They didn't have to wait long.

Thirty minutes later, Ruby heard the sound of voices coming down the hallway and perked up.

"Some of them are getting close," Ruby said. "I think they're coming back from somewhere."

Diane nodded, while Cynthia clutched her chains even tighter. Jessica looked a little sick, holding her long shards of wood.

They could here the pirates loudly talking through the door now, boasting about what they would do to the girls in the room.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Jessica said.

Ruby elbowed her. "Shh."

The door creaked open, the hallway lights spilling inside. One of pirates eagerly walked in, looking around for the girls. Cynthia's chain hit his face and his head deformed, a sickening cracking as his brains were spread all over the wall.

"The fuck?" one of his companions exclaimed, running in.

He met a similar fate as Cynthia swung again, smashing the other chain into his head and knocking him to the floor.

And then two more ran in, firing weapons, forcing Cynthia to swing the chains back and block the Dust bullets. Ruby leaped forward out of the bathroom with Diane, both of them slamming pieces of wood into the pirates' necks and chests.

"That's four," Diane said, grinning.

They dragged the bodies into the room, shutting the door again. Ruby pulled jagged pieces of wood back out and handed them to Diane, taking up positions at the entrance.

A few more footsteps lined up outside of the door.

"Hey, you guys okay in there?" came a voice. "Say something, or else we're coming in."

The door suddenly broke down, a large ram faunus charging his way through. Cynthia was caught by surprise as the door slammed into her, sending her flying across the room and slamming into one of the windows, her arms and legs bending awkwardly underneath her. An avian faunus and a wolf faunus burst in, following the ram and engaging Diane and Ruby. Jessica stood in the back of the bathroom, unsure of what to do as they started fighting.

The two faunus had rifles that doubled as batons, swinging and firing alternatively. Diane spun her pieces of wood, deflecting the batons and the bullets, but the wood was fragile and shattered into pieces as wolf faunus continued firing.

Ruby had engaged the avian faunus, recognizing him by the colors of the feathers in his hair as the one who had exploded a dust crystal on her. Instead of deflecting the baton, she slammed her shoulder into him, ignoring the frantic hits against her back, and grabbed his arm, ripping it off with her good hand. She threw the limb at the wolf faunus Diane was fighting, the mass of flash hitting his head. He stumbled a bit, and Diane slammed the shard of wood into his heart.

Looking back at the screaming avian underneath her, she took a cue from Ren and slammed her palm into his throat at an angle, ripping through the flesh and shattering his neck bones, his head flying off and bouncing against the wall.

Jessica screamed.

Ruby looked up, seeing Cynthia desperately trying to defend as the ram faunus slammed the door into her repeatedly.

"Jessica, go help her!" Ruby shouted, grabbing Jessica and throwing her at the ram faunus.

Jessica stumbled, but turned her momentum into a spinning kick and slammed her foot into the ram's shin. He howled, letting go of the door and clutching his foot. Cynthia rolled out from under the door and snapped out her chain, wrapping it around his ankle and pulling. The ram faunus slipped and fell forward, where Jessica slammed one of her stakes into his eye. The ram stopped screaming.

"Uh," was all Jessica could say before she went to the corner and threw up.

Ruby walked over to her, patting her on the back. "Great job, Jessica," she said, smiling.

Diane helped Cynthia up, complementing her on her skill with the chains. Cynthia gave her a shaky grin.

"And that's seven down," Diane said, picking up the batons and handing one to Ruby. "This is going better than I expected."

They searched the faunus' pockets, taking out small clips of ammo that they reloaded into the batons and putting the rest into their own pockets.

"Get ready," Ruby said, her ears perking up. "I think they heard us."

Sounds of running boots came down the hallway, and a fox-eared faunus appeared in the doorway. Ruby and Diane instantly shot him in the face, and he stumbled and fell to his knees, collapsing face down on the floor.

"Oh? So the little ladies killed some of my soldiers, huh?"

The bear faunus stepped into the doorway, and Ruby and Diane opened fire. His pale yellow aura flared around him, the dust bullets merely making him grunt. "I think you should stop resisting, before anything really bad happens," he said, slowly moving forward.

Before Ruby could rush him, his armguard suddenly expanded, forming a gigantic shield that slammed into the ground and almost completely sealed the entire hallway. He continued to advance, the bullets harmlessly bouncing off of the shield. Pirates began to fill the space behind him as the four of them backed up into the living area, unable to damage the shield. Ruby ran forward and tried pushing against it, but it only paused for a second before Ruby was forced to take a step back.

And then the shield refolded and eight pirates stood behind the bear, crammed into the room, leveling rifles and grenade launchers at them.

"Stand down," the bear said. "I can take care of this."

Ruby and Diane charged together, stopping right before him and bringing the batons down towards his head. Moving faster than a man of his bulk should be able to, he ducked down and expanded his shield again, slamming it into the two and crushing them into the wall, the gigantic shield completely pinning them down.

The pressure let up for a second, then the bear faunus slammed the shield down again, repeating the process a few more times until Diane fell to the floor, unconscious from the blows and Ruby collapsed to her knees, head spinning and unable to stand.

Cynthia and Jessica stood in the corner of the room, Cynthia's chains spinning around them, but the moment the bear retracted his shield and started walking towards them, they dropped their weapons and raised their hands in the air.

"Good girls. I might even let you two live," he said, walking to the wall and pulling out another set of collars from his pockets.

Taking one end of the collar, he bent the chokers into hooks, slamming them into the metal wall and giving the chains a tug to make sure they were secure. He walked back to the girls, effortlessly picking them up and latching the collars around their necks, setting them down on the floor. He repeated the process for the limp Ruby and the unconscious Diane.

"No food rations for you," the bear faunus said, snapping the collar into place around Ruby's neck.

He dusted his hands off, surveying his handiwork, then turned and addressed the pirates behind him. "I'm done with them. You guys can go have some fun now," he said, shouldering past the pirates and leaving the room.

The pirates fell upon them like rabid animals. Jessica and Cynthia cried out but didn't resist, their protests replaced with sloppy wet sounds. Diane was shaken awake and assaulted, half dazed as they tore off her clothes.

Two of the pirates approached Ruby, one of them grabbing her head and shoving his face at hers. Ruby pretended to stay limp, his tongue probing into her mouth, then bit down, ripping off the fleshy muscle. He screamed and jerked back, exposing his throat, and Ruby lunged forward, catching his jaw with her sharp teeth and tearing out the bone. The pirate stumbled back, clutching the gushing hole where his mouth used to be.

The other pirate backed off a bit, pulling out pistol and firing wildly at her. The dust bullets caught her in the chest and neck as Ruby tried to dodge the gun, limited by the chains. She fell back, coughing blood and slumping against the wall, her vision flickering and red blooming across her shirt. The faunus pirate dragged his companion out of the room, bloody hands still clutched around his throat.

The other pirates had seen what happened and stayed away from her, despite the bullet wounds in her torso.

Ruby faded out of consciousness, the sounds of grunts and crying ringing in her ears as the darkness overtook her.


The room was quiet when she woke up, the moon already low in the sky. She had mostly slept through the entire day, waking up in short flashes and lashing out whenever someone tried to touch her. She vaguely remembered the bear coming back into the room and laughing at her, telling the pirates to stay away from her and let her starve to death as a lesson to anyone who might try to resist.

The bullet wounds in her chest and neck had mostly closed up, and her elbow felt almost fine. Ruby was hungry and tired and thirsty, the whole day having passed without getting anything to eat.

She looked around the room, her heart tightening a bit as she saw the other three. They were in various states of undress, bruises covering them, their hair matted and their bodies dirty. All of them were asleep, exhausted.

Ruby tugged at the collar around her neck, then pulled on the chain as hard as she could. The metal hook was firmly embedded into the wall, Ruby only able to pull it out an inch or so before giving up, panting, her arm sore. Look down at her splint, she flexed her arm out, the wood splintering and breaking, and shook off the scraps of cloth still around her arm and shoulder.

Now able to use both of her arms, she carefully pulled the metal, slowly taking it out of the wall, then carried it with her as she went to the bathroom and turned on the faucet. She took a long drink, then went back to the wall, pushing the hook back in and leaning against metal surface.

Half an hour later, another group of pirates arrived, smelling like food. They woke the three girls, setting down bowls of stew in front of them. The three ate ravenously as the soldiers laughed, forced to slurp from the bowl and use their hands. Ruby tried to ignore her growling stomach as she watched them eat, the smell of the stew wafting through the air.

After the girls were done, the pirates unchained them and dragged them to the bathroom. Ruby heard moans and grunts again, then the showers were turned on. A few minutes later, they were led out again, having been forcibly cleaned and scrubbed, and chained back to the wall. The bowls were taken away, and the pirates left the room. A few minutes later, they came back with a door, the previous one having been broken down, and screwed the hinges into the wall and slammed the door shut, locking it.

Once Ruby was sure they were alone, she spoke up. "I couldn't protect you guys," Ruby whispered sorrowfully. "Sorry."

Diane's ears twitched and she turned to look at her. "You're still alive?" Diane asked incredulously. "Your heartbeat was so faint that even I couldn't hear it."

"Red?" Jessica whispered. "At least you tried. I don't blame you."

Cynthia was silently crying. "I don't blame you either," she sniffled.

Ruby smiled a little, murmuring a thanks. She looked up at the moon, the glow softly illuminating the room. None of them moved to turn on the lights, instead choosing to remain in darkness.

"We said we would escape or die fighting," Diane suddenly said. "But we're not dead, are we?"

Ruby thought for a moment. "I can give you all an option," she said slowly. "If you don't want to continue suffering, I can end your pain, right now."

They paused for a moment, thinking.

"You'd kill us if we asked you to?" Diane asked, realizing what she meant.

"Yes," Ruby said quietly. "I can get out of these chains, and I'll just snap your necks at the base of your skulls. It'll be painless, I promise."

Now face-to-face with the guaranteed possibility of death, the three hesitated.

"Can we wait until morning?" Jessica asked, frightened. "I don't think I can make the decision right now," she cried, beginning to sob.

"Shh, I didn't mean to scare you," Ruby said, trying to comfort her. "It's just an option; I'm letting you guys know that there's always a way out."

Cynthia spoke up. "They're starving you," she pointed out. "Will you still have the strength to do this in a few more days?"

Ruby shrugged. "We'll see, but if it gets to the point where I can't get these chains out of the wall, then yes, I won't be able to do anything."

"As long as I'm alive, I'll be able to fight," Diane decided. "Dying will get me nowhere."

Ruby nodded. "When the time is right, I'll fight with you too."

"I don't want to die pointlessly either," Cynthia said, "but what if we're captured again? And then they do even worse things to us?"

"Is that your decision?" Ruby asked, standing up.

Cynthia scrambled back, shaking her head, her eyes wide open. "N-no, I'm just giving my opinion."

Ruby sat back down. "Then let's get some rest. We'll wait for an opportunity."

The four didn't speak, thinking their own thoughts, and eventually fell asleep.


The days passed like that, pirates coming in every day to have their way with the prisoners, disregarding Ruby and letting her starve.

Cynthia and Jessica were unwilling to take up her offer. Ruby was forced to permanently loosen her hook from the wall, hoping that no one would check, as she grew too weak to pull it out. She also loosened the hooks for the other three girls, knowing that she wouldn't be able to do it in the future. The pirates watched over them as food was served, rendering the three unable to hide food for Ruby. She had to sneak into the bathroom for water, drinking from the tap, to prevent an early death from dehydration.

Ruby sat there every day, listening to the sounds of the pirates abusing the other three, and at night she discussed with Diane when they could escape. Cynthia and Jessica grew comatose, becoming silent and unspeaking. They hid in their own minds, unwilling to confront the outside world. Only Diane continued to fight, continued to hold on to her personality.

Ruby grew thinner and thinner, her arms and legs becoming bony sticks, her cheeks gaunt and her eyes hollow, her legs barely able to support her during her trips to the faucet.

When the pirates were there during they day, Ruby paid attention to their conversations, hearing complaints and rumors about darkening skies and growing waves. The atmosphere of the ship grew grimmer as Ruby heard thunderstorms every day, pirates muttering about black rain. Diane told her that this type of weather hadn't occurred before during previous trips.

The four of them woke up one night when the boat rocked, something huge slamming into the hull. Looking out of the windows, they saw a gigantic black mass rising upwards, crawling onto the ship. The sounds of screaming and yelling came from outside the room, pirates panicking and people shouting orders.

There was a huge explosion, and the gigantic creature fell back into the ocean, a gaping hole blown into it. As the monster fell back and retreated, undulating away, Ruby saw that it looked like a massive black King Taijitu, swimming beneath the waves.

And then the boat shook again, a glimpse of something white appearing in the windows as another snake crawled onto the ship, squirming masses of small snakes crawling on its back. Another huge explosion came, along with sounds of gunfire. Ruby heard pirates running down the hallway, opening doors and slamming them shut. The entrance to their own room opened up and two pirates stumbled inside, bleeding from multiple bite wounds and shouldering the door closed. There were still a few snakes attached to them, so the wolf faunus and the goat faunus ripped the snakes off and stomped on them.

Ruby glanced at Diane, and she nodded. The pirates slumped to the floor, gasping, and Diane moved. Ripping the loose hook out of the wall, she jumped forward and slammed it into one of the pirate's head. The other pirate looked up, shocked, and began shouting, but Ruby had flared the last vestiges of her aura and freed herself too, stumbling forward and crushing the surprised pirate's head against the wall. He slumped down, unconscious, as Ruby collapsed onto him and panted, breathing in his warm smell.

Jessica and Cynthia hadn't reacted the whole time, staring at the two with glassy eyes.

Ruby's stomach growled and her body ached. She had stifled her needs for weeks, and now her hunger consumed her mind, ravenous from the starvation she had suffered.

Ruby felt her control slipping. "Diane, look away," she pleaded, tears coming to her eyes.

Diane could only stare in horror as Ruby ripped into the unconscious faunus, clawing at his midsection and cracking his ribs, scooping out his heart and liver and shoving it into her mouth. As she ate, the kidneys were exposed, and she ripped them out too, eating them in two bites. her sharp teeth easily chewing through the organs.

The cat faunus stumbled back, retching, as she moved away from the bloodshed. She huddled in the corner, shivering, with nowhere to go, as Ruby systematically ate the internal organs, her body demanding the nutrients.

A few minutes later, Ruby felt her senses return, her hunger satisfied. Her face bloody, her hair matted with fluids, she looked up, seeing the three people staring at her in horror.

Unbidden, tears formed in her eyes again, trickling down her face as she broke down and sobbed. She had tried so hard to suppress her emotions, she had resisted for all those weeks, becoming someone who didn't murder and eat people, but now her facade had collapsed once more, her nature getting the better of her. She wanted to throw up the meat, reject what she had done, but her body wouldn't let her.

Ruby was still weak, muscles trembling, but she angrily picked up the mangled corpse and threw it into the bathtub, then sat back down and continued weeping.

"I didn't want to eat him," Ruby wailed, "But I was so hungry."

She looked towards Diane, hoping to find a shred of understanding, but Diane impulsively looked away, unwilling to meet those piercing gray eyes. Jessica and Cynthia were still dazed, but deep down inside them they recognized what they were seeing and were afraid, their bodies trembling.

Ruby felt like giving up, felt like opening the door and letting snakes come in and kill all of them. But she still cared for Jessica, and she still wanted to protect these people she had promised to save, so she stood up, wiping away her tears and stifling her sniffles. Moving to the bathroom, her arms shook as she washed the blood off of herself, looking at herself in the mirror. She still looked like a living skeleton, her chest nearly flat and her cheekbones at sharp angles, but she felt her body filling back up, quickly burning the food in her stomach.

She walked back into the room and opened up the closet, searching for some clothes. Picking out four pairs of sweatpants and shirts, she threw a pair to Diane, who instinctively caught them. Ruby stripped off her bloody and tattered clothing, putting on a fresh black t-shirt and grey sweatpants, rolling up the bottom of the legs and pulling the cords tight against her thin waist.

"Let's get them dressed," Ruby said quietly.

Diane stood up, flinching a little as Ruby started walking towards her, but she steeled herself, holding Jessica and Cynthia up under their arms as Ruby slipped the pants and shirts onto them. After a bit of coaxing, they stood up robotically, a bit of life coming back into their eyes.

Ruby opened the door and peeked out, getting a glimpse of dozens of dead pirates being swarmed by innumerable amounts of squirming white taijitus and then immediately slamming the door shut when two of them tried to crawl inside.

"I think most of the pirates are dead; there are a lot of bodies outside," Ruby told Diane. "What do you want to do?"

Diane cleared her throat. "I think we should wait awhile in here first, let Jessica and Cynthia come back to their senses. Maybe the snakes will clear up too."

Ruby nodded, bending down and pulling the weapons off of the pirate's body before dragging it into the bathroom, putting it into the bathtub. Shifting the bodies around, she took the other weapons from the body she had eaten earlier, trying not to look at the exposed entrails. Her stomach was already beginning to feel a little empty, and she knew her hunger would return soon.

The two soldiers had rifles on them, along with six clips of ammo and three knives. She handed a rifle and three clips to Diane. Moving to Jessica and Cynthia, the two sat together with them, murmuring softly and telling them they were safe, trying to wake them.

An hour later, Jessica was beginning to stir herself. "R-red?" she asked, blinking. "What's going on?"

"You're safe, most of the pirates are dead, and there are tons of snake Grimm swarming the hallways," Ruby explained, having no desire to mention what she had done if Jessica didn't remember anything.

Cynthia also didn't seem to remember as she broke free of her state. She shook her head, clearing away the mental cobwebs. "Wha? Is it over now?"

Ruby nodded.

"I don't think I remember anything that happened," Cynthia said. "It felt like I was drowning in quicksand, trapped in my own mind."

Jessica nodded. "I'll probably have a ton of repressed memories to deal with when I get back, but I feel okay right now, with you two here." Jessica looked closer, noticing Ruby's appearance. "Red, what happened to you?" she gasped. "You look like the living dead."

Ruby grimly chuckled. "That's what weeks of starvation'll do to you," she responded, rubbing her thin arms.

"So what do we do now, Red?" Cynthia asked.

"We wait for a little bit," Ruby said. "Stretch out your body, get ready. We're going to try to retake the ship, now that so many of the pirates are dead."

A few minutes later, they were ready to go. Cynthia had her chains and a knife, and Ruby and Diane each had a length of metal wrapped around their arms. Jessica was given the other two knives.

"As long as we don't see enemies, we focus on the snakes at our feet, alright?" Ruby said. "Keep the area around ourselves clear and avoid being bitten."

The three nodded in agreement. Taking a breath, Ruby pushed open the door.


Note:

The scythe-wielder is the reaper.

So anyways, if you're expecting sobbing messes of women after what they've gone through, be surprised, cause these people are strong of heart and strong of mind.

Beep boop, read and review, send messages, ask questions.