Almost as soon as Ruby got back to the English tank crew, Yang said, "Alright, well, Weiss has probably tried to leave already, so we should be getting over to them."

As the blonde drew away, Ruby wondered, "Has she told you why she wanted to come here yet?"

Yang shook her head, and Emma questioned, "You lot don't know?"

"No," Ruby answered, "Do you?"

"What kind of a team are you, being dragged around like that?" Emma fumed, and Gladys noted, "This has been an awful long trip for there to have been no real purpose."

"Eh," Yang shrugged, "Ruby said we had to."

Ruby explained, "It's a thing we're all doing together, as a team."

Yang sighed slightly at that, and Gladys murmured, "I suppose if you can't operate a tank together, that this sort of charade will do."

"Are you gonna let us drive it?" Ruby asked, suddenly excited. Gladys sniffed, "Of course not."

She shook her head lightly, and Yang abruptly thrust her hand vertically in greeting, saying, "Hey guys."

Turning her attention from Ruby, Gladys looked around and found that she was somewhere almost completely different, after merely a few moments of walking. Back the way she came lay the urban jungle of Vale, the too-too-high buildings and streets and cars and such. And just ahead lay a vast maze of concrete, but of a different nature, where the buildings were low, long, and generally less frightening. A few big steel things were in the water... and, to Gladys' amazement, they were bobbing up and down lightly. Not moving up and down a hill- they were stationary in all but elevation. Quietly, she murmured, "H-How've they done that?"

She pointed over at the boats, now thinking only of showing her crew the marvel of things going up-and-down in the water. Emma glanced over, and Carney remarked, "I... suppose it must be floating."

"Look at it, though," Gladys pointed out, and Emma nodded, "Why's it not just staying?"

"Uh, guys," Ruby said. Gladys turned to the girl, then asked, "Wh-What are those things?"

Ruby glanced over, and Gladys clarified, "The buildings that are just going up-and-down, I mean."

"Uh... boats?" Ruby said doubtfully, "Haven't you guys seen them before?"

"Not going up and down, no," Gladys said, and Emma noted, "Haven't been that close before, either."

Gladys paused, then sighed, "I shall have to ask Carney if he ever looked at one through a scope, then."

"It's just the waves," Ruby said, "Everyone's waiting."

Gladys quickly nodded, "Ah, y-yes, of course."

She tried her best to push the things from her mind, walking along behind Ruby towards the mass of people. Still, though, she couldn't help but remark, "They are quite remarkable, though, you really must admit."

"I guess," Ruby said, "I mean, they're just boats."

Emma pointed out, "They're going up and down!"

"Yeah," Ruby said, still seemingly confused. Yang asked, "What're you talking about?"

"The boats," Gladys said, "They're going up and down."

"Do you think they could just go up?" Emma wondered, "And just keep going up, y'know?"

Gladys paused, then glanced over at Yang, who nodded, "Yeah, sure. That's what they use to keep the Vytal thingy in the sky."

Gladys gasped lightly, glancing once more at the still-bobbing things, and Weiss huffed, "The Vytal Arena is not a boat."

"Maybe it is," Yang shrugged, and Blake noted, "It seems like there's nothing else to talk about nowadays."

As if it had been waiting for its queue, a banner abruptly dropped behind her, reading, 'Welcome to Vale'. Weiss smiled slightly as she pointed out, "How could you talk about anything else? It's a festival dedicated to all the cultures of the world, with parades, dances, and a tournament at the end!"

"I never thought I'd see you this happy, Weiss," Ruby remarked, and Weiss finished, "Of course I am- why, the amount of planning required for this is simply breathtaking!"

"And there's normal Ice Queen," Yang remarked, and Karl leaned over near-ish to Weiss, remarking, "We are very organized in how we do things, you know. Why, you should see how I've disciplined-"

"Enough of that," Weiss cut off, "We've wasted enough time."

She started to dash away, and while the others followed, Gladys asked, "Is this how she's been the whole time we've been catching up?"

Otto hesitated a moment from following, to simply give a curt nod, then headed swiftly away to catch up. With a sigh, Gladys, and then Carney, followed him, while Emma noted, "No reason to stick by this lot."

The loader started to follow the rest of her crew, though she still added, "Just agreed to give them a ride, after all."

Gladys considered the issue for a few moments, mostly because she didn't want to try and talk while running after the others. Finally, though, Weiss- and, by extension, the rest of the mob- stopped, and so Gladys was able to slow down to a normal walking pace as she remarked, "It would be a bit rude to leave."

"I suppose we're giving them a ride back, as well," Carney added, "Which would be rather difficult if we left now."

Gladys nodded, and Emma noted, "Just a thought. Wouldn't mind poking around here."

The slow pace of the English crew became rather obvious at this point, as they carried on their own little conversation by themselves, being practically split from the rest. Meanwhile, with the larger group, Yang was remarking, "Alright, we all hurried to the place. What are we doing here, Weiss?"

Weiss huffed, then informed, "According to a rather reliable source, students from Vacuo will be arriving via ship today. Supposedly, they may even be some of the students chosen to represent their Academy."

She turned away from the sea and towards the group, saying, "Thusly, I felt that I should be here to greet them to this fine kingdom, as a representative of our prestigious Academy."

"So you came here to spy on the competition," Blake remarked, and Weiss retorted, "You can't prove that!"

Otto questioned, "There is competition?"

Weiss nodded, "Yes- the Vytal tournament, of course. Only the largest competition in the world."

Ruby noted, "I'm still not sure signing up was a good idea."

Weiss sniffed at that, and Karl cursed, "Scheisse."

"Was?" Jerry murmured, seemingly dazed from having mostly spaced-out due to the language barrier. As the others carried on their conversation, Karl explained, "Bald findet ein grosses Gewinnspiel statt."

"Wie haben wir es verpasst?" Otto wondered quietly, and Jerry noted, "Hans will dabei sein."

"Falls er es erfährt," Karl pointed out, "Was er nicht tun wird."

Jerry nodded, "Ja, ja."

Karl glared over at Otto, who noted, "Wir können unseren Panzer-Kommandanten nicht anlügen."

"Du bist eine Schlange!" Karl fumed, "Tun Sie, was Ihre Natur ist, und lügen Sie!"

Otto sighed at that, and Karl huffed, "Otto, geh, sei mit seinesgleichen und lerne, nützlich zu sein!"

Otto sighed, walking over. Emma was ranting something, and Gladys glanced over at the Kraut loader, then remained silent, letting her own loader finish her point before saying, "Hullo, Otto. We were just discussing the merits of detaching ourselves from the schoolchildren's expedition."

Otto noted, "Aren't you giving them a return trip?"

Gladys nodded, then remarked, "Goodness- we've practically separated already. Quite sorry about that."

The German loader shrugged, while Emma noted, "Not such a bad thing, is it? They seem fine."

She indicated the girls, who were all crowded by a railing, looking out at a boat. Carney added, "It seems they've realized the wondrous thing out there, too."

Otto hesitated a moment, then glanced over, then exclaimed, "What is that thing doing?"

"Oh, good, I was almost beginning to think it was only us who thought that was odd," Gladys noted, and Otto murmured, "H-How?"

Gladys sighed, and Emma answered, "'Waves' according to that lot. I reckon they don't bloody know either."

Otto sniffed, and Carney noted, "They could be meaning the way the water's moving."

Gladys glanced at her driver askance, then glanced at the water, and noted, "It... it is moving, isn't it?"

It was a very faint sort of movement, to her eyes. The water didn't have any markings to track, save for bits that were higher and bits that were lower... and, as she watched, she realized that the bits that it really was moving. She realized, in her mind, that the boat wasn't going up and down because it was moving over a hill; a hill was moving over the boat.

"I still think they just made those 'waves' up," Emma said, and Otto nodded, "How is the water moving?"

Carney shrugged at that, and Gladys pointed out, "Right, well, we've bothered about boats and water long enough, we really should be getting back to-"

"Stop that Faunus!" someone abruptly, distantly yelled, cutting Gladys off. She glanced over, and watched as a young boy ran straight past team RWBY- only to be smacked in the chest by Jerry, halting the boy. Quickly, he made to go around the Kraut-based obstacle, but then a pair of men caught up behind the boy, and one grabbed him by the wrists. As Gladys headed over, she murmured, "What's going on?"

"This stowaway was trying to make a get-away," Weiss said. Yang chuckled a little at that, while Blake pointed out, "How do we know he's a stowaway?"

"We found him hiding in one of the containers," the man who wasn't grabbing the boy answered, and the boy pointed out, "I could be a dock worker."

"You ain't a dock worker, punk," the other man said. He glanced over at Jerry, saying, "Thanks for the help," and then started to walk off, only for the boy to dig his heels in, saying, "I'm from Vacuo, all right?"

The man huffed, pointing out, "Then where're your papers?"

The boy retorted, "I just said, I'm from Vacuo."

"You don't got papers, you go to jail, kid," the man shot. The boy glanced at Blake as the man dragged him away, and Ruby pointed out, "Uh, Weiss? Didn't you want to give the guys from Vacuo a warm greeting?"

"Not if they're a Faunus up to no good," Weiss retorted, and Karl added, "We're here for people from Vacuo, not animals."

Blake pointed out, "Faunus are people too."

Karl shrugged dismissively at that, while Weiss noted, "Then they should be held to the same standards as regular people."

Blake huffed, "Maybe you don't realize you're holding him to different standards."

"'Don't commit crime' is a very low standard," Weiss pointed out, "One which he didn't meet."

Gladys interjected, "Surely there are better things to be doing than arguing over this?"

"What? You don't think what happens to Faunus is important?" Blake fumed, and Gladys took a physical step back as she murmured, "Ah, never mind."

Blake huffed in satisfaction, while Weiss started to rant something. Gladys, for her part, simply backed a bit more away, then murmured to Yang, "Do these sorts of arguments often spring up?"

"Should bloody well hope not if they're a team," Emma noted. Yang nodded with a sigh, while Ruby shook her head, saying, "N-No, we're a normal team."

"Rubes, Weiss hardly even speaks to Blake other than to argue," Yang pointed out, and Karl offered, "What if Jerry and I took two of you to do what comes between men and girls, and the other two went-"

"Wh-What?" Ruby stammered. Yang agreed, "Yeah, I thought you guys were gonna at least be flirty and subtle."

"We gave you a ride here," Karl pointed out, "And it would solve the issue. There's probably enough space in the Panzer if positions don't switch."

"There most definitely isn't," Emma shot, and Carney added, "There's also the matter of these being schoolchildren."

Karl shrugged, and Yang snarled, "You aren't gonna do it with my little sister."

"Then we take you, and..." Karl trailed off, then turned to Jerry, asking, "Welche Frau willst du?"

"I'm not gonna do that with you either," Yang shot, "And they aren't gonna agree."

Karl pointed out, "Then how do we make them shut up?"

He indicated Weiss and Blake, who were still arguing, and Otto pointed out, "We could resolve the argument."

Karl nodded, "And then we would be heroes that you would have to sleep with..."

"I'm not gonna do that, and Ruby isn't either," Yang shot, "Now get the hell away from my little sister."

Karl took a singular step back, and Gladys noted, "They don't really seem in a condition to have another person enter the argument. My loader was, ah, talking earlier about simply leaving you behind- might I suggest we do that, but for those two?"

"We're a team!" Ruby pointed out, "We can solve this together!"

A moment passed. Yang noted, "Yeah, gonna go solve that?"

"I... uh... w-we'll solve it as a team," Ruby said. Yang rolled her eyes, and Karl huffed, "I had a solution."

"'Separate and rape them' isn't any sort of a solution," Gladys pointed out, and Karl shrugged, "They would come to enjoy it."

Gladys shuddered at that, and Yang said, "You guys really need to fuck off."

"We drove you here," Karl shot, and Ruby asked, "Gladys, could we get rides back from you?"

"To avoid him, most certainly," Gladys agreed, "Though it would be quite uncomfortable still."

Karl huffed, and Yang said, "Alright, I'm just gonna grab one of them, and we'll go from there. Anyone else got a better plan?"

A moment of silence passed, as everyone tried to think of any option that was even slightly more sane.

"Sal-u-tations!" someone abruptly piped up from nearby, "Are you the team from Vacuo?"

Gladys glanced over to see a young girl, clad in a brown-ish dress, with bright orange hair and green eyes. Quickly, the commander shook her head, and Ruby asked, "Are you with the other guy?"

The girl glanced around, then friendily said, "I'm with you all. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She extended her hand, and Ruby took it, saying, "Uh, I'm Ruby."

The rest of the group introduced themselves- save for Weiss and Blake, still arguing in the background- and at the end, the girl returned, "My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Ruby chuckled a little, and Penny asked, "Have any of you seen the team from Vacuo? I was planning on spying on them."

She didn't lower her voice or anything when making the declaration, instead keeping up the same cheerful tone she'd had throughout the conversation. Emma questioned, "Is that really a big deal?"

"Yes," Penny confirmed, not elaborating on that. Instead, a moment of silence passed in which everyone waited for her to elaborate, before Yang finally said, "Uh, yeah, it's the guys for the Vytal tournament. And one of them just got arrested."

"Oh dear," Penny said, her cheer slipping a little, "That might cause issues with their registration for the tournament."

"And they're in jail," Ruby added. Penny nodded, "That is also a result of this."

Gladys asked, "Did you come here for that?"

Penny enthusiastically nodded, "Yes. The tournament will be an excellent chance to test myself against other opponents."

"You're in a skirt," Yang pointed out, and Ruby objected, "Hey!"

"I'm combat ready!" Penny assured. Yang shrugged, then said, "Well, you might be able to go find him at the police station or something."

Penny nodded, swiftly departing. As she left, Ruby said, "Good luck, friend!"

A moment passed, before Karl asked, "Now have you decided who will come with us for pleasure and who will walkabout?"

"We aren't doing that plan," Yang shot, and Ruby asked, "C-Can we stop talking about that one?"

"It's the only plan we have so far," Karl noted.

Gladys realized, "That's it- we put them in separate tanks on the drive back, and the time apart will make their heads cool a bit."

"That'd mean we would leave, though," Emma pointed out. Carney nodded, "Rather a long drive for us to leave so soon."

Gladys sighed, and Otto pointed out, "There isn't a reason to stay. Weiss wanted to see the boy who ran by, ja?"

"Come on, look around you," Emma retorted, "There's a whole city to explore. I reckon some of the buildings actually have interiors."

Gladys noted, "The people here are savages. I told you about the liquid Yang tried to make me drink, right?"

Both the other English tankers shuddered slightly, and Yang questioned, "What?"

"The so-called 'tea'," Gladys clarified, "Which had ice in it. Ice- in tea! This is truly a sickeningly mad place."

Yang rolled her eyes, and Otto asked, "Was it good?"

"Of course not," Gladys said, "It was a waste of perfectly good tea leaves. I would quite rather die than taste it again."

Ruby pointed out, "But normal tea is so hot-"

"What did you just call me?"

A collective shock went through the group, manifesting itself in the various gasps and small movements and bits of paralysis, as someone abruptly piped up behind Ruby. The girl turned around quickly, and stammered, "O-Oh, Penny, i-it's just you."

Gladys glanced over, to see that, somehow, the orange-haired girl had gotten around them without her noticing. The girl leaned in, looming almost threateningly over Ruby as she said, in a still-cheerful voice, "It's just me. What did you call me?"

"U-Uh, um, uh," Ruby said, not really saying anything so much as letting noises spill out of her mouth. Penny abruptly stood back up, bubbling, "You called me friend!"

Ruby awkwardly chuckled, then nodded, "U-Uh, yeah, I-I did."

"Am I really your friend?" Penny asked. Ruby once again said nothing more than awkward noises for a few moments, but the noises culminated in a final, sharply-pitched, doubtful, "S-Sure?"

Penny's face lit up, and the girl jumped for joy- literally, jumping a good half a foot off the ground, arms outstretched to the sky- beaming, "Oh, wonderful! We can go shopping, and paint our nails, and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby chuckled awkwardly, then murmured, "U-Um, so, uh, we should go with Gladys' plan."

"Oh, that would be quite rude," Gladys retorted, and Penny wondered, "What do you have planned?"

Gladys dismissed, "Nothing that we should be doing after just meeting someone."

"Yeah, we're going with the plan," Yang said, walking away, "You guys get Weiss, I'll take Blake."

Gladys glanced over, then watched as Yang simply picked Blake up and held her rather comically over head. The scene was made even more hilarious by the fact that she still didn't quit arguing with Weiss. As the blonde walked off, Penny bubbled, "Are these rides on pigs' backs?"

"No, Penny," Ruby answered, "That's Blake, and," she paused a moment, waiting for Weiss' angry stomping to catch up and bring her into view, before saying, "That's Weiss."

"Salutations!" Penny said, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Neither of the belligerents paid her so much as a wayward glance of acknowledgement. Gladys sighed, and Carney noted, "I suppose your idea is coming to fruition regardless."

Somberly, Gladys nodded, then said, "This is goodbye then, Penny. It was quite nice to have met you."

Penny nodded, saluting as she cheerfully returning, "It was a pleasure to meet you!"

Gladys sighed, then set off in the way that Yang had gone.

Author's Note: Fun fact, the boats in WoT Blitz- the version I usually play, and thus know this about- don't move at all. An actual docked boat, though, will still move a little with the lapping of the waves against its hull. This isn't a bad thing- they are just scenery, after all- but I found it funny enough to ramble about for probably too long, and had no other ideas on how to get this to be of appreciable length.