Hello, I'm back. First of all, sorry for the slow updates, I've been writing a bunch of short story pieces and playing a lot of overwatch haha. I just made my submission to a writing competition for fantasy and sci-fi writers, so I'll see how I do. Wish me luck.

Chapter 42

Jaye shot awake as he rolled off his bunk, swearing as he hit the floor. Groaning, he rubbed his back, swearing again as his shield fell onto his face. Pushing the equipment off him, he staggered to his feet, shaking his head to clear it.

'You look like shit.' Jaye squinted at the newly-opened door. Kamina leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms.

'Can't entirely get used to sleeping on swaying ground.' Jaye said, strapping his weapons over his back. 'It's like sleeping in a hammock. And I hate hammocks.'

'Yeah me too.' Kamina grumbled, stepping out as Jaye pushed past. 'I always feel like I'm floating.'

'Whatever. Just one more day of this crap.' He said, scratching his head. The fox boy stumbled as the ship rocked, nearly cracking his head into the wall, and Jaye laughed as he regained his balance. They'd boarded the ship to Mire for now and spotted two hooded figures tail them onto the ship. Identical cloaks, as well as stature and height, it was definitely the hooded figure from the previous night.

Jaye leaned against the rail quietly, tapping his finger against the rusting metal. Kamina leaned casually next to him, Indigo under his arm. Using looking at Kamina's face as an excuse, she watched the pair discreetly. Jaye poked at his scroll, feigning disinterest.

'Seems like hood fella definitely has an accomplice. Third time seeing them together, and they haven't left each other's company since appearing.' Indigo pointed out, glancing at the pair across the deck from them. 'Reckon we should say hello?'

'Yeah.' Jaye rolled his eyes, lips not moving. 'What's your pickup line gonna be? Hey sweetheart wanna play? I can rock you better than the boat.'

'Might not work though.' Kamina said. 'One's a girl.'

The pair stared at the fox boy curiously, and he stared back, blinking slowly. Jaye raised an eyebrow.

'Hey, I mean, I'm not judging or anything. She might swing that way, you never know.' Kamina raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, and Jaye shook his head.

'How'd you figure?' He asked, and Kamina shrugged.

'Hey man, it's just speculation. I don't know which team she plays for.' He scratched his ear. 'They might play for both, you know.'

'Not that you idiot.' Jaye rolled his eyes. 'How'd you figure out one of them is a girl?'

'Oh…well. Gait, plus general posture. One of them stands with her legs too close together to be a guy, plus she walks with her feet in nearly a straight line. The other walks in two parallel lines like most guys do.' He sniffed pointedly. 'Also, they're downwind from us. Boys and girls have pretty distinct scents. I'm also pretty sure that the girl's faunus.'

'Damn, you can tell all that from smell? All I can smell is the sea.' Jaye asked, and Kamina shook his head.

'To a degree. Boys and girls have different scents, pretty obvious especially to Faunus like me with a better sense of smell. Faunus also smell ever so slightly different from humans.' He picked at his claws. 'I'm confident the girl's a faunus because I saw a tail under that cloak earlier.'

'Hmm, so a human and faunus.' Jaye pondered, staring into the glass of the dining room. He watched them through the reflection, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. 'Any idea who they might be? Manage to catch a glimpse of their faces?

'No one from the Vale Faction matches their descriptions, and I highly doubt the White Fang would let a human work with them.' Kamina said, his ears twitching as the cold breeze blew past them. 'Torchwick seemed like an exception.'

'Guess we're in the dark here then.' Jaye crossed his arms. 'I guess that puts us in a bind. Time to do some digging.'

Jaye peered around the corner of the ship quietly, watching the two hooded figures march past the doors. He watched as one of them unlocked a door, slipping inside. He waited quietly, but they didn't seem to be coming out. Stepping out from his hiding spot, he scrambled for cover as the door opened. Slipping out of sight, he heaved a sigh as the pair seemed not to notice him, and they locked the door behind them. Taking a breath to calm his nerves, he stepped out of his hiding spot, marching up determinedly behind them. Kamina and Indigo walked down he stairs ahead of them, rounding the edge as they did so. Jaye raised a hand, waving at them as he jogged forward.

'Hey!' He called, making an "oof" sound as he crashed into Hood number 2. He grabbed her by the shoulders, brushing her off.

'Oh man, sorry about that!' He said, grinning widely at the faunus girl. He turned away from her, waving again at Kamina and Indigo, who were leaning by the rail waiting for him.

'Dude come on, I know you're an idiot, but don't go ramming into people!' Kamina chuckled, and Jaye flipped him off.

'I'll ram my fist into you, asshat.' He cussed, pushing the boy down the hallway. They laughed as they went, disappearing past the wall, rounding the corners and slipping out of sight. His two teammates glanced at him, and he raised the key concealed in his hand.

'Nice work.' Indigo said. 'Once they're gone we'll slip into the room. Kamina and I will chill outside here to keep watch. We'll give you ten minutes to search the place.' She turned to the fox boy. 'I apologize in advance if I have to kiss you.'

'It's necessary.' Kamina shrugged, leaning against the wall. 'Good thing our room's nearby.'

'All right.' Jaye said. They'd used this tactic on missions before, but usually it was Kamina and Damian searching the rooms, while he and Indigo would "make out" outside, blocking the door. He peered around the wall, watching the two hooded figures ascend the steps. 'On second thought, let's wait till evening before we do that.'

'Why?' Kamina asked. 'The room's right there, completely unguarded.'

'Let's wait till they go to get food. That'll be guaranteed to buy us some time.' Indigo chipped in. 'Plus it'll look really suspicious if we suddenly start hanging around here just a few minutes after we seemingly left.'

'Fair point.' Kamina said, swishing his ears back and forth. 'In that case let's go get some grub of our own.'

'For once, good food.' Jaye said, giving the two a satisfied look. Kamina raised an eyebrow at the boy, popping a tomato in his mouth.

'For once I can't make fun of you, this food is really good.' Indigo said, shoveling noodles into her mouth. 'Better than what I'd expect from a random small-time ship on the docks.'

'That's because it's got that rustic Mire charm!' They heard laughter erupt from behind them and sat up straight as they spotted the chef walking int heir direction. 'Though I guess saying it's authentic Mire cuisine tends to dry up the taste buds.'

'Let's hear them say that after they smell it.' Jaye said, raising his glass to the man. The chef laughed heartily, placing his hands on either side of his surprisingly small belly.

'The only ones who'll do that are the Mireans themselves!' He grinned, leaning down and resting his hands against the table. 'They seem to love everyone else's cooking except their own.' He rubbed his chin. 'You folk don't look like you're from around here; anyone else living at these docks would've been able to recognize Mirean cooking right off the bat.'

'We're sightseeing.' Kamina said, resting his elbows on the table. 'Just came from Vale, heading on down to Mistral, then probably to Vacuo.' He grinned widely. 'The wild life I suppose.'

'Sounds adventurous.' The chef said, extending a hand and shaking each of theirs in turn. 'The name's Ray. Your good old Mirean chef.'

'Pleasure.' Indigo said, flashing him a dazzling smile. He grinned right back, and she tapped a finger on her wine glass. 'I don't suppose you could tell us a little about Mire then? We haven't been, but it'd be a waste to just show up there not knowing what to do.'

'Course I can missy, wouldn't be a troublesome thing.' He said, plopping down in the chair. 'But for all the world, I would give a life to be right here where the crows are.'

The three teammates glanced across each other, raising their eyebrows. Ray had just spoken the first half of the Faction passcode, a way to identify comrades and allies when you were out in the wild. Ray raised an eyebrow at them, grinning widely.

'And for all the world, I'd take a life to stay where the crows are.' Jaye responded, raising his wine glass to the man. Ray grinned even wider (as impossible as it looked) pouring out a glass for himself. The other two filled their glasses, raising them together. Toasting, they drank briefly, placing their glasses down.

'So, what do you need to know?' Ray said, fiddling with a knife on the table. 'I can't think that the legendary team RHKD would come down here for no reason.'

'Well we didn't lie.' Kamina chirped brightly. 'We're heading to Mistral.'

'And stopping off in Mire to throw off any pursuers I suppose.' Ray said, swirling his glass. 'Makes sense; I'd do it to.'

'What the Faction presence like in Mire?' Indigo asked, crossing her arms. 'I can't think their reach hasn't expanded out there as well.'

'Afraid not missy.' Ray said, leaning back in his chair. 'Mire's pretty neutral as far as anyone's concerned. It has a Faction branch there for formality sake, but they don't do much. Almost no business there; no drug runners, weapon rings, thievery, or even information to be got out there. A few notable figures, but they've largely retired anyway, otherwise they wouldn't be in Mire.' He took a sip ostentatiously. 'Perfect place to try to go unnoticed. Big trading hub too, so perfect place to run drops.'

'Then I assume it's just a trade hub that acts as a middle man.' Jaye said. 'A trade hub that isn't actually part of the market itself. Hard to track a single shipment amongst hundreds of others. Makes it perfect to hide or mediate drugs and weapons.'

'Bingo.' Ray said, waving his glass. 'We have a winner. Yeah, it's the biggest port for international drug and weapon trade in and out of Vale. Particularly between Vale and Mistral. Though now I suppose trade will eventually grind to a halt, what with the fall of Beacon and all.' He winked at them, taking a sip. 'Nice place to find a few allies against the Vale take over, especially with most of that little organization on your asses.'

'So why aren't you trying to kill us?' Indigo rapped her fingers on the table. 'I assume you're with the Vale faction.'

'Correctemundo.' He said, scratching his head. 'And I was against the Vale take over the moment I heard about it. I might be part of the Faction, but I was mainly just an admin overseer. In the end, what with Vale falling and the chaos and all that crap, it was easy to just slip away in all the confusion. Live my life doing what I wanted to do.' He raised one of the plates in the air. 'Cook! And as you can see, I'm doing well enough for myself.'

'How do you know we haven't come aboard to kill you?' Jaye asked, tilting his glass to his lips. Ray laughed hysterically, banging his fist on the table, and the three teammates raised their drinks off to avoid spillage.

'As if someone was going to send you to kill me!' He laughed. 'I'm not important enough for that. They're more likely to just ignore my existence.' He drummed his fingertips into the tabletop. 'No one would trust me even if I went to them with the information I had, which is nearly useless anyway, and if they wanted me dead, they'd hire someone cheaper. Plus, last I heard, little old Jaye bird here is on the Faction's shit list.' He leveled his eyes with the rest of them. 'And so are all of you.'

'You're well informed.' Indigo said, smiling sultrily at the man. 'Maybe you can help us then.'

She leaned forward coyly, pressing her breasts against the table, and Ray's eyebrows went up in appreciation. Jaye felt a flash of annoyance pass across his face and turned away. Ray chuckled into his wine.

'Much as I appreciate the amazing view, you don't have to pull any of that with me.' He said, tilting the glass. 'I'm more than open to answering any of the questions you have for me. I have nothing to gain from hiding it from you, and money isn't exactly a high priority for me.'

'Then that makes things easier then.' Kamina said, grinning widely at the man. 'We've been being followed by two hooded figures on this ship but, try as we like, we can't figure out who they are. Faces are a blank, no descriptions match for the Vale Faction, and we have no way to find out where else they're from. They're in room forty-two.'

'I'll have a word with the captain.' Ray nodded, putting his glass down on the table. 'He and I are pretty chummy, ad he knows where I'm from and doesn't give a crap. I'm sure he'd be happy to oblige a favor from some "old friends" of mine.'

And that's chapter 42 done. Yes I made it room 42 because I was lazy, deal with it. On another note, I've been watching Volume 6, and I love it so far. I especially love that we're now going into the specifics of Ozpin's and Cinder's relationship, and I can't wait to get to the chapter where they finally meet up and everything goes through. I want to write the attack on Haven super bad, and I'm super hyped to learn more about the story as it comes along and where they're gonna go from here. Monty Oum is a legend, and I love this series more and more as it comes along.

PS, I totally bought one of those Beacon Academy jackets because why the hell not. It's a little big for me though, because it's made for Americans, and I'm a smaller than average Asian height wise. And for anyone that doesn't know or isn't sure, I'm male by the way. Just thought I'd put it out there.