A/N : Surprise, surprise! I had this chapter prepped about a week in advance... So while we wait for RWBY Volume 2, what's stopping us from writing, eh?
Again and again, as I always say (and I will never tire of saying this):
DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN RWBY. ALL CREDIT GOES TO (RWBYGOD) MONTY OUM AND ROOSTERTEETH.
I just hope my muse finally recovers from that nasty shock that caused this chapter...
The sun was setting when a particularly unique passenger ship entered Vale's seaports. In many ways it was an oddity: its bow was shaped like a submarine's, its entire body was painted a neon pink, but its most unsettling feature was that it sailed eerily quietly for a ship its size.
In a matter of minutes, it was securely docked. The gangplank was lowered, and several people emerged from within the ship.
First to set foot on land was a bushy-browed, bearded fellow garbed in a light blue coat and matching pants. Vale's maritime personnel immediately identified him as the ship's captain, from the cap he sported.
One of the white-uniformed representatives of Vale saluted, a wry smile on his face. The rest followed his lead and saluted a few seconds afterward. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Captain."
The bearded man took a long look at the saluting junior, then broke into a grin. "Well, fancy seein' y' here, boy. I take it you've finally gotten yer sea-legs," he gruffly yet warmly answered, and returned the salute.
"Still the same, Cap'n." The first man extended a hand to the newcomer, noticing more people disembark. He counted a total of three officers and two youths. "Welcome to Vale, Cap'n Dale."
The man addressed as Captain Dale took the hand and shook it. "Thank y', laddie - er, I mean Petty Officer Lurch." He turned and gestured to the people behind him. "These are my crew, 1st Officers Simmons, Gabriel... And... Uh... Lev... Lefo..." Dale was obviously having trouble saying the last person's name, and ultimately gave up, raising his hands. "Ah, blast it, introduce yerself."
The last unintroduced officer jokingly rolled his eyes. "Jean-Pierre LeFontaine, sir." He saluted jauntily, earning a light cuff from Dale.
"Do it properly, twit. Oh, those two at the back, they're here as representatives for the Vytal Fair. The kid with the bandanna and greatsword is Rou Gregale, while the girl with that odd thingamajig is Libeccia Cuwphah (1)."
The youths in question immediately turned their heads at the mention of their names. "She's not a thingamajig, cap, she's a pilebunker rifle! And she's named Lo-Ruhama (2)! How many times do I have to tell you that?!" The girl quickly walked over and put her hands on her hips, her low ponytail bouncing as she stood in front of Dale.
She was stopped from any further action by her bandanna-toting companion. "That's enough, Libby. Don't expect everyone to immediately grasp it." He took off his bandanna, revealing a pair of fox-ears underneath and white hair. "My ears have been held down for the longest time now and I would rather not have the first sound it hears to be screaming."
Lurch immediately took an interest to Rou. "You're a Faunus... Word of advice, kid. Keep a low profile or hide those ears of yours. We got a situation -"
"A string of robberies targeting only Dust shops, implicating a Faunus faction called The White Fang." Libby cut in. "We already know about it." She hefted her weapon and readjusted it behind her.
Lurch didn't speak for a few moments. "Still, you better take care. You don't know-"
Rou put a hand up. "Pardon my interruption, but we already have comrades who have arrived here in Vale ahead of us. They've kept us up to date on recent events and developments."
The sound of loud chatter of several people was heard approaching them, prompting everyone to glance up to the streets. From there the new arrivals could easily identify two familiar figures in the midst of a group of people, making Rou smile slightly.
The group from the streets was comprised of Beacon Academy students: Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie, who gave a delighted squeal and sped all the way to the docks, ogling the neon pink vessel. "Hey, Ren, can we ride here? It looks awesome, I bet it's going to be even more awesome inside. Not as awesome as Magnhild, but almost the same... And it's also colored pink, exactly in the shade I love! Do you think-"
"Nora, please. We can ask them next time if we get another chance." Ren cut in, a deadpan expression on his face. Jaune and Pyrrha were both simply looking on in awe at the oddly-colored ship.
"Yes, forsooth, if we could get a chance in the future, we can definitely ask to get you a pass to board the Jörmungandr (3)," a moderately tall, flaxen-haired girl spoke from behind Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Right in the nick of time." Rou moved forward and motioned to the two other arrivals. "Everyone, allow me to introduce our companions and teammates. The feared Poison Wind of the Sacred Order, Sirocca Feanor; and next in line for the high priesthood, Mystra Ventego. Individually, we are capable; united as a team, we are as unstoppable as the winds we are named after."
Nora shot a look between Myst and Sirocca. "Winds...?"
One of the seamen behind them stepped forward. "Allow us to explain. They all have elements of the classical winds - Lady Mystra is named after the Mistral of the northwest (4), Sirocca after the Scirocco of the southeast (5), Libbecia (6) and Gregale (7) have the exact same name - their namesakes are from the southwest and northeast, respectively."
"I see." Ren nodded slowly after a few moments. "That explains in part Myst's calming nature, and Sirocca's abrasive attitude."
"Hey, watch what you say, that's Lady Myst to you commo-" Libby started off, but was cut short by a scathing look from the flaxen-haired girl.
Nora moved protectively in front of Ren, teal eyes locked onto Libby's red-brown ones. "No one speaks like that to Ren except me." She had Magnhild out in hammer form.
In a flash, Libby had primed and held her pilebunker-rifle ready. "And no one speaks of Lady Myst like that in front of - mmpffh!"
Nora blinked as Rou quietly sneaked up behind Libby and clamped a hand over her mouth then pulling her backwards, the pilebunker rifle wielder's free arm flailing wildly. Sirocca had facepalmed earlier and was shaking her head in disappointment and shame. "This is why I hate being seen in public with ya, ya overzealous firebutt," the tiger Faunus said half to herself, but still audible for anyone close enough to hear.
Myst drew a deep sigh. "I beg thy pardon for Libeccia, Miss Valkyrie. She only wishes to stay true to her task of protecting me." She then turned to the ship's captain, saluting crisply. "Captain, 'tis a pleasure to see thee again."
Dale smiled and returned the salute. "Aye, m'lady, likewise. So y' still have that dream of seafarin', I see." He crossed his arms, noticing Nora's attention to the pink vessel. "Well, why don't y' acc'mpany the li'l miss here aboard the Jörmungandr? She seems t' have a mighty keen interest in it."
"Can we? Can we? Can we? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Nora's eyes shone with anticipation, her face mere inches away from Myst's, to which the latter found herself shakily nodding as Ren facepalmed behind Nora.
Thirty five minutes later a loud explosion was reported in the seaport, and the Jörmungandr was enveloped in smoke. Thankfully no one was hurt, although sadly the same could not be said of the neon pink ship, which now had a hole on both sides of its aft hull, luckily well above the waterline.
(1) The word is pronounced "soo-faw" (closest estimate, anyone familiar in Hebrew please correct me!), and it's the closest Hebrew translation I could find for "storm" or "tempest".
(2) Reference from the book of Hosea, chapter 1 verses 6-9. "Lo-ruhama" is Hebrew for "she is not pitied" (seriously, do you expect someone toting a pilebunker-rifle hybrid to have any pity?)
(3) Jörmungandr has its own Wikipedia entry. The following entry is copy-pasted from Wikipedia:
"In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr (Old Norse: Jǫrmungandr, pronounced [ˈjɔrmuŋɡandr]), often written Jormungand, or Jörmungand and also known as the Midgard Serpent (Old Norse: Midgarðsormr), or World Serpent, is a sea serpent, the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and Loki. According to the Prose Edda, Odin took Loki's three children by Angrboða, the wolf Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr, and tossed Jörmungandr into the great ocean that encircles Midgard.[1] The serpent grew so large that he was able to surround the earth and grasp his own tail.[1] As a result, he received the name of the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent. When he lets go, the world will end. Jörmungandr's arch-enemy is the god Thor. It is an example of an ouroboros."
(The special characters most likely won't appear correctly in FFN, so I suggest you just check Wikipedia. Srsly.)
(4) to (7) Just check wikipedia.. Too lazy to post all the references.