"Ah!"
The day couldn't have been more beautiful in the picture-perfect scene. A red comet rammed into four unsuspecting bowling pins. They fell over with giddy giggles from the sudden embrace.
"Nice to see you, too, Ruby," Jaune greeted cheerfully as he pat her head.
From the sight of her friends rolling around on the wooden floorboards, Yang widely grinned. When the Juniper crew was around, there was never a dull moment. Any worries the Thorns would have could be washed away by their mere presence.
"It's been waaaaay too long!" Yang exclaimed over the giggles.
Eagerly, Nora separated from the pile and ran up to her. "Tell me you've been keeping up with your regimen."
"Course," the blonde easily replied. "How else am I supposed to keep kickin' your ass?"
"That was one time," Nora said.
"One time's all I need," Yang replied smugly.
"Blake!"
The call of her name caused Blake's cat ears to perk up a bit. She'd been focused on listening to her girlfriend's conversation.
"Hey, Ren," the faunus said evenly.
With a book in his hand, Ren approached her with a soft smile. "I think you'll like this. It's supposed to be a spin-off of your favorite series. Ninjas of Love, right?"
"Y-yeah," Blake confirmed with her eyes twinkling, surprised he remembered the detail. "I didn't know there was a spin-off."
"Me neither," Ren admitted, equally surprised. "You didn't talk about this one, so I figured you didn't read it."
Happily, Blake grabbed the book and practically hugged it. "You're a godsend. Thank you."
"No problem," Ren said softly. "It's actually really good compared to most of them."
"No way," the faunus mumbled in utter astonishment.
"Way."
No one had ever seen Blake smile so widely.
Finally having escaped the pile of people, the redhead approached the hunter. In her hands was a wad of cash. Casually, she tossed him the money.
"Here," Pyrrha said easily. "This should be enough for our last exchange."
"Perfect," Qrow replied, dutifully counting the cash.
"Don't spend it all in one place," Pyrrha teased.
"What are you, my mom?" Qrow asked jokingly, which earned a light chuckle. He reached into his pockets and pulled out various tools. "These should fix up your ship in no time. Looks like it needs it."
"She does, doesn't she?" Pyrrha agreed after accepting the tools.
For the meeting, the Thorns decided to climb on board the Juniper ship. Their ship was built much smaller than their own, but was equally fierce. Even though there were several dents from Nora's sparring practices, the ship stayed strong.
"We'll put these to good use," Pyrrha reassured as she slid the tools into her bag. "Thank you."
"Mhm," was all Qrow mumbled as he watched the calm waves.
There was a hint of solemn silence as background chatter filled the air. A calm breeze danced through Pyrrha's fiery hair. She tucked a few strands behind her ear. While doing so, she caught a glimpse of white. It was an unfamiliar person. A person who appeared to be a ghost with a healthy hue.
"Who's that?" Pyrrha asked.
Until now, Weiss had been observing their interactions in the background. She was hoping to introduce herself once they'd caught up.
When Ruby heard the question, she chirped happily. "This is Weiss Schn- Weiss."
It was probably better if Juniper don't know her last name. They trusted Juniper with the secret, but if they didn't have to be involved, they weren't going to be. The Thorns glanced amongst each other, relieved that Ruby didn't reveal her last name.
Weiss reached out with her hand. "Based on Ruby's description, you must be Pyrrha. I've heard many things."
Gladly, Pyrrha accepted the gesture and shook her hand. "Good things, I hope."
"For the most part," the ex-heiress joked. "You know how Ruby tells stories."
"Ah, that explains it," Pyrrha said like she understood. "I assume you're fitting in well?"
"A little too well, I suppose," Weiss replied with a smile.
"That's great," Pyrrha said, genuinely happy to hear that. "I'm sure it must be hard to handle them at times."
"Ahem," Yang fake coughed. "Standin' right here."
A few chuckles.
"I gotta know," Nora chimed with curiosity. "What made you so desperate that you'd want to join them?"
It was a genuine, yet humorous question. It was more than enough to cause a slew of memories to jam her mind. Unpleasant memories. Before Weiss could give a vague answer, Yang answered for her.
"We found her wandering around in the wilderness, got her a leash, and brought her on board."
"Hey!" Weiss yelped over the snickers. "I'm not a dog. Long story short, I'd known them for a while before I joined, and I'd been interested in the pirate life, so here I am."
From the story, Ren nodded in understanding. "We're glad to have you."
"Forget that!" Nora exclaimed. "How the heck did you all meet?"
Since the Thorns were always on the sea, it was unlikely they'd meet someone new. Much less someone who would join their crew. The four gazed at them in anticipation.
"They were anchored on a beach near my home and I was curious," Weiss answered truthfully. "You don't see pirate ships every day, so I investigated. I almost couldn't believe they were pirates."
Ren had to nod in agreement. "Yeah, people normally wouldn't get that impression."
"If anything," Nora chirped. "You're the most pirate-y out of all of them because of that scar over your eye."
"She had an eyepatch before!" Ruby blurted.
"That's the pirateiest pirate-y thing I've ever heard," Nora said in amusement.
Before anyone could say anything, the blond boy slipped directly in front of Weiss. He appeared confident as he held out his hand. Weiss only stared at it as they drifted into silence.
"Hey there, snow angel."
From the nickname, Ruby's eye twitched.
"No," was all Weiss said.
"But-"
"No."
"Yikes," Yang mumbled. "May wanna lay off there, vomit boy."
That could not have been more cringey.
Reluctantly, Jaune lowered his hand. This made Weiss cross her arms as she sent him a deadpan expression. Her reaction was everything Ruby hoped for. Never in a million years did she think she'd ever have to worry about being in competition with Jaune. But Weiss shot him down before he could even try.
Brutal.
"I like her!" Nora announced.
From that, Ruby heartily laughed as she squeezed her hand. "Me too."
While blushing, Weiss squeezed her hand.
"Guys, please. Now's not the time-"
Weiss was cut off by a loud thud. Two opposing elbows slammed on the table.
The wild birds that were squawking knew a battle was brewing. A threatening one, so they abandoned their nests that were on the tiny islands nearby.
Jaune pumped his fist in the air. "You can do it, Nora!"
"You have to win, Nora!" Ren cheered.
Pyrrha smiled at the intense matchup. "I have faith in you!"
Furiously, Yang and Nora were caught in a standstill. Their hands were interlocked, each trying to best the other. Both clearly straining to overpower the other. It was true Yang lost the previous match, but she would win this time, dammit! She wasn't going to let her friends down… or her ego.
"C'mon, firecracker," Qrow casually said.
"Come on, sis!" Ruby cheered. "You can't lose to a girl in a skirt!" Eagerly, Ruby placed her hands on both of the shorter girl's shoulders and shook her. "Weiss you're not cheering loud enough!"
Weiss said nothing as she adorned the scowl and crossed her arms, unamused. Meanwhile, Blake gave up on reading her new book. She couldn't concentrate with all her friends yelling.
The opponents pried into each other's souls. Bright blue eyes tore into lilac.
"Your strength has improved!" Nora observed. "I'll give ya that!"
"Yep, but it's better now," Yang said knowingly in between subtle breaths.
Taking that as a challenge, Nora narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah?!"
Eagerly, Qrow leaned in as he carefully watched. His little firecracker was about to pull the move of all moves. Hours of practice was about to pay off.
Yang was ready. To feign weakness, she allowed Nora to take advantage and slowly bring her hand down, but not enough to touch the table.
Yang deeply inhaled-
"Now!" Qrow yelped.
She gave it all she had in one arm. All the power in her muscles gathered for one final move. Yang felt her body straining and almost shaking. This was it. Faster than lightning, she slammed Nora's hand down. The impact was so violent that it almost cracked the table in half. Nora's jaw dropped as she stared in utter bewilderment and defeat.
With an eyebrow perked, Qrow said. "I'm not payin' for that."
"Ugh," Yang said in annoyance. "I'll figure somethin' out…"
"It was both our fault," Nora pointed out. "How the heck did you get so much stronger?"
Yang smirked. "I've been workin' out."
"What's your regimen?" Nora asked. "I must know!"
Yang just flipped her hair in victory. "It'd be too intense for you, isn't that right, uncle Qrow?"
"Heh."
"That's not true and you know it!" Nora exclaimed.
With confidence, Yang stood from her seat. Eagerly, Ruby grabbed her hand and raised it in the air.
"Ladies and gents, the new arm wrestling champ!"
"Thank you, thank you," Yang mocked a bow. "Couldn't have done it without you, Nora."
That earned a few giggles.
"I wanna rematch!" Nora demanded and slammed her hands on the broken table.
This caused the remainder of the table to collapse. They only watched with sighs.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's getting late," Jaune announced as he looked outside the dark window. "We have to leave soon."
"Darn it," Nora mumbled.
"We'll have a rematch again someday," the blonde reassured. "Until then, keep looking forward to getting your ass kicked."
"You're on."
Together, they grabbed each other's hands and reeled each other in for a side hug.
"Hey, it was nice to see you guys again," Ruby said happily to the other crew. "We'll seeya soon, okay?"
"Yeah," Jaune reassured with a soft smile. "Next time, bring me a really good movie!"
"A cheesy romcom, coming up," Ruby easily replied, knowing his tastes.
"You know me so well," Jaune grinned.
Saddened that they were leaving so soon, Blake asked. "Do you really already have to go?"
"Unfortunately," Pyrrha answered. "We have a deadline to meet. Need to bring cash to our lovely client," she said sarcastically.
"Sounds like fun," Blake deadpanned. "Alright, we'll let you go."
Jaune waved them off.
"Until next time."
Stay dandy
~Toto
