Screw It, I'm Going Out to Find It!

Chapter XX: A Sea in the Sky

Things had not been the same since court. There was a promise, verbally made, that there were no hard feelings left over, but there still was an isolation for Nora. Though as much as it hurt her, she now had a working scroll and was able to much more easily contact friends. At the moment, the two she called the most were Ren and Jaune. She had been trying to keep up with their progress, but neither had answered as of late. While she knew how dangerous the Grand Line could be now, she still hoped they were just busy or somewhere with bad service.

Luckily, she had the monotony of her new job to fall back into, though it had changed a bit. The marines didn't quite trust Ozpin anymore, but he refused to simply let the matter go. Once they learned that their friends had immediately committed a crime after winning the lawsuit, Ozpin tried using it to verify his actions; however, it seemed the marines wouldn't be swayed. If Goodwitch's reaction to the letter she screened for Ozpin was any indication, the higher-ups had some choice words for him. Then, a few days later, came Ozpin's babysitter.

Pyrrha chastised Nora for using the term, but what other way described it better? As far as Nora could see, the guy was here to watch over Ozpin's every choice and make sure he didn't act up. She had never had a babysitter before, but it sure sounded like one to her.

Nora wasn't a big fan of the babysitter though. He made her want to invest in a heavy duty nose plug the moment he stepped on the ship. Not that he was dirty or anything — though that made her wonder how people with devil fruits bathed — but it was because he smelled so strongly of tobacco. Their room smelled like a hotel room with a loose smoking policy and the guy hadn't even walked by their door! While Pyrrha tried to be polite about it and Yang said it still wasn't as bad as the smell of booze and hangover, Weiss shared in Nora's sentiment.

Then there was the fact that he was so serious all the time. He wasn't really mean or anything, just no fun at all. Oh, and he was weirdly obsessed with their friends. That part really did make Nora uncomfortable. She might need to do something to protect Renny soon.

At the moment, Nora was relaxing and scrolling through media on her phone. Thank goodness she had something to do. If she had to just sit there in silence or awkwardly talk to someone while they were still a bit mad at her, it would have sucked.

She stopped scrolling, a picture of a familiar face with red hair catching her eye. "Uh, Pyrrha. You're on this blog this guy is writing."

Pyrrha sighed. "I guess this sort of thing just follows me wherever I go."

"Well, it's calling you racist."

Pyrrha bolted upright. "What?"

***

There was a comfort in familiarity even when there was no particular comfort to be found. The rocky landscape looked almost cruel and uninviting, but it was different for Willow. To her it was only the entrance to a safe place she had not been to in years. It was unfortunate that her mission needed to be terminated early, but they had done well in gathering information thus far. Her notes could give them leads to finding Jacques' secrets by other means.

Nostalgia crept up as she saw new recruits training outside. That included spotting unconventional training, like whatever their old plant for Beacon was doing. Willow could see the young revolutionary forcing three boys into what she would describe as cruel and unusual exercise. She was fairly sure that sorting shirts by color and material while under gunfire was not normal training.

The first soldier to greet her did so casually, clearly in a rush and not thinking much of it. The double take of the soldier was priceless.

"Ma'am; you're back so early! Is something wrong?"