RWBY: Team CRML
Chapter 27
A few more months later
Liam
Sitting in a tree, Liam looked over the camp, letting his arm rest on his knee. Vernal walked underneath the tree, staring up at him. "Liam?"
"Yeah?" he glanced down at her.
"Do you wanna spar today?"
Liam rubbed the back of his neck. "Not really." he replied.
Vernal crossed her arms. "Another nightmare, huh?"
"It that obvious?"
"You never want to spar when you have one." Vernal told him. "They're not becoming more frequent, are they?"
Liam leaned his head back. "I can't tell anymore." Vernal suddenly jumped up to the branch next to Liam's. Grabbing it, she pulled herself up, and leaned against the tree. "They're getting worse."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
Liam looked up. "Having you here helps a lot."
Vernal couldn't help but smile a little. "If there's anything else I can do, let me know."
Chrome
Walking through the corridors of the ship, Chrome looked out one of the windows, seeing it was dusk. "Shouldn't be too long before we reach Menagerie." Nicci said, appearing at his side.
"Hmph." Chrome grunted in reply. "Where did you come from exactly?"
"I spotted you down the hall." Nicci pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "Thought we could chat."
"You thought wrong." Chrome replied.
Nicci looked to the ground as he said that. "How many times do I have to apologize?"
"It doesn't matter that you apologize." Chrome told her. "I can't simply forgive you for selling us out. You need to earn that forgiveness. And you have to do more than by saying 'sorry' to earn it."
"I see..."
Suddenly, the ship jerked, causing Nicci to fall down and Chrome to place a hand on the window to steady himself. Looking outside, a massive sea dragon Grimm towered over the ship.
"What the hell?"
"RED ALERT!"
Turning to Nicci, Chrome quickly helped her up before the two of them rushed out to the docks. Drawing their weapons, the two watched as Blake was tossed in front of them, sliding to a stop.
Trying to stand, she held her shoulder as she fell back onto one knee. Before she could try to stand again, a man in a cloak used her back as a launchboard, jumping towards the dragon. As he got closer, the cloak fell off, revealing it to be...
"Sun!?" Blake shouted. He had gotten on top of the Grimm's head, holding onto its tendrils to keep himself balanced. "What are you doing?!"
"Oh, uh, you know, just... hanging out!"
The Grimm manages to get a small electrical charge around Sun and he lets go, shouting as he falls. Blake sprung to help him while Chrome and Nicci charged the Grimm.
The two leapt onto the railing before jumping towards it, Chrome using his glyphs to help the two of them get higher. Once high enough, Nicci jumped on top of the Grimm, bringing her axe down in the center of its back while Chrome stabbed both of his swords into its left wing.
As Chrome pulled one sword free, an electrical surge shot through the Grimm, knocking both Nicci and Chrome off the beast. Chrome was knocked onto the ship, hitting his back against the deck and flipping over onto his chest while Nicci was thrown into the ocean.
Coming up for breath, Nicci looked to the Grimm. Seeing it turn its attention to her, the ship suddenly slammed it into the side of the Grimm, pinning it to a rock formation. A second later, the main cannon fired a shot point blank into its head, completely obliterating it.
With the Grimm dead, Nicci turned to the ship to see Chrome approach the railing, placing his weapons onto his back. Seeing Nicci treading water, Chrome created a stairway of glyphs back to the ship for her.
Using them to get back on board, Nicci shook her head a bit to get some of the water out of her hair as well as shaking her tail. "Thanks, Chrome."
"Don't mention it."
Looking up as Sun and Blake jumped back on board, the four of them looked from one another. Chrome looked to Sun, crossing his arms. "So, what're you doing here?"
Marek
Standing outside of a shop while Jaune got his new armor, Ruby, Ren and Nora glanced at each other while Marek stood a few yards away, facing the forest. He had his arms crossed as well as his hood up and bandanna covering his face.
"He still hides his face?" Nora said.
"Can you blame him?" Ren asked. "After what he's told us, I can see why."
"Yeah, but I thought he was comfortable enough not to wear it."
"Comfortable around us." Ruby told her. "Give him some more time. I'm sure-"
Ruby stopped as Jaune walked out of the shop, wearing his new armor. "He cleans up alright, don't ya think?" the store owner asked.
"He certainly does."
"Nothing's gonna stop us now!" Ruby said.
Glancing back at the four of them, Marek saw they were still talking to the shop owner. Once they were done talking to the shop owner, they walked over to Marek, however he was lost in thought.
"Marek?"
"Huh?" he looked over to see Ruby staring at him. "Oh. Yeah?"
"What's on your mind?" she asked him.
"Nothing." Marek replied. "Just mentally preparing myself."
"Preparing yourself for what?"
Marek shook his head. "Let's go. We aren't gonna make it to Haven by standing around."
With that, he began heading for the entrance of the village.
End of chapter 27
