Nora kicked her feet on her bed as Ren read a book on the bunk below. It was night and the lights were out in Team JNPR's room. Ren was burning some incense and scented candles; he had had a stressful day dealing with a multitude of tests and calming scents always made him feel better. Reading by book light was another hobby that Ren found relaxing.
"So what do you think Jaune and Pyrrha are doing?" Nora asked, her voice calm for once.
"What do you mean?" Ren asked, flipping a page. Nora stopped kicking the bed and her head appeared at the top of Ren's bunk.
"What I mean is why do you think they keep sneaking out at night? If they're screwing each other they just have to ask for some privacy." Ren continued to read.
"Maybe they prefer the thrill of being caught in public," he said, his tone monotone. Nora opened her mouth to respond before she came crashing to the floor. She let out a groan before sitting up.
"You okay?" Ren asked, not looking away from his book.
"Yeah, a little head trauma never killed anyone," Nora said, rubbing the back of her head. She sat on the edge of Ren's bed and laid back, her head resting on his legs.
"But I don't think they would be into that; Jaune seems too scared to try."
"And Pyrrha?" Nora shrugged.
"Eh, maybe." Nora kept her head on his legs as she started to trace smiley faces and hearts in the wood of the top bunk.
"Would you be willing to try that?" Nora asked.
"What?"
"Sex in public." Ren shrugged in response.
"Probably not. Too many germs." Nora giggled.
"You're such a neat freak Lie."
"Can you blame me?" Nora shrugged before resuming her tracings. After a little while she climbed fully into Ren's bed and laid next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Whatcha readin'?" Nora asked, looking down at the book in his hands.
"Words, madam, words," he said. Nora lightly smacked his chest and laughed.
"Don't be silly Lie, what's it about?"
"It's about three royal families fighting to restore a lost empire."
"Oooo, neat," she said. Nora closed her eye, and listened to Ren's breathing; it was slow and relaxing. She ran her hand over his chest, his shirt silky smooth, before resting her hand on the scar on his pec. "Do you ever have good dreams?" she asked.
"Sometimes," he said.
"What are they about?" Ren said nothing but turned to look at her, a ghost of a smile on his face. Nora smiled back and poked him on the nose.
"Boop," she said. Ren poked the tip of her nose.
"Boop," he said.
The forest Blake and her classmates found themselves in was filled with white trees covered in scarlet leaves. Pink flowers bloomed on a great many of them and a sweet scent lingered in the air. The grass was scarlet as well and ran up to her stocking covered calves. The forest was moderately quiet but every now and again she heard the cry of some far off animal or Grimm.
Professor Peach and Professor Bobadilla (Bob for short, he insisted) stood before the group of students. Peach was a scraggily woman with long fingers and legs. Her hair was pink and her eyes green. All her clothes, most of them green and brown, were stained with dirt and sap. She wore thick wide rim glasses and had a kind face with a warm smile.
Bob was a short man with arms as thick as a Boarbatusk's head. He wore a tattered and patched up leather vest and a necklace made from animal bones, Blake guessed that his thick chest hair was all he needed to stay warm. His dark hair was pulled back in a bun and he had a trimmed beard. His camo cargo pants were patched up as well and Grimm blood stained most of it. A large knife hung at his hip, and a crossbow was slung across his back.
"Okay class, does anyone remember why we are on a field trip?" Peach asked. A student raised their hand and Peach pointed at them. "Yes dear?"
"To collect sap?" They guessed.
"Correct! Can anyone guess why Professor Bobadilla is here?"
"He's your bodyguard?" someone shouted. Bob laughed before taking a step towards the group of students.
"Professor Peach can handle herself. I'm here to make sure you First Years don't get yerselves gobbled up by an Ursa or Beowolf. The Forest of Forever Fall is a dangerous place, and we've lost students in here before. So watch yerselves and keep close to your teammates."
"But don't forget to have fun class! The sap we are collecting is well known for its delicious flavor so don't be afraid to sample some of it. The trees we will be collecting from are a little farther ahead. You can only collect from the trees that are not flowering yet. I want you all back before the sun sets and you are all required to collect one jar's worth of sap." Peach said. She smiled and motioned for the student to start looking for the trees.
Blake let Ruby take the lead before following after her, Yang and Weiss trailing behind her.
Yang held onto the group of jars her team was going to use. Ruby trailed ahead, pushing aside the taller grass as they pushed deeper into the forest. Ruby pushed aside a large shrub and they entered into a small clearing lined with trees.
Yang set the jars down in the middle of clearing and picked one up. Ruby picked hers up and went over to the closest tree, slashing into the tree with Crescent Rose. Sap began to pour out like a waterfall and Yang went over and started to fill her jar up. She saw Weiss wander out of the clearing, jar in hand, and Blake watch her, before going after her.
Blake followed after Weiss, not making a sound as Weiss looked at the trees. Finding one without any flowers she stabbed her sword into it and held up her jar as the sap began to pour out. Blake walked up behind her; she was going to get some answers out of her.
"Weiss," she said. Weiss gasped and nearly dropped the jar. She looked over her shoulder at Blake, her eyes narrowing.
"Warn me next time, I nearly dropped this, and I do not want any more of my clothes ruined." Blake kept a neutral expression as she moved from behind Weiss and leaned against the tree.
"On the first night we spent in the dorm, who were you talking to in the bathroom?" Weiss glared at her as she thought of a response.
"I don't remember talking to anyone," she said.
"Really? Because you said you were taking a phone call at the time," Blake said. Weiss looked down at the jar, it was almost full.
"Then I was on the phone. Why are you asking me this?"
"Because I didn't hear your scroll ring. Or the other person's voice." Blake said. She saw Weiss bite her lip and her eyes dart away from the jar, looking in the opposite direction of her.
"I had the water running, you wouldn't be able to hear that," she managed to say.
"I have very good hearing," Blake said. She pulled out her scroll and pushed Weiss' contact picture. A second passed before Weiss' scroll started to ring, loudly. It was a calming song with a gorgeous voice and synthetic instruments. "And you keep your volume up."
"Why are you asking me this? Can't you just drop it?" Weiss said, anger seeping into her voice.
"No, I can't. Who were you talking to?" Weiss looked away again.
"Myself." She whispered, so low that Blake had a hard time hearing her.
"Could you say that again?"
"Myself! Okay, Blake?" Weiss said. She let out a hiss of annoyance as the jar started to overflow, sticky sap getting all over her hand. She put the jar on the ground and wiped her hand on the grass. Instead of cleaning her hand it only coated it with red grass. She groaned with annoyance before rounding on Blake, glaring up at her.
"I sometimes talk to myself when I'm in front of the mirror. Is that so strange?" she asked. Blake stared into her icy eyes; she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"Does your reflection talk back?" Weiss broke the stare, her eyes looking at Blake's forehead.
"Of course not." That was all Blake needed to know.
"Why did you refuse Violet an autograph?" she asked. Weiss turned around, her back to her, and crossed her arms.
"I don't give out autographs." She said.
"Unless it's for a human," Blake said. Weiss uncrossed her arms, one hand going up in the air as she motioned with it.
"No, I don't give out autographs, period." She looked over her shoulder at Blake.
"But why would you care if I refuse some degenerate Faunus? She would probably just sell it anyway," she said. Blake narrowed her eyes.
"Because she's a person just like you and me and you should treat her like one." Blake grabbed Weiss' shoulder and spun her around, towering over the smaller girl. Weiss wasn't intimidated and glared up at her.
"The Faunus are not like us. And you should have heard what I heard her saying when we first got here. About how she wished her and that dog of hers could get on a team with me, just so I could buy them stuff. As if I would ever be on a team with a Faunus." Blake could feel a plethora of insults at the edge of her tongue but she kept her mouth shut and shoved past Weiss. Now wasn't the time to try and convince a Schnee that she was wrong.
"What, are we done?" Weiss asked. Blake looked back at her.
"Yes, we ar-" The sound of a gunshot reverberated throughout the forest; it sounded close, and like it came from a shotgun. Blake's eyes widened and she saw Weiss look past her and back at where they had left Yang and Ruby.
Ruby leapt out of the way of the Ursa's claws, pulling out Crescent Rose as she landed. The scythe unfolded and sprang into place as the Ursa stood up on its hind paws and roared at her. Yang was behind the Ursa, her gauntleted fists up in front of her face. Yang fired a shotgun blast at the Ursa's back, blowing apart parts of its bone armor. The Ursa fell onto all fours and spun around, swiping at Yang with its giant clawed paws.
Yang caught the blow and held onto the Ursa's paw, her teeth clenched as her arms shook from the strain. The Ursa raised its other paw and swung it Yang. She caught it, struggling to keep both paws at bay. She started to fall to her knees and the Ursa growled, saliva dripping from its maw.
Ruby leapt onto the Ursa's back and swung Crescent Rose, placing the blade against the Ursa's throat. She yelled and yanked up. A gurgled roar escaped from the Ursa's maw as its throat was cut, blood oozing out and falling onto Yang, before Ruby pulled the trigger. The momentum launched Ruby backwards and caused the Ursa's head to go flying. Ruby looked up from where she fell to see the Ursa's corpse slump over and Yang fall to her butt. She was breathing hard and she looked angry about the blood stains on her jacket.
"You okay, Ruby?" Yang asked. Ruby gave a thumbs up as Blake and Weiss came running into clearing, weapons drawn.
"You guys okay?" Blake asked, looking at the dead Ursa. Black smoke began to come off the Ursa's corpse and a pool of blood surrounded it. Yang nodded her head.
"We'd better get extra credit for this," Yang said. Ruby smiled and started laughing; she was pretty sure killing Grimm was to be expected at Beacon. Weiss and Blake sheathed their weapons as Ruby and Yang got up.
"You guys get your sap?" Ruby asked. Before the Ursa attacked she and Yang had filled their jars. Weiss looked back at the tree line as Blake looked at the lone empty jar that had been left in the case.
"I forgot mine. I'll be back, and try not to get into any more fights," Weiss said as she walked out of the clearing. Blake said nothing before grabbing the empty jar and cutting into a tree, the sap bleeding out and filling the jar.
Ruby and Yang picked up their jars, and once Weiss was back, made their way back to Professor Peach and Bob.
She flopped down onto her bed, letting her arms dangle over the sides. She had really been hoping to get extra credit for that Ursa but it turned out NOT getting slaughtered by a demon bear was just expected. She would need to step up her training regiment, she couldn't be struggling to fight one Ursa.
She rested her arms behind her head and looked over at Ruby and Weiss. They were sitting on Weiss' bed, their textbooks and notes splayed out across the bed. Ruby's headphones were wrapped around her neck, that emo metal whatever she listened to playing softly. Weiss' notes and books were all neat and organized while Ruby's were just put wherever. An open packet of cookies sat in front of Ruby. Ruby chewed at the end of her pencil as she read a crumpled up piece of paper, her head bobbing gently.
"Hey Weiss, you get notes for Sorrell's class?" Weiss didn't answer, her nose buried in her psychology textbook. Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Weiss, you hear me?" She looked up from her book.
"Huh? Oh, yes. They're right there." She motioned to a blue folder with 'First Aid' written on it. Ruby grabbed it and opened it before pulling out the papers from within and starting to read them. Weiss looked back to her textbook before shaking her head and closing it. She stood up and went to the door. Ruby looked back at her.
"Weiss, where are you going?" Weiss opened the door.
"I forgot some stuff in one of my classes. I'll be back in a little bit. And don't get any crumbs on my bed!" Weiss said before she left.
Ruby shrugged before turning back to her notes and slipping her headphones on, increasing the volume.
Blake's head popped down from her bunk, her expression serious.
"Yang, I need to tell you something." Yang cocked an eyebrow.
"Sure," Yang said. Blake's head disappeared before Blake jumped down from her bunk, landing without a sound. She sat on the edge of Yang's bed.
"I wanted to say sorry for threatening and hitting you back during initiation. I was in a really bad place at the time, and I was just taking that out on you. That wasn't right of me." Yang sat up and offered Blake a smile.
"Ah its fine. We were all kinda stressed out then; you know, kinda focused on not getting killed." Blake smiled and she seemed to relax.
"Thank you Yang. And for the record, I'm glad we ended up as partners. You're much better than my last partner." Yang snorted.
"Of course I am. I'm the best." Blake giggled lightly, placing her hand over her mouth.
Weiss walked through the nearly empty hallways of the medical wing of Beacon Academy, her heels clicking as she walked. The sun was setting and its orange light filtered through the windows. A few students walked past, dressed in scrubs, laughing about some joke or another.
She walked past Doctor Sorrell's class, past her office and came to the destination she had in mind; Doctor Duerf's office. He was the school's therapist and psychology professor.
She stood before the door, her hand hovering over the handle. She could hear the doctor moving around in the room, papers rustling. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves…and brought her hand back to her side. She shook her head and backed away from the door. She turned around and walked back to her dorm room.