss kept half an eye on her as she stood at the railing, watching the water go flying by. She rolled her eyes as Ruby walked to the front of the ship and leaned over the bow, shouting a ridiculous movie phrase that fortunately Weiss could barely make out.

It didn't take long for Ruby to make her way back to Weiss. She was grinning like a loon, but Weiss didn't do anything more than roll her eyes and contemplate whether or not she'd gone soft.

"This is awesome!" Ruby cheered. "I can't believe we've never done anything like this before!"

"Why would we?" Weiss asked as she navigated them towards one of the far reefy obstructions. From what she remembered of the wrecked ship it was one of the closest to the trajectory that the fishing trawler had been on when it became a ghost ship.

"Because this. Is. Awesome."

Weiss rolled her eyes again. "However enjoyable going out on a ship is, that still doesn't mean we would've had cause to do this previously. This is our first case involving the ocean."

"Right, but friends do fun things together, right?" Ruby asked. "And you enjoy this, so..."

"Friends?" Weiss asked aloud.

"Well, yeah," Ruby said frowning. "We are friends, right?"

"I..." Weiss trailed off, focusing intently on her instruments as an excuse to not look at Ruby. "Is that what we are? I've never... had a friend before."

Ruby was silent for a long, long time, but when Weiss finally looked away from the instruments to see what was wrong she found her partner hovering right next to her, a compassionate look on her face. Weiss looked away again, not wanted to look into her eyes long enough to find any pity there.

"Weiss... I know things were a bit... rough, in the beginning," Ruby said. "The whole me bumping into you thing, and the yelling, and the arguments, and, well, you know. All that stuff. But we've been getting along lately, haven't we? Doesn't that make us friends?"

"You're a dolt," Weiss grumbled, feeling herself blush. The entire conversation was incredibly embarrassing. If they weren't alone she would've strangled Ruby for starting it.

"Aww, don't worry partner," Ruby said. "Before you know it you're going to be saying, 'wow, that Ruby is so cool, and I'm glad she's my friend.'"

"I will never ever say that sentence," Weiss said flatly.

"You know you love me," Ruby taunted.

"I wouldn't go that far," Weiss said.

"How about friends. Would you go with friends?"

"Fine!" Weiss shouted. "We're friends! Happy?!"

"Yup," Ruby grinned. "This is the part where I'd hug you, but as your friend I know you don't want me to, but just so you know, offers always open, okay?"

"Not on your life," Weiss grumbled, finally slowing the ship down. She felt entirely too hot, although as much as she was complaining she was barely able to keep a smile off of her face. "We're here."

Ruby walked out to the rail, and looked at he cluster of rocky islands in front of them. "This is it? Doesn't look like much."

Weiss brought the yacht to a stop and dropped its anchor before joining Ruby at the railing. "Maybe. The currents are pretty well mapped in the bay, and the fishing trawler was left adrift at the speed mentioned it could've passed by here from its trajectory."

"I don't see anything," Ruby said. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, actually."

"A big neon flashing sign saying cannibals here?" Weiss offered.

"It'd be convenient."

Weiss couldn't help but quirk a small smile at that comment. Unfortunately Ruby noticed, grinning back at her like the idiot that she was. "You're insufferable," she sniffed.

"I'll take it, friend," Ruby said.

"Ugh," Weiss groaned. "I knew I would regret that. What was I thinking?"

"That Ruby Rose is super cool, and I can't help being her friend?"

"No," Weiss said flatly. "I don't think anyone has ever thought that."

Ruby pouted for a moment, before looking out at the rocky islands again. "So... what's the plan? Do we check stuff out while we still have a little light, or do we do the stakeout thing from here?"

Weiss glanced at the setting sun for a moment, before pursing her lips and examining the rocky islands. "By the time we found a safe place to go ashore the sun will have set. I think we should just wait here for a while and see if we notice anything of interest."

"Alright," Ruby agreed. "I'm going to call my sister real quick, maybe check out that micro kitchen in the bedroom."

"Cabin," Weiss said. "That room was the cabin."

"Aye, aye, " Ruby said. "Cabin it is!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and waited for Ruby to leave before tracking down the folding deck chairs and placing a pair of them at the back of the boat facing the small islands. After a moment's thought she grabbed a pair of thin blankets as well. The evening was still warm, but the breeze on the ocean would become quite cool in a matter of hours.

Eventually Ruby returned carrying a pair of coffee cups. Weiss nodded gratefully as she took hers, sipping the high quality brew while Ruby got comfortable.

"Okay, so this yacht is awesome," Ruby said once she had settled in and taken a sip of her own coffee. "I still can't believe you know how to drive it."

Weiss shrugged. "We had very different childhoods, I expect. And it's 'pilot'."

"Okay," Ruby agreed. "I just kinda ran around wild as a kid, whenever I wasn't tinkering in the garage."

"Tinkering?"

"Oh, yeah," Ruby said. "I like building stuff. And taking stuff apart. Just kinda... tinkering with things. I used to find anything cool and with a ton of moving parts and just try to see how it worked. The first time I did it I completely dismantled the vacuum cleaner. Dad was pissed."

Weiss pictured the reaction her own father would've had if she'd done something even remotely similar and shuddered involuntarily, pushing the painful memories of punishments for her many failings away as Ruby began speaking again.

"Of course, dad could never stay angry with me or Yang for long. He actually helped me find stuff to take apart. Eventually I learned enough to actually put things back together again, too. I think he was happy he helped out the first time I rebuilt his car after it died on him."

"If you liked that sort of thing so much, why didn't you become an engineer or mechanic?" Weiss asked.

Ruby shrugged. "I loved to do it... still love it, really. My room in our apartment is full of junk I've been tinkering with. I always wanted to help people though. Not just, you know, fix their stuff, but make their life better. It's probably 'cause Yang kept reading me fairy tales when I was little, but I always wanted to be the gallant hero, riding in to save the princess. Being a cop lets me do that."

Weiss raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "A police officer is pretty far away from being a fairy tale hero."

Ruby chuckled sheepishly. "I guess. But I still get to help people and save lives and stuff. I can't picture myself doing anything else. Plus, now that I'm in Supernatural Affairs I can even carry a sword around if I wanted to."

"True," Weiss said, glancing down at the rapier at her side. It wasn't easy sitting with the weapon at her belt, but she'd gotten used to it after weeks on the job. "How did you join Supernatural Affairs, anyway? You're pretty young to be a detective."

"Yeah," Ruby said. "I helped catch this gang that was trying to steal dust. One of them actually had some kinda magic powers or something, and he escaped from everyone that tried to stop them. He got away, but it was enough to get Ozpin's attention I guess. Next thing I know he's dropping by to interview me, and here I was. What about you?"

"Me?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, how'd you join Supernatural Affairs?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing so dramatic as your story," Weiss said. "Necromancy is a very rare gift, and most of those with it employ it for very dubious purposes. I had acquired every available resource that I could find to improve my understanding of my ability, and apparently some of my questions drew Inspector Ozpin's attention."

"So he hired you 'cause of the necromancy... thing?"

"Yes," Weiss drawled. "The necromancy... thing."

Ruby chuckled sheepishly. "So, I guess it's getting pretty dark now. Wanna take shifts watching?"

"That would be acceptable," Weiss said. "Do you want to take first watch?"

"Sure," Ruby said, settling comfortably into her seat. "I'll wake you up in a few hours."

"Alright."

Weiss went to the cabin, dumping out her remaining coffee and grabbing a new toothbrush and toothpaste from the cabinet. She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face, smiling slightly at her reflection, trying to ignore the ugly scar that bisected her eye.

With a sigh Weiss walked over to the bed, turning down the sheets and sitting down, before pulling off her heeled boots. Her feet hurt, and she spent several long moments massaging them as best she could before climbing fully into the bed.

Despite the recent infusion of caffeine she soon found herself falling into unusually pleasant dreams as she finally accepted, for the first time in her life, that she had a real friend.