Chapter 25: Day at the Lake

It was one of those days, sweltering hot with no breeze and, of course, no air conditioning. No one in VAND wore a shirt in their room, Victor being the only one to adjust to the heat by not wearing shorts, but wore his boxers only. He was attempting to read a book, but he ended up using it as a fan instead while Alexi was using his book as a fan, not attempting to read. Dev simply laid on his back and accepted his fate while Nigel sat by the window, simply hoping for a breeze. All of them were silently miserable until Victor decided vocalize their discomfort.

"Fuck its hot!" Victor bellowed, dropping his book to his side. Dev simply groaned while Nigel rolled his eyes, Alexi being the only one to respond.

"No shit Sherlock. What's your next brilliant deduction?" Alexi grumbled, pushing aside some of his sweaty hair that had fallen in his face. Victor sat up and muttered something under his breath, but didn't clarify as he ran his fingers through his sweating hair.

"That we need some way to cool off." Victor grumbled as he moved his book to his nightstand.

"And do you have an idea? Because I'm sure all of us would love to hear it." Nigel commented, finally giving up on the window and taking a seat at the desk. Victor spun until he sat on the edge of his bed resting his elbows on his knees, intertwining his fingers and resting his mouth on the top of them as he thought about some way to beat the heat. He went through his head, thinking of any way to do it. Beach? No, too busy on a day like this. Waterpark? None anywhere close enough to get to. Lake? Was there even a lake nearby?

"The Lake!" Victor blurted, surprising all of his teammates with his sudden outburst. All of them looked at him like he was insane as he stood up with a smile. "There's a lake just a little bit behind Beacon! We can go there!"

Everyone looked at him with a slowly developing smile, Dev even sitting up with a smile. All of them knew it was a brilliant idea, so they were definitely in on it.

"We should invite everyone. Vic, get your sister. I'll get RWBY, Alexi can get JNPR and Nigel can get Velvet." Dev exclaimed as he got out of his bed. Everyone got up, Victor putting on pants, and went to the different rooms to get their friends, knowing that they were going to agree with the plan. Victor stepped up to his sister's door and knocked, waiting for a response until Kira opened the door wearing a black t-shirt and (hopefully) shorts or underwear underneath.

"Hey Victor. What can I do for you?" Kira questioned, blushing a bit as she looked Victor up and down. Victor was very… toned, even with all of his scars. Kira did just start dating Alexi after so long, but she could still see that Victor was an attractive man.

"Me and my team, and probably our other friendly teams, are going to the lake out back to try and cool off. You interested in joining?" Victor questioned crossing his arms and looking into the room. Then, Grey jumped from her bed in full view, so he got to see his sister in the nude. Victor immediately covered his eyes and barked at her.

"Grey! Put some clothes on!" Victor barked as he turned around.

"Relax Victor. Anyway, we'd be glad to join you at the lake. Just give us a minute." Grey responded as she rolled her green eyes. Kira closed the door and turned back to her completely naked team lead, who was quietly chuckling to herself. Honestly, Kira was a little jealous of her team lead, mainly since Grey was blessed and Kira was almost completely flat. Nabuya had joined Grey's method of beating the heat and stripped down to her birthday suit while Kris kept some decency, wearing her underwear.

"Did you have to do that to your brother?" Kira questioned as she started searching for her swimsuit.

"Yes, I live to make him uncomfortable. It's what big sisters do." Grey responded as she went straight to putting her swimsuit on. Kris started changing into hers when she brought up an argument.

"Can you not do that to him? I know you're his sister, but the only pair I want him looking at is mine." Kris exclaimed as she put her bikini on. Nabuya was the only one who didn't have an input, instead, she hummed a song to herself as she changed.

"I guess. You getting something skimpy for Victor?" Grey questioned as she went to the closet for towels and blankets for them. She was wearing a simple white bikini while Kris wore a green bikini. Nabuya wore a red and white bikini, each cup a different color while the bottom was white with red swirls. Kira was the only one who wore anything different, a black one piece since she wasn't as endowed as her friends.

"Nothing too skimpy. Gotta make him want more. Keep his eyes on me." Kris exclaimed as she went into the bathroom to get the sunscreen. They kept all of the necessary stuff for days in the sun on hand, just for situations like this. The girls put all of their stuff into a bag and went into the hallway, seeing the other teams already set up. Yang was wearing a yellow bikini set that really showed off her… assets while her little sister wore a red one piece like Kira for there to be some decency. Weiss wore the same as Ruby, a light blue one piece while Blake wore a conservative two piece.

The top was more like a tank top but clung more to the body, but anything was better than what most of the girls were wearing. Then there was Team JNPR, who was probably the most sensible out of all the teams. No one other than the team knew what Pyrrha was wearing, since she was wearing a large red t-shirt instead of walking around in her swimsuit. Nora wore a pink and grey bikini, one cup pink while the other was grey with a pink bottom. Jaune and Ren just wore simple swim trunks, Jaune wearing a light blue pair while Ren's was a dark green with pink highlights down the sides.

VAND exited their room, all of them wearing their trunks like everyone else. Victor wore a pair of red trunks, making him look like a lifeguard while Dev wore a dark blue pair, much like every other article of clothing he owned. Alexi wore a dark green pair like Ren, but without the pink on them, while Nigel wore blue trunks with red stripes down the side. Velvet was wearing a brown bikini that was similar to Blake's, more conservative.

"Wait, Victor get a shirt." Kris exclaimed before they could head out.

"Why? I'm just… you just want to watch me take my shirt off." Victor attempted to reply before realizing why Kris was telling him to get a shirt. Kris bounced a bit on her toes as she responded.

"Yes! Now go get a shirt!" Kris repeated, turning Victor around and pushing him back into the room. A few people rolled their eyes, Pyrrha most of all as Victor returned with one of his large gray shirts on. The group left Beacon, Victor leading the way since he was the one who knew where the lake was. It was a short walk, but some people managed to have fun along the way. Grey noticed that Blake's bottom had started to ride up on her until it showed off her rather toned rear end.

She smirked as she nudged Dev's side with her elbow as she whispered to him.

"Psst, Dev. Look at the Bellabooty." Grey whispered quietly as she pointed towards Blake's ass. Dev looked and saw Blake's almost completely exposed rear, his face turning a bit red since his girlfriend was pointing something like this out.

"Why are we looking at this?" Dev whispered back to Grey. It was one thing for a guy friend or, hell, a girl friend to point out a girl's rear because it was nice. But having your girlfriend do it? That was definitely weird, no matter how nice the ass was. Admittedly, Blake did have a pretty nice ass.

"Because it's a nice view. Enjoy it." Grey replied, not really realizing that Dev thought it was weird for them to be checking out Blake's ass.

"Hey Blake! Your suit rode up." Dev called, wanting this weird moment to end. Blake looked back at him, not with a glare per say, but something along those lines. She quickly fixed herself and attempted to break Dev's line of sight with her butt.

"Spoil sport." Grey grumbled. The group arrived at the lake, which was utterly gorgeous. There was a good 100-200ft of clearing around the lake with sand reaching halfway, the sunlight making the lake a sparkling blue color. Lush green trees lined the clearing, making it look utterly peaceful and serene. The lake was shaped like a pear, the group meeting at the smaller end at the very top.

"Holy Dust! This is beautiful!" Ruby exclaimed, gently placing her team's stuff on the ground. Nigel, Ren and Kira put their stuff down and joined in at the ogling of the lake. After a few minutes, everyone started to pull their stuff out of the bags, blankets being laid out while Blake even went so far as to bring an umbrella so she could read in the shade. Everyone started to get their sun block as Victor grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it over head, Kris taking the sight as she licked her lips. Victor looked at Kris as he did, and noticed that Pyrrha was looking too, but she looked away as Victor saw her.

Victor chuckled a bit as he tossed his shirt aside and pulled out VAND's blanket. As he did, he couldn't help but take note of Pyrrha grabbing the bottom of her shirt with crossed arms, either time slowed down for Victor or Pyrrha was taking her time as she slowly pulled it off. He was stuck staring as she completely removed the red shirt and reveal the red bikini she wore, Victor practically hypnotized by Pyrrha's show of skin. He couldn't help but admire her toned figure and sleek legs and, admittedly, her supple chest.

"Wow." Victor accidently muttered out loud, just loud enough for Pyrrha to hear. She looked over at him, catching him staring at her, so she smiled as she pulled her hair out of her ponytail and let her crimson hair fall free. Unfortunately for Victor, Kris was standing right next to him and delivered a quick cuff to the back of his head.

"Sorry." Victor apologized as he finished setting up the blanket, Kris delivering a dirty glare at Pyrrha, who took a seat on her team's blanket and started putting suntan lotion on. Victor started putting his own sun block on as Kris headed to the water. He was just about done, the only thing he couldn't get was his back.

"Hey Pyrrha, mind helping me?" Victor questioned as he held up the bottle and shook it a bit.

"Only if you'll help me." Pyrrha replied, holding up her bottle. Victor went over to her and sat in front of her and handed her the bottle over his shoulder. Pyrrha took it from him and started putting the lotion on his back, taking time to gingerly feel the scars on his back. Victor could feel what she was doing, but he had no intention of stopping her. He had done so well to pushing his feelings for Pyrrha down, but now they just insisted on fighting their way back up.

Pyrrha finished up putting on Victor's sun block, fighting the urge to wrap her arms around him and kiss his cheek. She set it aside and turned her back to Victor so he could put her suntan lotion on. Victor picked up the bottle and turned around, seeing Pyrrha pull her hair in front of her as she reached and undid the bottom string on her back. Victor staring at her bare back, doing his very best not to think about anymore of Pyrrha bare. He took a deep breath and started to apply the lotion, Victor failing to not to think of Pyrrha in that way.

Pyrrha was taking several deep breaths, happy to feel Victor's calloused hands on her smooth back. Oh, how she dreamed of feeling Victor's hands on her. He finished up and handed her the bottle, doing his best to hide his… peaked interest in her.

"Thank you Victor." Pyrrha replied as she laid on her stomach, Victor taking one last look at her before heading into the water. Blake was the only other person that didn't go into the water, mainly since she wasn't really one for swimming. Victor charged through the water to meet up with everyone, wrapping his arms around Kris and spinning her. The water was nice and cool, the perfect thing to cool off on a hot day. Everyone took a moment just to relax, Victor sitting with Kris in his lap while Grey leaned against Dev.

Everyone was enjoying the relaxing moment, at least until Ruby splashed Yang, who had to fire back. The two started to splash each other, getting the rest of the group involved and turning everything into a splash war. Blake lowered her book a bit, seeing the large group splashing each other. She rolled her eyes and looked over at Pyrrha, who had rolled onto her stomach and put a pair of sunglasses to try and get a tan.

"Not going to go in the water?" Blake questioned as she raised her book back up.

"No, I'd rather just get some sun. Are you going in the water?" Pyrrha answered and then questioned.

"Never really a fan of the water. So, Victor seems to be looking at you more often."

"It's just him being a man. They have a tendency to look at other women, regardless if they're dating or not."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Look now."

Pyrrha propped herself up on her elbows and looked out at the group, seeing them splash each other like little kids. But then she noticed Victor, no matter where Victor moved in the group, he always had eyes on Pyrrha. It was either directly or just out of the corner of his eye, but he was definitely looking at her. She couldn't help but smile, happy that Victor was looking at her in that way. He already slipped early by complimenting her look, so maybe there was still some feelings for her still.

She shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her head. Victor was dating Kristine, and there was nothing she could do about it. He cared for Kris, not her… not Pyrrha. She took off her sunglasses, ready to get into the water as she set them down on the blanket. She slipped into the water, practically unnoticed since everyone was still having their fun.

"Hey look! Pyrrha decided to join us!" Victor cheered, putting a smile on her face. Everyone quickly turned and splashed her, getting her caught up with everyone else. She couldn't help herself, her inner child taking over, and started to splash back, laughing like a little girl. Yang took it up another step, wrapping her arms around her little sister and tossing her, making a massive splash that made everyone laugh. Dev then took his turn, wrapping his arms around Grey's waist and lifting her up.

"Dev! Don't you dare!" Grey barked as Dev started to turn. He ignored her protests as he tossed her, sending her crashing into the water. In just a moment, everyone was trying to start tossing each other into the water, except Victor since no one could really lift him. That didn't stop Pyrrha, since she snuck up behind him and jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Victor laughed that someone was trying to take him on, but he could respect the attempt.

He reached back and grabbed Pyrrha's waist, pulling Pyrrha in front of him and holding her against his chest. The two laughed as everyone threw each other around and splashed each other, only Blake aware of what the two were doing. The two stopped laughing and simply stared into each other's eyes with smiles on their faces. Victor wasn't sure what came over him, but he closed his eyes and leaned towards Pyrrha, completely intent on kissing her. Pyrrha saw what Victor was doing and accepted it, ready to kiss him.

Blake's eyes widened as she saw Victor and Pyrrha about to kiss, completely shocked that this was how far the two had come for their feelings for one another. Victor came to his senses just before their lips met and tossed Pyrrha into the water, quickly looking around to see if anyone saw what him and Pyrrha were about to do. Luckily, everyone was pretty distracted and didn't seem to notice at all, so he was sort of in the clear. Pyrrha came up with a smile on her face and laughed, doing her best to forget about what just happened. Blake let out a small sigh, worried that there would have been a potential emotional explosion if the two had actually kissed.

Blake looked out to see the two appeared that they had moved past it, but something else caught her eye. Blake stood up and noticed something break the surface of the water towards the larger part of the lake. She couldn't quite make out what it was, but she could see that it was heading for the group.

"Guys! Get out of the water!" Blake shouted as she ran to the edge of the lake. "There's something in the water!" Everyone looked at her waving her arms on the beach and then turned around to see something breaking the surface of the water, and it was moving fast. Everyone immediately started to run through the water as the aquatic resident finally rose from the water. The creature was Grimm, and it was pretty large being about 30ft long. The body was like a snakes, long and sleek, but had a fin-like tail that was more than likely used for paddling.

The creature also had legs, but they were short and stubby, more than likely used for movement on land or shallow water. The creature had the usual Grimm skull with a line of white spikes starting at the back of its head until it reached its back, then split into two before combining back to one and disappearing at the center of the tail. There were bone plates on the Grimm's side and down the center of the back, making a near perfect protective shell. The Grimm's red eyes burned with the usual Grimm negativity as the group went for the shore. The Grimm lowered its head to the water and started to suck in water, its neck swelling with the liquid before it raised its head back up. Everyone made it to the beach when the creature suddenly released the water it stored, spitting the water out at a high pressure like a firehose.

Everyone either jumped out of the way of the blast, or were thrown from the force of it as it slammed into the sand. Victor turned and slid to a stop, the sand building up behind his feet before he launched himself at the Grimm. The Grimm wasn't able to do anything since the burst of water seemed to wear it out. He slammed into the Grimm's neck, the beast reeling for the sheer force of the slam, but it only seemed to piss the Grimm off more. Victor held on to the Grimm as it started to thrash about, everyone else gaining their bearing and turning on the Grimm.

Dev used his Semblance and Blinked over the Grimm, landing on its head and starting to punch on its head with his Devil Bringer. Nora charged the Grimm, grabbing onto its neck and started punching it even though she wasn't really doing anything. Weiss moved up and created a glyph, holding the Grimm in place for the others to wail on. Victor slammed his fists into the Grimm's neck, causing the Grim to howl in pain and start thrashing wildly, throwing Nora and Dev off. Victor hung on as the glyph Weiss held broke, freeing the Grimm as it slithered back to the water.

"Someone help him!" Kris barked as she scanned the water for Victor and the Grimm. Almost as soon as she yelled, the Grimm pulled its head from the water, still thrashing with around with Victor hanging onto its horns.

"Someone help me!" Victor yelled before it dove back underwater, no one really sure what to do to help him. The Grimm came back up again, Victor still clinging to its horns, so Dev sighed and took action. He blinked again, straining himself at the distance, but landed on the Grimm's head again and held on. The Grimm dove again, only this time Victor and Dev were able to steer the great beast back to the shallow end of the lake. The two flew off the Grimm as it slid and rolled, everyone grabbing what they could as weapons whether it was sticks or rocks.

They pelted the Grimm with rocks, not really doing any damage but splitting the Grimm's attention. It dunked its head in the water, creating another water blast across the group, knocking all of them on their backs. The Grimm slithered forward and aimed at its current target of annoyance, Victor. He was able to get onto his back and caught the Grimm's jaws so it wouldn't crunch him. The Grimm shook its head to try and get Victor to falter, but Victor's resolve held.

Pyrrha quickly tried to figure something out, looking around for anything that she could use as a weapon. She spotted Blake's umbrella and quickly grabbed it, formulating a plan as she ripped it out of the sand. Pyrrha collapsed it and then held the umbrella like a spear, taking aim at where the Grimm's jugular would be. The umbrella was then coated in a black glow as Pyrrha threw the umbrella like a spear, using her Semblance to guide the umbrella and give it the boost to pierce the Grimm's scaly hide. The Grimm howled in pain, releasing Victor as he jumped from the Grimm's jaws and crashed onto the sand.

"Kris! Grab the umbrella and give that thing a shock!" Pyrrha exclaimed, Kris nodding with a smile. Dev ran over to Kris and wrapped his arms around her waist, Blinking the two over to the Grimm. Kris grabbed onto the metal pole and started generating electricity through her hands, electrifying the Grimm. The beast howled in pain until Dev had to Blink out of the situation, taking the two back to the group while the Grimm crashed to the ground.

The Grimm slithered through the shallow water, admitting defeat as it returned to the depths of the lake. Victor dropped to his rear while Dev dropped to his knees, Kris leaning on her knees as she bent over to catch her breath. Everyone was amazed by that string of events, and everyone agreed that their lake day was at an end. They packed their bags and headed back to Beacon, after giving the assaulters a moment to catch their breath. They returned to Beacon, everyone heading to their separate rooms to shower and relax.

"Hey Vic, want to hop in the shower? You get my back, I get yours?" Kris questioned as she leaned against Victor, pressing her chest against his arm. Victor noted how Pyrrha rolled her eyes and was about to go into her room when Victor responded without thinking.

"Nah, I'm just gonna rinse off." Victor responded. Kris removed herself as Pyrrha stopped to see what would happen. Kris and Victor were notoriously active, so it was strange that Victor would turn down a moment with Kristine.

"Oh, okay. Share a bed?" Kris questioned, popping a bit on her toes.

"Sure. See you later." Victor replied as he kissed Kris' forehead. Pyrrha watched as the group dispersed, Victor and Kris heading to separate rooms, then headed to her own room. She quickly grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom so that she could be alone with her thoughts. She turned on the water as her mind wandered to her and Victor today. They almost kissed! What the hell was she thinking?

She almost destroyed a relationship because she couldn't keep her feelings to herself! She couldn't help herself around him, when he leaned in to kiss her. Pyrrha stopped what she was doing as that thought crossed mind, her eyes going wide. Victor had leaned in to kiss her… he tried to kiss her.Victor still had feelings for her, and they were very apparent today after he both checked her out and tried to kiss her. Pyrrha couldn't help but smile and bite her bottom lip as she thought about Victor's hands on her back, her body pressed against his.

True, Victor was still dating Kris, but these moments Pyrrha and Victor shared proved that his feelings for her were greater than those of Kris. Pyrrha's smile of affection slowly turned into a malicious smile as a devious plan began to form in her head. He had done all of these actions with Kris nearby, even right next to him. If she started to push him, just a little bit, then maybe he would realize that he should be with the girl he cared about more; her. A few flirtatious remarks here, a few more lovely moments there and she should have Victor wrapping his large, sinewy muscles around her once again.

Pyrrha started to undress for her shower, her devious smile still on her face as she formulated her plan to effectively steal Victor.

Victor was the first into the shower since he needed a moment alone, which is why he denied Kris' invitation. Normally he'd jump all over that offer, but today's mess kinda rattled his cage. First was checking out Pyrrha when she took her shirt off, then he tried to kiss her! What the hell was he doing!? He's dating Kristine! He shouldn't be trying to kiss Pyrrha!

Victor turned on the shower before stripping down and standing under the shower head. He let the warm water run down the back of his head as he tried to put his thoughts together.

"Why did I try to kiss Pyrrha? Well that's a stupid question I know the answer to, because I still have feelings for her. No matter how hard I push them down, they start to bubble up to the top whenever she's around. I couldn't help myself when I looked into those gorgeous spring eyes, those perfect lips. STOP IT!" Victor cursed as he lightly slammed his fist against the shower wall, careful not to break anything. "Okay, yes. I want to kiss Pyrrha. Well, I want to do more than that. I want to kiss her, hold her in my arms, and tell her that I love her."

That thought stopped Victor's process in its tracks, that word echoing in his head; love. Sure, he'd been crushing on Pyrrha since the end of first semester, but he didn't think it would have grown this far. He ran his fingers through his hair, mindful of his ears as he racked his mind for what to do. All he could to is admit it: He is in love with Pyrrha Nikos, and he was still dating Kristine.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Victor muttered to himself as he finished rinsing off.

Alexi tapped his foot, waiting for Victor to finish his shower, but the berserker was taking way too long. Alexi headed out of the room and went to SNTL's room, hoping that no one was using the shower so he could at least go to the bathroom. He knocked and Kristine opened the door with a towel wrapped around herself, but she was still wearing her swimsuit underneath.

"Hey Alexi. What's up?" Kristine questioned, cocking her hip to the side.

"Bathroom." Alexi stated, being very blunt.

"Well, Kira just stepped in, but you might catch her before she gets started."

Kristine stepped aside, letting Alexi inside and he went straight to the bathroom. He opened the door, hoping to catch Kira before she was able to strip down, but that hope faded as he saw her pale skin. She also had a large back tattoo that was very similar to the markings Grimm had on their plates. She had a large red line that went down her spine, an S shaped mark on the left side and the mirror image on the other. There were two red dots, one in each open spot that made it look very much like something a large Grimm would have.

Alexi froze in place, seeing Kira's full figure and pale, almost cream like skin. She had a slight hourglass figure, but not much since she was pretty skinny. She picked up her suit from her feet and held it in her hands when she felt eyes on her, turning to see her boyfriend standing in the doorway. Both of their faces were a bright red as they saw each other, Kira holding her suit against her chest to cover what she could. It was a long minute of silence before Alexi tried to say something.

"Um… hi?" Alexi replied, his voice very shaky from both pure embarrassment and arousal since Kira was a beautiful woman. Kira's face turned from embarrassed to enraged as she went to the sink and grabbed the bottle of hand soap. She turned and hurled the bottle at Alexi, nailing him in the bridge of his nose as she roared at him.

"Get out!" She barked, keeping her suit covering her intimate parts. Alexi quickly closed the door and planted his back on it, looking to Kira's wide eyed roommates.

"I'll be leaving." Alexi stated before quickly leaving the room. He went back into his room, seeing Victor stepping out with a look that said he was thinking very hard. Alexi quickly went in and slammed the door, making his roommates look at it with raised eyebrows. Victor shook his head and threw on his bed clothes, lying on his bed with a book until Dev asked a few questions.

"Hey Big Guy, you alright? You seemed… troubled." Dev questioned as he strummed his guitar.

"Yeah, just thinking about stuff." Victor replied.

"You need some help? You know we've got your back."

"I know, but this is something I need to take care of on my own."

Dev nodded, continuing to strum his guitar until Alexi finally exited the bathroom, Dev taking his turn. Alexi quickly changed into his bed clothes, an old black t-shirt and dark blue basketball shirts, and jumped into his bed.

"It seems we have another member of our team is distressed." Nigel pointed out with a chuckle.

"Well, I know Kira has a full back tattoo. Also she probably doesn't want to speak to me for an extended period of time."

"I have so many questions."

"I tried to use SNTL's bathroom and walked in on Kira undressing. She has an amazing figure and that tattoo is gorgeous on her. She saw me, not like I was trying to hide, and threw a bottle of hand soap at me. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings."

"Indeed we shall."

The door to their room opened and Kristine walked in wearing her usual large Victor shirt with shorts underneath, simply crawling into his arms silently. He wrapped an arm around her, but still kept his book up and read silently until Dev walked out of the bathroom wearing his dark blue pajama pants. Alexi noticed Kris' eyes follow Dev until he got to his bed, the Rusberian noticing the look in her mismatched eyes, the very hungry look a predator would have on prey. Alexi rolled in his bed, choosing to ignore what he saw in place of his own thoughts about Kira and what would happen. They had just started dating, so the last thing he wanted to do was see it fall apart.