Chapter 24

I Rather Dislike the Concept of Camping

Team RWBY were waiting in of mission prep room seven not far from Beacon's airship hanger, having been sitting there impatiently to leave on their mission since before the sun rose. Their huntsman chaperone however seemed in no hurry to arrive.

Sitting on one large couch together, Ruby on the far end kept glancing toward the door hoping if she wanted it bad enough then they would arrive sooner. The rest of her team however were quietly sipping coffee trying to stay awake. The other girls were exhausted from waking unnaturally early and had bags under their eyes, and though Weiss had gone to the greatest lengths to hide them, not even an extra layer of makeup could help. Ruby on the other hand beside her seemed to have enough energy for all of them.

"Oh this is just so exciting!" she squealed, bouncing up and down on the seat cushion.

"Chill yourself, sis," Yang yawned, on the other side of the couch. "It's too early for yelling. On a good night I'm just crawling into bed, and on a perfect I'm just now falling asleep..."

"And both have involved me kicking you out of my bed when you finally make it back," Blake muttered, elbowing her partner due to her aura flaring and getting some residual uncomfortable, though not entirely unpleasant sensations, which only seemed to encourage her.

"Our first mission as a team," Ruby daydreamed, ignoring her sister. "Grimm around every corner, sleeping in strange places, oh and campfire stories! This is going to be the best thing ever!"

"I seriously doubt that," Weiss said, making everyone turn their heads. "Forgive me for not exactly being thrilled at the prospect of sleeping on the ground and not showering for a week. I don't know how I'll ever survive."

Although the team knew she had a flair for the dramatics, they could also tell there was some truth to what she was saying. The heiress was going to be absolutely miserable for the entire week, and Yang's life suddenly took a turn for the better.

"Don't worry Weiss." She grinned. "It'll be just like camping, except now there are things trying to eat us."

"Way to look on the bright side," Blake mumbled into her cup.

"I'm sure this will come to a shock to you all, but I've never been camping!"

The sisters looked at her gaping while Blake merely continued sipping her coffee with a small grin.

"What!?" the sisters cried in unison.

"I've never been camping alright." Weiss brushed the bangs out of her eyes before hanging her head ashamedly. "Unless you count the time I had my maid and butler set up a tent in the upstairs library as a little girl. Father made them take it down though."

"So you've never been camping," Yang reiterated, grin widening and smelling blood in the water.

Ruby giggled. "You had a maid and butler."

"And an upstairs library apparently," Blake said, jealousy apparent in her voice, "which is different from the downstairs library I'm sure."

"Why are you two surprised?" Weiss asked. "It's not exactly a secret that I've had a sheltered childhood."

"I don't think sheltered isn't the right word, Weiss." The blonde leaned over her partner. "Rubes is sheltered, you're just flat out spoiled."

"Sometimes we forget you're not normal," Ruby snorted.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Look at me everyone." The caped-girl stood up and twirled. "I'm Weiss and I'm rich. Instead of buying me a dollhouse for my birthday, Father bought me a real house. Then I had my maid and butler fill the fridge with low fat vanilla yogurt and ice cream."

Yang rolled her head back in laughter and even Blake chuckled at Ruby's near perfect imitation of the heiress. Weiss was annoyed of course being the butt of her partner's joke but was secretly embarrassed that it wasn't too far off from the truth.

"Be quiet," she said at last when all other words failed her. Soon though even she was cracking a smile.

"Don't worry, Weiss." Yang wiped a tear from her eye. "If you have any problems just ask me. I'm a camping professional."

"Um okay!"

"You are?" Ruby tilted her head.

"You bet, sis." She gave her a thumbs up, Blake having to lean further back. "Remember all of those years I visited you in Patchwork?"

"Yeah?"

"That might as well have been camping."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

Yang crawled over her partner who gladly moved to the end. "You lived in a two bedroom cottage with no electricity, no running water, had a fireplace instead of a heater, and ate from an actual garden."

"We had a well," Ruby said in defense of her childhood home, crawling over her partner as well. "If we needed power there was a dust generator in the back. And what's wrong with a fireplace and strawberry garden?"

"Nothing," She shook her head. "I'm just surprised y'all didn't have an outhouse to match." Yang stressed the accent and Ruby's face turned red. Poking fun of her slight accent was one of her sister's favorite games.

"Surprising isn't it, eh?" she said, mocking the fact Yang often used slang from Mistral because of their father.

She only laughed. "Go ahead, doesn't bother me a bit."

"It's not my fault I was raised in Patchwork and you were five minutes from the city."

"Oh!" Yang said as a thought struck her. "You said you've never been camping didn't you, Weiss?"

Ruby threw her hands up annoyed that she was being ignored, and gladly crawled over her partner again.

"Took you long enough." The heiress rolled her eyes, unhappy about being trampled on or used as a buffer between the sisters.

"So I take it you never had to go, you know." Yang gave a devilish grin.

"Know what?"

"Gone 'you know what' outside."

Blake covered her mouth to keep from laughing and soon Ruby understanding joined in her giggles.

"Gone what and done what to where and why is everyone laughing at me!" Weiss screamed.

Yang had completely lost it at this point and fell to the floor clutching her chest, and Ruby felt it was her duty as Weiss' partner to tell her what she meant. As she whispered in her ear, the heiress' face turned a deep shade of crimson.

"Oh no," she squeaked. "You can't be serious?"

"Welcome to camping, princess! Why'd you think we picked up all that rapidly dissolving toilet paper yesterday? What did you think those color coordinated shovels were for?" The other girls couldn't decide what was funnier. The look on Weiss' face or the fact she hadn't thought of this problem herself.

The heiress to the Schnee Dust Company however didn't think this was funny. Nothing was funny anymore. Nothing was going to be funny ever again for as long as she lived. Weiss fell to her knees and prayed for this to be a nightmare. A horrible, cruel nightmare that could've only been thought up by Ruby and Yang.

'This couldn't get any worse,' she cried to herself.

"Hello, children!"

"AAAHHHH!" everyone screamed, jumping to their feet as they hadn't heard the man walk into the prep room.

"Almost ready I see."

'We're doomed,' Weiss thought immediately, her teammates thinking similar.

"Oobleck!?" Ruby said, wondering if this was a joke. "What are you doing here?!"

"That's Professor Oobleck or preferably Doctor Oobleck," he chided. "And I happen to be your chaperone to the lost city."

"Great..."

"Problem, miss Rose?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No, nothing! I said team RWBY reporting for duty, sir!"

"Hmm." He adjusted his glasses and grimaced. "What may I ask is that?" He pointed but all they saw was their supplies.

"That's our gear, sir."

The professor shook his head in disgust. "I count over a dozen suitcases and backpacks between four huntresses. Besides the standard huntsman equipment, what else are you bringing on your vacation?"

He brought his face inches from Weiss' who smiled awkwardly. Professor Oobleck had a reputation for not respecting personal space.

"I'm just bringing the essentials."

"Such as?"

"Such as a coffee maker, back up coffee maker, pancake maker, makeup kit, portable picnic table, toothpaste and toothbru-"

"Alright." He waved her off. "I believe I get the picture. What about you, miss Belladonna?"

"Um...books," Blake said quietly.

"How many?" She shrugged, unsure herself how many she'd taken with her. "I see. And you, miss Xiao Long?"

"Oh, lots of things," she admitted vaguely, not particularly wanting to go into particulars. Weiss may have packed up half their room, but she hadn't been much better. Pretty much her very hair product and hair brush had found its way into her packs, as well as every other necessity she could think of.

"What about you, miss Rose? Pray tell what is in your luggage."

"Extra ammo."

"How much?"

Ruby bit her lip as she did the math in her head. "All of it."

Oobleck opened his mouth to speak but nodded. "Fair enough I suppose."

He took a step toward the door before turning back clearly upset. "You have ten minutes to condense your supplies to something more manageable, or you'll be spending the day putting it all back." He eyed Ruby and shook his head in disappointment before leaving.

The team scrambled trying make everything fit and Weiss was near hysterics about leaving her suitcases. Yang was emptying her packs with survival gear and replacing them with her hair products, while Blake was trying to decide which books had to go with her and which ones could stay at the dorm. Ruby was the only one not panicking, and instead she was fuming.

It had been her duty as leader to make sure her team was prepared, and she failed. She had gotten carried away with the rest of her team and had let them have their way. She wasn't sure who she was more upset with, her team or herself.

"That's enough!" She kicked over a large pack spilling hair products all over the room.

"RUBY!" Yang cried. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Fill your packs with actual survival gear and put what you can't carry in here," she said, ignoring her sister and addressing the whole team.

"The three of us will take turns carrying Yang's pack while she takes the biggest one that we can't. I'll keep the reserved ammo, Weiss will carry the medical supplies, and Blake will can carry the water. Any questions?"

"My special shampoo!" Yang growled through clenched teeth, looking ready to throttle her sister.

The caped-girl laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We all have to make sacrifices, sis. It's for the good of the team."

Yang expression drooped and she reluctantly nodded. She began packing only her essential supplies as did the rest of the team, though Ruby did spy her sneaking in a few bottles of shampoo and conditioner into her pack but didn't say anything. By the end of the week they all might be grateful her sister brought it.

"All done," Weiss breathed as everything fit into four regular-sized packs and one massive pack for Yang. Anything too large or heavy for them to carry went to her who could carry hundreds of pounds without breaking a sweat.

"I'll take Yang's pack first," Ruby said reaching for the backpack.

"Oh no you don't." Her sister beat her to it and threw it over her shoulder along with her extra large pack. "I can handle it."

Ruby shook her head. "Yang, I know you're super strong and all, but that isn't fair to you and it's a waste of your aura. As team leader I can't let you do it."

The blonde shrugged the pack off her shoulder but kept it in her hand. She took a step closer and looked down at her sister smiling sadly.

"You know, sometimes I forget you're the one in charge, sis," she said softly, with Weiss and Blake nodding behind her in agreement. "You're our leader, and we shouldn't treat you like our kid sister."

Ruby didn't know what to say. More than anything she wanted to lead her team to victory, but was often hard for her not to let the older girls have their way or let them make the decisions. She looked up to each of them. More than just her sister or best friends, they were the huntresses she wanted to be. She didn't know it but they thought the same thing about her.

Yang started handing the backpack over but paused. "Which is why," she continued, "I can't let you endanger the mission like that."

She tossed the backpack to Blake who easily snatched it. Ruby stared at them open mouthed.

"But you just said-" She pointed an accusatory finger at her sister who shrugged.

"I'm only looking out for the team," Yang professed, throwing her sister's words back at her.

"But-"

"You just got out of the hospital, Ruby," Blake said. "You've said it yourself, you can't have too much weighing you down or else your semblance works double duty. Besides, Yang's my partner, I should be the one carrying it."

"But that'll just wear you out."

Blake gave a wry grin. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, Ruby, but I'm a faunus. Physically speaking I'm stronger and more athletic than even your sister, and I'm also half about foot taller than you and Weiss. It'll take more than a backpack to slow me down."

Ruby didn't seem happy about it but it was clear her teammates had won this round. "Fine, but if you get tired it's my turn."

"Deal, but that's not gonna happen."

"Thanks, Blake," she said slightly embarrassed, blushed knowing her team had her back and were looking out for her.

The door creaked opened. "Well I'm glad that is out of the way," Oobleck poked his head into the room, "because your fifteen minutes are up. If you haven't changed your mind, the bullhead is ready to take us to the lost city."

The team gave each other nervous glances. This was it. They had been training for this day for so long and dreaming about it even longer. Today they were one step closer to becoming real huntresses.

"Team RWBY reporting for duty, sir," Ruby said.

Oobleck smiled. "Professor or Doctor will do, miss Rose. Shall we be on our way?"

The caped-girl nodded and began sprinting toward the airship with her team right behind her, but slowed as something occurred to her.

'Didn't Oobleck say we only only had ten minutes?'

"What's wrong, sis?" Yang asked as they ran side by side.

"Nothing, just letting y'all catch up to me."

Yang smiled. "Run as fast as you want, Rubes. We've got your back."

(A/N: Thank you for reading. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I hope you had fun reading. The camping bit with Weiss really tickled me. I honestly do picture Ruby having a slight southern accent while I see Yang's being Canadian. Of course this is because of the voice actresses but the sisters having different accents really paints the picture that these two are different from each other. Plus it makes the world seem a little bit bigger in my opinion. It's just something I wanted to add to the story. Once again thank you for reading and all of the support. It's a joy to know so many people enjoy the story. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who without Him none of this would have been possible. God bless)