Chapter 25
Land & Sea Warfare
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Flashback
"Scroll Communications / Tv"
Location / Date / Time Change
RS Golden Hind
The large ship sailed through the calm seas as its passengers mingled around on the deck. Most of them were enjoying the smell of salt water and the sun on their skin, but one merely just stared out at sea. Blake looked over her shoulder at two children laughing before turning back to the sea.
"You alone?" In a panic, Blake grabbed her swords hilt and turned, only to come face to face with Captain Nemo, the owner of the ship. "Calm down, I'm just here to talk."
Blake calmed down and took her hand off her weapon. "Why would you do that?"
Nemo sighed before leaning on the railing. "Well, not a lot of travel by boat, and even fewer go alone. Journeys like that tend to be pretty lonely. But, those who do tend to have the best stories."
Blake clenched her fist before turning back to the sea. "Sometimes, it's just better to be alone." The two kids ran by and Blake turned around in a panic.
Nemo laughed at the insecurity shown by the girl. "Maybe, but with your paranoia, I think a few friends could do you good."
"What makes you think I'm paranoid?" Blake asked back.
"Nothing, dear." The captain laughed back, making Blake glare at him. "I'll leave you be." He walked away before turning back to her. "But a bit of advice. These trips are usually pretty boring." He returned to his walk as Blake stared out at the sea.
With a shrug, Blake reached up and pulled her bow off her ears. "Guess I don't need this anymore." She held her arm out and the bow floated to the sea. She turned and walked into the deck, unaware of two things. A cloaked figure following her, and twin dorsal fins rearing out of the water, taking the bow with her.
Beacon Academy
Glynda stared at a Beowolf pack as the marched in and out of the lowest tower level, carrying rocks out in their paws. "What's going on?"
"Where is it!?" Glynda stared wide eyed as Roman Torchwick, now looking like a human Grimm, blasted a pile of rubble next to him. "'Go find the relic.' she said. 'It'll be easy', they said. 'You can't miss it', they said! Why the hell would they neglect to tell me what it looked like!?"
A Beowolf walked over and held up a chunk of Ozpin's broken mug. "This isn't it! Keep looking!" He whacked it away and the beast listened to the order.
'He's controlling them?' A hot breath fogged up her glasses before a Beowolf tackled her from behind.
"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" She looked up as Roman walked over and kneeled down. "If it isn't Ozpin's main squeeze. Maybe you can help us find this stupid thing."
"How are you controlling them?" Glynda asked as drool rolled down her chin.
"A little gift from the lady in chief." He pointed his cane at Glynda's face. "Now, I'm gonna ask you one time. "Where? Is? The relic?"
Glynda focused her Semblance before a rock flew at the wolf, knocking it off and letting her roll out of the way as Roman fired his cane. As she stood up, Roman swung his cane and Glynda ducked before taking out his legs. The pack circled her as Roman rolled behind them. "Why did she give you this power?"
"It's compensation for getting KIA." Roman stood up as the pack charged her. Flicking her crop, she sent the first two crashing back into some exposed metal rods. The next four were sent crashing into each other beofre the last seven were sent flying out of the room.
Roman stood up and charged her, only to be sent back by her Semblance. He looked up at the broken roof and fired his weapon, sending giant chunks of concrete fall. Glynda shielded herself with her Semblance to hold the pieces up, letting Roman run towards her. She sent the chunks at him, only for him to duck and dodge them.
The last of the stone cleared, he fired his weapon at her. The teacher stopped the round in mid flight and Roman swung his cane at her. She clutched her gut as the round continued its path and hit her as Roman moved to the side.
Glynda hit the wall behind her with an exhausted Aura and a broken arm. Roman slowly walked forward, casually swinging his cane until he reached her. She weakly raised her crop and Roman ripped it out of her hand. "Say goodbye, Goodbitch."
Before he could pull the trigger, two balls of fire hit Roman, launching back. He stood up as Oobleck and Port helped her up. "I thought you two were dead!"
"A true Huntsman never dies!" Port declared before firing multiple shots at Roman, forcing him to hide behind a large chunk of stone. Roman held out his cane to the side and fired twice before sticking his head out. The three were gone, leaving only her crop behind.
A new pack slowly approached him as he picked up his trophy. "Keep. Looking."
With Yang
A traveling merchant stood in his wagon as Yang bought some supplies, mainly food and Dust. "Thank you, little lady."
"No problem." She grabbed the bags off the counter and turned around. A 'HISS' startled her, making drop her bags in a panic as Adam flashed through her head. She turned and braced her arms for a fight.
"What are you doing?" The merchant asked, holding a canister of dust he pulled out of his air conditioning unit.
"Sorry, just... bad memories." Yang bent down and picked up the goods before running to where the others were. Stoping in the woods, she pulled out her Scroll and opened it up to a picture of her and Natsu. She kissed him on the cheek as he blushed. "Our first kiss..." She stared at the picture before looking at her prosthetic. "Natsu... do you even still want me?"
With Natsu
Natsu sat in a tree as he watched his prey, Hina Thaw, the Spring Maiden.
Her dark brown hair held a small pink ribbon and her green eyes contracted with her outfit. A red tube top with a black trim, and black pants with red flames patterned on the bottom. Her whole appearance was covered by a black trench coat and her face was covered by a white mask with a red lightning mark that went through her right eye hole. She pulled her bow and fired an arrow at a deer, hitting it in the neck.
Natsu turned as she went to check on her prey. He dived off the tree and took to the sky. She turned around just in time to get picked up by Natsu. "Let me go!" She split her bow in half and turned it into two small hatchets before swinging them at Natsu's back.
She hit his arm and he let go on instinct, dropping her. She held out her hand and a tree shot out of the ground before she stabbed her hatchets into the wood. She turned as Natsu flew at her and she pushed herself up, letting him crash through the tree. The broken top fell off as she used it to break her fall.
Natsu landed and pull out a brown Dust crystal with his tail before eating it in front of her. "What the hell are you?" Natsu ignored her question and charged her with stone covered fists and legs. She ducked a punch and dug her hatchets into his legs, only to be meet with a knee to the face.
She grabbed her weapon and swung her hand at his neck, but he blocked with his arm, wrapped it against himself and punched her in the face with his free arm. She dug her foot into his knee ditch and tripped him up, sending him into the trunk of the summoned tree. She waved her hand and vines wrapped around him and pinned him against the wood.
"Time for some target practice." Hina turned her axes back into their bow mode, and launched five arrows at once. One pierced each hand and foot, and the final one found its mark in his stomach. She pulled out one more, aimed and fired. Natsu quickly pulled out a fire Dust crystal with his tail, ate it, and burned his way to freedom. The metal of the arrows melted and his tail caught the flying arrow before throwing it back at her, piercing her shoulder.
"You bastard!" Hina shouted as blood escaped the wound. The fire reached the top of the tree as it fell over, lighting the dry brush on fire. Hina ran forward and tried to swing her arm, but the pain was too much and she failed, letting Natsu punch her repeatedly until her Aura was depleted, sending her to the ground.
He pulled out an ice Dust crystal, ate it, and trapped her in ice. He took to the he sky and grabbed the ice by his feet. Before he could take off, someone grabbed his tail and sent him to the ground. Natsu looked up as Raven rotated her sheathe, pulled out a bright red blade and swung at the ice, freeing her fellow tribesman.
She turned to Natsu and glared at her. "Finally showed your true colors." Raven asked as she held her blade in a traditional stance. Natsu charged her, Raven ducked and swung her sword upwards, slicing his tail off. Blood poured out of the wound as the end wriggled under Ravens boot like a gecko's would. She walked over and kicked him before forcing him to the ground.
She stood on his back and prepared to slice his wings off when a massive horde of Ursa Majors burst out of the woods. They charged her and forced her off the Faunus. She took out a bulk of the horde before the retreated, one having picked Natsu up and carried him away as Hina clutched her shoulder.
Raven looked over at them and Hina waited for her penalty. "Your deer is waiting for you." Hina looked up in shock before she nodded and summoned rain clouds to put out the raging fire. She ran into the forest to check on her prey as Raven picked up the tail.
With Blake
The sun had sat as Blake stared out at the sea. She turned her head as a Faunus couple walked by her before pushing herself off the railing and walking away. She stopped and turned, finally noticing the cloaked figure behind her. Absolutely not paranoid, she pulled out Gambol Shroud. "Whose there!?"
The figure turned and ran away as waves crashed into the boat. A large shadow rose out of the water and covered Blake, making her turn around and stare at a massive Grimm.
"Leviathan!" A crew member shouted as the alarm flashed.
Nemo ran up to the bow with another crewmate and stared at the beast. "By the gods..." The Grimm raised its head and roared, letting its whiskers flail around. "Battlestations, now!"
"Sir, we've never fought a Grimm this big before." The crewmate said.
Nemo turned and stared back at the Grimm. "We've never SEEN one this big before. But if we're going down, we're taking her with us."
Blake jumped off the railing and used her Semblance to launch herself at the beast. She flung her weapon and it dug into the Grimms skull mask, letting her swung around its neck before pulling it out and fireing at its face. The Leviathan roared as Blake landed on the ship.
It lunged at her to eat her, but Nemo spun the wheel and the beast missed. It dived back into the water as he ordered the cannons to come out. Blake jumped off the mast and swung her blade at the horn on its face, distracting it. This worked and the side cannons fired, hitting the long body of the Grimm.
In pain, the beast swung its head and hit Blake, sending her back to the ship and wounding her shoulder. "Hold fast. It's not through with us yet. Load the heavy cannon!" A compartment on the deck opened up and a massive cannon popped up and extended it barrel.
The Grimm stared at the ship as its segmented dorsal fins split to the side, revealing two white spikes. The spikes shot up, revealing a pair of wings as it took to the sky. "Don't just stand there! Fire!" Nemo ordered. The cannon crew obeyed and fired the cannon, but the beast flew out of the way.
The Leviathan opened its mouth as a beam of energy or something began to charge. Before Blake could move, the cloaked figure jumped off her head. The cloak flew off him, revealing Sun as he clapped his hands together and summoned two clones. "Sun!?"
The clones grabbed the whiskers as Sun grabbed the horn, forcing the beam upwards. "Not gonna happen!"
"What are you doing here!?" Blake shouted as the beast flew by the ship.
"Oh, you know, just hanging out!" Sun shouted as he held on to the whiskers. The beast charged another shot and shocked Sun, making him let go and fall to the sea. The beast flew beneath him and opened its mouth to swallow him when three kunai hit the body before exploding, pushing the beast back.
"I was hoping for a calm trip home." Blake looked over and found someone she only saw once at the Vytal Festival; Yasha Gurē Okami. "Are you just gonna stand there or save him?"
Blake quickly jumped off the ship, swung her weapon around the mast and launched herself off the ship. Like did for Weiss, she grabbed Sun in mid air before sliding along the ground to a stop. "My hero."
"You're not supposed to be here!" She shouted at him. "And neither is he."
"Really, because you look like you need all the help you can get." Sun pointed to the ship as Yasha threw more knives at the beast. Blake rolled her eyes and dropped Sun.
"Just shut up and fight." She walked over him and and ran over towards the ship as the Leviathan fired more beams.
"Yes ma'am." Sun said on the ground.
Yasha spun and threw more knives as the ship rocked to the side. "Keep this thing steady! I can't hit it if you're moving at the same time as it."
Inside the cabin, the female crewmate studied the screen in front of her. "Starboard defenses are down."
"What about the heavy cannon?" Nemo asked.
"We still have it, but the Grimm is going to fast. We can't land a hit on it." The male crewmate said.
The captain growled before an idea entered his head. "How are the engines?
The screen changed as she checked the status of the engines. "100% functional, captain."
Blake landed next to the eagle Faunus as the beast fired another blast. Sun landed in front of them and spun his staff, dissipating the beam. "About damn time." Yasha mumbled.
"Huntsmen!" All three turned as Nemo ran out the cabin. "Clip its wings and draw it out towards the bow! Do that, and we can end this!"
Blake and Yasha turned to Sun who stared back at them. "Hey, you're the ones with the blades."
"For crying out loud." Yasha' eyes glowed as glowing yellow wings materialized out of his back, letting him take to the sky. "You help her. I can't carry anyone else." He turned and flew over to the Grimm, distracting it.
"Let's do this." Sun spun his staff around before jumping off the cannon. Three clones pushed him up into the air before two of them followed him. Blake rolled her eyes before jumping off the last one. She reached the second one and it pushed her to the third, who inturn launched her to the original.
He held his hands out to help her, only for Blake to jump off his face and enter a free fall towards the Grimm as Yasha kept its attention. Blake reached its right wing and pulled out her sword before stabbing into the flesh. Like a pirate on a sail, she tore through the leather with ease, making the Grimm cry in pain. It looked over as Yasha did the same with his knives.
Blake fell wildly to the ground as Sun appeared on the ground and caught her. "This is the part where YOU say it." Blake merely rolled her eyes.
"Move!" Yasha flew over them as the Grimm followed him. The rock under the two began to tilt, forcing them to jump away. The Leviathan swam after them, ripping the stone towers into the water.
Nemo watched the scene unfold through his looking glass before pushing a lever all the way up. The engine powered to the max as the Grimm continued to follow the hunters. Sun jumped off a stone and the Leviathan reached its jaw out to eat him, but Blake swung around and grabbed him.
Unfortunately, they crashed into Yasha and the three landed on a narrow ledge. The wings dissipated as the three stood up and faced the beast as it charged another beam. Just before firing, the ships bowsprit rammed through the body, pinning it in place. "Fire!" Nemo shouted and the heavy cannon fired, blowing the top half into tiny pieces.
The crew cheered in joy as Sun joined them. He offered his hand in a high five to Blake, who turned around and swung her hand across. Yasha leaned back, but Sun didn't.
Three Hours Later
The sun had beyond the clouds, but Blake was still furious. "Seriously, it was nothing." Sun told the Faunus couple. "Just enjoy the rest of your trip. We'll make sure the rest of the trip is cool." Yasha, leaning against the wall, rolled his eyes as Sun walked over. "You'd think they'd never seen a fight before."
"They probably haven't." Yasha said back.
"What the heck are you two doing here?" Blake asked.
"Hey, I'm just going home to check on my sister." Yasha said. "I had no idea you would be on this ship. Hell, I don't even know your name."
Sun merely ignored the question. "Loving the new outfit, by the way. Never did like the bow." He pointed to her ears, and she swatted it away.
"Focus!" Blake shouted. "Have you been following me!?"
Sun stared at her before letting out a sigh. "Aerith and I saw you run off after Beacon fell. Once we reached Vale, you made sure everyone else was safe before you just took off without saying a word."
"Why would you do that?" Yasha asked.
Blake turned and leaned on the railing. "It was something I had to do. Neither of you would understand."
"No, I get it." Sun said to their surprise. "The moment you left, I knew exactly what you were doing. You're going on a one woman rampage against the White Fang!"
Blake stared at him in disbelief as Yasha facepalmed. "You're an idiot."
"No, it makes total sense." Sun said. "The White Fang show up at her school, trash is, hurt your friends. She's always felt like the Fang was her fight. This was just the push she need to start this war. But there was way I was gonna let her do this alone. It's a noble approach and all, but she needs someone to watch out for her." He reached over and wrapped his arm on her shoulder. "And that's where I come in. Us Faunus have to stick together."
"Isn't that what the White Fang says to recruits?" Yasha asked.
"You're wrong, Sun." Blake pushed his arm off and turned away. "You're so... wrong. I'm not going anywhere NEAR the White Fang. Not yet."
"Really?" Sun asked in surprise.
"I just... need to sort somethings out." She explained.
"So why not do it with your team? Your friends?" Sun asked. "Aerith would have been more than happy to come with you."
"He's got a point." Yasha added.
"You two are ones to talk." Blake turned and glared at them. "Assuming their rest of your teams aren't hiding down below."
"Hey, my schools on break." Yasha said back. "We all went home to our families."
"Well, what about you?" She turned back to Sun. "Are Sage, Scarlet, and Neptune hiding down below?"
"Well, sort of..." Sun looked over his shoulder and the others followed him until they looked at Sage, dry heaving over the railing. "He's the only one that would come. Think he did for Aerith' sake."
"I hate boats..." Sage groaned.
"So where are the other two?" Blake leaned in and glared at him.
"Do you really think me or Sage could get Neptune in a puddle, let alone an ocean?" Sun chuckled. "The two of them flew back to Mistral. Told them what we were doing, and they said we were cool. Did you forget how I meet you all met in Vale?" He jumped on to the railing and hung his legs over. "So, if you're not going after the White Fang, where ARE you going?"
"Did you seriously get on a boat without finding out where it was headed?" Yasha asked, making Sun nodded. "This entire boat is heading for Menagerie."
"It's my home." Blake added.
"Well, me and Sage are coming with you." The monkey declared. "The Grimm are getting worse everyday, you saw it yourself. And even if your not going after the Fang, doesn't mean they won't be coming after you. Plus, were kinda already on the boat."
"There's no stoping you, is there?" Blake chuckled.
"Nope." Sun nodded. "This is gonna be great! Never seen Menagerie before. It'll be a good ol' journey to the east. Yeah, I like the sound of that."
"I think a journey to the west sounds better." Yasha chuckled.
"So, any advice for humans visiting Menagerie?" Sun asked.
Yasha looked over as Sage heaved again. "Your friend better find some fake ears, fast."
Salem's Domain
Emerald and Mercury stood at the door as Cinder sat at the table next to Salem. "Do you feel it?" The pure white woman asked as the fall maiden leaned in toward her. "Don't fight it, girl. It can sense your apprehension. You must make IT fear YOU."
A clicking noise drew everyone's attention as they looked towards the door. Two Seers floated into the room, creeping Mercury and Emerald out. They floated over to their ladyship amd the first one clicked for her, as she understood there language. "It seems Natsu has found Hina." The news made Cinder smile for her pet. "But it appears she has an army protecting her. This could be troubling."
The Seers traded places and the second one clicked to her. "Roman's report? It shouldn't have come this early." It continued to click and she glared at Cinder. "Cinder, I'm going to ask you one last time, and I want a clear and concise answer. Did Ozpin have the relic?"
Her eyes went wide as she motioned for Emerald to come over. "NO!" Salem slammed her hands down on the table as her eyes glowed red. "I want to hear you say it." Cinder stared at her and tried to answer, only to gasp in pain. "I think you need proper motivation. Give me your Scroll."
Not wanting to anger her even more, Cinder gave her master the device. Seconds later, Salem showed the screen with a fifteen second timer on it above the order. 'END; Self-Terminate.' "Answer me, or he will die." She hit the order button and the clock started going down.
Cinder tried to grab the Scroll but Salem pulled it away. The timer reached ten as Cinder took a breath and looked to her master. "Yeeessss..."
The two stared at each other for a second before Salem pressed cancel. "Good." She placed the device on the table before turning to the jellyfish. "Send Natsu an army of his own." She turned to the second. "Renforce our numbers at Beacon and tell Roman to keep looking. The relic is there." The Grimm floated away as Salem stared out the window, looking at Ozpin's confirmed corpse. "What are you planing...?"
See if you can guess where I got the captains name from. Hint: it ain't Disney.
Well, hope you liked the original fights I used. I'm fairly certain that Raven isn't the only one in her WHOLE tribe to have a mask, so I gave Hina her own. It's based on one of my favorite masks, BK201's.
If you don't remember Yasha, go back to 'Tag Team Turmoil'. His Semblance is basically a ringless Green Lantern powers, letting him add 'limbs' to his body. Sage is with them because I want him there. As for his animal ears, I'll leave that up to you. Tell me what you want.
Beta read by Natsu is Awesome.