Castaway Island

Chapter 12: The New Normal

-DAY 29-

It had been a week since that day on the hill and they had been busy. It had taken a lot of effort to bring all that equipment down, they had to constantly try and make sure that the portable generator wouldn't roll downhill the entire time and the antenna, and cables were heavy as well. They had to take a lot of breaks because of just how physically intense it all was and so they didn't wear themselves out since they weren't sure if more Grimm were around.

By the time they made it down the sun was low in the sky, and they still had to move them across the compound after that. At least the golfcart made it easier once Yang rigged the generator to the back since the generator had small wheels, she figured they could just tow it.

The poor cart could barely handle all the weight, Jaune had to carry the antenna by hand while Yang slowly made her way back to their home base. By the time they got back and packed it all way they were dead tired. By the time they went to bed both were out like a light and slept in the next day.

By now they had placed it all in a third cabin next to theirs, or as Yang called it the 'radio room', at least until she came up with a decent pun for it. They had cleaned it up and moved stuff around so they could store the equipment and get to work on trying to get everything working. They retrieved the small radio from the dock and placed it with the rest. Thankfully the CB radio was small enough to be carried by them although it looked to run off the power of the building it had been in and not batteries.

To use the antenna, they needed to power the CB radio without frying it with the portable generator. Once again, she wasn't an electrician, so she was only guessing at times on what do to. She had gone to the power plant to see if there were any books or manuals that could look helpful. She found a couple that might work but it was slow going trying to understand the complex diagrams and terms she wasn't familiar with.

There was also a lot of math and converting she had to painstakingly do, all by hand and without a calculator. There were sheets of papers with her work on it, usually scratched out or balled up as she would throw them into a corner.

They could have left everything up on the hill and worked on the equipment there, but they just couldn't guarantee their safety up there. There was no way to tell if that group of Grimm were the only ones in that area or there were more around there. Maybe if they had more people, they could do it but with just the two of them? They couldn't have a watch going at night and have her work in the morning with Jaune on watch duty while she worked and helping when he could. They could do one or the other, not both. Not without tiring themselves out with a lack of sleep.

They just didn't have the numbers.

One idea she had was the just rip out an outlet and wiring from somewhere and see if she could get that working. Another was to see if they could hook up the generator to the hotel itself, but they would have to experiment with the breakers and turn off mostly everything. While the generator could power a small building it wasn't meant to power a whole hotel for a long period of time. They would have to figure out how to cut most of the power off to keep it energy efficient.

They had no idea how long they would need to transmit a signal before anyone heard it and running out of power in something like thirty minutes to an hour didn't sound like a good idea to either of them when she brought up the issues.

While the work on the radio was slow going, they also changed up a few other things during the week in their routines.

One thing that they did change was that they set aside at least one hour a day for combat training. There were large open spaces around the complex where they could use to practice and keep their skills sharp. Having been ambushed on the hill like that taught them that they had gotten a bit too complacent. It was a little rough without a teacher to help guild them, but they made it work. Yang needed help with learning to use a spear effectively in combat, thankfully Jaune's sword and shield were good compliment for this training.

She did end up breaking a few spears, but she had plenty to spare by this point. She also helped Jaune with more close combat lessons as she felt that was something he would need given he was a close-range fighter.

After a few days she suggested that they use the gym in the Recreation Center to help keep their strength up. Jaune figured it would help to keep certain muscles they didn't exert while they survived on the island in shape. It took some cleaning, since the place was heavy with dust and a couple of smaller animals had managed to get inside at some point.

The gym itself was mainly a long rectangle with a line up of treadmills (those were useless without power), some stationary bikes. Then there were the weight machines and at the end the free weights. A long mirror was on the whole wall. There was a small room that looked to be fore yoga but honestly neither of them really knew it or used it so that room didn't get used much.

Both were starting to get into the new routine with the training and working out. It added something new that they needed as every day it seemed they were doing similar things to the point that Jaune was wondering if it was affecting their minds. You can only do the same tasks every day without a break for so long.

Yang missed her gym time, she liked to keep in shape and now putting an hour long at minimum was making her feel like things were kind of normal again. Okay sure the gym was hot and stuffy, they opened up the windows but with the AC not working it only did so much. It was nice to have a gym buddy in Jaune at least instead of just by herself. Plus, it was important to have a spotter at any rate.

She had to admit watching him work out and getting all sweaty was very fun to watch. For Jaune the new routine reminded him of the late-night training with Pyrrha. Those were bittersweet memories these days, he wondered how long it would take for the pain to ease off from losing her? Sure things were better but he still felt that hole in his life.

One thing however that was distracting was that since they had no real work out clothing, Yang was working out in a bathing suit. Watching her work out, working up a sweat with her tanned and athletic body was turning out to be very erotic at times. He couldn't help but notice the way her muscles moves or other parts of her body.

When she was doing squats, he couldn't help but look at her shapely ass as it flexed, the mirror in front also gave him a nice view of her breasts bouncing with every repetition. Noticing the hardon he was getting he tried to focus on doing some curls. Yang had noticed him looking and honestly, she might have been insulted if he had avoided looking at her by this point.

She knew she was hot but it was nice to be appreciated. She also used the mirror to watch him do curls shirtless, the way his arms flexed with every time he pulled up the free weight started to get her motor running. Biting her lip a bit she had to admit that he looked really nice working up a sweat like that.

Their work out had a lot of them checking each other out as much as they did workout. At one point Yang was tempted to just straddle him on the pushup bench but she tried to keep herself under some control. Maybe another time but she wanted to get them into a basic routine before they tried to add some fun to things.

Lucky the showers like every other one they had found still worked, of course there was no hot water but given how hot the island was normally that wasn't too much to complain about.

"At least there are windows in here," Jaune said as he went into the male locker room for the first time. There was a line of small and slim windows up high, they were covered in a material that let in light, but you couldn't really see through it well. It was still a bit stuffy, so he reached up with on his toes to reach the latch and pull it open to get some kind of air flow going.

"So, this is what a guy's change room looks like," Yang said wiping sweat off her body with a towel.

"Yang, this is the guys' room!" Jaune jumped at her suddenly walking in.

"Yeah so? We're the only ones here remember?" She looked at him placing a hand on her hip.

"Oh right, sorry, force of habit," He scratched the back of his head.

Yang waved it off and looked around. "I mean when else am I going to get to go into the guy's locker room? Kind of disappointing, it's basically the same only we don't got urinals and there's no tampon machine…wait!"

She suddenly realized something she had never thought of as she dashed out and he thought he soon heard something metal being torn open and Yang's voice. She quickly came back with a smile. "Okay it was stocked, got me more supplies for those times of the month now."

Jaune could have lived without that, he had gotten enough of that at home with all his sisters that he was kind of numb to it all by now but it was still something he could live without knowing.

Yang waltz into the shower room to see that they were full stalls with more of those little widows. At lest it allowed for some light into the room like in the changing room but some of the stalls were pretty much covered in shadows.

"Well with all this heat and humidity, I think a chill shower will do the job." She untied her hair from the ponytail she liked to put it into when working out as she shook it loose.

"Yeah, I could like to-" he was cut off as her bikini top hit him in the face as he saw her wink over her shoulder kicking off her shoes and socks and then pulling down the bikini bottoms. Watching her sway her hips with her naked backside to him, well he had been fighting his erection the entire time, he was done with control. Quickly slipping out of his clothing he was eager to join her.

And of course there was the sex between them. They were by this point very comfortable with each other's bodies. Turns out, sex was becoming a very good stress relief for the both of them. After working out they would share one of the stalls and have some fun.

Since it was a shower without a condom, Yang put in a no fucking policy unless they brought on. Now that didn't mean they couldn't play around, touching each other, playing with each other's bodies, Yang would jerk him off or get down onto her knees to suck him off, sometimes also using her tits. Jaune wasn't the only one getting pleasure.

Currently they were in the shower this time as she had him in her hand gently her hand going back and forth as she nibbled on his neck.

"Hey uh…Yang can I ask you something?"

"Now?" Yang asked perplexed since they were in the middle of something.

"Well I was wondering…can you teach me how to eat a girl out?" He shyly stated. "It's just that, I really want to become better at sex and stuff but honestly I'm not sure what to do there. You've been doing stuff like that for me so, well, I thought it was only fair."

Yang blinked and then smiled. "You know, some guys won't even go down on a girl but here you are asking for pointers. Okay then Studd, get down there and let Professor Yang teach you all about it."

Jaune did as he was told now facing her crotch he moved in and captured her lower lips with his own.

"Hmmmm," She closed her eyes enjoying the sensation, he was just kind of kissing it for now but she would teach him everything he needed to know. "Okay now…first lesson…"

Then there were the nights they spent together exploring each other's bodies, talking to the other, seeing what they liked and didn't like, given this wasn't a full-on relationship they were starting to use this 'friends with benefits' thing to just gain experience with the other. Sometimes after they were finished with that, they would just lay in bed starting up at the ceiling and talk. It didn't matter about what they just wanted to hear the other person as they cuddled up for the night.

By the end of the week though they decided to take a bit of a break, they both had been working so much that they figured they needed something other than just work. So, Yang found a basketball at the Rec Center, and they had a game in the basketball court by the hotel. Yang won but it had been close, Jaune's tall height was an advantage he had but she was just more skilled.

They tried the tennis court much to their enjoyment because both of them were equally bad at the sport. At one point Yang got so frustrated with hitting the ball she hit it so hard it buried in the metal fencing. They had a good laugh after the fact, at least they had time to get better.

A lazy day of enjoying themselves seemed to invigorate them by the end of the day. So, they decided they would set aside days when they could to just relax and enjoy themselves so that the pressure didn't get to them. They needed ways to blow off steam and stress since survival was also a mental condition they had to keep up.

One thing Jaune liked to do was just take a walk around the complex. There were all kinds of small areas he explored just to see what was there and if he found anything interesting.

One day Jaune had found something during said walk, it had been a kid pool that had been wedged between two trees in the more forested area of the compound. The tall grass had hidden it until one day he had been exploring the areas more closely and something caught his eye. It had taken him a little bit of time to get it unstuck and he found a hole in the side but that was fixable with some tape.

By the time Yang got home that day she had found him with the plastic kid pool in the back filling it with water from the river.

"What is that?" She asked.

"Oh Yang, I just found it," He smiled up at her finishing with the bucket of water glad to see it wasn't leaking. "I know we've been using the hot tub but it's just too big for the two of us for laundry, so I finally found something just the right size."

It was the kind of size you might use for very young children, about 47 inches across she could guess.

As Yang looked at the blue and green colored pool, she noticed the patch job but what really made her question something were the large rocks in it. "And the rocks?"

"Oh, well since it got blown pretty far away, I figured to weigh it down since we don't want it to happen again." He shrugged.

She shrugged in return as she couldn't fault that logic. For the next few days when they cleaned their clothing and the bed sheets, they tried out the small pool. It worked out perfectly it wasn't too deep and was wide enough for them to get the laundry done without issues. Also, they could much more easily drain the water and refill the kiddie pool than the hot tub. The hot tub just took so long to drain even when not fully filled, then they had to clean it out for next time and then refill it. This whole process just took up so much time that the kid pool that Jaune found cut all that time and effort into a fraction of that, leaving them with more time to do other things.

They could even just literally drag it to the river and get water right there instead of walking back and forth from it to fill the hot tub.

After cleaning the hot tub out a final time they refilled it with fresh water and now they could use it as it was intended for. Well, they could soak in it at least, it still had no power, but Yang didn't care about that. Some nights it was nice to just go into the cool water and just watch the stars from it, sipping a drink either some juice or a bottle of wine that hadn't spoiled and just relax in the cool night.

Jaune would join her at times as they just enjoyed the quiet together, they made for some nice nights for the two of them. Some days she didn't even bother to wear anything, it was a little thrilling to just get in naked and enjoy the night. Jaune took a little convincing at the start but by the end of the week they were just soaking and having fun.

A couple of nights they ended up enjoying more than just enjoying the water. After grabbing a condom, they had one night with Yang riding him in the water, pressing his face to her chest, enjoying him sucking on her tits as she rode him.

Another night saw her bent over as he fucked her from behind, his strong hands holding her hips the slapping of the water being drown out by their grunts and cries of passion.

A few days later Yang was back in the Radio Room, looking at a few things she had taken or ripped out among the island to see if she could get an electrical converter made. She only had a vague idea of how to do it and the materials from the power plant kind of helped but she only barely understood some of what they were talking about.

The door opened as she looked to see Jaune carrying a small box. "Okay I found some lighting dust power cells for the generator finally, at least I think some of these could work."

"Where did you get all that?" She asked seeing the small cylinders with the lightning dust symbol on them.

"Pretty much I've been looking all over the place," Jaune sighed setting it down. "Got them out of anything electronic that I could find that still had a charge. I was testing things out with that voltmeter you found to see if there was anything left in it or if it was dead like how you showed me."

She nodded her heat turning the cylinder in her hands, basically power cells were like huge batteries since dust didn't lose their powers unless they were used, they should still be good. The generator had a drained cell on the top of it and with this they could get it started again.

"When I found a something with a charge, I just yanked it out." He looked down at the box. "Some were from electrical room we found in the hotel, a few others from elsewhere like the power plant. I also found a few in a storeroom under a few boxes. We missed it because we were more focused on food supplies. There's a couple more, I'm going to go back for them later as this was all I could carry."

"Nice, that will help," she looked at the table in front of her with a bunch of electronics spread over it. She rolled her shoulders; she had been working on this for so long she was starting to feel frustrated.

Jaune noticed her rubbing her shoulders and guessed the stress was building up in her muscles. He could relate, Yang really did seem one to push herself when she set her mind on something. He walked up behind her as he placed his hands on her shoulders and started to give her a light massage.

Yang moaned at the touch, "That feels nice, you got experience with this?"

"My dad always said a woman likes a man with a magic touch," he shrugged feeling the tense muscles and doing his best to work them out.

"Well, I can say that time your dad was right," Yang winced at a particularly stubborn knot he was working on. When he was finished, she put out a sigh of relief. "I wish I knew more about this kind of stuff I'm basically mostly guessing at this point."

"Would it be easier to just have the generator set up with the antenna and send out just a signal?" He offered.

"Doesn't work like that," Yang leaned a bit back into him enjoying the feeling of his hands. "Antennas don't need power, but they need something to generate a signal for them to use." She pointed to the CB Radio set. "That is what needs the power, but the generator gives out too much for it to handle. That is what's bottlenecking this."

"Can't we just use the dusk cells I just found?" He offered.

She thought about it. "Maybe…we could try, maybe I can hook one up to an outlet, and see?"

Yang didn't want to modify the wires too much if she could avoid it. The dusk cells were a lot less power that's for sure so it shouldn't blow out the radio, she'd just have to find a way to be able to safely use the cell with the radio and then splice the antenna cable and it should be golden. Provided the energy was just right, which again, she wasn't sure on.

"You know, this might just work," she smiled brightly up at him since for the first time it seemed like they might have found a way off this island.

"Glad to help," He smiled back.

There was a quiet then as Jaune continued his work as Yang just took a break to enjoy it. It was strange she never thought she would be so comfortable with Jaune to allow her to touch her like this before coming tot his island. Then again, he had touched her in far more intimate ways since they started having sex.

'God I can't believe I'm thinking of sex with Jaune as normal,' Yang thought to herself. 'It wasn't that long ago we were just friends and now, I've done things with him I know my dad would kill him for.'

Not that she was complaining, the sex was improving, and it really did relieve a lot of stress for the they were building up. So, it looked like this 'friends with benefits' thing was working out. She could get used to this arrangement between them. At first it had been a little awkward but not they were getting used to it all that it was becoming a normal thing between them.

"Hard to believe we've been here nearly a month." Jaune said.

"Yeah, seems like longer," Yang closed her eyes just enjoying his hands, the sounds of the birds outside and the smell of the ocean. If this was actually a vacation, she might have been really enjoying herself. "So much has changed."

"You mean…like us?" He offered.

She moaned a yes, "honestly? I never thought we would get this close."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he smirked. "I always thought you were out of my league."

"Still am," She smirked joking. "But I think despite everything, this might have been good for us too. I'll be honest I was still in a really bad place when me and Weiss found you guys."

"You still get those trembles?" He asked her as he remembered what she said about her hand.

"Sometimes," she nodded. "It's gotten a little better, plus despite all the stress we're under trying to survive at the same time other things have gotten a bit better. I don't have as many bad dreams and can actually sleep most nights now."

"Yeah, I know how that goes," he said solemnly. They both knew about each other's nightmares that they had been living with. And he had to admit, he too had less nightmares lately. He hoped that it was a sign that they were both healing from what happened that day at Beacon.

"You know how our scrolls got damaged?" He asked her and she nodded. "Well, I didn't tell you this but…I had Pyrrha's last video for me on it. I used to watch it every night when I was training by myself. I just…I just wanted to see her face…to hear her voice again."

He heard his voice crack and the lump in his throat form, he was blinking away some tears as his hands stopped working. "When I found out that my scroll was damaged, I was devastated. I hide it but, it just hurts to know that I'll never see her again. I feel like I lost her all over again and I don't know how to process it Yang. I've tried keeping busy and stuff but every now and then it comes into mind, and I feel this hole inside of me…"

Yang felt her heart go out to Jaune her own partner Blake was at least alive out there somewhere but what Jaune had lost was something that you can't just replace. Much like how she replaced her missing arm it wouldn't be the same as her old one. She reached up to take his hand gently squeezing it. Yang stood up as she turned to see the pained look in his face, he was trying to hold it in, but she could see the pain still there wanting to be let out.

She felt her own eyes sting as she felt for him, she knew what it was like to be wrapped up in so much pain you didn't know what to do. She embraced him, hugging him close as he hugged her back. They stayed like that for a while, she felt some wetness from tears silently fall onto her, but she didn't care. Jaune needed her and she would be there for him, just like how she knew he was there for her.

When he felt better, he gently pulled back feeling a little embarrassed as the sudden emotional outburst. Honestly, he had no idea where it came from, he had been fine until he brought up Pyrrha then it was just a flood gate of emotions he kept at bay just burst out of him catching him off guard.

"Sorry," he said looking away slightly ashamed.

She pulled his face back to her, "Hey there's no shame in that. I lost track of how many times I cried myself to sleep when I woke up without an arm. I had a doctor at the hospital say it was all part of the healing process. So, don't worry about it, I'm the last one to judge about that kind of stuff."

He let out a breath and rested his forehead on hers, "Thanks."

"Any time Jaune," she gently told him. "Tell you what, let me get dinner started up for tonight, let's break out the boxes of noodles we found as a treat."

"You sure?" He knew that some of the preserved food did have an expiration date but those were also food they knew they had and could keep in case of emergencies.

"I think we goth need a treat," she told him as she hooker her arm in his as they walked back to their cabin. "You know, even if I can get that ready, we're going to need a place to put it all."

Jaune nodded his head, there was only one place nearby, the top of the hotel, which had taken some damage. "It might be time to finally explore the upper levels."

"Yeah," She nodded her head they kept putting it off because they had been just so busy to explore it and the damage to the upper levels didn't make it took too safe. But they had to do this at some point, and she felt they couldn't just put it off for any longer.

"Maybe they have a small set up on the roof?" Jaune thought about it. "I mean to communicate with the tower on the hill at least and the dock?"

"I could see that, especially if the tower on the hill was also linked to the CCT network so people weren't in a dead zone for their scrolls. It's too bad our scrolls were trashed by the seawater, if we could get the antenna working it might be able to link up with the tower in Mistral." She told him.

Ever since the CCT tower in Beacon went down communications were locked to inside each kingdom, it was worst for Vale having no communications but short range for the time being. They had tried to recharge their scroll and get them working but the seawater had damaged them too much to be of any use.

"Well looks like we got tomorrow planned out." He stated. "Maybe we can set up the antenna while we're up there?"

"I got the cabling disconnected so we could just carry it up there," Yang shrugged. "It would be nice to get it set up in one go, maybe I'll bring some tools and stuff so we can like bolt it to a wall or something. Maybe see where we will run the cables to while we're at it. There isn't enough cable to get down here or the ground floor, so we'll have to set up a room for it somewhere in the hotel to put the CB Radio and stuff in."

"Sounds like we got a plan," Jaune nodded.

They could have scouted it out more, but they were both in a hurry to get off the island and wanted to get this all set up as quickly as possible. They knew the others would be worried sick, not knowing if they were alive or dead. They had spent enough time here as is and needed to get back to their friends and family.

By bedtime they got into a routine by locking up the homes, and making sure their weapons were close by the beds. They weren't going to be caught by surprise again if any Grimm managed to make it down to this area. They figured the Grimm were keeping to their territories and would only come to the hotel if they sensed enough humans.

Thankfully two people would most likely not be a blip on whatever sense they used to hunt people, since after all this time they hadn't encountered any Grimm until they left the hotel area and wondered into their territory.

Again, by now the routine of changing in the bedroom together was something they were used to. After all they had seen each other multiple times without a stick on.

Jaune only in boxers slipped in first as Yang with just panties and a t-shirt came in next. She cuddled up to him, resting her chest on his chest, one leg draped over his as they got comfortable. This was also just how they did things these days. Just cuddling up against the other, sometimes she was on him like this. Other times they were on their sides one of them pressing against the back of the other with their arm around the other's waist.

It gave them a sense of comfort and safety.

Tomorrow would be a new day with new challenges but tonight, tonight was just them enjoying the nighttime sounds of the island and the comfort of each other's presence.

TBC…