#ttsl

Ruby looked nervously around RNGR’s current camp site, her silver eyes bouncing back and forth faster than a tennis ball on court. Jaune had been gone for longer than an hour and needless to say that any time Jaune was out of her sight she tended to fret hard over him. He had... well, Ruby wouldn’t say that Jaune had fully gotten over his funk, but he had certainly made progress since the beginning of their year long trek. He wasn’t training himself into the ground any more and he had lightened up considerably on himself, though he still had a tendency of sulking and being hard on himself. Still progress was progress, and Ruby was beyond ecstatic to see her cru- best friend and fellow leader not being as hard on himself as he used too, she even saw him smile more!(which no, she did NOT blush like a school girl when he did Nora, STOP BRINGING THAT UP)

    Still, Ruby could not help but fret and worry over him and he still had a bad habit of wandering off by himself. Dread filled her for a moment, but she relaxed upon seeing Ren and Nora step out of the tree line with tinder and fresh water in their flasks. Before either of them knew it, Ruby was standing before them after a quick petal burst causing Nora to cry out in shock while Ren, having long since used to Ruby suddenly appearing before him, kept his cool as he smiled in greeting.

Ren: “How can we help you Ru-”

    Ren hadn’t even finished his question, before Ruby all but blurted out:

Ruby: “Have you guys seen Jaune recently?!”

    Nora, who had managed to calm herself down from her sudden scare, put her hand on her chin as she considered Ruby’s question.

Nora: “Mmmmmmh, Nope! Can’t say that we’ve seen fearless leader recently Ruby.”

Ren: “Last I recall, he mentioned something about hunting down some food for us before we went about gathering for our camp tonight.”

Ruby: “What! That was more than an hour ago!”

    At hearing the news, Ruby bit her lower lip in frustration as she pondered over what was taking Jaune so long. He said he’d be back in and hour, but what if he was in trouble? What if he had relapsed and was secretly training himself to death again? What if Grimm had ambushed him and he was fighting for his life and oh gods he needed their help-

    Ruby felt a sense of calm wash over her, before noting that Ren had put a calming hand on her shoulder and was surrounded by a shroud of light green.

Ren: “Sorry Ruby, but you looked like you were overthinking the situation and coming to a worst case scenario. I’m sure that Jaune is fine.”

    ...Right. Ren was right, Ruby was just overthinking this. She felt a little better after being reassured by Ren, but she still felt a little concerned over his whereabouts. Noting her expression, Nora piped up with a bright smile on her face.

Nora: “Well, if you’re still worried over him, why don’t you use your “Special Call” Ruby? That will bring him back home instantly!”

    Nora’s suggestion got two differing reactions: one was of blank bemusement from Ren, while the other was of shocked horror from a now furiously blushing Ruby.

Ren: “...What’s this about a “Special Call?”

Ruby: “N-Nothing Ren! Don’t listen to Nora, she’s just-”

    Ruby tried stuttering out an interjection, only to be soundly ignored as Nora started answering Ren’s question.

Nora: “Well recently Ruby found out that she’s able to call Jaune back to us, not matter how far away he is! It’s actually really useful!”

    Ren quirked a brow, a doubtful expression on his face at Nora’s explanation.

Ren: “Really? From anywhere at anytime?”

Ruby: “Listen Ren, there’s n-not actually a c-call of any kind so can we-”

    Ruby, who was now redder than her cloak, tried interjecting once again only to be ignored yet again as Nora kept talking.

Nora: “Anywhere, Anytime, Any day! It’s honestly pretty dang useful if I do say so myself, would have been great to have known about a while ago, but eh what can you do?”

Ren: “Mmmmh, that does sound like it would have been useful earlier in our adventure when Jaune was at his worst. So, how does this “Special Call” work exactly?”

Nora: “Why, it’s really simply Renny! All Ruby does is-”

    Ruby, who may as well have been sunburnt from how red she was blushing, all but shouted as she managed to finally interupt Nora.

Ruby: “Nora, I told you that the call isn’t actually a thing!”

Nora: “What?! Ruby, it’s totally a thing! I watched it with my own eyes! All you have to do is-”

Ruby: “I’m telling you Nora, it’s not a thing and I’d like you to stop talking right now please!”

Nora: “But Ruby, all you have to do is-”

Ruby: “Nora I’m begging you to please drop this and never bring it up again!”

    A curious Ren found himself looking back and forth as an increasingly flustered Ruby kept cutting off Nora as she tried to finish her explanation. 

Ren: “...I’m at a bit of a loss right now. Is there actually a “Special Call” or is Nora just trying to play a joke at our expense right now?”

Nora: “I’m being serious Renny! I’ve bore witness to the “Special Call,” and all it is is when Ruby-”

Ruby: “FOR THE LAST TIME NORA, THERE IS NO SPECIAL CALL AND THAT SLAPPING MY THIGHS TWICE DOESN’T MAGICALLY SUMMON JAUNE BACK TO US!”

    Ruby all but exploded at Nora, before slapping her thighs twice in demonstration to show that there was no “Special Call.” It was unfortunate for Ruby that she would swiftly be proven wrong as not even five minutes later Jaune came walking out of the tree lines with the body of a Buck strewn across his shoulder, two rabbits in his left hand, and a very confused expression on his face.

Jaune: “...Did someone call for me? Sorry I was taking so long, I was trying to see if I could bag another animal when I suddenly felt the need to come back to camp. Is everything alright?”

    No, everything was in fact not alright as Ruby stood mortified at having been proven wrong in front of Ren and Nora. There was no way that Jaune could have just materialized here at this very moment, right?

Nora: “There you are fearless leader! We started getting worried about you!”

Ren: “Where were you at if you don’t mind us asking?”

Jaune: “Uh... I was about, maybe three or four miles west from our camp? I didn’t worry you guys did I?”

    ...Ruby wanted nothing more than to sink into the ground and become one with the Forrest at this moment, because she was fairly certain that she was never going to live this down. 

Nora: “See Renny? Anytime, Any Day, Anywhere, the “Special Call” is sure to bring Jaune-Jaune back guaranteed!”

    Nora’s commentary only added salt to the wound, and it was made worse when Ren covered his mouth as he tried to respectfully hide his smile from Ruby.

Ren: “It’s... certainly effective. While I hope that we won’t have to use it often, It’s nice to to know about in case of an emergency.”

Jaune: “...I’m really lost right now, what’s all this about a “Special Call?”

    Ruby buried her face into her hands, muttering profusely to herself.

Ruby: “...Why did I have to go and open my big mouth?”

________________________________________________________

We laughed. We cried. (TRUST ME, IT MADE SENSE—the music is PHENOMENAL.) Best “first rehearsal” I’ve had in a WHILE tbh 🥰

Graduation from grad school (on 12/17) and the end of college has felt like this looming black hole in my life, school being all I’d done with my independence after graduating high school and moving away.

But it's finally starting to give “Wild Blue Yonder.”

“Nothing,” sure. But—

“Nothing... at the edge of Creation.”