Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Nora leaned back on the small bench and tipped her large water bottle back, seemingly inhaling the water as she pulled hard on the mouthpiece to get it into her parched throat faster. Yang kept a lustful eye on her outstretched, toned body as it leaned back, covered in sweat and glistening under the lights in the sparring room. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed and Yang was having trouble keeping herself from tackling her and ravishing her right there in the middle of the room. She decided to turn away and spare herself the stimulation in order to save the rest of the room from a very obscene moment between the couple.

"You have got to get a control of yourself Yang," Nora spoke directly into her ear from behind and she felt a shiver of desire run up her spine.

"You have to stop being so damn sexy all the time," Yang tilted her head back and kissed Nora lightly on the cheek, just brushing her lips against her sweat stained skin.

"And if I don't?" Nora lowered her head and nibbled lightly on Yang's exposed collar bone eliciting a low, pleased moan from Yang.

"Then we will," another moan. "We will never get any training done." Yang pushed out with her legs and stood up and away from the obviously aroused redhead.

"But you expect me to just stay calm and collected with you in nothing but a sports bra and spandex?" Nora turned her face from that of a seductress to a pleading, innocent girlfriend. Yang looked down at Nora who was wearing exactly the same outfit.

"I think we maybe need some ground rules here." Yang smirked, "Or better, a contest."

"You wanna bet against me?" Nora sat back on the bench, her interest piqued.

"Yeah, whoever wins the next bout gets to start first when we get back to the dorm." Yang crossed her arms over chest and smiled smugly at Nora.

"Oh, oh that sounds like a great idea." Nora rolled off the bench to her feet. "Can we start right now?" They both looked over at the sparring ring and saw SSSN still going hard under the shielded dome. Yang was impressed by Blake's boyfriend. He used the most ludicrously complicated weapon she had seen in a long time, a pair of long handled nunchucks with shotguns imbedded in all four rods. He wielded them with brutal efficiency though, swinging and spinning and twirling them faster than her eyes could track, letting off blasts in rapid succession at whatever came near him. Boy was she glad they weren't in the same bracket until the singles rounds.

"I don't think so, we gotta wait for them to finish." Yang glanced up at the clock, the other team still had a few minutes before the timer buzzed. The sparring gym had become very popular in the days immediately before the Tournament and the staff had been forced to introduce a timer to keep teams from dominating the shielded sparring area for long periods of time.

"Uggghhh," Nora collapsed back onto the bench in a fit, "We gotta hurry though, everyone else is gonna be back soon and I'm so tired of being quiet." Yang laughed out loud at that, while true Nora hadn't been loud lately as they snuck around, she hadn't exactly been quiet either. Definitely not quiet enough to avoid a certain Faunus's ears.

"How about I tell you some juicy gossip to pass the time?" Yang squatted in front of Nora and put her hands on her own knees.

"If it's about Neptune being gay, I know Yang." Nora sighed and Yang laughed, looking over her shoulder at the blue haired boy. Everyone knew that about him.

"No, no, no. It's about Velvet and Coco." Yang said and Nora sprung out of her slouch, "Oh that's got your attention," Yang laughed out loud.

"Well yeah. Did something happen to them? I mean not that I want it to." Nora reigned in her excitement ever so slightly. "But did it?" The anticipation in her eyes was evident, like waiting in line for sweets.

"Maybe, I might have heard something." Yang stood and spun in a little circle, leading Nora on, "From someone that would definitely know." Nora grabbed Yang by the waist and pulled her backwards onto her lap. Yang landed with a giggle and swung her arm around Nora's shoulder, sitting in her lap sideways like a child. "Somebody named Coco."

"No?" Nora's face was a mix of shock and excitement and she dropped Yang to the ground. The blonde landed in a heap at her girlfriend's feet and laughed, Nora was so easily excited.

"Yep, she came over the other day while we were eating lunch and you were training with your team." Yang pulled herself up onto the bench and Nora turned excitedly to her. A series of booms went off in the training area and Yang turned her attention that way, "Oh look the fight is getting really intense."

"Yang," Nora grabbed both of her shoulders and turned her back so they were face to face, "You do not get to leave me hanging."

"Oh, you mean like nibbling on your shoulder while we're out in public?" Yang smirked and Nora's face fell into surprise.

"You're evil," Nora furrowed her eyebrows.

"I am not, I'm just getting even." Yang crossed her arms triumphantly and turned back to the fight. She watched for a second or two, happy she had gotten her revenge and then felt a hand firmly placed on her butt where it hung off the back of the small bench. She turned with a start to Nora who was also just watching the fight, her hand apparently acting all on it's own. Yang sighed, Nora was trying to get back at her but it wouldn't work, she returned her attention to the fight. Then the hand slid up her back, the fingers lightly grazing Yang's exposed skin and pushing at the hem of her sports bra. Yang turned back to Nora and found herself face to face with her redheaded lover. Before she could react Nora lunged forward and pressed her lips firmly against Yang's. Her free hand reached around Yang's head and pulled her in close while the one on her back made sure she couldn't pull away. Yang resisted at first, she knew exactly what Nora was doing but then she realized there was no point, she was gonna get all worked up either way so she let Nora take her and enjoyed it. They kissed for a moment, pressed into each other until Nora realized it wasn't doing what she wanted and pulled away, keeping her hands on Yang.

"Pleeeeease tell me what she said." Nora pleaded in a childish voice that just did not fit what they had been doing moments ago. Yang decided that performance at least deserved a little something.

"Well it's not really what she said as much as what she did," Nora pulled back from Yang and brought her knees to her chest, clenching her hands in excitement, "She," Yang laughed as she realized what she was about to say, "Coco hit on Weiss."

Nora gasped.

"Nooo," Nora's voice was much louder than she intended and she slapped both hands over her mouth.

"Yep, and you know Weiss threw a fit." Yang laughed as Nora kept her hands firmly over her mouth to prevent further outbursts. "She yelled at her and asked why in the world she was hitting on her if she was dating Velvet." Nora nodded her head, hands still over her mouth, "And Coco said they broke up a while ago." Nora screamed under her hands, the noise still clearly audible to Yang though it probably didn't carry very far.

"Oh my Oum," Nora dropped her hands once her scream stopped, "That's crazy. Do you know who dumped who?"

"We thought Coco must have dumped Velvet because she was already out trying to get at Weiss." Yang said and Nora nodded her head along in agreement.

"Uhh, how was Weiss about shooting her down?" Nora seemed to get nervous.

"She was pretty harsh about it, I think she said 'Absolutely not'. It was pretty rough but Coco took it fine, she's tough." Yang chuckled a little remembering Coco's next attempt to proposition her and decided that it was probably safer for Coco if she didn't tell Nora about that tidbit. She looked over at Nora and saw she still seemed a little put off. "You're not worried about Coco are you?"

"No, I'm worried about Ruby." the excitement in Nora's eyes died and her legs slumped to the floor on either side of the bench. "What if Weiss is that harsh with her too?"

"I don't think she will be, I mean yeah she's rough on the edges but Weiss is actually pretty cool and she's getting better." Yang put a hand on Nora's knee to comfort her a little.

"But, I've never seen her do rejection softly. I don't even know if she knows how Yang." Nora lifted her head and Yang could see she was really troubled by this. "It's a big deal for Ruby, only a couple of us even know she's a lesbian and that already freaked her out. If she comes out to Weiss and she turns her down, or what if she freaks out…?" Nora trailed off as she got herself even more concerned about the whole situation.

"Nora why didn't you say this the other day?" Yang rested her other hand on Nora's other leg and ran little circles on the inside of her knees with her thumb to try and calm her even slightly.

"You and Ren were being so supportive of her and she was already so freaked out. I know she has to try, she has to put herself out there. I just don't wanna see her get hurt Yang. I've been there and it really, really sucks." Nora leaned forward and put her head down on Yang's shoulder in exasperation. Yang moved one hand up to her back and rubbed gently.

"I know how Weiss seems. Oum, I didn't even like her until we all fought together at initiation." Yang lifted Nora's chin up so she could see her eyes, "But those two are so close. Even if Weiss is completely uninterested I know she won't say anything to hurt Ruby. I trust her." Yang gave Nora a light kiss on the lips, "But, you know. You really are the sweetest girlfriend ever. Worrying about my sister like that." Yang laughed and Nora's frown eased.

"Okay, but if it all blows up then we have to be there for her." Nora gave Yang a very intense look in a way Yang wasn't used to.

"Yeah, of course we will. She's my sister after all." Yang laughed. Nora leaned forward and nuzzled her head into the crook of Yang's shoulder and Yang got a glance towards the other side of the gym and saw Velvet slowly approaching them, looking warily about her as she did. "Hey, we've got a visitor." Yang whispered and Nora pulled away to look behind her. The couple pulled apart slightly and returned to watching the fight until Velvet reached them.

"Uhh, hi, Nora, Yang." Velvet started uneasily.

"Oh hey Velvet." Nora turned to the girl and waved, she was still several yards away and if they hadn't been expecting her to come over they may not have even noticed she was there.

"What's up Velvet? You waiting to train too?" Yang looked over and noticed that Velvet was fully decked out for combat.

"Uhh, well, kind of," the girl shuffled her feet nervously despite the fact that she was a year ahead of the tow she was talking to, "Do you uhh, I don't know why you would, but do you know what my semblance is?"

"I've never even seen you fight," Yang laughed uneasily. She really hoped that Velvet hadn't overheard them talking about her and Coco, she knew how well Faunus could hear and this girl's ears were huge.

"I uhh, well," Velvet fiddled with the pouch on her hip and then pulled out a small old fashioned looking camera rather suddenly, "I watch other people fight and I can copy their movements exactly."

"Oh wow, that's, that's really incredible." Yang was actually taken back. Being able to mirror another Hunter's movements perfectly could be an incredibly powerful skill.

"How do you make that work if your weapon doesn't match though?" Nora cocked her head to one side and looked at Nora's camera, "What is your weapon?"

"I don't actually have one," Velvet held up her camera with a hint of pride, "That's what this is for." She stepped over and showed them the screen on the back. As she scrolled Yang saw that all of her pictures contained the entirety of some other student's weapon. "If I take a picture, then this box," she tapped the box at her hip that she had removed the camera from, "draws on my aura to make a fake of the weapon for me to use."

"No way!" Nora jumped up from her seat and grabbed her hammer off the wall behind them, "Do mine, do mine." She held the hammer out in front of her with both hands. Velvet was startled by her sudden movements but recovered and readied herself to take a photo.

"Oh, uhh, okay. Please stand still." Velvet raised the camera and Yang leaned back instinctively to avoid being in the shot. Velvet snapped a photo, leaned the camera forward to check it and then tucked the camera back into the pouch slung from her hip.

"This is so exciting, there's gonna be two Magnhilds." Nora jittered with excitement. Velvet gave Nora a nervous smile and held her hands out in front of her, mimicking Nora's usual grip on the mighty war hammer. She closed her eyes to focus and the outline of Magnhild began to form out of blue light in her hands. The lines of energy whipped about in the air faster and faster until the entirety of the hammer was replicated in a glowing blue construct in her hands. Velvet opened her eyes and exhaled slowly.

"Ta da," Velvet spun the hammer over the back of her hand and rested it on her shoulder just as Nora did after a successful battle.

"That's so weird to see," Yang stood and looked around the sides of the hammer, checking the little details she had become intimate with while she and Nora had been dating. Everything seemed to be in exactly the right place, a perfect copy.

"Ahhhh," Nora screamed in joy, "Oh that's the coolest thing ever. Can I hold it?"

"Umm, no not really." Velvet shrugged and released her grip on the hammer, it began to fall towards the ground but immediately dissipated into nothing. "I feed it my aura to keep it going so if I let go it, umm, well it vanishes." Nora's shoulders fell, much of her excitement vanishing as well.

"That's really awesome, but what's up? You didn't come over just to show us your semblance did you?" Yang asked, keeping her voice nice and cheery. She wasn't upset with Velvet at all, just curious what was up and still a little worried that she had overheard them talking about Coco and her breaking up.

"Oh well, I actually," Velvet winced as Neptune came smashing into the shield wall with a loud thunk and slid to the floor. It took her a moment to recover and continue speaking, "I wanted to know if I could watch you train and take pictures of your weapons?" Velvet tried to give them a confident smile but it was rather meek. "For uhh for the tournament. So I have more things to use." Yang was confused slightly by the innocence of the request, she could have done all of that without asking them and they never would have known.

"Yeah of course you can," Nora responded before Yang could recover herself.

"Oh thank you," the Faunus girl clasped her hands together and nodded her head excitedly, "You're both so strong, it will really help." A genuine smile filled her cheeks.

There was a loud noise of a power unit disengaging and the shield wall evaporated away.

"Woooo yeah! I win." The three girls turned and saw Sun dancing in the middle of the sparring arena and cheering for himself, "That means you guys are on laundry duty and I get to go see Blake." He put both thumbs in his ears and made farting noises at the other members of his team and then went running for the exit. They all groaned and slowly made their way towards the lockers.

"Alright, you're up." Neptune jerked a thumb back over his shoulder towards the now empty sparring ring as he and the rest of his team made their way past Yang, Nora and Velvet.

"Yes, finally" Nora jumped clear over the dividing wall to the center of the ring and started swinging her hammer around in wide arcs, a habit she said was to make sure it could still hit stuff.

"You've got pretty good timing," Yang laughed and gave Velvet a smile before jumping into the ring. There was a loud, computerized buzz and the shield raised back into place. Yang and Nora ran at each other as soon as the buzzer sounded and their duel was on.

They traded blows fairly evenly, knocking each other back and forth around the ring with their hellacious strength. The flashing of Velvet's camera seemed to accent their more climatic clashes but it didn't distract either of them from the battle, it was nearly as bright as the flashes from Yang's Ember Celica. In the end Yang was able to knock Nora's aura below the acceptable limits by setting up a nasty combo inside the range of her hammer. The shield wall fell and they made their way back to Velvet.

"Ohh yeah, that was great." Yang cheered as they exited.

"It's just cause I can't send you flying in there. You just hit the shield wall." Nora moaned.

"You know hitting that shield hurts just as bad as hitting the ground." Yang threw an arm over Nora's shoulder and kissed her cheek just as they reached Velvet who made a nervous little cough at their show of affection.

"Thank you, so much for letting me watch." Velvet held up her camera proudly, "I got a lot of really good shots."

"No problem Velvet." Nora smiled cheerfully, over her brief mood from having lost the match to her girlfriend.

"Think of it as an apology for the other day." Yang moved over to the bench and grabbed her and Nora's waters.

"For what?" Velvet looked honestly curious.

"For making out in the hallway." Nora caught her water bottle out of the air when Yang tossed it and hurriedly began drinking. Velvet blushed at the mention of when she caught them and looked at her feet.

"Oh, uhh, no I'm sorry about that." She wiggled her feet back and forth nervously.

"Seriously, you didn't do anything." Yang moved forward and put a hand on Velvet's arm comfortingly. Velvet shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh.

"I guess I thought I was getting better but I still miss her a little." Velvet said quietly, almost too quietly for Yang and Nora to hear.

"You mean Coco?" Nora asked gently. Velvet's head jerked up in surprise, as if she thought they hadn't heard her at all and then she just sighed again.

"Yeah." Velvet turned and sat on the bench with a small huff.

"You wanna talk about it?" Yang sat on the bench next to her at a respectful distance.

"There's not a lot really. I dumped her about a month ago now. I just need to move forward I guess." She looked back and forth between the couple, "I'm sorry I shouldn't be bothering you with my problems." She got up to leave but Nora stopped her.

"You're not bothering us Velvet." Nora had the same compassion in her voice from the other day with Ruby. "We're totally here if you need to talk about it."

"I just," Velvet's voice faltered slightly, "I felt like she only wanted me for, uhhh" she stopped completely and her cheeks went beet red. "Umm, you know." She didn't meet their gaze. Yang and Nora sat their for a moment, waiting for Velvet to continue and then her implied point hit them both at the same time.

"Ohhh," they moaned together.

"Wow, Velvet I'm so sorry." Nora moved to sit by her on the bench as well.

"Yeah, I mean we knew Coco was all over you. But you really felt that way?" Yang asked.

"Well," Velvet sighed again, "I didn't want to. So I brought it up to her and she didn't say no. She just went on and on about how dangerous our lives are and how there's no time to get all emotional."

"That's so terrible." Nora leaned in and hugged Velvet without warning causing her to jump slightly at the contact. After a moment Nora pulled away and Velvet seemed to have brightened up.

"I'm glad you did something about it though." Yang tried to reassure her.

"I had to," the brunette took a deep breath and steadied herself, "And now I have to move on. I have to show her I can if nothing else."

"Yeah," Yang and Nora both cheered her on. They were doing that more and mora lately Yang noticed, responding as one. Regardless, their energy seemed to help Velvet brighten even further.

"And there's a lot of other cute girls at Beacon and some cute boys too." Velvet smiled and looked around the gym at all the people.

"Wow Velvet." Yang was stunned, "I didn't know you were that open." Velvet blushed again, but remained happy.

"Well, I just, if I like someone, I like someone. It doesn't really matter to me what else is going on." She looked at Yang, the smile and blush still both present on her face.

"That's awesome," Nora clapped her on the back, "I'm glad you're ready to move forward." Velvet stood and turned around to face them.

"Thank you so much for helping me." she patted her camera case, "With everything." she bowed her head just slightly and went trotting off into the gym, much more skip in her step than when she came.

"So," Yang leaned over to Nora, "You know we still have a bet t settle?"

"Oh do I." Nora turned on Yang with a mischievous grin. "I just hope we can finish before Jaune gets back."

A/N - Woooo day two of the weekend double feature and more on the degradation of Crosshares. I like them as a ship but I thought this was an interesting way to deal with them. What did you think? Also, you know what this all means right? And yes, Allen Ramsey II (as well as others) I did have to pick up the phone because you did in fact call that.

I hope you liked it. There will be one more chapter on Tuesday before I take my little break for Anime Expo. I might have some time to write and post during that break, but I won't be updating this story or "Friends and Loved Ones". If I do post anything it will just be little one shots and maybe a string of anti-Cardin stories just to get some of that out of my system.

Thanks so much for reading.

-Zach