Ruby landed awkwardly, her left leg buckling under her own weight and causing her to stumble. It was instinct alone that kept Crescent Rose in front of her, but that wasn't enough to fix the current problem.

Pyrrha, so far above her that it was comical, stood across the arena, weapons drawn.

And she didn't have her team at her back anymore, not for the finals, not when she was stuck in a one-on-one with Pyrrha flipping Nikos and somehow expected to win. Ruby cringed as the crowds chanted Pyrrha's name, all turning against her so easily. They didn't even know Ruby Rose. Some were even screaming for blood, not that she thought Pyrrha would ever do that.

The redhead wore an almost apologetic smile as she closed in.

Ruby would have liked to say she danced but the truth was she flailed helplessly, always on the backfoot and always just a little too slow to stop Pyrrha's sword breaking through. Crescent Rose whirled but Pyrrha's weapon was like an angry wasp, stabbing and cutting, nicking her aura but never truly hurting her.

Until Ruby jumped back and felt a cold breeze over her bare shoulder.

With a flutter, her sleeve fell off, falling to the arena floor and exposing Ruby's arm and shoulder. The cuts had caught cloth, and while aura had protected her it did nothing for her fragile clothing. Grimacing, Ruby brought Crescent Rose forward, only to hear a whistle in the crowd followed by sudden laughter.

What were they—?

Cold air washed over her bottom.

Panicking, Ruby looked down to see her skirt in tatters on the ground. She had her stockings on, but even they were torn to show patches of pale skin. Shrieking, she dropped to her knees, dropping Crescent Rose and covering her butt and crotch. Only to watch in horror as her corset sprung loose, the strings cut, and feel thousands of eyes on her as her top began to shred apart from Pyrrha's blows.

The crowd roared with laughter—

"Nope!" A heavy uniform blazer fell over her. Jaune, her best friend, draped it over her body to cover her, somehow having covered the distance between the stands and her in a second, and even intruded in the finals of the Vytal Tournament. "Nope," he said, shaking his head. "Nope, nope, nope. Not happening. You are fifteen, Ruby. We are not dealing with a situation straight out of Blake's naughty books."

"More!" shouted the crowd. "Strip! Strip! Strip!"

Ruby blushed bright red and buried herself in Jaune's jacket. "Noooo!"

"Seriously, Ruby. As if Pyrrha would ever do something like this. And weren't you going to send Yang into the finals?"

Yang? Wait, that had been the plan, hadn't it? Yang and Weiss had even gone into the doubles, and it had to be someone from the doubles chosen for the finals, so why was she competing? Wait, how was she even competing? When did this happen? Had she even walked into the arena? None of this made sense!

"You're such a worrywart," said her friend, laughing fondly. He rubbed her head, uncaring of her partial nudity. "You don't have anything to worry about. If something like this happened, I think everyone would rush to your defence."

"If... If it happened...?"

Jaune smiled down on her.

And Ruby woke up with a lurch, sitting up in her bed, in her dorm, in her pyjamas, on her top bunk, with Zeri grumbling from his place curled up between her knees. He didn't like being disturbed before it was time to wake up, and it was one of the few times he'd ever growl at them. That or if they rolled over and accidentally buried him in the blankets.

"Sorry boy," she whispered, rubbing his ears. He grumbled and went back to sleep, letting Ruby climb out the bed. It was only about fifteen minutes before she'd normally wake up so she used it as a chance to grab an early shower.

By the time she was out, her team had already begun to wake up.

"Early morning, sis?" asked Yang.

"I had a nightmare."

"Bad one?"

"No. More like a silly one. I was fighting in the finals against Pyrrha and she was cutting my clothes off one by one."

"Heh. Kinky."

"It wasn't one of those dreams," she insisted, with a growl of her own. "It was humiliating! There were so many people watching!"

"It's not an unreasonable nightmare to have." Weiss came to her defence like the bestie she refused to admit she was. "Goodness knows I've worried about being caught doing a flip in my skirt and that appearing all over the TV."

"Easily solved by not wearing a skirt," yawned Blake. Her ears flicked to try and shake off some of her own hair poking up into them. The faunus hissed and peeled them out with her fingers. "Funnily enough, you can control your own fashion choices."

"The skirt is a part of my brand."

"You don't—"

"Have a brand? Yes, I do. I'm Weiss Schnee. Winter already wears pants and I need to differentiate myself. You wouldn't understand."

"Apparently not."

"So," said Yang, breaking up the argument before it could begin. "Did you get fully exposed or wake up before?"

"Undies," Ruby replied. "But it was kind of weird because that's when Jaune appeared."

"Oh-hoh...?" Yang leaned in. "Is that when it got saucy?"

"Yang, no! Also, that's your boyfriend."

"Yeah, I know, but I also know you and him never would do anything like that behind my back, so what's the harm in teasing?"

That was true, she supposed. Yang could only tease because of the faith she had. "Anyway, he just walked into the fight and threw his jacket over me. It was kind of weird because he didn't care it was the final and he was interfering, and he didn't even react to all the people in the crowds."

"It's a dream," said Weiss. "They don't have to make sense. This is just a representation of the trust you have in him." Weiss somehow managed to make it sound like her judgment was in question for that, all without words. "I suppose it speaks well of his character that you trust, even in the midst of a nightmare, that he would defend your honour."

"I can't tell if that's a compliment or an insult..."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "It's neither."

"He probably would, though," Blake said, speaking up in rare defence of Ruby's first friend here at Beacon. "He doesn't seem the type to get off on someone else's suffering, and he and Ruby have always been supportive of one another."

"Big brother vibes," said Yang. "Must come from having so many sisters." Yang laughed. "It's kinda weird, though, because now that you mention it I feel like Jaune's been a regular appearance in some of my dreams lately as well."

"Spare us the sordid details."

Yang looked irritated for a moment, then gained a predatory look, which was enough for Ruby to know what was coming. "Yeah, he bent me over the desk in class and pounded me into another dimension. Best part was you were just sat there, Weiss, watching in absolute horror. Though you started to get worked up and touch yourself under the table—"

"I'm taking the shower!" Weiss snarled and slammed the door shut.

Ruby giggled.

Blake chuckled as well. "Did that happen?"

"Nah." Yang winked. "I just wanted to yank her chain. I can't really remember the dream that much. You know how it is. All I remember is it was a really bad one and Jaune was there. The strange part is I think I was a kid in the dream. Like it was a memory of ages ago when I was young – but Jaune wasn't. He was the same age he is now."

"Good thing it wasn't a sex dream, then."

"Hah. Yeah. Nah, I think he just sat with me and kept me company while I was waiting for someone. I don't remember much. Feels like something he'd do, but it's kinda weird, you know? Just struck me as an odd coincidence when Ruby had her own dream just now." Yang flashed her partner a wry smile. "How about you, Blakey? Any sordid dreams of my boyfriend to share with the team?"

Blake looked away.

Yang's jaw dropped. "Seriously!?"

"It wasn't a sex dream!"

"That sounds like a denial to me."

"And it was before you got together!"

"Sounds like an excuse to me." Yang grinned. "Was I in the dream as well? Did we have fun?"

"You were in it but it wasn't fun. It was stupid." Blake sighed. "I was hunting you all through some building and killing you." The teasing smile dropped from Yang's face. "And Jaune was helping you all escape and that annoyed me, so I hunted him down and tried to kill him, then everyone started crawling all over me and calling me a monster."

"Fuck me." Yang pinched the bridge of her nose. "I kinda wish this was a sexy dream now. Talk about a mood kill."

"It was ages ago, there's no need to worry about it. It was just while I was at a dark moment over the White Fang. I think I had one other with him in but I don't think I should talk about that one."

"Why? Even more traumatic?"

Blake blushed.

"Ooooh. Now I want to hear this one."

"You don't."

"Was I in that one, too?"

"Shut up."

"That's a Yeeees. Were Jaune and I all naked and oiled up?"

"N—No..."

Blake blushed.

Yang squealed.

Ruby ignored them both as she changed into her non-ripped and non-torn clothes. It wasn't like she'd never had a naughty dream of her own, so she wasn't that surprised. Nor was she all that interested, though. Her own head was still remembering her own dream and for some reason making her feel glum, even if she knew it didn't happen and that Pyrrha would never do that to her.

It was weird how Jaune had been a focal character in all their dreams, though. It made sense with her own, with Jaune being not only one of her best friends but also Pyrrha's partner. Him interfering in Pyrrha's fight to protect her modesty felt reasonable. Yang's and Blake's, though? Those didn't make as much sense, especially back before Jaune and Yang got together. Back then, Yang hardly even knew him.

And Blake even less so. Ruby wasn't sure they'd exchanged more than ten words.

Maybe this just means he has that kind of energy, she thought to herself. He's not exactly buff like dad but when his only competition is Ren, I guess he looks like a big knight in shining armour. Sorry, Ren.

Ren was cute, she'd be the first to admit, but he was... uh... not exactly the most masculine guy she'd ever met. Jaune wasn't either to be fair, but he sure as heck looked it stood next to Ren, so it sort of made sense he might be the first guy their brains jumped to when they needed to dream up someone to fill the role.

It wasn't like they were going to imagine Cardin saving them. Or worse, Professor Port.

Ruby shuddered.

Ugh...

So, yeah, maybe it made sense Jaune would be the only remaining pick. It was still weird every one of her teammates other than Weiss could recall a dream about him, and the only reason Weiss was an exception was because she was in the shower.

Maybe I should ask her in class. It's not like I can go talk to Jaune about this.

"Oh, hey Jaune. I dreamed about you last night! Yeah, I was in my underwear and everything. It was crazy."

Ruby blushed and shook the idea out her head.

Definitely not telling him.

But it was still a crazy coincidence...

/-/

"Dreams about Arc?" Weiss crossed her arms. "Did he put you up to this?"

"No, no. I'm just curious because of mine. Do you have dreams about us? It's just a question." Ruby smiled innocently but got the feeling Weiss suspected a whole lot more. Still, her bestie did eventually answer, if only to shut her up.

"I occasionally have dreams involving you all. That seems perfectly normal to me. The people I spend my days around are the ones my brain dredges up. There's nothing unusual there. And nothing unusual about my dreams, either. None of them have been untoward or unprofessional in any way."

"And about Jaune?"

"Where is this obsession coming from?" Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. "Are you trying to justify your own dream about him or something? Ruby, there's nothing wrong with having a crush on your sister's boyfriend so long as you don't act on it."

"It's not that!" Ruby squawked. "Don't even say that!"

"Then why care what I do or don't dream about?"

"It's just a question!" Ruby whined. "Answer it!"

"Grief. Fine." Weiss let out an explosive breath and rolled her eyes. "Arc, Arc. I can hardly remember my dreams. I do believe I cursed him out in one after he came and asked me on another date. Told him all the horrible things I felt that I would never say in real life."

"Weiss!"

"What? I said that I'd never say to him in real life, Ruby. As if there aren't things you'd say to me if you could get away with it."

"None. I love my bestie."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "As if. It hardly matters. Point is, I yelled at him and told him how I feel. It must have helped getting things off my chest because it let me deal with him far more evenly in the coming days. This was before his change for the better," Weiss added. "I'm happy to admit he's not nearly as bothersome as he used to be, so this was back when I still had reason to be frustrated at him."

Ruby tilted her head. "And he changed soon after?"

"I... suppose..." Weiss frowned. "I can't specify the exact date of a dream I remember about two minutes of, Ruby. I just know it was back when he was a pain in my backside. Why is this important?"

"It's not."

"Then why waste my— argh." Weiss turned on her heel and stormed away. "You are the worst!"

"Eheh. Oops...?"

Still, that was four for four.

And this was back before Jaune changed his behaviour toward Weiss.

/-/

Uncle Qrow was acting weird.

"And I had this dream about Yang's boyfriend..."

"It's just a dream, Ruby."

"But I found out a lot of my team have dreamed of him—"

"Nothing wrong with that." Qrow hurriedly took a drink. "Dreams are normal, even about boys. You're around that age."

That age...? Ruby had been around that age years ago. Stupid Uncle Qrow. She was fifteen, not ten. Still, she was surprised he was less teasing and more... avoidant. Like he wanted her to drop the subject.

"Do you think it's weird we've all dreamed of him?"

"Nope. Not weird at all. Totally normal."

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Is there something you're not telling me, Uncle Qrow?"

"Nope. Not at all. Totally told you everything."

Ruby stared at him.

"Ah, crap. I have to go, little flower. Got bad people to catch and the like. Wish your sister well for me. See ya!"

He was gone before she could stop him.

Ruby's eyes narrowed.

Uncle Qrow was being evasive.