"You want to do what now?" Weiss prompted curiously.

Her partner gave her an eager grin. "Ice hockey!"

"And have you ever tried it before?"

"Nope! That's part of the fun, I mean, only Yang and Pyrrha have ever done it before, so we'll stick them on opposite teams…" Ruby gave the platinum-haired girl her best winsome smile. "Doesn't it sound like fun?"

"Er, yes, I suppose so…"

"Well, come on then!" the brunette exclaimed, dragging Weiss up by her arm as she let out an irritable squawk. "That ice ain't gonna wait forever!"

"Ruby Rose unhand me this instant!" Weiss hissed angrily.

The excitable girl immediately complied, glancing guiltily about the library. "Oops," she whispered. "Sorry."

With a more-or-less affectionate huff, Weiss gathered her books and study materials up and followed her skipping partner back to the dorms. Exams were only a week or so away, but surprisingly every one of their friends seemed to be fairly well prepared already.

Of course, the heiress wouldn't put it past their professors to introduce new material right before they were tested on them. Because professors, as a profession, were evil like that.

Once inside their dorm room, Weiss dropped her books off on her desk before eyeing Ruby curiously where she was fishing under her bed. "Lost your skates?"

"No," the muffled reply came back. Weiss waited patiently for another five minutes, perusing a rather enjoyable novel that Blake had recommended to 'spice' things up between her and Yang, when Ruby finally pulled her head back, red-tipped hair disheveled and a disgruntled look on her face.

"Yes," she finally admitted.

"Top shelf of your closet," Weiss replied distractedly. "Fetch mine for me as well, would you?"

She magnanimously ignored the numerous grumbles that emerged from the closet as Ruby attempted to reach the top shelf.

"I thought you grew those two inches over the summer?" Weiss interjected without a single trace of spite whatsoever. "Surely you can reach the shelf now?"

Ruby stalked past her once more to retrieve a chair and pull it over to the closet. She may or may not have given the heiress a rather dark look, but Weiss was above noticing such things. Or smirking, for that matter.

Eventually, with ice skates in hand, the partners strode outside in winter gear to meet up with the others. At the pond on the edge of the Forever Fall forest, Blake and Nora sat chatting idly.

Weiss immediately noted a certain lack of appropriate surface for their activity, which Ruby belatedly picked up on right before she attempted to set foot on it.

"Where'd the ice go?" the brunette complained loudly.

Blake sauntered over and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss. "It seems to have melted since this morning. Sorry, little rose."

The platinum-haired girl gave them a small, triumphant smile as she pulled Myrtenaster from her side and spun the dust cylinder. "Don't worry, girls, I have this."

She stepped over and plunged the blade into the water, activating the ice dust and freezing it solid.

"Yay, Weiss!" Ruby cheered, giving her a tight hug and almost bowling her over. "You saved the ice hockey game!"

"Songs shall be written of this day," Blake deadpanned with only the trace of a smirk evident.

"Oh, hush," Weiss chided amicably to her friend. "Now, where are… Wait, where did Nora go? She was just here! And where are the others?"

"Gettin' changed," Ruby shrugged. "Nora probably went to fetch Pyrrha, Yang should be out right about… now!"

Sure enough, the blonde brawler marched out from the treeline, tossing a duffel bag to the side. She was fully geared in pads, skates, and helmet, and bore a yellow-and-black striped hockey stick.

"Why am I not surprised," Weiss sighed, one eyebrow regally arched.

"Hey, if I'm gonna play hockey," Yang grinned. "I'm gonna play hockey." She skated out on the ice to the edge where Weiss stood, tilting her visor up to give the heiress a brief, searing kiss. "You ready for this, babe?"

Weiss grinned back. "Bring it on, love."

Ten minutes later and Weiss was seriously reconsidering her earlier stance.

Fortunately Pyrrha was the only other one in full gear, having borrowed the set from the Beacon Athletic Department (Weiss never knew there was such a thing, much less that they had equipment to borrow). But with the highly competitive way that Yang and the redhead were facing off, she decided perhaps it would be best not to get in the middle of all that.

She was a decent enough skater, true, but she'd keep a glyph or two ready just in case.

Across from her, Ruby and Blake grinned widely while brandishing their sticks. "Ready?" the brunette called out.

"Born ready!" Nora hollered back excitedly.

The puck was dropped in between the two heavily-armored combatants, and the battle ensued.

Several things became quickly apparent. Ruby, for all of her speed, was at a severe disadvantage while using her semblance on the ice, as she bemoaned every time she ended up face-first in a snowbank on the side of the ice. Nora was like a bull in a china shop, charging forward in a straight line before she either collided with something or ran out of ice.

Pyrrha and Yang, hypercompetitive as always, were locked into such furious combat that they often ignored the puck as it sailed past them.

Which left Weiss and Blake.

The heiress had spent much of her life on skates, it was one of the few forms of recreation she was allowed outside of combat and music lessons and her studies. So she was certainly no slouch. However, she was rather surprised at the agility Blake demonstrated, largely due to her own semblance.

Just when Weiss thought she'd gotten a good angle, thrusting forward with her incredibly awkward stick (Did nobody make hockey sticks for short people?) Blake would abruptly change course with the puck, letting a shadow image propel her off and into her new path.

The Cat Faunus had made several goals before the heiress decided enough was enough.

The next time she had the puck, Weiss propelled herself forward with a white glyph, shooting across the ice with dizzying speed until her forward momentum was arrested by a black glyph placed right in front of the opposing team's goal, signified by Ruby's boots spread out at more-or-less regulation distance. With a quick tap to ensure the correct course was maintained, the puck shot into the goal without opposition.

Weiss turned and gave Blake a smirk where she stood, dumbfounded in the middle of the ice and unable to react at all. Behind her, Yang and Pyrrha were now rolling on the surface, the both of them pulling each other's jerseys over their heads in some idiotic competition.

She tried the same strategy with good success until Blake figured out the timing, interrupting the meteoric attack with a well-placed stick flung forward. Weiss hit it and went sprawling across the ice, ending up next to where both Nora and Ruby were struggling to extract themselves from where they'd collided and fell face-first into a snowbank.

Weiss sighed, dusting the snow off of herself, and stood back up to see Blake return, a victorious smirk on her face from making a successful goal.

"Are you in any way feeling competitive about this?" Weiss asked curiously.

Blake shrugged. "Not particularly."

"Hmm." The platinum-haired girl eyed the other four girls, none of them looking to be at all invested in the game. She turned back to the Cat Faunus with a hopeful smile. "Coffee?"

The raven-haired girl nodded and returned the smile "Tea."

The two of them, ice skates removed, strode off arm-in-arm towards the cafeteria, leaving their girlfriends, and Nora, behind.

A/N: Story credit to joltflier. Just a little fun ice hockey fluff, hope it came out alright considering I've never played hockey, cannot skate, and don't really consider it to be a watchable sport (sorry KellyConnely!).

You know, it occurred to me after FelipeCH98's review that there is no ship name for Yang x Weiss x Neo, even if it is just a hookup to include Neo. Intrepid readers, our time has come! We get to christen a new ship, and sail it boldly alongside the now-mighty Purruby armada! So what shall we go with? Baked Alaska on Ice? Extra Frozen With a Side of Heat? Ice Cream Sandwich? Baked Weiss Cream? Fried Weiss Cream? (I rather like the last one…) Give me your ideas, I might actually pop a poll up on my FF author page just for kicks, and then see about getting the winner included in the official Ship Sheet.

Lesseee… Also, to address Guest (TN) and a few other's objections to Roman - keep in mind the premise of this story is that only the events of Season 1 ever happened. And nothing bad. So I'm gonna even skip over the breach episodes ('cause otherwise Roman would be in the slammer), and also confirm that Cinder never even got her hooks into Roman at all. This was just a fun one-time deal, they were just included on a whim to tie into a chapter of A Thorny Bind (as opposed to the opposite). This is still a Purruby story, have no fear! (But seriously, don't ever be afraid to tell me what you dislike, I appreciate any feedback I get!)

Embrace the fluff!

And now I need to address a matter of some sadness, namely that this fluffy little crack ship will be drawing to a close. I don't want to get to the point where this story seems forced, or the quality drops just to keep cranking out more chapters… Originally I had wanted to break 100 chapters in total, but that's not gonna happen. I have a really good chapter to end the regular story on, and then the two epilogue chapters to round the whole thing out, but then that will be it. I have so much other stuff I want to work on, finish up poor pearls on a String which has been lingering around, for example. Both Ember Legacy and Blood of the Rose will continue on a weekly basis, and perhaps I'll have the time to start on yet another project. Or two. Ye gods I have so many ideas, so little time to write… So, figure on maybe a couple weeks left on Thorns.

Now, then, as far as reviews go… SWEET JESUS ON A DONKEY people, 34 of them? That's a new record for a single chapter! Wow, I guess I struck a chord there, huh? Obviously I couldn't get around to replying to everyone, but I can still give you all my everloving gratitude for taking the time to leave feedback (even if it was just a simple "lol", I dig it): ZaoDarkshroud, Draven Eclipse, Jack Inqu, Nicodemus Cain, JbstormburstADV, lkdog, FelipeCH98, SentenRainen, TN, PupOnDRun, RealTerminal, Herofire, Heil96, Phoenix Commander (NEED MOAR PEDIGREE), Boombox94, Praetorianwarrior, Reaper Whisper, Whispering Kataclysm, Gorsouul, animegamemaster6, Dragonsoul1, MakaS0ul, Marauderby, DeamonHunter, DschingisKhan, The Reader of Fanfiction, Greeneagle120, Arcredemption, Jacklyn Frost (x2), THB4, Doc Swiss, Lemonysuperpie, Arngeirr. So many new faces, and more that I haven't heard from in some time, but you are all awesome beyond description.

Stay shiny!