AN: I'm sorry I've sorta dropped off the face of the Earth! But don't fret, I'm back!-ish. I'm having trouble writing the next chapter of LITD and I had this sitting around without an ending. It's based on Dashingicecream's Mermaid AU. Hope you like it! I'm going to retreat to Google Docs now!

Thanks to Spartacus400 on /r/RWBY for beta reading.

Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

Freedom Under The Water

The trunk creaked as it flung open, revealing the starry sky to the inside. The dim starlight shined over the contents of the messy compartment as the sound of waves hitting a beach echoed . A strange assortment of all sorts of items, ranging from clothes to small tools, filled the trunk. A tall shadow loomed into the bed of the car and reached for a pair of bags, one black and one white. Sliding them onto one hand, the shadow slammed the trunk shut with its other.

"You got our stuff?" The vehicle rocked slightly as one of its doors were closed by a female companion.

The shadow smiled, amber eyes peering at a pair of deep blues, "Of course I do."

"Come on, while we have the time!" The girl ran past the shadow and into a hedge of trees, waving for her to catch up.

The shadow snickered, "Dunce…" She looked up at the navy blue dome through the branches and leaves, examining how it seemingly blended in with the near infinite ocean. This little no-name beach was always this perfect. Always gleaming with radiance, not a hint of a raging storm nor dangerous wildlife. They had claimed this place as theirs quite some time ago, when they had gone searching for a place to escape from world. After three days of extensive exploration, they stumbled upon this secluded beach, far from any other human or faunus for miles. They didn't have to walk far from their car either, it was just a small walk through a group of trees to a personal paradise. It was what they needed to relax and enjoy one another.

"Blake, come on! Is something wrong?" The girl called up.

"Nothing's wrong! I'll be right there!" Blake responded, zipping down to the sand.

Weiss had brought her own bag, and she had pulled a nice white cloth from it. Flapping it in the air a few times, she let it gently float in the air until it settle on the sand. She grabbed two rolled up towels and tossed them onto their beach blanket. Blake set their color coded bags onto the blanket along with the towels.

"Alright," Blake plopped down in their claimed spot, patting the area next to her, "What did you bring me this time?"

Weiss giggled, "I was going to ask you the same thing," She sat down right next to the faunus. It was a little tradition they had started after the first few times they started coming here. They would pack each other a special dinner for the other person without telling them what it was, keeping it a surprise for when they opened it. Then after they ate, they would sample a bottle of Schnee wine and gaze at the constellations for a while.

Weiss battered her eyelashes at Blake with a cute smile.

"Fine, I'll go first. Good thing you're cute." Blake said as she turned to her bag and took out a dish wrapped in a layer of aluminium foil. She handed it to Weiss, smiling, "I had to do a lot of digging to find this recipe."

"Blake, you didn't have to." Weiss took the plate in her hands.

Blake shook her head, "Oh, I had to, Weiss."

Weiss gave the girl a small smile and peeled off the foil. She gasped as she immediately recognized the dish, "Is this?"

"Yes it is. German potato salad." Blake wore a victorious smirk, "The exact same recipe your mother made you as a kid."

Weiss tasted a fork-full of the salad and the world faded to black as she nearly fell back into her childhood, "Wow...It's just like mother's. How'd you get this recipe?"

"I made a few calls…"

"Oh, you and your vagueness. How Italian of you." Weiss crossed her arms, "Oh, that reminds me!" She turned around to her bag and gave Blake a bowl, also covered in aluminium foil.

"Let me guess, pasta?" Blake joked. She received a playful punch from Weiss in response. Blake snickered and unwrapped her dish, "Looks like we had the same idea." Her lips curved up as she glanced down at the bowl of food.

"Zucchini and pasta. An old Belladonna favorite." Blake looked up to the other girl, "Where'd you find this recipe?"

"Oh," Weiss smirked, "I made a few calls."

They both laughed and ate their prepared dinners. Talking about their day and how they thought about each other all the time. It was like one of Blake's cheesy romance novels. Where the guy and the girl would have a cringe-y, teeth gritting, lovey-dovey flirt contest with one another. The guy would say something along the lines of, 'You're as beautiful as the night sky itself', and then the girl would just uncontrollably giggle for the next five pages. Truly atrocious and truly a fool's paradise. But right now, this was their cheesy romance novel and their paradise, that was really what mattered.

After plates had been cleaned off by their forks and the wine glasses had been put away, they got up off their blanket and prepared for why they really chose this beach. They tugged off their shirts, letting the moonlight touch their skin. Their pants and undergarments were also tossed away. A tiny smile was exchanged for a second before they bolted for the ocean. Pushing their feet down into the water as the sea level got deeper and deeper.

The water splashed up against their skin as they swam into the bottomless ocean. The chilly water activated their metamorphosis. Bone, muscles, and skin were sewn to together and turned into other things. Feet had been transformed into fins and legs were sacrificed for a tail. Nearly unnoticeable gills found their place on their owners necks. Weiss watched as Blake finished first and dived into the deep. She quickly followed her partner into the abyss.

She raced Blake along the sea bed as she made twists and turns through rocks and shipwrecks. Weiss' tail pushed against the water with might in the attempt to catch up and gain the lead. Blake turned back to Weiss, "You'll have to do better than that!"

Though Weiss just laughed in return as Blake swam headfirst into a rock, "You'll have to do better than that!" She snickered and sped past the faunus.

Bowing her head down now, she focused at swimming at top speed. Also putting some effort in bragging about her place with a few unnecessary tricks. She shot through an open wound of an old ship and zipped her way through the coral-filled corridors. Weiss could feel her companion wasn't too far behind. Reading a sign up ahead, she made a sharp right into a stairwell.

Weiss knew Blake absolutely hated swimming in circles for more than a short period of time; it made her disoriented. She took this advantage and swam around the stairwell all the way to the bottom floor. Rocketing out of the staircase, she had found herself in the engine room. She saw one of the casings for the smokestacks was broken open. Smirking, she pulled up into the funnel. The grate at the top of the funnel was broken with a big hole in it, the perfect finish line. Her tail flicked harder and harder, picking up one last burst of speed to zoom through the hole.

Then Blake crashed into her from behind, sending them both tumbling out the smokestack into the open water.

The tumble slowed down and they resituated themselves upright. Blake just laughed while the water seemed to boil around her mermaid girlfriend.

"I was almost there!" The heiress wined, "I had it!"

"Oh, don't be a sore loser." Blake tried to hold in her laughter. Who was she kidding? Weiss was always poor at handling losses.

Weiss pointed her finger at Blake, "That is unfair and it is cheating!"

"You're so cute when you're angry."

"I am not cute! I am a-"

Blake cupped Weiss' cheeks, "Just shut up, silly," And planted her lips onto the heiress'. She pulled away and saw her partner's red face. Blake smiled and added, "You're also cute when you're embarrassed."

"Be quiet, Belladonna, you fiend!" Weiss covered her face.

Blake was about to reply with a laugh until the sea floor around them just grew black. The two mermaids looked at each other in confusion. Craning their head up, they saw a big black spot on the water's surface, blocking out the moonlight.

"What is that?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know…" Blake kept her eyes locked on it, "Stay here." She began to swim up.

"Be careful!" The smaller girl watched Blake push herself up to the surface.

Then she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After about a full minute, Weiss called out, "Blake!" Nothing, "BLAKE!" Nothing yet again. Weiss gulped and swam towards the surface, away from the black spot. When she surfaced, she was seeing a horror unfold. She froze.

There was Blake, covered in black, struggling against the density of the toxic substance known as oil. Her tail at full speed was barely able to keep her afloat. Her arms slammed against the black to try and give herself some lift. She gasped for air as oil creeped into her gills and mouth, choking out of any oxygen. Weiss just watched in fright as her girlfriend drowned.

Blake saw the petrified heiress and made a leap for her. But the oil wasn't thick enough to give her any sort of momentum and she flopped back into spot, sinking deeper into the black.

"BLAKE!" Weiss finally snapped to her senses. She was about to dive in after the faunus, but realized that if she too jumped into the oil, her attempt would become futile. They'd both end up sleeping with the fishes. She had to think fast, Weiss had to find a way to get her love out of the toxic pool without simultaneously getting herself stuck in it. Frantically spinning round on her tail she found nothing but ocean. Bolting for the shore was out of the question, Blake would be belly-up by the time she reached land. She submerged herself and searched for any sort of tool at the seafloor that she could use to probe the vat of oil. Down by the smokestack of the ship they'd swam through, sat what looked to be a steel bar on the deck.

She glanced at the other mermaid desperately using every part of her body to stay afloat. That told Weiss Blake was still alive, but didn't have much time left. She took the seawater into her gills and calmed herself, then made a mad dash. What was only a few hundred meters felt like hundreds of kilometers. She moved her fin as quick as her body would let her, but she couldn't seem to get any closer to the ship. It looked as if it was indefinitely far away and glimpsing behind her revealed that Blake had also seemed to be off in infinity; everything was getting further and further away. Weiss was panicking, her heart was hammering in her chest and her head was racing. She was losing her focus on her objective due to her anxiety. She shook her head and tried to push the delusions aside, then pushed her body to its limits.

Though, her mind's tricks got the best of her. She had gained too much speed in her hazy focus. Weiss ended up slamming into the rusted deck of the ship. Hard. She felt her shoulder and ribs crack and snap. The pain wracked her body and caused her to yelp like an injured dog. One of her ribs stuck through her chest, leaking blood into the water around her. Even in agony, she scrambled for the metal bar. The mermaid bit down on her own teeth as she moved hectically along the deck. With a grunt of pain, she reached for the bar when she froze.

Weiss' marine senses were suddenly flicked on. They could feel something big was coming her way. She gulped and tried to cover her wound with her palm. The mermaid mercilessly bit down on her teeth as she pressed her palm into the wound in a dangerous attempt to reset her rib. After a few hard shoves, the rib was pushed back into her body, but it didn't set in correctly. Weiss winced, screaming in agony as the bone impaled her flesh. In her suffering, she barely noticed a giant shadow pass over her.

For the second time today. She froze.

The shadow passed over once again. It didn't take long for her to realize the shadow was circling her. Peering up towards the ocean surface, she watched the silhouette of a great white shimmer under the moonlight. It drifted around near the roof the water, moving its fin sporadically as it sniffed out its prey. She prayed to whatever god there may be, that it wouldn't noticed her, but the blood leaving her wound was quickly diminishing any hope she obtained. But in a sweet miracle, the shark veered away from her. Before Weiss could even react, the miracle of hers turned sour. The great white was swimming directly at the black spot in which contained Blake.

No. No. She wasn't going to let that happen. She wasn't going to let any of this happen.

Snapping her head around to the steel bar, she snatched it from its place. She flapped her tail, despite the rib impaling her and probably causing a lot of internal bleeding, and got herself upright. Across from her was the iron wall of the upper deck, she glanced at her newly acquired asset and easily formed a terrible plan. Weiss took another glimpse at the giant sea predator approaching the other mermaid and cursed at herself. She raised the bar up and slammed it against the side of the deck. The impact sent out a loud bang throughout the water. She grunted and threw her body's weight into another swing. The metal clashed up against metal, the force of the swing pulling one or two fingers out of place and possibly cracking her palm. She yelped, dropping the bar.

Weiss looked over to see if the great white had noticed and saw that it was already charging at her full speed. She then realized just how bad of an idea that was and beelined for the bow of the ship in a frenzy. Powered by the scent of Weiss' blood, the shark barreled past the ship's deck, eagerly snapping at its prey, its teeth itching to sink into the mermaid's flesh. And they were almost satisfied. The shark lunged at the tail of its prey, the fin falling just out of reach.

Startled by the close call, the girl quickly spotted a hole in the side of the upper deck right up ahead. A lightbulb ticked on in her head and she sucked in whatever water she could, mentally preparing herself for this critical move. Her heart rate picked up, racing to escape her chest. She clenched her eyes tight and swung her flipper right.

Weiss' bloodcurdling scream was more reminiscent of a siren than a mermaid.

Her body was burning all over. She couldn't breath no matter how much her diaphragm tried. Pain seized her entire frame rapidly as she rocked violently back and forth. Hundreds of knifes dug deep into her scales, drawing out more blood to aggravate the attacker. In a hopeless attempt to free herself, she pounded her fist into the shark's nose. Though it only caused her more agony as the predator sank its teeth deeper.

She tried with all her might to somehow get free from the jaws when she suddenly stopped.

The world seemed to slow for a few moments.

Out of the corner of her eye was Blake.

Sinking to the ocean floor. Covered in black. Lifeless and limp.

Sharp teeth snapped Weiss back into real time with another scream. But now, she didn't retaliate against the shark. She allowed it to vigorously shake her to pieces. She felt her skin tearing. She felt the great white reset its teeth in her. She felt her body nearly being ripped in half.

She felt herself let out a single tear. Just one for the only pain she felt now.

And then, not so peacefully, the ocean faded to black.

Love,

~Vox