Work Text:
“Captain, this storm’s gonna capsize us!”
“We don’t have a choice, Yang! Brave the storm and live, or shelter and die! Forward!” Ruby tightens her grip on the ship’s wheel, her cloak soaked from the rain, and once again wonders how the hell she got here.
Ruby Rose, pirate captain of the Crescent Rose. First-mate: Weiss Schnee. Quartermaster: Blake Belladonna. Master gunner: Yang Xiao Long. Navigator: Oscar Pine. Not that the rest of her crew wasn’t important - they all served a purpose and were brave, respectable people. Ruby and her crew were feared, respected, or both in every port from Vacuo to Mistral. They had been sailing back to Vale when a freak storm caught them off guard. One minute, the sky was clear. The next, it was black and pouring enough water to refill the oceans thrice over.
“Take down the sails!” Blake barks. “We’re switching to oars!”
“You want us to row in these waters?” Jaune asks, eyes wide. “We might as well just swim!”
“He’s right, Blake! We can’t rely just on the wind! Sails at half-mast! If we don’t give them some slack...well, it won’t be good!” Ruby nods. “Sun, Pyrrha, take your teams below deck and start rowing! Coco, sails!
“On it!” Sun leaps across the deck of the ship and opens the hatch to the inside, dropping in. Coco, Yatsuhashi, and Blake all slide over to ropes and start loosening them.
“Do you have any idea where you’re going?” Weiss shouts in Ruby’s ear.
“Forward! Out of the storm!”
“Then that’s a no!”
"The storm can't go on forever!"
"Storm's also can't appear out of nowhere, Ruby, but here we are !"
"Captain!" Blake calls. "Sail's at half-mast! What now?"
"Pray!" Ruby glances up at the crow’s nest. “Oscar! See anything?”
“Water, mostly!” Oscar lurches as a wave hits the ship, nearly falling from his perch. “Wait!” He loops an arm around the rope attached to the crow’s nest and leans forward, spyglass in hand. “I see another ship!”
“Friendly?”
“Barreling straight for us! Black raven on a red flag!”
Yang turns around and stares at Ruby, shocked. “My mom’s here?”
Raven Branwen. Tired of leading a normal bandit tribe, she stole a ship from its crew, forcing them to either join the tribe or die. Now her crimes aren’t limited to the land. Ruby might be a pirate, but she never razed entire villages just for some bread and wine.
“Hey!” Weiss shouts. “You think…”
“Well, I would say that’s impossible!” Ruby grimaces. “But it wouldn’t surprise me if Raven’s finally found a Maiden!”
The Maidens. The four strongest spellcasters on Remnant - always four. Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall. Normal sorcerers like Weiss, while strong, can’t even hold a candle to the Maidens. Weiss can freeze a Grimm solid in a few seconds. A Maiden could freeze Lake Matsu in the blink of an eye. Of course, everyone on Ruby’s team together might be able to take out one maiden; they were all powerful. But it helps to have Pyrrha on their side. The current Fall Maiden, Pyrrha Nikos. Sadly, Ruby gets the feeling a Maiden who specializes in fire magic isn’t going to be of much use here.
“Blake, get everyone armed and above deck! We’re gonna take them head-on! Brace against the hull, we’re going to hit them head on!”
“Cannons?” Yang asks.
Ruby shakes her head. “Not yet! Not in this wind!” She grunts, throwing the wheel to the side so that the Crescent Rose faces Raven’s ship. “Weiss!”
A black glyph appears on the wheel, holding it in place long enough for Ruby to tie a rope taut and lash it, holding course. Ruby draws her hook sword and holds it high. “Ready yourselves!”
Ruby’s crew all crouch by the ship’s hull, wielding swords, guns, bladed gauntlets, staves and spears, and in the case of one lightning-fueled redhead, a huge hammer. Ruby stands at the helm, eyes narrowed. “Come on then, Branwen. Let’s see what you can-”
Ruby doesn’t get to finish her sentence; a huge gust of wind hits her at the same time a tall wave crashes into the ship and she gets swept overboard. The impact is so sudden she doesn’t have time to take a breath or use her speed magic. The last thing Ruby sees as she sinks into the water is Yang’s wide eyes and the glint as they turn from purple to red.
Damp, hard rock. Lapping waves. Pale light.
Ruby groans in pain and sits up, hands finding purchase on the rock beneath her. Where is she?f She takes stock of her surroundings - a small,shallow cave. She’s sitting on a stone shelf near the back of the cave - light pours in from the entrance fifteen feet away, the saltwater refracting it and covering the cave in a faint green glow. And...something orange floats in the water. Is that...hair? Ruby reaches for her belt - no sword, no gun. She pats down the rest of her hiding spots - she has a small knife in her boot and that’s it. Quietly, she slips it out and leans forward, precariously perching on the stone shelf.
“Salutations!”
Ruby screams and clambers back as a woman pops out of the water, a wide smile on her face. Ruby points her knife forward, leaning on the cave’s wall with one arm. “Who are you?”
The girl’s smile drops. “Ah! I’m sorry! I did not mean to frighten you, human!”
Ruby lowers the knife. “Human? What, are you a Faunus?”
“Faun-nis.” The girl rolls the word around on her tongue. “Yes, that is your name for us. Was our name, too. We stopped calling ourselves Faun-nis, I think, generations ago. No point, with us living away from humans. Or maybe we used to be Faun-nis but we aren’t anymore.”
Ruby furrows her brow, and squints. Sure enough, she can make out faint gills on the girl’s neck, but she seems to be breathing through her nose. Not too surprising, since Faunus traits don’t always override human traits. Still weird to think about Blake having four ears.
Blake.
“Where am I?” Ruby blurts out. “I was on my ship, then I got knocked off - did you see my ship! Were my crew members alright?”
“Crew? Oh, your tribe!” The girl sinks down in the water a bit. “I am sorry. I did not see a ship, or anyone else. I just found you, in a storm, barely breathing.”
Ruby groans and sinks down onto the shelf, head in her hands. “What am I gonna do?”
The girl in the water swims over, putting her arms on the shelf and resting her head on a forearm. “Maybe you could tell me your name?”
Ruby looks at Penny like she just asked Ruby if she was from the shattered moon. “Ruby. Ruby Rose, captain of the Crescent Rose.”
“Nice to meet you, Ruby Rose, captain of the Crescent Rose!”
“Just Ruby is fine.” She peeks at the girl. “What’s your name?”
The girl in the water sits up - well, straightens herself - and thumps her chest proudly. “My name is Penelope Palaemon Psamathe Panope Pherusa Protomedeia Pasithea pon Polendina!”
Ruby blinks slowly.
“You can call me Penny!”
Ruby exhales with relief. “So where are we, Penny?”
“A cave.” Penny bites her lip, thinking. “Near a small set of islands off the coast of...Mist-trail.”
“Mistral.” Ruby sighs. “That’s good. I was worried I ended up in Vale or something.”
“No. We are not by that place.” Penny gently splashes her hands in the water. “Are you hungry?”
“And thirsty. And my body aches all over.” Ruby slides her knife back into her boot and stretches. “I don’t suppose you have a tavern on those islands.”
“Ta - no, we do not. There is a small settlement there. You will be able to eat some food and hydrate yourself. I am sure there is something to be done about rest.”
“Good.” Ruby begins to disrobe, then realizes her clothes are still wet. “How long have I been here?”
Penny swims outside the cave and looks up. “Two hours, roughly. I think. It was about noon before that storm rolled in, and it was still raining when I brought you inside the cave.”
Ruby groans, ensures her belt and boots are tightened, and dives in the water. The cold forces her to alertness, and the salt water stings her eyes open. She glides to the exit of the cave, and just before surfacing, she sees why Penny wasn’t sure if she was a Faunus - a huge tail - fin? - extends from her waist where her legs would be. The size and coloring remind Ruby of a sperm whale.
Ruby bursts out of the water, slicking her wet hair back on her head. “Where?”
Penny grabs Ruby’s hand. “Just take a deep breath.”
Ruby does, taking a deep gulp of the fresh, salty air before Penny dives below the surface and darts through the water, dragging Ruby behind her.
When Penny said “small islands”, Ruby expected the settlement to be small too. But these house-sized islands host a thriving community - wooden shacks and market stalls in the shallows, crops growing along the shores, several Faunus(?) talking and laughing and drinking.
“This is where you live?” Ruby asks.
Penny shakes her head. “This is just a...trading post...I think that’s what you would call it. Like your port towns.”
“Doesn’t look like a place set up for someone with legs.”
“No, not really. We’re all like -” Penny splashes her tail to demonstrate. Now that they’re out of the cave and the deep waters, Ruby can get a better look at her savior. Pale skin, but not like a corpse (at least now that she’s in proper lighting). Her orange hair is long and stringy, sticking to her skin. Oddly, one thing wasn’t a trick of the light - Penny’s covered in freckles. Green freckles, the same bright green as her eyes. In the clear shallow water, beneath a gilled neck and lithe shoulders, Ruby sees a dark green sleeveless blouse, made from some unknown material. Clearly something for modesty, rather than anything else. And then of course the whale...tail? It’s more concise than “lower half”.
“Come on,” Penny urges, “here, there’s a rock you can dry out on. I’ll get you something to eat.”
Penny guides Ruby to one of the islands, where a flat rock rests in the sand, facing the sun. The ketomaid swims off to one of the stalls, leaving the pirate captain alone. Ruby strips to her skivvies, laying her clothes - white ruffled shirt, black knee-breeches, numerous belts, a red and black corset, and crimson tailcoat - down on the rock. She takes her boots and shakes water out of them before setting them down too. No hat, unfortunately. Probably resting at the bottom of the sea. Ruby sighs and leans back on the rock, her hair spilling around her head as she basks in the sunlight, idly spinning her knife in hand.
“Ruby!”
Ruby lifts her head and sees Penny eagerly holding up a fish on a wooden skewer and a cup. “I have acquired a meal for you! Cod skewer and a cup of fresh-water-and-rum!”
Grog and fish. No chance of a nice steak and wine, then. Ruby sits up, greedily reaching for the food. “Thank you.” Ruby tears off a hunk of cod, swallows it whole, and washes it down with a splash of grog. Penny watches her with interest, propping her arms on the sand and resting her head in her palms. Ruby doesn’t pay attention, more focused on the meal - then realizes she isn’t exactly clothed and blushes. Weird. That was never an issue on the ship - why’s she embarrassed now? It didn’t bother her when these other Faunus-adjacent people looked at her.
A problem for later, she decides, picking the fish clean.
“Better?”
Ruby nods vigorously, wiping the last of the grog off of her lips. “Y-yeah.” Ruby leans back on her hands and scans the horizon. “What now?”
“Well, no one’s seen your ship.” Penny holds her hands up. “But!” Penny faceplants, having forgotten that gravity is a harsh mistress. Ruby suppresses a giggle and hops off the rock, helping Penny right herself. Penny spits out a mouthful of sand and washes her face off in the water.
“But!” she continues, the wind still in her sails. “No one has seen any ships since I found you. Do not worry too much.”
“I guess. Don’t suppose you have a map here?”
Penny shakes her head.
“Figured.” Ruby nods at the market. “I would guess you don’t use lien.”
“Lee-en?”
“Money.”
“Oh! No. Food you can get for free, enough to keep you from going hungry. But we have a trade-based economy. I don’t think your money will work here.”
“Of course.” Ruby moves further into the water, letting the miniscule tide lap at her feet. “Why’d you help me?”
“Because you were in trouble.” Penny tilts her head. “Are you alright, Ruby? Did you hurt your head?”
“No, I just...I’m surprised. Your people clearly try very hard to stay away from the rest of the world.”
“We still have to interact with your people sometimes.” Penny idly draws in the sand with a finger. “I don’t get to talk to them much, though. What’s it like, having legs?” She inspects her stick figure in the sand and wipes it away. “Human legs, I mean.”
“Uh...I mean I guess I can walk. Wear some cool boots. I never thought too hard about it.” Ruby experimentally flexes her calves. “What’s it like being part whale?”
“Okay. I’m pretty fast in the water. No boots, though.”
“So...gills?”
“Yeah.” Penny gingerly touches one of her gills. “I’m not supposed to have these, actually. It’s very rare for one of us to be born with gills and...non-fish parts, if I were to explain it in your terms.”
“I understand.” Ruby scratches her head. “And, uh, if I may ask…”
“Of course.”
“Green freckles?”
“Pigmentation difference. Um, between races. Not just-”
“Yeah, I know.” Ruby giggles.
“What are those things on your skin?” Penny asks, pointing at a red rose tattooed on Ruby’s upper arm, the stem wrapping around the whole limb down to the wrist.
“They’re called tattoos.” Ruby turns over her right arm to look at the rose. “We get them on shore leave. Most pirates and sailors get at least one. Just gotta time it right, since we can’t get them wet while they’re healing.”
“Healing? It hurts?”
“Well, yeah, when they put the needle in ya.”
“Needle ?”
“Yeah, they use a needle to put ink in your skin, so you gotta keep it clean.”
“Wow. That’s pretty brave of you.”
“Heh, that’s nothing.”
Penny tilts her head and leans in closer to Ruby’s arm. “I’d like to have one of those. But staying out of the water for a while doesn’t sound very fun.”
“I don’t think it would be fun for you. Maybe if you had a healer you could manage.” Ruby shrugs. “So...what now?”
“Well, until you find your ship…” Penny hums to herself. “I suppose you can stay here, until we find it.”
Ruby looks around. “Not really any houses to stay in.”
“You can sit under one of the...pavilions!” Penny poses proudly. “And you can sleep under the stars, on that rock. This water is warm enough for me to sleep in.”
Ruby considers the offer. “Well, not like I could say no. You got a tub I could use?”
Penny just stares at her.
Ruby chuckles awkwardly and looks around at the ocean. “Yeah, okay. That’s on me.”
Penny giggles. “You are a very funny human, Ruby.”
“You did not!”
Ruby smirks, tearing another hunk of meat off the fish in her hands. “I did. Yang didn’t notice for a week.”
“How would she not notice? I think eyebrows are very noticeable.”
“I promised everyone on the ship an extra cut if they didn’t say anything.”
“You must be a very respectable captain.”
“Or greed is a powerful motivator,” Ruby muses. “Not that it matters.”
“Your friends must be very close to you.”
“I’d say so. They aren’t on my ship out of fear.” Ruby leans forward. “So what about you, Penny? You got any friends?”
Penny looks away. “No, not really. People are nice to me, but none of them are my friends.”
“Really?” Ruby raises an eyebrow. “No one?”
Penny sighs. “I’m rather...weird. I guess that drives people away.”
“Weird?” Ruby shakes her head. “Nope!”
Penny turns her gaze back to Ruby, brow furrowed. “N-nope?”
“Nope!” Ruby grins. “I don’t think you’re weird. In fact, I think you’re pretty cool.”
“Really!?” Penny pulls herself out of the water, balancing by putting her hands on Ruby’s shoulders. “You think I’m cool?”
Ruby suddenly finds herself very flustered by Penny’s face being so close to her. “Yeah, I feel like you’re cool.”
“Oh wow! That’s great!” Penny flops back into the water. “Can we be friends, Ruby?”
“Yes, Penny, we can be friends.” Ruby smiles, thinking about how happy Penny looks.
“Best friends?” Penny asks tentatively.
“If we stick together long enough, maybe. You don’t jump straight to being best friends.”
“Oh.” Penny draws her mouth in a tight line, thinking. “I guess that makes sense. I suppose I will just stick by you until we become best friends!”
"Heh. Sounds good to me."
"Miss Polendina!" A dark-skinned mermaid with short black hair swims up to Penny and Ruby. "The ships! We found them!"
"Are you sure?" Penny asks, eyes wide. "Rose flag, raven flag?"
The girl nods. "Affirmative. And that freakish storm surrounded them."
"They're still alive?" Ruby whispers. She jumps to her feet. "Which way?"
“Southwest. But I can’t recommend that you give chase-”
Ruby dusts the sand off herself and makes sure her clothes are all tightly buckled and that her knife is strapped to her belt. “You coming, Penny?”
“Of course I am. I just told you we’re going to stick together! Plus I do not believe you can catch up to your ship alone. Humans are not the fastest swimmers, especially in those clothes.”
“But Penny-”
Penny shoots a look at the mermaid. “I’m going.”
The mermaid holds her hands up defensively and swims away. Ruby takes a deep breath and wades into the water, the chill eating at her bones.
“Grab on.” Penny turns around; Ruby, blushing, climbs onto Penny like a child riding piggyback on their father. Penny slowly moves out of the shallows, occasionally glancing up at the stars to check her bearing. “Are you ready?”
“Ready.” Ruby leans closer to Penny, her breath tickling the ketomaid’s ear. “How fast can you go?”
Penny suppresses a giggle. “Just hold on, captain. Your ships can only keep up with me in strong winds.”
Roaring winds. Pouring rains. Striking thunder.
And two ships, locked in battle.
Ruby stares through the haze, shocked. They’ve been battling all day. Both crews have clearly been taking losses - bloodied and beaten bandits on Raven’s ship shakily aim their rifles and smallbore cannons at Ruby’s ship, where they retaliate in turn. Evidently Raven lacks any healers, as there are more of Ruby’s crewmen than Raven’s. Good, Jaune is still able to use his magic.
But the focal point of the fight is the two women fighting over the see - one with long, tangled black hair, dressed in red and black, and one with a red ponytail, wearing red and gold armor. Even from hundreds of feet away, Ruby can see the red glows around their eyes. So Raven is the Maiden on her ship. And Pyrrha’s losing. The fact that she’s managed to hold out this long surprises Ruby.
“Get me in close!” Ruby yells. “Near that rope! I can climb it.”
“Okay!” Penny tears through the water like a rock skipped across a lake. “Once you get up there, I will do what I can to help!”
As nice and pretty and muscular and why is Ruby thinking these things. Right now. As she’s trying to save her crew.
Penny’s unarmed and limited to the water, Ruby thinks, circling back to her original thought process. How much could she help?
Well, appearances can be deceivi- and that’s the rope. Ruby wraps her hands around the wet, swollen fibers, cursing her lack of gloves. She plants her feet on the hull and begins to pull herself up, stopping only to draw her knife and bite it between her teeth.
Ruby pokes her head over the deck. Roughly eight bandits left standing, injured. Beat-up weapons accompany weak sorcery as they attack the Crescent Rose. Ruby sighs internally. No wonder Raven’s the only person anyone worries about. Her crew’s weaklings and washouts - their numbers are the only way they can win. But eight of them are no match for one of her.
The first pirate gets tripped, grabbed, and, using the leverage of ship’s railed, tossed overboard. The second one, in the middle of reloading a musket, gets to meet Ruby’s dagger.
Penny swims around the two ships, face contorted in concern. The logical thing to do would be to run - flee to the depths of the sea and let this play out. Risking her life for strangers is idiotic.
And yet Penny’s very soul aches at the thought of leaving Ruby and her friends behind. So she stops moving, focusing on Raven, and taps into her inner power. Fall prefers fire, the thunder and rains obey Spring, but she? She was the master of ice and cold and wind.
Penny opens her eyes, green flames surrounding them. “Raven Branwen!” she shouts, still in the water. “I will give you one chance to retreat and leave the Crescent Rose’s crew alone!”
Everyone turns to look at the newcomer to the fray - Ruby takes advantage of Penny’s appearance to take out the rest of Raven’s crew, grabbing a cutlass and loaded flintlock in the process, before joining everyone else in observing the spectacle.
“And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?” Raven asks, blade still leveled at Pyrrha.
“Penelope Palaemon Psamathe Panope Pherusa Protomedeia Pasithea pon Polendina.” Penny glares. “The Maiden of Winter.”
“Give up, Raven!” Ruby shouts, aiming her gun at the Spring Maiden. “No one left to hide behind!”
“And where were you hiding while your crew fought me?” Raven asks, an edge to her tone.
“Ruby!” Yang yells. “You’re not dead!”
A bolt of lightning scorches the wood at Yang’s feet. “Shut up.” Raven looks over her shoulder at Ruby. “I asked you a question, Ruby Rose.”
"You know. Went for a nice swim. I feel like you might know something about that?"
"What you do in your free time is none of my concern." Raven laughs. "Now, back to the point - how am I supposed to leave without a crew to pilot my ship?"
"You'll manage," Ruby replies flatly. "I only knocked them out. Mostly." She points at a man with ratty gray hair, sprawled on the deck. "He passed out at the sight of his own blood." She gestures at another pirate - a woman, soaking wet. "And she, well-"
Cold steel presses into Ruby's neck. "Drop the gun. And the sword."
Ruby obliges, hands up.
"Thank you, Vernal." Raven smirks. "Alright, I'll leave. But I want everything in your treasury. And I'm taking little Red with me."
"Ruby's coming with us!" Yang retorts.
"No, she's not. She's a hostage and my guarantee you won't attack when I leave. She'll make a good deckhand, don't worry."
Vernal laughs. "You'll have a lot of work to do, since the rest of our crew's...out of commission." Vernal taps a prate with her boot. "Might've been better if you killed them, actually."
"They will give you none of their treasures, including Ruby." Penny's voice naturally carries up to Raven. "You are not in a position to bargain."
"And you're in no position to make threats," Vernal snaps. "Unless you want to see if her blood's red as roses."
On the Crescent Rose, Blake steps forward, bloodied and bandaged arm at her side, but her gun drawn in the other. "Go ahead, shoot Ruby." Blake coughs and aims at Vernal. "We've been fighting under the assumption she died anyway." Her hand gracefully pulls back the hammer. "In fact...Ruby, sorry about this." Blake pulls the trigger.
"NO!" Penny screams.
But Ruby had already accepted Blake's plan. And thus had already elbowed Vernal and turned to rose petals, dashing from ship to ship as Vernal's shot goes wide and Blake's bullet hits true, shattering Vernal's Aura and knocking her out.
Penny looks quickly between Blake and Ruby, hyperventilating a bit.
"You...might be able to beat me out," Pyrrha croaks through her sore throat. "But two Maidens?"
Raven grits her teeth but lowers her weapon. "Next time," she spits, "you won't be so lucky." The pirate captain flies back over to her ship's wheel, spinning it and guiding the winds with her Maiden powers. As she sails away at a snail's pace, Penny raises a hand, and a gust of wins sends Raven's ship barreling away.
Yang hugs Ruby, grabbing her head with one hand. "You're okay!"
Ruby reciprocates. "Of course." She pulls away and turns to Blake. "Nice bluff, Quartermaster. And nicer shot."
"We got lucky." But Blake's small smile doesn't go unnoticed.
Ruby looks around, roughly half her crew standing nearby. "Damage report?"
"Weiss, Yatsuhashi, Oscar, and Nora all are unconscious, but stable. Jaune's about to pass out-"
"Am passing out," Jaune corrects, wobbling. Ren catches him as he falls, gently lowering him to the ground.
"Jaune was working overtime on healing. Yatsuhasi's passed out from similar exertion. Weiss managed to scrounge up enough dust to create enough wind to get us out of the storm and away from Raven for a few hours. Nora was a lightning rod, as expected. And Oscar simply suffered a blow to the head and is resting."
"The rest?"
"Sun took some grapeshot to his legs. Velvet's Aura broke a few minutes before you got here, and Coco took her below deck. And Neptune passed out during the second half of the fight. No lasting injuries, at least."
"Some good news." Ruby sighs. "Ship?"
"Serviceable. She'll sail."
"Then let's get going." Ruby walks over to the side of the ship and motions for Penny to approach. "You know, you never told me you were a Maiden."
"You never asked." Penny winks, looping her arm around a rope tossed down by Ruby. "Anyway! I am very glad you did not get kidnapped!"
"You wanna...get out of the water?" Pyrrha asks, limping over and leaning on the rail.
"No thank you. I'm fine!"
"Who's this?" Blake raises an eyebrow at Ruby.
"Penelope Palaemon Psa...Psaman…"
"My name is Penny," the Winter Maiden interrupts. "It is nice to meet you!"
"Well, Penny, I owe you a debt of gratitude." Pyrrha smiles weakly. "I'm not sure how much longer I could have held out."
"You are welcome!"
"Any idea where we are, Penny?" Ruby asks. "I didn't really see any land on the way here."
"Hmm…" Penny taps her chin. "We came from the east...so there should be land to the south?" Penny shrugs. "I think."
Ruby sighs. "Well, we don't have Oscar right now, so that'll have to do. Anyone still able to stand, get ready to move. We're heading south."
"You're leaving now, huh?" Penny's voice is tinged with sadness.
Ruby winks and flashes a smile. "Why do you think I tossed you that rope? Unless you'd rather hang out in the fish net?"
Penny looks up, confused.
"You said you wanted to stick around, right? I gotta get the Rose to a port before I can have a little pool installed for you to sit in."
"Well, the fish net might be more comfortable. Like a hammock,"' Yang offers.
"What's a hammock?"
"I'll explain it later. I have one below deck I can show you later."
"We could fill the jolly boat with water," Blake suggests. "More than usual, I mean. We need to bring it onto the deck anyway."
"That...would be a much more comfortable way to do this. If that's alright with you, Penny."
Penny nods eagerly. "Yes, that sounds ideal. It will also allow me a clearer view of the sails."
"For…?" Blake furrows her brow.
"To direct the winds. I could probably teach your crew's maiden how to do it too. Though she'll probably be much less adept at it than me."
"I mean. I do need air to fuel fires," Pyrrha mutters.
"Well, I have no objection." Blake turns back around and crosses her arms behind her back, wincing as the bloodied limb moves. "Pyrrha, take Jaune below deck and get some rest. Scarlet, you're taking over for Oscar, get to the crow's nest. Sage, Yang, get that jolly boat ready and haul our new recruit up. The rest of you rig the Rose up to sail out of here. And Captain!" Blake's expression softens. "Can you please help me put my arm in a splint?"
"Oh! Yeah." Ruby motions to Penny. "Swim around the ship and get in the boat when we lower it down."
"Of course, Captain Rose. It will be my pleasure."
"Why are you blushing?" Blake whispers to Ruby.
"It's the weather!" Ruby blurts out, before hissing, "Shut up!"
"Human culture is so interesting," Penny notes. Ruby laughs, sitting in a chair next to the jolly boat filled with water and a Maiden.
"Well, so is your people's culture."
"I still want legs."
"I can't get you those," Ruby says, "but I was talking to Jaune when he woke up. You still want a tattoo?"
"Of course I do!" Penny shouts, giddy. "Can I get one?"
"While we're docked, he thinks he can heal you up pretty fast." Ruby pulls her boot off props her leg up on the small boat. "Everyone on the crew has a rose tattooed on their ankle. I was thinking we'd get you one."
"Wow!" Penny suddenly sinks back into the boat. "Oh, but I don't have an ankle."
"We'll cross that bridge later. There's definitely tattoo artists who've worked on Faunus with similar traits to yours." Ruby grins, almost sparkling in the moonlight. "Consider it a welcoming gift."
"You're such a nice person, Ruby."
"Not nicer than you," Ruby teases. "Who just risks their life and secrets for strangers?"
"You are not a stranger. You are my friend!" Penny leans over and takes Ruby's hand. "I would do anything for you. And everyone on the ship is your friend, which means I'd help them for you too. Plus, Raven Branwen is not a nice woman, from what you told me. I needed to scare her off."
Ruby looks down at the deck of the ship. "Heh, you're certainly earnest." She coughs into a fist to clear her throat. "So tell me more about your people, your beliefs."
"Well," Penny begins, still holding Ruby's hand. "We have the same creation stories as the Faun-is, I think. The gods made us and eventually gave us a safe haven. Not an island, though. The oceans, the seas. The seas are mighty. What else? Traditionally, we avoid humans. And it's commonly held that love-at-first-sight is a thing in our culture."
Ruby chokes on air for a moment. "That's...something some humans and Faunus think too."
"Do you think it is real? That you can look at someone and instantly know? That the strings of your heart are tugged by the very thought of this person?"
Ruby manages to tear her gaze from the floor and meet Penny's questioning eyes. "...in the past, I would've said no. That in order to have a romantic connection, you have to know a person for a long time." Ruby glances up at the crow's nest, at the raven-haired woman with her head on the sunny dragon's shoulder, quietly dozing as Yang keeps watch. "But, I do think that sometimes you just...know. In your soul. That you and another are linked from the moment you lock eyes." Ruby lowers her head, studies Penny's emerald eyes. "Does that make sense?"
"It does," Penny confirms. "I think...I think I would agree."
Ruby smiles and squeezes Penny's hand reassuringly. "I'm going to go get my hammock. So that I can show you. And sleep outside for once."
"Wonderful!" Penny beams. "I am still curious how it works. And I would love to look at the stars with you."
"Me too, Penny." Ruby gets the feeling she'll be watching the stars with Penny for a long time to come. And that sounds even more valuable than the silks and gold on her ship.