"Ah!" Ruby chirped with glee, practically cooing. "It's so tiny!"

"That's what she said."

"Shut up, Yang," Ruby replied, tired of her sister's lame jokes.

All Yang did was chuckle as she conversed with Blake.

After Ruby said that, her attention focused back to the rapier in her grasp. It was finally time for the captain to test it. Even though she only wanted to hold it. This weapon was unlike anything she'd ever encountered.

It was so… Weiss.

Weiss wasn't kidding when she warned that it was thin, yet deadly. The edge of the blade could easily rip skin apart like paper. Attached to the handle was a canister full of colorful dust.

Excited, Ruby poised the rapier like she was mimicking Weiss' defensive position.

"What're you doing, dolt?" Weiss asked, amused.

"It'ssocuteandnotheavyatalldoyougettostabpeoplewithitcanweslicecookieswithitwhat'syourfightingstylelike- oomph."

From the rambling, Weiss simply closed her mouth with her fingers. A red tint suddenly adorned Ruby's cheeks from the unexpected contact. Deeming she had calmed down, Weiss released her.

"One thought at a time, dunce."

"If people were weapons, you'd definitely be a rapier," Ruby said with a goofy grin. "You might not've picked the rapier, but the rapier picked you."

"That's preposterous," Weiss said easily, not understanding her captain's line of thought. "My sister gave it to me, if you recall. It was a coincidence."

"Your sis has good tastes," the captain chirped.

From the thought of Winter, Weiss smiled.

With that, the former heiress tried to pick up the scythe on the floor. The handle was heavier than expected. She couldn't lift the entire scythe without straining.

"Having trouble?" Ruby teased.

It was clear that Weiss was struggling after she stumbled a few times. The curved blade rested on the wooden floor as she tried to swing it over her shoulder to no avail.

"How on Remnant do you hold this thing up?" Weiss asked, impressed with her captain. "You make it look easy."

It was then that Weiss recalled a memory of Ruby under the moonlight. The captain held up the scythe with one arm like it was absolutely nothing. Like it was a feather.

"It takes lots of practice," Ruby said with a grin. "Qrow helps me train the muscles necessary to pick it up. Took me months to even be able to lift my baby."

"That's dedication," Weiss commented, wondering why she went through so much when Ruby could've picked a different weapon. "You chose to wield it because of Qrow, yes?"

"Yep!" Ruby chirped. "He was more than happy to teach me the ropes. He's more patient than people give him credit for."

A few gunshots rang out, which caused the pair to flinch. This was followed by a yelp.

Across the deck, Blake adorned yellow gauntlets strapped to her forearms. It was a good thing they were on the back deck. Otherwise, the bullets would've whizzed into the walls rather than fly over the sea.

"Blake!" Yang called in exasperation. "You gotta aim first."

"These are way heavier than they look," Blake noted as she swung her arms around, feeling like they were made of steel.

It wasn't often that she got to try on her crewmate's beloved gauntlets. Since they had a little time to spare, they figured testing their crewmates' weapons would be interesting.

"Here, lemme help," the blonde offered.

Gingerly, Yang grasped Blake's arms and straightened them out for a clear shot. From the contact, Blake blushed, silently thanking the world that Yang was behind her so she couldn't see it.

Lilac eyes narrowed her eyes into the distance.

"You have to make sure the lil pipes are exactly where you want them," Yang murmured into Blake's ear.

She was so close. The whisper caused shivers to course through the faunus.

Is she doing this to tease me? Blake wondered. Then again, she seems focused. I can never tell with her.

Slowly, Yang lifted Blake's arms so she was aimed at the railing.

"Yang, don't shoot the railing," Blake said. "We don't need another repair."

"Reeeelaaaax," the blonde drawled as she held onto her arms. "Aaaaand…"

After a push, the gauntlets fired. A resounding ear-shattering thud followed as steam rose from the weapons. It was a good thing Yang was behind her because Blake almost flew back from the recoil alone.

"Woah!" Blake yelped as she almost lost her balance, leaning onto Yang.

"So, just dropping in?" Yang smirked.

"How nice of you to catch me," Blake replied, monotone.

Easily, Yang held onto her from behind as the gauntlets steamed. A blush adorned the blonde's cheeks when she realized how close together the two were.

"I-it surprisingly takes a lot of balance," Yang informed, unable to stop from stammering. "You have to make sure you have really good footing before firing."

From the slight stutter, cat ears flicked.

Is she nervous? Blake thought. Why's she so nervous? Why am I nervous? Am I nervous?

When she realized Yang was still holding onto her, her cheeks heat up. There was an odd sensation in her stomach she didn't want to go away.

"Huh," the faunus mumbled, unable to form coherent thoughts. "H-how's my katana treating you?"

Noticing she was still hugging her, Yang separated in a fluster.

"I-it's really cool!" Yang said hastily. "Lighter than expected. Swords were never my style, though. I like hand-to-hand combat. There's somethin' about being up close and personal."

"We are very aware of that," Blake said, knowing her blonde partner liked to box.

"Look at me, look at me," Yang said lightheartedly as she held up the katana and poised it. "Who am I?"

"Me, but that's not how you hold it," the faunus almost laughed from the goofy position.

"Oh."

Before Blake could show her how to hold it, a thump caught their attention. The pair whirled around to notice Weiss was struggling to lift the massive scythe. She fiddled with the handle a bit as her friends watched in amusement.

"What's this do?" Weiss asked like a curious child.

Just as she pressed the button on the handle, Ruby reached out dramatically. "Weiss, noooo!"

"Agh!"

Instantly, Weiss fell back from the recoil and landed on her rear. A gunshot pierced the air before ripping apart the wooden floorboards. Chunks of wood sprout up from the impact. After staring at the damage, Weiss mumbled.

"That was the gun..."

"I said not to touch it," Ruby said with a laugh.

"Warn me sooner, will you?"

With a grin, Ruby helped her stand by grabbing her hand.

"Yet another repair that needs to be done, the captain teased. "What are we gonna do with you?"

"I was curious," the former heiress poorly defended, inspecting the handle. "What an odd placement for a trigger."

Jokingly, Ruby set a hand on her hip. "You act like you've never seen a scythe-gun hybrid before!"

"Your wild assumption is correct," Weiss said sarcastically with a smirk.

Casually, Yang and Blake approached the two.

"That was fun to watch," the blonde said, blatantly egging Weiss on. "Nothin' like watching you fall on your butt," she finished with a giggle.

Weiss perked an amused eyebrow. "Have you tried to wield her scythe?"

"Yep," Yang confirmed as she popped the 'p.' "Never again."

It was obvious the blonde was keeping some kind of embarrassing story under wraps. Judging by the look on Blake's face, Weiss' assumption was correct.

Wanting to fill her in, Blake said. "Let's just say your mistake just now is nothing compared to what Yang did in the past."

"Now I must know," Weiss replied with a smug grin.

Jokingly, Yang chirped. "It involved catnip-"

Quickly, the faunus covered her mouth. That was a completely different story!

"Shut up, no it didn't," Blake insisted.

"Ahhhhh," the blonde murmured as she licked the palm over her mouth.

This caused Blake to recoil in disgust. "I forgot you do that."

"Brute," Weiss remarked.

Teasingly, Yang said. "You know you love it."

When Yang sent Blake a smug smile, the faunus used that as her chance to wipe her wet hand on her cheek. The blonde didn't seem bothered in the least bit. That must've been a common occurrence between the two.

"Oh," Ruby said as she waved the rapier, looking at Weiss. "How do you work the dust on this thing?"

"Spin the canister for dramatic effect," the former heiress said jokingly.

"Spinning."

Dramatically, Ruby rolled the canister as it cranked a few times. From the goofy motions, Weiss almost chuckled. She was such a dunce. The color it landed on was blue that matched the beautiful sky.

"Now what?" Ruby asked eagerly.

"Aim it at the ocean," Weiss advised, standing next to her.

"Okay, now what?"

"Activate your aura carefully," the former heiress instructed. "Let it flow to your fingertips. Slowly."

Since Ruby was no expert at aura control, the frozen energy zapped out the tip of the rapier. "Wah!"

To balance her, Weiss placed her hands on her shoulders. The recoil was so unexpected that they both almost fell to the floor.

In a firework display, the ice prickled the air before freezing part of the ocean. A single wave had been frozen in place as the other waves washed over it.

"You dunce, I said slowly," Weiss lightly chided. "My rapier requires precision."

"My bad," Ruby said sheepishly, thinking the rapier and herself would be a horrible match. "That's kinda tricky. I swing my scythe around. Whatever gets hit, gets hit."

Of course Ruby's combat style was geared that way. In no way was Weiss surprised. It matched her personality on so many levels.

With great effort, Weiss dragged the scythe to present it to her captain. "I think this suits you better."

Easily, Ruby grabbed her weapon and raised it with one hand. "My sweet baby. Did Weissy treat you like crap?"

Unamused, Weiss crossed her arms.

"What?!" Ruby pretended to be surprised like she was talking to her scythe. "Did she call you heavy?"

she pretended her scythe nodded and she gasped. "Aw, that's terrible!"

"Stop making me sound like a horrible person!" Weiss yelped.

A round of giggles.

Suddenly, a howl rippled through the sea. It was the sound of the ship itself. Qrow had sounded the horn. That only meant one thing.

"We're close!" Ruby announced to her crew. "Get ready to dock!"

Like she'd done it a million times, Blake took the ribbon that'd been wrapped around her arm and tied it over her cat ears. She was so quick with the movements that it only took a split-second.

After she did that, Weiss watched with curiosity. The ribbon on her head hid her cat ears well. If Weiss hadn't known she was a faunus, she would've assumed she was human if the ribbon was on.

"What?" Blake asked, genuinely curious. "Don't like the look?"

"It works well," Weiss reassured, examining the ribbon. "I was just thinking the bow doesn't suit your personality."

"You think so?" Blake asked.

Yang nodded in agreement. "Don't get me wrong, it looks cute, but you're pretty sophisticated. A bow doesn't suit you, but I get why you wear it. You kinda have to."

Sadly, faunus slaves were abundant. It was rare to see a faunus roaming around freely. If Blake was found out, she'd be captured and put up for an auction. To avoid that, she'd rather wear the bow.

"I have to do what I have to do," Blake said in a monotone voice. "I don't like it, either."

"Does it hurt at all?" Weiss asked, curious.

"No," Blake replied. "It muffles some noise. Nothing too bad."

Suddenly, a hand reached out. In it was Ruby's signature red cape.

"Here," Ruby presented the clothing to Weiss. "If you're reported missing, someone might recognize you, right?"

"Yes, thank you, Ruby," Weiss said, blushing a bit. "Are you sure it's okay for me to wear your cloak?"

Every single time Weiss saw Ruby, she was wearing that cape. It was clearly important to her. The fact that her captain offered it without thought caused her heart to flutter.

"Wear it, Weiss," Ruby insisted with a smile. "You need it right now more than me."

"That's very thoughtful of you," Weiss replied, feeling touched.

Meanwhile, Yang only watched with her jaw dropped. In the past, Ruby wouldn't even let her wear that cape! A quick glance to the left told her Blake was thinking the exact same thing.

"Eheh, no problem," Ruby said with a blush, glad she could be of help. "You should use it to hide your face."

Although the odds were slim that people were already looking for her, Weiss can't be too cautious. Carnation was a town she'd never visited, so the odds of someone recognizing her are even lower.

"You sure you're not being paranoid?" Yang asked, thinking maybe her new crewmate was exaggerating.

"Trust me," the former heiress said. "I'm not. Better safe than sorry."

It was then that Yang recalled an earlier conversation. Weiss had warned them of the possible dangers due to her presence. She must've been someone important.

"Good point," Yang admitted.

Suddenly, Qrow leaned over the deck to yell down at them.

"Hey, get your butts to work! I can't dock by myself!"

Ruby gave him a salute.

"Aye, aye!"


Nothing better than good 'ol fashioned crew bonding time.

Stay dandy,

~Toto