227The Poison of Affection (RWBY AU x Azur Lane)
Sea of Patch
50 Nautical Miles from Vale
0500 Hours
"Come on, put your back into it lad!"
Heaving up a large fishing net, the bounty that was being hefted upon the decks of a plain-looking fishing boat was the lifeblood of how fishermen like Henry provided for his family. The strait between Vale and the island of Patch had been used for millennia for reasons that weren't just limited to providing an abundance of seafood for the nearby cities and towns. The strait had been the site of many wars, from the formation of Vale all the way to the most recent Faunus conflicts, the stretch of open sea that they fished in was considered hallowed ground by many who sailed frequently on it.
"That's it! Easy on the bloody nets, don't want it to break again or anything!"
Despite being a fisherman for a decade at this point, he never got used to the early nature of the job, but no one was going to buy seafood in the afternoon, so here he was, toiling away what remained of his youth hauling lobsters up onto his humble boat. The cold winds that made the strait often treacherous to cross during certain seasons blew onto his face with unrelenting force, and he was forced to turn away for a moment. At that moment, he chose to turn towards a certain direction, his gaze landing on the island of Patch itself, or rather, its sides.
"What? Still, think that old bastard Gregor was telling the truth?"
He sighed and turned back to look at his boss, whose hair had turned into a gleaming white from the brown when Henry first met him.
"Dunno, Gregor can be surprisingly correct about things. You never know in these straits."
"Pah! He's spent too much time drinking alone on the pier that's what, he probably saw a Feilong or somethin' similar. Don't let his ramblings get to ya, now help me prep for the journey back."
Old Gregor was a regular in the Fisherman's bar. He had long years of service both as a regular fisherman, and in the former Royal Valean Navy, back when it was still existent of course, these days it's been rebranded to the Coast Guard, and it was a shadow of its former self. No need for large beasts made of steel sailing on the treacherous seas when airships did the same thing. Didn't have to scrub the barnacles off of them every so often too, so that was probably an advantage. Those sleek designs didn't have the same sort of soul that ships of old had however, something about them felt…uninspiring to him.
"Could be an abandoned ship, Oum knows how many of those bloody things were lost during the Faunus Wars."
"Still afloat for that long? Don't be daft, now sit your arse down or you'll be knocked off."
Sighing, he went back below decks and took out a collection of photos very dear to him. Opening the leather-bound, and plastic-sealed booklet, he turned to a specific page and inspected it once more. It was a picture of him, and his late father. Taken in a time that were only flashes in his mind now, but the one thing he always remembered was when he was taken aboard his ship in the Valean Navy and shown around. These days, large bore guns were becoming a rarity, new-fangled missiles and the like replaced them completely, for more 'economical' methods to deal with Grimm, they said. The fact that they could easily be turned around to be used on people was not something mentioned, but he knew better. He had the scars from the Faunus Wars to prove it.
"Henry! Get your blood arse up here!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, he quickly put away his booklet and rushed back up the stairs to see what was going on-
"...Gods be damned…"
From the mist in front of them, a boundless shape-no, a ship was taking form close to them. The silent waves that rocked their boat were no longer gentle, as the beast of a ship before them drifted waves onto their boat like a storm. He recognized what it was, it was the might of any nation that had any salt in their seafaring capabilities, a sign of power and show of force once unparalleled by anything else in Remnant.
"Fuck me, it's plotting a course next to us, help me raise the bloody anchor out of the water!"
Despite running over to help him, the process took minutes to fully complete, and hand-cranking their anchor back up was not going to make it any faster. Suddenly having an idea to save themselves, he ran back into the bridge and got on the radio.
"Hailing the Battleship in front of us! We are a humble fishing vessel directly in your course, please adjust!"
No response. Five seconds turned to ten, and ten turned to fifteen, just as he was about to hail it again, searchlights from its superstructure suddenly turned on, all of them shining directly onto his vessel. He instinctively brought a hand to cover the piercing beams, but in between the flashes, he was able to make out more features of the behemoth sailing right in front of their vessel now. Luckily, it had changed course so that it was no longer going to impact them, and its full glory was able to be seen. Eight massive main guns, a length that was longer than most vessels in Vale's port and flying a flag that was unrecognizable to him. It wasn't Atlesian, Mistralian or even Vacuoan, thought that last one wasn't really much of a thought anyways.
"What the hell…"
"Apologies for the close call. Readjusting my course, fair winds and following seas."
The voice that appeared on the other end sounded young, and it belonged to a girl, something that he definitely did not expect. As soon as the radio call went through, however, the searchlights were turned off, and the ship in front of him appeared to be speeding up. His curiosity overtook him as he reached for the radio again, he asked a question over it.
"Who are you?"
Like before, there was no response for at least a couple dozen seconds. Just as the ship finally completely passed his fishing boat, a reply was given.
"Hutten."
The waves started calming down as soon as the battleship in front of him cleared out, and his eyes remained locked at the ship's stern going ever further away. Damn, he really wished that he brought along his camera now…
As his boss staggered in, his eyes also locked on the ship heading far off away from them, he gulped and turned to Henry. "I think we should pay old Gregor a visit when we get back."
For once while working in this boat, he agreed wholeheartedly.
Walking to her stern after passing the fishing boat, Ruby sighed at what was probably the closest call she's ever had while on her outings. Normally during her sailing trips, she usually only sailed while in rigging form, having her actual hull out was a rarity. As the fishing boat became ever farther, she decided that sailing through the straits in hull form was no longer a viable thing to continue doing. A shame, since she was now going to have to sail further out instead if she wanted to relax with her hull out.
Checking the time on her watch, her eyes narrowed in frustration as she read it.
"It's time already…how disappointing."
She really thought there was more time until she had to go back, lest Yang wake up and find her missing, again. Hiding what she did at night from her dear schwester was already a pain, she already found out about her job in Vale by pure chance, and damned if she was going to reveal her rigging and hull to her anytime soon. Willing her hull to turn back to Patch, she hoped that her drunk uncle came back home with a pack of beer again. Her father was going to have a stroke if he ever found out what's been happening to the cans that Qrow didn't drink, but what he doesn't know, won't hurt him.
"Apfelpfannkuchen it is."
She wondered if Yang was going to be able to take care of herself at Beacon, perhaps her family had relied on her too much for their meals. Not that her father's meals were bad, but with a better alternative they decided to offload that duty onto her instead. With a breakfast item decided on, she turned towards her portside, and began heading back to patch. Today was a weekday, meaning that her classes as Signal began soon, the ordinary high school that is, not the preparatory academy.
AN:
Will contain AU characters, so beware if not your thing.
This came to me as I was checking out art for Ulrich on Pixiv, and I noticed that she and Ruby shared a lot of physical similarities. Short, black hair, carries a scythe, and both have 'gothic' aesthetics to their outfits. Though the biggest difference is obviously their personalities. Ruby, being the ever-excitable person she is, is not Ulrich, who is almost the polar opposite of how she acts. One thought led to another and this was the result, no guarantees of consistent updates.
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