The first time it's awkward. Painfully so.

Sun and Neptune do everything they can to keep any semblance of a conversation going, but that still leaves three people to perpetuate the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Scarlet makes a valiant attempt to rally, but the story about his disastrous first sparring match at Haven earns him little more than courtesy laughs. He crosses his arms, falling back into silence as he nurses his pride with narrowed eyes and a grumbled, "it's not my fault all you sods have already heard my jokes."

Sage joins in only when he feels he needs to reign in Sun's exuberance, or to correct a statement of Neptune's. ("So we swing onto this boat, right?" "Neptune had to be dragged onto and physically restrained on said boat.") His voice is low and rumbles out of his chest like thunder.

Blake, for her part, sits perfectly still. She's wildly out of place, clearly, but doesn't know quite what to do about it. The boys argue and fight and razz each other like any team would, and Blake watches it all with a carefully composed expression.

It's not like they're actively leaving her out. There's just not that many stories to tell that don't require hearing another story that would require hearing another…

It's like she's trying to read the last book in a series first.

Sun keeps shooting her looks out of the corner his eye, clearly trying to gauge if she's having a good time or not. Each time, she tries to send him the most genuine smile she can muster—it never amounts to more than an uneasy tilt of her lips.

She's in unfamiliar territory. She shouldn't have agreed to this little outing at all, but the combined efforts of Ruby's insistence ("He seems really nice, Blake! Oh—and ask him about his gunchucks! They're so cool!") Weiss' scheming ("You have to go. You can get valuable information on our potential opponents for the tournament.") And Yang's bluntness ("I mean, if you can say no to abs like that, more power to you.") All eventually led her to the seat she now occupies.

"Anyway, Miss Belladonna," Neptune flashes her a winning smile from across the table that Blake answers with a raised eyebrow. "What about you? Any crazy stories from that Team RWBY of yours?"

"Oh, well," Blake hesitates, tasting her words. Neptune's eyes shine and a smirk plays at his lips, and she knows he's asking about their highway fight with Roman Torchwick and his mech. But owning up to that would mean owning up to the fact she and Sun had attended a White Fang rally, which would mean owning up to her status as a Faunus.

She glances around the table. Team SSSN is nice. They're friendly and open and honest.

She, however, is not.

"Things have been pretty quiet since the Grimm invasion," she explains softly, staring down at the table. "But we stay busy."

If Neptune is disappointed by her indifferent answer, he hides it well.

"Speaking of the Grimm invasion," the blue-haired boy drawls, reaching into his jacket to pull out a gleaming badge. "Have Sun and I told you we are officially junior detectives?"

"Only a few thousand times," Sage mutters, rolling his eyes.

"You're just jealous," Neptune insists, stuffing the badge back out of sight with a self-assured smirk. "Right Sun?"

But the team leader has eyes only for Blake, who is resolutely ignoring his gaze. She doesn't know what to do or what to say. She doesn't dislike any of the boys—in fact she finds she's rather fond of their brotherly antics.

She tilts her head, regarding Sun at an angle.

He didn't have to do all he did. From going with her to the White Fang rally, to saving her life against Torchwick, to even getting his own teammate involved in her troubles. She can't imagine doing the same for someone else.

She owes him that, if nothing else.

"I, um," she begins hesitantly, and immediately all eyes are on her. "I could tell you about how we all found each other. Team RWBY, that is. I'm not sure how Haven splits up its teams, but Beacon's was rather…eventful."

"Oh, I'm here for this," Scarlet leans forward. "Were there weird relics involved? Please tell me there were weird relics."

She cocks her head. "Um, yes, actually. There were definitely relics involved."

"Called it!" he announces, slapping his palm against the table. He shakes his head with a snort of amusement. "Beacon is so weird."

"Go on," Neptune encourages her. "I wanna hear this."

And so she tells them: slow and soft at first, but eventually she grows stronger and steadier. With every laugh, scoff, or comment from the boys, she grows more confident, and soon it's like she's recounting the story with one of her own teammates.

When she finishes—smirking at their dropped jaws as she narrates Ruby's vertical sprint that ends in the decapitation of a Nevermore—she feels warmer than she has all afternoon.

And when Sun, with forced nonchalance, asks if she'd be interested in hanging out again, she says yes without any prodding.

Yang teases her senseless about it when she returns to the dorm that night, but Blake can't even find it in herself to be bothered.

-0-

The second time, they have an actual destination.

Sun seems to realize aimless conversation is not the best activity, and proposes they set out to Forever Fall.

"There's a train that runs through that area, I think," Sage says after Sun has explained his plans. The tall boy rubs his jaw thoughtfully. "It usually carries cargo, but I'm sure there's at least one or two cars available to the public."

"Well then let's find one and get on it," Scarlet insists. "I'm not about to share a seat with some lousy cargo."

"I'm not too sure where the train station is," Sun mutters, glancing around crowded streets of Vale. He flashes a grin at Blake. "But I bet our local knows."

Blake does in fact know where the train station is. But it has nothing to do with her status as a local and everything to do with her status as an ex-White Fang member. She thinks of the last train ride she took through Forever Fall and her stomach lurches.

"O—Or, we could walk," she offers up quickly, trying not to sound as desperate as she feels. "It is a nice day."

Scarlet opens his mouth, doubtlessly to protest, but snaps it shut upon receiving a sharp elbow to the ribs from Neptune.

"As the lady wishes," the trident-wielder declares, offering her a wink. He points to the east. "Onward!"

Sun claps a hand on his shoulder. "Forever Fall is northward, buddy," he explains. "But full points for enthusiasm."

And so they head out.

It has to be one of the strangest groups Blake's ever been apart of. She walks in step with Sage as the remaining three dart ahead pushing and shoving and drawing looks from passing citizens of Vale.

Blake's stomach turns as they continue, their destination looming in her mind, but Sage's steady stride and easy pace calms her nerves.

All too soon, they've arrived. The scarlet leaves reflect in her golden eyes, making them shine like amber as she looks around.

"Have you ever been here before, Blake?" Sage asks, lifting a questioning eyebrow.

She shifts, suddenly uncomfortable with the attention.

"Yes," she answers softly. "Beacon had a class trip here once. We had to collect sap and destroy any Grimm we encountered."

He nods while Scarlet scoffs. "Sap gathering and monster slaying?" he shakes his head. "Beacon is weird."

"It was a little strange," she allows. "But, it wasn't all that hard."

"At least you got to get out of those stuffy lecture halls," Sun says. He tucks his hands behind his head, surveying the area. "This place is awesome."

The others agree, and Blake forces herself to do the same. But it's so hard to be here. She remembers how she had struggled to composure herself on the class trip, finding solace only in the fact that she'd have her team with her, watching her back.

But these boys aren't her team. She watches, bemused, as Neptune mutters some comment to Sun, too low and too quick for her to catch in her preoccupied state, and takes off with a whoop as the golden-haired boy goes sprinting after him. Neptune's laughter bounces off the trees as they disappear into the forest.

"They're idiots," Scarlet observes, startling Blake back to the present. "But, you know, they're our idiots, so I guess they're tolerable."

"Careful, Scar," Sage cautions from Blake's other side. "Tolerable is a category you only fit into on occasion."

Scarlet gives a shrill cry of protest that scatters a flock of birds. Blake turns to smile at the pair when a flash of something snags her peripheral vision.

She whips her head around so fast the joints in her neck pop like gunshots.

"Blake?" Sage asks, his low and steady voice right beside her, all traces of teasing gone. "What is it?"

"I thought…" she murmurs, squinting into the mass of garnet foliage. "I thought I saw…"

Another flicker. A dark form that teeters between physical and phantom.

A White Fang mask blossoms in her mind's eye and her breath leaves her with a sharp gasp.

Alarmed, both boys look to her.

"Blake, what's going on? What'd you see?" Scarlet presses, one hand on the curve of pistol. Neptune and Sun are still racing around the woods, and Sage glances over his shoulder like he's got half a mind to call them over.

Would he do it? Would he come back? Blake's mind is at a dead sprint, her heart hammering painfully in her chest. Their raid in Forever Fall—their last raid together—had been so long ago.

Did this place haunt him the way it haunted her? The way he haunted her?

She spies what she swears is the swirling end of a black cloak and is gone. Ignoring the shouts of Team SSSN behind her, Blake darts off into the trees. She knows what she saw. Knows who she saw.

She leaps over fallen trunks and ducks low-hanging branches, wishing madly for Ruby's Semblance as she hurls herself through the crimson forest. Eventually, she bursts into a clearing. Even the grass is blood-red and Blake sweeps the area. Another flash—or perhaps a trick of the shadows?—has Blake ripping her weapon off its magnetic carrier with a growl.

"Adam!" Blake shouts. Gamble Shroud throws off a malevolent dark glint in the dying sunlight as she clutches it tightly. "Adam!"

"Blake!"

She whirls around at the noise—eyes overbright and wild—Gambol Shroud poised at a deadly angle, when she realizes her target is Scarlet.

"Easy there, love," he tells her, looking cross-eyed at the sword at his throat. "I know we make lots of jokes about killing me, but I think in practice it would be less funny and more messy."

She pulls away, shame burning in her cheeks as Sage steps up beside his teammate.

"What's wrong?" he asks, his yellow eyes searching the clearing for danger. Blake notices with a jolt he's got his weapon—the biggest broadsword she's ever seen—drawn and ready.

Sun runs up then, and Blake watches as his eyes rake her profile, doubtlessly searching for any gaping wounds. Upon finding her unharmed, he sags with relief.

"Are you okay?" he asks. His staff hangs at his side, and his eyes shine with genuine concern. "Look, I'll always back you up in a fight, but you gotta give me a little heads up, okay?"

Humiliation washes over Blake. Talk about the boy who cried wolf. Try the Faunus who cried White Fang.

"I'm so sorry." Her words burn with regret as she stares at the ground. "I—I thought I saw someone—something." She looks up at them. "But I think it was just a trick of the light."

Sun opens his mouth to reply, when sharp wheeze interrupts him.

"Why," Neptune begins with a gulp of air as he finally enters the clearing, "are we all running?"

"Blake thought she saw something," Sage explains, turning to look at the dark-haired girl. "But luckily it was a false alarm."

Neptune pulls a face, annoyed. "Oh, so you were gonna skip off and slay all the Grimm on your own, huh?" he demands. He rolls his eyes, grabbing her wrist to pull her close and stage-whisper. "I thought we agreed we were ditching these losers together."

Sun gives his partner a hearty shove, and Neptune stumbles away, chuckling.

"Come on," Sun calls. "We should be heading back."

He turns to set out in the direction they came from, but Blake touches his shoulder. Immediately, he turns his gaze to hers, eyebrows raised.

"We could, um, take the train," she offers quietly. "I'd kind of like to get out of here."

Sun nods his acquiescence, and changes his direction without a single question.

"So, who's this bloke then?" Scarlet asks as they set off. "This Adam guy?"

Blake looks away, biting her lip. Neptune tries to throw another elbow, but Scarlet neatly dodges it.

"What?" he demands, sheathing his cutlass with an indignant frown. "If I'm gonna be killing somebody, I'd like to know why!"

This catches Blake's attention. "Killing…?" she asks, arching an eyebrow.

Scarlet shrugs. "Well, sure. I mean, a guy upsets you so much you're willing to tear through half of Forever Fall just to slice him to bits?" He nods to Gamble Shroud. "He can't be worth any good, can he?"

"We aren't killing anyone," Sage says, and Blake flinches at the shriek his sword makes as he slides it back into its scabbard. "Maiming, however, is still on the table."

"Ignore them," Sun tells her, falling in step beside her. He flashes her a good-natured smile, but she can see it's strained. She'd honestly worried him.

This time, as they walk through the forest, it's she who proposes they meet up again. She doesn't realize her request is fueled by the desire to see Sun grin again until his face splits in the widest smile she's ever seen, before he hastily tries to stuff it behind a mask of casual indifference.

"Uh, yeah," he coughs. "That'd be, uh, cool."

Behind them, Neptune rolls his eyes. "I thought we raised him better than this," he complains to Sage.

-0-

The third time, she's in charge.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Neptune asks. "Because I kinda like my head attached to my shoulders, and if Yang finds out—"

"She and Ruby went with Weiss to the CCT," she explains. "They won't be back at Beacon for at least an hour. We have plenty of time."

"What exactly are we looking for, Blake?" Sun asks. "I mean, this place is deserted."

"Not to mention creepy," Scarlet mutters, prodding experimentally at a large crate with his pistol.

"You guys don't have to come down with me," she reminds them. She pulls Gambol Shroud off her back and triggers it into pistol form. After giving her weapon a once-over, she jumps down from the overhang they're standing on to land softly on the ground below.

She's barely taken a step forward when she hears four distinct landings echo hers.

"What is this place?" Sage asks, looking around. He runs a large hand across a ragged gash that mars the wall of a warehouse.

"The Vale docks," Blake answers. She leans around a crane to peer down a corridor formed by two raised platforms.

"And why are we sneaking around it like criminals?" Scarlet asks warily.

Blake glances over her shoulder to look at Sun, who immediately understands.

"There was a White Fang attack here a few weeks ago," he explains. "Blake wanted to investigate. See if they left anything behind."

His statement draws puzzled looks from his teammates, and Blake realizes that since she dragged them all they way out here, she might as well elaborate.

"I'm well-acquainted with the White Fang," she explains flatly. "They never let anything go to waste. If they had a stronghold in the docks, they're not likely to just leave it to rot."

"Ah, so we're after a group of potentially dangerous but fundamentally misunderstood extremists," Scarlet nods his understanding, twirling his pistol around his finger. "Excellent."

Blake throws him a look over her shoulder. "That's…that's a pretty fair description, actually," she tells him.

Scarlet shrugs. "Well, when your team leader and best friend is a Faunus, you tend to see things from all angles."

"The world's not split between Faunus and human," Sage murmurs, his yellow eyes searching the docks for danger. "It's more complicated than that."

Intuition sparks in Blake's golden gaze, and she stops walking, turning back to the boys.

"You know, don't you?" Blake murmurs. The entire team looks at her, but she stares down Sage. "You know what I am."

He shrugs, untroubled. "There were signs," he replies. "Sun's fixation on you, for example. Your alertness, the way you carry yourself…" he trails off, lips twisting into a smirk. "The way your ears go flat whenever Scarlet speaks."

"What?" Scarlet squawks in protests, jerking up to his full height. "I'm not that annoying!" He glares at Sage, who is chuckling to himself, before appealing to Blake. "I'm not that annoying, am I?"

Even Blake manages a small giggle. "You aren't," she assures him.

"Ha!" Scarlet settles back, flinging Sage a smug look. "Blake doesn't think I'm annoying."

"Blake has only had to endure the pleasure of your company for two days, Scar," Neptune drawls, cocking a brow at the fuming swordsman. He tosses a sly grin at Blake. "Give it time. Daydreaming about strangling Scarlet is basically Team SSSN's rite of passage."

Blake crosses her arms, assessing the cocky boy with an arched brow. "And what about you, Neptune?" she asks, though she's fairly certain she already knows the answer. "Did you know what I was?"

Neptune's cool composure freezes instantly, and he shoots a frantic glance at Sun, who looks equally caught off-guard.

"Uh, well, it's like Sage said," Neptune manages, still looking for cues from Sun. "You know. Your alertness and whatever." He chuckles weakly.

"Of course," Blake says, smirking slightly to herself. "How long after I told Sun did he tell you?"

"A full twenty-four hours!" Sun defends himself quickly. "Which, you should know, is basically a record."

"He gets excited and rambles," Neptune shrugs. "Tragic, really."

"Hey! Half the time you're begging me for details!" Sun argues, scowling at his partner.

The two dissolve into heated argument, and Blake turns to Scarlet.

"And I'm assuming that means you knew as well, hm?" Blake asks. To her surprise, the redhead shrugs.

"I had no idea," he says honestly. "Can't say I really care. Well, not that I don't care, I mean, I think it's wicked cool. But it's just bows and ears," he shrugs again. "What's all the fuss?"

Sun rolls his eyes. "The fuss is that Faunus are treated—"

"Although," Scarlet leans forward, a gleam in his eyes. "I've gotta ask: what's it like having four ears?"

"Oh my god." Neptune buries his face in his hands.

"I'm serious!" Scarlet protests, treating Neptune to a frown. "I mean, that's crazy! Two sets of ears?" He turns back to Blake. "You must have like, phenomenal hearing, right?"

"Um, well," Blake laughs a little breathlessly, embarrassed at the attention but pleased at Scarlet's straightforward demeanor. "I've never really been asked that, actually."

"Please do not honor that with an actual answer," Neptune mutters through his fingers. "If we have to start listening to Scarlet talk about science I will leave this place so fast—"

"Science is interesting!" Scarlet cuts him off.

"Not when you're the one talking about it!" Neptune argues. "How many examples do you need, Scarlet? Has a person ever been born without a body? Do babies float? What if your legs didn't know—?"

"Enough!" Scarlet interjects hotly, the tips of his ears as red as his namesake. "Are we going to look for the White Fang or what?"

They fan out, searching the docks for anything worthwhile, though Blake notes Sun's route closely follows her own. Scarlet comes up with a flyer for a White Fang rally, and Sage collects a handful of masks. It's Sun's discovery, however, that catches Blake's attention.

"Hey, I thought you said Ruby wasn't around." The golden-haired boy points to the rose insignia that seems to have been burned on a wall inside a large cargo crate. "Roses are kind of her thing, right?"

Fear—ice-cold and arresting—lances through Blake, but she pushes herself forward to inspect the design.

"Scatter and Wilt," she murmurs, reaching out to trace the edge of the rose's stem. "He knew I'd come back."

"Who?" Sun demands.

"The only person the White Fang would still listen too," she murmurs. She curses her shortsightedness—she should have seen this coming. It was only a matter of time before the White Fang grew weary of their human leader and brought one of their own back into power.

The only people fit for the job would have been herself or…

"We need to leave," she says urgently, turning around to stride out of the crate.

"Blake, what's significant about the rose?" Sage asks. "What does it symbolize?"

She throws another look over her shoulder. It's dark in the docks, and the rose is hidden in shadow, but her golden eyes pick it out perfectly.

"Trouble," she answers simply.

-0-

The fourth time is something of a dare.

Team JNPR had returned from a walk around the festival grounds—or rather, what would be the festival grounds. ("It ain't ready yet, ya nosy kids! Don't you have studying to do, or Grimm to slay?") The Beacon team had been delighted at their findings.

"A pool!" Nora exclaims, throwing her hands in the air, a popsicle grin splitting her face. "Guys, there's a pool!"

"Open to the entire public?" Weiss verifies, lifting a brow. She looks back to polishing Myrtenaster. "Pass."

"We were wondering if you'd like to join us," Pyrrha offers politely.

"I'm not really a pool person," Blake explains, turning the page in her novel. She offers the crimson-haired girl an apologetic shrug. "Sorry."

"It's probably for the best," Ren notes, crossing his arms. "I saw Team SSSN making their way towards it as we were leaving. I don't think sharing it with them would be a good idea."

"They can get a little wild," Pyrrha agrees. "Besides, some of us have more studying to do." She casts a pointed look at Jaune, who flushes and stammers out an excuse.

Yang, however, seems delighted at the news of the Haven team.

"Wow," she drawls, rolling over on her lofted bed to assess the room below her with an impish spark in her eye. "Team SSSN unsupervised at a pool? Sounds kinda dangerous."

Blake'a gaze flashes to her partner's, a frown settling over her features, but Yang continues with a Cheshire grin. "One of us might want to go keep an eye on them, you know? Make sure they don't drown or something."

Blake rolls her eyes, but Ruby looks genuinely concerned. "Do you really think so?" she asks. "I mean, I know they're kind of a mess but—"

"I think," Yang declares. "It would be criminal of us to sit by as our fellow team puts themselves in danger."

"Am I missing something?" Jaune mutters, looking between Yang and Blake. "Are there like, Grimm fish in the pool or something?"

"Fine!" Blake says forcefully, closing her book with a resounding snap that startles everyone but Yang, who beams at her partner. "I'll go make sure Team SSSN doesn't drown."

And so she does, half to escape that smug look of Yang's and half because, well, she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss the boys.

But Ruby is absolutely right. Mess doesn't even begin to cover them.

She finds them at the edge of a large competition pool, following Nora's directions. She guesses it must be for training purposes for those with water-based powers, or maybe just a place for attendees to relax.

Sun spies her first, and greets her warmly. Sage nods his hello and Scarlet tries to catch her in a one-armed hug that she neatly dodges.

Neptune, however, stands perfectly still, arms fixed rigidly at his side.

She frowns, peering at the trident-wielder. "Neptune?" she asks. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course!" he answers in a shrill voice she usually associates with a startled Scarlet. "Just peachy!"

She frowns hard at him, noting the way he holds himself, purposefully angling away from the pool.

Previous aquatic-themed jokes the boys have made seem to fall into place and she quirks an eyebrow.

"Neptune Vasilias." Blake levels her golden stare at him. "Are you afraid of water?"

The noise he gives in response if half a scoff and half a small scream.

"What?" he protests, a few octaves higher than usual. "Water? Pfft. Get over yourself, Blake. I'm named for the god of the sea. I mean, could you imagine how stupid it would be if—?"

"He's horrified," Sun reports, crossing his arms as he takes a stand beside Blake.

"I am not!" Neptune protests. His expression sours. "And even if I, like, was. Which I'm not. I doubt you'd do much better." He jerks his chin at the bow that rests neatly atop her head, and Blake glares.

Sun frowns at Neptune's statement, but Scarlet's eyes light up. "That's right!" he cries. "I forgot all about that!" A sudden look of keen scientific interest overtakes his features. "Can cats swim?"

Sun huffs with annoyance. "Scarlet, she's not an actual cat—"

Too late. Blake feels the shadow of his hands fall across her back, but before she can act, or even think about triggering her Semblance, he's sent her flying forward with a shove.

Blake cries out with surprise as her arms windmill uselessly in the air before she makes her inevitable splash into the water. Even submerged, she can hear Sun's angry shouts and Scarlet's peals of laughter.

With a sturdy kick against the bottom, Blake resurfaces, drawing in a deep breath as she blinks the water from her eyes.

Sun immediately holds his hand out for her, apologizing over and over again, but Blake shakes her head.

"Scarlet needs to prove he's a gentlemen," she insists, offering a pale hand instead to the redhead.

Sun backs off, stunned and more than a little offended while Scarlet grins, grasping her hand and preparing to haul her out of the water. Mischief sparks in Blake's eyes.

Bracing her foot against the wall of the pool, she seizes Scarlet's hand with both of hers and uses his own weight to tug him forward and send him toppling over her and into the pool with a string of shrill, unintelligible curses.

With a self-satisfied smirk, she pulls herself out of the pool. "I learned that one from Yang," she tells them smartly as Scarlet comes back up, sputtering.

Her good mood is ruined, however, when a rush of wind chills her wet clothes, and she hugs her arms, gritting her teeth against the sudden bite of cold.

Sun's hands hover awkwardly over her shoulders, wanting to help but unsure how. She lifts her head to assure him it's fine, when a heavy coat is suddenly draped across her shoulders. She looks up in surprise to see a shirtless Sage pulling his sword off his back.

"It's war now, Scar," the large boy announces, as Scarlet peels off his sopping wet jacket and throws it back on the pool deck.

"Bring it on!" the swordsman crows, grinning.

Sage glances sideways at Sun, who has already shed his shirt. "Don't actually drown him, Sun," Sage reminds the leader as he pulls off the armor on his left arm. "I know it's tempting."

Sun drops his staff on top of his rumpled shirt, cracking his knuckles. "I'll see what I can do," he replies, before the two dive in.

Blake watches as a sort of water war unfolds between the three teammates. As far as she can tell, it involves a competition to see who can hold the other under the water the longest. She's not sure who's winning, but she's positive that Scarlet is losing.

"Well, here it is," Neptune shakes his head as he moves to stand beside Blake. "Team SSSN in all its glory."

Blake shrugs. "To be fair, they are shirtless. Most would argue this is their glory."

Neptune chuckles, shaking his head. "I swear, Sun signs more posters of his abs than his actual face." He glances down at her. "He really likes you, you know."

She looks away, her cheeks coloring at his statement. "I gathered as much," she replies stiffly.

"So do the rest of us, for that matter," he adds. He tips her a wink. "Not that you care about that."

She chuckles, shaking her head. They watch as Sage hefts a squirming, shrieking Scarlet above his head and slams him down into the water. The resulting splash sends Neptune skittering backwards.

"Neptune…are you really afraid of water?" Blake looks at him curiously.

He visibly stiffens, a wince cracking his composure. "Er, yes," he admits, his hand springing up to cup the back of his neck. "Uh, don't tell anyone. Please."

She shrugs. "I wasn't planning on it," she tells him honestly. "But it's really nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone's afraid of something. Honestly, you made out pretty well with water."

He frowns. "How do you figure?"

Blake draws Sage's coat tighter around her as she mulls it over. "Well, water is water," she explains simply. "It's never disguised as anything else. It's avoidable, for the most part, and as long as you know where the nearby lakes are, you're never in danger of it sneaking up on you."

Neptune tilts his head to the side, assessing her carefully. "Blake, what are you afraid of?"

She bites her lip. She walked right into that one.

"I'm afraid…" she wets her lips, hesitating. "I'm afraid of being wrong."

Neptune frowns at her. "What do you mean?"

She huffs a sigh, looking up towards the sky. "I'm afraid of doing the wrong thing with right intentions," she explains. "I'm afraid of mistaking the enemy for an ally, or being tricked into fighting for something I don't believe in. I'm afraid of hurting someone, and not realizing until it's too late." She draws a shaky breath. "I'm afraid my mistakes will affect others."

Silence settles between them, broken only by the splashing of the pool.

"Gray area," he finally murmurs. "You're afraid of gray area."

She burrows deeper into Sage's coat, wishing the material would just swallow her up. "I guess," she offers quietly.

"Hey," he bumps his shoulder against hers, smiling good-naturedly. "It's no big deal. Like you said, everyone's afraid of something." He shrugs. "For what it's worth, the fact the you're willing to talk about it, to name your fear out loud, is pretty impressive."

She opens her mouth with no idea what she's going to say—does she thank him? Shut him down? Just stare?—when they're suddenly approached by a dripping wet Sun Wukong.

Blake swallows hard, forcing herself to meet his eyes and nothing lower.

He grins at them, and Neptune immediately slinks a few inches away, frowning.

"Dude, get a towel or something," the blue-haired boy complains, eyeing the puddle gathering at his friend's feet with distaste.

"Here," Blake says, shrugging out of Sage's coat to offer it to Sun.

"Nah, it's okay, I'll just—" he breaks off suddenly, like he's just now seeing her standing there in the coat, and something flashes in his storm-grey eyes.

"Actually," he murmurs, a cut to his voice that hadn't been there before. Blake arches an eyebrow as he accepts the coat, slinging it over his shoulder. He bends down to pick his jacket off the ground and hands it to her. "We'll trade."

Amused, Blake takes the jacket with a small smile, slipping into it. Sun watches as she does so, nodding his approval.

"Sun, get your dirty hands off my coat." The low order comes from Sage, who scowls over his shoulder as he watches the clothing swap.

"Yeah, and stop imagining Blake in nothing but your ratty old jacket," Scarlet calls, drawing blushes from both Blake and Sun, who rounds on his partner.

"Got something to say, chilli pepper?" he demands angrily.

"Come at me, ramen head!" Scarlet shouts back, grinning.

Grumbling to himself, Sun thrusts Sage's coat at Neptune, who yelps at the soaked piece of clothing before diving cleanly back into the water.

Blake watches their antics with a smile, pulling Sun's jacket tighter and feeling the warmth of it all the way to the tips of her ears.

-0-

The fifth time, she's nervous.

Well, she's not really nervous. She knows how skilled they are. But their lack of concern is making her very very concerned.

"NDGO is one of Shade's highest-ranking teams," she says again. She's wondering if she's wasting her breath. The boys were more concerned by her false alarm back in Forever Fall than they are by a very real battle they're about to walk into. "They'll knock you out of the tournament if you aren't careful."

"Blake, when have you ever known us to not be careful?" Scarlet drawls, smirking when she frowns at him.

"Don't worry," Sage assures her, and she allows herself to be soothed by his steady voice. "We're perfectly well-prepared."

"Besides," Sun adds, winking at her. "We've got the best cheering section in the whole stadium!"

Blake nods, amusement playing at her lips. "Those signs were pretty great," she agrees. "Yours was my favorite, Sun."

He pulls a face as Blake smiles to herself. "I meant you and the rest of RWBY," he explains. He flashes a grin, recovering his good humor. "Unless you're thinking about turning traitor."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she replies.

The warning whistle blows, and Blake takes a step back.

"Well, good luck," she calls, offering a small wave. "We'll be watching."

"Tell my snow angel to keep an eye on me," Neptune requests with a grin.

Blake arches an eyebrow. "Only if you keep an eye on her," she answers with a smirk.

He colors at this, and Blake smiles to let him know she's only joking. (Well, kind of. She's really protecting him more than she is Weiss because in the event of a broken heart, she doesn't like the trident-wielder's odds. Hell hath no fury like a wronged Schnee.)

"Be careful," she adds, so quietly she doesn't think they hear her. But Sun looks back, flashing her a smile.

"See ya soon," he tells her, and he follows his team into the arena.

Well this got out of hand rather quickly.

Also full points to me for cranking this out in like a day. I never finish anything that quickly. Ever.

So the misadventures of Team SSSN and Blake, as it were. This mostly came to mind after Blake was the one who knew Neptune was afraid of water, and it expressed it in a way that suggested she'd witnessed his phobia first hand. Which meant she might have spent some time with the the boys separate from RWBY.

I don't know. Maybe it's a stretch. I just really like Team SSSN.