Even as thunder roared, lightning flashed and the waves crashed against the ship, the sound of Coco's maniacal laughter piercing through the air could still be heard clearly by everyone on deck.
The Blind Rabbit rocked back and forth as she struggled to stay afloat. Even through all that, a mad smile had formed on the captain's face.
"Come on! Is that all you got?!" Coco shouted as she stabbed a spear into the eye of a giant crab that had crawled up onto the ship's deck. Rather than back down and crawl back into the depths, the giant crustacean simply let out a screech of agony before slapping Coco against the railing with its claw.
"Coco!" Velvet shouted, the rabbit Faunus on her captain's side instantly as she started checking the woman for any serious wounds.
Nora - realizing her flame magic was all but useless in this weather - decided to go with a more direct approach. Her trusty warhammer in hand and with the giant crustacean distracted, the young woman quickly approached her target before smashing one of its many legs.
Wailing in pain, the giant crab was forced to topple to one side as Nora proceeded to smash another of its legs. The woman's assault was forced to end, however, as she suffered the same fate Coco did moments prior when the young woman was sent sailing through the air before smashing against the door of the captain's cabin.
"Nora!" Ren shouted as Jaune ran past him. Noticing the blonde's quick approach, the giant crab brought one of his claws up to ensure he suffered the same fate as the two before him. His eyes wide, Jaune was barely able bring his sword up to deflect the giant claw from decapitating his head before the blonde quickly slid under the crab's unarmored abdomen.
Thrusting his sword up, Jaune stabbed his sword as deep as he could before, with a mighty yell, the blonde slid his sword across the crab's unarmored abdomen. Roaring in pain, the crab reached under its abdomen before pulling Jaune from under it with its claw.
Before Jaune could be snapped in half, however, Pyrrha quickly stepped in, the woman slicing off both of the crab's eyes. Stumbling back in agony, the creature immediately released its hold on Jaune. Before it could return to the depths, however, one of its legs were frozen to the ships' decks as Shionne, stood at the helm, pointed her staff at the creature.
With the creature subdued, Yang quickly jumped on top of its armored body before delivering a series of heavy blows on it. Her onslaught didn't last long, however, as the blonde was quickly shaken off by the beast.
Sensing its end was quickly approaching, the beast tried its best to hobble back into the depths of the sea only to receive a crushing blow on its abdomen by Nora. With its armor broken, it didn't take much for the rest of the party to finish it off.
By the end of it all, all of them were sat on the deck of the ship as they stared at their kill. With the thunder roaring overhead and her shirt soaked courtesy of the storm they were currently in, Coco stalked towards the beast's corpse before giving it one final - and incredibly unnecessary - stab.
Satisfied, she then turned towards the rest of the party with a giant smile.
"So, it looks like we're having crab for dinner tonight."
"I'll go get the pot." Fox said, walking past his captain with a tired groan as he clutched his back in pain.
[~]
Sitting alone on the ship's deck, Jaune was staring up at the night sky with awe in his eyes, the blonde completely enraptured by what he was looking at. So distracted was Jaune that he didn't notice Pyrrha nearby until the floorboards creaked beneath her.
"Hello, Jaune. Couldn't sleep?" Pyrrha asked.
"Something like that." Jaune said, the two friends sharing a smile as the blonde dragged himself up before sitting against the ship's railing, "You?"
"Something like that." Pyrrha said before gesturing to the empty spot beside Jaune, "May I join you?"
"Be my guest." Jaune said. The two of them sat there for a few minutes, with nothing but silence keeping them company as they gazed at the night's sky above them.
"You looked like you were in deep thought before I joined you." Pyrrha said, "Mind if I asked you what's bothering you?"
"Oh, nothing's bothering me. I was just looking up at the sky, trying my best to count the stars." Jaune said with a small laugh, "That sort of stuff."
"Is that so? And how many did you manage to count?" Pyrrha asked, smiling at the blonde's enthusiasm.
"Oh, I don't know… I barely got above a hundred before I lost count." Jaune said, "After that, I just… laid there, looking at the stars and just… got lost in thought, I supposed."
"What were you thinking about?" Pyrrha asked.
"Honestly, what isn't there to think about?" Jaune asked, "How many stars are out there? What even is a star? Why do they only appear at night? I read in some books that there are actually other planets besides Remnant. Can you imagine? A whole different planet while a whole different group of people. Heck, there might not even be people on that planet. Just imagine that, a whole planet without people."
"I never realized you had such an interest in astronomy, Jaune." Pyrrha said.
"I… didn't always." Jaune said before a sad look appeared in his eyes, "It was my daughter that introduced me to it in the first place."
"You… had a daughter?" Pyrrha asked, the woman shocked at the revelation.
"I did." Jaune said, a sad smile on the blonde's face as he grabbed the ring tied around his neck, "She'd have turned six years old this year."
"I'm so sorry." Pyrrha said, "May I ask how she passed?"
Jaune was silent for the longest time as he stared at the ring in his hand and Pyrrha, afraid that she had crossed a line, was about to leave before the blonde spoke.
"It was a fever. She was a frail little girl so she spent most of her days in bed. Her mother and I usually brought her books to cheer her up." Jaune said, a lone tear sliding down his face before he quickly wiped it away, "She was especially fond of books about astronomy. She'd go through entire volumes in a single day and would just go on and on about them."
"She sounds like a lovely girl." Pyrrha said as she placed a comforting hand on Jaune's shoulder.
"She was. She really was." Jaune said, the blonde tucking the ring back under his shirt before getting up, "We should get some sleep. Something tells me tomorrow is going to be as chaotic as today."
"Gods, I hope not." Pyrrha said, the two friends sharing a laugh before retreating back to their rooms.
[~]
The crew of the Blind Rabbit - minus their captain - and the various people who had hired them for transport across the sea were currently gathered in the kitchen, having a peaceful and uneventful lunch before Coco burst in, a contemplative look on her face.
"I don't like this." Coco said as she scanned the faces in front of her. When none of them responded to the captain's words, Coco slammed her hand on the table before saying, "I said, I don't like this."
Sighing, Velvet placed her sandwich down on her plate before turning to face her captain, "Is something bothering you, Coco?"
"Aww, you're such a caring first mate, Velvet." Coco said even as the Faunus rolled her eyes at the woman, "And to answer your question, Vel, it's the fact that's it's been quiet all morning. Too quiet."
"Did you really just say that?" Yang asked with a snort, a cup of coffee in her hands.
"Besides, isn't a peaceful morning a good thing?" Jaune asked, the sandwich in front of him suddenly swiped away by Nora, "That way, we won't have to worry about a giant crab or lobster or whatever getting on board and trying to kill us."
"Jaune's right. Yesterday we had to fight a damn killer whale Grimm. Damn thing nearly sunk the ship." Nora said, "I've never even seen one before this trip and now I've almost been killed by one?"
"And the day before, we had that giant squid suddenly come out of nowhere." Pyrrha said.
"My point exactly! In my line of work, the day doesn't start until you've had a close encounter with death first thing in the morning." Coco said with a shake of her head, "We're out in the middle of the ocean and not so much as a single rain cloud is in sight? I don't like it. It feels like today is our last day on Remnant."
"Sounds to me like you just have anxiety issues." Ruby said.
"Gods, I wish. You see this?" Coco asked as she pointed to a scar to the right of her belly button, "This was from a shark who thought I'd be easy pickings. Happened when I went skinny dipping in the ocean when the morning was quiet, just like this one. Poor bastard never even saw the dagger coming until it was too late."
"You went skinny dipping in the ocean?" Ren asked, "Why?"
"And this," Coco said, ignoring the man's question before pointing to another scar on her lower back, "Is from when some stupid crocodile tackled me from behind. Jackass thought he had an easy meal. Well, I showed him."
"There are no crocodiles in the open ocean." Blake said.
"I never said it happened at sea. Point is, quiet mornings like this one is a sign that something's going to happen." Coco said as she swiped one of the sandwiches on the table before turning around, "I'm going up on deck. Going to make sure we don't suddenly hit the reef or an iceberg or something."
"Is your captain always this…" Jaune said, gesturing his hand towards the entrance before his sentence trailed off.
"Unhinged?" Yang asked.
"Manic?" Shionne asked.
"Psychotic?" Blake asked.
"I was going to say intense but yeah, those words fit, too." Jaune said, "No offence."
"None taken." Velvet said, waving the blonde's concerns away with a laugh, "Coco can definitely seem like… a lot for people who's just met her but her instincts has always gotten us out of trouble before."
"Velvet's right. One time, we were cornered by a group of undead pirates because Coco apparently had one of their gold coins or something." Fox said, "Instead of taking the easy way out and just giving them what they wanted, Coco actually sailed our ship through the middle of a maelstrom."
"I remember that incident. My life flashed before my eyes easily a hundred times over before we passed the storm safely." Yatsuhashi said, chiming in, "Once we were through, our pursuers were no more and we got to live another day."
"I'm sorry, did you say… undead pirates?" Ruby asked, the young woman digging a finger into her ear to make sure she heard the man's words correctly.
"I did but the point I was trying to make is that, when it comes down to it, you can always count on Coco to get you out of even the tightest situations." Fox said as he and his crew shared a nod.
Before their discussion could continue any further, however, the sound of a bell ringing from outside reached all their ears.
"What's that?" Yang asked, the blonde instinctively moving closer to Shionne.
"Alarm bell. Coco thought it would come in handy during times of emergency." Velvet said, finishing the last of her breakfast before rushing out.
"Coco normally doesn't ring the damn thing unless the situation's really bad." Fox as he and Yatsuhashi trailed after their Faunus crewmate, "Or fucking terrible."
"Pyrrha, with me." Jaune said as Pyrrha tossed him his sword, "Ren, stay here with Nora. Hopefully it's not an all hands on deck type of situation."
Rushing out of the kitchen and onto the deck of the ship, a foul screech tore through the air that forced both Jaune and Pyrrha to cover their ears. Looking towards the source of the scream, Jaune's eye widened at the Serpent Grimm towering over the ship.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, the woman having recovered from her initial shock before nocking an arrow to her bow.
"Yes, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked as he unsheathed his sword.
"This might be an all hands on deck type of situation." Pyrrha said, just as another similar Grimm appeared next to it.
"I concur." Jaune said.
[~]
"I must admit, Cinder, I didn't expect our reunion to be so soon." said Adam Taurus. Wearing a simple red shirt, a gauntlet on his right had, a chest plate covering his left breast, a pair of brown pants, and a pair of black shoes.
"Nor did I. But that's destiny, I suppose." Cinder said. With a short red cape draped over her shoulders, the woman was dressed in a white shirt, a black corset, a pair of black pants as well as a pair of metal boots, the woman was currently inspecting one of the cells of Numb Mountain prison, "It wouldn't be destiny if you were able to choose it."
"Indeed. Have you found what you needed from this cell?" Adam asked.
"Impatient today, aren't you?" Cinder asked as she turned around to face the Faunus, "I'm not keeping you from something important, am I?"
"The people I'm looking for aren't here anymore." Adam said, "So every second we spend here is just a waste of time."
"Is that so?" Cinder asked as she stepped out of the cell to be met with four other members of Adam's forces, "And pray tell, who exactly are you looking for, dear Adam?"
"Just as I'm sure you have your secrets, so, too, do I." Adam said as the group started to leave the prison block behind.
"Very well." Cinder said, "But it does seem as if our goals for the moment are one and the same."
"Is that so?" Adam asked, the man's eyes flashing dangerously as his hand fell to the hilt of his blade at his side.
"Don't misunderstand me, Adam." Cinder said as her hand started glowing a threatening red, "The one I'm looking for is man with blonde hair. It happens that he has stolen something incredibly important to me and my people."
"I see." Adam said, "And what are you proposing exactly?"
"To work together, at least until this small - but more importantly, common - goal of ours is accomplished." Cinder said, "Also to ensure that our sides don't accidentally clash."
"On one condition: What I do with my targets is my decision and mine alone." Adam said, "Is that clear?"
"Crystal." Cinder said before extending the man her hand, "So, do we have an accord?"
"We do." Adam said, nodding as the two of them shook hands.
"Wonderful." Cinder said with a dangerous smile, "However, that does bring up another concern. Namely, where they're currently headed."
"My informant tells me they're headed to Vale." Adam said as they reached the prison's courtyard, "That was three days ago. If we leave soon, we might just able able to catch up to them."
"Vale?! After all this time, he's going back there?!" Cinder thought to herself, the woman letting out a bit of frustration before quickly reigning herself in.
"Boss, you ready to leave?" Mercury asked, the silver-haired man dressed in a gray cloak over a black shirt, gray pants, and steel greaves. Wiping the blood off his soles, he then jogged his way towards them.
"Yes. Are the two of you done here?" Cinder asked, looking at the scene of death and carnage around them.
"Pft, we were done fifteen minutes ago." Mercury said as he stepped over the headless body of a prison guard, "These small fries weren't even good enough for a warm up."
"Good. Where's Emerald?" Cinder asked.
"Probably still in the carriage." Mercury said with a shrug, "Why? Where are we going this time?"
"Depends of Adam here." Cinder said as she turned to face the Faunus, "Do you perhaps have a ship for us to use?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." Adam said with a nod.
"Wonderful." Cinder said as she and Mercury stepped into their carriage while Adam and his group stepped into theirs.
[Chapter END]
A/N: And that's a wrap on Chapter 9. Really fun chapter to write, especially the Coco parts and the Jaune/Pyrrha talk. Hope y'all enjoyed it.
As always, faves, follows, and reviews are always appreciated.
NoXIV signing off.