Blake didn't want to go to the dance. Why bother? Those few hours could be spent doing something more productive, like hunting Torchwick down and finding a way to stop the White Fang as soon as possible. She couldn't understand how anyone could party when there was an obvious threat breathing down their necks, it just didn't compute. Even Weiss, her only other serious teammate, was eager to go to the dance.

Didn't they know that the second you look the other way, the enemy strikes?

The cat Faunus was sitting next to a campfire, staring at the sea in front of her. The moon was out that night, casting its glow on the dark blue water, but she noticed it wasn't shattered like it had been when she had gone to sleep.

Her ears twitched, no longer concealed under a black bow, sensing another presence. Feet were crunching the sand on her right,confirming her suspicions. She looked in the direction of the footsteps and saw a blond-haired, blue-eyed, well-built ,an. He was only wearing a tank top, shorts and boots. His hair was slicked back and his expression solemn.

"Are you stranded too?" He asked, his accent thick.

"Yeah, pretty much." Blake nodded.

"You don't look like you're from..." He paused, noticing the cat ears. "Around here. Who are you?"

"Blake. I'm from Vale, so I came a long way." Blake looked at him. "What about you?"

The man was sure that Blake was a boy's name, but he brushed it off. "Ludwig. I'm from... Germany. I've never heard of Vale before, where is that?"

"Another world, I'm sure." Blake looked back at the moon. "Your moon isn't broken or shattered. Ours is."

Ludwig blinked at her in disbelief. Who in their right mind would attack the moon?

"What's your world like?" He found himself asking, sitting next to her.

"I can't describe it, really, but there're monsters that we need to get rid of," Blake said. "That's what I go to school for."

"You kill monsters?" Ludwig definitely wanted her in his army, but he knew it wouldn't happen. With this information, it was obvious she had serious combat skills.

"I have a team that helps me out." Blake shrugged. "But they all want to go to a dance in a couple days and not care about a group of dangerous people, terrorists, for a while."

The German's face scrunched in disgust. "Why would anyone not care about that? You need to stay vigilant! The enemy always strikes when you turn your back."

"Exactly." Blake put her face in her hands. "I just don't understand. I've never been this frustrated with them before. Sometimes they drive me nuts, but... they're still my friends. I'm glad to have them. What they're trying to do is nice, but we need to focus on the bad guys right now."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "They want you to go to the party?"

Blake sighed and her head lifted. "Yeah."

"That sounds like something my friend would do." Ludwig smiled faintly. "That guy's never serious and always eats pasta. He gets excited about everything and it's tiring."

"My teammate Ruby's kind of like that," Blake said. "Her sister Yang's my partner and she's only a little different. You remind me of Weiss for some reason, though."

"Weiss? That's "white" in my language, but you said it wrong." Ludwig remarked. "What are they like?"

"Weiss is Ruby's partner. She's a bit strict and short-tempered, but she can be really nice when she wants to," Blake explained.

"That sounds... like me..." Ludwig looked down in mild surprise.

"And she uses Dust," she added.

The blond narrowed his eyes at her. "She fights with dust bunnies? What good is that?"

"No. Dust is like magic." Blake rolled her eyes. "What do you even use in combat here?"

"Bullets and bombs, mostly." Ludwig shrugged. "Arthur can use magic, though."

"Is that your pasta friend?"

"No, that's Feliciano."

"Feli what?"

"Yeah, just call him that." Ludwig wasn't up for teaching how to pronounce long names.

"Sure. Is Feliwhat your best friend?" Blake asked. "You talk about him like he is."

"Yeah, I guess so." The man ignored her hilarious nickname for Feli. "We've known each other for a long time. I thought he was annoying at first, but I really like him now. He's not so bad."

"Sounds like Ruby and Weiss." The cat Faunus smiled. "You're Weiss and Feliwhat's Ruby."

"Stop calling me Weiss." Ludwig groaned in annoyance.

"Sorry, you just remind me of her," Blake apologized. "Do I remind you of anyone?"

Ludwig looked up in thought. "A bit of myself and Japan. He's quiet, und you seem like the quiet type that reads books often. He also likes cats, und you have cat ears, so..."

"I see." Blake nodded. "Tell me more."

"More? Okay..." Ludwig hesitated, not really knowing what else to say about his Japanese friend. "He's kind of a hermit..."

"I remind you of a hermit?" Blake frowned.

"Hold on, it's not a bad thing!" Ludwig shook his head vigorously.

"It's fine," Blake said.

Blake had been so bothered by that, she woke up in the middle of the night. So much for sleep...

But not she was motivated to stop shutting herself in and go to the dance. She didn't want to be thought of as a hermit.