Chapter XXXVII: To Join a Revolution

Weiss rowed as quickly as she could, but the ship still drew nearer. Even attempting to employ the use of her glyphs seemed futile as the looming form began to tower over her. In the end, she simply waited to see what would happen. There were no flags that she could see indicating loyalties — neither pirate nor marine. It was too quick to assume she was in any danger, but she had no desire to be taken off guard.

The ship slowed until a rope ladder was just before her. She could hear faint discussion above her before a voice called out for her to climb up. After assuring her seagull friends she would only be a minute, Weiss climbed up to the deck of the ship. Her eyes quickly scanned her surroundings, taking in the unsettling group that surrounded her. Most were wearing cloaks with hoods concealing their faces from view. However, right in front of her was a boy that she faintly recognized — three boys in fact.

"Let me guess: your next line is going to be 'you're those brutes from Beacon,' isn't it?" Sky looked at her expectantly while Weiss only deadpanned at him.

After his silence grew to an uncomfortable length, she sighed and said, "Well, I'm not going to say it now."

As he drooped pouting, Dove patted him on the back. "It's okay, man. You'll get it one day."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Weiss asked, "You're the three that were on that brute Cardin's team, correct? What are you doing on the Grand Line."

"We joined a revolution," Russel said smugly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Dove smacked him in the back of the head. "Dude," Dove hissed. "You're not supposed to just tell people that."

"Oh, come on, don't be a stick in the mud," Russel insisted. "It's so cool, but you don't want to tell anyone about it."

"Maybe because it's a crime?"

"Guys," Sky snapped, nodding his head back to Weiss. "I guess it seems we weren't the only ones from Beacon that got involved in the Grand Line."

"If it's all the same to you," Weiss re-entered the conversation. "I think I would just rather be on my way. So, I'll be getting back to my ship now." While she had little idea of what exactly was going on, she had heard talk about a revolutionary army from time to time. While only the three boys were talking to her at the moment, she was surrounded. At the very least, they didn't seem to be hostile yet, so she hoped that she could just back out of the situation.

As Weiss took her first step back, a new voice rang out over the deck. "Do you really think I could just let you go? Not after you board my ship wearing that."

Weiss glanced down to see that she was still in her marine uniform. "I'm willing to overlook this, I don't need to report to the marines. I just need to be going back to land —"

The approaching girl pulled back her hood, the epitome of disgust on her face. "I couldn't care less if you were a pirate, a marine, or a terrorist. You boarded my ship wearing those and I cannot let that stand."

Taiyang had gone to make a call. It was supposed to be quick; Signal was checking in with him to see where he was. He had already let them know that he was flying out for a family matter, but it was taking longer than initially expected. By the time he returned, he was greeted by an upset looking Yang and the news that not only Ruby, but Zwei had escaped.

"How did this happen?" Taiyang said, exasperated.

"You mean the guy that turned into a puddle, the guy that licked his way through stone bars, or the militia of sea animals?" Yang asked very unhelpfully.

Taiyang did not bother to ask her to elaborate as he was sure it wouldn't help. Instead, he went back to packing his things for his departure. As he did so, he let his eyes linger on his daughter, wondering just what they were going to do.

"Are you sure you still want to be out here?" His voice carried a familiar fatherly tone that almost made Yang groan and roll her eyes by instinct.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she replied, rather bluntly. "There's no way in hell that I'm giving up on Ruby — not now, not ever."

"That's not what I meant," Taiyang said softly.

"I know."

They were disrupted by the sounds of scurrying steps outside of the door. "Is something happening again?" Taiyang asked more to himself than anyone else. This time, being present to help, he left his bags on his bed and went out into the hall. Yang followed closely behind him, peering around his side at the marines hurrying through the halls.

They followed, rising up the stairs to the top deck. There, not too far from them was another ship sailing in the waters. From the flag so prominently on display, it was evident that they were pirates. At the same time, the jolly roger they flew was not one that Taiyang would have imagined: skull and crossbones except there were purple-ish black feathers in place of the crossbones.

Two marines, clearly set above the rest by their attires, reached the deck nearly at the same time. Taiyang didn't know them, but he caught how Yang's posture straightened as they passed by.

"Onyx Feather," one of them grumbled, sticking a cigar in his mouth. "What the hell is a yonko doing here?"

"I don't know, but he always pays his liquor taxes, so I have no qualms with him." The second man shoved his hands in his pockets before turning and disappearing down the stairs.

"Damn IRS, I don't know why he's even still here." The marine turned his gaze back to the ship before them. "Any new recruits, get back below ship. You won't even stand a chance."

Taiyang tensed at those words. "Who are they?"

Yang pointed an accusing finger at the ship. "Take a wild guess."

Just over the distance, he could make out familiar black hair and red eyes: Qrow. "Bastard. What is he doing here?"

Pyrrha took that moment to appear next to Yang. She had been searching through the crowd until finding her. The look donned on her face was reminiscent of a warrior, and Taiyang wondered what the girl was preparing for. He had an idea, but this was Qrow they were dealing with. Despite everything that had happened, Taiyang hoped he still had somewhat of a read on the man. This would not end in a fight unless forced to be. That was unless he really had no idea who his brother-in-law was.

Qrow kicked off of the railing of his ship, landing on the deck in the midst of the marines. The effect was almost instantaneous. Overwhelming pressure filled the air, nearly buckling Taiyang's legs from the force. All around them, marines tumbled to the ground, passing out before they hit the deck. Beside him, both Yang and Pyrrha struggled as well, and only the marine with the cigar seemed to be fairing well, though he looked as though he was gritting his teeth. Was this Qrow instigating something? Taiyang hoped not, but the situation looked worse as two others joined Qrow. Port, that teacher from Beacon Taiyang had heard about, launched from Qrow's ship, landing with a thunderous sound that made the wood groan. Following Port was a thinner man that Taiyang didn't know.

The three stood, staring almost defiantly at the marines. Qrow's smug look seemed to ask any to step forward if they dared. When none did, Qrow shrugged, and Taiyang felt the pressure lift just a bit.

"What do you want, Onyx Feather?" The marine with the cigar stared Qrow down, as if trying to pin the man in place with nothing but his eyes.

"I heard you have a couple of brats locked up," Qrow said lazily. "While I wouldn't want to interfere too much, I'm afraid I can't just let you keep them here."

"You're talking about Straw Hat?"

Qrow's confidence split into a grin. "I think so. How are we going to do this, because I'm up for anything right now. Though, I'm not sure you are." Qrow's eyes wandered the marines before pausing on Yang and Taiyang. They held there for a moment and his smile faltered.

"You'll be happy to know that they're gone," the marine spoke up.

"That's great." Qrow waved dismissively, and the pressure around them nearly vanished. "In that case, I won't keep you any longer. I'll be headed out now."

"Qrow!" The pirate paused at Taiyang's shout. "Is that it? After all of this, everything you've done, you're just going to leave?"

Qrow glanced back at him. "Sorry, Tai, but I've got stuff I need to do. I can't stick around."

Taiyang strode forward, but the leading marine's hand shot out to stop him. In that moment of hesitation, Qrow and his crew were off to their ship, sailing off toward the horizon.

"I don't know if you're just brave, a fool, or both, but that was a yonko you were talking to."

Fixing him with a hard gaze, Taiyang said, "Yeah, that's my brother-in-law. Why did you stop me?" The marines around looked somewhat baffled by what they had heard. Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer, Taiyang marched back down the stairs to continue packing.

"An' who put you in charge, huh?" A burly man leaned over Ciel, squinting hard at her. "You think you can just board our ship and boss the captain around like —"

"That's enough," Whitley interrupted the man. "There's no need to act that way. Ciel has been a great help to us thus far, and I believe we should hear her out. So, why should we not eat all of the sweets in the first candy factory we find?"

The diplomatic tone Whitley used was entirely diminished by the topic. Ciel had to take a moment to count to ten before responding. "Ignoring the fact that it is entirely childish, impractical, and unbefitting of any self-respecting person," the crew around her grew angrier with each word she said, "After making such a scene, you would be in one place for too long. You're begging for an unnecessary fight at that point. At the very least, you should bring it to the ship so that you can eat it while sailing off."

Whitley shouted so the entire crew could hear, "You heard her! First, we'll rob them blind and then we'll eat our prize!" The crew cheered, nearly acting as if the idea had been Whitley's all along. Ciel would let him have it, as if it were up to her, there would be no bothering with candy — probably no stealing either.

"Frustrating, isn't it?" A blond man, she had learned to be named Cavendish, leaned against the ship's railing next to her. He twirled a rose between his fingers, keeping his eyes on it rather than her.

"I knew he was immature, but there were times I thought there might be more to it. Now, I'm not so sure."

"I admit, I felt very similar when I first began sailing with him. It was always one thing after another — one ridiculous idea after the next. Then, somewhere along the way, I began to notice it. You and me, there's so much we take for granted. The freedom to go where we please, the ability to eat what we want, and even being able to breathe fresh air. Not everyone has what we have always had. He's just someone experiencing it all for the first time it seems, and I think everyone here came along just to help him with it."

Ciel hadn't thought of that before. While she wouldn't let Whitley run off doing whatever he wanted, she would keep that in mind. Then the moment was ruined when Cavendish stuffed the rose in his mouth and bit the petals off. Once more, Ciel was questioning why she was there, just for different reasons now.

"Argh, come on!" Nora whined loudly, dropping her game controller to the floor. Neo, who had been waiting patiently for her own turn, gave Nora a curious look. "This guy — I think his name is XxEpicAdmiralDude69xX — is being a complete jerk. We're supposed to be on the same team, but he's sabotaging me to get more points."

Neo shook her head sagely, agreeing that it was a horrible thing to do. She held her hand out to take the controller, offering her assistance in this endeavor. While Nora would have loved to reach through the screen and break the guy's digital kneecaps, she handed the controller over, hoping Neo would fare better. In fact, she did. Anytime they were laying low, Neo and Roman had to find some way to spend their time. Of course, Neo could only handle so many games of cards before she put her foot down. They were thieves; they had the money for games.

Across the room, Jaune was busy setting up a gym area with Cardin. The open space had felt the perfect place to put such equipment, but they didn't really have any at the moment. The most they had was turning some of Cardin's excess maces into weights to lift.

Jaune had been very adamant about training his body. It had quickly become clear that whatever had happened in his cell might not have been entirely real. It was difficult for him to understand, but his training with his devil fruit seemed to stay with him, but anything physical he had done had been lost. It made sense when he thought about it, since he had never really tired during that time. Maybe the coffee had made him retreat into his mind. Whatever had happened, it was just theories at the moment.

"So, Ruby's finally gotten to your new weapon?" Jaune asked as he worked to tie two maces together.

Cardin grunted, confirming it. "She's working with that Penny girl to make it. She also promised that it would fit in with my new fighting style."

Jaune tried to picture in his head a mace that turned into three maces. "Sounds a bit complicated. Well, Ruby's pretty good with this stuff. I'm sure you'll be happy with what she makes."

Cardin shrugged. "As long as they hold up against whatever we face, I'll be good."

"That's it, Neo!" Nora's loud shout overtook their conversation. Jaune glanced to see Neo's expert navigation of the game control paired with the smuggest expression he had seen in his entire life.

"You think I can't tell? Giving the control to someone else because you can't handle the game? You're just a scrub — get out of my lobby!" Akainu growled, mashing the buttons to quickly maneuver his character around.

When these gaming systems were first presented to them, many had thought it would be too childish. Akainu disagreed. They were tactical simulations that tested both reflexes and strategy. This became even more so when that CCT tower went up, letting him face opponents better than the pathetic NPCs the game came with. He still found the average player to be nothing compared to what his experience offered, but it was better than nothing.

"You think you're all that?" He snarled at the monitor. "You're nothing but a pathetic worm that doesn't understand your place in the world. You should just stand to the side and let justice run its course."

His opponent — well, teammate — gave no sign of being able to hear him through the game. Instead, they simply emoted at him. Akainu felt a vein bulge on his forehead at the sheer audacity this person held. The disrespect that came from their animation was unacceptable.

"You miserable waste of air, stop that this instant. Do you know who I am? I'm an admiral! I'm a keeper of justice and you will respect me." In response, his teammate only emoted once more.

Akainu was done with this. He attacked, showing whoever this was their place. What he didn't expect was that the moment he did, he appeared back at the title screen. A small box told him that he had been banned for toxic behavior, and it would not be until a few days later that he could play. He could feel the magma bubbling forth, seeping out of his hands and melting the controller into nothingness. That was fine, it was not the first controller he had replaced.

"You have made an enemy this day," Akainu said to his monitor, staring at the box that said his controller had disconnected.

"Ozpin has had an unfortunate accident, passing away." Goodwitch tried to sound as professional as she could. While she knew that Ozpin would be back in some other body, delivering such news to someone who didn't know was not an easy task. While close might not have been the correct word for the girls' relationship with Ozpin, they still looked shaken by the news.

"Shit. What happened?" Yang's voice was soft as she asked.

Remembering the description given to her, Goodwitch simply replied, "He drowned." She gave them both a moment to take in the news before saying, "And with that, I believe that our time out here has concluded."

Confusion washed over the girls' faces. Pyrrha spoke up, "What do you mean?"

"Truthfully, Ozpin was the only reason we were still out here. While you might have learned some valuable lessons, I don't believe that any of you should have been dragged along into this. We will be departing back for Beacon as soon as we are able."

"You can't do this!" Yang shot up. "We were so close! We just needed to get to land, and then we could have brought them back home with us. You want us to give up now?"

Goodwitch gave her a practiced stare. "Miss Xiao Long, please understand that this should have never been left for students to accomplish. We will leave the retrieval of your friends in the hands of the marines."

Yang was anything but calm. "I'm not just going to leave my fucking sister behind."

"Language, Miss Xiao Long."

Yang rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I'm not abandoning Ruby."

"What about Weiss and Nora?" Pyrrha chimed in. "They went missing when the Straw Hats escaped. Are we just leaving them behind?"

"That should not be your concern to deal with," Goodwitch addressed. "Winter is already on the case, searching for Miss Schnee as we speak. I already asked her to look out for Miss Valkyrie as well. It will likely be tomorrow that we leave, so be ready to do so."

Yang crossed her arms, staring back defiantly. "Sorry, Miss G. I'm not going anywhere."

With a firm voice, Goodwitch said, "As the sole representative of Beacon out here, you are my responsibility. I am not comfortable allowing any of you to be out here longer than need be."

"Would it make it easier on you if I dropped out of Beacon?"

The frown on Goodwitch's face said that she was unamused. "Pack your things and be ready to leave tomorrow."

As their professor left, Yang spoke softly to Pyrrha. "I don't know about you, but I'm not going anywhere. I don't know what she's not getting, but I'll be damned if I budge on this."

Pyrrha held a stoic gaze. "I don't plan on leaving either. We're in this together."

Weiss was, in short, furious. How dare they treat her this way? First, they threw her into a cell on the ship, then they had the gall to give her a bedazzled potato sack to wear over her marine uniform. She wished that had been an exaggeration, but it was not. The burlap beneath the sequins and glitter was still visible and only stoked Weiss' ire. In the words of Coco Adel, her captor, it was at the very least better than looking at the drab she had on underneath.

She had been given an outfit far more flattering to wear nearly an hour later, but she refused to put it on in protest — that and the fact that there really was nowhere private for her to change. For now, she sat in the corner with her arms crossed, stuck in a sparkling sack. She could say with certainty that she had never been so thoroughly humiliated in her life. There was a knock on the door that led to the room containing her cell. After a moment, it opened and Coco strolled inside. She leaned against the wall, staring down at Weiss.

"Are you ready to apologize?" Coco's voice was taunting, causing Weiss to simmer with anger.

"Apologize? You must be out of your mind. I simply will not stand for this abuse."

Shaking her head disappointedly, Coco tutted. "To think I was going to offer you a chance at redemption. I almost struggle to see how you're related to Miss Schnee."

Weiss' brow furrowed. "Who?"

"Oh, I guess that I had just assumed you knew by now. Anyways, I'll give you more time to ponder your fashion choices. I have to go stop your birds from ruining our designer sails."

Weiss rushed to the bars of her cell. "Wait! Who are you talking about? It's not Winter, is it?" Coco simply ignored her, exiting the room and leaving Weiss alone once more. Leaning back against the wall, she wondered just what she had done to deserve to be in this position.

Oscar frankly had no idea what he was doing. A better question would be why, though he had an answer for that — just not a good one. He should probably come up with an excuse sometime soon. Telling people that he left his home behind because he got too annoyed at the voice inside of his head was not high on the list of things he wanted to do. Yet here he was, trying to find some sort of boat he could get with the measly amount of lien in his pocket.

"I would probably have an easier time searching if you would be quiet for a moment," Oscar muttered under his breath. The voice in his head kept telling him how he needed to find a Glynda Goodwitch and tell her that he was Ozpin. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so urgent about the matter. He was acting as if the sky would come crashing down any moment.

The only vessel Oscar was able to get was a rickety, old fishing boat. It was built only from planks and nails with a single mast with a sail and a set of oars. Setting the supplies he had brought into it, he already got the feeling that this was a terrible idea. There were so many ways that this could go horribly wrong — he was expecting to sail out into the ocean with this tiny boat. The way it rocked as his foot stepped into it filled him with dread.

"We will have to sail in through the side. Be careful of the monsters."

Oscar groaned as he worked to unfasten the rope from the pier. "Monsters? I guess I didn't even think about grimm in the water."

"No, not grimm."

Choosing not to delve further into that last comment, Oscar used one of the oars to push off of the pier. Never having sailed a ship before, he had to rely on the words of Ozpin to figure out what he was doing. He unfurled the sail and angled the mast to catch the wind. Watching the world he knew shrink behind him, the feeling that there was no turning back settled within him.

AN:

Will Weiss apologize? Probably not. If she doesn't, then what awaits her with the Revolutionary Army? Also, I've been debating when to introduce Akainu as a gamer. I figured that this would be as good a time as ever. I need to study up on Xbox COD lobby dialogue for the way he'll talk, but I'll probably have to tone it down for here…we all know why.

So, with Goodwitch going back to Beacon, is the chase off? It seems that Yang and Pyrrha don't want to give up just yet. What will happen if Oscar gets there and Goodwitch is already gone? So many questions to be answered next time on — oh, who am I kidding. You'll find out eventually, I guess.

Anyways, next chapter: Sabaody Archipelago