The Winter Challenge - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

“Capture the flag,” Professor Ozpin said while smiling at their enthusiastic reactions to the snowy playing field.  “A testament to any team’s ability to work together.  Plus, if I remember correctly, rather enjoyable to play.”

Excited murmurs went through the competitors present.  Team CRDL already looked like they were scheming something.  Team SSSN bounced with energy.  Nora knocked her fists together.  And Ruby...Ruby looked like she couldn’t believe her luck.

“Weiss,” she whispered, leaning into Weiss’ side while staring at the transformed field in front of them.  “You’re right - this is the best idea ever.” 

Weiss already knew it was a good idea - it was one of hers, after all - but she smirked and shifted her attention to Blake and Yang.  From the expressions on their faces, convincing them to participate in The Winter Challenge would no longer be so difficult.  It was still a competition, and Weiss still very much wanted to win, but it was presented as a game.  Certain members of her team loved playing (and winning) games…

“Points will be awarded by place,” Professor Goodwitch explained.  “If your flag is captured, you can still try to get other players out.  If you’re hit by a snowball on any part of your person, you’re out.  The winning team is the one with the most flags or the last person standing who still has their team flag.”  After pausing for a second to let the rules sank in, she smiled.  “May the best team win.”

Interpreting that as a cue to start, the other teams raced towards their flags.  Weiss, meanwhile, looked at Professor Goodwitch one last time.

“Can we use semblances?” she asked but received nothing more than a level stare from both professors in return.

“The rules won’t always be laid out for you, Miss Schnee,” Professor Ozpin replied.  

“I’ll take that as a yes, then?”

Before he responded - although he was unlikely to answer anyway - Ruby grabbed Weiss by the arm and dragged her away.

“Come on, Weiss!  We’ll figure it out!”

This wasn’t how Weiss expected the challenge to begin, but she quickly realigned her expectations and followed Ruby towards their team.  Ducking behind a tall barrier placed in front of their flag, the four of them huddled together to strategize.  They probably didn’t have long before the other teams started moving around the playing arena, so they needed to come up with a plan fast.

“Ruby should get the flags,” were the first words out of Weiss’ mouth.

“Or Blake,” Yang countered.  “Blake’s sneakier than Ruby.”

“And Ruby’s faster than Blake.”

“But Blake can avoid detection.”

“Ok,” Blake cut in before an argument ensued.  “Ruby and I can both go on offense while you two guard our flag.”

Yang and Weiss studied each other for an instant - each of them deciding whether or not the solution damaged their pride - before nodding in unison.

“Ok.”

“That sounds good.”

“Which team should we go after first?” Ruby asked while rubbing her hands together in anticipation

“Nora, since it’s just her?”  As soon as Yang made the suggestion, Blake gave her a look and she shook her head.  “Right.  Dumb idea.  SSSN then?  They’re probably not taking this seriously.”

“Good idea,” Blake agreed before motioning for Ruby to follow her.  With her ears swiveling in every which direction searching for noises, she crept around the corner with Ruby right on her heels.  While the two of them set off on offense, Weiss surveyed their base to see what changes could be made.

“Weiss,” Yang whispered to her before nodding towards the ground.  “We need to make some ammo.”

After scooping up two fistfuls of loose snow, Yang clasped her hands together to form a snowball.  Smiling at the result, she tossed it to Weiss before making a second one.  Setting the snowball off to the side, Weiss followed Yang’s lead in making as many snowballs as possible.  At the same time, she kept her senses on high alert, hoping she heard or caught a glimpse of a potential attacker before they saw her.

“Hey Weiss - you ever eat yellow snow?”  Tossing a snowball up in the air, Yang shot Weiss a grin while she rolled her eyes.

“You’re so immature sometimes...” she grumbled under her breath before finishing up another snowball.  Once they had a couple dozen ready, she surveyed their base - the single wall behind them and the flag planted out in the open.  It wasn’t exactly the most secure of locations...but she could probably fix that.

Testing her theory, she formed a small glyph on the ground near her foot and pushed forward.  When the snow obediently moved where she wanted it, she smiled and motioned for Yang to watch while she altered their base.

First, she built several mounds of snow, scraping the ground until patches of green showed through.  Then, using a series of glyphs on either side, she pressed the snow into a firm, igloo-like structure encasing the flag.  Once the flag was hidden from view, she collected more snow and attached two small walls to their original barrier, creating a small bunker for her and Yang to hole up in.

Now they weren’t in plain sight, and they would see anyone running into their base before being spotted themselves.

“Genius,” Yang said while raising one fist for Weiss to knock with her own.

Since there were no rules, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with sheltering their flag from view or hiding themselves.

“Oh!”  Sitting forward, Yang grabbed snowballs and arranged seven in a neat line in front of Weiss.  “You got it,” she added and provided no more explanation than a simple arm motion at the snowballs then at the flag.

Surprisingly, Weiss did understand what Yang meant.  She had no idea when she learned how to read Yang’s peculiar version of half-finished sentences and vague gestures, but apparently she’d picked up the ability at some point.

When someone shouted nearby, she tensed and expected an imminent attack.  She felt Yang’s muscles coil in anticipation beside her, both of them prepared for an assault on their base.  But after several minutes passed and nothing happened, she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.  Yang also relaxed and settled back in to -

The wall beside them suddenly burst apart, showering snow in every direction as Dove crashed through and rushed towards the flag.  When he made it to the igloo, however, he paused - confused about what he was supposed to do next.

In that instant of indecision, Weiss summoned seven glyphs and fired the seven snowballs in front of her at once.  It might’ve been overkill, but...it was only snow…

Due to her excellent aim, all seven nailed Dove in the back and exploded into puffs of white while he ducked and raised his hands to shield his head.  

“Aw man…” he whined after the assault ended, shaking his head and traipsing away while Weiss and Yang exchanged high fives.

“That’ll teach ‘em,” Yang added with a giggle.  Settling back into their hiding place at the base of the wall, she lined up more snowballs for Weiss - ten this time, because apparently seven hadn’t been quite enough.

Someone else shouted in the distance, but no exploding wall followed the sound this time.  Instead, Weiss calmly patched the hole in their wall as best she could while Yang tossed a snowball up and down in one hand.

When Yang suddenly froze - the motion of the snowball abruptly ceasing - Weiss expected another attack at any second.  There was no attack, however.  Instead, Blake crept around the corner - peeking around the wall first to make sure the coast was clear - before sticking Team SSSN’s flag in the ground in front of them.

At that moment, Weiss didn’t know what to be happier about - the fact that Blake successfully stole a flag or the fact that Yang somehow sensed her partner’s return before any human being should have.

“You were right,” Blake told Yang, who looked like she was impressed enough to kiss Blake right then and there.  “They weren’t even guarding it.”

Expecting Ruby to appear at any moment, Weiss glanced over Blake’s shoulder and grew increasingly concerned when several seconds passed with no bundle of energy bouncing into their base.

“Where’s Ruby?” she finally asked, looking to Blake for an answer.  Blake’s ears immediately drooped, and she shook her head before meeting Weiss’ eyes.

“She...she didn’t make it.” 

“What do you mean she didn’t make it?  She’s faster than all of us!”

“Yes, but...she took a snowball for me.”

While the words sunk in, Yang rocked back on her heels and sadly shook her head.

“Of course she did…”  And, after a few seconds of mournful silence, she clenched her jaw and reached out to touch Blake’s hand (another gratuitous display of affection, but Weiss wasn’t in the mood for it at the moment).

“We have to win this now,” she said, grasping Blake’s hand and looking deep into her eyes.  “For Ruby.”

“For Ruby,” Blake whispered, clutching Yang’s hand while the two of them shared a moment commiserating Weiss’ partner.  Oblivious to Weiss’ feelings or existence (helloooo - Ruby was kind of important to her too), Blake smiled at Yang before slinking around the wall and disappearing just as silently as she’d appeared.  

After watching her partner leave, Yang turned around and sighed, but Weiss couldn’t tell if the sigh was the continuation of her act or her longing for Blake slipping through.  Probably the second because...well, it was Yang.

“Guess it’s just you and me now,” she said before leaning against the pile of snow shielding them from view.  After Weiss followed Yang’s lead, the two of them listened to the sounds of the battle waging around them while waiting for the inevitable assault on their stronghold.  Out there, somewhere, Blake tried to secure another flag for their team.  Team CRDL was probably next on her list - all of them knew Nora was best left for last.

Sensing a pause in the action, Weiss decided to use their brief moment of solitude to push forward her other objective.

“Blake looks nice today, doesn’t she?”

“Uh, yeah?”  Yang gave Weiss a confused glance before shrugging.  “I mean...she looks nice every day, so that’s not unusual.”

“Right.  Of course.”  Brushing snow off the shoulder of her jacket, Weiss tried not to feel too smug about that answer.  

For a few seconds, Yang looked like she didn’t know what else to say, then she gave Weiss that trademark grin that meant a joke was incoming.

“Why do you ask?  Jealous I got the hottest partner at Beacon?”

Even though it was downright adorable that Yang found Blake so attractive, Weiss scoffed at the response (partly because she was obligated to, partly because she disagreed with Yang’s assessment).

“Ruby’s no slouch, you know,” she pointed out, and Yang scrunched up her nose but didn’t argue.  Because how could she argue without insinuating that her sister was unattractive - something she would never do?  Plus, she had to know that Weiss was right.  With Ruby’s recent growth spurt came all the trappings of beauty - long, slender arms and legs, slight curves, and fuller...well, she was becoming a young woman.

“She’s very pretty,” Weiss concluded while leaning against the snow and smiling when she thought about seeing Ruby when this game was over.  She should’ve suggested that they go on offense together, but...that didn’t make sense if they wanted to win.  

Yang opened her mouth to respond but abruptly froze - at the same moment Weiss thought she heard a soft crunch of snow underneath someone’s foot.

“Did you hear that?” Yang whispered, motioning in a direction before pressing a finger to her lips.  Focusing her ears, Weiss strained to find the sound again.

There was a noise - a slight shuffling in the snow - coming from the left of their base.  It sounded like someone sneaking around on their hands and knees, probably trying to keep a low profile and present a smaller target.  

‘You?’ Yang mouthed to Weiss, who was closest to the sound.  Nodding, Weiss grabbed two snowballs and crept towards their intruder.

Even though it was ‘only’ a snowball fight, her heart beat faster as she grew closer to the noise.  Whoever it was, they were on just the other side of the wall of snow, moving to the right while she circled around behind them.  If she was quiet enough, and fast enough, she could jump behind them for an easy knockout before they noticed her.

When she reached the edge of the wall, she took a deep breath before springing into motion.  Standing up and summoning a glyph to launch the snowball, she spun around the corner - and immediately felt something hit her side.  

Looking down in surprise, she found traces of snow on her jacket.  And it took longer than it should have for her to realize that she was just hit by a snowball.  Which meant she was out of the game.

Hearing snickers from behind a nearby snowbank, she stomped around it to identify her attacker and found Neptune and Sun giggling like school girls while crouched near the ground.

“Seriously?” she said, disappointed in herself that these boys were the end of her participation in this challenge.  But she understood what happened now.  Neptune lured her away by making noise, then Sun pulled some crazy acrobatics to leap in such a way that he could hit her with a well-placed throw.

It was clever, but that didn’t mean she appreciated it.  

“We kinda thought it’d go right through you,” Sun said, which only made Neptune laugh harder.

“Y-yeah!  Like, snow can’t hit snow, can it?”

The response made no sense, but they laughed anyway.  Because of course they found it funny.

Their laughter cut off when a snowball appeared out of nowhere and nailed Neptune in the chest.

“Sun...” he gasped, clutching Sun’s shoulder while collapsing to his side in the snow.  “Dude...I think...I just got hit...”

“No, no, no.”  After quickly wiping the snow off of Neptune’s jacket, Sun pointed towards it.  “You’re fine - see?  You’re gonna make it!  You’ve gotta make it for me!”

As touching as the scene was, Weiss smirked when another snowball pegged Sun in the shoulder.  Grabbing his arm, he fell sideways into the snowbank and prepared to meet his inevitable demise - but not without first grinning at Weiss.

“Now that - was cold...” he joked before pretending to die along with his partner.

Shaking her head at the display, she used a glyph to shove the snowbank on top of the fools.  They yelped while being partially buried in snow, and she slapped hands with Blake before heading out of the arena.  

“Thanks, Blake,” she said while walking away, knowing Blake had probably already disappeared.  

At least her ‘death’ was quickly avenged - that made her feel moderately better about her exit from the game.  Not that she was ever happy to lose at anything, but technically she hadn’t lost.  Just because she was out didn’t mean her team was out - Blake and Yang were plenty capable of winning this on their own.  

Plus, now Weiss could watch the rest of the game with Ruby, who stood at the edge of the Great Lawn with the professors and the other competitors who were already out.

“You’re out too?” Ruby asked, hurrying over to Weiss’ side and wrapping an arm around her as if she might be injured.  “Who got you?”

“Sun and Neptune.” 

Weiss left out the part where they tricked her, but Ruby nodded as if she already knew.  

“At least we got their flag!”  Turning back to the field, Ruby stood on her tiptoes like that might help her see further into the arena.  “I think Ren got CRDL’s though…”

Hearing a smattering of laughter, Weiss watched Sun and Neptune walk out of the arena, dusting snow out of their hair while rejoining the rest of their team.  As suspected, Team SSSN was in this for fun.  Which made them an easy target, in her mind.

“I wish - I could - see!” Ruby said, jumping up and down with every word.  She was right though - the walls of snow in front of them made it impossible to see what was happening within the playing field.  The most they could see was snow, snow, and more snow.  

“Hold on.”  Professor Goodwitch gave no further warning before snow pushed underneath their feet, quickly growing in volume as they rose into the air.  Seconds later, they stood on a platform of snow some fifteen feet above the Great Lawn.  From this height, they could easily see the rest of the competitors moving amongst the walls of snow.  And Professor Goodwitch was even nice enough to stamp out a set of stairs for whoever joined them next, which, from the looks of it, would be Cardin and Sky.

“Awesome!” Ruby said, celebrating her new vantage point while the two boys trudged up to them.

“She has to be cheating,” Cardin grumbled while joining his team.  Crossing his arms over his chest, he glowered towards the playing field.

“Did you go after Nora?” Sun asked and, when Cardin said nothing, laughed.  “Dude, you’ve got a death wish.”

After shaking her head at the foolhardy decision, Weiss smiled at Ruby.  Ruby was, of course, enraptured by the end of the game.  Given her love of all things strategy related, that wasn’t surprising at all.

“Look!” she suddenly said, pointing towards the corner of the lawn and jarring Weiss out of her thoughts.  Looking in that direction, she found Yang and Ren sneaking towards each other - on a collision course they seemed to know nothing about.  

Weiss sighed upon seeing Yang outside of their base.  Of course she couldn’t just sit and wait for Blake to win them the game.  Of course she stayed on defense only as long as there was action happening.  Once the action stopped, she decided to sneak around on her own, apparently.

Maybe she was searching for Blake.  That made sense.  After spending all of three minutes apart, she must be pining for Blake’s presence by now.  Screw the game, the competition, or winning - she needed to see Blake!  

Why did love make people act like idiots?

“Don’t worry - she’s got this.”  Contrary to that endorsement, Ruby clutched Weiss’ arm while they watched the collision from their perch.

Yang snuck around the corner at the same time Ren did, and they actually bumped into each other before springing apart as if they just stepped in lava.  Ren recovered first and threw a snowball towards Yang.  And Yang, even though she reacted a bit slower, managed to chuck a snowball at Ren.  Because Yang’s throw had more heat on it though, they ended up hitting each other in the torsos at nearly the same time - a simultaneous out.

For a second, they just stared at each other.  Then they shrugged and walked out of the arena together.

“Great,” Weiss muttered before shaking her head and searching for Blake.

Surprisingly, Blake was easy to find seeing as how her black color-scheme stood out against the pure-white backdrop.  She was creeping towards Team JNPR’s base while Nora was...Nora was nowhere to be found at the moment, but she was probably somewhere near the massive molehills that had appeared near JNPR’s flag.

“Good job, Yang!” Ruby said when her sister joined them on their viewing platform.

“Yes, good job,” Weiss added dryly.

“Thanks, Weiss!”  Ignoring Weiss’ sarcasm, Yang patted her shoulder before turning around to watch the end of the challenge play out.

From Blake’s slow, tentative pace, she didn’t know where Nora was.  None of them knew where Nora was - except maybe Ren.  She had to be hiding in the base, right?

“What’s she gonna do…” Yang muttered, her gaze locked on Blake while she crept around yet another wall.

“It’s Blake,” Ruby answered, the slight bounce in her feet giving away her excitement.  “She’ll think of something.” 

Yang looked a little unsure while watching the standoff take place below them - then she started whispering under her breath, low enough that no one else could hear.

At least, Weiss couldn’t hear, but Blake suddenly stopped, stood a little straighter, then abruptly altered course and set off in the other direction - approaching Nora’s base from the side with fewer obstacles in the way.  Before entering the land of molehills, however, she flashed a clone in front of her.

That’s when they saw a snowball shoot out of nowhere.

Weiss still couldn’t see Nora, but she had to be close.  When Blake sent another clone in front of her, another snowball shot through the air.  Meanwhile, Yang just kept whispering, feeding information to her partner from afar.

Undisturbed by her lack of vision, Blake used more clones - always one at a time and at different locations.  It was only after the first few that Weiss figured out what Blake was doing.

Even though Blake hid safely behind the wall to JNPR’s base, she was using Yang’s help to create the impression that she was successfully dodging Nora’s attacks and making it closer to the flag.  Just a few more sprints and the clone version of Blake would reach it…

As soon as that happened, a mountain of snow exploded outward, and they finally knew where Nora was hiding - inside one of the piles of snow.

When Nora rushed to save her flag, Blake leapt into motion - scaling the wall in one jump before flinging a snowball towards Nora’s back.

It connected.  And, for a few seconds, everyone held their breath and waited for Nora’s response.  

At first, she froze.  Then she slowly turned around to see who was behind her.  When she saw Blake, however, she broke into a smile and ran over to give her a hug.

“Congratulations, Team RWBY,” Professor Ozpin said with a smile.  “You’ve won the first challenge.  Team JNPR takes second place, followed by Team CRDL, and Team SSSN.”

When Sun slapped hands with his team - somehow excited about coming in last - Professor Goodwitch lowered their viewing platform to the ground so they could disburse for the day.

“The Winter Challenge will resume tomorrow,” she said before leveling them with a stern gaze - the only look she seemed capable of giving.  “You’ll receive another notice when it’s time.”

Talking amongst themselves, most of the huntsmen started walking back to school, leaving just Ren, Weiss, Yang and Ruby waiting for their teammates to return.

“I’m gonna congratulate her!” Ruby said and, before anyone could respond, flew into the arena to find Blake.

“Blake’s hearing is really good,” Weiss commented while waiting with Yang.

“Her hearing is amazing.”

Turning to the side, Weiss found what she could only describe as a look of longing and admiration in Yang’s eyes.

“I’m glad you two have become so close,” she said, drawing a curious expression from Yang.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I wasn’t sure how well you’d get along since Blake is so reserved and you’re so…”  Not sure how to phrase it without coming across as insulting, she motioned with her hands to symbolize what she was trying to say.

“Charming?  Adventurous?  Incredible?” Yang offered with a grin.

“Unreserved…” Weiss settled upon with a shake of her head.

“I guess I see what you mean...but what about you and Ruby?”

Weiss scoffed at the question.  

“What about me and Ruby?”

“Come on, Weiss,” Yang replied with a friendly laugh.  “You weren’t exactly nice to her for the first few weeks of school.  I thought I was gonna have to beat some sense into you.”

Weiss pursed her lips but opted to watch Ruby, Blake, and Nora walk out of the arena rather than respond.  Maybe she wasn’t initially thrilled with her partner assignment, team assignment, or leader assignment, but her outlook had changed.  Ruby had matured, and the two of them became friends - best friends, even.

“At least it worked out,” she concluded before their partners rejoined them.  All Blake had to do was look at Yang, and Yang sprang forward to resume her role as personal heater.  Ruby, meanwhile, stuck to Weiss’ side while Nora charged into Ren for a hug.

“That was so much fun!” she said before grabbing Ren’s hand.  “And you did super great!”

After sharing a smile, Nora looked towards Team RWBY and waved.  “See you tomorrow!” was all she had to say before bounding through the snow with Ren in tow - the boy willing to follow his partner anywhere.  

Yang, however, looked at Blake like she wanted the two of them to meld into one right then and there.

“You did fantastic,” she said, her eyes never leaving Blake’s while they stood pressed together (‘for warmth’).

“Couldn’t have done it without you.”

When Yang laughed at the response, Blake’s ears twitched in a way Weiss assumed meant happiness.

“Pretty sure you could have,” was Yang’s reply while she lightly grasped Blake’s sides.  “But what do you think?  Time to go home?”

When Yang motioned towards the dorms, Weiss noticed something she hadn’t realized until just now.  While the snow brushed off the rest of them, it melted near Yang’s presence.  Meaning...somehow her clothing was wet, especially the bottoms of her pants and her ribs where Ren hit her with the snowball.

Fortunately, Weiss wasn’t the only one who noticed Yang’s less-than-ideal relationship with snow.

“We need to get you out of those clothes,” Blake said, unwittingly speaking her subconscious before shaking her head.  “I heard it - don’t say anything,” she added before Yang laughed.  “I don’t want you to get sick.”

“But then you could nurse me back to health!”  With a smile, Yang reached up and gently brushed a few snowflakes from the tips of Blake’s ears.  The gesture looked surprisingly intimate, which was probably why Blake blushed while considering Yang’s words.

Weiss already knew that Blake would nurse Yang back to health if needed.  And Blake already knew that she would nurse Yang back to health whenever and wherever.  But at this moment, she shook her head and fought off her rosy cheeks.

“We need you for the team fighting challenge.”

The response made Yang chuckle again, and Weiss smiled as she joined Ruby for their walk back to the room.  It didn’t escape her notice that Yang just touched Blake’s ears without a second thought, and without express permission.  Seeing as how she was still breathing, she must have already been granted blanket permission to do so - which was interesting, wasn’t it?  No one was allowed to touch Blake’s ears, but that rule didn’t extend to Yang.

A lot of Blake’s ‘rules’ didn’t apply to Yang...

“You did great, Weiss!” Ruby leaned into Weiss’ shoulder and smiled.  “I saw how you changed the base - that was really smart.  You chose the perfect angles too - no one could see you guys until it was too late.”

Turning her eyes forward, Weiss felt a satisfied smirk appear on her lips.  Somehow, Ruby made her feel triumphant even when she hadn’t personally won.  With that single compliment, the sting of being eliminated by Sun and Neptune disappeared.  Instead, she focused on what Ruby wanted her to focus on  - that she had done some good things and made contributions to her team’s win today.

“Thank you, Ruby,” she replied and leaned into Ruby’s side while they entered the dorm room building.  As they left the snowy outdoors behind, she heard a sigh from behind her that could only be from one person.

Of course, when she glanced over her shoulder, Yang was still wrapping an arm around Blake to keep her warm.  It seemed a little unnecessary now that they were inside the heated building, but Blake wasn’t complaining - nor did Weiss expect to hear Blake complain anytime soon.

By the time they made it back to their room, Weiss was starting to feel the events of the day wearing on her.  When Blake walked into the room and laid down on her bed, Weiss knew she wasn’t the only one feeling abnormally exhausted from their exciting morning.

“Ugh...so tired…” Blake mumbled into her pillow.

“Maybe we can nap,” Yang suggested, sitting down beside Blake and failing to notice the pink on Blake’s cheeks.

“Maybe…” was her murmured response, although Weiss already knew the answer was a solid ‘yes.’

The most recent development in Blake and Yang’s ‘friendship’ (a development that hadn’t gone unnoticed) was that they now napped together.  Sure, friends could nap and cuddle and do all sorts of cute things, but Weiss knew what was really going on.  It was blatantly obvious by how hesitant and shy the two of them were about these ‘friendly’ things.

Still, Yang suggested it because she wanted to be closer to Blake.  And Blake accepted because she wanted to be closer to Yang.  Now if only they could admit they wanted to be more than napping partners with each other...that would help move things along.

“Let’s do that,” Ruby piped in, bringing Weiss out of her thoughts and back to the conversation.  “Team RWBY naptime!”

When Blake and Yang chuckled at the idea, Weiss rolled her eyes.

“Are we in grade school?”

“No…” Ruby replied, furrowing her brow and looking a little too adorable to be leading a team of huntresses.

“But if we have time,” Yang quickly tagged on.  “And if we have nothing else to do, we might as well nap - right, Ruby?”

As usual, Yang knew how to get Ruby’s approval - which she gave with a nod.  And, as team leader, Ruby’s approval held more weight than any of theirs combined.  So, with a sigh, Weiss let the subject drop.  Let Blake and Yang nap together if they wanted to.  Maybe one of these days they’d canoodle into one, then they could just read each other’s minds instead of going through the ungodly difficult task of admitting their feelings out loud.

Unlikely, but a matchmaker could dream.

Since the challenge was over for the day, however, Weiss didn’t see an issue with them doing whatever they wanted - within reason, of course.  So while Blake and Yang snuggled closer to look at something on Yang’s scroll and Ruby laid on Weiss’ bed to play a game, Weiss sat at the desk and got to work.  

If they had some free time, she wanted to go through notes from Professor Port’s class.  Regular review was the easiest way to absorb a great deal of material, after all.  While the rest of her team preferred to ‘cram’ the night before a test, she reserved the right to study in her own (better, more effective) way.

She didn’t mind studying alone, and she didn’t mind studying with her teammates in the room.  When she got to Beacon, she had found them incredibly distracting.  Over time, that feeling went away, replaced by the subtle sense of comfort their companionship offered.

After making it through a good portion of her notes, however, she realized that the room had been a little too quiet for too long.  Turning around in her chair, she froze when she figured out why.

Blake and Yang were sleeping, but Blake had fallen asleep with her head on Yang’s shoulder while they leaned against the pillows placed on the wall.  It was midway between a nap and cuddle, and it was adorable.

Glancing across the room, Weiss caught Ruby’s gaze and they shared a smile.  She then grabbed her scroll and sent Ruby a quick message that said ‘food?’  The message buzzed softly on the scroll in Ruby’s hands and, after reading it, Ruby nodded and stood up.  Together, the two of them crept out of the room and headed towards the cafeteria.

“I had a lot of fun today,” Ruby said while they left their sleeping teammates behind.  “And uh, I’m really happy we get to spend break together.”

When Ruby added a sincere smile after the comment, Weiss felt her heart melt.  She wasn’t accustomed to such open, honest expressions, but she could get used to it.  At this point, however, they still made her feel embarrassed.  She’d yet to discover why that was, but she knew it was true when she glanced away and collected her thoughts before responding.

“Me too, Ruby...”  Ruby’s elated smile made the honesty immediately pay dividends, but she felt a small amount of relief when Ruby turned away.  The way Ruby looked at her was incredibly disarming sometimes...

“So, I was thinking we can exchange presents on Sunday?” Ruby added as they walked into the cafeteria, which was almost as empty as when they had breakfast that morning.  “I thought it’d be nice to end break on a high note!”

“Presents?” Weiss asked, picking up two trays and handing one to Ruby.

“Yeah!  You know, for Christmas?”

“Oh.  Right.”  

Admittedly, she hadn’t spent much thought on the upcoming holiday.  She was normally the one who received gifts, not the other way around.  But...that was probably because she’d never had people she wanted to give gifts to.  Her father - no.  Whitley - another firm no.  And Winter made it clear that she didn’t expect any, nor would she accept any.

In addition to winning The Winter Challenge and getting Yang and Blake together, she needed to come up with great presents for her teammates.  If anything, they would serve as ‘thank you’s for being so welcoming.

“That sounds like a good idea,” she finally replied, watching Ruby bob her head and smile.

“Cool!  Blake and Yang are already on board.” 

Without much effort, Weiss picked up on the underlying excitement vibrating through Ruby’s veins.  She was excited about giving gifts, which was both sweet and completely like her.  Her generosity had no bounds - whether it was giving her time helping others or willingly parting with possessions she’d saved up to buy.  If her family had any significant wealth, they probably wouldn’t hold onto it for long if she held the pursestrings.

With such a benevolent partner, Weiss felt an even stronger desire to give Ruby something spectacular - because she deserved it.

“What are some of the best gifts you’ve ever received?” Weiss asked as they left the line and walked over to their usual table.  For a moment, Ruby furrowed her brow in thought, then her eyes widened and sparkled in happiness.

“One year, Yang gave me a book about Nevermores.”

“And?” she pried, feeling that there must be more to the response.  “Was it just a book on Nevermores?”

“‘Just’ a book?  Weiss, it had everything you could ever hope to know about them!  I read it so many times…”

The answer wasn’t at all what Weiss expected.  It seemed so...simple.  A book?  A book on Grimm, no less.  That had the feel of a textbook rather than a present, but Ruby would probably disagree with that.  Simple but impactful, maybe?  Clearly, fond memories were attached to reading that book - maybe because it was from her sister?

“The next year, she got me a book on Beowolves,” Ruby added, sounding just as excited.  “And then Death Stalkers!”

“Basically...she gifted you a library on Grimm,” Weiss concluded and smiled when Ruby giggled.

“Basically!”  After pausing for a few seconds to take a bite to eat, Ruby swallowed and leaned into Weiss’ side.  “What about you, Weiss?  Do you have any favorite gifts?”

The question made Weiss pause for several long moments while trying to think of a gift she’d particularly enjoyed.

“One year, my parents got me a unicorn.”

As expected, Ruby’s eyes widened in surprise.

“A unicorn?” 

“Yes, although it wasn’t real.  It was just a white horse made to look like a unicorn, but...it was still fun.”

That Christmas was so long ago that she hardly remembered, but it somehow cemented in her memory as the one holiday she’d actually enjoyed.

“Don’t think we’re gonna be able to get you a unicorn…”

“I wouldn’t expect anything like that from you,” Weiss quickly added.  “Besides, our room is small enough as it is.  Where would I keep a unicorn?”

When Ruby giggled, Weiss felt a similar energy bubble up in her chest - a light, joyful laughter just hoping to get out.

“Something else though!” Ruby added, leaning further into Weiss’ shoulder while continuing her meal.  “Probably not as awesome, but hopefully you still like it.”

Weiss smiled but didn’t say the words she felt inside - that it didn’t matter what her teammates gave her for Christmas.  Their friendship was a gift that all the money in Remnant couldn’t buy - and she would know, seeing as how she grew up alone even though she could have ‘anything’ she wanted.

Hopefully, her teammates understood how much they meant to her.  One day, she would tell them, but until then...they had a challenge to win.