Prompt - Two characters share an unlikely hobby. This is one of their meet-ups.


Short Circuit


Saturdays at Beacon were generally a time for some much needed R&R. To the surprise of no one, a full week of classes, battling until exhaustion, and late night homework sessions took a toll on the students. No matter how hard they worked to better themselves, they were still teenagers and young adults. Sleeping in could sometimes be as useful as the extra protein served in the cafeteria on combat class days.

That being said, sleep was not for everyone. Despite the allure, some students preferred unwinding and relaxing in a far more… energetic manner.


Deep within the Emerald forest, far away from their sleeping teammates and the cozy confines of their beds, Ruby and Nora arrived at their destination. It was a small clearing in the forest with just a small hut standing in the middle. The little wooden cabin was crude, but stable. Chopping down trees had been easy enough for Crescent Rose, and hauling the fallen trunks of the tall trees had made for a solid morning workout for Nora.

Outside from the leftover stumps surrounding their little house, the area was perfect for their hobby.

"Sooooo… Whatcha got for us?" Nora asked with a smile. "Please tell me you got some fun stuff for us this week!"

Ruby hoisted up a little sack with the Schnee Dust Company logo printed on the side. "I might've gotten something…" She teased. "You're just gonna have to wait!'

Nora pouted at her friend, but bounded forward towards the hut with the same energy she had all throughout the hike. "Fine! Quit teasing and let's open that puppy up!" She pulled on the roughly made plank door, only to have it fall over onto the grass and shatter into a heap of scorched splinters. "Oh… We should've probably fixed that from last time…"

Ruby stepped past the mixture of ash and blackened wood. "Yeah… We'll do that later!" She made her way into the cabin and to the single piece of furniture in the entire cramped space, a makeshift wooden table. Nora watched with wide eyes as Ruby gently sent the sack down onto the table and began pulling out its contents.

"Ohhh! More fire! AWEEEESOME!" Nora cheered in delight. Every time Ruby reached into the sack and grabbed another dust crystal Nora would shake in a new form of heightened anticipation.

Ruby stopped unloading the sack and turned to the visibly shaking Nora. "Nora! You're getting too close! You know the rules!" The silver-eyed girl spoke with a sudden harsh tone.

Nora sighed and reached over to grab the single decoration of the cabin from its spot on the wall. The little pamphlet slid off its nail right by where the door to the cabin once stood. She opened it up, reading off the 'rules'.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust application and practices in the field." Nora tried her best to read it as quickly as she could. Her voice raising higher and higher as the air in her lungs failed to return between words.

Ruby watched her with an annoyed look. "Nora… That's what Weiss is forced to say so we don't sue." She reached a hand over the pamphlet titled 'Dust for Dummies' and pointed to the section with 'Rules' written across the top.

Nora groaned as she read rule number one. "Handle with care. Dust is very volatile and may explode."

Ruby nodded and turned back towards the bag to finish taking out the last few dust crystals. "Uh huh! I've already blown up once this semester! I would like to never do that again!"

Nora let out an overly exaggerated sigh. "But the explosions are the best part…"

Ruby pointed to the destroyed door. "Explosions are not for in the cabin!"

Nora crossed her arms and huffed. "Finnnnneeee…"

A few moments passed as Ruby prepared the last of the crystals. "Okay. I think that's all of them…" She said as she viewed the collection on the table. "Which one should we try first?"

Nora scanned the contents and found a crystal that glowed in a bright blue. "Ooo… I like this one!" She reached over a waved it triumphantly over her head. "Alright Ruby, time for experiment number one!"

Ruby took the crystal out of Nora's hands and got to work adding bits and pieces of it to her spare 50 caliber rounds. When the dust was successfully installed, she began the process of loading up a magazine full of the glowing ammunition. With a simple pull of Crescent Rose's bolt handle, the first of the round slid into place. "Alright." Ruby said with a confident smile. "Experiment one is ready!"

Nora jumped into the air in excitement and raced outside of the cabin with Ruby following right behind her. Nora continued skipping off a fair distance while Ruby drove Crescent Rose into one of the many nearby stumps. Nora eventually made it to what she considered a 'safe' distance and cupped her hands over her mouth. "Alright! Com'on! Gimme your best shot!"

Ruby grinned and put her eye to her weapon's scope. "Get ready!" She yelled out. "Here it comes!"

Ruby pulled the trigger and the electric dust round launched out towards her red-headed friend. The dust sparked from the friction in the air sending out jolts of electricity across the large metal round. Nora watched with wide eyes as it screamed through the air towards her.

"Ahhhh!" Nora screamed out as the round made contact in her torso. Her body instantly flew backwards and into the tree line.

Ruby quickly folded her weapon and sprinted to Nora. "Nora! Nora! Are you okay! What happened? Is your aura okay?!"

Nora groaned from her spot on the forest floor. Her hand clenched. Her fingers digging into the dirt with ease. "That… felt… AMAZING!"

Ruby watched with wide silver eyes as Nora leap into the air in front of her. Pink lightning flowed around her in erratic zaps and her normally bright blue eyes sparked just a little bit more than usual. "Nora?" Ruby whispered. "Are you… okay?"

Nora punched the air. "I feel amazing! Lightning dust is AWESOME! SOOOO much better than that fire stuff that burnt my hair!"

Ruby continued to watch her friend in amazement. This dust weapon upgrade to Crescent Rose actually helped Nora? The whole point of their experiments was to do more damage. The whole thing was so crazy that Ruby let out a small laugh.

Nora heard her friends giggles and couldn't help but snicker herself. The whole thing was crazy! She knew she could channel lightning, but this? A full out laugh escaped, only for Ruby's to join it. The two fell to the forest floor laughing together more than they had in weeks.

"We have to tell the others!" Nora squeaked out before falling into another fit of laughter.

"But how?" Ruby asked behind a snicker. "What are we gonna do? Tell Weiss we stole her dust again?"

Nora lifted a hand in the air. "We'll tell them I got struck by lightning again! It's so crazy, they'll have to believe it!' The two fell into yet another fit of laughter as they thought up what their teammates would say when they heard the tall tale.

Yes, their friends would think they were crazy, but crazy wasn't so bad. It was the weekend after all, a time for rest and relaxation. With the lives they lived, sometimes the best way to unwind was to celebrate and let loose with just a bit of craziness.


Author's Notes

Hello Everyone! Long time no post!

It's been a nice long while since I updated this short story collection and I wanted to apologize for that. Since my last entry I have written about eight short stories that I mean to upload, I just haven't been able to with work getting in the way.

That said, I am starting back up with this bit of fun with Ruby and Nora. After writing a lot of drama in my spare time, I felt the need to have just a little bit of fun with this one and I hope you enjoyed.

Now's the part where I ask you for something! Yes you, lovely reader! Since starting this story collection earlier this year, I have written roughly 65 short stories, 49 of which are posted on here. With the end of the year coming up, I was hoping to hear what each of your favorite stories were throughout the year. The first reason for this is to see what you all are looking to read. The second reason is because there is a contest being held in the community that I write these short stories for and I would like to enter my very best entry into the mix! So your feedback is very much appreciated.

So whether you liked Ilia and Weiss being useless when Ilia meets Blake's friends (My most read chapter to date), or you've enjoyed my take on what would happen if Summer Lived and Tai Died (An AU which I have a 10,000 word story started up for), let me know in a PM or a review!

As always, thank so much for reading! I hope you all have had a wonderful year! I'll be sure to update this with more of my stories soon!

~Sh1f7er