The Journey Goes On

Ren sent another cursory glance at the rest of his team as they trekked on. I definitely missed something, he thought. Everyone was acting weird today. Ruby was up at the front of the group, keeping a decent distance from everyone. Jaune was at the rear of the group, staring at Ruby intently, until he noticed anyone looking at him or she started to turn around or look back at them at all, then his eyes would look anywhere but at her and his face would go a little red. The two had been acting especially awkward with each other, not interacting at all it seemed unless they had to. They were both being quiet, and while the quiet was something Ren tended to relish, it was too quiet for them. Even Nora was being quiet! Well, not entirely. She was happily humming away but, aside from a few comments and observations here and there, she wasn't really talking either. Instead, she seemed surprisingly lost in her thoughts for a change. It really said something if he was the one itching for some conversation.

He cleared his throat, everyone's eyes shifted to him for a moment. "We're actually making pretty headway today. Maybe we'll even be able to make up some lost time." _There, that should make them excited. _No one said anything for a moment. There was an awkward silence and Ren found himself wondering once more what he missed that threw his friends so out of whack. Nora was the first one to speak up.

"Oooh, does that mean we can stop early today?"

"What? No!" Ren said, "If we keep going at this rate, we'll arrive at the next village in just another day or two, then we can rest at an inn and stock up on supplies."

"Didn't you say yesterday it was going to take a week to get to the next village?" Ruby asked, a hint of something Ren couldn't place in her voice. "Isn't that the whole reason I went out for water last night? Are you saying I didn't need to do that?"

"No, at the rate we've been going, it probably would have taken about a week, maybe a little less." Ren said. "We've covered a lot of ground today, thankfully, so we'll get there sooner. But that doesn't change the fact we needed the water. And I'm sure everyone appreciates what you did for us... Right?" He turned to the other two, prompting them to agree. They both followed suit fairly quick. Though, Ren couldn't help but notice how almost immediately Jaune and Ruby broke eye contact with each other. And then the conversation seemed to die again. Ren let out a slight sigh. "Maybe, depending on how soon we get there, we can have longer bath times or a day off or something." That seemed to breathe some life back into things. A day off could be good for us, Ren couldn't help but think.

Despite Ren's earlier protest, they did end up stopping and setting up camp early. Ruby found herself rather surprised that he didn't seem to have it in him today to put up the same amount of fight he normally did whenever they tried to stop early. She just chalked it up to them covering that much more distance than he expected to today. Now the village was only about a day-and-a-half's journey away, and they were going to get a day just to relax, too! She felt like she needed one, after these last couple of days, so at least she had that to look forward to. And, except for the morning mishap, today had been pretty peaceful, especially now that they were all relaxing by the campfire for the evening, doing their own things. Well, not everyone, actually. Ren was reading by the fire, and Nora fell asleep there, but Jaune, well, he wasn't there.

Things had been a little... awkward with Jaune all day. Of course, as the day went on things got a little less awkward as she tried to put the morning out of her mind, but it was still there. And it would probably be there until at least tomorrow, when she could wake up and pretend none of this had happened. He would probably agree with her, seeing as how he had been acting all day, looking away almost any time she looked at him. She was pretty sure he still felt bad about what happened, especially because it seemed like he had something he wanted to say to her. She was almost certain she caught him staring at her at least a couple times once they settled down around the campfire, but when she tried to talk to him about what was on his mind, he blurted something out about having to go pee and rushed off farther into the woods. That was about fifteen minutes ago. "He's been gone a while," Ruby found herself thinking aloud.

Ren looked up from his book at her. "He has," Ren nodded. And silence filled the air. "You guys have been a little quiet today."

Ruby hesitated for a moment. Part of her considered telling him what happened, but she decided she didn't really want more people to know what happened. Because if she talked about it and people knew about it, then pretending it didn't happen would be even harder. So instead, she shook her head and said "Not really." She saw him quirk an eyebrow. "Maybe a little. I guess I've just been tired today. You know, late night adventure and then getting up early this morning."

Ren nodded and looked back to his book. "Well, hopefully you'll sleep better tonight."

"Agreed," Ruby said, giving him a small smile. And then, almost as if on cue, Nora let out a snore. "Maybe I should try to be more like Nora." She laughed a little.

"Maybe," Ren said warmly. "Though, maybe not too much... Sometimes, I can't help but wonder why she does what she does."

Ruby tilted her head. "Why's that?"

He seemed to think on whether he should tell her for a moment, looking at Nora's sleeping form and shaking his head, a light smile on his lips. "Sometimes what she does just doesn't make sense to me. Like earlier today, for instance. Before we left camp, she showed me a pair of underwear she found in the woods. She didn't know where they were from, yet she was going to keep them until I told her she shouldn't."

"Ew," Ruby said, face scrunching up a little. "That's gross. Why would she do that?" Ruby kind of wondered where she was when that happened, but she would admit that she was rather out of it today.

Ren just shrugged in response. "I said the same thing."

Ruby nodded, looking over at Nora's sleeping form. She was all splayed out, limbs all going out in different directions, sleeping peacefully. By Nora's side, Ruby noticed the girl's scroll resting on the ground, and that's where her eyes focused. She really wanted to get her hands on it and delete those pictures Nora took (because Nora didn't want to delete them). All day, whenever Nora had her scroll out or went to show the group a picture on her scroll, Ruby's nerves were on edge. She just needed to get an opportunity to grab it without anyone else noticing. That's when a thought struck her.

"Uh, hey, Ren," Ruby started, looking over at him. He glanced over his book at her. "Do you think that, uh, maybe you should check on Jaune? I know he said he had to go and he's probably fine, but he's been gone a while and he didn't bring his gear with him either..."

Ren seemed to think it over for a moment before closing his book and setting it aside. "Uh, sure. I can do that." He got up and made his leave, following the path Jaune took away from camp. Ruby waited until he got just out of sight before moving as stealthily as she could over to her friend. She checked to make sure the coast was clear once more before she swiftly grabbed the scroll and headed just a little ways from camp. Just far enough that she shouldn't have to worry about someone potentially seeing both that she has Nora's scroll and what was on Nora's scroll. She walked until she heard a squish beneath her shoe. It was mud. Apparently, it had rained over this area not long before they set up camp. Thankfully, their campsite wasn't damp or anything, at least.

Ruby held the scroll in front of her, holding it close. She gave a cautious glance around her surroundings once more before she hit the power button to wake up the screen. Immediately, she was hit with mixed feelings when the scroll opened to a lock screen. Thankfully her picture wasn't plastered there, but Ruby hadn't even considered the scroll being locked! She didn't know Nora's password... Not knowing what else to do, Ruby tried as many Nora-esque things she could think of (boop, Ren, Nora's birthday, etc.) but nothing she tried was working. She frantically kept trying things until- "Uh, what're you doing over there, Ruby?" Nora's sleepy voice shocked Ruby like lightning, and the scroll slipped out of her hands, tumbling into the mud. Ruby hurriedly grabbed it and turned to face Nora, hiding the scroll behind her back and putting on a nervous smile. "No-nothing? Uh, what're you doing over there?"

Nora rubbed her eyes. "I don't know," she yawned. "I saw you over here and no one else was up... What's behind your back?" Not knowing what else to do, Ruby did the first thing that came to mind. She swiftly shoved it inside her skirt's waistband. She felt the urge to grimace as she felt the cold, wet mud press into her underwear. She pulled her hands out in front of her, "Just my hands, see?" She let out nervous laugh. Her mind was moving a mile a minute, trying to figure out what to do. "Oh, and, uh, the guys went to go pee," Ruby said. "Or, well, Jaune went and was taking a long time, so Ren went to make sure everything was okay." Ruby started fidgeting with her fingers, and Nora nodded. Ruby was just thankful that Nora seemed to be half asleep still. Maybe I can return it to her without her realizing it was missing? That wishful thought vanished as soon as it came. Because, not a moment later, Ruby felt the cold, wet sensation of the muddy scroll sliding down her butt until it fell to the ground. Ruby froze.

Nora stared at the scroll on the ground for a moment, sleepy mind processing what she just saw. "Is that my scroll?"

Ruby didn't know what to say, her cheeks flushed a bit, embarrassed that she got caught. She tried to wrack her mind for any excuse she could come up with until she just sort of said: "I was going to take a picture of something for you! To, uh, surprise you, yeah! I thought you might like that... but I kind of dropped your scroll in mud. Sorry." Ruby could see the gears turning in Nora's head, processing the information, and then suddenly it was like someone had just flipped the switch and turned her on because Nora seemed to burst to life, wide awake with a cheery smile on her face.

"Don't worry about it," Nora said, practically teleporting over to grab the scroll, shaking the remaining mud off of it. She was eager to see what kind of picture Ruby took for her because when her sleep-addled mind was connecting the dots for what Ruby was saying, it misunderstood her. She thought Ruby was trying to reward her for helping her with her exhibitionist-practice that morning, after all Jaune did tell Ruby that she was the one who told him to do it, Ruby had to have made the connection. And now Ruby was trying to surprise her with a picture taken so close to camp while the boys were gone to add to her collection. Because why else would Ruby be acting so weird and nervous with her scroll? "Oooh, this is so exciting!"

"I... didn't take one yet," Ruby said, feeling partially guilty about lying to her friend, considering how excited she seemed to be. "I-"

"What are you guys doing over there?" It was the boys, they were back.

"Nothing," Nora answered for them. Then she turned to Ruby and started to whisper. "We can always take some pictures later, so it's no biggie," Nora yawned. "But for now, it's bedtime!" The ginger girl skipped her way back to the campsite, making for her tent. Slowly, Ruby followed her lead, making for her own tent.

"Who's taking first watch tonight," she heard Jaune ask.

"You are," Ren said. "It's your turn after all."

"What? But-" Ruby did her best to tune them out, crawling into her tent, ready to get to sleep and put the day behind her. She was tempted to just forgo changing and go to bed as she was, but the wet sensation she felt when her but hit the mat made her rethink that. She had nearly forgotten about the mud all over her butt... and how dirty her panties were, considering the morning. She shook the thought out of her head. She felt she had punished herself enough by wearing them all day. So, she turned to her bag, and instinctually her hand went for the zipper only to find it was already open and without the usual pile of underwear that accompanied it opening. Time stood still for a moment before suddenly racing forward. I closed that last night, didn't I, ran though Ruby's mind as her blood went cold. Ruby lunged toward her bag, grabbing it and flipping it over, hoping beyond hope that somehow all her undies managed to stay in the open pouch all day. Her heart raced, her eyes went wide, and her hopes were dashed. One sole garment fell out. A black and yellow thong. "Wha-what? Why do I have this- this is Yang's!" Ruby whisper-yelled at herself. "Where are all my undies?"