RWBY vol7 is over! The finale was great!


It looks a little better.

Meticulously, Weiss inspected the red line over her eye it. It'd been a day since she received the injury and it looked like it was on the way to recovery.

Overnight, it leaked blood, but it was finally starting to scab over.

Carefully, she smoothed healing ointment over the wound. When her finger made contact with the line, she sharply inhaled. It still throbbed on occasion and stung just now. Nowhere nearly as painful as her other injuries, but still an inconvenience.

When she was done, she wrapped the gauze around her eye to keep it protected from infection. Half her vision was covered, but she estimated she'd only need it wrapped for another couple of days before it healed completely.

They're going to ask how I got it, Weiss thought, sighing. Especially Ruby.

From the thought of the captain, the heiress quirked a small smile. She looked forward to seeing her again. Her goofy smile, those innocent eyes.

When the bandage was secure, she glanced outside. The sun was dipping and the first signs of night flowed with orange and yellow streaks across the sky.

It was almost time.

With a sense of urgency, Weiss sauntered into her room. She'd already packed, but she wanted to make sure she had everything. The plan was to never come back, after all. There was no looking back after tonight.

This was it.

Two suitcases rested on her bed.

One suitcase contained lots of dust crystals in a rainbow of color. The colors popped in her bland, white room. She made a mental note to handle this suitcase with extra care. One misstep and it would explode.

The other suitcase contained various clothes and several gold coins. Over time, she had collected plenty of money from her father. He'd never given it to her, so Weiss had to do her own detective work to find out where it was located.

Jacques' room was too obvious.

Hopefully, she didn't take enough to raise suspicion. As far as she knew, her father counted his money about once a month. The last time he counted was a few days ago. She had time.

All these gold coins should last a while. Even with her new crew, they should be good for a couple of months. When they ran out, Weiss trusted her friends that they'd know what to do for money.

From the thought of them, she smiled again. That smile fell to a frown when she thought about the possible risks she'd drag them into when she joined them.

No matter how much she tried, her last name would follow her. Taunt her. More than likely for the rest of her life. Her biggest fear was that her father would send someone to come after her, hurting her friends in the process. She didn't even care if she was dragged back here. She only cared about her friends. If they got hurt, she wouldn't know what to do with herself.

Her father wasn't that evil, was he?

Maybe, maybe not. The bottom line was that he was controlling and always got what he wanted. Always. If he wanted his sole heiress back…

She shook her head.

I've got to try. I won't know if I don't try.

This was her only chance. It was now or never.

Eventually, no light trickled into her room. Darkness was the perfect cover.

Quietly, she opened the window. After, she retrieved the two suitcases and set them to the side. To prepare, she strapped her rapier to her hip before jumping onto the window like a bird.

She grabbed the volatile suitcase first and handled it with great care. Her glyphs were especially slow on the way down. When she reached the ground, she set the fragile case to the side before shooting up to grab the other suitcase.

She took one last look at her room, indifferent. It wouldn't be missed. At all. This room might as well be a jail cell.

It was liberating when she jumped outside for the last time with her suitcase in hand. The warm air met her cheeks as if it was cheering her on. After she landed, she used a mini glyph to close the window above. That should buy her a little more time.

She sprinted into the forest with her luggage in tow. Every now and then, she conjured a glyph to speed the process along. She was actually enjoying herself for once until she heard a growl to the side.

Just her luck, the ominous growl came from her blind side. The eye wrapped with gauze. She had to turn her whole body to see the culprit.

A lone beowolf flanked her side, not that she was surprised. Whenever she strolled through the forest at night, she usually ran into a few grimm here and there. Not in the mood to fight and just wanting to see her friends, Weiss ignored the threat. The beast tried to keep up with her on all-fours, but she was simply too fast. In the end, it gave up with a low growl. Wasting energy wasn't worth it.

As planned, there was the friendly ship in the distance. With a leap, Weiss hopped out of the treeline and darted on to shore. It only took a few seconds until she heard her name called.

"Weeeeiss!"

In the distance, there was the dolt with the red cape flowing behind her.

"Ruby!"

Ruby became a red blur when she activated her speed semblance. Before slamming into her friend, she slowed down. Easily, Weiss and Ruby slid into each other's arms. They held the hug for a moment as the soothing tide reached their ears.

Any doubts Weiss had about joining the crew melted away as she accepted the embrace. Fondly, Ruby nuzzled into the crook of her neck. Eventually, they separated and were only able to see each other thanks to the calm moonlight. By this point, Yang and Blake caught up to them with eager smiles.

"Took ya long enough," the blonde said teasingly.

Weiss set a hand on her hip. "Did you wait long?"

"Only a few minutes," Blake answered.

Before Weiss could reply, Ruby blurted out.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, referring to her eyepatch. "That looks like it hurts."

The protective gauze was wrapped around Weiss' head and eye a few times. Truth be told, it didn't hurt right now. Weiss almost forgot the injury existed.

"It's merely a scratch," Weiss reassured them. "It should be healed by next week."

Concerned, Ruby set a hand on her shoulder. "Was it because of…"

Weiss glanced away with a slight nod.

Anger like they'd never felt before almost boiled over. It was a good thing the pirates were taking her in tonight. If they let Weiss live there any longer, who knows what kind of injuries she would receive from him next.

Gingerly, Ruby rubbed a finger over her cheek. Weiss had never seen her look so sad. The expression on Ruby's face was heartbreaking. And when Weiss realized it was for her sake, she felt her heart flutter.

Silver and blue swirled together, and soon, blushes adorned their cheeks.

Unable to stop smirking from the cute sight, Yang chirped. "That eyepatch makes you look more like a pirate than any of us!"

That earned a much-needed chuckle.

"Don't get used to it," Weiss said.

Gently, Ruby grasped Weiss' hand. "Let's get outta here."

"That sounds like a dream," Weiss replied happily.

Trying to be helpful, Ruby grabbed one of her suitcases. Unintentionally, Weiss lightly grabbed her hand and pushed it off the handle. It was a reflex- so quick that she didn't realize what she did before it was too late.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked, wondering why she reacted the way she did. "Can I take it?"

"I'm sorry," Weiss instantly apologized. "That suitcase is highly volatile. There's enough dust in there to blow up a castle."

Instantly, Yang said. "Then use it to blow up your house."

"I wish," Weiss replied.

"Ooooooh," Ruby mumbled in disbelief, cautiously eyeing the luggage. "Wow, that's a lot."

Weiss nodded in agreement. "It has to be handled with great care. It will explode with one misstep."

"No pressure," Ruby attempted a dry laugh. "It's alright. I got it."

"I'll take it," Blake volunteered as she grabbed the handle. To ease her friend's nerves, she said. "I've handled this much at a time before."

That left Weiss to wonder what she meant, but she wanted to get out of here. Any questions could wait. The ship needed to be far away from this place by daybreak.

"Blakey's super careful," Yang vouched for her. "I'll take your other one if it's not also going to explode on me."

"Normal items are inside that one," Weiss reassured.

Now that things were settling down, she felt utterly exhausted. Her limbs were lead, but her adrenaline was still pumping. It probably would fade when she finally reached the ship. For now, there was still the fear of someone dragging her back.

"Don't worry 'bout'a thing," the blonde eased. "We'll getcha aaaaall settled in! You'll love it."

"The Howling Thorn is our baby," Ruby said with glee. "She'll treat you well."

"That's the ship's name? The Howling Thorn?" Weiss wanted to clarify.

"Yep!" Ruby beamed. "Watch out though, she can be feisty."

"Which means," the blonde cut in. "You'll get along nicely."

"Hey!"

Multiple giggles.

At last, the four boarded the ship. Luckily, it was already close to shore so they didn't have to walk for long. The door in the side of the ship was resting on the shoreline so they didn't need to cross into the water.

Once they crossed over safely, the door rolled up. The sound of black gears creaked. It was an impressive display, one Weiss didn't expect from such a humble ship. Just after the door was sealed, the ship grumbled before swaying.

Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "And we've set sail!"

The feeling of the water swaying was foreign to Weiss, but it was pleasant. With every wave, more distance was gained away from the mansion. More distance away from him.

"It feels nice," Weiss noted.

Blake had to hold onto her blonde partner to stop stumbling. "Let us know if you get seasick. It's pretty common at first, but you get used to it. Your body will just need to adjust."

"Noted," Weiss replied, thinking it was nice to know she had people to turn to.

After rounding a few corners inside the ship, they finally arrived on the deck. There was someone they wanted the new arrival to meet.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby called. "Weiss is here!"

In the past, Weiss was told about their uncle. He seemed like an interesting man. His two nieces were certainly something. She wondered if he was anything like them. Or even if Blake acted like him. She had yet to meet him, so now was as good a time as any.

Like he'd been waiting, Qrow appeared from the shadows with an outstretched hand.

"Weiss," Qrow solemnly addressed, taking note of her eyepatch. "Welcome, try not to be troublesome like them."

After shaking his hand, Weiss politely bowed. "Mister?"

From the formality, Qrow almost scoffed. "Call me Qrow. Try to lose the formalities. You won't be needing 'em."

A white eyebrow perked in amusement. She'd never met an older male who acted like this. Normally, she interacted with arrogant nobility. They were especially well-mannered to her because of her title. This man was calm and casual with her. The total opposite. It was refreshing.

"You'll get used to it," Ruby reassured. "Qrow's pretty cool."

Jokingly, Qrow pointed to himself. "I'm the cool uncle everyone wants."

From the comment, Yang smirked. "If you'd only lighten up on the alcohol."

"Says you!" Ruby countered jokingly. "How much mead have you collected, anyways?"

"My dear, dear, sister," the blonde said calmly. "The mead's for all of us."

"You mean for you and Qrow?"

"Exactly!" Yang joked with a hearty laugh.

While she listened to the banter, Weiss gazed into the distance. The ship swayed every now and then, but not too powerfully. It was calming as she spotted a tiny white spec several miles away.

The mansion.

She couldn't believe it.

She was free.

After all this time, she was free.

There was a weight on her shoulders she didn't know she'd been holding up for so long. When the pressure eased off her, the relief was so overwhelming that her vision spun and her knees buckled.

"Woah!" Ruby yelped as she easily caught her, sinking to the floorboards. "Weiss?!"

In her arms, her new crewmate weighed next to nothing. From the realization, Ruby whimpered. For a few moments, Weiss struggled to open her eyes when her face flinched a few times. Her friends could only watch her in concern.

Worried, Yang knelt to get at eye-level with her. "What's wrong?"

At last, hazy blue pools were revealed.

"I-"

The sound of a growling stomach lingered.

Embarrassed, Weiss weakly covered her stomach. "- might be a little hungry."

Relieved that's all it was, the crew gave her soft smiles.

Protectively, Ruby pulled her close.

"Let's get you something to eat."


Shadow Nightblade help me think of the name of the ship. The Howling Thorn! ALL ABOARD!

Stay dandy,

~Toto