June 20, 2020

Ruby, Yang, and Blake were getting ready to take their first Basic Firefighter/Certified First Responder class at the VCFD Training Academy. The time was 6:00 P.M. Ruby, who was looking at all of the over 50 volunteers who had signed up for the course, said, "Wow, a lot of these guys look younger than us."

"They probably are," Blake said. "You can take this course when you're 14. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the class is under 20."

"I wonder if we can use our hunting weapons in training," Yang said. "I know Weiss uses her whatever-it's-called sword at fires."

"Probably not," Blake replied. "Remember, most of the people here aren't huntsmen or huntresses."

"Speaking of Weiss," said Ruby. "I wonder what she's doing now."

13 years ago, 2007

"Damn those faunus," Hermann yelled out. "They murdered the entire family of one of my board members! Do you know what they did?! They raped and murdered his wife, his 5-year-old daughter, his 12-year-old son, and then they beat him to death!"

"Honey," Hermann's wife said. "Not in front of the children, please. I don't want them hearing about this."

Weiss, then 9 years old, asked Hermann, "Daddy, what's rape?"

"See?! See what your anger is gonna lead to?!"

"I can't control what those bastards do! I have the right to be angry!"

"I know, Hermann, but you don't have the right to expose our children to such horrid things!"

Weiss then ran away into Winter's room, crying. Winter, then 15 years old, said, "Tough, huh?"

Hermann and his wife argued even more intensely now that Weiss had begun crying. Weiss said, "Why won't mommy and daddy just stop, Winter? Why won't they just stop yelling at each other?"

Weiss, back in 2020, opened up a bottle of vodka. "I'm gonna be a fucking slave to alcohol if this bullshit keeps happening. Screw these damn flashbacks and nightmares." She then drank 2 gulps of the stuff before stopping, causing some of the alcohol to spill from the bottle. "I've been having the same damn nightmares and flashbacks for weeks on end! It feels like I'm suddenly younger and back in the bad old days. It sucks…"

She then heard a voice behind her. "Hey Weiss, how's it going?"

Weiss turned around and said, "Who the hell are you?" She then jumped when she saw who it was and what they looked like.

The person standing in front of her was Pyrrha, but she had a huge laceration of her forehead and her teeth were stained with dried blood. She also had a bone sticking out of her right arm's elbow. "I'm Pyrrha. Don't mind the compound fracture, that's only for looks in the afterlife."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Weiss said as she took a deep breath. "Could you at least try to not look so disturbingly gross?"

Pyrrha gave her the finger and said, "Bite me."

"Anyway, why are you here, Pyrrha?"

"I just wanted to check on things, that's all. By the way, has Jaune been... 'seeing' anyone recently?"

Weiss shrugged. "No clue. I don't know his personal life."

By the time Weiss finished her sentence, Pyrrha was gone.

Weiss then took another sip of Vodka and said, "Meh. Who cares?"

At 10:26, Blake, Yang, and Ruby all came home. They were tired out from their first time going into a burning building in training. Ruby said, "That was amazing, though. I can't believe Blake almost trampled another trainee in the dark. That was funny." They all then laughed.

Blake replied, "To be fair, it was pitch black."

Yang said, "It's supposed to be, silly! Also, did either of you notice some of the hot trainees?"

Ruby laughed. "Yang, don't use training as a way to pick up guys." She then paused and uneasily said, "Or girls..."

"I gotta get back to my place," Blake said before leaving abruptly.

"Oh boy," Yang said to Ruby. "But did you see them? I got a guy's number over there. Sadly, I couldn't find a single girl who was into other girls there."

"You're horrible," Ruby jokingly said. "Maybe you forgot a few girls." She then facepalmed. "Damn it, I shouldn't have given you that idea."

Then, Yang's phone rang. "Wonder who that is?" She then answered the phone. "Hello? Oh, it's you! Wow! How did training for you go? Good. Yeah, I know. What company are you from again? Really? That's right next door to mine. Uhh... Sure, I could go over now and have a few drinks, I guess. Okay, I'll see you later. Bye."

Ruby said, "I assume that was him?"

"Indeed. I'll be back around 11 or midnight. If otherwise, I will text you." Yang then opened her and Ruby's apartment door. "First, I gotta take a shower and get that smoke smell off of me."

Ruby replied, "Have fun, you crazy bastard."

June 21, 2020

Yang woke up next to the same man that had called her. She yawned and stretched her arms out, getting up and soon realising that she was completely naked and had a hangover. "Agh... I can only imagine what last night was like..."

She walked into the bathroom of the apartment and noticed a used condom in the trashbin. "At least he did that." As she went to the bathroom and washed her hands, she heard him get up. She walked out and said, "Hey there, darling. Got any idea what or who we did last night?"

The man, named George, said, "Woah! You're naked!" He was 19 years old and was normally awkward with girls. He was from Goodwill Engine 6.

"Look who's talking," Yang said. "And your morning wood's showing. Jesus Christ, you must've had me screaming your name last night with that thing." Yang then walked past him and went back into the bedroom to put some clothes on. "Does your head hurt? Because mine hurts like hell."

"Same," George replied. "At least we weren't-"

Then, his pager went off, followed by the siren tones for Goodwill.

"Interrupted by a call..."

"Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 274 for Goodwill Engine 6 and Enterprise Steamer 10 for an odor of gas at 1845 Broad Street. Caller reported..."

Yang said, "Broad Street, huh? You'd think I'd live on that street, right?" Yang then laughed. "Huh? Huh? Get it?"

George covered his mouth and slowly broke down in laughter at the pun Yang dropped.

"Shouldn't you be going to that call?"

George regained his composure and said, "I usually turn off my pager completely during the night and only go to box alarms, which I can tell apart from other siren calls since I'll hear 4 sirens roar up at once, unless I'm doing a bunk-in at my company's quarters. During the day, I will go to most fire-rescue calls and some EMS runs, since we have no paid guys with us and only bunk-ins, unless I'm hungover or sick."

"How many does Goodwill do a year?"

"In 2019 Goodwill did about... Uhh... 1500 EMS and 600 fire-rescue. Remember, we cover a small first-due with only a single 8-man engine and 25 volunteers."

Yang then walked out, dressed in a bra and underwear she found in his closet. "By the way, what are these doing here?"

"Uhhh..." George was now blushing. "My mom gave them to me to throw out. That's old underwear, like 3 years old."

"Oh," Yang replied. "Anyways, how old did you say you were again?"

"19. Why?"

"Were you a virgin before last night?"

George sighed. "Yes, I was."

"Awwww, that's so cute." She then wrapped her arms around George. "You know, I'm 'on the market.' Wanna do something later, like see a movie?"

George blushed even harder. "Y-... Yes..."

"Good," Yang replied. "I'll go take a shower. If you want to, you can join me..."

George then stood up as Yang held his hand and guided him to the bathroom. The 2 then closed the door behind them as Yang started the shower up.

Back at Yang and Ruby's apartment, Weiss said, "Where the hell's Yang?"

Ruby said, "She went over to some guy's house. I assume she's hungover."

Then, their pagers went off. "Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 2114 for Vigilant Fire 5, Excellence Fire 7, Valeanian Legion Ambulance 12, and Valiant Hook and Ladder 13 for a Box Alarm at 56 Interview Street with fire alarms going off. Repeating, Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 2114 for Vigilant Fire 5, Excellence Fire 7, Valeanian Legion Ambulance 12, and Valiant Hook and Ladder 13 for a Box Alarm at 56 Interview Street with fire alarms going off. Time is 1005 hours, Alarm Operator 122."

"Let's roll, Weiss," Ruby said. The 2 then got up and ran to the stairwell. They saw Blake follow them as they then ran outside to the road.

Weiss said, "The ambulance just started rolling out!" The 3 then ran like hell to the fire station. When they got there, they took their shoes off and slipped their high boots on. They then grabbed their coats, pulled their boots up, and ran to Truck 201. Another firefighter had already started up the truck. As they got buckled in, 2 more firefighters hopped aboard.

The engineer then radioed, "Fire Alarm, Truck 201's responding with a crew of 10, 7 interior."

Back at George's apartment, Yang said after the "shower" they 2 had taken, "You know, I've been thinking..."

"About what, Yang?" George began to get worried. After all, he was just 19 and inexperienced, and she was a stunning 22-year-old woman with loads more experience than he could ever dream of having. "Am I not doing well?"

"What? No! You're great in 'that' regard, George." Yang then sighed. "You see, I broke up with my girlfriend about a week ago, and I guess I built up a lot of tension. That explains why I was so quick to bang you. That and the alcohol. Listen, I think you're a sweet kid, George."

"Thank you, Yang." He then smiled. "I'm usually shy, but alcohol can open me up." He then laughed.

Yang also laughed. "It opens me up too. I should probably explain why I'm so open to you now. Well..."

George said as Yang frowned, "Are you okay?"

"I'm cool. It's just... My breakup was rough... We broke up about a week ago... I was pretty sad, and I still am. I guess I just need to stay high to keep her out of my mind. And since I don't do drugs, sex is the next best option."

George replied, "I'm sorry you had to go through that shit, Yang. Let's make a deal then, shall we?"

"A deal?" Yang looked intrigued.

"You're a 22-year-old girl who craves sex and has... how many years of experience in sex and romance?"

"8 years... Yeah..."

"Wow... And I'm a 19-year-old boy who has no clue what he's doing in regards to dating, relationships, or sex, but is full of energy and eagerness. It should be obvious by now where this will lead to."

Yang was initially confused, but then she said, "Aha! I get it! You want a friends-with-benefits relationship?"

"You could call it that, Yang. We'll go date as friends and continue to bang each other, and if we end up falling for each other, so be it. I will not be angry if you choose to leave this relationship as long as you won't be angry if I do. You will show me how to act in a relationship, as well as more 'dirty' things, and in exchange, I will fulfill your lust."

"Agreed." Yang and George then shook hands. "I gotta go back to my place. I'll see you later, darling." She then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

George blushed and said, "Was that part 1 of my teaching?"

"It was," Yang replied as she secretly blushed. "Okay, what the hell did just I agree to again?"

When Yang got back to her apartment at 10:37, Ruby, Blake, and Weiss had just came home from the alarm activation. Weiss said, "Where the hell were you?"

"Just at a friend's place," Yang replied. "Nothing major. By the way, I gotta go with that friend to a movie at 7."

Ruby said, "Oh boy! What movie?"

"Robbers of the Starlight," Yang said. "It's a crime film."

Blake said, "I heard good things about it, though since the White Fang is the enemy in the real-life story and the film, the White Fang hates it. Then again, who gives a shit what they think?" The group then laughed altogether, even though Weiss was kind of uneasy.

Ruby said, "You know, the White Fang haven't been too active recently. Their last bombing was in 2017, and they haven't killed anyone since last year."

"Hopefully it stays that way," Weiss said. "I don't want a huge attack to occur."

Yang said, "Moving on, how's-?" Yang was then interrupted by Weiss's phone. "Ehh... Weiss?"

Weiss then answered the phone. "Hello? Jaune? Oh hey there! Uhhh... Sure. I'll be there tomorrow. Okay then. I'll meet ya there. Bye-bye." She then hung up. "I'm going out to eat with Jaune tomorrow night."

Ruby said, "Is it a date?"

Weiss blushed and said, "No, it's not!"

Blake then said, "By the way, I'm looking into getting a new job at the Vale City Fire Alarm Office. They're paying like 12.50 an hour for new dispatchers. I'd work in one of 3 shifts on weekdays and then we'd bid for weekend shifts."

"Fire Alarm?" Weiss looked annoyed. "Those guys can be really cryptic when it comes to dispatching us. When they give us the wrong address, it can really piss off the volunteers."

Blake replied, "I could see why."

Later that day, as the group was watching a city council meeting, a councilman named Michael Vertman said, "In my honest opinion, this city does not need so many firefighters. We can last with 3-man Engines, 4-man Trucks and Rescues, and unstaffed special units. We have volunteers in our city, and they can handle a pretty high call load."

"Bullshit," Weiss said. "I'm a volunteer, and I'm calling bullshit on you, Vertman!"

Ruby said, "Who are those guys getting up and leaving?"

"The Vale City Permanent Fireman's Association," Weiss replied. "They're the union that represents current and past paid firefighters in the city. Us volunteers have the Vale City Volunteer Firemen's Association. They're indifferent to the proposed cuts, officially at least. They don't wanna start shit between them and the paid guys."

Yang said, "Should me, Ruby, and Blake register for that volunteer union?"

"You already did," Weiss replied. "The application included info on the union, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Blake said. "I remember that. When does that union meet?"

"We meet once every 2 months because we're so huge," Weiss replied. "The Vigilants meet every week on Wednesdays at 9 AM and 6:30 PM.

Then, the pagers went off. "Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 216 for Vigilant Fire 5 for a Bravo-Response traffic accident at 177 Careleon Road involving a 27-year-old female with neck and back pain. PD is en route. Repeating, Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 216 for Vigilant Fire 5 for a Bravo-Response traffic accident at 177 Careleon Road. Time is 1723 hours, Alarm Operator 370."

Weiss said, "Yang, go on it. You missed the last call because of your little date."

Ruby said, "I'm going to it."

Yang said, "Alright, alright. Ruby, let's go."

At 5:29, Rescue 201 arrived with a crew of 6. By then, the paid firefighters, plus 2 volunteers who had been staffing the station with the paid guys, on Ambulance 201 had stabilised the patient. It was the rest of the volunteers' job to block the road and help a towing company tow the wrecked car away.

At the scene, Ruby and Yang were put to cleaning work, mopping up the fluids of the car, the victim's blood, and the broken glass. Yang said, "Be careful with the blood. There's no telling what kind of shit's in it."

Ruby, wearing gloves, said, "I know, I know. That's why I'm wearing gloves." She then began mopping up the blood with a disposable sponge. "This is soooo tedious!"

Yang, meanwhile, was using a broom to sweep the broken glass on the ground into a pile. She then saw a man on a motorcycle drive past the accident at an extremely high speed. "Watch it!" Then, they all heard a loud crash, followed by the motorcyclist flying up into the air. Yang said, "Holy shit!"

Several of the firefighters ran over and saw that the bike had hit the back of a car, ejecting the motorcyclist. A paid firefighter radioed for the accident scene to be upgraded to a Delta, which would bring in Enterprise Steamer 10 and a re-tone for Vigilant Fire 5.

Ruby said, "Talk about coincidences, huh?"

Yang replied, "Yeah. That guy on the bike looks hurt pretty bad. Looks like today wasn't his lucky day."

Ruby then went away to throw the bloodied sponge into a biohazard bag. She then climbed onto the ambulance, where a paid firefighter was treating the original patient, and asked, "Do you know where I can wash my hands in here?"

"Right in that sink," the paid firefighter said as she pointed to a compartment on the ambulance. "There's soap in there too."

The original patient said, "At least I'm not that guy on the bike." The 3 of them then all laughed before the driver's neck began to hurt again.

June 25, 2020

Ruby, Yang, and Weiss all had to go to work, so Blake and Ren were the only ones in the group to go to the morning meeting, which 31 volunteers attended. There, the captain of the company went over some new equipment, including Rapid Intervention Team gear and rope rescue gear. An RIT team was a special group of firefighters, usually from multiple companies and almost always volunteer, designated by the incident commander to standby and wait at a fire for another firefighter to get injured or trapped. They would then quickly but safely extricate the firefighter and lead him to safety. Only those who were interior firefighters could attend RIT school, a 3-month course.

After the meeting, Blake was talking to Ren. She said, "Yang's seeing that George guy from Goodwill Engine 6. He's like 3 years younger than her, and he's completely new to sex and dating in general."

"Maybe that's what Yang wants," Ren replied. "Maybe it symbolises a fresh start for her, and maybe she wants a fresh partner who's new. Plus, as they say, guy virgins are very eager and full of energy, but girl virgins are cautious and more worried about the consequences."

Blake replied, "That is so stereotypical... And true..." She then sighed. "Anyways, how's Nora?"

"The pregnancy's going well. She's 4 months in. By November, our child will be born. We still haven't decided the names yet. Say, do you want a kid, Blake?"

"Only if I end up marrying a guy," Blake replied. "If it's a girl, I'll let her do that, or we'd adopt."

"Speaking of guys," said a voice behind them. "Guess who's back."

Blake turned around and gasped, "Sun?"

"That's right," Sun said. "Me and the SSSN gang are back. We heard the gang would be here."

Ren said with surprise, "Oh my God. It's been so long since we've seen you guys. How's Mistral?"

Neptune replied, "Fun. The usual. Where's Weiss, Ruby, and Yang?"

"Working," Blake replied. "I have no job yet, and Ren works later in the day. We just got done finishing a fire company meeting."

Sun said, "Fire department? You guys are firefighters?"

Ren replied, "Volunteers. We get paid zip for waking up in the middle of the night to go to your call."

"Wow," Neptune replied. "And you guys want to not get paid?"

"Yeah," Blake said. "We all have other day jobs and stuff. We also have some firefighters who augment our capabilities who are paid and stay at the station in working shifts. But most of the firefighters in Vale are volunteers."

"Mistral never had that," Sun said. "At least not in the cities. Maybe in smaller villages, but not in cities. I guess that explains the air raid sirens I keep on hearing."

"Oh yeah," Blake said. "Those sirens. They go off when a fire or car accident comes in, but they won't go off for ambulance calls. Each volunteer company has to have one. Our siren goes off over 1,000 times per year. I know that a company in downtown has a siren that goes off 6 or 7 times a day. Then there's companies in the agricultural and rural areas of the city that do barely over 500 calls per year, with only about 100 siren activations."

Sun said, "That would make me go crazy!" They all then laughed and continued their conversation.

At 9:15 PM, later that night, Weiss and Jaune returned to Weiss's apartment. Jaune said, "That was fun! The food was great, the nightlife is energetic, and you're a good friend Weiss."

"Awww," Weiss said. "Thanks, man. You know, Team SSSN's back."

"Really? All of them?"

"Yes. Neptune, Sun, Scarlet, and Sage." Weiss had hesitated when she said Neptune's name.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's just... Neptune coming back is awkward... You know how we had sex the night before he left, right?"

Jaune was surprised. "You did? I mean, I'm not surprised you've done that before, but with him?"

"Yep. It was kinda stupid. I mean, I didn't like-like him by then, but there was still tension. Say, Jaune, I don't mean to make you sad, but, have you ever liked anyone other than Pyrrha?"

Weiss then looked up and saw Pyrrha's still-mutilated ghost give her a disapproving look. Jaune said, "Uhhh... Yes... It was unrequited, though..."

"I'm sorry if I don't seem like I'm paying attention, Jaune. It's just... Okay, go ahead."

"Well... I don't wanna say her name. It's someone you know, and I don't wanna make things... awkward..."

"I don't give a damn. Spill it."

Pyrrha got angry at Weiss and mouthed to her, "Tell him to fucking stop."

Jaune then said, "Well... It... It was... You."

Pyrrha's jaw then dropped. Weiss said, "Oh... Me? Wait..."

Jaune then panicked. "I... I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

"No, no, no. It's..." Weiss then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I knew that you liked me back in Beacon, but I thought it was just because of my family's wealth."

"Hell no," Jaune replied. "I didn't even know who the Schnees were or how powerful they were back then."

Weiss then sighed and got angry at herself, "Damn it! I wish I had known that! I'm so sorry I made you out to be that way, Jaune. It's just that a lot of guys only see me for my wealth."

Jaune then said, "You know, I guess I have been... Revisiting those feelings ever since Pyrrha died..."

Weiss then hugged him and said, "Jaune, you're a nice man, and... I guess we can give this a try..." She then let go of him. "Okay... Let's get some ground rules set up here. We should not tell anyone about this unless we both agree to it. We will not have sex with each other until this trial period ends. We will remain just friends in public."

Jaune said, "Alright then. Let's hope this works out. I gotta go home now, Weiss. See ya later." He then got up to leave, but he then turned around and kissed Weiss. Weiss initially was surprised, but soon went with it.

Weiss said, "Goodbye, Jaune." She then heard her pager squawk out a call for a carbon monoxide alarm going off. She then got up and ran past Jaune to the stairs.

Jaune thought in her head, "There she goes..."

VIGILANT FIRE COMPANY OFFICERS AS OF 2020:

Captain: Arthur Kirkridge III

1st Lieutenant: Hermann Schnee

2nd Lieutenant: Alfred Schnee