Ruby caught up to Raven as the woman was striding between tents, delivering orders. Whatever they were, the camp had turned into a flurry of activity.

"Miss Branwen?" Ruby asked, jogging up to her.

Raven stopped and fixed Ruby with a slightly exasperated glare. "Call me Raven."

"Right," Ruby muttered. "Raven." She looked up at the older woman. "Um, I just wanted to thank you again for helping us and treating Uncle Qrow."

"Walk with me," Raven said, motioning for her to follow as she continued walking through the camp.

"Huh? Okay," Ruby said, falling into step beside her.

Raven was taller, but she adjusted her speed so she didn't outpace Ruby. "You're leader of your Beacon team," she said. "Like Summer."

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Team RWBY — that's 'Ruby' with a 'W'. Yang's on the team, too. She's the 'Y'."

"I'm aware." Raven opened the flap of a tent and peered in. Seemingly satisfied, she turned back to Ruby. "You're going to ask, aren't you?"

"I was considering it," Ruby said meekly. She puffed herself up. "This is a bandit camp, isn't it?"

Raven blinked. After a long moment, her mouth widened into a smile and she chuckled. "That wasn't the question I was expecting." She motioned for Ruby to keep following as she walked. "It's true. We've engaged in our fair share of banditry. But most of our food is from villages that can't bear the burden of the Grimm. We protect them, and they provide us with what we need to survive."

"But that's why the Huntsmen's Guilds exist," Ruby said.

"The system is vulnerable to exploitation," Raven explained. "The villages have long memories. They remember a time when the warriors of Imperial Mistral would steal their crops and force them to labor. They feared the same abuses by the post-war government, and so they turned to us. The arrangement is symbiotic. What's more…" She stopped and looked furtively around before leaning in close and nearly whispering, "Ever since Beacon, Huntsmen and Huntresses in Anima have been disappearing or dying left and right. I'd imagine you've been getting steady work in the intact villages you've been to, haven't you?"

Ruby's eyes widened. "Well, yeah, but I thought that was just people being nice when we asked for jobs?" Her gaze darted around as she mentally reexamined everything she'd seen on her voyage. "Oh. Oh no," she concluded.

"Someone is making a conscious effort to destroy the region's warriors," Raven stated.

"Salem."

"Exactly. If this continues, there will be nobody left to protect the city from the Grimm." Raven put a hand on her hip lazily. "Which is why I'm sending the Tribe to our summer grounds while your team and I go to Mistral."

Ruby balked. "You're coming with us?"

"Anyway, so we took Geppetto back to Traverse Town," Summer started. She stopped and frowned. "I actually, uh, gotta use the bathroom before I keep going."

"Okay," Oscar said awkwardly.

Summer gave him a thumbs up as she stood and stepped out of the compartment, rushing for the bathroom at the end of the carriage. She knocked on the bathroom door.

"Occupied," a man's voice called back.

Summer sighed, stretching slightly in the hallway.

After a long moment, the bathroom door slid open. The man standing in the doorway was large, with thick, dark hair and a well-maintained beard. Age had weathered the man's face, but he was still recognizable to Summer.

"Hazel Rainart."

"Summer Rose. You were dead," Hazel said flatly.

Summer shrugged slightly. "Well, I got better."

His fist cocked back and Summer narrowly brought her arms up to block as the arm flew forward with all the force of a cannon. Even bracing herself as much as possible, she was thrown against the train car's wall, cracking the window. She dove out of the way as a second strike shattered the glass where her head had been moments earlier.

She drew Thorn and fired thrice as she hit the ground. The first shot grazed his side and the next pair bounced harmlessly off his Aura.

Hazel snarled and leapt forward at her—

The compartment door slid open and a blur charged out of it—

Whatever destruction Hazel had wrought on the glass was nothing compared to the damage Cloud did with a horizontal sweep of the Buster Sword. Ten feet of windows shattered as the massive sword crashed through each, destroying the steel supports between them. The blade caught Hazel in midair and launched him back against the far end of the car. A moment later, the roof groaned and sagged.

"Tag out," Cloud said, taking a lower, defensive stance. "I think we've reached our stop."

Summer ducked into the compartment.

Oscar was already on his feet, looking nervously at the open door. "What's going on?"

"As usual, someone wants to kill me," Summer said, grabbing their bags. She tossed Oscar his bag, slung hers over her shoulder, and put Cloud's on her back. She peeked out, back against the doorframe, Thorn at the ready.

Cloud was fending off Hazel carefully — the cramped space of the train limited his sword swings, but Hazel had retreated some, carefully gauging his opponent.

"Who are you?" Hazel asked.

"Nobody important," Cloud said, jumping forward with an overhead strike that tore a massive gash in the roof. Hazel narrowly evaded, his Aura flaring into visibility. Cloud moved deftly into a side kick, the sole of his boot colliding with the man's stomach. Hazel stumbled backwards into the wall, slumping over slightly.

"Let's go," Summer said. She stepped forward to let Oscar out behind her and he scurried out of the compartment toward the next car — further back on the train, Summer realized as she hurried backwards toward the door. "Cloud," she called. "We're leaving!"

Cloud moved, carefully backwards at first as Hazel recovered, but then ran for the exit that Summer was standing beside. Summer stepped through first, into the next car, before Cloud made it. He turned, and with a swipe of the Buster Sword, cleaved the connection between the cars in twain.

The car in front, still being carried by the locomotive, maintained its speed as the rear cars began to decelerate. The gap between them widened, but not quickly enough. Hazel ran for the door, leaping through it and towards the rear car.

Summer stepped forward, raised Thorn, and blasted him with its center chamber shell before he'd landed. Knocked backwards and frozen by Ice Dust, the man fell from the fairly elevated tracks and down, down into a rapidly flowing river.

"Somebody you know?" Cloud asked.

"Hazel Rainart," Summer said, glaring out at the river. It was only seconds later, and yet Hazel's body was nowhere to be seen in the rapid current or on the many rocks that dotted the river. She doubted he'd died. "He's tried to kill me before." She glanced at Oscar. "He's probably going to try to kill you too, by the way."

"Great," Oscar said dryly.

The train cars began to slow further.

"We should get out of here before anyone asks why the entire back half of the train has stopped," Summer said. She passed Cloud his bag and he took it, slinging it over his shoulder. Oscar put on his own backpack.

Summer stepped out of the door and held onto the ladder that led to the car's roof. They'd had enough speed and inertia to clear the bridge over the river and were back on level ground. Summer leapt from the train, landing on the forest floor. A few meters further up the track, Cloud landed, and behind him, Oscar.

Summer opened her bag and pulled out a map and compass as they approached. She tapped the compass a few times. "Well, the good news is that it won't take long to get to Mistral, but we won't get there until very late tonight if we don't stop anywhere."

"The bad news?"

"The bad news is that we're probably going to be hunted by Hazel Rainart, who is an incredibly tenacious man," Summer said, closing her map and checking her compass again. "And we're not exactly in the most law-abiding place on the planet, so there's also a chance bandits and thugs will attack us. Man, I did not miss this." Summer pointed into the distance. "There's a dirt road this way. I'll finish telling my story as we walk. So we took Geppetto to Traverse Town…"

Warp back to Traverse Town only took a few hours, but by that time was up, Summer had learned more than she'd ever wanted to about woodcarving and puppet-making. This had led to her taking a longer shower than she usually would, pretending to read the owner's manual for the ship, and eventually her climbing up into the cockpit and sitting in her chair in relative silence for the last half-hour that they were expected to be in warp.

Cloud climbed up the ladder and plunked himself down in the copilot's seat. He passed a tumbler of coffee with synthetic milk to her and began slurping down his own. They sat in silence for what felt like a long while, drinking their respective beverages.

"He's so young," Summer said abruptly.

"Who?"

"That kid. Sora."

Cloud nodded. "I was that old when I left home and joined the military."

Summer sighed. "And I was his age when I started combat school. What the hell is a normal adolescence, anyway?" She shrugged and drank her coffee. "Didn't figure you for the military, though."

Cloud looked off into the warp-induced kaleidoscope of colors that filled the windscreen.

"Still," Summer continued, looking out the cockpit in the opposite direction. "Kid's lost his home. It's not easy."

Cloud grunted in agreement.

The navicomputer let out a shrill series of beeps. "Alright, looks like we're coming up on Traverse Town," Summer said, clearing the alarm and standing up to flip a series of switches. "Cutting to primary engines — now."

The multi-colored kaleidoscopic effect outside faded to be replaced with the cool tones of space, Traverse Town directly ahead of them. Summer grabbed the comms headset and settled it on her head, swiveling in her chair to access the comms controls. "Calling Traverse Town air control, this is the Blackjack," Summer said into her mic.

"This is T.T. air traffic control. We read you, Blackjack. What is the nature of your visit?"

"Dropping off a couple newcomers," Summer said. "Our, uh, crew is looking to stay the night, as well?"

"Roger that. You're cleared for overnight use of Docking Bay 13. Please make a slow approach, and watch for other ships."

"Copy that," Summer said, pulling back on the throttle and engaging the antigrav engines as they approached Traverse Town itself. Summer prepared the ship for landing and set down in the designated docking bay. Her and Cloud shut the ship down before descending the ladder.

Geppetto and Pinocchio were standing there, with what little possessions they had — a bag overflowing with a large quilt and the fishbowl with a lone goldfish for Geppetto, and the black-and-white cat was in Pinocchio's arms.

"All set?" Summer asked.

"Yes'm!" Pinocchio chirped.

"We're ready," Geppetto said.

"Right," Summer said, pressing the button to open the cargo door. It slid open.

The quartet disembarked, Summer leading the group over to the docking bay's entrance. Summer opened the door to come face-to-face with Cid Highwind.

"Whoa nelly," Summer said. "Hey, Cid? What's up?"

"Heard the Blackjack was incoming," Cid said. "Thought I'd wander over. Didn't realize you had guests."

"Oh, right," Summer said. She gestured to each of the others. "These are Geppetto and Pinocchio. They've lost their homes, unfortunately, and this is my traveling companion, Cloud Strife." She turned to face the three of them. "This is Cid—"

"—Highwind," Cloud completed.

Summer and Cid blinked. "Yep," Summer said. "Have you two met before?"

"Have we? I think I'd remember your pokey head," Cid said, cocking his head.

Cloud shook his head. "No, we've never met."

"Well, anyhow," Cid continued. "Things've been a bit hectic since you've been gone. Had another Heartless attack when that Sora kid dropped by, but he took care of most of 'em. Oh, and Leon finally moved the guard headquarters out of his apartment."

"Let's head to the hotel first," Summer said, nodding towards the docking bay's exit.

"Right, right," Cid grumbled, stepping aside to let her past.

The walk over to the hotel was pleasant. Summer felt a particular strange nostalgia walking the streets, even though she'd only been gone a few weeks at most. She absently noted the repaired parts of the Second District's courtyard that she'd torn up fighting that giant armored Heartless.

The hotel itself hadn't changed from Summer's stay, and she'd booked the puppet-maker and his son a room within minutes.

"Miss Rose," Geppetto said, standing before the door, "I simply don't know how to thank you."

"Then don't," Summer said blasély. "Just try not to get eaten by another whale, and we'll be square."

"That's a request I think I can oblige," Geppetto said with a chuckle. "Although those gummi ships — I'm curious how they work?"

Summer jabbed a thumb up the hall. "Cid's your man if you want to talk shop, you can find him in the Accessory Shop most days. I'm not much of a mechanic, myself."

"Noted," Geppetto said. "And thank you."

Summer knelt down. "Pinocchio, you be good, okay?"

The puppet-boy nodded vigorously. "Yep! I will!"

Summer smiled at him. "Till next time," she said, standing. Geppetto and Pinocchio walked into the hotel room and Summer waved goodbye as the door shut. She turned away and rejoined Cid and Cloud further up the hall.

Leon had made the formerly vacant house in the Third District the town guard headquarters. It was only marginally less hodge-podge than his apartment had been. A small table sat in the center of the room, and other furniture from the prior occupants still filled the room — a dresser, a bed, and a nightstand. The new occupants' belongings were pouring out of cardboard boxes stacked in a corner, aside from the self-same guard shift whiteboard, which someone had hung on the wall.

As Summer and company entered, Leon was standing facing the whiteboard, a marker and eraser in his hands. Yuffie, meanwhile, was sitting cross-legged on the bed, rocking back and forth to her own rhythm.

"Oi," Cid said. "Guess who's back?"

"It's me," Summer declared before Leon had even turned around.

"Hi, Summer," Yuffie called excitedly.

"Summer," Leon said, the tension running through his body relaxing slightly. "Welcome back. Staying long?"

"Not particularly, unfortunately," Summer said. "We've had a long day, actually, and I was curious if my friend and I could crash on your couch?"

"That's not gonna work," Leon said, looking down. "We're doing a bit of remodeling, actually."

"You can stay with me," Yuffie declared, jumping off the bed and rushing Summer. She grabbed Summer's wrists and held them up to chest height. "It'll be like a sleepover!"

"Sure! Okay," Summer said.

Yuffie looked past Summer at Cloud. "Who's this spikey-headed dude?"

"This is my friend Cloud," Summer said, disengaging one of her hands so she could gesture to the man. "Cloud, this is Yuffie, and that's Leon."

"Hi," Yuffie said cheerfully. "Make yourself at home!"

Leon's greeting was a tenser, "Hello."

"Nice to meet you," Cloud responded, setting his sword against the wall. His right hand brushed over the spherical crystals on his bangle as he stepped past Yuffie to sit at the table. Summer and Cid followed, taking two of the other seats, and Yuffie resumed her place sitting atop the bed.

"Cid told me you had another Heartless incident," Summer said to Leon.

"That isn't the half of it," Leon said tiredly. He leaned against the wall and folded his arms. "The good news is, we're not expecting to have another one of that magnitude."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"As best we can tell from Ansem's incomplete research," Leon said, taking the fourth seat at the table, "each world has its own heart, the same way people do. The Heartless are looking for this, too, and when they get it—"

"—poof," Cid said. "World's gone."

"Exactly," Leon said. "And the only way to prevent this is for someone with a Keyblade to go around and lock away the worlds' hearts. Sora figured out where ours was, and he sealed it. He had to fight another one of those armored Heartless to do it, but he made it out just fine."

"He's a tough kid," Summer said. "If the Heartless take a world's heart, though, where does the heart go?"

A new voice from the doorway interjected, "We don't know."

Summer looked over; Aerith was standing in the doorway. She turned to Cloud to introduce the two, but found that the man had gone completely still, his gaze locked onto Aerith.

"Cloud?" Summer said softly.

Aerith stepped over, her head tilted slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Cloud said, shaking his head. He put a hand up to his head. "Just…a long day."

"You can say that again," Summer said, dramatically slumping onto the table.

Leon got up. "Aerith being here actually means I'm on patrol now. But first," his gaze flicked over to the white-cloaked woman, "Summer, a word?" He beckoned her to follow him outside and she did so.

Once the door was shut behind her she asked, "What's up?"

"I wanted to warn you," Leon said. "It's about an evil fairy-witch named Maleficent. Have you heard of her?"

Summer shook her head. "No, not really."

"She's dangerous. She's the closest thing the Heartless have to an intelligent ringleader, as far as we can tell."

"I can see why she's dangerous, then. Any reason you're telling me about her now?"

"She usually lives on our home world," Leon said darkly. "It's called Hollow Bastion. She's been holed up there for years. But someone saw her in Olympus a while ago, and here in Traverse Town just days ago."

Summer thought for a long while. "Do you think…Does it have anything to do with the Keyblade? Given the timing?"

"Sora," Leon said, pinching the center of his brow. "I didn't warn him. Of course he'd be a target for her."

Summer stepped toward Leon and placed her hand on his bicep. "Relax. If I run into him, I'll warn him." She smiled. "You just worry about the town."

"You make it sound so easy," Leon said. "Any luck?"

"Nothing," Summer said. "No leads."

"You'll get home."

"Gods, I hope so," Summer said, looking up at the star-filled sky.

The meeting had adjourned when Leon left, and so they ate dinner at the cafe in the First District. After that, Yuffie led Cloud and Summer to her apartment in the Second District.

"Here we are," Yuffie said excitedly.

When Aerith had called Yuffie's apartment a sucky hole in the ground, Summer had thought it an exaggeration. Aerith was being accurate. The entrance to Yuffie's apartment looked more like it was the entrance to a supply closet.

The ninja unlocked the door, threw it open dramatically, and flipped on the lights.

On one side of the apartment was a barren-looking kitchen. The stove and refrigerator were a style that had long since fallen out of date when Summer had been house buying. The other side of the apartment was nearly as barren; Yuffie slept on a queen-size mattress that had been slapped on the floor. Beside it was a lamp and a recliner. There was also a crude wooden shelf with a few knickknacks and books against the opposite wall.

"There's enough room for all three of us," Yuffie said excitedly.

"Yeah," Summer agreed awkwardly, looking down at the bed. "There sure is."

Due to a lack of actually owning any pajamas, Summer had stripped down to her underwear — a camisole and panties.

Cloud shuffled awkwardly out of the bathroom. He was shirtless and barefoot. A particularly nasty looking scar marred his midsection — from the shape of the scar, it was almost assuredly a long, thin blade, a Mistralian-style katana if Summer had to guess. Some detached part of Summer's mind recalled their conversation about the man Cloud was searching for, a man in a black coat carrying a katana; not for the first time, Summer wondered what Sephiroth had done that Cloud was hunting him.

"Nothing's weird about this," Summer said flatly. "We're going to get under those covers and go to sleep. That's all."

"That's all," Cloud repeated.

"I'm actually in a committed relationship," Summer explained. "Sort of a complicated polyamorous situation with a lot of heartbreak and tears involved."

Cloud nodded.

"We should get in the bed," Summer said, looking down at it.

"On it," Yuffie said, belly flopping onto the bed and starting to tuck herself in.

Cloud put a hand to his forehead and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah." He laid down on the middle section of the bed, sliding underneath the covers.

Summer sat at the edge of the bed for a moment before sliding up and next to Cloud.

"Nothing about this is awkward," Summer said. She fluffed her pillow slightly. "It's just me and you in a bed. Normal stuff."

"And me," Yuffie added. "Would one of you get the light?"

"On it," Summer said, standing slightly and turning off the lamp. She laid back down, flopped over onto her side to face away from the others, and attempted to sleep. After a while, she succeeded.

And then she failed.

Summer woke with a start. The blankets on Yuffie's bed were tangled around her limbs. She was drenched in sweat. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before rearranging herself and the blankets and laying back down.

Yuffie was audibly snoring.

Cloud's voice, barely more than a whisper, cut through the relative quiet. "Can't sleep?"

Summer sighed. "Yeah." She scooted over and leaned her weight against him. He tensed slightly for an instant but relaxed, leaning back into her. After a long moment, Summer found her voice again. "I had a nightmare."

Cloud gave a low affirmative grunt in response.

"There's a story from my home of a fisherman who visits an underwater city for a week," Summer said. "He returns home, but everyone he ever knew is gone; he'd been underwater for seventy years." Summer hesitated. "I hated that story. It always scared me, the idea of coming home without anyone there to greet me."

For a long moment, no words passed between them.

Eventually, Cloud broke the silence. "I had a bad dream too."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Summer felt Cloud shake his head in the negative.

"Not interested, huh?"

Cloud snorted. "I think that's my line."

"You're rubbing off on me," Summer teased. She sighed. "Let's talk about something else?"

"Yeah."

"Where did you grow up?" Summer asked. "Tell me about it and I'll tell you about mine."

"I lived in a village in the mountains."

"Oh? A country boy?"

Cloud snorted again. "Sure. There really wasn't much out there. I guess there was a spooky mansion at the edge of town, though. I think I went in once as a kid."

"As a kid? What about as an adult?"

"Twice. That's a long story, though." Cloud sighed. "I always thought all the other kids around me were stupid and immature, so I left as soon as I could."

At Cloud's silence, Summer mockingly huffed. "I guess I'll have to talk about myself, then. I grew up on a little island called Patch. It was warm and cozy and the summers felt like they would last forever. There's this clock tower, right? You can hear the bells from most of the island and the view from it is amazing. I still live there, actually. The island, not the clock tower." Summer sighed. "I wanted to talk about something else but I accidentally made myself sad again."

"It's fine," Cloud said.

"Stories. How about stories?"

"I'm not much of a storyteller."

"Well, try," Summer grouched.

"Okay, okay," Cloud said. "Hmm. You mean a bedtime story, right?"

"Sure," Summer said. "Hit me with it."

Cloud looked at her and then up at the ceiling. After a moment, he began, "It's said that long ago, the wind stopped, the sea raged, and the earth rotted away, until four warriors carrying crystals appeared. The heroes destroyed a lich, ventured into a volcano, dived into the depths of the ocean, and discovered a city floating in the sky. And so they earned the favor of Bahamut, the king of dragons, who empowered them so they might face Chaos, the embodiment of all evils in the world. After a long battle, they vanquished him and brought peace to the world."

Silence stretched on until Cloud could hear a gentle snore from Summer.

If he smiled, well, there wasn't anyone around to see it.

Summer awoke to witness Yuffie chowing down on milk and cereal while she sat atop the counter. Cloud was lackadaisically eating his own bowl while he leaned over the same counter, and he acknowledged Summer's awakening with a nod.

"Good morning," Yuffie said. She held up a brightly colored box and shook it. "Cereal?"

"What kind?" Summer asked, shambling over. She took the box and flipped it over. "Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs? The hell?"

"Now with added marshmallow bits," Yuffie said, mouth full. She swallowed. "Here, let me get you a bowl."

"It's sweet," Cloud said dryly.

"The best part," Yuffie said as she collected a bowl from the cabinets and set it down in front of Summer, "is that once the cereal's gone, the milk is all brown and chocolatey. Usually I pour more cereal in at that point, though." She poured a heaping helping of cereal into Summer's bowl and passed her the carton of milk.

"Thanks," Summer said, warily looking down at the bowl.

The remainder of their visit to Traverse Town was, on the whole, uneventful.

Summer visited the Moogle Workshop and rush-ordered some more Synthetic Dust Rounds. While she waited, she and Cloud went grocery shopping to stock the Blackjack with more foodstuffs — Summer's initial math for supplies had been done assuming she'd be the only occupant of the ship.

Summer stopped at a few clothing stores and purchased a pair of pajama pants, along with a deep red and white wool poncho with patterns that reminded Summer of her father's thick wool blankets, one of the few sentimental reminders he'd kept of his tribe after he'd left to marry her mother. There was no discernible meaning to the patterns, not like he'd shown her, but they felt right. Cloud bought some sunglasses and a thick black sweater.

Eventually they stopped at the Moogle Workshop for Summer to pick up her ammunition and then walked across the First District's plaza towards the Gummi Ship docking bays.

Leon approached. "Rose," he greeted.

"Leonhart," Summer replied. "I'm heading back out there."

"Good luck," he said definitively. He glanced over to Cloud and the pair exchanged nods.

They made their way back to the Blackjack. Cloud unpacked their purchases as Summer began the pre-flight checklist. Within half-an-hour, they were back in space, and once they'd cleared Traverse Town's gravity well, Summer engaged the navicomputer and warp engine to send them right back along the way they'd come.

The hours trickled by in warp, isolated from the universe. Setzer's stereo, today, was on a progressive funk rock kick, and Summer and Cloud spent the time at the card table, teaching each other card games and playing until either one declared they'd like to try another game.

"The goal is to get a sum of twenty-one without going over," Summer explained, dealing four cards between herself and Cloud. She flipped her own over. "See, here I've got a seven and an eight, so that's fifteen."

"What are face cards?" Cloud asked.

"Ten," Summer said. "Aces are either eleven or one, depending on if you would—"

The ship lurched violently, then again.

"What in the hells," Summer started, clambering up the ladder into the cockpit. All around them, the colorful kaleidoscope of warpspeed travel was fading quickly, and the ship was juddering in a way that made Summer worry for the warp engine. Against her better judgment, she climbed atop the pilot's seat to see what had impacted the hull. "We're being pulled out of warp," Summer reported to Cloud, who had just climbed into the cockpit. "By an old-timey anchor."

Smashed into one of the Blackjack's wings was, indeed, an iron anchor; its massive chain was pulling the Blackjack backwards. Each tug was met with a whine from the warp engine.

"You're kidding." Cloud slid into the copilot's seat and fired up the weapon systems.

Summer dropped back down into her seat. "Not in the slightest." She disengaged the warp engine. The whirl of colors abated and the shape of a classical pirate ship emerged behind them, reeling in the Blackjack like it were an exceptionally large fish.

The swiveling blaster deployed from the underside of one of the Blackjack's wings. With precise shots, Cloud destroyed the chain.

"Nice work," Summer said, gunning the throttle. The ship behind them roared with cannon fire and Summer began evasive maneuvers.

"Nothing crazy, please," Cloud requested as Summer threw the ship into an aileron roll before diving. Behind them, Summer could see the pirate ship begin the same dive to pursue.

As the Blackjack plunged downward, Summer keyed up the navicomputer. "Prepare to make the jump back into warp," Summer ordered. As soon as the navicomputer pinged to let them know its calculations were completed, Summer pulled back the warp drive's throttle, expecting to see the kaleidoscope of warp surround the ship.

Instead, there was a squeal, a loud hiss, and a distinct lack of warp speed.

"That didn't sound good," Summer said nervously.

One of the pirate ship's blasts landed solidly on the Blackjack's shields. The ship shook with the impact, tilting at an unpleasant angle until Summer adjusted it.

"Neither did that," Cloud said.

Summer banked the Blackjack, pulling out of its dive and angling it for a thick asteroid belt.

"What are you doing?" Cloud asked, slightly terrified.

"We'll lose them," she assured him, pushing the Blackjack to its highest speed. Hunks of rock hurtled past the cockpit. Cloud pressed himself into his seat. Summer let out a chuckle as she weaved the Blackjack through a pair of asteroids that were on a collision course. Behind them, the pirate ship smashed through the space debris as if it were nothing.

As Summer approached a larger asteroid, a pack of large space-faring Heartless flitted out of its shadow and into visibility. "Not over here, then," Summer said, pulling up as the Heartless swarmed towards them.

Cloud took hold of the fire controls again, spraying the swarm with cannonfire and homing lasers. Most of the Heartless scattered as they passed over the cockpit, but a few pulled away from the swarm and assumed a pursuit course, between the Blackjack and its pursuer.

"Now things are getting fun," Summer said, her voice laced with unabashed thrill-seeking glee even as the ship rocked from an asteroid impact. She banked sharply to avoid another asteroid and swung around it. The rock smashed into one of the pursuing Heartless and Summer pumped her fist in response.

"That ship's still behind us," Cloud said, looking back. Summer glanced for herself. The pirate ship had slowed, blasting some asteroids with its cannons and avoiding others. She deftly weaved the Blackjack through a cluster of asteroids. The Heartless pursued frenetically; another pair were vaporized by asteroid collisions.

"Come on, baby," Summer muttered.

"There's still two more Heartless," Cloud reported, before shouting as Summer pulled up sharply into a tight loop, ending up behind the Heartless. Cloud fired the Blackjack's cannons without hesitation, annihilating the pair.

A cannon blast shook the ship, more violent than the ones before. A red light on the dashboard began to flash rapidly. "Shields down," Cloud said.

Suddenly, the asteroid field thinned and was nearly immediately replaced with open space.

"Oh, fudge," Summer said, glancing around as the cannon fire intensified.

One of the engines blew from another cannon shot. The ship rumbled violently and slowed slightly, and before Summer could react, another anchor lanced out from the pirate ship and caught on the Blackjack's wing.

Cloud moved to fire up the swivel blaster again, but Summer placed her hand atop his.

"Wait," she said. "They're faster and more heavily armed than us. We'll never get anywhere if that anchor launcher is still intact."

Cloud leveled her with a stare. "So, what's your plan?"

Summer gave a sheepish smile as she flipped a switch that cut power to the engines. "Don't have one."

Cloud sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

With a hiss, the cargo door into the lounge opened. A plank slammed down and a contingent of pirates boarded the ship.

Summer watched them board from beneath the slits in the floor. "Four of them," she whispered to Cloud, who was very nearly pressed against her in the tight quarters. As she watched, the pirates threw open the doors to her quarters and barged in. "Sabers. Flintlock pistols."

"There ain't no-one on board," one of the pirates said, having climbed into the cockpit. He jumped down.

Cloud pressed his hand against the closed trapdoor and looked at Summer. She nodded. "Try not to damage the ship," Summer whispered.

"Look again," their leader said.

"No need," Cloud said, slamming open the trapdoor and leaping out. He caught one of them by surprise, his fist wrapping around the front of the pirate's striped shirt. He brought them down to meet his rising knee before throwing them through the open cargo door.

The remaining pirates brandished their swords and pistols at him — and then at Summer, as she emerged from the crawlspace.

Cloud ran to the open cargo door as he drew the Buster Sword, Summer following close on his heels. The pirates fired their pistols; Cloud brought the flat of the blade around to block the shots before he leapt from the door and onto the open deck of the pirates' ship. Summer ran down the plank after him, onto the pirates' ship.

The pirates, clearly, had not expected the fight to be taken to their ship, but in nearly an instant they'd formed a loose circle around Cloud and Summer on the main deck. The three from the boarding party joined them quickly. There were less than a dozen of them all told, subtracting the one Cloud had already knocked out, along with the captain and the first mate, who were looking down from a higher deck.

"I do say," the captain declared. He was a thin, tall man with dark, curly hair, clad in a red coat. The starlight glinted off the hook that had replaced his left hand. "That was fine piloting. Good form."

"Thanks," Summer said, smirking. "You have a nice ship."

"Good form indeed," the captain said, descending to the main deck. "Madame Captain, it pains me to kill you without knowing your name."

"It's Summer. Summer Rose. You?"

"Captain James Hook," the man said, doffing his hat and bowing. "A pleasure."

Cloud grumbled. "Can you two stop flirting and we can start fighting?"

"Oh, very well," Summer said. "Remember."

Cloud's glance flicked to the bow, where a rather impressive anchor-firing cannon sat. "Should be easy."

Summer was the first to move, slipping past one of the pirates' defenses and cutting his arm. She blocked another pirate's sword, kicking the first pirate aside as she turned to face the other.

Behind her, Cloud charged forward, ducking underneath a sword swipe and knocking aside a pirate with the flat of his blade. He raised a hand to his chest, a flickering light growing and strengthening in his palm. After a second he launched it in a straight line at the anchor launcher, encasing it in pure ice.

Cloud whirled around, blocking a pair of incoming attacks and stepping back towards the ice-covered anchor launcher. With a quick three slices, he brought down the two and then he ran for the bow.

He brought the Buster Sword up for a massive overhead blow. The sword came down, and the anchor launcher shattered.

Behind him, Summer had dispatched all the remaining pirates, save Captain Hook, whom she was engaged with in a particularly showy duel.

"Use your gun," Cloud yelled from across the deck.

"It would be bad form," Summer replied back.

Cloud sighed and ran for the Blackjack.

Meanwhile, the pair of duelists continued their engagement. Their initial blows had been intended wholly to kill, or injure at the least, but they'd moved into far showier displays of parries and ripostes, shuffling up and down the deck like a well-coordinated dance. Summer was moving backwards with the intent to board the Blackjack.

"Where did you learn swordplay?" Hook asked.

"Beacon Academy," Summer casually said, nearly up to the ship's edge.

"Eton, myself," Hook replied. "You are quite good, and you practice far better form than that blasted Peter Pan."

"You flatter me, Captain," Summer said. She leapt up onto the plank and stepped backwards gently, gesturing to the deck of the ship. "Shall we call it a draw?"

Hook glanced around at his injured crew and the remains of the broken anchor launcher. He stepped backwards out of range. "I rather think we shall, Miss Rose." He saluted her with his saber. "Until we meet again."

"Till then." Summer rushed up the plank before kicking it off and shutting the cargo door. "Cloud, get us out of here!"

"On it," Cloud said, already in the cockpit. The Blackjack's engines roared, and it began to fly away at full speed from the pirate ship at the edge of the asteroid field.

Summer climbed up into the cockpit.

"We're still out an engine," Cloud reported as Summer sat in the pilot's seat. "No shields. No warp, too."

"Wonderful," Summer said. "Well, where are we?"

"Here's the closest world," Cloud said, tapping the navicomputer's display before pointing at a bright light in the distance. "We could set down there, do some repairs. See what's up with the warp engine, at least."

"Beast's Castle," Summer read aloud. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"It could be worse," Cloud said.

An alarm began to flash on the dashboard — incoming Heartless.

"It's worse," Summer concluded.

The trio of Mistral-bound travelers had made good time trekking through the forest.

Neither Cloud nor Summer had been able to detect Hazel Rainart trailing them, which meant he either hadn't picked up their trail, was following far enough behind they couldn't detect him, was still unconscious, or had retreated for some other reason. None of these were especially appealing to Summer's mind, aside from him still being knocked out and possibly drowning in a river.

Unless he was presently dead (unlikely), going to die in the woods (equally unlikely), or decided to attack them and die before he reported her apparent revival (slightly less unlikely), Salem would know Summer was back. It was inevitable, but Summer still cursed her luck. She'd hoped to at least get to Mistral and report in to the local Headmaster before Salem's faction were aware of her presence.

The trek itself was by no means the easiest hike Summer had ever taken. There was the brush, some wild animals, and the Grimm to consider, and besides that, Summer was aware that they'd probably have to begin setting up camp before long.

But after a few hours, they made it to one of the dirt roads.

"Stop here," Summer said, looking up and down the road before pulling out her map and compass. Cloud and Oscar crowded around her as she pointed out their location. "Unless we're completely off track, this is the Kuchinashi Highroad. We'll take it north and we'll get to Mistral tomorrow."

Cloud nodded. "We've got a couple hours of daylight left." He looked up suddenly, head turning to the south. "Someone's approaching." His eyes narrowed in concentration. "It's a motorcycle."

Summer's hand flicked her cloak aside and grasped Halbmond's hilt. Her other hand pushed Oscar back slightly as she stepped forward.

She could see the motorcycle as it rounded a gentle curve in the road to the south. The bike was painted bright yellow. The rider was dressed in brown leathers, with a mane of blonde hair. Familiar blonde hair, now that Summer was looking at it.

"Hold on," Summer said, startled. Her left arm came up high in a wave. "Hey," she yelled.

The bike was still going too fast as it passed them, but the rider pulled sharply into a sliding stop with one boot's heel down on the road, kicking up a trio of trails of dirt and dust along their points of contact with the ground.

There was a long moment of silence before the motorcycle's rider, with a shaking hand, pulled off her sunglasses.

"Young lady," Summer admonished while smiling gently. "Don't you know it's unsafe to ride a motorcycle without a helmet?"

Yang Xiao Long blinked rapidly, clearly confused but tears welling up in her eyes.

"...Mom?"