Hey guys! Sorry to make you wait awhile, I'm signing up for a short story contest in Toronto. So I've been mostly working on that. I'm just gonna do a quick write up cuz I don't think you guys really care about my ramblings. Last time I asked you guys where you wanted to see team RWBY go, but NOBODY left a review about it so I'm just gonna do it my own way. Anyways enjoy!
Future Note: I remember this part actually, but anyways. Like I said in the previous future notes, I didn't change any of the plot, just fixed the dialogue and wording a bit. For those new to the story don't worry about it.
Chapter 5: Road trip. Part 1
(Ruby's POV)
Yang drove down the curvy road to Emerald forest, the day was finally upon team RWBY, the big field trip. I watched as Beacon academy turned to a mere tower in the horizon. I yawned. I hardly slept last night, but with my new medication I was feeling a lot better now. I felt my eyes getting heavy as I fell to a deep sleep, waking up about an hour later with my head resting on someone's lap. I couldn't make out who's, but I then remembered who I was sitting beside. I jolted up to see Weiss sleeping soundly, she must not have known I fell onto her lap. I fixed my positioning as I rested my head on the van side door, dozing off again.
"Alright guys. We're here!" Yang said as she honked the horn, making all three of us jump.
"YANG!" Blake screamed as she tried to claw at the blonde brute, Yang just chuckled as she held her back. We all got out of the van half scared to death and half tired. I stretched out my arms and let out a big yawn, as did Weiss as she rubbed her eye.
"So what exactly are we doing here?" Blake asked. Still mad at Yang.
"Where exactly are we?" Weiss asked. I walked out in front the small crowd.
"This is kind of a survival training trip, like we planned. We'll split into two teams. Yang and Blake, you two will be team Bumblebee-"
"Why do I have to be with her?!" Blake protested, pointing at Yang. Yang just gave her an evil grin and laugh as Blake looked over her. "Try something and I'll feed you to the grimm!" Blake said, making Yang retreat a bit.
I sighed. "Weiss, you're with me. We're team Ice-Flowers." I said. Weiss gave me a weird look.
"Ice-Flowers? Seriously?" She questioned, disapproving of the name. I shrugged.
"It was the best name I could come up with." I said as I cleared my throat, continuing my speech.
"Alright. This is gonna be a 2-day trip. We've come to the backside of Emerald forest; to the west there's the ruins and caves, to the east I found a river that runs through to the west of the forest. If anyone gets in trouble or needs to call it off, we have radios." I said, handing each one a comm. "Any questions?" I asked. Yang raised her hand. "Good, let's begin."
"Oh, one more thing. Split up and do not try and find each other until the trip is done or if the other team's in trouble. Okay?" Everyone nodded. "Alright, it starts... Now!" I said, grabbing Weiss' hand and running off with my incredible speed.
"Hey, Ruby wait!" Weiss screamed.
I finally let go of Weiss as we arrived in the thick of the forest. "Ruby! I have no trouble running myself!" Weiss stated as she gave me a displeased look. "Where are we?"
"We're on the east side of the forest." I answered as I pointed to our location on my scroll. "This is a good place. There's lots of fruit and animals if we need to, there's a lot of fallen wood from the grimm.. too..." I thought about my motives for a moment, holding my chin up as I did.
"RUBY PAY ATTENTION!" Weiss shouted as she pulled out Myrtenaster and froze an ursa behind me. I jumped at the sudden attack.
"Sneaky bastards..." I mumbled as we both ran. "Okay, so it wasn't exactly the best area." I admitted. Weiss gave me a sarcastic look.
"No kidding!" She said as we jumped over a large root. Running off deeper into the forest.
Meanwhile, with team Bumblebee (Yang's POV).
We walked through the thick, jungle-like forest. Blake sighed. "Jesus, why did we have to go to the west side? Why not just go with them on the east?!" Blake grumbled.
"Rubes said we had to split up, she put us into groups so that we only need to worry about ourselves," I answered. "She wants us to be dependant on each other I guess."
We finally got through the thick forest, noting the ruins and pedestals. "Hey, I remember this place. This was the checkpoint from initiation." Blake said as we walked up to it.
"Oh yeah, I remember. I wonder if.." I looked over to the ruins past the checkpoint. The bridge was still broken, making it unable to get across. "That's it, we'll stay there." I said, pointing to the ruin.
"That's actually a good idea. The bridge is destroyed, so no grimm will be able to come in on that side. And the other side just goes up to the cliff." Blake examined.
"Ah, it brings back memories of our younger days." I said as a comical tear running down my face.
"You know Yang, the initiation trials were only about a year or-so ago." Blake inquired.
"I know, but it just feels like a long time. I feel like an old person." I said, mimicking an old grandmother. Blake laughed.
"Alright. Come on grandma, time to take your pills again." Blake joked.
"What's that? I can't hear you, my hearing aids aren't tuned in yet." I added, pretending to turn a nob on the hearing aid. Both of us laughed as we walked down to the ruins.
Back at team Ice Flowers (Ruby's POV).
We both stopped at a cave, running inside it as Weiss hid the entrance with her glyphs. The grimm following us finally ran past, unaware of our presence. We both sunk down breathing heavily. "So.. What's the plan now.." Weiss asked, trying to catch her breath in between sentences.
"Well.. as the captain of.. Team Ice Flowers..." I paused for a moment, trying to think of something. "I don't know." Weiss smacked her forehead.
"Seriously! Can we at least change our team name. I hate Ice Flowers, it's absurd and stupid." Weiss protested, finally back to normal now.
"Well, what do you think our team name should be then?" I asked. Weiss thought about it for a moment.
"I don't know." She finally said.
"Really! This has been bugging you since we departed but you don't have any better names for our team?!"
"Well it's not like I had any time to think of a decent name, you ran off with me into the woods and by the time we stopped we were attacked by grimm not 5 minutes later!" Weiss snapped. I sighed.
We sat in the cave for about half an hour, That's when it hit me. "White Rose!" I said aloud. Weiss was startled by my sudden announcement.
"W-what?" She asked, confused by my outburst.
"White Rose, that's our new team name! What do you think?" I explained.
"You're still thinking about it?"
"Yeah, weren't you?" I asked.
"No! I was thinking about where to get food!" Weiss answered. The heiress noticed her anger and calmed down, looking back at me. "Yeah, I like that name. It represents us, White Rose.."
Weiss went quiet, her cheeks getting redder as she thought about the name. "Weiss, you alright?" I asked, feeling her forehead. "You're getting red."
"I'm fine!" The white haired girl inquired, smacking my hand off her head. "Come on, it's getting late, we need food."
Weiss lowered the glyph wall, both of us cautiously walked out of the small cave as we scanned the area. When the place was clear we dropped our defence and looked back at each other.
"Alright. We have water already, we'll need food and something to cook it with. Weiss, you go and get some fallen trees. Bring it back here and cut it up. I'll go look for something to eat," I said. "If something happens, use the comms."
Weiss nodded. We both went separate directions as I jumped into the trees, running through them as I looked for animals.
"I hope Weiss'll be okay." I said quietly, making my way through the trees.
Back at Team Bumblebee (Yang's POV).
Yang, look what I found!" Blake said as I ran up to her. The raven haired girl was standing in front of a cave. "What do you think's in it?"
I shrugged. "Maybe there's a bunch of cave monsters that eat little black haired girls!" I said. Blake smacked me. "Ow, what was that for?"
"I warned you, scare me again and I'll retaliate."
"Okay okay. Well, you discovered it," I said, laughing a bit. "It's Blake's deep, dark, damp-"
Blake slapped me again. This time harder than the previous. "That's gross Yang, get your mind out of the gutter!" The faunus girl said disgustingly as we both walked in.
"It's your cave Blake, that's all I'm saying," I continued. "I wonder what's in Blake's dark cave. Do you know what's in your deep dark cave?"
Blake hit me again as we ventured in.
We turned on our flashlights as we continued down the cave. There was nothing much, just rocks. "Alright, your cave is boring." I groaned. Blake raised her hand out again, making me flinch. "Can we go back?"
"Just a little further." Blake insisted.
"Alright. But if I see a bat in your cave I'm gonna flip." I teased. Blake sighed.
"You're never gonna let this go. Are you?" Blake questioned. I shook my head. "Figured."
We both continued down through the cave. When we were satisfied that nothing was in the cave we left. "Man, I was expecting some kind of animal or grimm or something to be in there." Blake said as we walked out.
"You expected an animal or something in your-"
"Shut it!" She said, pointing her finger at me.
"It's alright, I was kinda expecting something too, it's strange. There wasn't a single animal, not even a grimm." I added.
We both shrugged our shoulders as we continued to walk away.
8:00 p.m.
Blake observed the sky as we returned to the old initiation checkpoint, noticing it was almost dusk. The bookworm checked the time on her scroll. "Oh god, we have to go look for some food!" Blake exclaimed. "Come on!"
"Relax," I said, grabbing her shoulder. "I cheated a little."
I pulled out a box, inside it was filled with ice. Blake gave me a funny look. "We're gonna eat ice cubes for dinner?" She asked, puzzled.
"No, no." I said, rummaging in the box as I pulled out two steaks. "It's a cooler disguised as a small parcel. My uncle Qrow gave it to me."
We searched in the forest for wood we could use. As we looked two gunshots were heard in the horizon. 'Ruby must've got something.' I thought as we continued the search. When we got back to our campsite it was almost dark. We assembled the campfire and ignited it as I put the steaks on a stand-up grill I brought, placing it above the fire. Blake and I happily enjoyed our first meal of the trip as we sat beside each other, watching the stars.
"Yang, could I ask you something?" Blake asked, breaking the silence as she looked at me with a serious expression.
"Yeah, of course. What's up kitty-cat?" I answered.
"It's just, I've been kind of alone lately. I've been down and for some reason when I read I can't seem to focus a lot... I see couples all the time, of both faunus and human race together. It just, it makes me feel lonely and fills me with jealousy. The truth is... I-I've, had a crush on you for awhile. I was wondering.. I-I wanted to ask.."
Blake froze with her words. I knew what she wanted to say and noticed her fidgeting in her seat. Grinning like an idiot, I smirked at the faunus' shyness as I scooted closer to her, pulling her in as well. "Sure Blake, but I want to know that you mean it." I answered as I looked at her. Smiling now.
"W-what do you mean?" She asked, trying to play dumb.
"I've been attracted to you for some time now too, I know you feel the same. Don't play the I-don't-know game, it's never gonna work," I proclaimed. Blake's cheeks flushed a bright red as I brought her closer than ever. "Now say it."
The brunette paused, looking into my eyes as she took a deep breath. "Yang.." She paused.
"I love you."
I jumped up in the air, praising her statement as I screamed. "Finally! I thought you weren't gonna do it!" I said in amazement as I sat back down next to her, snuggling up to her arm. "I love you too kitty cat," Blake let out a huge sigh of relief. "I love you too."
Meanwhile. Back at team White Rose, before sundown (Ruby's POV).
I sat in silence, watching and listening for movements. I looked to the left, a pack of beowolves were walking through the forest just before the field. 'Come on, get out of here!' I said in my mind as I watched them. They paused for a moment before quickly running out of sight. I let out a quiet breath of relief, tuning in to another noise and turning my head to see what it was. My eyes widened as I quickly readied Crescent Rose in it's gun form, looking through the sights. It was a deer, grazing on the fields in front of me. I zoned in on the deer, taking in a deep breath. The deer looked up at the sound as I pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The sound of the shot rung throughout the woods, making the deer jolt up. It was hit, but was still alive. I pulled the lever back, extracting the casing and loading the next shot.
Bang!
And with that, the deer lay on the ground, motionless in the fields.
"Yes!" I cried out in joy, jumping out of the tree and running up to the deer. I wrapped it's legs around my back and carried it into the forest, running fast as I didn't want to be ambushed by grimm.
I arrived at the cave, finding Weiss was already starting the fire as I quietly walked up.
"Get the wood safely?" I asked the heiress, making Weiss jump at the sound.
"Ruby! Don't scare me like that!" Weiss yelled before she noticed the dead deer on my back. "We're gonna eat that?"
I put the deer down. "Yeah, why?" I asked.
"I don't eat meat. You should know this Ruby, I don't like eating animals!"
"Well, it's either this or wait until morning to gather berries for your meal. It's too late now, grimm are everywhere in this forest." I said. Weiss sighed.
After slicing and cooking the venison we both enjoyed the meal, well. I enjoyed it, Weiss studied it as if it was some weird concoction. "You never know if you'll like it until you try it." I said. Weiss sighed.
"Well, I guess it wouldn't kill me." The white haired girl took a small chunk of the meat, chewing it slowly. "It's alright, not bad. Tastes really good actually, could use some seasoning though." Weiss remarked as she took another bite out of the deer meat. I smiled as we both ate.
Nighttime dawned on us pretty quickly. Weiss went out to get water as I sat in the small cave, shivering like mad. Even out of the wind and near the fire I was cold. I heard Weiss walk back into the cave, putting up her glyph wall as she slumped in for the night. She noticed my shaking. "Ruby, are you cold?" Weiss asked, to which I nodded. The heiress suddenly walked up and put her sleeping bag right beside me as she got into it, pulling me into her arms. I started to get nervous now.
"Weiss. W-what're you-"
"Shhh, it's okay. You're cold. If we stay together we can conserve our body heat, alright?" Weiss explained, cutting me off.
"O-okay." I said in my frozen stutter as we cuddled together. As much as I enjoyed being close with the ivory haired girl, I couldn't help but remember her protest about my leadership. It gnawed at my soul as I felt insufficient of my role. Unfit, unworthy.
"Weiss. Do you think I'm a bad leader?" I finally asked her.
"No, why would you think I did?" She answered.
"I just feel like I'm not doing a good job. I feel like I'm not doing what's best for this team."
"Ruby, you did just get this deer. We ate pretty good tonight, I think that's a good teammate to me."
I shook my head. "No not this team, our FULL team. I feel like I've dishonoured them, which is why I wanted to ask if you wanted to be the leader."
Weiss sighed as she started to rub my back to comfort me. "Ruby, you are the best leader anyone could ask for. You have a way to make things fun and exciting when we do something, you are a very great girl and an even better huntress. There's not a doubt in my mind that you are the best leader for our team. You're not a bad person. You might be overconfident and childish, but you are what's best for team RWBY. Don't let yourself think otherwise." Weiss explained. I smiled.
"Thanks Weiss." I said.
"You're welcome."
We started drifting to sleep. In Weiss's arms I felt safe, I trusted her with my life. To hear her say that made me happy and confident that she meant what she said. I dreamt of Weiss and I together in a big log cabin in the woods, covered in snow. I listened to Weiss' beautiful voice hum Red Like Roses as I fell to a deep sleep, wishing we could be together forever.
