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.

4. The Waves

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 Waves

He'd lost them both before, and he wouldn't let it happen again.

The moment that rumors began going around that the tark who intercepted the escapee was none other than one of his favorite slaves, Krosh had been adamant to get suited up. He remembered how much fun he used to have beating her down, watching her get back up and fight her way through a group of grunts just for him to beat her down harder. Krosh hated leaving things unfinished, and had only given her up the last time due to it being the Stormbringer's request that she be given to Hork.

He'd had a chance to reclaim her at Beacon, only for that bastard of a father of his to get in the way and give her an opportunity to slip through his fingers. He wouldn't let something like that happen again, already her image was being plastered across the city with a reward of fine Grog and a promotion to whatever glob brings her in. But he had faith in her, as long as Ratlug was still preoccupied with his other projects then Krosh was certain she'd be able to evade capture. He'd be the first to get a hold of those blonde locks again, he'd be the first to reclaim what he'd lost, he'd be the first to remind her of where she stood.

"And you're really gonna try doin' this in the state you're in?" Maku asked while leaning against a chipped doorframe, the shorter Warmonger looking Krosh over with no small amount of Skepticism.

Krosh's breathing was ragged, but he grinned back to him anyway, "Not exactly dying to give those grunts or the Palebloods a chance at my Slave. Early bird gets the worm, ya know?"

Maku rolled his eyes before crossing his arms, "You can't even get your own gear on!"

It wasn't as though he was wrong, Krosh stood in the midst of a torn up clinic that he had repurposed for himself ever since his incident. Two Uruks were walking around him in circles, very precariously piecing together his armor. They were slow and cautious, unwilling to snag his armor onto the bandages that covered his many wounds. Beyond them, Mincemeat was pacing around the room watching him with a hint of concern in her gaze.

"All that matters is that I can take her down." he sighed, his grin weakened but still there "Didn't need tons of aura to do that the last few times."

"Vermag and his lads literally blew you up!" Maku stated

"Ha!" Krosh tilted his head back to chuckle at him "Didn't keep me from tearing that prick's eyes out now did it?"

Perhaps some regular grunt would be more willing to stay down after getting trapped in a burning building and subsequently having that entire building explode, but Krosh wasn't a Warmonger for nothing. His seared flesh would heal, his hands would heal, but he made sure that ole Vermag wouldn't be recovering from his wounds in any lifetime. That was the Warmonger way, if you gotta take wounds make sure you inflict twice as much back. The Shaman deserved nothing less for the Storm's Elite.

"That ain't the point," Maku shook his head "my whelp of a brother might've been a coward through and through but there's a fine line between cowardice and necessary caution. You go out there on your own with your body all torn up like that and all you're going to get is-"

"A decent fight." Krosh finished for him, eyes going down to the casts which encased both of his hands "Maybe beaten to hell like this... my lil' lady can finally gimme a decent fight."

Maku lowered his hands with a groan, "Ugh, wasn't your whole female Tark issue supposed to be about showing 'em who's boss?"

"Don't go simplifying my tastes like that, Maku." Krosh glanced back to him "This is exactly the kinda pulse-pounding risky business the Master just loves to fuckin' pieces."

With that said, he turned his gaze to a window of the clinic with enthusiasm dripping from his lips, "Just you wait, Lady. This new set of training's gonna make the last round seem like child's play."

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

Yang had learned three things since finding a suitable location to hide out at.

One: These Paleblood guys were out of their goddamned minds.

From what she'd seen of them so far, they all seemed absolutely obsessed with standing out from one another. It'd probably be an admirable goal if they didn't try to accomplish it by getting into as many bloody fights as possible and earning battle wounds that they called marks. The more marks a Paleblood had indicated the sheer amount of combat he'd seen, and given that Yang had seen several dozen already with missing limbs replaced with weapons or chunks of missing flesh bolted over with armor, it made them seem far more patchwork than the uniformed appearance of the Storm's Soldiers.

Two: She couldn't for the life of her locate a single human in the city.

Everywhere she looked it was either Palebloods or the occasional Storm Soldiers. At first, she thought it was just because she was close to Beacon where the presence of the Storm's military should be strongest. But no, it went beyond Beacon. She'd passed through the majority of the Commercial district and partially through the Residential district to find a suitably desolate place to hunker down in. Not a single human or Faunus to be found, the idea of which slowly began to terrify her. Not even just because it made finding where her Uncle could be held seem that much more daunting, but also due to sheer scale of it. Though Atlas and what remained of the Huntsmen did their best to aid people fleeing the city, census reports said that there were still hundreds unaccounted for. So just what the hell happened to all of them?

The third thing she'd learned, was that Neo was a one-hundred percent liability to her as she was now.

In what she was sure had to be some kind of ironic twist, the Residential district of Vale seemed the most devoid of life. Oh there were definitely Palebloods still roaming the streets, but compared to the other districts the difference was night and day. Yang had brought Neo to one of the larger hotels to patch her up to the best of her abilities, but she'd never been the best at First Aid classes. While she could dress and bandage, she always did look to her teammates for help on the other stuff while they were still at Beacon.

One troubling thing about her patient being Mute was that she couldn't tell whether she'd done well wrapping her up or not. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that Yang still had no damn idea how exactly she ended up like this.

Neo barely reacted to external stimuli, remaining curled up on a mattress in the corner of the room while gripping herself and shivering. Yang had tried tossing her a blanket, but that had been shivered off in a manner of minutes. She offered her a paper and pen scavenged from other rooms of the building to communicate, but they had gone untouched. Of course the first person that Yang had saved would turn out to be a dead end in terms of leads.

Stepping out into the hall outside the apartment, Yang leaned back against the door. Why did she have to go and try being a hero? She'd given up her element of surprise and got barely anything in return. If anything, she'd have to worry about the Storm being ready for her the next time she tried anything. And here she was trying to prove to herself that she wasn't a colossal screw-up.

But just as she began sliding down the door, burdened by the dead end she found herself facing, she thought of Ruby. Ruby was always trying to be a hero, even when it would cause problems for herself. She never seemed to let those repercussions drag her down. Always tried to find a better angle to look at things from, just like Mom did. Taking a deep breath, Yang tried doing just that very thing.

She couldn't get info from Neo directly, but she had been held prisoner, right? If she'd been held prisoner, then that means others could be too.

Walking back into the room, Yang's eyes snapped towards Neo, who's scarred head pressed hard against the wall as she tried to make herself as small as possible. Swallowing, Yang approached and kneeled beside her before turning her towards her. Neo's violent shivering grew in intensity, but she merely lowered her head as her breathing grew panicked. Yang felt more than uncomfortable enough, but she needed to examine her wounds carefully. If there was one thing that Yang had learned ever since being rescued from Hork, it was that wounds told all kinds of stories.

Thankfully, all the damage that Neo sustained didn't look too faded. Even the scars seemed raw compared to what she'd seen experienced huntsmen sporting. There was a lot of recent bruising that Yang could guess was due to either her rough escape or being jostled during the Prisoner transfer. She had scarring along her wrists, but the shapes implied that it was from some kind of chains that had rubbed against her flesh roughly. It was when Yang started looking up her arms that she started getting results.

Injections, recent ones. She had no idea what they could've been pumping her up with, but Neo was sporting enough fresh-looking pock marks for Yang to be convinced that she'd been loaded up with something recently. Traveling further up, she looked to the scars on Neo's head a bit closer. Her breathing picked up even more at this, and Yang even felt her attempt to pull away. But she held firm, with Neo giving up and allowing Yang to examine the odd shape on the very top of her head.

It almost looked like a claw mark. But as Yang examined it, she scooted around Neo and found her eyes snapping towards what could only be decisive evidence. Right on Neo's shoulder blade, the letter R had been crudely carved into her. Though the scar seemed slightly more faded than most, it was clear to Yang. There was only one R that Yang could think of in regards to the Storm.

Making sure to tell Neo to stay put unless any Uruks showed up, Yang left the room and made her way to a large stairwell that ran down the side of the building. Leaning out of a broken window, she looked out over the city and thought her next moves out. It had to be Ratlug, he was the one who kept getting victims supplied to him for those sick broadcasts of his. He was the voice giving updates to Palebloods and Soldiers throughout the city. He and his researchers looked as if to be running large portions of the city if what she'd overheard was any indication.

But to save Uncle Qrow and whoever else he might have locked away, Yang would need more than that. As the sun rose over the horizon, Yang turned her attention down to the streets below. The Storm's soldiers could provide that information, as long as she didn't get caught or lead them back to the hotel. The only question now was where she'd start.

---

Over Open Waters...

Ruby found her eyes slowly drifting open as she felt the floor beneath her shift. Leaning up, she looked around the inside of the Anna-May, spotting Ren pacing in the center of the room while keeping his gaze locked firmly on the window nearby. Not too far from him, Nora was sitting in a seat bolted to the wall tapping her foot impatiently while looking through her ammunition.

With how focused Ren was on watching the slowly brightening skies, it was actually Nora who took note of Ruby's shifting first. She was in the midst of slipping an explosive round out of Magnhild, but paused before grinning wide as Ruby groaned and stood up. The thin blanket she was using as a cover slid off, revealing Crescent Rose's compact form clutched in her arms.

"Hey Rubes, have any awesome dreams?" Nora asked whilst tossing the round in the air and catching it, her words prompting Ren to glance back at her.

Yawning, Ruby thought over Nora's question whilst rubbing at her eyes, "What? Oh uh... no. Guess I needed that more than I thought."

Even as she said that, she tightened her grip on Crescent Rose. Ren glanced down to her hand, noticing the subtle motion, but he simply nodded and continued his observation. Frowning, Ruby scratched at her head before glancing towards the front of the room. She could see into the cockpit from there, where Rory sat in the pilot seat glaring through the Anna-May's front viewport. He wasn't alone in there, Yatsuhashi was standing right behind his seat keeping an eye on a large map that Rory had sketched out whilst plotting their route.

Behind both of them Jaune was having his own nap, his shield and sword laying against the wall beside him as he tried to make the most out of his break. He and Yatsuhashi had been helping Rory with the route, as they'd had to adjust it every so often depending on weather. Rory seemed determined to use clouds and fog to obscure them from the view of any potential dangers. While the others had insisted it wouldn't make any difference to the Grimm, they had to admit that it would at least make it hard for pirates to spot them.

The former students worked in shifts, having eyes on every direction they could with only two sleeping at a time. Being out over open water had only heightened Rory's caution, but at least he still recognized that they had their limits. Jaune and Yatsuhashi hadn't switched throughout her slumber, which implied that Ruby still had time to catch some shut eye. But the idea of that immediately made her uncomfortable, so she rose from her spot and turned back to Ren and Nora.

"Hey... either of you wanna trade breaks?" she asked, causing Nora to momentarily light up before suddenly pouting.

Leaning Magnhild against the ground Nora waved a hand through the air, "I can't risk it until I'm sure this guy over here's resting." She stated before looking to Ren, who displayed not a single sign of exhaustion.

"Oh? When was the last time you slept, Ren?" Ruby asked

"Yesterday evening, but I promise you that I can last longer." Ren stated with a shrug "Our current employer is on edge, a display of competence and diligence will go far in easing his concerns. Since we're in the final stretch of our journey, I take it this would be the most critical point to keep morale high."

Nora rolled her eyes, "You used to say that I was the one who never slept."

"We are currently engaged in a mission, Nora." Ren sighed before glancing back to her "And your sleep schedule in general is the stuff of nightmares."

"Hmph!" Nora looked back to Ruby before nodding to the door to the cargo hold "If you really want to pass up on your sleep time, give it to Vel."

"Velvet?" Ruby blinked before standing tall "Is she still-?"

"Yep." Ren nodded

"Has she taken a single-?"

"Nope." Nora groaned

"She could be passed out back there!" Ruby jogged past them towards the door "Why didn't you two-?"

"Oh we checked in on her twice." Ren noted "She claims to be fine, so you can see the issue here."

Ruby slowed down, hand hesitating near the door before she nodded, "...Yeah, I'll... I'll have a talk with her."

As she said that, she pulled open the cargo hold door and slipped inside before closing the door behind her.

Rory had packed a bunch of personal stuff into the cargo hold of the Anna-May, food and camping supplies along with a big black case tucked into the corner that he said was if he needed to fix her up in a hurry. He hadn't been lying when he claimed to have his entire life riding on this journey. There were several other crates, but Ruby instead set her sight on the large rear viewport. Through it, one could easily spot any potential pursuers who drew too close. Sitting on a single crate, staring out of that viewport, was Velvet. One of her rabbit ears twitched at the sound of the door closing, but Ruby was still cautious in her approach.

Velvet didn't react immediately, sitting still even as Ruby came to a stop nearby. She made sure to keep a few feet between them while giving a little cough to announce herself. She figured she didn't have to, but decided to stay careful.

"All clear back here." Velvet finally spoke

"Oh, that's good..." Ruby said whilst drumming her fingers on Crescent Rose "Yeah I felt as though I had enough of a break, figured I'd give someone else a chance to catch some Z's."

"I'm fine," Velvet sighed "I'm sure someone else needs it more."

Ruby looked away, letting her eyes travel across the cargo around them for several long seconds before looking back to her, "You sure about that?"

Velvet didn't answer immediately, instead she slowly turned around in her seat to look back at Ruby. Clenching Crescent Rose tightly, Ruby tried not to make a face at the sight of the heavy bags under Velvet's eyes. She was almost positive that her effort was in vain, and soon Velvet's expression scrunched up into a glare before she turned to look out of the view port again.

"So you're going to try tip toeing around me too?" Velvet grumbled, "All of you, even Yatsuhashi, all treating me like glass."

Ruby took a breath before narrowing her gaze and declaring, "We're just trying to give you space to grieve, Velvet."

"Could you try not to sugarcoat it for me?" Velvet asked as her tone grew more morose "I always was the weak link of my team."

"No... No!" Ruby stopped to lower her voice somewhat "Velvet, I don't know how you remember it, but I remember how everyone saw Team CFVY back at Beacon. Even Cardin and his crew knew not to step to you guys when you worked together, you were the cool kids."

"Thanks to Coco." Velvet stated before her eyes trailed to the ground "Without her we would've fallen apart immediately, and literally did the moment she... she..."

Ruby winced as Velvet trailed off, but stepped closer before saying, "You know, I thought the same thing about my family when my Mom died."

There was a moment where Velvet lifted her head a bit, but after some time Ruby took it as a cue to keep going.

"Dad seemed to fold in on himself, my Uncle started hitting bars more often and Yang had to work hard to keep smiling every day." Ruby explained as she stood beside Velvet and turned her attention to the cloud outside the view port before them "Even though she was on missions half of the time, whenever Mom had free time she made sure to spend it with us. I can remember her telling us stories all the time, getting Dad to relax whenever we broke something, both me and Yang cheering while she and Uncle Qrow trained their scythe skills together

Almost every sentence, Ruby would glance down to Velvet trying her hardest to gauge her reaction. Eventually, she relaxed somewhat as Velvet rubbed her head and spoke.

"Coco... I don't know what I would've done without her." Velvet's hand slowly traveled up to her rabbit ears "She had everything I didn't... the confidence, willpower, her strength was just amazing. Whenever I felt useless she was there, whenever I needed help she was there. Even if it was just to make up for how distant we were at the start-"

"I know that it was more than that, Velvet." Ruby stepped closer, hands running along Crescent Rose "She might not have been my teammate, but we chatted plenty while fixing our weapons. You know what she spoke about the most? You, all of you. She kept her team as a top priority at all times."

"Yeah... she was..." Velvet had to pause a bit, reaching up to wipe at several tears which just began forming in the corner of her eyes.

Ruby thought about maybe putting a hand on her shoulder or maybe even giving her a hug, but merely looked down to Crescent Rose whilst giving Velvet her space. But holding onto her weapon, she remembered what it was they were aiming for in Mistral.

"And that's why we're going to avenge her." Ruby stated, the initial hints of Velvet's sobs trailing off at that statement "Her and everyone else lost at Beacon."

Velvet tilted her head slightly towards Ruby, her face still obscured by her long hair. That didn't stop Ruby from looking back to her with a determined glint in her eye.

"As soon as we track down Cinder we can-"

"That won't change anything, Ruby." Velvet turned back to her with a growing glare "Not... a... thing."

"What?" Ruby raised an eyebrow at the sudden agitation in Velvet's tone.

"This whole going to Mistral thing, what you and the rest of Team JNPR are doing? It won't change anything." Velvet stated "There's no way that those monsters in Vale would ever team up with anything other than themselves, stopping Cinder won't stop them from destroying everything around them."

Ruby winced at that, but gave a sigh and looked away, "Even if that's how you feel, just know that if you or Yatsuhashi want to join up then-"

"I won't." Velvet stated with certainty before looking ahead again "I'm done with that Huntress business anyway, I don't... once we finish stuff up with Rory I don't ever want to use a weapon again."

"Wait what?" Ruby was surprised, "I can get not wanting to help us but... you guys were so close to earning your Huntsmen licenses, I'm sure that in Haven you could try to-"

"There's no point, Ruby." Velvet groaned before reaching up to one of her rabbit ears and rubbing where part had been singed off in the past "Without Coco, there's only so much I can do. She made me strong, made fear seem like an afterthought. Without her..."

"No, that's wrong." Ruby frowned "You always had that strength, Velvet. Coco just knew how to get you to show it, she had faith that you-"

Velvet stood out of her seat with haste, whirling on Ruby and stomping a foot on the floor below with such force that it derailed Ruby's statement. Velvet clenched a hand over her heart for a second before glaring at Ruby.

"Don't you dare..." Velvet started

"Velvet?" Ruby swallowed carefully before reaching out to her "I was just trying to-"

"I said, don't you dare, damn it!" Velvet's volume rose, prompting Ruby to take a step back.

Without even realizing it, Ruby's hands had been clutching her folded up weapon tighter. She'd never seen Velvet get so angry before, not even when she was fighting. Though she was positive that she was right, Ruby didn't want to risk setting Velvet off while they were still over the ocean. Maybe once she had some time to cool off, then she could try again? Ruby didn't want to know what would happen if she made a wrong step in this verbal minefield she'd wandered into. So she took another step back and cracked a smile.

"Maybe I... should see if Nora's willing to take my sleep time now." She offered whilst moving towards the door.

As she did so, Velvet took several breaths before sitting down in the same spot and turning her attention back to the view port, "Yeah... maybe you should."

---

Unknown Location...

When Ishga had heard that Cinder was training despite only recently managing to utilize her new limbs, he had been doubtful for many reasons. But entering an immense circular room covered in the same darkened reds of the castle, the first thing he saw was the top half of a beowolf slam against the floor. The beast roared and struggled to get up despite its critical wounds. It snapped its jaws at something behind it only for a blast of flame to careen into its muzzle and blast its head and spray it into pieces across the floor.

Ishga raised a hand over his face to block some bits of the black Grimm blood which was already beginning to slowly evaporate. Raising it out of the way, he finally saw her. Dodging out of the way as an Ursa swiped at her with its claws, Cinder caught herself on the bony twisted black masses she now called her legs. Though he could tell even from where he stood that she was struggling to get used to their odd shape, Cinder still managed to ground herself and dodge out of the way of the Ursa's next swipe before spinning around with a long glass blade before launching it. The blade dug deep into the Ursa's chest, the monster rearing back and roaring as it turned to launch at Cinder again.

But she pulled back both arms and tightened her hands into fists, the sword in the Ursa responding to the motion but heating up. The glow intensified until it exploded, blasting open the Ursa's chest and sending it crashing to the ground as Cinder leaned down to catch her breath. Tired eyes looked up past the Ursa's body to the handful of Beowolves that were snarling and trailing along the perimeter of the room, every one of them just looking for the right time to strike. During her evaluation of her remaining enemies, Cinder caught sight of Ishga and frowned, her hands opening yet remaining scrunched up in agitation.

"Most Uruks are horrified of the mere thought of showing weakness before their allies." Ishga stated whilst folding his arms, "No surprise really, given how often weakness is used by rivals to compete among the ranks."

"What an odd thing to bring up," Cinder noted without taking her eyes off of the Beowolves "I expected surprise that I could get back on my feet so quickly."

"Well, those aren't exactly your feet, are they?" Ishga pointed out "They're hers."

Cinder paused before looking over and smirking at him, "They're mine now, Uruk."

One Beowolf immediately lunged through the air for her, Cinder's gaze snapping back towards him as matching daggers formed in her grasp. The moment it leaped again, Cinder darted towards it and met its swing with her own. In quick slashes, the Beowolf collided with the ground behind her mere moments before its severed hands did. It scrambled in its own blood whilst using the stumps of its arms to rise. Cinder leaped the moment that it turned around, burying both of the daggers in its eyes and using her weight to force it back onto the floor. Its feet scraped the floor beneath them, its stump arms reaching towards her even as it roared. Cinder twisted the daggers in its head with quick turns of her wrists, the motion causing all of its movements to cease with it eventually going still beneath her.

Watching her rise again, Ishga began pacing, "Its just that seeing the similarities between you tarks and us is always intriguing. The first Uruks were created using humans in the process, so seeing what's left over nowadays does wonders for perspective."

Flicking Grimm blood off of her wrists, Cinder narrowed her gaze at him before tilting her head "So far it seems that your people see nothing but weakness when they look upon us."

Ishga didn't answer., merely continued watching as Cinder looked down to her glass daggers.

"And despite their blood-thirsty idiocy, I'm less inclined to see such a view as flawed."

"Oh?" Ishga tilted his head to the side "I was under the impression you'd be quick to deny it."

"Its not as though I'd have to suffer weaknesses forever." Cinder dropped the daggers, which burnt away the moment they left her hands, before reaching down to feel the monstrous new limbs she had "Salem is the key, you know?"

"Yes yes, I've heard plenty of that since arriving here." Ishga admitted before gesturing to her "She claims she wishes to conquer humanity to protect it, but why would someone with so much power ever need to concern themselves with such matters?"

"You doubt her so easily within her own domain, Uruk." Cinder tapped a finger to her lips as a Beowolf approached stealthily from behind "I'd almost call that brave if it wasn't so redundant."

She pulled that finger from her face the moment the Beowolf leaped, a flame erupting along her arm and coating her hand. She reared and reached out with that flame towards the Beowolf as its maw descended towards her. Suddenly, the flame dispersed to reveal a claw of black glass had formed around her hand. It was already too late for the Grimm, the fingers of Cinder's claw dug through its lower jaw as she turned and dragged the entire beast out of the air. She pulled it past her and ripped its jaw off in the process, sending it crashing to the ground. She held out her claw as it broke apart into pieces, the glowing pieces hovering in the air as she approached the fallen beast.

"Besides, that wasn't what I meant, you know." She said as she steadied her footing, clenching her hands and sending the floating shards of glass down into the arms of the Beowolf to pin it to the ground "When I say Salem is the key, I mean to ridding people myself of the weakness us poor humans seem destined to bear."

As the monster struggled to free itself from the shards, Cinder's foot came down to crush its head beneath her. The spray nearly reached Ishga, but his gaze was stuck on Cinder as she reached down to stroke her black limbs with appreciation.

"Though it may have been sooner than I planned, this... this right here was always what I aimed for." she cooed before looking up to him and standing straight "After being the Apex Predators of Remnant for so long, it only seemed right to adopt their traits in order to persist. But only through Salem is empowerment like that truly possible."

"Bah, Uruks have tried such methods under the Dark Lord's rule for years." Ishga shook his head "Only so much can be done to scrub away weakness, its not always possible to overcome it."

"Never would've thought I'd hear that from an Uruk of all things." Cinder gave a short laugh before frowning "But no matter who it comes from, its wrong. Salem herself is proof enough. Century after century she grows more and more powerful while Oz has to work harder and sacrifice more each and every time to hold her back."

"Such is the way of many former alliances." Ishga sighed before raising an eyebrow at her "Were they allies? The Mistress told me they once agreed on matters, but that didn't really explain much."

Cinder held a hand to her mouth to stifle another laugh, "Though it may seem odd to creatures such as yourself, those two were once lovers."

Ishga paused to look at her, but said nothing. Noting his subtle surprise, Cinder kept going as she turned and approached the last remaining Beowolves.

"Remnants of the old ages, their extended lifetime had granted them the perspective necessary to rule," Cinder raised a finger as small flames swirled around it "and so they did, working together once to unite fragmented lands whilst revered by the common masses as gods for their abilities. But where Salem sought to govern the people to keep the failings of the old gods from occurring once more, Oz could not let go of the past."

As she spoke, two of the Beowolves darted to either side of her and charged in. Slipping under one's swing, she deflected another with a blast of flame which sent its arm flying, Cinder ran the beast through with a spear before swinging it towards the other Beowolf. Twirling the spear and using it to steady her stance, Cinder looked back to Ishga with a roll of her eyes.

"That single solitary difference in goals formed such an immense rift between the two that the next few millennia would bear markings of their growing conflict." she ran a hand through her hair and grimaced "All because one self-righteous guy couldn't let go."

"Leaders battle over small differences all the time." Ishga resumed pacing "I've no reason to assume this is any different than most I've seen already."

"Its different because he's just wrong," Cinder looked back to him "I'd expect an Uruk to recognize the sheer right to rule that power such as Salem's brings. She can't be killed, controls a vast army of mindless killing machines and gains more control simply by existing."

She nodded down to her legs, "Now she can even grant their power to mere Tarks such as I, and has been acquiring scores of allies some of which even I probably don't know a thing of."

Looking away, she readied herself and aimed her glare towards the rest of the beowolves, "And one single man thinks defying such power is a cause worth the lives of all of Remnant? Please."

As Cinder charged into the rest of the Grimm and resumed her training full force, Ishga looked away and tapped a foot against the ground, "But can such control over mindless monsters even be possible to maintain? I might be willing to work with you Tarks, but I never was one for Beastmasters. I can train full squads of Uruks in no time flat, but dealing with animals of all things? But these are even more mindless than beasts, so how does the Mistress do it?"

"They're creations of one of the old gods." Cinder pointed out whilst tearing through another Ursa "Monsters drawn to the most amazingly dark interests that people could hold. They gain strength through experience and age, with the youngest of them are designed to be subservient to the elders in order to further their own goals. But none have lived as long as Salem, her own age dwarfs even their oldest. The inability to die has allowed her to develop more control over them than could ever be replicated, able to shape and create new forms for them that Remnant has never seen before."

"But if they're creations of your old gods, then wouldn't that make her one as well?"

Cinder finally came to a stop, turning back to look at Ishga whilst surrounded by the remains of disappearing Grimm "We all are, technically." she noted before smirking once more "Except you and your friends, of course."

Reaching up to wipe some sweat from her brow, Cinder took one more look around the room before walking towards him, "I should've expected this much doubt, I've heard enough stories of Uruks betraying Uruks to get the gist of what your average days must be like."

She stepped forward and exited the room, with Ishga sighing before following after her, "It is an unfortunately common practice, though effective at weeding out the weakest among us and keeping our forces on their toes."

As they made their way down a hall of the castle, Cinder glanced out several windows nearby to the red wasteland beyond the castle's exterior, "Why, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd had to stifle assassination attempts from your own soldiers numerous times... Those Blood-Brothers of yours."

"No," Ishga stated immediately, fast enough to draw Cinder's attention "while I've dealt with unruly rabble serving under my Warchief countless times, the Blood-Brothers I helped train myself. They're not like the rest of them, I know they're probably still out there prospering."

"Or rotting under the remains of that Tower of yours." Cinder offered whilst coming to a stop and turning to him

"No," Ishga stated once again "Even with the orders they were given, I'm positive most of them got out."

"Huh," Cinder actually smiled at that "That's an impressive amount of faith, from an Uruk no less. I doubt I could trust my own underlings going that long without some kind of supervision."

As she spoke, she turned and gazed out a nearby window, momentarily thinking on how the mission in Anima was going. But Ishga paused beside her whilst rubbing at his chin in interest.

"Ah, yet another trait shared by many Uruks," he noted with a hum "worrying over their soldiers being incompetent and worrying about how to replace them when necessary."

When he got no response to that, he looked up to see her glaring at him, "What?"

Cinder turned her attention back out the window to the sun rising in the distance, then shook her head, "I would never settle for followers who were simply Replaceable."

---

Menagerie- The Belladonna Estate

It was surprising how comfortable her bed was, given how scared she was. It was the first time in forever since Blake last slept in her room, her father insisting she get some rest after hearing of the harrowing journey she'd had on the way. His concern for her should've felt natural, but given how she'd left things with her family she couldn't help but feel slightly confused. Because of her, the Menagerie Guard had nearly been crippled for months, all because of her helping Adam. Yet not a hint of resentment or anger for this action even registered from her father.

As she sat on the edge of her bed, Blake had to accept the possibility that he didn't know. She didn't know how that was possible, but it made the prospect of confessing even more daunting than it was before. But despite that feeling, she got up and got changed, already trying and failing to psyche herself up for what she could already assume would be a rough day. After brushing both her teeth and hair, she washed her face before looking at herself in the mirror for a moment. While the day wouldn't be as life-threatening as getting attacked by pirates, she couldn't convince herself to relax.

Unlike Sun, who she found pacing right outside her bedroom door. He jumped upon locking eyes with her, quickly rubbing at the back of his neck as he explained.

"Sorry! Was kinda wondering if I should wake you up or not." he said before looking around "Couldn't really sleep much on account of this place being absolutely awesome. Seriously Blake, how is it I never knew you lived in a mansion?!"

"Its not a mansion, Sun." Blake rolled her eyes whilst closing the door behind her and walking down the hall.

"Are you kidding me?!" Sun exclaimed as he followed behind whilst gesturing around "You could probably cram all three of the last homes I've had into this place and still have room to spare! This is what being a Chieftain gets you?"

"Its size is more representational than just a reward for the title," Blake pointed out as she led him downstairs "back when the first Faunus arrived the first Chieftain had this place built as a clinic for those who'd gotten sick during the journey. Over time it was expanded to be a gathering hall for the entire community, then an orphanage, schoolhouse, and they kept building on top of that until Kuo Kuana was big enough to function without it."

Pausing beside a map of Menagerie, Blake folded her arms under her chest and looked it over with a frown, "It's not like those big houses in Atlas or Mistral, its more than just a gauge for how much money someone has."

"Yes yes," Blake froze at the sound of her father's voice "its more of a gauge for how much work you're willing to put into cleaning."

She and Sun both turned to look into the living room, where Ghira stowed away his scroll before carefully slipping into a couch with a relieved sigh, "When Kali and I first moved in it took about a week before she declared defeat doing the housecleaning on her own." he said with a shrug before looking to Sun "And trust me boy, not much can get her to give up on anything."

Though Blake still felt awkward at how casual he was with her around, such hesitation was nowhere for Sun.

"Kali?" Sun tilted his head before turning to Blake "That your Mom?"

Blake nodded before growing confused and looking to her father, "Wait, I didn't see her anywhere yesterday or today. Is she-?"

"Oh, oh!" Ghira chuckled before shaking his head "Sorry, of course you wouldn't know. Kali's at the clinic."

And like that her hesitation was wiped away, "The Clinic? Is she okay?" She questioned hastily "Did something happen?"

Ghira leaned forward and raised an eyebrow at Blake, "Well, after you left she felt inclined to put all her new free time into something more helpful for everyone, so she's been helping at the clinic for quite a while now. Even made it to head nurse recently."

Blinking, Blake tilted her head, "Really?"

"Yes, and there were plenty of sailors that came in with injuries yesterday on that ship." He looked away "She'll check her messages once she's done everything she can, I'm sure."

"Dear Lord," Sun threw an arm over Blake's shoulder "a Chieftain and a Head Nurse? You got an Uncle who makes missiles or something?"

Though Blake rolled her eyes, Ghira gave a laugh and waved the idea off, "Well I wouldn't want to just spend all this time impressing your friend, Blake." he said before gesturing to her "You've been going to Beacon, so I can only imagine what kind of stories you could tell. With all the paperwork I've had to do lately I'm sure I need it."

"Well I'm not sure where to even start," Blake stepped forward into the living room and rubbing her arm "we did so much at Beacon that a lot just seems... casual to-"

"What?!" Sun looked at her incredulously before turning to Ghira "Pfft, don't listen to her. She's just being modest or something. I know damn well what I was seeing, this girl and her team kicking every kind of ass! Didn't matter if they were criminals, robots, Uruks or terrorists; Blake and the rest of Team RWBY were all over it."

"Hah! I'd expect nothing less from someone as passionate as you, Blake." Ghira nodded

"Dad, he' exaggerating." Blake stepped in "For most of that I needed my team to back me up. When it was just me on my own-"

"You were leading me and my guys in a daring high speed chase!" Sun finished while planting one foot on a nearby chair "Taking on a possessed hijacker, saving lives and taking names!"

"I... well..." Blake had to admit that she couldn't really argue that one, and soon found herself being pulled close to Sun's side.

"Honestly, if you had told me just how many adventures you'd get up to when we were dancing together a few months back I probably would've thought you were crazy." he declared.

Though Sun laughed, Ghira raised an eyebrow, "Dancing?" he asked.

Blake immediately went still, but Sun waved it off, "Oh yeah, that was all kinds of fun too, but you gotta hear about when they took down that Torchwick guy and-"

This time, Sun's enthusiastic retelling was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming.

"Blake?!" A woman's voice called out, one which Blake recognized immediately. Sure enough, the moment she turned towards the sound of quick footsteps she spotted her mother pass by the room. She glanced inside for only a second before she immediately approached with wide eyes.

"Mom," Blake turned to her with a nervous greeting already prepared, "I-"

She didn't even get to use it before Kali pulled her into a hug, practically clinging to her as she gave an exasperated laugh, "I-I almost didn't believe it...I was so worried but... you're here. Our baby's home, Ghira!"

Though she flinched, Blake couldn't help but hug her back as her words trailed off. Watching the two of them for a second, Ghira gave a breath of relief.

"After you left I thought I'd never get to see this again," he said whilst turning and making his way into the kicthen, "I'm glad to see I was wrong."

Moments later the rest of them joined him, sitting at a modestly large dining table while he grabbed some coffee that he'd prepared earlier. Kali immediately sat next to Blake holding her daughter's hand whilst still looking her over in slight disbelief.

"After you left, I was terrified the White Fang would've gotten you into trouble." Kali began, squeezing her hand "I needed to do something, anything to keep my mind off of whatever they were doing."

"Imagine our surprise when we saw you on the CCT after that train fiasco." Ghira pointed out whilst approaching with two mugs "Given how we left things, calling it a pleasant surprise would be an extreme understatement."

"So you did know about the Torchwick stuff!" Sun snickered while accepting one of the mugs

"And much more," Kali yawned before graciously accepting the other mug "we've been tuning in to Vale's broadcasts for months just to get even a glimpse of how you were doing."

Blake looked down at her hand being clasped by her mother, "Then I guess you two were watching during the Festival."

Immediately Ghira sighed, and Blake felt Kali's grip tighten.

"The Fall of Vale left everyone devastated," Ghira conceded whilst sitting at the head of the table "communication with loved ones lost, panic from every kingdom, more pirates and Grimm than we'd ever seen before."

"Not to mention the refugees," Kali sipped at her coffee pensively "Clinics have been packed all across Menagerie. We'd already had a large population before but..."

Ghira shook his head before looking to Blake with a smile, "But even through all of that, I was still proud of you."

"Really?" Blake asked.

"Even if... if the worst had come to pass." he hesitated for a moment before his expression grew sure "I would've still taken pride in the fact that you chose to become a huntress over staying with the White Fang."

Though Blake smiled, a brief cough drew their attention back to Sun. Having already downed half of his coffee, he raised a hand and gave a wave.

"So if you're so against the White Fang then why are they here?" Sun asked "Like this is literally the only place I've seen where those guys are operating openly."

"Sun, the White Fang helped build Menagerie." Blake pointed out, only for him to immediately cough as he nearly choked on his coffee.

"Wait what?!" Sun shook his head in surprise "The guys who take hostages, blow stuff up and have nearly killed us how many times?"

Ghira sighed, "A pity that that's all that people can see them as nowadays."

Sun blinked at the sadness lacing his words, but Blake leaned back in her chair and let her eyes travel along the tapestries in the room.

"Back after the War, when Menagerie was gifted to the Faunus, the White Fang were originally meant to represent peace and unity. But what most tend to forget is that they were the first guardians of Menagerie as well." Blake recounted, "Back when Grimm and the wildlife were a constant threat here, they were what gave the first settlers a chance to build. The Menagerie guard might've replaced them once everything was more organized, but almost everyone here's got some ties to the White Fang."

"Even today," Ghira closed his eyes and leaned his chin into his palm "You could essentially say that the White Fang ran this land during its founding, as the first chieftain was the de facto leader. It was something of a tradition that lasted up until I left the position."

"Wait..." Sun held up a hand before slowly pointing to Ghira suspiciously "Are you-?"

Ghira gave a smirk before nodding "Former High Leader Belladonna at your service, young man."

"Wha-?" Sun's head snapped towards Blake "Blake?!"

"I didn't want it to be a big deal!" she quickly defended herself, only for Sun to stammer incredulously.

"Not a big-? Ya can't just decide that kinda stuff's no big deal!" Sun was practically tugging his hair out "Not only does your family run Menagerie, they used to run the White Fang?! I mean come on!"

Kali laughed at his surprise, with Ghira cracking another smile before his expression fell somber once again, "Yes, I led them in their pursuits for equality, but many grew embittered by the slow struggle of peaceful resistance. Many wanted results, results that I just couldn't give them at the time."

He began tapping a finger on the table, "I had hoped that Sienna could've maintained the dignified image of the Fang even with the violent retaliation she fostered. But now barely anyone outside of Menagerie can see their origins beyond the damage they've caused. And everyone here is so far away from the crimes they've committed that many Faunus can barely recognize the changes they've undergone."

"Its not just that, honey." Kali rolled her eyes "Many still have family or friends in the White Fang, people who they still interact with regularly. Its fairly hard to recognize a group's lesser qualities when so many of their members are acquaintances. Even with everything Adam's done-"

"Ah yes, and then there's Adam." Ghira practically growled as his hand slid up to pinch the bridge of his nose "I was hesitant with Sienna's approach, but its people like Adam who are actively destroying everything we've worked for. I warned her not to let that Lunatic take control of the Vale branch, and now every time they act out we lose credibility with the other kingdoms."

"Well then why aren't we kicking him and his goons off the island?" Sun asked before waving his hand around "I mean you've got those MG guys, right? It doesn't look like too many of Adam's cronies are here so-"

"No, I can't risk that just yet." Ghira stood from his seat "I'll take care of them soon enough, but I've got to give the twins enough time."

"The twins are those two guys who showed up with you," Blake looked down momentarily "Corsac and Fennec, Right? I'm guessing those guys are with the Menagerie branch?"

"Yes, they were the ones who warned me of Adam's plans and kept me from..." he paused for a moment before shaking his head "Losing my temper. Many of the people of Menagerie seem to lump all of the White Fang together, despite the Vale Branch's clear descent into extremism. I can't act hastily while they've got so much support behind them, but the Twins already have a plan in the works. So far they've confined most of Adam's forces to their embassy in the Shallow Sea. We'll deal with them in due time."

Blake lowered her gaze at that, but Sun wasn't finished yet. Leaning forward, he raised an eyebrow at Ghira for a moment before tilting his head.

"Ya know, Adam riled up a lot folks out there." he pointed out "Really got them stewing with this bit about the guard limiting CCT access. Any of that true?"

Blake immediately frowned at him, but Ghira turned around with a nod, "Yes... yes it is."

"What?!" Blake looked to her father, only for him to hold up a hand.

"Of course we had to stifle the CCT," Ghira stated before raising a hand "Every Kingdom's been doing it ever since then Uruks took control of Vale. Now whenever a community tunes into those ghastly broadcasts it invariably draws Grimm to them. We tried explaining this matter, but thanks to Adam and his supporters we've had this rumor going around that we're doing it to block the people from critical information."

"Yeah, but just continuing to do it isn't going to convince people otherwise." Sun noted "With how much they're already worried maybe holding things back from them is more trouble than its worth now?"

Ghira looked to him for a moment before shaking his head and stepping away from the table "If only it were that simple, but I'm afraid the people of Menagerie might be too insular for that to have anything other than damning ramifications."

"Dad?" Blake looked to him with concern "What are you talking about?"

"Menagerie was given to us as a land all our own for the pains we suffered before and during the Great War. Even to those insulted by the offering, the value of a land for Faunus was clear. Many saw it as an escape from the pains of the mainland, a place of respite after the horrors of war." Ghira reached up and grabbed the bottom of a tapestry hanging on the wall "We made this place a true haven for Faunus, but many of the oldest families here think there's nothing beyond it for them. Its why we've become so self-sufficient despite the lack of trade, why we're so overpopulated despite how few natural resources we have. Many see Menagerie as the only place in the world for them, and so have turned away from the outside world entirely. Its why are those unaware of the White Fang's increased violence, why it took so long for the growing tensions to even register to many here."

"What are you saying?" Blake asked

"I'm saying that if we were to acquiesce and allow the people of Menagerie to see exactly what's happening in Vale, the panic could be worst than anywhere else on Remnant." he stated before releasing the tapestry and looking down at his hand "Not only would I have to stretch the Guard to deal with the uptick in Grimm attacks, but it would be child's play for Adam to whip the people into a terrified fervor."

"But to just let them stew on it like that-!" Sun began, only for Blake to reach over and grab his shoulder

"We can't judge him on a tense situation like this, Sun." Blake stated before looking down, "Least of all me, not after what I did."

"Blake?" Kali tilted her head as Blake slid her hand out of her's and stood

"Look, I know it might not be the best time, but I... should probably come clean."

"Hm?" Ghira turned to look back as Blake took a heavy breath.

"Going for it right out the gate?" Sun sighed before smirking before giving a thumb's up "You got this, Blake."

"Got what?" Kali looked to him with confusion, but Ghira fell silent as Blake looked between the two.

"About what happened back when I left." Blake had to fight not to bite her lip, the idea of this confession had nearly been forgotten amidst how happy she was to see her family again. But hearing her father's woes over what Adam and the White Fang had put him through, she couldn't help but be reminded of the part she played in those trials. It had been bubbling up, like acid slowly filling her up from within. She needed to cut to it now, to get it out of the way before it was too late. Sun's words echoed in her mind, and right then and there she steadied her expression.

"Its about those weapons the Guard lost."

Almost immediately Ghira frowned deeply, but he continued to say nothing as he turned away again.

"It took months to recover, and people were looking for the culprit the entire time." Blake brought a fist to her heart "Its time you knew the truth..."

Kali suddenly smiled and raised a finger, "The weapons heist? We've already got that all figured out!"

Blake locked up, with Sun immediately turning towards Kali and asking, "You do?"

"Of course," she nodded to him "with how much time Ghira's been putting into that investigation, we've almost got it wrapped up."

Blinking slowly, Blake gestured to herself, "A-And you aren't angry with me?"

Smile falling, Kali shook her head "Blake, how could we be angry with you? Without the timing of your leave we'd never be able to trace the clues to Ilia."

Both Blake and Sun were silent for a moment, seconds ticking away until Blake leaned forward with confusion marring her features.

"Hm," Ghira laughed, before folding her arms "It took so long to get this far. Adam might've covered his tracks well, but his little agent is as clumsy as she was back when you two hung out"

"You think Ilia's the one who took the weapons?" Blake asked, a pit forming in the depths of her gut.

"I know so, Blake." Ghira turned back to her with a grin "Adam's made a critical error sending her here with his envoy. All the evidence has pointed to her for the better half of the past year, and with Corsac and Fennec's help in the investigation we've been building a case against Adam so solid that we'll finally be able to show the people exactly what he's doing to the White Fang."

Looking away, Ghira gave a relieved sigh, "And once we're finally rid of those extremists, we can start fixing all the damage they've caused."

---

Somewhere in Anima...

It was still weird to Oscar, nothing felt real right now. Even though the nightmares had stopped, he felt as though he'd wake up in his room and all the madness he'd experienced would turn into nothing more than a dream. Over the past two days he'd heard more crazy things than should be possible, something beyond the regular farm life he'd grown in.

And the cause of all of that, walked only several steps behind him on this path through the woods.

Oscar gulped nervously before briefly glancing behind him, where the Grand Shaman of the Storm casually strolled behind him whilst writing in his journal.

"Maidens... Relics... Gods..." he murmured with a chuckle "Such delicious tales... to hear of."

He didn't kill them, despite everything Ozpin had managed to get him to agree to a deal. Pugrish wouldn't impede their journey, but instead taxed them depending on the progress they made. Every so often Ozpin had to give him a piece of satisfactory information in order for them to continue. Ozpin hadn't liked how nonspecific the term 'Satisfactory' was, but it seemed to mean a Story in Pugrish's eyes. And so, every few hours Oscar had to give control to Ozpin, who would tell Pugrish a story. They all sounded like fairy tales, but Ozpin had assured him that it was all true. For some reason, Pugrish hadn't questioned the validity of any of them.

And as they made their way to Mistral, Oscar couldn't help but question everything. The soul of Beacon's Headmaster had transferred to him, on a mission to protect a mystical relic crafted by literal deities. The warlord who'd conquered Vale had tracked Ozpin to him, and was essentially holding their journey hostage for information.

None of it made sense, yet this nonsensical story was now his as well.

"Odd... isn't it, boy?"

The voice caused Oscar to flinch, and soon he looked back to lock eyes with the Shaman. That horrible flesh mask of his couldn't distract Oscar from the piercing glow of his eyes. Pugrish grinned at that before closing his journal and locking it back to his hip before swirling his staff around.

"I can tell..." the Stormbringer sighed "I've been mulling over Ozpin's tales so much that I've gone and ignored you."

Oscar gritted his teeth as he heard the voice of Ozpin in his head once more.

Be careful what you say Oscar, but ignoring him won't make this any easier.

"I-Its fine." Oscar stammered as he tried to look to the path ahead

"No no, I've focused so much on the Professor..." Pugrish's footsteps drew closer "I've gone and overlooked the child he's hiding in... Its unbecoming, you have my apologies."

"There' no need... really..." Oscar tried to say

"How about... one of your own stories?" Pugrish asked "I tried farming once... found the returns unfulfilling compared to the work required."

"That's... surprising?" Oscar couldn't look him in the eyes, and looked away as he felt the Shaman's presence right beside him

"Isn't it?" Pugrish laughed "In-between the bloodshed... I've done many thing to pass time... as I have plenty to spare. Farming, Hunting, Beast Taming, armor-craft... I've had time for all of it... What about you?"

"J-Just farming," Oscar sighed "I don't... really know what you want to hear."

"Just trying to learn... about a travelling companion." the Stormbringer strolled ahead of him "Despite coming from another realm... Ozpin's words seem to have less of an effect on me as they do to you."

He held out his staff to block Oscar, prompting him to stop immediately.

"Why... is that?" Pugrish asked as he looked back to him with his grin gleaming within that skin mask

Just relax and tell the truth... that's all he seems to want from us.

Blinking, Oscar still couldn't look directly at that leathery assembly of faces the Stormbringer wore, "I-It's just too odd, you know? I'm no fighter, never even really paid attention to the Huntsmen academies. Yet now I'm travelling with the ghost of one's headmaster and a-an Uruk who conquered it."

Not a ghost technically.

Oscar shook his head at his voice, looking up at Pugrish briefly only to look away again.

"Well... in that case you should be grateful..." Pugrish pulled his staff aside and gestured him forward "It would seem your trip... shall go somewhat faster now..."

Following the Shaman's hands, Oscar gasped at the sight of buildings in the distance. He sped up, jogging past the Shaman and cresting a hill to find a town laid out before them. He could see people going about their days, working, playing, living normally. It reminded Oscar of the village he and his Aunt visited every time they would trade their crops.

It was a sight that Oscar had feared he'd forget in the midst of such wild changes, something that brought a genuine smile to his face. But the moment that he moved to take a step forward, Ozpin spoke up.

Wait, we can't just walk in there Oscar.

Oscar locked up, "What? Why?" he asked

He's with us.

Oscar looked back to the Stormbringer, who gave a him a small, polite wave whilst watching to see what he'd do.

"Y-You aren't going in there with us... right?" Oscar asked, already feeling a sliver of distress worming its way back into his mind.

Pugrish tilted his head, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because... if anyone sees you like that..." Oscar pointed to him "They'd... there's no way-"

"Oh don't worry about me..." Pugrish raised a hand and looked it over, "I'm sure... that nobody there could pose threat to me."

As he flexed his hand before his eyes, Oscar could see them. Those apparitions started to take shape once more, he could only see a few of the colorful, ghostly figures as they readied themselves at the Shaman's side. But he knew there were more, many more just waiting for his orders. Pugrish had stated that they were the bound Auras of those who fell in the Battle for Vale. Oscar hadn't been inclined to question the validity of that statement,

He gave a few casual swings of his staff, "Several cracks with Drumenvok here... and bodies abound."

"But you can't just start killing people!" Oscar shouted

"Untrue... I'm fully capable of such." Pugrish gave a thoughtful hum as the Auras behind him turned their blank expressions towards Oscar "Or were you unfamiliar... with the sheer number of corpses I've left across this realm?"

"But-!"

Pugrish's hand shot out and snatched Oscar by the side of the head before drawing him close and hushing him. The order wasn't just for him, apparently, as the Auras froze in place as well.

"Calm yourself, boy." he ordered "I shall merely defend myself if attacked... butchering the weak gets tiresome..."

At that the auras began disappearing, fading away until he called upon them again. But even in their absence it did nothing to stifle how terrifying being in the Shaman's grasp was to him. Oscar flinched at the close proximity of all those severed faces, squeezing his eyes shut before stammering out.

"B-But why do you have to go in with us?!"

"To keep track of your journey..." Pugrish released him before walking by "I can't properly tax your progress otherwise... any who interrupt our trek before I deem our deal complete... shall simply die."

Oscar was at a loss for words, and before he could stop himself an image of the town being torn apart flashed before his eyes. He couldn't think of a way to talk Pugrish into letting them go on their own. But if he walked in there with a Warlord dressed up in a horrifying get up like that, Oscar couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't get startled into trying to defend themselves. He'd have to go around the village, hell he'd have to go around every place with other people until they got to Mistral. But what about then? Pugrish could still decide to kill them at the end of their journey, so what could they do?

Calm down, Oscar.

Oscar gasped, realizing he'd been clutching at his head in despair. The Stormbringer was watching him with interest, prompting Oscar to look away again

Look closer, there's no need to go for the town itself.

"What... but-?" Oscar paused upon spotting a large building at the edge of town "Is that... a train station?"

"Finally noticed?" Pugrish tapped a finger to his chin "Or was that... Ozpin seeing for you?"

Listen, we just need to get onboard a train without anyone noticing. Maybe under the cover of night. This line should take us closer to Mistral quicker than traditional paths.

"But-" Oscar tried to say

"Just sneak onto a train..." Pugrish offered whilst waving a finger in the air "if me killing is such a problem for you..."

Oscar blinked before looking to Pugrish with suspicion, "How did you-?"

"Logical... isn't it?" Pugrish asked "Despite it requiring you to become... a stowaway?"

"I wouldn't have to consider it if it wasn't for you." Oscar bit down on his agitation

Pugrish gave a slight chuckle, "True..." he admitted before looking up "wonderful weather today... would've been a good day for combat."

Oscar tried to ignore him, but the simplistic humor the Shaman was taking in this strenuous situation was... irritating. He couldn't even enjoy the company of others as long as this journey was in action. All he had was this monster and... and...

I'm sorry Oscar, this wasn't how I pictured this going. But you need to trust me, we have to get to Mistral beyond anything else. I'll deal with the Stormbringer there, so we need to bear with it for now.

"But what's the point?!" Oscar asked, "What are we even going there for?"

"Ah, conversations I cannot partake in?" Pugrish noted before opening his journal "How... tantalizing."

I can't reveal that just yet, Oscar. Even with his taxing I've managed to hold some details to myself. Just trust me until we get to Mistral, can I ask for that much?

Oscar grimaced before looking back to the Grand Shaman, who watched him with a humored gaze whilst flipping through his journal.

"...Fine." he eventually grumbled "But only until Mistral."

---

Over Open Waters...

A tightened bolt here, an adjusted grip there, weapon adjustments like this were what kept Crescent Rose looking beautiful even in the middle of travel. Once again, Ruby found herself with time to nap during the last stretch of their journey. Still not exactly able to sleep, she took the time to tune up her baby. She would've stopped the moment someone wanted to switch, but besides Nora glancing to her every so often everyone seemed to be content at their posts. Well, the term content was subjective, as Ren stared out into the clouds surrounding them with concern.

But Ruby knew Ren, he wasn't the type to stay quiet if he thought they were in danger. So she merely got back to adjusting Crescent Rose's insides with fine little tools. Without access to workshops like the one Beacon had, she couldn't exactly get her to the tippy top shape she was in before she'd gotten broken during the Fall, but that didn't mean Ruby couldn't still fine tune the hell out of her. As it was, she'd need to take half of it apart if she wanted to really do some work. But going that far while they were still over open water hadn't seemed ideal. But as soon as they landed? It was going to be a good time for the tinkerer.

"Hey Ruby?"

Ruby looked up to see that Nora had strolled over, smiling as her eyes darted from her to Crescent Rose several times, "See you're kinda busy with Crescent now but-" she hefted Manghild "Maybe when you're done you could take a lil' look at Maggy for me?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "You're calling it Maggy now?"

"Well you get to get all cute with Crescent," Nora pouted "why can't I have pet names for Manghild?"

"I never said that," Ruby raised a hand before coughing into it and smiling "I would be honored to look her over."

"Him."

Ruby blinked, "What?"

"Maggy's totally a guy!" Nora declared

Ruby looked at her for a second before asking, "Any particular reason why?"

"Oh pfft, come on Ruby." Nora smirked "Do you really want to go down that route?"

Shrugging, Ruby turned her attention back to her work, "Look, when we land I'll get to it. Was planning on hopping right to giving Crescent a full-body tune up, but looking... Maggy over shouldn't take too long."

"You can't do it with what you've got?" Nora asked whilst looking down to the weapons kit that Ruby usually kept strapped to her waist.

"Its not that I can't," Ruby glanced up to her before lifting a single piece of Crescent Rose "Its just that I don't want to start too many projects while we're still not out of the danger zone. I can just slide this baby back into place and be ready for action in ten seconds flat. Yours might take a little longer."

"Ugh," Nora stepped away, "This ocean hasn't earned the title of Danger Zone just yet."

Walking towards Ren, she joined him in looking out of a viewport before frowning, "Not once during this entire trip have we even seen anything other than water! When I heard the seas were infested with Aquatic Grimm and Pirates, I was picturing way more explosions!"

"Maybe don't jinx us?" Ruby said with slight worry "According to Rory and Yatsuhashi, we should be less than a day away from the shores of Anima."

"But she's not wrong." Ren stated, causing both of them to look to him "This isn't right, even on good days there would at least be some Grimm that travelers would have to be wary of. To not see a single sign of them like this isn't natural."

"Yatsuhashi's been feeling the same way."

The three of them looked to see Jaune entering from the cockpit, just behind him Rory and Yatsuhashi were lookin over a map. Jaune was still glancing behind him, but turned to the rest of them with a shrug.

"He said that even though Anima's north-western coast was always more dangerous, Grimm levels this low is kinda unprecedented considering the greater sightings everywhere." he continued whilst leaning against the doorway "Even Rory's looking kinda confused at the lack of contacts, apparently we just got out of the worst part of the trek."

"Which means its just gonna get less threatening from here?!" Nora sighed "Aw come on!"

"Oi!" Rory yelled from the cockpit "Somebody keep that girl from Jinxing us, damn it!"

"Already on it, Sir!" Ruby called back before turning her attention back to Crescent Rose.

Though she wanted to get back to work on tuning her weapon, her friend's concerns led Ruby's mind back to Grimm Studies with Professor Port. Why would an area be lacking in Grimm? Several reasons came to mind, with the one at center stage being that something had lured them away. Out here over the open ocean there weren't many Huntsmen or the natural defenses the mainland provided, so ships maneuvering around could definitely have drawn them away. But to such an extent?

Without even realizing it, Ruby had begun sliding Crescent Rose's pieces back into place, putting her tune-up on hold for the moment as she turned her attention towards the Cockpit.

"Hey Yatsuhashi?" She called out "You're familiar with the Anima Weather, right?"

The large boy turned away from Rory to look back at her "Its something I have experience with."

"Is this much cloudy weather normal?" she asked whilst tightening the bolts back into place with a growing frown, trying to speak over the sound of the Anna-May's propulsion systems.

"Well not for the oceans." he folded his arms and closed his eyes in thought "Most of the time you don't get much cloudy weather on Anima's west coast, except in the case of storms. I initially thought that was the case with these as well, but-"

Suddenly the rear door slid open and Velvet stormed in, "Gunfire."

"Say what?" Jaune blinked at her in surprise

Nodding to the side she called out louder, "Rory, I can hear gunfrie to the south of us, doesn't sound like heavy caliber stuff but-"

"But I ain't taking no chances!" the pilot groaned before twisting several dials and shifting the Anna-May's course further north.

"Guns out here?" Jaune tilted his head "We thinking pirates or Grimm?"

"If someone's getting attacked, we could help." Ruby brought up, only to shrink as Rory turned in his seat to glare at her.

"The only person your helping is me, damn it." Rory turned ahead just as the Anna-May broke through the clouds "We had us a...deal..."

He trailed off notably as he stared out through now cleared skies, his horrified silence leading the others on board to quickly find the nearest viewport as well.

Far below them there were a number of ships in the water.

A good number of them destroyed.

Smoke spilled from several small wrecks as ships waving black flags circled them. Beyond the wrecks the two largest ships were practically sailing right beside one another. The smaller of the two had The Solarian emblazoned on its side in bright uniform colors. From the design of it alone one could easily tell that it was a cargo ship. Its large bridge was situated at the front of the ship, with the entire rear dedicated to the massive amount of large cargo containers it had strapped to it. They were fastened so tightly together that from a distance it seemed as if they were a massive multicolored block loaded into the ship's rear. Atop those shipping containers a firefight had broken out as the larger ship's crew descended towards it via chains and ropes.

An immense number of large harpoons had been fired into the Solarian's rear, holding mechanisms slowing it down so the larger ship can keep up. A massive tower crane looked as though it had been torn from a dock and built into the deck of the larger ship. But the most eye catching thing about the larger ship was how easily identifiable it was. Even with all the new stuff built onto it, many could still remember Atlas showing footage of the ship months ago during the festival.

"Its... the Arceus." Jaune said in mounting horror

"We flew right over those Pirates main goddamn fleet!" Rory shouted out as he continued swerving the ship away from the sea battle taking place below.

Even from this height, Ruby could see the crew of the Solarian fighting desperately to hold off the pirates while several smaller ships began departing from the front of the vessel.

"They're evacuating..." Ruby muttered as Velvet stepped away from the viewport

"No, they're dead." she sighed before looking to Rory "As long as those pirates are focused on them we can slip away if we move fast."

"Already on it." Rory said even as sweat began going down his brow "God we might've actually dodged a bullet with this one."

"We have to help them!" Ruby stated

"What?" Velvet turned to her with a raised eyebrow

"I know she didn't just say what I fuckin' think she just said, right?!" Rory stammered

"Ruby, that's the main part of the Pirate Fleet we've been specifically trying to avoid." Velvet stated "Not only that, but it looks to me like they've already decimated most of The Solarian's backup. They're a lost cause by this point."

"E-Even then! We had a deal, damn it!" Rory shouted back "You're supposed to be protecting Anna-May and I!"

"Oh so I'm just supposed to ignore those people getting attacked right below us?" Ruby asked while narrowing her gaze "That's not what I went to Beacon for, guys!"

"We... aren't... huntsmen." Velvet declared as she drew closer

"Don't mean we can't act like them!" Nora declared as she looked out the Viewport with a flare of passion in her gaze "Might need a license to be official, but I don't see that as enough reason to just pass up a bad guy beatdown like what's going on down there!"

"But we did make a promise." Ren sighed, causing Nora's smile to waver "As much as I don't like it, there's no way this ship will last if it sticks around a fight like that."

"Ren!" Ruby looked to him in surprise, but before she could say anything Velvet grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her back around to face her.

Looking straight at her, Velvet grimaced, "Think, Ruby. You try going down there and you're just going to get yourself killed along with them. We got through the majority of the mission, we can't screw it up now for a lost cause."

But though Ruby faltered for a moment, her frown turned into a full glare as she leaned towards Velvet, "People are dying down there, Velvet."

"People are dying all over Remnant!" Velvet stepped back and held her hands to her sides "That doesn't mean we can just fix all of it, Ruby! Ever heard of pick your battles?"

"If that means just ignoring people in need then I guess I don't." Ruby turned away "If you're that against it then I'll just do it myself."

"What?!" Velvet shook her head, only for the sound of a loud clap to drag everyone's attention to Jaune. Having been watching the battle below throughout the entire argument behind him, he suddenly spun around towards them

"That's not a bad idea, actually!" he declared whilst looking to Ruby "We split up!"

"How the hell is that not a bad idea!?" Rory demanded, only for Yatsuhashi to begin nodding.

"Purely in terms of completing both the mission and providing aid, it does seem like an apt option." he nodded before closing his eyes again "Especially considering that we've completed the majority of our mission. Even just Velvet and I would probably be able to see this ship to the coast."

"While we help with the Solarian's escape!" Jaune pounded a fist into his hand "It looks like they're already evacuating their ship. Since the Pirates seem more concerned with their cargo than sinking them, we might actually be able to distract them long enough to facilitate then join in the escape."

Velvet was in disbelief, "W-why are you talking as if there isn't every possibility for you all to die down there?! We aren't huntsmen!"

"What I'm not, Velvet, is willing to just let people die and not try to do something about it." Ruby declared before making for the rear of the ship "Jaune, we're going with your plan. Ren, Nora and I can help them push the pirates back, you check in with the Solarian's crew and get us some insight on the escape situation."

To her dismay, Velvet watched Nora happily drag along Ren after Ruby with Jaune jogging after them.

"They aren't serious right?!" Rory asked in a panic, "W-What if I need them for protection?!"

Yatsuhashi placed a hand on his shoulder, "Velvet and I will do everything in our power to see you through the rest of your journey, right Velvet?"

He turned back to look at her, but Velvet was now standing beside the viewport looking below with a distant look in her eyes.

In the rear of the Anna-May, Ruby slapped a button on a panel beside her and watched as the rear door of the ship began opening. Soon the wind was blowing through her hair, and she let Crescent Rose unfold in her grasp as she approached the opening doors.

"I seem to recall something about Jinxing being brought up a few moments ago." Ren noted whilst readying his own weapons, only for Nora to give him a light punch to the arm

"Hey now, let's not go pointing fingers." she gave a small snort of laughter "We're gonna need those for the triggers after all."

"Uh, Ruby?" Jaune called to her whilst hesitantly standing beside her "I know we've tried this manuever several times, but I'm not sure if its ready for use in the-"

Ruby reached back and grabbed his hand before smiling, "Fortune favors the bold, right?"

"Yes but-!" his response was drowned out by a torrent of rose petals as Ruby activated her semblance, with Jaune being dragged into it as well. A touch of golden petals joined the normal red ones as they sped out from the back of the ship, with Nora gasping before immediately yanking Ren close to her.

"Come on! We can't not show off too!" She declared

"I'm pretty sure that's an extremely viable option!" Ren said before following her out of the rear of the ship

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

Far below, the battle atop the Solarian was still raging on. With the Smaller Black Tide ships busy picking apart the other ships they'd sunk, only the Arceus stood between the crew and escape. A single foe, yet a mighty one which only hampered their process the more the immense number of harpoons holding them back grew. As it were, the crew were just barely able to hold back the attackers from overrunning the rest of the ship, let alone make an attempt to start cutting the harpoon chains. Several made attempts, like two of the crew who saw a gap in the Pirate onslaught and made a break for the rear of the ship.

As the Pirates scattered to hide between several of the cargo containers to avoid gunfire, one Uruk took notice of the duo racing towards them. Still pinned down, this one pirate scowled before calling behind him.

"They's goin' for the chains!"

One of the two crewmates cursed under his breath before nudging the woman running beside him "I'll cover you, just get to the-!"

A spear came flying from ahead and slammed into his chest, aura flaring violently as he was sent flying onto his back. The woman stopped and called his name, only for a shadow to rise above her. She immediately lunged back out of the way as one of the pirates dove at her with a massive axe, already drawing her pistol as he cursed and hefted his weapon again.

"Stop moving!" he roared as he raised his axe to block her first shot and charge forward. She spun out of the way and fired a round into his back, his aura flaring yet the impact nowhere enough to slow him down. He spun on a dime and brought the axe down at her again. She leaped back out of the way, only to gasp as the axe came down on her downed comrade, breaking through his aura and lodging itself into his chest as the Uruk growled again.

"Bastard!" she shouted before taking aim, only for the Pirate to yank both his axe and the twitching man stuck on it up in front of him before throwing both of them at her. She had to step back, slipping on the moistened roof of the cargo container she was standing on. It gave the Pirate just enough time to slide a long machete from a holster on his back and dart towards her. The blade came up and slashed her pistol up into the air, it came falling atop another cargo container. By that point she'd already drawn her own knife and lunged into his next attack to drag it across his face. He swung the machete wildly as his aura flared, glancing up to spot the woman climbing atop another container.

Climbing to the highest containers in the midst of this fight was dangerous for a plethora of reasons, the primary risk being that both the pirates and the Solarian's crew were firing upon each other across it. But the woman crawled for her gun, the sounds of battle around her fading out in her ears as she just about reached the pistol just as a boot came in from the side and kicked it away. She lunged back out of the way as she readied her knife, only for the boot to come around and slam into the side of her head, throwing her onto her back.

She was barely able to shake off the daze before that same boot planted itself on her chest.

"On Black Tides we sail, Tark!" the Uruk standing atop her laughed happily while raising a club over his head, only for him to pause as something above caught his attention. Still dazed from the kick, her eyes instinctively followed his towards what she could barely make out as a small cloud of red and yellow speeding towards them.

The moment that Ruby deactivated her semblance, the momentum practically launched Jaune shield-first into the confused pirate, bringing both of them into a heap as Ruby fired Crescent Rose to build more velocity as the Pirates scrambled from the sudden intrusion.

Jaune shook his head after being subjected to the high-speed madness that was Ruby's semblance, glancing down only to go wide-eyed at the smiling Uruk beneath him.

"Ohoh, new meat for the kitchen!" the Pirate cackled whilst tightening his grip on his club. Jaune had to throw himself backwards, raising his shield just as the club came smacking against it. Jaune swerved carefully around the Pirate, deflecting two more swipes from his club before glancing up for a moment and raising his shield slightly over his head. The Pirate took note and immediately hopped closer whilst swinging his club towards Jaune's gut. Before it could make contact, Ren landed against Jaune's shield using it as a springboard to launce himself over the Pirate's attack and slam his leg into his head.

Jaune gave a sigh of relief as the pirate fell, with Ren catching himself and glancing over to see Nora already opening fire with Magnhild while racing to keep up with Ruby. Looking back, Ren and Jaune shared a nod before the former raced off to keep up with Nora and Ruby. Glancing around quickly, Jaune spotted the groaning Solarian defender and ran over.

"Hey! We're here to help, who's in charge around here?" he asked quickly, only for the woman to grab him and drag him with her in between two more cargo containers right before they were peppered by stray fire.

Up ahead, Ruby raced right into the oncoming pirates, the wide arcs of Crescent Rose spinning through the ranks of the attackers and throwing off their assault. Many saw the threat of the immense spinning blade and dodged out of the way as others were thrown off their feet. The Moment the cloud of petals dispersed, Ruby had to spin Crescent Rose as one of the Pirates shot at her. Swerving out of the way of the rounds, she fired Crescent Rose again to build more momentum and slash several more of them away before activating her semblance and speeding away just as the pirates began recovering from her sudden appearance.

Not far behind, Nora was engaged in a much similar technique, peppering the largest groups of pirate she could see with explosions. Gleefully raining destruction down upon the startled attackers, she found that the surprise of her quarries quickly turned to rage as several pushed through her assault and raced towards her weapons in hand. Nora leaped back and locked her knees with a grin whilst Manghild switched into its hammer form, throwing herself forwards towards the nearest Pirate and slamming the head of her hammer right through his attack and blasting him towards the others. Several had to lunge out of the way as the flailing Uruk sailed past them, but two didn't even slow down as they lunged for Nora.

Hopping over her, Ren opened fire on these two, with only one managing to raise a heavy saw in front of him to deflect the bullets. He pushed through the gunfire, forcing Ren to hop out of the way of the saw. Instead, Nora stepped in and slammed her Hammer into the saw, with both it and its owner flying away from her as the two found the other Pirates closing in. While readying his weapons, Ren looked up to find that he could no longer spot the Anna-May in the skies above.

The surprise assistance didn't go unnoticed, with many confused Solarian crew members looking upon the new additions to the battle with confusion.

This only lasted until one stood tall and called out, "Mistral must'a heard the distress call after all, we got huntsmen support, brothers and sisters!"

With renewed vigor and a battle cry, the Solarian crew raced out to join in the attempt to push the pirates back.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones who took note of the knew addition. Atop the Arceus, several dozen Uruks in red and white body paint were aiding in the assault taking place. Many were maintaining the harpoons that kept their quarry in place, but a number were scurrying about the decks of both ships trying to drag the downed forms of both Pirate and Solarian defenders back to their ship.

One of the Uruk overseeing this effort was quick to recognize the drastic shift that took place the moment those unforeseen interlopers became involved, and quickly turned and raced for the Arceus's bridge. Other Pirates seemed enticed by the new surge of retaliation, racing to meet the Solarian's Crew with just as much vigor.

Ruby found herself having to speed across the cargo containers, slashing away wherever the Uruks started pushing the Solarian defenders back. While she was mostly keeping her gaze locked onto the Uruks, deflecting blades and clubs and opening fire whenever she got the chance, she found herself noting something else. Whenever she made sure to check on the people she was fighting alongside, something felt off.

One woman was hacking away at an Uruk that Ruby was fairly certain was already dead, a man raising a fist and calling out jovially whenever he managed to land a hit with his rifle, the near maddened cries two men shouted as they rushed past Ruby with swords. She knew just from looking at them that they weren't soldiers, no they didn't seem to have the training like that. She'd assumed they were either mercenaries or just a band of armed refugees fleeing the Storm's grasp like everyone else. But something about just how brutish they were, even though they were clearly on the losing side of this battle, it didn't sit right with Ruby.

But she didn't let that distract her, the Uruks were the main problem right now. They'd managed to get the battle locked in something of a stalemate, their huntsmen training and the Solarian Crew's renewed spirit able to keep up with the sheer number of Black Tide Pirates attempting to break through. Ruby paused in her rapid assaults as her scroll began chiming, skidding to a stop at the edge of the cargo containers and letting her gaze dart around the battle as she whipped it out.

"Jaune!" she said before spinning crescent rose and wedging her scroll between her shoulder and cheek so she could take aim "Been wondering how things were goin' on your end, what's the-?"

"You gotta get over here!" Jaune's panicked voice halted her "T-The Bridge, Ruby!"

"Jaune?" Ruby glanced to her scroll as Jaune's voice went distant as he called out to someone "Jaune!"

"Just get over here quickly!" He said before the call cut out.

Ruby sighed before pocketing her scroll and spinning Crescent Rose to aim at an Uruk attempting to sneak behind Ren. The ensuing sniper round smashed against the Pirate's back and made him yell out as his aura flared, the vocalization drawing Ren's gaze as he spun around and slammed his leg into the side of his head. As he fell, Ruby sped overhead and swiped back several more Pirates.

"Jaune needs me up front," she called out before looking to Ren, "You and Nora gonna be okay for a few minutes?"

"Haha!" Nora laughed as she stumbled over to them and raised Manghild to hold back the bloodied chainsaw of one of the Pirates "You kidding?! Just means more for us!"

Before either Ren or Ruby could respond, Nora tightened her stance and yanked her hammer to the side to slam its head into the blade of the Uruk's saw. As she chased after him, Ren gave Ruby a nod before racing to join the melee once more. Eager to resolve Jaune's issue as quickly as possible and get back to the fight, Ruby used her semblance to speed off towards the bridge of the Solarian, leaving a trail of rose petals through the air as she went. Two of the Solarian's defenders in the rear looked up in awe at the feat, only for one to immediately frown as he returned his gaze ahead and tried to line up another shot with his rifle.

"The hell's that kid going?" He grumbled "We ain't even close to done!"

"Maybe she's just trying to check in with Goldie." the woman next to him huffed while mirroring his actions with her own rifle "Damn Council probably sent 'em in without a brief. Just keep putting downthese fucks until-"

She paused as her gaze went to the Arceus, noticing the large crane that was attached to the ship rearing up. Even with the cacophony of battle around them, the roar of the machine's engine reached her clearly as its massive arm swerved over the side of the Arceus and extended out over the Solarian's rear. But what drew her gaze were the bright figures racing along the top of it.

"Incoming!" she tried yelling out towards her fellow defenders, but many were unable to hear the call in time as the bright figures leaped from the crane towards them.

But Ren took note, gaze traveling upwards as burning figures sailed down towards them from above.

He was just barely able to shout, "Scatter!" before rolling out of the way as one landed beside him. The moment they landed, the flame cleared to reveal an Uruk covered in burn scars with a flaming machete.

"For the Flame! Burn it brothers!" he roared as more of the fire-themed Uruks landed amongst the battle, spewing short spouts of flame wherever they landed. The one besides Ren turned his gaze on him and lunged immediately before Nora slid in-between them and bashed him away with Manghild.

"Hah! These guys just get more and more fun to smash around!" she said before glancing back to Ren "Ain't that right, Re-?"

A massive impact from behind interrupted her, and soon they both turned to find that the immense claw of the crane had slammed down into the top of one of the containers. Holding onto the chain holding that Claw was another one of the Fire Uruks, but his arrival led several of the others to pause and look to him with reverance. Unlike them and their burning weapons, this one had his entire right arm covered in an assortment of machinery that traveled up his shoulder to a large contraption he had strapped to his back. With every flex of his gauntlet black smoke spewed from the machine. Raising his hand in front of him, sparks emerge from a hole built into the palm of the contraption, which immediately seemed to ignite a flame which raced along his form. He was nonplussed, hopping off the crane claw as his entire body was encased in the inferno.

"No time for slow burn, Tarks." the Burning Uruk looked up as he raised his metal hand "The Flame seeks quick ashes today. Cutters, hear the words of the Flame of War! Take piece by piece!"

One of the other Fire-Starter's waved towards the other Uruks, "Brighten your flames, Brothers. Captain Kruk's gonna blast 'em!"

The contraption on his back released a massive cloud of smoke that Ren was quick to go wide-eyed at.

"Back up, he's trying to blind us!" He shouted before yanking Nora back out of the way as the smoke covered the rear of the Solarian. Footsteps pounded all around them, and soon a brief glow from the side cued him in to shove Nora away from him as one of those Fire-Starters took a swing. He fired on him, but the smoke gave the Uruk ample cover as he darted away. To make matters worst, Ren could hear the sound of chainsaws starting up nearby. He quickly tried to distance him away from their ominous chorus.

Thankfully, the smoke-screen started to clear up. Almost immediately his eyes locked towards Nora who seemed to be trading swings with that Uruk with the fire-claw. But then he spotted where the sound of chainsaws were coming from, and watched two of the Pirates saw through the restraints of the Cargo container that the Crane Claw had pierced. Almost as soon as they finished sawing through its bindings, the crane yanked the container up away from the others and swerved to deposit it onto the Arceus.

Gritting his teeth, Ren rushed in hoping that Ruby wouldn't take too long with whatever Jaune needed.

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

Ruby paused upon entering the Bridge of the Solarian, eyes going wide as she spotted Jaune holding up his shield as he stood between a balding man in glasses and three of the Solarian's defenders.

All three had pistols trained on him.

"Jaune?!"She called out to him, raising her rifle at the trio on instinct.

"Ruby!" Jaune didn't move, glancing towards her out of the corner of his gaze with slight panic on his features "You gotta talk some sense into them!"

"She should be taking them out already!" The balding man pleaded as he cowered behind Jaune "These lunatics are staging a mutiny!"

"What?! Ruby narrowed her gaze

"Not a mutiny, Pola." A man at the head of the trio snapped, golden teeth flashing as he glanced to Ruby and nodded at his target "Pola's tryin' to ditch the entire payment to save his sorry skin, our brothers and sisters are out there dying for that crap and he's planning on leaving it!"

Ruby blinked, feeling as though she was missing some serious context, "Huh?"

"You damned fool, that was the plan since those monsters caught up to us!" Pola shouted "How in god's name do you expect to escape them without bait to keep them busy?!"

"You ain't sinkin' our payment, damn it!" The Gold-Toothed Defender roared before glaring at Ruby "You lot should know how much crap we went through for this haul! The Council ain't ever gonna stand for letting it all sink!"

Slowly she was piecing it together, with Ruby finding herself tightening her grip on Crescent Rose, "What's in those containers?"

The Gold-Toothed man looked stunned for a moment, lowering his pistol as he glanced to her in disbelief "You serious? Ain't them bastards in Mistral tell ya what the score was before sendin' ya out here?"

"We aren't with Mistral!" Jaune shouted "I've been trying to tell you that this whole time!"

"That means they ain't on the payroll, Goldie." a woman at the gold-toothed man's side piped in

His brow furrowed for a moment before grinning as he lowered his gun and turned on Ruby, "Not gettin' a cut, eh? Then maybe you'll appreciate the lunacy o' this man's plan. We was hired to transport a massive stock of Mr. Pola's armaments out o' the Storm's reach and back to Mistral. Then, we'd be able to use 'em to better defend our massive ass continent against anything that could come a swingin'! Yet this dumb fuck over here fails to manuever us away from those Black Tide bastards, and is now plannin' on handing them an entire ship's worth of guns and ammo!"

"That's what they're after?!" Ruby looked to Pola

"They're going to kill us if we don't give them something to scramble after!" he shouted "If we don't they'll just hunt us down and take the damn things anyway!"

"You said we'd be taking it with us in the escape!" Goldie shouted back

"We have nowhere near enough time for that, you bandit filth!" Pola retorted

And with a single word Ruby found herself freezing up, Pola and Goldie were still yelling, but Ruby found her eyes locking to Solarian's defenders, "Bandits?" she said under her breath, her confused utterance going unnoticed by all except Jaune.

"Ruby," he called out to draw her attention, interrupting the shouting match as he nodded towards Goldie and his backup "They... I didn't know how to tell you over the call but..."

Goldie shook his head with a sigh before glancing to Ruby and pounding a fist against his chest "Gollus D. Locke, Raid Leader of the Branwen Tribe, Girlie."

Suddenly the muffled sounds of battle seemed non-existent, as the moment that name was uttered Ruby's mind flashed back to dozens of stories that Uncle Qrow would tell of the Branwen Tribe. Crescent Rose was held with far more purpose as its scope was trained on the trio, with Ruby's expression tightening up as she kept herself from lashing out immediately. The things she'd heard about this particular group of individuals were anything but pleasant, her uncle was especially merciless in every one of his descriptions of them.

It was understandable, they were his family after all.

"What... is this?!" Ruby demanded, eyes darting between the Bandits and Pola "Why do you have Criminals defending your stock?!"

"Criminals?" Goldie snickered at her confusion, "Ain't you hear, Girlie? We're all pardoned, you're looking at Mistral's top line of defense over here."

"That's ridiculous!" Ruby shook her head "You... the villages you've looted... you people have killed so... SO many! There's no way that-!"

"The Amnesty Act." Pola stated with pained finality as he adjusted his glasses "It went into affect shortly after contact with Vacuo was lost. With Atlas consolidating its forces in the north, the Council saw fit to make some exceptions in order to bolster the Kingdom's security. In layman's terms, any and all individuals willing to serve in defense of Mistral are offered amnesty to all prior crimes on record."

Ruby looked at him with shock, her grip on Crescent Rose loosening in disbelief, "No... he's... he's lying right? Why wouldn't something like this be all over the CCT? He's gotta be lying, right Jaune?"

But Jaune only looked to her with a grim expression, "Ruby..."

"If that's true then..." She raised a hand to her mouth in horror as the implication of such an Act settled.

Out of all the Kingdoms, Mistral had always been known to have the largest criminal element. Compared to Mistral, what they had been dealing with in Vale was nothing. There were numerous factors behind this, notably the sheer size of Anima compared to the other continents, but the final result was undeniable. Though the Branwen Tribe was the most notorious, there were dozens of bandit tribes across the continent. And that wasn't even including the organized gangs, rogue huntsmen and the White Fang.

Ruby could understand the logic to an extent, with Vacuo gone silent, Vale taken over and Atlas busy recouping their losses, it didn't seem beyond the realm of possibility for Mistral to try off-setting the lack of foreign support by utilizing the numerous criminals running rampant within their borders in case of an attack. But even so, relying on them like that was raising numerous red flags in Ruby's head.

"Ruby, Bandits or not they've got a point." Jaune spoke, trying to snap her out of it "Pola's got enough weaponry on this ship to arm several whole villages to the teeth. If the Black Tide Pirates get a hold of it all then they'll be dominating the waters even harder than they already are."

"Wouldn't even be risk of that if this rich bastard had done his job and plotted our course outside of their routes!" Goldie shouted as he narrowed his gaze at Mr. Pola again "You said they would've been chasing those idiots north of us along with the Serpent, but look who's arse their ramming up right now!"

"They should've been there!" Pola defended himself "The Promber's distress call was on an open signal, it should've been irresistible to any looter. The fact that they picked up our trail should be impossible-!"

"Quiet!" Ruby shouted as she lowered Crescent Rose and stepped forward "None of that matters right now. They're here, people are dying, and a whole ton of guns are at risk of falling into the wrong hands. Save figuring out how they got ahold of you for after we get away. We gotta be focusing on timing this right."

Goldie glared at her, "Timing what?"

Ruby shook her head, "We can't let them have that weaponry, bait or not having that kinda stuff in their hands sounds like a nightmare down the road."

"That's what we've been saying!" Goldie patted his chest as Pola looked to her in terror.

"But we can't-!"

"We aren't taking it either!" Ruby interrupted him before he could speak "I've seen the size of your escape ships and there's no way you could take even a fraction of that gear even if you left half your people here. I say escape and sink as much of the stuff as possible. They'll probably be able to grab some of it but even if they steal a bunch of diving suits there's no way they'd be able to get to the rest of it before the sea water wrecks most of it."

Goldie stepped closer, "That's our payment you're talking about!" he said before tilting his head "We didn't lose all these people just to come back empty handed!"

"You!" Ruby turned on Pola "You're gonna have to give them something."

"But this is everything my company made in Vale!" Pola stammered "Losing this alone will make me have to work the factories in Anima twice as hard to recoup the-"

"That's it!" Jaune stood taller as he looked to Goldie "Would you be able to take those factories as payment?"

"What?!" Pola looked to him in horror

"That's-!" Goldie trailed off for a moment, letting his gaze travel to his cohorts

"Boss'd like having more venues under her wing." the scrawny man at his side offered.

At that Goldie grinned, "Yeah, yeah that actually sounds pretty swell. The Kingdom of Mistral could always use more ways to arm us up."

"I-! But you can't!" Pola called out

"Well then save that as the last resort and think of something else by the time we get to the shore." Ruby said before turning to Jaune "How much longer do you need to get the rest of the escape boats ready?"

"If what these two have told me is accurate then we should be able to get the last in the water in half an hour." Jaune rubbed at his head "With all the weapons and dust they're hauling we should be able to find a way to rig this ship to blow as soon as we leave but... Ruby, we're going to be cutting it really close on this."

"As long as its possible then we've gotta make a go for it." Ruby held up a fist before glancing out of the viewport and groaning as she turned around "I gotta get back out there, try to keep me updated!"

As soon as she tore out of the Bridge, another vast cloud of dark smoke erupted atop the containers.

Deep within the cloud, Ren narrowed his gaze as he looked over his immediate surroundings. He spotted the faint glow mere moments before leaping out of the way as the Burning form of Kruk exploded from the smoke and swung his flaming claw forward. Ren ducked under it and fired Stormflower at his chest as he slid by, leaping back out of the way only for Kruk to lurch forwards to keep up with him. Ren knew he wouldn't be able to hop out of the way or evade in time, instead opting to cross his weapon in front of him as Kruk curled his flaming claw into a fist which sped towards him. Metal struck metal, but Ren found his eyes snapping open to find the burning claw of Kruk straining against the head of Manghild.

Nora stood between them, muscles tensed up as she fought to hold back the Uruk's force with a grin.

"Not gonna leave a girl hangin' now are ya?!" she asked as the two reared back, Ren's eyes widened as he preemptively darted away. The moment Kruk's burning claw came into contact with Nora's hammer again, another explosion roared out that Ren was just barely able to roll out of the way of. Once it cleared, he saw the two of them trading blasts with one another and realized it was his chance to take care of another problem. For someone so weighed down by that immense claw he built around his arm, Kruk's assault was ferocious enough to distract them from the crane and the small crew of chainsaw wielding Uruks that were busy cutting through the binds holding the cargo containers down. They'd already managed to snag four containers already, the other pirates working to keep the Solarian's defenders from interrupting them.

Ren spotted one of the defenders wielding two machetes as he managed to swipe one of the pirates' legs out from under him. As his aura flickered another defender rushed over with a sledgehammer. Raising it over her head, the defender brought down and broke through the pirate's aura, crushing his head into a pulp in the process. The machete wielding man nodded in approval to his cohort as she hefted the sledgehammer and gave a snicker.

"Just like scared civvies once they're on the ground!" she bellowed out as she and the machete wielder made a beeline for the Saw-Wielders.

Ren had picked up enough disconcerting tidbits from the crew already, but stifled his suspicion once more in favor of aiding in their charge. The more of them there were putting pressure on those Saw-Wielders the bigger of an opening he had to put that crane out of commission. As its claw pulled another container from the Solarian and yanked it high above, one of the Chainsaw Uruks took note of the approaching forces. Usually the other Pirates would step in to cover them, but Ren's rapid movements managed to drive a wedge through the Pirates' defenses large enough for several of the Defenders to join him as he leapt into action.

There were four of them in total, with one revving up his saw and charging to meet Ren even as bullets peppered his aura. Recognizing that he wasn't slowing down, Ren altered his course and dove out of the way as the Cutter swung his saw wildly and forced the Defenders to evade as well. Though their saws were loud, even as Ren wove between them he could pick up the sound of a different kind of whirring noise that was growing louder. He heard several yells of encouragement coming from further away as what could only be the sound of an engine. Hopping away from one of the Cutters, Ren opened fire before risking a glance towards the new sound.

He barely got a glimpse of the blur that sped by, only managed to snap his head around just in time to see it speed past the woman with the sledgehammer. An arm reached out wielding a heavy length of pipe which slammed the side of her head as the blur sped off along the cargo containers. It was enough to make her aura shimmer dangerously, but the greater threat was the opening it provided for the Cutter she had been fighting. Seeing an opening, he wasted no time in ramming his spinning saw directly the last of her aura and into her chest.

Ren moved to help, only for him to catch sight of the blur as it sped through the defenders cracking multiple over the head or just ramming into them at full speed and flinging them away. As it drew closer to the edge of the containers, it finally slowed ever so slightly as it began to turn. Now Ren could see it as another Pirate on a Motorcycle, face completely obscured by a motorcycle helmet. The driver wasted no time in slamming the pipe onto the container below and speeding off again whilst whooping and hollering.

Cursing, Ren dove out of the way of another Uruk's saw and raised Stormflower, only to pause as a Red Blur slammed into his attacker and forced him back. Ruby formed out of the flurry of roses with Crescent Rose already prepared, the Uruk unable to pull his saw into place before her weapon slashed him off as his feet and sent him tumbling across the containers behind him.

Ruby looked back to Ren as he got up, "We got about twenty-seven minutes until we need to leave, where do you need me?"

Ren wasted no time in pointing to the crane, "They're snagging cargo with that thing and they've got too many Pirates covering it to dart in, if you could-"

"On it!" Ruby steeled her legs before utilizing her semblance one more, immediately sailing over the battle and drawing the attention of several of the combatants. Soon she had to swerve between several streams of gunfire as she closed in on the crane claw just as it was beginning to lift another cargo container off of the Solarian. Before it could get to far, Ruby hopped out of the trail of roses and spun around to cut through the chain holding the claw. The container immediately fell, with several of the chainsaw-wielding Uruks stumbling out of the way while calling for their gun-toting allies to gun her down.

But Ruby wasn't done, turning her attention to the crane itself and speeding up towards it.

It was blatantly from another ship, the base of the machine looking as though it had been torn from its foundation and affixed to the top of the Arceus. It had an operator's cabin, inside of which she just barely spot a figure turning the crane back towards the Arceus. Ruby couldn't let them fix the claw, but more than that she wanted that crane destroyed just in case. Forming once more, Ruby reared back with Crescent Rose. But before she could reach the Mast, the door of the Operator Cabin flew open and a flash of green reached her gaze right before a small projectile sped towards her. Ruby altered her course and swerved over it, only for it to explode and throw her into the air.

Though protected by Aura, her form landed atop the jib of the crane. She was just barely able to catch a hold of it before she could slide off, and looked down to the two ships below and swallowed carefully.

"You went and broke my new toy, sweetness!"

Ruby froze up as she instinctively recognized the voice, her gaze snapping towards the Operator's Cabin as the figure pulled himself atop it and struck a pose as he spun his boil-covered visage towards her.

"No problem, just gives me time to enjoy a classic." Bubol flexed his fingers.

"Bubol..." Ruby groaned as she pulled herself to her feet "I don't even know why I didn't expect this."

Having ditched the torn prisoner jumpsuit she last saw him in, Bubol had donned himself in plain trousers and a... purple bathrobe? She couldn't rightly tell exactly, as all of the fur was matted with what she could only assume was dry, diseased blood. Not only that, but he had a wrist bow that looked as if it was modeled after the one he wielded before his incarceration. It didn't look that different, but Ruby remembered exactly the kind of trouble he'd given them with that weapon back then.

Then there was the gash.

Weiss had torn Myrtenaster through his face during the Battle for Vale, the cut still visible. A jagged tear of flesh through both of his cheeks that ran farther along the right side of his head, almost reaching his ear. It had healed horribly, with uneven surgical staples running along the gashes that held the wound closed. Bubol took note of her eyes and rubbed a finger along the scars with a giddy sigh.

"You remember this, right?" Bubol wiggled his pus-covered eyebrows "Still hurts something fierce."

"All I remember is you driving a knife through my hands." Ruby angled Crescent Rose towards him whilst her eyes darted to the ships below, trying to find the quickest route to take down the crane and get back to her friends.

"Oh now that was just great." Bubol gave a lusty groan before clenching his hand "But then the white tart went and had to ruin the atmosphere, love. Gotta go and give her similar lil' kisses on every piece o' meat she got, but I ain't 'bout to make ya all jelly talkin' bout-"

Ruby sped off in a flash right in the midst of his speech, with Bubol laughing as he watched her direct her trajectory for the mast of the crane again. He reared back as the sides of his bow extended, eye glowing green as he immediately unloaded a volley of arrows. Ruby panicked before bobbing and weaving through the air, having remembered the rate of fire his last bow had left her unprepared for the rain of arrows which filled the air around her. Her semblance allowed her to thread her way through the projectiles, but they were able to distract her long enough for Bubol to leap off the Crane right as she attempted to cut through the mast again. Having been focused on avoiding the projectiles, she wasn't ready for the entire Uruk to slam into her from above and send both of them plummeting to the ship below.

Bubol didn't seem to care for the free fall he'd flung them into, instead whipping his bow around towards her face. Ruby used the handle of Crescent Rose to yank herself out of the way of the bow's blade-like edges, swinging her leg up to kick it right as an arrow was fired past her side. She used Crescent Rose to blast herself away from him, using the sudden shift in trajectory to slide along the deck of the Arceus. Bubol landed in a roll, laughing all the way as dozens of Uruks who were helping with the Solarian Offensive suddenly turned their attention to the unexpected intruder.

"Focus on gettin' that hook sorted lads!" Bubol ordered whilst letting the grappling hook of his arm-mounted bow extend down below "This treat's mine and mine alone!"

Several of the Black Tide Pirates wearing Red and white colors were more hesitant to follow that order as the rest of the Uruks who returned to the fight. One of which was trying not to roll his eyes as Bubol and Ruby began darting around each other slashing and swinging. But there were greater things to focus on at the moment, namely coordinating the Blood-Storm's recovery efforts. While the rest of the Black Tide Pirates seemed eager to brawl and steal, only they of the Blood-Storm truly understood the importance of not just leaving their downed allies for dead.

Shaggot turned his attention away from Bubol and Ruby's duel, instead walking over to the edge of the Arceus to look at the battle atop the Solarian. He could spot the red of the Blood-Storm amongst the battle, in small teams of two or three darting around the fights and hauling downed combatants back towards the Arceus. They were indiscriminate, nabbing anyone who was beaten down or dying amidst the battle. Once they were hauled towards the harpoons holding the ships together, ropes were used to drag them up the side of the Arceus into the waiting arms of more Blood-Storm Uruks.

"Get off of me, Get off!" one woman screamed as she was hauled back on board, one of the Blood-Storm lads carrying her groaning in annoyance before unceremoniously dumping her on the deck, immediately she rolled over and tried drawing a blade from her belt. The moment she turned it onto her captors a club slammed into the back of her head and sent her sprawling to the side.

"Too loud," said Bolgoth, the wielder of said club, as someone else was dragged aboard. This time, one of the Fire-Starters who had had his leg very thoroughly broken in the midst of the battle. Once he was dumped on the deck, he immediately struggled to climb back over.

"No!" he roared as he struggled and failed to move with his ruined leg "The Flame calls! I can still wage War! I can still-!"

The club came down with just as much annoyed fury, rendering him unconscious just as quickly as Bolgoth waved two more grunts over to drag him off.

"Too much whining, not 'nuff healing!" he shouted before glancing over at Shaggot "The Tarks holding back too well, no time for this! It'll catch up."

"I hear they're trying to fix the lifter while the boss has that red wench all distracted-like." Shaggot strolled past him whilst hefting a rifle and using it to gesture towards the Solarian "Till then I'm just gonna keep pickin' tarks off."

Though he laughed, Bolgoth took hold of his shoulder and pulled him back, "I serious. If we no speed up then-"

His words were cut off as the entire ship rocked, causing many of the Uruks to stumble. The same thing occurred with the Solarian soon after, with Bolgoth grimacing as he turned away.

"Knew it." he grumbled before looking to Shaggot, "Take over Clubbing, I get boys ready."

Shaggot watched him run off and shook his head with a smile as he watched another beaten and bruised pirate get dragged back on board. He was yelling and arguing with the Blood-Storm Uruks as well, so Shaggot merely shrugged and walked over whilst rearing back with his rifle.

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

Nora wasn't really able to take note of the Solarian's ominous shaking, she was too busy trying not to get set ablaze. Using Manghild to blast herself out of the way of another stream of fire, she took aim at the Walking flame that was Kruk and fired three rounds at him. Lunging out of the way of the first two, Kruk spewed another stream of fire from his gauntlet which caused the last round to detonate prematurely, creating a blast of spent dust which Kruk leaped through not a second later.

Nora spun Manghild quickly to blocked the incoming strike, finding herself sliding back from the force but just barely managing to hold it back. But even then, her blood was pumping something fierce. Looking up at Kruk, she slammed a foot down and pushed back. The Uruk sported a grin which matched her own for a second before the Solarian shook again, throwing off both of their footing and causing them to back away from each other before charging with their weapons once again.

But even though they were unable to notice the ominous tilting the ships occasionally did, the other combatants didn't. Even whilst trying to slaughter each other, both the Black Tide Pirates and the Bandit Defenders began looking around in between skirmishes for the source of the tremors.

Least of which was Ren, who was trying to balance his concern for them and the need to take down that damn biker. The Pirate on the Motorcycle had been weaving his way through the Solarian defenders since his arrival, the motorcycle going at disproportionate speeds and weaving through the returning fire that should've taken him out a while ago. Instead he'd ride around slamming that pipe of his into the heads of stronger defenders, giving the other Pirates an opportunity to push. Ren couldn't keep up with his speed, but utilizing Stormflower he was able to make him dodge away from the other defenders. He just couldn't predict the motorcycle's movements, it was moving in such sporadic and sudden turns that the sheer speed at which he was going should've led to a wipe-out several times.

But he just needed to keep him from doing too much damage, as long as they gave the defenders enough time to get their escape in motion then they were still making progress. But as he was once again weaving between skirmishes and firing upon the biker, he spotted something off in the distance.

Those Smaller Black Tide Pirate ships were catching up, some of them already prepping their harpoons and ropes to try boarding the Solarian from the sides. But even beyond that threat their was something even more unnerving behind them. Figures leaping up out of the ocean only to immediately fall back inside. Ren would've just written it off as some kind of odd sea life, but they were far too big to be the average fish.

Before he could examine them further, a large creaking sound echoed through the air. His eyes snapped towards the Arceus, finding that their crane was tilting.

Ruby had finally managed to slip through Bubol's barrage and slice through the Crane's tower with Crescent Rose. As it tilted, she attempted to put distance between her and it only for Bubol's grapple to catch her hood. she grounded herself against the falling tower and turned to try and cut through it with her weapon, only for the other end of the grapple to attach to the falling piece of the crane and yank her hard against it.

"Just gonna break and run, sweetness!?" Bubol called out as he pulled himself to the top of the remaining section of crane tower, ejecting the spent grappling cartridge and sliding one home "Oho I never would've expected such a dirty move~!"

He leaped after her as she managed to angle herself and Crescent Rose, cutting through the grapple holding her to it and blasting herself along the falling crane just as more of Bubol's arrows pierced the metal behind her. She spun Crescent Rose and took aim just as Bubol landed against it, but before either of them could make their next move-

The jib of the crane crashed through the roof of one of the Solarian's containers as the force of the impact tore it apart, the weight of the crane pushing it down through the ship's cargo as the operator box and what what was left of the tower crashed against it as well. The entire Solarian ship lurched dangerously from the impact, with all of the combatants being tossed around. Ruby and Bubol were both flung from the crane, with Ruby managing to adjust her trajectory with a blast from Crescent Rose. As she skidded along the tops of the Solarian's cargo, she heard the telltale sound of Bubol's grapple and looked up just as he pulled himself atop the fallen crane. He looked down at her with a pout.

"Something wrong, love?" he asked before grinning "You aren't as vocal as you were last time we enjoyed each other's weapons."

"Shut up! I'm not gonna listen to you and your craziness anymore!" Ruby stated before spinning Crescent Rose "I just need to beat you."

Bubol pouted again before holding up his bow again "Fine, be that way! Just gonna have to get ya all loud and chatty once you're in chains, my sweet!"

As those two continued their fight, the other combatants were just recovering from the Solarian's lurch enough to get back to their own.

Among them was Ren, who pushed himself up and looked around. Nora and Kruk barely seemed to care for the crashed crane, the two hadn't stopped flinging fire and explosions at each other once. Ruby and Bubol were both flinging themselves and each other around the wreckage of the crane. He couldn't spot the biker anymore, but as he looked for him his eyes came across something which gave him pause.

One of the other Black Tide Pirate Ships, it was breaking apart. Ren stepped closer to the edge of the Solarian as the battle raged around him, watching the Pirates on board the smaller ship flee in little rafts towards other ships. But several of the other small ships weren't too far off, as Ren could now clearly see gunfire and small explosions occurring along them as well. He didn't understand why, until he saw more of those strange hopping figures leaping atop one of the ships and causing the crew to open fire on them immediately. Ren narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better view of them, but then a geyser of water erupted off the edge of the Solarian right in front of him.

He lunged backwards as a dark figure flew up along the geyser, extending black limbs as it spun around in the air and fixed glowing red eyes on him.

Grimm.

Ren tightened his hold on Stormflower and lunged to the side as the aquatic Grimm slammed into his previous position. It rolled around on its massive head before catching itself on two large arms which grew from the side of its body.

It looked like a man-sized angler fish, the majority of its scales replaced with hard bone-like armor. Its main body was slightly larger than Ren's entire torso, and the two arms extending from its sides were thick and corded. Hanging from its forehead was a stem with a bulb on it that pulsed brightly with electricity as it hung down right in front of its massive, jagged-toothed maw.

It launched itself at him with its arms, with Ren rolling to the side and firing on the beast before his eyes were drawn to more water geysers that preceded more of Grimm launching themselves onto the Solarian.

"We're out of time!" one of the Pirates shouted to his fellow Uruks after he spotted the Grimm "Them damn Manglers caught up to us!"

Hearing his call, Kruk finally pulled his attention away from Nora, who was struggling to catch her breath after yet another one of their clashes. Kruk narrowed his gaze as he watched both Black Tide Pirates and the Solarian Defenders turn their attention on the Grimm. Growling, he turned away from Nora. She saw the opportunity and took it, raising Manghild and leaping at him just as his fire-spewing contraption released another smoke screen. Her hammer came down on a container, and she looked around angrily for Kruk. But instead, she heard his voice call out over the fighting.

"The Beasts come for Tark blood, brothers! Pull back and cut loose, big fish comes soon to feed!"

Switching Manghild to its Grenade Launcher form, Nora fired towards the sound of his voice. Though she gritted her teeth, her blind firing was interrupted as someone slammed into her from behind and sent her stumbling forward. Nora caught herself and glanced back to see figures running past her through the black smoke. They rushed by as she got to her feet, grumbling and coughing on the smoke just as one of the running figures raised a machete.

Nora grinned and deflected the blade with Manghild, rearing back to ram the butt of her weapon at them before pausing as she locked eyes with one of the Solarian's defenders. Realizing she wasn't an Uruk, he pulled back with a growl as he tried to squint through the smoke.

"Where did they go?!" he demanded whilst looking around, trying to find his quarries "which way are they-?"

One of the Manglers tackled him to the ground mid-sentence, its gaping maw carving through his Aura before Nora charged into it from the side and shoulder-bashed it off. The smoke was clearing up, just enough for her to look down and grimace at the man below as blood spewed from where the Grimm's teeth had torn through his armor.

Looking around as the smoke cleared, Nora saw that most of the Pirates had pulled back. Having fled through Kruk's smoke screen, the attacking Grimm were quick to take their place.

"Get small ships away!"

Nora looked back to see that the Black Tide Pirates were rushing to flee back to the Arceus, with Kruk waving them towards the chains and ropes with a growl.

"Beasts only here for Tark flesh!" he ordered "Distance the fleet!"

As Ren kicked one of the Manglers away, he looked up at Kruk's words before glancing out towards the other Pirate ships. Kruk was right, now that Ren was able to look closer he noticed that the smaller ships that the Grimm were targeting were those closest to the Solarian. Turning back, he spotted the Biker again, speeding back towards the Arceus before hopping on one of the harpoons and driving along its chain back to the deck of the Arceus.

But Ren couldn't focus on the impossible feats of the Biker right now, as the Pirates fled he watched them ready more heavy armaments on the edge of their ship. They were pulling their harpoons and cutting ropes, with Kruk riding one of the harpoons back to the deck as he looked out over the Solarian. The Fire-Starter's gaze took in the rapidly changing situation with a curious frown, only for his eyes to widen as he realized one specific Uruk wasn't pulling back like the others.

"Bubol!"

His yell went unnoticed by both Bubol and Ruby, who managed to dodge another array of arrows before landing and taking note of the Grimm around them. She wasn't given long to take stock of the situation, as she had to lean out of the way of the grappling hook as Bubol whipped it at her.

"More!" he yelled out "Gotta make up for last time!"

Ruby leaped over another swing of the whip before glancing back just as one of the Manglers launched itself at her. She whipped Crescent Rose around and buried its blade into the of its jaw before spinning and launching it at Bubol. He didn't slow down, dropping to his knees and sliding under the flying Grimm before his eye glowed green.

"That's it, keep it coming!" he cooed before whipping it towards her.

Ruby had to spin Crescent Rose quickly to deflect his next arrow, shifting to the side as she continued spinning as he continued firing at her. Once his assault stopped, she used that building momentum to launch Crescent Rose towards him. Seeing the spinning Scythe speed towards him, Bubol leaped over it whilst taking aim at Ruby. Utilizing her semblance, she sped towards him in a cloud of rose petals before splitting into three separate clouds around him. He landed just as she reached her weapon. The two spun to aim at each other again, but Ruby froze up the moment she turned to him.

Bubol paused once he took note of her expression, but kept his bow trained on her as he took a glance behind him.

"What the hell is that?!" one of the Bandits cried out as a massive figure pulled itself from the water besides the Solarian. The Arceus began releasing a loud, bellowing horn which caused the other Pirate ships in the area to pull back. The Solarian did the same, only instead of a wailing horn sound, the voice of Goldie spoke out.

"We's bailing boys and girls, get up front and hop on an escape boat!" he announced "We're sinking this trashy ship and getting a different kinda payment!"

"They're what?!" Kruk yelled out upon catching the announcement, turning back towards several nearby Uruks "Put down large beast quickly, cannot let them destroy tools of War!"

But despite the various alarms and the voice of Goldie already spurring the Solarian's Defenders to start pulling back, Ruby wasn't moving.

She and Bubol both stared up at the massive head of a monstrous Grimm in the shape of a large serpent. It had two relatively small arms that didn't fit at all with its massive size, they were helping it cling to the side of the ship as more of its body emerged from the ocean. Before their eyes, they watched as more Manglers pulled themselves from the Sea Serpent's body and flopped onto the Solarian and into the water beside it. From its dragon-like mouth, sparks occasionally flickered and spewed as it released a roar which caused the very-ocean around them to tremble.

It was horrifying to behold, but Ruby was given no more time to stare at its imposing visage.

The grappling hook slammed against the side of her face and sent her slamming to the floor beside her, groaning and turning to glare as Bubol approached, "What are you doing?! That thing'll tear apart both of the ships! We need to-"

"Oh don't go lettin' this lad get in the way of our moment," Bubol cooed before whipping his bow around to plant an arrow in the eye of a Mangler just as it leaped for him "he's been givin' us and all o' you tarks trouble for a while now. Tearing up tark ships before we can get to 'em, spreading his ilk everywhere tryin' to own the seas."

Bubol grabbed his bow with his other hand, "Hard to lure 'em into traps when all he's lookin' for is tark flesh... but I get the big boy's preference."

"What are you-?" Ruby got up just as a shadow fell over her, prompting her to spin around and carve another Mangler in two.

"I knew taking a bit of a gamble on this here vessel would be worth it!" Bubol yelled out, framed by the growing glow emerging from the sea Serpent's maw. But just as it reared back to attack the ship, a massive spear punctured its left eye. The impact threw off its attack, and soon a massive stream of electricity tore from its mouth and streaked through the air.

"Captain Kruk?!" one of the Uruks yelled as Kruk leaned away from the very launcher he'd used to fire that spear "Are we really gonna-?"

"This beast robs much war from us every day!" Kruk ground his teeth "Now it takes tools of war as well? We cannot allow this!"

He turned on the Uruks with him, "We claim seas today, brothers!"

A battle cry erupted as more launchers were trained on the Sea Serpent, which pushed away from the Solarian and dove into the ocean as more spears and harpoons were launched at it. The waters where it swam were momentarily dyed black, only for more Manglers to appear soon after. The smaller Grimm began swimming for both of the ships, with more flinging themselves onto the Solarian and immediately racing for the fleeing Defenders.

"Damn it, that thing spews them faster than we can kill them!" Ren called out as he raced for the front of the ship, firing backwards at the oncoming Grimm right before an explosion tore through the creatures.

"Just means there's more that'll go down when we blow this joint!" Nora yelled out whilst hefting Manghild and following alongside him, "Think we can take out that dragon thing as well? Oho, now that'd be awesome! Crushing those Pirates Dreams and slaughtering a buncha gross monsters at the same time? What could be better!?"

"You guys!"

They looked ahead and saw Jaune leaning out from a door that the Solarian Defenders were pouring into, several of them were covering their comrades and firing upon the Grimm.

Ren slid to a stop beside them and joined them in covering the last fleeing defenders, "Is that trap ready?"

"Yeah, these guys are the last to evacuate." He said quickly before looking past them "Where's Ruby?"

Nora backed up while blasting away the Manglers "Meh, she and that one Uruk in the Purple Robe are having a spat."

"What?!" Jaune said right before a large wave slammed against the side of the Solarian and made it tilt dangerously.

The Sea Serpent swam under the Solarian, charging up another blast only for yet another spear to puncture the side of its body.

"Keep going," one of the Pirates shouted to the others, "try as it might, that bastard can't evade the Tide!"

Just as he said that, the Serpent exploded from the water beside the Arceus and launched into the air. Its entire body sailed into the sky as its arms began trembling, then extending and growing as its body shifted.

"Hohoho!" Shaggot cupped his eyes to get a better look "Looks like he's got more surprises for us!"

"Why you lookin' so happy!?" Bolgoth demanded while hefting more spears and explosives across the deck "Get to the loadin'!"

Beofre their eyes its arms shifted grotesquely before becoming wings, which the Serpent flapped to send it further into the sky and blast a huge gust of wind towards the ship.

"Blow all you want beast!" Kruk called out "This Flame not so weak!"

"It Flies?!" Bolgoth exclaimed

"What a wonderful surprise!" Shaggot laughed

The serpent flew through the air, whipping itself around as it began charging another attack.

"Give no reprieve!" Kruk ordered, only for his eyes to lock back onto the serpent as black forms rained from the flying Beast's body. As they fell they formed into Manglers which landed among the Arceus' deck. They wasted no time, immediately charging towards the Uruks even as they rushed to meet them.

"Can't even cook 'em!" a Caterer growled before hefting a cleaver over his head

"Keep em' away from the armaments!" Bolgoth shouted

But while the battle between the Black Tide Pirates and the Grimm raged in earnest, the scenario onboard the Solarian was entirely different. Already the first wave of escape ships were sailing away from the ship, with the Manglers rapidly taking the place of the fleeing defenders as they infested more and more of the ship.

Ruby slammed against the side of the wrecked crane, crying out before using crescent Rose to haul herself on top of the fallen machine and hop to the other side of it. Her scroll chimed, and she quickly tapped at the side of it only once.

"Ruby, where are you?!" Jaune's voice demanded quickly "The ship's being overrun and we're trying to get everyone-!"

"I know!" Ruby shouted as she took a moment to reload, backing away from the crane as she did so.

"You... what?!" Jaune sounded incredulous "You need to get back here, I can't even see you out there through all these Grimm!"

"I know, Jaune." she reiterated "What do you think I'm doing out here?!"

Jaune didn't respond for a few seconds, "Fighting a guy in a purple robe?"

"Its Bubol." she corrected as she heard the sounds of roaring Grimm and explosions from the other side of the crane.

"That Uruk you keep running into?"

"Yes!" she said whilst hefting Crescent Rose "And he's pretty eager to pick up where we left off."

"Well that's even more reason to get back here," Jaune replied "not to put down your escape act last time, Ruby, but didn't he put a knife through both your hands last time you guys did this?"

"I can't leave." Ruby stated as she continued backing up "I'm trying to draw their attention!"

Right as she said that, Ruby spun around blasted away a Mangler as she watched several more making their way towards her.

"I can make it to you guys with my semblance once everyone's off the ship, in the meantime I'll be drawing as much attention over here as possible."

"But... Ruby, why are you pushing yourself so hard for them?" Jaune asked "I mean, I know its the right thing but... you know what they've done so-"

"Just make sure everyone's on those boats, please Jaune." Ruby tapped her scroll to end the call just as Bubol strolled under the crane towards her.

"Ya know, ain't exactly itching to share our beautiful reunion with others, sweetness." Bubol offered while casually firing his grappled behind him into the the mouth of an approaching Mangler.

In a quick motion, he spun and whipped a Mangler over him towards her. Ruby spun back, slicing through several more Grimm before blasting herself back towards Bubol.

As they fought, another intense stream of electricity carved through the ocean beside the Solarian and raked across the deck of the Arceus, which shuddered but held against the attack. Though stumbling, the Pirates kept their sights on fighting off the horde of Manglers that was now quite literally raining from the Sea Serpent. With Kruk scorching entire sections of the deck, Shaggot was free to leisurely take aim at the flying Grimm with a hum of enjoyment.

"Ship holds, don't allow beast another chance!" Kruk called back, but unlike the others Shaggot was in no hurry.

Once it had taken to the air, the Serpent had definitely made itself a harder target to hit. It bent and twisted through the air, its snake-like body practically drawing in the sky even as it charged another blast. But Shaggot wasn't to be intimidated by such evasion, as he'd already dealt with flighty opponents. He had a method that had been proven foolproof and got him in good favors with both of his Captains back in the day. All he had to do was wait for the others to finish firing first.

Dozens of explosives, spears and harpoons flew through the air towards the serpent. Many found their mark even with the Serpent's evasion, but they did little to slow its movements due to its flesh being able to withstand the damage. But Shaggot had gotten accustomed to its movements, and could tell exactly where his true target would be moving to.

And so, he finally fired. A thick spear flew through the air just as the Serpent swirled down to take aim with another blast. But the moment its head turned towards the Arceus, the spear buried itself deep into its remaining eye before exploding.

Seeing he'd hit his mark, Shaggot stood straight and leaned against the launcher with a chuckle, "Ah, Captain Ishga'd be proud."

The blast had torn the top of the Serpent's skull off, and soon the entire Beast began to fall from the sky even as electricity continued building in its mouth. Manglers were still trying to pull themselves from its dying body, but wound up being dragged towards the ocean below.

Watching from the last of the Solarian's escape rafts was Jaune, who watched with horrified awe as the Serpent's corpse fell, "Woah."

"Ha!" Goldie laughed as he strode to the edge of the boat "If only we could get those bastards to slaughter each other more often, that Damn Serpent's been hell on us even before the Pirates showed up!"

Turning away with a pleased sigh, he held up a remote "Now lets get to the blowing shit up and be done with-"

Jaune pulled down his hand, "Wait, Ruby still hasn't come back yet!"

"The plan was to evacuate and detonate, asshole." Goldie shoved him back, "If the bitch wanted to go down a dumbass hero then it ain't my problem. Besides... our Boss still has some blood to settle with those Rose fuckers, so killing three birds with one explosion's sounding pretty good to..."

Jaune glared at Goldie, only to raise an eyebrow as he trailed off. He watched the Bandit's face fall as he looked in the distance, and turned to see his eyes locked to the falling corpse of the Serpent.

It was glowing.

Electricity was still growing within the body, the building energy pulsing under the dying monster's flesh as it finally crashed into the wave below.

Ruby crashed through the window of the Solarian's bridge, rolling across control panels before colliding with the floor and groaning as her Aura flickered dangerously.

"Not done..." Bubol panted as he climbed through the broken window, as Manglers scaled the ship after them "I know ya got more in ya, my love!"

Ruby turned to glare at him, only for her eyes to immediately snap behind him.

His grin turning into yet another confused pout, he glanced behind him just as the Dragon's body crashed into the water beside the Solarian.

And then it exploded.

A massive plume of water was thrown in all directions as the Serpent's body imploded under the waters. Almost immediately a massive wave arose and sped away from the Serpent's remains.

"Brace!" Kruk roared

"Oh dear sweet fuck, speed up!" Goldie shouted towards the fleeing ships

The wave came for them all, both the Black Tide Pirates and the fleeing Bandits did all they could to withstand as the wave slammed against their ships. Both were flung into the waters, which still had numerous Manglers in them that were also launched about by the force of the wave. Jaune tried to keep track of his footing as water slammed against the side of the boats, but that thought went out the window the moment that he spotted the maw of a Mangler practically sailing towards him. Gritting his teeth, he stabbed his sword forward into its mouth and swung it away.

Behind him, Goldie clung to the side of the ship and pressed the detonator over and over, but he couldn't see signs of the Solarian exploding through the immense wave the Serpent's death had trapped them in.

Things aboard the Arceus weren't much better, pretty much the only one who wasn't getting flung about quite liberally was Kruk. Gripping the destroyed remains of the Crane's Tower base, he laughed madly through the falling waters.

"Hold steady, Brothers!" he called out to the other Pirates as they tried desperately to hold their footing and fight off the remaining Manglers "We own Sea now, don't let dying beast's groaning douse your flame!"

"Such a way with words!" Shaggot laughed as he tried and failed to get to his feet amidst the chaos.

The wave seemed to rage forever, but in reality it was barely half a minute. But by the end of that minute the Pirates and the Bandits had been forced out of each other's sight. As quickly as the Wave had come, it seemed to end just as quickly.

The moment the waters started to calm, Kruk stepped away from the broken crane tower and reared back with his claw before burning another Mangler as it scrambled to stand amongst the water now seeping from the deck of the Arceus.

"Feel it, Brothers?" he called out to the Pirates "Even drowning in endless ocean, the Flames of War cannot be doused!"

Laughs and cries of agreements surged amongst their forces as the Pirates struggled to resume the removal of the Manglers from their ship.

Smirking, Kruk looked out over the edge of the ship to check in on their smaller allies. Thankfully, many had pulled back to avoid the Manglers earlier, but that hadn't spared them entirely from the force of the Wave. Their fleet was spread out around them, still contesting with the Manglers. It wouldn't be a problem, without that damn dragon filling the ocean with more of them, their horde mentality made them easy to predict and counter. And once they were done with them they could get back to their previous goal.

But as Kruk looked out over the expansive ocean before them, his face fell.

There was no sign of the Solarian anywhere.

Not the ship, not the escaping humans, not even scraps of it floating in the water. The entire ship was gone...

Along with Bubol

Far off in the distance, Jaune was having a similar horrifying realization as he scanned the waters for any sight of the Solarian.

"Come on, speed it up!" Goldie called out behind him to the other ships as they tried to flee the horde of Manglers following behind them "Make 'em work for it!"

The Bandits fired into the sea whenever one of the Manglers leaped at them from the waters, but their gunfire was occasionally punctuated by an explosion. Leaping between the ships was Nora, who worked her way towards Jaune whilst occasionally blasting large pods of the Grimm. Finally she landed beside Jaune and called out to him.

"Jaune!" she turned to fire several more blasts into the Manglers, turning back to find him not responding initially.

Narrowing her eyes, she approached and took hold of his shoulder before spinning him to look at her, "Where's Ruby?!"

Jaune bit his lip as she stared him down, "I..."

He glanced back towards the ocean behind them, "I don't know..."

---

AN: Well this gave me more trouble than expected.

Not this entire chapter, the second half mostly. It was originally much much larger until I realized I could cut out thirty-forty percent and lose nothin for it. As a result I've actually got plenty of the next chapter done, so hopefully it won't take as long to get that out.

Originally there was a whole lot of very intense scenes packed one after another, but in practice I feel I've been able to pace them out far better without burning any of you guys out considering how much dialogue and setup I tend to get into.

That being said, I'm still working to get to the really fun stuff, so stay tuned for that. I don't know if I'll be able to get into next chapter, but I can practically taste it, believe me.

Anyways, its time for something I haven't done in a while: the Uruk Spotlight.

There were far more Uruks introduced in these chapters than I was anticipating, in fact Ratanak wasn't even supposed to be named until farther along Yang's route. But since I've got a better chapter planned for his spotlight, I feel as though I should give some context on Bolgoth and Shaggot.

They aren't actually totally new characters, as they were introduced way back in the first Dreamer Gate as Blood-Storm subordinates. I wasn't entirely sure what I could do with them until I was more certain about Ishga and Skak's plotline, but having them be the unnoficial faces of the Blood-Storm seemed appropriate given the circumstances. As for their inspiration, well they're actually the first characters introduced that were solely inspired from Shadow of War. I took notice of them not because of them being blood-brothers, but because they wore Blood-Storm colors and sort've had an inverse dynamic from what Skak and Ishga generally had.

Given the similarities I felt it'd be wasteful if I didn't utilize them in some way.

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 Changing Tides