3rd Person POV
Vacuo Beach
"Come on in, Ice Queen!" Yang called, bringing her hand down and sending a wave of water cascading over Sincline and Ruby, who returned fire just as fast as their battle transformed into an all-out splash war.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, thank you very—" She was cut off as water poured over her head and looked up just in time to see Sincline warping back into the water, whistling innocently. "Oh, you're on!" Springing to her feet, Weiss dashed into the water as Blake rolled her eyes and returned her attention back to her book, eyeing a fish she saw swimming in her peripheral vision.
Seeing her gaze, Accalia stood, stretched, and walked to the edge of the water. Freezing there for several seconds, her head darted forward, her jaws snapping shut around the fish's tail. She pulled back, yanking a large tuna onto the sand. Pulling its body fully onto the beach, Accalia rested the fish at Blake's feet and sat on her haunches, her head tilted.
Blake blinked and smiled, her eyes lighting up as she examined the fish. "Alright, maybe I was wrong about you," she admitted, and Accalia barked happily.
"Chicken fight!" Ruby shouted and jumped on Sincline's shoulders, causing him to hold on to prevent her from falling.
"Oh, it's on," Yang shot back, and Weiss jumped on her shoulders as well, balancing precariously as she grinned at her teammates challengingly.
Deciding to just go with it (and idly wondering how chickens had anything to do with waterplay), Sincline rushed forward as Yang did the same, and Ruby and Weiss clashed above, hands locking as they pushed against each other.
"You're going down, Little Red!" Weiss taunted as the four of them fought, using her taller size to force Ruby back.
"Bring it on, Ice Queen!" Ruby challenged and pushed back.
Getting an idea, Sincline grinned, jumped, and twisted. Weiss yelped in surprise, and Ruby took the advantage, pushing her over and causing her and Yang to fall into the waves.
"We did it!" Ruby cheered, sliding off Sincline's shoulders and into his arms, giving him a quick kiss. Before they could react, something latched onto Sincline's ankle and yanked backward, dumping the mech-turned-human and Ruby into the water.
"That's why you never let your guard down!" Yang cackled as she and Weiss exchanged high-fives.
Swimming back up, Sincline and Ruby exchanged looks before bursting into laughter, Yang and Weiss doing the same while Blake rolled her eyes, a small smile on her lips before she went back into tearing into her tuna, tossing some pieces over to Accalia.
"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Sincline asked as they walked up to the beach to dry off. Grabbing his towel, he slung it over his shoulders before taking a drink of water from one of the bottles that Yang had brought.
"How about we play some volleyball?" Yang suggested, drying herself off before tossing her towel back on her beach chair.
Sincline tilted his head. "What's volleyball?"
"Here," Yang said. Picking up a volleyball she had packed in her bag, she spun it on her finger. After explaining the basic rules, she looked at him expectantly. "You got it?"
"Two teams, whoever scores up to 21 points wins," Sincline listed, mentally running over the other various instructions. "I get it."
Yang grinned predatorially. "Alright then. Ruby, you're on Sincline's team. Weiss?"
"I'm sitting this one out," the Heiress informed, stretching out on her towel beneath the shade of her umbrella. "Blake can do it," she added as an afterthought.
"Huh?" Blake barely had any time to react before Yang grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward a large stretch of sand. Sincline and Ruby had already set up the net, and the young Rose was currently showing Sincline various ways to hit the beachball.
"You're going to play, and you're going to like it," Yang informed.
"B-but—!"
"No buts!"
Sincline snickered, and Ruby giggled. "It's too late; once Yang puts her mind to something, she'll get it done," the young Rose informed the doomed Faunus.
Blake sighed, shooting a longing gaze toward her unfinished tuna... which Accalia was currently eating. "Hey!"
Accalia looked up, tilted her head... then promptly went back to eating the tuna.
"To be fair, she did help you catch it," Sincline pointed out.
"... I guess you're right," Blake sighed. "Let's just get this game over with, so I can go back to my book." And steal MY tuna back, she thought, glaring at the Kitsune Grimm as she silently promised vengeance.
Yang grinned and ruffled her hair. "That's the spirit!" Pulling back, she tossed the ball into the air and spiked it toward Sincline.
Reacting entirely on instincts, Sincline jumped up, his foot connecting with the volleyball and knocking it into the air. He smacked it down toward Blake, who flipped, elegantly dodging it as Yang threw a punch.
With a shockwave, the volleyball whistled through the air toward Ruby. Pressing her foot into the sand, she shot forward and slammed the volleyball up to Sincline, who spiked it, sending the ball blurring past Blake's defense to slam into the sand.
"We did it!" Ruby cheered, tackling Sincline happily in a blur of rose petals.
"The game's not over yet," Yang called, picking up the volleyball and spinning it on her finger before tossing it back. "We still have 20 rounds to go!"
As the four of them prepared for another round, Accalia stretched, padded over to Weiss's side, and curled up next to her, resting her head on the Heiress's leg. Blinking in surprise, Weiss hesitated, then gently pet Accalia's tails, earning a purr from the Grimm. Shaking her head, Weiss turned to watch the remainder of the game, a glass of water in hand.
Eventually, the score tied up, twenty-to-twenty, and the four of them stood tall, ready, all eyes on the ball.
"Let's do this!" Sincline cheered, crouching and assuming a ready stance.
"It's already done," Blake replied, slinking into an almost cat-like pose, ready to pounce.
Sincline blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What's your face supposed to mean?!"
"...what?"
"Game on!" Yang shouted and tossed the ball up. Springing into the air and over her partner, Blake kicked the ball down toward Sincline, who jumped backward, smacking the ball into the air.
"Ruby!" Sincline shouted and held out his hands. Ruby nodded, placed a foot in his hand, and jumped as Sincline pushed her up. Spinning, she smacked the ball with all her strength, sending it blurring toward Blake.
Bending backward and flipping over it with cat-like grace, Blake spun as Yang hit the ball up toward her, and spiked it, sending it flying toward Sincline.
Letting instinct take over again, Sincline turned and backflipped, kicking the ball into the air. Dashing toward him, Ruby jumped on his shoulders and flipped. Her heel connected, and the ball went flying, blurring past Yang's outstretched fingers to bury itself in the ground.
"We won!" Ruby cheered and promptly tackled Sincline to the sand, laughing happily as the mech-turned-human did the same.
"That was pretty fun," Yang commented, grinning and picking up the volleyball. Watching the two of them, she chuckled. "I gotta admit, you're a fast learner, Sincline," she commented.
"That was the best game I've ever played," Sincline said excitedly. "Can we go to the beach more often?"
Everyone exchanged looks and turned to Weiss.
"Why are you all looking at me?" The Heiress demanded.
"Well, seeing as how Ice Queen's fine with it, I guess we can," Yang said with a playful smile as Sincline helped Ruby up and Weiss gaped in outrage. Getting an idea, she grinned. "Hey, Weiss, you still got those surfboards?"
Timeskip
"And you're sure this is a good idea?" Sincline checked. He was sitting at the controls of one of his ships, his wraith-like vessel hovering over the water as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Accalia watched from the beach. "Like, sure for sure?"
"Nope," Yang replied cheerfully, hanging onto a rope attached to the back of Sincline's ship as she balanced on a yellow and silver surfboard that was just barely on the water. Was it meant for this? No. Was it going to be dangerous? Yes. Was she still going through with it? "Let's do this." Absolutely.
"Ruby?" Sincline asked, hoping that she might be able to talk some sense into her crazy sister.
"Just do it!" Ruby cheered from where she was building a sandcastle, and Blake pulled out her scroll to record. There was no way the black-haired Faunus was going to miss this.
Sincline shook his head. "I hope you know what you're getting into," he muttered. Resting his hand on the throttle, Sincline gently increased the speed. A burst of energy, and it shot forward, the rope behind it quickly pulling taught.
Just in time, Yang jumped into the air and toward the sea, being jerked forward so fast that only a dotted outline was left where she had been. Streaking through the air, her board slammed into the waves, prompting a spray of mist to erupt to either side. "This. Is. Awesome!" Yang shouted over the roar of the ship and the crashing of the waves. It was like being pulled by a speedboat.
"Should I tell her that I'm going 1/1000 of my regular speed or..." Sincline asked over Ruby's scroll and trailing off at the end. Knowing Yang, that might make her ask for more speed, and he wasn't sure if her body could take that.
"No, just keep her occupied," Weiss replied.
"Easier said than—"
"Whoohoo!"
"Done..." Curving around, Sincline increased his ship's speed slightly, and Yang's board skipped and skidded over the surface of the water.
"This is amazing!" Yang shouted, letting go with one hand to wave at Ruby. Unfortunately, she did this as Sincline curved to take another pass.
"Uh oh..." Yang's hold on the rope slipped, and she fell, skipping across the water multiple times before slamming into Ruby's sandcastle, demolishing it in an explosion of debris, a mushroom cloud of sand and dust erupting into the air.
"Yaaang!" Ruby whined as Sincline pulled his ship around and quickly 'docked' above the beach. A flash of light, and his ship shattered into thousands of glowing purple fragments, each piece dissolving as it hit the ground.
"Um... sorry," he apologized as Yang poked her head out of the remnants of Ruby's sandcastle, wiping sand out of her eyes.
"It's alright," she assured. Extracting herself and stepping out of the crater she had accidentally caused, she winced, staring down at the broken remains of Ruby's sandcastle. "Um... sorry, little sis," she apologized, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
Ruby sighed. "It's fine. At least you weren't surfing." The last time that had happened, it had been a disaster.
"What's surfing?" Sincline asked curiously.
Ruby perked up. "I'll show you." She turned to her white-haired teammate. "Weiss?"
Weiss sighed and tossed them two cards. As soon as they caught them, the cards expanded, Ruby's turning into a red and black surfboard while Sincline's turned into a black and silver one. "Fine, but the chances of a wave happening out here when the water's as clear as it is is highly un..." Weiss trailed off as a wave emerged from the depths and crashed down upon the sand.
"You were saying?" Yang asked with a grin, drying herself off with a towel as she attempted to clean the sand off her body.
"Follow me," Ruby ordered and quickly darted into the surf, followed by Sincline. Lying down on their surfboards, they paddled out into the ocean.
"So... what now?" Sincline asked.
"Now, we just have to wait for a wave," Ruby explained, her eyes shining. "Like that one!" she pointed, and Sincline saw a wave coming toward them. "Quick, turn your board!"
Sincline did so, and the wave reached them, lifting them up and forward as it began to crest. Seeing Ruby begin to stand, he did the same, balancing on the surfboard as mist from the wave roared in his ears. "This. Is. Awesome!" Sincline shouted, his board slicing through the waves as Ruby cut through the water above him.
Flashing him a smile, Ruby grinned, and Sincline mirrored it as they angled their boards down toward the beach. Getting a little playful, Sincline jumped and flipped, landing back on his board in a spray of mist.
"Showoff!" Ruby called teasingly.
Sincline grinned, but it faded as he saw Ruby overbalance and her board flip in the air. "...Uh oh." I'm going to end up at the bottom again, aren't I? He sighed, hanging his head in defeat... just as Ruby crashed into him, knocking him off his board and into the surf.
"Should... we help them?" Blake asked, glancing at the other girls as the three of them sat on their beach chairs, watching as Sincline got up, sputtering... only for a wave to crash into him and knock him flat on his back.
"Nah, Ruby's fine," Yang replied, waving a hand dismissively as her sister, who had been riding that wave, crashed on top of Sincline... again. "Not so sure about Sincline though."
Timeskip
"That was totally wicked!" Sincline cheered as he and Ruby dragged themselves onto the beach, surfboards in hand. Even though they (meaning Sincline) had faceplanted more than once into the surf, both couldn't help but exchange grins.
"Alright, I think that's enough, you two," Weiss chided, fighting back a giggle. They had been surfing for hours, and it had been quite entertaining watching Ruby crash into Sincline every five minutes. "It's getting late. We should probably get back to Beacon."
"Nah, we don't have to," Yang replied, waving a hand dismissively as she reclined further in her chair. "We still have a few days before the final rounds."
"She is right," Blake agreed, flipping through another page in her book. She glanced up briefly before turning her attention back to the item in her hand.
Ruby and Sincline exchanged looks and shrugged. "Fine by us."
"So... what do we do now?" Sincline asked as an awkward silence fell over the group.
"We could always set up a bonfire while we wait for the sunset," Blake suggested.
Yang grinned, cracking her knuckles. "I'll get the firewood. You and Sincline just head down and have some alone time~"
"Wait, wh—" Weiss was cut off as Yang grabbed her and Blake and yanked them after her, much to their complaint.
"Help!"
Accalia looked up, tilted her head, then walked over to Weiss's towel and laid down, curling up with her tails around her body.
"Hey!" Weiss protested as Ruby giggled and Sincline snickered.
As the three girls left (Yang didn't really give them any option to stay), Sincline glanced over at Ruby. "So... does Yang do that often?" he asked, fighting back a laugh.
"No idea," Ruby replied, walking over and plopping down on the sand, waves brushing against her feet as Sincline sat down beside her. The sky had already started to darken, clouds drifting across the sky as waves crashed against the surf.
"So, what do sunsets on the beach usually look like?" Sincline asked curiously.
"Just wait," Ruby encouraged, and the two fell silent, staring out at the waves as they rhythmically crashed against the surf.
"Thanks," Sincline said softly. "You know, for all this."
Ruby smiled, squeezing his hand gently as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Anytime."
Exchanging smiles with her, Sincline laughed. "To be honest, I'm surprised I lasted as long as I did on those surfboards," he admitted. At first, he had been certain he was going to end up getting hurt in one way or another. In a way, he wasn't wrong.
"Hey, you did pretty good for your first time," Ruby assured, patting him on the shoulder. "If anything, I should be sorry about hitting you with my surfboard," she added, laughing nervously.
Sincline smiled. "It was pretty fun though."
"Yeah," Ruby agreed, and the two laughed.
An idea passing through his mind, Sincline grinned mischievously and moved his foot, kicking a wave of water over Ruby.
"H-hey!" she spluttered as Sincline snickered. Reaching down, she splashed some water up at him as he jumped to his feet and into the water.
Laughing, they started splashing each other, and Sincline smiled. Dodging a spray of water, he splashed her in the face and snickered.
Ruby pouted, her silver eyes shining as her wet hair dripped down her back. Suddenly, she smiled, and Sincline gulped. Dashing forward in a blur of rose petals, she wrapped her arms around his torso and tackled Sincline to the sand. Slamming against it, Sincline breathed heavily for a long moment before looking up, his eyes meeting Ruby's as she looked down at him, her arms to either side of his head as water dripped off her wet hair. "I win."
"So... does that mean you get a prize?" Sincline asked.
She smiled and suddenly pressed her lips against his. Pulling back, she grinned. "Got it."
Smiling, Sincline lashed out with an arm, unbalancing Ruby and causing her to fall on top of him. "And the tables have turned!" he cheered... only to realize that Ruby was still on top of him. "Oh..." I did NOT think that through.
"At least it's comfortable," Ruby said, giving him a beautiful smile and pecking him on the lips before resting her head on his chest.
Shaking his head, Sincline could only smile as he wrapped an arm around her waist and stared up at sky. Waves crashed against his feet, and he felt a small smile crawl across his lips as he felt Ruby's heartbeat against his own.
"Seriously?" Yang called, and the two looked up at where the three girls had reemerged from the woods, large pieces of wood in Yang's hands while Blake and Weiss carried smaller logs and branches. "Not even five minutes, and you're already having fun~?"
"Yaaang!" Ruby complained, blushing as she and Sincline shot to their feet, both glancing away from each other.
"Stop teasing them and help us set up," Weiss ordered, elbowing Yang in the side.
"Fine," she huffed and set down the logs, only for Blake to shake her head.
"You don't do it like that. Here." Walking over, she and Weiss began setting up the fire properly as Sincline and Ruby walked over.
Eventually, Weiss and Blake stepped back, satisfied, and revealed a two-foot-tall campfire with logs around it.
"Nice," Ruby said with a grin, then tilted her head. "Wait, how are we gonna start—"
Weiss stepped forward, pulling out a vial of red Dust. "Fire Dust mined directly from SDC quarries," she said with a smile. "Never leave home without it." Spreading some over the center of the fire, she stepped back. "Now all we need is for someone to light it. Ruby?"
Ruby huffed, looking away. "Not funny."
"What's wrong?" Sincline asked.
"When Weiss and Ruby first met, Rubes accidently sneezed a crater in the courtyard," Yang explained, causing Sincline's jaw to drop.
"You're kidding."
"I wish," Ruby muttered, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment as she glanced away, taking her cloak and clasping it around herself.
"That doesn't solve the fact that—" Blake started but was cut off as Accalia walked up. Black fire raced across her paw, and with a small explosion, the fire ignited.
"Well... that's one way to do it," Yang commented, blinking at Accalia as the fox let out a purr of victory.
Shaking his head at Accalia's antics, Sincline helped the girls set up their towels around the campfire, each facing toward the ocean.
"At least we have five this time," Blake commented, lying down on her towel as Yang did the same, Weiss reclining in her chair as Ruby set her towel next to Sincline and rested against him, her head on his shoulder as Accalia curled up beside the fire.
"Hey. Sincline, you know how you wanted to see a sunset, right?" Yang asked, getting the young Huntsman's attention. Sincline nodded, and she gestured toward the ocean. "Well, there you go."
Tilting his head, Sincline looked toward the ocean and gasped, eyes widening as Weiss, Blake, and Ruby followed his gaze. "Whoa," he breathed, staring in awe at the beautiful sunset before them, orange and red clouds gleaming beautifully above the waves.
"That's amazing," Ruby said in awe, and Sincline glanced at her. Honestly, he couldn't believe how beautiful she looked in the sunset, the light casting a warm glow on her features as her silver eyes shone.
Catching his gaze, Ruby smiled and leaned toward him, giving him a quick, tender kiss before resting her head on his shoulder.
Smiling, Sincline glanced around at the girls around him. His friends. His team. And smiled. Even though we still have Salem to deal with and the White Fang, he thought, resting his head on Ruby's and gently caressing her hand in his. There's no place I'd rather be.
Timeskip
Ruby stood in the middle of a dark void, an endless expanse of darkness that loomed above her in all directions. She tried to call out, but as soon as the first word left her lips, her vision flipped, and she was staring at a battlefield.
Everything was a blur. While she could recognize several people down below, Yang and Weiss among them, the others were strangers to her. Beings with white wings and golden circlets above their heads, men and women with leathery wings similar to bats, and several more with pitch black wings just like crows. Among them were several others, but she couldn't make them out, nor the enemy they were fighting.
Turning her gaze to the center of the field, she saw a young man with golden hair and what looked like a stone book in one hand launching swords and spears from a series of golden portals behind him. At his side fought two armored figures. One had red draconic armor, and the other had white armor, a pair of glowing blue wings extending from his back.
Even though it was a dream, she could still feel the raw power radiating from the three of them. However, their power paled in comparison to the three beings that loomed above. One was a massive woman taller than Beacon tower, a pair of long curved horns extending from the sides of her head as she ripped a large, wraith-like spacecraft in half.
Above her flew a massive red dragon larger than anything she had ever seen. With two sets of massive wings and a golden horn, the dragon let loose a red burst of energy that hit the ground with the force of a nuclear bomb. And floating beside him was, to Ruby's surprise, a young girl dressed in a Gothic Lolita outfit, her hands spread as she launched streams of energy resembling snakes toward the battling armies below.
However, the one thing that truly got her attention... was Sincline, the mech-turned human standing in the center of the battle, a strange circle empty around him as he stood in the middle of the field, his head bowed. Except... it wasn't him. A dark aura of purple energy roiled around him, and the bloodlust leaking off his body caused Ruby to choke, clutching her throat.
The ground beneath Sincline's feet shattered, and his armor slowly turned as dark as a black hole, a shimmering aura of purple fire outlining his frame. Ever so slowly, Sincline lifted his head, and Ruby's eyes widened at the raw fury, hatred, and anguish that radiated from the slits in his visor. He spoke, and the dream shattered, tearing apart with a horrible scream.
Eyes flying open, Ruby shot up, clutching her chest as she gasped for air. Slowly calming down, she glanced around at her sleeping teammates situated around the campfire (they had used the same sleeping bags from before and Accalia had remained curled around the fire) and found the embers of the fire slowly dying down. Shivering, she glanced down at the sleeping form of her boyfriend beside her and flinched, remembering the words he had spoken in her dream. She could only remember four, but she never wanted to hear them again.
Sincline shifted, his body shivering ever so slightly, and the movement snapped her out of her thoughts. A small smile crossing her lips, Ruby gently resumed her place beside him, tugging her cape around them. Closing her eyes, she tried to fall asleep, but she couldn't shake the four words that echoed through her mind. Those four words...
"̵̻̋I̵͉̽,̶̍ͅ ̸̯̊ẅ̵̮h̵̪͐o̵̬̐ ̷̟͊s̷̲̿h̵̟͝ȃ̸͙ḻ̶͝l̵͎͋ ̶̲̌ä̴̹ŵ̸͕ā̶̼k̶̘̕ę̵̿ǹ̵͕...̶̱̀"