All character belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Co-Authored with ToxicExotic

The Best Of Days

It was warm inside the sleeping bag. So warm in fact that Ruby was almost able to imagine that she was back in her dorm in Beacon, happy with the heating on and cuddled up under the sheets with her girlfriend. Of course, she knew she wasn't at Beacon, she was in the middle of a forest surrounded by deadly Grimm; but thankfully that was the only thing different from her mental image. She was still cuddled up against her girlfriend, still incredibly warm, and, most importantly of all, happy. Although, that happiness was also joined by a little bit of awkwardness.

While there was no doubt that the decision she had made to remove her top last night had been the correct one and had allowed her to finally stop shivering, it had made waking up a little more awkward. Though there had been plenty of awkwardness the night before, she had been far too tired to really take in exactly what such an action would mean, but with rest and a little more energy, she was very aware that they were both practically naked inside the sleeping bag.

However, while it was awkward and she was unable to look down due to knowing that she would be treated to a sight that she didn't feel right looking at while Blake was asleep, she was definitely still happy. Resting against her girlfriend's shoulder, her finger lazily tracing a flower pattern on the girl's stomach, listening to the girl's slow breathing; it was all extremely comforting.

"That tickles." Blake said, her voice a little groggy as she shifted in her sleep.

"Oop. Sorry."

She pulled her hand away, only to feel a pair of thin fingers wrap around her wrist and keep it in place.

"It's nice though."

Looking up, she saw the girl's eyes were still closed, but there was a relaxed smile on her face. Wanting to keep it there, and also wanting an excuse to stay in the tent a little longer, she resumed her previous ministration.

"What time is it?" Blake asked while stifling a yawn.

"Just after dawn, I think." Ruby replied, going by the fact that there was only a sliver of light on the tent's back wall. "It sounds like the storm's passed too."

"Mmm, good." Blake hummed. "Then we still have an hour till we have to get up."

"Or we could help pack up and get ready to go."

"Ooooor…" Blake shuffled a little lower in the sleeping bag and twisted so that they were face to face. "We could cuddle in the warmth for a little longer before going out into the cold."

Both were appealing options. However, as much as Ruby wanted to help the people in the camp pack up and get ready to move out, she was still extremely low on energy and knew she needed to rest as much as she could. So, making a necessary sacrifice, she opted to stay in the tent and enjoy what little time she could.

"Alright," She said, cuddling up a little closer to her girlfriend and feeling a leg slip between hers. "You win."

"I always do." Blake chuckled. "Unless you have Weiss as back up."

"Rude." Ruby pouted playfully and poked the girl in the stomach. "We'll see who wins when we get back."

"I'm gunna need a promise on that one."

Ruby blushed slightly at that implication. "Shush."

A happy feeling ran through her as she felt Blake shake from suppressed laughter in her arms. She knew the past week had not exactly been the best for her, but to know she was feeling at least happy enough to joke around made Ruby a lot more hopeful that everything would turn out okay. That was only helped more when Blake's eyes finally opened and Ruby saw that her favourite mischievous glint had returned to them.

"I will beat you though."

"Mhm." Blake smiled. "You owe me sushi when you don't though."

"And you owe me cookies when I do."

"I'm already buying you cookies."

"You can never have too many cookies."

"You'll change your tune when your teeth fall out."

"Nuh uh." Ruby replied smugly. "I use my aura to protect them. See…" Opening her mouth, she showed off her perfectly white teeth for a second. "Perfect."

"Hmm, I couldn't see." Having a point to prove, Ruby did it again. "Sensitivity check."

Before she could stop her, Blake blew a short burst of air onto her teeth, causing Ruby to chuckle as she recoiled at the weird feeling.

"Ha!" She laughed victoriously and stuck out her tongue. "No sensitivity."

Feeling her stomach flutter as a chuckle left Blake's lips, Ruby finally stopped drawing the rose patterns on the girl's stomach and let her hand slip around her waist. As if to make up for the lost feeling, Blake's finger began to trace the same pattern on her back instead. Flashing back to a pleasant afternoon in the dorm after some weird brownies, Ruby pulled herself forward and let her head nestle further up on her girlfriend's arm.

"Alright." Blake hummed. "I'll believe you… for now."

"Good." Ruby grinned and pressed a quick kiss into her girlfriend's lips.

However, as she pulled away, something about the kiss felt different. She knew for a fact that she had enjoyed every kiss they'd shared in the past, but for some reason that one had felt better. Even as she laid there looking into the deep pools of amber and the smile that pulled at the woman's lips, she felt a warmth pool in her stomach as what felt like a magnetic field pulled her back into the kiss.

She only made it halfway however before Blake's lips met hers, and it very quickly became apparent to Ruby that Blake had felt the exact same thing. Unlike the short, innocent kiss that had come before it, the renewed one was anything but. Instead it was deep, and hungry. Every bit of pressure only made Ruby want more, and when Blake's tongue requested entry, she happily gave it.

She wasn't sure how long the moment lasted. It could have been hours for all she knew; but however long it was, it was glorious. The way Blake's tongue felt dancing over hers, the way the girl's hand slightly roamed her body, their testing touch sending shivers of pleasure through her. At some point, Ruby had even ended up on top of her girlfriend with no idea how, but she didn't have a single complaint. That was until she heard Weiss' voice outside their tent.

"Are you two awake in there?" They both let out a groan. "I will take that as a yes. Your parents said we are moving out early to make up for lost time yesterday."

"Alright." Blake called back, a slight amount of frustration in her voice.

Ruby could sympathise. Though she knew they were on a mission and that it took priority, she couldn't help but be a little frustrated that they'd been interrupted. It had been the first time since Yang and Qrow had interrupted them that something of the sort had happened, and she couldn't recall a single part of her that had wanted it to stop. Even as she looked down and saw that her new position had exposed both of their bodies to each other, there was no awkwardness. No desire to cover up as there had been previously, instead she was comfortable.

"Pretty sure that means we need to get up." Ruby breathed, knowing that there was disappointment in her own voice.

"Mhm." Blake hummed, but didn't move. "Want me to close my eyes?"

Ruby shook her head and pressed another kiss against her girlfriend's lips. Just like before, she felt a strong force attempt to pull her deeper into it, but knew she had to fight it off.

"Not if you don't want to." She said with a nervous smile.

"I never want to." Blake breathed.

Ruby knew it was cheesy, and that Blake had no doubt pulled it from one of her books, but it made her blush all the same. However, as much as she would have loved to kiss her again, she knew that those kisses were now rather dangerous; at least until they got back to Beacon. So, with a great amount of effort, she reached back and pulled Blake's hand from the back of her boxers and rolled off of her to get dressed.

Sat on a tree branch looking down at the half deconstructed camp below, Ruby couldn't help but miss the warmth of her tent. It had been borderline painful to leave the comforting embrace of her girlfriend and get dressed for what would no doubt be another tiring day of walking and fighting. Instead of being stuck in a tree, her clothes already wet from the rain that had clung to the leaves, she wished more than anything that she was back there.

Though she was still unsure what would even have happened had they not been interrupted. Would it have ended just like every other one of those moments, a little fondling and nothing more? Or would more have happened? A tent in the middle of nowhere surrounded by Grimm was certainly not how she had ever imagined her first time, but she had also never imagined feeling that at ease. Even thinking back on it, she couldn't say that she hadn't wanted more to happen because she definitely had.

"Weiss…" She hummed, absentmindedly flipping the Dust canister in her hand.

"Mmm?" Weiss replied without even looking back, fiddling with the lightning crystal to get it free from the pole.

"When did you know you were ready for sex?"

There was a small commotion above her and she looked up to see that Weiss' hand had slipped and broken a branch, causing her to lose her balance. Quickly regaining it though, she glared down at her.

"What on Remnant made you think that now was the time to ask such a question?" The heiress blustered.

"Sorry…" She apologised. "It's just that this morning me and Blake…"

"I am fully aware of what you two were doing, Ruby."

"What? How?" She blushed.

"Because I am neither blind nor deaf." Weiss replied tartly. "Does how I know really matter?"

"I guess not."

She was a little curious though. It wasn't like they'd been loud, and they definitely hadn't been visible. Did they smell or something? Pulling her top forward, she gave a quick sniff and quickly recoiled. She definitely didn't smell the best having spent nearly a week fighting off Grimm without any way to shower, but there was nothing there that could give away what they were doing.

"Okay, but…" She shifted on the branch and looked up at her partner. "How did you know?"

Apparently sensing that it wasn't a conversation that she was going to get out of, Weiss let out an annoyed breath and shook her head.

"I didn't." The girl said in a dismissive tone. "But it was never that big of a deal for me. Unlike a lot of people, my virginity was not something that ever mattered to me."

Ruby was a little taken aback. Though she had certainly not been blind to the nature of Weiss' relationship with Neptune, she had thought that was something more experimental for the girl. In fact, with how proper she was, Ruby had always pegged her as a girl who would have wanted her first time to be the right time and the right place.

"So when did you…" She paused and tapped the canister. "You know?"

"A few months before leaving for Beacon." Weiss replied. "The boy was a family friend, we were both interested and in the mood, and it happened."

"Just like that?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"What?"

"Nothing…" Ruby paused again, though quickly faltered when a piercing blue eye looked down at her. "You just don't seem the type. You're all… proper, and stuff."

Apparently that had not been the right thing to say as Weiss' eyes narrowed at her.

"I am proper because that is the respectable way to be." The snow-haired girl scowled. "But never for a second believe that I act in such a way for someone else's benefit. I act as I do so that I feel good about myself…"

"Okay!" Ruby interrupted. She knew just how long Weiss could go on about propriety. "But none of that helps me know if I'm ready."

Letting out a sigh and looking down at the camp, she found Blake among the crown and watched her girlfriend loading things into the cart. While she had definitely felt ready that morning, how did she know she had not just become caught up in the moment?

"Let me just…" She heard Weiss breath. "Got it!"

Her eyes flicked back up as she felt movement above her to see that Weiss was making her way back down the tree with the Dust crystal in hand. Just as Ruby suspected, the normally pale yellow gem was shining, and in the very centre was what looked to be a miniature sun that Ruby knew definitely should not be there. There was no doubt that it had taken more than two strikes during the night.

"Canister."

Holding the tube out, she unscrewed the top and pulled out the small cage inside that Weiss had prepared the night before. Even as Weiss slowly put it onto the stand, Ruby could hear the crystal humming and crackling, but once the crystal was in place, she quickly snapped the lid back on and silenced it.

"There." The girl sighed and wiped her brow. "Now…"

Her attention turned upwards with a serious expression. However, Ruby was still able to see the usual glint in Weiss that showed she was trying to be kind.

"I am going to be honest with you, Ruby. Sex is not special."

"Wh-What?" Ruby asked, slightly confused.

"That's the truth. You will most likely enjoy it, and you will most likely want to do it again and again. But what it will not do is change you. You will not be a different person afterwards, it will not be revolutionary; and that is because sex by itself is not special. It is who you do it with that makes it special."

Ruby supposed that was true. While she had imagined it before with previous crushes in passing, those thoughts never even came close to how imagining it with Blake felt. With everyone else, it was merely a thought; but with Blake, she always came away from it with her stomach full of butterflies and her heart aflutter.

"So if Blake is that person for you, someone who makes you feel safe and comfortable, and a moment arrives where you want it to happen, then go ahead."

While it didn't tell her if she was ready or not, Ruby did appreciate the advice. There was no doubt in her mind that Blake was someone she felt safe and comfortable with.

"Thanks." Ruby smiled at her partner. "I'm just nervous."

"You're fine." Weiss shook her head and stood up on the branch. "Just please make sure to give me and Yang fair warning beforehand. I'm pretty sure I speak for the both of us when I say that neither of us want to walk in on that."

"I will." Ruby nodded, not looking forward to how awkward it would be to tell her team to stay away from the dorm. It was awkward enough when Yang did it.

"Good." The heiress sighed and looked down at her white skirt that had been tinged green and brown from the wet branches. "Now can we please get down from here?"

The lack of mud had always been something Blake had loved about home. Being a tropical island with only one-third of its landmass being able to support life, most of which was sand and rocks, mud and dirt had always been quite the rarity. Of course there were the farms, and the forest at the back of the village was rather dense with vegetation, but those were places that Blake had rarely ventured. And even when she had, they'd been dry.

Unfortunately, she wasn't on Menagerie. She was on Sanus. And unlike Menagerie, the continent was full of the disgusting stuff. So much so that after stepping off of Weiss' glyph, her boot sucked itself ankle deep into the thick layer of filth that had washed off of the hill in the rainstorm. Pulling it free with a loud squelch, she shook her foot and watched a globule of mud fly through the air and hit her dad in the chest.

"Oops, sorry." She grimaced.

"Just a bit of mud." The man chuckled and brushed it away, leaving brown smear on his coat. "I'm pretty sure I have more than that on me anyway."

Looking down, she saw that he indeed did. While Weiss had been kind enough to extend her glyphs over the small landslide so that they could easily continue along the road without having to find another, she wasn't able to do that for the rest of the journey; especially since she was already focused on keeping the cart's tires from sinking into the ground. As such, pretty much everyone had a large splattering of mud and water on the clothes from heel to knee.

"Just a little." She smiled at him.

"Oh well." He grinned and reached out a hand to help Mrs Amranth avoid the dirt. "Can you smell that, Dotty? The beautiful smell of nature."

"That's the smell of wolf shit, young man." The elderly woman grumbled, knocking his hand away with her cane and stepping over it herself, her grandson following her while carefully holding the canister containing the lightning crystal Weiss had used the previous night.

"In as good a mood as ever." The man laughed and moved out of her way. "Though I do think she's right."

"I hope not." Blake groaned and checked her shoes.

Thankfully it looked to be just mud.

"We could do with a storm like this back home." The man hummed to himself.

Looking up from her boots, she saw a hint of concern enter her dad's face. While nobody really knew why, rain seemed to avoid Menagerie. There was usually enough for their rivers to keep flowing, but the depth of them was never consistent. Some years the river could be filled to the brim and be enough to dive in, others it would barely come up to chest height. Thankfully the island had managed to come up with a state of the art water filtration system that kept the farms running and the people hydrated, but that also came with water restrictions on each household.

"When did it last rain?" She asked.

"Three months ago." He replied and began to walk again. "And we found the northwest part of the forest taken over last month."

"Damn." Blake breathed. "I'm guessing that's why you look so tired lately?"

Though it was understandable why many would view Menagerie as a paradise, the people who lived there knew differently. The lack of rain, the lack of soil, the lack of animals, there were many things about the island that made it hard to live on. But the hardest of all had to be the island itself. Though Kuo Koana resided on the one-third of the island that was hospitable, it had been done so with the understanding that the village could never really expand due to the desert that covered the rest of the continent.

Unlike the desert of Vacuo, which despite being dangerous could be lived in, Menagerie's desert was dead. Nothing grew there. There were no trees, no plants, no animals, not even any cacti; the only thing that could survive it were Grimm. And sadly, that desert was constantly trying to overtake the rest of the island. It was slow, and likely wouldn't happen for hundreds of years, but eventually even the small little haven that Kuo Koana resided on would be swallowed whole.

"I'm fine." Ghira said, a smile on his face that Blake was almost certain was a lie. "We're coping. The filtration system is holding up, and we've been getting more trade with Vacuo."

"And the Grimm?"

Just like everything else on Menagerie, the Grimm were also unusual. While most Grimm around the world resembled animals, Blake had never read about any animals that resembled the Grimm back home. The closest she could think of was giant lizards, but even that wasn't right.

"Persistent as ever." He admitted. "But the guard is managing to fight them back. And more Hunters have been coming to our aid lately."

"But?"

"It's nothing." She raised an eyebrow. "You learned that look from your mother."

She had, and it had always served her well.

"Fine." He said with his hands up. "The Titanosaurus has been heard closer to the village."

Just its name made Blake shiver. She'd never seen it herself since it always stuck to the desert, but she still remembered its roar. A horrifying, guttural sound that would occasionally rip through the island with enough force to shake the walls of their houses. Every time it sounded, fear followed and the next night would be spent fending off the Grimm that came running.

"That's not nothing, Dad." Blake said, her ears flattening against her head.

"It's never attacked the village before." Ghira said with confidence. "It never even leaves the mountains. And if it does we have tools to drive it away. We may not be many, but we are a nation of fighters and survivors."

"I…" She couldn't exactly argue with that. War, Grimm, persecution; the people of Menagerie had survived it all. "I suppose that's true."

Feeling a strong hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see her dad giving her a reassuring smile. "The village has stood strong for almost a hundred years, and it will stand strong for hundreds more. If there is one thing we faunus are good at, it is fighting for our right to live."

Choosing not to clarify that they should have had to become good at that in the first place, Blake gave the man a small nod. With a touch more force, he squeezed her shoulder before withdrawing his hand, and Blake quickly felt sadness at its loss. It may not have been much, but it was still physical proof that she and her parents were once again together.

"Bl…" The sound of static coming from her earpiece caused her to flinch a little. "C… ou... me?"

"Ruby?" She questioned.

"Yes… Hi." The call evened out as they came back into range of each other. "All clear up here. No more landslides, we're headed back now."

"Alright. I'll let the other's know."

"A few Grimm broke away from us though." Yang added. "They were heading your way."

"I'll keep an ear out." She nodded. "See you when you get back."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just telling me the road ahead is clear except for a few Grimm."

"That's good." Ghira nodded. "Though I doubt we will make it to the border today."

Blake didn't think they would either, and as if to confirm their doubts, a small rattling sound came from behind then, followed by an all too familiar tutting. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the cart had slipped off the glyphs causing two of its wheels to sink into the mound of wet dirt. Next to it stood Weiss, her eyes tired and dangerous as they glared at Prince who anxiously scratched his head, his sister doing nothing but laughing at him.

"Me too." She muttered as a group of guards rushed over to the cart to help free it.

"Any signal?"

"Nope." Ruby sighed. "We've gotta be like, a mile away… at most. Nobody would build a cabin too far into the dead zone."

Blake didn't want to correct the girl, as she had seen plenty of cabins in the middle nowhere in her travels. However, she knew this time Ruby was right. While it had definitely seen better days with its blown out windows and its wall full of bullet holes the small structure they had stumbled upon was still in relatively okay condition. Her best guess was that it was a remnant from the great war. At the very least though, it was stable, and just large enough that it made for a great place to hunker down for the night.

"Well, at least we know we're close." Blake offered, throwing away a piece of broken wood and pulling Ruby onto her lap.

"I know." The girl mumbled, shifting a little to get comfortable. "If that stupid rainstorm hadn't hit yesterday, we might've made it to the village today."

"We'll make it tomorrow." She wrapped her arms around the girl's waist. "Me and you can even head out early to call for extraction."

"Or we could go now and have them waiting for us at the border tomorrow."

"Or we could get some rest and not get lost in the woods in the middle of the night."

"Ugh." The girl grinned playfully, though Blake sensed some genuine disappointment. "Fiiiine."

Shaking her head, Blake pulled the girl in closer and pressed a small kiss against the girl's neck, feeling a shiver run through her in response. She had definitely not forgotten about what had happened that morning, and from the way Ruby had been acting around her all day she could tell the same was true for her too.

"Ahoy, loverbirds." Flicking at eyes towards the door as it opened, Blake watched as Prince and Petilly walked out of the cabin, the former giving them both a knowing grin. "Sorry to interrupt, just goin' for a slash."

"A what?"

"He's going for a pee." Blake clarified for her girlfriend. "You know there's a toilet inside, right?"

"I know that it don't flush." Prince corrected her. "And that Mr Fern is still pullin' splinters outta his as-'' A cough came from the younger girl, who was holding her legs close together. "Sorry, butt. Anyways, we'll be back in a mo."

"Don't wander too far." Ruby called after him as he stepped down from the porch.

With a wave over his shoulder, the pair disappeared into the treeline where the night guards were patrolling. Glad that they were alone again, Blake resumed her nibbling of her girlfriend's neck, causing the girl to let out an adorable giggle.

"Are ya done yet?"

"Hold ya horses. Been walkin' all day."

"Ugh! It's cold."

Holding her arms around herself, Petilly rubbed her jacket in an attempt to get warm. Sadly, with such an action being common in Ingdun and it having been a few years since Prince had bought her it, the fire Dust that had been embedded inside had long since been used up. She wished she could have stayed in the cabin, warm and comfortable while laid up by the fire, but the need to relieve herself had inevitably arrived; and with what Mr Fern had done before finding out the lever was broken, there was no way she was stepping foot in that toilet.

"C'mon, Prince." She shivered. "It's freezing out here, and I feel like I'm bein' watched."

Granted, she'd felt like that almost everyday since leaving Ingdun, but at least then it had either been daylight or at camp, not in the middle of a dark, eerily quiet forest.

"Alright, alright." The man chuckled. "I'm coming. Chill ya beans."

Rolling her eyes at the pet name her brother had given her due to the large amount of freckles that covered her face, she heard him finally begin to move and turned back towards the cabin. "Finally." She muttered.

However, after only three steps towards the building she heard her brother stop and looked back to see why, only to find that he wasn't there.

"Prince?" She called, receiving no reply. "What're you doin'?"

Letting out a small groan, she returned to the tree where her brother had been and found nothing. Feeling a little bit of worry and fear rush through her, she quickly dug out her Scroll and turned the light on.

"Prince?" She called again, letting the light sweep the area. "Where are y- oh."

As the light swept across some trees a few meters away, she saw the unmistakable silhouette of her brother walking away from the cabin. A large wave of relief crashed over her, and she began walking towards him.

"Cabin's this way, genius." She chuckled mockingly, rushing to catch up with him.

However, with every step she took towards him, those chuckles quickly began to fade. Something was off. He was walking funny. His body was tilted slightly as if one side was weighed down, and his feet dragged along the floor. His arms hung limply at his sides, jostling slightly with each step, but not truly swinging. Most noticeably was that his head, usually held upright and proud, hung low.

"Prince?" She asked again.

He came to a jerky stop, and the hairs on the back of Petilly's neck stood up. Though he didn't reply, he did slowly begin to turn around. As he did, the sudden urge to step back filled her. Remembering what her brother had always told her about trusting those urges, she did.

"Big bro?" She whispered, taking another step back.

Raising her torch as his turn finished, she looked into her brother's eyes to find the green that had always twinkled with joy and mischief were gone, instead they were empty and hollow and looked to be straining against their sockets.

He took a step forward, and she took one back as bile began to build in her throat.

"B…" He cut himself off, taking another step forward.

"St-Stop." She stuttered, her shoulder hitting a tree as she backed away more.

"Bee…"

His voice was raspy, as if the word he was trying to say was causing him physical pain. Taking another step backwards, she watched as the previously limp hand groped his leg, landing on the knife that was strapped there.

"Ple… Please st-stop." She pleaded, hoping it was all a bad dream that she could will away.

But it wasn't. She knew it wasn't; and as her brother freed the knife from its sheath, she was forced to watch as the muscles in his face quivered, unable to look away as his lips pulled into a disgusting attempt at a smile.

"Beeeeeeans." He finally groaned.

Feeling the scream rip from her throat, she fell backwards as he lunged.

Raalm's Notes

Hello there. Things getting heated for a minute there :P

So the emotional aspect of their relationship has taken a lot of the spotlight lately, and while that is a good thing, we did want to show that the physical aspect is still very much there. And with things getting better for them as their stress began to fade a little, it was a lot easier for them to slip into that moment. Hopefully it felt natural :/

Sadly things can't stay happy forever ;-;

I'm sorry ILikeHotDogs ;-; But happy birthday :D

Chapter 61 - The Worst of Days will be up on the 20th.