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Requested By : Polemoduke
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So yeah, I've heard the news.
Yeah, I'm upset.
To all the haters - I hope you're happy.
To all the fans - mine and RWBY's - I ain't going anywhere.
And to those that know me - why yes, I have progressed past the depressed phase into the 'pissed right off' phase lmao.
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"She's still got an arm around her…"
"Oh, believe you me, Jaune, I know." Weiss chuckled, turning in her seat and leaning against Jaune's chest to watch Ruby and Pyrrha moving around the tables arrayed along the outer edge of the deck. Ruby looked about as red as her name-sake, with a powerful arm wrapped around her shoulders to keep her away from any of the guests. Raising an arm to let Jaune's loop around and over her stomach, she smiled and said, "She knows that she could use her Semblance to escape, I'm sure."
"Yeah, well…" Jaune shrugged, the motion lifting her head a bit as he turned and relaxed. "I don't think she wants to."
"She's staring at us." Weiss hummed, "Looks terrified."
"As my sister Saph would say," Jaune snorted, shaking his head and watching Ruby, wide-eyed and with her mouth pinched shut, be dragged by under Pyrrha's guidance, "that is the picture of gay panic."
"Hmph. That it is…" Weiss smiled, watching Pyrrha turn Ruby and pick her up, setting her down to dance with her as several of the other guests got up and gentle, swaying music started to echo out of the speakers mounted along the railings. Quietly, Weiss hummed, "Should we dance?"
"Do you want to?"
"Everyone else is…"
"Yeah, well, that's nice for them." Jaune grunted, "But I'm not dating all… Eight of them"
"I should hope not."
"Why would I?" He kissed the crown of her head gently, which surprised her enough for heat to wash her cheeks - she was glad, at least, that she had her back to him now. "You're worth all eight of them and more."
"You're ridiculous…"
"And you," he bumped her with his shoulder, "haven't answered me. Do you want to dance?"
"Honestly?" She sighed, "Not really… It's hot and humid, and I am not built for it."
"Then let's sit it out." Jaune shrugged, earning a hum and a nod from her as she closed her eyes, enjoying the quiet music and relaxing. Until Jaune shuffled a bit besides her and added, sounding like he was smiling, "Besides, looks like we have guests."
"Hm?" She blinked her eyes open and turned, looking up at Alfred and, in front of him, waifish Trivia, who made a few gestures with her hand and gestured at one of the other seats at the table. "You want to-"
"Sure, you can both join us, we were just relaxing." Jaune grunted, explaining for Weiss' benefit as he turned a bit and straightened his seat, "She asked if they could both sit. I guess it's a thing if, you know, butlers sit down like that?"
"It can be, yes, in high society. " Which, she was certain, this get-together definitely qualified as. Even she knew of the Vanilles - they were part of the proverbial middle-ranks of Vale's elite, and had been since the man and wife at its head died a couple years prior. But, more pressingly, more interestingly, Weiss wanted to ask, "How did you understand what she… Er, said?"
"I know sign." He shrugged, giving Trivia a look and asking, quietly, "That's VSL standard, right?"
Trivia smiled and made a gesture with a hand, nodding, and Alfred translated for her before Jaune could, "It is, though she's not perfect at it. Some of what she says comes down to knowing her. So if you miss something, don't fret."
Trivia signed some more and, before Alfred could say anything, Jaune answered what had apparently been a question, "I learned back when I was younger, in Ansel. My, uh, family- They never wanted me to be a Hunter. So, since I was stubborn, they put me in rescue training. Forest searching, fire safety, first aid, that sort of stuff."
"Before they gave in and put him into a Combat School, of course." Weiss added protectively and, she hoped, naturally - like she'd rehearsed. Though she had an easy segue away from that specifically when she turned to ask, "So that is how you picked up so much before our… Incident, back then."
"Incident- Ah, right." Jaune nodded, thinking back to their not-so-happy camping trip only mere months ago. "Yeah, not everything I already knew covered… All of that, but it was a good start."
"I'll say." Weiss huffed, sensing Jaune's discomfort over the reminder and leaning forward to rest an elbow on the table and her chin on her elbow. Quietly, she asked, "So- What brings you here, Miss Vanille?"
"We're obliged to come to an event our company is running or publicity. Aren't we?" Alfred answered even before Vanille could sign anything, taking a seat and kicking it over next to Vanille's own before he took a seat, resting one leg over his knee and crossing his arms comfortably. Smiling, he cocked his head and asked, "More importantly… What are you doing here, Miss Schnee, at a function being put together by a competitor."
"My team-leader invited me…" Weiss answered, slowly cocking her head as she sensed something of an… Edge under his words. The kind she'd been taught in courtesy classes back in Atlas to catch and read - he was taking her words as an attack, and turning it around on her.
Why?
"NeoTech manufactures parts and machines, and blades. Hardly a competitor of the SDC, with our specialty in Dust processing and distribution." Weiss countered quietly, eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly as she straightened, shivering in suddenly chill air that blew harder around them. Jaune seemed to catch her shiver and wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into his side, adding, "I was only curious, in any event, why you wouldn't send a representative or-"
"She likes boats." Jaune cut them off, earning looks from both of them. Jaune just shrugged his other arm, the one not warming Weiss, and gestured at the woman. "What? That's what she said."
"You do?" Weiss raised an eyebrow, turning to the mute woman. She nodded, smiling just the least bit wider, and Weiss hummed. "I never heard anything about it…"
"Yeah." Alfred translated for her, watching her hands move with a cocked head and pursed lips. "It is not a very common hobby for Valeans. But I've always loved the ocean. How open it is. How free of… Responsibilities it is."
"I can sympathise…" Weiss hummed, shaking her head and sighing. "I've always fancied airships more, though. A fascination borne of my sister's profession."
"Military, right?" Alfred asked, raising an eyebrow. "I believe I remember reading about that… Situation, back in the day."
"Indeed, so I've never really had much interest." Weiss shrugged, smiling diplomatically to hopefully convey that it wasn't meant to degrade her own interests. Judging by her smile, the message was taken. So, to try and close the subject, she cocked her head and asked, "And you, Jaune?"
"Oh, I've always been interested, but…" He shrugged, very much not taking her cue and instead asking. "What's your favorite kind of boat, then?"
She'd seen people sign before, usually on television, but by the gods she'd never seen someone sign quite so quickly…
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"Better?" Pyrrha asked, turning and picking Ruby up as they danced, spinning her gently before setting her down again on the deck. The gentle music washed over them, along with a chill breeze that ran along her back, but she still heard Ruby murmur something into her chest. "Come again?"
"I-I said yeah, a bit." Ruby spoke louder, pulling away a hair to look up at her.. She was nervous, more nervous than the dance even, which Pyrrha chalked up to the crowd and who was in it. And, perhaps, their outfits, but everyone knew not to wear dresses out to sea - Gods, she was already wet from the sea-mist, so she'd be on her second dress by now.
And past at least three… Not great incidents the tabloids would have devoured.
Quietly, and avoiding Pyrrha's gaze again, Ruby added, "I-I'm sorry I messed things up with your boss…"
"She's not my boss, she merely… Has a large influence on my, and thus our, future." Pyrrha corrected her with a hum, sweeping them further into the loose dancing group, where they'd be less likely to be heard over the music - and everyone else talking. Quietly, thinking of a way to explain the genuinely foreign concepts she wanted to expound upon to her younger friend, she explained, "You need to understand, for my sake and Weiss' in future, how such events as these work. Where you see a party is actually a battle, of sorts."
"A battle…"
"Think back to when everyone boarded." Pyrrha suggested, smiling thinly as Ruby's nervousness began to wash away and, instead, she straightened, paying close attention now that she understood it was needed. "Who boarded with whom?"
A heartbeat passed as Pyrrha turned Ruby with her, circling for the dance, and Ruby murmured, "Everyone's with other people… Even Weiss has Vanille over there."
"Indeed." Pyrrha smiled, "Gatherings like this are more for negotiation than celebration. Suggestions are made, deals offered, and sometimes struck… It's complicated."
"It sounds that way, ye-" Suddenly, the ship pitched to the side in a sharp turn that sent several around them stumbling, and one or two to the deck. Pyrrha turn on a heel, off-guard for a moment before she collected herself and recovered herself. Ruby did similar, one hand reaching behind her waist on instinct before she grimaced and asked, "What was that?"
"A sharp turn. Too sharp a turn…" She murmured, turning and grunting, "Make sure no one is hurt, and have Jaune and Weiss keeping an eye out."
"For…?"
"Grimm, waves, an angry fisherman, whatever may come." She shrugged, waving Ruby off as she turned to leave. "Go!"
"Got it!"
Leaving Ruby to help the rest, Pyrrha rushed across the deck and stormed inside. A couple of the crew were recovering, but waved her on when she slowed to check them over, so she let them be. She made it halfway to the steerage before the ship suddenly dipped under her, throwing her against the wall. Far below her she heard a quiet scraping before it righted itself sharply and something slammed into the hull, tipping the whole of the ship off to the other side for a terrifying moment before it righted again. Frowning, she reached out with her Semblance to grab hold of the ship's structure and used it to pull her up and forward, jumping with it to hurl herself up the last hall where she rolled to a stop at the door.
Standing, she stormed in and called out, "Captain, what-"
"Winter storm from up north - swept down faster than it should have! I told you the damn radar was on the fritz!" Captain Moby called out, eyes wide as he turned and snapped. "Get that damn weather radar working right! I need a heading!"
"What kind of storm?" She asked, following in his wake but staying out of his way as he checked the air pressure outside.
"Sea storm - bordering on hurricane force coming for us in…" He cocked his head, "Weather monitor?"
"Still won't read more than a mile out!" They answered, "Long-range from Vale still isn't working either!"
"Damn it!" He snarled, turning to speak to Pyrrha, "You need to get everyone below-decks. Hopefully we can ride out the worst of it. If not, better inside than getting washed off the top like-"
"Why did we launch without a connection to Vale?" Pyrrha asked sharply, reaching for his shoulder on instinct when he turned back to his work and only catching herself a heartbeat before she could interrupt whatever he was doing at the fuel-controls. "Surely that was-"
"Weather forecast said clear until tomorrow morning, close to noon." Moby answered, shaking his head, "This time of year, the winds can drop 'n rise. I should have known, but… That bastard from N-Tech needed this cruise to go ahead."
"Who?"
"One of the board, came with his crew for a final systems check to make sure the feed read Vale's long-range detectors right…" Moby answered, hand slowing for a moment, before he turned to her, "He didn't board…"
That hung for a minute, along with its implication - for all her ship's faults, communications had never been one. A feed to Vale was just a CCT feed, and shouldn't have been able to fail like this. Even in a storm, it would still be there - just spotty. Intermittent. Not gone entirely…
Anxiety and paranoia prickled up Pyrrha's spine.
"Captain, sea-pressure is changing again!" A woman called from the other end of the room, yanking her out of her thoughts, "Everyone, brace for-"
Once again, the ship lurched down sharply, but this time it crashed into something before it righted itself. But Pyrrha knew better now and stayed on her knees, holding the Captain who had knelt with her for the moment. The ship shot back up sharply and, yet again, she felt something slam into the side of the ship and pitch it to the side. That one had been worse than the others and, for all its quality as a luxury ship, she knew that it would never stand up to this kind of battering. Not for long. When Pyrrha stood, she looked outside to see the people on deck staggering up, soaked and looking around in terror.
Terror would bring the last thing they wanted right now…
"Miss Nikos, you need to-"
She didn't wait for him to finish, storming over to the steering wheel and grabbing the microphone beside it, shouting into it to be heard over the wind already gusting outside, "We've been caught by an unforecasted sea-storm. Get below-decks now, before-"
"Another pressure change!" The crewman called over, "Slower - heavier!"
"But that means… Fuck!" Moby snarled, grimacing and barking, "How far are we from the chain?"
"Half-mile!"
"Punch it!" Moby snapped, twisting the control on the fuel-system. "Everything she's got!"
"But the engine won't survive that, it's-"
"Crap, I know." Moby grunted, turning to her, "But it's all we've got, and in a minute I fear it won't-"
"Pressure change - sharp!" The crewman cut him off, "Everyone, brace!"
Pyrrha had just long enough to look outside and see people already thronging in before the ship shot down, deeper that before. Something below the ship ground against it before it rocked onto its side, nearly throwing Pyrrha off her feet. And actually throwing moby off his. He slid across the floor of the cabin while Pyrrha half stood, half leaned against the console, holding herself at an angle while she looked out at the sea.
And the powerful wave that cracked down as her ship rocked up to meet it.
Her world spun upside down and the lights went out as she was thrown against the ceiling, her Aura flaring before the ship crashed down and hurled her into the flooring. It didn't right this time, though it rocked gently as she stood and looked outside. The storm was only worsening, but when the sea withdrew to hurl waves down on her ship, she saw sand through shallow water. And, through the darkening sky, she could make out trees bending in the wind.
Land…
They just had to hope the ship stayed together through the storm itself.
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Geralt Rex :
*Innocently sips teas*