Chapter 3!


"So... Let me get this straight... You two switched bodies? Because someone used some sort of magic spell on you both?" Blake asked in disbelief.

Both girls nodded.

"And you two will be like this for four days?" She asked.

They nodded again.

"And until then, if one of you dies, the other dies too?" Blake asked.

They nodded. Blake took a moment to process this info. Who even was the person who did this to them?!

"Of all weird things to happen this has to be-... okay, actually, after everything we've gone through, this is not the weirdest but it's one of them." Blake said.

Neo tilted her head in inquiry. Ruby texted her in response.

"It's a long story." she said.

She could not begin to fathom the other possible weird things they may have experienced. Having souls switch bodies was high on her list of weird things so far... Although that sexy blue lady coming out of the lamp does make for a close second.

"Well... any sign of Yang?" Blake asked.

Both girls shook their heads and Blake's ears drooped. Ruby stood up and put a hand on Blake's shoulder. She grabbed her hand and nearly shoved it off, thinking she was Neo but she remembered who she was and kept her hand over hers. Ruby tried to say 'We'll find her' but again, nothing more than a raspy noise came from her. Blake, already knowing what she meant by the look on her face, hugged Ruby and they then set off, Blake calling out for Yang.

Neo silently noted that the sound Ruby made in her body sounded different in the same way her talking with Ruby's voice sounded different. Neo silently wondered if she could somehow discern what her real voice might have sound like if she talked with Ruby's voice enough... it frustrated her that a dream she has had since she was little has now come true, even if temporary, but it turns out speaking was still a learning process. She then got another text.

"Hey, try to help calling for Yang. Or at least practice saying her name." Ruby texted.

Neo tried and the best she could do was say 'ang'. Blake paused and looked back at Neo.

"Are you trying to say her name?" She asked.

"I've been trying to help her learn how to speak so she can help out. I can only do so much right now though." Ruby texted.

"How in the world do you make a 'y' sound?!" Neo texted Blake.

"Um... I do not know how to explain that. Keep trying though! Ruby, stay close in case Yang finds us but mistakes you for her." Blake said.

"I'm not going anywhere." Ruby texted.

As they walked, Neo kept trying sounds with Ruby keeping close to give advice while Blake scouted around to find Yang. By some stroke of luck, the three girls saw Yang up in a tree, her long, golden, hair draping down like a tapestry. Ruby gasped, used her semblance to get up the tree and then used her semblance to carry her down the tree. Neo was surprised to see that Ruby could use her semblance in her body and tested out her semblance to find that she, too, can also still use her semblance in Ruby's body... although her aura seemed to have a red tint while ruby's 'petals' looked pink and brown. She silently notes this fact for later.

Blake held Yang against herself, crying in relief that she was still alive. Ruby checked her sister and tried to get her to wake up. Her eyes flashed open.

"Nng... supper's in the microwave." She mumbled before her head fell back and she passed out again.

"I don't know if she's hurt but I think she might be exhausted... and it's getting late. I guess we should try and make camp for tonight. I don't know about you guys but I'm tired." Blake said.

"When was the last time any of us even got a full night of sleep?" Ruby asked.

Both Blake and Ruby hadn't realized until that moment how long it had been. Blake felt worn down completely but Ruby felt fine for some reason... but she then realized it was because she was in Neo's body... whom obviously felt a little more rested. Before the flip, Ruby remembered feeling like her whole body was made of lead. Ruby texted Neo next.

"What about you? I know that body is running on 48 hrs of war and... however much sleep I got when I woke up on the beach." She texted.

Neo was well aware. Ruby's body felt sore, there was bruising, a bunch of muscle strain, and lot's and lot's of fatigue. She felt it the moment she got in but she had been so distracted by the fact that she had a voice that she ignored it at first... but it hurt, and she had been feeling like curling up and sleeping for a long time since they started walking but it wasn't a good time to rest. Blake stood up, carrying Yang in her arms.

"Let's go back to the beach and set up camp. Collect some firewood on the way over." She said.

Both girls nodded. Ruby managed to find some bananas and carried a small bunch. Once at the beach, they found a suitable grove of trees and all three agreed to make camp there. Ruby divided the bananas out to her friends and Blake stared at hers for awhile... She then looked back at Yang and then at the banana with a conflicted feeling Neo didn't quite understand... although she had a guess that she was thinking about that monkey faunus she vaguely remembered her being around back in Beacon. Huh... a love triangle? Or was he an ex? To Neo, it was obvious back them that him and her liked each other but right now, she also seemed to like Yang, too. She shook her head to clear those thoughts. That was Blake's business to sort out, not hers. She was too tired to try guessing what was going on in the cat faunus' love life at the moment.

Neo finished her banana and went to sleep, too tired to care about what everyone else was doing... but then she found herself in a living room, hiding behind a couch.

"Ready or not! Here I come!" A voice called from upstairs.

She giggled as the sound of a small set of feet came down the stairs.

"I wonder where Ruby might be." A little girl said.

She then jumped out and tackled a girl with golden pigtails whom squealed in surprise and delight as they tumbled. In this dream, as far as she was concerned, she was playing with her sister while the smell of cookies wafted through the air as an older woman hummed in the nearby kitchen. She was home.


End of chapter 3... with a twist.