King Kong: A RWBY Story

Chapter XII

The crew was much deeper into the jungle.

Oobleck was keeping track of the footprints, and Ruby stood right beside him. They, Weiss, Blake, and Jimmy were still as confident as ever, and so were a few more sailors. But some were feeling much less fearless than they were at the start.

The footprints led to a mist. It was as thick and white as the fog that had hidden their view when they'd arrived at the island. It gave them all the same tension they'd felt with the fog. All but Ruby.

Through the fog, they could hear the sound of animalistic breathing. Then they heard something wading its way through water.

"Sounds like he's in there," Oobleck said.

"Let's go," Ruby said.

Weiss and Blake didn't know how many times Ruby had said that at this point. It seemed all she cared about was the pursuit to rescue her sister.

The crew walked into the mist. It was thin enough that they could make out their surroundings, which was how they realized they were approaching the edge of a swamp.

"We have to swim," Ruby said.

"That's not an option," Oobleck said. "Our weapons will weigh us down."

Ruby started looking around for another option. Weiss and Blake did the same. It was Blake who came up with an idea.

"These logs," she said. "We can tie them together with vines to make a raft."

Oobleck nodded. "Great idea! Everybody get to work!"

Ruby put Crescent Rose back in place at her belt, and started getting to work. She didn't take a moment to rest. The longer they spent putting together the raft, the further away Yang would be taken. She had to work fast, or risk losing her sister forever. But that wasn't the only reason. She could tell Oobleck was waiting for the right time to talk to her; to tell her that this whole thing was his fault, and he wished he had never dragged them into this. Ruby didn't want to hear that right now. She had no anger towards Oobleck for bringing them here. He was just as ignorant as they were to what they were truly getting into.

When the raft was finally finished, it was just barely big enough for everyone. When everyone boarded, they were all cramped together. Some tried to sit down, but it caused the raft to shift underneath them. It was keeping together, but too much movement could risk it breaking.

Ruby stood at the front of the raft, holding Crescent Rose in its sniper form. She stood completely still in a crouched position, keeping Crescent Rose right in front of her. Weiss and Blake stood on either side of her, but they were much less still than her. Oobleck was in the middle of the raft, barking orders at the sailors. Jimmy stood beside him.

Sailors at the sides of the raft held long tree branches. At Oobleck's command, they dipped them into the water, and used them to row the raft through the swamp.

Ruby kept a lookout at the front as the raft slowly moved. She was completely silent, like a sniper searching for a target. Weiss and Blake were keeping an eye out as well, just in case anything appeared in the water.

Blake's cat ears picked up a noise.

"I hear something," she whispered.

Weiss looked down to check on Ruby for a reaction. The only acknowledgement she made to that statement was putting her finger over the trigger of her weapon.

Blake paid no attention to Ruby. She was far too concerned with the noise she had heard. It sounded like something was moving in the water.

She turned to Oobleck. "Do you hear anything?"