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Chapter Text

Beacon Academy

It was a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon at Beacon Academy, the Huntsmen academy of the City of Vale and one of the most prestigious Huntsmen academies in Remnant.

As it was the weekend, the students and the staff were enjoying their day, making most of their time as possible. Especially after what had occurred a few days ago.

A couple of days ago, there had been reports of activity from the White Fang within the abandoned ruins of Mountain Glenn. Team RWBY, having prior experience with the White Fang despite their young ages (if only because they keep getting dragged into their activities), were sent to investigate. During the event, they discovered that the terrorist group and notorious criminal Roman Torchwick and planted explosives in the mountain and detonated them, unleashing the Grimm inside and leading to a small invasion of Vale.

Thankfully, the Grimm were defeated and Torchwick was captured, although a majority of the White Fang escaped during the chaos. Not only that, but the Council of Vale blamed Beacon’s Headmaster Ozpin for the lack of security, and so they shifted all security for the upcoming Vytal Festival to Atlasian General James Ironwood and his army, much to Ozpin’s protests that the festival should be postponed until they were certain another incident would not happen again.

Of course, with the Vytal Festival soon to occur, many prospective Hunters were all training hard for the tournament. At the same time, those responsible for the Breach were planning their next move.

And outside the veil of the universe, in the primordial gap that exists between all worlds, a watcher was preparing his theatre for his soon to be arriving guests.

“All right, everything is prepared. The projector? All set up. The audio player? Working properly. The seatings? All organised. The food and drink? Put out ready to serve,” the entity noted. “All that’s left now is to gather the guests.”

The figure then disappeared as he reappeared in the dorm of a certain group of Huntresses.

“Who are you?!” the blonde brawler Yang Xiao Long demanded, her normally lilac eyes turning crimson as she glared at the sudden guest.

“Me? I’m just a watcher, and you are all invited to my theatre,” the entity answered before he snapped his fingers, and the four girls disappeared in a flash.

The watcher turned and saw Zwei whimpering in the corner, so he decided to warp him to the theatre so he would not be alone.

He departed to Team JNPR’s dorm, startling the four. “Who are you?! Are you a god?!” the wild, orange-haired Nora Valkyrie demanded while her teammates just looked at her, bewildered at her question.

“No, but the difference is rather small,” the watcher answered. “Anyway, you have been invited to my theatre. And no, there isn’t a choice in the matter.” the entity snapped his fingers again and they disappeared.

He then appeared in the Headmaster’s Office, where Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch, and James Ironwood were discussing about the security to be put in place at the Vytal Festival.

When they saw their new arrival, they all stood up and got into offensive positions.

“And who might you be?” Ozpin asked cautiously.

“I am a watcher of the multiverse, and you have been invited to observe another world to learn more about yourselves,” the watcher answered in a cordial tone.

“And I suppose you won’t take no for an answer?” the Headmaster of Beacon guessed.

“You guessed correctly,” the entity responded as he snapped his fingers, and they disappeared. He then sighed. “I should speed this up, otherwise I’ll be at this all day.”

He then snapped his fingers and suddenly, people across Remnant disappeared in flashes of light.

At Beacon, second-year Team CFVY, Mistralian teams SSSN and CMNE, and Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck disappeared.

Within his prison aboard an Atlasian airship, Roman Torchwick disappeared.

In his house on the small island of Patch, Taiyang Xiao Long disappeared.

Within their hidden base, Adam Taurus disappeared.

At a bar in Mistral, Qrow Branwen disappeared.

From within her camp, Raven Branwen disappeared.

From their base, Sienna Khan and Ilia Amitola disappeared.

From their home in Menagerie, Ghira and Kali Belladonna disappeared.

In the city of Atlas, the Schnees, Penny Polendina, and the Ace-Ops disappeared.

And finally, in the dark castle of Evernight, Salem and her followers disappeared.

The Theatre

As everyone regained their faculties from the sudden teleportation, and due to volatile differences between them, arguments began to erupt.

“OZPIN!” Hazel Rainart roared as he caught sight of the man he hated with every fibre of his being.

“Schnees!” Adam Taurus hissed with cold fury at the presence of the ones who oppressed many of his kin.

"Blake!" Ghira and Kali cried at the sight of their daughter.

"Mom! Dad!" Blake shouted in shock at seeing her parents.

“Torchwick!” Ruby Rose growled at the thief, who merely smirked at the young girl.

"Little Red," Torchwick greeted.

“Nora!” Nora Valkyrie shouted, not wanting to be left out.

“Did you some hand in this, Ozpin?” Salem questioned as she gazed at her former lover, to which he responded, “I am not responsible for this, Salem.”

Thankfully, the watcher arrived and put a stop to the disaster that would have erupted. “SILENCE!” he roared, and everyone stopped and turned to look at him. “Thank you. Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nightout, and I am what is known as a watcher. My purpose is to observe the many worlds of the multiverse.”

“The multiverse is real!” Penny gasped. “My father had theorised the possibility of it but was never sure!”

Arthur Watts also looked surprised but intrigued as well.

“It is real, Ms. Polendina,” the watcher affirmed. “I have brought you all here to observe one such alternate world.”

“And why would you do that?” Winter questioned suspiciously.

“While I don’t deny part of it is for my curiosity to see your reactions,” Nightout admitted, “another reason is so that you can learn from what I show you so you can become better.” Winter gazed at him for a moment before looking at Ironwood. At his nodding gesture she relaxed, as did the Ace-Ops.

“Wait, but what about our friends and loved ones?! Won’t they panic once they notice we’re missing?!” a panicked Jaune questioned.

“Oh, I would not worry. Time does not flow in this place, and when you leave it will be right when you left it,” Nightout assured, making the audience sigh in relief.

“Now if there are any other questions, speak now.” When no one spoke up, the watcher nodded, “Very well, then we shall begin. Food and drinks will be provided, and breaks will occur after each viewing,” Nightout informed them. “Also, I will only say this once, but there is to be no fighting in the theatre, or you will be punished.” Everyone acknowledged the warning (even if some – Tyrian – didn’t like it).

As everyone settled down in their seats. The students were settled in the centre, with the teachers and other adults to the right, and the villains to the left.

“Now, let the show begin.”

The screen then lit up as the movie started.

Chapter Text

At first there is only pitch blackness and then smoke and embers begin to rise from below as silver text fades into existence, displaying the title.

“Pirates of the Menagerie: The Curse of the Black Pearl”

The title raised many different reactions from the audience.

“Pirates?” asked an annoyed Weiss. “We’re watching a band of lawless criminals?”

“I don’t know, Weiss. It sounds cool,” Ruby tried to look on the positive side.

“She’s right Weiss-cream, we should at least see if it’s worth it,” Yang agreed with her sister, earning her an annoyed look from Weiss at the nickname.

“It sounds awesome!” Nora said in elation.

“See, be more like Ruby and Nora,” Yang smirked.

“No thank you,” Weiss said flatly.

“So, this is set in Menagerie,” Blake muttered, her interest peaked. Her parents, Sienna, Ilia, Adam, and the other Faunus were intrigued as well.

It was daytime in the Menagerie Sea, though one could barely tell it was due to the grey, impenetrable wall of fog that surrounded the area, obscuring all in sight.

After a few moments of silence, a large naval ship emerged from the fog. A first-rate ship of the line, with one hundred guns that marked it as a fierce warship [1]. This was the HMS Dauntless, the pride of the Atlasian Royal Navy.

Ironwood analysed the Dauntless, looking impressed at its design, “The ship may be old-fashioned, but it’s very impressive.”

“This must be set a few centuries ago,” Oobleck noted, feeling exciting at witnessing history happening in front of his eyes. Peter chuckled at his colleague’s enthusiasm.

Jacques wasn’t so impressed. “I don’t see what’s so impressive. It’s just an old ship.”

His comment earned him some ire.

“That’s because you have respect for anyone except yourself,” Willow thought bitterly.

As the vessel draws closer, the faint sound of singing could be heard.

“Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate’s life for me. We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me ‘earties, Yo Ho!”

The Faunus were the first to hear it. “Is that singing?” Kali questioned as she tried to search the screen for the source.

“It is. What’s causing it, though?” Ghira agreed with his wife as he too looked.

“That voice, it sounds very familiar,” Winter realised.

The other Schnees as well as RWBY and JNPR thought it was familiar as well.

Standing on the forecastle of the Dauntless, near the bow railing, was a young girl in a light blue dress who looked about eleven years of age. She had white hair tied into a ponytail, and icy blue eyes.

Weiss blinked in surprise. “That’s me when I was younger.”

“Aww, look at the little Ice Princess,” Yang teased as many of the other females cooed at how adorable Weiss looked. Their reactions made the heiress blush in embarrassment.

The Schnees couldn’t help but gaze at the younger Weiss with soft smiles, even Jacques. It reminded them of years ago when things were better.

The villains were currently bored at this display, with the White Fang looking annoyed at having to see a Schnee on screen.

“We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot. Drink up me earties’, Yo Ho! Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate’s life for me,” the young Weiss Schnee sang as she gazed out at the fog-covered sea.

“We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack. Drink up-” Suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder, startling Weiss as she turned around with a gasp, her singing ceasing.

The hand belonged to a man wearing a sailor’s uniform, with dark raven hair and piercing red eyes. “Quiet, missy!” the man hissed as he looked around warily. “Cursed pirates sail these waters. You don’t want to bring them down on us, do ya?”

Those who recognised the man looked incredulously at the screen.

“Qrow is in the Atlasian Navy?” Winter asked in disbelief and dismay, both at the idea of Qrow being in the navy and for the mere idea of it.

Ironwood also had the same reaction as Winter. “I never thought I would ever see Qrow wear an Atlasian uniform.”

“Me neither,” Qrow admitted begrudgingly.

“At least you have a job here,” Taiyang pointed out.

Raven however snorted, “I highly doubt he’s even doing his job.”

Qrow just scowled at his sister. “I’ll have you know I can work.”

“Mr. Branwen, that will do!” a stern voice scolded the man, named Qrow Branwen, from behind.

The two turned to see a young man with brown hair and teal green eyes who was wearing the uniform of the Atlasian Royal Navy, his rank denoting him as a Lieutenant. Behind were two women and a boy who looked remarkably like Weiss. The older woman wore a fancy red dress, while the younger wore a blue dress like Weiss. The boy wore a blue waistcoat with white breeches.

“That’s me,” Clover noted.

“The uniform fits you really well,” Marrow commented.

“Eh, I’ll give it 7/10,” Coco rated her opinion.

Her teammates gave her flat looks. “Is that really what you’re focusing on?” Velvet asked flatly.

“What, I have to analyse their clothes to see if they work,” Coco argued, causing her team to sigh at their leader’s antics.

The other Schnees were focused on the other people present. “That’s us,” Whitley remarked. He then blinked when noticed something was off. “Where’s father?”

“You’re right, he’s not there,” Willow noted faintly as she gazed at her onscreen self with a sombre looked.

She reminded her so much of herself, back before she discovered the truth of her marriage.

“She was singing about pirates,” Qrow defended. “Bad luck to be singing about pirates with us mired in this unnatural fog. Mark my words.”

“Consider them marked,” Lieutenant Clover Ebi said dryly. “On your way,” he ordered.

“Aye, Lieutenant,” Qrow obliged as he walked off, but as he passed Clover he whispered, “It’s bad luck to have women aboard too… even miniature ones.” He then grabbed a flask on his person to take a quick swig from, ignoring the glare he was given from Winter Schnee at his comment.

Ruby’s head tilted in puzzlement. “Why would it be bad luck to have a woman on board a ship?”

“Besides sexism?” Blake asked dryly.

Oobleck answered the red-hooded girl’s question. “The answer to your question Ms. Rose is because back then, sailors believed that having a woman aboard a ship would distract them for their duties and anger the oceans, bringing about bad weather as punishment from the sea gods.”

“Huh, our ancestors must have been very superstitious back then,” Yang remarked.

“I think it’d be rather exciting to meet a pirate,” Weiss admitted.

Clover smiled at Weiss’ naivete as he walked forward. “Think again, Ms. Schnee. Vile and dissolute creatures, the lot of them. I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves – a short drop and a sudden stop,” he declared as he stared out towards the fog-covered horizon.

Weiss sneaked a glance at Qrow, who noticed she was looking and pretended to be hanging by using his necktie as a noose. Weiss gasped in fear at the sight. Winter noticed as she walked forward and turned her sister away from the sight, glaring at Qrow as she did so, who just smirked at her look.

“Really, Branwen? Are you trying to terrify my sister?” Winter mimicked her onscreen self’s actions.

“Yes, Qrow, did you really have to do that?” Taiyang agreed as he glanced at Qrow with a glare, knowing he would punch the man if he did that around his daughters.

“That’s not me. And besides, I think the Lieutenant made his intentions clear,” Qrow defended.

“Lieutenant Ebi, I appreciate your fervour, but I’m concerned about the effect this subject may have upon my daughter,” Governess Willow Schnee scolded the Lieutenant.

Clover bowed his head in apology, “My apologies, Governess Schnee.” He then walked off.

“Actually, I find it all quite fascinating,” Weiss spoke up.

Her mother sighed, “Yes. That’s what concerns me.”

Willow then looked at Weiss, “Weiss, we will be landing in Port Royal soon, and the beginning of our new lives. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we comport ourselves as befits our class and station?” she requested sternly.

“Yes, mother,” Weiss answered, chastised.

Weiss looked at the exchange sadly. “This reminds me of happier times.”

“Me too,” Winter murmured with a hint of sorrow.

Whitley heard his sisters’ words and frowned in slight jealousy. He had faint memories of when their mother had not indulged in alcohol and while he hid it well, he held a slight envy towards his sisters for having what he didn’t. A memory of a better time.

Willow as heard her daughters’ words and continued to look at the screen painfully with a twinge of regret.

Willow then smiled and turned to her eldest daughter. “Winter, keep an eye on Weiss for me?”

“Of course, mother,” Winter acknowledged.

Willow then walked away with Whitley as Weiss turned back around to look out over the bow railing. “I still think it would be exciting to meet a pirate,” she muttered to herself as Winter came towards her.

“Weiss, you know that mother is just concerned for your wellbeing,” Winter explained their mother’s reasons.

Weiss sighed in response, “I am aware, sister. I just wish she were not so coddling.” She then looked sad, “I know she’s concerned for me after what happened to father, but its suffocating.”

“What happened to me?” Jacques spoke up in concern.

The Schnees and the White Fang – both former and current – were also curious, though not because they liked him, but because they wondered if something terrible befell him.

Winter looked down as the memories of their father and what happened to him came to forefront of her mind.

A year ago, the patriarch of their family, Eirwyn Schnee, had gone out on a trip to one of the cities in Solitas. However, during the trip a terrible storm broke out and ravaged the area. The devastation killed a considerable number of people, among them their father.

“Wait, who’s Eirwyn. What happened to father?” Weiss was stunned at what was told.

The rest of her family felt the same.

“Ah, I should explain,” Nightout spoke up from his position in the projector room. Everyone turned to him. “In this universe, Jacques Gelé never married Willow Schnee, and she instead married a man named Eirwyn, who was the father of her children here.”

The audience looked at him in shock, particularly the Schnees, at the revelation.

The White Fang, while surprised, couldn’t help but feel satisfied at one of their greatest enemies being denied in such a manner, even if it were in another universe.

Afterwards, a solemn shadow of mourning fell upon the family and lingered for months. Eventually, Willow Schnee decided that the family needed a fresh start and decided to assume the position as Governess of one of the islands in the Menagerie Sea that was under the control of Atlas.

While Weiss understood her mother’s reasons, she still could not help but be annoyed by the coddling. Winter honestly felt the same, even if it was slightly less due to her almost being an adult. Even Whitley felt the same, although he tried to hide it to not upset their mother.

While still comprehending what she was told, Weiss just looked upset at what her other self’s thoughts. If it were anyone else, she would have felt the same, but she honestly wished her mother acted like that again, even if for a moment.

The rest of the audience couldn’t help but feel awkward, feeling like they were intruding on something.

As Weiss looked over at the mostly shrouded sea. She then noticed something strange. There was a parasol floating in the water. She stared at it curiously, wondering where it came from as it floated by. She tried to look towards where it came from and stared at what she saw.

In the middle of the sea there was a large piece of broken wood. And lying on top of the wreckage were two girls. One had dark hair with red tips at the end, while the other had long blonde hair. They also were not moving.

The eyes of Xiao Long-Rose family widened. The rest of _WB_ and JNPR were also taken aback.

“That’s us!” Ruby cried in alarm.

“Somebody rescue them!” Taiyang yelled angrily, trying to cover his worry.

“Winter!” Weiss cried out in shock. Winter headed to where Weiss was and started at the sight as well.

“Mother! Lieutenant Ebi!” Willow and Whitley, along with Lieutenant Ebi and the nearby crewmembers, turned to look towards Winter, who spoke and was gesturing to something in the water. “There are two girls in the water!”

Clover, Willow, Qrow, and the nearby crew looked over the side of the ship and saw them. “Man overboard!” Clover called out. “Man the ropes. Fetch a hook! Haul them aboard!”

The crew rushed to obey the Lieutenant’s orders. The crew used boathooks to snag the girls as they passed. Once caught, they were quickly hauled aboard and laid down on the deck. Weiss inched closer to gain a better look at them. Winter inched closer as well to keep close to her sister, while Whitley stuck close to their mother.

Clover knelt to inspect them. “They’re still breathing,” he reported.

Taiyang and Qrow both sighed in relief, as did Raven but no one noticed.

“What happened? Why were they just floating there?” Jaune questioned.

Qrow then looked out over the starboard railing to see if he could find where they came from and froze at what he saw. “By the Brothers…” he breathed out in shock.

The crewmembers turned in his direction and leaned over the railing to see what caught his attention. They all proceeded to stare as well.

The sea was no longer empty. In the distance there was the wreckage of a ship. The ship had been split in two and was half-sunk, while flotsam and the bodies of its crew littered the water’s surface. Roaring fires blazed across what remained of the ship’s hull while bellowing smoke emanated from the wreck.

A few members gasped at the burning shipwreck, while the rest looked taken aback. The villains suddenly were intrigued.

“What wonderful carnage,” Tyrian spoke with glee.

“Well, there’s your answer fearless leader,” Nora told her leader.

“They were both lucky to survive that,” Ren noted.

“How did that happen?” Pyrrha questioned in horror.

“What happened here?” Willow breathed out in horror.

Clover maintained a more controlled expression despite being stunned as well. “Most likely an explosion in the powder magazine,” he guessed. “Merchant vessels run heavily armed.”

“A lot of good it did them,” Qrow said grimly. “Everyone’s thinking it. I’m just saying it. Pirates.”

“Considering the title of this viewing, it probably was,” Glynda agreed.

“They will have to be on high alert, in case the pirates are still there,” Winter cautioned.

Neptune shivered. “This is why I hate water.”

“Oh, come on, Nep,” Sun sighed at his partner’s behaviour. “The water’s not going to hurt you.”

“Not yet it will,” Neptune hissed.

Willow scoffed, “There’s no proof of that. It was probably an accident.” Despite her words, it was clear the Governess didn’t entirely believe them.

She turned to Clover, “Lieutenant, as Governess these men were in my protection. If there is even the slightest chance one of them is still alive, we cannot abandon them.”

“She’s right, if there are survivors, they must be brought to safety,” Clover agreed.

“Of course not,” Clover agreed. He then began giving out orders to the rest of the crew. “Rouse the captain immediately. Heave to and take in sail. Launch the boats!”

As two of the crew grabbed the girls and carried them to the poop deck, Willow turned to her children. “Winter, Whitley, I want you to come with me to help prepare for their return. Weiss, I want you to accompany the girls. They’ll be in your charge. Take care of them.” The three nodded as they embarked on their mother’s requests.

As the eldest and youngest Schnee scions departed with their mother and a group of sailors took a longboat towards the ship’s wreckage in search for survivors, Weiss slowly approached the two girls who laid still on the poop deck. She reached over to gently brush a strand of the dark-haired girl’s hair off her forehead.

Suddenly, the girl awoke with a gasp, grabbing her wrist as she breathes heavily. While startled, Weiss attempts to calm her. “It’s okay. My name’s Weiss Schnee.”

It seems to work as the girl calms down a bit. “R-R-Ruby Rose.” She stuttered out. She turned to the side, saw the blonde girl, and looked relieved. “S-She’s my sister Yang Xiao Long.”

“I’m watching over both of you, Ruby.” Weiss assured.

“Aww, you two look so cute together,” Yang cooed while Winter nodded in agreement. Taiyang and Willow also agreed with the sentiment.

Ruby and Weiss also looked at the scene with warm smiles. “Looks like we’ll become friends much sooner here than we did,” Ruby commented to which Weiss nodded.

It was then that Yang realised something. "Wait, how come Uncle Qrow didn't know who we were?"

"That's because, much like with the Schnees, Qrow Branwen has no relation with you and your sister, as he and Raven Branwen are not related," Nightout explained.

Much like with the Schnees, the news also impacted the Xiao Long-Rose family, who were left reeling at this reveal. Raven herself was surprised by this information but did not express it.

Ruby looked relieved before she fainted and slumped back down into unconsciousness. Weiss then noticed something tucked underneath Ruby’s shirt collar. Curious, she pulled the shirt aside and took the item out to observe it better. It appeared to be a gold medallion with strange symbols around the outside and a skull etched into the centre.

The huntsmen-in-training looked at the medallion in concern. “That medallion looks very creepy,” Nora commented.

“Yeah, it looks almost… evil.” Jaune added.

“Where did they get it?” Blake narrowed her eyes at the medallion.

With the adults the reactions were different. While most of them gazed at the medallion with suspicious (the Huntsmen) or greedy looks (Jacques and the villains), two had a vastly different reaction.

Ozpin and Salem could feel something radiating from the medallion. It felt dark, foreboding, and dangerous. It was as if something very bad would befall whoever held it.

Weiss’ eyes widened in realisation. “You’re pirates.” She spoke quietly.

“We’re pirates?” Ruby and Yang gasped.

“We don’t know that for sure. They could have just acquired it,” Qrow argued, but he didn’t entirely believe that.

“Has she said anything?” Clover’s voice questioned from behind.

With a startled gasp, Weiss turned around to face Clover. “Her name is Ruby Rose. Her sister’s name is Yang Xiao Long. That’s all I found out.” Weiss answered half-truthfully while hiding the medallion behind her back.

Clover stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Take them below.” He ordered the two men next to him.

“Wait, he wouldn’t have us hanged… would he?” Ruby spoke in horror, remembering his words from earlier.

Yang froze at the possibility, while Qrow and Taiyang’s eyes widened in fear at the thought of Ruby and Yang meeting such a fate.

“Not me. But my counterpart might if he thought they were pirates,” Clover noted grimly. It may be the law, but he did not approve of inflicting capital punishment on a child, especially if it was execution.

As Ruby and Yang were taken below deck, Weiss moved to the stern of the ship and studied the medallion more closely. She then noticed something in the distance and looked towards it.

Out in the distance, partially obscured by the fog, was another ship. It had black wood and tattered black sails. She wasn’t able get a better look as it sailed away, silent as a ghost, into the fog. The only part visible was the main topmast…

…and attached to it was a black flag that bore a Jolly Roger. The main difference was that instead of crossbones, it was crossed cutlasses. The skull seemed to be almost grinning at her.

It was a pirate ship.

The audience stared at the ship with trepidation.

“Qrow was right. It was pirates,” Ironwood said, noting the Jolly Roger that was a noteworthy sign of a pirate ship.

“It must have taken advantage of the fog to destroy the ship and escape,” Vine deduced.

“Clever of them,” Harriet admitted begrudgingly.

Too frightened to move or scream, Weiss squeezed her eyes shut.

…And then snapped them open, her eyes wide with fear.

However, this was no longer the eleven-year-old Weiss aboard the Dauntless, but a nineteen-year-old Weiss lying on her side in bed.

“So, it was a flashback,” Ren noted.

“The event probably left a large impact on me,” Weiss said grimly. She understood all too well how that felt.

She remains motionless for a moment before grabbing a candle from her nightstand and approached her bureau drawer. She opened it and pulled out the items within before lifting a small space at the bottom to reveal the medallion.

It was covered in a layer of dust, but it had not lost its lustre – or its sense of menace. She gazes at before placing it around her neck while at her reflection in the mirror.

Ruby blinked. “She kept the medallion. Why?”

“Maybe as a keepsake from when she and you met,” Yang guessed with a smile.

Glynda noticed her boss’s narrowed gaze. “Is there something wrong, sir?”

“There’s something not right about that medallion. I don’t know why, but I get this feeling of unease from looking at it,” Ozpin answered. Glynda blinked before turning back to the screen with a suspicious look.

A knock suddenly came at the door, startling Weiss. “Weiss? Are you all right?” Willow asked from outside.

Weiss ran to her bed and put on a nightgown.

“Are you decent?” Willow asked.

“Yes, yes!” Weiss answered as she hastily tucked the medallion into the bodice of her nightgown.

“I kept the medallion a secret,” Weiss observed.

“It makes sense. After all, if anyone found it and that Ruby and Yang owned it…” Blake started to say before falling off, not wanting to imagine her leader and partner being hanged.

Willow and a pair of maids entered, one of them carrying a giftbox. “Still in bed at this hour?” Willow questioned as Weiss simply smiled.

One of the maids opened the curtains and window, making Weiss wince at the bright light before her eyes adjusted, revealing clear blue skies and a tropical landscape that surrounded the bucolic town of Port Royal. A harbour could be seen with multiple ships docked or just offshore with the ocean stretching out into the distance.

“That’s a beautiful town,” Jaune acknowledged.

“It reminds me a bit of Argus,” Pyrrha remarked.

“Where exactly is Port Royal located?” Ironwood inquired.

“It’s a port town located on an island in the Menagerie Sea. There are several tropical islands throughout the area, with the island Port Royal is located being one of the largest,” Nightout explained. “It used to belong to Vacuo, but Atlas took it over after a conflict between the two kingdoms [2].”

“Ah, makes sense,” Oobleck nodded. “It was common during that time period for nations to wage war over control over the sea.”

“I have a gift for you,” Willow told her as she opened the giftbox, revealing a gorgeous formal dress inside.

Weiss removed the dress and observed it. “Oh, it’s beautiful!” She praised.

“Isn’t it?” Willow agreed with a smile.

“Definitely a 10/10,” Coco approved.

“It is a pretty dress,” Weiss agreed before she frowned, remembering on the happier times she had with her mother before everything went wrong.

Willow was thinking the same as well.

“May I inquire as to the occasion?” Weiss questioned.

“Does a mother need an occasion to dote upon her daughter?” Willow questioned, laughing softly. She turned to the maids. “Go on,” she instructed, and Weiss and the maids walked off behind a divider.

As Weiss was being undressed behind the divider, Willow spoke again. “Actually, I hoped you might wear it for the ceremony today.”

“Ceremony?” Weiss inquired.

“Captain Ebi’s promotion ceremony,” Willow revealed. Weiss peaked her head around the divider. “I knew it!”

“Commodore Ebi, as he’s about to become,” Willow said.

“From Lieutenant to Commodore? That’s impressive to achieve in eight years,” Winter remarked, impressed.

“Congratulations, Specialist Ebi. Commodore is a high rank for someone so young,” Ironwood congratulated the teal-eyed man.

“I must be quite the naval officer,” Clover remarked as his teammates congratulated him.

The maids then began to cinch a corset around Weiss’ waist. “Fine gentleman, don’t you think? He fancies you; you know,” Willow revealed.

Clover nearly choked on his water. “He…I what?!” he managed to speak out in complete shock.

Weiss gasped at the reveal and blushed.

The rest of the family was surprised as well, ranging from surprised (Willow and Winter) to displeased (Jacques and Whitley).

The maids kept tightening the corset, eliciting a gasp of discomfort from Weiss.

“Weiss? How’s it coming?” Willow asked.

“It’s difficult to say,” Weiss replied in a strained tone.

“I’m told it’s the latest fashion in Atlas,” Willow informed her.

“Wello, women in Atlas must’ve learned not to breathe,” Weiss couldn’t resist the snarky remark.

Yang, Jaune, Nora, Qrow, Taiyang, and Sun laughed at Weiss’ sarcastic remark.

“Actually, corsets don’t cause pain. It can cause slight discomfort, but they will only hurt if they aren’t fastened properly,” Coco explained.

“Of course you would know that,” Fox sighed.

Klein Sieben, the family butler, entered the room. “Milady, you have a visitor,” he informed the Governess.

The Schnees smiled at the sight of Klein. Weiss in particular looked forward to seeing him again.

Downstairs, at the front entrance, was an eighteen-year-old Ruby Rose and a twenty-year-old Yang Xiao Long, who both wore rougher clothes that made them look out of place in the fancy mansion, but they still tried to look presentable. Ruby was holding a long black package.

Ruby studied a sconce on the wall and reached out to touch it, but a piece of it came off in her hand. The two girls frantically looked around for a place before Yang noticed a stand that held umbrellas and canes.

“Give it here,” she grabbed the broken piece from Ruby and hid it in the stand just as a servant carrying a tea tray came by.

“Good day,” Ruby bowed awkwardly. Yang smiled, “Well that was close.”

Snickers filled the theatre at the sisters’ antics.

“Do you have to break things in my house,” Weiss sighed, deciding that it would be a bad idea to have R_BY over at her home. Ruby and Yang would break something valuable, and Blake… best not to think about that.

“Sorry,” Ruby said sheepishly while Yang protested. “We’re not that bad.”

“Yes, you are, firecracker. I haven’t forgotten the amount of damage you caused when you first gained your semblance,” Qrow’s words took the wind out of Yang’s sails.

“Ah, Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao Long,” the two turned to see Willow and Klein come down the stairs. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Good day, ma’am. We have your order,” Ruby bowed as she placed the package on a table and opened it. Inside was a beautifully crafted sword and a scabbard.

Yang pulled the blade out and handed it to Willow, who took it and unsheathed it for examination.

“The blade is folded steel. That’s gold filigree laid into the handle.” Ruby claimed proudly.

“So, we’re blacksmiths in this universe?” Yang inquired curiously. While she could Ruby as a blacksmith, she couldn’t imagine herself as one.

“It does fit you given your obsession with weapons,” Weiss noted.

“As well as how you built Crescent Rose all by yourself,” Qrow finished proudly, as he was the one who taught her.

Ruby giggled and blushed at the praise.

“If I may?” Ruby requested as Willow handed her the sword. Ruby balanced it where the blade met the gourd. “Perfectly balanced. The tang is nearly the full width of the blade.” She explained.

Ruby then flipped the sword and presented it gracefully to the Governess.

Willow took the sword and placed it back into the scabbard. “Impressive. Very impressive. Commodore Ebi is going to be very pleased with this.” She praised as she handed the sword back to Ruby. “Do pass my compliments on to your Master?” She requested.

Yang scowled while Ruby’s smile faltered briefly. “I shall. A craftsman is always pleased to hear his work is appreciated,” she said as she placed the sword back into the box, while swiftly elbowing Yang to stop her from saying something.

Ruby blinked in confusion. “Huh? But I thought me and Yang made the sword?!” she said, outraged.

“It seems you did, kiddo,” Qrow answered, looking at the onscreen Ruby and Yang and how they reacted to Willow’s comment. “But it looks like your so-called master just got the credit,” he looked irritated as well. He knew Ruby was skilled when it came to building weapons, as was Yang when it came to maintaining her bike. The idea that their achievements weren’t acknowledged annoyed him. Taiyang felt the same as well, as did Raven to a certain extent.

“Oh, that’s bullshit!” Yang scoffed.

Willow grimaced slightly at the sisters’ anger.

Footsteps were heard as the three turned to look in the direction of the stairs and Ruby’s heart skipped a beat as she stared. Standing on the stairs were Weiss and Whitley, the former wearing her new dress and bonnet.

“Oh, you both look absolutely stunning,” Willow commented on her children’s appearance.

Many of the younger male audience members nodded in agreement; Neptune looked at the onscreen Weiss in awe, as did Jaune (much to a certain redhead’s jealousy).

Weiss smiled with pride and dignity, and the rest of her family were proud as well.

Adam meanwhile just snorted contemptuously. “Bloody Schnees. Lording your superiority over everyone.”

Unlike the others, Yang was more focused on Ruby and realised the expression on her face for what it meant. She briefly looked stunned but held back a squeal. A few others noticed, but they didn’t say anything due to being surprised.

Whitley bowed his head, “Thank you, mother.”

Weiss didn’t hear her mother as she descended the stairs, her attention focused on the sisters instead. “Ruby! Yang! It’s so good to see you.” Her hand momentarily went to her neck where the medallion was present. “I had a dream about you last night.”

The sisters bowed. “About us?” Ruby asked curiously.

“Weiss, is that entirely proper for you to…?” Willow asked her daughter disapprovingly.

Weiss however ignored her mother. “About the day we met, do you remember?”

“Mother, it has been a while since Weiss has seen them,” Whitley told their mother. “Allow her to have this moment.” Willow sighed but agreed.

“How could we forget, Ms. Schnee?” Ruby replied with a smile.

“Yeah, Ruby always seems ready to remind me of it,” Yang joked. Ruby sent her sister an annoyed look.

“Ruby, how many times must I ask you to call me Weiss?” Weiss asked with slight irritation.

“Yes, Rubes, how many times?” Yang asked with a slight smirk.

After giving her sister another look, Ruby answered politely, “At least once more, Ms. Schnee, as always.”

“Well said. Now there’s someone who understands propriety,” Willow said in approval. “Now, we really must be going,” Willow urged as she handed Weiss a parasol.

“Wow. Snobbish much?” Emerald mocked.

“Honestly, she isn’t as bad as other Atlasian nobles would have been,” Cinder told her. “They would have just insulted you and told you how they were your betters,” Cinder knew that very well from past experiences.

“It’s almost as if they had to work a day in their lives, and just others do it for them,” Mercury jabbed.

The Schnees just gave the three dirty looks while the Branwens and the White Fang nodded in agreement.

A couple of servants appeared and escorted the family outside to depart for the ceremony, one of them carrying the package containing the sword.

“Good day, Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao Long,” Weiss bid her friends farewell as she exited the Schnee manor.

Ruby and Yang walked out after them and watched as she entered a carriage. “Good day… Weiss,” she said softly as the doors were locked behind them, while Yang just sighed at Ruby’s demeanour, knowing what she was thinking.

Weiss looked back at the sisters as carriage moved, departing for Fort Charles.

Ruby and Weiss both gaped at the scene as the realisation hit them both. They exchanged glances, stammered for a moment, before averting their gazes as they both blushed. Everyone else was either surprised, moved or didn’t care.

“It’s so adorable!” Yang couldn’t restrain herself as she wrapped Ruby in a hug, causing Ruby to snap out of her daze and begin to struggle.

“I’m so happy for you both friend Ruby and friend Weiss!” Penny chirped happily.

“B-B-But there is nothing between us!” Weiss protested, sputtering all the while.

“Well… I didn’t see that occurring,” Winter admitted as she regained her composure.

“Ah, young love,” Ozpin smiled slightly at the scene. It reminded of a different time. A better time, before everything happened. He then mentally sighed at the path his thoughts had taken.

Jacques didn’t agree with the sentiment though. “Please, what could a lowly girl give Weiss that a noble cannot.”

As the carriage departed the Schnee estate, Willow turns to her daughter, “I do hope you demonstrate a bit more decorum in front of Commodore Ebi,” she informed her. “After all, it is only through his efforts that Port Royal has become at all civilised.”

“So, Clover managed to make the city safe,” Elm said, impressed at her leader’s actions.

“Correct. Before Clover came along, Port Royal was effectively a pirate city and served as the main base for pirates all around the world,” Nightout explained. “In fact, it was so bad some people called it ‘the Wickedest City in Remnant’ [3].”

“And he managed to clear the problem in a few years,” Ironwood was deeply impressed by Clover’s achievement.

“I must have worked rather diligently to have accomplished that,” Clover remarked.

“Yes, mother,” Weiss answered with a sigh, while she and Whitley glanced at each other with a commiserating look.

Neither of them wanted to go to this ceremony, where they would have to stand in the Menagerie sun for hours while watching men swerve swords around and talk to socialites about pointless drivel. The only solace is that they would be able to talk to Winter, as she had joined the Royal Navy a few years ago and they haven’t been able to talk as much as they used to, so at least that would be something to look forward to.

It was with this thought that the two siblings sat as the carriage travelled through the streets of Port Royal on its way to the fort, with the people watching it go past as they continued with their duties.

Chapter Text

In the waters not far off from the harbour of Port Royal, a lone figure standing atop the yard of a ship’s mast looked out at the bustling port town.

The figure was a female cat Faunus with amber yellow eyes and ebony black hair, strands of which were decorated with multi-coloured beads. She wore black boots and an overcoat, along with a tricorn hat over a red bandana. She was without a doubt a pirate and looked to be about her early thirties.

Blake blinked. “That’s me,” she identified; she noted that she bore a slight resemblance to her mother.

"Blake’s a pirate?” Yang questioned in surprise, though now that she thought more about it, it made some sense when Blake’s history with the White Fang factored in.

“She looks awesome!” Ruby said excitedly.

“Considering she is a pirate, awesome is not the word I would use,” Weiss told her partner uncertainly. “They are criminals.”

“Aww, look at her Ghira!” Kali gushed. “She looks like me at that age!”

Ghira smiled as well, putting aside his reservations of Blake being a pirate in this world.

“She must have a cool ship,” Nora assumed excitedly.

Captain Blake Belladonna glanced down at the deck of her ship and started. Quickly, she grabbed a rope and swung down, her boots hitting the deck with a splash, revealing that the deck was flooded with water. And that her “ship” was in truth a small fishing dory with a single mast.

Yang was the first to burst out into laughter, and the rest of the audience barring a few followed soon after.

“Oh yes. It is a mighty vessel,” Mercury chocked between his laughter.

“I mean, it’s better than nothing,” Emerald pointed out, laughing as well.

“Looks like Kitty isn’t doing too well,” Roman jabbed.

“Shut up, Torchwick,” Blake grumbled, but it didn’t have a lot of heat behind it as Blake looked disappointed at her onscreen herself. Her ship was very unimpressive, and even worse it was sinking as well.

Ghira and Kali tried to restrain their laughter for their daughter’s sake, but it was not to be amused. Even the White Fang had a challenging time restraining themselves from laughter.

Blake grabbed hold of a bucket and frantically started scooping water with it before tossing it out into the sea, desperately trying to avert her ship from sinking for as long as possible.

As Blake did this, she then stopped as she noticed something. It was an arched promontory that had a bar of wood inside the arch, and fastened to it were three hanging skeletons in pirates clothing. Hanging to the right of the skeletons was a sign that read ‘Pirates Ye Be Warned’.

Jaune grimaced at the morbid scene. “Isn’t that a bit much? I know they’re criminals but that seems excessive?”

“It is, but back during the Golden Age of Piracy punishments like this would have been normal. It would have served as a grave warning to anyone who had desired to turn to piracy that this would be their fate if they were caught,” Oobleck explained.

“Let’s just be grateful that this doesn’t happen anymore,” Pyrrha told Jaune, who nodded at his partner’s words.

Blake dropped the bucket as she stood up to stare at the morbid sight. She then proceeded to take off her hat and held it to her chest as a sign of respect before saluting her deceased brethren.

“Well at least she’s respectful,” Roman commented as he too saluted the dead men, with Neo following. When he saw the looks from the others, he defended. “What? We’re just giving respect to our fellow outlaws.”

Upon the seeing the reason, Emerald did the same, getting looks from Cinder and Mercury. “You know that I used to be thief,” she defended.

At Port Royal’s docks, numerous merchants and workers were busy loading cargo onto their ship. One of the workers paused as he noticed a bucket floating in the waters. The rest of the workers all paused as well as they all turned to look in bewilderment.

Blake Belladonna had just pulled into port, and just in time as her boat had completely sunk by now. Thankfully, she was standing atop the crow’s nest and holding onto the mast, which was now level to the dock, allowing her to casually step off onto it once she was within reach.

The absurd sight provoked another round of laughter while Blake just scowled, trying to hide her embarrassment at it all.

“I’ve got a sinking feeling you’ll be needing a new ship, Blake,” Yang joked, causing everyone to groan while Tai laughed at his daughter’s joke.

“Dammit, Yang,” Ruby facepalmed.

“Of all the traits you could have gotten from Tai, it had to be that,” Raven mentally sighed.

Blake proceeded to walk away from the abandoned and sinking ship, nonchalant about what had just happened, passing by the harbourmaster who held a book to record the names of those entering the harbour. The harbourmaster started as glanced back and forth between Blake and the boat.

“What? Huh?” the harbourmaster tried to say before finally gaining his words. “Hold up there you!” he called out as he walked towards Blake, who stopped and turned around to face him.

“It’s a shilling to tie up your boat at the dock,” he informed her as he and Blake both looked towards the boat, which had now completely sank barring the crow’s nest.

Nora giggled. “Is that necessary? It’s not going to be used again.”

“Even so, her boat is at the dock,” Ren pointed out with a smirk.

“What are shillings? I’ve never heard of them before,” Ruby asked in confusion.

“That’s because shillings were a form of currency used by Mantle before the Great War,” Weiss explained to her partner. “They were phased out after the war when lien became the universal currency; however, there are parts of Solitas that still use them.”

“Huh,” Ruby said in response.

“And I shall need to know your name,” the harbourmaster told her.

Blake paused for a moment before reaching into her pocket to pull out three shillings. “What do you say to three shillings, and we forget the name?” she proposed as she placed the coins onto the pages of the book.

The harbourmaster looked at her as he considered the offer. After a moment he spoke, “Welcome to Port Royal, Ms. Smith,” he told her, accepting the bribe as he closed the book.

Blake smiled and gave a small bow of gratitude. Once the harbourmaster walked off, Blake spotted his money pouch on a nearby desk that he accidentally left behind. She grabbed it, and after shaking to see if there were shillings inside, walked off.

“Idiot,” Qrow jabbed at the harbourmaster.

“If he was foolish enough to leave it out for anyone to take it, then he deserved to have it taken from him,” Raven said in disappointment.

“Of course you would say that,” Tai rolled his eyes at his ex-wife’s words.

Ghira and Kali frowned in disapproval at Blake’s actions.

At Fort Charles, a stony fortress that overlooked the harbour [1], Clover Ebi’s promotion ceremony was now underway.

A column of marines, clad in red uniforms, marched into the fort’s courtyard, bayonets hung over their shoulders. Music played as the two marines in the front played regimental drums to compliment, while the two behind them held the flags of Atlas.

On either side were the men and women of the Royal Navy, among them were several other recognisable figures. Near the front were the nobility, to which both Weiss and Whitley could be seen among them. And standing on the steps was Governess Willow Schnee, with several other prominent figures beside her. To her left was a man who held the box containing the sword forged for the man this ceremony was dedicated to.

Coco whistled in approval. “They may be old fashioned, but those uniforms work well on them. Much better than what Atlas’ army wears now.”

Yatsuhashi sighed. “Coco, must you do this?”

“Don’t bother arguing, Yatsu, you’ll be wasting your time,” Velvet told him.

Winter and the Ace-Ops were more focused on people among the Navy. “We’re among the navy,” Harriet noticed.

“That does make sense,” Vine noted.

“I don’t see you among them,” Tai noted to Qrow, who frowned as well when he couldn’t see his counterpart.

“Halt!” the man leading the formation called as the marines stopped in place.

“Right about face!” The marines obeyed and turned, now facing each other.

“Present arms!” The marines obeyed again and held out their muskets in a ceremonial pose. Clover Ebi, clad in the uniform befitting his new rank, entered the courtyard, walking between the two columns of marines towards Willow.

“You definitely wear that uniform better than we do, Clover,” Marrow complimented his leader.

“Except you look funny with that wig,” Elm snickered.

Clover looked at the wigs with distaste. “I always thought those wigs were ludicrous. Why did men wear them back them?”

It was Penny who spoke. “According to my research, during colonial times they were worn by the nobility as a sign of their wealth and knowledge.”

“It’s true, wigs were seen as very fashionable back then,” Ozpin admitted, knowing from first-hand experience. “They were initially used to cover hair loss caused by disease, but they didn’t become commonly used until a Valean king began to use one to cover his hair, and after that a Mantle king started to use them as well [2].”

Qrow blinked. “That’s something,” he said flatly.

With graceful precision, Willow opened the box held out for her and removed the sword from within. She presented the sword to Clover, who accepted it as he pulled the sword out of its scabbard. He then proceeded to execute a flourishing salute to Willow, then to the officer, and finally to the assembled audience.

While the audience all watched with rapt attention, Weiss herself was busy fanning herself with a strained look on her face.

“The sooner I get out of that corset, the better,” Weiss looked concerned for her counterpart.

“You look like you’re going to faint,” Winter noticed in concern as well.

Not far away from the fort, Blake observed a ship resting at a dock that held a low presence of marines. The ship was a brig with two square rigged masts [3]. This ship was the HMS Interceptor, and while it was not as powerful as the Dauntless, it was much faster than it.

Looking contemplatively at the ship for a moment, Blake ventured forward towards it.

“What is Blake planning?” Ilia wondered.

“Based on how she was looking at the ship, she must be planning on stealing it,” Penny deduced.

Ghira and Kali again frowned.

Blake descended the stairs towards the ship, passing by two marines that had been stationed to guard the dock. While they initially were just laxing, once they spotted Blake that immediately got back up and rushed to block her path.

“This dock is off limits to civilians,” one of the marines, Dudley, warned her.

“I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t know. If I see one, I shall inform you immediately,” Blake assured them as she attempted to walk past, but the two moved to block her.

“Wait, who are they supposed to be?” Jaune asked in confusion.

“Oh, I recognise them,” Neptune identified the two. “They’re a pair of huntsmen that graduated from Haven. They were recently hired to guard the Argus Limited from the Grimm.”

“Ah, yeah,” Sun recalled them. He then chuckled. “They were both idiots.”

“Honestly, how they managed to graduate is beyond me,” Mercury whispered to Emerald, who nodded in agreement.

Blake looked briefly annoyed before deciding to try another method. “Apparently there’s some sort of high toned and fancy to-do up at the fort, eh?” Blake questioned, causing the other marine, Dee, to briefly gaze at the fort before looking back. “How could it be that two upstanding gentleman such as yourselves did not merit an invitation?” she inquired.

“Someone has to make sure this dock stays off limits to civilians,” Dudley explained.

“It’s a fine goal to be sure, but it seems to me that a-” Blake moved towards the left, causing the marines to move in her direction, “a ship like that makes this here a bit superfluous, really,” Blake pointed out as she gestured towards the Dauntless and then to the Interceptor.

“Oh, the Dauntless is the power in these waters, true enough,” Dudley agreed. “But there’s no ship as can match the Interceptor in speed,” he said with pride.

Blake put her finger to her mouth before speaking. “I’ve heard of one. Supposed to be very fast – nigh uncatchable… the Black Pearl,” Blake told them.

“The Black Pearl? That’s the same name from the title,” Penny recalled.

“Maybe we’ll see it,” Ruby proposed.

“I have the feeling we already have seen it,” Ozpin mused internally.

Dee laughed at Blake’s claim. “Well, there’s no real ship as can match the Interceptor,” he remarked.

Dudley paused to stare at his partner. “The Black Pearl is a real ship,” he told him.

“No, no it’s not,” Dee denied.

“Yes, it is, I’ve seen it,” Dudley told him.

“You’ve seen it?” Dee asked sceptically.

“Yes.”

“You haven’t seen it,” Dee scoffed.

“Yes, I have,” Dudley insisted.

Blake rolled her eyes at the two’s argument, seeing how they have forgotten about her completely.

“You’ve seen a ship with black sails, that’s crewed by the damned, and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out?” Dee questioned Dudley incredulously while dramatically speaking about the dreaded ship.

The audience listened to Dee’s narration about the Black Pearl and felt a sense of unease at his words.

“Sounds like one hell of a ship,” Yang tried to lighten the mood.

“Wait, the title was “The Curse of the Black Pearl”,” Jaune recalled. “And didn’t that ship Weiss saw have black sails?” He sounded nervous at that part.

“Yes, it was,” Ren realised.

“So… that ship is a cursed pirate ship,” Ruby guessed uneasily.

Jacques scoffed at Ruby’s answer. “There’s no such thing as cursed ships, girl.”

Ruby’s family just scowled at the man. “Back off, jackass.” Qrow growled at the man.

Jacques glared at the man. “Do you not realise what I can do to you?”

“Oh, I do know. But hearing your voice makes me want to shoot myself,” Qrow mocked, angering the CEO, and making him mentally curse the drunk huntsman.

Ruby smiled at her uncle while Tai and Yang cheered Qrow on and Raven had a subtle smirk. The White Fang just snickered at Jacques’ indignation while the Schnees were slightly amused at Qrow’s jabs. Willow specifically looked at Qrow with a peculiar look. Weiss was grateful for Qrow defending her partner from her father.

Dudley paused before he answered. “No.”

“No,” Dee repeated as he looked at Blake, who simply smiled back at him.

“But I have seen a ship with black sails,” Dudley admitted.

Dee turned back to Dudley. “Oh, and no ship that’s not crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out could possibly have black sails. Therefore, couldn’t possibly be any other than the Black Pearl. Is that what you’re saying?” Dee questioned.

Blake decided to just slip away while the two inept marines continued to bicker.

Many of the more immature audience members laughed while the more mature ones were unimpressed.

“They’re bumbling dolts,” Weiss pronounced flatly while trying to smother her own giggles.

Dudley paused before nodding with a smile. “No.”

Dee smiled. “Like I said, there’s no real ship as can match the Intercept-” Dee began to say, only for him and Dudley to realise that Blake was no longer there.

They frantically looked around before spotting Blake at the helm of the Interceptor, touching the wheel.

“Hey!” Blake stopped as she looked at the marines rushing aboard. “You! Get away from there!” Dudley shouted as he and Dee ran towards her.

“You don’t have permission to be aboard there, mate,” Dee informed her as he and Dudley pointed their muskets at her.

“And now they notice,” Glynda muttered.

“It is accurate to how they really are,” Scarlet snickered.

“I would never allow those two to guard a simple dingy, never mind an important military vessel,” Ironwood said bluntly, wondering how those two were put in charge of guarding the Argus Limited.

“I’m sorry, it’s just – it’s such a pretty boat… ship,” Blake apologised, correcting herself at her mistake.

“What’s your name?” Dudley demanded.

“Smith. Or Smithy if you like,” Blake lied, giving them the false name the harbourmaster gave her.

“What’s your purpose in Port Royal, Ms. Smith?” Dee interrogated. “Yeah, and no lies,” Dudley added on; the two trying and failing to be intimidating.

“Alright then, I confess,” Blake admitted as she let go of the wheel and walked the marines, who backed up slowly while still aiming their muskets at her. “It is my intention to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage, plunder, and otherwise pilfer my weaselly black guts out.” Blake proclaimed.

“Well, at least she’s honest,” Qrow remarked.

“Unless she’s messing with them,” Raven argued, making Qrow reluctantly agree with her.

“I’m still not happy that she’s doing this,” Ghira grumbled.

Kali patted his arm. “Ghira, I’m not happy either, but maybe she’s not as bad as it seems,” she tried to reassure him.

“I said no lies!” Dudley snapped, believing she had lied.

“I think she’s telling the truth,” Dee told him.

“If she were telling the truth, she wouldn’t have told us,” Dudley argued.

“Unless, of course, she knew you wouldn’t believe the truth even if she told it to you,” Blake pointed out.

Dudley had an enlightened look before he and Dee exchanged glances, considering Blake’s point.

Back at the ceremony, the promotion itself had ended and now the guests were chatting amongst themselves. Musicians were playing serene music with violins while the formally dressed nobles talked with one another about various topics of interest.

While this was going on, Weiss just felt more flustered than she had been earlier and just wished for the day to be over with already. She and Whitley had reunited with Winter and talked about has been going since they last met, but now she was just standing close to her mother. Several people had approached her and while she engaged in small talk with them, she ensured that the conversations ended quickly, not wanting to speak to these people who only wanted to cosy up to her just for being a daughter of the Governess of Port Royal.

Weiss sighed at her counterpart’s thoughts. That appeared to remain the same between them. She had lost count of the number of times she had talked with strangers at the event’s her father hosted, who pretended to be cordial but only wanted to just get close to the Schnee family.

She heard someone approaching and turned around with a barely restrained sigh of exasperation, only to see that it was the newly promoted Commodore Ebi.

“May I have a moment?” Clover requested, and Weiss could tell he looked strangely nervous about something, which she had seen before from the normally composed man.

However, Weiss decided to comply with the request. She and Clover headed towards the battlements that overlooked the bay. As they reached their destination Weiss was struggling even more to steady herself and fanned herself at a much manic pace than before.

“She looks even worse than before,” Ruby looked concerned for her partner’s counterpart.

“She really needs to get that corset off before something goes wrong,” Penny claimed.

“Uh, you look lovely, Weiss,” Clover complemented awkwardly.

She looked at him with a strained smile as she quickly returned to fanning herself, now holding her chest as if she were in pain.

Clover mistook her expression as being displeased at him and hastily spoke. “I, uh, apologise if I seem forward but I… must speak my mind,” he told her, even more awkward than before.

He turned to look towards the seas, trying to gain the confidence needed to continue this conversation. After regaining his courage, he continued. “This promotion throws inti sharp relief that which I have… not yet achieved.” He turned back to Weiss. “A marriage to a fine woman.”

Weiss spat out her water, startling those who knew her at her lack of etiquette.

Weiss’s head snapped to Clover with a surprised look.

“You have become a fine woman, Weiss,” he complemented her.

“Is he asking me to marry him?!” Weiss asked in disbelief.

“He… I…” Clover stuttered, just as awkward as his counterpart.

“Isn’t that creepy?” Velvet asked. “I mean, he looks like he’s a decade older than her.”

“Actually, Miss Scarlatina, marriages between a man much older than his wife were rather common back in those days,” Ozpin informed her. “Of course, marriage laws have changed greatly since then.”

“Still though, it is rather creepy,” Coco shuddered at the thought of marrying a man much older than her.

Weiss suddenly began to breathe heavily. “I can’t breathe!” Weiss chocked out.

Clover turned his back again. “Yes, I’m… I’m a bit nervous myself,” he admitted, not realising what Weiss was referring to.

At that moment, the strain Weiss was under became too much as she fainted. She fell forward and plummeted over the edge of the battlements, falling into the rocky waters below.

Gasps filled the theatre, with the loudest emanating from the Schnees and Team R_BY.

“Well, she sure fell for him,” Yang joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Ruby punched her sister in the arm. “That’s not funny, Yang!” she yelled. Yang grimaced. “Yeah, even I will admit that was in poor taste.”

Back on the Interceptor, Blake was regaling Dee and Dudley about one of her past exploits, the two marines holding their muskets in a passive manner as they listened intently to Blake’s story.

“And then they made me their chief,” Blake told her invested audience.

As Blake finished, Weiss’s body hit the water with a loud splash, the sound of which causing the trio to look towards the source.

Penny blinked. “Who made Blake their chief?” she inquired, knowing they missed a lot to lead up to that claim.

“Never mind that. Weiss is in danger,” Winter brushed the question aside, more focused on her sister’s safety.

“At least she missed the rocks,” Whitley sighed in relief.

Adam was disappointed to not have seen that outcome happen.

Clover heard the sound as well as he turned back around to face Weiss, only to find her gone. “Weiss?” he spoke in confusion before looking down to the see the splash of water that erupted from where she landed.

“Oh, now you notice?!” Weiss demanded while Clover just shrugged awkwardly.

Clover immediately realised what had happened and yelled. “Weiss!”

“Oh, Oum!” Clover prepared to take his coat to jump down after he, however the stationed guards had seen Weiss fall as well and alerted the men.

Harriet rushed over and grabbed hold of Clover’s arm. “The rocks! Sir, it’s a miracle she missed them,” she cautioned.

Clover knew she was right. Weiss may have missed them, but that did not mean he would be as lucky. He frantically ran towards the courtyard to give orders to the men to rescue the Schnee daughter.

Blake, Dee, and Dudley watched from the Interceptor as Weiss slowly sank to the bottom of the bay.

“Will you be saving her then?” she asked Dee.

“I can’t swim,” Dee admitted awkwardly.

Blake then looked at Dudley, whose expression indicated that he couldn’t swim as well.

“Seriously?” Glynda asked incredulously. “What kind of sailor can’t swim?!”

“Actually, Glynda, that is historically accurate,” Bart told her, drawing her attention as well as many others. “Back then, many doctors advised against swimming, as they believed that water immersion would disrupt the body’s humours, and lead to the development of diseases, which were very prominent at the time [4].”

“Pride of the King’s Navy, you are,” Blake drawled as she took off her hat, sword, coat, and flintlock and handed them to the marines. “Do not loose these,” she warned before proceeding to dive into the bay.

Meanwhile, Weiss’s unconscious form continued to sink to the seafloor. As she sank, the medallion emerged from where she tucked it.

Suddenly, a strange pulse emanated from the medallion that rippled throughout the waters and continued off into the horizon.

The audience started at the strange occurrence.

The only witnesses to the strange ripple were Dee and Dudley, who observed it before exchanging stupefied looks. “What was that?” Dudley asked Dee, who just shrugged.

“Yeah, what was that?” Nora repeated.

“Maybe the medallion is magical,” Ren theorised.

“Magic isn’t real though,” Weiss argued but she wasn’t fully sure of her claim.

Ozpin and Salem stared at the sight. They could tell there was some sort of magic behind the act; they just weren’t sure what.

A strong breeze blew across the area, causing Dudley and Dee to hold onto their hats to prevent them from blowing off. They heard a swaying sound above them and saw the flag of the Interceptor flipping over due to the intense winds.

Across all of Port Royal, from the workers at the harbour, to the citizens of the town, to the guests at the fort, to even the hanging skeletons at the promontory, everyone felt the sudden increase in the wind’s strength as everything swayed in the powerful gusts.

“Whatever it was, it’s caused the wind to pick up,” Vine noted.

“Something tells me that something really bad is going to happen,” Qrow muttered. If there was one benefit his damn semblance had given, it was developing a sixth sense to disasters in the making.

And while this change was going on, Weiss’s body had finally hit the floor of the bay. Thankfully, Blake had just arrived and grabbed hold of the unconscious girl and made a break for the surface.

However, they didn’t stay up for the long as the water-logged weight of Weiss’s dress kept weighing them down. Thinking quickly, Blake removed the dress from Weiss, leaving her in her undergarments before now much easier to carry, and successfully breached the surface of the water.

Chapter Text

As Blake was rescuing Weiss, the weather had become even more dreadful as dark grey clouds began to form in the skies as an eerie fog starts to gather out beyond the island.

All the while, Clover and a squadron of marines rushed towards the dock in the hopes of saving Weiss before it was too late.

At the docks, Blake, hauling Weiss over her shoulder, had breached the water’s surface. Dee and Dudley moved towards them and helped bring Weiss onto the dock.

“Ooh, I got her,” Dee said as he laid her down on the decking. He quickly checked her and was alarmed. “She’s not breathing!” he yelled.

“Move!” Blake demanded as she knelt beside her. She pulled out a knife and used it to cut open the corset so she could tear it off. Upon it being removed, Weiss woke up with a gasp, coughing out water as she regained her breath.

Many of the males looked away. “Blake!” Weiss cried in embarrassment.

“I did it to save your life!” Blake defended her onscreen self’s actions.

“Suuure, you did,” Yang teased, causing the two to glare at the blond brawler.

“Still, she could have been more careful,” Coco grumbled. “That dress was magnificent, and she ruined it!” she complained.

Her teammates looked at her flatly. “Is that what you’re focusing on? What about the fact that Weiss could have drowned?” Velvet asked flatly.

“She was fine, Bun-Bun,” Coco waved off the concerns.

Blake shoved the torn corset into Dudley’s hand as he awkwardly held onto it.

“I never would have thought of that,” Dee admitted. Blake looked at him. “Clearly you’ve never been to Kuchinashi,” she dryly remarked.

She looked back to Weiss and noticed the medallion around her neck. Blake reached out to grab before holding it in front of her with both hands, looking at it with a surprised look.

“Where did you get that?” Blake asked in surprise and a small bit of alarm.

“She seems to recognise the medallion,” Ozpin observed.

As she observed the medallion, the marines had arrived at their destination.

Clover immediately drew his sword and pointed it straight at Blake, causing Dee and Dudley to back up as Blake slowly stood up, Clover’s sword and the bayonets of the soldiers’ muskets aimed at her all the while.

Whitley went over to Weiss and pulled her to her feet, while she hastily stuffed the medallion down the neckline of her undergarments before anyone could notice its presence.

Willow, who had accompanied the soldiers along with Winter and Whitley, showed up and helped Weiss to her feet. “Weiss. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Weiss answered.

“She’s fine, mother,” Whitley assured their mother.

Once Willow was assured that her daughter was fine, she then glanced over and saw the torn corset in Dudley’s arms and glared at him. Dudley hurriedly dropped the garment and pointed at Blake as the one responsible, making Blake look at him.

Willow turned her glare to Blake. “Shoot her!” she hissed as she draped a blanket over Weiss.

“What?!” Blake, as well as her parents and teammates (and Ilia), yelled in outrage.

“She just saved your daughter’s life!” Yang shouted. Willow winced.

“In her defence, it does not look that way from an outside perspective,” Penny noted. To an outside observer, it would appear as if Blake had sexually assaulted Weiss.

“Mother!” Weiss snapped as Willow looked at her in confusion. “Commodore, do you really intend to kill my rescuer?” Weiss demanded.

Clover looked between Weiss and Blake briefly before sheathing his sword, while the marines lowered their weapons. “I believe thanks are in order,” he extended his hand out to Blake in offering. The cat Faunus looked cautious for a moment before extending her hand out as well. Once the hands were in reach, Clover grabbed hold of her wrist and rolled up the sleave, revealing a “P” branded onto her forearm.

“Had a brush with the East Anima Trading Company, did we pirate?” Clover asked coolly.

Willow glared at Blake again. “Hang her!” she demanded. Blake looked at her.

“Mother! How could you?” Weiss shouted at her mother’s counterpart.

“She’s a Schnee. Of course she would have a Faunus executed,” Adam remarked snidely, speaking up for the first time since arriving.

The Belladonnas, Ilia, and Sienna sighed at Adam’s remark. “It was only a matter of time before Adam’s comments started,” Sienna though. “I’m surprised it took this long.”

Willow herself flinched, while Weiss and Winter scowled at the bull and Whitley shifted uncomfortably. Jacques had no reaction to the comment whatsoever.

“Keep your guns on her, men. Bree, fetch some irons,” Clover commanded as the marines aimed their muskets back at Blake while Harriet went to get irons.

Clover then noticed something else as he rolled the sleave up further, revealing it to be a tattoo of a plant; belladonna if he was not mistaken.

It was then that Clover realised who this was. “Well, well… Blake Belladonna, isn’t it?” he identified as he dropped her arm.

The Schnee siblings shared a quick look of surprise at the name.

“Blake Belladonna?” Weiss whispered.

“So, Clover’s heard about Blake,” Marrow noted.

“As have the Schnees, if their reaction is anything to go by,” Vine added.

“She must be a famous pirate then,” Qrow commented as he took a swipe from his flask.

“Infamous would be more accurate,” Glynda corrected.

None of them could believe that it was the Blake Belladonna standing before them. Belladonna had been one of the pirates their father had shared stories of with them. When Weiss was younger and more naïve, she had claimed to have wanted to meet her. Now that she has, Winter knew she wasn’t as elated as her younger self would have been.

…At least, she hoped she wasn’t elated.

“Wait, our father told our counterparts about her,” Weiss spoke in surprise.

“And it seems Weiss was fascinated by her,” Winter continued, concerned.

“Maybe, she has a-” Yang started before Weiss cut her off.

“Xiao Long, if you finish that sentence, I will shave that excess fat from your chest,” Weiss threatened coolly. Yang shivered at the threat and fell quiet.

“Captain Blake Belladonna, if you please sir,” she corrected.

Clover looked around in amusement. “Well, I don’t see your ship… Captain,” Clover said mockingly.

“I’m in the market as it were,” Blake explained the absence.

Dee spoke up. “She said she’s come to commandeer one.”

“I told you she was telling the truth,” Dudley said triumphantly. He then grabbed hold of Blake’s effects and presented them to Clover. “These are hers, sir.”

Clover inspected Blake’s effects, starting with the flintlock. “No additional shots, nor powder,” He observed. He then grabbed the compass and flipped it open, noticing how it was pointing in same random direction. “A compass that doesn’t point north,” he noted. He then unsheathed the sword. “And I half-expected it to be made of wood,” he admitted. He then sheathed the sword before looking back at Blake and summarised what he had observed. “So, you have a pistol with only one shot, a compass that doesn’t work, and no ship. You are without a doubt the worst pirate I have ever heard of.”

“She’s not very well equipped, is she?” Jaune noted.

“Was the shoddy boat I arrived on not enough of an indicator?” Blake snarked, eliciting snickers from some of the others and flush from Jaune.

“Ah, but you have heard of me,” Blake pointed out with a smirk.

Clover just frowned before grabbed Blake and pulling her along as Harriet returned with the irons.

Weiss rushed after them, her blanket falling off as her family following in pursuit. “Weiss, what are you doing?” Winter hissed.

“Commodore, I really must protest,” Weiss attempted to say, uncaringly in her undergarments, to her family’s disapproval.

“She could at least keep the blanket on,” Whitley let out as he looked away to avoid seeing his sister in such a state.

“Carefully, Lieutenant,” Clover told Harriet as she placed the irons onto Blake.

“Pirate or not this woman saved my life,” Weiss argued.

“One good deed is not enough to redeem one of a lifetime of wickedness,” Clover told her, respectfully ignoring the fact she was so improperly covered.

“Though it seems enough to condemn them,” Blake noted.

“Indeed,” Clover said bluntly.

“That’s really harsh,” Ruby complained.

“Unfortunately, Ruby, he’s right,” Qrow sighed. “She may have done a good deed, but it doesn’t change that she’s a pirate.”

Blake shifted uncomfortably while looking down at the floor. She couldn’t help but be reminded of her past with the White Fang.

After slapping irons onto the pirate, Harriet moved away from Blake.

“Finally,” Blake said as without warning, she wrapped her irons around Weiss’s neck, eliciting a gasp from her as Blake held her in front of her as a shield.

Alarmed, the crowed surged forward as the marines aimed their muskets at Blake. “No! No, don’t shoot!” Willow shouted in panic.

“I knew you’d warm up to me,” Blake smirked at Weiss.

The Schnees became alarmed. “What the hell, Blake?!” Weiss exclaimed in outrage.

“That’s not me,” Blake defended. “I’m not justifying my counterpart’s actions… but it seems to be the only way I can escape.”

“What did you expect? She’s still a pirate,” Harriet pointed out.

“Commodore Ebi, my effects, please, and my hat,” Blake demanded, quickly adding the last part.

Clover hesitated while Willow and Whitley shot him indignant looks for not making a move. Winter also looked at him as well.

“Why is he hesitating? Forget about letting her escape! Save my daughter!” Willow shouted, startling the others; the Schnees in particular.

The White Fang meanwhile was just enjoying the daughter of their greatest enemy in this position.

“Commodore!” Blake warned, pulling the chains slightly tighter as a threat.

Clover scowled and grabbed Blake’s belongings from Dee. Everyone watched the scene carefully, very aware that one wrong move could cause Weiss to lose her life.

“Weiss. It is Weiss, isn’t it?” Blake asked for clarification.

“It’s Ms. Schnee,” Weiss answered with a growl. She was reluctantly starting to see why her mother disliked pirates so much.

“Ms. Schnee, if you’d be so kind,” Blake inquired as Clover handed the effects over. “Come, come, dear. We don’t have all day.”

Blake took the pistol from Clover and turned Weiss around, so they were in an inappropriately close embrace, pointing the pistol at her head all the while.

As one, Willow and Whitley forced themselves to look away.

“Now if you’d be very kind,” she requested.

Weiss angrily strapped on Blake’s sword and put her hat on. “Easy on the goods, darling,” Blake advised as Weiss shoved her compass onto her belt.

“You seem to be getting a little handsy aren’t you, Weiss?” Yang teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

“What did I say earlier, Yang?” Weiss hissed out, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Ilia couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

“You’re despicable,” Weiss seethed at the woman she had once been excited to see.

“Sticks and stones, love,” Blake brushed off the comment. “I saved your life, you save my, we’re square.”

Blake spun Weiss around to face the group, still holding the pistol at her. Slowly, she began to walk them backwards, with the soldiers and Schnees following carefully.

“Gentlemen, miladies,” Blake began. “You will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Blake Belladonna!” she declared proudly.

With her words spoke, Blake pulled the chains off Weiss, and shoved her directly at Whitley, the force knocking both siblings to the ground. Blake grabbed a nearby rope connected to a crane and kicked a belaying pin. The action caused the cannon attached to the other end of the rope to fall, with the cannon’s heavier weight propelling Blake into the air. The cannon collided with the boarding and smashed straight through it, causing a few marines to fall into the water below.

“That’s very impressive,” Qrow complimented Blake’s quick thinking.

“Nice one, Blake,” Yang complimented her partner.

“Did she plan that out?” Pyrrha questioned.

“No, I think she just makes it up as she goes along,” Jaune noted.

As Blake reached the top of the crane, it began to pivot and turn, swinging around in circles and Blake along with it, causing her to yell.

“Now will you shoot her?!” Willow demanded.

“Open fire!” Clover hollered and the marines shot at Blake with their muskets, with Blake screaming at it all.

“She didn’t think this part through, did she?” Marrow chuckled at Blake’s panic shouting.

“Well, at least she’s hanging in there,” Yang joked, making everyone groan and her dad laugh.

“It’s still preferable to Tyrian’s morbid humour,” Salem thought.

The scorpion Faunus in question was basking in the chaos that was currently unfolding.

Luckily for Blake, the inaccurate musket fire and the crane’s fast spinning prevented her from getting hit. Once she was within reach of another crane, she swung over to it and let go of the rope, landing on top of the crane.

“On her heels!” Clover ordered as he and the marines chased after Blake.

Blake threw her chains about a connecting rope and slid down them like a zipline to the ground.

The marines continued to fire and narrowly miss Blake as she ran across a stone bridge and into the town. The nearby townspeople began to panic and rush around from the gunfire.

“She’s fortunate that smoothbore muskets aren’t known for their accuracy,” Penny observed.

“I know they’re supposed to stop her, but they should wait until there aren’t civilians present to do so,” Elm said disapprovingly.

“I should be more mindful of the surroundings,” Clover agreed with his teammate’s observation. While being determined in your job is a positive, it should not come at the expense of others.

“Really, I thought you Atlasians wouldn’t care about the civilians as long as you succeed,” Roman jabbed, earning dirty looks from the Atlasians.

Upon realising they were no longer in firing range; the marines stopped and ran after her. Clover and Harriet looked at the scene before them as the former spoke.

“Bree, bring a squad down from the fort! Ms. Belladonna has a dawn appointment with the gallows,” he informed her. “I would hate for her to miss it.” Harriet nods and heads off to the fort, instructing Dee and Dudley to follow her.

Clover turns to the Schnees. “Weiss are you-” he started to say.

“Yes, I’m alright, I’m fine!” she snapped. “Go capture him.”

“Weiss, he was only asking if you were fine,” Winter said in disapproval.

“She fell into the sea, nearly drowned, and then got threatened by a pirate. Give the girl a break, Ice Queen,” Qrow defended, smirking at Winter’s ire.

Clover’s slightly taken aback by her ire but wisely decided to hurry away.

Willow retrieves the blanket Weiss had thrown off and wraps it back around her. “Here, dear… you should wear this.”

Weiss shivers, suddenly realising how cold it is now; made worse by how soaking wet she is. She glances out towards the bay and sees the thick fog that had formed, as well as the grey clouds.

“Thank you, mother… and let that be the last of your fashion advice, please,” Weiss told her. However, she accepts her comforting embrace [1].

“Huh, that reminds me of when I was younger,” Weiss commented with a soft smile.

Again, Willow felt pain at the interaction.

Throughout the entirety of Port Royal, the Atlasian marines searched tirelessly for the escaped pirate. All the while, the creeping fog started to cast an eerie twilight pall over the area.

“Search up the stairs!” the leader of one marine squadron ordered.

“Look lively, men!” the leader of another squadron shouted.

After a squadron of marines passed by a statue of man holding a hammer above an anvil, Blake stepped from her hiding place behind the statue. Upon seeing another squad approaching in her direction, she quickly ducked inside the nearest building. Above the door is a sign with a black anvil, along with a hammer and a tong. Below the image are the words “J. Brown”.

“Isn’t that where Ruby and Yang work?” Jaune questioned.

“It seems to be so. The town seems to be rather small, so there’s probably only one blacksmith,” Pyrrha answered her partner’s question.

Once inside and the door locked behind her, Blake sheathed her sword and looked around at the building she was in. It was a blacksmith’s forge that was currently dark and quiet, with light emanating through the gaps in the closed shutters. The only sign of life Blake could see was a donkey that had a harness attached to it.

Blake realised that she could find something here to remove her irons and made her way towards an anvil with a rack holding several hammers nearby. Blake took off her hat and grabbed one of the hammers when the sound of a bottle colliding with the floor echoed, causing the pirate to turn towards the source in alarm.

However, when she looked, she saw an unconscious man sleeping in a chair, with an empty bottle of rum, the source of the sound, laying the floor next to him. Blake supposed this was the owner of the forge.

Ruby blinked in surprise. “Wait, that’s the shopkeeper Torchwick was robbing when I first fought him,” she realised.

“Ah, those are good memories,” Roman spoke fondly. “A chance to show off to the uneducated masses how great I am!” Ruby glared at him, knowing she was who he was referring to as the “uneducated masses”.

“Seriously, this is the man who gets the credit for me and Ruby’s work?” Yang scoffed in annoyance.

“Sadly, firecracker, some people like to relish in their authority over their employees and take credit for their work,” Qrow answered her with a frown on his face.

Blake cautiously approached Mr. Brown and tapped his chest a few times. While the man’s head shifted slightly and made some light snorts, he remained asleep. Blake turned around, before immediately turning and shouting in the Mr. Brown’s face, but still, he did not move at all.

Satisfied that the man would not awaken any time soon, Blake moved back to the anvil and began to hammer away at the iron’s chains repeatedly, but they would not break and only wound up dented.

Blake scowled in frustration before noticing a set of large gears. Since this was a forge, these gears must serve as part of a mill. She followed their path and saw the last gear attached to a pole with a handle to turn it. She then saw how the donkey’s harness was attached to the handle, meaning that the donkey pulls the handle as it moves, allowing for the gears to move.

Blake smiled as she saw her means of breaking the chains, but how to get the donkey to move?

She looked around and saw a forge with a poker lying in it. She grabbed the poker, moved towards the donkey, and proceeded to poke it.

The sizzling pin caused the donkey to moan and begin moving, pulling the handle, and causing the mill to begin working.

“That poor donkey,” Kali said sadly for the animal.

“You shouldn’t such a jackass, Blake,” Yang joked, evoking groans from everybody but her father.

“It never ends,” Qrow groaned.

“These are the people Blake betrayed us for,” Adam thought in disbelief.

Pleased, Blake threw her manacles between two of the gears. When the gears intersected, the force proved too much for the chains to manage and snapped, finally setting Blake free.

“Ignoring the animal cruelty, that was very crafty,” Vine commented.

However, her victory was short-lived as the latch on the door began to rise, indicating that someone was coming. Blake quickly hid before anyone could see her.

Ruby entered the forge before to her sister. “I’ll be seeing you later then?” she asked.

“Yeah, see you later Rubes,” Yang bid her sister farewell before walking off as Ruby closed the door behind her. They needed supplies and Yang volunteered to get them. Usually, it was Ruby who did this, but the elder sister decided to do so to allow Ruby some alone time after the meeting with Weiss earlier.

Ruby looked towards the mill and was bewildered to see it moving. She rushed to the donkey and calmed it down, causing the mill to stop.

Ruby removed her coat and saw her and Yang’s boss passed out in the chair. “Right where me and Yang left you,” Ruby huffed.

“So that old geezer sits in a chair getting wasted while we do all the work?” Yang demanded angrily.

“Yeah, that’s not fair,” Ruby pouted.

“That’s how the world works, Little Red. Those with power exploit those without,” Roman told her bluntly, earning a scowl from Ruby for his words as well as the nickname.

“Hopefully, your counterparts receive decent pay,” Penny hoped for that as she didn’t her best friend and her sister living in poverty.

Ruby threw her coat to the side and stared in confusion at the presence of the hammer lying on the anvil. “Not where I left you,” Ruby noted warily, realising that someone had to have moved it. Since she and Yang had been out and Mr. Brown had been asleep the whole time, that meant someone had been here or possibly was still here.

“She has good awareness of her surroundings to notice a discrepancy,” Elm observed.

“Still, Blake must leave before she finds her,” Marrow warned.

Ruby then noticed the hat lying nearby. She reached out to touch it…

…and then froze when the flat end of a sword smacked her hand.

Startled, Ruby glanced in the sword’s direction and saw Blake pointing her sword directly at her throat.

Ruby backed away while Blake moved forward. Ruby glared as she realised who this was. “You’re the one they’re hunting. The pirate!” she realised, her voice low and tight with malice tinting her last words.

Blake analysed Ruby. “You seem familiar,” the pirate noted. “Have I threatened you before?”

“I make a point in avoiding familiarity with pirates,” Ruby responded coldly.

“Ah, well then it would be a shame to put a black mark on your record. So, if you excuse me,” Blake deciding that Ruby was not a threat and turned back.

The moment her back was turned, Ruby grabbed a sword from a rack behind her and pointed it at Blake.

“She’s not going to you slip away that easily,” Yang remarked, anticipating the coming fight.

“Still, she probably shouldn’t be engaging her without backup,” Tai looked worried for his daughter’s safety.

“You’re assuming that help will arrive in time,” Raven said bluntly. “Situations such as this require you to act quickly without waiting for others.” Tai begrudgingly acknowledged his ex-wife’s point.

“Ms. Belladonna is lucky Ms. Rose is a heroic character here. You should never turn your back on an enemy,” Ozpin mentally remarked.

“She should have attacked while she was vulnerable,” Mercury spoke, getting looks from many others. “What? It’s best to end a fight quickly rather than drag it out.” The more sensible audience members agreed with the sentiment.

The pirate heard the sword being drawn and turned around, unimpressed. “Do you think this wise, girl? Crossing blades with a pirate?” she questioned.

“You threatened Ms. Schnee,” Ruby accused coolly.

“Awww! My little sis is standing up for her sweetheart,” Yang teased.

“Stop it, Yang!”

Blake responded by tapping her sword against Ruby’s. “Only a little,” she smirked.

With that said, the two women began their duel, exchanging swings, thrusts and parries with speed, precision, and skill. Despite her younger age, Ruby proved capable at matching the cat Faunus.

RWBY weren’t happy seeing two of their counterparts fighting and just hoped neither would be seriously harmed.

“Impressive. Ms. Belladonna appears to be a decade older than Ms. Rose, yet they seem evenly matched,” Port observed.

“It’s a battle between age and skill. We’ll just have to see which will triumph,” Oobleck added on to his colleague’s words.

“You know what you’re doing, I’ll give you that. Excellent form,” Blake complimented Ruby’s sword work. Her eyes briefly flickered to the floor but looking back up. “But how’s your footwork?” Blake moved to the right in a circular manner and Ruby moved in response. “If I step here…”

The two exchanged more swings and strikes. “Very good,” Blake commented. “Now I step again.” The pirate moved again, the left this time, and Ruby followed along, exchanging more strikes until they stood opposite of their starting positions. Blake made one more strike that Ruby parried easily.

“This brings back memories of your own training, Weiss,” Winter reminisced, with Weiss having a small smile at the memories. Willow had a pained look while Whitley had a strained looked. Jacques just remained neutral.

Adam observed the duel and took note of this Blake’s skill. If this Blake was anything like his own, then she likely was not going to play fair for long.

Having gotten to the position she wanted Blake smiled. “Ta,” she said as she sheathed her sword, turned her back to Ruby and began to walk towards the exit. Angry at the dismissal, Ruby threw her sword as if it were a spear. The blade embedded itself into the door above the latch, barely missing Blake who stared at the blade with stunned shock.

Jaune, Velvet, Scarlet, and Marrow recoiled. Ghira and Kali nearly jumped in alarm at the near miss while Blake restrained herself from joining them.

“Was that on purpose? If so, nice throw Ruby,” Yang praised.

“It takes great precision to perfect such an aim. Well done, Ms. Rose,” Glynda complimented.

“Well, she’s not getting away easily,” Ruby smirked.

Blake grabbed the sword’s handle and tried to remove it, but it would not budge. She then tried to lift the latch, but the sword prevented it from moving. Meanwhile, Ruby watched Blake’s frustration with a smug look.

Blake turned back towards Ruby. “That is a wonderful trick,” Blake acknowledged as she sauntered towards the younger woman, who backed as she realised the situation she put herself in. “Except, once again, you are between me and my out. And now…” Blake withdrew her sword once again and pointed it at Ruby, “you have no weapon,” she smirked.

Ruby immediately turned to grab a sword resting in the forge and pointed it at Blake, the blade’s tip glowing red from the heat. Blake’s smirk disappeared while the donkey moaned at the sight and began to move in fear of being singed again. The mill began to move again in response.

Yang grinned smugly. “Oh, yes she does.”

“It makes sense. A blacksmith’s shop would have weapons everywhere,” Neptune noted.

“Poor animal can’t catch a break?” Velvet said sadly.

Blake immediately darts to the right behind a beam. Ruby follows along and strikes with her sword. Blake then attempts to dart to the left, only for the same outcome to occur. Realising that she couldn’t get out of this fight, Blake decided to engage the younger girl. The two duelled back and forth, their blades ringing while orange sparks flared from Ruby’s blade, still hot from the furnace. Blake attempted to strike down from above, only for Ruby to block the attack, and after a moment of struggling, forced Blake to retreat backward. Ruby went in for another strike. Blake predicted this and wrapped the manacle chain on her left hand around the sword before flinging it away.

Now disarmed, Ruby leapt away from Blake, jumping over one of the beams of the rotating machine and grabbed another sword from a nearby rack. Blake followed along and strike, with Ruby blocking it with her new sword. It was then that Blake became aware of the considerable number of bladed weapons that filled the room: swords, knives, axes, and many others in varying stages of completion.

“Who makes all these?” Blake asked aloud.

Ruby disengaged as they ran around the beam, ending up in the opposite positions as Ruby swung her sword, though Blake blocked it. “I do,” Ruby answered in pride. She then swung around to the other side of the beam to strike as Blake countered. “And my sister and I practice with them…” she then dodged a hammer thrown by Blake and moved back to her earlier position as the two clashed again. “…three hours a day.”

Everyone was impressed by the Xiao Long-Rose sisters’ achievements. “Well, they have been busy,” Coco quipped.

“That’s a very impressive training regime,” Pyrrha was impressed.

“Makes me wonder how good Yang is,” Qrow mused.

“It does explain her exceptional swordplay,” Penny said with a happy smile.

“Thanks everyone,” Ruby said bashfully while Yang soaked in the praise.

Blake threw another hammer that Ruby dodged, though Blake used the distraction to move towards her as Ruby recovered and moved before raising her sword to block Blake’s strike.

“You need to find yourself a boy, lass,” Blake told her. She swung her sword in a horizontal motion, which Ruby ducked under before countering, causing Blake to move away from the beam and grab a hammer from the rotating rack above her. Ruby moved towards her while grabbing a second sword. Blake backed away the dual-wielding Ruby and threw the hammer at her, which Ruby dodged before continuing. Blake attempted to bring her sword down from above, but Ruby brought her swords up in an X shape to block.

“Not that it’s your business, but I actually prefer women,” Ruby corrected, gritting her teeth.

Blake looked briefly surprised before commenting. “Oh… well, then perhaps the reason you practice three hours a day is that you already found a girl, and are otherwise incapable of wooing said strumpet,” Blake questioned mockingly.

The comment made her angry. “I practice three hours a day so when I meet a pirate, I can kill them!” she snapped.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve seen Ruby that angry before,” Jaune commented in surprise.

“She must have been wanting to fight pirates ever since she and Yang were nearly killed by them,” Ren guessed. He understood the feeling very well.

“I can’t blame her for feeling that way. They may have had friends on that ship,” Jaune agreed with his friend’s observation. He didn’t know what he would do if one of his friends died.

Blake appeared to let out a small “Ah” before Ruby disengaged and swung her right sword at her. Blake backed up onto a tilted cart, with Ruby running after her. Their combined weight caused the wooden stool the cart had been resting upon to break, making the other side slip off the stone step it had been lying on. The two combatants initially swayed, trying to regain their balance before engaging once more, the cart moving back and forth in response to their movements.

Ruby jabbed her right sword forward, but Blake wrapped her left manacle around it as she had done so earlier. However, Ruby was a fast learner and refused to fall for the same trick again and quickly jabbed her sword into a rafter right above them, causing Blake’s arm to become stuck. Blake frantically tried to untangle her arm, but it wouldn’t move. Ruby grinned at the action.

“Clever move, kiddo,” Qrow complimented his niece. Raven also looked impressed at the girl’s quick thinking.

Frustrated at the girl’s action, Blake swung her sword at her, making move back to avoid being hit. Once she was out of range, Blake stomped her left foot down on one of the cart’s boards, causing it to fly up and hit Ruby in the chin and knock her off the cart.

“Oooooh!” multiple audience members winced.

“She’s going to be feeling that in the morning,” Coco said.

“I think I feel it now,” Ruby grumbled as she rubbed her chin.

With Ruby down for a moment, Blake jumped up and positioned herself to be upside down, with her legs planted on the rafter so she could use her full body weight to dislodge the blade. Ruby recovered from the fall and jumped back onto the cart just as Blake succeeded in pulling the sword out, causing her to fall back onto the cart. The force of Blake crashing down was strong enough for the high end to be pushed down, with the low end flying up and launching Ruby upwards like a catapult.

Blake tumbled off the cart and to the floor. Though slightly dazed, she quickly climbed to her feet and began looking around for Ruby. She then looked up and grinned when she saw Ruby, however that grin faded when Ruby cut a rope holding up a net containing several casks. The casks fell onto the cart, with the force launching Blake upwards towards the rafters. Blake grabbed the beam in front of her before pulling herself on top of it. Blake and Ruby leaped from beam to beam, jumping to the opposite side of the other, though when Blake jumped and Ruby didn’t, the two crossed their blades once more.

“Okay, this is starting to become absurd,” Elm spoke at the increasing absurdity of the fight.

“You should have seen us on initiation day. This is nothing compared to our first day at Beacon,” Yang told her, eliciting nods from her team as well as JNPR. Compared to the Nevermore and the Death Stalker, this is tame by comparison.

The two duelled back and forth again while jumping across the rafters. Eventually, the stalemate was finally broken when Ruby managed to disarm Blake. The cat Faunus smiled nervously before jumping off the beam and Ruby followed, landing on the floor before Blake. Ruby then charged towards Blake, aiming to finish the fight. However, Blake grabbed hold of a bag of sawdust next to her and opened it towards Ruby, spraying her with sawdust and causing Ruby to cover her eyes. With her opponent blinded, Blake kicked Ruby’s sword away and jumped down. Having recovered, Ruby grabbed a nearby set of tongs, looked towards Blake… and froze when she saw Blake’s pistol aimed at her.

Ruby scowled at the pirate. “You cheated!” she accused.

Blake just smiled smugly. “Pirate,” she responded in a ‘what did you expect’ tone.

“Even so, that’s a cheap move,” Ruby grumbled as she crossed her arms indignantly.

“You can’t expect pirates to fight fair,” Blake was not surprised by her counterpart’s actions.

“She’s right. There’s no such thing as a fair fight. Trying to fight fairly increases the chances of getting killed,” Raven spoke bluntly.

“She’s right,” Qrow begrudgingly agreed with his sister’s claim.

Suddenly, banging sounded from the front door of the forge as the two looked over. They noticed how the door was jostling and could faintly see the outline of marines through the gaps.

Ruby hastily rushed to block the back door while Blake was distracted. Blake turned back around and saw Ruby standing between her and her only way out. The older woman frowned in annoyance.

“Move away!” Blake demanded.

“No,” Ruby declined.

Blake rolled her eyes in exasperation at the girl’s stubbornness. “Please move?!” Blake demanded.

“Huh. For a pirate, Ms. Belladonna seems to be rather friendly,” Oobleck observed.

“She is. She saved Ms. Schnee’s life and is politely asking Ms. Rose to step aside,” Glynda agreed with the doctor’s observation.

“It’s a shame she’s a criminal. Someone with her skills and cleverness would make a fine addition to the navy,” Ironwood lamented.

Sienna snorted at the General’s words. As if that would ever happen.

“No!” Ruby snapped. “I cannot just step aside and let you escape,” Ruby claimed, staying brave even with a gun pointed at her head.

Blake scowled in growing anger. She cocks her pistol. After a tense moment, she uncocks it and speaks. “This shot is not meant for you.”

Blake blinked at her counterpart’s words. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I believe she means she’s saving that one shot for someone,” Penny guessed.

“Huh, whoever that is must have really pissed her off,” Harriet noted, wondering who that could be and how Blake has been saving that one bullet.

Adam couldn’t help but feel strange at that.

Ruby blinked in confusion at Blake’s statement. She could have easily killed her and escaped, but she didn’t. Perhaps Blake was-

Ruby’s thoughts were cut off when a bottle was smashed over Blake’s head. The pirate’s eyes glazing over as she fell to the floor, having been knocked out. The culprit was Mr. Brown, who was holding a now broken bottle.

“Oh, so now he decides to wake up?” Tai asked angrily. The man slept through the whole fight and now he decides to awaken.

At that moment, the door finally gave way as a squad of marines stormed into the forge. “There she is!” a marine shouted.

“Over here!” another marine called out to the others.

The marines surrounded the unconscious Blake and trained their bayonets on her. Clover entered the forge holding a pistol, which he lowered upon seeing the unconscious pirate.

He turned to Mr. Brown. “Excellent work, Mr. Brown,” Clover thanked the old blacksmith, believing to be responsible for stopping Blake. “You’ve assisted in the capture of a dangerous fugitive.”

“Just doing my civic duty, sir,” Mr. Brown told the Commodore, his speech slurred from the drinking.

The Xiao Long-Rose family was outraged. “What?!” Ruby shouted indignantly.

“He just stole credit from Ruby twice in one day!” Yang yelled furiously.

Qrow shook his head. “Damn. Tough break, kiddo,”

“Ah well. At least the fight was cool,” Nora commented, and everyone else agreed with the sentiment; barring Tyrian, who wished for blood to be spilt.

Ruby lightly scowled at her boss before looking away in resignation.

Clover inched away slightly from Mr. Brown’s alcoholic breath. “Well, I just you will remember this as the day that Captain Blake Belladonna almost escaped,” Clover remarked. “Take her away.”

The marines obeyed the command and hauled Blake away to the cells of Fort Charles.

“And now Blake has been captured,” Ren spoke the obvious.

“She saved Ms. Schnee’s life. She deserves something at least,” Elm spoke up.

“Maybe so, but the law is the law. My counterpart must do his job,” Clover argued reluctantly.

“We’ll just have to see how she gets out of this,” Fox said.

Chapter Text

Night had fallen upon the town of Port Royal, with the thick fog from earlier now blanketing the entire bay; the structures barely visible through the grey sheet. The only structure that was visible was Fort Charles, resting high on the bluff, acting like a ship sailing in a sea of grey.

And above it all was a clear black sky sprinkled with the small lights of the stars. The only other occupant in the sky was the glowing white eye that was the moon, its light bathing the entire island in an eerie glow.

“That… that’s the moon,” Velvet let out in shock as everyone gazed at the sight of the complete moon in disbelief. While they knew this was a different world, seeing the moon not be shattered was still a sight to behold.

Ozpin and Salem looked at the moon in surprise. It had been such a long time since they had seen what the moon had once looked like it started to seem like a dream to them.

Inside of the cells of Fort Charles, four seedy-looking inmates were holding a bone and a rope, attempting to beckon over a black and white corgi that held a ring of keys in his mouth.

“Come here, boy!” “Smell it?” “Come here, boy!” “Want a nice juicy bone?” “Hey!” “Come here, boy!” The inmates all called out to the dog, desperately hoping to bring him close enough to grab the keys and escape.

“It’s Zwei,” Ruby looked happy at the sight of Xiao Long-Rose family’s pet dog; the sight helping to dissipate her annoyance from earlier.

“It’s nice to see him after what happened,” Weiss cooed.

“Not for all of us,” Blake grumbled. Ghira and Kali both heard their daughter’s words and suppressed a sign. Blake still hasn’t gotten over her phobia of dogs.

In the adjoining cell, Blake rested against the wall with her hat covering her face. “You can keep doing that forever. The dog is never going to move,” Blake muttered.

The inmates turned to glare at her. “Oh, excuse us if we haven’t resigned ourselves to the gallows just yet,” one of the inmates spoke.

The inmates turned back around to continue with their attempts while Blake just grinned and tilted her hat down.

“She seems to be rather calm despite her pending execution,” Emerald observed.

“Perhaps she’s accepted her death,” Mercury suggested, earning glares from several others.

“I doubt that,” Cinder spoke. “She’s likely been in these situations before and managed to escape. If that’s so, then she’s confident she can do it again.”

At the Schnee Mansion, Weiss was lying in bed reading a book. A maid, named Estrella, carried a prepared bedwarmer from a nearby fireplace.

“There you go, miss,” Estrella informed as she placed the bedwarmer between the sheets of the bed.

“Nice and toasty. Thank you, Estrella,” Weiss thanked.

Estrella nodded. “It was a difficult day for you, I’m sure.”

Weiss hummed in agreement. “I suspected Commodore Ebi would propose, but I must admit, I wasn’t entirely prepared for it.”

Ruby blinked. “How did she suspect that?”

“My counterpart would have known Ebi since arriving at Port Royal. She must have realised he fancied her and believed he would propose once I came of age,” Weiss answered. “It was also rather common for women to marry older men before the Great War.”

“I meant you being threatened by that pirate. Sounds terrifying!”

Weiss paused. “Oh… Yes, it was terrifying,” she spoke after a moment.

“But… the Commodore proposed! Fancy that. Now that’s a smart match, miss, if it’s not too bold to say.” Estrella congratulated.

“It is a smart match. He’s a fine man. He’s what any woman should dream of marrying,” Weiss conceded.

“Well, that Ruby Rose, she’s… a fine woman,” Estrella noted awkwardly.

Ruby and Weiss blushed again and didn’t look in each other’s direction.

“Unfortunately, I doubt her mother would approve of such a relationship,” Ozpin lamented. “Weiss is from the nobility and Miss Rose comes from the working class.”

“The fact they are both women would not help, as homosexuality was condemned during those days,” Ironwood added on to the Beacon headmaster’s words.

Weiss shot Estrella a sharp look. “That is too bold,” she said lowly.

“Well, beggin’ your pardon, miss. It was not my place,” Estrella apologised as she exited the bedroom.

Upon her departure, Weiss absently toyed with the medallion chain around her neck while a distant look took hold in her eyes. However, her attention is then drawn to her right as she notices the lamp flame begin to flicker and diminish. Despite her attempts to turn it up, it is futile, and the flame goes out, enveloping the room in blackness.

Weiss stared at the lightless lamp in confusion before she felt a sudden chill rush through her being and turned towards the window.

The audience also felt a chill go through them.

At the blacksmith’s forge, Ruby wore a leather apron as she hammered away at a hot iron ingot, a surly look present on her face.

“Jeez, she’s not in a good mood,” Jaune commented with a wince.

“She also must have heard about Commodore Ebi’s proposal as well,” Pyrrha added on with sympathy.

“Definitely not my best day,” Ruby sighed.

Yang approached the younger girl with a cautious look on her face. “Rubes?” she called out, getting Ruby’s attention.

“What, Yang?” Ruby asked sourly.

“You only act like this when something is bothering you. What’s wrong? Is it that our bastard boss got the credit for our sword? Or him getting credit for catching that pirate? Which was stupid for you to fight on your own,” Yang added on to the second inquiry with an annoyed look. While she knew Ruby could hold her own, it didn’t mean she liked her little sister being in danger.

Ruby just turned back to the forge. “Or is it that the great Commodore Shrimp [1] has proposed to Weiss Cream?” At that last question Ruby snapped her head towards Yang with a scowl, confirming Yang’s suspicions that it was the last one.

The Ace Ops sent Yang annoyed looks at the nickname her counterpart had given to Clover. Several others meanwhile snickered at the name or winced at Ruby’s reaction to Yang’s words.

“Yes, Yang. I am upset about all of that,” Ruby answered while retaining her scowl, which unfazed the older woman who just sighed.

“Ruby, you shouldn’t be surprised this happened. Everyone in the town knew it would happen one day,” Yang told her.

“I am aware Yang, I just didn’t think it would come up so quickly,” Ruby grumbled.

“Hey, look at the bright side, she hasn’t agreed to marry him yet. You still have a chance-” Yang was about to continue before bitter laugh from Ruby cut her off.

“Oh, come on, Yang!” Ruby snapped. “You know as well as I do the chance of me getting with Weiss won’t be happening. What do I have that the Commodore doesn’t?”

Yang wanted to argue but she knew that the chance of it happening were low. Clover Ebi had many things he could offer to Weiss. What did she and Ruby even have? They didn’t own the rooms adjacent to the shop where they slept. Their achievements were transferred to Mister Brown. Their fighting skills were undermined by their lack of formal training, with their only teachers being themselves and what they observed.

Yang couldn’t help but grimace slightly at her counterpart’s thoughts. It brought back a bad set of memories. Memories of how the family fell apart after Summer died came to mind, and how she had to step up to take care of Ruby as dad and uncle Qrow were too wracked with grief to help.

A sudden knock at the door interrupting the blonde’s thoughts. The sisters looked at it queerly. It was close to midnight, so who could it be?

“We’re closed!” Ruby yelled to their mystery visitor.

“Ruby, Yang, it’s me!” the visitor’s voice sounded; it was very familiar. “Can I come in?”

The Schnee family also recognised the voice.

The sisters shot each other surprised looks. They didn’t expect him to show up.

Ruby scrambled to the door and opened it, revealing the figure of Whitley Schnee.

“Whitley?” Weiss spoke in surprise. “What’s he doing in such a place?”

“Whitley,” Ruby urged the son of Willow Schnee into the shop. “Why are you here? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Whitley assured as he grabbed a chair propped against the wall and sat down. “I just wanted to talk.”

“Oh,” Yang spoke up as walked closer. “And what request would that be?”

“Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, will you teach me to fight?”

Whitley’s words took several people aback. “He wants Ruby and Yang to teach him?”

“Why them though? I mean, Ruby and Yang are good, but an actual teacher would presumably be better?” Ren questioned.

“Maybe Whitey is being rebellious and doesn’t anyone to know,” Nora suggested, earning a look from Whitley for the nickname.

Ruby and Yang both paused his request. “I thought you didn’t want to learn sword fighting?” Yang was the first to speak.

“I did,” Whitley admitted. “But after today’s events, I decided that I should at least learn how to defend myself.” He then sighed. “I also don’t to ask the marines if they will as I would rather learn from someone I trust.”

Ruby and Yang looked to one another before turning back. “Alright,” Ruby finally said. “We’ll teach you.”

“Thank you,” the relieved Whitley spoke. “Should we start tomorrow?”

“We can start now if you have the time,” Yang smirked.

“Very well.”

Ruby dug out a practice sword and handed it to the Schnee male, who took it gracefully. They started with the basics, and the conversation quickly turned to what happened earlier today.

“Before I forget, congratulations on defeating that pirate, Ruby.” At the sister’s surprised looks, he rolled his eyes. “I can tell very well that it was you who defeated that pirate. The possibility of that intoxicated fool achieving such a thing is absurd.”

“Thank you, it’s nice to see someone give Rubes thanks for her work, unlike some people,” Yang admitted in agitation.

Clover knew the words were directed at him.

“Speaking of Ebi…” Ruby hesitated to speak. “Has your sister accepted his proposal?”

“She hasn’t informed us if she has or not,” Whitley answered to Ruby’s inner relief. He then looked annoyed. “Also, could you please refer to Weiss by her first name? I know you are trying to be respectful, but there is no reason to refer to her simply as your sister in front of me.”

The youngest of the Schnee siblings knew very well that the silver-eyed girl had a crush on his sister, and he also knew that Weiss shared those feelings. And while Whitley knew such things are not deemed acceptable, truthfully, he would not mind if the two were to get together. It would at least put an end to the constant dancing the two did around one another.

Judging from the equally annoyed look on Yang’s face, it was clear that Whitley’s feelings were mirrored.

“So, Yang and Whitley are both aware of Ruby and Weiss’ feelings, and both want them to be together,” Penny noted.

Jacques couldn’t help but scowl at that. He refused to let anyone in his family have such low standards.

Before the conversation could continue though, they all felt a shiver go down their spines.

“Did anyone else feel that, or was it just me?” Yang was the first to talk. The other two simply nodded their heads. “Oh, good, it wasn’t just me.”

Ruby cautiously approached the window and opened the shutter to peer out. She looks around in trepidation as she notices that the fog is almost suffocating now.

The cold dread from before had returned with a vengeance.

“Wait… didn’t Weiss’ younger self also see a thick fog?” Jaune recalled what happened in the flashback.

The words only increased the feeling of dread.

Out towards the mouth of the bay, barely visible in the depths of the fog, a shape was slicing through the water like the fin of a shark, and was creeping ever closer, like a predator preparing to lunge at its prey.

As the shape grew closer it was revealed to be a ship with black wood and tattered black sails. It sailed into the harbour, silent and invisible as the fog and night sky obscured it from view.

Many tensed at the sight. The presence of the ship and setting accompanying it could not be a good sign. The more observant ones recognised the ship.

“That must be the Black Pearl,” Neptune guessed.

“I think it is, bro,” Sun agreed with his partner.

“Oh, this is not going to be good,” Velvet shifted in her seat, having a feeling on what was going to happen next.

Upon the battlements of Fort Charles, Governess Willow and Commodore Ebi were walking along as they talked, Winter not far behind.

“Has my daughter given you an answer yet?” Willow asked regarding Clover’s proposal.

“No, she hasn’t,” Clover replied.

“In her defence, she has had a very trying day,” Winter spoke up in her sister’s defence.

“Thank you, Winter,” Weiss smiled at her sister’s defence of her, to which Winter returned.

“You make a valid argument, Winter,” Willow acknowledged her eldest child’s words. She looked around at the shrouded mist. “Ghastly weather, isn’t it?”

“Bleak. Very bleak,” Clover agreed.

After a moment, the three paused as a muffled sound was heard in the distance. A booming sound.

Willow’s eyes shifted from side to side. “What’s that?” she asked in confusion.

Several recognised the sound and tensed. “That was gunfire,” Raven was the one who said it.

Tyrian began to grow excited as he could feel carnage approaching.

Clover was the first to identify the sound, as well as the whistling sound that followed. “Cannon fire!” the Commodore shouted as he tackled the startled Willow to the ground.

The Commodore’s actions happened just in time, for the parapet the two had been standing in front of exploded as a cannonball hit it. The force of the explosion had knocked a nearby cannon loose, nearly hitting Winter though she managed to dodge it in time.

Clover back on his feet. “Return fire!” he ordered the nearby marines as he and Winter helped Willow to her feet.

The Schnee siblings sighed in relief at their mother being okay.

Inside of her cell, Blake perked up at the sound of cannon fire. “I know those guns,” the pirate whispered in shock. She stood up and peered through the bars of her cell window, the inmates in the other cell doing the same.

Resting in the middle of the bay was the source of the cannon fire. A single dark ship with black sails. The port side fired upon the town while the starboard side focused its power on the fortress.

“It’s the Pearl,” Blake breathed out.

“She identified it just from the sound of its guns?” Yatsu was surprised.

“Maybe she has seen it before? Perhaps she was a part of its crew?” Fox suggested.

“If she was from its crew, then why isn’t she aboard it now?” Coco questioned rhetorically, suspecting that the question will be answered later on.

“The Black Pearl?” one of the inmates spoke up in horror as he gripped the bars separating the two cells, the rest of the prisoners also showing faces of terror. “I’ve heard stories. She’s been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years. Never leaves any survivors,” the words were spoken in a haunted tone.

“No survivors?” Blake questioned as she turned to him. “Then where do the stories come from; I wonder?” she pointed out.

The inmate blinked as he glanced at his fellow cellmates in contemplation.

Nora giggled. “That’s a good point.”

“They managed to evade capture for ten years?” Port was slightly impressed.

“Well, Miss Belladonna did say the ship was one of the fastest ships in the Menagerie,” Oobleck pointed out.

Ozpin didn’t think it was so simple. It would take more than a fast ship to avoid being captured for such a long time.

While the fog permeating the bay prevented the Black Pearl from being seen, it did not seem to have any effect on the crew of the dreaded ship. The only sign of its general location being the flashes of light that erupted with every boom of her guns.

Upon the shore, terrified townspeople screamed and ran for their lives as a full salvo from the Black Pearl’s port side cannons rained down upon them, tearing through the streets, buildings, docks, and ships with pathetic ease. The people were thrown to the ground by the force of the cannonballs striking the land, with the unlucky ones perishing from the cannon fire.

Feelings of anger and sorrow emanated from many in the audience as the attack unfolded. Tyrian meanwhile was just laughing maniacally at the violence, causing both Hazel and Watts to sigh at their comrade's behaviour.

“Those poor people,” Penny whispered.

“Unfortunately, this is how pirate raids were conducted. It really isn’t that much different to how bandits operate,” Glynda admitted.

“Or how the White Fang occasionally perform such acts,” Ironwood added.

Their words drew annoyance from Raven and anger from the White Fang.

Within the flurry of frantic townspeople, a lone terrified child cried out for his mother amidst the chaos. From behind the boy, a cannonball struck the scaffolding, causing it to weaken and begin to fall towards the child.

Horrified gasps filled the theatre.

Luckily, the boy’s mother spotted him and grabbed him, rushing away to safety just before the scaffolding hit the ground with a thud.

And then relieved sighs escaped.

The madness had just begun though, for longboats began to emerge from the fog, carrying aboard them armed pirates. They were a united force of humans and Faunus, all wielding various weapons and letting out cries for blood. As the longboats reached the beaches the pirates leaped from the boats and onto the landing, swarming into the town, cutting down villagers with indiscrimination, and inciting random acts of violence.

Departing from one of the boats were four peculiar pirates, one a monkey Faunus and the rest human; all of whom were male. The monkey Faunus had tan skin, light blonde hair and blue eyes; the first human had fair skin, dark red hair and green eyes; the second had dark skin, sage green hair and gold eyes; and the last with tan skin, blue hair and a single left blue eye with the right eye missing, exposing an empty eye socket.

Team SSSN stared in shock. “That’s us!” Scarlet cried out in shock.

“We’re pirates here?” Sage was taken by surprise at this revelation.

“And we’re helping attack people,” Neptune grimly added on.

Sun said nothing and stared at his and his teammates counterparts in disbelief.

Neptune had finished carving a wooden eye, brushing off any remaining wood shavings before placing it in his empty right eye socket. The wooden eye squeaked as he tested to see if it worked. Once assured he nodded to his compatriots before they all grinned and rushed off.

The more squeamish members grimaced at the action.

“Ugh, that sounded wrong,” Roman commented. He had seen a lot of things in his life but even he was slightly put off by the sight. He then looked at Neo. “Please don’t ever consider doing something like that.”

Neo just shrugged in a manner indicating she would consider it.

The horde of pirates began to raid the town in frenzied and bloodthirsty manner, striking down civilians, setting fires, and looting buildings; their cruel laughter accompanying the screams of the townspeople and explosions of the cannon fire.

One pirate in particular, a wild-eyed bat Faunus named Yuma, ignited two clay bombs in his hands with the smoking ends of his beard before tossing them through the windows of a shop. He then noticed and began to chase after her, cackling as the bombs exploded, destroying the shop.

The White Fang members blinked at the sight of him.

“That’s Yuma,” Ilia said, easily identifying the man. She did note that he was much more violet and insane than the quiet and professional man she knew, though he seemed to share his enjoyment in his work.

Inside the blacksmith’s forge, Ruby and Yang quickly armed themselves. The former, once armed, turned to the panicked Whitley and told him. “Stay close to me and Yang.”

The panicked boy nodded frantically.

The three exited the building with Ruby quickly spotting Yuma chasing the terrified woman. She threw the tomahawk she was holding into Yuma’s back, who let out a cry of pain and collapsed to the ground. The three rushed into the battle, Ruby retrieving the hatchet in the process.

The three duelled the pirates in combat, Ruby and Yang taking the lead in an offensive manner while the less skilled Whitley fought in a defensive manner while remaining close to the sisters.

The spirits of the heroes rose at Ruby and Yang fiercely defending Port Royal from the attack.

“That’s my girls,” Tai cheered on his daughters.

“Teach those bastards a lesson,” Qrow smirked as he gulped down some more beer.

Ruby and Yang both appreciated the praise, though Ruby couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable that she was killing the pirates. She knew she didn’t have much of a choice, but she still didn’t like it.

Back at Fort Charles, the marines were grabbing their muskets as they charged outside to confront the pirate scourge. Despite being more well defended, the fort was suffering a great level of cannon fire from the Black Pearl, with several marines perishing under the onslaught. One cannonball succeeded in striking the gallows, shattering it to pieces.

The moon was soon obscured by the smoke rising from the burning gallows and wooden roofs. Cannon fire continued to rain down, but the fort’s own cannons returned fire.

Ironwood felt anger rise in him at the sight. “The pirates are rather clever in focusing more on the fort,” he begrudgingly admitted. “By keeping the marines occupied, it prevents them from fighting the pirates raiding the town.”

Raven mentally agreed with the general. It was a tactic she herself had employed on occasion.

And upon the battlements, amid the chaos, Commodore Clover Ebi retained a composed demeanour. “Sight the muzzle flash!” he instructed his troops.

“Aim for the flashes!” Elm relayed Clover’s orders.

“I need a full spread, fore and aft! Mr. Zeki, more cartridges!” Clover continued giving out commands. He then turned to Willow, who stood close by with a shellshocked look from the destruction.

“Governess!” Willow turned to Clover. “Barricade yourself in my office,” Clover ordered.

Another cannonball struck, causing Willow to cover herself from the explosion.

“That’s an order,” Clover said firmly, leaving no room for arguing.

“Please listen to him, mother,” Weiss mentally implored.

Willow turns to go, only to find herself face-to-face with a pirate, a fox Faunus named Corsac. Behind him, more pirates come up from over the far wall.

The heroes tensed. “That was their plan all along. Distract the marines while they slid under their watch,” Ozpin noted grimly.

The White Fang members (both former and current) started at the sight of Corsac. Ruby noticed Blake’s reaction. “Do you know who that is, Blake?”

The cat Faunus sighed. “I do. That’s Corsac Albain. He’s one of the leaders of the White Fang’s Menagerie chapter.” She then frowned. “Of course, wherever he is, his brother Fennec is not far behind.”

Corsac grins and raises his cutlass, though his slash is blocked by Clover’s sword.

“They’ve flanked us! Men! Swords and pistols!” Clover called out. He turned to Winter. “Miss Schnee! Ensure your mother gets to safety!”

The eldest Schnee child nods in affirmation and escorts her mother away. The marines then proceeded to join battle with the pirates [2].

The Schnee siblings sighed in relief as their mother escaped.

At the Schnee Mansion, Weiss rushes out to her bedroom balcony to the scene before her. Even through the fog, multiple great fires are visible, with buildings and ships burning. Cries of pain could also be heard in the distance, as well as the echoing booms of cannon fire.

Weiss’ eyes widened in alarm, a feeling shared by her family and friends.

“It makes sense that the pirates would go there. They would find a load of valuable belongings,” Roman noted.

She then hears yelling and looks towards the gates. A group of pirates had stormed the gates and were now rushing towards the house. The alarmed Weiss bolts from her room and reaches the railing overlooking the foyer as loud knocking came from the front door. A servant approached the door to answer it, unaware of the danger waiting behind it.

“Don’t!” she cried out as she rushed halfway down the stairs.

Too late. He opened the door to see the pirates standing on the other side; Sun, Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune among them.

“Hello, chum,” Sun greeted the butler cordially before he aimed his pistol and fired.

Weiss screamed in horror as the servant fell to the floor dead and the pirates stormed inside.

The students all flinched at the sound of the gunshot and the man falling to the floor. Sun himself felt sick at what his counterpart had done.

The pirates began to pillage the mansion as Sun and Neptune looked around. Neptune looked up and locked eyes with Weiss. “Up there!” he called out to his partner. “Go!” Sun shouted as he and Neptune charged towards the stairs.

Weiss immediately ran back up the stairs with the two pirates pursued her. She returned to her bedroom and locked the door behind her, listening as the pounding of the pirates’ feet came up the stairs.

“Miss Schnee?” a voice whispered.

Weiss jumped and turned around, only to relax slightly when she saw it was a terrified Estrella.

“They’ve come to kidnap you,” Estrella warned her.

“What?” Weiss questioned in surprise.

“You’re one of the Governess’ children,” she explained.

“That makes sense. The pirates must want to use her for ransom,” Vine proposed.

“The house would also have a lot of valuable loot,” Marrow referenced Roman’s remark from earlier.

Weiss considered Estrella’s words and realised she made a valid point. Thankfully, she was her mother’s only child present as Winter was at Fort Charles while Whitley had gone to visit Ruby and Yang.

The words “In here!” came outside the door as it began to rattle.

Weiss shoved the maid into a dark corner. “They haven’t seen you. Hide, and the first chance you get, run to the fort!”

Estrella nods. Another set of rattles occurred as Estrella hid and Weiss ran to her bedroom. The door finally gives in as Sun and Neptune break into the room. They see Weiss fleeing into her bedroom and chase after her, unaware of the hiding Estrella as the door concealed her presence.

Sun was the first to enter and was struck in the face by the bedwarmer. He staggered back, a dazed look on his face.

Many in the audience laughed at the expression on Sun’s face. Sun himself couldn’t help but laugh as well at his counterpart’s expense.

With the pirates distracted, Estrella rushed out of her hiding place and into the hall.

Weiss, wielding the bedwarmer as a makeshift weapon, then swung it at Neptune, but the one-eyed pirate caught it by the handle. “Got ya! Haven’t I?” he mocked. Weiss tried to jerk it free while Neptune made mocking expressions towards her. Realising it was futile, Weiss pulled down the trigger on the bedwarmer, causing Neptune to look up in alarm. The pan lid opened and released hot coals and ashes onto Neptune’s face.

The blue-haired man cried out in pain as Weiss seized the opportunity and ran out of the room while both pirates were occupied.

“No! No! It’s hot! I’m burning!” Neptune screamed as he rubbed his face to get rid of the embers.

Neptune cringed at his counterpart’s pain and some in the audience winced as well.

“Oh, don’t be such a hothead,” Yang attempted to lighten the atmosphere, which resulted in many groaning.

“Come on!” Sun snarled as he and Neptune regained their senses and ran after her.

On the ground floor of the foyer, numerous servants cried out in terror as they fled for their lives while the pirates chased after them or plundered the mansion. Estrella had reached the front door and ran out, letting out a scream of horror as she recognised Klein’s dead body.

Weiss had reached the ground floor at the same time and ran towards the door. However, Neptune leaped over the railing and landed at the base of the stairs in front of Weiss, growling in anger as he blocked the way. Weiss attempted to turn around only to see an equally angry Sun blocking the stairs. The situation became worse when two more pirates – Scarlet and Sage – arrived as well to block the left and right respectively.

With four pirates standing in all four directions, Weiss was trapped.

“How does Princess plan on getting out of this,” Coco wondered.

Suddenly, another pirate emerged from a set of doors, his arms full of loot, and looked at Weiss and the pirates in surprise. They then heard a whistling sound approaching fast. A stray cannonball from the Black Pearl tore through the walls of the mansion and hit the pirate in the chest, sending him crashing through the doors.

Some of them winced at the pirate’s misfortune.

“Well, there’s the answer,” Coco deadpanned.

Taking advantage of the sudden confusion, Weiss raced towards the dining room, narrowly avoiding the chandelier crashing to the floor which made the pirates halt for a moment.

Weiss slams the doors shut behind her and rams a nearby candelabra between the door pulls as a makeshift lock. The pirates bang against the doors, trying to break through.

Weiss takes notice of two crossed swords on a wooden mount above the fireplace.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Weiss sighed in relief, believing she now had a means to defend herself.

Weiss ran to the swords, grabbed one of the swords by the hilt, and pulls. However, the piece came off easily and fell to the floor with a thud, startling her. She frantically tried to budge the sword free, but it wouldn’t move.

The reason? It was only a decoration.

And Weiss’ relief quickly disappeared as she facepalmed. Yang giggled. “Spoke too soon.”

The heiress sighed. “Oh, great. What am I supposed to do now?”

“Perhaps jumping out the window and making it for the fort?” Ruby suggested.

“Maybe. But would she be able to get away in time?” Jaune pointed out. Ruby grimaced at the question.

The banging became much louder as Weiss looked around desperately for a solution.

The candelabra finally broke as the doors opened, and the four pirates entered and looked around to see that the room was empty. Sage noticed an open window with the curtains billowing in the wind. He headed towards it, but Sun pulled him back.

“We know you’re here, poppet,” Sun spoke creepily. “Poppet,” Scarlet echoed.

“Come out… and we promise we won’t hurt you,” Sun promised. His comrades shot him looks to which he shakes his head, telling them that he was lying. They then chuckled quietly.

“Do you think that will fool me after seeing how you tried to attack me?” Weiss scoffed.

“We will find you, poppet,” Sun continued, his faux politeness fading to something more sinister. “You’ve got something of ours, and it calls to us.”

Neptune looked down and saw how the rug had been disturbed. He then noticed how it was at the foot of a cabinet.

“The gold calls to us,” Neptune spoke softly, gaining the others’ attention as they followed his line of sight. “The gold.”

From within her hiding place, Weiss heard the pirate’s words and gazed down towards the medallion still hanging around her neck. She rubbed it with her index finger as it glittered in the light spilling through the cracks between the doors.

The pirates didn’t come here for her, she realised. They had come for the medallion.

“That’s the reason they’re here? For that one piece of gold?” Ren questioned.

“What do mine and Nep’s counterparts mean when they say it calls to them?” Neptune wondered.

“Perhaps its referring to the shockwave that occurred when Weiss fell into the bay,” Neptune theorised, recalling Ren’s theory of the medallion being magical.

“And they felt it from miles away?” Scarlet questioned in surprise.

And then the light vanished. She looked up… and saw Sun’s eye peering through the gap.

“Hello, poppet,” Sun leered.

“No!” Weiss and Ruby cried out.

“She should have gone out the window,” Qrow agreed with his niece’s suggestion.

The doors were thrown open, but before the pirates could do anything, Weiss decided to try a desperate idea.

“Parley!” she shouted.

The pirates paused. “What?” Sun asked in confusion.

“Parley,” she repeated. “I invoke the right of parley. According to the code of the brethren, set down by the pirates Morgan and Bartholomew, you have to take me to your captain,” Weiss explained, drawing for the pirate stories her late father told her in hope of surviving.

“I know the code,” Sun answered, annoyed.

“If an adversary demands parley, you can do them no harm until the parley is complete,” Weiss finished.

“Is that correct?” a surprised Velvet asked.

“It is. Parley is often used to call for negotiation between two opposing sides to discuss a possible ceasefire,” Ironwood answered from experience.

“Will that do any good against pirates?” a sceptical Glynda asked.

“It may. The pirates appear to honour it if their code is to go by,” Ozpin noted. The old wizard was rather impressed by Weiss’ knowledge on pirates.

“To blazes with the code!” Scarlet growled, drawing his cutlass.

“She wants to be taken to the captain!” Sun snapped at the red-haired male, who lowered his cutlass reluctantly. He then turned to Weiss. “And she’ll go, without a fuss.” He then smirked. “We must honour the code,” he concluded, eliciting chuckles from the other three.

Weiss suddenly felt a great level of trepidation. She could only hope she made the right choice.

“No offense, Miss Schnee, but this plan seems rather foolhardy,” Glynda said disapprovingly.

Ironwood nodded in agreement. “She’s right. Even if they honour their word, there’s no way of knowing what they’ll do once the parley is finished.”

“In my counterpart’s defence, I was cornered and didn’t have many other options,” Weiss defended her counterpart’s decision. “If the pirates want the medallion, I could perhaps come to an agreement with their captain.”

Back on the streets of Port Royal, the pirates continued with their looting and ravaging, smashing the windows of shops and stealing all that they could, or chasing down citizens and cutting them down with ruthless glee.

All the while, Ruby and Yang fought off any pirates that crossed their path while Whitley hung in the back.

One pirate, a scruffy puma Faunus with dirty black hair, was currently engaging Yang. Compared to many of his comrades, he was putting up a far greater fight due to having a grappling hook; wrapping it around the sword every time Yang tried to attack.

The White Fang members, as well as Cinder and her team, started at the sight of the man. They quickly recognised him as the former White Fang member Tukson.

Eventually, he managed to overpower the blonde woman and pulled her close, raising his axe to finish her off.

“Say goodbye!” he sneered with a twisted smile.

Fortune arrived when a cannonball struck the wall above them, causing a hanging sign to loosen and swing downward towards them. Yang ducked to the side to dodge, causing it to slam into the surprised man, throwing him through the window.

“Goodbye, and thanks for the smashing performance,” Yang mocked.

Yang laughed at her counterpart’s pun as did her father while everyone else groaned. “At least my twin’s got a sense of humour!”

“Great. Now there’s two of them,” Ruby grumbled.

“How do you put up with that?” Marrow asked the rest of Team RWBY.

“With great difficulty,” Blake answered, irritation present in her tone.

“You just don’t have a good sense of humour,” Yang huffed.

Ruby had finished her current fight and moved on to her next target but paused when she saw something.

It was Weiss being escorted in a forceful manner by Scarlet and Sage, with Sun and Neptune and the rest of the pirates from the mansion following them.

“Come on!” Sage snapped as he and Scarlet dragged her towards the harbour.

“Weiss,” Ruby let out in shock and fear.

She began to chase after them but stopped when she came face to face with an unexpected surprise.

“Well,” Yuma grinned as he waved at Ruby.

Ruby blinked in bewilderment at Yuma’s reappearance. “Wait, didn’t I kill him?”

“You did. How is he still alive? Unless he has a twin brother.” Jaune questioned.

Blake shook her head. “Unlikely. Yuma doesn’t have any siblings that I know of.”

“Perhaps he’s wearing armour under his clothes,” Pyrrha suggested.

Ruby just stared at him in bewilderment; she was sure she had already killed this pirate. So how was he here? Was this some sort of twin brother? Well, whatever the reason, he was currently in the way. It was then that Yuma glanced downward. Ruby followed his gaze at saw the clay bomb on the ground that had an ignited fuse that had just ran out…

The Xiao Long-Rose family, Weiss, Jaune, and Velvet gasped.

“No!” Yang cried out.

“Move!” Tai yelled.

…and nothing happened. The bomb was a dud. Yuma’s smile vanished as he gazed back at Ruby in concern. Ruby smirked and was about to draw her sword…

“Out of my way, scum!” another pirate snarled as he ran past, smacking Ruby on the back of the head with a stolen candelabra, causing her eyes to roll as she fell backward, unconscious.

While initially relived that the bomb was a dud, it quickly faded when Ruby was taken down.

“Lousy sneak attack,” Ruby grumbled in dismay.

Yuma grinned but when he saw Yang and Whitley come towards him, he decided to retreat.

“Ruby!” Yang cried out as she kneeled and cradled her sister’s head in her arms.

“She’s just unconscious,” Whitley observed. He looked at Yang grimly. “But she won’t be awakening for a while yet. It’s best we return to your home to hide.”

Yang wanted to argue, wanting to continue fighting the bastards, but her rationality won out. Whitley was right; Ruby was unconscious, and the pirates were now retreating. Staying would just put her life in danger.

It was with gritted teeth, that Yang picked Ruby up in her arms and ran off, Whitley following closely after them.

Yang slammed her fist against the armrest of her seat and growled, her eyes turning red. “Damn it! Why now?!”

“There’s nothing they can do any further Firecracker,” Qrow told his niece. “It’s like they said, staying now would just them all in more danger.” The blonde just looked with an angered look still on her face.

The Schnees were just relieved that Whitley was fine, while the White Fang took pleasure in that one of the children of their greatest enemies had been abducted.

“Who’s going to save Weiss?” Willow thought, fearing for her daughter’s life.

Within the prison at Fort Charles, Blake continued staring at Black Pearl with an intense look on her face. It was what allowed to see a cannonball coming in her direction. She quickly dove to the floor as the cell wall exploded inward from the blast, creating a hole larger enough for a person to fit through; moonlight shining through. Unfortunately for the recovering Blake, the hole was primarily positioned in the cell next to hers, with the portion that wasn’t being too small for her to fit through.

Blake grimaced at her counterpart’s luck. “If only the hole was a bit further to the right, then I could slip through.”

This was not a problem for the other inmates, who immediately scrambled through the newly created escape. The last prisoner turned to Blake. “My sympathies, friend. You’ve no manner of luck at all,” he told her before he ran out to freedom.

The inmates climbed down the rocks as Blake watched on in resignation. Not far above her, the marines continued to fire as cannonballs struck the fort. The smoke generated from the battle floated up into the air, though the wind would blow both it and the clouds away, causing the moon to shine bright with its ominous light.

Chapter Text

Blake was now alone. Cannon fire continued to bombard the fortress; occasional strikes shaking the building. Blake then spied Zwei cowering under a long bench, with the keys still in his mouth. Blake sighed in resignation at what she had to do, but desperation to escape won out against pessimism. She picked up the bone from the now empty cell, and stuck it through her cell bars, waving it around and whistling.

“Come on, Zwei. Help her out,” Ruby implored Zwei’s counterpart.

“There’s no way it’s going to work. If the other inmates couldn’t do anything, I doubt her luck will be better,” Emerald scoffed at the absurdity.

“Maybe it won’t, but I may as well try. There’s nothing else I can do,” Blake reasoned.

“Besides if it works, then he may be the only dog I will ever like,” she thought mentally.

“Come on, doggy! It’s just you and me now,” Blake attempted to coax the dog forward. She did not believe it would work, but she was desperate. “It’s you and old Blake. Come on.”

To her surprise, Zwei crawled out from under the bench. Not one to let an opportunity pass by Blake continued to coax Zwei closer. “That’s a boy! Get your bone!” The corgi walked closer. “That’s a good boy. A bit closer!” Even closer. “That’s it, doggy!”

However, to Blake’s frustration, Zwei stopped just outside the cell with the keys barely out of her reach.

“Come on, you filthy, slimy, mangy cur!” Blake hissed in anger.

“Blake!” Ruby scolded the cat Faunus’ counterpart.

“Don’t talk to Zwei like that!” Weiss defended the corgi.

“I can’t help it if cat Faunus don’t like dogs, okay?” Blake protested.

“Actually Blake, I think only you have that problem,” Ilia piped in. “The other cat Faunus in the White Fang didn’t have such problems,”

Blake just frowned in the annoyance at Ilia’s words while her parents just sighed.

The sound of something slamming open echoed throughout the empty hall. Startled, Zwei whined and ran down the stairs, taking the keys with him. “No, no, no! I didn’t mean it. I didn’t – oh…” Blake sighed in dismay as she watched her means of escape run away.

Blake threw her hands up. “Oh, come on!”

“Maybe you would have escaped if you didn’t have such a purr-sonal issue with dogs,” Yang said in Zwei’s defence while making a pun. The pun made everyone groan except her father.

“Dammit,” Qrow groaned. Even in serious situations Yang couldn’t help herself. It just made Qrow want to Tai even more every time he or Yang made one of those awful puns.

“Actually, I think he was running from the sound upstairs,” Penny corrected.

A gunshot rang out as shouting followed. Blake turned towards the entrance and watched as a marine rolled down the stairs. Blake didn’t have to be genius to tell that he was dead. Coming down the stairs after was Corsac Albain and another fox Faunus who directly resembled him. The only thing differentiating them was that Corsac had a fox tail while the other had fox ears.

“And there’s Fennec,” Ilia noted at seeing the other Albain brother.

The two looked around. “This ain’t the armoury!” Fennec growled. He almost turned to leave until Corsac noticed Blake.

The elder twin sheathed his sword. “Well, well, well. Look what we have here, Fennec,” Corsac drawled as he and Fennec walked towards Blake. “Captain Blake Belladonna.” Corsac spat on the floor as if saying her name left a sour taste in his mouth.

Fennec chuckled. “Last time I saw you, you were all alone on a gods-forsaken island, shrinking into the distance. I’d heard you’d gotten off, but I didn’t believe it.”

“Did you sprout little wings and fly away?” Corsac asked mockingly. “I thought cats didn’t like birds?”

“Her fortunes aren’t improved much, either way,” Fennec sniggered.

The Belladonna parents as well as Team RW_Y growled at the Albains’ mockery.

The two giggle at her misfortune. Blake does not. Instead, she gazed at the brothers with a cold anger.

“Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen,” Blake sneered at them. “The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers.”

Everyone listened to Blake’s response to the brothers, surprised at the meaning behind her words.

“So, Miss Belladonna was a part of the Black Pearl’s crew, but it seems that they marooned her on an island,” Oobleck observed.

“But why? What made them decide to do so?” Port asked.

Blake’s words caused the two to stop smiling as anger formed. Corsac lashes out, grabbing Blake by the throat through the bars. Blake looked down-

-and her eyes widened as she saw that Corsac’s arm had changed. Where before it was a normal arm, it was now skeletal with rotting flesh clinging to it. Even the clothes had changed, with it now torn and tattered.

Everyone’s eyes widened at the sight of Corsac’s skeletal arm. Ruby, Weiss, Nora, Velvet, Scarlet, Kali, and even Elm gasped in shock while the others were taken aback by the unexpected sight.

Blake rubbed her throat, slightly ill at seeing her counterpart being touched by a rotting skeleton’s arm.

“Holy shit,” Qrow let out in shock, and no one could scold him for swearing. They all felt the same.

“That’s rotten flesh clinging to bone. His arm turned into a skeleton!” Pyrrha spoke what they were all thinking in a shaken voice.

“Wait, one of the marines claimed the Black Pearl was crewed by the damned. He was telling the truth,” Jaune spoke in an equally shaken voice as his partner.

Willow eyed her husband, remembering him claiming that the apparent curse did not exist. She couldn’t help but feel slightly vindicated by the sight of him staring at the screen with wide eyes.

“So, there is a curse,” Blake let out. “That’s interesting.”

“You know nothing of Hell,” Corsac snarled.

With those words, he released Blake and returned to normal. Corsac and Fennec departed, leaving Blake alone. The cat Faunus watched them leave before gazing at the bone in her hand. “That’s very interesting,” she spoke to no one.

“So that’s the curse mentioned in the title,” Ironwood realised.

“It must be connected to the moonlight,” Vine observed, noting that Corsac’s arm only changed once exposed to moonlight.

Glynda noticed that her boss was being quiet. “Headmaster? You’re being rather quiet about this.”

“I’m just wondering where the curse came from?” Ozpin informed his deputy. “It would be simple to claim it came from the ship, but I’m not sure it’s that simple.”

Up in the sky, thick dark clouds obscured the moon, blocking out the moonlight and shrouding the entire bay and the Black Pearl in a sea of black. The only forms of light being the flashes from the cannons of the Black Pearl, briefly illuminating the dark ship.

“That’s strange. The Black Pearl doesn’t appear to have taken any damage at all,” Vine examined the ship’s condition.

“That’s probably because of the thick fog and ship’s dark colours blending into the darkness,” Winter analysed. “Both factors would make the ship hard to notice and difficult to hit by extension.”

“You make a valid point, Specialist Schnee,” Ironwood agreed with the eldest Schnee’s daughter’s reasoning. “It’s likely why Clover ordered his men to sight the muzzle’s. It would help narrow down the ship’s location.”

Weiss sat in one of the longboats rowing towards the dark ship as stared at it. The Black Pearl was a tall galleon with many guns, dark wood planking, and tattered black sails. Looking at it from a closer perspective Weiss realised it was the same ship she saw eight years.

One thing that caught her attention, positioned on the bow and illuminated by the cannon fire, was the ornately carved figurehead of a woman releasing a bird into flight. Weiss stared at the figurehead and shivered as she noticed that due to wear of age, it almost seemed that the woman was crying.

Weiss couldn’t help but mirror her counterpart’s action. It was as if the ship itself was lamenting its cursed fate.

Once the longboat was raised up, Sun and Neptune dragged Weiss up onto the deck of the ship. Weiss looked towards the helm and stared when saw an imposing figure standing on the top of the stairs, looking over the clamouring crew as they rushed around. A monkey swinged down and nestled itself on the figure’s shoulder.

“That must be the captain,” Coco assumed. The figure’s attire was much more regal when compared to the mundane clothing the other pirates wore.

“The man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out?” Velvet asked nervously, recalling Dee’s words from before.

“That’s what the legends say about him,” Coco answered her, slightly sceptical about that part.

“Wait, did a monkey just jump onto his shoulder?” Yatsu asked in surprise.

Sienna and Ilia both stared at the figure. Something about them seemed very familiar to them.

The Belladonnas also felt the same, as did Adam.

Sun and Neptune pushed Weiss forward as she found herself surrounded by the crew of pirates who stopped what they were doing and stared. She suddenly felt like a fish out of water.

A tall, imposing man with tattoos walked forward. “I didn’t know we was takin’ on captives,” the man inquired about Weiss’ presence.

“Wait, that’s the man I fought on the train during the Breach,” Weiss recalled. She never saw his face, but the skin colour, hair and body structure matched his.

Adam was briefly surprised at his lieutenant. Now that he thought more about, the presence of the Albains, Yuma and Tukson, and now his lieutenant made him suspect who the captain was.

“She’s invoked the right of parley with Captain Taurus,” Sun explained.

And Adam’s suspicions were confirmed.

“Wait, Adam is the captain?” Ilia said in surprise. Looking back, it made sense; the Black Pearl’s attack did evoke similarities to how Vale’s chapter operated under Adam.

Ghira and Kali felt trepidation at the idea of Adam having such a position of authority. It was the same feeling they felt when they learned Adam was made head of Vale’s chapter.

“Somehow, I’m not surprised by this,” Blake sighed at the revelation. On some level, she had suspected this.

Weiss walked forward. “I am here to…” Weiss started.

Bo’sun slapped her across the face, silencing her. “You will speak when spoken to,” he told her coolly.

Weiss blanched at the sight, feeling uncomfortable.

“Hey!” Team R_BY snapped in outrage.

“How dare you!” Winter hissed.

Willow was also angered by the sight. Whitley shifted uncomfortably while Jacques didn’t show any reaction.

The White Fang couldn’t help but feel a surge of satisfaction at the scene. It was something many of them had dreamed of doing to a Schnee.

The pirates all laughed at her, but they all fell silent when a hand grabbed Bo’sun’s wrist. They all turned to see the one responsible was Captain Adam Taurus. He was middle-aged with features weathered by time with unkempt facial hair. The monkey resting on his shoulder wore clothing.

“And ye will not lay a hand on those under the protection of parley,” Adam reprimanded Bo’sun.

“Aye, sir,” Bo’sun apologised as Adam released his wrist.

“Ugh. He hasn’t aged well,” Yang shuddered at the bull Faunus’ appearance.

“The monkey is cute, though,” Nora noted in amusement, though if one were to go by pirate stereotypes, she would have expected Adam to have a parrot instead. “I mean it’s not a sloth, but it works.”

“Is that what you’re focusing on Nora?” Ren questioned his partner with a raised eyebrow.

“What? It is cute,” the ginger-haired Valkyrie protested. Ren just sighed in response.

Adam quietly observed his counterpart and wondered how similar they were.

Adam turned to Weiss and smiled, revealing his rotten and golden teeth. “My apologies, miss.”

Weiss looked at him for a moment before working up the courage to speak. “Captain Taurus… I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal.”

Adam was both impressed and amused. “There are a lot of long words there, miss. We’re naught but humble pirates,” he chuckled. “What is it that you want?”

“I want you to leave and never come back,” Weiss answered in a sharp tone, her words evoking laughter from the pirates.

“I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your request,” Adam responded. Weiss stared at him in confusion, as did the pirates.

“Means ‘no’,” Adam explained with a smirk. The pirates laughed again at their captain’s words.

“Well why didn’t he just say that?” Harriet threw her hands up in annoyance.

“Perhaps he wanted to show off to his crew,” Elm posited.

“But didn’t Adam say they were humble pirates,” Marrow questioned.

“I think he was referring to the rest of the crew, not himself,” Vine told his teammate.

“It makes sense. All leaders must have a level of intelligence.” Clover acknowledged.

Weiss then decided on a different approach. “Very well,” she said as she pulled out the medallion and darted to the railing of the ship, holding the medallion over the side. “I’ll drop it,” she threatened. Her actions caused the pirates to stop laughing and fall silent as they all stared at the medallion as a faint ringing sound appeared to emanate from it.

Adam stared at the medallion for a moment before looking to Weiss with a smirk. “Me holds are burstin’ with swag. That bit of shine matters to us?” he laughed off the threat.

Emerald carefully studied his expression. “He’s bluffing.”

“What makes you think that Em?” Mercury questioned.

“If you used those eyeballs of yours, you could figure it out,” Emerald mocked, getting Mercury to glare at her. “Those pirates were looking at that medallion very intensely for it to mean nothing to them. Also, those four buffoons admitted they were after it as well.”

Team SSSN were indignant at being called buffoons while Cinder smirked at Emerald’s observation. “Well done, Emerald,” Cinder praised the thief, who was pleased at the praise while Mercury rolled his eyes.

He then focused his gaze on her. “Why?”

“It’s what you’ve been searching for,” Weiss answered. “I recognise this ship. I saw it eight years ago on the crossing from Atlas!”

Adam looked intrigued at that. “Did you now?” he questioned.

Weiss then played her hand. “Fine. I suppose if it is worthless there’s no point in me keeping it.”

She lets go of the medallion as it begins to drop.

“No!” Adam cried out as he and the other pirates panicked and rushed forward the grab it.

However, it was a trick. Weiss grabbed the medallion’s chain and smirked triumphantly. The pirates had revealed that it was important to them.

“So, Miss Sustrai was correct, that medallion is why they came to Port Royal,” Ironwood observed, impressed by Weiss’ ploy.

“It seems to be the case, Jimmy. But why do they want it?” Qrow questioned.

“Maybe I was right. The medallion might be magical, and the pirates want it,” Ren theorised, but something told him that there was something more to the medallion’s true nature.

“It must have something to do with the curse,” Ozpin and Salem both thought mentally.

Adam glared at her before chuckling, impressed by her ploy. He walked forward while Weiss pulled her hand away from the edge. “You have a name, missy?”

“Weiss…” she started to say before pausing. She knew that if she revealed her family name the pirates would hold her for ransom and so decided to embroider her answer. She then chose the first name that came to mind. “…Rose. I’m a maid in the Governess’ household.”

“That’s a wise choice. If the pirates knew her real name they may hold her for ransom,” Glynda said in approval.

Unfortunately, the combat teacher was quickly proven wrong.

Adam’s eyes widened at the name. He had suspicions but this confirmed them. “Miss Rose!” He said aloud. The rest of the pirates reacted to the name as well as they exchanged glances and murmurs.

“Bootstrap!” Neptune let out as he and his friends turned to look at Weiss, as did the rest of the crew.

Everyone was bewildered at the crew’s reaction to the name.

“How do they know my last name?” Ruby questioned in surprise.

“And why did Neptune say ‘Bootstrap’?” Yang followed on from her sister’s question.

“It must have something to do with how you were found floating in the water after the Black Pearl sank that ship. It may have something to do with that,” Qrow assumed. It may have been a coincidence, but in his line of work that was rarely the case. It can’t be a coincidence that the Black Pearl was in the area right when Ruby and Yang were found.

“You make a valid observation Qrow,” Ozpin agreed with the huntsman.

Raven quietly pondered the mystery to herself as she came to two conclusions. Either Ruby and Yang were connected to the Black Pearl’s crew… or someone related to them was.

Adam turned back around. “Do you happen to have a sister?” he questioned.

Weiss was slightly taken back by the random question but responded. “Yes.”

“And how does a maid come to own a trinket such as that? A family heirloom, perhaps?” he inquired further.

Weiss’ eyes narrow slightly. “I didn’t steal it, if that’s what you mean.”

“Wait, why did he ask if Weiss had a sister? First, they reacted to Ruby’s last name, and now he’s asking if she has sister,” Jaune questioned in confusion.

“Yeah, he also asked if Weiss stole the medallion or not,” Pyrrha followed her partner’s line of thought.

“Maybe they think Weiss is Ruby,” Nora proposed.

“That… actually makes sense,” Blake looked like she was going to deny it but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Qrow’s words also hung in her mind, making the probability of the Black Pearl being present by happenstance more unlikely by the minute.

Her answers appeared to have been correct as Adam looked pleased. “Very well. You hand it over and we’ll put your town to our rudder and never return,” Adam promised as he held out his hand.

Weiss stared at Adam for a moment in hesitation before agreeing and dropping the medallion into Adam’s hand. The pirate captain rubbed the medallion before handing it over to the monkey, who grabbed it before climbing onto an overhanging rope, chittering all the while.

Weiss watched the monkey before turning to Adam. “Our bargain?”

In response, Adam grinned devilishly as he began to walk away, jerking his head at Bo’sun who understood the gesture.

“Still the guns and stow them,” Bo’sun began to give out orders. “Signal the men, set the flags, and make good to clear port!”

The crew followed the orders as the booming of the cannons ceased. Weiss was initially surprised and relieved, before realising an important detail. She had to return as well.

“Uh-oh…” Ruby let out.

Weiss’ eyes widened in alarm.

“Wait!” Weiss yelled as she chased after Adam. “You have to take me to shore. According to the Code of the Order of the Brethren-”

Adam wheeled to face her. “First, your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement, and so I ‘must’ do nothing,” Adam informed her, while also correcting her speech. “Secondly, you must be a pirate for the Pirate’s Code to apply, and you’re not,” he continued. “And thirdly, the code is more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules,” he finished. He then grinned, flashing his gold and silver teeth. “Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Rose.”

With that said, Adam turned to the helm. Weiss stared at Adam’s retreating back in speechless terror before Sun and Neptune grabbed her by the arms and took her to the captain’s cabin.

“Oh no…” Winter pinched her nose at the predicament her sister was now in.

“Forgive me if I don’t feel welcome,” Weiss snarked.

The White Fang felt elated at the sight of a Schnee being their prisoner, even if it was in another world.

“Well… at least you got the pirates to leave,” Ruby attempted to look on the bright side.

Chapter Text

Ruby groaned as her eyes opened to the familiar sight of her bedroom’s roof, with thin rays of light shining through the closed door. What was not usual was Yang asleep upright in a chair next to the bed, surrounded by an absurd number of weapons.

Yang, Tai, and Qrow sighed in relief at the sight of Ruby being fine.

“What happened last night?” Ruby thought groggily as she sat up and tried to shake Yang awake, the events of the previous night slowly coming back to her in hazy pieces. The blonde softly groaned as she batted away Ruby’s hand, sleepily asking to be allowed to sleep for five more minutes. Suddenly, as if a bucket of water had been thrown in her face, Ruby remembered what had happened last night.

Pirates attacking Port Royal.

We, Yang, and Whitley fighting them.

Weiss.

That last thought spread throughout her body like a burning flame. Ruby’s attempts to wake her sister escalated, and what had started off as simple shaking then became Ruby accidentally pushing her sister off the chair.

A hard smack on the wooden, hay strewn floor was not Yang Xiao Long’s preferred method to waking up.

Many in the audience couldn’t help but snicker at Ruby’s “method” to wake her sister up.

“Really, Rubes,” Yang groaned as she glared at her sister, trying to ignore the snickers at her expense.

“I’m sorry! Nothing was working so what was I supposed to do?” Ruby protested.

“Ah, this brings back memories,” Qrow sighed as he reminisced on the past. When they were younger, Ruby would do this when Yang refused to get out of bed, much to the older girl’s dismay.

“Alright, I’m awake!” Yang snapped, pushing herself upright. “Just because you’re our boss, doesn’t mean you’re allowed to-” Yang’s tirade was cut off once she saw that it was Ruby. Immediately, her expression changed from being angry to relieved.

“Ruby, you’re alright!” Yang hugged her sister before she could protest.

“Yes Yang, I’m alright!” Ruby managed to get out. “Now can you let go, you’re choking me!” Yang pulled away with a sheepish but unapologetic look. “Thank you. We have to go now!”

“What? Why?” Yang frowned, unaware of the reason for Ruby’s panic.

“Wait, does Yang not know about Weiss being kidnapped?” Jaune asked, confused.

“If she was with Ruby the whole time and later fell asleep, it would make sense she would not know,” Ren reasoned.

“We have to tell the Governess-”

“If it’s about Whitley, then don’t worry about it. He left a few hours ago,” Yang told her, catching a sword Ruby tossed to her. “He went to the fort to see if his mother and sister were all right. The fort was the most damaged place, so he wanted to be sure. After he left, I fell asleep.”

Ruby froze, her sword half sheathed on her belt. “You mean… you don’t know?”

Yang frowned as trepidation coursed through her at the look on Ruby’s face.

“…Know what?”

“I can only imagine how that conversation went,” Sage remarked.

“Yeah, telling your sister that your crush was kidnapped by pirates would be a fun talk,” Sun agreed.

“You do remember that we were the ones who kidnapped her, right?” Neptune asked his leader.

“I’d rather not think on that,” Sun responded, ignoring the sudden glare Winter was sending them at that reminder.

Upon informing Yang of Weiss’ capture by the pirates, the sisters bolted towards Fort Charles as quickly as they could. While running, they couldn’t help but take in the devastation that fell upon Port Royal.

Sure, when compared to larger cities such as those of Atlas proper, it was rather small. But for a smaller town such as Port Royal, it looked like the aftermath of hell on earth.

Buildings were reduced to rubble and dust littered the streets. The harbour itself was dotted with smoking or sunken ships. Chickens waddled around the ransacked settlement and clucked while the townspeople busied themselves by cleaning or repairing the damage with grim and sombre looks on their faces.

The heroes grimaced at the aftermath of the attack, while the villains were impressed at the destruction.

“Those bastards really did a number on the place,” Harriet commented angrily.

“And they got away with Weiss,” Winter added, worried about what Adam had planned for her sister.

“Hopefully Lieutenant Ebi should have a plan to rescue Friend Weiss,” Penny said.

The sisters put the damage to the back of their minds; they had another target in mind right now.

Upon entering Fort Charles, they couldn’t but grimace at the sight that greeted them. When compared to the town, the fort was in an even more dilapidated state.

Entire battlements were blown away and the gallows that rested within the centre of the courtyard was now nothing more than a pile of broken wood. Marines lingered around the area, standing guard atop the battlements or dragging away the wounded and fallen bodies of their comrades.

The Atlasians gritted their teeth at the sight while the villains, particularly Cinder, Watts, and the White Fang, were pleased at it.

“They fought and died honourably, if nothing else,” Ozpin spoke sombrely. The sight weighed on him in particular as he reminisced on witnessing similar scenes across his many lifetimes.

The sisters quickly found who they were looking for as Commodore Ebi, Officers Elm Ederne and Winter Schnee, Dudley and Dee, Governess Schnee and Whitley resided in a small, half-enclosed office. The former two were looking over a large map of the Menagerie Sea that draped over the edge of the table. The two marines stood on lookout while the Schnees stood off to the side; Willow gazing out at nothing as her eldest daughter stood beside her with a stoic look while her son held a more worried expression.

Ruby and Yang entered the office. “They’ve taken her. They’ve taken Weiss!” Ruby shouted as she approached.

The group stared at her. “We are aware of the situation. Messrs Dudley and Dee, remove these individuals,” Clover order without even looking up.

The two marines moved forward to grab them, but they shook them off. “We have to hunt them down. We must save her,” Ruby insisted.

Normally this wouldn’t affect her, but Willow’s worry over Weiss had made her short-tempered. “And where do you propose we start?” Willow asked as she finally turned to address the black-haired girl. “If you have any information concerning my daughter, please share it! If anyone does, tell me!” the Governess demanded in a furious tone, provoking stunned expressions from the sisters, the naval officers, and her children.

The Schnees were startled at the display of anger from the Schnee matriarch, the children in particular. Even when she was deep within her drinks, she had always maintained a level of control, very rarely losing her temper. The sight of their mother expressing such a level of fury shocked them, even if it was another version of her.

Willow herself looked at her counterpart with pain. Oh, how she longed to display such anger, but years of being married to a cold bastard had worn away at her, leaving her a hollow shell of herself.

Despite it all, she still wished she could express herself in such a manner.

Upon realising her loss of composure, Willow calmed herself. “Leave, Misses Rose and Xiao Long,” she requested.

“That Blake Belladonna,” Dudley spoke up warily. Upon seeing the looks he was getting he continued. “She talked about the Black Pearl.”

“Mentioned it, is more what she did,” Dee added on to his compatriot’s words.

Their words gave Yang an idea. “Ask her where it is! She could lead us to it,” she suggested.

“That pirate tried to kill my sister. We could never trust a word she said,” the words came from Winter, who looked at Yang with a calm but frigid look.

“I do not think she meant it like that sister,” Whitley spoke in Yang’s defence. “The idea does have its merits.”

“You are not supporting this, Whitley?” Willow turned her son, having regained her composure but display a level of anger had trusting the pirate that threatened her daughter.

“I do not like the idea either mother, but if anyone were to the mind of a pirate, it would be another pirate,” Whitley reasoned.

Nora scratched her head. “Oh, come on. Is it that much of an issue?”

“We have to look at this from their perspective Nora,” Ren told his partner. “Blake is a pirate. The chance she would lie and escape the first chance is too much of a risk.”

“They should at least consider it. If Blake served aboard the Black Pearl she may know where it’s going,” Jaune reasoned. He was divided on the issue himself; both sides had valid arguments with their own positives and negatives. He honestly wasn’t sure which side he would choose if he were in this situation.

“Even so, how would we go about convincing her to help us?” Winter mentioned a valid point.

“Make a deal with her, she may agree to help,” Ruby argued in favour of Yang’s idea.

“No,” Clover spoke bluntly. “The pirates who invaded this fort left Belladonna locked in her cell, ergo they are not her allies, and therefore of no value.” He looked up from the map and addressed Willow. “Governess, we will establish their most likely course…”

He was unable to finish the rest of his sentence as Ruby slammed her boarding axe into the table, embedding itself in the map. “That’s not good enough!” she shouted.

Everyone was surprised by Ruby’s burst of anger. It seemed so uncharacteristic of the young girl.

Clover turned back around and, after a moment of silence, spoke. “Ms. Rose, Ms. Xiao Long, neither of you are military personnel nor sailors. You are blacksmiths.” He then grabbed hold of the younger girl and dragged her out, while a gesture to Elm commanded her to do the same to Yang. “And this is not the moment for rash actions!”

Yang glared at the screen. “So what? We can fight just as well as any of the marines could,” she said in defence of her and Ruby’s counterparts.

Ruby nodded. “Yeah. I don’t remember any of you guys killing any pirates.”

Neo looked at the sisters as she displayed a message. “You didn’t do much better. You still failed to stop them.”

“You make a good point Neo. The guy we saw die was shown to still be alive. And you also failed to stop them from taking the Ice Queen,” Roman smirked in agreement.

Ruby winced at the reminder while Yang growled at the two thieves.

Once out of the room, Clover again spoke in a low voice. “Do not think you are the only one here who cares for Weiss.” He then spoke in a firmer tone. “Now, go home.”

With his words spoken, he shoved the axe into Ruby’s hands and walked back into the office. Ruby stared at Clover’s back heatedly before walking away.

Yang quickly followed her. She knew her sister well enough to know that being told no would not stop from doing what she believed to be right, and she knew what she was planning to do.

“Oh no,” Qrow groaned. He had an idea on what Ruby was planning.

“Ruby, stop!” Yang called out. “Just wait a minute! RUBY!”

Ruby turned to face her sister. “I’m not leaving Weiss’ fate up to chance Yang,” Ruby firmly said. “She’s out there alone, scared, and vulnerable, and I won’t let anyone stop me! Not even you.”

“Ruby, I’m not stopping you!” Yang snapped.

Ruby blinked. “Wait, you’re… not?”

“No,” Yang grinned. “I’m joining you.”

“And of course you would. You two would try something like this,” Tai groaned at his daughters’ actions. It was truly a miracle that his hair hasn’t turned grey over the years from the antics of his daughters got themselves into.

Down in the cells, Blake was continuing in her “attempts” of escape. Of course, the escape attempt was simply using the dog bone as a makeshift lockpick to unlock the door.

Its effectiveness was non-existent.

A few audience members snickered at Blake’s escape attempt, while Blake herself was rather put out.

“Well, excuse me for wanting to escape the gallows,” Blake huffed.

Blake then heard the doors to the dungeon open. Believing it to be marines, she ceased her actions and laid down face up on the floor in the hope of appearing inconspicuous.

It was then she remembered that she left the bone in the lock and hoped they wouldn’t realise what she was attempting.

To her relief it wasn’t marines, instead it was the silver-eyed girl she fought yesterday who was the reason she was in this predicament. Accompanying her was a blonde girl who, much like the silver-eyed girl, seemed very familiar to Blake.

Ruby and Yang stood in front of the bars and looked at Blake. The latter took note of the bone in the lock but decided not to bring it up; there was more important matters to address.

“You! Belladonna!” Ruby asked, slightly out of breath from running here.

Blake looked up at the duo. “Aye?”

“You are familiar with that ship? The Black Pearl?” she inquired.

Blake’s head sat back down. “I’ve heard of it.”

“Where does it make berth?” Yang asked next.

“Where does it make berth?” Blake repeated the question in slight bewilderment. “Have either of you not heard the stories?”

The sisters looked at each other before looking back to Blake silently, indicating the answer was no.

Blake sighed lightly before speaking. “Captain Taurus and his crew of miscreants sail from the dreaded Isla de Muerte [1],” Blake told the sisters, a slight change in tone when she spoke of the ship’s captain. “It’s an island that cannot be found, except by those who already know where it is.”

“Isla de Muerte? That “Island of Death” in Vacuan [2],” Sun noted warily. His words made several audience members tense, knowing it was likely not called that for hyperbole.

“Island of Death? The name alone is ominous,” Coco quipped. “Definitely the kind of place pirates would hang around at.”

“Especially ones under a curse,” Fox added on to his leader’s words, wondering about the curse in question.

“The ship’s real enough, therefore its anchorage must be a real place. Where is it?” Ruby demanded.

Blake checked her fingernails. “Why ask me?” she asked in a bored tone.

“Because you’re a pirate,” Ruby answered as if it were obvious.

Blake however knew it was not that simple. “And you want to turn pirate yourselves. Is that it?” she questioned, pushing head back up.

Ruby grabbed the bars as she leaned forward. “Never!” she hissed.

Ruby held her head high. “That’s right. I’d never go sailing around stealing and killing people,” she shared her counterpart’s response.

Her family nodded with pleased looks.

“But performing criminal acts is fine, isn’t it Little Red,” Roman mocked.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Yang demanded.

“You were running around fighting me and the White Fang with no permission from the law enforcement. That’s vigilantism, which is a criminal act,” Roman explained with a smirk. “The only reason you and your friends didn’t get into trouble with the police is because your headmaster likely bailed you out.”

Yang was about to argue but was stopped by the combat professor. “Torchwick is correct in his assumption,” Glynda said as she glared at Team RWBY. “Had it not been for Beacon stepping in, you four would have been arrested and charged with jail time for your actions.”

“But it was for a good reason! We stopped the White Fang!” Blake protested.

“And while doing so, Miss Belladonna, caused a great amount of property damage, a portion of which the school had to reimburse,” Glynda responded with a glare towards the cat Faunus, who wilted under the glower. “The only reason you weren’t expelled for your actions is because no one died during them.”

The entire team flinched at that.

Her anger caused Yang to grab her shoulder and gently pull her back while levelling Blake a cool look that told the pirate her answer was the same.

Blake simply lowered her head again and went back to observing her fingernails. Once Ruby calmed down, she spoke again. “They took Miss Schnee.”

“Oh, so it is that you found a girl!” Blake said enthusiastically as she sat up; her observation back when they fought being confirmed. “And what’s your reason, blondie?” she asked Yang.

The elder sister gave a slight smirk. “I’m not going to let my sister go off on her own. Someone needs to keep an eye on her. That and I like fighting, and saving Weiss-cream seems like a good excuse.” Her answer earned an annoyed look from Ruby.

“I see. Well, if you’re intending to brave all and hasten to rescue her and so win fair lady’s heart, you’ll have to do it alone mates,” Blake informed them. “I see no profit in it for me.”

Yang growled at the pirate’s mockery, but Ruby maintained her calm. The two considered this would happen and came prepared with a contingency. “We can get you out of here,” she offered.

“And I was right,” Qrow sighed, cursing his luck.

“You’re helping me escape? I appreciate the aid, but you both could be arrested and executed for helping me,” Blake said in concern.

The red reaper sighed. “I know the risks, and they probably do as well. But I guess there isn’t any other way to save Weiss,” she said. If there was anything she had learned during her time at Beacon, it was that what was legally right and what was morally right did not always coincide.

She was very much ignoring the smirk on Roman’s face.

“If you must free Blake, then you must be quick and quiet about it,” Weiss warned, warmed by Ruby and Yang’s willingness to rescue her counterpart. It also made her feel a pang of shame for how she had treated them at the start of the year.

“How’s that? The key’s ran off,” Blake questioned dubiously.

“We helped build these cells,” Ruby explained as she examined the cell structure. “These are half-pin barrel hinges.”

Yang realised what Ruby was planning and looked around the hallway, while Blake watched the two with sudden interest. “Ruby’s right,” she affirmed as she grabbed the nearby bench and positioned it between the bars at the bottom of the cell door to serve as a lever. “With the right leverage; a lever and a fulcrum, and the proper application of strength, the door will lift free,” she informed Blake.

“Impressive, Friend Ruby and Friend Yang,” Penny complimented the sisters.

Ren noticed the attentive gaze Blake was giving the sisters. “Why is Blake looking at Ruby and Yang so intently?” he spoke the question aloud, catching the others’ attention.

Elm looked at the onscreen Blake. “He’s right. It’s like they remind her of someone,” she observed.

Pyrrha then recalled something. “Wait, back at the forge Blake said Ruby looked familiar.”

“You’re right… she did say she was familiar,” Jaune also recalled.

Blake watched the two sisters as they worked, and her interest grew dramatically. Something about them felt familiar to her but watching them work made her realise why. All she needed to confirm her suspicions was a simple question.

“What’re your names?” Blake asked curiously.

Ruby and Yang paused as they looked at Blake. “Ruby Rose.” “Yang Xiao Long.”

“We’re sisters,” Ruby added on.

Blake sat still for a moment before leaning forward. “Those are good strong names,” she complimented. “Would you both happen to be related to a Summer Rose and a Raven Noire, by any chance?”

They stared at Blake in surprise. “Yes,” Ruby answered slowly. “They were our mothers.”

Ruby recoiled slightly. “Wait, she knows mine and Yang’s moms?”

“Yeah. That’s… very strange,” Yang remarked. She was briefly surprised by her mother’s surname not being “Branwen” before remembering that she and Uncle Qrow were not related in this universe.

“We’ll just have to watch and learn how,” Qrow shrugged.

“Uh huh,” Blake processed the information. She then got to her feet. “Well, Misses Rose and Xiao Long, I’ve changed me mind. If you spring me from this cell, I swear on pain of death, I shall take you to the Black Pearl, and your bonny lass.” She then stuck her hand through the bars. “Do we have an accord?”

The audience looked at Blake’s counterpart with dubious expressions. Blake had initially refused to help and now she just changed her mind. Blake herself narrowed her eyes at her counterpart and wondered just what she was planning.

“She’s hiding something. And I doubt that its good,” Raven spoke for the first time in a while.

“As much as I hate to agree, you’re right,” Qrow begrudgingly agreed with his sister. “She only agreed to help after learning who Ruby and Yang’s mothers were.”

“It is fishy. But what else can they do,” Tai pointed out. He didn’t like it, but his daughters’ counterparts did need the pirate’s help to save their friend.

Ruby and Yang glanced at each other warily. They were both suspicious of how quick Blake was willing to help as soon as she learned their names. However, they had no other options, and so they nodded as Ruby slowly placed her hand into Blake’s and shook it. “Agreed.”

“Agreed! Get me out!”

Ruby grabbed a nearby chair and placed it under the bench to serve as a fulcrum before stepping back as Yang placed her foot on the bench and pushed down on it, applying the required level of strength. The force lifted the cell door off its hinges. With the door severed, Ruby grabbed it and threw it on the floor. Impressed, Blake exited the cell.

“Hurry! Someone will have heard that,” Ruby warned.

“Not without my effects,” Blake told her as she went to the hook across from her cell that held her belongings, grabbing and placing them back on.

“Why would she need her pistol? If she just killed the girl she could have escaped but she didn’t,” Emerald brought up.

“Remember what she said before being knocked out? She said that the shot was not meant for her,” Mercury pointed out. “She must be reserving it for someone.”

“Why bother with that?” Ruby asked as the pirate grabbed her pistol. “You could’ve escaped if you killed me before, but you weren’t willing to use it.”

In response, Blake aimed the pistol right at Ruby. “Are you advising me that was a mistake?” she questioned.

The action made the sisters tense as they began to reach for their swords.

The sisters also tensed, as did their father and uncle and friends.

After a tense moment, Blake spoke. “When you’ve only got one shot, it’s best to wait for the opportune moment. That wasn’t it,” she said in response to Ruby’s question. “Nor is this.”

Blake lowered her pistol and pulled it back into a half-cocked state before storing it, making Ruby move her hand away from her weapon, though Yang had not done so. “May this be a lesson to the both of you: be mindful of what you say when out on the open seas, for it very well may be your last.”

Blake’s words had the criminals nodding their heads in accord, for it was true. When living alongside the scum of the world one had to careful with what they said, especially when it came to those who held tremendous power. If they didn’t then it could very well lead to sudden end.

“Then let us teach you a lesson,” Yang unsheathed her sword and took a threatening step forward, forcing Blake to step back to avoid being skewered by the blade. “Ruby is my baby sister. If you threaten her, if you endanger her life in any way, I will promise I will kill you myself. Do you understand?”

Blake put her hands up innocently. “Alright. I promise. If I compromise Little Red’s life,” Ruby scowled at the nickname, “then I will deal with you, Miss Xiao Long.”

Ruby mimicked her counterpart’s reaction.

“Now do you want to continue chatting or would you rather we go save Miss Schnee’s life?” Blake asked. Yang sheathed her sword as she and Ruby both thought the same thing.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

The trio had managed to leave the fort without being noticed and made their way toward the docks. Now, they crept under the stone bridge near connected to the dock the Interceptor rested at.

“We’re going to steal a ship?” Ruby asked Blake uneasily, following Blake’s gaze and her eyes widened in alarm. “That ship?”

Yang followed their gazes and blanched. The ship they were staring at was none other than the Dauntless. How in the hell were they going to steal the pride of the Royal Navy?

“Commandeer,” Blake corrected. “We’re going to “commandeer that ship.” She pointed at the Interceptor which was currently being loaded. “Nautical term.”

The sisters looked and saw the reasoning. The Interceptor was the fastest ship in the Menagerie (that they knew of), and with the supplies being stored could sustain them for a long while. The only problem was that it was currently occupied by a considerable number of marines.

“They’re going to steal a ship with just three people?” Harriet asked sceptically.

“How on Remnant do they plan to do that? There are too many soldiers for the three of them to take on?” Elm asked aloud.

“Is it even possible for just three people to steer a ship?” Blake questioned, wondering if her counterpart was indeed mad.

“One question about your business, or there’s no use going.” Blake turned to look at Ruby and Yang. “This girl, how far are you willing to go to save her?”

“I’d die for her,” Ruby answered without an ounce of hesitation.

Weiss felt her heart pace at Ruby’s dedication, even if she did not swing that way. Many of the others were either touched or impressed by Ruby’s declaration.

Blake then looked at Yang. “And you?”

“I’d die for my sister, as well as my friends,” Yang also answered without hesitation.

“I would too,” Yang shared her counterpart’s answer. Her loyalty also impressed many as well.

“Oh, good. No worries then,” Blake said happily as she turned back around to look at the docked ship. Ruby and Yang both gazed at her back in trepidation for how pleased she was about their response.

On a beach by the harbour, a patrol of marines marched along the shore, with numerous fishing boats spread across the area.

Once the marines passed and sound of their footsteps faded, an upturned fishing boat suddenly levitated, with three sets of legs below it. The boat moved forward to the water and descended beneath the waves.

At the bottom of the harbour, Blake, Ruby, and Yang walked across the seafloor while carrying the boat over their heads. Fortunately for them the water only reached up to their shoulders, with the boat’s hull providing an air pocket.

“This is either madness or brilliance,” Ruby muttered in disbelief at how this was working.

“It’s remarkable how often those two traits coincide,” Blake remarked.

“That doesn’t change that this plan is embarrassing,” Yang grumbled, annoyed at how her hair was becoming soaked from this endeavour.

“No, it doesn’t,” Yang sympathised with her counterpart’s displeasure while her sister, father, and uncle rolled their eyes in exasperation.

Raven also agreed with her daughter’s counterpart although not to the same extent.

“Is that even possible?” Ren questioned the possibility of this happening, though he didn’t believe it would.

It was Penny who answered. “No, it would not work. The buoyancy of the boat would pull them back to the surface, and they are too light to keep the boat and air pocket submerged,” she explained.

“Meh. Who needs physics when you can be cool instead,” Nora said as pulled a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.

Ren turned to his partner. “Nora, where did you get the sunglasses?”

“From me, now give them back!” Coco growled as she snatched her sunglasses back.

Ruby felt her foot go through something and became entangled. Startled, she looked down and saw her foot caught within a lobster trap. Despite her dismay, she knew they were pressed for time and so continued onward, dragging the trap with her.

Up on the water’s surface, the barrel the lobster trap was connected to bobbed along, much to the confusion of a nearby dockworker.

Jaune looked warily at the buoy. “Hopefully that won’t cause problems.”

“It shouldn’t. Many will just see it as something random,” Neptune said.

“By now, the marines are likely aware that Miss Belladonna is no longer in her cell. If they are to be successful, they must be quick,” Ozpin mused.

Upon arriving at the HMS Dauntless, the rope connected to the lobster trap was tied around the ship’s rudder while the other end connected to the barrel was tied to the lower balcony, allowing the three to climb up to the ship. They then climbed the rest of the way and onto the vessel’s poop deck.

“Wait, why are we stealing the Dauntless?” Ruby questioned. “I thought Blake wanted the Interceptor?”

“Eh, the kitty cat must have a plan,” Yang shrugged.

Once aboard, Ruby and Yang both realised that there was no turning back now Yang and Blake descended the stairs while Ruby jumped down to the main deck where the ship’s skeleton crew was assembled, oblivious to their presence.

“Everyone stay calm! We’re taking over the ship,” Blake announced loudly with her pistol drawn.

Standing on either side of Blake, Ruby and Yang had their swords drawn with the former pointing hers at the crew. “Aye! Avast!” Ruby declared.

The crew burst out into hysterical laughter at the sheer absurdity. Yang would have facepalmed at her little sister’s actions if she weren’t wielding her sword, while Blake shot her an incredulous look that just screamed “What are you doing?”

The entire audience laughed as well, as did the other members of Team RWBY with slight hesitance.

Ruby groaned and her pulled her hood over head to hide her embarrassment.

“Oh yes. That is scary. I’m absolutely terrified,” Roman snarked once he stopped laughing, while Neo silently giggled.

“This ship cannot be crewed by three people,” the head of the skeleton crew, Harriet Bree, informed the would-be hijackers smugly. “You’ll never make it out of the bay.”

Blake just smiled and walked forward. “Lass… I’m Captain Blake Belladonna.” She aimed her pistol right in the lieutenant’s face and cocked it. The pirate smirked. “Savvy?”

Back at the dock where the Interceptor rested, preparations to disembark were nearly complete. Officer Marrow Amin noticed something in the distance and approached Clover. “Commodore!”

“And there’s me,” Marrow acknowledged, seeing how he was the only member of the Ace Ops yet to be seen.

“You, Clover, and Vine wear those navy threads well,” Elm complimented the three who thanked her.

Clover turned to where Marrow was looking and noticed it as well. He pulled out a telescope to get a better look.

It was Harriet and the skeleton crew in a rowboat. Harriet was shouting and gesturing to the Dauntless. “They’re taking the Dauntless! Commodore! They’ve taken the ship! Belladonna, Rose, and Xiao Long! They’re taking the Dauntless!”

Harriet scoffed at her counterpart in slight disbelief. “Are you serious?”

Clover then turned to the Dauntless and noticed the individuals in question on the main deck, Ruby and Yang hauling the lines loose while Blake directed them.

“Rash, Rose. Too rash,” Clover spoke to no one; he knew that this had to have been the younger sister’s idea. He then looked at Blake and lowered the telescope. “That is, without a doubt, the worst pirate I have ever seen.”

He then turned to the Interceptor with Marrow following him.

The sisters walked up to the poop deck where Blake stood behind the wheel, her pistol slung over her shoulder. “Here they come,” Ruby warned as they looked to see the Interceptor approaching them as her sails unfurled.

While many people would panic in this situation, Blake Belladonna simply grinned.

“Why is she smiling like that?” Neptune asked nervously.

“Oh, I’ve seen that look before. It just screams that they have something in mind,” Ilia recognised.

“She does have a talent at that,” Sienna acknowledged, speaking for the first time in a while.

Harriet’s rowboat had reached the Interceptor. “Bring her around!” Harriet shouted as the Interceptor past them and came alongside the slower Dauntless.

Once the two ships were side by side, ropes and grappling hooks were thrown onto the Dauntless to draw the two ships together and a bridge was set up between them, allowing the Interceptor’s crew to storm the larger ship.

Clover climbed aboard. “Search every cabin, every hold, down to the bilges,” he ordered his men.

Unbeknownst to them, the three hijackers swung across to the now unmanned Interceptor. Upon landing, Ruby cuts the ropes connecting the ships with her hatchet, causing the Interceptor to begin sailing away with the bridges falling into the water.

“So that’s why Blake took the Dauntless! It was to leave the Interceptor unmanned so she could take it without issue!” Jaune realised.

“Well played, kitty cat,” Roman complimented the cat Faunus’ plan. There was mockery in his tone, it was genuine.

“Impressive,” Clover admitted, torn between being impressed at the ploy or annoyed as it was his ship that was stolen.

Clover froze, sensing something was wrong, and slowly turned around. “Sailors, back to the Interceptor!” he demanded as the crew rushed to the starboard side.

However, the distance between the two ships had already grown too great. One sailor attempted to swing back onto Interceptor but missed and fell into the sea with a splash.

“It's too late. They’ve taken the fastest ship. They’ll never catch them in time,” Harriet sighed.

“But what’s stopping the Commodore from firing at them with the Dauntless’ cannons?” Winter pointed out a critical flaw.

“Come on Ice Queen. Considering what we’ve seen so far, she probably planned for that,” Qrow chided her, smirking at the resulting scowl.

Clover and Marrow approached the railing and stared at the Interceptor’s poop deck, spotting Blake at the helm looking back at them and waving her hat.

“Thank you, Commodore, for getting us ready to make way,” she thanked Clover, who glared at her with burning intensity. “We’d have had a hard time by ourselves.”

“And that’s just rubbing salt in the wound,” Yatsu shook his head.

The marines fired upon the Interceptor’s poop deck with their muskets, causing her and Ruby and Yang to duck for cover.

Clover was seething, but his response to Marrow was measured. “Set topsails and clear up this mess.”

He began to walk away with Marrow following. “Sir, with the wind a quarter from astern we won’t catch them,” Marrow told him.

“I don’t need to catch them. Just get them in range of the long nines,” Clover order as they walked to the poop deck.

Marrow understood what the Commodore intended. “Hands come about. Run out the guns!” he commanded. The crewmembers complied and readied the cannons.

“Hold on. They’re really going to fire on their ship?” Marrow said in disbelief.

“It’s understandable. Allowing a military grade vessel to fall into the hands of pirates would be disastrous,” Ironwood reasoned.

“So how do they plan on getting away unscathed?” Kali asked, worried for her daughter and her friends.

“Oh, I have an idea,” Ilia smirked slightly.

“We are to fire on our own ship, sir?” Marrow questioned Clover’s order.

The Commodore’s response was firm. “I’d rather see her at the bottom of the ocean than in the hands of a pirate.”

“Commodore!” The two turned to the helmsman, who was attempting to turn the wheel with no result. “He’s disabled the rudder chain, sir,” he reported.

“And I was right,” Ilia laughed, taking solace at a version of Atlas being embarrassed in such a way.

“That explains why Blake had that smug grin,” Jaune chuckled.

“She must have planned it all from the beginning,” Ren speculated.

The skeleton crew on the rowboat suddenly noticed a shadow cast over them. Harriet looked up in alarm to see the Dauntless looming over them as it sailed in their direction.

“Abandon ship!” Harriet shouted as she and the crew threw themselves into the water. The Dauntless sailed over the rowboat, destroying it.

The audience laughed while Harriet groaned and lowered head in embarrassment. It was only made worse by the fact her teammates couldn’t hide their amusement.

Clover closed his eyes and lowered his head in exasperation, knowing they were now unable to stop Blake and the sisters from escaping.

Marrow meanwhile stared at the Interceptor as it sailed away. “That’s got to be the best pirate I’ve ever seen,” he commented, slightly impressed.

Clover raised his head and opened his eyes. “So, it would seem,” he replied with begrudging respect.

He stared at the Interceptor with a fierce gaze. Perhaps Blake Belladonna wasn’t as pathetic as he initially thought. Either way, he will still see to her hanged by the time this is over. As for Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long? They better return with Weiss otherwise he will kill them himself.

“For better or worse, she probably is the best pirate ever,” Weiss concurred with Marrow’s comment.

“Considering that they stole a major vessel without any casualties, it certainly is impressive,” Ironwood admitted.

“And now Blake and her friends are wanted by the authorities,” Ghira said in worry.

“And I doubt Clover will not be far behind once the ship is repaired,” Vine noted.

“And it’s just the three of them. They can’t take on the Black Pearl without a full crew,” Elm reminded.

“Well, Friend Blake did mention obtaining a crew earlier. So that must be their next step,” Penny surmised.

Chapter Text

The Interceptor sails across the open waters of the Menagerie Sea. It was still daytime, and the waves were calm and tranquil. With the threat of being pursued by the marines behind them for now, the trio decided to relax while ensuring the ship sailed without issue.

Yang was busy tightening a line, moving back astern once finished. Ruby was sharpening both her and Yang’s swords with a whetstone. And Blake was at the wheel, making sure they were on course to their destination. Once sure they were heading in the right direction, the pirate moved away from the wheel and walked down to the main deck.

“We’re in luck. With this ship we should be arriving at Tortuga by nightfall,” Blake informed the sisters.

“Tortuga?” Yang asked suspiciously. “Isn’t that place crawling with pirates?”

“It is. But we need to rest for our journey, and we need a bigger crew if we are to go after the Black Pearl,” Blake told her.

Blake then walked to the ropes to inspect them. The sisters looked at each other. They had questions that Blake had the answers to, and they were going to get them.

Ruby decided to speak first. “When me and Yang were young girls living in Atlas, our father and Yang’s mother raised us by themselves,” she told Blake as she sharpened her sword, attempting to be guile. “After they died, we came out here, looking for my mother.”

Ruby and Yang both were pained to hear that. While they suspected it, it still hurt to hear confirmation. Tai and Raven both grimaced, while Qrow was also pained at the words.

“How did they die?” Qrow asked with unusual softness.

“They died from a disease called smallpox, an unfortunately common cause of death at the time,” Nightout explained. “Taiyang passed away first; Raven followed not long after. They held out as long as they could until their bodies gave out on them.”

Tai sighed but was relieved that he resisted until the end. Raven felt the same. Ruby and Yang took quiet solace in that it was sickness at killed them instead of murder. Qrow was quiet but deep inside felt an old pain to losing his family again (even Raven), even if it was in another universe.

Sadly, Blake had an idea on what they trying to do. She idly looked at them. “Is that so?” she spoke blasély as she heads back to the poop deck while trying to avoid the topic.

However, the sisters weren’t willing to give up that easily as they followed her. “My mother, Summer Rose?” Ruby pressed further, but Blake remained silent.

“That’s right, she knows Ruby and Yang’s parents,” Ren recalled. “Perhaps we’ll find out how.”

“Something tells me the answer won’t be good,” Jaune said warily.

Yang finally had enough of the pirate’s evasion. “At the jail it was only after you learned mine and Ruby’s names that you agreed to help. Since that’s what we wanted, I didn’t press the matter.” The blonde glared at the cat Faunus, with Ruby also looking at her accusingly. “We’re not simpletons, Blake. You knew our parents.”

Glynda narrowed her eyes. “She definitely knows something if she’s trying to avoid the question this much.”

“It must be something that she doesn’t want them to know,” Ironwood concluded. From what he had observed, the pirate seemed the type to withhold vital information until they had to reveal it.

Blake finally paused and after a moment, turned to face them. “I knew them,” Blake answered simply. She then amended her statement. “Well, I only knew Raven and Taiyang through Summer; didn’t spend much time with them,” she admitted, surprising the two. “Now Summer I knew. Probably one of the few who knew her as Summer Rose. Everyone else just called her ‘Bootstrap’, or ‘Bootstrap Rose’.”

Ruby blinked at the nickname. “Bootstrap?”

Ruby shared her counterpart’s reaction. “Bootstrap? Why would she be called that?”

“Maybe she wore fancy boots with bootstraps?” Nora suggested with a grin.

“Perhaps,” Pyrrha thought it over. She then noticed how her partner tensed. “Jaune?”

Jaune didn’t respond; he just stared at the screen in trepidation.

Blake turned to the helm. “Good woman. Good pirate,” she recalled; the second part making the sisters turn to her with stunned expressions. The pirate then looked at Ruby with a wry look. “I swear, you look just like her.”

Most of the audience was taken aback by the revelation.

“What?!” Ruby and Yang shouted in disbelief.

“Summer a pirate? No, that’s impossible,” Tai shook his head in denial, a thought that Qrow shared.

While most were stunned, some were not. Ozpin, Salem, Cinder, Roman, Raven, and Jaune had suspected as much, and this confirmed it.

Port noticed the headmaster’s unsurprise and spoke, “Ozpin, did you suspect this?”

At everyone’s attention the headmaster sighed. “Admittedly, I did not believe it at first. However, Miss Belladonna’s reaction to learning Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long’s names as well as how she recognised the former made me consider the possibility. And Miss Belladonna just confirmed it.”

Pyrrha then realised something. “Jaune, you suspected this as well, didn’t you? It’s why you tensed right before the reveal.”

The blonde slouched before admitting, “Yeah, it seemed strange that Blake knew Ruby and Yang’s parents. I considered it as a joke…” the blonde grimaced, “…but it seemed it was true.”

“Well, I don’t know about all of you, but I thought it was obvious,” Roman said smugly. “The only way Kitty Cat could know Little Red’s mom was if she was a pirate herself.”

“The thief makes a valid point,” Raven acknowledged. “It is rather evident in hindsight.”

Salem and Cinder both remained quiet, but they also deduced the truth as well.

Yang looked at Blake in shock. Summer Rose… a pirate? She didn’t want to believe it; wanted to believe Blake was lying, but the look on Blake’s face indicated she was being honest. And now that Yang thought about it, she recalled how Summer would leave for lengthy periods of time for reasons she wouldn’t explain, and how her father always looked concerned whether she did so.

She then recalled a time when she eavesdropped on a conversation between Summer and her father, where they argued about her chosen profession to support them and he asked her to stop, but she refused. They realised she was there though and stopped. At the time Yang didn’t think much of it, but now it makes much more sense if Summer was a pirate, and her father disapproved of it.

Raven smirked in satisfaction. So, my daughter’s counterpart has considered the idea being true. Her eyes shifted to the other sister. But will Summer’s daughter accept it?

Unfortunately, Ruby didn’t want to accept the very idea. “It’s not true. She was a merchant sailor. A good, respectable woman who obeyed the law.” Yang mentally grimaced, already anticipated where this was going.

Blake whirled to face her. “She was a bloody pirate, a scallywag,” Blake told her bluntly before turning back.

Yang could see how the words were affecting her sister as she gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Ruby, calm down,” Yang tried to calm her, while mentally cursing herself for pushing the issue. “We should at least hear her out.”

“You’re not the one whose mother is being insulted. And my mother-” Ruby growled as she withdrew her sword, “-was not a pirate!”

Yang tensed as she moved towards the stairs, while Blake just sighed and did not turn around. “Put it away, girl. It’s not worth you getting beat again.”

“Beat me again? Excuse me, but she didn’t beat me, Mr. Brown interfered,” Ruby stubbornly claimed.

“Ruby, I had you at gunpoint. I’m pretty sure I won,” Blake countered.

“But that was after you cheated,” Ruby insisted. “I would have won if not for that.”

“You didn’t beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I’d kill you,” Ruby snapped.

Blake turned around, staring down the silver-eyed girl and the sword pointed at her. “Well, that’s not much incentive for me to fight fair, is it?”

And then, with no warning, Blake spun the helm in a clockwise motion, causing the sail boom to whip around and slam directly into Ruby, sweeping her off the ship while dropping her sword in the process, leaving her dangling above the water and clinging to the end of the boom.

“Oh, come on!” Ruby threw her hands up, frustrated at the underhandedness.

“What did you expect? She is a pirate,” Roman reminded her smugly. “If there’s anything I’ve learned during my career, it’s that fighting fair will not get you far. You must take the initiative and be smart if you want to get far,” he mock lectured.

“As loathe as I am to admit it, Torchwick does make a valid point,” Glynda begrudgingly admitted. “Raw strength and skill can only allow you to go so far. A great wit and the ability to improvise when at a disadvantage are important as well,”

Yang looked as if she wanted to argue with that but then recalled her fight with Neo on the train and stopped.

“RUBY!” Yang rushed at Blake in anger, but the pirate was much quicker and shoved Yang back, causing the blonde woman to tumble over the banister and crash onto the deck.

“Ouch, that must have hurt,” Coco commented. Yang meanwhile grimaced slightly at how she was quickly taken out.

“You’ll be fine,” Blake called down to Yang. She picked up Ruby’s sword and points it at the furious girl. “Now as long as you’re just hanging there, pay attention. The only rules that really matter are these: what a person can do, and what a person can’t do.” Ruby stopping struggling temporarily to begrudgingly listen. “For instance, your sister can attempt to rescue you, but she can’t take me on her lonesome. Another example is this: you can accept your mother was a pirate and a good woman, or you can’t. But pirate is in your blood girl, so you’ll have to square with that someday,” Blake lectured.

Tai and Qrow both calmed at Blake’s word. They knew that no one was perfect, and if Blake was claiming that Summer was a pirate with a good heart then it was likely true. Yang also calmed down as well. Even if this Blake was different than her own, there were similarities between them, and if she claimed that Summer was a good woman then it was probably true.

Ruby meanwhile was struggling the most with this revelation. She had long held her mother on this pedestal has the ideal person. The idea that she could be flawed felt like an inconceivable idea to her.

Ruby scowled at Blake. A pirate being a good person? The idea was impossible.

Blake glanced over and saw Yang starting to get back up before turning back to Ruby. “Now, me, for example, I can let you drown,” Blake informed her.

Ruby’s angered expression changed to alarm while Yang snarled. “Don’t you-”

“But I can’t bring this ship into Tortuga with just blondie to help, savvy?” Blake continued. She then looked at the sisters with a calculating look. “So…”

Blake then spun the helm in a counter clockwise direction as the boom swung back over the deck. Yang realised too late what Blake was planning as Ruby was flung off the boom and crashed into Yang, knocking them both to the ground.

Sun winced. “Oof, that definitely must have hurt.”

“Great, this is the second time Ruby has knocked me down,” Yang grumbled as she recalled how her counterpart had woken up.

As the two untangled themselves, Blake walked down the stairs and approached them, pointing Ruby’s sword at the girl. “…my question is this. Can you sail under the command of a pirate?” She flipped the sword and caught it by the blade, with the hilt pointing at Ruby as an offering. “Or can you not?”

Ruby looked at Blake, and then at the blade in trepidation. Finally coming to a decision, Ruby reluctantly grabbed the hilt and was pulled to her feet by Blake.

She then turned to Yang. “And you?”

Yang looked at Blake for a moment before nodding. Blake then pulled the blonde to her feet.

“It’s not like we have much of a choice,” Ruby sighed.

“Oh, come on, Ruby? It may be fun,” Yang tried to be optimistic.

“Yes, it is fun in a criminal sort of way,” Weiss snarked.

“If it’s the best way to save your counterpart, then that’s what we’ll do,” Blake finished.

“Tortuga?” Ruby asked.

“Tortuga,” Blake grinned.

And the three women looked at one another as a bond began to develop in that moment. While Blake Belladonna was not their first choice for a companion, they were in this together no matter what.

And so, they have reached an accord. They may not like it, but Miss Belladonna needs them as much as they need her. For better or worse, they are united for a common goal, Ozpin mentally mused.

If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how this will fold, Salem thought.

If there was a place in the world that best embodied the absence of law and the reign of chaos, it would be Tortuga.

The island was a major centre of piracy. A dank and dirty port, where the tides swept together the scum of the Menagerie – pirates, privateers, prostitutes, thieves, and drunkards. A ramshackle haven for outlaws and scoundrels seeking refuge from the threat of the naval forces of the great empires. With its cantered, rotting docks, weather-beaten buildings, and odd assortment of livestock running free, it was a beacon of lawlessness, free from the hand of governing law. It was everything that Port Royal wasn’t.

These were the thoughts that ran through Ruby and Yang’s minds as they observed their surroundings, travelling down an alley with Blake as their guide. She was even holding a staff of office.

A man was dragged along the road by a speeding wagon. Drunk and rowdy sailors openly brawled in the streets or were throwing each other over the side of balconies, partying alongside scantily clad women that would be deemed scandalous in civilised settlements, or were firing their pistols into the air with wild glee. Even the mayor of this hellish revelry was being dunked into a well. A jaunty tune played in the background, complimenting the chaotic symphony that was Tortuga.

“Damn, and I thought Vale’s red-light district was wild,” Yang commented.

“It reminds me much of Wind Path, or of the poorer areas of Mantle,” Roman remarked snidely, earning irked looks from the Atlasians.

“It’s a den of filth that should be purged,” Jacques sneered.

“How exactly have the marines not taken care of this?” Ghira asked. If Tortuga was a large concentration of piracy, then how come on no one has stepped in to stop it?

“The same reason Mistral hasn’t been able to stamp out the criminal element in Wind Path. It’s located far enough away from the rest of civilisation avoid the authorities, and its strategic location would make it an ideal refuge for those wanting to hide,” Roman answered.

“More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep the sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga. Savvy?” Blake remarked. “What do you think?”

Yang turned to her left and saw a man lying on the ground next to barrels, drinking two tankards of ale while a prostitute sat atop the barrels and poured her own bottle of rum into his mouth.

“It’ll linger,” Yang answered dryly, turning away from the sight.

“I’ll tell you, lass,” Blake threw an arm around each girl’s shoulders, “if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted.”

“If every town were like this one,” Ruby mumbled, “I would question where society went wrong.”

Blake was going to respond when she noticed someone storming toward her. It was a black-haired girl of Mistralian descent with a scarlet dress, and she bore a dark scowl on her face.

Yang’s eyes widened, recognising the woman as one of the twins working for Junior.

Blake smiled in recognition. “Melanie,” she spoke as she walked toward her.

Without a response, Melanie slapped Blake, hard enough her face turned. Satisfied, she turned and strode off.

Many winced at the action while some snickered at it. Blake herself rubbed her cheek as if she were struck as well.

“What was that for?” Yang demanded.

“An old lover jilted?” Qrow offered. “You will not believe how furious a scorned woman can be.”

“You would know that wouldn’t you,” Winter couldn’t resist the jab. Qrow just huffed in response.

“Ah, I can see Melanie doing that to someone who ditched her,” Roman noted.

“Not sure I deserved that,” Blake grumbled as she rubbed her face, frowning at the sisters who were withholding laughter. She then turned around and saw another black-haired girl of Mistralian descent, though this one wore a cream-coloured dress. “Militia.”

Militia smiled coyly. “Who was she?”

“What?”

Militia slapped Blake with as much force as Melanie and strode off in satisfaction. To Blake’s displeasure, the sisters were trembling with suppressed laughter. Yang looked as if she was struggling to stay standing as she gripped Ruby’s shoulder for support.

“I may have deserved that,” Blake admitted.

Ilia was slightly amused at the action. I should do that at some point, she mused.

“I take back my complaints,” Ruby laughed. “This town does have some benefits.”

Blake wanted to argue, but they were pressed for time and so decided against it. “We should escape this wretched pit as quickly as possible!” she proclaimed as she led the two towards their intended destination.

“With a crew?” Yang pressed.

“Ah, yes,” Blake answered. “Well, it just so happens… that you know the woman who knows the man who knows the finest sailors in all Tortuga,” she revealed.

“And would you kindly tell us his name?” Ruby asked.

“His name, Little Red, is Qrow Branwen.”

“Huh,” Qrow blinked at the mention of his name. He was starting to think his appearance at the start was going to be a one-off thing. Seems he was wrong though. However, if he was residing in this town, then it likely indicated that his luck was a constant across dimensions.

“Uncle Qrow is who there’re looking for?” Ruby asked in surprise.

The sisters stopped in their tracks.

“Qrow Branwen?” they repeated in unison.

“I take it you know him?” Blake looked amused.

“He was aboard the Dauntless when me and Ruby came to Port Royal,” Yang explained. “It’s when we met Weiss as she found us floating on a raft in the middle of the ocean.”

Blake frowned. “You sure have a strange way of making friends.”

“I can’t believe Mister Branwen is a pirate,” Ruby shook her head as they resumed their trek.

“I can,” Yang snorted. At Ruby’s look she said, “Oh, come on, Ruby, you have thought the same thing. He always drank on the job, talked about pirates constantly, and was discharged from the navy.”

“Wow, I’m really feeling loved here, Yang,” Qrow drawled as he shot his eldest niece an unimpressed look.

“It’s not me, but another me!” Yang protested.

“Ah, but you were thinking of it, weren’t you?” Blake added with a smirk.

“Not now, Blake!”

Ruby closed her mouth at that. She did recall how the man seemed to encourage Weiss’s fascination with pirates. Shaking her head she asked, “Where is Mister Branwen, Blake?”

“I’m so glad you asked: he should be here,” Blake gestured to their destination.

Blake led them towards a tavern called the Faithful Bride. She passed the staff of office to Ruby, who passed it to a random patron before entering the tavern with her sister.

The trio entered the tavern and bore witness to the brawl that was currently unfolding. When compared to the violence outside, it was rather tame, but still far beyond what the sisters had even seen in Port Royal.

What caught their attention was one of the participants in the brawl. While most of the fighters were male, this one was female. She had short orange hair and aqua blue eyes and sported a wild grin as she fought against her opponents with vicious glee.

Nora let out a loud gasp. “I’M IN THIS!!!” she shouted at such a high volume that the Faunus in the audience couldn’t help but flinch.

“Miss Valkyrie, control yourself!” Glynda chided.

“Come on! Is this the best you have!” Nora laughed as she stood tall and proud over her enemies. “I’m the Queen of the Castle! I’m above all you fools!”

“Nora,” a dry voice rang out, causing the manic girl to pause, her smile freezing. Approaching her was a young man with long black hair that had a magenta streak and pale pink eyes. He stood amongst the tavern’s patrons as he had a Mistralian air to him, both in complexion and clothing.

Nora let out another gasp. “You’re here too Renny!”

“I can see that Nora,” Ren told her calmly, while being slightly intrigued in this version of himself.

“You promised that you wouldn’t go overboard tonight,” Ren told her.

“Oh, come on, Renny! What’s the point of being here if not to have fun!” Nora complained.

“Nora.”

“Ugh, fine,” Nora slumped in defeat. She walked over to her friend, and both moved towards the bar.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going you harlot!” one of the drunk sailors snarled.

“What did that fucker call me?” Nora asked with a calm smile on her face that made those near her slowly inch away.

Ren quietly clenched his hands, Pyrrha also had a faux calm smile, and Jaune had a scowl on his face.

The man was about to lunge at the duo but froze when he found a sword aimed right at his neck. He wasn’t the only as the brawl stopped at the action.

The owner of the sword was a woman with red hair wrapped in a ponytail and vivid green eyes. Despite her threatening action she bore a simple smile, but her eyes showed an intensity that unsettled many who saw it.

“And there’s me,” Pyrrha noted, “which means Jaune is not far behind.”

“Can you please leave them alone?” Pyrrha requested kindly, though her eyes indicated that she would not take ‘no’ as an answer.

“And why should I listen to you?” the man sneered, openly leering at her.

“Because you’ll be facing not just her, but us too,” another voice answered for her.

Attention was drawn to the voice’s origin, and many hesitated at the sight of him.

It was a tall man with messy blonde hair, light stubble and dark blue eyes that held a hard look to them. While the woman smiled with a quiet intensity, the man had a straight face with his eyes holding a fire that remained controlled unless unleashed.

“Whoa,” was all that Jaune said as he took in his counterpart’s appearance.

“Damn, fearless leader, you’re looking fine!” Nora gave her leader a smile and thumbs up. Ren quietly observed his leader’s counterpart. Pyrrha had a slight red tinge on her face as she just stared at the alternate Jaune.

The man hesitated at the sight of them, more so when Nora and Ren looked to jump in. After a moment, the sailor nodded and quickly moved away.

Jaune looked at the observing patrons. “Show’s over, people. Continue.”

Torn between relief and disappointment at the lack of violence, the patrons returned to their brawl.

“Aw, I wanted to see ourselves break some legs!” Nora complained at the lack of violence.

“Violence isn’t always the answer, Nora,” Ren scolded his partner.

Jaune just watched as his counterpart dissipated a brewing fight with just his and his teammates’ presence alone and couldn’t help but frown in depreciation.

Blake grinned and made her way towards the four; Ruby and Yang cautiously following her. Ren was the first to notice them.

“Jaune,” Ren alerted Jaune, who turned in his direction and saw them, and frowned.

“Blake,” Jaune greeted cautiously. “I didn’t think we would see you so soon.”

“Jaune,” Blake greeted in return. “You and your friends are some of the people I was hoping to see.”

“So, us and Blake have history together, and based on Jaune’s reaction it’s not entirely good,” Ren mused.

“I wonder what it is?” Pyrrha wondered.

“I’m not certain the feeling is mutual. None of us have forgotten about Nassau,” Jaune said flatly; Blake’s smile became more fixed. He looked at Ruby and Yang. “And who are you new friends?”

“Oh, these are partners I picked up at Port Royal who wanted to come with,” Blake lied. Ruby rolled her eyes while Yang snorted.

“Alright, let’s say I believe you,” Jaune responded. “I can take a guess who the other person is. He’s currently out back, where he usually ends up after getting too drunk.”

“You’ll need this,” Nora produced a water bucket and held it out.

“Nora, where did you get the bucket?” Ren asked his friend.

“A lady never reveals her secrets Renny,” Nora answered with a grin, evoking a sigh from the man.

Blake, Ruby, and Yang all shared a look before Blake took the bucket from Nora.

“Why do I feel worried?” Qrow asked no one in particular.

It didn’t take long to find their target. Qrow Branwen was clearly much older than when Ruby and Yang had last seen him, with a much more ragged and dirtier look than before. His Atlasian naval clothes, once smart and clean, were now tattered and stained.

He was also currently asleep in a pig pen, using one of the pigs as a makeshift pillow as he snored contently, uncaring for the filthy squalor he was resting in.

Most either laughed or looked revolted at how far Qrow had fallen. The man himself looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

“Curse my damn luck,” the huntsman grumbled.

“You went from a naval officer to a drunk sleeping in a pig pen,” Ironwood sighed in disappointment.

“My apologies, but I can’t tell which is Qrow? The pigs all look the same to me,” Winter asked smugly.

“Oh, sure, laugh it up,” Qrow rolled his eyes.

Blake casually splashed Qrow with water from the bucket, abruptly awakening the man from his sleep as he sputtered. “Curse ya for breathing you slack-jawed idiot!” he roared as he brandished a pocketknife.

However, upon recognising Blake, his angered face came more relaxed as he put away the knife. “Mother’s love! Blake! You should know not to wake a man when he’s sleepin’. It’s bad luck,” he told her.

“He does have a point,” Qrow shared his counterpart’s words. “I once punched Tai when he woke me up from a hangover.”

“Yeah, and I had a black eye for an entire week because of that!” Tai grumbled as he glared at his brother-in-law.

“I apologised for that! And it wouldn’t have happened if you just let me sleep!” Qrow shouted.

“Then maybe you should stop drinking and crashing in my house, and then I won’t have to wake you up!” Tai fired back.

Ruby and Yang sighed in embarrassment at their father and uncle’s antics while Raven sighed in disappointment at her ex-husband and brother’s antics.

“Ah, fortunately, I know how to counter it,” Blake informed him. “The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink.” Blake knelt towards Qrow. “The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking.”

Qrow seemed to mull the reasoning over before nodding. “Aye, that’ll about do it.”

Qrow held out a hand, with Blake grabbing hold and helping him to his feet…

…And then Yang came forward and splashed Qrow with another bucket of water.

The drenched Qrow shook his head before bellowing, “Blast! I’m already awake!”

“That was for the smell,” Yang explained as she Ruby and Blake exchanged looks.

Qrow opened his mouth to retort, paused, then shrugged in acceptance.

Laughter filled the theatre as many snickered at Qrow’s expense. Willow herself giggled at the scene, earning incredulous looks from her children.

“Yeah, go ahead. Laugh it up,” Qrow grumbled. He doesn’t know why he’s still surprised by these situations, but he is.

Back inside the tavern, Blake strode from the bar with three tankards of ale and made her to a table where both the refreshed Qrow and Jaune sat. Ruby and Yang stood close by, wisely keeping their distance from the brawlers. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora remained close as well, observing the fight and ready intervene if they had to.

Blake leaned close to Ruby and Yang. “Keep a sharp eye,” she advised.

Blake sat down at the third chair and passed one of the tankards to Jaune. She then moved the other tankards back and forth before giving one to the eager Qrow.

“Just the one,” Blake warned before Qrow could take a swig.

“Best make it last, then, eh?” Qrow grinned before taking a dainty sip. Once he placed the tankard down, he spoke, “Now, what’s the nature of this venture of yours?”

Both Qrow and Jaune knew that Blake was planning something, and both knew that when Blake Belladonna was involved, it was bound to be big.

Her answer still surprised them though.

“I’m going after the Black Pearl,” she confessed.

Qrow chocked on his drink before managing to swallow. Jaune didn’t have as a big a reaction, but he straightened up like he had been hit. Both stared at Blake, who had not moved at all.

“I know where it’s going to be, and I’m gonna take it,” Blake explained as if that was a good enough reason to the madness of her plan.

“She makes it sound so easy,” Fox said, wondering if Blake was overestimating her capabilities.

“Why does Blake want the Black Pearl so badly anyway?” Yatsu questioned.

“Erm, I have an idea,” Velvet spoke up. “Blake told those brothers that they were mutineers, and they claimed she had been marooned on an island. Maybe she was the captain before Adam led a mutiny against her?”

“That’s a clever idea. Good job, Bun-Bun,” Coco complimented her partner. “Not only that, but maybe Red’s mom supported Belladonna and was punished for it?”

Ruby and Yang froze at that as they recalled Blake’s assertions of Summer being a pirate. If Blake were telling the truth, and if what Coco theorised was true, then would that mean Summer is dead?

Jaune breathed in deeply before speaking, “Blake Belladonna, you have come up with some stupid and mad ideas in the past, but this has got to be the greatest.”

Qrow lightly shook his head. “Arc’s right Blake, it’s a fool’s errand. You know better than either of us the tales of the Black Pearl.”

“That’s why I know what Taurus is up to,” Blake responded. “All I need is a crew.”

Jaune huffed. “It’s still a fool’s errand. From what I hear of Taurus, he’s not a man to suffer fools, nor strike a bargain with one.”

“Well, I’d say it’s a very good thing I’m not a fool then, eh,” Blake argued.

“Prove us wrong. What makes you think Adam Taurus will give up his ship to you?” Qrow asked sceptically.

At the question, Blake smiled enigmatically. “Let’s just say it’s a matter of leverage.”

Unbeknownst to them, Yang heard them and shot a discreet but suspicious look at Blake’s response before turning away.

“Leverage?” Mercury cocked an eyebrow. “This is suddenly much more interesting.”

“Considering Blake’s reaction to learning Ruby and Yang’s names, I’m guessing they’re the leverage in question,” Emerald assumed.

Cinder said nothing. She simply nodded in agreement at Emerald’s suggestion and watched the scene in interest.

Qrow and Jaune both looked confused at Blake’s response. Blake simply jerked her head to their right. Jaune followed and blinked in surprise. Qrow didn’t get it at first until Blake jerked her head with more passion and he followed Jaune’s line of sight to see what Blake was gesturing to.

It was Ruby, who leaned away from a drunk, heavyset woman edging closer to her while laughing, with Ruby herself looking increasingly uncomfortable. In the background, Yang looked both concerned and amused, Pyrrha had a polite smile that hid her amusement, Nora was openly laughing at the scene, while Ren maintained a calm expression.

“The kid?” Qrow looked back to Blake in confusion.

Blake nodded in affirmation and smirked. “That is the child of Summer “Bootstrap” Rose,” Blake revealed, making their eyes widen. “Her only child, savvy?”

“Is she now?” Qrow slowly turned his head back to Ruby. The girl was now being glared at by an angry sailor who walked away with the laughing woman. She sighed in relief before glaring at Yang and the others for just standing there and doing nothing. Yang smiled apologetically while the others just snickered.

“So, they both know Summer Rose,” Port realised.

“It makes sense. Mister Arc may have worked alongside her and Qrow may have heard of her,” Oobleck pointed out.

Yang narrowed her eyes. “I don’t like their reactions. Their faces are like how bull boy and his crew reacted to Weiss using Ruby’s surname.”

“You’re right. Ruby must be Kitty’s ticket to getting Taurus to give her the Black Pearl,” Qrow agreed with his niece’s observation.

“It also makes Taurus’ reaction to hearing Miss Schnee using Miss Rose’s surname more understandable if Summer Rose is of vital importance to them,” Glynda added on.

The only question that remains unanswered is where Summer Rose plays into all of this, Ozpin noted internally.

Qrow turned back with a smirk. “‘Leverage’, says you. ‘I think I feel a change in the wind’, says I.”

Blake hummed in agreement before looking to Jaune.

The blonde considered his response before speaking, “I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure of this at first, but now…” the blonde smiled faintly, “…this plan of yours may be crazy enough to work. I’ll talk with the others, but you have my support.”

“I’ll find us a crew,” Qrow offered. “There’s bound to be some sailors on this rock as crazy as you.”

“One can only hope,” Blake said as she raised her tankard in a toast. “Take what you can…”

“…Give nothing back,” Qrow and Jaune finished as they clinked their tankards together, drank, and slammed them down in proclamation.

“Spoken like a true pirate,” Neo commented with a smirk.

“Well, whatever happens from here on out, we’ll just have to wait and see,” Clover said.

Chapter Text

In another part of the Menagerie Sea, the dark sky was a deep twilight blue; the moon shining down through the sparse clouds on the silent waters, illuminating the empty sea and the grim figure of the Black Pearl.

The ship sailed with no issue as the waves spread out, invoking the idea that the sea itself recoiled in terror of the dread ship and its damned crew; the wind quietly pushed the ship in its intended direction in spite of the tattered sails; and the orange glow emanating from the cabin’s windows, normally a comforting sight, instead added to the supernatural feeling encompassing the Black Pearl.

“Ugh, just looking at it just gives me the creeps,” Coco grimaced.

“It feels like it doesn’t belong in the world,” Velvet shivered.

From within the captain’s cabin, Weiss Schnee stalked as the sole occupant, the only source of comfort being the soft glow of the candles.

Suddenly, the doors opened. She turned to see Sun and Neptune enter, with the former carrying a red dinner gown. Looking behind them, she could spot Scarlet and Sage standing by the entrance at the ready.

Upon reaching her, Sun spoke, “You’ll be dining with the captain, and he requests you wear this,” he gestured to the gown.

“Well, you may tell him that I am disinclined to acquiesce to his request,” Weiss declined, throwing Adam’s own words back.

Instead of being indignant, the two just grinned. “He said you’d say that. He also said if that be the case, you’ll be dining with the crew,” Sun informed her. “And you’ll be naked,” he then added on. Neptune sniggered while Scarlet was impassive, and Sage held a slight smirk.

Many in the audience were angered by the scummy behaviour displayed; even the villains were put off by it.

The Schnees in particular. Winter’s face was cold but quiet fury was present. Whitley clenched his fists. Even Jacques had a scowl. Willow herself was seething at her daughter’s predicament.

“As if, you perverted filth,” Weiss spat. She then looked at Team SSSN. “No offence.”

“No taken,” Sun told her, a look of revulsion clear on his and his teammates’ faces at the behaviour of their counterparts.

Weiss’ mouth opened before it clenched, and she took the gown from Sun angrily while glaring at the group.

Her response made their amusement fade as Sun’s grin turned into a scowl. “Fine.”

Weiss held a slight smirk at her counterpart’s defiance towards her captors.

The four departed as Weiss examined the dress. She couldn’t help but appreciate how immaculate it was. Pirate or not, Adam Taurus seemed to appreciate pristine clothing if his own clothing was anything to go by.

Shortly after she was dressed, Adam Taurus entered with his pet monkey sitting on his shoulder, followed by pirates carrying trays of food, wine, cutlery, and various other appliances. The pirates laid the feast down while lighting the supplementary candles. Adam observed the preparations and gave a nod of approval, causing the pirates to depart the cabin and close the doors behind them, leaving the pirate captain and his reluctant guest to their dinner.

“Huh, I didn’t think pirates would have such culinary tastes,” Vine admitted.

“It makes sense in a way. Adam does portray himself as being more sophisticated than his subordinates. I suppose that would translate to his taste as well,” Clover reasoned.

Once alone, the monkey leapt from Adam’s shoulder and onto the swing installed just for him. Weiss turned to look at Adam as the captain observed his guest of honour.

“Maid or not, it suits you,” he complimented.

“Dare I ask of its previous owner?” Weiss questioned with a raised brow.

Adam clicked his tongue in a mock manner. “Now, none of that,” he chided while shaking his head in amusement.

Yang grimaced, “Yeah, I don’t want to know.”

“It’s a fine dress either way,” Coco complimented. At her teammates looks, she huffed, “Oh, come on. Anything to distract me from the horror.”

He approached the chair closest to Weiss and pulled it out. “Please,” he offered to her. Weiss slowly sat down in the offered seat. Adam then lightly bent down to Weiss’ level. “Dig in.”

With the table set Weiss began to eat, demonstrating proper dinner etiquette as she cut off a tiny piece of meat and ate it daintily. Adam sat at the main chair but did not eat his meal, appearing content watching Weiss eat instead.

After Weiss finished her piece, Adam spoke, “There’s no need to stand on ceremony, no call to impress anyone,” he informed her. “You must be hungry.”

Weiss paused, and after a moment of hesitation, dropped all pretence. She dropped the utensils, picked up a turkey legs, and tore a piece out with her teeth. She then tore off a hunk of bread and devoured a chunk of it with rabid gusto while Adam watched on intently.

She knew that if her mother saw her behaving like this should have been appalled, but in her defence, she hasn’t eaten anything all day and she was starving.

Many in the audience giggled or outright laughed at the scene while the Schnees gaped in disbelief. “Weiss!” Winter started in shock.

“In my counterpart’s defence, she hasn’t eaten all day and would be hungry,” Weiss argued.

Adam poured a goblet of wine and held it out. “Try the wine,” he offered. Weiss accepted and took a large swig of it before putting it down and returning to the bread.

Weiss paused as she looked at the screen in suspicion. “Why is he being so polite?”

“I don’t know… but I doubt it’s out of sincerity,” Blake answered, also staring in doubt. Adam hated the Schnees more than anyone she’s ever met, so seeing a version of him being so cordial is strange, but something told Blake there was more to it than that.

What are you planning Adam? Sienna thought as she narrowed her eyes.

What are you thinking? Adam thought as he observed his counterpart.

Adam then held out a juicy green apple. “And the apples. One of those next.”

At that, Weiss paused in her gluttonous frenzy as she stared at Adam and the apple in his hand, suddenly aware that he has not eaten at all, and then at the monkey who simply stared at her. Weiss dropped the bread and Adam lowered his hand.

Weiss couldn’t help but be reminded of an old fairy tale her father used to read to her before his passing. It was a story about a young woman who lived in a house in the woods and was offered a green apple by an old woman. However, it was one part of the story that stuck out in her wind, especially at this moment [1].

“It’s poisoned,” she breathed out.

The hunters stiffened at Weiss’ claim, with the Schnees hoping it wasn’t true.

“It’s not poisoned,” Mercury denied. At everyone’s faces, he elaborated, “If the pirates wanted to kill, why would they go through all this spectacle. They could have just killed her when they caught her and be done with it.”

“He’s right. They wouldn’t bother to take her if they were going to kill her later,” Qrow agreed. His words made the Schnees relax.

“Then why do they want her?” Emerald wondered.

Adam chuckled at the accusation. “There would be no sense to be killing you, Miss Rose,” he assured her.

“Then release me. You have your trinket. I’m of no further value to you,” she insisted.

In response, Adam reached into his coat and produced the medallion, letting it dangle from his fingers. “You don’t know what this is, do you?” he questioned.

Weiss shrugged and answered, “It’s a pirate medallion.”

“This is Aztec gold,” he told her, to which she gave an infinitesimal shrug, intrigued despite herself. “One of 882 identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortés himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies,” he explained. “But the greed of Cortés was insatiable. So, the heathen gods placed upon the gold… a terrible curse.”

Weiss felt an indescribable chill as she stared at the medallion and couldn’t feel like the skull insignia on it was staring back.

“Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest… shall be punished for eternity,” Adam finished.

The audience listened to Adam’s story intently and couldn’t help but feel a piercing cold run through them.

“Wait, who’s Cortés?” Harriet asked.

“Hernán Cortés was an explorer from the time of the Vacuoan Empire. He oversaw the colonisation of Menagerie and helped establish Vacuo’s dominion over the region.” Nightout explained. “The Aztecs were a people native to Menagerie who once ruled a good part of the continent before being conquered by Vacuoan forces, and the Aztecs died out shortly after.”

“He’s seen as a very divisive figure in Vacuo’s history,” Sun, as a Vacuo native, admitted grimly. “Some see him as a monster who destroyed the native people, while others see him as a hero who helped bring civilisation to the barbaric people of Menagerie.”

Weiss listened to Adam’s story with rapt intention but feigned a dismissive attitude despite the chill she felt. “I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Taurus.”

Instead of looking angered by her dismissiveness, Adam grinned, “Aye!” He stood up suddenly. “That’s exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale!” he concurred. “Buried on an island of the dead what cannot be found, except for those who know where it is.”

He circled around to Weiss’ left and leaned down to her ear. “Find it, we did. There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took em’ all!” his voice, initially a whisper, rose in volume until it became a hiss.

He then rose and moved to Weiss’ right as he continued to speak, “We spent ‘em and traded ‘em, and fritted ‘em away on drink and food and pleasurable company.”

Many in the audience, the women in particular, looked disgusted at Adam’s implication of “pleasurable company”.

“Pleasurable company?” Ruby, one of the few not understanding what Adam meant, asked in confusion.

“He’s referring to prostitutes,” Mercury said bluntly, making Ruby grimace. At the angry looks from Ruby’s family, he put his hands up. “Hey, she has to learn eventually. She won’t stay young forever.”

“You make a valid point,” Qrow admitted begrudgingly.

He leaned down and continued in a whisper, “The more we gave ‘em away, the more we came to realise… the drink would not satisfy. Food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust.” He then looked Weiss right in the eyes. “We are cursed men, Miss Rose.” He rose. “Compelled by greed we were, but now… we are consumed by it.”

While Adam told his tale, the monkey screeched louder and louder as they jumped on their swing with increasing intensity, expressing their own support for their master’s story. Adam walked over to his pet and placed his hand on their shoulder as comfort.

While distracted, Weiss grabbed her dinner knife and hid it under a napkin in her lap. The chill she felt only grew the more the pirate captain spoke.

“Am I the only who’s feeling increasingly worried?” Jaune spoke up hesitantly.

“No dude, I’m feeling the same,” Sun admitted.

“Ugh, the way he’s talking is giving me the heebie-jeebies,” Coco shuddered.

Unaware of her actions, Adam gave the medallion to the monkey. “There is one way we can end our curse,” he claimed as he turned around to approach Weiss, the monkey leaping onto his shoulder. “All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored, and the blood repaid.”

Adam held out his arm, allowing the monkey to hop off and scamper away with the medallion.

“Thanks to ye, we have the final piece,” Adam told her, and she felt frozen in place as she noticed the increasing fervour in his voice and the manic look in his eyes.

“There’s something wrong with him. He’s looking more unhinged the more he talks,” Roman observed, shivering. He’s seen that expression several times in the past, and those who bore it were always dangerous.

Adam himself couldn’t help but stare at his counterpart’s expression, and internally grimaced. It was an expression he had seen before in the more… passionate members of the Fang.

It was an expression he occasionally saw staring at him through a mirror.

Is this how I act?

Despite her growing fear, she asked the final question, “And the blood to be repaid?”

“That’s why there’s no sense to be killing you,” Adam answered, and after a pause spoke one simple but damning word: “Yet.”

That one word turned the chill into an all-consuming cold, as Weiss’ eyes widened in horror.

Weiss’ eyes widened in horror too, as did her teammates.

“You’ll do no such thing!” Winter snarled.

Willow also looked furious. He better not lay a hand on my daughter!

“So that’s why he refused to return her,” Ilia realised, recalling Adam’s choice from before. “And why he wants her alive.”

“Well, that explains why they need her alive, but then why do they require Summer Rose’s blood in particular?” Oobleck brought up the unanswered question.

“It must be connected to Miss Belladonna’s relationship with Summer Rose. And why she decided to help Miss Rose,” Ozpin deducted. He remembered how Blake called Ruby “leverage” and how she used the blood relation between mother and daughter to convince Qrow and Jaune Arc to help her.

Whitley looked at his mother and sister’s angry expressions and couldn’t help but feel bitter. They’re willing to show such concern for Weiss, but never for me.

Adam held out the apple again. “Apple?” he offered with faux kindness.

Weiss’ response was to smack the apple out of his hand and shoot up from her seat, brandishing the knife.

Instead of being threatened, instead let out cackles of amusement at her daring. Weiss attempted to escape but Adam was on her heels. After a brief chase – which Adam appeared to enjoy far too much to the point of even say “Arr” – Weiss rushed for the doors only for Adam to grab her. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Weiss turned and plunged the knife straight into Adam’s chest, piercing the heart.

Any initial relief Weiss felt faded when Adam looked down at the knife with apathy and pulled the knife out with little effort. There was blood on the blade, but none leaking from the wound.

Adam casually held the bloodied knife that glistened in the candlelight, while Weiss looked at the sight in horror. “I’m curious. After killing me, what is it you are planning on doing next?”

The entire audience stared in disbelief at how Adam’s counterpart was completely fine after being dealt a wound that would kill a normal man.

“What?” Weiss whispered in shock.

“It’s just like that pirate Miss Rose attacked back in Port Royal. They can’t be killed,” Port remembered how Ruby flung a hatchet at Yuma’s back, and how the pirate was shown to be fine later.

“But how is that a curse?” Elm question, she and most of the audience having forgotten what happened in the prison.

Penny however remembered and looked down. “I think I know…” she spoke softly.

Weiss did not answer, she backed away with her eyes and mouth wide in disbelief. Panic overtook her as she whirled around and barrelled out of the cabin door…

Only to stop dead still as she bore witness to the scene before her, her jaw attempting to close so she could scream but unable to.

Everything Adam told her was true.

Yuma and another pirate named Perry were playing an accordion and a violin atop a capstan while others, including Corsac and Fennec, turned it. While this should be a normal sight, one thing changed it from normal to horror.

The pirates were no longer human. They were no reduced to rotting skeletons with tattered clothes and lingered threads of decaying skin and flesh, with the only remnant of their former humanity being their intact eyeballs, which just made them appear more inhuman.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Qrow spat out his drink as he shouted at the horrific sight. His response also invoked the reactions from everyone else, as most of the audience erupted into a cacophony of shouts of shock and screams of terror.

“They’re all skeletons!” Velvet cried out in horror. Coco tried to comfort despite looking pale. Yatsu was sickened while Fox looked in shock despite being unable to see.

“It’s just like what happened to Corsac,” Sienna breathed out as she trembled. She had seen a lot of terrible things in her life, but this went beyond anything she had ever seen.

“The supernatural is real!” Nora shouted as she grasped Ren tightly. Despite the discomfort, Ren allowed her as he too was freaked out by the sight. Jaune and Pyrrha were also doing something similar.

“T-This… this can’t be real!” Weiss yelled in panic, more afraid than most as her counterpart was trapped on a ship with a crew of undead pirates. Ruby comforted her teammate, while Yang comforted her sister, and Blake just looked pale.

Despite their fear, Willow, Winter, and Whitley couldn’t help but eye their patriarch, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction at the sight of Jacques just staring at the scene with wide eyes and slack jaw while looking beyond pale.

While the Beacon staff and Atlas military were more composed, even they couldn’t but look shocked and frightened by the nightmare they were witnessing.

Only Ozpin and Salem remained truly composed, but even they expressed slight surprise.

And it was not just them! The Bo’sun and several pirates were coiling the hauling lines; others were sealing barrels; others, including Sun, Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune, were swabbing the decks; and numerous other duties. And every single one of them were nothing more than skeletons that moved like they were alive.

Team SSSN shivered at seeing their decayed, skeletal selves. Seeing themselves act look bloodthirsty pirates was one thing but seeing themselves as undead skeletons was another altogether.

Weiss observed this macabre display with terror-filled eyes and screams of horror as she was pushed around the capstan before tumbling into the open cargo hold. However, she landed on a tarp that was being stretched out as the pirates sent her flying into the air with a scream before falling and repeating the action.

Weiss looked pale at seeing her counterpart go through this nightmare with wide eyes.

Normally Ilia would take some pleasure at seeing a Schnee suffer in such a fashion, but any solace was overshadowed by her own horror. It was made worse that many of these pirates were White Fang, and she couldn’t help but morbidly wonder how she would like if exposed to this curse.

Kali shook in terror as Ghira comforted her while looking shaken himself. Seeing how the more noteworthy crew members were White Fang (beside the huntsman team), this monstrous spectacle honestly felt like they were looking at a twisted reflection of what the White Fang has become, and it made them feel sorrow and dread.

Even Adam stared at the undead crew with a stunned expression. These people… they didn’t look like they belonged among the living… they looked like they belonged in the depths that should never be uncovered. And then he remembered that he too was among the cursed and felt sickened at the thought.

She was then grabbed by a pirate swinging from a rope who bared his rotting teeth at her as she screamed as they swung across the ship and above the accursed crew below.

They landed on the poop deck and Weiss attempted to run with the pirate in pursuit, ending with them on opposite sides of the helm. The pirate attempted to reach for her and Weiss countered by grabbing and spinning the wheel, the rungs striking the pirate and causing his head to be thrown back with a sickening crack and at an angle that would kill a living man.

But these were not living men, and the pirate simply reached back and pulled his head back into place, the bones cracking as they readjusted themselves, before growling at her in a mocking manner.

Roman looked ill at the sounds. “I’ve seen a lot of bad things. But this? This is something else entirely.” Neo nodded her head, looking slightly put off as well.

Emerald and Mercury shuddered at the ghastly display, while Cinder looked fascinated by it.

Salem’s inner circle was not as shaken as everyone else. Hazel had a stalwart expression that hid his discomfort; Watts looked between a mixture of pale and intrigue; and Tyrian just looked a child in a candy shop if the child was a psychopath and the candy shop was a horde of corpses.

Weiss rushed down the stairs towards the main deck and hid behind them as she stared through the steps with wide eyes and a pale face. Everything felt silent…

…and then something dropped down behind her. Her head snapped in is direction and screamed when she saw what it was.

It was the monkey, except it too was skeletal. It dangled the medallion before her as it shrieked, baring its incisors.

“E-Even the monkey is the cursed,” Ruby stuttered in fear of the monkey’s appearance.

“Suddenly, the monkey is not so cute,” Nora said, unnerved.

Weiss ran back towards the cabin, only to run straight into Adam who caught her.

“Look!” he demanded as he forced to face the main deck and take in the sight of the cursed crew, with even the ship looking ragged and skeletal. It truly was a ship from Hell.

“The moonlight shows us for what we really are,” he explained as he gestured to the glowing light of the moon as it bathed the Black Pearl in its eerie light. The crew had stopped as they all assembled on deck and stared her down in silence as they listened to their captain speak. “We are not among the living and so we cannot die. But neither are we dead.”

He spun Weiss to face him. “For too long I have been parched of thirst, and unable to quench it. Too long I’ve been starvin’ to death, and haven’t died,” he ranted. His anger faded and became one of torment. “I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face, nor the spray of the sea…” He then reached towards Weiss, who backed away with a trembling gasp as his hand became skeletal once in the moonlight. “…nor the warmth of a woman’s flesh.”

The audience felt a mix of dread and disturbed at Adam’s explanation. Many of the huntsman couldn’t help but feel an ounce of pity for the Black Pearl’s crew. Even if they were cruel pirates who committed monstrous acts, no one deserved such a fate.

“So, they have all the desires of the living, but they are unable to satisfy them, and unable to die to be free of their suffering,” Glynda summarised the curse plaguing the pirate crew.

“The price of immortality if there’s ever been one,” Ironwood noted grimly.

Many of the hunters-in-training shuddered at the thought of living with such a curse haunting them.

And I thought Salem and I were cursed. Ozpin thought, grateful that he could at least enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

Never would I think I would see a curse worse than mine, but I was proven wrong. Salem thought morbidly.

Adam felt ill at the thought of living such a cursed existence. Being able to experience simple pleasures was a relief to him, a way to show that he had not being broken by his past. Such a damned life would be torturous to him.

Adam stepped forward into the moonlight, revealing his damned form in all its wickedness. “You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Rose. You’re in one!”

Weiss gaped in speechless terror as Adam brandished a wine bottle, uncorked it with his teeth, and took a great swig. The liquid ran over his jaw and trickled down his throat, through his rib cage while staining it red, drenching his clothes or splattering to the floor.

Many of the more squeamish looked nauseated at the action, while the rest were torn between disgust and fright.

“He’s just doing that to mess with her, the sick fuck,” Harriet snarled.

“Even for me, that’s messed up,” Roman shook his head.

After a second of petrification, Weiss ran past Adam and into the cabin. Adam turned and hurled the glass against the door as it shattered before slamming the doors shut. He turned to face the crew and let loose a sinister laugh, which the crew echoed.

“What are you looking at? Back to work!” Adam snapped as the crew started and rushed back to their duties.

Inside the cabin, most of the candles had gone out as Weiss huddled herself into a corner that held the remaining lit candles, but even they provided no comfort from the encroaching darkness that now enveloped the room, with the main source of light coming from the burning gaze of the moon.

And so, Weiss Schnee nestled in the corner, making herself as small as possible as she processed the otherworldly horrors she had just seen, and the nightmare in which she was now trapped.

“And I’m trapped on a ship with… that,” Weiss managed to choke out as she tried to regain her composure. Grimm were one thing, but actual undead pirates were another.

“So, her only hope is to be rescued by myself, Ruby, Yang,” Blake summarised, though she knew that it would be far from easy.

The next day, the group were preparing for their imminent departure for Isla de Muerte. While most of them spent the morning gathering supplies, Qrow had spent it scrounging around Tortuga for anyone daring (and crazy) enough to join them on their journey. Once he gathered a crew, he had them assembled at the docks.

“Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt, and crazy enough to boot,” Qrow declared as he introduced the group he assembled to the seven others.

Most of them were random individuals, but four stood out among them. They were a woman with fair skin, short brown hair and eyes; a man with dark skin, messy burnt orange hair, and pure white eyes; a female rabbit Faunus with pale skin, long brown hair and brown eyes; and a tall, tanned man with short black hair and brown eyes, and also had a blue and yellow parrot perched on his shoulder.

Team CFVY started. “Huh, we’re here too,” Coco remarked as she analysed their counterparts. “And surprisingly good looking in those clothes.”

“I think we should be more concerned about being pirates here,” Velvet told her leader flatly.

Coco just waved away the concern. “Ah, we’ll be fine.”

Despite these four showing promising, the rest were rather… wanting. Something that Yang was more than willing to vocalise.

“So, this is your able-bodied crew?” Yang asked Blake, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Blake shot her a look before turning to the others for support, earning no such luck as Ruby’s face indicated she agreed with Yang, Nora looked amused, Ren was inexpressive, Pyrrha had a strained smile, and Jaune was torn between unimpressed and tired.

“Your reputation proceeds you Blake,” was Jaune’s blunt response.

Mercury snorted, “This is the crew that’s going to save Schnee?”

“Ah, it seems Miss Belladonna doesn’t have a good reputation, which makes finding people willing to help more difficult,” Oobleck noted.

“So, they’re probably going to have problems just because Miss Belladonna’s past misdeeds,” Ironwood remarked.

Desperate to show that the ragtag crew was not entirely hopeless, Blake wandered in front of the tall man with the parrot and called out, “You, sailor!”

“Yatsuhashi Daichi, miss. Or Yatsu for short,” Qrow introduced the man.

“Mr. Yatsu, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?” Blake questioned him.

Yatsu did not speak, instead just staring silently at Blake.

Coco blinked. “Huh, I know you’re usually quiet, but not like this big guy.”

“Something must have happened to me in this world then,” Yatsu analysed.

Blake, looking slightly irritated, repeated her question. “Mr. Yatsu. Answer, man!”

“Um, Captain, ma’am,” the rabbit Faunus spoke up, earning Blake’s attention. “Yes, miss?”

“Um, Velvet Scarlatina, ma’am. Yatsu can’t talk; he’s mute. He suffered from an unpleasant experience a few years ago, so we got him a parrot and trained it to speak for him,” Velvet explained.

Yatsu closed his eyes at that. Seems like he went through a similar experience like I did, except it was worse for him. He recalled the event during his childhood involving his semblance and the effect it had on him and realised something akin to it may have happened here too.

A glance at Coco and Fox had them nodding their heads in agreement. After a moment of rumination, Blake turned back to Yatsu, particularly the parrot. “Mr. Yatsu’s… parrot, same question,” Blake asked awkwardly.

The parrot squawked, “Wind in your sails! Wind in your sails!” The response made Blake, Ruby, and Yang stare in confusion.

Laughter filled the theatre at the parrot’s bizarre answer.

“What does that even mean?” Harriet snorted.

“It may refer to good luck or something along that line,” Vine supplemented.

“Mostly, we figure that means “yes”,” Coco told the cat Faunus.

“Of course it does,” Blake nodded her head in satisfaction. “Any other problems I should be aware of?”

“Actually, Captain, I’m blind,” Fox admitted. At Blake’s look, he continued, “I’m still capable regardless of my lack of sight.”

“Well, so long as you’re useful I’ll allow it,” Blake conceded; she travelled with strange people before, so this wasn’t anything new to her. She turned to the sisters. “Satisfied?”

“Well, you’ve proved they’re mad,” Ruby answered honestly, not having much confidence in this crew.

“You managed to gather better than nothing, so that’s something I guess,” Yang said flatly.

“They make a valid point. Is this really the best crew you could have gathered, Qrow?” Winter questioned; irritation in her voice as Weiss’ life depended on this.

The drunk huntsman held his hand up in defence. “Hey, this whole thing was on short notice.”

“And who is she calling mad?” Coco huffed indignantly.

Jacques sneered. These hooligans who are to save my daughter?

Blake scowled, but before she could respond another voice spoke up, “And what’s the benefit for us?”

Ilia’s head perked up at the voice.

Blake’s head snapped to the origin of the voice, gaining a worried expression at how familiar it was. She slowly moved down the line to the second-to-last person; a hunched woman with her head lowered and her face obscured by the wide-brimmed hat she was wearing.

Blake stood in front of the woman and cautiously lifted the hat up, revealing the woman to be a chameleon Faunus with tan skin, brown hair tied in a ponytail, and grey eyes, and bearing a furious expression.

“It’s me,” Ilia identified. She had wondered if she was in this, seeing how she had not been present among the Black Pearl’s crew.

Blake smiled slightly at the sight of Ilia, before looking worried at the dark expression on her face.

“Why is she looking at you like that?” Penny questioned.

“Yeah. She looks pissed,” Yang nodded.

Blake’s nervousness bloomed, but she faked a happy expression. “Ilia Amitola!”

Ilia’s response was to smack Blake across the face, hard, turning her head and immediately wiping the smile off her face.

Ruby and Yang restrained themselves from laughing, as did Jaune and Pyrrha. Ren exuded amusement while Nora burst out laughing. “I suppose you didn’t deserve that one either?” Yang teased.

“No, that one I deserved,” Blake admitted, with Ilia nodding in agreement.

Several audience members snickered while Blake merely frowned; she was growing tired of being slapped constantly.

Ghira and Kali also frowned, wondering what Blake did to deserve that.

Ilia looked satisfied. It seemed her desire to do that had been answered.

“Why did she do to deserve that?” Elm wondered in response to Blake’s statement.

“You stole. My. Boat!” Ilia hissed, emphasising her words. “The Jolly Mon was owned by my family, and you stole it from me!”

“Actually…” Blake started before Ilia slapped her again. “Borrowed. Borrowed without permission-”

“A polite way of saying you stole it,” Ren translated.

Blake ignored him. “-but with intention of bringing it back,” she assured her.

“But you didn’t!” Ilia snapped.

“Maybe she can still give it back,” Ruby piped up, trying to be a mediator. “Blake, where is Ilia’s boat?”

Blake realised something. “Wait. Was the Jolly Mon the same boat I arrived at Port Royal on?”

“Actually, yes, it was,” Nightout answered [2].

“Oh, boy… and Little Red just put Kitty Cat in a tough place,” Roman smirked as Neo silently giggled.

Blake glared at Ruby before gritting out, “At the bottom of your bloody harbour.”

Ruby hesitated at that. “Oh.”

“Oh,” Ilia turned to Ruby dangerously, making the younger girl take a step back.

Yang stepped to save her sister. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Blake can replace it.”

Blake pointed in Yang’s direction before turning back to Ilia. “Yes, you’ll get another one,” she offered quickly.

Ilia pointed her forefinger at Blake threateningly. “I will.”

“A better one,” Ruby chimed in in support.

“A better one!” Blake agreed.

Yang then pointed towards something. “That one.”

Both Ruby and Blake’s eyes flew wide open.

“What one?” Blake asked.

“Yes, Yang,” Ruby’s voice had an aggressive edge to it as she hoped Yang wasn’t saying what she thought she was, “what ship?”

Yang nodded to the Interceptor to the horror of Ruby and Blake as all the pirates turned to look at the ship.

“That one?” Ironwood and Clover both demanded in unison.

Winter rolled her eyes. “Oh sure. Just trade Atlasian naval vessels from one pirate to another.”

“That one?!” Ruby and Blake exclaimed, agreeing on something for the first time since their adventure started.

Yang shot Blake a meaningful look as the pirates turned back to Blake. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Blake gave in and gave Ilia a strained grin.

“Aye. That one,” Blake agreed begrudgingly. “What say you?” she asked to them all.

Ilia observed the Interceptor with a thoughtful gaze before giving her answer, “Aye!”

“Aye!” the rest of the crew echoed her words before they began to load the supplies into the longboats. As Ilia turned to help, she made a sudden movement at Blake, causing the captain to jump back slightly. With a smug smile, she placed her hat back on and moved to help the crew with her head held high.

“You know, I used to believe it was frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard,” Qrow mused.

“What, was it really?” Pyrrha asked in surprise.

“Indeed, it was, Miss Nikos. Back in those days, it was believed that having a woman aboard a ship would bring misfortune and rough seas,” Oobleck explained. “They also believed that the presence of women would distract the crew and cause tension among them.”

Coco shook her head. “Sheesh. Our ancestors were very superstitious.”

Blake glanced up at the sky before speaking, “Aye. But then you sailed with me.”

Blake walked off as Qrow and Jaune looked up at the sky in bewilderment, before Jaune shook his head.

Everyone looked confused at Blake’s action.

Yang sniggered. “Geez, Blake. Your counterpart sure is… what’s the word?”

“Eccentric?” Penny.

“Wacky?” Qrow.

“Deranged?” Neo.

“Yeah, something along those lines.”

“She is very… out there,” Blake admitted.

“May as well prepare for the journey. There was a red sunrise this morning, which means we’re in a rough storm tonight,” Jaune warned as he departed. Qrow sighed in agreement and walked off as well.

“Wait, how is the morning being red signify there being a bad storm?” Weiss asked in confusion.

“Actually, Weiss, there is truth to what he says,” Winter informed her. “A red sky in the morning often indicates that pleasant weather has passed and a storm is approaching. A red sky at night is the opposite and indicates that pleasant weather is approaching.”

Yang felt a tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see an unimpressed Ruby.

“Ruby-”

“Yang, are you mad?” Ruby demanded. “Giving the Interceptor to a group of pirates? Ebi would kill us.”

“He’s probably already planning to do so anyway,” Yang shot back. “What’s a ship if it means making sure Weiss is safe?”

Ruby sighed at that. “Just be careful, Yang. This may have been my idea, but I’d still like to get out of this with a clean conscience.”

Yang clapped her sister on the shoulder. “Don’t worry Rubes. It’ll be worth it in the end. Besides, maybe you’ll learn something good from this.”

Ruby scoffed, “What good could I possibly find from this?”

Why do those words worry me? Ruby thought.

It was now night, and much like Jaune had foretold, the brewing storm had arrived and it was harsh. The night sky was obscured by black clouds and the surrounding covered by the deluge of rain, with the greatest source of illumination being the sudden strikes of lightning brought down by the wrathful storm.

And amid this terrible tempest, the Interceptor sailed along with stubborn defiance as the waves battered furiously against the ship and the rain hammered down on them and the wind howled. The only thing keeping the ship from being capsized being the determination of the ship’s crew, showing that despite their eccentricities, they were indeed capable. However, even they were struggling in the face of nature’s fury.

And at the ship’s helm, Captain Blake Belladonna stood firm, one hand on the wheel and the other holding the compass as she glanced at the compass and steered the ship at the same time. Despite the impossible task of performing both actions at once while navigating through a thunderstorm, the captain remained unshakeable as she conducted both duties.

Roman whistled. “Damn. Say what you want about Kitty Cat, but she’s certainly dedicated.”

Ironwood found himself agreeing. “That she’s able to navigate and steer at the same time is rather impressive.”

Ruby, Yang, and Qrow were busy maintaining the lines as a strong wave hit the ship, the water smashing into them and making them fall as they were dragged by the water to the other side of the deck. They quickly recovered as they returned to the rope.

Amid this chaos, Yang vocalised their predicament, “This is madness!” she shouted.

“She said what I was thinking,” Yang muttered, grimacing at the state her counterpart was in.

“Miss Belladonna must really desire that ship if she’s willing to traverse this weather to get to it,” Port remarked.

Ruby took a glance at Blake, and the compass she held, and had a question. “How can we sail to an island that nobody can find, with a compass that doesn’t work!?” Ruby shouted at Qrow; her voice barely heard over the booming thunder. Yang agreed with her.

“Aye, the compass doesn’t point north,” Qrow agreed, but then surprised them by smirking, “but we’re not tryin’ to find north, are we?”

Ruby blinked. “Wait, if it doesn’t point north… then where does it point?”

Emerald pondered for a moment before giving her opinion, “Maybe it’s a magic compass?”

Mercury snorted, “Seriously, Em?”

“Oh, please. We’ve already seen undead pirates. Is the idea of a magic compass that farfetched?” Emerald demanded. Mercury opened his mouth, paused to think, and then closed it.

“It may very well be. Excellent observation Emerald,” Cinder praised, making Emerald blush and Mercury roll his eyes.

Salem considered Emerald’s idea and acknowledged the likelihood of it being true.

Ozpin also acknowledged the idea as well. Perhaps it points to what the user desires.

Blake kept her eyes on the expanse before gazing down at her compass to see where the arrow was pointing. She then turned the wheel again until the arrow was pointing north.

As she did this, Qrow and Jaune clambered up to the poop deck, barely maintaining their footing on the drenched floor, with Jaune holding onto the ropes to keep himself from falling. “We should drop canvas, ma’am!” Qrow told her.

“He’s right Blake, we’re barely keeping afloat in this weather!” Jaune agreed.

“She can hold a bit longer!” Blake refused as she gave another firm spin of the wheel. Both were surprised and disturbed by the manic grin that stretched across her face.

“Ah, I don’t like that look on your face Blake,” Yang said warily.

“If it helps, it worries me as well,” Blake admitted as looked her other self in caution.

“What’s in yer head as puts you in such a fine mood, Cap’n?” Qrow yelled.

Blake’s grin turned into a victorious sneer. “We’re catching up.”

“For some reason, that doesn’t reassure me,” Jaune admitted, rather disturbed by the sneer on Blake’s face.

“Unfortunately, they don’t have a choice. The longer they linger will bring Weiss ever closer to danger,” Penny lamented.

“She’s right,” Clover acknowledged. “However, they have an advantage in that Taurus doesn’t know they are coming, so they’ll have the element of surprise.”

“All we can do is hope that they are not too late,” Ozpin mused.

Please. Please hurry. Willow mentally prayed.

Chapter Text

Fog surrounded the entire area like a great grey curtain, though if one cut through the dense air they would see dark rocks jutting out of the water like jagged spikes. The waters themselves were silent and still, barring the occasional wave battering against the rocky formations.

And in the centre laid a large island black as night, with little signs of life on it. If one were to observe this island without knowing the truth, one could be forgiven for believing that this place was cursed, having been condemned by the gods for a grievous sin.

They would not be far off from the truth, for this was an island with no life.

An Island of Death.

“So that’s Isla de Muerte,” Ozpin looked at the island with a narrow gaze. Even through the screen he could feel the aura of death emanating from the place.

“Looking at it just feels wrong,” Ren grimaced. The sheer lifelessness honestly reminded him of Kuroyuri, and he hated that.

These were the thoughts that plagued Weiss Schnee’s mind as she gazed at the Isla de Muerte from inside the captain’s cabin of the Black Pearl, a cold dread flooding her as she observed the island through the glass.

The doors to the cabin opened, and Weiss turned to see SSSN standing there.

“Time to go, poppet,” Sun told her.

Knowing there was no way out, Weiss followed them outside and to the poop deck, where Adam Taurus awaited with the Bo’sun and the Albain Brothers, with the monkey perched on his shoulder.

Fennec tied up her hands and once done, Adam approached and placed the medallion around her neck in a mocking form of a coronation. As this happened, Neptune was chanting in a quiet voice, getting increasingly faster.

Glynda scowled, “They’re really enjoying themselves with this.”

“They must hurry. Once they realise they’ve been tricked, they’ll kill her,” Qrow said.

Winter gave Qrow a stink eye. “Yes, we know.”

She was then escorted to the longboats and sat in the prow of one as they were lowered into the water and began to row. She stared at the Black Pearl as it faded away behind the mist and rocks as the numerous longboats moved to their intended destination.

And at the head of this fleet was Adam Taurus, staring intently at their destination: a large, cavernous tunnel leading into the depths of the island. With the lack of light, the tunnel was a gateway to Hell itself.

The boats entered, and the fog closed in behind them as everything faded it white.

In another part of the Isla de Muerte, there was a grim sight. A mass of ruined ships was scattered across the waters: the masts poking out of the water, flotsam floated across the surface, and shipwrecks emerged from the depths.

Ironwood grimaced. “Not a wonderful sight to see.”

“There’s so many of them,” Velvet shakily said.

“And not all of them were likely pirates,” Fox added gravely.

And in the middle of this mass derelict, the Interceptor sailed out of the mist. The only sound that could be heard was Yatsu’s parrot, who squawked out in a raspy tone: “Dead men tell no tales.”

And as the crew of the Interceptor looked out at the graveyard of ships, they had to agree that it was very fitting.

Island of Death. A fitting name. Yang folded her arms across her chest as she spotted a dark shadow bobbing in the distant waters. A dark shadow with three tall masts.

The Black Pearl. Looking at it made Yang feel cold. She remembered seeing that ship before eight years ago, when they were attacked.

There was doubt in her mind: this was the same ship, and the same crew.

Tai clenched his fist at the reminder. This was the crew that nearly killed his daughters… and possibly more.

Yang glanced at Blake and saw how she too was gazing at the black ship. In the brief time she knew her, it was the most subdued and serious she had ever seen the pirate. Her eyes were dark with wrath and filled with a desperate longing as if she were looking at a long-lost love.

And she probably was, considering what Yang had learnt at Tortuga.

Ruby settled beside her and Yang noticed how she looked at the Black Pearl with wide eyes, slightly pale skin, and lightly trembling hands. No doubt she recognised the ship as well.

“So that’s the Black Pearl?” Ruby muttered. Yang nodded in agreement and felt slightly glad when Qrow strode up and patted them on the shoulder.

“Puts a chill in the bones, how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage,” Qrow said to Ruby and Yang ominously.

“You can say that again,” Qrow agreed with his counterpart.

Under the water’s surface, more shipwreck could be seen buried under the waves like how bodies are buried under the earth. Sharks swam alongside the Interceptor, painting a bleak image of what befell the crews of the fallen vessels, and the possible fate awaiting this new crew.

“Ugh, I think I know what happened to the bodies,” Harriet grimaced.

“Not a nice way to go,” Marrow winced.

The Interceptor’s hull struck the mast of a sunken ship, snapping it off and making it sink to the bottomless depths.

At the helm, Blake was checking her compass and looked at Fox who was at the helm with her. The man simply raised a brow; aware the captain was looking at him. Blake turned back around and turned the wheel and put her compass away.

This was observed by Ruby, who followed after Qrow when he moved to the ropes on the portside, with Yang following her.

“How is it that Blake came by that compass?” Ruby asked Qrow.

“Not a lot’s known about Blake Belladonna before she showed up in Tortuga with a mind to find the treasure of the Isla de Muerte,” Qrow admitted as he adjusted the lines. He then continued, “That was before I’d met her, back when she was captain of the Black Pearl.”

Ruby blinked. “Wait, what?”

Coco grinned. “You were right Bun-Bun, she was the captain.”

Velvet blushed lightly. “It was just a guess.”

“Even so, good job Velvet,” Fox smirked.

Qrow then proceeded to drink his flask of rum while the sisters processed what he said.

“What?” Ruby said finally.

The drunk sailor’s eyes widened, realising what he said as he put away the flask.

Yang turned to glance suspiciously at Blake. “She failed to mention that.”

Raven’s eyes narrow. “She must have intentionally hid that. But why?”

“It must be for leverage,” Glynda suspected. “There have been several things that have been adding up in my mind. Miss Belladonna claimed Miss Rose was leverage against Taurus due to her relation to Summer. There’s also the pirates’ reaction to Miss Schnee using Summer’s name, as well as Miss Belladonna claiming that Summer was a pirate. If this is correct, then they must need Summer’s blood to break the curse, or at least a relative of hers.”

Everyone listened to Glynda’s theory and realised it added up.

“You make a valid observation Glynda,” Ozpin congratulated her.

“So that’s why she agreed to help us after learning our names. She’s just using us to get her ship back,” Yang said angrily as she realised the truth.

Blake frowned in displeasure at her counterpart’s deception.

“She plays things closer to the vest now,” Qrow sighed, knowing he had to explain this. “And a hard-learned lesson it was. See, three days out on the venture, the first mate comes to her and says, “Everything’s an equal share. That should be the location of the treasure, too.” So, Blake gives up the bearings.” He then shook his head. “That night, there was a mutiny.”

Ruby and Yang turned away from Blake to look at Qrow as they listened to the story intently.

“They marooned Blake on an island and left her to die. But not before she’d gone mad with the heat,” Qrow revealed.

Ruby looked at Blake. “Ah… so that’s the reason for all the…” Ruby then moved her hands in a bizarre way, a rough imitation of Blake’s own movements. Yang sniggered at the reenactment while Qrow continued to look grave.

Many snickered at Ruby’s impression; even Blake couldn’t help but smile.

“Reasons got nothing to do with it.” Qrow then sat down. So do the sisters. “Now, Ruby, Yang, when a pirate’s marooned, they’re given a pistol with a single shot. One shot,” he held a single finger for emphasis. “That won’t do much good hunting, nor to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starving belly and thirst, that pistol starts to look real friendly,” he held two fingers to his temple; a mimicry of a pistol pointed at his head. It was obvious to the sisters what he was alluding to and they both grimaced.

“Jeez. That’s dark,” Marrow grimaced.

“Considering the other options are to starve or die from thirst, suicide would be preferable,” Vine admitted.

Qrow then smirked, “But Blake, she escaped the island, and she still has that single shot. Oh, she won’t use it, though, save on one man: her mutinous first mate.”

Qrow didn’t say who the first mate was. He didn’t have to say though. They both could guess who it was.

It was Ruby who said it, “Adam Taurus.”

“Aye.”

“Why did Adam lead a mutiny?” Ozpin asked curiously.

“Greed and a desire for power,” Nightout answered. “The crew had grown frustrated with Blake’s leadership, so Adam had little trouble in convincing them to overthrow her.”

“That’s similar to what happened to us,” Ghira sighed. Sienna managed to garner support as many felt frustrated at him and Kali for their slow progress.

The sisters were quiet as they processed what they were told. Considering what they knew Blake had planned, they now knew why she was doing it. She wanted to get her ship back.

“How did Blake get off the island?” Yang asked curiously.

“Well, I’ll tell ye. She waded out into the shallows, and she waited there three days and three nights till all manner of sea creatures became acclimated to her presence.” Qrow grinned, “On the fourth morning, she roped herself a couple of sea turtles, lashed them together and made a raft.”

The audience stared blankly at Qrow’s explanation.

There was a moment of silence. And then Ruby spoke, “She roped a couple of sea turtles.” Her voice was flat, conveying her disbelief.

“Aye, sea turtles,” Qrow affirmed.

“What did she use for rope?” Yang then asked.

“Yang, seriously?” Ruby groaned.

“What, I can’t be the only curious,” she protested.

Qrow opened his mouth but didn’t speak; he didn’t know himself. He then turned to look to his left. Ruby and Yang followed to see Blake standing there, having arrived when Qrow told them the island story and waited until they noticed her.

“My own hair,” she told them; her answer causing Qrow to tremble with laughter. “Took forever to grow back.”

“Bullshit. She’s making that up,” Coco snorted.

“Either way, that’s certainly a hairy situation to be in,” Yang remarked, making everyone groan and Tai laugh.

“Please stop,” Elm groaned.

“Never!” Yang said defiantly.

“Let go the anchor!” Blake hollered to the crew.

“Lower the anchor line!” The crew snapped to it and rushed to the anchor lines.

“Jaune!” With the blonde’s attention, she continued, “Prepare a longboat. Young Ms. Rose, Ms. Xiao-Long and I are to go ashore,” Blake announced as she walked away to prepare for departure. Jaune nodded and gestured to Pyrrha, Nora and Ren to follow.

Qrow stood and followed her. “Captain, what if the worst should happen?”

Blake paused for a moment. She then answered, “Keep to the Code.”

Qrow nodded. “Aye. The Code.”

As the captain and first mate departed, neither were aware of Ruby and Yang staring after them suspiciously as the anchor dropped into the water with a splash.

“What does that mean?” Ruby looked worried.

“I don’t know, sis. But it’s probably nothing good,” Yang warned.

“They must remain alert. Friend Blake’s counterpart is not trustworthy,” Penny said. She then looked at Blake apologetically. “My apologies.”

“None taken,” Blake sighed, knowing it was true.

Once disembarked, the trio quickly made haste toward the Black Pearl, staying a safe distant so they would not be spotted.

Blake was observing the main deck through a spyglass and saw the ship empty, baring a few crewmen left behind to guard it.

“Is she there?” Ruby asked Blake, referring to Weiss.

Blake lowered the telescope. “No.”

The answer surprised them. “Then where is she?” Yang demanded.

Blake folded the spyglass. “It’s begun.” Her words did not fill the sisters with relief.

Weiss’ friends and family also felt the same.

Inside the dark caves of the Isla de Muerte, the longboats reached the shore as the pirates let out crows of delight and began to disembark, hauling the treasure they had gathered with them.

Corsac and Fennec were hauling the most important treasure: one Weiss Schnee who was staring at the dank surroundings with dread.

“Come on!” Fennec snarled as he dragged Weiss along by the bindings into a narrow passage.

“Wretch,” Winter scowled.

As they exited the passage they had arrived at the main part of the cavern, an expansive grotto, and Weiss stared in shock at the sight of it.

Piles of treasure littered every part of the grotto; the evidence of the previous raids the Black Pearl’s crew had done. The pirates were now adding their newest loot – both from Port Royal and elsewhere since their last visit – into the trove: coins and ingots of gold and silver, jewels of varying colours, artistic decorations and stylish clothing from across the world, and even standard appliances designed for the nobles of society. All in all, it was a treasure hunter’s dream.

Many stared in mesmerisation of the trove of riches littering the grotto.

“Holy crap,” Mercury said what many were thinking.

“Look at all the gold,” Roman practically had lien signs for eyes.

“All that must be worth millions,” Emerald breathed.

“And their curse would have made it easier for them to take it all,” Cinder noted. “And yet they are unable to use for the same reason.”

But what caught Weiss’ attention most was the small lake in the centre of the cave, and in the middle of the lake was a small island made of gold; a column of pale sunlight shined down on the island through a hole in the ceiling. Adam Taurus paced around the island and observed his subordinates depositing their booty.

And resting on the island, illuminated by the sunlight, was a single stone chest with Aztec markings on it. Despite it looking normal, Weiss could feel the aura of… death reeking from it, or rather from what was in it, and she felt herself staring at it as everything else seemed to disappear, leaving only her and the chest.

The mesmerisation ended as all stared at the stone chest with a heavy feeling.

“So that’s the chest Adam talked about,” Ilia said shakily.

The longer she stared at it, the greater the feeling became. She was suddenly taken out of it by the sound of Corsac.

“Move!” Corsac demanded as he pushed her forward as she finally took her eyes off the chest and moved.

Behind them, Sun and Neptune were carrying a chest with Scarlet and Sage following.

“Ten years of hoarding swag!” Sun declared.

“And now we finally get to spend it!” Neptune said excitedly.

They dump out the contents of the chest, but instead of coins or jewels it was fancy women’s dresses and parasols. The two looked at the contents in bewilderment.

Team SSSN looked embarrassed while many stifled their laughter.

Coco giggled, “Why yes, they are very pretty.”

“Don’t need to rub it in,” Neptune grumbled.

Sage sighed, “I told you there was something off about the chest.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Scarlet mused as he grabbed one of the dresses. “I’m certain they’re worth a fine amount of coin.”

Sun sighed, “You’re right.” He grabbed a parasol and spoke, “Once we’re quit of the curse, we’ll be rich men. And you can buy an eye what actually fits and is made of glass,” he said to Neptune, who was touched.

“This one does splinter something terrible!” Neptune lamented as he began to rub the wooden eye to emphasis.

“Stop rubbing it!” Sun hissed.

The four pause as Bo’sun passes by and stares at the sight of them holding women’s clothing and parasols. Sun grins sheepishly, to which Bo’sun groans and moves on. Sun waved goodbye before whacking Neptune and Scarlet on the arm with his parasol for embarrassing them while Sage simply groaned.

Snickers filled the theatre while SSSN remained embarrassed by their twins’ antics.

“Why,” Neptune moaned.

Ruby and Yang sat with Blake in the rowboat as they moved down the tunnel. Yang was at the front holding a lantern to illuminate their path, Ruby was in the middle, while Blake was at the end rowing the boat. Ruby couldn’t help but gaze at their surroundings and her eyes caught a sword sticking out of the ground-

-and the half-buried skeleton through which it was stabbed.

Several of the more nauseous blanched at the sight.

Ruby blanched at the morbid sight and asked, “What code is Branwen to keep to if the worst should happen?”

“The Pirate’s Code. Any man who falls behind…” her gaze looked at the skeleton as they rowed past it, “…is left behind.”

“And that best describes what being a pirate is,” Qrow remarked.

“So, if they don’t return, they’ll just be left there,” Tai realised with worry.

“Then they can’t afford to wait. They must rescue the Schnee and escape before the others do. I doubt they want to be here any longer than they must,” Raven said coldly.

Yang shook her head in distaste as she also saw it. “What a way to live.”

“No heroes amongst thieves, eh?” Ruby asked disdainfully.

Blake chuckled at that. “You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you’re well on your way to becoming one. Both of you are.” Feeling their confusion, she elaborated, “Sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga…”

Blake paused as they saw a golden glow from the waters. Looking into the water they saw hundreds of gold coins and various other items shining beneath the surface. Blake saw the mesmerised look in the sisters’ eyes and smirked.

“…and you’re completely obsessed with treasure.” That snapped them out of their trance as they reached the shore and jumped out of the boat.

Ruby looked offended. “What? No, I’m not.”

“Yeah, I don’t care about that,” Yang huffed.

“Maybe not, but greed is inherent within us. Everyone desires something,” Roman remarked with a smirk.

“That’s not true. We’re not obsessed with treasure,” Yang growled at the pirate.

“Yeah, we’re not like you,” Ruby agreed as they followed Blake through the narrow passageways.

As they reached an opening Blake turned to look at the sisters. “Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate,” she told them while giving Ruby a knowing look.

“Oh, I see what Blake means,” Jaune understood. “Some people see others as treasure.”

“That’s why Blake was looking at Ruby. She was referring to Weiss as Ruby’s treasure,” Ren realised.

Ruby blushed at that, while Weiss looked touched.

The sisters looked at her in confusion before approaching the opening and into the cavern. “Gentlemen, the time has come!” Adam Taurus’ voice declared.

“Hurrah!” the pirates all cheered.

As they looked through the opening, they saw the crew all gathered around the edge of the pool. Adam stood atop the island while Weiss stood before the chest. “Our salvation is nigh!”

“Yeah!”

“Our torment is nearing an end!”

“Yeah!”

“Weiss,” Ruby whispered softly.

“How are they to rescue Weiss?” Winter questioned in worry. “Even if you disregard the curse, there’s too many for them to manage.”

“Stealth perhaps,” Vine suggested. “Perhaps they can distract the pirates, then rescue her while they’re distracted.”

Clover thought on it. “That may work. But they will have to be careful.”

“For ten years, we’ve been tested and tried, and each man jack of you here has proved his mettle a hundred times over!”

“Yeah!”

“And a hundred times again!” Adam threw his hands into the air.

“YEAH!” they all roared in unison to their captain’s words.

“Suffered, I have!” Neptune shouted.

“Punished, we were, the lot of us, disproportionate to our crimes!” Adam pounds his fist into his hand as the crew expressed their agreement.

“Here it is!” Adam kicked open the cover of the chest; the lid falling to the floor. Weiss gasped at the contents: hundreds of gold pieces, with the same markings as the medallion. Among them is a stone dagger; the kind used for sacrificial purposes.

“They spent ten years collecting every piece from across the sea?” Pyrrha asked in amazement at their dedication.

“As depraved as they are, I can’t help but commend them,” Peter admitted.

Adam wreathed his hand across them. “The cursed treasure of Cortés himself,” he revealed. “Every last piece that went astray, we have returned,” he grabbed a few pieces and dropped them back in for emphasis. He then pointed at the piece around Weiss’ neck. “Save for this!”

At this, Ruby and Yang tried to climb out into the cavern but was held back by Blake.

“Blake!” Ruby protested. “Let go!” Yang growled.

“Not yet!” Blake hissed as she pulled them back. Unfortunately, Ruby’s hand had sent a small stack of coins to the floor. While most would not have heard the sound, Adam’s pet monkey did and turned towards the sound in suspicion.

“Careful, kiddos. You may care about her, but being reckless will not help,” Qrow warned.

“He’s right. You should not rush into fights you cannot win,” Glynda lectured.

“Also, that monkey is a problem,” Tai added on.

“We’ll wait for the opportune moment,” Blake told them before walking back to the boats.

Ruby and Yang followed her. “When’s that? When it’s of greatest profit to you?” Yang demanded.

Blake paused before turning back to them. “May I ask you something?” She got very close to them, making them inch back a little. “Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?” she questioned. When neither responded she continued, “Do us a favour – I know it’s difficult for you, but please stay here, and try not to do anything stupid.”

With that said, Blake walked off as Yang glared after him.

“She’s saying how I feel,” Tai said angrily. “She’s just using them to get her ship back.”

“And did she call us stupid?” Yang demanded as her eyes turned red.

Blake looked down in shame at her counterpart’s treachery.

“Yang.” The elder sister turned to her. Ruby smirked, “I have an idea.”

“Hoh boy, something tells me this is going to be bad,” Jaune said warily.

“Oh, come on, fearless leader. It’ll be fine!” Nora tried to be positive.

“And who among us has paid the blood sacrifice owed to the heathen gods?” Adam addressed the crew.

“OURS!” they all raised their hands.

“And whose blood must yet be paid?”

“HERS!” they all pointed at Weiss, who couldn’t help but tense under the furious gazes; one even mimicked slicing their neck with a knife for emphasis.

The Schnee’s steeled their nerves; even Jacques stiffened.

“Come on. Do something!” Winter clenched her hands.

“Please, Ruby! Yang! Blake! Move!” Weiss begged.

Please hurry! Willow begged.

“Eight hundred and eighty-one pieces we found, but despaired of ever finding the last,” Adam lamented with an exaggerated sigh. He looked at Weiss with a smirk. “All those years, you have been safe in your bed, readin’ your pirate stories, dreamin’ of adventures on the high seas – we’ve endured torments worse than death itself! But now, thanks to ye, we have the final piece at last. When this medallion is restored to the chest, we’ll be free to roam the seas as men. No longer will we be ghosts [1]!”

The crew all roared in agreement.

Blake walked through a tunnel that took her right behind the pirates.

“You know the first thing I’m going to do after the curse is lifted?” Adam asked them. He turned to Weiss and grinned, “Eat a whole bushel of apples.”

He then grabbed her by the neck and pushed her down, with her throat hovering above the open chest. Adam grabbed the stone dagger from the chest. The crew all began to chant “Blood! Blood! Blood!” akin to a demonic choir.

Tyrian couldn’t help but join in on the chanting, much to the dismay of Hazel and Watts.

“Begun by blood. By blood undone,” Adam declared like a twisted mockery of a priest.

Blake was observing the ceremony, appearing to be in thought about something. She then heard something coming from behind. Alarmed, she turned around, only to be smacked across the face and fall to the ground unconscious.

The figure was revealed to be Yang, holding an oar. “Sorry, Blake. Ruby is not going to be your leverage,” Yang spat as she glared at the unconscious captain and tossed the oar away.

Many winced at the attack.

”So, she did overhear our talk at Tortuga,” Qrow realised.

Yang cringed. “Sorry, Blake…”

“It’s fine. You were protecting Ruby,” Blake assured.

“It might be too late, anyway,” Weiss let out in dread.

“No,” Willow whispered in horror.

Many went tense in anticipation.

Adam tore the medallion from Weiss’ neck, then placed it in her hand. And then cut her palm with the dagger, drawing out a pained gasp. He then grabbed her hand and closed it around the medallion.

Once the pain passed Weiss looked at Adam. “That’s it?” she questioned shakily.

Adam simply smiled. “Waste not.”

A wave of relief washed over them.

“Thank goodness,” Winter breathed out.

“I’ll say,” Weiss sighed in relief.

Willow let out a tense breath and Whitley relaxed slightly. Jacques seemed relived as well.

Tyrian let out a whine of disappointment, making Hazel and Watts sigh at their comrade’s madness.

He then turned her hand so that the palm was facing the chest. The chanting of the pirates fell silent as they all watched in anticipation. Adam let go of Weiss’ hand, and she opened her hand and let the now bloodstained medallion fall into the chest, hitting the surface with a quiet cling.

With the ritual complete, Adam let go of Weiss who clasped her cut palm, closed his eyes, and smiled in contentment as he waited for their torment to finally end. The pirates all followed as they waited.

Not far away, Ruby was rushing through the tunnels to reach Weiss.

After what felt like eternity, Corsac and Fennec opened their eyes. As did SSSN. As did the rest of the pirates. And finally, Adam opened his eyes, but he wasn’t smiling; instead, he looked confused.

A feeling shared by everyone else. “Did it work?” Corsac was the one who said what they were thinking.

“I don’t feel no different,” Neptune admitted.

“How do we tell?” Sun wondered.

Adam rolled his eyes. He pulled his pistol, aimed at Sun, and shot him in the chest, where his heart would be. The monkey Faunus flinched at the impact while his friends recoiled. Instead of falling over dead, he remained standing and alive. Everyone slowly turned to stare at Sun (or in Sun’s case, staring at the hole in his chest) in shock.

Sun winced. Even though he knew it wouldn’t kill him, seeing himself being shot was still discomforting.

“You’re not dead!” Sage breathed.

“No,” Sun chuckled lightly before frowning as he looked at Adam. He pointed an accusatory finger at him. “He shot me!”

“It didn’t work,” Scarlet said shakily.

“The curse is still upon us!” Fennec realised. His words invoked anger and confusion amongst them.

Adam raised the dagger and stared at it and the blood coating it. How was this possible? It had worked all the other times.

So why was it not working?!

Adam then came to a possible reason for why it was not working. Rage began to fill him as he realised what this meant. He turned to Weiss.

“You! Maid!” Weiss looked at him. “Your mother, what was her name?” Weiss remained quiet, making Adam angrier as he shook her. “Was your mother Summer Rose?”

At the question, Weiss smirked. “No.” Her response confirmed what Adam thought, and it made him seethe.

“Where’s her child? The child that sailed from Atlas eight years ago?” He grabbed the medallion and dangled it in front of her. “The child in whose veins flows the blood of Summer Rose. Where?”

Weiss remained quiet with a defiant smirk. Trembling with rage, he backhanded her, making her stumble and fall over, rolling down the island and laying at the bottom. The medallion tumbled down the side and landed next to her.

Many glared at Adam for his action, especially the Schnees.

Even Adam frowned slightly at his counterpart’s action.

“You four!” Bo’sun glared at SSSN, making them tense as everyone’s eyes landed on them. “You brought us the wrong person!”

“Yeah!” the crew shouted as they glared at them.

“No! She had the medallion. She’s the proper age,” Sun protested their innocence.

“She said her name was Rose. You heard her,” Sage added on. His words made them all murmur. They were right. She did claim her name was Rose.

Unbeknownst to them all, Ruby had emerged from the water next to Weiss. She placed her hand to Weiss’ mouth. She awoke in a panic only to relax upon seeing Ruby placing a finger in front of her mouth, telling her to be quiet, and beckoning to come with her. Weiss obliged and, upon seeing the medallion close by, grabbed it before entering the water.

Weiss sighed in relief.

Neptune scowled, “She lied to us!” His words made them erupt with anger. They were so close to finally being free, only to have had it denied to them. The ten years of anger brewing within them had erupted, and they needed a target for it. Luckily, they had someone in mind.

Fennec snarled at Adam, “You brought us here for nothing!” The crew shared his opinion.

Adam glared back at him. “I won’t take questionin’ or second-guesses, not from the likes of you, Master Fennec!”

“Who’s to blame him?” Corsac defended his brother with a growl. “Every decision you’ve made has led us from bad to worse!”

Ruby and Weiss reached the edge of the lake where Yang was waiting. The blonde helped the two out of the water and quickly departed while the pirates were distracted. Yet they froze at what they overheard next.

“It was you who sent Bootstrap to the depths!” Perry yelled.

The revelation made Ruby and Yang gasp sharply. Tai, Qrow and Raven tensed, as did those who remembered Summer Rose.

“Does… does that mean they killed mom?” Ruby whispered as tears gathered in her eyes.

“Those bastards!” Yang roared with red, wet eyes.

“How dare they,” Tai growled out as clenched his fists. Qrow grit his teeth and even Raven looked angry.

Ruby and Yang froze at that. They remembered Blake claiming that Bootstrap was what Summer Rose was called. Ruby recalled that Blake claimed that her mother was pirate and she refused to believe it… but now?

Ruby shook her head. This could wait; they had to leave now before they noticed. She pulled Weiss forward and grabbed Yang as they moved into the tunnels as the pirates roared in agreement to Perry’s words.

They were unaware of how the monkey saw them and screeched and pointed at them but went unheard.

The trio made it to the shore, and Ruby and Yang began to push the longboat into the water. “Wait! Grab the oars; I have an idea!” Weiss said.

The sisters grinned, and they ran from boat to boat, collecting the oars.

“I think I see what I’m planning. Taking the oars will delay them and allow them to escape,” Weiss figured out her counterpart’s idea.

Bo’sun drew his sword and approached Adam. “And it’s you who brought us here in the first place!” he shouted. The pirates followed his example and drew their weapons and advanced on Adam.

“And now they’re starting to turn on Adam,” Blake said darkly. “Now he’s facing what I did when he mutinied.”

“It won’t do any good though. None of them can die because of the curse,” Ren recalled.

“Either way, their anger is allowing them time to escape,” Winter said, happy her sister had been saved.

In response to their mutinous behaviour, Adam drew his own sword. “If any coward here dare challenge me, let him speak!” The pirates all halted at that. Adam was a skilled and deadly fighter; the chance of beating him was low. And with the curse trying to kill him was useless. For now, they stayed their hand.

Adam let out a “Hmm?” when he saw no one was willing to speak.

“I say, we cut her throat, and spill all her blood, just in case!” Corsac suggested with a snarl. The crew expressed their approval with vicious snarls and sneers.

Seeing how the crew was satiated for now, Adam relaxed slightly, only to tense when he saw his monkey screeching and pointing to the cavern’s exit. Adam quickly turned to where Weiss fell-

-and saw nothing there. She was gone! And the medallion along with her!

“And now Adam knows she’s gone,” Ilia winced, knowing his reaction will not be pretty.

Adam’s eye twitched with his rising fury and turned back around. “The medallion! She’s taken it!” Adam roared, making both the pirates and the escaping trio freeze. “GET AFTER HER, YOU FECKLESS PACK OF INGRATES!”

The crew snapped to attention and rushed into the tunnels to capture Weiss before she could escape; their hearts were racing with anger and desperation.

“Oh, that’s very bad. There’s not enough time for them to escape before they get,” Marrow dreaded. His words alarmed them.

“But there must be something they can do?!” Ruby yelled in desperation.

Yang came to a decision. “Go,” she looked to Ruby and Weiss. “I’ll hold them off. Get out before they get here.”

Ruby froze. “What?”

“You’re not serious,” Weiss gaped at her. “You can’t fight them off on your own.”

“She’s right,” Ruby tried to reason with her. “They’ll kill you.”

“Listen to them, Yang,” Ruby begged.

“Better than you!” Yang snapped. “We know the pirates want you; they’ll kill both of you if you stay.”

“She’s right, its Ruby and Weiss they want,” Yang argued.

“Yang, I won’t leave without you!” Ruby pleaded, her eyes filling with tears.

Yang shook her head. “Ruby, I promised Mom and Dad that I would keep you safe. I intend on keeping that promise,” she said softly. Her eyes hardened. “Go! Now!”

Ruby reluctantly nodded with pain in her eyes and pulled Weiss into the boat, and they began to row away and out of the cave.

Ruby just sat still as tears began to form. Yang felt guilty knowing she was responsible for that.

Yang watched them leave and then hid in one of the tunnels-

-and then let out a shout of panic as Sage lunged from the darkness and grabbed her. “Where do you think you’re going!” he shouted.

“God, dammit!” Yang hissed as they tumbled into the water and began to tussle as footsteps drew closer. After a brief struggle, she pulled out a knife and stabbed Sage in the side, eliciting a gasp of pain.

Having been freed, she attempted to swim away. She managed to reach the exit before numerous hands grabbed and hauled her back to the surface and onto the shore.

“Who the hell are you?” Sun demanded as he held Yang down.

“Dammit!” Yang snapped. “So close!”

“And now she’s at their mercy, and with how angry they are I doubt they’ll be kind,” Qrow said grimly.

Yang’s hands scratched at the pirate’s arm to pry them off, but the monkey Faunus’ grip was too strong. More pirates began to swarm in.

“Where’s the oars?” “There’s no oars!”

Some sent Yang a strange look but said nothing as Sun held her down.

“Sage!” Scarlet rushed over to his partner and pulled him ashore. “Did she hurt you?”

Sage grimaced lightly. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Neptune observed.

“I’ll be alright,” Sage insisted. He hissed. “Mostly.”

“You did this,” Sun tightened his grip on Yang. “And now you’ll pay!”

Team SSSN felt happy that these versions of themselves cared for one another like they did, even if they wished it were seen at a better time.

“I can’t watch!” Velvet cried as she looked away. RWBY, JNPR, and STRQ tensed.

“No,” a voice boomed. They turned to see Bo’sun who bore a furious expression. “She shouldn’t be here, so she must know something about the girl’s escape and our missing oars. Take her to the captain.”

SSSN shared a devious look. “You’re right,” Sun agreed as he released Yang. “The captain will want to punish you himself.”

They sighed in relief that Yang was spared, even if they now worried about what Adam would do to her.

Yang was unceremoniously yanked to her feet by Bo’sun who twisted one of her arms behind his back and forced her towards the grotto.

“Say, doesn’t she look familiar,” Neptune spoke up.

“Yeah, she does,” Scarlet admitted.

The situation only became worse when a dazed Blake stepped out from another tunnel, holding the oar Yang struck her with.

“What she is doing! Get out of there!” Kali cried out in concern.

“She must still be dazed from falling unconscious,” Ghira said in alarm.

“Oops…” Yang let out as she realised the danger she just put Blake in.

“Oh, no,” Nora let out in horror; realising she jinxed it.

“And I was right,” Jaune grimaced.

Neptune was the first to notice and blanched. The rest quickly noticed her as well as they rushed toward her.

“You!” Neptune pointed a finger at Blake in shock.

Blake paused and stared at them in confusion.

“You’re supposed to be dead!” Sun yelled.

“Am I not?” Blake asked in confusion, still recovering from Yang’s attack. She checked her body to make sure she was alive. Upon being certain she was, she turned to leave only to have a group of pirates block her path and aim their pistols at her. She attempted to go the other way only from them to do the same.

Seeing how she was trapped, Blake tried one last option. “Parlie… per-lay-lee-loo-loo…” she tried to say, making the pirates look at one another in confusion.

Yatsu blinked. “Wha-what is she doing?”

“Par-lee-lay… parsnip, par…sley, par…partner, pardoner, parlour… howdy, partner-ub-dee-ub-nah… ub-dee-ub-nah!”

Neptune figured what she was trying to say. “Parley?” he suggested.

“That’s the one!” Blake pointed at him in gratitude. “Parley! Parley!”

Kali sighed. “At least she’s safe for now.”

“Not for long though,” Ghira grunted. “Adam will likely want to finish her himself.”

Neptune looked pleased with himself, only to wince at the angry looks from the other pirates. “Parley?!” Sun gritted out as his partner lowered his head sheepishly.

“Damn to the depths whatever muttonhead thought of parley!” Sun growled as the pirates lowered their weapons.

Blake gently lowered Sun’s pistol. “That would be the Gallians [2],” she told him. “Quitalan-based [3], of course. Inventors of mayonnaise.”

Her words made Sun grin slightly. “I like mayonnaise.”

“Eh, I’m neutral on it,” Sun expressed.

“I didn’t know mayonnaise came from Gallia,” Coco was surprised.

“Shame about the Gallians, really,” Blake lamented. “Obsessed with raisins. Humiliated grapes, really. Think about it!” she waved her hand at them.

The pirates looked at each other. “Don’t know,” Sun admitted.

Jaune awkwardly rubbed his head. “Yeah, we Gallians really love wine. My family own one of the most successful vineyards in Vale.”

“Really?” Qrow looked curious at that.

“Terrific singers, the Gallians,” Blake acknowledged. “Eunuchs. The lot of them.”

“That’s not right,” Tukson protested.

“I used to date a eunuch,” Scarlet confessed, earning curious looks from the others.

“Did you really?” Sun asked Scarlet, who flushed.

“No!”

“Are we really talking about this?” Weiss pinched her nose in disbelief.

“I’ll get me coat,” Blake told them as she turned to leave.

That snapped Sun back to the situation. “Take her to the captain!” he ordered.

The pirates grabbed Blake and dragged her away.

“Well, at least she’s alive for now. That’s better than nothing,” Ghira sighed.

“Hopefully, she’ll be able to get out of this,” Kali hoped.

Chapter Text

Outside of the Isla de Muerte, a long trail of oars floated in the water leading to the Interceptor; Ruby and Weiss having tossed them into the water upon escaping the island. Weiss climbed aboard the ship as Ruby remained in the rowboat and tossed the remaining oars into the water.

“You assumption was correct, Weiss,” Winter noted, proud of her sister.

Weiss looked pleased at her sister’s praise.

Upon landing on the deck, Weiss looked up and saw the misfit crew and was not very enthused. “Not more pirates.” When she saw the Interceptor, she had believed Ruby and Yang had arrived with marines, and not this.

“Welcome aboard, Miss Weiss,” Qrow greeted, smiling.

Weiss blinked in surprise. “Mr. Branwen?” she asked as Ruby climbed aboard.

“Ah yeah, I forgot Weiss knew Uncle Qrow,” Ruby recalled.

“She must have she would never him see again,” Ren noted. “Nor expect Ruby and Yang to be in the company of pirates.”

Qrow didn’t respond; instead, he looked concerned at the two missing individuals.

“Hey, lass, where be your sister and Blake?” Qrow questioned.

Weiss’ surprise grew even more as she looked at Ruby. “Blake? Blake Belladonna?”

Ruby looked at Qrow. “They fell behind,” she told him, which was both true and false.

The crew fell silent at this as Ruby took the opportunity to escort Weiss below deck before they could ask any more questions. Many looked to Qrow for what to do. After a moment, he reluctantly responded, “Keep to the Code!”

Ilia, often manning the helm in Blake’s absence, then began to give out commands, “Weigh anchor! Hoist the sails! Split-quick, you dibbies!”

Ruby gasped. “Are they really leaving them behind?”

“Well, you and your sister did knock Blake out,” Neptune pointed out.

“And it was your team that stopped Blondie from getting away,” Coco added on, making Team SSSN grumble at the reminder.

“Hey, we didn’t do that. They did. And it was to save Ruby’s girlfriend,” Yang defended while making Ruby and Weiss blush at the reminder.

“It doesn’t seem to matter, either way. It is the Pirate’s Code, and they must follow it,” Raven said darkly. It was like the same rules the tribe employed whenever those had fallen or were taken. The strong survive and the weak perish.

“Figures you would agree,” Qrow said in contempt.

The crew obeyed and prepared to depart, apart from Qrow and Jaune. Qrow stared out at the Isla de Muerte with a grim look. Jaune meanwhile gazed at Ruby as she descended below deck with suspicion.

If there was one skill Jaune had learned during his time at sea, it was when to detect when one was speaking the truth. And the way Ruby responded to Qrow’s question was as if she was trying to hide something. Qrow must have noticed as well, but he’ll bring it up to him just in case.

Whatever it was Ruby was trying to hide, Jaune was going to find out.

“That’s not good for them. If Mister Arc learns what happened and tells the rest of the crew, who knows what they might do,” Oobleck said gravely.

His words made Team RWBY worried, while Team JNPR looked concerned at what Jaune’s reaction would be.

Back inside the island, Bo’sun threw Yang in front of Adam Taurus, who stared down at the blonde with a mixture of anger, curiosity, and surprise.

“This woman was found by the longboats,” Bo’sun informed him. “She must have had something to do with the girl’s disappearance.”

“Well, what do we have here?” Adam chuckled as Yang tried to return to her feet. “A young women lingering where she shouldn’t.”

Yang scowled at the words.

“Tell me, why are you here?” Adam questioned.

Yang growled, “Like hell I’ll tell you anything, bastard.”

“Miss Xiao Long, I do not believe antagonising him is the best idea,” Glynda scolded her.

“What am I supposed do then; just tell them what they want?” Yang demanded. “They’ll probably kill me either way. At least this way they won’t learn about Ruby.”

“I don’t want you to give up your life to save me Yang!” Ruby snapped at her sister, who winced at her words.

Instead of being angry, Adam laughed, “Ah, so you have a fire within you? Well perhaps you’ll be more inclined to tell us once we’re through with you.”

Yang just snarled. “Go ahead. I won’t talk.”

“You may not have to,” Sun’s voice called out as he approached the group.

“What is it, Master Wukong?” Adam looked slightly annoyed at the interruption.

“We found an old friend by the longboats,” Sun informed as he parted to reveal said “old friend”. Yang blanched at the sight of Blake standing there, leaning on the oar Yang struck her with as the other pirates guarded her.

Yang copied her counterpart’s action.

“Oh no,” Velvet let out in horror.

The pirates let out shocked noises at the sight of her, while Blake just smiled at the reactions, while throwing a small glare at Yang. “Adam! It’s been too long, hasn’t it?” she greeted the bull Faunus with faux cheer.

Adam just stared at the sight of his old captain, his face neutral but internally he was taken aback. He heard the stories that Blake had escaped the island, but he had not been sure if they were true. It would appear they were.

Either way, Blake Belladonna being here along with this blonde woman and that duplicitous wench disappearing with the medallion was too much of a coincidence.

He slowly approached her, the pirates parting to make way. Blake rested her hands atop the oar as if it were a cane.

“How the blazes did you get off that island?” Adam asked her, his tone torn between anger and curiosity.

All the pirates looked to Blake for an answer, and she did not disappoint. “When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate.” She smirked. “I’m Captain Blake Belladonna.”

“Blake, you really shouldn’t be bragging right now!” Kali chided.

“Your mother’s right. Parley or not, Adam will kill you,” Ghira said in worry.

“Your parents are correct, Miss Belladonna,” Ozpin agreed. “How do you plan to get out of this predicament?”

“I managed to survive this long. I’m sure I’ll think of something,” Blake assured her parents and Headmaster.

Adam smiled in response as he walked towards Blake. “Ah. Well, I won’t be making that mistake… again,” he assured her.

He turned to the crew. “Gents, you all remember Captain Blake Belladonna?”

“Aye,” they let out.

“Kill her, and bring the blonde with us,” Adam ordered as he walked away.

The pirates all grinned and drew their pistols; all aimed at their former captain.

Blake however was unfazed by this, for she had a plan. “The girl’s blood didn’t work, did it?”

The pirates paused at that, as did Adam. A contemplative expression formed as Adam yelled, “Hold your fire!”

The pirates obeyed the command with great reluctance, with some letting out sounds of dismay. Sun was one of the loudest to complain.

Blake smirked. “That’s how.”

Yang froze at Blake’s words. No. She wouldn’t.

Adam turned back to Blake. “You know whose blood we need?”

Blake smirked in response. “I know whose blood you need,” she confirmed.

And then Blake’s smirk vanished as she looked on in horror.

“Is- Is she really…” Ruby stuttered out.

“She is. She definitely is,” Qrow answered darkly as he clenched his fists.

“She’s offering you up to save herself!” Yang shouted in rage.

“It’s sadly not surprising,” Ironwood sighed. “The way she looked at her ship was with a look of longing. At this point, she must be willing to do anything to get her ship back.”

“And she’s selling out my daughter to do it,” Tai gritted out.

Ghira and Kali looked at Blake’s counterpart with a mix of horror and disappointment. Ilia couldn’t help but feel disgusted by this. Even Sienna and Adam felt put out by the lengths Blake was willing to go to.

Blake just looked down in shame. She couldn’t help but wonder if she would be willing to go that far if she never left the White Fang.

That she couldn’t answer that question made her feel worse.

“You, bitch!” Yang roared as she attempted to charge Blake, only to be held back by Bo’sun who was stronger than her.

Adam gazed at her before looking to Blake, curious about her reaction. “A friend of yours, Blake?”

“A treasonous piece of scum,” Blake glared at Yang, who returned it. “You’d get along well together Adam. But alas, she’s not who you’re looking for.”

“Is that right?” Adam raised a brow. “If she’s not Bootstrap’s whelp, who is she and what’s she doing here?”

“She came with Bootstrap’s child to rescue the girl, Weiss Schnee,” Blake told him.

The pirates looked at each other in surprise and chattered quietly as Adam took in Blake’s words.

“Weiss Schnee?” Adam stated in disbelief.

“Ah, yes,” Blake nodded. “She’s the daughter of Port Royal’s governor. She likely lied about her name because she thought you were after her for ransom.” She then frowned. “How’d you not realise she was lying. The girl looks nothing like Summer. Is it senility?” she asked in mock concern.

Adam ignored Blake’s words. In truth, he did have suspicions about Weiss’ claims. However, the discovery of the medallion and the eagerness to claim it had clouded his judgement, and so he did not think much on it. Admittedly, several factors did line up: the medallion, the age, her having seen the Black Pearl eight years ago when they attacked that merchant ship.

Even still, Adam cursed himself for not thinking deeper on it. He wasn’t going to admit that to Blake Belladonna though.

“That makes sense,” Clover acknowledged. “His desperation to finally be free clouded his judgement and made him overlook any flaws in Weiss’ story.

Adam eyed Blake and then turned his attention back to Yang. “Interesting story, but why come here?”

“Ah. Well, it turns out that Summer’s child has a… fondness for Miss Schnee and wanted to be her shining knight. And blondie here followed them,” Blake explained. Adam understood what Blake was implying with that.

“She helped the girl escape,” Sun answered. “She’s gone, with the medallion and all our oars. She tried to escape too, and she hurt Sage in the process.”

“Stabbed him in the side, she did!” Scarlet added.

Adam’s eyes darkened, and Yang felt the urge to take a step back had Bo’sun not been standing behind her. “You’re certain this girl is no Rose, Blake?”

The Xiao Long-Rose tensed at the question, knowing Blake’s response dictated whether Yang would live or not.

Blake considered her answer. She could be a decent person and lie, thus saving her life for the moment while she worked up a new plan to return the Black Pearl to her possession.

On the other hand, she had worked with the real Rose girl in a plan that ended with her getting an oar to the face.

After a moment of deliberation, Blake gave her answer. “She’s no Rose,” she confirmed.

“Good.” Without a second of hesitation, Adam pulled out his pistol, placed it to Yang’s temple, cocked it, and began to squeeze the trigger.

Many gasped. “No!” Ruby cried out as she grasped Yang’s arm tightly.

“But she is related to them,” Blake admitted. Adam paused and turned to her.