It was already day three of team RNJR's voyage on the oceans that would lead them to Mistral. Nora was at the bow of the ship, her arms outstretched as she enjoyed the sea breeze in her hair. Ren was behind her in case she got carried away and almost fell overboard like before. At first, Nora was uncharacteristically quiet. Ren was actually about to ask if she was ok when the hammer-wielding valkyrie spoke up.
"You know...I appreciate the company first mate Ren!" Nora proudly exclaimed.
"First mate? You're no longer a queen but a captain?" the hyperactive red-head's partner replied.
"I can be both! Ever heard of a pirate queen Renny? Of course I'm missing some things...especially if I'm going to be a pirate queen like from one of Blake's books."
Ren's eyes widened a bit in shock at that. "You...read one of her books?"
"Yeah!"
"When?"
"Remember when Glynda did that sparring class? I managed to sneak into RWBY's dorm, take a book, read it over the next several nights, then returned it."
"And...Blake...didn't notice?"
"Nope!" the red-head popped the "p" and smiled.
"Do...I even want to know WHAT you'd need to match that?"
"Hey you might be into it! I mean it might not be that good to wear in PUBLIC what cause of the amount of chest that's exposed but it might work in private."
"Wait what was that last part?"
"Nothing! N-nothing at all!" Nora did her best to hide the blush on her face and tried to cover her embarrassment with an innocent giggle. The hammer wielding girl let out a mental sigh of relief. Crisis averted there Nora! Good job! S-rank recovery! I mean you'll need to tell Renny EVENTUALLY but for nooooooooooooooooooow let's just keep it under wraps. We don't want to ruin anything now do we? Hehe...yeah…
Ren waved his hand in front of Nora's face for a moment. "Um, Nora? You there?"
"E-eh? W-what?" the red-head blinked a few as she was pulled from her thoughts.
"You spaced out there for a minute."
"I did? Whoops! Sorry! Anyway, back on topic! You think they have a hat I could borrow at least?"
Ren just lightly smiled at his partner's antics.
Meanwhile, Jaune was currently hunched over the port railing and his face had been turned an unnatural shade of green. Ruby was next to him making sure he didn't fall overboard.
"Feeling better yet Jaune?" the red-cloaked girl asked.
"Ugh...a little. Have I mentioned how much I HATE my motion sickness?"
"Oh, only about several dozen times. Literally."
"Oh...right...you know...not gonna lie...I've always wondered why it seems like NOBODY else has this."
"Huh...that's a good question actually. I mean you told me before when you were on the airship you didn't have your Aura unlocked. Now you do though. Sooooo...what does that mean exactly?"
"Hey...you tell me."
"...Touche. Well...anyway, hopefully we don't have to deal with any Grimm on the water."
Little did Ruby know that she jinxed it. Silently following the ship were at least twenty white fins and something larger following them accompanied by a dark green glow. For a moment, the top half of a creature's head emerged from the water behind them. It's glowing green eyes focused on the ship ahead of it. The beast then quickly submerged and followed its pack.
A few hours later, Jaune had gotten over his sickness. Of course, Nora made a few passing comments about Jaune not even having his sea-legs and saying that if he didn't earn them by the end of the trip, the newly appointed pirate queen would make him walk the plank. Jaune tried asking where she even got the pirate hat but it was Nora. She can get the most absurd things out of seemingly nowhere. At times, it could definitely be entertaining.
But that was when the boat rocked. It wasn't the normal rocking of the waves against the boast but more like something else slammed into the boat.
"What was that?" Ren inquired, his hands ready to draw StormFlower.
"Not sure," Jaune answered as he drew Coreca Mors as well. Ruby and Nora drew their own weapons shortly after.
"Hey...does anyone know if there are any aquatic Grimm in this region?" Nora asked.
Of course, they weren't the only people on deck. The first-mate from before was drunk again, leaning against the railing and spouting some incoherent ramblings. Nora was just about to turn to him and tell him to shut his mouth but suddenly there were two quick splashes of water and then silence. The red-head turned to face where the man was but only his flask of whiskey on the deck.
"Um...guys? Where'd the drunk go?" she turned to her teammates who were also looking at where the first-mate once stood. The four of them quickly moved over to where the drunken man once stood and looked over the edge. The water had turned crimson.
"Oh Dust...GRIMM!" Nora shouted.
As the four get into battle stances, a Grimm shark leaps up from the water. The creature was called a Kamoah. The beast was about the size of a bull shark with white bone-like armor around its head, fins, and tail. The Kamoah tried to use its powerful jaws to clamp down on one of the four humans in front of it but instead it received a bone-breaking hit in the face from Nora. Several serrated, blood-stained, teeth flew from the shark's mouth as the beast itself went flying.
"Ha! Guess it's a game of whack-a-shark now!" the hammer-wielder proudly exclaimed.
"That's one down," Jaune began as he saw the 19 other fins converging on the boat-two of which were incredibly well-armored-, "and 19 more to go." But they wouldn't be alone in the fight. Several of the crew armed themselves with special Dust-tipped harpoon guns. The harpoons themselves had the capability to detonate on impact, one just needed to aim properly. Since once again, Jaune lacked any form of ranged weaponry, he took one of the harpoon guns to use.
One the Kamoah were in range, everyone opened fire. Harpoons whizzed into the water as some of them hit the shark Grimm and others missed due to the natural quickness of the beasts. Nora fired several special delayed grenades to act as depth charges. One overly-curious Kamoah swam up to one of the grenades and ate it only for it explode minutes later.
"Wooo! I guess we're having seafood later tonight!"
Ruby fired several rounds into the water but every time she tried, the Kamoah dove deeper so the water would stop the shots or they outright dodged them.
"Is anyone else ANNOYED by these things?!" Ruby shouted to her friends.
"Only slightly!" Ren called back.
"Why won't they just STAND STILL?!" came Jaune's voice which was filled with annoyance at the shark monsters. "DUST! They just keep moving!"
"YEP! Just keep swimming little fishies...keep swimming into my grenades!" Nora shouted as she fired another round of depth-charge grenades.
Nine of the beasts had been killed by the time they reached the boat. The Kamoah lept out of the water and tried to bite down on anyone and anything they could. The first one to emerge from the water unfortunately managed to clamp its jaws around a crewman's arm and pulled him overboard. Two more fins could be seen joining the first in devouring the poor soul that was pulled into the ocean. One of the Kamoah tried to bite down on Ruby but she swung her scythe and sliced it in half. Another shark tried to bite down on her cloak that had moved within its reach due to her swing. The crimson-cloaked girl quickly shot the beast in the mouth, sending it crashing down into the waves.
"No one touches the cloak!" Ruby shouts at the shark.
Nora managed to swing Magnhild and hit two sharks, sending them flying. Ren sliced another one into ribbons and Jaune stabbed one through the mouth.
The two older Kamoah saw their brethren being slaughtered and decided now was the time to retreat. The Grimm turned and began to swim away until two massive heads emerged from underneath them and bit them in half. The two heads then turned their attention to the boat full of humans.
"HYDRA!" one of the crewman shouted as four more heads rose from the waves.
"You sure about that? Cause that doesn't look like any Hydra I've ever seen!" another shouted.
"Oh and you've seen a Hydra before?!"
"No he's right!" Ruby called out, "That's no ordinary Hydra! It's a mutant!"
Indeed, the Hydra was one of the mutant Grimm created by the mad scientist, Nero Merlot. The Hydra itself had the normal black skin and bone-white armor associated with the beasts but the backs of their necks were lined with glowing, green,crystalline spikes. The red marks on the monster's body was also an odd shade of green. All six of the fish-like heads bared their massive needle-like teeth as they growled at the ship. Beneath the waves, the beast's glowing green markings pulsated on its two-and only- clawed feet and tail, which also had the glowing spikes running its length.
The Hydra then roars at the boat full of humans in front of it and it rears one of its heads back.
"What...what is it doing?" a third crewman asked.
His question was quickly answered as the Hydra shot a stream of boiling water at the ship. Part of the mutation clearly. Ruby had heard stories about the normal would merely use their brute strength, claws, and teeth like any Grimm whether they struck a ship out at sea or if they ravaged a village in brutal fashion. They were one of the worst threats coastal villages could deal with. An amphibious Grimm that size? It was a nightmare for villages.
Team RNJR and several of the crew members managed to find cover but two of the men were caught in the water stream and scalded to death.
"Ok," Jaune began, "avoid the boiling water jets."
The Hydra then submerged and quickly swam towards the ship.
"Harpoons aren't gonna be enough to stop that thing!"
"Like we need harpoons to deal with that six-headed freak!" Nora shouted proudly as she brandished Magnhild.
The Hydra then re-emerged from beneath the waves and took a hold of the boat. Team RNJR came out from cover to face the massive mutated Grimm after a moment. The monster simply looked at them and roared again. Ruby quickly rushed the monster and began to swing her scythe against one of the creature's heads. The Hydra head lunged forward and tried to bite Ruby but the scythe-wielder was able to dodge just in time. She then let loose a volley of sniper shots that only served to anger the beast.
At the same time, Nora was firing several grenades at one of the heads. Just like Ruby's sniper shots, the grenades only seemed to annoy it. The head lunged down at her to try and eat her but the red-head simply swung Magnhild in its hammer form into the face of the Grimm. The beast roared and spat a stream of hot water. Nora quickly dodged and merely slammed her hammer on top of the beast's head to shut its jaws. Ren sliced at a head that was going to bite Nora from the side. Once the head had moved back,he opened fire with StormFlower.
Jaune didn't go for the heads as his team-mates did. No, they came up with a plan once they saw it latch onto the boat. Ruby, Nora, and Ren were to distract the beast while Jaune went in to force it off the boat. He swung his sword and stabbed the beast's clawed hand. All of the Hydra's eyes widened and all six heads roared in pain. The first hand let go of the ship as green blood oozed from the wound, another side effect of the mutagen serum. The Hydra then focused all its attention on Jaune. The look in the beast's eyes was familiar to Jaune. After all he had seen it from Cardin before when he threw the red sap at him back in Forever Fall. And from Weiss when he tried to court her. And from Nora when Ren was sick and Jaune didn't make the pancakes the way his hyperactive teammate had wanted.
"Ok guys...I think it just wants ME dead now! Deal with the other hand and please do it QUICKLY!" Jaune called as he barely dodged an assault from two of the Hydra's heads. The two heads comically smashed into each other and became dazed. The piscine heads shook themselves and regained their bearings, glaring daggers at Jaune. One of them lunged at him but the blonde knight was able to bring up his shield to block the head's strike. He then swung Coreca Mors in a forward arc and activated his semblance. The glowing white blade cut into the Hydra's neck, having more mutated blood ooze out. Jaune kept pushing the blade deeper into the scaly neck try to sever it and with one last final push, the piscine head was slashed off followed by a jet of blood.
"Oh that's disgusting!" Nora called out as she saw the stream of green slime erupt from the severed neck of the Hydra. The Grimm took advantage of the distraction and smacked her away with its head. She hit the deck with loud thud and was fast enough to smack the head again as it lunged forward, ready to eat her.
Ruby rushed for the second hand and cut right through the wrist, resulting in another jet of green mutated blood spewing out of the wound. The Hydra roared in pain as it fell back into the ocean with a loud splash, which soaked all of team RNJR.
"Ok guys...come for me if I'm not back in two minutes," Ruby said as she ran for the edge.
"Wait what?!" NJR shouted in unison as they ran after their teammate. Ruby then dove off the edge with Crescent Rose in scythe mode. She then swam quickly after the falling Hydra to deal the final blow. The Grimm itself saw this and one of the heads tried to spit its boiling water but nothing happened.
Wow...not very smart are you big guy? Ruby thought to herself as she continued to dive. Two of the heads rushed at Ruby and she stabbed one of them through the mouth and stabbed the other in the neck. She used her Semblance to quickly propel herself down to the chest of the Hydra and stabbed it with her blade. The Hydra roared in pain as Ruby drove the blade deeper until finally, the beast's eyes closed and it sunk into the water, the body already vanishing. Ruby then realized something.
Oh Dust I need air! She used her Semblance in a short burst to make sure she wasn't affected by the bends. She soon surfaced and waved to her teammates.
"I'm ok guys! I'm ok! Can't say the same for the Hydra! I guess you could say he'll be feeling that HEART BREa-oh Dust I almost made a Yang pun…," Ruby muttered as she began to swim back to the boat with Crescent Rose on her back.
Meanwhile, back on Patch, Blake and Yang had recently arrived at the village of Arroyo after dealing with a pack of Beowolves. On the path in though, the two had noticed scorch marks on the ground along with several heavy boot prints and various Grimm tracks.
"Damn," Yang commented as she looked at them all, "how many do you think there were?"
"Stating the obvious here but...a lot. There were Ursai, Beowolves, Creeps, and…whoa," Blake said freezing a bit.
"Whoa? What whoa?"
"Beringels."
"Beringels?"
"I forgot...you slept during that class."
"It was Professor Port's lecture that put me to sleep. Though...the name does sound familiar."
"Giant ape Grimm."
"Giant apes? Um...Blake are you SURE about that?"
"The tracks are unmistakable."
"Blake...the only Grimm that are on Patch are Beowolves, Ursai, and a couple of Creep dens. If there were giant Grimm apes running around, I think I'd know."
"Well then if they aren't native to Patch…"
"Then someone brought them over. Think it was Merlot? I mean we never DID catch the guy."
"It...could be him. Or...it could be the Fourth Legion."
"So...how come they didn't get ripped apart by the Grimm? Why were they just...running with them? Grimm don't just do that. Even during the attacks, White Fang were ripped apart by a few of them!"
"I...I don't know how. Come on. Let's just keep going. We can ask about it in town when we ask if Ruby took this route."
The two young huntresses walked into the city and were greeted by a boar Faunus.
"Welcome to Arroyo," he said, "I'm Malcolm. Malcolm Brans."
"Yang. Yang Xiao Long," the blonde introduced herself, "and this is my partner Blake."
"We're...looking for someone and we'd like to know if she came this way."
"Kinda short, silver eyes, giant scythe, has a thing for weapons…"
"You mean Ruby?" Malcolm interjected.
"So...she WAS here?!" Yang asked.
"Yeah. Her and her friends, Jaune, Nora, and Ren. Who ELSE do you think saved us from a demon and Grimm army?"
Blake's and Yang's jaws dropped at that. The blonde quickly overcame her shock and her lips formed into a smile.
"That's my Ruby! Wait till Dad hears about this one! Ruby helped stopped a demon and Grimm army!"
"Also uh...random question...was it a GOOD thing for Nora to have gotten into a tank?"
The two girls looked mortified and said in perfect unison, "Whose idea was that?!"
(A/N: And now, with the naval forces out of the way, team RNJR has a straight shot to Mistral with Blake and Yang not that far behind. Next week we'll get the arrival in Mistral and then a little check-in with Weiss and team FNKI. One a scheduling note, soon, these chapters will be coming out more slowly sadly but I'll still be posting them whenever I can. Anyway as always, read, review and enjoy.)