Her sweaty hand slipped and almost failed to grasp the next rock.
Multiple gasps. Ruby barely heard them over the loud waterfall right next to her.
"You got this, Rubes!" Yang encouraged. "You're so close!"
By this point, Ruby had been scaling the tricky cliff for several agonizing minutes. Maybe close to half an hour. After what felt like eternity, the ledge was near.
Why'd I volunteer to do this? Ruby chided herself. This is hard! But I'm so close.
With a determined grunt, she firmly gripped the next rock that projected out the side of the cliff.
"You can do it!" Weiss yelled up at her.
Knowing that her friends believed in her, Ruby tightened her grip.
Below, the heiress was treading water. If Ruby fell, the calm water would catch her. And her girlfriend was there to make sure she'd be okay. Just in case Ruby didn't surface on her own, Weiss was there.
"I'm experienced with rock climbing," I said. Ruby bitterly thought hit herself on the rock. Stupidstupidstupidstupid. Why was I so confident?
Honestly, Ruby was proud she'd made it this far. This was one of the tallest cliffs she's had to climb. And the most dangerous considering the lack of safety equipment. None.
Like a monkey, she leaped to the next rock with a grunt.
Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she grimaced. It was hotter than hell. So hot that she was almost dry from previously falling over the cliff.
Reluctantly, Ruby looked down. She was dozens of feet high. She already had a backup plan. If she fell, she'd position herself into a pencil. She'd have to, or it'd hurt.
Weiss looked very concerned as she tread the water below.
"A little more!" Weiss said.
This damned cliff was like a skyscraper. The forestry below looked plain. The detail was lacking. Ruby glistened in a layer of sweat as she prepared for the next vault.
I can do this, Ruby thought to herself. I have to. I can't let them down.
Knowing that they needed their supplies like food and water, Ruby sharply inhaled. They needed this, or this whole trip could turn out to be a disaster.
By this point, her three friends below were full of hope. Ruby was so close.
Ruby sprang over to the edge. It took all her upper body strength as her arms screamed in protest. With both hands, she gripped it for dear life as her body dangled.
On shore, Yang kept muttering. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…"
Blake placed a hand on her shoulder. "She can do it. She's Ruby."
That earned a nod.
With all her might, Ruby heaved herself up when she had a firm grip. "Got it!"
She could've sworn she heard clapping, but couldn't look down to confirm.
However, due to her extra weight and fragile eroding rocks, the edge crumbled when she tried to pull herself up. Ruby gasped as her hand slipped and she tipped backward.
"Crap!" Ruby yelped.
Disappointment overflowed her entire form. She felt like a failure as she fell. Before she could mope about that, she whipped around. It felt like the drop was never-ending as her stomach dropped.
In a rush, Weiss swam out of the way. She was directly under her girlfriend and preferred not to get hit by the flaming red blur.
It took longer than she liked, but Ruby finally got into a pencil position for the impact.
At last, she smacked into the water. When the coolness engulfed her, she felt the effects her body had suffered. Her muscles strained, her heart was pounding, she was out of breath, and most of all, she was frustrated.
To be so close...
It didn't take her long to surface as she gulped for oxygen. The water was cold, which was refreshing. Her chest heaved as she struggled to just tread. That was a more intense workout than swimming practice! Her arms burned like they were on fire.
"Ruby!" Weiss exclaimed as she swam over to her, keeping a hand on her back to hold her up. "Are you okay?"
Angry with herself, Ruby slapped the water with a frown.
I was so close! Ruby thought in despair. I can do it. I know I can!
Concerned, Weiss asked gently. "Ruby?"
"I'm sorry," Ruby said like she was ashamed. "I couldn't do it…"
"Nonsense," Weiss easily replied, which earned a skeptical look. "You did do it. The ledge was feeble, that's all. Your abilities aren't at fault here."
That cheered Ruby up a little bit. Some hope sparked in those silver eyes. This caused Weiss to smile in return.
"Let's go," Weiss offered. "You need to rest."
"No way," Ruby stated like there was no changing her mind. "I have a cliff to climb."
Weiss looked like she was going to drag Ruby to shore if she had to. "We don't need our supplies this very moment. Rest is important. You can't overwork yourself."
To make matters worse, Weiss felt Ruby's heart thumping rapidly through her back. She was still tired after that first attempt. To try again so soon couldn't be beneficial.
Ruby adorned a smirk when she noticed her girlfriend was overly concerned. "You and the water rejuvenated me."
Judging by the burst of sudden energy, Ruby wasn't lying. Although, Weiss found that hard to believe she could bounce back so fast.
"You're exaggerating."
Ruby perked a brow. "What if I'm not?"
Teasingly, Weiss leaned in and pecked her on the lips. The two held the kiss for a bit before separating.
"Woah..." Ruby mumbled. "I'm definitely rejuvenated now!"
That caused Weiss to smile. "Dolt."
From the shore, Yang stared at the couple. They shared a kiss, so her sister must be fine. But she wanted to make sure.
"Is my Rubes okay?!"
After the small rest, Weiss could tell Ruby had calmed down. Her heartbeat wasn't working in overdrive. To support her partner, Weiss answered for her.
"She's trying again!"
"What?!" Yang yelped.
Glad that her girlfriend trusted her, Ruby sent her a wide smile.
Blake joined Yang at the edge of the water. "She needs a break!"
"I'm fine!" Ruby reassured. "I got this in the bag!"
The faunus gazed at Yang knowingly. "She sounds like you."
Yang placed her hands on her hips. "Confident."
"Arrogant."
In response, Yang teasingly elbowed her in the side.
In the water, Weiss positioned Ruby to be hoisted onto some rocks. After struggling a bit, she pushed Ruby up so she could gab into the first rock sticking out of the cliff.
"You got it?" Weiss asked.
"Uh-huh," Ruby confirmed as she hoisted herself up.
Now, she was completely out of the water, but she was soaking wet. This attempt might be even harder. Her hands were slippery, so the rocks were harder to grab onto. Everywhere she stepped left a trail of water and made her lose friction.
Yang watched with a curious gaze. "She's struggling way more."
More than a few times, her sister had slipped. Several minutes went by and there were so many more close-calls.
"She's exhausted and soaked," Blake observed. "That's not a good combo."
"My little Rubes is such a trooper," the blonde said proudly.
Despite this new challenge, Ruby still somehow managed to make it about halfway up before she lost her footing.
"Wa- agh!"
Like a doll, Ruby fell and flopped into the water. Luckily, she managed to land head-first and forcefully exhaled to prevent water from rushing into her nostrils. Simultaneously, she squeezed her eyes shut.
When she surfaced, Weiss was there with concern written all over her features. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Ruby said as she wiped the water from her eyes. "Just frustrated."
"You did well," Weiss praised, which earned a grin from her partner. "Let's go back to Blake and Yang. We can- agh!"
Suddenly, Weiss held onto her girlfriend for what seemed like dear life. The couple held onto each other as they tread.
"What's wrong!?" Ruby asked, frantic.
Her girlfriend lost her composure so quickly. That was so unlike her. The sudden yell grabbed the bumblebee pair's attention. Yang was about to dive in-
"A fish touched my leg!" Weiss yelped, unable to ignore the slimy feeling on her calf.
From the shore, Yang frowned while Blake chuckled a bit. They thought something was threatening their lives. Turns out it was just a stupid fish.
"Whata drama queen," the blonde muttered.
"She should've caught it," Blake said after a sigh. "Fish sounds nice."
Yang shrugged like she was indifferent. "Who knows, we might end up doing that."
Until now, it had been relatively quiet besides the waterfall. There had been no animal noises, which was odd. The realization caused Blake to look to the sky. Just as she feared. A surge of dark clouds was drifting ominously toward them.
"Hey, you sure you're okay?" Yang asked, which earned a flick of her cat ear.
Based on her worried tone, the faunus caught onto the fact that she was referring to her drowning earlier. The last thing Blake wanted was to worry her girlfriend, but she was touched that Yang cared so much.
"You almost died, you know…" Yang continued, not liking to think about it.
To comfort her, Blake held her hand. "I'm fine thanks to you. I promise. We can talk about that later. For now, we need to find shelter."
"What?" Yang asked and then looked to the sky. "Ah, crap. We can't catch a break."
"It seems so," Blake agreed.
Ruby and Weiss joined their side. From the water, they were soaking wet. Weiss appeared to be proud of her girlfriend's efforts, but Ruby apologized.
"I'm sorry, guys," Ruby said dejectedly. "I tried…"
"No, I'm sorry," Blake replied genuinely as she met her gaze. "If I didn't fall, we wouldn't be in this mess."
In response, Yang set a hand on her back. She was about to retort that, but Weiss came forward.
"Don't blame yourself. We can always try again later. Right now, we have other things to worry about."
It didn't slip by her that a storm was brewing. The wind suddenly whipped by and the temperature had dropped a few degrees. Ruby and Weiss were beginning to feel cold instead of lukewarm. Before now, the sun had ensured they wouldn't be cold when they got out of the water. That wasn't the case any more.
"Shelter, right," Ruby nodded to herself. "Onward!"
Despite the situation, Ruby tried to remain chipper. She noticed that her friends were feeling down, so she wanted to keep their spirits lifted.
Naturally, the three girls followed Ruby and walked deeper into the wilderness in search of shelter. They had no clue what they were looking for. They figured that they'd know it when they see it.
"What do we do for food?" Blake suddenly asked. She liked thinking ahead and to have a plan. Something Weiss appreciated. "Our food is all the way up that waterfall."
"Dad knows we're out here," Yang reassured. "When we don't come back in a couple of days like we said, he'll notice and get help."
To match her concern, Weiss said. "What about now? We'll need food eventually."
"We'll figure somethin' out," Yang replied. "When the bruise bothers me less, I'll give the cliff a go."
Her reply filled them with some semblance of hope.
Weiss smirked. "And I'll attract the fish again."
Immediately, Ruby whirled around and announced. "Not even fish can resist those legs!"
That earned a blush as Weiss shyly glanced away. Blake and Yang giggled.
"You're right, Rubes," Yang said with a smug grin, which caused Weiss to be suspicious. "Even fish can see those pasty legs!"
"Hey!"
More snickers.
Suddenly, the girls felt the dreaded raindrops plop onto their skin. That made them pick up the pace. They just had to beat the storm.
"There's gotta be shelter somewhere," Ruby said.
Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. "This day keeps getting better and better."
Just after she said that, a downpour began. It was like the Gods were out to get them. The girls screamed in unison from the suddenness of it all.
"Way to jinx it!" Yang yelled.
This prompted them to sprint even faster. At this point, it didn't matter where they were as long as they had some form of protection.
"It's my fault the sky decided to rain!" Weiss shouted back, hoping she'd realize how moronic that sounded.
"Glad you agree!" the blonde yelled. "This is such crap luck!"
Weiss almost scoffed from that. "We never even had good luck!"
"Over there!" Blake pointed.
In the distance, there were several trees squished together. The leaves above were thick, so not much water trickled through that particular spot. It was perfect. More than what they were hoping for.
"Good eye!" Ruby exclaimed.
The four bolted to the spot as the rain drenched them. What made them even more uncomfortable was the fact that they had no shoes, so mud clung to their feet. Since all four were drenched, they were freezing. The wind howled and swirled, causing them to form goosebumps and shiver.
Together, the group huddled under the dense leaves. The grass was wet, so their pants got even more soaked. Under the leaves, a few droplets landed on them, but not nearly as much as before. It would have to do.
"C'mere," Yang said as she coaxed the three closer together.
The group was shivering, but sharing body heat helped. Suddenly, Weiss sneezed. This prompted the girls to get especially close for some much-needed warmth.
Over the rain, Yang joked. "I hope you don't schneeze again."
Groans.
Stay dandy,
~Toto