This is sooooo boring, Ruby thought. I bet they're fast asleep.

Currently, it was Ruby's turn to be on the lookout. Unfortunately, any nearby ships usually meant trouble. Pirates don't have the best reputation and were the targets of other pirates looking for treasure.

Darkness loomed over the watchtower. It was true that Ruby didn't like being on lookout this late, but it was part of her duty. Last night, Yang kept watch. Tomorrow would be Weiss' turn. Everyone on the crew had a rotation, so she felt like she shouldn't complain.

Even though it was boring.

Tired, Ruby yawned. Droplets of rain splattered on the glass, racing down. Ruby found herself rooting for a specific drop. When her eyes trailed downward, she barely caught something moving on deck.

What the… aren't they asleep? Who would be up this late?

Curious, Ruby squinted her eyes to get a better look. At first glance, it looked like Qrow might have been enjoying the rain. The figure was dark and tall, but then she noticed there were two more figures moving with purpose. Like they had a plan.

No way was that her crew.

A dreaded feeling sank to the pit of her stomach. Knowing something was wrong, her adrenaline began to pump as her body moved on instinct. Quickly, the captain grabbed her scythe and slid open the glass window. Like she'd done it a million times, Ruby leaped out the window several feet down.

"Hey!" the captain yelled for the world to hear as she soared down.

From the shout, the three figures halted before they could reach the door that led inside. When Ruby landed, there was a huge thud and she almost lost her balance.

"Wooah," the captain flailed her arms, and then stuck the landing.

The three figures with black hoods stepped backward with nasty glares.

"I'm only going to say this once," Ruby said sternly after she waved her scythe. "Get off my ship."

The figures glanced amongst each other as if they were planning something telepathically. Ruby tried to see their faces, but it was too dark, they were wearing hoods, and the rain provided perfect cover.

I wonder how long they took to plan this, Ruby grit her teeth, not liking the silence.

At last the middle figure, possibly the ringleader, spoke. "Find her."

Two nods.

"Find who?!" Ruby shouted harshly. "Who are you?!"

Don't tell me they're after…

The lips under her hood smirked. Sounded like the ringleader was a woman. An arrogant one at that.

Without having time to think, two of the enemies launched themselves at Ruby with blades begging for blood. Easily, Ruby was able to deflect them with her scythe as she expertly whirled around. The two were left to gasp when their weapons were thrown to the side.

"I warned you!"


Instead of sleeping, Blake chose to read her new book that was given to her by Ren.

Sadly, she was almost finished. She didn't want it to end!

Subconsciously, one of her cat ears flickered. At first, she gathered that was due to the rain. It'd been pouring for a while now, so maybe her sensitive ear reacted to that.

Then she heard a very loud thump. That wasn't rain.

Sounded like someone fell.

Sensing something was amiss, her adrenaline began pumping. She tossed her book to the side, turned off the lights, and jumped with the help of one of her clones. The faunus clinged to the ceiling, her eyesight in full view of her door.

Rushed footsteps. They sounded heavy. Heavier than Qrow's.

With every second, she could feel her senses becoming sharper.

Intruders, Blake said to herself. Can't they find another pirate ship to rob?

From experience, intruders normally weren't as strong or quick-witted as her. She excelled in combat and knew that, so she was ready to take this person head-on.

Suddenly, her door flew open. A dark-hooded person rushed inside like their life depended on it. Judging from their size, it was definitely a man. Blake noted to use his size to her advantage.

Perfect shot.

Since it was dark, Blake had no chance of being seen. Instantly, she rocketed down and drop kicked the figure directly in the gut. A harsh yelp fled from his lungs as he crashed into the hallway.

While he groaned and tried to stand, Blake approached him with a glare that could kill thousands. At last, his hoodie fell and she could clearly see that this was a man who'd seen many battles with all his scars.

Confidently, Blake poised her katana at the intruder. "I'll give you three seconds to turn tail and run."

"How generous of you," the man darkly chuckled as he stared at her. "I'm not leavin' till we have her."

When he said that, cat ears flicked. This was a first. Pirates never raided their ship to steal a person. It was always about the money. Then again, they were probably doing this for money.

Knowing exactly who he was talking about, Blake stood her ground. Now she was in full-on protective mode. "I'm going to finish you before you can even look at her."

After she stated that, the ship creaked ominously. The Howling Thorn agreed.

"Heh," the intruder smirked.

A millisecond after he said that, he chucked an orange dust crystal directly at her. A gasp.

With hardly any time to react, Blake conjured a clone to take the hit. Since it was such a small vicinity, the explosion still dragged her in.

Harshly, she careened into the wall behind her with a fragile yelp. This left a faunus-sized hole in the wood that was now utterly destroyed. The last thing she expected was for the enemy to use dust inside a ship. That was moronic on so many levels.

Ultimately, Blake rolled at the foot of a bed and groaned. All that commotion startled Yang, who jumped out of bed to tend to her girlfriend.

"Blake?! Are you okay? What's going on?!"

While Blake groaned, Yang looked over her shoulder. Some chunks of wood fell and through the hole, there was an unfamiliar face. Instantly, lilac orbs warped to red as her wild blonde hair emitted warmth.

Growling, Blake sat up with the help of Yang to glare at the intruder. "Are you insane?! You could capsize the ship with that! Do you want to die?!"

"Too late," Yang said in a hauntingly calm voice. Eager, she popped her knuckles. "Looks like you're my next victim. You should'a thought about that before hurting her."

All the man did was creepily smile like he had no regrets.

"Yang, I'm fine-"

Like a rocket, Yang slid on her gauntlets and vaulted out of the hole to beat him to a pulp. Her main priority was to prevent him from exploding another dust crystal. He couldn't if he was too busy locked in melee combat.

In the middle of the hallway, several punches and kicks were exchanged. Determined grunts pounded the air. On occasion, the two lost their footing due to the swaying of the ship.

"You couldn't have-" Yang grunted through another punch. "- done this when Juniper was here?!"

"I'm sorry," the intruder mocked as he deflected her eager fist. "Are we a nuisance?"

"How polite of you to ask!" Yang shouted sarcastically as she blocked a steel kick. "Yeah, you fuckin' are!"

Barely, the man was able to reach into his pockets. Yang fully expected another dust crystal, but was surprised to see that it was a switchblade.

Before Yang could deflect the blade with her gauntlets, Blake jabbed his side with the blunt end of her katana. The impact was so harsh that she heard a few cracks from his ribs. The man coughed violently before hopping back to gain distance from the two.

"Yang! Blake! What's happening?!"

From the voice, the two gathered it was Weiss. The ex-heiress stared at the scene, hoping they could hold their own.

"Go to Ruby!" Yang ordered. "We got this clown!"

When she yelled that, the bumblebee pair was sent crashing to the ground with grunts. Looked like a powerful shockwave of sorts. The sight caused Weiss to freeze, debating if she should help them or not. Thankfully, the pair flipped back up like the impact was nothing.

"Go!" Blake shouted.

"Okay!"


When Ruby sliced one of the figures in the torso, a sharp, satisfying scream entailed.

Before she could focus her attention on her other opponent, a blazing fireball whizzed into her back. A strangled yelp escaped as she rammed into the ground. The burning sensation was doused by the rain.

"Not so tough now, are you?" the ringleader said in amusement.

A fireball, Ruby thought. Who are these people?

The intruders menacingly approached her downed form. They were slow, like time itself had become slow motion. Before Ruby could try to retaliate, two radiant glyphs appeared below them and blew them over the violent ocean.

"Weiss!" Ruby yelped.

Before the intruders landed into the water, they broke two crystals and then dropped forcefully to the ground of the ship.

"Ruby!" Weiss called worriedly and helped her stand. "Are you okay?"

Ruby grimaced from her injuries. If Weiss hadn't shown up, she didn't know how much longer she could last in a two versus one fight.

"Roughed up a little," Ruby winced. "Nothing I can't handle. Are you okay?"

It was easy to see that Ruby was downplaying her injuries. When Weiss placed a hand on her back, she noticed there was a hole in her clothing.

"Your cape…"

From the realization of Ruby's precious treasure being destroyed, Weiss whirled around to face the enemies with newfound determination. One of their hoods had fallen off. It was a woman with a huge 'x' scar directly on her face. Half of her face was covered with an eyepatch.

"You!" Weiss hissed. "How dare you!"

Even Ruby was taken aback from her vehemence. Ruby watched her under the moonlight and rain. That rapier had never looked more intimidating.

The ringleader sounded alluring, yet deadly. "My, she came right to us!"

From that, Weiss stepped back.

"They're looking for you," Ruby murmured as she poised her massive scythe.

Deep down, Weiss knew this day would come. It was too soon. It was always going to be too soon. No doubt her father sent them here to take her back. Literally drag her back to that cursed mansion. Cursed life.

"You're gonna have to go through me first!" Ruby warned.

From the declaration, Weiss was paralyzed. Here her captain was, defending her with her life. She knew this would happen. It's not like Ruby would ever turn tail and run. If they were going to fight, they were going to do it together. There was no way Weiss was going to take the backseat.

That caused the ringleader to chuckle darkly. "Tempting," she held out her hand.

When her partner grazed her hand, the woman vanished into thin air. She teleported directly behind Ruby with her thirsty blade.

"Ruby!"

On instinct, Weiss conjured a glyph and boosted herself to get to her. Before Ruby realized what was happening, she was shoved forcefully to the side. When Ruby gathered her senses, there was a sharp thump that was followed by a feeble gasp.

Several agonizing seconds past. Only the rain remained.

"W-Weiss?"

It was a scene that would haunt Ruby for the rest of her life. It looked like Weiss was in a state of shock as she stared at her hands with her lips trembling.

The acute blade entered through her back, and sharply exited her stomach. Blood seeped around the sword and tainted her white clothes.

Slowly, the ringleader backed away.

In what felt like slow motion, Weiss looked up like she was admiring the moon. Her arms fell and she tipped to the side with a thump.

That sound played over and over in Ruby's mind. The world was closing in on her as she watched her crewmate in shock.

The other enemy yelled at her ringleader. "We were supposed to take her alive!"

The words were gibberish to Ruby. She didn't even hear them. All she could focus on was… Weiss...

"She jumped in front of me!" the woman shouted, angry things didn't go according to plan. "The insolent wench-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Qrow appeared and struck her so violently that she careened into the far edge of the ship. Chunks of wood spewed up from impact.

"Sorry I'm late," Qrow apologized as his scythe glistened under the moonlight.

Ruby was unaware of her surroundings. She didn't even notice Qrow. Weiss needed her. She bolted to her, praying that she could be saved.

"Wh-what do we do?!" the henchman asked her leader.

"We're done here!" the ringleader shouted.

Rapidly, Qrow launched at the two. "No you don't!"

Before they could retreat, Qrow flew at them with his scythe blazing. To his surprise, they abandoned ship and dove into the wild waters below.

"What the…"

He leaned over the railing, but they were nowhere in sight. In the background, he heard a frantic and broken voice.

"Weiss! Weiss! Weiss!"


"You're gonna have to go through me first!"

LOL um. Took that one kinda literally, huh?

Lyrics from Lost In Thoughts All Alone: "May thy chosen path lead way and grace you with virtue. But surely a balance awaits. So be it bliss or pain you gain." *mexican music* why not both? The last couple of chapters the crew was in bliss, and now they're in pain.

Stay dandy,

~Toto