A/N: I won't lie, my artistic spark has worn out. I am currently on hiatus but I did have a lot of this chapter typed out. Instead of continuing with what I had planned I opted to hold off on it until I pick it up again. So the next major thing will happen next chapter, sorry. Also this story is no longer updated weekly due to life and will be updated randomly from now on. Sorry in advance.

"Whoa." Was all that came to mind as Yang stared dumbly at the Captain.

Cinder had finished telling her story for about ten minutes now but still no one had uttered a word until now. Yang slowly turned her head towards her left at Ruby. Curiously her sister didn't look very surprised. Her face looked oddly indifferent but also a little relieved. Turning towards her right and at the other room's occupants the blonde spotted what she had expected.

Mouths agape, eyes fixated with looks of disbelief, and genuine surprise. She turned her eyes back at Cinder and couldn't help but be a little skeptical.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked in a curious tone of voice.

She watched the woman's amber eyes roll at the question so the blonde just shrugged her shoulders. If their Captain was some sort of noble or royalty or whatever that didn't really matter now, would it?

The room fell into a silence once more with everyone seemingly falling into their own deep thoughts at what was just said. Yang turned to look at her sister as the girl glanced back at her. Nothing was spoken but the blonde could see her sister was conflicted about something. Her face was scrunched up in concern; which Yang figured had to do with what Cinder had just said.

Was it possible that little Ruby was falling for the now ex-Princess turned pirate Captain?

Thinking that caused the loud blonde to start to smirk and even about to tease her younger sister but a sudden loud thud sounding outside the room caused her head to snap towards the door; as well as everyone else's.

"What was that?"

Cinder stood up from her seat abruptly as Roman quickly made his way towards the cabin door and swung it open and hobbled outside onto the deck.

At this point everyone in the room also got up and poured out into the sunny exterior of the room and onto the deck of the vessel. All heads turned around to look in every direction before Cinder spoke up.

"I forgot to mention that Princess Weiss is in fact on this very same island at the moment."

Once Yang heard her, only one distinct figure stood out in her mind… That same girl she had spotted while with Neo earlier. The one with the white hair and the guardsmen. Could it have been the same girl?

"For that reason we aren't staying in Atlas for long… In fact we're going to set sail tonight, under the cover of darkness." Cinder announced.

"Roman, are most of our wares sold off?" She then asked to which the orange haired former bodyguard nodded his head.

"Yeah, most are. We still have a few things left but we should have no problems selling them on another continent if we're in a rush." He replied back.

Cinder nodded her head as she began to walk towards her room. She couldn't help but feel as if something was wrong. It almost felt like something bad was about to happen… Seeing Weiss again brought back some pretty powerful memories about her past; and then having to explain how she's come to even be here now… Sometimes she wondered how her life would have been if she just abided by her parents' wishes.

"I'm retreating to my quarters for now. Once night is upon us, Roman set us off towards the Grimm Islands." Cinder ordered as she stepped into her room and about to shut the door before she made eye contact with the short crimson haired and silver eyed girl, Ruby.

Cinder seemed to beckon the younger girl with her amber eyes before shutting the door closed because in that moment Ruby sighed and looked towards her sister Yang. Except when she turned around to ask Yang something, she noticed that the head of blonde hair have gravitated towards the short navigator who was smiling at her approach.

Ruby felt herself smile a bit; it was almost like the two of them were… wait, no way!

Were Yang and Neo…?

Ruby shook her head at the thoughts and felt a small blush creep onto her cheeks. She promptly turned around and faced the now closed doors of Cinder's quarters and exhaled. She felt guilty for how she was acting earlier but she hated being lied to. It was one thing that set her off more than anything. Although technically Cinder hadn't really lied to her per se but not telling the whole truth was almost as bad when it was something that important.

It wasn't like she wanted to talk to Cinder now… Plus Ruby knew she had to go back into Cinder's room anyway. Just the thought of the times where she had previously gone in willingly… It caused the small girl to shudder at the past nightmares. She knew the second she'd step inside the woman's room that she'd be assaulted with hugs and wet kisses. It was nothing like the ones from Cookie Monster.

Drawing in a long breath to steel herself from her nerves, Ruby continued walking towards the doors. Grasping the cool metal of the handle, the girl knew that Cinder wouldn't do the usual things today. The woman seemed pretty distant from her usual demeanor; so much so that Ruby actually wanted to talk to her and apologize a bit. And the main reason she was entering Cinder's lair was to get the box of metal so she could get started on Yang's surprise weapons she'd craft for her.

Putting on an indifferent look on her face, Ruby pushed open the door to Cinder's chambers and stepped inside…

"All I'm saying is that sword maaaaybe a little too big for ya to handle, Neo."

Yang leaned against the railing on the ship next to the much smaller navigator as the girl flashed her a cocky grin and shook her head no.

Sighing exasperatedly to herself, Yang decided to take a much different and riskier approach to get the short girl to give up the weapon she knew she wanted so badly. The little jerk knew she wanted it and went ahead and bought it for herself. Although for some reason; Yang couldn't bring herself to get angry at her.

In a way… It was sort of cute.

"Okay Neo, how about this?" Yang asked with a competitive edge to her voice.

She watched Neo's smirk fade and the girl's mismatched eyes regarded her curiously.

"We wrestle for it!" Yang half shouted with a smug look on her face.

Although she looked confident on the outside, the blonde was anything but on the inside. She knew she was pushing the boundaries a bit but… the thought of wrestling with the little girl sounded strangely… nice.

Holding her breath in as she watched Neo's curious gaze turn into one of apprehension at her comment. The blonde hoped the girl would go for it; she knew Neo wouldn't back down from a challenge but maybe she was being too forward. It wasn't exactly a subtle suggestion at wanting an excuse at touching her.

But it seemed the nervous thoughts of Neo refusing her offer were for naught. Yang watched the miniature girl adopt her trademark smug smirk and start to take the sword off her back in anticipation for their duel.

Yang almost squealed with happiness at seeing Neo take up her offer. She quickly tied her long golden mane into a loose ponytail and rolled her sleeves up. Shuffling over towards the widest part of the ship, Yang start stretching her body. Wrestling with Neo should be easy were the first thoughts on her mind. That was until she spotted Neo take off her coat and spotted the girl's toned abs and arms.

Now Yang wasn't slacking in the muscular department either but when she saw Neo's body then and there she knew it wouldn't be as easy as she initially thought. It seemed as if the thought showed on her face as well because the blonde watched the little multicolored girl cockily goad her on as she too joined her in the middle of the ship.

Yang felt herself getting excited at the thought of battle… and at the thought of maybe getting to score a lucky feel on the girl; but mostly at the challenge.

Quickly finishing cracking her back, she tried to rile the much smaller girl on. "You know you could just give me the sword. It'd be easier… and plus I wouldn't have to embarrass you in front of the crew."

Looking around now, Yang did in fact notice that the two of them had drawn the attention of the twins as well as Emerald and Mercury. So they did have a little crowd so to speak.

Glancing back towards the smaller girl however, Yang stumbled backwards at the sight of the small navigator already breaking in a dead sprint towards her. Quickly righting herself, Yang prepared her body to collide with Neo who seemed dead set on tackling her. Smirking at the severe disadvantage that would prove to hold the outcome in her favor; Yang held her ground and stared right back into the pink and brown eyes of the girl.

But right as Neo was about to collide with her, the small girl tucked and rolled right between Yang's legs. The blonde; caught off balance by the odd move tried to turn around and grab the girl, but was much too late.

In no time at all, Neo already righted herself up and hopped out of Yang's reach before side stepping and kicking her legs out from under her.

"Fuc-!"

With her back hitting the hardwood floor of the deck, the blonde desperately tried to sit up and get back on her feet, but a flash of pink appeared in her vision as she felt her arm be violently pulled away from the ground. In a painful burst of agony; the brawler already knew what had happened but could scarcely believe it. In a matter of no time at all she had been bested by Neo.

Feeling the girl continue pulling on her arm without mercy, Yang quickly tapped the floor with her free hand in a show of defeat.

"A- Alright alright, I give!" She pleaded begrudgingly.

She felt the sudden pain extinguish as she regained control of her arm and felt the weight of the girl vanish from on top of her.

"Wow… That was just… wow." She heard Emerald mutter under her breath.

Feeling a warm blush spread slowly across her face, Yang let a humorless smile show as she grabbed a hold of Neo's extended hand. She let the small girl lift her up with a surprising amount of strength; a mistake she wouldn't make twice. Never judge a book by its cover, something she had learned when she was little.

Brushing herself off and quickly putting her jacket back on, Neo stole a few smug glances towards Yang, and the blonde could have sworn she saw something click in the shorter girl's head. It was only when Yang herself started getting dressed that she felt a slender hand on her shoulder; halting her movements.

"Yeah?" She asked, slowly turning towards the girl who still wore her cocky grin.

But of course instead of answering with words; Yang felt a twinge of fear pass through her as she followed Neo's eyes towards a corner of the ship. Right where Yang had dropped the clothes that the girl had bought for her.

Slowly putting two and two together, the blonde sighed and voiced her concern to the Navigator. "I- I'm guessing that I have to wear that… now?"

She flicked her eyes back towards Neo as the girl happily nodded her head.

Groaning to herself, she finally allowed herself to stand and slowly shuffle forward towards the dreaded outfit that Neo had purchased for her. Yang even felt a light slap on her behind from the shorter girl as a gesture to get her to get a move on.

Blushing even harder from the slap though, Yang felt oddly motivated afterwards. She grabbed the gear in her hand and in a slow jog, moved towards the underbelly of the ship to get dressed.

As she descended the stairs however, she cast one final glance towards the wildly grinning short girl who remained on the deck with her arms crossed expectantly.

"Well… I did need some new clothes." Yang uttered to herself as she continued bounding down the stairs and out of sight from Neo. "Beggars can't be choosers."