So Mr. Azure Flame Knight 12, and I decided to write a one shot together, and this is the result! First thing I'd like to mention is that this one shot is based off of my story, Beacon of Hope, and contains OCs from said story. also, it may contain certain things that might spoil or confuse new readers, so I recommend to the new readers who are interested in this one shot (for whatever reason) to read at least up to chapter 17 of Beacon of Hope. I know, it's a pretty tall order, but it'll help make sense of things and get to know characters better, and also to help not spoil things. Now that that's out of the way, we can get on to the story! It's a pretty long one shot, but it was really fun to type! Reviews and PM's are always appreciated and welcome, and thanks for reading this! Enjoy!
A Nice Getaway
Lance laid in one of the beds in his dorm room, while Sora sat in a chair leaning one arm on a desk. Yang and Ruby were playing some card game and getting way too into it. Weiss was reading from a book on the other desk. She took some time between readings to write down some notes on whatever it was she was studying. Blake sat on her own bed reading a book as well, but more so for leisure, rather than attaining knowledge.
"Uggghhh. I'm boooorrred," Sora whined.
"You can join in on our game," Ruby suggested.
"After, this game," Yang said laying down one of her cards. Ruby let out a tiny wail of displeasure.
"No offence, but I don't want to play a card game. I want to actually DO something. You guys have been on break for almost a week and haven't done any fun stuff yet! I mean, swimming, or dirt biking, or fun, cool stuff!"
"I guess you got a point. We haven't really done anything like that yet. I'd be down to do something," Lance said sitting up from his lying position on the bed.
"Lance is in! What do you guys think?" Sora asked.
Ruby placed a card down and Yang's face went from a cocky grin to one of sheer astonishment.
"I'm with Sora! Let's all do something!" Yang said standing up from her spot on the floor, all the while making a mess of the cards.
"Awwww. I was about to win…" Ruby whimpered.
"It's ok, Ruby. I'll play you next time, and won't just up and quit," Lance said, kicking his legs off of the bed and smiling.
Ruby glanced up and gave a small smile to Lance.
"I guess we can do something different for a change. Sounds like fun," Ruby said.
"That's three for three! Blake?" Sora asked.
"Sure," Blake said, not looking away from her book.
"Weiss, are you down?" Lance asked.
"That depends on what we do," She responded looking up from her books, and joining in on the conversation.
"That's a good question, though. What are we doing?" Ruby asked.
"Well, I liked the dirt biking idea!" Sora suggested.
"That sounds dangerous and idiotic," Weiss said.
"How about we go downtown?" Ruby also suggested.
"That's not a terrible idea, but that's too easy and can be done whenever. Let's do something different and more summer-y!" Yang said.
"Hmmm… Why not swimming then?" Lance said.
"Swimming? Perfect!" Yang exclaimed.
"Yeah! I really like that idea a lot!" Ruby chimed in.
"It's a lot better than the dirt biking idea," Weiss said.
"What do you have against dirt biking?" Sora asked in a confused and serious tone.
"Where can we swim though?" Blake asked.
"I think that there's a pool somewhere here?" Ruby said.
"My uncle has this place! It's nice and secluded, but not too secluded. It has a lake and its super cool!" Sora said.
"That sounds perfect!" Lance said.
"That does sound perfect!" Yang said.
"It sounds nice and quiet too," Blake said.
"That is a plus. I could probably get some studying and practice done there as well," Weiss said.
"Perfect! Then it's settled! I'll let him know that we're borrowing the place for a weekend!"
"Yes! This'll be so fun!" Ruby exclaimed.
A few hours later the group of friends walked down a gravel road though a forest. The sun shone down though the tall trees as the birds sang their songs, and small breeze blew through rustling the forest.
"Man, this place is a little creepy." Ruby said as she looked around the forest.
"Try being out here at night. Now that's creepy." Sora said as he led the way.
"It's as if something is out there in the forest." Lance said as the breeze picked up slightly.
When Lance said that Sora remembered rumors about the forest and grinned to himself before stopping and turning to his friends.
"Well there are rumors about the forest…." Sora said trailing off looking towards the forest.
"What rumors?" Blake asked looking around.
"They say that countless people walk into the forest and never return. That there is a headless spirit that wonders around at night. When it goes dead silent in this forest then the spirit is around and if the spirit grabs you it drags you into the forest. Never to be seen again… but screams and moans can be heard at night. If at night the fog rolls in then the spirit is close by," Sora said in a creepy quite tone.
Ruby and Yang were shaking. Lance and Blake looked at Sora while Weiss crossed her arms.
"I don't believe it. It's just a story that people made up," Weiss said.
"What you believe and what you don't is up to you, but something's out there right now." Sora said walking up to Weiss.
"Why do you say that?" Lance asked.
"Because everything is silent. That only happens when something new is in the forest. The spirit's favorite prey is newcomers," Sora said.
They stopped talking and noticed Sora was right. Everything was dead quiet. They stood still looking around before a hand was placed on Ruby's shoulder making her scream which caused the others to scream and Sora to jump into Weiss arms as both of them screamed. They all turned to look to see Sonia standing there looking at them like they were crazy.
"Sonia!" Yang yelled in relief.
"Trying to give us all heart attacks!?" Sora asked before looking at Weiss and Weiss looking at him.
He chuckled before Weiss dropped him to the ground with a loud thud.
"Damn Weiss, you are an ice queen." Sora said standing up and rubbing his butt.
"What are you doing here Sonia?" Lance asked after calming down.
"I saw you all heading this way and figured you were on the way to Sora's Cabin." Sonia explained.
"So you came to join us?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, I could use a vacation from my missions."
"Are you sure that's your reason?" Blake asked Sonia.
"W-what do you mean?"
"It seems to me that's just an excuse, and the real reason is you want to be with Sora."
Sonia turned bright red before looking at Sora and looking away shyly.
"What Sora and I had in the past is just that. In the past." Sonia quickly said as she got her embarrassment under control.
Lance and the others looked at Sora who frowned a little and a hint of hurt and sadness appeared in his eyes before it quickly disappeared before he walked down the path. The others followed him in silence.
Half an hour later they stood in front of a house. It was white house with a porch on the front and a walk way around the house. Fire wood was set near the stairs and an observation deck was built over a small hill and had a prefect view of the lake. On the deck were a table and two chairs with an umbrella to keep the sun off.
"Here we are! Nothing has changed," Sora said looking around.
"It looks great!" Lance said taking in all of the sights.
"Wait until night. You have a clear view of the stars. It's beautiful really," Sora said as he grinned imagining how it'd look.
"Anyway, everyone make yourselves at home," Sora said as he open the front door and walked in.
The inside was cozy. The walls were a very light tan with a few paintings hanging. There was a fire place in the living room as well as a couch and a few other furnishings around it, and a table in the middle of them. There was also a bar counter top separating the living room and the kitchen. Lance also noticed towards the back a sliding glass door that led to a patio outside which gave a nice view of the lake as well.
"Wow, this place is really nice," Yang said.
"There are two bedrooms up here and a few more down stairs," Sora said pointing to the stairs.
They all went down the stairs and the downstairs was just as nice as the upstairs. There were some more furnishings as well as a decently sized tv. There was a door that led to one bedroom and a hallway that led to another four.
"You're uncle has a lot of rooms it seems," Blake said opening up one of the bedrooms and peaking inside.
"He has a lot of company over. Between family and friends, he made sure to add a lot of spare rooms," Sora said.
"It works out too. There's seven of us and seven rooms," Sonia said.
"Well, let's all get settled in and pick our rooms, then we can maybe do some swimming or something," Lance said.
"Good plan. I call upstairs!" Sora said scrambling up the stairs and almost tripping on one of the steps.
Everyone just looked at each other confused.
"Honestly… He's just a big child. Lance, why don't you take upstairs? Someone needs to keep an eye on him. Plus if you stay up there, the girls can stay down here," Sonia said.
"Good idea. I'll do that," Lance said heading up the stairs as well.
Lance started to unpack his things. While he was unpacking, he noticed the door open behind him. He looked back to see Sora peeking through.
"Yo, Lance! Get your swim suit on! We're gonna swim!" Sora said.
"Ok, will do," Lance responded with a smile.
Sora quickly went back to his room to change.
"He really is a big kid," Lance said smiling to himself as he dug through his luggage for his swimming suit.
Lance finally found his swim suit after a minute of digging though his luggage. It was a pair of swimming trunks that went from white to dark blue near the legs. He opened the door to Sora's room before getting hit in the face with a pair of shorts.
"Gah! What are you doing Sora?" Lance asked removing the shorts.
"Looking for my trunks. Found them!" Sora said as he picked them up showing Lance a pair of dark grey swim trunks with a yin and yang symbol on the left leg.
"I'll wait for you in the living room." Lance said walking out leaving Sora to get changed.
He looked out at the lake admiring the scene when he heard footsteps coming up from down stairs. He turned to look at who was coming up the stars. His face turned bright red and he gulped when he saw Yang in a yellow two piece swim suit.
"What do you think Lance?" She asked posing for him.
Lance tried to talk but he couldn't form a complete sentence as his face turned redder.
"Close your mouth Lance." Weiss said walking up in an ice blue one piece followed by Blake in a black two piece with a bow on it. Ruby walked in wearing a frilly black and red two piece. She looked at Lance shuffling a little shyly.
"Where's Sonia?" Lance asked noticing she was missing.
"She's embarrassed and won't come up." Blake said.
"I'm not embarrassed!" Sonia yelled before walking up the stairs.
They all turned to look and saw Sonia standing with a tan bikini top and short shorts. A pair of sunglasses rested on her forehead and her long hair was in a ponytail.
Everyone stared at Sonia in awe as she moved side to side shyly.
"S-stop staring at me will you?" Sonia asked.
A yell of happiness got their attention before they heard feet running outside. They looked out the sliding door in time to see Sora jump from the observation deck and hit the water with a belly flop making them all flinch.
"Ow…" Ruby said.
"He'll feel that in the morning." Lance said.
"He's an energetic little kid." Sonia said with a sigh.
"Come on, let's go see if that idiot is alright." Weiss said walking out of the door followed by the others.
They made their way down to see Sora floating face up in the water.
"Owww…" Sora moaned.
"Did you learn your lesson?" Sonia asked putting her hands on her hips.
Sora just gave her a slightly irritated look and slowly sunk into the water.
"He'll never learn," She sighed.
"Well, let's hop in!" Yang cheered.
"Yeah! But uhm… Who wants to go first?" Ruby asked.
Lance looked at the water and it looked inviting, but he knew it was probably really cold. They all stood there for a moment just staring at the water.
Out of nowhere Lance started running towards the water and jumped.
"AAAHHH!" Lance yelled as he fell.
His yell was cut short as he hit the water. It was pretty cold, but not as bad as he initially thought it'd be. He quickly swam back up to the surface. He noticed that the group was laughing. The now recovered Sora was laughing too.
"What was that?" Yang said in between fits of laughter.
"What?"
"That yell?"
"I thought it'd be colder…" Lance muttered, slightly sinking into the water to hide his now red face.
"Banzai!" Ruby exclaimed as she too jumped into the water.
She quickly came back up and shook her head, getting the water off of her face.
"Guys, the water's great!" She said holding up a hand and waving.
"It really is! Come on in!" Lance said.
Yang smiled and ran for the water as well.
"Cannon ball!" She yelled as she jumped in.
She made a huge splash that sprayed both Ruby and Lance.
"Wow! That had to have been the biggest cannon ball I've seen in a long while!" Sora yelled with excitement.
"Ahhh, refreshing!" She said after she surfaced.
Lance swam around a bit, finally adjusted to the water. He swam on his back, just floating and enjoying the water's cool embrace and the warm sunlight. All of the sudden, Lance felt water rush over him and he quickly panicked, and flailed his arms about. He quickly reoriented himself and saw Yang chuckling.
"Ohhh, so that's how it's gonna be!" Lance said with a smirk on his face.
He then splashed Yang with a good amount of water, who made a small wail followed by more laughter. She then quickly went on the offensive and splashed more water at Lance too. They both were soon laughing and splashing water on each other, but then Sora swam up and joined in as well.
"It's ok, Lance, I got your back!" He said splashing more water at Yang.
"Ahh! Ruby, help your big sister out!" She yelled, in between fits of laughter.
"The cavalry has arrived!" Ruby cried splashing water at both Sora and Lance.
"Sonia! Help us out!" Sora yelled.
"Fight your own battles!" She yelled back.
"Gah! Sonia!" Sora said feigning death and floating in the water.
"No!" Lance said, stopping the assault and swimming over to his now 'dead' friend.
"Sora! No! Why must the good die young!?" He exclaimed, holding his friend.
They both soon broke out into a fit of laughter.
Ruby then took advantage of the distraction and splashed Lance from behind.
"Aaaahhh! I'm hit!" He yelled also playing dead. Sora then returned to his 'dead' state.
"Ahahahaa! We are victorious!" Yang cheered.
Just then, Yang heard fast falling footsteps from coming from the beach. She turned to see who was making all of that noise. It was Sonia making a mad dash straight for her. She then jumped into the air and formed a cannon ball, all the while yelling a battle cry. Before Yang could even react, Sonia already made contact with the water and made a huge splash, spraying both Yang and Ruby. After that they all started laughing.
"They're so childish," Weiss said.
"It's kind of refreshing, actually," Blake said making her way towards the water, leaving Weiss alone on the beach.
"C'mon Weiss! Everyone's in the water! Join us!" Lance said.
She just crossed her arms and turned her head the other way sternly. They then all returned to having fun and Weiss slowly allowed her gaze to drift towards the water, her resolve quickly leaving her. She then made her way to the water.
"Yay! Weiss is coming in the water!" Ruby cheered.
"I will not play your childish games, though!" She said, slowly getting into the water.
Sora grabbed her arm before grinning at her.
"Too bad! Once in the water, you're fair game." Sora said pulling Weiss down, making her fall head first in the water. Sora started to laugh until Sonia dunk him underwater.
"I swear, can't you calm down for five minutes?" Sonia asked.
Sonia disappeared into the water with a yelp and Sora resurfaced.
"Nope, not possible." Sora said before swimming off.
Sonia resurfaced before swimming after him.
"Get back here so I can drown you!" Sonia yelled as Sora started to laugh.
A few minutes later Sora was looking at a large empty spot in the water thinking before he got an idea and started swimming back to land.
"Where are you going?" Ruby asked him.
"I'm going to go get 'it'," Sora yelled as he ran back to the house.
Lance and the others looked at each other confused before getting out and sitting on the dock to dry off and rest.
They sat there in silence looking out at the lake before Yang broke the silence.
"I wonder where Sora went," She said crossing her arms.
"Yeah, he's been gone for a while," Lance said as he started to get worried a little.
"Hey what's that?" Blake asked pointing at something new in the water.
They all turned to look and saw what looked like a giant blue pillow floating in the water.
"Is that a pillow?" Ruby asked as they walked over to it.
"Help me up to it," Weiss said as she started to climb on the pillow.
Blake and Lance helped her up as she sat down on it.
"It's a giant pillow," Weiss said relaxing.
She suddenly went flying into the air. Her screams were cut short when she hit the water.
The others looked at her confused before hearing laughter. They turned to look and saw Sora sitting on the other end laughing.
"Dude! She got some major air!" Sora said trying to catch his breath.
After he calmed down from laughing he looked down at the others grinning at them.
"Who wants to go next?" He said with a goofy grin.
About half an hour later Sora was napping on the giant water pillow and the others were on a sandbar close by relaxing while Lance, Ruby and Yang built sand castles. Weiss looked over at Sora before looking over at the others.
"Anyone feel like flipping Sora?" Weiss asked them.
"I'm in." Sonia said as she sat up from where she was tanning.
"Sure this could be fun." Yang said and Ruby nodded in agreement.
"This could go badly, but what the heck," Lance said.
"What about you Blake?" Ruby asked her.
"No thanks I'm going to relax here," Blake said as she read a book.
A few minutes later Lance, Ruby, Yang, Sonia and Weiss were over the other end of the pillow as Sora napped.
Weiss counted to three on her fingers before they all jumped making Sora fly into the air higher than anyone of them went before.
"AAHHHEEIII hate you all!" Sora said before he landed in the water head first.
"Is he going to be alright?" Yang asked seeing Sora land.
"Yeah he will be. He's got a hard head." Sonia said as Lance nodded in agreement.
"True, but too bad it didn't knock any sense into him." Weiss said.
Sora quickly exploded out of the water gasping for air.
"That was awesome! I still hate you guys though!" He said laughing
They all started laughing at the goofiness of the prank they just pulled.
Lance sat back on the couch he was sitting in. They all were gathered around the fire, relaxing. After a nice day of swimming, they were pretty exhausted. Sora caught a massive fish too, that Sonia cooked up, which almost would've been burnt if it wasn't for Weiss, who quickly turned the heat down before it got too burnt.
"Today was a good day," Lance sighed, sinking further into his seat.
"I agree. It was a good idea to come out here. Thanks, Sora," Blake said.
"Thankfully, my Uncle was ok with us using his place. He's a cool dude," He said.
Weiss looked at the clock that was hanging above the fireplace noticing that it was 9:30.
"I think I'm going to get ready for bed. It's getting late," She said, getting up from her spot and making her way towards the stairs.
"Good, idea," Sonia said getting up as well.
"Well, I might as well get ready too," Lance said getting up and heading towards his room.
"G'night!" He said, going into his room.
Lance laid in bed trying to fall asleep. He turned and looked at the clock and saw that the time was 10:06. He rolled back over and shut his eyes, trying to fall asleep. He laid there for a while before he heard his door crack open. Lance sat up to see who was coming into his room. He saw that it was Sora.
"Sora? Hey, what's up?" Lance asked.
"Dude. I got an idea," He whispered.
"What's the idea?" Lance asked, confused.
"I heard the girls talking about something, but I couldn't hear them. So that got me thinking. What if we spied on them!?" he whispered excitedly.
"Spy on them? That sounds a little… weird," Lance said.
"No, not like that! Geez! I just wanted to do some eavesdropping. Maybe pull a prank or something like that," He said.
"Well, that's better than what I thought you meant," Lance said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"So are you in or out?" Sora asked.
Lance took a moment to think.
"They might be talking about you!" Sora said, trying to convince his friend.
Lance's face turned red after he said that. His curiosity was piqued though.
"I guess I am a little curious… and someone needs to keep an eye on you," Lance said.
"Yes! Ok, let's go!" Sora said excitedly and headed for the door.
Lance got out of bed with a sigh and followed his friend.
He saw Sora waiting at the top of the stairs for him.
"Ready?" Sora asked.
Lance just nodded a response.
"Ok. You go first," He said.
"Me!? It was your idea!" Lance whispered.
"Shhh! And it's my idea that you go down first," Sora replied.
Lance breathed a heavy sigh before responding.
"All right."
Lance took the first step down the stairs. He could make out the girls' voices from here, but nothing he could understand. He slowly moved down the next step. Then the next, and the next. He heard Sora slowly following behind him. Once Lance made it to the bottom of the stairs, he got up beside the wall separating the stairs and the room over. The voices were louder, but still inaudible.
Lance peeked around the corner to see that the room was empty.
"I think they're in one of the rooms down the hall," Lance said.
"Ok, keep going," Sora said, nudging him forward.
Lance steeled himself and continued onward. He made his way down the hall and heard voices coming from the first door on the left. Lance pointed at the door, signaling that they were inside.
Sora and Lance both pressed their ears up against the door, trying to listen in to what they were talking about.
"-So then, Weiss, Lance and I hopped on the Nevermore," Lance heard Ruby say through the door.
"You guys hopped on a Nevermore?" Sonia asked, disbelief evident in her voice.
"I still regret it," Weiss said.
"Then we used that to find the forest temple," Ruby continued.
"So it took flight? How'd you guys get down?" Sonia asked.
"Ohh, that was easy. We jumped," Ruby said.
"You jumped!?" Sonia almost shouted.
After Sonia yelled that Sora looked over at Lance with a deadpan look.
"And you all call me Crazy." Sora whispered to Lance.
"Shhh! Careful, keep your voice down," Yang quickly said.
"Sorry, it's just so… unbelievable. And you all were ok with that?" Sonia said.
"Not all of us. Ruby and Lance were," Weiss said.
Ruby let out a small snicker.
"She was the last one off. Lance was all in for the idea," She said.
"How do you know Lance? You said it yourself, he was a last minute entry, like you. He was different though," Sonia said
"Yeah, he was able to choose what team he would be on, and he chose ours," Ruby said.
"So how'd you meet him?"
"Well… I-it's a little strange, but he asked if I was ok after I exploded…"
"Exploded?"
"She literally exploded," Weiss said.
"Looks like they're talking about you," Sora whispered to Lance.
His face turned a little red, but he continued listening.
"After that, I saw him at the orientation," Ruby said.
"That was when I met him. We all watched the orientation together. Weiss joined us too," Yang said.
"Yup. We also walked to the area where we would test, and now you're pretty much up to speed," Ruby said.
"He seems like a nice guy," Sonia said.
"He is a nice guy. Brave also, and kind," Yang said.
"You speak so highly of him… Do you have a crush on him?" Sonia teased.
"S-Speaking of crushes, are you and Sora…?" Yang asked quickly, trying to move on to the next topic, and chuckling slightly.
There was a slight silence after she asked that.
Lance glanced over at Sora who was listening with more intent.
"When I first met Sora I couldn't stand him because it didn't seem like he was taking being a mercenary seriously, and that can be fatal," Sonia said.
"Why do I get the feeling there's a 'but'?" Blake asked.
"He grew on me; I saw that even though he could be childish at times, you can count on him when you're in trouble."
"He's a bit annoying, but he is good in a fight," Weiss said.
They all looked at Weiss surprised.
"What is it?" She asked.
"You actually said something nice about Sora," Yang said
"Yes I did, and he better not find out."
"Back on topic," Ruby said turning back to Sonia.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't still have feelings for him, but if they're the same as before… I'm not sure," Sonia said frowning a little.
Blake looked at the door and raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" Ruby asked
"Someone's at the door," Blake said.
Yang walked over to the door and quickly opened it making Lance and Sora fall into the room.
"Lance!? Sora!? Were you two listening the whole time?" Ruby asked them.
Lance tried to speak while Sora stood up not saying a word, turning to the door.
"I'm heading to bed," Sora said walking back upstairs.
"He's not going to bed. He's got a lot on his mind." Lance said watching his friend walk upstairs.
"I'll go talk to him," Yang said standing up.
"Check somewhere high," Sonia said to Yang.
"He goes somewhere high off the ground whenever he's troubled." Lance said.
"The observation deck may be your best bet," Blake said thinking for a minute.
Yang nodded and went that way as Blake looked at Sonia.
"Seems like you have still have something to say. I'll listen if you want," Blake said.
Sonia nodded before heading upstairs with Blake.
Lance didn't know what to say and went back to his room. He hoped his friends would be ok, but decided he'd check on them another time, as it was late and he didn't want to intrude on either conversation.
Sonia and Blake sat at the bar counter drinking a soda and both were quiet until Sonia broke the silence.
"I still feel the same," Sonia said looking at her soda.
"What?" Blake asked.
"I…love him," Sonia said quietly and shyly.
Blake looked at her confused.
"I love Sora, alright?! I love him so much that it hurts!" Sonia yelled, clenching her hand around the soda can crushing it.
"Then why don't you tell him?" Blake asked surprised at seeing this side of Sonia.
"Because I'm afraid," Sonia said sadly.
Blake gave her another confused look.
"In my family I'm the black sheep, because I chose to pick up a sword like my brother did instead of wearing dresses like my sister."
"You come from a wealthy family?" Blake asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah I do, but my family and I aren't on good terms. I remember when Sora first met them. He defeated them all and put them in their place all without using a weapon. It was the first time I saw him like that," Sonia said smiling at the memory.
"Sora Neverwinter. He's full of surprises," Blake said grinning a little.
"Yeah he is. Because of that my brother respects him and my sister's fallen for him also. She's also more open with her feelings for him then I am."
"Are you afraid she'll take him away?"
"Part of it yeah, but the other part is I'm scared he'll leave me again and this time won't return."
"You don't have to worry about that," Blake said taking a sip of her soda.
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't known Sora as long as you and Lance have, but I can see he cares about you more than anyone else."
Sonia sat there remembering her and Sora's adventures as mercenaries before smiling a little.
"Yeah that's true, but I'm not ready to tell him yet. One day I will."
After that Blake and Sonia sat and made small chat.
Yang found Sora lying down on the observation deck looking up at the star filled sky with his hands behind his head. She walked up and laid down where they were head to head.
"Have you ever fallen in love with someone that you were afraid, Yang?" Sora asked his eyes scanning the stars.
"Can't say I have," Yang said as she admired the beauty of the stars.
"So afraid that if you were rejected your heart would be shattered, and never be able to be recovered, so you kept that feeling bottled up, not showing it to anyone…"
"It's Sonia isn't it?" Yang asked, making Sora get stiff a little bit.
"Yeah, it is," Sora said grinning a little bit.
"You never beat around the bush do you?"
"It was never my style to do that," Yang said grinning making Sora chuckle.
"Hey, Sora, when did you fall for her?" Yang asked moving her head to look at him.
"I always had feelings for her but I wasn't sure what they were until I almost died."
"What? How?" Yang asked a little surprised.
"During one of my jobs. It went horribly wrong and I was left in a coma for a couple of weeks. When I woke up I saw Sonia sleeping with her head on my bed and her hand in mine. Later I found out from gramps that she never left my side. That's when I knew what I felt. And when I left, it tore my heart out. Even though it was for the best, it hurt like hell. I don't want to feel that kind of pain or cause it to anyone," Sora said.
"You're strange Sora." Yang said suddenly making Sora laugh a little.
"I get that a lot." Sora said grinning.
"Hey Sora can I tell you something?"
"Course you can Yang."
"Um…I might have kissed Lance."
"I know that already."
Yang's eyes widened before she sat up looking at him.
"How?!" she said blushing and in shock.
"I saw you two." Sora said calmly.
Yang started to panic and she picked up Sora by the shoulders and started to shake him.
"You can't tell anyone! Ok?! OK?!" she yelled at Sora.
"Y-Yea I-I g-got it. Can you let me go? I'm getting dizzy," Sora managed to get out.
Yang let him go before Sora staggered around dizzy before falling into a bush head first.
"Oh, are you ok?" Yang asked after witnessing his fall.
Sora let out a small moan before speaking.
"I'll live. Just give me a sec…"
Sora laid there for a bit, letting the world stop spinning and gaining his composure. Before he got up though, he heard a rustle in some bushes not far from him. He quickly shot his gaze over to the noise.
"Did you hear that?" Sora asked.
"Uhmm, no? Why? Did you hear something?" She asked.
"I did, but I think it was just a fox or some small animal."
"Oh, ok. Well we should head on back in. It's pretty late and I don't want to keep the others waiting too," Yang said.
"Good point. Let's head up," Sora said, standing up and making his way back to the house. He took a look back to see if he saw anything suspicious, but nothing looked too out of the ordinary.
Lance heard the door open and two pairs of footsteps walking in. He assumed it was Sora and Yang. He sighed in relief that Sora was more than likely feeling better. At the very least, he came into the house. He thought that he should see how Sora is doing, so he got out of bed and made his way to his door.
Lance made it to Sora's room and heard him doing something in there. It sounded like he was packing, or flinging clothes, or something. He opened the door to see Sora digging through his stuff.
"Hey, how's it going?" Lance asked.
"Grr… I can't find a pair of socks that I could've sworn were here earlier today," Sora said, continuing to dig through his stuff.
"Not what I meant, but I'm glad to see you're doing better."
"Yeah, Yang helped me out a lot," He said, still digging through his things.
"She has a way of doing that," Lance said smiling.
"But I still can't find this sock!" Sora said through gritted teeth.
"Could it wait until tomorrow?" Lance asked.
"I guess it could… It might keep me up at night though," Sora joked.
"You'll be fine," Lance said smiling.
Just then they both heard a scream from downstairs that took the two off guard. They quickly barreled down the stairs and made it to the hallway where the four rooms were. They saw everyone gathered around Weiss's room, including Weiss, who seemed very shaken up.
"What's going on?" Lance asked.
"I don't know. We just heard a scream coming from Weiss's room. Weiss, what happened?" Ruby said.
She took a second to compose herself, but she still seemed a bit unsettled.
"I-I don't know, but I heard scratching on the walls. I thought it was nothing at first, but then it got louder... After a while it stopped and I thought I saw something outside, but it rushed away, a-and I got scared,"
"You don't think it's…" Yang trailed off, her eyes slightly widening.
"The forest ghost," Sora whispered.
The room went quiet for a bit, and they all looked at each other.
"Let's try to get back to sleep. It's probably nothing," Blake said, breaking the silence.
"There's no way I'm going to sleep after this," Yang said.
"How about I check out Weiss's room. Will that make things any better?" Lance proposed.
They all looked amongst each other briefly before all agreeing.
"Ok, I'll check it out," Lance said heading towards the door.
Lance put his hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it. He quickly swung open the door and saw the room as it was. It looked just like a normal room. There was a view of outside through a small half window. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary outside either. There was a slight breeze and the trees were rustling, but nothing looked suspicious. Maybe a little creepy, but nothing that'd cause a scratching noise. He went up to the window to see if there was anything he might've missed, but still, nothing.
He quickly double checked the room and went back out to meet up with everyone else. He noticed that everyone was gathered in the other room sitting on the furniture.
"I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Are you sure you saw something, Weiss?" Lance asked.
"I'm positive," She said.
"What did it look like?" He asked.
"It just looked like a rush of white across the window."
"Hmm…" Lance said, trying to think of what it could be.
"I say we just head up stairs and start the fire, and try to settle down a bit," Sonia suggested.
"Yeah, that'll get our minds off of this," Sora said.
They all sat around the fire and stared at the flames. They made some small talk, but silence always returned shortly after. Lance was still thinking of what that could've been. He was starting to think it was just her imagination and there really was nothing, but he couldn't help to think that maybe it was something. That maybe it was that ghost Sora was talking about. He looked at the clock and saw that the time was 2:37am.
"Well, it's been about twenty minutes and we haven't heard anything. I think it's safe to say that we're fine to go to bed," Sonia said standing from her spot.
"Yeah, it's late, and I'm tired," Lance said, also standing.
"I'm starting to think that you imagined it, Weiss," Blake said.
"I know what I saw!" She responded.
"Well, maybe it could've been something else, I don't know, but a ghost? Please," Sonia said.
"Shh! Wait, guys! Do you hear that?" Sora said.
They all were dead silent. The only noise they heard was the crackling of the fire and the subtle wind outside. Lance tried to hear what Sora heard, but he couldn't hear it, but then he started to hear something else. A subtle scratching coming from the front door. He stood there, a chill slowly creeping up his spine. The scratching got even louder and more noticeable. Lance noticed the others hear it and saw the others slowly realize what the sound Sora heard was.
"Aaahhh!" Sonia said, jumping into Sora's lap, and burying her face in his chest.
Ruby and Yang both let out a scream as well and clung to Lance.
They all then just stood there, staring at the door and listening to the scratching. Lance's heart started to beat faster and he could feel fear creeping up on him. Then the scratching stopped.
"S-see! I told you that there was something!" Weiss said.
"Well, we all heard it," Lance said.
They stood there for a while and Ruby buried her head in Lance's chest as well, making him blush a little.
"O-one of us should check it out," Sora said.
"That's crazy, don't be stupid," Sonia said.
The silence swept over the group once again. Lance thought about what Sora said. Maybe they should check it out and hopefully put an end to this.
"…I'll do it," Lance said.
"What!? Lance, don't be crazy!" Yang said.
"Something could happen to you!" Ruby said as well.
"I'll be ok," Lance said, trying to reassure them.
Lance made his way towards the front door, the group close behind.
He took a deep breath before placing a hand on the doorknob. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw it was Sora's hand.
"Lance, just be careful," He said.
Lance nodded back at him and gave a smile. The whole group had a worried look and Lance was sure that he didn't look much better. He tightened his grip on the doorknob and turned it. He slowly creaked the door open and peaked out. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary either. It was just a spooky sight, with the trees blowing in the wind and even a slight fog had settled.
He opened the door the rest of the way and stepped outside. He looked up at the night sky and saw the broken moon, hanging in the sky. He turned his attention back to the trees and scanned his surroundings. He didn't notice anything until he saw a bush moving a little more fervently than the rest.
The group moved up behind him again and Lance pointed to the oddly moving bushes. The group got even a little more worried, but Lance made his way closer to the bush.
"Lance, what are you doing!?" Weiss whispered.
He didn't respond. He just kept making his way towards the bush.
"Lance!" Yang whispered as well.
He held up a finger behind him to try shush the group as he continued along his path towards the moving bush. He quickly made it to the bush and looked back at the group. They were all worried and were signaling him to come back, or stop what he was doing, but he ignored their warnings. He wanted to put an end to this and get some answers as far as what was making that noise, despite his fear.
He put two hands in the bushes and pulled back the leaves quickly. When he did that he heard a scream form that came from one of the group members a ways behind him that made him jump. What he saw in the bushes though, was not a headless ghost, but a small grey and white furred cat, playing with a balled up pair of socks.
Lance let out a sigh of relief and slowly picked up the cat who still held onto the sock. He turned around with a smile on his face and saw the group rush over to him.
"Guys, it's just a-" Lance started to say, but was cut off by a hug from Yang, causing the cat to jump out of his arms.
"Don't scare me like that!" Yang said, squeezing tighter.
"Sorry," Lance said, returning the hug.
"Oh! Those are my socks!" Sora said, pointing at the cat, who returned to playing with the socks.
"Is it a stray?" Blake asked.
"No, it has a collar," Ruby said.
"Ohh! That's my uncle's cat," Sora said.
"And you didn't think to tell us about it?" Sonia asked, slugging him in the arm.
"Ow! It didn't come to mind," He said.
"I'm just glad it's over," Lance said returning to the group.
"Yeah. All that, for just a cat," Yang said smiling.
"Mystery solved! Thanks to detective Lance!" Ruby cheered.
"It was nothing," Lance said, letting out a small chuckle.
"Well, now that that's resolved, let's go to bed," Weiss said.
"I agree," Sonia said, shortly after letting out a yawn.
"After I get my socks back from that stupid cat!" Sora said starting to run after the cat before Sonia grabbed the collar of his shirt and hauling him off inside.
"It is too late for stupid shenanigans!" she said.
"B-but my socks!" Sora tried protesting, while getting dragged inside.
The rest followed shortly after, but Lance felt a hand wrap around his wrist. He turned to see the owner of the hand was Yang. She stood there with a slight blush on her face and a small smile.
"Y'know, Lance. Despite being really stupid and crazy, that was really brave of you," She said before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you tomorrow," She said starting to walk back inside.
"G'night" she said before walking through the door.
"G'night," Lance said, putting a hand up to his cheek.
Lance stood there for a few moments, thinking back to the events that transpired today. A lot happened, and it was just the first day of their weekend. He smiled to himself and thought that the rest of this trip would be just as fun as it would be interesting.
Thanks for reading! A big thanks also to Azure Flame Knight 12 for co-writing this pretty long one shot. I hope that you all enjoyed it!