Chapter XXIII: The Man Who Never Stops Dancing

Salty Whitley and his sea dogs were becoming a menace on the Grand Line. Numerous reports ranging from houses covered in toilet paper, marine ships getting egged, and graffiti on towns spread across the sea, as well as a large hit to the salt industry. Their jolly roger had begun to gather infamy, giving islands time to prepare for the young captain.

At the moment, Whitley was staring off the railing of his ship, just letting the breeze brush over him. There was a certain comfort to it, washing over him with its gentle warmth. As he was now, he could not be any happier. He had a crew that supported him, he was free from his father, and the world was filled with just so much. Even the gentle lapping of the waves against his ship gave him joy.

Footsteps behind him signaled that someone had walked onto the deck. "Captain, we'll be arriving at the next island soon. Is there anything you wish to do there?" Cavendish interrupted his musings.

Whitley mulled over the question. The biggest issue he had run into as of late was finding things to do. An uphill battle it may be, nothing could rival the Schnee wit. Then a thought entered his head. Yes, they would find the nearest high ranking marine and set up some contraption to tar and feather them! That would do nicely.

"We need to find a strong marine, Cavendish, but nothing more than we can handle. I think we're going to have some fun."

Whitley's crew had begun to gather around. One of them, a burly man with a scar over a pale eye, called out, "Are we gonna teach those bastards a lesson, Cap'n?"

Standing straighter with his hands clasped behind his back, Whitley told his crew, "Soon, we will be humiliating a marine! Soon enough, they will recognize the force of our tomfoolery!"

Dandi-Island was a peaceful place. The quiet island hosted flowers the size of trees, and it was in season that the dandelion trees were letting their seeds be carried by the wind. Now that the bulk of their training for the day was over, Weiss found herself sitting by one and watching the tufts dance along the breeze. The soothing nature of the island gave her respite from the stressful life of constant traveling, training, and fighting. For how long would they need to do this?

Even huntsmen and huntresses had homes to go back to after every mission, right? Not that it mattered since this was a special case to begin with. She had to endure, for the sake of her friends and comrades.

She watched Yang who was still training after they had been dismissed. The blonde girl was running through the motions of some boxing technique. She had been this way ever since they left Beacon, but while seeing Yang push herself so far worried Weiss, she couldn't find any reason to stop her. Yang wasn't hurting herself, and Weiss was also prone to searching for perfection herself.

Pyrrha appeared on the road, approaching Weiss before sitting down next to her. "We've got a report that they disappeared," Pyrrha told her. Weiss could only stare up at the sky and sigh. Of course it would be like them to vanish into thin air. "Vice admiral Ozpin is searching eye witness reports in the area to see if anything comes up. So far, there hasn't been an island that's seen anything. Either they're lying, or the Straw Hats are still sailing."

"That should be impossible," Weiss commented. "They can't navigate without using their log pose, and that should take them island to island."

Pyrrha let out a short breath. "You're right, but how many times have they done something 'impossible' so far?"

"I suppose that—" The calm of Dandi-Island was promptly interrupted. Yelling came from the shore, alerting the three present members of team PWNY. Yang was the first to action, already headed down the path toward the noise. Weiss and Pyrrha didn't hesitate to follow, catching up in little time.

On their way, they ran into Nora, but she looked far less concerned than she should be. "What's the situation?" Pyrrha asked.

Visibly biting back laughter, Nora answered, "There might be some pirates at the shore. Oh, and one of them knows Weiss."

Weiss furrowed her brow. "One of them knows me?" When they were close enough, they could see the jolly roger: a skull and crossbones with a salt shaker in front of it. Then, Weiss caught a glimpse of white hair, and she sped off with the use of a glyph. She had to give some credit to her brother. When she slammed into Whitley, she had expected him to be completely sprawled out on the ground, but he managed to get up quickly.

What ensued was a rather un-lengthy fight. Unlike the first time where there had been civilians present and they were caught off guard, the marines made quick work of rounding up and capturing Whitley's sea dogs. The boy himself was tied up and being scolded by Weiss; however, he turned his head from her and kept repeating "I'm not listening to you."

The pirate that gave the greatest fight was a man named Cavendish. It took Pyrrha, Nora, and the arrival of Smoker to apprehend him, but it was done.

"You are acting so carelessly and immaturely, Whitley! Do you not care for our public image?"

"What do you mean our public image," Whitley said, finally acknowledging Weiss. "I can do whatever I want with my image. Who are you to say that I can't have my own image for once?"

Weiss bristled at the comment. "Whether you like it or not, the reputation of the Schnee family is widespread, and we—"

"That's enough, Miss Schnee." The voice of Ozpin was enough to have her drop the matter, stopping the now twenty minute rant. She turned to salute the man, but faltered. It wasn't every day that you saw your leader head to toe covered in tar and feathers. Not to mention, dandelion tufts from the island covered everywhere the feathers did not. "I think we will be having a lengthy discussion about your actions in a more private space, Mister Schnee."

In the distance, Nora was dying of laughter and Yang joined in. Pyrrha went to scold them, but neither could take it seriously with the smile Pyrrha was fighting back. Weiss supposed it was humorous.

Jaune had to admit, he fully understood the anger these people felt now. He was ready to pick up a pitchfork and join the crowd. The only thing stopping him was Blake telling him not yet. How could someone party so loudly and obnoxiously from sunset to sunrise each and every day? That just couldn't be human.

"They'll have had just as much time to recuperate as we have," Wyper announced. "However, we still have the distance we've traveled, and we can't give that up now!"

With that, they were off once more. It was almost a surreal experience, as if the horror of the night before had blended into one moment and now they were just back to doing what they were only minutes ago.

That didn't mean he was any less focussed. It took some time for them to arrive, but the moment those DJs began popping up again, Jaune was pushing to the front line to be with the others. Blake followed to not leave him alone, but it was clear that she too wanted revenge for the noise of last night.

With the intensity of Jaune striking down his foes, he barely noticed the large figure rushing toward them all. One of the Shandians sent flying over the rest pulled Jaune out of his monotonous actions. There, before them all, was a mountain of a man towering over their front line.

"Behold!" One of the DJs yelled. "Here's the G.O.A.T.!"

Somewhere else on the Grand Line, a certain judge stopped pirouetting to sneeze. "I sense a great disturbance," they said to themself. "Well, where was I? Ah right; un, deux, trois!"

As Neptune and Neo followed the trail, the fractured rubble gave way to larger, ruined structures. Ancient, moss-covered houses lined the way along the path. Twists and turns slowly brought them to an area where the dirt faded to clouds. Neptune let his eyes wander the ruins, tracing their outlines as they went. Although he wasn't any sort of history buff, who wouldn't want to see something like this? His fingertips were brushing over the carvings when Neo stuck her arm in front of him.

Instead of questioning her like he strongly desired to, he looked up to see her press a finger against her lips shushing him. Neptune nodded and followed her line of sight; he saw a man standing on the clouds across from them. The man looked odd, having hair that resembled spider legs pointed skyward and eyes that were, at the moment, rolled back into his head.

Neo pointed to her eyes and then gestured at the man. Somehow, Neptune felt like he could tell what she was asking. "I don't know why his eyes are rolled back. Do you think he can see us?" Neo shrugged.

First, Neo took tiny steps, making to circle around the man. Neptune was a bit awed at how silently she moved. Surely, she had somehow honed the craft. Neptune followed along behind her, taking care to mimic her stealth. It only came to a small fraction of the mastery in front of him. However, it ultimately seemed unnecessary. The man didn't so much as bat an eye as they passed, and Neptune was sure that his poor movement should have gotten them caught on multiple occasions. Yet, they made it past him and continued the trail they were headed on before.

Once they were out of ear reach, Neptune asked, "You didn't want to attack him?"

Neo raised an eyebrow as if to say 'did you?' Neptune could honestly say he didn't. While it would have been two on one, they had somewhere to get to. While the man could have been who they were looking for, Neptune guessed there should have been more people around. There can't be a party without a crowd. From there, they didn't know how strong he would have been, and there would be the possibility of witnessing Neo's secret technique again even if he wasn't on the receiving end.

Neo nodded, seemingly content that Neptune must have followed a similar logic to her. She started walking again and waved him along to follow. Neptune knew she was a criminal before joining the crew, but maybe she wasn't so bad — not talking about the cheese, of course.

Gedatsu stood guard, doing his best to watch out for anyone who shouldn't be there. It was a strangely dark day, almost as if his eyes were closed. However, he was absolutely positive they were open, and he could even feel himself blinking. Luckily, anyone passing by would need some sort of light, and that would give them away. That was the only logic that left him keeping his snail-pods in his ears. There was no way that he was going on guard duty without his EDM. Not once did he realize that his eyes were rolled so far into the back of his head that he couldn't see a thing.

Even as the day dawned and his followers dispersed, his movements never ceased. Through the no-man's land of day, when the party died to but a thread, he kept on shmoving. His hands planted firm while his legs twirled and his body spun round; the never-ending momentum was in it of itself a sight to behold. Pulsing within him was the beat, still echoing in his body despite the silence around him. Within his mind, the rustling leaves faded as he spirited away to a melody no longer there.

Very few of his followers stayed behind in the daylight, but some did remain to watch over him. As the man was now, they likened it to a meditative state, not fully aware of what was happening anymore. This was how he rested, unlike them who caught little sleep just before their nights began. He was a beacon for them: a symbol of hope and awe for them to follow.

As per usual, the council of producers began their daily, formal meeting. Their manuscripts were laid before them as they ignited their debates over theory and practicality. New devices and technologies were both found and innovated to further their craft beyond their present. It was an art that neither the annoying Skypieans nor Shandians could comprehend. Sometimes, they would spend hours designing a simple sine wave for a synth.

However, it mattered little what they did or didn't understand. No pest would be interrupting the beauty of their parties. Not any time soon.

And all the while, Enel kept dancing.

The laughing had faded the night before, as if distantly retreating into the darkness of the jungle. However, any relief from the unnerving sound going away was quashed with the blaring sounds of music. Ruby thought herself an energetic person, but now she was craving caffeine. Yet, somehow Ren looked almost like he always did, just with bigger bags under his eyes. Maybe it was sheer willpower keeping him standing. Maybe it was how Ruby could see his semblance drowning any present negative emotions. She didn't even know it would work with tiredness, though maybe he was just trying.

Now that the initial excitement was fading, Ruby almost wished they had stuck together. It wasn't that she minded being alone with Ren, but rather that Ren was more of a listener and she wanted someone to talk to in order to keep her awake. She just wished something would happen — and it did.

After only a few more minutes of walking, the laughing from the day before returned. Stopping in their tracks, they began to scan their surroundings. Ruby squinted, peering through the leaves and vines before spotting a silhouette headed toward them.

"Over there!" Ruby pointed and they both pivoted to face the entity. "It looks like a — a sphere?" The orb burst through the trees into view, and attached to it were a pair of arms, a pair of legs, and a head.

"Oh hoh hoh!" The odd man laughed, almost singing. As he moved around, it was as if he bounced more than walked. "You two don't look like you've come to party, do you? Well, if you're sent by Angel Island, I'll just have to stop you." Ruby readied Crescent Rose, and Ren let Stormflower drop into his hands.

The man kept laughing, an act that was starting to annoy Ruby. "My name is Satori," he said. "And I think it's time for a little boogie!" For the first time, Ruby spotted a dial on Satori's neck as he pressed it. First, the sounds of the forest became second to a sudden disco song. Second, lights began shining from his body. For a moment, Ruby and Ren just stared at the sheer absurdity of it. Then Satori began spinning, turning himself into a human disco ball.

Sun stared in disbelief. Cardin's ability to sleep must have been either a semblance or a devil fruit; he couldn't think of any other explanation. The boy was sat on a large root, leaning against the trunk of a tree. He was sprawled out in a way that would gave Sun a crick in the neck just looking at him, and yet he was snoring away. Cardin even slept through the tremor causing bass.

However he did it, Sun would have to ask him for his technique when he woke. For now, Sun sat and waited. The day before, they met a man that resembled one of those old-timey pilots. He even had the hat and jacket and everything. For a moment, it seemed like a fight was going to break out. Already, Cardin had pulled two maces out at the time. Yet the man, who never even bothered to introduce himself, said that he would challenge them to a trial.

The man had begun setting up some strange contraption in the middle of the jungle. Laid out on the ground were two large, metal squares with smaller ones outlined within. In front of the squares was a rectangular cloth hanging from a tree, and across from that was a shell with the opening pointed at the cloth. Whatever trial the man was talking about, Sun hoped it wouldn't be an art project.

Nearly an hour had passed when Sun finally heard the man's mount again. The large bird descended through the canopy near them. As it did, Sun nudged Cardin with his staff, but it did little in terms of waking him. Sun nudged harder and more forcefully until he gave up and just knocked Cardin off the root. Even then, he wasn't positive that it would wake Cardin, but he just got up and stretched like he had only taken a nap.

"I hope you two are prepared. You might need to stretch to stand a chance," the man called out as Cardin made his way back over.

"So this guy's back," Cardin muttered, then glanced at Sun. "Why do you look like shit? Did you stay up or something?"

Sun huffed. "I don't have the ability to sleep through absolutely anything like you do."

Cardin took a moment to glance between Sun and the man coming toward them. "You're not going to be much help if you're out of it. I'll handle whatever this guy throws at us. You get some rest."

While Sun wanted to protest, the thought of laying down already had his eyes drooping. Hopefully, he could trust in Cardin to take on the trial this guy had planned.

Weiss had been going on and on for hours about her brother. Yang was quick to pull Nora away for video games, and poor Pyrrha was left behind for Weiss to vent to. While they were both friends, Yang was not sorry for it. In the time Yang had known Weiss, she had endured enough lectures for a lifetime — thank you very much.

It was also nice to play games with someone who knew how and didn't complain about it every few moments. She booted up her favorite game, a 2-D fighting game that she would play all the time with Ruby. Nora was pretty good at it, actually using several combos that were surprising from the over-energetic girl. However, Yang had long mastered the art of spamming and button mashing: she wouldn't go down easily.

Eventually, the venting seemed to die down, and both Weiss and Pyrrha came to watch. While neither of the girls were particularly interested in the game, it did offer some entertainment for viewing. Although, Weiss loved to mutter about how certain acts defied physics.

Yang had slowly become so engrossed in her game that she jumped when there was a loud knock on their door; she wasn't alone. Pyrrha was the one to greet it, pulling it slightly ajar, and was surprised to see who was on the other side of it. She wasn't too familiar with the woman, but Pyrrha had met her a couple of times now and she had heard enough from Weiss to recognize Winter Schnee.

Pyrrha stepped back, opening the door further. "Weiss, I think —"

"Winter!" Weiss hurriedly latched onto the moment and rushed over to her sister. While it was almost imperceivable, Pyrrha noticed the small warmth from Winter's gaze onto Weiss. Then, Weiss tensed suddenly as she realized the situation she was in. Quickly, she straightened herself and donned a more controlled attitude. "It's good to see you again. Have you been well? Have you been receiving my letters?"

"I have been well for the most part, save some certain vexations. I also have been receiving your letters. Though, the reason I am here is that I believe we have a few things to discuss — in private."

Weiss should have been overjoyed, and she was, but why did she feel a sense of dread? It was low in her stomach, telling her that something was amiss. Winter had always been one to care for her and understand her, and Winter learned to see through Weiss. There really wasn't anything Weiss could keep from her sister, but it partially went the other way too. She wasn't always correct, but often Weiss could tell what her sister was thinking or doing. Right now, Weiss had the strangest feeling that she had been caught doing something she shouldn't.

"This development in Whitley's actions is very unexpected, wouldn't you agree?" Winter sat across from her, stoically watching across the table.

Weiss sighed, hoping she was overthinking this. "Yes, of everything I ever expected of him, I could say that this would be at the bottom of the list. What does he even think he's doing?"

It was subtle, but Winter narrowed her eyes. "What he is doing is acting impulsively. He has lived under the weight of Father's rule for all his life, and now that he is free from that, he feels as though he lacks consequence." Winter waited for her words to sink in. The silence grew uncomfortable, as if she was waiting for Weiss to respond, but she didn't quite know what to say.

Finally, she responded, "I suppose so, but this is far different from what you or I have done."

Winter quirked an eyebrow. "When released from the restrictions one used to know, it is easy for them to overlook the new ones before them. When I joined the military, I was free from Father, but there was an entirely new set of regulations placed on me. The same cannot be said for Whitley, as he is disregarding any new rules above him. When you arrived at Beacon, you had to follow their rules, correct?" Weiss nodded, and Winter narrowed her eyes farther. "So what happened when you arrived on the Grand Line?"

"Pardon?" Weiss was taken aback from the sudden shift, but she had also felt it coming. That didn't make it any more clear what Winter was meaning.

"That court case went very public, Weiss. You cannot hide this from me."

Weiss began sputtering, "But — but that wasn't our fault! Vice admiral Ozpin, he — it was our higher ups! We didn't realize what was happening and —"

Winter held up her hand to silence her sister. "I am not speaking of the situation of the private property, Weiss. This is what I mean." Winter slid her scroll across the table, and there was the video of Weiss feeding a seagull. Weiss stared at it until the video ended, and then she stared some more hoping it might make things make more sense.

"Winter, what —"

"That was a crime, Weiss. You might be able to brush it off as insignificant, but as a marine, you must be the epitome of justice. I cannot and will not have you acting like Whitley."

"You can't be serious," Weiss blurted out, but shied back under Winter's gaze. "I just mean that this is entirely different from Whitley. He's committing piracy while I've just given some bread to a few birds."

Winter sighed, a long and deep breath. "I understand that, and that is why I am not here for anything more than to ask you for this to end. You may not be under Father's watch and you may not be in Beacon's halls, but there are still rules you must abide by. It would reflect very poorly for marines to have double standards. Civilians would normally pay a fine for such an action, but you are only getting a slap on the wrist — this time. Do not let it happen again, Weiss." Weiss only looked down at her hands. "Weiss?"

She was about to answer Winter, when the image of a news coo entered her head. Now she wasn't so sure if she could keep such a promise.

AN:

And another chapter out! This one made me feel like I was starting to get into the groove of things again. Aside from continuing the current arc, I'm setting up the framework for some stuff to come. I wish that I could have given a longer and maybe more fair fight to Whitley, but he's not the main focus of the story and I felt that would take too much time.

Anyways, next chapter: Dance Off!