39

Chapter 39Chapter Text

The third and final day of the trip dawned with Team RWBY being the first to rise and get ready- even before some of the other early birds. The moment the sun crested over the forest and shone its dazzling rays of light across the land, turning the sky pink with the colors of dawn, Yang immediately awoke- as did Blake. Weiss found herself rising mere moments later, having set an alarm on her scroll. Ruby had never gone to sleep, and had just spent the entire night cuddled against Yang's side in her corgi form (which, sadly, Blake seemed to severely dislike for some reason) and just letting the hours slide over her by going halfway dormant. 

Thus, mere minutes after the sun rose, Team RWBY was already out and sitting at one of the designated maintenance stations, performing final checks on their weapons as they prepared to go out for the day- Weiss making sure that Myrtenaster was clean and free of Dust residue, the cylinder making satisfying clicks as she spun it and made sure the internal mechanisms responded fluidly to both the controls and her Aura, Blake completely disassembling and reassembling Gambol Shroud multiple times to make sure she had the entire thing properly memorized down to every last screw, Yang brushing out some of the burn residue from inside Ember Celica's barrels and adjusting the anklets ever so slightly so they wouldn't loosen or slip at a crucial moment. Ruby, meanwhile, was a blur of activity as her form absolutely spewed rose petals en masse, checking over every last inch of Crescent Rose with such thoroughness and dedication that she'd already re-adjusted nearly every single moving part three times before she was satisfied with how the action felt and how smooth the shifting mechanisms were. All that in the span of ten minutes- and without even any breakfast either.

She hummed, sighting through her rifle's scope as she stretched out her senses and felt the camp come alive as the sun began to rise higher in the sky- Professor Goodwitch having woken barely ten minutes after Team RWBY and started on her own daily checks and chores- mostly in making sure that they had everything packed and all surplus borrowed supplies were going back to their providers, along with a hefty sum of lien provided by the school budget. 

Idly, Ruby kept an eye out on the emotional states of everyone around her- most were that muted sense of being asleep, but the ones who were starting to stir were mostly just tired and irritated at having to wake up to fight grimm for the third day in a row. Pyrrha seemed excited as she snuggled into her bedroll and seemingly dreamed of… something or another. Professor Goodwitch was exhausted from having to wake up early, but hid it well. Weiss was similarly not used to the early morning wakeup, and Ruby silently tucked Crescent Rose away before sweeping over to the camp canteen to start on making enough coffee for everyone else- she wasn't allowed to have coffee, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to make it, even the shitty instant stuff that Professor Goodwitch had brought along in lieu of wasting too much money on actual coffee.

Granted, it was the "good" instant coffee, but… well. Good was relative. Anyway! Ruby hummed out a half remembered tune as she got busy, dancing lightly as she used her cape as an extension of herself- a third arm that helped her fetch food items for breakfast while she was busy elsewhere, eyes opening along her body to make sure she had full view of the world around her and wouldn't bump into anything while she started on breakfast- first up made breakfast, that was the rule in the camp. 

A moment later, Yang joined her and the two of them worked in remarkable synchronicity as they went through the motions of scrambling eggs, reheating pre-made frozen waffles, and frying sausage patties, the delicious scents of breakfast starting to waft through the collection of tents and temporary structures that made up their camp. It wasn't gourmet, it wasn't even what they could get at Beacon, but it was calories to dump in the gut and work off through several hours of strenuous combat against the never ending forces of grimm that threatened to annihilate every last bastion of humanity left on the planet.

Hm.

That was a bit of a depressing thought.

Well, regardless- Team RWBY had finished up quick and gone on ahead to their assigned sector for one last easy day of killing grimm before they'd head back to Beacon in the afternoon- probably well after lunch, but just in time for dinner and a shower before bedtime in their actual beds. With their actual hair care products and scented soaps and all of that good stuff that made life worth living.

Mmm… that'd be nice.

Even Ruby appreciated a nice, hot shower- and she didn't even technically need to bathe when she could just jettison any dirty grimm-stuff off of her and make up the difference again later. Which… she'd definitely need to do more often because she was slowly starting to lose mass because she wasn't really eating as many grimm as she had before Beacon- heck, even before Signal.

"Hmm… guys?" Ruby started, idly checking through Crescent Rose's scope as they walked along a more southerly path than the day before, her grimm senses tuned as wide as they could go to make sure nothing was nearby- likely as not there was nothing, seeing as the class had been out for two days and had done an absolute decimation on the local grimm population. "If we come across anything big, do you mind if I take it? I'm losing a little weight and I'd like to replenish that before we head back to the academy."

"Hm? Oh yeah, go ahead Rubes," Yang nodded, knowing exactly what Ruby meant instantly, though Blake and Weiss seemed slightly confused for a moment before realizing what the red Huntress meant. 

"Yeah, it's fine," Blake hummed, keeping Gambol Shroud in its pistol form as she swept it around, making sure nothing approached from her side of the formation. 

Weiss just huffed, keeping Myrtenaster held loosely in her grip as she looked around the area, a thoughtful frown on her face as she rolled her rapier between her fingers slightly, licking her lips as she focused on the surroundings- not that she'd get a better view of the forest than the girl who could literally sense grimm from nearly a mile away, but still. "Just make sure to keep the splatter off of me this time? Even if it dissolves away, the residue is still disgusting."

"See, this is why I wear a black duster," Yang pointed out dryly, rolling her eyes as she walked along with her hands behind her head, a wry grin on her face. "If I get splattered with grimm goo before it dissolves, it doesn't even stain. You, on the other hand… are pretty much snow white."

"That… is what my name means in Old Atlesian," Weiss sighed, grimacing slightly as she sheathed Myrtenaster and just crossed her arms with a light huff of indignation at Yang teasing her. "Anyway, regardless of my choice of color palette, just keep the grimm goo off of me."

"You got it Weiss!" Ruby saluted, giggling a little at Weiss' rather accurate impression of a puffed up cat, bristling with indignation as Yang wrapped her arm around the pouty heiress' shoulder and started to poke fun at how prissy she was about keeping clean even in the middle of the grimm infested woods. 

It was honestly pretty cute, in this kinda way that Ruby couldn't really describe with words, but somehow made the heiress more approachable despite how closed off she was at the start of the month. 

Ruby hummed, a half remembered tune from the past on her lips as she continued to lead the way, taking big steps and giggling to herself as she played imaginary games with herself as though she was half her age and not on a mission to cull a bunch of grimm that were bumping up on the border wall to Vale's agricultural district. Honestly- it was really fun, just… pretending that the floor was lava, hopping between roots and avoiding bushes, casually ignoring how Yang and Blake were giggling at her antics, completely ignoring Weiss' melodramatic disdain of all things childish and fun as she hopped and skipped and-

Accidentally ran face first into the raised chest of an Alpha Ursa, the grimm just making a surprisingly normal sounding growl of confusion that sounded like a weird "bworf?" noise… right before Ruby simply reached up, grabbed it by the mask, and summarily ripped its head off about as casually as one would pluck an apple from a tree.

Poor thing didn't even have time to react, and as the girl became a nightmare of whirling teeth and glowing eyes to swallow the Ursa's head whole and absorb its grimm matter, Weiss, Blake, and Yang just stared rather impassively without reacting. 

Privately, both Weiss and Blake unconsciously agreed that the Xiao Long/Rose sisters were super weird, and that it was honestly really fucked up how quickly they got used to Ruby doing literal grimm shenanigans. 

Oh well. They still had the rest of the day to get through, and a single grimm wouldn't be enough for Ruby.

[Blake's Casual Outfit! Why yes, there is a reason why her eyeshadow is blue and her lipstick is gold... I wonder what it could possibly be?]