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Requested By : Polemoduke

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In Vale, she had enough Lien from her company and her estate to fund most things she really needed. Trivia paid for most of her food, her drinks, the clothes she needed to wear for appearances - or scrapped to make her own outfits - and, usually, down payments for a decent amount of Roman's hideouts. Along with plenty of other old factories and warehouses to run her business, of course. So it would look good. Even Hush and Melodic Cudgel had come through more legal means than not - they'd simply arranged a break-in at her place for an excuse to ditch her parents' old paintings, some artsy crap Neo didn't care for, and the two weapons.

Neo was a slick, stylish, sexy killer, if she did say so herself.

And if anyone smart had to say anything in her vicinity, they'd agree with a nod and a smile. Neo more or less ran roughshod over the underground, at least in the nicer parts of Vale. The gangs had their politics, of course, but she let Roman run interference with them. And listened when he suggested she… Tone things down, on occasion. Which mostly came down to 'don't stab her, she's a boss' daughter' and 'please, Neo, don't flirt with his wife, I don't want to get dragged into a gang war'. All of which, she'd been told, were reasonable requests, so she went along with them.

Usually…

But, that was in Vale.

And for all her wealth, and her love of fancy stuff, and boats, her parents had kept her sheltered. 'Fragile little Trivia couldn't possibly do sports or work out or swim. So she never learned as a kid. And, now, what had she been supposed to do? Enroll in a practice course? Who would respect a killer that couldn't swim?

Well… Pride had a funny way of coming back around to bite you in the ass.

Or, it turned out, drowning your ass.

Neo spun as she sank in the water, kicking and flailing as salt stung her eyes, forcing her to squint through it to look around. Above her, the ship listed and rolled to the side, shedding furniture and glass all along a stretch of sand, rock and coral. Chest already burning from trying to hold her breath, Neo struggled with her dress, which wrapped and twisted around her chest and legs like a net, weighing her down as if she'd fallen in wearing rocks instead of cotton. Her back hit something hard and she turned, finally finding something to push off and yanking her dress up, desperate to free her legs.

Bunching her legs under her as best she could, she pushed off, heart roaring in her ears as her lungs screamed for air.

She went two feet before something yanked on her waist and she sank back down. Turning, she found ragged rocks and coral with jagged, hooked edges. Edges caught in her dress, which had wrapped around them in dozens of places. Eyes widening, she panicked, kicking and twisting, trying to tear her dress free. She managed it in places, felt the spots coming loose, but more hooked on in her struggles as panic started to wash over her.

Clawing at her throat with one hand, she fought to keep thrashing, yanking at her laces with the other, desperate to get the damn dress off of her.

But she couldn't, and her fingers were starting to tingle. Lack of oxygen, she knew from school a lifetime ago and her work since then. Her struggling weakened, and she saw movement off to her side, turning to watch bleary grey shapes drift lazily a few yards off. Adrenaline kicked in as her foggy mind named them 'sharks' - but even adrenaline only pushed her for a moment or two without oxygen to keep it running. Only ripped a few more laces free on her chest.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned, looking up into wide, silver eyes.

Little Red smiled reassuringly, and swam around in front of her, brandishing a little knife from dinner and pulling the front of her skirt away over her thigh. Using the purchase, she cut it away like it was something she'd done a hundred times before she grabbed Neo by the front of her dress and sort of… Nudged her up, letting the ruined skirts drift down while Red swam up to wrap an arm around her, pushing her face into her chest and holding her there while she swam up.

Neo sucked in air like a man in the desert might oasis waters, clinging to the other girl and hacking at the same time.

"Stay still!" Red ordered her, rolling onto her back and pulling Neo on top of her. She pushed the other woman mostly underwater, but she made a decent enough floatie, apparently, and kept Neo up while she caught her breath. When she looked up, Red said, "Can you swim?"

Ashamed, Neo shook her head, 'No.'

"It's fine." She smiled, "Just lay on me, I'll paddle us back towards the beach. Okay?"

Neo nodded, letting her head drop on the other woman's chest and smelling salt. Red gave her head a reassuring pat, then swept her arms out, using a leg to pull Neo's legs between hers so she could kick and backstroke. Turning, Neo looked up maybe two hundred feet away, where people were dragging themselves onto the sand of some random island barely a couple blocks large. She spotted Roman, soaked and orange haired, pacing up and down the coast searching the crowd and the water and smiled.

Until she realized he was orange haired and paled…

But, exhausted, she let her head drop onto Red's chest again and closed her eyes, just enjoying the warmth, and the air.

Until thin, powerful arms wrapped around her and she looked up as Red pitched to the side and turned, standing and lifting her up at the same time. She took a step while Neo blinked before she set her down and Neo felt sand and rock under her feet.

"Can you walk?" Red asked, one arm around her shoulder as they waded up the beach. Unsure, Neo just leaned into her and Ruby chuckled, "It's okay. I've got you, you can trust me."

And, suddenly, Neo realised two things-

One, maybe people who hype up Hunters weren't wrong. At least, not entirely. She could see several others on the beach, laid out and sucking in air, that Red and her friends had obviously saved. Hell, blondie was dragging an unconscious sailor onto the sand right then, and gently laid him down while his pet Schnee got to work on tending to him. Red herself was sucking in breath, too, from dragging her up from the depths and then carrying her all the way there.

And they didn't mind it one bit…

Which, damn.

The second thing, was that Red was… Actually pretty damn cute, and ripped under the sixteenish year old body she had. Strong enough to actually turn, sweeping an arm under her legs and picking her up when she stumbled in the uneven sand and rocks.

Which, Gods fucking damn.

"Neo!" She heard Roman scream as they got close, turning as he ran into the shallow water and Red turned to let her down. She'd barely staggered a step away before his arms wrapped around her and he fell, exhausted and shivering, pulling her down to sit in the water with him.

"Gods, are you- You aren't hurt, right? No, uh, water in the throat or anything?" He pulled her away for a second, eyes wide, to look her up and down before he was satisfied and yanked her back into a crushing hug. "Don't scare me like that again, damn it!"

Neo just let him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him while she pushed her Aura to the fore and redid their disguises.

Turning in his arms, 'Trivia' looked up at Red who stood over them, watching them with the tiniest frown. Finally, though, she just smiled and said, "Don't cause trouble… Okay? This is serious stuff. People could… Get hurt, including you."

And, taking her words to heart, Neo pulled away to nod, giving Roman a meaningful look until he agreed, "Y-Yeah, Red. No trouble from us. And… And thank you so much, I-I don't know what I would have done if you- I can't lose- Thank you."

"I'm a Huntress." She shrugged, turning and padding up the beach without another word, calling out, Pyrrha! I got Vanille, is anyone else missing?"

The Mistralian turned from where she was dragging long sheets of metal onto the sand without even going into the water, laying discarded chunks of hull, tables and whatever else out on the sand, and met Red's gaze. Then she cast a look over the crowd and turned, looking out along the water until she called out, "Sailor! A hundred feet out, floating on his back!"

"Got it!" Red called, turning and running for a couple feet into the ocean before she came apart in a shower of petals, rocketing across the water towards him.

Neo just watched, while Roman stood and staggered up to the beach, arms around her like he was afraid she'd blow away in the stiff breeze, or melt in the chilly rain.

A few minutes later, Red stumbled up onto the beach with the unconscious sailor and laid him on the sand, collapsing spread-eagle a moment later, and Neo watched her the whole time. Eyes wide.

'Well,' she thought, 'shit.'

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Ruby spent the next few hours working with Weiss and Pyrrha, trekking out to the broken ship laid about a mile out on one of the wide rock and coral outcroppings that surrounded the little island. The ship was ruined, and every strong wave had been slowly coaxing it towards a dropoff into sheer blackness, and the electrical systems were done… But they managed to grab towels, water, and a bit of food along with a raft's worth of pillows and blankets, and several drifting hunks of wooden panels that they brought back to the island for shelter, setting them up around a clearing by tying them to trees to block the wind. Jaune and a couple of the sailors had coordinated it so that they had a few scattered sleeping areas with rock-enclosed fires to keep warm at overnight.

But her work didn't end with the sun going down…

The island was about a mile long, but only a hundred feet or so wide, which meant that wind would sweep in from the ocean on both sides. So Ruby went along the scattered little shelters to pass out the towels for people to wrap up in, and check that the fires were going well. Then she made the same trip, passing out coconuts Weiss knocked down with her Semblance, fish Jaune had caught and cleaned, and food from the ship.

All while she kept an eye out on Neo and Roman, resting right at the end of the chain of scattered little camps. They were the closest to the beach, aside from Ruby's team's camp right on the sand, where they were more visible. But, as promised, they kept to themselves and out of trouble. Roman even thanked her when she brought them a fish and a coconut, although he watched her like she'd grown an extra head…

But nothing happened so, when she was finally done, she headed down to their camp at the edge of the treeline and collapsed onto a couple of thick towels laid out for her. Jaune and Weiss had a few to themselves on the other side of the fire, and paid her little waves as she joined them, tired from their own work. Pyrrha joined them only a couple moments later, taking a seat by the fire and grabbing a couple fish left near it, wrapped in leaves, to hand over to Ruby.

"Thanks…" She groaned, laying on the sand and holding the fish for a few moments as she eased down from all the work and then, finally, was too hungry to wait and sat up to eat. While she did, she asked, "How's, uh, how's your crew?"

"Broken bones, aching heads…" Pyrrha sighed, "But they're fine, and the ship's automated SOS went out, so we should be rescued inside a few days."

"So… We're fine?"

"Keeping everyone calm is key." Jaune offered from across the fire, smiling and laughing when Weiss nuzzled into his neck and relaxed against his chest. "We act happy and calm, they will. We're the big bad Hunters after all, right?"

"Right." Ruby nodded, flicking Pyrrha a look and offering, quietly, "I'm, uh, sorry about your ship."

"It's no matter." She shrugged, "It's just a thing that was given to me. Part of my career. I can replace it."

"I could replace Crescent Rose, too." Ruby pointed out quietly, "I'd still be upset if I lost her, though. So… If you're upset, we're here."

Pyrrha kept Ruby's gaze for a long moment, then smiled just the tiniest bit in the cutest way, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and looked at the fire. Another few moments passed before she finally said, "I… Enjoyed working on her, but… But she was just a boat. As much as I enjoyed her, enjoyed sailing, I'm glad that everyone survived. More glad of that than sad of losing her."

"So…" She sighed quietly, "I'm fine, but thank you, Ruby. You are… Very kind."

"Anytime, Pyr." Ruby smiled, warmth rushing to her face at the compliment while she took the bottle of water Pyrrha offered over. Taking a drink, she sighed and asked, "So. What's tomorrow's plan?"

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Roman grunted as he pulled the twiney vine-rope the blonde moron had put together for him around a second tree, lifting up a line of brown and green palm fronds tied in what passed for a curtain. Tying it off, he sighed and rolled his shoulder - damn thing had been sore since the wreck, when he'd been thrown off and came down on the water hard. Which had left it sore and aching when he made it to shore, his Aura more focused on the cuts and sprains he'd collected from it.

Not that he'd even noticed those until he and Neo settled down, which…

He risked a glance over his shoulder and, as expected, Neo was already at the wall of leaves he'd put up between them and the rest of the camp so Neo could rest her Semblance. He couldn't see through it, as thick as he'd made it, but he could guess what she was watching. And frowned.

"So." He sighed, plopping onto the hard, surprisingly dry dirt ground, "We gonna talk about what to do about the brats?"

Neo turned to him, finally, one brow raised as she came over and let her disguise fall, 'What do you mean?'

"I… Got a bit excited when I saw you, so…" He sighed, frowned, and pitched the twig he was toying with into the low fire. It wasn't too large, so anyone that happened to get a glance wouldn't see, but he had to keep it fed steadily to keep them warm without burning through Aura. Shaking his head, he said, "Little Red knows who we are. No one else was paying attention, but… She's probably telling her little friends right about now."

Neo just shrugged, 'What are we supposed to do?'

"Deal with them?"

Neo raised her eyebrow higher and mimed slitting her throat with one hand, and pinching a coin with another, 'You thinking kill or bribe?'

"Red doesn't seem the type for bribes…" And that was when Neo scowled at him, brows knitting down and eyes narrowing. Smirking, he crossed his arms over his bare chest and eyed his jacket, drying on a tree-limb nearby. "Hey, unless you have a really interesting reason that stabbing them is out of the question- Ow!"

He rubbed the spot on his head the rock had bounced off of and Neo's face went flat, shaking her head sternly while she waggled a finger, 'Don't push it.'

"Hey, you know the rules." He grunted, pointing another dry twig at her threateningly. "Explanations before violence unless Lien's on the table. And given we don't even have a table…"

She glared at him, but he just kept a flat gaze on her and traded out his twig for a stick, brandishing it at the ready to deflect any rocks she sent his way. She could always use her Semblance to hide throwing them, he knew, but after holding their disguise up for so long, she was already on the ropes. And even if she weren't, the second she threw a rock it'd go through her illusion and shatter it. In the end, Neo didn't actually sign anything. Instead, she just glowered at him, ducked her head, pouted, flicked a look at the palm-wall, and then scowled at him.

Finally, he just asked, "What do you wanna do, Neo?"

And, after a minute, she just signed, 'Nothing.'

"Nothing…"

She shrugged, 'Red said not to. So if she doesn't do anything, why should we?'

"You know, normally I'm the one convincing you not to misplace something sharp into someone's intestines." Roman frowned, flicking the palm wall a look and sighing wearily, watching Neo closely as he probed. "From the way you've been watching her, I figured you wanted to either stab her or drag her into a closet…"

When Neo just ducked her head, Roman swore under his breath.

"Well, shit." He sighed, watching the faintest red creep up her neck before it winked away with a suspicious flicker of pink. "Nothing it is, I guess."

Neo frowned, hugging her legs to her chest, but nodded and signed, 'Thanks.'

"Yeah, yeah." he sighed, flopping on the ground and groaning, "Keep an eye out, I'm catching some sleep. We both know poor, fragile little Trivia won't be expected to do any hard work tomorrow…" Another rock bounced off his head and he smiled, "Yeah, love ya too, squirt."

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