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Spork

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"I knew it wasn't my fault…" Ruby whispered, sitting on the floor with Weiss and the others, thick brackets around their waists chaining them to the mast. Weiss followed her gaze to where a handful of masked Faunus in lighter robes were carrying a new Dust core, perfect for her engine, in and scowled.

"Indeed it was not…" She turned as a shadow passed over them and looked up at the woman who had 'saved' them. She stood for a while, quiet and still, and Weiss met her gaze through her mask. Quietly, when she didn't say anything, Weiss asked, "What can I do for you, captain?"

"Schnee." The masked woman growled, turning to look past her, around the mast where Pyrrha lay. They cuffed her ankles with smaller cuffs, at least, so she could lay down and rest. Quietly, the woman asked, "How is she?"

"Unconscious…"

"Good." The woman sighed, "I'll need you presentable to meet mother."

"Mother…?"

"Her injuries weren't too grave. The bandage should do." Blake, from what Weiss had heard the man before say, ignored her question. Instead she turned to Ruby and asked, "Do you need medication from your cabin? For your eye."

"W-Why do you care…?"

"She just told you, Ruby." Weiss sighed, "She needs us presentable. Her prizes to present for… Promotion, I presume?"

"Not all are as selfish as you." She snapped, leaning over Weiss a bit, "You are the prize here, Schnee. You and… You and the traitor. Those three are just… Caught in the undertow. Liable to drown, if someone doesn't stop it."

"I mean, I know a great way to stop it." Yang drawled, flexing against her bonds like she had been since they were tied. "You could, I dunno, get off our ship? Fuck off back to mommy on your own? Slip on a nice pair of concrete shoes and go for a swim, maybe?"

"Cute." The Faunus sighed, turning and stalking away while Weiss glowered after her.

"Why do you keep making the pirate people mad, Yang…?" Ruby murmured quietly, "T-That can't be a good idea…"

"It's funny," the blonde answered, "and they clearly want us alive, for whatever reason."

"She just said they only care about Weiss…"

"Up, Humans." One of the Faunus said as he and five others came towards them. He grabbed Weiss by the ponytail when they hesitated too long. Yang swore and Weiss hissed, but the Faunus just pushed her back into the wood and then spun her by the shoulder, unlocking the ring on her waist and explaining, "Lady Belladonna has ordered that you be sent to your cabins, alone, to wait out the trip. Apparently, we have rain in our path, and she's worried you'll freeze."

"Looking at that one," one of them grunted, gesturing at Ruby as she stood, "I'd say she's right to worry."

"But is she right to care, Fox?" The other man just shrugged, turning and pushing them on. "Show us which rooms are yours, Humans, and settle in."

"Wait!" Weiss cut in, pulling away when the man tried to lead her off. "W-We only have three of the rooms ready for people."

"What…?"

"Pyrrha has one, and the sisters preferred sharing." She explained, swallowing nervously when the man rested a heavy hand on the hilt of his sword. The Faunus traded looks, which told her they hadn't actually considered checking the beds. Quietly, she suggested, "Just… Give Ruby mine. I'll take the empty one and some blankets. It will suffice."

"You'd think a Schnee would need more than what 'suffices'..." One of the other Faunus grumbled lowly.

"I am the captain first, a Schnee second." She snapped, head throbbing - Stars, she needed her meds. "A captain has a duty to her crew, not that pirates would understand anything of duty."

"...sure." The man shrugged, chuckling and waxing off one of the group that snarled and reached for his sword, "Saves us moving one of the beds, which was the plan."

"Ah." She blinked, "Well…"

"No, no." The Faunus chuckled, pulling her along, "Who are we to stop the captain from doing her duty?"

Heat creeping up her neck, Weiss just ducked her head and bit back her response. Instead of dwelling on any of that, she turned when Pyrrha groaned, held up between two of the Faunus. Scowling, she turned, "Be careful, you o- Oof!"

"You don't give orders, captain." The Faunus holding her by the shoulder snapped into her ear, turning her and shoving her away. "Now walk."

Alone in the barren room, Weiss could only really lay on her back and stare at the ceiling, head resting on the thin pillow and blanket one of the Faunus had brought her. After a while, she felt the ship shudder around her, along with that familiar tilt of the ship turning. It was almost comforting, by now, to feel it. Even now, with everything gone once more and what little she had left on the line, it was a comfort. Even if only just.

She was just about to nod off when a quiet voice groaned, "Weiss…"

"Pyrrha?" She blinked, sitting up and turning towards the wall between her room and the spare she was in.

"I can't hear you." The woman grunted, sounding… Pained. "Come to the vent."

"The vent…" Weiss stood and paced over to the vent in the corner, kneeling beside it and pressing her hand against its circular grating. "Is this better?"

"Yes." Pyrrha answered, sounding a bit better. Weiss heard shuffling, and something banged lightly against what sounded like wood, and the redhead went on. "Are you okay, Weiss? I barely remember them bringing me into your room."

"I don't understand why you're in my room…"

"So I do not have anything I know near me." Pyrrha offered quietly, "In my room, I could have tools, or weapons, hidden where they won't find. But you would not either. So, in swapping our rooms-"

"They disarm us further." Weiss hummed, "I see."

"You are so clever, Weiss…" Pyrrha sighed, "But you did not answer me."

"I am fine, Pyrrha..." She sighed, shaking her head and turning, resting against the wood beside the vent. It was nice to enjoy the heat, too - the Faunus must have turned it up ahead of the storm or, perhaps, it was simply easier to feel without a bed in the way. "You are the one who got stabbed, Pyrrha. Not me."

"I am fine."

"That was a touch too much blood for fine!"

"I am fine now, Weiss." Pyrrha chuckled, before it cut off in a grunt and a groan. Sighing, the woman went on lowly, enough Weiss had to strain to hear it through the vents, "Well, mostly fine, I suppose. The bleeding has long since stopped, and my Aura is working quickly. An upside of that bastard apparently being able to cut through it…"

"Is that what happened?" Weiss murmured, "Gods above, how did he get that kind of Semblance?"

"I do not know," Pyrrha sighed, "but I am calling it quite unfair. I am an excellent combatant, but… How can I match that?"

Weiss didn't have an answer, and hated that more than she could put to words. Instead of trying, she just said, "Luckily, we keep you for more than your skill at killing things."

"Oh what, Weiss?" Pyrrha scoffed ruefully, "You mean my legs?"

"I mean…" Weiss trailed off, thinking very suddenly about Pyrrha's legs and the warmth she remember on her lips. Heat creeping up her neck again, she stammered nervously, "T-They aren't… Bad legs, per se. B-But I was referring to your, um, company."

"...Weiss Schnee, are you trying to flirt right now?"

"N-No!" She squawked, then scowled and smoothed out her top. "I-I mean… Maybe? I don't know."

"Yeah, well… You are about as adept at flirting as you are at picking up when someone else is." Pyrrha chuckled lowly, sighing wearily and saying, "We need a way out of this, Weiss. I… Won't recover enough to fight them all in time. Certainly not enough to protect you and Ruby while doing so. All I can do in my condition is destroy this ship, and…"

"That solves shockingly little."

"Indeed." Pyrrha sighed, "So… We need a plan."

"I've been thinking about that…"

"And?"

"And…" Weiss smiled, "I may have an idea."

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Weiss sat up when the knock on the door echoed and shoved her pillow back to lean over the vent to hide it. Smoothing out her clothes, she stood as the dark-haired Faunus came in, dressed in a more comfortable looking set of overlapping black robes that cut off at mid-thigh. She had her heavy pistol, though. Resting on her hip, with her machete resting along the back of her waist. Weiss stood to meet her but the Faunus cocked her head and laid her hand on the hilt of her machete and, nodding, Weiss relaxed on the floor, palms up in a gesture of peace.

"You asked to see me." Belladonna growled, low in the back of her throat, as she stepped closer. Eyeing the food scattered across the floor and the broken dishes Weiss had stacked by the door, she added, "You were insistent on it, in fact."

"I-I was, yes…"

"Well," the woman grunted, "talk."

"Very well…" She sighed, taking a moment to compose herself as best she could sitting on the barren floor and looking up at her - which was not a trick Weiss missed her having played. Hedging her bets as best she could manage, she said, "Given what I have seen, things are… Less than unified among your ships' crews. Especially regarding Taurus, was it?"

"You're treading on poor decking…"

"You're taking us all in, to meet with your parents." Weiss pressed on, "I believe these two things are connected, but… I can't guess how. Not yet."

"What proof do you have that they are connected at all?" The Faunus asked, crossing her arms, "Presuming you are even correct on the former."

"I saw the former-"

"You saw one man acting out, who bowed to my orders in the end." She cut Weiss off, "That is hardly a display of deep-run disloyalty."

"I disagree." Weiss countered, adding as a purposeful after-thought. "Respectfully, of course."

"Oh, of course…"

She could hear the displeasure in the woman's tone, and read it in her body language, and both were warning Weiss she should tread carefully. If she pushed too hard, or said the wrong thing, the entire plan would come apart around her in an instant. And from there, she was a hostage at the very best, or dead or Reclaimed for the Kingdom at worst. Not mention Pyrrha and the sisters… But treading egg shells risked the same, if the Faunus didn't respect her enough to work with her.

So, she explained, "Taurus mentioned in passing being involved in… In the death of my family."

"That…"

"Was not something you wanted, was it?" Weiss pressed, smiling when the woman scowled deeply but didn't argue. "It was something he did without your knowledge, or your consent at least. Like his plans for me, no? Plans that involved Faunus that you had to wait for my fighters to handle before you intervened. Why is that, I wonder?"

"...Taurus has those loyal to him." She explained quietly, "Those in his strike teams get privileges my family don't approve of. More people are loyal to my family, but… I needed as many of those out of contending before I acted. And I needed proof he was acting on his own desires."

"And if my crew hadn't been able to beat them…?"

"I didn't need them all out of commission." The Faunus shrugged, "Only as many as could be managed. Even a few would do. Adam ruled by fear, and having less of his loyalists able to reinforce it was important, whether it was one less or ten."

"I see." It hadn't been a coup outright, then, but rather a smaller scale thing. That was… Good in the sense that it meant things were more stable for Weiss' ends, but bad in the sense that it meant the Faunus was less desperate. And therefore less prone to manipulating. "Regardless… You must have more in store for us."

"Must I?"

"If we've served your ends," Weiss argued, "why are we alive?"

"Because I'm not a barbarian?"

"Why are we here, then?" Weiss shifted her question with a shrug. "The gist is the same. You need us for something."

"What was I to do, make you walk the woods?" The woman scoffed, "That's a death sentence. More cruel than simply killing you."

"I didn't mean here, on the ship." Weiss smiled, "I meant here, talking in this room. Why did you come meet me? Why agree to talk at all? If we aren't worth anything to you… Why bother?"

"...Clever, aren't we?"

"I like to think so."

"Fine then." The woman sighed, "Menagerie has… Always been in relatively dire straits. Atlas doesn't like to hand out commissions to 'foreigners'."

"I'd heard the rumors…" While everyone born to Atlas' floating fleets was, technically, a citizen there were plenty who kept their distance. The Faunus were one group, with conflicts even Weiss knew of from even before Uplift. "I'd also heard that the so-called 'royal family' had their own network to handle such things…"

"One, don't call us that." The woman sighed, turning to flick the door a look, ears flicking for a silent moment at sounds Weiss couldn't hear before she turned back to her. "My mother and father do, yes. But I do not. And leadership amongst my people is earned. I need to prove I can do as they can."

"And this is where I come in…"

"Indeed." The woman nodded, kneeling to stare Weiss directly in the eyes. "I need to build my own fleet. And Humans are best for that. That is why you are alive and here, and why I came to speak to you. You already have a license and, when I present you to my mother, I intend it to be as my first smuggling crew."

"Assuming I agree, of course…"

"If you do not," she smiled, "I can still use the ship. My first cargo hauler, perhaps? Your crew forced to choose between an ignoble life of fishing in the northern waters, or returning to Atlas with nothing."

It was a threat, but one the woman clearly felt forced to make. She could read it in the way she held herself, leaning away with her head turned just the tiniest bit. Like she didn't want to really engage with this. Like she was just a bit uncomfortable with it all, but resigned to force herself to do it. Because it was needed. And expected of her. And her future hung on it.

Weiss could sympathise…

"I'm quite certain we can find a deal that will suit us both." Weiss smiled, gesturing at her room. "Shall we discuss this here, or… Shall you get us some chairs and a bit to eat while we talk?"

"Why?" Blake chuckled, "Are you hungry?"

"Well," Weiss turned to the mess the guard had made of her food when she'd demanded the Faunus come see her, "I did miss dinner…"

"Hmph." The woman snorted, standing and turning to leave. She hesitated for a moment, then frowned and chuckled, "I'll fetch us something, and we'll talk, Schnee."

"Weiss."

"Come again?"

"I am not my family." She raised her chin and stood, eyes locked on the other woman's amber. Offering her hand, she said, "My name is Weiss. And, for all that has happened, it is pleasant to meet you regardless."

"...Blake." The Faunus nodded after a moment, before she turned and left, leaving Weiss' hand hanging.

"Well." Weiss sighed, "That could have gone much worse…"

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Wedgekree :

That was, in fact, the easter egg. XD