RWBY||Defender of Remnant

Chapter 53: The Calm before the Storm

3rd Person POV

Nuckelavee Village

Blinking, Sincline yawned and stretched as the warm morning rays crested over the rooftops. Feeling a light weight on his chest, he looked down and smiled at the sight of Ruby curled on top of him, her head resting on his chest. How did I ever get this lucky? he wondered, absentmindedly brushing some of Ruby's hair to the side. Groaning, Ruby yawned and blinked, her silver eyes catching the rising sun's light. "Morning, Little Rose," Sincline said with a smile.

She smiled back. "Morning, Sincline." Pecking him on the lips, she slipped out of the sleeping bag and stretched, her bones creaking with the motion.

As Sincline got out after her and did the same, he saw Yang, Blake, and Weiss getting up as well and doing the same thing as Ruby. Evidently, they were all a little sore from yesterday's battle.

"So, you two have a nice night~?" Yang asked, winking.

Sincline shrugged. "Well, it wasn't that cold, so...."

Weiss facepalmed, and Blake blushed, much to Sincline's confusion. "Just... ignore her," she requested, not meeting the mech-turned-human's gaze.

"Okaaay?" Tilting his head, Sincline turned as Qrow jumped down, his sword hefted over his shoulder, having taken the last night watch despite being the first to go.

"Hope you all had a good rest," Qrow greeted, sheathing his weapon with a low click. "We've got a long way back to Beacon."

Sincline tilted his head. "Can't we just use my ships?" he asked curiously. "We'd be back there in a few minutes."

Qrow frowned and scratched his head, forgetting the fact that Sincline was able to transport them across the continent in just a few seconds. "Yeah... I forgot you could do that."

Ruby patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. "It's okay. We forget about it sometimes, too."

Rubbing her forehead, Weiss sighed and turned to Sincline. "Well?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, what?"

Weiss facepalmed. "The ships, you dunce."

"Oh... sorry." Quickly folding up his sleeping bag, Sincline snapped his fingers. A flash of light, a swirl of purple fragments, and his ship materialized.

Qrow whistled. "Damn."

"You know, that's never going to get old," Yang commented, placing her hands on her hips as Ruby nodded in agreement, the blond slipping on a pair of sunglasses as she did so.

Timeskip

After placing the sleeping bags inside the ship, Sincline led the others inside. As soon as Ruby was strapped in behind him and the others were seated around the cockpit, he sat down, and a low hum echoed through the ship as it lifted off.

"Smoother than a Bullhead," Qrow commented, eyeing the lack of swish to his flask before shrugging and taking a swig of his drink.

Sincline shrugged. "Well, I was built for interstellar travel," he replied, fighting back a small smile at the praise. It felt... nice, having people accept what he could do.

"Oh, oh, oh, can we go full speed?" Ruby asked eagerly, bouncing in her chair as her eyes shone with excitement.

Sincline shook his head. "We do that, and we'll end up passing Beacon," he replied. Not that it would hurt him, but he was pretty sure it would for the others given that A: they just fought a SS-class Grimm, and B: none of them were used to the G-forces, with the likely exception of Ruby.