My apologies for the long absence! My days have now been filled with cleaning and organizing, along with the standard work all day. But, I managed to finish this up (not in time for Halloween, of course). Thanks to everyone who's sent me well wishes! I'm still here, doing quite fine, just definitely not writing as much as I used to. But I'm still lingering around!
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this...somewhat long offshoot of an idea. :)
"Do you think we could come back and get ice cream later?"
"Ruby…"
"What? We didn't get any last night!" she replied, smiling innocently when Weiss shook her head at the request.
"Maybe," was all the older girl said in reply - which was definitely a 'yes' in her book!
Well...Weiss probably thought it meant 'no,' but she'd just have to work on that answer later. If she begged, borrowed, and pleaded enough, eventually her partner would give in. Just...usually it meant promising to do her homework on time, studying extra, or something else awful like that.
But...ice cream was wonderful...
Walking out of the noisy dining hall, she spotted a familiar face before the door had shut behind them. Throwing out a giant wave that took both her feet an inch off the ground (Weiss always complained that she waved too emphatically), she skipped over to greet one of her favorite people on campus.
"Hey, Velvet!" she announced happily, skidding to a stop in front of the Faunus girl with Weiss arriving by her side a few composed, purposeful strides later.
The Team CFVY member was someone she looked up to immensely - mostly because Velvet was their senior and, thus, more accomplished at fighting than they were. But also because the girl went out of her way to make sure they felt at home in their new school. While most of the upper classmen ignored them or poked fun of them, Velvet would wish them luck or stop to chat and hand out pointers.
Plus...the identity of the girl's weapon still eluded her...and that was something she just had to know. Was it a crossbow? A mace? Charkram? Blowdarts? Throwing stars? Flail? Dagger? The possibilities were positively endless!
Yang had suggested it was a weaponized tophat that unleashed the souls of the millions of bunnies conjured from thin air over the past thousand years...but that...couldn't be right…
Could it?
"Hello Ruby, Weiss," Velvet replied with a soft smile, nodding to each of them in turn. "What are you up to tonight?"
"Oh, you know, just had dinner now back to the room!"
She tried to prevent it (ok, not really…), but she couldn't help bouncing up onto her tiptoes as she responded to Velvet's question. It wasn't her fault though - talking about dinner just made her really happy! It didn't matter if it was food that was already consumed, or food about to be consumed, or food in the process of being consumed. Food, in general, made her very excitable.
And when she was excited, she bounced. That was just her thing.
Thankfully, Velvet didn't seem to mind her overabundance of energy - the only response being a nod of the head accompanied by that steady, reassuring smile.
"How are you guys managing in the dorms? I know the rooms for first years can be quite small..."
"We're managing great!" she answered immediately with several more rapid bounces, clapping her hands together while Weiss nodded sanguinely from beside her. "We redid our bunks when we first moved in so there's more room! Haven't had any problems since!"
Velvet held one hand in front of her mouth as she giggled, likely at Ruby's abundant enthusiasm. Yang had told her several times that she needed to take a 'chill pill' when talking people, but sometimes she just couldn't help saying whatever was flashing through her mind at that moment. And sometimes (most of the time), she couldn't help but to twitch and fidget during conversation instead of standing still.
She also couldn't help noticing the way one of Velvet's tall, spectacularly soft ears moved happily with the girl laughed - emotions displaying through them clear as day.
Well...she hadn't actually ever felt Velvet's ears, but she was guessing that they were the softest thing on the planet. They looked wayyyyy softer than Blake's cat ears, which were...ok, she hadn't felt Blake's ears either, but those also looked really soft! Maybe she should ask to touch one of Blake's ears...she would probably have way better success asking Blake than trying to ask-
"What room are you guys in?"
Temporarily startled by the new voice, she and Weiss both turned as Coco sauntered around them to stand beside her teammate, giving the Faunus a gentle slap on the behind that elicited a soft peep of surprise and a blush from the girl.
"O-oh, uh...517," she stammered, a little (lot) more nervous now that the elder team leader had inserted herself into their conversation.
Coco was...friendly, but a little...overbearing? Yang got along excellently with the girl, and Weiss was capable of holding a conversation of mere pleasantries, but the rest of...the school, really...tried to maintain a safe distance so as not to accidentally...tread on her toes.
Seriously, the last boy who'd accidentally stepped on Coco's designer shoes had been on the business end of a very heavy designer handbag.
How the girl had knocked him through the wall though...she really, really wanted to know what that bag was made of.
Team CFVY had the best weapons. So mysterious! So deadly!
"517…" Coco replied thoughtfully, sharing a sideways glance with Velvet at the same time. "Oh…"
"Oh? Oh what?" she immediately asked, looking to Weiss in concern before turning back to the two older girls.
"Oh, it's nothing really…" Coco answered nonchalantly, waving one hand as emphasis of this point before continuing. "It's just...that room is haunted."
"What?" she yelped, grabbing onto Weiss' arm without thinking, dropping it like a hot coal when her partner let out a small 'eep' of surprise.
"Coco…" Velvet warned her leader, tapping the taller girl's arm lightly in a clear non verbal request to end the current topic of conversation.
But the damage had already been done. She looked at Weiss with pleading eyes, begging her partner to tell her that what Coco had just said was untrue.
Weiss turned away from her, instead.
"What do you mean it's haunted?" the heiress asked calmly, a hint of curiosity evident in the way Weiss crossed her arms and tilted her head to one side while waiting for a response.
"What do you think I mean? The last team living there had some really creepy stuff happen to them," Coco answered succinctly, glancing over her obscenely expensive sunglasses to level Weiss with a steady gaze.
If anyone was less than intimidated by Weiss' last name, it was Coco. But, the rumor going around school was that Coco was just as wealthy as Weiss - if not more so.
All unsubstantiated hallway talk, of course. No one was richer than her partner! Weiss was the richest partner she could possibly have!
Turning back to Velvet with wide eyes, she prayed that the girl would call Coco out for lying - surely Coco was just teasing her! Lots of people seemed to like doing that...just because she was "the most gullible girl in the school" or something like that...whatever "gullible" meant...
But Velvet turned away from her, refusing to make eye contact.
"They had some really scary stories…" the Faunus girl muttered unhappily, eyes glued to the door of the dining hall.
"Voices in the middle of the night...lights flickering for no reason at all...scratches appearing on the door as if someone had been trying to claw their way out…"
She could feel her heart racing faster and faster as Coco ran through the list, eyes widening with each successive story.
"But they graduated or transferred or died, I dunno, but I thought Beacon was going to close the room," Coco added, waving one hand flippantly through the air as if already disinterested in the conversation she herself had started. "Guess they figured it was safe to put some freshies in there."
Doing her best goldfish impression, she continued to stare as Coco turned away from them, placing one hand on Velvet's arm to draw the other girl with her.
"Anyway, we've got practice - see you kids later."
With a somber wave, she watched half of Team CFVY stroll away from them - as if they hadn't just dropped a bomb on top of her life.
A giant...haunted...bomb.
"Wha - Weisssss!" she cried, turning to find her partner was already walking back towards their room.
"She's just messing with you," the girl responded, pausing for a split second and motioning impatiently for her to catch up. "Now come on - we have homework to do."
Groaning as she was reminded of the twenty page paper she was somehow supposed to write on the Emerald Forest, she ran to catch up to her partner so they could walk back to their room together.
Their haunted room.
Haunted.
Room.
Remarkably, she managed to forget the conversation they'd had with Coco while Weiss was trying to help her organize her research paper - which, no matter how many outlines she created, never seemed to be good enough for her ultra meticulous partner.
But as soon as they'd decided it was time for lights out, the word 'haunted' came screaming back to the forefront of her mind.
Perched atop her bed, she watched anxiously as the rest of her teammates waited their turn to use the restroom and change into their pajamas.
She'd been first to get ready for bed - she always went first. Mostly because she was team leader! And it was the team leader's job to lead by example!
...but also because she was the fastest and no one could beat her to the door.
As Weiss slipped into the bed beneath hers and Blake laid down on her own bed across the room, she bit her lip, realizing that it was now or never if she wanted any hope of sleeping tonight. She really didn't want to be made fun of...but she also really wanted to sleep. So...Weiss and Blake would probably tease her later, but she had to do this.
For sleep!
Jumping down from her bed as soon as Yang strode through the bathroom door, she approached her sister hesitantly - which was immediately observed with a quirked eyebrow and curious smile.
"What's up, Rubles?"
The volume of Yang's question made her flinch involuntarily.
"Um…" she began softly, leaning a little closer in the hopes of not being overheard - which was a silly dream when they were standing right by Weiss' bed, Blake had an extra set of ultra sensitive ears, and Yang was...well, Yang. "Do you think...I could...maybe...sleep with you tonight?"
Yang blinked in surprise at her request - one which she hadn't made in years and years and years.
...ok, maybe it had been just a few months ago, but it was a lot less often than it used to be! And it wasn't her fault Night of the Living Grimm was so scary!
"What's wrong?" Yang immediately asked with a more concerned tone, eyes flicking across the room for a half second before coming back to her with a hint of a nurturing smile.
"I just...heard a scary story today and don't think I can sleep…" she muttered while shuffling her feet against the floor, feeling more and more embarrassed as she felt two extra pairs of eyes viewing their conversation with intense interest.
"Coco told her our room is haunted," Weiss clarified, shutting the magazine she'd been idly flipping through and placing it neatly on the table standing beside her bed.
Gaping for a second at her partner's lackadaisical divulgence of ultra sensitive information, she turned back to Yang to find her sister already giving her that slow nod of understanding taken straight out of Dad's repertoire.
"Ah, I get it...but you know that ghosts aren't real - right, Ruby?"
"Yeah, I know that!" she immediately replied - the words sounding much more assured than she actually felt. "But...it's just that Coco made it sound so scary!"
Claw marks on the door...who would claw at a door? A person wouldn't claw at a door, would they? It would have to be some sort of creature...unless the person was trapped in here...
Turning towards the door that led to the hallway, she could imagine it with deep, jagged gashes running all across the edge near the doorknob - bloody gashes, at that. Most likely dripping with the blood of the unsuspecting hunt-
Jumping when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder, she looked up to find her sister grinning down at her.
"Of course you can sleep with me, Ruby!" Yang said happily before leaning closer in order to whisper in her ear. "Let's just...try not to make it a habit, k?"
The grin that lit up her face quickly turned to confusion at the disgruntled noise that came from the bed beside them. Turning around, she was even more confused by a moderately flushed Weiss Schnee looking pointedly away from them, arms crossed tightly across her chest.
"Uh, got a problem there, Princess?" Yang asked, tone teasing and non combative - the very worst way to deal with Weiss, really, but Yang somehow seemed to always get away with it relatively unscathed.
"Well...yes, if you really must know," Weiss replied tersely, turning to lock clear blue eyes with Yang's violet. "I'm Ruby's partner now, so I think that...if anyone should be tasked with warding off nightmares, or ghosts, or goblins, or whatever, it should be me."
Her jaw dropped in surprise at the unexpected offer, turning in disbelief towards her sister only to find that Yang was sending a small smirk towards the heiress instead of any confusion.
But...she didn't really care whose bed she slept in - she just didn't want to be alone!
And, honestly, Weiss might be her preferred choice (if she'd known that her partner's space had even been an option). Yang was such a deep sleeper, she wasn't sure that a ghost attack would wake the girl up. Weiss, on the other hand, was a light sleeper - who would definitely wake up if something was clawing at their door.
At least...that was the hope.
"Thanks, Weiss!" she replied, feeling a wave of relief wash over her at how very generous her partner was.
And just think...it hadn't been that long ago that Weiss had been dragging her around by the hood of her cloak - now the girl was offering to ward off ghosts together! If that didn't mean they were absolutely, 100% best friends, then nothing else did. Because those who fight ghosts together...hopefully lived long lives of best friendom together!
When the girl barely tipped her chin in acceptance of Ruby's gratitude, she hopped over to Weiss' bed and wriggled underneath the covers her partner was holding up for her.
Normally it took her a few minutes to settle into the perfect sleeping position, shoving her bedding every which way in the effort to create the optimal balance of both mess and comfort. Her pillow normally ended up somewhere near her stomach, one blanket behind her and another crumpled up in a large ball to serve as a makeshift pillow.
If she wasn't forced to make her bed every morning (one of the 37 team rules that had resulted from the Great Heiress Tantrums of Week 3), it would take her no time at all to jump into bed and settle down. But noooo...she had to undo all of her hard work from the morning each and every night.
The entire process annoyed Weiss to no end, so when she laid down on Weiss' bed, she spun around just once - until she was facing the interior of the room - then did her best impression of one of those stone statues that look like people.
Mid-statue, Yang gave her a grin and a wink before climbing up onto her own bed across the room.
Yang always got her impressions.
Remaining as motionless as possible, she heard Weiss roll away from her, facing the opposite wall and moving to the very edge of the bed as if she had cooties or something. But...she'd grown out of her cooties years ago! She would have to remember to show Weiss the certificate Yang had given her when she was six...
Blake gave her a small smile across the middle of the room before the girl reached over and turned off the lights, plunging them into darkness - haunted darkness, mind you.
An insignificant amount of moonlight crept through the window - not enough to see by, but enough to make Blake's eyes glint unnaturally as the girl turned away from her and got underneath her own covers.
She remained frozen in bed all the while, not daring to move a muscle while her ears strained to pick up every bit of noise in the room. Mostly, she could only hear her teammates breathing, especially her partner sleeping behind her. Every so often, voices could be heard in the hallway - teams returning to their dorms from late practices, study sessions in the library, or (in Team JNPR's case) from trying to fish Crocea Mors out of the lake after Jaune let another Boarbatusk run away with it.
But aside from those few sounds, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. A normal night in the dorms of Beacon. Very much...ghost-less.
Accepting that there weren't any ghosts currently in their room, her mind was left free to wander to other subjects - settling upon the peacefully sleeping form of her teammate lying on the bed behind her.
For as much as people liked to call Weiss "ice queen" or "snow princess," the girl was actually surprisingly warm. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it was definitely much warmer beneath the covers than she would have thought!
Plus, Weiss had the softest blankets…
And whatever detergent Weiss used smelled heavenly - although, come to think of it, she'd never seen her partner do any laundry. How did Weiss clean her clothes then?
Maybe...probably...someone came to get them…?
Her eyes began to drift shut as she was enveloped in the warm, soft bed of her partner, mind struggling mightily to figure out when Weiss found the time to send her laundry away to be professionally cleaned…or...maybe...
Jolting awake an indeterminate amount of time later, her partially conscious mind immediately told her that something was amiss. There was a sound in the room - a sound she'd never heard before, a sound that wasn't supposed to be there.
Remaining motionless with her eyes firmly closed, she did her best to focus her ears while her still-groggy mind struggled to catch up with the sudden exit from the land of the unconscious.
But there was...something…
It sounded like...something eating? Chewing or nibbling on something...something...flesh like...with some kind of ripping noise every few seconds.
Although it was really difficult to hear over the pounding of her heart in her ears - pulse tripling in less than a second.
She didn't dare open her eyes to find the source of the noise, trying to breathe calmly while hoping, praying that the sound would just go away.
Yes, please go away, whatever ghost or…human eating demon you might be...
That noise...this was how she was going to die - she was certain of it now. After they finished ripping apart whatever human body part they were currently munching on, she would be next. She'd be devoured by the ghost of some evil Beacon student who'd died in this room.
Or maybe the ghosts of Grimm slayed by the previous residents - remaining behind to exact their revenge on innocent, innocent trainees who had hardly even had the chance to pile up a good bodycount by now.
Maybe...maybe it would eat her last?
Theoretically, she ate the most sweets on the team soooo...she should taste the sweetest, right? Which made her...dessert.
Or actually, maybe she would be so sweet, she could cause cavities...or diabetes! Yes, she would just make sure to...point that out...before being eaten?
Her train of thought was immediately derailed when, suddenly, the sound stopped.
Holding her breath, she tried in vain to hear what might be happening next. But there was nothing. Nothing but the sound of her heart pounding loudly in her ears.
That's when she felt it.
Like a warm breeze...somehow making its way underneath their door...or…
Something breathing.
Breathing on her cheek.
Every inch of her wanted to cry out - to wake up her teammates so they could...what? All get eaten at once?
No, she just needed to stay calm - pretend like she was still sleeping - take nice, slow breaths...while some evil creature stared down at her.
A few seconds later, the breathing moved away from her. And then...then there was nothing. At least, nothing that she could hear.
Had it left? Had it decided to move on for the night?
Maybe she actually was a diabetes inducing morsel?
Ha - she'd make sure to bring this up the next time her partner tried to limit her sugar intake! Only five cookies per day? Seriously - who could survive on that type of diet? (Apparently "everyone who's blood isn't made of glucose")
Refusing to open her eyes to confirm that the room was empty, she knew she probably wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon...
It was only when the room was finally beginning to lighten and Weiss was stirring beside her that she dared open her eyes - eyelids heavy with exhaustion. She hadn't been able to fall asleep after the...the "incident" as she had dubbed it in her mind. Instead, she'd remained awake through the night trying to think of anything but...the incident.
On the plus side, she'd managed to come up with about ten adjustments to make on Crescent Rose, five for Ember Celica, as well as a dozen new maneuvers she wanted to try in their next team practice.
She had not thought of a single reason why the Emerald Forest was "integral to the industrialization of Vale's textile industry." How the heck had Weiss already finished the entire paper?
Sitting up and stretching her arms over her head while letting out a big yawn, she glanced across the room towards her teammates' bunks to see if they were waking up yet.
That's when she saw it -
Shooting out of bed with a soft shriek of fear, she stared down at the floor in the middle of their room, pointing towards the evidence of whatever had been there during the night.
Clear as day, there were orange peels littering the floor, forming a perfect circle of mismatched pieces.
"Someone was here!"
Admittedly, she was slightly panicked by the realization that someone or something had actually been breathing on her face while she pretended to sleep. Of course, not any more panicked than a normal team leader...at the most prestigious academy on Remnant...specializing in training the most deadly and fearless huntsmen...would be.
"Oh - oh I heard it last night too…" she muttered, running her hands through her hair while pacing around the ghost remnants lying on the floor. "It was sitting right there eating in the middle of the night - it was right there! It could have eaten us too!"
When Weiss walked over to see what the commotion was about, she resisted the urge to run into the girl's arms - wanting nothing more than to be comforted at this moment. But she had to be strong. She was the team leader, after all! Team leaders shouldn't freak out about orange peels and crazy, psychotic ghosts coming to eat them in the middle of the night.
Although, if she wasn't allowed to freak out about this, what was she allowed to freak out about?
Yang and Blake had woken up by now, peering at the remnants of food on the floor as if they were unsure how to process stray orange peels accompanied by her itty bitty, tiny little flip out.
"Yang, this isn't funny," Weiss immediately said, stomping one foot on the ground for good measure. "Can't you see she's really scared?"
"What? I didn't do that!" Yang replied, hopping down to the ground and cracking her back - as always, easygoing in the face of Weiss' irritation.
"Yeah, right. This is exactly something you would do," the heiress replied with a scoff, in the meantime giving her a soft, reassuring pat on the back. "You're always playing immature pranks like this. She told you what Coco said and you thought it would just be the perfect opportunity to mess with her. Don't worry, Ruby - it was just your idiot sister trying to scare you."
"She didn't do it - she didn't wake up all night," Blake commented absentmindedly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before letting out a very cat-like yawn as she stood and stretched her back.
"What? How do you know that?"
Weiss' question caused Blake to freeze for a second, before the girl suddenly grew embarrassed and turned away from them - all while Yang's eyes widened in unconcealed surprise.
"Um...because...well…"
By now, her own curiosity was in overdrive as they all watched Blake struggle to come up with an answer. It wasn't very often that they got to see Blake lose that cool, collected exterior! It was...a little unsettling, actually.
"Because she…"
Finally at a complete loss, Blake let out a heavy sigh before mumbling towards her feet.
"Because she was in bed with me..."
Silence overtook the room while she and Weiss paused to digest that bit of news.
"What?" Weiss finally squeaked in a high pitched voice. "When did that happen?"
"Yang, were you scared too?"
She probably shouldn't be this happy to hear that her older sister had been scared, but...well...it was nice to know she wasn't the only one having nightmares for once! Plus, Yang was hardly scared of anything! So if Yang was scared, they should all be scared!
A sharp elbow landing in her rib cage caused her to let out a yelp of surprise, immediately derailing her hardly masked excitement at the most recent development.
"She wasn't scared, you dolt," Weiss hissed towards her, voice lowered as if they were suddenly having a private conversation in front of their teammates - which...didn't really make sense with Blake's ears… "They were...well, they are…"
Weiss' suddenly sputtering words only confused her further, as she looked back and forth between her rapidly blushing partner, still blushing Blake, and grinning older sister. There was something going on that she wasn't quite getting...
It wasn't until Yang slid one arm protectively around Blake's waist that she understood - the gesture one she'd only seen her sister do with her before.
Contrary to popular belief, she wasn't completely stupid when it came to this type of stuff! She had...well, one time she had taken a peek at one of Blake's…'special books'...the ones her teammate kept hidden in a suitcase underneath her bed.
It was just a glance though! She'd only read the first chapter and she made sure not to accidentally crease any of the pages!
She'd just been curious...
After a few more seconds of silence, Blake finally shrugged, trying to look nonchalant while still blushing profusely.
"She's really warm…" the girl mumbled.
"You mean I'm really hot," Yang corrected with a confident grin.
A wave of excitement finally appeared in her chest, unleashing itself as an elated squeal as she dashed forward to give Blake a huge hug.
"Blake, we're gonna be like sisters!" she cried out happily, causing both girls to widen their eyes in surprise.
"Woah, woah, woah there turbo," Yang replied with a nervous chuckle, forcefully pushing her away from a suddenly super embarrassed Blake. "Let's not get too attached just yet."
"Oh?" Blake instantly retorted, embarrassment vanishing in a flash. "And why shouldn't she get too attached?"
Yang's jaw dropped open - her sister doing the best impression of a goldfish gasping for air.
She and Yang were both really good at pretending to be goldfish. One day when they were little, Yang had made her practice for hours - making sure she could do it just right. Her sister had told her that that's the expression she should use whenever she was trying to stall for time in a conversation. Which was clearly what her sister was attempting to do right now.
"Back to the matter at hand!" she exclaimed in an effort to give her sister more time to come up with an answer. But dread reappeared as soon as she turned back towards the crime scene in the middle of their floor. "Well...if Yang didn't do it and...Blake didn't do it…"
She paused and looked at Blake for confirmation of that statement, the girl quickly shaking her head to say 'no.'
"And I didn't do it…"
As her words trailed off, the three of them slowly turned to look at the only other person remaining in the room.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," her partner said, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest and scowling back at them. "I would never partake in such a childish prank."
Conjuring orange-eating demons from the beyond to haunt their dorm room didn't really seem like a 'childish' prank, but...yeah, she could see what Weiss was trying to say.
"Ok, and Weiss didn't do it," she concluded, firmly believing what Weiss said to be true. Plus, the girl had been sleeping right beside her when it had happened!
...or had she?
She couldn't remember now if she'd been able to hear Weiss breathing at the time! But...she had to believe that Weiss was innocent! Because if it was just a prank (although she seriously doubted so), Yang would be the most likely culprit.
"If it wasn't any of us, then...who was it?"
She waited for a few seconds, hoping that one of her teammates would have a logical answer to her question. But when they did nothing but look at each other blankly, she finally wailed, "Our room is hauntedddddd!"
"By a ghost who loves oranges, apparently," Yang muttered, seeming rather unconcerned by the citrus peels littering the ground, and even less concerned when Blake grabbed her hand and pulled the blonde towards the bathroom.
At the same moment, Weiss walked over to the dresser to begin organizing her notebooks for the school day, mind clearly moving on to 'more important' topics.
Apparently, no one cared about being eaten by a ghost but her.
Unfortunately, it seemed that living in a haunted room and getting no sleep seriously impacted her...usually stellar...ability to pay attention in class. Along with the lack of focus, her eyes just refused to stay open for longer than a few minutes at a time. The end result - Weiss had caught her nodding off a few times over the course of the day - nine times, to be exact.
She knew it was nine times from the nine little black dots imprinted in the back of her right hand - where her partner had, very thoughtfully, jabbed the tip of a pen in order to wake her.
Other than the near stabbings, it seemed like Weiss was taking pity on her today - offering to let her copy the notes she'd missed and even complimenting the drawing of Myrtenaster she'd done while struggling to keep herself awake during Professor Port's lecture.
Her partner hadn't so much appreciated the second drawing she'd done...concept art upgrading Myrtenaster from a mere saber to a saber combined with a high powered, long distance revolver.
How can a revolver be long distance, you ask?
Simple!
The blade of Myrtenaster could be used as a type of extended barrel - allowing the bullet to travel a straight path even after being fired for increased accuracy (not to mention the potential ability to bend the bullet's flight path!). The existing Dust chambers needed little alteration to be outfitted with several more slots. Add on a Dust-enhanced firing pin for even more velocity and -
Well, the response to her newest creation had been...uh, somewhat chilly at best. She probably hadn't explained the bullet bending potential well enough...
She hadn't dared mention that she actually could make these changes. Uncle Qrow had taught her how!
Maybe that could just be a surprise for Weiss' birthday…
'Hey partner, your weapon is now two weapons in one! Not to mention, you can shoot around corners (probably) - how neat is that?'
Maybe she could fit a revolver into Crescent Rose, too...then they could be twins!
That was for a different day though, since today she was too sleepy to even pull her tools out from the closet.
She'd been disappointed when she hadn't been able to find Velvet at dinner - wanting to ask some more questions regarding their haunted room - but that hardly seemed to matter now that the day had finally ended and her exhaustion threatened to overcome her.
Somewhat miraculously, she'd been able to convince Weiss to let her eat an extra set of cookies with dinner - making the argument that this could very well be her last night to live, since, ya know...haunted room and such.
She hadn't mentioned the whole "diabetic ghost" theory as a supplemental reason for the extra sugar intake.
It was funny how their room didn't seem to be haunted while she was awake. It was almost as if the ghost was trying to lure her into a sense of security…
Well, not going to happen! She was going to remain as...as insecure as possible until this whole thing was resolved!
It was with this mentality that she'd managed to write a tiny fraction of her paper before giving up and pulling out her things to get ready for bed - this time only after everyone else had already used the restroom, trying to delay sleep for as long as possible.
When she walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, she realized that she wasn't sure if she would be allowed to sleep with Weiss again or if that had just been a one time offer. And as she watched Yang hop right into bed beside Blake, the blonde muttering something about how happy she was that she didn't have to keep jumping in and out of her bed anymore, she knew that Yang's bed would be an equally lonely option.
She was happy for her sister, she really was! But in this situation, Yang being happy did very little to help her - outside of that general bubbly feeling in her stomach she always had when seeing her sister happy, of course. Bubbles don't help fight monsters, though!
"Ruby."
Turning towards the source of her name, she found that her partner had already scooted over to the far side of the bed and was pushing the covers back for her.
"You can sleep with me again, if you want."
She resisted the urge to squeal in relief at the offer - Weiss having just saved her from impending doom.
Best partner ever!
"Thanks, Weiss!" she said happily in acceptance of the offer, walking over and carefully clambering into bed beside her partner, once again extra mindful to not mess up the covers like she would in her own bed.
Tonight, Weiss didn't immediately roll away from her, allowing them to look at each other closely across the middle section of the bed. She'd never really noticed before, but Weiss' eyes were so blue. It was like looking at a piece of the clearest, prettiest ice.
…maybe that's how everyone came up with the name 'ice princess?'
Oh! That made so much sense! They weren't saying that Weiss was cold - they were saying that she had ice blue eyes! And being so wealthy, Weiss kinda was like a real princess!
Then that really wasn't such a bad nickname, after all! So why did Weiss hate it so much…?
"Are you ok...with teammates dating?" the girl whispered towards her, voice hardly above a murmur in hopes that Blake wouldn't overhear.
"Sure! Why wouldn't I be?" she answered without hesitation to the unusual question.
She'd never really thought it was her job to decide those types of things for her teammates, especially when her older sister was involved. Besides, what harm could come of it?
"Well...because they could have an argument, or break up, or otherwise destroy our ability to function as a team," Weiss responded, looking more and more worried with each breath.
"Or they could fall in love and work together even better than they do now!" she replied happily, just barely catching a soft 'hmm' of approval from across the room.
Blake's ears were way too sensitive, sometimes.
"Besides," she continued, trying to lower her voice even further, knowing that Blake would probably still hear her clear as day. "I know Yang...and she would have never let it get past flirting if she wasn't serious. And she might act like she doesn't care, but she really does. She wouldn't risk hurting the team...or Blake's feelings."
Weiss bit her lip at that last comment, seeming to accept the words she'd just said.
It made her feel special, that Weiss would talk to her like this now. Their partnership had certainly started off...rocky...but now they were closer than close - the best of teammates! And, she could imagine that there were very few people, if any, who were allowed to see Weiss as anything but the determined, headstrong girl she portrayed to be.
But there seemed to be something else Weiss wanted to ask - her partner opening and closing her jaw several times before finally speaking again.
"So...as long as they're sure, you're...not against teammates dating, right? You would be...open to it?"
"Yup!" she answered, nodding her head. "And I'm sure they're sure!"
When she giggled at her words, Weiss looked a little less worried.
But she decided to make extra sure her partner felt better. That was her job as team leader, right?
"So Weiss, you could date someone too! Although, it looks like I might be your only option left on this team!" she added with another giggle. Because...her and Weiss...the thought made her giggle a little harder. There was noooo way -
"Oh. Right, and that would be…"
Weiss stopped speaking when they heard a small cough - or maybe a scoff - from across the room. Craning her neck around towards Blake, she found the girl smiling at her while stretching towards the lamp.
As she turned back to Weiss, the lights finally clicked off - making her jolt in surprise.
"You can wake me up, if you get scared," Weiss concluded quickly before rolling over, again facing away from her.
But tonight, her partner wasn't sleeping at the very edge of the bed - the two of them close enough to accidentally bump elbows during the night.
Temporarily reassured that she could wake Weiss up if there was another orange buffet in the middle of their room, she rolled onto her own side and closed her eyes - exhaustion finally claiming her.
Another night in their haunted room...hopefully it would be uneventful.
But of course, it wasn't. Why would it be? They lived in a haunted room, after all - not some regular, run-of-the-mill dorm room.
She woke up gradually this time, remembering to keep her eyes closed lest she suddenly find herself staring into the blood orange eyes of a soul devouring demon. With her eyes shut, she could tell that it was very dark in the room - likely still the middle of the night. But after not hearing the ripping sounds of flesh (or citrus), she couldn't figure out what had woken her up.
It was only after several more seconds of listening that she heard it - her ears identifying a sound that was immediately relaxing in its familiarity.
Running water - from the faucet in their bathroom.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she felt her muscles loosen ever so slightly as she snuggled back into Weiss' extraordinarily comfortable sheets.
No big deal, Blake or Yang got up to use the restroom. They'd be done soon and then she could fall back to sleep.
Meanwhile...maybe Weiss had an extra pair of sheets that she could borrow...she'd just have to promise to keep them in perfect shape and...oh, Weiss would never let her eat on her bed then. That would be a bummer...
The water ran for awhile longer while she listened - a little too long, actually…
If it was someone washing their hands or brushing their teeth, they should have been done long ago.
Deciding to risk it, she opened one eye just a crack, waiting impatiently while her vision adjusted to the darkness of the room. Thankfully, a little more moonlight was filtering through the window than last night, allowing her to take a look at the bed on the other side of the room.
Underneath the blankets on Blake's bed, she could just barely make out Blake's sleeping form...and Yang's arm wrapped around the girl's waist on top of the blankets.
And Weiss was…
Pausing for a second to listen, she could pick out Weiss' slow, steady breathing from the bed right behind her.
They were all here. Everyone was in bed and no one was in the restroom. And yet...the water still ran.
Maybe one of them had gotten up earlier and forgotten to turn the water off before going back to sleep?
It seemed unlikely, but if someone was tired enough, they could make that mistake...
If that was the case, she should really go turn it off before they wasted anymore water.
Or, uh, maybe Weiss would go turn it off for her…
Reaching backwards on the bed, she felt around until she found her partner's hand. Giving Weiss' soft hand a gentle squeeze, the girl began stirring as she woke from her sleep.
"Weiss," she whispered softly - as quietly as she possibly could, not daring to roll around in order to see the girl.
Weiss mumbled something incoherent as the girl shifted in bed.
"Weiss, I think someone left the water on…" she whispered, squeezing the girl's hand again.
And then the water stopped.
Instantly freezing, she suddenly realized that Weiss was very much not freezing as the girl continued to move around in the bed, still in the midst of waking up. Spinning around at lightning speed, she quickly wrapped her partner in a tight bear hug so as to prevent her from making anymore noise.
"Wh-?"
"Shh!" she whispered directly into Weiss' ear, trying to remain as still as possible while her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.
Hopefully they hadn't made too much noise. They hadn't made too much noise, had they?
It was hard to tell. And the thudding in her ears made it extremely difficult to hear anything!
But...the water had turned off. How had it turned off on its own?
Thankfully, Weiss was remaining super still - feeling quite stiff in her arms while they listened for any sounds in the room.
There were none. At least, not that she could hear. But the water had turned off! How?
A few minutes of nothing later, she loosened the death grip she had on her partner, but only modestly so.
"I...heard the water running…" she whispered. "But...now it's gone…"
With a sigh, Weiss used one hand to awkwardly pat her back twice before pushing quickly out of her grasp.
"You should go back to sleep," her partner remarked softly, a thin veil of pity visible in the tiny glint of pale blue she was able to see.
"But I swear -"
"I know, Ruby," Weiss replied, reaching down and grasping one of her hands lightly in order to cut off the argument before it began. "We'll figure it out in the morning...maybe a pipe burst and our bathroom is flooded with water."
She opened her mouth to say it hadn't sounded like a burst pipe, but Weiss' eyes were already closed - her partner likely on the express train back to dreamland.
But, their hands were still clasped together, and Weiss was facing her now. It made her feel a little better, being able to look at her partner's calm, sleeping face - the girl clearly not at all worried by the random sounds that had been occurring in the middle of the night.
With a sigh, she settled back into the bed, ears still on high alert for any sound of movement.
If she was going to be ripped from bed by some huntress eating monster, at least the peaceful image of her amazing partner would be the last thing she'd see...
Apparently, staring at someone sleeping for long enough forced her to fall asleep as well. The room was already light when she finally woke up to the feeling of movement on the bed she was sleeping in. Cracking one eye open, she found Weiss standing up, moving to the dressers for a change of clothes.
When she moved to push the covers off of her to follow, Weiss turned towards her suddenly, eyes widening in surprise before the girl turned away just as quickly.
"Good morning, Ruby…" her partner mumbled softly before making a beeline towards the bathroom.
"Weiss -" she whined as she watched the girl go - not knowing exactly what might be in store for her partner behind that door after the happenings of last night.
But Weiss didn't pause...and stepped into the bathroom a second later.
Holding her breath, she waited...for what? She didn't know. A scream, perhaps? But the seconds ticked by and nothing happened.
Maybe there was nothing lurking in the bathroom, after all.
Deciding that the coast was clear, she popped out of bed and stretched both arms above her head while watching Blake and Yang begin to wake on the other side of the room.
Blake...wasn't really a morning person - something they'd learned within the first few seconds of their very first morning in this room. Contrary to how put-together the girl looked when falling asleep, Blake woke with her hair going every which way, looking as if she'd just walked through a tornado. And their Faunus partner always woke with a serious case of the yawns - the girl's entire appearance very much resembling that of a cat just woken from its nap (a comparison which secretly tickled Yang and her pink).
Yang, on the other hand, was quite the morning person. Which was a little ironic because most people thought her sister would be the type to wake up sometime in the afternoon - needing the extra sleep after spending the entire night partying.
Well, sometimes Yang did that! But on a regular day, her sister woke up unusually fast - sporting a huge grin even faster at the sight of Blake's tangled mess of hair.
But her teammate's waking habits were the least of her concerns, right now.
"Hey, did either of you get up to use the bathroom last night?" she asked as Blake crawled slowly out of bed, with Yang already stretching on the other side.
"I didn't wake up the whole night," her sister answered mid-stretch, arms raised high above her head.
"Me neither..." Blake replied, words slightly marred by the ginormous yawn that slipped out at the same moment. Only after the yawn had subsided did Blake give her a curious expression.
"Why?"
The blood drained from her cheeks at their answers, having hoped that maybe one of the girls was somehow behind the mysterious faucet.
"Becauseeee!" she wailed unhappily, "I heard the faucet running for a really long time last night! But then it just turned off and I was hoping it was one of you two -"
She stopped talking when she heard the bathroom door open, spinning towards it in hopes that Weiss would announce that their faucet was broken or something.
But instead Weiss shook her head, causing her throw her hands in the air while turning back to her sister.
"Blake, shouldn't you be hearing this stuff too?" Weiss asked curiously while placing her neatly folded pajamas onto her pillow. "Your ears are better than all of ours combined."
Turning back to Blake, for a second she was hopeful that maybe the Faunus had heard something too. That was, until Blake blushed and turned away from them.
"I don't wake up easily when I'm really...comfortable…" she replied softly, the answer only succeeding in making Yang grin like mad.
"And she's super comfy when she's all warm and snuggly!"
"Well...maybe tonight she needs to be less warm and 'snuggly,'" Weiss replied forcefully, her response putting a major dent in Yang's smile.
"What? No way! Why?"
"So that someone else can hear what Ruby's hearing!" her partner responded hotly. "And then we can all go back to getting a full night's sleep."
Yang turned to pout at Blake, but the Faunus girl merely shrugged her shoulders, raising one hand to hide another yawn.
"It's just for one night…"
Accepting the response with an exaggerated sigh, Yang grabbed a pair of clothes from her dresser drawer and stomped her way towards the bathroom. Before she got there, however, she stopped and took a few steps towards their bedroom door.
"Uh...didn't you lock this?" her sister asked, tapping the handle of the door in order to draw their attention to it. As she looked more closely, she saw that the door hadn't been pushed far enough shut - resulting in it being partially latched.
"I always lock it," Blake answered while walking quickly over to look at it, now looking a little worried herself.
While Blake continued to play with the lock, Yang placed both hands on her hips and turned towards Weiss.
"Ok, Weiss - that's seriously not cool."
"What?"
"I mean, I was all aboard with your little scheme to get Ruby to sleep in your bed, but you can't just leave our door open in the middle of the night! Who knows who could have snuck in while we were sleeping."
"That wasn't me!" Weiss denied shrilly, words of denial only succeeding in making Yang huff in disbelief.
"Then tell whoever you coerced into helping you to close the door when they leave!"
"What?" she broke in, confused more than anything else at the argument that was occurring, but the two girls continued to ignore her.
"I am not behind this you - you colossal oaf!" Weiss snapped. "I would never resort to such behavior just to get Ruby to -"
Weiss' words cut off mid sentence, eyes flitting Ruby's way before returning to the door, crossing her arms firmly across her chest.
"It's not me," the girl finished defiantly, face now flushed red with anger.
Sensing the tense mood in the room, she stepped forward and waved her hands in the air so that they would finally pay attention to her.
"Ooook, no need to argue! I don't think it's any of you!" she said, "Well, except maybe Blake."
"Hey!"
She grinned at the girl, who immediately relaxed when she realized that it was just a joke.
Weiss and Yang also seemed slightly less hostile - at the very least ending their argument in order to turn back to her.
"Then who left the door open?" Yang asked, directly the question a little more towards Weiss than towards her.
But for the rest of them, there was no answer to be found for that question. She had no idea who could have walked into their room through their locked door, only to use their faucet and leave without even closing the door behind them.
"Yup, we're being haunted," her sister concluded after several seconds of silence, turning towards Blake with an expression of concern.
Letting out a squeak of terror, she broke their room rules and used her semblance to blast over to Weiss' side, hugging her partner tightly while burying her face in the girl's uniform.
Give her Grimm - hordes of them - and she wouldn't blink an eye. But the idea of something she couldn't slice in half? That was the scariest thing on the planet.
That night, much to her surprise, Yang hardly grumbled when she was forced out of Blake's bed and into her own. In fact, her sister had even offered for Ruby to sleep with her that night.
But Weiss had kind of pouted about that again...plus, her partner had way better blankets and didn't heat the bed up like an oven, so...she found herself in Weiss' bed once more.
Tonight, she felt much better about everything. Blake was going to be able to hear even more than she could - so she knew at least someone was going to witness...whatever it was that was almost certainly going to happen.
Because...their room was haunted, after all. Something was bound to happen.
When Weiss hesitantly took one of her hands again, she smiled at her partner - extremely grateful that Weiss had tried to help her through this and stuck up for her when Blake and Yang thought she was crazy.
It was with thoughts of crystal blue eyes on her mind that she drifted into a restless sleep once more.
And, once again, she was woken hours later by the sound of something moving. Eyes closed, she tried to pinpoint the source of the noise. It almost sounded like it was coming from somewhere above her...
Holy bajeezus...it was in her bed!
That was the sound of covers moving right over her head. She could hear it clearly now - the rustling continuing for a few seconds before stopping, only to start up again a few seconds later.
Opening her eyes a fraction of an inch, she found herself staring into glinting amber; Blake already wide awake with eyes trained above her head. The girl was staring so intently...could Blake see what was up there?
Reaching her hand ever so slowly behind her back, she searched for Weiss' hand in order to wake her partner up.
That's when the sound of a large thump filled the room as a figure - nothing more than a black shadow in the darkness - suddenly appeared on the floor directly in front of her, making a growling noise as it reached out to grab her.
So she did what any leader of a team of huntresses-in-training would do under the circumstances…
She screamed bloody murder - blasting over to the table where she kept Crescent Rose and unlocking the weapon in a heartbeat. The scythe was far too large to wield accurately in such a small space, but the sniper should still do the trick.
While the rifle was clicking into place, she heard Weiss scream - her partner waking up only to find the creature now reaching towards her. A glyph went off without warning, blinding in the low light of their room - but it threw the monster into the frame of Blake's bed, while Blake shot up to the top bunk in a cloud of shadows.
Blake's appearance in her bed woke Yang up in a hurry - the girl all but falling out of the top bunk in her haste and landing directly on top of the...thing - whatever it was.
With her sister now entangled with the creature, she couldn't get a shot off without risking hitting Yang on accident. But when Yang realized she was lying on top of something, she jumped to her feet and did what she did best - punched it in the...hopefully face area.
The shadow collapsed to the ground with a yelp of pain, clutching its head with one hand.
"Yang, back away!" she shouted to her sister, finally finding her opening to fire a shot.
As the blonde dove away from the middle of the room, she took aim down the sight of the weapon, knowing that the sound of the gun in this enclosed space would likely deafen them for a few minutes after firing. But...girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta...
"Woah woah! Ruby, stop!"
She blinked as artificial light suddenly flooded the room, turning to find the hallway door wide open and someone running inside.
"Velvet?"
"Don't shoot her!"
Turning back towards the monster, who turned out to be just a figure in a mask in the light, she watched as Coco pulled off the black face mask and grinned at them - the shiner on her left eye already beginning to swell.
"Gonna shoot me, Lil' Red?" the girl asked, posture daring her to try. "Nice scream, by the way."
"Wh...what?" she asked in utter shock, having absolutely no idea how to handle the sudden change in circumstances. Just three seconds ago, she'd been fully prepared to launch a barrage of high caliber bullets into the ghost that had been haunting her the past few nights…now she was being taunted in her own room by an upperclassman who probably thought her name was literally 'Lil' Red.'
"What are you doing in here?" she finally demanded, folding Crescent Rose up but not setting the weapon down.
"Just having a little fun…"
She frowned at the answer, watching Weiss cross her arms in irritation while Blake and Yang exchanged curious glances - Blake still crouched on top of Yang's bed.
"Uh, guys…"
They turned towards the hallway at the male voice, where the two remaining members of Team CFVY were gesturing hastily towards their teammates. But before anyone had moved a muscle, a sharp breeze blew into the room - sharp and cold, leaving her with goosebumps as Professor Goodwitch suddenly appeared behind Fox and Yatsuhashi.
"Team CFVY, Team RWBY, come with me."
Flinching at the woman's tone, she waited silently for her teammates to join her as they trekked sullenly out the door behind Team CFVY to follow the professor. She still had no idea what was going on, her heart still racing as adrenaline slowly left her system.
As they walked through the hallway, she noticed doors closing as the other teams tried to avoid being caught awake at this hour.
Apparently, their late night antics had awoken some, or all, of their neighbors.
Before too long, they found themselves in Professor Goodwitch's office - both teams standing in front of the woman's desk.
She was standing with her team in a small group on the left - each of them still clad only in their pajamas - Blake the most alert of them all, while Yang was still rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Coco was standing right beside her with the rest of her team, all dressed in head to toe dark clothing. As usual, Coco was poised in the face of danger - danger taking the form of the visibly annoyed Professor Goodwitch pacing in front of them.
"Miss Adel - care to explain yourself?" the woman demanded, leveling Coco with a steely gaze.
"It was just a little prank, Professor," the girl responded cordially, still wearing a bit of a smirk.
"Miss Rose?"
Glancing to the side, where her teammates were all waiting for her response, she quickly turned back to Professor Goodwitch.
"Just a prank, Professor," she answered.
No need to get into the whole ordeal with a teacher…
Professor Goodwitch scowled lightly, but in the end just shook her head.
"Team CFVY - being out in the halls at this hour - breaking into another team's room and pulling some...prank on them is unacceptable behavior. You'll have detention for the next week. And give me the key to their room."
She stared in surprise as Coco calmly pulled a key from her front pocket and placed it on the desk with a soft tap.
How did Coco have a key to their room?
"So, what have we learned from all this?" Professor Goodwitch asked with a loud sigh - the woman clearly just as tired as they were from being woken in the middle of the night.
"Not to listen to Coco," Velvet stated, her other two team members silently nodding in agreement.
"Not to scare Team RWBY," Coco replied, turning to give her and her team a grin - one eye now nearly completely swollen shut.
"That Ruby really is the most gullible girl in school," Weiss muttered forlornly.
"That ghosts aren't real!" she quipped happily, grateful that the mystery had finally been solved.
"That's what you think," Coco immediately said, throwing a wink her way.
"Coco!" multiple people shouted at once, with Velvet slapping the girl on the shoulder.
With another sigh, Professor Goodwitch opened the door behind them with nothing more than a wave of her hand and gestured for them to leave.
"Shamelessly breaking the rules won't be tolerated for very long, Miss Adel. Go back to your rooms, all of you - and let's not do this again."
With that, the eight of them filed quickly out of the office - even Coco knowing better than to dawdle in the woman's presence and risk receiving more punishment or beration.
"Hope you guys aren't too upset - it's just a tradition, well, more like ritual - of the room," Coco said nonchalantly as they entered the hallway outside of Professor Goodwitch's office. "The same thing was done to us when we lived there."
"Coco nearly cried when we found the claw marks," Velvet added, raising one hand in front of her mouth to hide a small giggle as her team leader glared at her for divulging top secret information.
"Damn bear Faunus ripping up our door…" the girl muttered under her breath, scowling at the memory.
"Anyway," Velvet continued, patting Coco tenderly on the shoulder. "You four have to continue the ritual next year, otherwise the real ghost of Room 517 will come back to haunt you."
"What? R-real ghost?" she stammered.
Just when she'd thought all that torment was behind her….
"Yeah, the girl who died in the room decades ago. Apparently if you don't prank the new inhabitants of the room, she comes back and drags you away to her lair in the forest and feeds you to her pet Grimm," Coco answered easily, having gotten over her temporary embarrassment quite quickly. "Anyway, good luck with that!"
Snapping her fingers authoritatively, the girl spun on one heel and walked off towards the dorms for the upperclassmen - but not before stopping to give them one more brilliant grin.
"Nice punch, by the way."
Yang beamed at the compliment while Team CFVY disappeared around the next corner, leaving them standing in the hall alone. It was only then that she turned slowly towards her own team - mouth still hanging open in shock over what had just been explained to them.
"I...uh…" she began to say, but...she had no words!
"I think we were just cursed," Weiss finished for her, eyebrows furrowed in thought.
Whyyyyy? Why? Why them? They were good people! With long lives to live!
Letting out a sigh, she turned back towards their own dorm room, which was apparently literally haunted. Of course, Yang was excited - bounding along with much more energy now that she'd learned of the real curse.
"Oh man, it's gonna be so sweet to pull our own prank next year! We should start planning now!"
"What are you thinking you'll do...burn down the room?" Blake teased.
"No...but with you on our team...those freshies won't know what hit them!" Yang said triumphantly. "Just imagine...the room grows deathly cold from Weiss' ice - shadows are creeping around the room, always staying just out of sight - and then a blast of air shoots through, going straight out the window and disappearing! That'd scare the hell out of me."
"Sounds great, but you weren't involved in that little scenario at all," Weiss stated as they strolled through the empty halls - all the other teams now fast asleep.
"Aren't you guys...just a little nervous about the whole 'dead girl will haunt you for the rest of your lives' thing?" she asked hesitantly.
"Naw…" her sister responded at the same time Blake shook her head.
Frowning at the replies, she opened their dorm room door and walked inside - finding the interior in the same state of disarray they'd left it in.
Blake and Yang immediately hopped into Blake's bed - Yang still chattering happily about the pranks they could pull on the poor occupants of this room next year. For her part, she just looked at her bed unhappily, not at all relieved to know that they still had the potential to be haunted at any moment.
"Hey, are you still scared?"
Turning towards the soft question, she found Weiss looking at her in concern.
When she nodded her head, Weiss nodded too, as if the girl had expected that answer.
"You can still sleep in my bed...I mean, if you're really worried about the ghost of Asper Bardell and all..."
Grinning at the offer, she gave Weiss a big smile and nod before trailing the girl towards the bottom bunk. Sliding into Weiss' bed just as she'd done the prior two nights, she realized that it was feeling more and more comfortable to do so! Who would have ever thought that she would feel comfortable sleeping in her partner's bed? Certainly not her.
As Weiss settled underneath the covers beside her, she was forced to acknowledge a nagging thought that refused to keep tugging at the edge of her mind.
"Weiss - how did you know the girl's name? I don't think Coco mentioned it..."
As her voice trailed off, she tried to remember if Coco had said the name aloud. It wasn't as if she had the best memory, after all...
"O-oh, well, I had actually heard of a girl at Beacon by that name who passed away years ago. I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I thought that must have been what Coco was referring to..." Weiss immediately replied.
She let out a sigh as sleep threatened to claim her, mind easily accepting the explanation.
Weiss was super smart. The smartest. If there was anyone who would already know this little known fact about Beacon's past, it would be her partner.
She had the most clever partner in all of Beacon, after all!
It was with this thought that she finally closed her eyes, confident that she would now be able to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.
At least the mystery had been solved, right?