Team WRPP (The Elites Volume One) - #RWBYverseAwards

Waterworks

"How to spend a day off..." Wraith mumbled as he walked down the empty hallways of Beacon Academy. It was fairly early in the morning, so the foot traffic was nearly non-existent, save for the few early wakers that shuffled aimlessly around the vast building, deep in their own secluded thoughts.

Wraith paced down the linoleum walkways, no specific destination in mind, lazily doing a few stretches as he made his way to nowhere. He happened by the gym, still locked for the morning. He peeked inside, just out of mere curiosity rather than any wish to get in. Unsurprisingly, he saw no one, the equipment and exercise areas all empty, some dumbbells and other items strewn about the floor.

His gaze drifted over the slightly messy room, and then his eyes set on the pool, the mechanical cover still in place over the water. He shuddered instinctively. Ever since he was a kid, he hated water. Pools, the ocean, any large body, really. He absolutely despised water, and he would readily admit that to anyone. Probably his Hyena side acting up. He'd never learned to swim, and he had never had any intention to.

As chills ran up his spine, Wraith turned and began walking in the direction he had come, whistling to himself to try and shake the feeling of intense dread that had all of a sudden happened over him.

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"Alright folks! How're we spending the day?" Wraith asked during breakfast, his cheery attitude entirely returned, the rest of his morning stroll having gone wonderfully.

Everyone in the small group amassed around the table, Team RWBY, Team WRPP, Neptune and Sun all got to thinking, pondering what they could all participate in.

"I'm bored of just sitting around doing nothing." Yang yawned. "Exercise would be good. Anything really."

"Perhaps we could take a look and see what is available within the school's facilities." Paladin offered.

Everyone shared their grunts and nods of agreement as they all got up from the table.

"Meh. Nothing better to do." Wraith shrugged.

They all headed out of the room. Neptune seemed to be lagging behind, and Wraith stuck around. "Problem bud?"

Neptune looked up at him and shivered. "Just hoping they don't choose to swim. I don't go with water well."

Wraith patted him on the back with a shaky smile. "You and me both mate. We're in the same boat. Preferably the boat stays on shore though. Not sure what we would do stranded out in the wild blue yonder."

They both chuckled at the odd metaphor as they exited the room, heading for the gym.

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Neptune and Wraith both sat glumly along the wall of the gymnasium.

"Can't believe they chose to swim." Neptune sighed, pouting slightly and laying his head on his knees.

Wraith nodded in agreement. "Probably should've kept my big mouth shut. Jinxed the shit out of it."

They sat idly by the pool as they waited for everyone to get changed and head back. Except for Ravager, of course, who was already happily sifting through the large pool, his eyes and nose the only parts of his shaded body visible above the water. He glanced towards the two forlorn figures on the side of the room every few minutes, but mostly kept to himself.

A big commotion came from the entrance as everyone returned. Yang and Sun waited no time, jumping in immediately upon arrival. Most of the others sat by the edge, testing the waters before getting in. 

Paladin and Blake both went to sit next to the wall, Paladin sighing and resting his head on his knees, Blake opening up a book and shifting into a comfortable position.

Primal then walked up to the two boys, still leaning against the wall.

"You two will not be joining us?" He asked.

Wraith shook his head. "Swimming ain't my deal." He then eyed the iron-clad boy up and down. "Won't your joints get all rusted or something?"

Primal shook his head and pushed out his chest proudly. "I sprayed on a rust-resistant coating."

Wraith chuckled and shook his head, then noticed Ruby waiting by the water.

"Don't let me keep ya mate. Get outta here." He nodded his head at the short girl awaiting him as the ironclad giant turned back and strode towards her.

Wraith turned his attention up to the ceiling just as Weiss approached him. "Can the big, strong Wraith not swim?" She mocked lightly, a small smile spreading on her lips.

Looking down at her, Wraith decided to play along. "Can the lovely, eloquent Snowflake not last a single day without seeing me shirtless?" He winked to accentuate the meaning, to which the heiress blushed maddeningly.

"But yeah, water is a no-go from me. I'll just be here of y'need me."

Weiss shrugged. "Suit yourself." She then headed off and slowly, more carefully entered the pool, casting the faunus boy a glance every so often, almost dejectedly.

Seeing everyone else enjoy themselves, Wraith felt sort of left out. Been a long time since he wasn't the center of attention. He had gotten so used to it that it be felt odd to just be the odd one out.

Primal took notice of Wraith's somewhat glum attitude and got an idea, whispering to Ruby and then toggling his invisibility, wading to the exit of the pool, and slowly getting out, so as not to make too much noise. As he approached the boy, he picked him up and turned off his semblance, the lanky boy already floundering and attempting to break free of his grasp.

"Prime! What the hell! Let me go man!" Wraith struggled, albeit fruitlessly, desperately attempting to dislodge himself from the mighty grasp of his partner.

"Negative. Lack of amusement detected. Solving." Primal said, either jokingly or seriously was anyone's guess. He slowly started to lumber his way back to the pool, with the lankier faunus boy still locked in his grasp.

A couple of laughs emanated from the pool area, Sun having found the whole ordeal hysterical in its entirety. Wraith breaking his cool facade was a sight to behold.

At this point, the aforementioned boy had simply given up, his struggle subsiding as he began to whimper slightly, staring at the water, his ears drooping slightly like a dejected puppy.

And then Primal leaped into the pool, taking Wraith down with him.

As the waters calmed and the two arose, Primal's armor shone dimly with the reflected light and water covering his suit. Wraith broke surface, spitting a small stream of water from his mouth as he gasped for air and shook out his hair from his face, small wisps of steam wafting off his body as if he'd just been super-heated.

He looked around at everyone else around him, raising his eyebrow.

"What're y'all lookin' at." His gaze then fell on Primal and he got a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Time for a taste of your own medicine, y'hunk o' junk!" He laughed as he made his way quickly through the water and jumped on the metal man's back, attempting to push him underneath with next to no success.

And there they remained for most of the day, the unlikely combination of friends laughing and fooling about, their worries and troubles all but forgotten for the time being.

A/N:

Been a long time, I know. This chapter may have a bit of a more awkward flow since I wrote this in the span of nearly a year, but I hope that I'll get more back to speed as time passes on a bit. Gotta remember how to write for these characters again ^_^.

As always, I'm always interested in hearing what your thoughts/suggestions are. Hope you'll all bear with me as I continue with what I started so long ago.

Thanks for reading!

Peace!