"By the way, this might seem like an obvious question but do you even know where to find this Blind Bunny ship?" Yang asked as she and her party weaved through the crowd at Mistral's docks.
"First of all, it's the Blind Rabbit." Blake said, "And secondly, how hard can it be, right? How many ships are there that are called the Blind Rabbit?"
"That would be a good point, Blake, if we weren't in a place surrounded by ships!" Yang shouted, gaining the attention of some people passing them by as she gestured at the area around them.
"Yang's right." Weiss said, the Princess-in-hiding's voice having been muffled due to currently wearing the mask Blake had brought her last night, "At this rate, we'd be lucky to find this crew by sundown."
"You know what, let's just ask someone for directions. That'll speed things up." Yang said as she waved to a pair of topless sailors coming their way, "Hey there, fellas. You guys know where we fine ladies can find a ship the Blind Rabbit?"
"Ship, she says." One of the men said with a snicker.
"Something wrong?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow as she stared at the two men.
"It's nothing. Wouldn't want to spoil it for you." said the second man before pointing behind him with his thumb, "Further down the docks, in front of the inn. You'll find the Blind Rabbit and their crew of Flea-eaters there."
"What do you think that was all about?" Weiss asked as Blake bristled at the man's comment.
"Oh, who cares? Besides, now we know where-" Yang said, the blonde turning around to face her party before realizing their fourth and youngest member was currently missing, "Where's Ruby?"
Looking behind them, a puzzled look formed itself on the faces of both Blake and Weiss.
"Huh… Where is Ruby?" Weiss asked nobody in particular, "I could have sworn she was right behind us a moment ago."
"Great. Now we have to find her and that stupid ship." Yang groaned out, "This day just keeps getting better and-"
"Hey guys! You hungry?" came the familiar voice of Ruby Rose as the young woman appeared beside her blonde-haired sister - seemingly from thin air - with what looked to be sticks of various types of food in her hands. Blake and Weiss jumped at her sudden reappearance while Yang let out a high-pitched yelp.
"Ruby! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?!" Yang said as she tried to calm herself down, "I hate it when you do that."
"Heh, sorry… Force of habit." Ruby said, shrugging and without a single ounce of guilt.
"Where were you, anyway?" Weiss asked.
"I was hungry so I went to go buy us some food." Ruby said, taking a bite out of a roasted pickle before offering it to the Princess, "You want a bite?"
"Ruby, get that thing out of my face before I stab you with it." Weiss said as she leaned away from the offering.
"Okay, geez. A simple 'no' would have been enough." Ruby said, the woman pulling back her arm before, "I guess someone woke up on the side of the bed today."
"I'm sorry. It's just this…" Weiss said, a frustrated sigh leaving her lips before she clawed at the mask on her face, "This mask is so… itchy! Not to mention it smells terrible! Where did you even buy this thing, Blake?"
"I never said I bought it." Blake said as she accepted a fish on a stick Ruby offered her.
"Then where did you get it?" Weiss asked as the party of four continued making their way further down the docks.
"I found it in the trash behind the inn last night." Blake said with a shrug.
"You what?!" Weiss shrieked.
"Calm down. I made sure to wash it thoroughly before giving it to you." Blake said.
"That does not make me feel any better, Blake." Weiss shot back.
"Hey, it's better than someone recognizing you." Blake said. As the four women continued their way through the docks, the crowd around them began to thin. Even the quality and the look of the ships around them seemed to deteriorate the further down they went.
"You think this is it?" Yang asked as the four women stood in front of what looked to be a rundown building with a sign on top of it that simply said 'Inn'.
"Must be since there's we've just walked from one end of the docks to the other and the only ship with the name 'Blind Rabbit' is the one behind us." Ruby said as the party of four turned around and come face to face with a ship that's most certainly seen better days.
The main sails had a number of holes on them that were stitched up with cloths of different colors while the ship's mast had a sheet of steel hammered around it's base to prevent it from breaking down.
On the pier beside the ship sat a woman on a wooden stool wearing a green vest over a white shirt and a pair of long white pants. She was currently reading a book under an umbrella to block out the bright morning sun. Looking at the rest of her party, Yang gave a shrug before walking over to the woman.
"Hey there. Good morning." Yang said. Seconds ticked by as they received no response. Clearing her throat, Yang spoke again, "Is this ship the Blind Rabbit?"
Once more Yang's question went unanswered as the woman in front of them sat in silence. Before any of them could ask another question however, the woman looked over book to stare at them.
"You see any other ship here with that name?" the woman asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Good point. Are you the captain of the ship?" Yang asked.
"Who's asking?" the woman said.
"Well, that's always a yes." Yang said, "Nobody ever says "Who's asking?" to the wrong name. They just say-"
"Anyway," Blake said, cutting off whatever Yang had to say, "We were hoping to hire your ship to take us to Vale."
"And why on Remnant would I ever do that?" the woman asked as she stared at the four of them.
"You came recommended. By a friend." Blake said as the woman seemed to stare right through her.
"Well, now I know you're lying." the woman said as she closed her book shut, "I don't remember making a lot of friends around these parts."
"Ilia Amitola. She's the one who told me to look for you guys." Blake said, the woman digging the gold coin she received from Ilia from her pocket before offering it to the seated woman, "She gave this to me, said it was to pay you back for the incident at… Furuyama Harbor?"
Taking the gold coin from Blake's hands, the woman inspected it for a few seconds before putting it in the front pocket of her vest.
"Okay, now where's the rest of the twenty pieces of gold she owes me and my crew?" the woman asked much to Blake's confusion.
"She gave me… just the one coin…" Blake said, her sentence trailing off before the woman in front of them let out a tired sigh.
"Fucking Ilia." the woman said as she stood up from her seat, "Damn woman saves your life from one stupid scorpion Grimm and now you owe her a favor for life. Should have just let the damn Grimm kill me."
"Um… I'm sorry…?" Blake said, as she looked to her party for a proper response only to receive looks of confusion in return.
"It's fine, just… cursing my rotten luck." the woman said before hopping over the pier and onto the ship, "Name's Coco. You want a ride to Vale?"
"That's right." Yang said with a nod.
"How much you willing to pay?" Coco asked, looking at the four of them as she leaned on the ship's railing.
"I thought you said you were doing this as a favor to Ilia?" Blake asked.
"Ilia is Ilia and you guys don't look anything like her." Coco said, "Besides, we aren't running a charity here so I'll ask again, how much are you willing to pay?"
"Three gold coins." Yang said as Coco responded with a bark of laughter.
"You fucking with me, blondie?" Coco asked, "Fifteen."
"Bullshit. Five gold coins." Yang said before Coco shook her head, "And we promise to help you fight any Grimm we come across."
"Pfft, you think my crew and I can't handle a bunch of Grimm?" Coco asked with a scoff, "Twelve."
"Eight."
"No deal." Coco said, "How about ten gold coins? You help us with whatever needs helping and we don't ask questions."
"Deal." Yang said as a grin formed itself on Coco's face.
"Wonderful. Well then, ladies, welcome aboard the Blind Rabbit. Make sure all your belongings are accounted for." Coco said as she gestured for the four of them to get on the ship, "Once everything is set up, we leave in a couple of hours."
"Awesome." Yang said, the blonde hopping onto the ship before being followed by the rest of her party. Yang eyed two other people currently fast asleep.
"Velvet, wake up. We got a job." Coco said, nudging a woman with rabbit ears and wearing a red coat, a black shirt, and red pants.
"Ngh… Five more… minutes…" said the sleeping Rabbit faunus.
"This is Velvet, our navigator and that one," Coco said, pointing to a topless man with dark skin and dark hair wearing a pair of orange pants, "Is our resident chef. You can call him Fox. We have another, Yatsuhashi. He's our helmsman but he's out getting supplies. I'm sure you'll meet him sooner or later. Come on, I'll show you to your room."
[~]
Coca Adel had never been the religious type and she most certainly wasn't a follower of Salem by any means. Now, however, she was beginning to think that the Gods, fate, or whatever it was that amounted to a deity these days were certainly trying their best to piss off the young captain.
With her recent string of bad luck - from the freak storm off the coast of Vacuo a few weeks ago to that giant squid Grimm she and her crew encountered just last week that nearly sunk their ship - Coco was starting to hate the Gods.
Now, however, Coco's hatred of the Gods was starting to grow as some sleazy-looking official with fine clothing stood at the port with a group of at least two dozen soldiers at his back were calling for her and her crew to disembark from their ship.
"I repeat, captain and crew of the Blind Rabbit!" shouted an unfamiliar voice as Coco went to the railing to see who it was, "You are suspected of harboring a fugitive of the crown. Disembark from your ship and hand the fugitive to the proper authorities at once!"
"Ugh, now what?!" Coco grumbled to herself as the ship leading deeper into the ship opened as Ruby and Yang stepped out. The two women then joined her at the railing soon after.
"Something wrong?" Yang asked as she shot Coco a look of concern.
"It's probably nothing." Coco said, shrugging before hopping off the ship and onto the pier, "Somebody probably just forget to pay their taxes or something. I'll sort this out. Velvet, with me."
As the two women walked towards the official, the guards standing around him stared at the two of them with their hands resting on the hilt of their swords.
"We come in peace." Coco said, their hands raised as they made their way towards the person Coco assumed was in charge, "Now then, what can I do for you today, Mr Court Official?"
"As I've said-"
"Adel. Captain Adel."
"Miss Adel, your crew is suspected of harboring an extremely dangerous fugitive." the man - wearing a buttoned up red coat, a hat, a pair of red pants, and grey boots -said as he and Coco stared at each other, "Inform your crew to disembark immediately and that your ship is to be searched."
"Now, now… I'm sure there's no need for things to come to that." Coco said as she pulled out a small bag twice the size of her fist filled with gold and silver from her back pocket, "Surely paying the tax is enough for us to settle this matter, yeah?"
"Are you trying to bribe an officer of the court, Miss Adel?" the man asked as she stared at the bag in Coco's hands. Before the ship captain could answer, however, the man had already snatched the bag from Coco's hands, "Are you aware that any such attempt to influence the decision of a court official by way of a bribe is punishable with ten years in the dungeons, death, or both?"
"You must be mistaken, this is no bribe." Coco said, "This is just-"
"Enough! Take her and her crew to the dungeons! Lock them up and throw away the key!" shouted the court official. One soldier stepped forward and went to grab Coco's wrist but before he could, however, Velvet quickly stepped in front of her captain before delivering a swift kick to the soldier's head that sent him sprawling to the ground.
"Y-y-you dare attack a-" was all the court official could blurt out before Coco - equipped with shiny brass knuckles in her right hand - delivered a right hook on the man's jaw, knocking him out in an instant.
"Really? You couldn't have waited until after I finished talking with them to knock these guys out?" Coco asked, the two women standing back-to-back as the guards formed a circle around them.
"You would have done the same thing sooner or later." Velvet argued as the Rabbit Faunus ducked a sword swing before pushing Coco out of the way of an incoming ice spear hurtling through the air, "I was just moving things along!"
"Heh, and that's why you're my navigator, bun-bun!" Coco shouted as she pulled the unconscious court official up from the ground before throwing him at three of the guards in front of her.
[~]
Staring at the fight that had just broken out on the docks in front of them, Ruby had only one thing to say.
"Huh… I'm starting to think we're the ones attracting trouble here." Ruby said as Yang let out a sigh at the woman's comment.
"Shut up, Ruby." Yang said with a tired groan as she made her way towards their cabin.
"What's the plan, sis?" Ruby asked, the young woman having already drawn her twin sickles.
"We get out of here in one piece and find another ship that'll take us to Vale." Yang said.
"Wait, but what about these guys?" Ruby asked.
"They can take care of themselves, I'm sure." Yang said before going deeper into the ship as Ruby sent a guilty look at Velvet and Coco currently fighting the group of guards on the port. Shaking her head in disapproval with Yang's decision, Ruby made to hop over the ship's railing to help the two women only for the dark skinned member of their crew to beat her to it.
Leaping over her, the man held in each of his hands a blunt steel tonfa. Before Ruby could even process his sudden arrival, the man joined the fray before immediately knocking out two guards on his own.
Shaking herself out of her stupor, Ruby hopped over the ship's railing and onto the port before joining the fray herself.
"Hey there! You guys need any help?" Ruby asked as she blocked an axe swing that was aiming for Coco's head.
"Not really." Coco said, grunting as she barely ducked under an attack from a warhammer, "But it's appreciated."
"No problem." Ruby said, "So, what's the plan for after we take care of these guys?"
"We set sail as fast as we can." Coco said.
"Without your helmsman?" Ruby asked as she dodged a pair of fireballs headed her way.
"Not to Vale. There's a cove near here." Coco said as she threw one guard over her shoulder and into a nearby pile of crates, "The big guy will know to go there when he sees the ship's gone."
"Good plan." Ruby said with a nod before the girl was knocked down face first onto the floor by from being kicked in her back.
"Ruby!" came the familiar voice of her half-sister from the ship's deck, "What on Remnant are you doing out there?!"
"Fox, get the ship ready! We're leaving!" Coco shouted as she helped Ruby get back to her feet. In that moment, everything seemed to happen at once. As Fox ran off towards the ship, the small red orbs Ruby had received from Nora fell out of one of the pouches on her side.
Yang soon joined her side as the orbs rolled on the floor and towards a pile of barrels and crates to the side. Before long, one red orb seemed to ignite as a standard campfire-sized flame burst from from it. This then sparked a chain reaction from the other orbs around it as the flames engulfed a wooden crate filled with extremely flammable dust.
Time then seemed to stand still as the whole area was suddenly engulfed in a hurricane of flames, the resulting shockwave strong enough to knock everyone down to the ground.
When Ruby came to a few seconds later, the woman raised her head to see a scene of abrupt chaos around her. The ruined inn was currently on fire - along with the buildings beside it - with the sails of the Blind Rabbit also suffering the same fate.
With her ears currently ringing, the young woman was surprised when Yang suddenly appeared in front of her.
"-by! Ruby!" Yang shouted as Ruby's hearing slowly recovered, "Are you alright?!"
"Y-yeah… I think so…" Ruby said as Yang helped her get to her feet, "What happened here?"
"You tell me. It was those orbs Nora gave you that caused this." Yang said, much to Ruby's surprise and confusion, "Regardless, we have to before-"
"Halt!" shouted an unfamiliar voice as the two sisters found themselves surrounded by a group of guards who were currently pointing swords at their faces, "For the destruction of public property and attacking a court official, you lot are hereby under arrest! Surrender at once!"
Her strength sapped from the earlier fighting and the explosion that seemingly came from nowhere, Ruby had only one thing to say.
"Ah, crap…" the young woman said as she and Yang raised their hands in surrender.
[~]
"Hey! Let us out of here!" Yang shouted, the woman's voice reverberating through the halls of the prison they were in as she punched the steel bars in front of her.
"It's no use, blondie." Coco said from her own cell that was beside their own, "These cells are reinforced with magic. It'll take another mage or sorcerer to even scratch the damn thing."
"Gods damn it!" Yang shouted, punching the cell's steel bars once more before slumping against the wall beside her.
"At least Wei- I mean, Shionne managed to get away." Ruby whispered as she sat towards the back of the cell, "How did she manage to get away, anyway?"
"Well, when… whatever happened at the docks happened, we tried to make a run for it but we were suddenly surrounded by a bunch of guards who I believe were reinforcements." Blake said, "We didn't want them following us so I convinced her to leave me behind while I took care of the guards."
"That didn't really work out for you, did it?" Coco asked with a chuckle.
"Well, I'm sure Shionne will be able to think of something to get us out of here." Ruby thought aloud as she laid down on the ground.
"Against the whole prison guard? She's going to need a miracle for that." Blake added unnecessarily as Yang sent a half-hearted glare at her.
"Yeah, a miracle…" Yang muttered to herself, "As if we've ever been that lucky."
Before any of them could speak, however, a familiar voice suddenly spoke up.
"Well, if it's a miracle you're looking for, I believe I can help you with that." the familiar voice said. Startled, the three women looked up to see a man with blonde hair looking at them with a smile on his face.
"Jaune?! What are you doing here?!" Ruby asked, the woman dashing towards the front of the cell they were in.
"Heh, isn't it obvious?" Jaune asked just as a prison guard came along and shoved him and a familiar ginger-haired woman into the cell opposite of theirs.
"Get in there, criminal scum!" the prison guard spat out as she locked the cell behind her before leaving them behind.
"We got caught, obviously." Jaune said, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips as he slumped against the walls of his cell.
"What?! How?!" Ruby asked.
"Well, my party and I were doing business as usual but then this genius over here," Jaune said gesturing towards Nora, "Decided to try and bribe one of the guards with roast pork instead of gold coin!"
"I said I was sorry!" Nora shouted, the woman crossing her arms with a pout as she looked away from Jaune's accusing glare.
"Nora, the next time some dumb guard asks for a bribe, just take a bag full of coin and throw it at their face." Jaune said with a tired sigh as Ruby and her party watched the two of them with equal parts confusion and amusement.
"I'm sorry, Jauney." Nora said as she scooted closer to her blonde companion before leaning her head on his shoulder, "It won't happen again. I promise."
Jaune stayed silent for a few seconds before pulling the woman in for a one-armed hug, "Aww, I can't stay mad at you. I forgive you."
"Yay!" Nora shouted with a beaming smile.
"I hate to be the one to ask this but, are you guys a thing?" Blake asked as she joined Ruby at the front of their cell.
"Me and Nora?" / "Me and Jauney?" the two of them asked at the same time before laughing wholeheartedly.
"Of course not. Jaune could never handle all of this." Nora said as she gestured towards herself, "No offence, captain."
"None taken. And besides, the type of women I prefer is less… well, less Nora." Jaune said, "No offence, Nora."
"Yeah, like Pyrrha." Nora said.
"Nora." Jaune said, his smile faltering.
"Oh come on, Jauney. Me and Ren see how the two of you are sometimes." Nora said, "I just don't understand why you two haven't done anything about it yet."
"Nora, stop." Jaune said as he looked away from the ginger-haired woman, "It's complicated, alright? So just… drop it."
"Sorry." Nora said before turning her attention towards Ruby and her party with an excited look in her eyes, "But enough about us. What about you guys? What have you been up to since we last saw each other?"
"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!" Ruby said to herself, "Nora, what on Remnant did you give me?! Those orbs literally exploded into a ball of fire when I threw them on the ground!"
"They did?!" Nora asked with a gasp that was a mixture of shock and excitement, "Wait, how big was the ball of fire? Because something that size wasn't supposed to produce anything bigger than a campfire unless… you didn't throw it at a crate of dust, did you?!"
"Well, there may have been… some of those in the area when it all happened…" Ruby said as she tried her best to recall the details of the past day's events.
"You fool! Why would you do something so reckless?!" Nora shouted with a horrified look on her face as she gripped the bars of the cell for support, "Those orbs I gave you were miniature fire orbs! Of course they would explode into giant balls of flames if you threw them at crates of flammable dust!"
"That's what you gave to me?! Nora, I could have set myself on fire!" Ruby shouted back but before the argument could get any further, Jaune and Yang appeared, each of them holding their respective companion back.
"Alright, alright. No use shouting about it now. It's all in the past." Yang said as she pried Ruby off the bars of the cell, "What matters now is what we do moving forward."
"Yang's right." Blake said as she looked at both Jaune and Nora, "Jaune, you said earlier you could make a miracle happen, right?"
"I did, yes." Jaune said with a nod.
"Does that include getting us out of here?" Blake asked.
"I think that's doable." Jaune replied, "In fact, I'm sure Ren and Pyrrha are diligently working on a plan to break us out any moment now. All we need to do is wait and be ready."
[~]
"More tea, Pyrrha?" Ren asked as two of them sat huddled around a campfire on the outskirts of the city.
"Most gracious of you, Ren. I would love some more tea, thank you." Pyrrha said as she accepted the man's offer.
"Do you think we should start planning on how to break those two out of prison yet?" Ren asked as he took a bite of a strawberry tart he and Pyrrha had bought moments prior.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine." Pyrrha said as she slathered the bread in her hands with blueberry jam before taking a large bite out of it , "It's not like this is the first time they've been thrown in prison."
"I suppose that's true." Ren said as he refilled both of their cups with tea.
"And besides, I believe afternoon tea is important and Nora certainly wouldn't want us to waste all these delicacies we've acquired." Pyrrha said as the two of them shared a small laugh.
"Agreed." Ren said before he and Pyrrha clinked their teacups together with a cheerful smile, "Cheers."
[Chapter END]
A/N: And that's a wrap for Chapter 6. I hope you guys like it, I had a blast writing this one, too. So, main cast has been thrown into prison. I guess the next logical step is *drum rolls* a prison break! That is, after Ren & Pyrrha finish their afternoon tea.
Once again, faves, follows, and reviews are always appreciated.
NoXIV signing off.