Chapter 20

"You know, Rae, I didn't know you knew how to ski."

"I do have some talents. I'm not completely useless."

Ruby rolled her eyes and smacked her lift-mate with her mitten.

"Man, shut up. You know what I meant."

"Hey, just because I was a part of a bandit tribe didn't mean I didn't have leisure time here and there. And we did live in kinda a hilly area."

Ruby shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess you would, yeah. Not everything is robbing and pillaging, is it?"

"No, not all the time. I remember seeing a poster for downhill skiing lessons once, conveniently in a store we were rob- visiting. So I convinced my parents to lend me some money to take lessons. I think I was, I dunno, maybe ten or eleven."

She turned around and leaned over the back of the chair.

"Hey Qrow!" she yelled down at the following chairlift chair. "How old were we when we took skiing lessons!?"

"Uh, ten I think!" he yelled back.

Raven turned back forward.

"So yeah, we've had a few years to practice."

"You never bought your own skis, though?"

"We were told not to. Parents didn't want us leaving that kid of 'paper trail' as they say, since we would have had to be fitted to the boots and have the skis tuned to our heights, and that meant having our names and data put into some kind of public forum. I dunno really what they meant, but we just kept renting the skis every year."

"Guess when you have a pile of cash, yearly rentals aren't so bad."

Raven sniffled.

"No, not at all. fifteen lien a session for rentals was much better than two hundred lien for boots and like seven hundred for skis. You even it out, and it's about the same to buy or rent for the number of times we went, which was only really six times a season or so."

"I mean, yeah, the math works out. But jeez, what hill were you guys going to that was only fifteen lien for rentals?"

"Just a little one out in the hilly part of western Anima. Lift tickets were only ten lien a day, too."

Ruby scoffed.

"Fuck. Lift tickets here were seventy lien a person. Rentals were fifty!"

"Glad you're paying, Sunshine."

Ruby scoffed and smacked her again.

"Asshole."

"Heh, yeah."

There was quiet for a moment, only the sound of the chairlift humming to keep them alert. The ski hill two hours north of Vale had opened early this year, thanks to a recent development in snow-making-machine technology that allowed for use of ice dust crystals to make pure, soft, and very ski-able snow. In the middle of November. It was a balmy eight degrees out, so warm in fact that they had left their coats in the truck, and were running down the hills with their hats off. It was a damn good day for skiing, Ruby had figured that morning, so she had bundled her team into her truck and driven them out to her favourite hill, and nobody had even considered once objecting. A welcome change to her norm, she noticed.

"So how're you gettin' on with your transformation practice, Rae?"

The tall woman in the argyle sweater shrugged.

"Not great, but not horribly."

"Oh yeah? In what way?"

"Well, I mean, I'm managing to go into bird and out of bird no problem now."

Ruby nodded, impressed.

"Alright, go Raven!"

"Yeah, except I'm still not keeping my clothes on, which is really awkward when I'm practicing with Qrow."

"I suppose it would."

"Problem is, Qrow keeps getting stuck as a bird, so I keep having to go rescue him, which makes me practicing alone a lot harder."

"How do you rescue him when he's stuck?"

Raven wiggled around in her seat, a little uncomfortable on the metal bench.

"I take him up to the headmaster's office and drop him out a window. He's usually back to being a person by the third drop."

Ruby snickered.

"Nice. Glad he can count on you."

"It's a lot of stairs, I get pretty tired."

"Well, jeez, Rae, take the damn elevator."

"It's key-card activated, and we don't have the cards."

Ruby scoffed.

"Oh. My faculty key is in my underwear drawer, just take that when you need it."

"Why is in y- you know what, thanks."

"Just don't tell the boys where it is, it also gets you into the kitchens and pantry. And you know, they'd eat us out of house and home given the opportunity. But back to your previous problem of not being able to keep your clothes on during transformation, I think I have a solution."

Raven raised her eyebrows and leaned over the safety bar.

"I like how you always have a convenient solution, Mere."

"It's called plot armour, Rae, you should know this by now."

"Right, right. What'cho got for me?"

Ruby chuckled again.

"See what we can do is try your transformations, just you and me, one article of clothing at a time."

"Oh yeah? You think that'll work?"

"Worth a shot. It'll allow you to only focus on one thing at a time."

"Huh. Well, I mean, I guess I can give it a try-"

"Oh, goody, we can start tonight!"

Raven balked, and turned a little red.

"Wh-what do you mean we?"

"You and I, Rae. Duh. We'll do it at the hot spring or in the bedroom, then you'll only have to transform in a towel. That counts as one item of clothing, right?"

"You know I'm… still not a hundred percent comfortable being naked around you."

Ruby shrugged.

"Alright, you and Tai can practice together."

Raven's cheeks glowed red.

"You know what, I take that back, I'd prefer to do it with you."

"Heh, I have been waiting for you to say that, Rae-Rae."

"Hey! Don't be a pervert."

"Far too late for that, my friend."

Ruby lifted the seat's bar and brought her ski tips up as the landing ramp rapidly approached. Raven did the same, clearly still a little upset, the pout on her face more than evident of that. With two little hops, they came off the chairlift at the top of the ski hill and slid forward, down the exit ramp and onto the freshly groomed peak. Ruby slid to a powdery stop just up ahead, her partner swooping in next to her. After a few moments, the boys came off their chair as well and they were reunited as a team once more.

"Right, boys. Which run you wanna do?"

Qrow sniffled.

"I dunno, something easy this time. I'm here to ski, not eat shit."

Ruby chuckled.

"Bitch, you fell over on a green circle run last time. Rae and I were gonna go across and do the backside."

"The backside?" Tai questioned.

"Yeah, the backside. Raven and I prefer to do the backside." she quipped, smirking.

"Oh. Well, I prefer the frontside. It's less dirty and not as tight."

Ruby noticed his clever smile, and Qrow's growing concern.

"Don't even worry about the rough spots, big guy. 'Sides, once you're on the backside, you'll find it's not as tight or difficult as you think. It's really nice actually."

"You know I hear some people will only do the frontside, out of some moral high ground."

"There's nothing wrong with liking doing the backside. It's just as fun as the front side. Sure, it might be a little tighter, and a little dirty in some places, but some people say there's less risk."

"I'm not afraid of the risks of the frontside, Summer."

She grinned.

"Believe me, I know. So, backside still out of the question for you?"

"Well, I dunno. I don't wanna hurt myself."

"You'll be fine. The frontside's easy, you can do the frontside all day long. The backside takes some commitment. Right, Rae?"

She elbowed her partner, who chuckled, clueing in.

"That's right. But, you know, with the right amount of convincing, I'd say we could do both the backside and the frontside. I hear you like it that way."

Qrow threw his arms up in the air.

"Okay, is it just me, or are you making dirty jokes?!"

Ruby grinned.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Ugh! I hate you guys!"

Ruby, Raven, and Tai laughed at him for a moment. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and relented.

"Alright, fine. We'll go do the west face. Those are good runs, and not a lot of people are going to want to be in the shadow of the hill at this time."

"Those are black diamond runs…"

Tai chuckled and smacked his partner on the arm.

"What, are ya chicken?"

"No I'm no-aaaagh!"

With all the grace of a cinder block falling off a roof, Qrow somehow managed to lose his balance on flat, groomed snow and fell sideways, knocking his boots right out of the bindings. Ruby gawked and laughed, almost falling herself and landing on her partner, who was also in a fit of giggles.

"Fuck!"

"How do you fall on flat ground?!"

"Fuck off!"

Qrow scrambled around, ski poles flying wildly.

"Bud, you should probably stick to the bunny hill."

"I know how to ski!"

"Ya sure?"

"Get fucked!"

He reached over and grabbed Tai's binding, unclipping it and pulling on his leg. Tai fell to the ground on top of Qrow, whooping the whole way down. Ruby propped herself up on her poles for a moment and watched the boys wrestle, their snow pants noisily scraping against one another. She turned to Raven, suitably amused.

"Shall we leave them?"

"I dunno, I kinda wanna see who wins."

"Smart money's got Tai."

"I'll take that."

"C'mon, before they get us kicked out."

"Right behind you."

/.../

"Alright, you wanna try again?"

Raven stood across the frankly rather large bedroom from her, wearing only a tight white towel around her body. She seemed hesitant.

"I dunno, this might not work. What if I slip and fall?"

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"I'm trained in first aid, so are you. If you fall, who cares, we'll just try again."

"I know, I know, it's just… the ground's kinda slippy, and-"

We're on carpet, you dumbass. Just c'mere."

Ruby adjusted her pyjamas and lifted her right arm, palm out. Raven sighed a second, dropping her shoulders, before straightening up and preparing her stance.

"Alright, fine Mere, but if I slip and fall and break my neck, you're pushing my wheelchair around."

"Just turn into a fuckin' bird, Raven."

"Ugh."

After a moment of relenting glares, Raven took two heavy, dulled steps forward, and broke into a very short run. Ruby braced herself for the impact, should her partner fail, and brought her arm up to cover her face. Just in case. She heard a loud rustling, the whoosh of air through feathers, and a short but distinct caw before she felt a light weight drop into her palm. She smirked, and opened her eyes.

"Oh, good."

The little raven blinked up at her, its wings neatly tucked up against its body. Ruby smiled down at it.

"Good job, Rae. Now, let's… oh."

She could see the towel across the room, crumpled on the ground in a heap of white cotton.

"Ah. That didn't work still."

The bird turned around in her hand, and took a look over at the towel. It seemed to sigh, not something she thought birds could even do, and sank down on its little feet.

"It's fine, no worries. That's what practice is about, right?"

The little black bird shrugged, fluffing its wings and hopping around in a little circle. Ruby reached out and scratched it under the chin, to a quiet chorus of purrs from deep in the bird's tiny lungs. She almost felt like purring herself, but that would have been weird.

"Alright, you go ahead and change back, I'll avert my eyes, and you get immediately into bed and I'll hand you your pjs. Sound fair?"

The little bird nodded. Ruby smiled, and politely covered her eyes with her hand and held out her arm so the bird had a perch high enough to jump from. After a few moments of wing-ruffling, her hand went light as the bird took off of it and flew surprisingly gracefully through the air. There was a feathered ruffling, followed by the sound of Raven's size eleven feet thudding onto the soft ground.

"Kay, don't look."

"Said I wasn't gonna, but now you've got me curious."

"Keep your fuckin' eyes closed." came the semi-laughed response.

Ruby listened carefully as her partner got into the deeply pillowed bed, one long leg at a time. There was a quiet ruffling as she fully covered herself with the comforter. Ruby took this as a cue to open her eyes again, and found Raven sat up against the headboard, comforter pulled all the way up to her chin. Ruby smirked, and walked over to the side of the bed.

"Alright, my turn to turn into a naked bird."

Raven chuckled and settled into the bed.

"It's not like I haven't seen it before, you walk around the dorm room in the nude."

"It's my room. I can be naked when I want."

"Yeah, but… when I'm in the room too."

"I have really high body confidence."

Ruby grabbed her partner's pyjamas off the night stand and handed them gently over, spinning around to sit facing away and giving the tall woman her much desired privacy.

"How, though?"

Ruby shrugged, hearing Raven struggle to get her bottoms on under the bed covers.

"You just kinda decide one day that you're cool with how you look, and you just sorta roll with it. Least, that's how I did it. My sister was kind of a… show off."

"Oh yeah? She walk around nude a lot?"

"Not so much nude as as she would buy expensive lingerie just to wear in front of me and our roommates. We used to always assume it was because she was trying to send subtle hints to her own partner to get her to date her."

Raven almost snorted.

"That's her idea of subtle?"

"Yeah, if you spell 'subtly' with fanfare and an over-boosted orchestra track."

"Jeez."

"She was uh… kind of a chesty woman. She liked to flaunt herself all over the room, so I kinda got numb to the whole nudity and body confidence thing. Then I started doing it 'cause it just didn't matter anymore. Besides, I lived in a room full of girls, it's not like anything was gonna happen."

Raven smirked, finally dressed, and pulled the covers off the bed.

"Thought you said you dated one of your roommates."

"Heh, you're right I did."

"Did you being naked all the time have anything to do with that?"

"Well, I'm sure it didn't hurt my chances. Obviously."

"Yeah, I guess not, eh?"

They laughed for a second. Ruby sighed and spun around to face her partner. The thick flannel pjs she had bought her hung off her body like they'd been tailored for her exactly. Of course, she wasn't going to let her know she had got them from the men's section and then had Glynda do a quick seam job to make them the right size. Ruby paused a minute and eyed her partner up and down. Something seemed off, all of a sudden, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Did I… I didn't give you your bandana back just now…"

Raven frowned.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You're wearing your bandana."

She reached up and touched her hair, finding the red cloth tied neatly up on her head, keeping her feathery black locks under control.

"Uh, yeah, I am."

"It wasn't in the clothes I just gave you, though. You were wearing that when we started…"

"You know, I think you're right."

"Holy shit… you kept a piece of clothing on through that transformation."

Raven blinked twice.

"Holy shit, you're right."

"Bitch, we just made progress!"

"Hell yeah we did!"

They cheered for a moment, taking the opportunity to high-five, which surprisingly boomy with how physically large Raven's hands were. Ruby noticed a distinct stinging in her palm after they separated, but mentioned nothing of it.

"Alright, I think we deserve some kind of celebratory treat."

Raven cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh you think so, eh?"

"Of course I do. We can go down to the chalet and grab some sake or something."

Ruby watched her partner's eyes orbit her skull.

"Summer, how many times are you going to try and give me alcohol. We're still underaged."

"But-"

"And if you tell me this place is owned by your mob friend, I'm gonna throw you out the window."

Ruby bit her lip.

"It's not, but we look old enough, I think. Bartender probably will be cool."

"You're a menace, you know that?"

"Yeah, I'm aware. Okay, if not sake how about something sweeter, like some sundaes."

"You want to have ice cream? It's November."

Ruby paused.

"...and?"

"And it's too cold?"

"Nonsense. C'mon, put your coat on."

"Ugh, fine. Since you're so pushy."

Ruby chuckled.

"Bitch, I'll show you pushy. I'll push your ass onto this bed and-"

"Summer, stop."

Raven's cheeks were quite red, all of a sudden. Ruby simply smirked and grabbed her sweater from the chair she had flung it on and wrapped it around tall woman grabbed her long and flowing red jacket out of the little closet and pulled it on, but not without some mild reluctance.

"Shouldn't we put real clothes on?"

"Nah, it's late enough. Who even cares? Pyjamas are more comfortable anyways."

Raven sighed and slipped her feet into her boots, leaving them untied. Ruby did the same, forcing her feet into the beat-up pair of runners she had just bought herself at the beginning of the school year. A shame they were so badly worn already. Although, she supposed it was fair, given how much she used the darn things.

"I'm not going to disagree with you, but-"

"Nope, you don't get to disagree. You liked the jammies when you got them, and you said, and I quote, 'I will never take these off so long as I live'. And I can't help but notice…" Ruby wiggled her eyebrows at her partner. "...Ya still livin'."

"Oy. Fine, let's go."

Ruby mused and spun around, prancing for the door like a woodland creature in a cartoon.

"Knew you'd come around. Must be 'cause I'm so cute."

"You really need to stop using your looks to coerce me into doing stuff."

Ruby chuckled and led them down the hallway.

"Ha, yeah, no I'm never going to stop doing that. Works on you, works on the boys, works especially well on Glynda."

"Yeah, I was right."

"What about?"

Raven socked her in the arm. Ruby laughed.

"You're a menace."

/.../

Ruby let her back relax, sinking deeper into the big wooden lounger under the warmth of the big heat lamp.

"You were right, this is great."

She opened one eye and looked over at her partner, lay out in her own lounger with her ice cream balanced on her stomach.

"I'm usually right, Rae-Rae."

"Yeah, so far that's been the case. But this is extra right. I don't feel sore anymore."

"Good. How's your ankle? You fell pretty hard on that last run."

Raven sighed and had more of her sundae, eating quickly so it wouldn't melt.

"Not so bad anymore. Thank goodness for aura, right?"

"No, thank goodness for these heat lamps. This is like sitting in a sauna."

"Heh, yeah. Say, speaking of, where are the boys?"

Ruby frowned. Raven was right, she hadn't seen them for a while. Last time had been sending them off to the hot spring with their towels and some tea. But that had been over an hour ago, and the rules stated it wasn't safe to be in the hot spring for more than an hour.

"You know, I have no idea. I'll call them, see if they answer."

"Kay."

Ruby pulled her phone out of her sweater pocket and lit it up. It said she had a message, which she slid her thumb over to open.

"Oh, Tai texted me like an hour ago. He says they went for dinner first."

"Oh, okay."

Her phone blonged again, another message popping up under the first.

"Hey, he just texted me again. Says they're getting in the hot spring now, and he's leaving his phone in the changeroom."

"Alright."

"And from what I can remember, the hot spring is just over that wooden fence there."

"So, what, are we gonna go peek or something?"

Ruby smirked.

"And check out Tai-dye's killer abs? Love to, but that fence is like ten feet high, and I'm sure we'd get kicked out if we tried. Besides, don't forget your brother's also over that fence and-"

She was cut off by a shriek.

"Aaaahh, why the fuck are you naked!?"

There was a pause.

"What do you mean 'why am I naked', it's an Onsen, you're supposed to be naked!"

"What does that even mean? Put your dick away!"

"No! It's tradition!"

"There's nothing traditional about your dick, Tai! You fuckin' asshole!"

"Just get in the goddamn water!"

"No!"

Ruby and Raven both burst out laughing, nearly falling off their loungers. As usual, the boys had gotten themselves into a sticky situation, and Qrow was clearly the wronged party. Ruby had to clutch at her sides to stop herself from folding sideways onto the cobblestones and hurting herself. She collected herself after a few harsh gasps and looked at her partner.

"He packed swim trunks, didn't he?"

"Uh huh." came the laughed response.

"I thought so. Hey Qrow!" she yelled over the wall. "Tai's right, you're supposed to be naked!"

"I'm not getting naked! In a public pool!"

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Everyone gets their own Onsen! They're all private!"

"Well then why the hell's he in here with me!?"

"Because I booked us two Onsens! One for you guys and one for me'n Rae!"

"Well that's not fair, I don't wanna share one with him!"

"Would you rather share one with your sister?"

A pause.

"No!"

"Well, then, this is what you get. Now take your fuckin' pants off and enjoy yourself before I come over there and force you to."

"Okay, okay, jeez. Tai, don't you dare look at me."

The silence returned to the chalet, and Ruby let herself relax again knowing Qrow's discomfort was still at an all time high. She rolled over and looked at her partner, who had her eyebrows up and a silly smile on her lips. Ruby frowned.

"What?"

"Did you just threaten Qrow to go over there and take his pants off for him?"

She smirked.

"Uh, I guess I did?"

"And somehow that scared him."

"I can be awfully threatening when I need to be."

"Yeah, I've noticed. Like a little… I dunno, honey badger or something."

Ruby mused.

"Aw, you called me honey."

"Shut the fuck up, Summer."

She sighed with a chuckle.

"Hey, you know I forgot to mention, I was in a meeting with the other team leads and with the faculty, we're gonna be doing some more away missions in the coming weeks."

"Oh, is that right?"

"Yeah, we've got something to do that's a little off-menu, though. Headmaster Pine said we can bring another one of the teams if we think it's necessary."

"What's he got for us? Parking duty? Crossing guards?"

Raven's dry tone enticed a short snicker out of her.

"Nah, much easier. We're going to be joined up with a bunch of other Huntsmen groups from around the continent and headed up to the north coast."

Her partner frowned.

"The north coast? That's like ten hours north of here."

"More like twelve. D'you remember what Peter was talking about on Tuesday in class?"

"Uh… something about Grimm herd migration?"

"Yup. Remember what he said about the Nevermore?"

"What, are you quizing me now?"

Ruby reached over and smacked Raven on the arm.

"Yes. Anyway, this is the time of year for the annual Nevermore migration when they all come south from Atlas. We're going to the north coast to participate in an air raid."

"Migration? Air raid?"

"That's right. I've seen it, it's more Nevermore than you can even imagine. Like, a gigantic blanket of Nevermore."

"How the hell are we supposed to deal with that? I literally only just figured out how to turn into a bird, and you expect me to go up there with that many Grimm?"

"Oh, no, of course not. The army has a twelve kilometre wide artillery battery on the coast, and there's more than enough guns to take down the flock. We're going to be assisting with one of Beacon's AA guns, just as a training exercise."

Raven coughed.

"Oh, so we're not fighting the Grimm."

"Not one-on-one, no. We'll be parked up on the ground with a big-ass gun pointed up to the sky."

"Cool. Where do we get one of those?"

"Beacon's got like twenty of them scattered around the grounds for air defense against Grimm. Headmaster Pine has said we can take one, provided I can find us a truck to pull it behind."

"Yours won't do?"

Ruby smirked.

"Well, not really. The gun carriage weighs five tonnes, and I'm sure the HJ60 could tug the gun around, it's not towing it from Beacon to the north coast."

"Oh. What'd you have in mind then?"

"I dunno yet. The guns we have are, while fully functional and perfectly destructive, Great War era. So I'd like something similarly antique if I can find it. I don't mind post war, but you know, getting all kitted out in uniform would be fun I think."

Raven set down her empty sundae bowl and crossed her arms.

"You really like this whole military dress-up thing, don't you."

"I used to be a part of a reenactment troupe when I was fifteen. I was a loader in a recreation of the 3rd Valean Anti-Tank Regiment, B Battery."

"That was before you… came here?"

"Yeah. Me and my sister used to do it together. We operated a Valean 6-Pounder anti-tank gun, I was the loader, she was commander. Couple of her school friends from Signal were with us. It was great, we had period correct uniforms and everything."

"That sounds like a lot of fun."

"Yeah, it was. I sort of fell out of favour doing it, it was eating into my study time. I wanted to keep up with my studies, and the guy who owned the museum we borrowed the gun and uniforms from strongly suggested I stop reenacting and instead focus on my schooling. So I gave that up, but I never really lost the drive to do that."

She paused to adjust her sitting position.

"When we went out into the forest that day, you asked me- frankly you all asked me why I got us antique rifles and handguns, and I just played it off like 'it would be fun'. That was because I saw them at Rudolf's and it hit me with a wave of nostalgia, so I had to do it again. So instead of asking you guys 'hey do you wanna reenact with me' I just went 'fuck it, I'll just give them rifles and tell them they have no choice'."

"Rude, Summer."

"But it was fun, right?"

"Oh yeah, for sure. It was lots of fun, right up until a giant worm Grimm came out of the ground."

Ruby shuddered.

"I'll be honest, that wasn't part of the plan."

"I don't think even you, the master of dangerous situations, would have willingly planned that."

"Hey, I've never gotten us into a dangerous situation on purpose."

"Not even the time in the bank?"

"Okay, yes we were in the bank on purpose, but it's not like I had it robbed, that just kinda happened around us."

Raven sighed.

"Alright, whatever. So this mission. When is it?"

"Two weeks. Do you own camping gear?"

"Do I own ca- are you seriously asking someone raised in a nomadic bandit tribe if they own camping gear?"

"Okay, did you bring any of it with you when you moved to Beacon?"

The tall woman opened her mouth to make a snide comment, then paused.

"You know what, no I didn't."

"Ha!"

"Bet it's all a pile of ash now. It was a good fuckin' camping set, too. Minus sixty sleeping bad, insulated tent. Cost me a lot of money."

"Wasn't your money though, was it?"

"That doesn't matter, it was still expensive!"

Ruby chuckled.

"Oh, Raven. Sweet, sweet Raven."

"What?!"

"We'll go out and buy you new camping gear. Only the best stuff for us."

"Why do I feel like that means you're gonna make me buy sixty year old army stuff to be itchy in?"

"Oh, oh god no. For the amount of time we'll be out there, we're gonna be comfortable. If it was a one-day affair, then yes, but we're going to be roughing it for a week. Even I'm not sleeping on the ground for a week. Like I'm all for dedication to a bit, but that's ridiculous."

"Oh, phew. Had me worried there for a moment."

Ruby smiled to herself. She had actually considered doing exactly what her partner was afraid of, but that would lead to a massive amount of suffering for her, too. She still wasn't sure if Ozpin would spring another challenge on them like he had last time, when they had been given poor little Cindy five minutes before they were set to take off. If that happened again, she didn't want to have a small child sleeping on the ground in a very sucky wool blanket.

"Nah, you'll be alright."

"Good. My favourite way of being."

"Think the boys are alright?"

"Honestly I hope Tai drowns Qrow."

"Heh, yeah, don't we all."

The serene silence of the patio filled the air again, undercut only by the quiet humming of the big heat lamps above them and the soft bubbling of the nearby hot springs. It had been a really nice day. Everything had gone exactly as planned, save for her partner twisting her ankle coming down the last run, but at least she had pretty much already recovered from that.

"Well, I look forward to the mission."

"Yeah. Don't get too excited, you'll never sleep."

"I'll try my best."

There was a pause. Raven sniffled.

"Hey, uh, weird question."

"Hit me."

"I can't quite remember, but do we have a Grimm Studies exam tomorrow?"

Ruby opened her eyes.

"Uh…"

"Aw, shit."

"Damnit."