Blake leaned on the railing of the ship, watching as the faunus couple walked away, trying to ignore her feelings. Part of her was jealous of how easily they revealed themselves to each other, and the world, something she had only just managed to do now that she was truly alone. Another was reminded of what the captain of the ship had said earlier that day. It was true that she was lonely, having left all the friends she had made during her time at Beacon behind, but it was also true that they were better off without her. Her thoughts drifted back to her time on team RWBY and she allowed herself to be lost in memories of their antics together before images of Ruby on the ground in a coma and an exhausted Weiss being nearly dragged onto a bullhead by a white-haired man replaced them at the forefront of her mind. Worst of all were the memories of Yang. Watching helplessly as her brutish, loud-mouthed, amazing partner hurled herself at Adam in an attempt to save her. Tears stung her eyes as she remebered how easily he had dispatched Yang, slicing through her arm without hesitation as she watched on impotently. How he had smirked before moving to go in for the kill, just so he could make her suffer for running away.

Now here she was, running away once more. Sighing, she pushed away from the railing and turned to head below deck, narrowing her eyes as she spotted the hooded figure through her periphery, but as she turned to face whoever it was, they turned away as well, retreating back inside the ship. Making up her mind, she rolled her shoulders and made to follow the figure, and force them to reveal themself. She was already uneasy enough about returning home after all this time, the last thing she needed was someone following her - especially considering she was trying to make a point of avoiding the Fang. After everything that happened at Beacon, it had become abundantly clear that she was more of a hindrance than help to her friends, and she wasn't about to bring Adam and his madness down on them.

At least, she thought sadly to herself as she slipped between the various passengers on the ship, no more than I already have.

Shaking herself of the morose turn her thoughts were taking, she steeled her resolve as she approached the corner down which the cloaked figure had turned, only to be hurled against a nearby wall as something truly massive smashed into the side of the ship.

"Grimm!" The captain shouted over the intercom. "All passengers must get below decks! All personnel report to your battle stations!"

Scowling, Blake slipped through the influx of passengers and made her way above deck, unsheathing Gambol Shroud along the way. She froze once she emerged and was greeted by the Grimm that had attacked them. Its body was long and serpentine, with plates of bone covering its underside, and large, black scales covering everything else. Dorsal fins jutted out of its back just above a pair of muscular arms that ended in a set of claws that were each as long as her own katana. Its head was shaped like that of a dragon, and Blake had to force back the memories of the last time she had seen a Grimm of that shape as it opened its mouth and roared at them, revealing a series of deadly teeth.

Gritting her teeth, she jumped off the ship, using her clones to launch her further into the air until she was within range to hurl Gambol Shroud in its pistol form at the beast, lodging it in its massive snout and yanking herself closer where she slashed at it with her sheath before being knocked back. She landed on the deck with a grunt, and listened as the multitude of cannons were released as the Grimm dove beneath the water before jumping over the ship multiple times. The crew managed to score a few hits, but they didn't seem to slow down the beast at all as it swam back and prepared itself to charge the vessel.

"Prepare the heavy cannon!" The captain's voice rang down from the cabin, and a hatch near the front of the ship opened allowing the massive weapon to rise and unfold.

Unfortunately, the Grimm seemed to be prepared for this, as its dorsal fins folded down and a pair of leathery wings sprouted from its back, allowing it to take to the air and easily dodge the powerful shots from the main cannon. Once more, Blake tried to attack it head on, jumping into the air and slashing at its snout with all her might, but the only thing this did was anger the beast, as it slammed its towering horn into her slashing her shoulder and sending her plummeting back to the deck below her. She watched as it dodged another shot from the heavy cannon before opening its mouth with a roar, her eyes widening as a bright yellow glow began to gather there. Panic began to set in as she thought about the sheer destructive force that was bound to be unleashed upon her, before a heavy hand fell on her injured shoulder and she looked up to see the same cloaked figure standing above her. The sound of metal scraping against metal filled the air as the figure stepped forward and drew a long sword made of glimmering white metal, while a massive shield expanded on the other arm.

The Grimm roared and released the gathered energy from its maw in a deadly beam of lightning and Blake watched in awe as the figure raised his shield and intercepted the blast, deflecting the beam with and angling his shield so it reflected back and slammed into the Grimm's body. The force of the impact made him grunt as the deck cracked beneath him and the ship was pushed backwards through the water, but through it all, the man didn't budge from his position above her, even when his cloak ignited before being torn free, revealing long, blond hair, and a familiar face underneath.

"Jaune!" Blake yelled. "What are you doing here?!"

"Cut its wings," Jaune replied as the beam died down and he lowered his shield.

"What?"

"Cut the wings, and the captain can take it down with the cannon." Without another word, Jaune turned back to the Grimm and raised his shield in time to deflect a swipe from its claws, retaliating with his sword and leaving a gash on its arm. Blake watched him fight off the massive beast, keeping it from causing more than superficial damage, and tried to reconcile what she was seeing with the image she had of him from Beacon. The Jaune she knew had been a goofball with a naivete that made him almost unbearably idealistic. He had been at the bottom of their class both academically and practically, and while he had undoubtedly improved thanks to an unwavering drive to get better with the help of Pyrrha, and had grown into his role as leader of Team JNPR, that was still a far cry from the man who stood before her.

"Blake!" He shouted, snapping her out of her thoughts and bringing her back to the matter at hand. He crouched down, angling his shield at her and Blake nodded, sprinting towards him and flipping through the air to land on it before he jumped upwards, launching her through the air at breakneck speed. The Grimm roared at her and fired another beam of energy that she barely dodged, swiveling to the side and using her semblance to push herself even farther and avoid a swipe of its claws, stabbing her blades down into the thin flesh of its wings as she passed and dragging them down through to the bottom before pulling it out with a flourish. The Grimm roared in agony, and she smirked to herself as it began to plummet back towards the waves. Her moment of victory was cut short, however when its tail came rushing towards her as it writhed through the air, slamming into her and shattering her aura with a single blow as she was sent careening towards a series of rock stacks not far from where the ship was positioned.

She tried her best to align herself with the water and make her body as straight as possible with the hope of surviving what would undoubtedly be a painful landing when something hard and warm slammed into her from the side and she looked up to find Jaune holding her as they arced towards the tallest of the stacks. Up close she could really see the changes that had happened to him since the last time she had seen him.

His shaggy blond hair had been cut short on the sides, while the top was even longer than before, tied behind his head in a wolf tail to keep it out of his eyes. Stubble had begun to grow on his face and judging by the patchiness of it, he had likely grown it due to the lack of access to basic grooming supplies, as opposed to a conscious choice. His cheeks were somewhat shallowerer than she was used to, creating a jawline sharp enough to cut stone. He was still dressed in a pair of ratty jeans and a hoody beneath his armor, but both the clothes and platemail showed signs of heavy wear and tear with minimal upkeep with tears and rough stitching everywhere and dents and scratches all over the surface of the breastplate.

The biggest change, however, were his eyes. Where before they were light and full of innocence, there was a determined fire that burned in front of a sadness that Blake was more than familiar with.

"Are you all right?" Jaune asked as they landed and he put her down.

"Fine," Blake replied before her tone became accusatory. "What are you doing here? Were you following me?"

Jaune smiled wryly, though it didn't quite reach his eyes, as he turned back to the Grimm angrily roaring at them. "Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing." The Grimm opened its mouth and prepared to fire another beam at them and Blake tensed as she prepared to avoid the blast, only for the sound of rapid chugging to reach her ears moments before the ship crashed into the beast, pinning it to one of the stacks and grabbing its attention before blasting it with the massive cannon and completely obliterating the upper portion of its body while the rest crashed onto the upper deck before slowly dissolving. Blake sighed in relief before turning back to the boy next to her to find him sheathing his sword as he walked away from her towards where the ship was coming to pick them up.

*(OoO)*

That night, Blake caught Jaune sitting on the deck near the back of the ship, his cloak covering him once more as he leaned against the deck and stared up at the shattered form of the moon glowing softly over their heads. She cleared her throat softly as she approached and watched as he stiffened, hand darting beneath his cloak before realising who she was and returning to his side.

"Hey," he greeted. "What brings you here?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Blake replied, smiling as she repeated what he had said earlier. "You're probably the last person I'd have expected to be following me."

"Wasn't following you," Jaune said simply.

"Is that so?" Blake asked suspiciously. "Then why, exactly, are you on a ship bound for Menagerie?"

Jaune shrugged, his gaze firmly on the sky above. "Just traveling, I guess."

"Traveling?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

Jaune nodded. "Yup. Been kind of just... wandering around. Whenever I find a settlement, I take whatever contracts are there to hunt Grimm before going on my way. Menagerie was just the next stop. What about you?"

Blake didn't reply immediately. She knew Jaune wasn't giving her the full story, but was fairly confident by the way he looked and how he spoke that he was at least telling the truth and figured he deserved the same, at least.

"I... I'm heading there to take care of some... personal business."

"That's cool," Jaune answered distantly, still staring at the sky.

The two of them lapsed into silence, and Blake was surprised by how comfortable Jaune seemed with it. From what she remembered, Jaune had been like Ruby and Nora, in that they needed a conversation to keep going lest their heads explode from sheer awkwardness. Now he seemed to have shed much of the nervous energy that he always exuded. Once more she found herself studying his blue eyes as they reflected the same sadness she felt like they did the moonlight that shone upon them. It was strange to see him on a ship headed so far away from everything that had happened, as she had figured he would be one of the ones on the front lines of the relief efforts she had heard rumors many of the Huntsmen in Vale were conducting.

She didn't know Jaune nearly as well as she did her own teammates, but one thing that everyone who met him knew was that he possessed an unwavering determination. She knew the Fall of Beacon had affected everyone across Remnant, but to see the one who had studied and trained to claw his way up from the bottom of their class so subdued was unusual.

Their silence was interrupted, however, by the heavy footfalls of the captain as he approached the two of them. "That was quite the show the two of you put on back there," he commented, a smile tugging at his lips from beneath his alibaster facial hair.

"Thanks," Jaune replied, a friendly smile on his face. "You weren't so bad yourself with that cannon of yours."

"Yup," the captain grunted. "She gets the job done. O' course, most of the time we only bust her out when dealing with pirates and the like. The Grimm we usually run into are quite a bit smaller, slower too. Anyway, just thought I'd come down and thank you both personally while letting you know we'll be making landfall soon."

"Thank you," Jaune repeated.

The captain nodded and walked away, shouting orders at one of his crew before disappearing back inside the cabin while Jaune stood up, offering Blake his hand to help her up. Blake accepted and allowed herself to be lifted to her feet with ease before watching Jaune pat himself down with increasing panic before groaning and slumping in front of her.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"I think I lost my wallet during that last fight," Jaune whined before groaning and dropping his head in defeat. "Well, looks like I'm gonna be roughing it."

Blake smiled at the animated way he expressed his distaste for sleeping on the ground. Unfortunately, her amusement at his pouting began to give way to guilt as she remembered the way he had bravely stood in front of that monstrous Grimm's attack and saved her life.

"Don't worry," she found herself saying, cursing her conscience for what was surely going to be an awkward few days. "You can stay with me."