"Alright! So, in the east corner, we have the fabulously stunning Yang Xiao Long! Her ability to send a snowball through any fort is legendary throughout all the kingdoms on Remnant!" Yang announced as if for the benefit of an audience that consisted solely of a disgruntled-looking Blake, who'd agreed to be a referee. "And in the west corner, we have Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee! Though Ruby might be quick, and Weiss is made of ice, there is no doubt they'll go out with a Yang!"
Weiss and Ruby grunted at the taunting and puns and prepared to run as Yang pointed to Blake.
"Go." Blake said shortly. Ruby and Weiss jumped into action and started shoveling snow together to create some cover.
"Huh? No 'ready, set'?" Yang asked confused, not paying attention to her opponents.
"Nope!" Ruby yelled, getting Yang's attention. Yang turned to face her sister just to have her head spin back again from the force of the snowball exploding on her cheek.
"Oh, it's on!" Yang jumped into action, scooping up snowball after snowball and sending them flying through the makeshift fort Ruby and Weiss were hiding behind. Each snowball left a small hole to see through. After the hill was riddled with holes, Yang stopped to see the damage she'd done.
"You're going to have to try harder than that." Weiss taunted as she stood from behind the hill. "Much harder."
"You're on!" Yang shouted, taking her last snowball and throwing it like a professional baseball pitcher.
Weiss stopped the snowball with a palm sized glyph, sending the shattered snow over her shoulder to join another hill Yang hadn't noticed while concentrating on the one in front of her.
"Just as we discussed, Ruby." At Weiss's command, Ruby hopped up with and armful of snowballs and started throwing them as if they were being shot from a machine gun at Yang.
Yang smiled, knowing even she could evade them, and easily dodged the balls of ice. She dodged and was about to taunt Ruby for missing when she realized something. Weiss was standing there with her hand outstretched, as if…
Yang's head snapped forward and sent her stumbling into the snow as her back was pelted with snowball after snowball as they bounced off one of Weiss's glyphs.
"That's more like it!" Yang shouted, picking up a snowball and throwing it at Ruby.
Weiss was barely quick enough to raise a glyph as a shield and was surprised when the ball that hit it shattered to dust and left a crack in her semblance.
"Yang! That's dangerous! What if you'd hit Ruby?" Weiss yelled, not noticing Yang winding up another throw.
"Yah!" Yang's throw whipped just to the side of Weiss, making her jump as she felt a horrible crack in her hand before the pain that came with a broken wrist set in.
"Ahh!" Weiss dropped to her knees and Ruby rushed in, carrying a shield of ice that blocked Yang's next shot.
"When I said this was a battle, I meant it. We use tournament rules." Ruby explained while monitoring the durability of the temporary shield and Weiss at the same time.
"Well, at least she only got my right hand." Weiss grinned, biting back her pain and gave Ruby a nod just as the ice gave way.
"Alright! Ice Flower!" Ruby called the play and Weiss pulled up the glyphs to add ice dust to anything passing through them.
Ruby used her semblance and threw ten well placed snowballs that all became jagged rocks of ice at Yang. Yang dodged the first nine, but the final one she punched out of the way, giving her hand a bad gash in the process. The snow took on a red tinge as Yang continued with her assault.
"Move! She's not letting up!" Weiss yelled, using her glyph to move both of them out of the new barrage. "Ruby! I have an idea!"
Yang watched as Weiss tackled Ruby out of the way of her barrage but where they landed, thick steam started rolling in and soon filled the fenced in yard so she couldn't see more than a foot in front of her.
She threw the odd snowball but only heard the dull thwack of fence as confirmation of her missed shot. There was nothing to see so she pulled out the very last of her wind dust. She wondered whether or not she should use it but after a minute, the scuffling of movement in the mist stopped and a gust of wind cleared the remaining mist for Yang to find Ruby and Weiss standing in a snow-less section of the back yard.
"What happened? Run out of snow to mist up?" Yang laughed, thinking her victory was ensured.
"Something of that nature." Weiss responded with a smirk.
Yang halted her throw, wondering what Weiss and Ruby had to smile about when they were out of snow and she was about to solidify her win. Then she heard a small sound as if something had hit the ground behind her. She spun to find nothing out of the ordinary and then back again to find Ruby and Weiss exchanging a meaningful glance.
"What the hell are you two playing at?" Yang asked while preparing to throw her snowball again.
"Nothing, but I'd move if I were you." Ruby said innocently, her puppy dog eyes on half power as they looked at Yang as if pleading not to throw the snowball in her hand.
Yang glanced over at Blake to find her paying attention with a small smirk on her lips. She waved slightly when she noticed Yang looking at her. Yang could have sworn for the barest of an instant Blake pointed upwards when she waved. A feeling of dread washed over Yang and she looked up to the sky.
Nothing but a large square of black, getting larger and larger every second as it rushed back to earth, gravity doing all the work.
Yang backed up a couple steps and a small snowball hit her shoulder with enough force to leave a bruise. Now she knew why there was no more snow on her opponents half of the yard. But she didn't know if she could hold out long enough to win.
She started moving, trying and failing to dodge the snowballs that turned from the odd impact to a steady rain, then a downpour and finally a hail of millions of tiny white balls that knocked her to the ground and pelted her with relentless force until mercifully they stopped.
"Well, that was surprisingly easy." Ruby commented to Weiss. "I would have expected her to find a way out of that."
"If she'd found out about it sooner, then it wouldn't have worked." Weiss stated. "Looks like we've won though."
"Not yet!" Yang grunted, pulling herself towards Weiss as she slowly got up on her feet.
She stumbled forward and lost her balance. She waved her hands and accidentally threw her last snowball in completely the wrong direction. But she was still going to win. She couldn't lose, not with the potential to have to be Weiss's slave for a day.
"Ahh!" Yang went to throw a punch but found her fist striking a black shadow that exploded with a loud gong. It's shock-wave wasn't powerful, but it was enough to send the unstable Yang back to her bottom.
"That's enough. Ruby and Weiss won. Don't be a sore loser." Blake said, offering her hand to her partner.
"Fine. You win, what do you want?" Yang asked, pulling herself up and looking at Weiss.
"I hardly think you'll be useful in your current condition." Weiss huffed. "But I will collect someday. There may be something important we need help with in the near future."
"We?" Yang asked confused.
"Your bet was with me." Weiss explained. "However, I highly doubt you'd object to anything your own sister sanctions. Not to mention I wouldn't have won without her help. Let's just leave it as that, shall we?"
"Well played, Weiss. Well played." Yang shook her head and limped off with the help of Blake.
Weiss let out a breath and felt a shiver run down her spine. Looking down at Ruby where she crouched with her hands folded deep into her clothes, Weiss knew she was suffering from the aftermath of their successful attack.
"Let's go inside. I'll draw the bath and we'll warm up." Weiss said as she pulled Ruby up by the back of her neckline.
"Yeah… um… can we not do it like last time?" Ruby asked nervously as they went back into the house. Weiss blushed from the memory that had been created while she was less sober than she'd intended.
"Yes, lets not." She responded.
"So…" Ruby said, trying to figure out a better system. "Underwear? Unless you have a bathing suit?"
"Underwear it is." Weiss mumbled as they started the trek upstairs. "And let's not do this again."
"Next year, Weiss. Next year." Ruby laughed as she placed a small peck on Weiss's frozen cheek. "Also, you're going to let me take a look at that hand."
"I think I've taken care of it already." Weiss responded. "But thanks… I'd appreciate it."
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading!
I placed a poll on my account asking what I should focus on for National Novel Writing Month. If you'd like to see this or another of my works updated much more often (or completed), or a new story, please cast your vote on my profile. It will be up until an hour before NaNoWriMo's kickoff, so if you can take the time to vote, thank you very much!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are ready for more Rose/Xiao Long family traditions!