The Dreamer Gate Vol 2: Wartide

by Malignent

Vale has fallen to the forces of the Stormbringer, who's declaration of war has seeded conflict across Remnant. As the now-separated members of Team RWBY each walk their own path to recover from the wounds gained in Vale, they'll be drawn into the complex circle of conflict now coursing through the land. For no matter where they turn, the tides of war will reach every shore.

2. The New Strange

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings, the Middle-Earth universe, Shadow of War/Mordor or RWBY.

This work will contain moments of intense violence, dark and dirty humor, and MANY canonical divergences.

---

The New Strange

"Sure do like their red and purple round here, eh?"

Ishga opened his eyes and glanced to his side. On the other side of the hall, Skak was walking in the same direction but seemed far more invested in the odd construction of the building than the destination they were approaching. Looking over the walls, Skak lifted his axe and grinned.

"What ya think they made of?" Skak asked his weapon before turning his attention back to the walls "Same stuff as all them weird rocks outside? But what is it, though?"

Ishga was almost impressed at how casual the crazed brawler could be, even in this scenario. Ever since the Stormbringer's betrayal, they'd been hit with surprise after surprise over and over again. The Warchiefs had fallen, an entire army of Uruks went rogue, and the two of them had lost everything, going so far as to ally themselves with Tarks just to not drown under the weight of the rapidly changing landscape. Through all of it, Ishga had forced himself to accept these changes. Being left by the Dreamer, forced to confront the Shaman himself to stop him from reaching an even higher echelon of power, fleeing Vale whilst protecting a Tark woman of all things.

Many times in the recent weeks while staying under the White Fang's watch, Ishga needed to talk himself down from panicking. But Skak didn't seem to be concerned with such matters. Whether it was from just being a mindless idiot or too relaxed to care, Ishga had hoped that even an iota of that fearlessness could be passed onto him for this upcoming meeting.

"Oi Tark!" Skak called out, "You been knowing these lads longer than us, you know what they made this place out of?"

Ishga looked ahead to the other member of their little procession: Adam.

He didn't say anything at first, merely kept walking ahead with his sheathed weapon held tightly in his grasp.

Skak frowned, "Oi tar-"

"Faunus." Adam stated without slowing down "You Uruks call humans tarks. I am not willing to bear any label given them."

Despite Cinder's acceptance of them, their stint with Adam's underlings still felt like captivity. The terrorists had been waging an underlying battle throughout the many months since the Uruks arrival. While the Kingdoms fought the Warchiefs, the White Fang had been skirmishing with the Chiefless in the woods of Vale. At first it was orchestrated by the Storm's thirst for resources, but even after the Chiefless were scattered during Atlas' raid on their tournament, those Uruks had already gotten used to stealing from the Fang.

Every single one of those grunts had glared at them from behind their masks, and Ishga had honestly been surprised that none of them had tried attacking. But their hatred for Uruks didn't seem to outpace their loyalty to Adam. Ishga wasn't sure what to make of this particular Hybrid. Though he reeked of the same hatred that seemed to radiate from the rest of the White Fang under his command, his hatred was different. It was like a smoldering flame instead of the open hostility shown by the others. Ishga could hear it in the way he talked, and in his tensed movements.

Whatever they may have thought of him, he didn't argue Cinder's orders to watch them. Ishga was positive that if it weren't for him, they'd have ended up having to fight through at least one gaggle of White Fang before today.

"Fine, Faunie, Hybrid, whatever." Skak waved off Adam's demand before gesturing to Blood-Axe "Blood-Axe and I been wondering what this place is."

"I don't know." Adam stated "This'll be the first time I've been here, so I'll be considering this a learning experience as well."

That made Ishga narrow his gaze, "You're in the same boat as us then?"

Adam actually glanced back at them, "I've met some of the people who're no doubt waiting for us. I don't think they'll be big fans of that game of yours."

Ishga's eyes shot to Skak, who raised an eyebrow, "Game?"

"Whatever you're doing with that Axe."

Skak smirked at that, "What ya talkin' about?" he asked

"More like, what can we expect?" Ishga was quick to change the subject "We haven't exactly been able to get in contact with Cinder since the Battle for Vale."

Adam let the previous matter drop and looked ahead once more to a large pair of double doors ahead of them, "Well, I'd say they're more determined than the common human. Though that determination doesn't translate to decency for all."

"Humans? Decency?" Skak looked to Blood-Axe "He talking about Tarks right?"

Adam paused before the door and looked back at them once more, "Just watch what you say, Uruks."

He strode towards the door and moved to open it, but hesitated suddenly. Ishga raised an eyebrow until he heard it too. Despite how thick the doors were, the sound of heated voices talking beyond it was undeniable.

Adam gave a low hum, his hearing providing him deeper insight into the context of the discussion. Ishga noted his thumb subtly pressing harder against the handle of his sheathed blade, but it slid down eventually as Adam opened the door.

"If I hadn't done so then we wouldn't even have been able to-!" Cinder's voice ceased as the large double doors opened, with both her and the rest of the individuals in attendance turning towards the door. Emerald and Mercury were standing at the sides of her seat. They were the only ones not sitting at the massive table which Cinder was placed at. Though they looked towards the new arrivals as well, Ishga immediately noted their muted reactions. Emerald seemed far too nervous to speak even if she wanted, and Mercury looked as if he was restraining his own annoyance.

Cinder's long dress flowed from her seat to the floor, but even with it her injuries from Beacon were clear. She looked pale, no doubt strained by her recovery. One of her hands was clenched, aimed towards a man sitting across the table from her with a rather thick mustache. This man rolled his eyes at the entrance of Adam and the Uruks, leaning back in his seat as he looked them up and down.

"Ah," he nodded before leaning his head against his knuckles "your new toys in all their festering glory. I must say that even with all we've seen so far, they still manage to look more disappointing than I expected."

Adam tilted his head to the side, but said nothing. It was a sentiment that Ishga was one to follow as well, seeing as he still had no idea exactly what kind of territory they were treading in this scenario. He could only glance at Skak, hoping beyond hope that he contained himself. Thankfully, Skak seemed utterly entrenched in a hushed conversation with Blood-Axe at the moment.

Cinder, however, didn't seem to share their hesitation.

"These 'toys' performed far better than any of your former underlings, Watts." she spat, slowly lowering her hand and letting her fingers tap against the table "I'd never accept judgement from someone who burns bridges as fast as you do."

"Then how about judgement from someone who doesn't rely on those underlings to keep from crumbling?" He offered, eyes briefly going to Emerald and Mercury "I don't believe anyone other than you has been so incompetent as to necessitate so much outside assistance."

Cinder's expression stretched into a snarl, but another voice interrupted before she could pursue the goal.

"Allies do not beget weakness." Adam stated as the double doors slammed shut behind them, "To fail with the support of the many is a sign of poor leadership rather than a poor populace."

Cinder's eyes narrowed at that, though Watts seemed humored by the statement.

"Ah, so even your toys seem to see it."

Ignoring Watts, Cinder shifted carefully in her seat to glare at Adam, "I don't believe I gave you permission to speak yet, Taurus."

"I was merely noting a fallacy in his suggestion." Adam admitted as he stepped to the side and approached one of the room's windows "To assume that the trouble at Beacon could be blamed on any singular individual is a waste of energy."

"That would be true if a certain singular individual hadn't claimed the maiden's power only to nearly lose it immediately." Watts noted, enjoying the glare Cinder shot towards him.

"But I still got the maiden's power." Cinder stated, "It would be in your best interest not to forget that, Arthur."

Watts's smirk disappeared momentarily as he turned to match her glare, "Oh believe me, I haven't forgotten a thing. Just like I haven't forgotten the tower you were supposed to destroy."

Though she hid it well, Ishga could tell that Cinder's glare tightened at that. Whether Watts noticed or not, he pressed on.

"The very same tower that is now being used by the very enemy you simply couldn't bother to account for." he raised a hand and casually gestured towards Skak and Ishga.

Hands tight at his sides, Ishga realized that the conversation had once more been turned towards them. He knew the time was approaching fast, and so stepped forward to give an introduction. But he wasn't fast enough, for the moment he began opening his mouth...

"Ah we ain't ya enemies." Skak snickered while waving off the claim and pointing to his axe "In fact, Blood-Axe is actually pretty excited to work with all o' you tarks!"

Ishga's eyes snapped towards him with a mixture of horror, rage, and disbelief.

"Skak!" he hissed, but Skak just kept on going.

"Just thinkin' of all the blood we could spill's got the both of us rip and raring to go!" he exclaimed before holding his weapon out to show it off "See? I ain't seen him this talkative in months!"

The room was silent for a while, with Ishga's expression of disbelief matched only by Cinder's. Emerald pressed her hand against her face in embarrassment, while Mercury's annoyance merely turned into an amused smirk. But beyond even that was the growing laughter coming from the seat beside Cinder's. Another man with a long ponytail seemed to take great amusement with Skak's statements, just barely able to restrain his laughter.

Watts eyed him with a shake of his head, "I never thought I could agree with Tyrian so easily," he turned back to Cinder "but honestly, what other kind of response could you expect for a joke such as this?"

"I never would've thought someone like you could downplay such a blatant source of information." Cinder countered "They could prove exceptionally useful."

Watts glanced to Skak, already in the process of being chewed out by Ishga, before looking back to her with a shrug, "Doubtful."

"But they seem so utterly entertaining!" Tyrian finally managed to say through his laughter before clasping his hands together "If it weren't for Spring playing so hard to get I'd have considered collecting a few of my own. Oh, I've heard so so much about how deliciously destructive these monsters can be~!"

Leaning forward in his seat, he slammed his hands on the table, distracting Ishga long enough for him to interject.

"Hey!" he tilted his head towards them "What does it say? That... Blood-Axe was it?"

Ishga grew an annoyed expression, but Skak was quick to respond, "Oh me an him was just talkin' about all that time we was spending in Vacuo not getting our fix o' blood." he explained before patting Blood-Axe in appreciation "He's a thirsty sort, ya see. Needs his fix else he gets really really angry."

"He sounds like he knows how to have a good time!" Tyrian laughed before quirking an eye at Cinder "I never knew you had such good tastes!"

Watts sighed before shaking his head and glancing to the side, "I suppose they could provide us with some knowledge on the forces occupying Vale, but that doesn't explain him."

His eyes went to Adam, who hadn't moved from the window once. He swept his gaze over the wide expanse of land beyond the dark castle they were situated in. It was a barren wasteland of reds, blacks and purples, dotted by large clusters of dust crystals and black pools. Occasionally, various Grimm would pull themselves from those black pools and move to wander the wasteland.

"You'd been so willing to keep the White Fang at an arm's length up until Beacon," Watts turned back to Cinder "and now you've got your errand boy right here amongst us all?"

Cinder gritted her teeth, but maintained a straight expression, "Vale's occupation has changed far too much to simply adhere to our previous status quo."she explained before taking a breath "Besides, Adam's assistance has proven far too invaluable not to utilize to a greater extent."

"Which makes that 'arm's length' relationship more of a hindrance than anything else." Adam stated as he finally pulled his gaze from the window, "Whether you realize it or not, the Uruks in Vale have guaranteed that your manipulations from behind the scenes can only take you so far. They've declared war on everyone including you, and your Grimm aren't able to target them naturally like they can others. If they can assemble and stock an army as fast as they say they can, then soon you won't even have the advantage of raw numbers."

"Hmph," Watts pulled out his scroll and began looking through it, "And you and your movement are supposed to help curtail that? I was under the impression you couldn't even mobilize the entirety of your faction, let alone enough to stand up against a full army."

"That was before I was given such a simple rallying point." Adam pointed out "The threat that the Uruks provide is more than enough to garner Sienna Kahn's support, it should be able to finally rally the rest of the Faunus to fight alongside us."

That made Watts grow suspicious, an expression which Cinder delighted in as she pressed her hands together.

Shaking his head at the idea, Watts moved to wave off Adam's statement "You can't possibly mean-"

"He's right," Cinder noted before gesturing for Ishga and Skak "with the threat of an enemy that thirsts for War as much as the Storm does, there's not a single person on Remnant who could abstain. That includes every last one of the Faunus settling down in both Vacuo and Menagerie."

"A common enemy, eh?" Ishga noted as he approached "Well you'll need such unification if you plan on outpacing a Spawn Pit, and even then..."

He trailed off with a groan as he took his place a few feet behind Emerald at Cinder's side. His eyes snapped to Skak, who'd managed to get distracted by the view outside the window.

"Yeah," Skak nodded in agreement as his eyes went to the black pools below "The Pits you lot got are pretty snazzy, but they's way too slow!"

"That's slow to you?" Emerald finally broke her silence

"Its one of the primary engines for the Dark Lord's war machine," Ishga folded his arms "improved upon over generations specifically to pressure the tarks of our realm."

Watts raised a finger, "But would those Storm fellows truly be able to construct such a thing in Remnant?"

"It doesn't matter if they can or can't yet." Adam stated "What matters is preparing for if they-"

Adam's words were cut off as the double doors began opening. It wasn't the creaking sound they released as they did so, it was the presence that drained the atmosphere right from the room. Ishga could barely explain the sensation, only that he could see the effect it had on everyone there. The animosity between Watts and Cinder practically vanished as they both sat up straight and lowered their expressions. Tyrian's humored laughter ceased immediately as his lips sealed together into a smile which widened as his eyes locked to those doors. Emerald's confusion was overwhelmed by caution, her gaze following Cinder's instruction and turning to the floor. Even Mercury's humored smirk had melted away, leaving a still expression pocked with concern as his gaze traveled to those doors as well.

Ishga didn't know who's example to follow, the only person who didn't react to the presence's arrival was the fourth person at the table. The last one was a large man who hadn't reacted to their entrance or the subsequent conversation at all. He'd merely sat with his arms folded and his eyes closed. Ishga had wondered if he'd been asleep, and it definitely would explain why he wasn't showing any reaction to the presence at the doors. It was the only explanation Ishga could accept, for even he suddenly felt stricken by some looming sense of apprehension.

When those doors opened far enough, a figure entered who seemed to drain the color from the world around it. Ishga had to blink several times, as it was hard to focus on without a pit forming in his gut. The figure entered with an unnatural stillness, as if she were practically floating just a millimetre off the ground. With skin the color of a pale death marred by black veins which ran along any skin not covered in its deep black dress, the monochrome scheme marred only by the deep red eyes which immediately began looking over those assembled here, there was only one thing this figure could truly be.

Salem

There were two things Ishga had been preparing himself for during his stay with the White Fang: being introduced to the rest of Cinder's unknown allies, and encountering her mysterious master. Adam had only told him the name, having never actually seen her before. Ishga hadn't been sure what to expect from her, as he'd never been in the presence of a creature so undeniably steeped in the darkness of the world.

The doors slammed shut behind Salem as her piercing gaze finally fell upon Adam and the Uruks, who she looked at for a single moment before she began approaching the table.

"Cinder," she said carefully, causing Cinder to look up to her with a tense expression of unease that Ishga wasn't used to seeing her sporting.

Salem looked down at her for a moment before raising one hand towards Adam and the Uruks, "will these allies of yours truly be able to help you undo your mistake?"

Despite flinching at the question, Cinder took a deep breath and stated, "Yes... I know they will."

She held up under Salem's gaze, meeting it despite the subtle trembling running along her shoulders.

Eventually, Salem gave a small smile, "Good," she stated before walking past her "because your inability to destroy Beacon Tower has forced me to reconsider our efforts moving forward."

The distance she put between her and the rest of them made Ishga release a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"With that Warlord in control of Vale's CCT tower, he's actually managed to gift my children with quite a feast." Salem admitted as she made her way to the head of the table "Though the kingdoms are trying to limit the range of their broadcasts, the Storm's displays of power and ruthlessness have led the people of remnant to fear and anger the likes of which I haven't seen in years. Its a precious opportunity that we shall make use of where we can."

Turning to look over those assembled, her eyes landed on Cinder once more, "With our Fall maiden chosen, I'd almost say their intervention didn't matter."

But then her smile melted away, "The problem that remains is the Relic."

At that, Cinder spoke up, "Even if they do discover the vault, without me its impenetrable to them."

"That's not the problem." Watts scoffed before gesturing towards her "As loathe as I am to admit it, you could've destroyed that tower in its entirety and it wouldn't have changed the fact that you got rid of one army sitting on top of the relic and replaced it with another."

"A far more dangerous one at that." a gruff voice emanated from the last man at the table, who opened his eyes and looked to Salem "These aren't huntsmen, nor do they seem like a negotiable sect like the Fang have been. Infiltrating Beacon again would probably be harder than any other Kingdom now."

"At the moment, yes." Salem admitted before smiling at Ishga "Which is why I'm extremely interested in what Cinder's new friends could tell us. While she recovers, the two of them together should give me more than enough understanding of this new enemy, for their sake at least."

"Its... not exactly a simple explanation." Ishga managed to say, not used to being under a gaze like that "If it were just Uruks I could tell ya everything here and now."

"We's bred for battle and war!" Skak declared with a grin "Ready made armies just waiting to get going!"

Rolling his eyes, Ishga nodded, "Right, but the Storm ain't a simple old batch of Uruks, they got ways of goin' about things."

"Inferences which could be made from their broadcasts alone," Watts interjected "they enslave mass groups for cheap labor and tear apart and re-purpose anything and everything they get their hands on to fuel their thirst for war. I fail to see the need to be reminded of what is clearly obvious."

"No, you just refuse to acknowledge my contributions." Cinder countered

"Either way, arguing over it gets all of us nowhere." Adam stated before raising a finger "Cohesion is a necessity in the face of conflict on this scale."

"He is correct," Salem agreed before frowning "this animosity between the two of you is wasted energy which can be directed to more beneficial goals."

Both Watts and Cinder seemed to step down under Salem's gaze, but she soon turned it to Adam.

She looked him over with a smile, "You and the Uruks must feel quite out of your elements, no?"

"Whether I do or don't doesn't matter." Adam stated "That doesn't change the reality of the situation, nor does it change what needs to be done."

"Well I can appreciate someone who knows their place," Salem noted before closing her eyes "it shall make these proceedings far more simple."

She stayed like that for a moment, smiling to herself for a moment before lowering her hands to her sides and growing a more serious expression, "Hazel?"

The large man looked up again, but remained silent as Salem gestured to Adam.

"Take Taurus with you to Mistral, from how Cinder's explained it, he should be able to unify the rest of the White Fang under our banner." she ordered

"As you wish." Hazel nodded to himself as he closed his eyes once more.

"I can get you more than the White Fang." Adam insisted

"Do not... overextend yourself." Salem stated with a sharp glare, "Keep your actual goal at the forefront of your mind, and proceed only when you can guarantee success."

Adam closed his mouth and took a step back, with Salem staring at him before closing her eyes again.

"With Vale out of our hands at the moment, we'll have to focus on Spring." Salem turned to Watts "Our contact in Mistral has several leads that I want you and Tyrian to look into."

Watts frowned and glanced to Tyrian, who clapped vigorously as he nodded and released several more giggles.

Rolling his eyes, Watts turned back to Salem and nodded "So you demand, so it shall be done."

Finally, Salem turned her gaze to Cinder. At this point, Cinder had tried to maintain her air of composure under Salem's overwhelming presence. She held her expression as Salem circled around the table and approached her.

"Cinder, you shall remain at my side while we proceed with your treatments." Salem laid a hand on her shoulder "In the meantime, I shall make sure your acquaintances are utilized to the fullest of their abilities."

"You're truly too kind, ma'am." Cinder said, smiling through the discomfort as Salem passed by. Cinder didn't seem to notice the worried look that Emerald gave Mercury.

"Though I do expect your underlings to compose themselves, these two Uruks have much to enlighten me on." she continued as she stood before Ishga.

Steeling himself, Ishga nodded, "Whatever you need to put that traitor down, you shall have it."

"Then first I simply must know more about this Shackle of his," Salem nodded before her face turned into an intense grimace "Cinder has told me much, but an Uruk like you should know more about its capabilities."

"What... where would you like me to start?" Ishga asked before backing up as Salem's eyes seemed to tighten with underlying malice.

"He can trap Auras, but just how far does that ability go?"

---

How many times had he spent wandering these halls?

How many times had he found himself in these ruins running through the dead halls marked by the signs of battle whilst desperately seeking an exit. For the young boy, it had happened far too much. The first time he found himself here, all he had was confusion. No memory of how he got there, no memory of why he needed to leave, just an underlying realization from nowhere that he needed to escape. The first few times he'd darted through the halls, it had been in a blind panic. He'd called out for help, for anyone to come show him the way out.

But then the screams had started.

They hounded him, shouting a bloated mix-mash of warnings and demands that overlapped with one another. He couldn't make out any of them, but they all sounded like the same voice. He tried using them to lead him out, but they seemed to come from every direction and only grew in intensity. The screams did nothing but make it harder for him to focus on escape, and he almost considered it worst than the confusion of his scenario.

But then he found the source.

It was during one of his many desperate treks through the ruins, hammering at his head to silence the screams, that he made a turn and found it. He had been unable to do anything but stare at the impossible sight he found down that hall. He wasn't prepared for it at all.

Down the hall was what looked like an immense wall of flesh pushing towards him. The wall was decorated with an innumerable number of stretched and distorted faces that molded together into an unholy amalgamation of skin. The faces stretched as the wall moved, their eyes darting around madly with their mouths opening and closing. But not a single sound came from it, which had to have been the most chilling thing about the monstrosity before him. Even as it grew, even as he saw teeth and tongues stretching and being reshaped, no noise whatsoever was produced.

His tense wandering through the the ruins soon became a horrifying effort in trial and error. He was faster than the wall of flesh, at least whenever he spotted it. But its lack of noise meant he'd nearly run into it one too many times whenever turning corners. Besides that, he was certain that it sped up whenever he wasn't looking, as halls he'd see as clear earlier would be filled with the encroaching wall not long afterwards.

It was the same as right now, him trying desperately to evade the fleshy mass while checking the maze-like halls. With his inconceivable opponent filling the structure slowly but surely whenever he wasn't looking. As more and more paths were cut off, his fear of being surrounded would force him to speed up. But just like all those other times, he eventually found his breathing heavy as he ran faster and faster.

But as soon as he found his labored breathing too much and his escape routes nearly diminished to nothing, he'd wake up.

Panting and drenched in sweat, the boy clutched at his chest first as he leaned up in bed. He probably would've tried evening out his panting if not for the loud hammering coming from his door.

"Oscar?!" A woman's concerned voice called out as the locked door handle clicked fervently "Open this door, please!"

Grimacing, Oscar stumbled out of bed and struggled to stay standing for a moment, "I-I'm fine, Auntie!" he called back

"But you were screaming again!"

"Just a nightmare," he insisted as he pressed up against the door "just... just dreaming about-"

"Those damn broadcasts, eh?" his auntie's tone went from concerned to pissed real quick, and after a loud groan he could hear her begin stomping away from the door.

Oscar waited for a moment before releasing a heavy sigh and sliding down to the floor of his door. He was glad she hadn't pressed him, if he had to explain just how terrible his nightmares had gotten lately then his Aunt would probably be forcing him to travel to a psychologist with her. But he couldn't really blame her for that, all he could really do at this point was blame himself. Like most families in this particular area of Mistral, Oscar's auntie had forbidden anyone from watching a certain series of broadcasts in her household. The broadcasts sent out by the Storm now in control of Beacon's CCT tower.

It was part of a community initiative to keep overt negativity from drawing the Grimm, as reports of increased Grimm attacks occurring had been rising ever since the broadcasts began. Oscar would admit to letting his morbid curiosity leading him to violate the unofficial prohibition, but he wasn't sure that the nightmares were caused solely by the few times he himself had viewed the broadcasts. He'd actually started dreaming up the ruins a notable amount of time beforehand.

But he couldn't deny that they'd gotten worst after seeing that broadcast, specifically after seeing what they'd done to Beacon. The terror of anyone conquering a huntsman academy would give anyone pause, but Oscar's fear had deepened for an entirely different reason. The marred images of Beacon looked entirely too familiar.

Almost exactly like the broken maze in his nightmares.

"Oscar!" his auntie's angered voice called up to him, "Get down here! If you got time to go sneaking around then you got time to start working early!"

Sighing, Oscar pushed himself back to his feet. He deserved it, of course, if he had just listened to her in the first place then maybe his nightmares never would've gotten as bad as they have. He missed the confusion his first few stints in the maze had brought him, it was almost comforting in comparison to the abject terror he faced every night.

Reaching for the door handle to unlock it, the moment he began pulling the door open he found the world around him shifting. He stumbled back as the regular walls of his room soon became all-too familiar architecture. When he tripped and fell backwards in surprise, he didn't find the familiar circular rug he had in the center of his room. Instead, all he felt beneath him was weathered stone.

Eyes darting down the hallway he was suddenly back in, Oscar didn't even have time to be confused before the sound of screaming began rising in the back of his head. Recognizing his nightmare almost immediately, Oscar squeezed his eyes shut as he reached up and slammed his hands onto the sides of his head. Trying to force himself to move despite the crippling confusion, Oscar lunged forward against the door and yanked it open.

He opened his eyes to find himself back in the regular hallway beyond his room, with the screaming gone as well. Doubling over and clutching at his knees as he tried to calm himself down, a smile started to work its way onto his face.

"Oscar!"

His aunt's yell made that smile disappear quickly as he began rushing for the nearby stairs, "C-coming!"

.{{{{{+-+}}}}}.

Little did Oscar know that at the very same moment, someone else was experiencing certain unnatural events. Although there was no mistaking that that this particular individual had done it to himself.

Inside what was formerly known as Ozpin's office, Pugrish finished sliding the last piece of marked metal into place. On the broken desk before him sat a pair of gauntlets, replacements for the ones destroyed in the Battle of Vale. They had become a past time for him in the past few weeks, something he'd work on whenever he wasn't doing anything else. They weren't exactly like the gauntlets he'd lost, though they carried the same abilities. No, these were designed to be superior, at least in sheer endurance. He'd overestimated their durability last time, or perhaps he'd underestimated Skak's brute strength, either way the same thing would not be happening again.

He probably would've finished earlier in the day if he wasn't so distracted, but he was the type who enjoyed a challenge.

Ever since the Battle of Vale, something had been wrong with his shackle. Well, objectively there was plenty wrong with the Shackle, but more specifically there was something wrong with a certain aura that it had captured during the battle: it was incomplete. For someone as well-versed in aura as he, Pugrish noticed it the moment he'd captured it. He'd been hoping that capturing that other anomalous aura would shed some light on this, but then Ishga and Skak had to come along with their tark friends and put that plan to bed.

Despite the basically immortal army at his beck and call, this aura was different from the others in more ways than one. Not only was it incomplete, but it was barely subject to his whims as a result. Despite the others moving and obeying, the only thing this one did was try to flee. It tugged on the edge of the Shackle's reach constantly, attempting to pull free of its constraints constantly. It wasn't exactly irritating, more like a fly buzzing loudly nearby.

The only clues as to what this anomaly was had come from one of the other Auras he'd captured: the one formerly known as Pyrrha. The Shackle was not able to feed him the knowledge of those bound to it, but he'd found he could take care of that himself. Drawing one into his own allowed him to rife through their experiences similarly to how he forced his own onto others. It was a time-consuming process, but one he found more than useful during his stay at Vale.

As long as he could identify the Aura, and it was bound to his shackle, he could sift through their memories to an extent. Whilst digging through Pyrrha's, there was a term that had come up numerous times in last few days: Maidens.

Pyrrha's understanding of these beings was far too limited for the Shaman's tastes, but he'd gotten the gist of it. They were human female wielding power unrestrained by the limits of Aura or semblances, and the Headmaster of this Academy had been planning on having her receive such a power. From there Pugrish had been able to identify that other anomaly who he'd mutilated as one wielding a Maiden's power, and after going through some of the Academy's records he'd been able to put names to faces.

But it wasn't enough.

The information he'd gleamed only made Pugrish curse the incomplete Aura stuck to him. It had to be this Academy's Headmaster, who would no doubt be able to offer scores of information. But whatever was keeping Pugrish from taking hold of him completely was also keeping him from dipping into his memories like Pyrrha's. That was the irritating part, but it was also intriguing to a grand extent.

Slipping his newly finished gauntlets on, Pugrish flexed his hands as he walked away from the desk. Grabbing Drumenvok from the side of the desk, he twirled it as he raised one claw before him. But before he could begin his test run, a chime from his side made him fish a scroll from within his robe.

It seemed the good Doctor was putting on another performance.

Unlike the first few broadcasts, this one started with Ratlug in plain view of the camera. He was in an unknown hallway, dark with only several lights on the walls offsetting it. He still had his usual smirk, but started off by shaking his head.

"I'll never understand you tarks," he laughed before gesturing for the camera to follow him as he began walking away "we give you all this time to recover and yet there's still no retribution? Were the wastes of fresh blood stationed here the only things you really had?"

He pushed open some doors and stepped into a room with a single light bulb shining down on a gagged man bound to a chair in the center. Another Uruk stood off to the side with a number of towels hanging off of him, but he said nothing as Ratlug strode in.

"Guess ya need a lil' more motivation to bite back," he shrugged as he left the camera Uruk at the door and walked around the bound man "so today I'll let you join in on my study of human physique."

Adjusting his lens-less glasses, he squatted beside his soon to be victim and drew a dagger from his lab coat "Of course, witnessing me work should be enough of a gift to you tarks alone, but I prefer some background noise while studying and I know I'm not getting anything from you, Mulgrim."

The Camera shifted a bit as the Uruk holding it choked out some grunts of disapproval.

"Oh quiet now," Ratlug snickered before frowning as the bound-man struggled against his restraints even harder. His screams of protest were garbled by one of his chains which crossed several times over his mouth and turned any words he may have been tying to speak in barely legible gibberish.

Ratlug rolled his eyes before gesturing with his knife to the Uruk with the towels, "Play it."

Wordlessly, the Uruk at the side held up a scroll and tapped a button right before a soothing melody began filling the room. He looked up to find Ratlug glaring at him, and quickly tapped at it some more before a very different type of melody overtook the first. This one was far different than the first, as if many different types of instrument were being haphazardly playing together. Though an absolutely monstrous tune at first, after several seconds the sounds meshed together in an odd yet fluid type of song.

The Song of Ratlug's music box.

"That's the ticket," Ratlug's grin returned as he spun the dagger and began humming as he brought it down.

---

On the Waters...

Blake tried to sit through the rest of the broadcast, gripping the railing tighter and tighter with her other hand as the one holding the Scroll began to tremble. She told herself that this was what to expect from her enemy, that she needed to be ready for the worst if she was ever to truly combat them. It was this idea that drove her to tune into as many of Ratlug's broadcasts as she could, as he seemed determined to show his audience the worst that he could muster.

Ever since he'd gained access to Beacon Tower, Ratlug had been fairly consistent with his broadcasts. Every single one of them seemed intended to either antagonize or demoralize his viewers. Whether it be Slaves being forced to kill each other or the growing might of their forces, the message was clear. Once he'd finished creating their spawn pit, he'd let the camera roll on it for an hour just to show off the dozens of soldiers they could pull out in that timeframe.

But this...

Desecrating corpses to abusing his captives, Ratlug took pleasure in showcasing it all. But this was the first time he'd gone to straight out torture in his broadcasts. He was usually fairly cheeky with his abuse, presenting captives with unwinnable situations and delighting in depriving them reprieve. He wasn't usually this straightforward. In a way, it reminded her of when they fought him, relying on his machine when he was a far more devastating opponent outside of it.

Yet today... today was different.

She held firm for the first few cuts, but winced once Ratlug dug his nails in and started peeling the gagged man open. Her resolve continued to weather from there, not aided by the oddly rhythmic music echoing through the room.

"No worries laddie, I'll be sure to patch you up right as rain before you go dying on me." Ratlug mentioned as he leaned against the captive and patted his cheek with a blood-splattered palm. As he said that, he nodded towards the Uruk off to the side, who shook his head before approaching with several towels and a cup of water.

"If you've got a surgical master like me puttin' you back together," Ratlug spun the chair around and took hold of the man's head "then it shouldn't really matter what I do to ya."

It was as he posed to wedge his blade into the man's nostril that Blake turned off the scroll and looked up, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Immediately, her nose was assaulted by the salt-tinged scent of the sea. The ship she was on rocked gently with the waves, which Blake utilized to steady her breathing once more.

As soon as she was able to focus again, the first thing she did was berate herself for giving in so easily. It was this kind of discomfort that he was aiming for, the kind of hesitation that gave monsters like him an opening on the battlefield. If she couldn't even handle something like this, could she really risk joining Ruby's mission in Mistral.

Shaking her head, Blake forced herself not to think about it. After all, she hadn't even accomplished her own goal. The ship she was on was the only one that was daring to head to Menagerie, and it had required her to travel to the southernmost tip of Sanus's eastern shores. The trek had been the least of her worries, it was waiting for the ship to set sail that really ate up time. The Captain of the Leashed Lassie had insisted that they wait as long as possible for other fleeing survivors of the Storm's invasion, they wouldn't be making a return trip after all.

It was the first time in a while that she'd worked with anyone besides her teammates, and Blake could tell her social capabilities without any of her friends to back her up were strenuous to say the least. She'd fought alongside several of the crew, warding off Grimm and keeping watch for Uruks or bandits. But despite fighting alongside them, her conversations didn't tend to go anywhere.

She supposed it wouldn't matter soon enough, they'd finally departed from Sanus yesterday, which meant that it'd be only a couple more days until she was back home, in Menagerie. There she could finally make peace with her parents, either that or face her punishment for abandoning them so spitefully. However things turned out, she would make peace with the results and return to her Team Leader's side with pride instead of hesitation.

Turning away from the rail, Blake watched as several refugees passed by: A woman who was hushing her son as another woman laughed at a joke Blake hadn't caught. Her gaze followed them to the front of the ship, where a haggard group of people were staring into the distance. They were only a few of the passengers that were using this ship to escape. Unlike most voyages Blake had seen to Menagerie, there was a far greater number of humans mixed in with the faunus. It figured, with how bad things had been getting on Sanus, any other option began to look drastically better.

As she watched them, she noticed one of the deckhands looking over the edge of the ship and calling another one over. Blake raised an eyebrow upon noticing the fearful looks on their faces. Pushing away from the rail, Blake crossed the deck whilst keeping an ear open. But just as she was within earshot, she heard one mention telling their captain before hurrying off.

Blake took a peak over the edge and immediately realized their concerns.

There was debris in the water. Perhaps it could initially be written off as tossed caro, but Blake didn't need to know much about boats to recognize this as chunks of a ship. She glanced over to the group of passengers, wondering if this had been what had drawn their attention. She could understand why, you wouldn't get debris like this unless you'd sustained immense damage. Plus, the route they were taking to hide from potential pirate or Grimm encounters was within visible distance of a long stretch of notable rock formations. If there was some kind of weather or current problem that could force them closer then they'd have a serious problem.

But as Blake looked up to the windows of the Bridge and drew closer, she could hear that weather was the last concern on the minds of those involved.

The deckhand had left the door open as he spoke to he Captain, "It has to be them, sir!" he said "Didn't that ship we were in contact with say they were travelling the same route?"

The weathered sigh of the Captain was just barely audible to her, "The Celestial did mention that, yes. But if they'd been attacked around here we wouldn't be seeing this much debris." he noted "The Pirates roaming between Sanus and Anima don't destroy their targets, they steal them. I think you should concern yourself more with the possibility that their raiding may have driven a Grimm south into our path."

As they spoke, Blake walked around the edge of the deck until she caught sight of the Deckhand gripping the door to the bridge hard, "T-Then what do we do? We have cannons, but if we end up in those rocks then-"

"We won't have to pass through them as long as we plot the course as so," the Captain adjusted his cap before pulling up a map and reaching over to grab a pen "Look here, we just go south around the formation instead of staying north. If the Celestial really was hit along its route than staying off of it and using the formations to hide from any potential spotting is key."

Looking over the map, the Deckhand took a heavy breath "But if it is a Grimm... and it senses us."

"One problem at a time, Cabin Boy." the Captain sighed "We have enough fire power to ward off a whole hive of Lancers and the speed to outpace most of the seafaring beasts on record. As long as we can spot the damn thing before it gets too close then I assure you, we'll be able to evade it."

Though the Deckhand gave a nervous nod, Blake found herself rubbing her hand along Gambol Shroud's sheath. She'd been so caught up with trying to stomach Ratlug's broadcast that she'd completely forgotten the whole reason why she wasn't below deck in the first place. She had to be ready, the oceans had only grown more and more dangerous since Vale fell, and she'd be damned if she let herself get caught unaware at this point.

Turning away, Blake made her way to the rear of the ship. So caught up in finding a good position, she hadn't noticed one of the passengers in a heavy hooded cloak turn back to look at her.

The Captain seemed convinced that they'd be able to evade an attack as long as they weren't caught by surprise. Blake wasn't exactly certain how fast the ship could go or how powerful its weapons were, but she'd do her part. Taking up a position along a rail once more, Blake kept her keen gaze on the open water. But eventually her gaze went down to her own murky reflection, which was consistently obscured by the waves the ship was leaving in its wake

---

Schnee Manor

Weiss stared at herself in the mirror, running her hand along the scar on her stomach. The moment her fingers came into contact with it, she winced involuntarily. Even though the Battle for Vale had been over a month ago, she could still feel the searing sensation of Myrtenaster being embedded into her body. She remembered a time when the scar on her eye had been a sore spot for her, back when it was the only thing marring her image.

Oh how she longed for that.

Besides the easily concealable scar on her stomach, there was another decorating her left thigh and a good portion of her right hand. As much as these new scars had upset her father, Weiss found that she took to them far quicker than she did the one on her eye. She found herself unable to care much for what they did to her image, as it was the memory of how she'd gotten them that had hurt the most.

Gundza had taken control of her body, forced her to turn Myrtenaster on herself just to try and ensure that she'd be beyond saving if Blake managed to beat him. Weiss had always considered plenty of her life out of her control, as she'd been born with a number of lofty expectations to fulfill. Atlesian society wasn't exactly the place for breaking new molds, despite their rampant escalation of technology compared to other Kingdoms. She'd been trying to meet the silent demands of the world for as long as she could remember.

But even that didn't hold a candle to what happened to her that day.

To lose control of herself, not in a metaphorical sense, but in a very legitimate manner. To become nothing more than a passenger watching herself try and kill one of her friends. To sit back and watch through her own eyes as she buried her teeth into her own hand just to add to her blood loss. It was horrifying in a way that she hadn't been prepared for, hadn't even considered previously.

She'd just gotten used to acting more open with her teammates after all, going beyond her own limitations.

A few knocks at the door of her room made Weiss glance back to it sharply.

"Sister?" Her brother's voice called through it "Please tell me that you're decent."

Weiss narrowed her eyes before smiling, "In a minute, Whitley. You've caught me at a bad time."

As she made her way to her closet, she could hear the sounds of Whitley's restrained chuckles through the door, "A bad time? Dear sister, when is it ever a good time with you?"

"Is that how you speak to someone in recovery?" she teased while slipping a dress on.

"You've been up for far too long for anyone to really give you that leeway anymore." He noted "The only reason Father isn't coming to question you himself is because he wants you to walk yourself to his study on your own."

Weiss paused, hands still in the midst of adjusting her hair.

Ever since she'd been released back to her family from the hospital, Weiss had kept to herself plenty. She knew that her father wanted to question her about what had happened at Vale, but she hadn't felt ready to face him. She'd already began ignoring his calls during her last days at Beacon, neglecting to keep him updated on her progress. She never would've even considered such actions before her stay at Beacon, but times had changed.

Those burgeoning acts of disobedience had been the result of a growing sense of rebellion, but her lack of communication with him had been the result of fear. She knew better than to let him know that, knew better than to let Whitley know that. But she knew that they had to have known, Father had taught her everything she knew, and had trained Whitley even moreso. If anyone in Atlas could tell what she was thinking at this moment, it was those two. Even so...

"If he wants me there so badly then he can have Klein come collect me." she stated before turning towards the door "I'm decent, by the way."

The door opened, and Whitley entered cautiously at first before smirking and strolling inside with his hands behind his back, "Oh please, you know Father would never give you ground in a challenge such as this."

"If he didn't want to show weakness then perhaps he should turn the network access back on." Weiss stated as she sat on her bed and watched her brother examine the room.

"And give those savages in Vale a potential in?" Whitley asked with a chuckle "Perhaps he should turn away all the extra security as well."

It was a faulty argument and the knowing smile indicated that he knew it, how couldn't he?

Weiss could understand all the extra SDC guards wandering the massive structure of her home, as long as the Uruks had access to those Dreamer Gates there was no telling where they could show up. What had tipped Weiss off to her father's ulterior motives had been the heavy security he'd been using to restrict access to the CCT. Ironwood and his specialists were the ones making sure that Ratlug couldn't find a way to mess with their transmissions using Beacon Tower, taking precautions and limiting network assets in this manner only made it hard for anyone without certain clearance to send messages out.

Meaning she couldn't contact any of her friends even if she wanted to.

Weiss sighed, closing her eyes as she debated whether or not keeping this stubborn act up was worth it.

"He's not going to let up until you sit down with him." Whitley mentioned as if reading her thoughts, glancing to her with a smirk before looking out of her window "You should know how pointless defying him is at this point, so why not just get it over with?"

Weiss's gaze traveled to him, "What do you care? I didn't think you'd have any desire to send out any messages."

"I don't," Whitley admitted with a shake of his head "especially nowadays when there's so many more servants around to play with."

Pushing away from the window, he approached her while gesturing around, "But one can only enjoy watching you have your little fret for so long before it gets boring," he noted before nodding towards the door with a pout "So how about clearing things up before I lose interest in one of my favorite performances?"

Standing up, Weiss knew that he was right. Underneath all the passive-aggression, he was still making a fairly good point. Even if that was the case, neither of the had been raised to accept defeat so easily. So Weiss turned to him with a smile and grabbed hold of his shoulder with her right hand. She felt it ever so subtly, the way his body seemed to twitch a bit upon contact. Though his face still held up that mask of superiority, he still had the same guttural aversion to scars.

"Thank you for the advice brother," Weiss mentioned whilst patting him "I suppose I'll take it to heart."

"I'm only here to help, Sister." Whitley said as she took her leave "What else is family for?"

Though she'd already made herself more than presentable, Weiss couldn't help but adjust herself once she was out of her room. After all, there were far more eyes to witness any potential blunders. Not two seconds into her journey she'd already passed a pair of SDC security personnel making their rounds through the halls. They lowered their heads upon spotting her, but Weiss made no indication towards them as they passed. There were several dozen guards like this now patrolling the Schnee manor, a relatively small number compared to what she knew her father was capable of.

Given how wide the scope of the company was and how close they were to the Atlesian military, the SDC's personal forces were nothing less than a small army spread out over their numerous locations. For some of the more minor installations they might rely on the Military's AK-Units, but Jacques Schnee was a businessman. Despite their close relationship, there was a firm boundary that he kept between the company and Ironwood's forces. Weiss used to think that her father's ability to build such tight relationships between business partners while still managing to keep them at an arm's length was his most impressive quality. But nowadays it was nothing less than concerning.

After all, he had the same relationship with his family after all.

Weiss couldn't help but let her mind go to Winter, a frown forming on her face as she tried to fight back the same worry she'd been holding onto since she'd awoken. Her sister had been part of the fleet that had gone to Vacuo to face down the Uruk Warchiefs, and she'd gone missing along with that fleet. Barely anyone could even start to theorize on what had happened, the only thing that was certain was that a good chunk of Atlas' military had stopped responding soon after they'd initiated combat with the Uruks. Due to the breakdown of communication between Vacuo and the other kingdoms following the failed attack and fall of Vale, they couldn't even get confirmation on whether anyone had survived.

But Weiss wouldn't allow herself to consider the possibility that Winter was dead, the idea of a life without her sister in it scared her.

Just as she thought that, Weiss paused beside a window. She spotted a familiar figure in the garden beyond the window, a face belonging to one of her Butlers: Klein. He hadn't spotted her, instead aiming a tight smile downwards to something obscured by the garden's bushes. But it didn't take long for him to notice her staring, and soon he raised a hand in silent greeting. Weiss let herself smile and return it, something she didn't do often in her family home. He was one of the few butlers she let deliver meals directly to her room, a rarity amongst the staff of the Schnee manor. But Klein had been there longer than most of the others, had been helping Weiss for the majority of her life.

Though she'd relented far more information to him than she had to her father, she found their talks painfully short each time. As one of the more senior members of staff, Klein had to overlook the newer hires constantly. Not only that, but his experience over the years have left most of her family trusting him to get jobs done better than the rest of the staff. Even her father tended to prefer Klein acting out his orders when possible. The only one who didn't tend to pick him over most was Whitley, but Weiss fairly certain that was just because he enjoyed the newer hires, as they were more prone to accidents that he could call them out on.

Shaking away the thoughts of her brother, Weiss changed her course to make her way towards the garden. She was eager to have some of Klein's supportive words before facing her father, but her movements ground to a halt when she realized why he was there in the first place. Though he'd raised his hand to wave to her, in his other hand was a fine silver platter. On that platter was a large bottle of fine wine.

There was only one reason for him to be holding that. Sure enough, only a moment after Weiss halted she saw a pale hand rise from beyond the bush and gesture towards him. His smile went tight for a moment, but Klein reached for the bottle just as the unseen figure lifted an empty glass towards him. After filling the glass, Klein gently placed the bottle back onto the platter before glancing over to Weiss. His smile dropped upon noticing the empty expression she held, and he said something quickly to the unseen figure before turning and making his way towards a nearby door.

Weiss didn't move from her spot as the door nearby opened, "Won't Mother wonder why you took off in such a hurry?"

Klein closed the door before lowering the tray in his hands and nodding towards it, "Told her the bottle had run dry and was going to fetch her another."

Weiss glanced over to the wine bottle and found it half full, "She believed that?"

Klein took a deep breath before simply stating "Yes."

Weiss looked back out of the window, looking towards where Willow Schnee was hopefully reclining in some kind of chair, the alternative was far too pitiful for her to consider.

"If you're this far from your room," Klein looked to her sympathetically "I take it that you're going to have that talk with him?"

Weiss nodded silently.

"Well, you'll find him in his office with that Maxwell fellow." Klein turned back towards the door.

"What?" Weiss looked to him

"They're renegotiating their terms." Klein sighed before making his way back into the garden.

As if the SDC personnel and restricted network access weren't enough, her father had gone so far as to get an Atlas Specialist to join the task force now securing Schnee Manor. This Specialist just so happened to be the posh Chaperone that Weiss and her team had during the attack on the Uruk Tournament. Maxwell had been strict and critical of them for nearly the entire time they'd spent with him, but nobody could honestly say how much of that was Gundza masquerading as him. But Weiss could say with certainly that, after spend a good amount of time with him at her home, she was fairly certain his spite was genuine.

Though he was officially on loan from the Atlas military, Klein had heard enough parts of his conversations with Jacques to put together that he'd been hired out as additional muscle in case the security detail wasn't enough. Even though she hadn't spent enough time wandering the premises to interact with him, Klein had told her stories of how Maxwell managed to criticize both the staff and Security detail with surprising consistency.

Unlike when he was chaperoning them, Maxwell didn't actually have any authority to hang over the rest of the staff since they were all technically employed by Jacques. As long as he was doing his job, it was just something everyone would have to put up with. Weiss initially assumed that her father would absolutely adore having someone around who wouldn't hesitate to rat out his coworkers for less than stellar performances. Unfortunately for him, Maxwell wasn't the type to pull any punches.

"-need more soldiers if you want to truly have this place covered."

She could hear Maxwell's voice down the hall, and it only grew louder as she drew closer.

"Just how many workers do you think this building can accommodate?" Jacques asked "As big as it is, the amount of room dedicated to housing staff can only be stretched so thin."

Weiss entered to find Maxwell pacing in front of Jacques desk, the Specialist running a hand through his dark blue hair before raising a finger "If you truly wanted to defend this place then you'd make room. Half of this mansion seems decorative with how much room there is, simply acquiring the small beds to fill it would be-"

"Unnecessary," Jacques stated as he leaned back in his seat "honestly I'd have hoped that one such as yourself would have faith in your abilities."

"Oh I do," Maxwell insisted before he turned on his employer "believe me, I do."

Weiss saw her father's eyes ever so subtly turn in her direction, so she held firm whilst slowly closing the door behind her. The moment it closed, Maxwell looked back to her momentarily before rolling his eyes and placing a hand on Jacques desk.

"But the holes in your patrols only emphasize the incompetence of your unit." Maxwell snapped "And if such incompetence jeopardizes my mission then I'd be remiss to ignore it."

Jacques looked him up and down before leaning forward once more, "Then I suppose you'll have to start learning to ignore it, won't you?"

"Listen to-"

"No," Jacques held up a hand "you listen to me. I pay you to stay on hand in case anything were to threaten my family or abode. Does your contract say anything about improper support?"

Maxwell gritted his teeth, "No, but I-"

"Uneven patrols?"

"No that's not what-"

"Then I suppose you'll have to come back when you find something worth arguing over," Jacques leaned back "because so far the only thing we've managed to agree on is that you have nothing contradicting our agreement."

"This isn't about the contract, Sir." Maxwell said whilst biting back his agitation

"Exactly, so why bother wasting my time over it?"

The two stared at each other with neither adding anything for a moment, but Maxwell finally turned away and stomped past Weiss with a grimace. He didn't pause to look at her, merely made his way out of the office before letting the door slam shut behind him.

"Give them a little leeway and they always get so nippy." she heard her father say.

Weiss swallowed carefully and turned to face him, finding Jacques already rifling through a folder he'd drawn from his desk.

"He's got quite a habit of overstepping boundaries." she noted, folding her hands together while keeping her gaze steady.

"An understatement, but an amusing one I'll admit." Jacques nodded before pulling out several papers "So what say you?"

Weiss blinked, eyes growing momentarily confused, "Concerning?"

"Concerning the acquisition of additional security of course." he laid down the papers, revealing them to be the staff rosters of several SDC mines out in Solitas "I've already taken as many as I'm willing from the local installations, so if we truly need more then I'll have to call them in from abroad."

Weiss narrowed her gaze, it was a loaded question and they both knew it.

"That depends on the solution you're looking for," she admitted whilst approaching the desk "If the aim is to keep us and the building safe then that depends entirely on what the threat is. Even with extra forces and a tighter series of patrols, they won't matter much if one of those gates opens up and spews a whole platoon worth of Uruks in here."

"Precisely why they're merely intended to buy time." Jacques stated whilst collecting the papers back into the folder.

"For us to escape you mean." Weiss sighed, having already considered that as a possibility.

Putting the folder back in his desk, Jacques looked up at her before giving a small nod, "That's my girl."

With that said he stood from his desk and made his way to a cabinet against the wall as he grabbed a glass and a bottle of alcohol.

"Should I pour you a glass?" he asked while pouring himself a drink. Weiss swallowed carefully.

"You know I don't drink." she stated

"Do I?" Jacques looked back to her "That's funny. As there's quite a bit about you that I'm uncertain of at this point. Perhaps if you had continued with your updates I would have more to work with."

"Our problems with the Uruks were rather distracting."

"Oh yes, but they weren't distracting you in the days between your return from Vacuo and the Battle at Vale, correct?" Jacques gestured to her with his glass "Don't think I don't have enough pull in Atlas to get a decent time frame of your journey. You kept me updated on your actions and potential excursions up until that trip you had to Yires, which you kept me aware of. However, even after you returned and recovered there was basically radio silence."

Weiss swallowed, this was the conversation she'd been dreading. And already, she regretted placing herself in his company, "My apologies, I let my teammates' injuries get me distracted."

"Ah yes, you know I was almost planning on giving you the benefit of the doubt there." Jacques nodded before taking a swig of his drink "Forced into close confines with others, I anticipated you to grow attached in such a manner. It would only make sense for your work cycle to be thrown off due to their injuries but..."

He set his drink aside and gestured to her, "Something odd happened. Even after you've recovered from your injuries and had weeks to settle back into your home... you still seemed keen on refusing to inform me of what happened during that period of silence."

Folding her arms behind her back, Weiss closed her eyes, "I can't think of an explanation that would satisfy you."

"Because there isn't one..." Jacques finished for her as he swirled his drink a bit, watching the fluid inside spin as he spoke "So just give me... the truth. We both know it'll make this go easier."

Swallowing once more, Weiss opened her eyes and locked them onto her father's, "I was tired of feeling like an investment...Being around everyone at Beacon, I found myself able to relax in ways that I thought would be impossible for someone like me."

Jacques didn't say anything, merely continued swirling his drink as he gestured for her to continue.

"It gave me peace of mind that my... my reports kept getting in the way of." she admitted, hands clenching tightly behind her back "I wanted... to be more like my friends-"

"Who you are not."

Weiss looked up at Jacques, but he hadn't looked to her. He merely downed the rest of his glass as he gestured for her to continue.

"What more do you want me to say?"

Setting his glass down, Jacques folded his hands together and leaned forward on his desk, "I don't want you to say anything at the moment, Weiss." he shook his head "Right now I just want you to remember why exactly I have you keep me updated in the first place."

"To keep tabs on any threats to my physical or mental well-being, image or relations." Weiss answered, knowing the answer to that particular question by heart

Jacques nodded, "You're a Schnee, a symbol of our family name's power and future. Perhaps your friends get the freedom to do whatever they please with little risk of repercussion, but everything people like us do, is seen by all."

He turned to his computer and tapped at it as Weiss sighed, but his eyes didn't turn to her once as he went through tab after tab, "Due to your lack of updates I've had to utilize the media to keep track of you, which I've made clear I'm no fan of. Would you mind telling me why you were raging at a couple of hoodlums in a diner some time ago?"

"I was not raging." Weiss stated firmly.

"Something I would know if you had reported on it." Jacques fired back before shaking his head "I need reliable details on your current status if I'm to ready both you and the company for you to eventually replace me. Given the times we've lived in ever since those monsters made themselves known, the possibility of me dying before the Faunus have their rights grows more and more firmly. I'll need you to be ready, but this sudden lack of your input has-"

"I didn't want to feel like an investment." Weiss reiterated, maintaining her silent stare even as Jacques lowered his hand and shook his head.

"Weiss, every action one puts energy into is an investment." Jacques stated "You invest energy into training with Myrtenaster, you invest energy into getting up in the morning, you invest energy into befriending those teammates of yours."

"Don't make it sound like that's all they are." Weiss said, letting some of her agitation slip into her words "The way that you talk about me during those calls, I never even thought about how degrading it was until I met them. They're more than just an invest-"

"Speak ill of my methods, Weiss." Jacques raised a finger "but don't speak lies like that in my presence. I've taught you everything you know, and you should know by now that trying to argue that point with me will result in nil returns. Waste my time defiantly if you wish, but wasting your own time isn't something that a Schnee should engage in."

Weiss bit down on her lip, knowing that he was right. She'd inherited only a tenth of her father's stubbornness, and should know better than anyone how impossible arguing with him would be unless she had concrete benefits to wave in his face. He wouldn't take her happiness into account unless he considered her at risk of some kind of mental break. It was all statistics to her father, all aimed towards the goal of making the Schnees the most powerful family in Remnant.

Ever since he'd taken control of the company, he'd gone on to make that goal a reality. Even their harshest enemies had to take into consideration the power that the SDC held. From wealth to global reach, they probably had enough resources to start their own kingdom somewhere if they really tried. But Jacques wasn't satisfied with just having them be at the top, he would go on to firmly entrench themselves into the highest rung of Atlas society to the point where on most days the citizens of both Mantle and Atlas would wonder who was really in charge.

"I've heard your excuse, as poor as it may be." Jacques noted before raising an eyebrow at her "But I'd be dissapointed if that was the only thing which you came to speak with me about. The future head of the family should know better than to not seek a return on even a single one of their actions."

Weiss was Heiress to the SDC, the largest Dust distributor on Remnant. Simply because she had been born before Whitley, Winter's departure for the military had left her next in line. Weiss used to envy Winter's position, only to recognize what had driven her away the moment that it had become hers. It was taxing, being under Jacques' supervision and tutelage. Weiss had been conditioned over nearly a decade to see everything in terms of values, just like he could. She thought that it was all necessary, as the skills and traits he instilled in her were the very same ones that he'd used to stand atop Remnant's economy. But that was before she'd been able to view it from a true outsider's perspective, where her father's inhuman logic began to unnerve her.

But in his house, that very logic was the only thing that she could rely on when facing him down.

"I would like to contact my teammates," she admitted, deciding to cut to the heart of her problem "I know for a fact that they were worried about me while I was under, and going this long without clearing things up with them feels as though I'm leaving things unfinished."

"An agonizing feeling, I'm sure." Jacques noted, closing his eyes momentarily as he reminisced "I don't believe there's been one instance in my life where leaving something unaccomplished hasn't been infuriating."

Weiss blinked, growing suspicious as she watched him for a second, "Then you'd know how much I'd like to get it over with."

"Of curse, but to simply acquiesce in the face of your uncooperative actions would reinforce such negative behavior." he sighed "Not to mention the potential security risk of reopening the network around here."

"The Uruks wouldn't have anything to gain from having access to our calls, even if that engineer of theirs did find a way in." Weiss insisted, voice growing louder as she spoke "You never had your business deals on that network, so all they'd have would be-!"

"Weiss," Jacques interrupted her "a controlled tone allows you to control the image you present. In any deal that image will be vital in twisting your opponent's view of their circumstances. Revealing this much frustration on your end has provided me with more avenues to stifle your demands than you could possibly imagine."

At that, Weiss's lips sealed together in frustration. Jacques continued to stare at her until she managed to control her breathing again, and only once the air was clear did he continue.

"I could stifle them, but I believe I'm willing to offer you a deal instead." Jacques turned back to his computer "Resume your reports and show me that you can get back on schedule for... let's say one month."

Weiss caught herself before she could say anything in response to that extended period of time. She saw her father watching her out of the corner of his eyes, searching for even the slightest reaction. When he found none, he nodded in approval before continuing.

"I will have someone get you your own private little network in that time frame." he said as he focused back on his computer "but you will not receive clearance for it unless you can keep a consistent input of information for no less than one month. I won't ask you to recoup the time we lost due to your negligence, but I will need the assurance that I won't have to worry about this again. Deal?"

So this was his lesson this time around. Weiss supposed she'd forgotten how exactly he conducted business during her time at Beacon. She'd expected his demands to be far more ridiculous, far more punishing, far easier to deny. But that wasn't how her father operated. Despite how oppressive the idea of waiting a full month to contact her friends was, not helped by the depressing idea of reporting in again, she knew that she could do it. Compared to trying to talk her father into giving her some leeway, the less painful option was clear.

She was getting cornered, and they both knew it.

A beep from his computer made Jacques look over it again. Weiss had been hoping for a few more seconds to try formulating a decent response, so when Jacques gave her a questioning look she nodded to his computer without hesitation. He tapped at the screen before folding his hands together as he focused on the image that appeared on it. Weiss couldn't see from where she stood, but the voice of an exasperated woman was clear.

"Sir, that girl's back again." the voice said "We were going to turn her away like usual but the Lieutenant still insists we get your confirmation first."

Jacques opened his mouth, only for it close as he glanced to Weiss out of the corner of his gaze. Weiss wasn't familiar with the security staff, most of them looked like the usual SDC detail besides Maxwell. She had no idea how she related to the information her father had just been provided, but she found herself wanting to know desperately once she saw the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

"Actually, let her into the main hall today." Jacques stated as he looked back to the screen

"S-Sir?" the woman asked "Are you certain?"

"Indeed," he tapped at a nearby keypad and soon the call cut out.

Weiss wanted to question him, but Jacques beat her to the punch yet again

"I won't make you answer now, take your time to mull over my conditions and merely begin your reports when you come to your senses." he said as he leaned back in his seat and nodded towards his computer "In the meantime, you've got someone waiting for you."

Weiss narrowed her eyes, "Who?"

"One of your... friends, apparently." he said as he maintained eye contact, "she's been asking for you for over a week now."

"What?!"

"Perhaps if you'd come out of your room more often, you'd have noticed?" Jacques suggested before turning back to his computer.

She wasn't convinced, "You wouldn't just allow me to interact with a 'friend' so simply, in what way do you benefit?"

Jacques hand paused over the keypad, briefly looking to Weiss before smiling, "There we go, now you're speaking like a Schnee again." he said before closing his eyes "I suppose you could consider this a test of resolve."

Leaning his head into his palm, Jacques opened his eyes and turned them back on his daughter "If my conditions fail to appease you, then something like this should make your resistance easier, correct?"

Weiss clenched her hands behind her back, trying to hide how infuriated she was lest her father start pressing again. She'd let herself get too soft at Beacon, beforehand she used to be able to keep up with him far more easier. Back then her wordplay used to be enough to ward off Whitley, yet now she was back to abusing his distaste for scars. This knowledge didn't make Weiss regret her time at Beacon, but she wouldn't be a Schnee if she couldn't see how ill-equipped she was for her return.

She kept tightening her fists during the entire walk away from Jacques' office. Even with how off her game she might've been, Weiss recognized the ploy that her father had presented her. Just giving her a taste of the connections she'd formed at Beacon would make the desire to see her friends even stronger. No other person on Remnant should know more than her father just how hard it was for a Schnee to feel satisfied with anything.

Beyond that was the problem of just who this 'friend' was. There's no way that they'd even be able to continue showing up without the security detail running a background check on them, but Weiss had had plenty of people attempting to label themselves a 'friend' of hers. It was why it was so hard for her to see her teammates as true allies after all. She knew better than to get her hopes up that one of them had shown up, but she still let it happen.

Which is why she found herself slightly confused at the sight of the girl standing in the main hall, standing still as a statue in a tight stance as she maintained eye contact with one of the SDC personnel watching her. Weiss narrowed her eyes as she walked down the stairs of the main hall with greater haste, not willing to be misled by the girl's distinctive attire. The SDC personnel took note, with many of them looking to her as she finished making her way down. These movements prompted the guest to finally break her impromptu staring match, and Weiss found her suspicions confirmed when she looked up to face her.

"Ciel?"

Adjusting her blue beret and standing at attention, Ciel gave Weiss a salute, "It feels good to see you again, Ma'am." she said before looking around "I'm apologize for taking up so much of your personnel's time."

Weiss took a moment to respond, having not expected to see this particular girl at all after Vale. She looked far better than the last time she'd seen her, which didn't mean much considering that the last time Weiss and Ciel had interacted was when Ciel was still recovering from her incident at the Vytal festival. Just thinking of it made Weiss's eyes travel up to Ciel's head, where she could faintly see the signs of a scar poking out from the bottom of her beret. Ciel reached up and pulled her beret down to cover it up, only then did Weiss realize she was staring.

"No, I'm sure they'd appreciate a break in the endless patrols." Weiss said to recover, with several of the guards glancing to each other silently "Though I must say I didn't expect you to come visit."

Though Ciel's expression stayed even, she raised her hand and tapped at her wristwatch, "I debated it at first, but eventually came to the conclusion that not checking in with you would be... unfortunate."

Despite the odd way of wording it, Weiss couldn't help but give a small smile, "Well... I'd be lying if I said it wasn't good to see a familiar face, I haven't been in a position to get in touch with my former team yet so-"

"Not even Miss Xiao-Long?" Ciel tilted her head to the side as she pressed a button on her wristwatch and prompted a screen to appear hovering above the device "The others I could understand due to where they'd gone but I was certain that she would stay with-"

"Wait," Weiss drew closer, trying to look at the screen "you know where my team is?"

Ciel seemed to lock up at the sudden closeness, but composed herself before nodding, "I was attempting to keep track of all huntsmen and huntresses-in-training that made it out of Vale. I felt the desire to keep busy until I was slated for extraction from Patch, so yes. Miss Xiao-Long's father was on board the same transport I was, so I had assumed she was as well."

"What about Ruby?" Weiss asked "Or Blake? Do you have either of them?"

"Only hearsay," Ciel lowered her hand "they both took separate ships east-bound on Non-Atlas vessels, so I can't say for certain if they were aiming for Vale, Anima or somewhere in-between."

Despite the partial information, Weiss found herself relieved that they'd made it away from Patch in some manner. She hadn't been able to watch the Broadcasts that Ratlug had been making, but hearing them second-hand from Klein made it clear that Patch had been the Storm's target ever since taking Vale. If her friends were gone before Ciel had left, then she could at least breathe a sigh of relief in that area.

"Thank you," Weiss said to Ciel "you don't know how good that is to hear. If you have time I'm sure I could find a way to thank you."

Ciel looked away as she folded her arms behind her back, "Ma'am, I should reformat my earlier statement. I've been coming here to see if you would be interested in... hanging out."

The awkward way that Ciel had said it made Weiss raise an eyebrow, "Hanging out?"

"Because we're friends, after all." Ciel focused on her once more "I would be remiss to make her efforts null at this point."

"Her?" Weiss tilted her head "Who..?"

Weiss's words trailed off, for there was only one person that Ciel could really be referencing that single revelation it all clicked together for Weiss, and she gave a small nod before gesturing for Ciel to follow her.

"Sure, can't say that I'll be any good at it, though." she said before turning and walking back towards the stairs. Ciel looked up for a moment before quickly moving to follow her. Once of the SDC guards moved out of their way, but not before gesturing to two of the other members of the detail. While the rest of the guards proceeded to disperse, those two moved to follow at a close pace behind Weiss and Ciel.

Weiss supposed she was happy that she had someone other than her family and the Security detail to interact with, even in a limited capacity. But thinking about Ciel and how hard she was taking Penny's efforts to heart just reminded her of her own teammates. She just couldn't help but wonder what they were doing at that very moment.

---

Patch

The Rose Xiao-Long household was deathly silent, with all of its windows closed and the curtains drawn. Because of this stillness, the sound of footsteps approaching the front door was rather obvious. What was even more notable was when those footsteps paused at the front door, right before a single kick tore said door off its hinges and sent it flying into the building.

Standing in the doorway, Krosh lowered his foot and took one look inside the building before groaning.

"Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up." he rubbed his head before strolling inside.

The building was absolutely barren, with only the heaviest of furniture remaining inside. Decorations, keepsakes and nearly everything else had been stripped from the floors walls and ceilings. Making his way to the kitchen, he found that both the sink and refrigerator had been sabotaged. It wasn't much of a surprise to Krosh, as the rest of the structures on Patch were similarly devoid of life. He supposed it made sense, the Storm had taken forever to make good on their threat. They'd had other goals to focus on in the meantime, only recently being able to divert their army towards the island.

It just felt like something of a waste of time, considering all the work they'd put into setting this up.

Looking towards one of the kitchen windows, he pulled it open and sighed.

Up in the distance, Amity Colosseum was making its rounds along Patch's coastline. On board were enough Uruks and Storm ordinance to rain destruction upon anyone stupid enough to stick around. But even when thinking that, he couldn't help but feel dissapointed that nobody WAS stupid enough to stick around. He could feel the same sentiment in the other Storm Soldiers he'd met up with as they scoured the entirety of Patch, a lust for battle that didn't come.

Even though he'd had to get them back on track each time, he couldn't say he didn't know their distaste thoroughly. Its what had him agitated over the house's emptiness despite all the evidence which had warned of such an outcome. His grumbling was interrupted by a chime as he was making his way up the stairs. Already anticipating who the call was coming from, Krosh rolled his eyes as he answered it.

"So, find any tarks over there?" the smug tone of Ratlug rang out before Krosh could even speak.

"Nah, but it's no problem." Krosh waved it off as he reached the top of the stairs and began checking rooms "Boys are getting reckless, but I got a handle on it."

Sniffing the air, he kneeled beside a bed frame and shifted it out of the way with his heel before spotting something.

"I know you was doing fine whilst working south, but a pa's gotta worry for his spawn, right?" Ratlug asked coyly "Wouldn't want filth like you goin' around thinkin' I don't care."

Picking up something that had been stuck in a crack in the corner, Krosh looked at the photo of his old runaway slave: Yang. She had just ambushed an older man with a Camera, taking the picture with a cheeky smile despite the expression of surprised confusion still crossing his features.

"Glad to have all this emotional support," Krosh replied sarcastically as he stuffed the photo into his pocket "you gonna hit me with the right hook now or late-?"

"Might wanna look out for some trouble," Ratlug interrupted "overheard a bit of worrying conversation from Vermag before you all set off."

Krosh snickered as he made his way back down the stairs, "Vermag the Blast?"

"Yeah, might have heard just a lil' something about him and his lads making a play on one of their superiors." Ratlug continued "Somethin' about climbing the ranks one way or another."

Krosh rolled his eyes before closing them as he approached the front door once more, "Was planning on having some fun tearing this place up, but I guess I'll have to save that for after I save whatever poor sap Vermag is gunnin-"

Krosh's words cut off immediately as he opened his eyes again, having just stepped outside of the building...

...only to find himself surrounded by over two dozen armed Storm Soldiers.

Slowly, Krosh's gaze narrowed as he brought the scroll up again, "Doc... did you happen to catch the name of who they were aiming for?" He said carefully, the blade on his free arm already extending.

Ratlug didn't answer, instead he merely released a condescending chuckle. He didn't need to say anything, not right now anyway. Krosh slowly lowered the scroll as one Uruk pushed his way through the crowd, juggling several oddly shaped objects as he locked eyes with Krosh.

Grinning widely, Vermag caught the three explosives out of the air and nodded to Krosh, "Good weather for an Ambush, eh?"

.{{{{{+-+}}}}}.

Ratlug continued chuckling up until the call ended, punctuated by a battle cry and the sound of gunfire. With that little tidbit ended, he turned back to the screen in front of him.

He stood in the midst of the communications room of what was known as Beacon Tower, a place he'd spent much of his time after Vale had been taken. He'd been considering renaming it to something else, something with more grit that the boys could enjoy shouting in the midst of a horrific battle. They loved that kind of forethought, and Ratlug and forethought got along perfectly. It's what had helped him run things over the course of the last few weeks.

While most of their forces loved rallying behind the ridiculous power of their Stormbringer, many of the useless sods seemed to forget who kept the backbone of this army strong and flexible at the same time. Ratlug had served the Grand Shaman for decades, organizing Captains and setting their schedules on top of fueling their war machine with his sheer brilliance. Without him, the horde of the Shaman's followers wouldn't have nearly as much organization as they did compared to the rest of the Uruk-Hai rabble.

Since they'd set up shop in Vale, Ratlug was basically responsible for coordinating everything that wasn't directly related to combat. While the Captains were out there dealing with the pockets of resistance in Vale and Pugrish was busy studying Beacon and fixing up his gear, Ratlug was the one who had to consider the fortification of the city and the resources they'd need to supply their growing army after the Spawn Pits were complete. As the smartest Uruk to ever draw breath, he'd of course solved such an issue with little effort.

Which is why the threats on Patch were his idea, putting those cowards on defense seemed like the fastest way to get their attention off of the true target. Instead of looking west for expansion, the Storm turned south instead.

Right towards Mountain Glenn.

An entire cache of resources just waiting for them stroll down and take it. After pulling up several logs on the failed expansion, Ratlug had found out that the sheer amount of building materials just left over there would be more than enough to put weapons in the hands of thousands of fresh spawned soldiers. Not only that, but the proximity Mountain Glenn had to several natural mineral deposits meant it was the prime target for any reasonable warlord. He barely had to even explain it to Pugrish before they had the go ahead.

The best part was that most of the work was already done. Break their way into the cordoned off subway system that ran to Mountain Glenn, repair the tracks and link them up to the city's preexisting train lines. The real threat had been dealing with the Grimm that were left in the both the tunnel and Mountain Glenn itself, but once they were done clearing up Vale they had plenty of soldiers itching to brawl. Besides that, Ratlug had his leading Uruk in the field of trains and rails on the job.

Thanks in no small part to that particular Uruk and a train car they'd been studying for a while now, that portion of their efforts was nearly as impressive as the Spawn Pit had been. The very Spawn Pit currently churning out soldiers at that very moment down in Vale. Ratlug had begrudgingly accepted Pugrish's aid in its creation, and had succeeded in getting a pit that can actually produce viable soldiers. Sure, they were more pale than the usual fresh spawns with near identical pale skin, but that just meant they were easily distinguishable from any other brood to date.

He wasn't so sure about the Paleblood title that most soldiers had taken to calling them, but Ratlug would deal with that later.

On top of all that success, Ratlug had been able to enjoy taunting the world using the tarks' own little signal tower. Aside from his broadcasts, Ratlug had been able to manage nearly all of the Storm's communications right from this one room. With the help of his Researchers, Ratlug had been busier than he'd been in years. And yet, even then he had more than enough time to enjoy his own pastimes.

His thoughts were interrupted by a blue flash behind him, and he glanced back with a raised eyebrow. Several researchers glanced up from their screens and looked back as well, a number of weapons raised until they recognized the flash of light as an off-color Dreamer Gate. Only a moment after it formed, a familiar masked Uruk stepped through.

Ratlug grinned as he turned away and began approaching one of the room's large windows which overlooked Vale below, "Ah, just the Uruk I was thinking of calling on," he noted before overlooking the city below "Was thinking of renaming this tower, but I figured the entire land could use a much more guttural title as well."

Turning back to Pugrish, Ratlug nodded towards the city below, "How's about it, sir? I know you've got an appreciation for naming things."

The Stormbringer didn't answer him immediately, instead he was looking over his gauntlets, which Ratlug just noticed finally seemed repaired after the damage they'd sustained during the Battle of Vale. Almost identical to his previous pair, these ones did seem noticeably thinner than their predecessor. Pugrish looked these gauntlets over, flexing them with Drumenvok nestled in the crook of his shoulder. Finally Pugrish clenched the gauntlets into fists and the off-color dreamer gate behind him dispersed.

"A name?" Pugrish looked to Ratlug as he took hold of Drumenvok and began walking over "perhaps Zuul-thag?"

Ratlug narrowed his eyes as he glanced down to Pugrish, but merely looked away as he folded his arms, "I was kinda leaning towards Bereghun."

"Well, sir!" one of the Researchers stood up before adjusting his glasses "I'd like to submit Ghashgor for consideration!"

"That already exists back in Mordor, maggot." Ratlug shot back

"And every realm needs a name as impressive as that, somewhere!" the Researcher declared

"Shut up Skoth." another voice called out from across the room, where Druk was watching Drul fiddle with an odd piece of headgear.

Pulling his cigarette away momentarily to cough, Druk glanced across the room at his fellow researcher, "I've seen your work, and you's far too capable to rely on names of the old realm like that."

"Well think you can come up with something better then?" Skoth countered

"I could," Druk shrugged before taking a drag of his cigarette "I just choose not to.'

Ratlug rolled his eyes at the exchange and prepared to get them back on track, but snickering at his side drew his attention down to Pugrish. Using one hand to restrain the evidence of the humor he took in the Researchers' back and forth, the Stormbringer shook his head before sighing.

"I'll miss talks like this during my trip, I can already tell."

"Trip?" Ratlug put his hands in the pockets of his dirty lab coat "You aimin' to hunt down some more Grimm? I know that there's still some that the boys are contending with around Mountain Glenn, definitely gonna have to find a new name for that as well actually."

"No," Pugrish looked to him before patting a hand on the Journal he had strapped to his waist "I'm off to investigate something."

Ratlug's expression fell momentarily, only to brighten with newfound interest as he leaned in, "Something related to that stuff in the basement I'd hope."

Pugrish tapped a finger to his lips in thought, "In theory, I suppose. Do you remember that anomaly we spoke of?"

"The Headmaster? Please tell me you have him." Ratlug asked with an expectant grin "Oh that setup downstairs has been invaluable to my Patchwork project, I know you're all about these magic womenfolk-"

"Maidens." Pugrish corrected

"I don't care what they call them," Ratlug waved him off "do you have the Headmaster?"

"No yet," Pugrish said with a smile before looking out the window "but I do plan on finding out why. Now that my gauntlets are fixed travelling shouldn't be an issue now, so I'm leaving Vale in your care until my return."

"So... just keep doing what I've been doing, then?" Ratlug raised an eyebrow as he chuckled

Pugrish patted him on the shoulder as he walked by, "You always were faster to the point than most, Doctor."

"Wait!"

Pugrish paused right after he'd swiped his hand through the air, his gauntlet pulsing with blue runes as that odd Dreamer Gate appeared before him. He didn't enter, turning back to Ratlug first as the Doctor crossed his arms.

"Before you go, mind sparing say... two or three of those Auras ya got stuck to ya?"

Pugrish raised an eyebrow underneath his mask, but Ratlug could already tell his smile was growing.

---

Somewhere along the East Coast of Sanus...

Jaune slammed against the base of the tree again for what felt like the twentieth time since they started, but he knew beyond hope that the actual number was probably far larger in scale.

"You still good for more?"

Looking up, he saw Ruby hefting Crescent Rose and taking aim, "Because me and my Sweetheart here could go all night!"

Jaune tightened his grip on his shield and sword before looking himself over. His Aura glowed briefly and soon he shakily pushing himself up, "Yeah... yeah, I should be able to go a bit longer."

Shrugging, Ruby waited for him to get back on his feet. Despite the sun slowly setting in the distance, she could still clearly see the determination in his gaze as he adopted a stance once more. Cracking him a smile, Ruby hardened her stance before cocking Crescent Rose and firing. With a yell of effort, Jaune raised his shield in front of him right before slipping out of the way of the first round. The second one slammed into his shield, but he held firm before pushing forward.

That only lasted until Ruby twirled Crescent Rose and brought it down on him. Though Jaune managed to hold back the strike using his shield, the impact forced him back as he struggled to regain his footing. Ruby took the opportunity to spin Crescent Rose over her head and swiped his legs out from under him. Jaune caught himself on the ground and looked up to find Crescent Rose falling towards him, just barely managing to lunge out of the way as the blade crashed into the ground. Jaune lunged with his sword at her.

Even with Crescent Rose's blade still stuck in the ground, Ruby managed to hold back Jaune's blade with her weapon's handle. Pulling the trigger, the recoil blasted Crescent Rose out of the ground and both Jaune and Ruby stumbled away as dirt and bits of the forest floor rained upon them. Ruby recovered first, aiming Crescent Rose behind her and blasting her forwards. By the time Jaune was able to spot her speeding towards him, he was only barely able to bring his shield up between them to intercept the incoming strike which lifted him off his feet and threw him back against another tree.

Ruby paused as she watched his Aura flicker harshly, aiming Crescent Rose back to the ground as she waited fr Jaune to catch his breath. He held up his shield in a silent request for some time to breathe, one which Ruby happily acquiesced to. Jaune kept his head low, but was able to catch the sound of Crescent Rose folding back up. He looked up to see Ruby walking over, scroll in hand as she checked on his Aura levels.

"I know you're gonna say you're fine, but-"

"Ruby." Jaune said carefully

"Look," she raised a hand defensively whilst tucking her folded up weapon under one arm "even if I wanted to keep going for now, I'm pretty sure we're gonna want to turn in early. We head out to sea tomorrow, remember?"

This had been the part of their trip that everyone had said would be the hardest: crossing the ocean to Anima. Even with an airship, both Yatsuhashi Ren and even their Pilot had said that getting into trouble over the open waters would be seven times as crippling as trouble over a landmass. Ruby took their word for it, the closest she'd come to sea travel was when making the trip from Patch to the mainland of Sanus. Jaune had traveled overseas plenty of times to visit family in the past, and he'd been quick to note that the journey they were looking at was nowhere near what Ruby was used to.

So after hearing her bring it up, Jaune relented and had his shield fold back into a sheathe before sliding his sword into it, "Right... right, sorry." he reached out and let her help him back to his feet "I guess I'm just not used to the idea of traveling overseas in such a small ship."

That was where his inexperience came from. Every time Jaune and his family traveled they'd had the benefit of being on large ships air and sea. They often had some huntsmen there to help if any dangers lurked near. But this time they were the only defense they had to rely on. Not only that, the ship they were flying in was a cargo transport that was only marginally larger than the average bullhead. Despite being on the bulky side, its offensive capabilities were close to none.

That was where they came in.

The deal with their pilot was clear, as long as they could keep his ship and him in one piece then he'd get them to Anima with no extra charge. Desperate to escape the Storm and with no way to fight off the innumerable dangers between him and his homeland, he'd settled on taking in a bunch of Huntsmen-in-Training to make up for it. Once they were on the ocean, they'd have to be on constant alert, sleeping in shifts and making sure they were always ready to jump into action.

Ruby had been skeptical of the amount of danger there could be on the open water, still thinking of the comfy journeys to and from Patch, but those thoughts were quickly shut down by her companions. In fact, the Pilot had been so worried about this portion of the journey that they'd taken forever to make it from one coast of Sanus to the other. That time had been spent with his passengers helping other refugees make their way south, clearing paths and fighting off Grimm that had gotten in their way. While they fought, he'd compare notes with every captain or pilot they met up with, trying everything in his power to chart the safest path across the ocean.

As they made their way through the forest, Ruby saw the fruits of their efforts in a large clearing besides a partially destroyed cabin. The airship was nearby, with several crates full of supplies off-loaded and being looked over by their pilot. The only other person visible was Yatsuhashi, who was leaning against the door of the cabin. He noticed their return first, and looked up at them with an even expression

"Training over so quickly?" he asked

"Yeah, felt like we'd need some extra sleep for tomorrow." Ruby said before nudging Jaune "You should see how quickly this tank over here's been getting back up."

"Doesn't change how often I have to get back up, though." he sighed before pointing to the cabin "Is everyone else..?"

"No," Yatsuhashi shook his head "Only Velvet. Ren claimed that he felt the need to check our perimeter again, Nora wouldn't allow him to go alone. I might have joined them but..."

Yatsuhashi nodded towards the cabin, no further words were really required. Ever since they'd initially set off, Yatsuhashi had been determined to keep close to Velvet. It wasn't hard to tell why, as she'd been disconcertingly quiet and distant with the most of them. She chipped in with fighting Grimm whenever they made a stop, but barely said anything besides call-outs and would just wait quietly in the ship until they were ready to go.

The cause for her distant behavior was clear, as they all had heard about what happened to Coco.

Yatsuhashi claimed that ever since she'd cried herself out, she'd been dead set on getting away from Vale, no, the entire continent of Sanus as quickly as possible. Ruby still wasn't used to Velvet being this cold and unresponsive, but she couldn't even begin to try imagining how hard Coco's death had hit her. Ruby felt off just by having her team split up, she couldn't imagine how she'd feel if one of them died.

"No way in hell I'd let anymore of ya run off."

The annoyed words drew Ruby's attention back to their Pilot, who looked up from the crates of supplies with a shake of his head before jerking a thumb back to his airship.

"All the deadly crap wandering around lately," he muttered "I ain't about to let y'all leave Anna-May to the elements."

"We were just past the tree-line, Rory." Jaune said before glancing to Ruby "I know for a fact she could've darted over the second that anything happens."

Rory rolled his eyes, "That supposed to make me feel better, kid?" he asked before nodding to his ship "Don't think I gotta remind you that A.M. over here's the only thing getting us away from this hellhole, and it won't take longer than a second for something to put her out of commission."

Rory Bwerst was a middle-aged man who showed the signs of his exhaustion on his face. Portly in stature, he never failed to remind his passengers of everything that could possibly go wrong during a trip overseas. Despite how irritated he constantly seemed to be, every single one of his passengers recognized it as the result of just how generally terrified he was. Ruby liked to think that was why he always seemed so sweaty, but maybe he just got hot easily.

"Hey, we want to get to Anima just as much as you do." Jaune continued, gesturing to the ship "We'll get it-"

Ruby nudged him quickly.

"H-Her," Jaune corrected himself with an awkward smile "We'll get her across the ocean without a scratch!"

Rory didn't seem convinced, but merely returned to checking the supplies with a grumble. Jaune deflated, but Ruby gave him an appreciative pat on the shoulder before approaching their pilot.

"Sooo, been a crazy trip over here, huh?" Ruby asked

"Bout to get a whole lot crazier." Rory muttered "Damn landlocked folks like you wouldn't know just how screwy this is gonna get."

"Are the Grimm out on the Ocean really that dangerous?" Ruby asked, which made Rory pause.

Giving a groan, he shook his head, "Usually, they'd be the greatest threat we got out there. Massive sea creatures or the occasional flying asshole capable of taking on whole ships on their own. Usually you can plot your way around them, but now we got these pirate shits making it even worst."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Pirates?"

"Yeah, everyone I've spoke to on the way over says the water between Sanus and Anima is rife with this new band of em attacking anyone they can find," Rory massaged his eyes "They show up and just steal everything, including the damn ship. Got themselves a whole fleet of vessels on the water now blasting airships out of the sky and occasionally attacking coastal towns."

Ruby cradled Crescent Rose before giving him a determined smile, "Well, we'll do our best to hold off whatever comes at us, Grimm or Pirates."

"I'd damn well hope so." Rory turned to look at the Anna-May "With how much me and my girl have been through, there's no way in hell I'm letting those Black Tide bastards get their mitts on her."

---

One the Waters...

The explosion rocked the side of the Leashed Lassie, causing most of the passengers to stumble including Blake. Unlike most of them, however, she immediately grabbed hold of the nearby rail to steady herself before looking around for the source of the attack. It had come from the port side of the ship, so Blake was quick to circle around the back to seek out the attacker. She could hear the Captain yelling from the bridge, the sound of the cannons sliding into position reaching her ears as she gripped the rails and looked out to the rock formations.

It was no use, even with the change of perspective as the ship picked up speed, Blake couldn't spot any sign of the attackers. But focusing clearly, she could spot the slightest of movements atop one of the largest rocks formations. She looked closer whilst drawing Gambol Shroud, just barely catching sight of an arrow speeding from atop that rock formation and speeding towards their ship.

By the time she'd spotted the small projectile, it was already too late.

Though she hurried, the arrow punctured the forward facing window of the bridge. The Captain's yells cutting out as his eyes darted to the arrow right before it exploded.

The figure hiding atop the rock formation lowered his crossbow before growling to himself and sneaking away. Seconds later, he landed beside another figure who was tapping his fingers against a rail. This figure immediately glanced back to the archer and groaned.

"Ya missed the first shot."

The Archer rolled his eyes, "Apologies, if you wanted Bubol here then you should've asked him to come along." he stated before holding out his hand "Now are we getting to it or not?"

The other figure groaned before reaching and taking hold of the Archer's hand.

Meanwhile, Blake climbed up to check inside the bridge of the Leashed Lassie, cursing under her breath. The entire front window had been blown inward from the blast. Half of the crew seemed injured, and the Captain was lying on his back in a slowly growing pool of blood. He had several pieces of glass sticking out of him, as if he'd taken the brunt of the blast. The other sailors weren't faring much better, but Blake wasn't given long to consider helping them.

"Black Tide Pirates!" another deckhand shouted from the front of the ship, leaning over the rail as he pointed towards the Rock Formations. Blake turned away from the bridge to follow his finger, only to realize why she couldn't spot any ships before.

The very largest of the rocks they were passing had a massive hollow burrowed in one side of it, within which a ship was emerging and picking up speed. It didn't look much bigger than the ship she was on, but the aggressive black symbols smeared all over its hull had Blake on edge before she even saw the shouting Uruks on board. Even at a distance they seemed like an odd assembly of rabble, but they were wheeling what could only be a piece of artillery into position.

With the bridge crew out of commission for the moment, the Leashed Lassie wasn't even able to flee let alone fight back.

Aside from the rabble, one figure seemed to launch from the pirate ship with the sound of a loud gunshot. It aimed something behind it before firing the weapon and launching itself closer towards its target. It sailed over Blake before landing at the front of the Leashed Lassie, with her rushing to catch up as the sound of gunfire and yelling broke out.

By the time Blake showed up, she found one single figure standing amongst a group of downed members of the crew, all nursing wounds or struggling to rise. On the other side of him, several passengers were cowering as he pointed a musket towards them. The other passengers were already fleeing past Blake, who took aim at the figure just as he seemed to notice her approach.

"Oh? Someone else tryin' to make my day harder?" he spat before glancing back to her.

He was dressed in what Blake could only describe as a scavenged White Fang Captain's uniform, with long black strips of cloth wrapped around numerous cuts and tears in the fabric. Both his feet and arms were bare, wrapped only in the same black strips of fabric that were used to patch up the uniform. The original symbol for the White Fang was scratched out, with black and red smudges giving the torso more of a reddish gray coloring. The mask itself was another deal, as it seemed to be an amalgamation of broken White Fang masks melted together, his uncovered mouth pulling into a deeper frown at the sight of Blake.

Lowering the musket at the sight of her, he leaned his head back and groaned, "Oh you have got to be joking."

Blake raised an eyebrow as he raised his free hand up to massage his eyes with irritation. He tapped the bayonet on his musket against the ground before glaring at her.

"Gonna say this one time and one time only, Hybrid." he pointed past her "Piss off before I gotta waste my time breaking you like this filth here."

He nodded to the beaten sailors at his feet, but Blake took that as an opportunity to dart in to close the distance between them. Initially grunting in surprise, that shock turned to rage real quick as he swung the Musket towards her. Blake leaped over his first round before spinning in the air with Gambol Shroud as it transformed into its scythe mode. He raised the musket to deflect the swinging blade before rolling to the side as it stabbed into the ground. Blake used it to pull herself in-between him and the refugees, who she looked back to briefly while nodding her head to the side.

If she could just keep this one distracted long enough for them to slip away, then she wouldn't have to worry about them getting hit by stray rounds.

"Ugh," the Uruk groaned as he stood up spun his musket "Looks like we're doin' this shrahk now, eh?!"

"We wouldn't have to if you'd pack up and leave." Blake countered just as he leveled his gun at her

Blake darted out of the way as he took aim and fired again, using her semblance to evade the next shot before lunging in for his stomach. He swung his musket down to intercept the strike, but slid back a bit as they clashed weapons. Steeling his footing, he shoved her back and whipped his Bayonet around only for Blake to back-flip out of its range. She landed and took aim only for the ship to suddenly lurch and cause both of them to stumble.

They both caught themselves, only to simultaneously glance to the massive harpoon sticking out of the side of the Leashed Lassie's bridge. It had a thick cord running from it back to the pirate ship, with several of the Uruks on board gathering near it,

"Don't worry boss, we's comin' to help!" one of them shouted right before swinging a hook up and using it to latch onto the cord.

Their 'Boss' didn't seem to keen on the label, and quickly turned back to them, "I ain't nobody's boss, ya glob!" he shouted before glancing back and swerving out of the way as Blake slashed at him. She saw him clench his free hand into a fist and leaned out of the way as he brought it down into the wooden deck below. He glanced up just as she swung Gambol Shroud's sheathe into the side of his head and sent him spinning. She moved to follow up with another attack, but he turned with the spin and brought up the musket whilst angrily massaging his jaw.

Altering her course, Blake ducked under the musket round and was swinging Gambol Shroud up when his free hand suddenly lunged downward and caught her wrist. He dragged her towards him before slamming his shoulder into her, sending her rolling back before she caught herself in a crouch. To her surprise, instead of pursuing her, the Uruk slapped himself upside the head before growling.

"The shrahk is takin' you so long!?" he yelled at the floor

"We's here, Warborn!"

Blake glanced behind to find that about six of the Black Tide Pirates had used hooks to cross the harpoon cable, with one hefting a massive industrial saw as he dismounted from the cord and revved it up. Dressed in a burnt up apron splattered with dry blood, this walking nightmare cackled as he pointed his saw towards Blake.

"More smoked meat for war!" he shouted before getting ready to charge, only for his 'Boss' to fire a round into the side of his saw and stop his charge dead in its tracks.

"I wasn't talkin' bout you globs!" the 'Boss' shouted before pointing to Blake "You leave the Hybrid to me, and get to pickin this lot clean first! And make sure none o' them tarks pilotin' this hunk o' junk are moving!"

The Saw-wielding cook had locked up the moment the 'Boss' had started yelling at him, only for footsteps to draw his attention as the Deckhand from earlier rounded the corner wielding a cutlass and pistol.

"Don't worry!" he shouted as he looked to the passengers with another crewman behind him "Back up is-"

"Delicious!" the Saw-wielder revved up his weapon and tore after them with two other pirates following behind him.

Blake moved to help, only for a shadow to rise over her which prompted her to leap back as the 'Boss' stabbed his bayonet into the ground where she once stood. He pulled the trigger, using the recoil to whip the musket out of the ground while force Blake to use Gambol Shroud to keep the debris from getting in her eyes. He leaped at her, with Blake lunging back out of the way of the musket only to dart back in on a dime. Before he could tear his weapon out of the deck again, she swiped both Gambol Shroud and its sheath towards his stomach.

Only for a pair of long knives to intercept the strike. Blake froze up, as the arms wielding the knives had emerged from the Boss's chest.

"Finally!" the 'Boss' griped as he wiggled his weapon free.

Before Blake could think about backing up, a face emerged from the center of his chest.

"Well," Gundza looked her over with passive disdain "good to see you're just as infuriating to look at as last time, Blake."

The side of the Musket slammed into Blake's head as Gundza emerged from his host fully. Catching herself, Blake looked up with confusion as she watched him twirl the knives in his grasp. They were almost as long as machetes, it almost seemed improper to call them knives. But eventually he slid them both into sheathes hanging at his waist before folding her arms and glaring at her.

"What took you so long!?" the 'Boss' roared at him whilst stomping a foot against the ground.

"Oh? Is our resident Berserker going to lecture me on timing?" Gundza rolled his eyes as he looked to the sky "I figured that all that complaining lately meant you were itching for a battle."

"Oh don't you even try that with me, you arse!" the 'Boss' bit back "If you was helpin' from the start, we'd be done by now!"

"And how are you supposed to learn anything if I just solve everything for you, Uthug?" Gundza shrugged before raising his hands "Not every day that the 'Warborn' gets an actual challenge to work with nowadays... Well, unless we count Kruk."

"Don't act like you help me with anything you-!"

"Uthug?"

Both of them looked back to Blake, who tried for the life of her to remember where she remembered that particular Uruk's name from.

Noting her confusion, Gundza smirked "Ah, I suppose such confusion is to be expected," he looked back to Uthug "considering the last time we all clashed, I suppose it would be hard to picture that sniveling wreck as the combatant that stands before you now."

"Who you calling a sniveling wreck?" Uthug grunted before pounding a fist on his chest "I recall you relying on me as a meat shield to hide behind!"

"Exactly, what other use would a sniveling wreck have?" Gundza glanced back at him.

There it was again, the way that they argued. The last time she'd fought with Gundza had been the battle of Vale, but the last time she'd heard him argue with someone in the middle of a fight had been even before then. She remembered the escape from Hork's tower, the fight with Ratlug's mech, and trying to hold the Shadow off as her teammates dealt with the Machine. It was a devastating battle, only made worst by Ratlug's emergence from his mech, but before that Gundza proved to be a problem even in a weakened state. It didn't help that during the fight he'd constantly utilize an excessively angry grunt who kept getting in the way with that musket of-

Blake her head before giving a skeptical look to the Musket-Wielding Pirate before her, "You're Uthug?"

Uthug clenched his fists in agitation, "Why are you saying it like that, ya filth?!" he demanded before Gundza stepped between the two.

"Are you sure he's the one you should be focusing on, Hybrid?" the Shadow asked before reaching towards his neck and tugging on an odd necklace that Blake couldn't remember him wearing the last time they'd fought.

In fact, now that she took a moment to look him over, a deep sense of dread formed in the pit of her stomach, "Those are..."

Unlike Uthug or the rest of the Black Tide Pirates, Gundza only had a simply pair of trousers and boots. But the rest of him was covered in what looked like hunting trophies... very specific hunting trophies.

Bracelets with animal teeth on each hand, a necklace of preserved animal ears, and even fur lining for his boots.

"Got back into hunting not long after you failed to kill me," he said whilst taking hold of one of the ears dangling on his necklace "really went far in helping put a smile back on my face after such humiliation."

"Y-you didn't..." Blake stammered, eyes narrowing with rage as Gundza reached behind him to a large crossbow hanging on his back "Tell me you didn't!"

"Reconnected with some old allies," he continued saying as he looked the crossbow over, his eyes slowly turning to her "figured I'd pick up archery again, amazing how simple putting down fleeing hybrids was after that."

"Are you really doing this now?" Uthug asked before gesturing around them "Kinda in the middle of a lootin' ya know?"

"I'd ask you to calm down, but I already know that request is moot with you." Gundza sighed as he slid the crossbow back onto his back and gestured behind them "Besides, the boys have got this down by now."

Looking past them Blake finally shook herself from the sinking dread as she remembered where exactly they were. The Saw-wielder and half of the Pirates had chased the rest of the crew to the other side of the ship, the sounds of gunfire and the revving blade were audible even from there. Meanwhile, the other half of the pirates were busy shaking down the refugees, tearing clothes and stealing jewelry and wallets while laughing and joking the entire way.

She couldn't let herself think about what Gundza had done in the weeks since she'd last seen him, not while there were people right in front of her that needed help. The only thing that stood between her and them were Gundza and Uthug. Though Uthug seemed preoccupied with airing his grievances, Gundza's eyes darted back towards Blake the moment she began getting back into a stance.

"Right," he nodded, interrupting Uthug as he took hold of the handles of his long knives "the time for talk fades."

Uthug grunted before glancing over to Blake right before she and Gundza lunged for each other, "Oi!"

Gundza weaved around three incoming dust rounds before sliding under Gambol Shroud as Blake sent the Scythe swinging over him. He rolled onto his feet and leaped at her whilst sliding out his knives, prompting her to dart to the side to get around him. A war cry from the side made her look back just in time to get out of the way as Uthug stabbed the Bayonet at her. She spun along both his weapon and arm before slamming the bottom of Gambol Shroud into the back of his head. She took aim at him as he stumbled, but he spun on a dime and fired at her first. She had to duck under the musket round and throw Gambol Shroud at him.

Before the scythe could reach him, Gundza darted in and slashed it off course with grin before fading into Uthug, who pounded himself on the chest with his free hand before lunging for Blake again. Blake slipped out of the way whilst catching Gambol Shroud, switching it back to its katana form as she spun with both it and her sheath. Before her attack could land, Gundza reached out of Uthug with his knives and deflected her attack, giving Uthug a perfect opportunity to swing his musket back around and slash her away.

Catching herself, Blake deflected his next strike. But the moment their weapons clashed Gundza rolled out of Uthug before sweeping her legs out from behind. She slammed onto the deck, not even getting an inch off the deck before Uthug's foot slammed onto her chest and pressed her back down. The barrel of the Musket whipped towards her, but the ship lurched again just as he pulled the trigger. Using her semblance, Blake threw herself away as the doppelganger of hers faded under Uthug's foot and his round went wide.

Lips curling with fury, Uthug spun towards the source of the sudden lurch, finding another harpoon now stuck in the deck. The Black Tide vessel was slowing the Leashed Lassie down with the harpoons, pulling up beside it as several of the pirates cried for battle. Their anticipation was shot the moment that Uthug released a roar of agitation, but he instead turned his attention to the pirates hassling the passengers.

"Get that shrahk onto the ship already!" he shouted before turning towards the group manning the harpoon launchers "You lot get over here and help us finish this, already!"

Now weighed down with bags of stolen goods, one gaggle of pirates ran to hop over to their ship and while a fresh band of Uruk-Hai Sea Raiders took their place. Blake caught her breath, but before she could take advantage of Uthug's distracted state the sound of footsteps made her glance to the side just quick enough to roll out of the way of Gundza's knife.

"No need to rush, we have the advantage." Gundza stated as he crossed his knives and backed up towards Uthug "Your rage is your fuel, undoubtedly. But if you cannot manage it to at least a minimal degree then it begins to work against even the deadliest of Berserkers."

"You are not turning this into a damned lesson!" Uthug spat whilst leveling his musket at Blake

"Why not?" Gundza asked without looking back at him "Isn't Kruk always going on about the 'Fires of War forging its greatest weapons'?"

Uthug looked as though he wanted to argue that point, but a yell from above made all three of them look up just as the Blood-splattered, Saw-Wielding Uruk slammed into the deck in between them. Blake took the moment to reload Gambol Shroud as Gundza narrowed his gaze and looked up towards the bridge of the ship.

"What the Shrahk are you doing, Lorm!?" Uthug demanded, only for the downed Uruk to groan as he sat up and point.

Both Uthug and Blake followed his finger, with the latter going wide-eyed at the smirking figure looking down at them.

"Sorry I couldn't jump in earlier, Blake!" a familiar voice called down whilst pulling off their heavy cloak "Had to deal with the rest of those guys in the back first!"

Blake recognized the voice even before he sent the cloak flying, but the sight of the blonde monkey-faunus twirling his staff onto his shoulders still left her rife with surprise, joy, and confusion.

"Sun?!"

Gundza narrowed his gaze as Uthug swung his musket up and opened fire. Sun leaped forward and twirled his staff to intercept the musket rounds as he fell towards the pirates. Uthug and Gundza leapt aside as Lorm rolled back, with Sun landing between them and Blake.

"W-What are you-?"

"Hey so, glad to see you holding up over here." Sun said without looking back at her, instead nodding to the Uruks as the newly arrived group of Black Tide Pirates approached brandishing a wide of weaponry "But could we save the interrogation for after we take these guys down? Cuz I'm pretty sure they're surrounding us."

"Don't worry, Warborn!" Lorm revved his saw up again whilst cackling "I'll lob 'em good this time!"

"I said to take care of-!" Uthug paused as Gundza held out one of his knives towards him.

As Lorm and the rest of the Black Tide Pirates charged Blake and Sun, Gundza instead turned to Uthug and tilted his head at him with a questioning frown, "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

"Me?" Uthug shook his head before gesturing to the violent brawl on the other side of the deck "Why aren't we jumping into that?! I thought you hated that Hybrid!"

"Oh I do, I'm absolutely seething with rage at this very moment." Gundza grunted before glaring at him "But I'm stifling that unrelenting fury for your sakes."

"My sakes?!"

Gundza pointed a knife at him again, "I've fought both of these filthy little half-tarks before, so I can tell that these two are undoubtedly the strongest opponents you'll be standing up against since maybe Felgrat. Not even the brawls with Kruk should be held to the same standard, which is why your inability to take this seriously is absolutely mystifying."

Uthug blinked in disbelief, "You-!" his eyes snapped from Gundza to the brutal fight right behind him"You-?!"

Uthug shook his head violently before slamming a hand to his chest, "I'm not taking this seriously!?"

Gundza sheathed his knives and began walking away, "If you feel the need to be careless then I guess I won't even bother." he said as he folded his arms behind his back.

Uthug was speechless, stumbling over his words as he tried and failed to articulate his festering malice into words. He didn't even notice the Uruk which was sent flying from the brawl and slamming into the rail beside him. Two more flung from the battle, one of which sailing overboard as the other just barely missed Gundza. The Pirate groaned as he got up, opening his eyes once Gundza reached down and patted him on the head.

"Oi, get up and come with me." Gundza ordered before continuing his walk, the Pirate grumbling before scrambling to follow. As he moved, Gundza briefly glanced back to see that Uthug had begun slashing at the deck beneath him with his bayonet in a fury. Grinning, Gundza turned his attention towards the passengers, who were trying and failing to find an opening in the melee to get away.

Blake slid out of the way of the massive saw as Lorm barreled by, swinging Gambol Shroud into his leg and tripping him up just as Sun slammed the side of his staff against his head. Blake didn't have time to wonder if that had put the butcher down, as a cocking sound behind her made her instinctively leap away as one of the shorter pirates fired a shotgun at her. It didn't fire dust rounds, instead it launched volleys of shrapnel wherever the armored Uruk fired it, patches of the jagged metal now covering parts of the deck. Blake spun Gambol shroud around as she fell, swiping him away just as she spotted Sun holding back Lorm with his staff, the spinning blade mere inches from his face as both struggled against each other.

"Lobbed into precious, smoky pieces!" Lorm cooed as he pressed forward.

Blake moved to help, only for movement behind Sun to prompt her to call out, "Behind you!"

To her surprise, both Lorm and Sun looked up at that before glancing behind themselves. Lorm merely raised an eyebrow at the harpoon that was stuck in the deck nearby, but Sun's eyes widened to see the spinning form charging towards them.

"Outta my way!" Uthug roared as he was propelled towards them with force. Sun ducked under the swinging Musket, which proceeded to slam into Lorm and hurtle the larger Uruk into the railing, which cracked loudly upon impact.

"Woah!" Sun was momentarily distracted by the unexpected friendly fire, giving Uthug more than enough time to aim his musket behind him before firing. Using the musket's recoil, he launched into another spinning swing which Sun tried to deflect with his staff only for it to snap in half once the bayonet collided with it. Sun smirked, the two halves of his staff forming into nun-chucks which he immediately spun towards Uthug. Using the guns built into them, Sun unleashed a volley that caused Uthug to snarl as he was peppered with rounds.

However, mid-way through that volley, Uthug's fist emerged from the cloud of dust and slammed into Sun's face before he could finish. The impact sent him stumbling away as Uthug aimed behind himself again. Though he blasted himself towards Sun again, Blake intercepted the spinning strike and deflected it before striking at his torso again.

But the moment her blades connected with him, the doppelganger she'd just struck fell to the ground and vanished. Blake blinked in confusion before noting the sound of a gun cocking behind her. She ducked right as Uthug fired a musket round over her head, turning to strike again only for his foot to shoot up and slam into the side of her head and send her crashing to the deck.

Heaving with rage, Uthug took aim at Blake's downed form only a sudden "No!" to make him glance to the side and slide out of the way as Sun's flying kick missed by a hair. Landing, Sun spun around with his staff and began deflecting musket rounds as he charged towards Uthug. Growling, the enraged Uruk aimed behind him. Sun was ready for the spin attack, already lunging forward to catch him in the midst of his strike. But Uthug loosened his grip on the musket, so this time the recoil blasted the entire weapon out of his hand and sent the butt of the Musket slamming against Sun's temple.

Though he stumbled, Sun managed to catch himself and break his staff back into nun-chucks as Uthug's bayonet came swinging back around. Ducking under it, he caught Uthug's ankle in between his weapon and tripped him up before leaping back.

"Cut 'em messy-like!"

Lorm's battle-cry brought Sun's attention back to Lorm and two other Pirates as they leaped towards Blake, who was just managing to rise after finally shaking off the brutal kick she'd received. Before the Uruks could reach her, glowing yellow clones of Sun slammed into them and launched them back. Blake glanced back as the clones managed to tackle them to the ground, looking back to see Sun heaving a breath of relief after just barely managing to activate his semblance in time.

She nodded to him before her eyes widened, prompting him to look behind him and dodge out of the way as Uthug opened fire. His grimace growing tighter as Sun swerved through his volley and closed the distance, Uthug forewent the idea of range and charged to meet him head on. Sun slid on his knees under the bayonet, revealing Blake in the middle of a flying kick which slammed into Uthug's head and Sent him stumbling back with another groan of agitation.

When he glanced back, he found both Sun and Blake coming at him from different angles. He gripped hold of his mask as the veins in his hand tensed up with fury.

"Was supposed to be simple pickins!" he shouted before spinning his musket and slamming the butt of it into the ground.

Just as Blake and Sun were both beginning their own attacks, a small group of shadowy humanoid figures appeared between them and Uthug. They had to slow down as the shadow-figures lunged for them, the surprise of their sudden appearance fading in the wake of the unknown threat they provided. While Sun rolled out of the way as one threw itself at him, Blake instead leaned out of the way as another swiped at her.

She was going to take advantage of the opening its missed swing, but the shadow fell apart not long after its strike missed. Blake blinked before noticing another closing in, readying to cut it down before a bayonet cut right through the shadow as Uthug charged through it and rammed his bayonet into Blake's stomach.

"Ha!" Uthug laughed as he raised Blake over his head "Got ya!"

His joy didn't last, as he almost immediately took note of the weightlessness of the body impaled on his musket. The sound of strained panting to his side made him look to Blake, who was catching her breath while standing up. Uthug's grimace stretched into another snarl as he blasted the doppelganger off of his musket and took aim, only for Sun to leap at him from behind and force him to lurch away.

Blake was prepared to join in and help, when a cry for help cut through the din of battle and made her spin around.

"Hey Blake," Gundza called to her before raising a knife with one hand and pointing with the other "where should I start, teeth or ears?"

Blake followed his finger only to grit her teeth in worry.

"Mom!" a smaller Faunus boy called out as the Pirate that Gundza had called upon dragged him from the group of cowering refugees and trapped his smaller figure in one arm. The woman he called out to was being held back by a slightly younger woman, who seemed cautious of the odd pistol that the Pirate had leveled at them with his free hand.

"Keep it together, Hale." the younger woman said carefully while trying to steady the mother.

"No interruptin' the boss, Tarks." The pirate spat to them before glancing to Gundza "Get on 'n cut the bastard!"

Blake found herself torn momentarily, only for Sun to land beside her and push her forwards, "I'll hold him off, go!" he said before rushing to clash with Uthug once again. Blake couldn't find it in her to question whether he'd be able to hold him off on his own, instead darting towards Gundza whilst taking aim.

Gundza sighed, "Predictable and simple, as always." he muttered with a grin before dodging out of the way of the incoming dust round. It instead slammed into the shoulder of the Pirate holding the young Faunus boy. He stumbled back and turned his pistol on her.

"Damned filthy little-!" before he could pull the trigger, the younger woman who had been holding Hale back leaped onto his back and immediately tried restraining his arm. Her weight causing him to stumble back as his grip on the boy loosened.

"The shrahk are you-?!" another refugee jumped in to help her, the two managing to drag the Uruk to the ground as his anger quickly turned to panic "Boss?! Boss!"

But Gundza had already abandoned him to meet Blake head on, sheathing his knives and reaching back for his crossbow as Blake lunged towards him. Sliding under Gambol Shroud, he whipped out the Crossbow and fired at Blake once he came to a stop, prompting her to leap back at him whilst taking potshots. He darted under her shots before bringing up his crossbow to block a diving swipe of Gambol Shroud, using Blake's own momentum to fling her over himself.

Though she managed to land in a crouch, panting with effort and restrained anger, Sun was thrown into her from the side. The two landed in a heap, with Sun quickly apologizing as they disentangled themselves. His words were cut short by the sound of explosions filling the air, and suddenly all four of their heads turned towards the Pirate Ship, where cannonballs were slamming into it courtesy of the Leashed Lassie.

Uthug was flabbergasted, quickly turning his rage on the disoriented Black Tide Pirates, "I told you globs to take care of anyone left on the bridge!"

"But... Warborn..." Lorm gestured towards him "You ordered us to pick 'em clean first!"

As more explosions rocked the Pirate Ship, Uthug pointed to them, "Cut those chords and get that ship out of position! I got loot on that damn thing!"

Lorm nodded as he and the rest of the lesser pirates hurried to leap back to their own ship.

Uthug turned back to see that Blake had taken his moment of distraction to close the distance, and that she was already mid-strike when an arrow broke through her aura, punctured her shoulder, and sent her spinning to the deck.

Gundza lowered the crossbow with a grin, "Far too cathartic, Hybrid!"

"So is this." a voice called out behind him, and he glanced back to find that the passengers had thoroughly thrashed the pirate he'd left with the Faunus child. The mother, Hale was currently cradling the crying boy, but her slightly younger friend had taken the Pirate's pistol and had it aimed squarely at Gundza.

Sun rushed to defend Blake, deflecting Uthug's bayonet before he could finish her off and kicking him back. Uthug slammed the butt of his musket into the deck again and sent out three more shadowy figures, with Sun breaking his staff into Nun-chucks and cutting through them in a flurry of blasts. Uthug gritted his teeth and snarled loudly as he stabbed forward with his bayonet just as the last shadow figure was blasted apart, Sun's advance was halted as the blade managed to stab into the chain of one of his nun-chucks.

Pulling the trigger of his musket at the same time, Uthug kicked Sun backwards. The dual motions snapping the chain of of that nun-chuck, Sun rolled past Blake as one of the broken halves of that Nun-chuck clattered beside him. Blake grunted, gripping her shoulder and looking up as Uthug lifted the musket, with the other half of the nun-chuck hanging off of it.

"That's it, maggot!" Gundza called out "Perhaps you really do have the strength of mind to give a damn."

"I said get down!" the woman with the gun on him called out.

Before Uthug could turn his gun either one of his downed opponents, another series of explosions made him turn back to the Pirate Ship and yell "WHAT'S TAKING SO DAMN LONG!?"

"Just can't-!" Lorm was struggling to rev up his saw, whilst the other pirates were trying to cut the cords with their weapons. The vessel's cannons were still blasting the ship, but Gundza frowned as he saw Uthug hesitate.

That frown only grew deeper once Uthug leapt off the rails towards their ship, eye glowing with the semblance of a certain archer as he spun through the air and fired his musket several times. Every single one of the those rounds tore through the cords holding the ship's together, and Uthug landed upon one of the harpoon launchers. As the surrounding Uruks jumped back at his sudden arrival, he shouted for them to get their ship out of range of the cannons.

While trying to help Blake to her feet, Sun looked between the pirate ship and Gundza, with Uthug's sudden departure to coordinate their underlings, the Hunter was the only one left. With several of the downed members of the Ship's crew trying to push themselves up, they suddenly had the advantage. And apparently Gundza had taken note of it as well.

So even with the pistol aimed at him, Gundza spun towards the woman and darted for her as she fired the gun. He held up his crossbow to deflect the dust round before lunging for her, with Hale calling out "Saya!" as Gundza vanished inside her. Emboldened after beating down the pirate from before, the few passengers around the mother rushed to help along with Sun, only for Saya to toss the gun away before launching to her feet. Reaching to her sides, Gundza's long knives appeared in her hands right before she held them up to her neck.

"Careful there!" Gundza's voice shouted from Saya's mouth as she pressed the knives to her neck and backed up towards the rails "Perhaps an Uruk could withstand a slit throat, but a tark such as this?"

At his threat, the boldness of the passengers faded, and Sun's approach screeched to a halt.

"Auntie?" the Faunus boy said carefully as he watched with confusion, "What are you doing?"

His aunt looked to him with blackened eyes, which Gundza rolled as he leaped back onto the rails behind him.

"Gundza!" Blake called out, approaching carefully despite the arrow still lodged in her shoulder "What I did to you, she doesn't have anything to do with it!"

"Oh I know," Gundza tilted his head, lowering the knives slightly "which is why this'll sting you even more."

Seeing him grip one of the blades tighter, Blake lurched forward just as Gundza stabbed Saya in the neck. Her eyes emptied of blackness as Gundza slid to the side out of her body, the woman losing her footing immediately as her hands shot towards the gash in the side of her throat.

"Open fire!" one of the Crew said as he and two others opened fire on Gundza, who ran along the rails as Saya fell off the side behind him.

"No!" Blake lunged forward with her good arm and grabbed hold of Saya's flailing hand, the pain from her shoulder and the lack of Aura weakening her grip. Luckily, she managed to hold on long enough for Sun to rush over and help her begin pulling the wounded woman up.

Sheathing his knives, Gundza whipped out his crossbow and loaded a certain arrow as the crewmen shot at him, working double to keep up with the Pirate ship which was being outpaced by the Leashed Lassie. Once the arrow was loaded, Gundza fired it at the pirate ship. Trailing from the arrow was a rope which Gundza took hold of right after the arrow embedded itself into the bridge of the pirate ship. Once his grip was tightened, he leaped from the ship and swung back over to his own.

Though the Crewmen cursed at his escape, Blake and Sun were caught up in hauling Saya back on board. The moment they got her on the deck, Hale hurried over while motioning for them to give her space.

"Okay, Okay, he might have missed the jugular" she said while looking Saya over and trying to stifle her own panicked breathing "I-I... We need to stop the bleeding first and foremost and apply pressure to-"

"Is Auntie gonna be okay?" her son asked, only barely managing to hold back his tears.

"Just gimme a second sweetie, I-I'm trying what I can!"

Looking over the mess from the destroyed window of the bridge was the Captain, steadying himself with stuffy breaths despite the haphazard bandaging he had covering numerous wounds on his arms and torso. Having only recently awoken after the sudden explosion of the window had rendered him unconscious, he'd been quick to regroup with the rest of his injured crew and get their vessel fighting and moving again. Seeing the scope of the damage inflicted to his passengers, he grimaced before glancing behind him.

"They following?" he called out to a woman checking a screen

"No sir," she said while massaging a heavy bruise on her arm "the Pirate ship is holding position and fading fast."

"Well keep the engines going hard until they aren't visible," the Captain stumbled his way back to his post "I don't want that bastard with the musket speeding over again."

Below, Blake leaned against a wall and gritted a teeth as the arrow was removed from her shoulder. Glancing over she gave an appreciative nod to the Crewman helping her before turning her attention to the woman helping Saya. With her mind desperately trying to suppress the pain of her wound and the threat of further battle gone for the moment, her thoughts couldn't help but turn to Gundza. During the fight she'd had to beat down the thoughts that had surfaced ever since he'd first emerged from Uthug.

Her eyes wandered to the one Black Tide Pirate that had been left behind, who'd been beaten by the very group of Passengers he'd held a gun on. Two of the Crew were busy tying him up, but Blake's mind kept going back to how Gundza had taunted her into separating from Sun. He'd been dressed in trophies he had no doubt acquired by killing Faunus, something he'd mentioned only when staring directly at her.

Blake felt sick, she didn't know whether it was from her wound or the idea of what he'd been up to in the past weeks. Luckily a distraction came in the form of Sun leaping down next to her.

"So it looks like none of them are following us," he crouched down until they were eye level "Guess that means we're in the clear."

"Good," Blake released a heavy sigh before glancing to the arrow on the deck beside her "I don't know if I'd have been able to keep going with this."

Sun waved her off, "Psh, as if getting shot would be able to slow you down."

Blake gave a dry laugh before wincing as the crewman fixing her touched some particularly sensitive flesh, with her face twisting up in a grimace only for him to apologize and resume working.

Once her expression softened again, she glanced back to Sun, who's expression had filled with worry from her signs of pain "So... have you been following me since Patch or..?"

Sun rubbed the back of his head as his worry was replaced with sheepishness, "Yeah, sorry." he said with a snicker "I know you were talking up and down about needing to sort this family stuff alone but... Dunno... kinda didn't sit right with me having you off on your own."

"Hmph," she rolled her eyes "well I'd ask if the rest of your team were here, but considering the back up we had during the fight..."

"Yeah, Neptune and water," Sun shrugged before raising a finger "Sides, Sage and Scarlet aren't exactly the stealthy types."

"And you are?" Blake showed some skepticism

"Hey, you didn't spot me this entire time!" Sun insisted as he sat down and folded his arms, smiling widely before looking over curiously "So... you aren't mad?"

Blake chuckled, shaking her head as she leaned back, "No Sun, I probably should've figured you'd come along no matter what I said. Thanks for the help back there."

"Hey, you know it." he gave her a double-finger gun salute before standing up and puling out the broken half of the nun-chuck that had been damaged during the fight, "Just didn't expect the revelation to be so... hectic."

.{{{{{+-+}}}}}.

"All in all, I'd call that test quite successful."

Uthug's hands paused in the sacks of stolen goods as he looked up to Gundza with a frown, "How could you consider any of that mess a success? We didn't nab the ship and nearly lost ours!"

"Oh that part was undoubtedly a failure due to your horrendously poor choice of wording when ordering the lads." Gundza admitted as he glanced over to Lorm who was still trying to rev his saw up "I was more talking about-"

"Hold up hold up!" Uthug slid his hands out of the bags and jabbed a finger at Gundza "Don't go making it sound like that was all my fault!"

"Yeah!" Lorm immediately jumped in with a cackle "The Warborn did wondrously! Why, if it weren't for those wretched half-tarks keeping us distracted then the boss would-"

"Do not!" Uthug interrupted "Call me boss, I ain't nobody's boss!"

Gundza rolled his eyes whilst walking by as Uthug began scolding the over-sized Caterer. Ever since the Battle of Vale, Uthug had been adamant in avoiding being labeled even a Captain amongst the former inmates. In fact, he claimed the only reason he helped them evacuate from Vale when the Storm rolled up was because he refused to be the only one capable of leading. It had baffled Gundza then and baffled him now, as the only reason Uthug had cited for needing them to lead instead was that he found the concept of leading Uruks 'Too Annoying' to consider.

Even with that sentiment, he had no issue shouting orders, or intimidating grunts, or staking claims like a regular captain. In fact, Gundza had come to recognize fairly quickly that Uthug was enacting a rather poor attempt to get all the benefits of being in a leadership position without having to deal with the responsibilities that came with it. Of course, such efforts were doomed to fail from the start. Whether he wanted to or not, he was undoubtedly one of the best fighters in their fleet so far. Though the newer recruits they'd picked up might not see him as much, the former inmates of the Arceus generally knew him by one or more of the titles he'd garnered whilst there.

Though he'd been yelling about it for weeks, everybody still treated him like a Captain for one reason or another. In fact, both Bubol and Kruk adored him to such an extent that his input to them was considered on par with Gundza's even though he rarely seemed willing to give it. He even had his own little chamber on the Arceus where he'd been locking up all the shiny loot he'd been taking during these raids. For all intents and purposes, he was a Captain of the Black Tide Pirates... just, not in name.

Gundza couldn't even find it in him to be agitated by such hypocritically stupid activity, it felt as though he'd been growing more and more numb to Uthug's unrelenting stubbornness as time went on.

"Ugh, all this plastic garbage."

The grunt of disapproval brought Gundza's eyes back down to Uthug, who had resumed looking through the loot that they'd gathered and was emptying wallets and purses of lien.

"Still not gonna give their equivalent of wealth a chance?" Gundza crouched down next to him whilst grabbing one of the cards "I'm sure someone somewhere would sell you more shiny trinkets for enough of this."

Uthug's fist clenched on another Wallet, but he groaned and dropped it back in the bag before glaring at Gundza, "I'm still not sticking it in my horde, damn Tarks around here making money dull."

Well, at least he wasn't itching to dump it anymore, that was definite progress. Most Marauders like Uthug were obsessed with amassing wealth, amassing things, having a lot of stuff. While Uthug had indulged in this urge greatly since they'd started pirating, he and many others couldn't seem to get around Remnant's card-based money. Of course, they'd simply turned to stealing trinkets, ships, and other possessions instead. It was only by convincing Bubol otherwise that Gundza was able to keep the Black Tide Pirates from just using all that Lien as fuel, as he still figured that it couldn't hurt being rich as well as feared.

"Well adding the weaponry on that ship would've been swell," Gundza noted as he stood again "But given the nine ships we'd swept through up until now I'd say that our win/loss ratio is still looking fairly good."

"Bah," Uthug stood lifted the pistol he'd snagged from Sun before holding it up to the sky and looking it over in the light, "Bet they had more loot below deck... there's no way this was all they took with them!"

Gundza strolled by, "Well, perhaps if we go link up with the rest of the lads quickly enough we could join Bubol's assault on that caravan fleet, I'm sure they'd have plenty more than what we've been getting from these Refugee Vessels. Hell, I'd probably be able to get you some more training in with Kruk if we're early enough."

At that, Uthug snarled, "What? I split from the fleet specifically so I wouldn't have to hear Bubol and Kruk's shrahk all the time!" he exclaimed before pointing "You know you'd just end up having to hear his 'Flame of War' nonsense too if you do that!"

"That's a price I'm willing to pay,"Gundza paused and looked back at him "I felt as though you'd been getting lax without someone as strong as him to continue pushing you. The small fry you've been clearing so far have done nothing to improve your skill set, as evidenced by how long those two managed to hold up."

"Well you could've done-!"

"Changing the subject again, are we?" Gundza sighed before shaking his head "Don't even attempt to tell me that that was your 'Best' out there. Some more time with the Hot-Head should do you wonders at this point."

As he walked away, Uthug clenched his hands into fists before growling out, "But you can't do that!"

Gundza paused and looked back to him with a raised eyebrow, "Of course I can," he said with a shrug "I outrank you, maggot."

Though he left Uthug fuming and made his way below deck with poise, the moment that Gundza found himself a corner out of view of the other pirates he pressed his back to the wall and gave a heavy breath. He couldn't help but feel ecstatic over the results of their little conflict. Despite the technical defeat they'd suffered, Gundza found himself oddly satisfied. Usually their M.O. was to disable a ship, board it quickly, then take it over in a fast rush of violence before their opponents could even hope to counter them.

At least, that's how he and Uthug had been doing things.

Bubol had been loading the Arceus with more and more firepower ever since they'd started, and most of the ships they sent to him were outfitted similarly. But even he knew better than to completely sink a ship unless its counter-attack was vicious enough. They may not have done either today, but they'd still managed to get a hefty bag of loot and the boys got themselves a fight without any major casualties.

Though the loss itself would undoubtedly be infuriating to some, and Gundza himself found Uthug's performance agitating enough to harp on him over it, the Former Assassin couldn't help but feel positively elated.

And he knew exactly why.

Because the look of horror and fury which struggled for dominance on Blake's features had been absolutely titillating. After slaying and crafting a number of Faunus into trophies, he'd quietly dreamed of the day he would get to show off the blood he'd spilt due to the insult she'd delivered upon him. He would never have guessed that that day would come so soon, and it hadn't dissapointed him in the slightest.

He'd wondered for years now why it was that Bubol would grow infatuated with a singular individual at a time. For a time it had been one of the Shaman's old rivals, then it had shifted over to Ashgarn, and now he was gunning for that Ruby girl. Though he would get himself into all sorts of trouble with all sorts of Uruks, Tarks, and Monsters, he'd always find a way to slink back to his target whether they be an enemy or friend.

Gundza had grown to understand his old friend somewhat more after embarking on his personal quest to slay Blake's people in her name. He would never forgive Bubol for perverting his spite and rage with his twisted understanding of Love, but he could see far more easily why he indulged in it. Every crying Hybrid, fleeing Half-Tark or tortured Faunus that Gundza had put down in the last few weeks felt as though he were personally spitting on Blake's name.

He didn't even need access to Weiss's memories of her to know just how much of a bleeding heart she was, but they definitely helped paint a picture. As long as he could reminder her that their deaths were all because she couldn't bring herself to kill him, then he was positive he'd be seeing that horrified expression again. In fact, he was positive that that would be the case, he'd accept nothing less.

But for now, he reigned back his excitement, didn't want anyone stumbling upon him and seeing laughing to himself in such a manner. Patting himself on the chest, Gundza stifled the wide grin that had spread upon his features before turning and making his way to the bridge. He could think about his hunt later, there were other matters to attend to at the moment that he'd need his focus on.

He was a professional after all.

---

AN: Well here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the official first chapter of Volume 2 of the Dreamer Gate.

With how many story-lines I've got to follow through on from the last Volume, I had trouble initially figuring out how I would structure these first chapters. After some work-shopping, I got a pretty good idea of how to move forward, so hopefully this starting point will be more solid than last Volume's.

There's a lot of stuff that I've had to take into consideration since I started the The Dreamer Gate, especially with how many story beats got introduced throughout RWBY's runtime. Figuring out what everyone's going to be doing in their own plot thread was daunting, and I'd be lying if I said this wasn't about to get fairly multi-layered. But after getting the last volume finished up, I'm feeling rather confident in how this is about to go down. Whenever I find myself wondering what to get down next, all I have to do is think of a character I haven't touched on yet and soon the scene makes itself.

That being said, I've no doubt that things might feel a bit off for the first few chapters, there's a lot of stuff I still gotta get set up.

Anyway, hope you enjoy, any and all criticisms positive or negative are welcomed in full so leave a review or comment if you are so inclined to do. Things you enjoyed about it? Things you hated about it? Any ways you feel I could improve? Expectations for the next Chapter? Follow or Favorite at your leisure and I will see you all in the next installment of The Dreamer Gate.

Next Chapter: The Railway