Chapter XXXVI: They Can't Keep Getting Away With This!

Yang scrubbed her face viciously with a towel. The dog slobber had been bad enough when Zwei was small, but this was horrendous. With the way the slimy substance coated her hair, she was going to have to burn a small pile of towels when she was done.

Pyrrha hunkered down into a chair, leaning her head over into her hands. "I let him slip through my fingers," she moaned miserably.

"Sounds like he slipped through the floor," Yang muttered, tossing another towel onto the pile.

Pyrrha shot an unamused glare through her fingers. "I think you've gotten it all out," she commented at Yang's excessive drying.

"I need to be sure," Yang countered. "I can still feel it — no, I can still smell it, ugh."

"And you're saying your dog did that?"

"A monster did," Yang corrected, looking like she wanted to scrub the memory from her mind.

Doing her best not to imagine it, Pyrrha mused, "I wonder what Nora would think. She would love to see a big puppy."

Then, the silence set in. Both Pyrrha and Yang quickly searched around the room. "Where's Nora?" Pyrrha asked, standing up. Normally at this point, she would be messing around with something like her scroll while on her bed. Pyrrha had just assumed Nora was being quiet, but her sheets were vacant.

"Wait a second," said Yang. "Where's Weiss?" They were, in fact, all alone.

Their door opened suddenly to reveal a very tired looking Winter Schnee. She was not pleased, and it was not hard to see why. Her uniform was filled with chaotic cuts shredding the fabric on her sleeves, and scattered about her, including in her frizzled hair, was white feathers.

"Where?" was all that the woman breathed out.

Weiss most certainly did not cackle, because that would be un-lady like. However, it could be forgiven if a similar noise escaped from her lips. It was nice that all of her new seagull friends joined in. They understood. She was free — finally free from being followed around everywhere. Perhaps this was a rash decision, and she very well might come to regret this later, but at the moment she felt liberated. Nothing would ever feel better than when she threw the pile of breadcrumbs at Winter and watched as the birds descended.

The issue now at hand was where to go. Any land would do at this point, but she was mostly at the whim of the ocean for the moment. She made sure to bring plenty of water, and hopefully the rest of the bread would last long enough. Her new feathered friends brought her fish, but she would rather die than eat them raw. Her mind was also not so far gone that she would even consider building a fire in the small, wooden boat. Then again, the fact that she had to think that said plenty enough.

With the elation somewhat fading, she rested on the edge of the boat, rocking with the waves. The sensation was so much more pronounced in such a small vessel, actively moving with each shift of the water's surface. It would have bothered her more before, but she had begun to get used to the feeling.

One seagull swooped down onto her shoulder and squawked loudly. Attempting to see what the matter was, Weiss turned to see a spec on the horizon growing in size as it neared.

Time had passed since The Barrel had departed from their captors. The shock and panic of seeing another marine ship had faded when they did not see any marine uniforms atop it — well, there was one. Jaune didn't recognize the dark haired girl, and she did not help in identifying herself with how she had been trying to hide her face. However, next to her stood a proud, white-haired boy. With a need to sail away from the marines and their log poses pulling them in separate directions, their interaction had been brief. Although it was short, they left as more than acquaintances. The Straw Hat Pirates and Salty Sea Dogs were now allies, willing to help when in need. While Jaune felt in the dark about how these bonds had come to be, his crew seemed willing to make it happen. He had made sure to confirm with his crew that they agreed with this, and though Ruby seemed to just want to get away from the other captain, Jaune's attention was drawn to two people in particular.

One of them was a girl and a former marine he had come to learn was named Penny. The other was one he knew pretty well and was surprised to see here, grinning widely at them all.

"Nora?" Jaune asked, more baffled than anything else.

"Nora!" The girl confirmed, throwing her hands up in a cheer.

What wasn't really surprising was how quickly she began to fit in. She was already playing cards with Sun and Neptune, supposedly ad-libbing new rules as they went by the boys' reactions. This led Ren to be dragged in as a referee, though that only led to more accusations of bias being thrown into the lot. Up on the top deck, Penny was showing Neo how to helm their new ship, and Neo had dragged Cardin up there with her. That left Jaune, Ruby, and Blake by themselves. At the present moment, Blake was using Jaune as a human shield between her and the dog curled up in Ruby's lap.

"So, it was really only a few days?" Jaune said in disbelief.

"It really wasn't that long," Blake responded, sounding as if he had been melodramatic.

"It sure felt like a long time," Ruby commented, idly kicking her legs in her chair. "Time passes slowly when you're across from someone slobbering on bars like a dog. No offense." She added the last part, looking down at Zwei like she might have hurt his feelings.

Jaune shook his head, not accepting their dismissals. "I'm being serious though. This isn't some sort of exaggeration. I felt like I was in there for at least a year, but I don't know. It all started when I drank that coffee."

"Did it taste funky?" Ruby asked.

Jaune shrugged, trying to remember the flavor that had been so long ago. "It didn't really taste normal, but it wasn't horrible. Besides, it was Ozpin's, so he was drinking it."

With no proper explanation, the conversation fell into less serious matters from there. However, Jaune still thought about it. Just what was in that coffee?

Ozpin stared blankly at the empty thermos before him. Whether the jitters coursing through him were rage or caffeine induced, he was too far dissociated to tell anymore. He tipped back another cup of coffee while he was already pouring a new one. Multitasking was an admirable skill after all. It was all he could do to keep himself away from the vexing situation at the moment. They had failed to keep the pirates contained — both crews — and one of them had drunk his special brew. He had little doubt that it had been Jaune, but that was surprising. No normal person would be able to consume the amount he had. Either he had an iron gut or a lot of aura. No matter which it was, Ozpin still mourned the contents of his thermos. It was the last he had for the moment, and now he would need to take another journey to that island. The thought alone had him tipping back another cup.

The two other marines present were animatedly arguing, though Ozpin really couldn't understand them anymore. The living smokestack was letting out more puffs than intelligible words while his opponent had long since gone on a rant about taxation before representation. Neither the word "pirate" nor the word "escaped" had been present in at least an hour. Surely, the headache he had was caused by the idiocy before him and not the contents of his mug, which was promptly thrown down his throat once more. He had dealt with the council many a time, but at least they were able to properly converse their daft thoughts. This was a decidedly worse ordeal.

The rate at which he downed the coffee had begun to alarm those tasked with bringing it to him. Every few minutes, another person would rush into the meeting room with a fresh pot, and Ozpin could just barely catch glimpses of worry mixed with morbid curiosity on their features. Yet he refused to slow down. This, he felt, was the closest he could come to replacing his missing thermos of coffee. He longed for it in the midst of this migraine inducing situation.

Then something felt wrong. The liquid did not travel down as it should have. Perhaps he had filled his stomach to the brim. Whatever the cause, he felt the coffee pour down the wrong pipe. Ozpin clutched his chest, hacking and coughing up the drink the best he could, but it was for naught. His vision slowly turned black as he collapsed against the floor.

The blond man had only taken a single step onto the ship when his brother launched at him. Rubbery arms wrapped around him, latching onto his head. Although Sabo had long since grown used to Luffy's antics, he wasn't quite able to suppress his need to breathe. Thus, with great effort he pried Luffy from his face.

Behind him, Zoro was being escorted onto the ship by some frustrated sounding marines. After watching the rather impressive ways the green haired man could get lost, Sabo decided that they needed at least two people on him at the same time. That way, they always had eyes on him — except for the one time both marines blinked at the same time. Other than that incident, they hadn't had much trouble. That being said, he would much rather pawn the struggle off to someone else — even if it was to Luffy. If anyone questioned him, he would simply say that it was Luffy who chose to sail with the man.

"It took a while to find you," Sabo greeted. "It was even more difficult to track you down than usual. What are you doing here?"

As if it were the most normal thing he could be doing, Luffy said, "I was visiting a friend that was captured. He escaped before I could say hi though." Luffy frowned at the last statement, as if he had been cheated.

Ignoring the statement, Sabo asked, "Also, I don't see your ship anywhere. Were you dropped off by someone?"

"Someone stole my ship." Luffy drooped. "It wasn't my friend though! Jake from State Arc would never do that."

"Right." Sabo really needed to learn to get his information from someone else. He loved Luffy, but it was a little more than herding cats — it was like trying to teach a cat to speak. "Well, we found your swordsman. I have no clue how he ended up on our ship, but I sailed here to bring him to you."

"Zoro!" cheered Luffy, bounding past Sabo. Watching Zoro receive a similar treatment to his own, Sabo smiled fondly at the antics of his brother. When he wasn't the target, it was a lot more endearing.

"Since your ship is gone, you should probably head with me for a bit. So, why don't you gather your crew and come aboard." Sabo waited for Luffy to rush off for his crew members. The first to appear, who had not been far away, was Kobe. As the boy grew closer, Sabo discreetly told him that Zoro was his problem now. He almost — almost — felt bad for the tired looking boy, but the man had to be the trouble of one of their crews.

Then, emerging from below the deck, came a large group of marine animals. Sabo watched, blank faced, as they followed Luffy like a battalion. As much as he wished he could be, Sabo did not feel surprised in the slightest. Following up in the rear was a stumbling Helmeppo, clearly inebriated despite the hour.

"This is ridiculous! Absolutely ludicrous!" Councilman Mander spat, slamming his fists down onto the table before him. "And don't you dare tell me that I'm the one out of line! We will not have this; he will be stripped of rank immediately."

Elm wiped her face with a grimace, as the Councilman had literally spat as well. "General Ironwood has been given quite the burden to carry at the moment, yet he is doing the best he can with it."

Her diplomatic words only seemed to enrage the man further. Despite his ferocious mood, Elm could not possibly take the man seriously. With his pudgy face and stout body, the way he hopped up and down made him look more like an angry frog than a respectable man with an important position.

"I will not have this — the public will not have this!" He croaked loudly.

"Let the people make their own decisions, sir," Elm replied calmly. The way he turned red made her think perhaps he looked more like a toad, but she did her best to brush the thought away. Though, she felt she could be forgiven for thinking like that about such a man.

"We are the voices of the public," Mander continued. His voice would nearly be smug if it were not for the rage seeping into it. "I think you'll find that they'll agree with what we decide."

"I'm afraid we won't be budging on this matter, Mister Gerry," Elm said, shaking her head. "Please try not to blame the general; he's just a little guy."

Mander sputtered, completely flabbergasted by what he had just heard. "Little guy? You said little guy? Forgive my language, but that is a full, grown-ass man! What the dickens are you talking about?"

"He's just a little guy right now," Elm repeated herself. "Don't be so harsh."

Deciding that the conversation was over, Mander shoved his chair to the side, turned, and left. Elm, now alone, sighed. It had been tough so far with the situation that General Ironwood was in. The council was beginning to grow restless with him, claiming a rising incompetence in his actions. For the most part, Elm could not say that she agreed. While he did appear rather smol in his blanket with his hot chocolate, he continued to get work done. Harriet claimed they were just power hungry and wanted to use this to tip the scales. At the moment, that seemed more than plausible.

Whatever the reason, Elm knew that they would stand by the general's side. Clover being a traitor and Winter abandoning them had both been blows, but they were soldiers and soldiers carried on. As Elm left the room herself, she spotted General Ironwood distantly roaming the halls. Hugging tightly around him was a wearable blanket, one that he had commissioned some of Atlas' greatest minds to design. With it, he was now able to keep its comfort everywhere he went with ease. Elm wondered if it would be added to their uniforms, and how soon.

"How close are we to our final preparations," Cinder said with aloof indifference.

"Nearly ready, Ma'am," Ilia answered, looking curiously at the woman's back. Cinder had been turned away from her from the moment she entered the room. Adam had never been that way. From the moment anyone entered his presence, Adam's eyes would be trained on them, watching their every move. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was just observing all that he could. In reality, she was sure that it was a method of intimidation. His eyes always had that ability to make her feel smaller than she was.

"Nearly?" Cinder scoffed. "Could you be any more vague?"

"Just a couple of days left," Ilia tersely corrected herself. "Everything will be ready before the festival."

"Good. You may leave."

With the luxury of not being seen, Ilian rolled her eyes and left. How Adam put up with that woman was beyond her. It was difficult to imagine Adam being cowed by anyone — pun definitely not intended, as that would be racist. Would it? Ilia shook her head, that didn't matter. What did matter was for whatever reason, Adam had evidently listened to Cinder, and that much had Ilia keeping her head down.

She found Mercury, whom she had decided was the saner of Cinder's two henchmen, sitting near the entrance of the warehouse they were in. He was messing with some mechanical parts and looked nearly as confused about them as she was.

"Damn VPS," she could hear him muttering. "Oh sure, just go ahead and toss the big box that says 'fragile' on the side. Hopefully, there's nothing expensive or fragile in them. Dammit, they shouldn't have been fragile in the first place! But of course, the plating can't fit in the box with everything else, so why not just send it separately instead of making a bigger box. Bastards — all of them."

"You seem pretty upset," Ilia commented.

Mercury paused what he was doing to look up at her. "I ordered some new legs, and the delivery guy knocked some parts out of place." He huffed, setting the parts to the side. "How did your little chat go?"

Ilia harrumphed, crossing her arms under her chest. "That lady might be fine to look at, but if I can be honest, she's a bitch."

"Don't let Emerald hear you say that," Mercury mumbled. "She practically worships the ground beneath Cinder's feet. She might burn you at the stake for your blasphemy."

"Whatever," Ilia grumbled. "I just can't wait for it all to be over at this point. Then I can go back to not having to work with humans."

"Hey," said Mercury defensively.

"It's nothing personal," Ilia said bluntly, not at all sounding guilty.

"Felt like it was," Mercury muttered under his breath, returning to his legs.

"You should have heard how Roman talked to us," Ilia rolled her eyes. "A lot of our members only worked with him because we had to."

Mercury rolled his eyes. "Don't lump me in with that guy. He's weird. He got his ass kicked by his cheese wielding friend and was smiling about it."

"Right," Ilia said. "That makes perfect sense."

Mercury shrugged. "I had to deal with a girl who thinks ninjas are living in some hidden villages in Mistral. He's not that weird. Still don't group me with him though." Then, he leaned forward to get out of his chair and promptly spilled out of it, face planting onto the ground. He stayed there for a long moment, and Ilia just stared at him.

"Are you okay?" She eventually asked him when he still didn't move.

"I forgot," Mercury said into the floor.

Nora won the game of cards, and there was little doubt about that. She held her arms up triumphantly, laughing in a way Jaune hadn't heard in a while. It was good to have at least one of his friends back with him. The thought made him wish that Pyrrha had come along as well, but that seemed less likely. Admittedly, he had avoided her as they were leaving, but his experience at the CCT had felt somewhat definite. He opted to distract himself for the moment by watching Nora defeat Sun and Neptune.

"So, you've turned to the pirate side of things?" asked Sun, still licking his wounds from his humiliating defeat.

Nora held off her victory to give him an incredulous look. "I'm not a pirate." She continued to stare at him curiously, as if she couldn't understand where his question had come from.

Neptune joined in by asking, "Then why are you here again?"

"I'm just bored," Nora claimed, standing up. "And I missed Renny, so I came along." Neptune opened his mouth to question her, but Ren stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and a solemn shake of his head. The message was clear — madness awaits those that try to understand Nora.

Jaune grinned at the all too familiar antics. "Well, you're more than welcome aboard," he picked back up the conversation. Nora gave him a genuine smile, one that while full of joy did not hold the same playfulness she normally exuded.

"Where are we headed next?" Jaune shifted the conversation.

Blake, who had been studying her map in the new drafting-room, glanced down at her log pose. "We're on course to the Red Line. I'm not sure how we're supposed to get past it yet, but the map shows the courses going through it, so there should be a way. We'll be stopping at a place called Sabaody Archipelago first."

Raven grumbled to herself about the sight before her. While she wished she could say that her strong warriors were acting far too relaxed, they were somehow doing just fine regardless. That being said, they had to toughen up quickly. Already they had encountered other pirates and marines alike, and it was not as easy as she had expected it to be. Never would she deign to call herself or her tribe weak, but Raven would admit that there were others out here that were strong. With that in mind, she refused to let her tribe fall behind, and she brought her fist down when it came to training.

Hence was the scene laid before her: people benching stacks of lounge chairs, fencing with kebabs, sparring in pools, and running around the track with fruity drinks in hand. Vernal casually sauntered up to Raven, a martini in hand. The girl had come from having a pleasant conversation with the bartender, which Raven thought was unsightly for the Branwen Tribe.

"You should try one," Vernal offered her the drink. "Maybe then you wouldn't be so grumpy."

"Excuse me?" Raven narrowed her eyes at Vernal. "Maybe I should knock your head off with how loose it is on your shoulders."

Vernal shrugged, extending her hand farther to reiterate her offer. Deciding that alcohol might actually be the best way to deal with the situation, Raven reluctantly took the drink. If anyone had asked her how she liked it, Raven might have just growled at them; however, it didn't go unnoticed how she kept sipping the drink.

Oscar was having a weird day. The sort of weird day that could have him tied up like a crazy person. While he would rather think of himself as sane, the voice that appeared in his head made him begin to question that. He tried to ignore it; he really did. If this was some sort of call to adventure, he was perfectly happy with where he was at the moment. An honest day's work was more than he could ever ask for. He would wake up, work hard, enjoy the fresh air, and be satisfied when the sun went down over the horizon. The voice continued to gripe at him, that he was clearly destined for something greater.

"No thank you," Oscar said to himself lightly. "I'm happy where I am, and I really don't want to go to this Grand Line you're talking about."

The voice was none too pleased. "This is a grave matter that you cannot fathom! You must set sail and become a marine, then get us to Glynda or Sengoku."

"I don't really want to be a marine," Oscar muttered to the voice. "So, please leave me to my life."

"You don't understand," the voice persisted. "You have not had my coffee — and you may never if you stay here! You will rot away for the rest of your days without the delicious taste of —"

"I'm probably just dehydrated," Oscar reasoned to himself. "Yeah, that sounds like that might be right. I'll go drink some water — not coffee — and get some sleep. Hopefully tomorrow my head will be clear."

He continued to do his best to ignore the fervent ramblings about traitorous crows, special brews, and the letter "D."

AN:

And thus, they're headed for Sabaody! Also, I've been waiting for so long to have Ozpin drown in coffee. Nora is part of the crew now! Kind of…but what is Weiss doing? This might be a bit rushed in terms of pacing but…I have to be realistic with what I'm capable of and I want them to get to the One Piece, so they'll be at their half-way soon enough. Not that Sabaody is necessarily half-way for One Piece, but it will be here. Also, if I haven't brought it up yet, I want to take this time to clarify my plans for this story.

First, I want to divide this into two parts, this being the first part and their adventure into the New World being the second part. I'm doing this because it fits nicely, and I feel that I'll want a bit of a break before the second part. That way, I can wrap up this first part, and then work on some other stuff in the meantime. I'm not going to stop writing during that break, but I'll be setting this story down for a bit. As for this part, I'm going to try and wrap it up with 45 chapters. Why 45? Well, I noticed that each arc ended up being about 9 chapters, and by the fourth one I started following that on purpose. I'm not sure how accurate that will be for this last arc, as the story might either wrap up too quickly leaving me with nothing left to write in this part, or I might not have enough room and I'll write past that. Either way, I just wanted to let you all know about that.

Anyways, next chapter: To Join a Revolution