As the group made their way towards an eastern port just off of Mistral, Kagami let out a small groan while stretching out her shoulders.
"Still sore?" Baren asked while glancing at her. Her left arm resting over her chest.
"A little." She mumbled while moving her arm over her chest and stretching it out. "My back is really stiff. That's the worst of it."
"That's probably from all the times you were slammed onto that mat." Cheyenne held up a finger. "We really should have gone and looked for some muscle rub instead of just relying on your aura to make everything better."
"Well, I mean, she's fine, isn't she?" Kris held out her arms with a raised eyebrow.
"But," Elise stepped between them. "We almost died. Again. Let's not forget that."
Chuckling, the pinkette grinned. "You should relax. Everything is fine."
"I really don't like how irresponsible you are." The redhead quickly glared up at her.
"You get used to it." Kagami glanced back at her team. "Well... okay, no not really." She flashed a smirk towards her mentor.
"Do you want to fight in another underground fight club?" Baren playfully smiled while narrowing her eyes.
"No. No!" Elise jumped in while waving her arms. "We're NOT doing that again!"
"Your loss." The old warrior smiled more before moving her arm behind her back with a faint laugh.
Cheyenne sighed, reaching up to rub her face before scratching her antlers as they approached a dockyard. "So how exactly does one ask a ship captain to smuggle them into a Kingdom that has closed off its borders?"
"I'll handle that." The pinkette rolled her shoulders before stepping ahead. "You four stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes." She nodded towards them before heading forward. She glanced at a few different ships before she began to approach one with several metal cargo crates on board. White snowflakes marking the sides of the crates.
Kagami softly sighed, slouching forward as she shoved her hands into her pockets. Glancing down at her feet, she stared for a moment before half jumping from a hand on her shoulder.
"Still nervous?" Elise asked with a soft smile.
She rolled her eyes, looking over at her. "Who wouldn't be? I'm one step closer to seeing my parents who I haven't seen in five years. Almost six years." She slowly exhaled as her shoulders dropped.
"What... is Vytal like?" Kris asked while tilting her head.
The jadette chuckled, shaking her head a bit with a weak smile. "Vytal is... it's like..." She scratched her head a bit. "Everything was pretty simple. Calm. Wood and mud houses. Roads were just worn paths. There's lots of farmers, my parents are part of that group. There's districts within the island and violence is basically forbidden. And... a very strong military power from Atlas..." She sighed.
Cheyenne blinked, looking over to see Baren handing a ship captain a large sum of lien. "Well, maybe it changed. It has been almost six years, right?" She looked back towards the jadette with a soft smile. "Maybe things are better now and it's not as oppressed."
"Maybe..." Kagami glanced up, staring at the sky as birds flew overhead squawking. "Perhaps."
"Alright." Baren walked back towards the team, stretching out her arm. "I found us a captain that is willing to take us to Mantle. All you have to do is behave and be quiet while on the ship. No being loud or getting into trouble."
"Pft," Elise waved her hand. "Since when do we get into trouble?" She deadpanned then glared at the old warrior.
"This... is so... boring." Kris huffed, laying on her back inside a very dimly lit and empty shipping crate.
"At least they gave us a deck of cards for the long journey." Cheyenne mumbled, sitting across from Baren. Nearly all her attention was focused on the cards she was holding.
"You're not going to win." Kagami half smiled while taking the time to stretch out her aching body. "She has the tactical mind of a five star general."
"Well we know where you get that from." Elise shook her head while twirling her new baton around. She then slowly sighed. "It is going to take a while to get to Mantle... What are we supposed to do till then? Especially considering we're supposed to stay in here the whole time." She sighed and slumped forward.
"You could always take the time to meditate and reflect on the choices you've recently made and how different choices could have created better outcomes." Baren spoke up while picking up a card from the pile in the middle then placing it between her feet where she held her cards.
"Ha!" The young redhead let out rather loudly as she sat up. Her arms resting between her legs. "If you think I would EVER do that-" She stopped herself, blinking as she heard a large sound from outside. "Huh?" She pushed herself up as did her leader. "What was that?"
"I said no trouble." The pinkette reminded, placing a card down.
"Oh shut up you hypocrite." She narrowed her eyes slightly before looking over. "Want to go check it out?" She half smiled.
"Why not." The jadette shrugged while stepping towards the opening to the crate.
As the two left, Baren softly exhaled while grabbing her hand of cards and placing them face down. "Come on you two." She mumbled while standing up.
"Wait what? Why?" Elise jumped to her feet while putting her baton away.
"Because those two idiots are going to get themselves in trouble." She stepped towards the door.
"How do you know?" Cheyenne looked over her shoulder and back at the woman.
"Because Kagami is a magnet for trouble." She mumbled, leaving the crate as Elise quickly followed behind her.
Now alone, the deer Faunus blinked a few times before reaching over and picking up her opponent's cards. She quickly scanned over them before groaning as she set them back down. "Darn it..." She grumbled annoyed before setting her cards down and rushing out.
Outside on the deck of the ship, Kagami and Kris both snuck around multiple crates while looking for the source of the noise. "It sounded like it came from this direction, right?" The jadette asked while peering around a corner.
"Yeah, I'm almost certain." Kris quietly spoke back as they walked a little further on. "What do you think it was?"
"It... sounded like some sort of thud." She quietly mumbled. At the sight of movement, she held her arm back to stop her friend. She then very carefully peered around a corner near the edge of the deck as did the redhead.
Several crates away, a Faunus with horse feet and purple hair was on the floor. His arms over his head as he coward. His clothing was ragged and dirty. Most notably, there were shackles around his ankles. Standing above him with a baton in hand, another man coldly glared down at him. He was yelling something inaudible due to the rushing of the water.
Kagami blinked, staring for a moment with her brow furrowed before she took a step back with wide eyes. "Kris..." She softly spoke.
"We're... on a Faunus smuggling ship..." She trailed off while blinking slowly. Her eyes slowly widened. "He must have been trying to escape..."
The two then both jumped, hearing another echoing thud. Gritting her teeth, the jadette pushed her friend to the side as she stepped around the corner towards the Faunus and the man. "Just what do you think you're doing?" She shouted while flashing her teeth.
"Eh?" The member of the ships crew glanced back at her for a moment completely puzzled. "Oh," He then gave a nod. "You must be those tag alongs the captain told us about. I know the ride is long and boring, but we can't have you walking about the deck. It's a safety hazard."
"Safety... safety hazard?" She stared at him for a moment. "You're smuggling people into a Kingdom to be used for slave labor in Mantle's Dust mines!"
"Not slaves, workers for a company that's giving them the opportunity to do more with their worthless lives. That's what Atlas is about, equal opportunity for all." He corrected her while raising a hand. "Improper behavior leads to punishments. It's not that we want to, they're the ones forcing our hands by disobeying. And Atlas does not support or condone such actions."
"Yeah, well..." Baring her teeth, Kagami's hands balled up into tight fist as she glared. She inhaled sharply before bending her arms slightly while raising them. "This. Isn't. Atlas!" She snapped while raising her foot. The bottom of her shoe collided with the crew member's chest as he was kicked overboard. He let out a faint scream before his body splashed into the water. Still flashing her teeth, she heavily grumbled while glancing around. Walking over, she picked up a life preserver before blindly throwing it overboard as well.
Blinking with wide eyes and a pale face, Kris stared at her teammate as she approached her.
"Set the Faunus free from his restraints." She demanded, the tone in her voice was different than usual. "We're taking over this ship."
"Right." The redhead gulped, slowly nodding as she stepped towards the horse Faunus.
Elsewhere, Baren and the two other members of team MACE stopped at the sound of distant shouting. The old warrior slowly reached up, rubbing her face with a heavy sigh. "Kagami..."
"Oh no..." Elise exhaled as her shoulders dropped.
"Hey!" A voice called out before footsteps quickly followed it. "I found one of the escaping Faunus!" A man shouted while raising his rifle at Cheyenne.
Blinking, the deer Faunus' eyebrows rose as she raised a hand. "Wait, excuse me, what?"
"Don't move!" The man stepped forward rather aggressively. "I will shoot you, freak!"
Baren slowly tilted her head, raising an eyebrow at him. She then blinked, her shoulders rolling back as her eyes widened. "Oh no..." She trailed off before quickly looking around.
As she did, a dart flew through the air, striking the man as he was encased in ice. "What do you mean by oh no?" Elise asked while reloading her rifle.
"I think I know what kind of ship we're on..." She exhaled heavily. "We need to find Kagami right now before-" She stopped herself then groaned as the sound of a siren going off echoed across the sea. "Before things get out of hand... great."
"Wait I'm very much confused." Cheyenne blinked, her brow furrowed as she raised a hand.
"We're on a Faunus smuggling ship." The pinkette rubbed her forehead. "Kagami and your friend must have found something happening and intervene. And knowing Kagami... She's in the process of trying to free everyone who's being held captive. We need to regroup."
"Great. A Faunus revolt on an Atlas ship." Elise sighed before nodding while gripping her rifle. "Well, I guess it's better than sitting and being bored. And does actual good."
Sitting in a dark and small cargo crate, a group of Faunus were nervously sitting and waiting. A few of them quietly whispering about the horse Faunus that was attempting to escape and how he was going to cause more trouble than they wanted. Just then, there was a sound coming from the front of the crate before the doors began to creak open. The light from outside partially blinding those inside for a moment before their eyes adjusted.
Standing in front of the crate, Kagami stood with narrowed eyes. In the process of sheathing her sword, she glanced around at the group of Faunus. "Are any of you hurt?" She calmly asked. Hearing no response, she sighed as her shoulders eased up. "I'm not one of the men on this ship. I'm a Huntress. My team and I are here to help free all of you. But we need you to work with us in doing so. We can't do this on our own."
"Who are the oldest seven of you?" Kris walked up, several basic Atlas rifles in her arms. "Or well, the seven of you that are willing to help."
"It's okay, guys." The horse Faunus from before stepped between the two girls while holding his own rifle. "You can trust them."
"Micah!" A small girl shouted, quickly stumbling in her own restraints out of the crate towards him.
"Hey, hey." He grunted down, reaching down to scratch her golden brown horse ears that were in place of her normal ears. "Autumn, relax. I told you I was going to find us a way out of here, didn't I?"
"But the humans... they're scary and strong." She softly whined while clutching his shirt.
"And she's scary, strong, pissed off and good." Kris motioned towards her leader. "I'd recommend siding with her. She's going to find a way to take over this ship one way or another."
Kagami rolled her eyes, looking towards her friend. "Free them and arm whoever is willing to help. Have them group up and find others. I'm going to go get Baren and the others and tell them what's going on."
Watching her turn around and leave, the redhead sighed while setting the rifles down. "Geez, and I thought she was bossy before." She quietly mumbled while grabbing and pulling out her weapons. "Alright. Who wants set free first?"
Sneaking around the deck of the ship as the siren blared in the distance, Elise kept a close grip on her weapon. Glancing around the corner, she saw a very faint shadow. "It's another!" She shouted in a whisper before taking aim and firing.
Blinking, Kagami felt the wind of a dart barely brush across her ear. With her body slightly shifted to the side, she let out a low growl while turning forward to glare at her friend. "Elise." She half snarled while flashing her teeth.
"Whoops." The brunet jumped, awkwardly chuckling as she lowered her weapon. "S-Sorry. People have been trying to ambush us. What..." She blinked a bit. "What exactly did you do?"
"No." Baren narrowed her eyes while glaring. "What are you doing is a better question. This was your best shot at making it to Mantle and then Vytal."
"More important things came up." She crossed her arms. "There's a bunch of imprisoned Faunus on this ship. I'm not going to let them be taken to Atlas and used for slave labor."
She half smirked, slowly nodding. "Of course." She rolled her eyes. "Then just... hurry up and take control of this ship already."
The jadette smiled back, grabbing Elise's hand and pulling her. "Come on. I need your tracking abilities to help find everyone."
As the two rushed off, Cheyenne blinked a few times before softly exhaling as she looked towards the old warrior who was walking away in the other direction. "Wait, where are you going?" Her head tilted.
"You four can have your little revolution without me." She waved her hand. "I'm going to go find the command room and sit on top. I'll watch everything from there. And watch out for any Grimm."
"Grimm?" She tilted her head.
She scoffed, chuckling softly while glancing back. "Kagami purely hates people from Atlas in power who hold themselves higher than others. The hatred coursing through her veins right now is going to attract something. I'm going to watch out for whatever it is."
"Right..." The Faunus nodded slowly, sighing before quickly rushing off.
One after another, the crates holding Faunus had their locks broken and opened. The Faunus inside being held captive inside soon being freed from their restraints and set free. The more willing and able ones taking up arms against their captors. And one after another, each of the crew members were thrown off the ship. The Faunus' overwhelming numbers alongside MACE's skills proving to be far more powerful than the crude captain and his crew.
Following behind Faunus who were tossing men overboard, Cheyenne held several life preservers and threw them over the ledge as well towards the men in the water. "Sorry! Sorry! Please don't drown! I hope you have a nice swim though!"
"In hell!" Kris shouted, quickly kicking a man over.
"She's not wrong." Elise chuckled, using a key she had stolen from a high ranking crew member to let the remaining Faunus free. "You know, starting a revolt was kinda fun. I can cross it off my bucket list now."
"You know this isn't a game, right?" A Faunus with scales on his arms glared at her while rubbing the bruises on his ankles. "And it's not even over yet. We're still not in full control of this ship. The captain is still heading straight towards Mantle. We can see Solitas in the distance already. Soon he'll be close enough to send a mayday alert to someone."
"Don't worry about that." The brunet grinned with a faint chuckle. Glancing over, she eyed her teammates.
Grinning back, the redhead reached up to rub her nose slightly. "We got this."
"Just trust us." The deer Faunus smiled, giving a nod towards the other Faunus. "Our leader is handling the captain as we speak."
Up above, the door to the bridge was kicking open. The lock breaking as the hinges creaked from swinging open quickly. Kagami went to step in, only to step back and to the side as a baton narrowly missed her. She raised an eyebrow, not even bothering to draw her weapon.
"You damn brats..." The captain snarled, clutching his weapon tight. "No amount of lien is worth this trouble. I'm going to make sure the five of you never leave this ocean."
She blankly stared back at him, blinking once before rolling her eyes. "You're no longer taking us to Mantle. I'm taking my lien back."
"Your... your lien?!" He growled deeply, his shoulders squaring. He shot forward, swinging his weapon around to backhand it against her.
She took a step back, moving out of his way. As he stumbled past her, she twisted her body around. Her elbow striking his back.
He groaned loudly, falling to one knee before turning his head to turn around and glare. "Why you little..." He trailed off, pushing himself up with heavy breathing. "You'll pay for that. Ya little bi-" He was cut off, her boot striking his face. He let out a grunt, falling to the floor limp with a heavy thud.
"No. I'm not. Not this time." Her eyes narrowed at him before she softly exhaled. "Come on, you said you could control this ship."
Stepping out into view, Micah raised an eyebrow at the captain before sliding past her into the control room. "You are one fierce young woman." He half chuckled while quickly pressing several buttons. "Communications are disabled."
"Good." The jadette exhaled, seeing the young Faunus with horse ears trailing behind the purple haired Faunus while still cowering. She glanced around before reaching down and picking up the captain's hat. Stepping inside the bridge, she half smiled while kneeling down in front of her. "Here." She placed the oversized hat on her head.
Blinking, Autumn began to smile slightly while adjusting it. "Cool."
"It is. Now you get to lead all the Faunus on this ship away from the big mean Atlas people." She stood back up and crossed her arms. "Even if they're big and scary, remember they're just like you. They can be beaten just as easily."
She began to smile a little more, slowly nodding up towards her. The jadette slowly smiling back at her while tilting her head.
Sitting calmly on top of the ship, Baren watched as the chaos down on the deck slowly calmed down. Glancing around, she slowly exhaled as a breeze picked up over the waters. She raised an eyebrow, her hair blowing against it. Staring across the sea, she noticed a small wave in the water heading towards the ship. A red and black fin barely sticking out. She sighed, her eyes closing. "I knew it." She quietly mumbled to herself.