"Oh my gosh Pyrrha, you look so pretty in that dress!" Nora gushed as Pyrrha put on her new sundress from Weiss after their spa day. "Jaune is not gonna believe what he sees!"
"Nora, I'm still me. He's seen me in a dress before." Pyrrha tried to counter as she brushed her hair out. "Do you think Ren won't recognize you in your new outfit?" Nora had changed from her usual clothes into in a Nora approved pink colored sundress. The dress had a simple scooped neckline with three-quarter sleeves with cut outs that exposed her shoulders. The dress went just to her knees and had a sewn in string to tighten the waist.
"But Jaune hasn't seen you in a cute dress like that." Nora objected. "And besides Ren has seen me in this dress. The people we were living with had a party for us before we headed off to Beacon. They insisted that we get a new outfit and wait! Don't put it up in a ponytail!" She said suddenly, taking Pyrrha's hand and interrupting her own rambling. "Can I braid it?"
"Braid my hair? Sure." Nora grinned widely and jumped onto one of the beds. Pyrrha sat down in front of her on the ground tilting her head back like she'd seen Ren do when Nora braided his hair.
"Have you ever had your hair braided Pyrrha? It's so soft, even softer than Ren's. I bet people loved braiding your hair when you were little." Pyrrha just smiled as Nora began to ramble about hair and what kind of dinner they would all be having down at the beach. She in fact hadn't had her hair braided in a really long time. Her mother used to when she first started training but when she gained recognition people said she looked better with just a ponytail.
"Done!" Nora said suddenly.
"Done?" Pyrrha asked, very confused. Whenever her mother had braided her hair it took much longer than that, and her hair was shorter then. Had she dozed off?
"Yup. Take a look!" Nora said pulling Pyrrha up and dragging her to the bathroom. Pyrrha looked carefully at her hair. Nora had braided her hair into a crown that lay were her head piece usually sat. She'd even managed to braid in her bangs so that her hair was fully off of her face. The rest of her hair gently fell behind her shoulders.
"Oh, Nora, it's great!" Pyrrha finally said, gently touching the braid. "How'd you do it so quickly?"
"A lot of practice." Nora simply said with a huge grin. "Do we have everything to go?" She asked excited, bouncing lightly on her toes in her white flats.
"I suppose so as long as you took out the water pistols you had tried to smuggle into my bag like you agreed to." Pyrrha answered, still wondering with a smile why Nora thought tonight would be a good night for a spontaneous water battle.
"But…"
"No buts."
-"No buts dude." Sun said holding out a new outfit for Neptune. "You're going to this party."
"Again, why are you doing this?" Neptune asked, arms crossed as he sat on his bed.
"I already told you." Sun groaned. "I care about you bro. And seriously you can't miss this party."
"And why not?" Neptune asked stubbornly.
"Because Weiss will be there and there'll be music and you can finally redeem yourself from the Beacon dance."
"I already did that!" Neptune objected standing up. Sun just stayed unmoved, holding out the new clothes. "Are you at least sure that those are my size?"
"Dude, how many times have I had to sit through you trying on clothes determining if they're the right size? Just trust me."
"I don't think I can after you shoved me into a pool." Neptune responded, taking the clothes.
"You'll thank me after tonight." Sun called as Neptune walked into the bathroom
"For you nearly drowning me?" He asked from behind the door.
"No, I'm sure you'll hold that against me for the rest of our lives." Sun joked back. "You'll thank me for getting you to the party." After a few minutes, which is record time for Neptune, he emerged from the bathroom.
"Alright." Neptune sighed. "I guess I'm ready to go."
-"Ready to go?" Ren heard Jaune ask after getting washed up. He looked over to his friend and felt his throat go tight.
"Jaune," Ren began slowly, "why are you wearing that?"
"It's a beach luau! I've got to look festive!" Jaune explained to Ren, turning around for emphasis. Jaune had on his black swim shorts, sandals, some sort of multicolored flower button up t-shirt, and a wide brimmed hat. Ren also saw a large patch of sunscreen on Jaune's nose though he doubted that was intentional.
"Jaune, you," he paused, seeing the wide grin on Jaune's face, "you forgot to rub in the sunscreen on your nose."
"Aw man, that would have looked terrible. Thanks Ren, you're a great friend." Jaune dashed back into the bathroom.
"And you might want to leave the hat off." Ren called after him as he finished buttoning up his own top. Though Ren thought this was a more casual affair, Sun and Neptune insisted that all 'the boys' get a little dressed up for the party. After Nora had found out, she insisted on going shopping with Ren and Jaune to pick something out for them. Jaune went his own way, apparently picking out that flower shirt, while Nora picked a shirt for Ren.
Ren looked at himself in the mirror. He wore his usual white pants that worked well with his new light green shirt. Nora had wanted him to try on at least one blue shirt since they were at the beach by the water but Ren refused.
Nora, green is my color it always has been. Oh come on Ren. It's not like people won't recognize you if you wore a different color. You never know Nora, they might think you ditched me for someone else. Don't be silly they know I'd never leave you.
"Ready Ren?" Jaune asked after reemerging from the bathroom. Ren gave a small nod in agreement. "Let's go."
-"Let's go!" Ruby said impatiently for the fifth time as she waited for her team to finish getting ready. They all thought it would be a good idea to get dressed up and show up the boys at the party and were taking FOREVER.
"Just be patient Ruby." Weiss said calmly as she stepped into her sundress from earlier that week. Thankfully none of the pool water that Neptune had gotten on it stained. "Why don't you try putting on some of this?" She offered, holding out a lipstick and mascara.
"Good luck on that one Weiss." Yang commented as she put her own mascara. "I've been trying that ever since she got her first training bra. She's just not a makeup girl."
"Yang!" Ruby called out embarrassed.
"Oh, don't worry sis. You've got enough natural beauty that you don't need it." Yang winked at her sister. Despite her initial protesting to wearing, Yang thought her sister looked great in her red romper. It had an open back with straps laced across it that matched the wrapping on her new sandals. Ruby insisted on bringing her cape but she hadn't put it on yet which was a good sign.
"You do to." She said with slight smile. Zwei barked in agreement as he hopped onto the bed with Ruby. Yang was wearing a plain cotton dress that went down to her mid-thigh. Its color perfectly matched her eyes and it had a halter strap coming from the middle of her chest that tied around her neck. "You all do." She finished, admiring her team.
Blake wore a black high neck, sleeveless crop top that matched her black skirt with attached shorts underneath. She even was wearing the purple flowers in her hair in substitution for her bow like the team asked her. What was most impressive was that even Blake couldn't see where her ears were.
"Well, I think I'm done." Blake finally said as she capped her lipstick.
"Does that mean we can go?" Ruby asked excited.
"Not yet." Weiss corrected her, putting on a final piece of jewelry. "Now we can go.
-"Can we go?" Flicka rolled her eyes at the drummer as she finished the finishing touches on her last gift.
"Not yet." She replied, holding up her creation. "I need to pack these away and I haven't heard from either Yang or Blake that they're going to the beach. We don't want to just be waiting and get our equipment full of sand."
"Sigh." The keyboardist said dramatically.
"You know with all the fuss you make I'm surprised you haven't gone solo yet." The drummer commented.
"Then who would bug me and ask me to drive them to the store in the middle of the night." They replied.
"Why don't you two stop pretend bickering and help me pack up?" The percussionist asked as they finished packing up their small collection of instruments.
"But we already did." The drummer and keyboardist said simultaneously.
"Yeah the only instrument that needs to be packed up is the voice." One of them joked.
"Well lucky for you not only do I have legs but also Yang just messaged." Flicka said, packing up her goodies. "She and some others will meet us by the beach entrance near that resort hotel."
-Team RWBY headed down to the beach, guided by Yang to relocate her perfect spot. Zwei unfortunately had to remain in the hotel room but Ruby secretly promised to bring him back whatever dessert they were gonna have later. Along the way they ran into Sun and Neptune outside the hotel. Neptune wore a cream and red stripped polo with dark shorts and sailing shoes. Honestly if the girls hadn't know how terrified Neptune was of the water they might mistake him for a sailor.
"You look nice Neptune." Weiss complimented him as she made her way to his side.
"Not as nice as you my tropical beauty." He returned and, to Weiss' secret delight, offered his arm for her to take.
"You would not believe how much effort it took to get him to come." Sun commented as he walked over to Blake.
"Apparently more effort than it took for you to get dressed up." Blake returned, looking at Sun. Despite him initiating that the boys should dress up, he didn't look much different.
"Hey, with how long it took to get him to come I ran out of time. Besides you love my look."
"You keep telling yourself that." Both Yang and Blake responded, smiling at each other.
"So which direction are we going Yang?" Ruby asked as they reached the entryway to the beach.
"We actually need to wait for a bit. I told our band I'd meet them here." Yang said, taking a seat on a bench.
"Well, how long will that take?" Weiss asked.
"Not sure." Yang answered. "I messaged them when we had confirmed everyone was ready to go that they could come down and I'd meet them here. The singer said they'd be here shortly but gave no specific time."
"I can take you ahead." Blake offered Weiss.
"Can I come too?" Neptune asked. Blake shrugged in response.
"Need anyone to stay behind Yang?" Ruby asked.
"Nah, it would actually help more if you helped finish prepping the spot once you get there. Plus, Team JNPR will need a guide when they show up too."
"Alright. See you later Yang." Sun said as the others followed Blake.
"So Blake, how do you know where this secret spot is?" Ruby asked as the five future Huntsmen walked.
"Yang showed me the spot when we stopped by to get clearance for our party." She answered. "We were also able to ask the life guard to let us rent some games." Once they reached the spot, they began setting up. The games Blake mentioned included a beach volleyball and net, hula hoops, and a limbo bar.
"Why did they leave this rope?" Weiss asked, holding a sturdy sailing rope that had been in the pile of games.
"It must be for some kind of game." Blake responded, putting the last steak in the sand for the volleyball net. "Otherwise they wouldn't have left it."
"Is that for tug-of-war?" A high pitched squeal came from behind Blake. The whole group looked to see an energetic little redhead running toward them.
"Hey Nora! Hey guys!" Ruby called, waving with a hula hoop in hand. Behind Nora came the rest of Team JNPR and followed by them was another group lead by Yang.
"Nora!" Ren called, struggling with a large box.
"Coming Ren!" Nora called back as she ran to grab what Ren was carrying. "Where do you want this?"
"There should be a large wooden board Nora." Yang called. "Gently place it down on that."
"You got it!" Nora gave Yang a salute as she carried the box with minimal effort. Sun looked from Nora back to Weiss who still held the rope.
"Tug-of-war, with Nora?" He asked aloud. "Only if she's on my team. I'm not going against her."
"Oh come on, it would be fun Sun!" Nora said, jumping over to him and giving him a playful punch.
"We'll have to see. By the way, thanks for not giving me a bruise this time." Sun said, rubbing his arm lightly.
"Everyone!" Yang announced to get everyone's attention. "I would like to introduce our musical entertainment for the night. This is Flyin' High." Yang said gesturing to the group after they put down their instruments.
"Um, are they alright?" Neptune quietly asked Ren. The entire band seemed to have frozen up.
"Ms. Schnee." Flicka finally said. "I didn't know you would be here." She nervously passed her hand over her feathers, breathing slowly.
"Well, we like to keep it causal in our group." Yang said. "Weiss is just, Weiss."
"They look liked Jaune when he first say Pyrrha in her new dress." Nora laughed as she skipped past Blake away from the band. Blake began helping them better unpack and seemed to be striking up a conversation with Flicka.
"Nora." Ren said cautiously.
"It's OK Ren." Jaune said. "I won't deny it." Pyrrha blushed lightly as Jaune looked back over at her. She really does look beautiful with her hair down.
"Um, everyone?" Flicka nervously announced. "In thanks for giving our group our first gig, and for visiting my home island, I made something for you."
She stooped down to pick up a bag. Reaching her hand into the bag, she walked over to Blake who was closest to her. When she took her hand out Flicka was holding a chain of flowers.
"These are traditional leis that we wear during parties and celebrations. Though they are usually presented as welcome, I felt they could also serve as a parting gift." Flicka explained. She gently took Blake's arm and wrapped the magenta strand around her wrist. "These can be worn around your neck or on your wrist."
"Oh they're so pretty!" Nora said skipping over to look at Blake's lei. "Do you have any pink ones? Like hot pink?" She asked excited.
"No." Flicka replied. "These are made from flowers that grow here. I do have white or shell leis as another option." Nora slightly frowned but it disappeared as another purple-pink lei was pulled out of the bag. "But I think this would look beautiful on you." Nora smiled as Flicka gently placed the lei over her head.
Flicka went around distributing leis to the entire group. Ruby received a purple lei as well. Yang, Ren, and Pyrrha all took white leis. Sun, Neptune, and Jaune accepted shelled leis. The last to get their lie was Weiss. Flick pulled out another white lei and placed it over her head. She held her breath slightly as Weiss gently felt the flowers around her neck.
"This is exquisite." She said looking at Flicka in the eye. "Thank you so much." The two smiled at each other, a great relief coming over both of them.
"Now Yang, where's the food?" Sun asked. "You said that there'd be grub."