On the long walk to Vacuo team RWBYJ sweltered in the unrelenting desert, after seeing the ships in the sky and the buildings in the distance a sandstorm had moved in between them, using their scrolls compass they kept true to their path but the group were not looking forward to heading into that storm. As Jaune trailed behind the four of them he functioned as the rear-guard of the group, he had lifted his shield over himself as makeshift cover from the sun, his eyes flicked between the two sets of partners while keeping watch for potential grimm sneaking up behind them.
Blake took a deep breath letting out a sigh of relief as she pulled the zip of her catsuit down, bringing it down from her neck, stopping just above her breasts and exposing more skin as she sought to alleviate the heat. Blake's ears flicked to her right as she heard Yang swallow. Before she could adjust her outfit any further to accommodate the heat, Yang stumbled on a rock eliciting a laugh from Blake. "Eyes front Xia Long." She teased as she wrapped her arm around Yang righting her and pulling her forward so they were walking side by side again.
"It's not my fault." Yang huffed out as she blushed clearly embarrassed. "Somebody should've made sure their get-up was suitable for the environment." She boasted in an attempt to deflect from her embarrassment.
Blake scoffed at Yang's weak attack on her fashion choices. "Is someone forgetting that Atlas was renowned for its snowy, cold environment, you really expect me to believe you're not struggling in that?" she gestured towards Yang's clothes, the blonde smirked.
"I don't mind the heat." She flared her hair brightly to prove her point and rolled up both her sleeves high up her arms. "I will admit though, I knew Vacuo was a desert, but I didn't expect there to be so much sand." She flew her arms out in front of her gesturing at the environment they were in.
Blake let out a small laugh. "What did you expect?" She asked teasingly as she lent on Yang's shoulder, she brought her left hand up in front of her motioning towards the sandstorm they were heading towards. "Are you telling me you don't find the view… out-sanding."
Yang spluttered out a breathless "Oh my god." As she shook her head at Blake's pun, her eyes landed back on Blake. "The view is definitely growing on me." Blake responded by bringing her hand back up in front of Yang, grabbing the blonde's chin and turning her face more towards herself.
"And while I don't mind you admiring the view, maybe let's do that when we're not stranded in the desert." Blake matched Yang's blush with her own as she let go though she put it down to the heat of the desert rather than teasing Yang.
…
Ruby and Weiss were up ahead leading the group, the partners had taken Ruby's cloak and draped it on top of the two of them to function as a makeshift cover from the sun, alongside this shade Weiss was using some ice and wind dust creating a cool breeze to also help keep them from suffering the heat. As they walked the two had slowly started to walk closer together, Weiss gently tugged Ruby's cloak moreover to her side and Ruby moved closer to Weiss' dust crystals. The two had fallen into a familiar silence but Weiss was determined to not miss the opportunity in front of her.
"I'm sorry." The words tumbled out of her without much thinking, chiding herself as they did since she felt like she had so much to apologise for. Ruby looked over towards her partner with a curious frown but before she could even ask, Weiss spoke again. "Is it okay… If I say it all at once?" she asked Ruby, who was thrown initially by how timid Weiss' voice sounded, she gave a small nod in response.
"I'm sorry for being such a bad partner. I took you for granted. Whenever we stumbled or failed, I could look to you and your smile, I knew you could lead us through… but I failed to notice when that smile became a mask. When Atlas fell, I lost my home and you were right there still, I thought you were incredible. Ever since we first met, you knew who you wanted to be, you were so sure about being a huntress. I took that for granted. I knew you were struggling; we all were. I thought if I just focused us on getting home, I could keep us set on a clear goal but I'm nowhere near as good of a leader as you. I know what it's like to put up a façade in front of one's self and I'm ashamed to say that it's taken me this long to realise that you and I are even more alike than I thought. When we first met, I thought you were this energetic kid in over her head… but I see now we both aspired to be who we wanted to see in the mirror. Whenever I fell apart you were there to help put me back together and it never occurred to me that you thought you couldn't fall apart either." Weiss closed the distance between them until they were touching shoulders and she lent her head onto ruby's shoulder. "Atlas may have fallen but I've realized that this here, with you, that's my home." Ruby took Weiss' hand into her own causing the dust she was powering between them to drop onto the floor.
"Thank you, Weiss, but please don't think for second that you're a bad partner, you're amazing, I'm forever grateful that you're the first person I saw in the Emerald Forest… and I'm okay-" Weiss cut her off quietly but sternly.
"No!…We're not okay Ruby, after everything that's happened it would honestly be concerning if we were but it's okay to not be okay. You helped me realize that imperfections don't make us lesser versions of ourselves. They make us stronger, that they are a part of who we are. So, please don't feel like you have to say anything right now. Just know that I'm here for you, whenever you are ready." Ruby tightened her grip on Weiss' hand.
"Thank you, Weiss. For being patient with me and I promise I'll talk to you. I just thought that a leader had to hold everyone else up. I thought if you guys saw how much I was struggling it would make me a bad leader, but I see that I was wrong… Can I ask you a favour?" her voiced trailed as she asked quietly, Weiss nodded.
"Can we pretend, just for this walk. There's no big villain, no fall of Beacon, we're just a team of huntresses. Just Ruby and Weiss, until we reach shade. Until then, can we pretend that time has stopped?" Weiss moved her head off Ruby's shoulder and drew her leader's attention towards her, silver eyes shined brightly in the desert sun as they gazed into an oasis of blue.
"Of course. Partners." Weiss answered.
"Partners." Ruby repeated gratefully.
