Please point out any typos or mistakes so I can fix them as soon as possible. Same with any places that are unclear. Thoughts are italics, as always. Enjoy!

.

.

.

Weiss shifted her weight to her back foot and pushed off, lunging forward as she thrusted her arm at the ursa. The beast was already slowing down, black sludge covering the glossy classroom floor. It jerked up and cried with pain as it swatted away the blade.

Its claw caught Weiss's wrist and she tucked her arms, shifting her momentum into a spin. She leapt out and feinted left, ducking under its claw to stab her blade into the soft flesh in its side.

It's on its last breaths. One more hit to finish this.

She tugged back on her rapier but it didn't budge.

What?

She kicked the beast away as it tried to turn on her. She pulled again with both hands, but it was firmly pinched in between two bone plates.

This hasn't happened before. And in front of the class? That's just embarrassing.

Her eyes shot to Professor Port, who was glaring at a few students for talking.

He didn't notice yet. One more try.

Weiss planted her feet down with a glyph and twisted the grip, but it turned loose and jumped forward with a muted bang.

What in the—?

She pitched forward, eyes wide and off balance as her weapon moved on its own. It buried itself further into the grimm, only stopping when the hilt was against the bone. The grip was hot in her hands and rotated a few degrees to the left with a soft clicking.

A switch? And was that a dust charge that went off?

The grimm groaned and slumped to the floor, followed by the scattered applause of the class.

"Well done, Miss Schnee, and a very nice addition to your fighting style."

"Thank you, sir," Weiss said, regaining her composure in an instant and doing a small curtsey before Port dismissed the class. She stepped back to lean against the wall while the other students were filing out of the room.

"Staying behind?" Port said as he packed up his own papers.

"Only for a few minutes, if you don't mind." I'll have to wait until it dissolves to get Myrtenaster out.

"Very well, just remember to turn off the lights on your way out. Glynda gets touchy about them after last month's bill."

"Of course, sir. Thank you," she said absentmindedly, her thoughts elsewhere. I knew it felt heavier this morning, I should've suspected—and there's only one person who would dare do that my weapon.

.

.

.

"Ruby," Weiss said as entered their dorm, letting the door slam shut behind her.

"Calm down there, Weiss. You're starting to melt," Yang said, giving her a devilish smile from where she sat at her desk.

"Funny, but not now. Where is she?"

"Bathroom, you'll have to wait."

Weiss nearly growled as she fell onto her bed, staring at the door to their adjoined bathroom with growing impatience.

"Hey, I'm sure if you blast your sword through the door, it'll hurry her up."

"You knew about it, too!" Weiss's head snapped towards Yang, and then to Blake who had shrunk against the wall with one of her books.

"About your little trick? No, I didn't, and way to not tell us until halfway through the semester."

"There's no tricks. Myrtenaster is a rapier—nothing else. I don't need a gun, they're sloppy."

"Yeah, except today. Because you clearly used one."

"That...that was a fluke. It shouldn't have been there."

"What, you didn't know your sword was a gun, too? This just keeps getting better," Yang said, turning around in her chair to fully face Weiss and letting out a hearty laugh. She was having far too much egging Weiss on, and quickly gave up on the homework in front of her. Meanwhile, Blake had long given up on her book, but still kept it balanced on her knees to mask half of her face.

"It isn't supposed to be." Weiss clenched the handle of her rapier, flipping off the cap that was inserted into the now hollow pommel. It still smelled bitter, of burnt fire dust, and stung her nose, but that was the least of her frustrations. She could see the black ring at the bottom of the tube where the single cartridge had been set off and, if she peered closely, she could see the firing pin sticking up.

The toilet flushed and the bathroom door swung open, with Ruby wearing a broad smile as she stepped out.

"It worked!" Ruby squeaked out, trying to contain her excitement.

"Why are you happy about this? I didn't give you permission to tear apart my weapon and add...whatever that was."

"I think it's technically a zip gun, but it's closer to a bang stick in how it works—"

"I don't care! How—why—what in the world made you decide to do this?"

"Oh, well I ran out of ideas for my own weapon, and I've had some sketches for all of yours since initiation, so...boredom, I guess?"

"You dunce."

"Well wait, you never said I couldn't." Ruby threw up her arms, feigning innocence.

"I shouldn't have had to. Nobody should ever have to clarify that. When did you even have the time to do this?"

"Oh, heh, just last night, actually."

"That's why you were falling asleep in class," Weiss rolled her eyes to herself before realization clicked inside her. "Wait, you did this when we were sleeping?"

"Well, I mean when you were sleeping."

"You—what?" Weiss craned her neck to see the others, while Yang just shrugged and shook her head with her ever-amused grin. She turned further, to Blake, and put up her best glare. Blake's neutral face began to fade and twitch, as if it couldn't decide whether to smile or frown.

"Oops," Ruby said, but nobody heard. She stepped back into the bathroom, taking shelter behind the doorframe.

"Blake. Anything to say?"

"I'm a light sleeper."

"So am I."

"Clearly not." Blake caught Yang's quick smile and thumbs-up, before she noticed the deep hole in the floor that Myrtenaster was making as Weiss clutched it tightly. Her mischievous grin fell away and she cleared her throat, hoping it would break the tense silence.

"Why didn't you stop her? You didn't even wake me up. You were supposed to be the reasonable one here—"

"She fixed the sheath on mine, it was catching before—"

"She bribed you—"

"And she put in a new cord." Blake's eyes were wide, near pleading but with no trace of regret.

"I can't stand this." Weiss flopped down on the bed, color returning to her knuckles when she let go of the rapier. "You guys are unbelievable. Just unbelievable."

"How's the tether working?" Ruby mouthed to Blake from across the room, and received a vigorous nod.

"I didn't know they made fabric that strong."

Ruby returned the excitement, practically hugging herself. "I ordered a thinner one today that can cut through stuff. Want to try it when it arrives?"

"Stop it. Both of you," Weiss said, and the two recoiled back into their corners. "I swear, first with the lunch incident and now this, I'm done with today. I'm going to sleep, and Ruby, if you so much as touch Myrtenaster again when I'm sleeping, I'll...I don't even know. I just don't know. Maybe I'll modify Crescent Rose, see how you like it."

"Wait, you think there's more you can do to—" Ruby stopped, cutting herself short when Weiss held up a finger for silence. Her arm flopped back down on the bed and she buried her head into the pillows.

"No more today. No more this week. Okay? Good. And Ruby, go wash your hands. You didn't before."

The three others glances nervously between each other and Weiss, none daring to move until soft snores filled the room.

"Hey, Yang," Ruby whispered, just loud enough to catch her attention. "Should I tell her about the switchblade?"

Yang suppressed another chuckle and dipped her head to muffle the laugh. "Save it for next week, sis."

.

.

.

'Minific' written for the /r/RWBY subreddit prompt: "Ruby is in a predicament: she has customized Crescent Rose as much as she can possibly can, but still has an insatiable thirst for modding weapons. How does she scratch that itch?"

Any and all criticism is more than welcome, and I'm currently looking for feedback on my WiP—a CFVY fic covering their mission in the second volume. The more the merrier!