Midsummer Night's Wish
""I wish... I wish... I wish..." The young girl walked around the pyre she had built in the Emerald Forest. Her cloak drawn over her hood, and her hands clasped firmly around a small, smooth stone, pressed lightly against her lips. The flickering flames of the bonfire illuminated her form, setting her silver eyes aglow with the light of the fire. A howl sounded in the distance, but it died quickly after.
Once she had completed her final rotation of the bonfire, she stopped, looking deep into the flames and cast the pebble into the flames. The wood cackled and spat for a moment before returning to a peaceful slow burn. A faint smile crossed her face, and her sister stepped forwards, placing a hand on her shoulder. "She'd be proud of you, you know."Ruby leaned into the hand, closing her eyes and nodding a few times. "I hope so..." She smiled and tilted her head to look into the lilac eyes of her sister."Come on, your turn now." The blonde nodded once, closing her eyes and stepping forward, even as Ruby stepped back alongside Weiss and Blake, who had held their silence thus far. "For years after my mum died, I wished that I would wake up from this horrible nightmare, that I would get my mother back..." She spoke softly, watching her sister walk around the bonfire. The two girls on either side of her looked towards Ruby, both unsure of what to say. "One year, I refused to do this, saying it was all a load of lies. It was Qrow, my Uncle, who convinced me to try again. He told me to wish for something that I knew I could get, because no amount of wishing could bring back the dead. It hurt, at first. But he was crying too. Apparently he was dragged into this yearly ritual by my mum, along with the rest of their team. Apparently it always brought him good luck when he needed it most, so I tried it again. And it worked. I don't know how, but I got my family back. And then a new one, too.
Tears began to roll down the face of the young girl, but the smile was ever present on her face. Faint, and not wholly convincing, but the determination in her eyes made it clear she was trying. Weiss mirrored her smile, then stepped forwards, wrapping one arm around her partner. The corner of her lips pulled upwards ever so slightly as her partner embraced her. Weiss and Ruby both kept their eyes on the bonfire before them, even as another distant howl sounded in the distance, before it too was cut off. "Anyone know what's happening to the Grimm around here? Not that I'm complaining, mind you..." Yang asked as she walked back. She didn't comment on her teammates position as she might normally have, instead just giving the Heriess a small, thankful smile. There'd be time for teasing later./p
"Team Juniper offered to guard us. Jaune said they could do with some training, and training in stealth especially, so he's ordered them all to only use their melee weapons, and to make as little nose as possible, all while keeping them away from us." Weiss answered with a faint smile. "I'm not sure how he convinced Nora to keep quiet, but it seems he is... Not as inept as I once thought."
Blake rolled her eyes. "He offered the person who can kill the most Grimm while being silent pancakes." There was silence between the four girls for several moments, only the crackling of the fire and the occasional distant howl cut short, before all four of them began laughing. Of course Jaune would offer pancakes. Though it would probably end up being Ren that had to cook them, and Nora who got them regardless. Once their laughter had died down, Ruby disentangled herself from her partner, then gave her a gentle nudge towards the bonfire. "Come on, your turn." Weiss looked down shaking her head slightly. "I don't really have anything I could wish for... I already have everything I want right now, anything else will just come in time."
This time, it was Blake that spoke up. "Then why don't you wish to keep it? Or wish for someone else?" After a few seconds, Weiss nodded once, then accepted a stone from Ruby with a smile, stepping up to the pyre herself, then beginning her own rotations. "Thank you Ruby." Blake spoke up with a soft smile, earning her a confused look from the two sisters. "Back on Menagerie, things like this became popular tradition. When I joined the Fang, it was there, too... But after a while, when it turned violent... Well, there wasn't much time for such things. This feels nice. Familiar. So, thank you." Ruby nodded once, even as Weiss returned and Blake walked forwards. She stopped for a moment, reaching up to the top of her head and untying her bow, stretching her Faunus ears for a moment. "Look after this for me?" She asked, holding her hand out to Yang. She took it, wrapping it around her left arm, just above her gauntlet. "Of course." Blake smiled at her partner, then turned back to the fire once more.
Weiss took her place beside her partner once more and the girl almost instinctively stepping into the side of the Heiress, bringing a light pink tinge to her cheeks. The three watched in silence as Blake walked around the bonfire, smiles upon all of their faces, entirely at peace for for the first time in a long time. Overhead, amongst the stars, a bright light streaked across the night sky, then vanishing from sight.