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

Chapter XXXVI: They Can't Keep Getting Away With This!

Yang scrubbed her face viciously with a towel. The dog slobber had been bad enough when Zwei was small, but this was horrendous. With the way the slimy substance coated her hair, she was going to have to burn a small pile of towels when she was done.

Pyrrha hunkered down into a chair, leaning her head over into her hands. "I let him slip through my fingers," she moaned miserably.

"Sounds like he slipped through the floor," Yang muttered, tossing another towel onto the pile.

Pyrrha shot an unamused glare through her fingers. "I think you've gotten it all out," she commented at Yang's excessive drying.

"I need to be sure," Yang countered. "I can still feel it — no, I can still smell it, ugh."

"And you're saying your dog did that?"

"A monster did," Yang corrected, looking like she wanted to scrub the memory from her mind.

Doing her best not to imagine it, Pyrrha mused, "I wonder what Nora would think. She would love to see a big puppy."

Then, the silence set in. Both Pyrrha and Yang quickly searched around the room. "Where's Nora?" Pyrrha asked, standing up. Normally at this point, she would be messing around with something like her scroll while on her bed. Pyrrha had just assumed Nora was being quiet, but her sheets were vacant.

"Wait a second," said Yang. "Where's Weiss?" They were, in fact, all alone.

Their door opened suddenly to reveal a very tired looking Winter Schnee. She was not pleased, and it was not hard to see why. Her uniform was filled with chaotic cuts shredding the fabric on her sleeves, and scattered about her, including in her frizzled hair, was white feathers.

"Where?" was all that the woman breathed out.

***

Weiss most certainly did not cackle, because that would be un-lady like. However, it could be forgiven if a similar noise escaped from her lips. It was nice that all of her new seagull friends joined in. They understood. She was free — finally free from being followed around everywhere. Perhaps this was a rash decision, and she very well might come to regret this later, but at the moment she felt liberated. Nothing would ever feel better than when she threw the pile of breadcrumbs at Winter and watched as the birds descended.

The issue now at hand was where to go. Any land would do at this point, but she was mostly at the whim of the ocean for the moment. She made sure to bring plenty of water, and hopefully the rest of the bread would last long enough. Her new feathered friends brought her fish, but she would rather die than eat them raw. Her mind was also not so far gone that she would even consider building a fire in the small, wooden boat. Then again, the fact that she had to think that said plenty enough.

With the elation somewhat fading, she rested on the edge of the boat, rocking with the waves. The sensation was so much more pronounced in such a small vessel, actively moving with each shift of the water's surface. It would have bothered her more before, but she had begun to get used to the feeling.

One seagull swooped down onto her shoulder and squawked loudly. Attempting to see what the matter was, Weiss turned to see a spec on the horizon growing in size as it neared.

***

Time had passed since The Barrel had departed from their captors. The shock and panic of seeing another marine ship had faded when they did not see any marine uniforms atop it — well, there was one. Jaune didn't recognize the dark haired girl, and she did not help in identifying herself with how she had been trying to hide her face. However, next to her stood a proud, white-haired boy. With a need to sail away from the marines and their log poses pulling them in separate directions, their interaction had been brief. Although it was short, they left as more than acquaintances. The Straw Hat Pirates and Salty Sea Dogs were now allies, willing to help when in need. While Jaune felt in the dark about how these bonds had come to be, his crew seemed willing to make it happen. He had made sure to confirm with his crew that they agreed with this, and though Ruby seemed to just want to get away from the other captain, Jaune's attention was drawn to two people in particular.