"I can't believe our summer is almost over! I mean, we haven't even really done that much. Together, at least," Yang complained. Two days separated the four of them from the beginning of their second year at Beacon, and they'd only been together a few times through their entire summer.
"You and Blake have done plenty together." Her kid sister joked. Zwei, the blue-gray Corgi in Ruby's backpack, howled at the jape. Yang screwed up her face.
"You're just jealous because Weiss keeps blowing off your invitations!" Yang countered.
"Nope, I got a good enough end-of-school-year gift to tide me over until next year. Plus, she's had all those summer classes, so she's incredibly busy." The red-haired youth grinned at her rebuttal. She longed to see her paramour's flowing white hair running toward her in summer clothes, that famous grin on her face. Suddenly she crashed into something and fell over, Zwei hopping out of her backpack and into the arms of the girl of Ruby's dreams.
"You really should pay attention when you walk somewhere. If you were to injure my furry friend here, I might have to kill you." The white-haired beauty told her, the Corgi delighting in his new company. "I missed you so much, yes I did! Yes, I did!" Her usual serious speech dissolved into baby talk as she spoke to Zwei.
"Well, your broad's back, so maybe I should go find mine..." Yang joked.
"Too late." A soft kissed fell onto Yang's lips, the blonde smiling widely as she saw her girlfriend's black bow wiggle with delight. "So, how should we spend the last real day of summer, ladies?"
"Well, we were headed for the beach," Ruby replied after kissing Weiss's cheek and admiring her summer attire: a denim half-jacket over a white dress similar to her battle uniform. Ruby herself wore a white tank-top under a red sleeveless jacket with a large collar and black Tripp shorts. Yang wore a brown tee-shirt and cutoff denim shorts with a plaid yellow flannel tied around her waist, and Blake wore a black over-shirt atop a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up and white shorts. All of them wore their usual battle footwear except Ruby, who traded her black boots for a pair of red low-tops.
"Yeah, we have a beach ball, a chest full of soda, and Zwei, as you've already noticed. I have sunscreen, too!" Yang added. Zwei jumped out of Weiss's arms and approached Blake, who petted his forehead begrudgingly. She smiled as he lightly barked at her. It had taken some doing, but she'd finally come around. Having feline instincts had hindered her, but Zwei was a respectable dog. She still didn't want him near her belongings, but she felt very close to her things.
"Sounds like a plan, I think," Blake said, putting an arm around Yang.
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"So you guys are beach bums today, too?" Pyrrha asked them as they scoured the beach for a volleyball net. Her beach attire was a nod to her battle suit: a gold bikini top and brown shorts with a pink-red sarong and no footwear. She loved the sand between her toes. Jaune and Nora appeared, Jaune in denim shorts and Nora wearing a pink-and-white one-piece. Ren, who'd remained seated in his green beach chair, wore green swim trunks trimmed with pink.
"YOU GUYS BROUGHT A BEACH BALL!" Nora cheered. "Would you mind if we played with you?" She jumped gleefully. Ruby smiled at the orange-haired girl's wonderful enthusiasm. Yang spun the beach ball in one palm. Blake decided to sit out since Ren didn't want to play and that would make the game uneven. The teams ended up RWBY versus JNPR. Blake laid out a towel and took a seat next to Ren.
"So, how's your summer been?" She asked nonchalantly. He looked up from his reading to smile.
"It's actually been really fun. Lots of rest, a bit of fighting practice, and peace and quiet. I love Nora, but she talks so much! What about you? It's nice seeing you all, by the way." He spoke in his usual quiet tone. Blake enjoyed talking to Ren, as he was intellectual, reserved and quiet. Her girlfriend, along with pretty much her whole team, were really loud most of the time. The company of someone with a similar personality was nice to have.
"It's been pretty exciting. Lots of combat practice, copious amounts of tuna..." Ren chortled at that. Blake's love for tuna was known across the kingdom, thanks to the salesman at the Simple Wok. "Lots of Yang, which is always wonderful."
"That's great. I'm glad you guys are getting along well, and the same goes for Weiss and Ruby."
"I'm glad Jaune and Pyrrha are doing well. Does that mean... you and Nora?"
"I don't really know. We've been friends for years, and now we're teammates. I don't think it would work out." His face darkened.
"I could see that. Look at Taiyang. He loved two women he was teamed with, and that didn't work so well... Then again, without it, we wouldn't have Yang or Ruby."
"I'm just trying to focus on living through school and becoming a full-fledged Huntsman. It's pretty selfish to give yourself to someone and then haul off and die."
"That makes sense." Blake mused as a seagull flew just in front of her face, leaving a rather unwanted gift on her towel. "REALLY?!" She shouted as the same seagull flew into Yang's beach ball, talons first. POP!
"Aww, it's broken!" Nora complained. They couldn't continue their winning streak. :(
Zwei jumped onto the volleyball court and rolled around in a speedy circle for a moment, a ball of fur appearing and rolling toward Pyrrha, who was supposed to serve next.
"It would appear Zwei would like to be our ball!" Pyrrha mused, the Zwei-ball bouncing in agreement.
"Isn't that sort of inhumane?" Jaune pondered.
"Zwei's a Huntsman's dog and a Corgi! He's fireproof, so I think he can take being tossed around awhile." Ruby announced, Yang nodding.
"In that case, ON WITH THE PUMMELLING!" Nora shrieked as Pyrrha served the ball, Zwei enjoying being part of the game, which suddenly began going in Team RWBY's favor. Nora tried to call cheating, but Ren had watched the game closely and determined that Zwei was being totally fair. The rest of their beach day was a blazing success. After their game, they all went for ice cream and watched the waves crash into the shore. It was a shame that school resumed in less than two days. The eight of them truly needed a day like this.
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