Pet Quartet (ch19)

2-DAY EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!!

Our flock continues to live in blissful ignorance...

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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													Chapter 19. A Beautiful Beach

The following morning, their humans woke up earlier than usual.

At first, Blake was almost worried that something might be wrong, but she quickly realized that the humans were acting the same way they always did. Either way, their movements roused the animals little by little, and everyone began to yawn and stretch and move around.

"Morning," Blake said to the others.

"Good morning," Weiss replied. "I wonder what's gotten into them?"

"Who knows?" Yang yawned wide and her tongue popped out.

"Guess we'll find out!" Ruby said.

As their humans came downstairs and greeted them as usual, Blake could see they were smiling, so she was glad to know nothing was wrong. They all headed to the kitchen for breakfast, which was a little bigger of a portion than usual. Blake smacked her tail against Yang's flank to prevent her from inhaling her food too quickly.

When everyone was finished, they started to make their way toward the door to go outside as per usual. But the woman called out to them.

"Hold on, everyone. We're actually going somewhere special today."

"Special?" Ruby cheered. "Oh boy!"

"I hope it isn't the vet again…" Weiss muttered.

"No way!" Yang's tail started to wag. "They look way too excited to be bringing us there!"

"Maybe it's another park," Blake suggested.

Either way, they all stayed put in the kitchen now as they quietly murmured together in anticipation. As they did, the humans went to get changed into light, colorful clothes Blake had never seen them wear before. They didn't wear the usual shoes either, but instead wore things that showed their toes.

They packed a few bags and a big umbrella into the car before getting Blake's crate and Weiss' cage ready. Blake moped when she was nudged into her portable prison, and Weiss was about to complain as well, but Ruby cut her off excitedly and darted into the cage happily.

As they were placed in the back seats and on the floor of the car, Yang settled between them to keep everyone from getting jostled. Well, she sat between them for about the first 30 seconds until the car started to move, and then she was up and bouncing and sticking her head out the window.

Blake got as comfortable as possible, ignoring the lurching in her belly as they moved. She listened to Ruby and Weiss chatting about where they could be going, and the soft drone of music in the background.

It was a longer ride than it took to get to the vet, and when Blake peeked out through the door of her crate and past the windows, she didn't recognize anything. She decided to ask Yang, too.

"Any idea where we are?"

The retriever panted heavily several times before switching windows, then going back to the one she'd started at.

"Nope! But the air sure smells different!"

Blake gave a deep sniff and confirmed she was right. The air smelt odd now. It was almost sharp, like the kind of smell in the bathroom after it's been cleaned, only a bit less intense.

"Hey!" Ruby squeals. "It almost smells like the kitchen!"

"You're right," Blake agrees. "Maybe we're going somewhere special to eat?"

"Oh, that'd be nice!"

"I just hope we're almost there," Weiss mutters.

Luckily, that ended up being the case. They drove for about ten more minutes before the car finally stopped.

"All right, gang," the man called back. "Here we are."

"Now then," said the woman. "It's a big place, so make sure you stick together. And be careful in the water, all right?"

"Water…?" Blake's ears flattened a bit. "All that, and they brought us to water?"

"Water's great!" Yang barked, ready to burst out of the door as soon as it was opened.

"Speak for yourself," Weiss said, turning her beak up. "For creatures like Blake and I, water is only good for drinking and bathing."

"Aw, c'mon!" Ruby said, bumping into her side. "Live a little, Weiss!"

Weiss just sighed, and Blake chuckled. The humans finally opened the door, and Yang bounded straight out.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"

"Hey!" Weiss called. "Wait for us!"

Blake was let out of her crate and eased out. She looked around cautiously before jumping down out of the car and onto the warm black parking lot pavement. Yang was off several yards away running in circles. As Ruby and Weiss were released and joined Blake, they all gazed up at the place around them.

Past the parking lot that was beginning to fill with cars, there was a huge open expanse of yellow ground and blue sky. The wind was strong, and the scent of water mixed heavily with salt made Blake's nose wrinkle a bit. She felt Ruby slowly crawling up her back to get a better look.

"What… is this place…?" she wondered.

And as usual, Weiss had knowledge to impart on them.

"This," she said proudly. "Is the ocean!"

"Ocean?" Blake repeated. "The ocean?!"

"The one and only!"

"Correction!" Yang charged over to butt in, panting and jumping up and down. "It's the beach!"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yang, that's the same thing."

"No it isn't! It sounds a lot more fun if you call it the beach! Oh boy, I can't believe it-!" She ran around in a circle chasing her tail for a second before Blake had to reach out a paw and stop her so she wouldn't make herself sick.

"How do you know this place?" she asked.

"I've been here before!" Yang yipped. "A long time ago, when I was a puppy! But I'd remember this scent anywhere!"

"What about you, Weiss?" Ruby asked. "Did you come here before too?"

Weiss shook her head.

"I've only ever heard about it on the wing from migratory birds. I never had to go far outside my neighborhood, so I'd just heard stories. Stories of the huge pool of water where the land ends for farther than you can see, and where the waves get so big they can swallow the sand at night…"

"Whoa!" Ruby's whiskers twitched. "That sounds so cool!"

"But we aren't staying all night to see that," Blake reasoned.

"But!" Yang went on. "There's still plenty more we can do here! We can play in the sand and play in the water and look for shells and tiny crabs and-"

"All right, don't hurt yourself," Weiss said, flying over to sit on Yang's head.

"Aw, c'mon Weiss! You must be excited about this place, right? After hearing all those stories?"

"All I've heard is that birds who get too tired flying over that water end up as fish food."

"Well, we're not flying! We're here to play!"

As if on cue, as the humans unpacked their bags and umbrella, the man whistled and tossed Yang a green ball, which she caught expertly in her mouth.

"Chum on!" she slurred. "Lasht one to the beesh is a rotten egg!"

"Hey!" Weiss chirped. "I take offense to that!"

But Yang was already off and running, leaping and bounding off the pavement until her paws hit sand. She sprayed the stuff everywhere as she ran, and it surrounded her like a dust cloud. Ruby jumped off Blake's back and gave chase.

"Wait for meeee!" It took her much longer to cover the distance Yang could cover in one bound, but with her little red cape floating behind her, Blake couldn't help but smile.

Weiss opened her wings, clearly intending to stay out of range of the sand at all costs. She hung back with Blake, who was probably the least enthusiastic about this place.

"Shall we?" the bird offered.

Blake tried to let her friends' enjoyment be her motivation.

"Sure." She left the parking lot behind and cautiously stepped onto the yellow-ish sand. She flicked her tail at the familiar sensation, but snorted. "It feels like a litter box."

"Well, let's just hope it isn't used as such."

Blake cracked a smile as she followed along with Weiss, and their humans brought up the rear.

Blake could already see that Yang had reached the water and was jumping all over the place with her ball. She splashed and sprayed water and shook herself off before tossing the ball, jumping in after it, and repeating the process.

Blake had already decided she'd stay a good distance away from the water today.

The tiny bundle of red that was Ruby reached the edge of the white foam a moment later. She went into the water as far up as her belly and started to roll around.

"Wow! It's really warm!"

"Just don't drink it!" Weiss called out to her.

As Blake neared the others, she noticed several larger birds off in the distance and asked Weiss.

"What are those?"

Weiss groaned. "Seagulls."

"Not a fan?"

"They're just so noisy and don't know how to mind their own business. Case in point-" Weiss cut off a bit anxiously and suddenly flew on ahead. Blake looked up to see that several gulls were heading toward them, clearly very interested in a small creature like Ruby. Fur bristling, Blake hurried on ahead into the damper sand and got closer to Ruby. Weiss flew up to confront the other birds before they could get too close.

"Hey! What exactly do you think you're doing?"

The gulls all stopped to hover in midair.

"Aw, we was just lookin'!"

"Just lookin'!"

Weiss flapped her wings at them.

"Don't come near us, or you'll be sorry."

"That's right!" Yang jumped around and gave a loud bark that sent the birds scattering within seconds. Weiss nodded in satisfaction before flying back down.

"Well, that should solve that issue."

"Thanks, you guys!" Ruby started running along the edge of the incoming tide, giggling and squeaking. "This is so neat! The water can cool you off when you get too hot from the sand! You should try it, Blake!"

Blake hung back a few feet still.

"I'm all right. The sand up here is cool and that's good enough for me."

"Weiss?" Ruby looked up invitingly. Weiss heaved a sigh, but caved.

"All right." She fluttered to the ground and landed beside the little mouse, curling her talons experimentally in the odd substance. "Strange. When it gets wet the grains turns squishy…"

"Heads up!" Blake interrupted Weiss' analysis with a warning call. She could see a wave coming toward them, and though it had already crashed, the rush of water would still be something.

Ruby dug her claws into the sand to brace herself, and Weiss opened her wings to take flight.

But before the water could bowl them over, Yang jumped in its path and took the brunt of the hit with ease. They still ended up getting sprayed, though. Ruby squealed and rolled around in the mud-like sand, while Weiss huffed and hopped back onto dryer land.

"You okay?" Blake asked. She bent down to lick her a bit, but had to stop after a few because of the salty taste.

"Yes," Weiss sighed. "This is just one of those situations where it might be better if I were a duck."

As Yang lifted Ruby up onto her back and started bounding through the shallow water with her, Blake and Weiss decided to play with the ball on the sand. Whenever it went into the water, Yang would toss it back to them, or they would toss it to her and she would swim after it.

Ruby enjoyed her ride to the fullest, getting splashed and feeling the wind and smelling all the oceany smells.

When Blake did eventually cave and try to step a paw in, the water surged and splashed her, and everyone fell over laughing.

After a little while, their humans called them back for some fresh cool water, which everyone appreciated after so much salt.

After that, they headed back to the water. Ruby began hunting and digging for crabs, so Blake and Weiss joined her. They found all kinds of neat little shells and things.

Blake was most proud of a full cream-colored scallop shell she'd uncovered. Ruby chose a tiny reddish shell because it reminded her of a strawberry, and Weiss selected a shell that was blue like the sky. They brought their treasures away from the water and dug a little mote around them so they could come back later.

All the while, Yang was tackling the waves, jumping up and barking at every one that came her way. She looked really ridiculous with all of her fur flat and sticking to her. When she'd finally had enough, she started trotting back to them with something in her mouth. When she dropped it at their paws, it splattered.

"Ew!" Weiss fluttered back. "What is that green stuff?"

"Seaweed!" Yang said proudly. "It's gonna be my souvenir!"

"Of course it is…"

Ruby poked the stuff with her nose and her paw.

"It's squishy and slimy!"

"I know!" Yang smiled. "Isn't it the best?!" She shook herself off until she was as dry as she'd get, and then the group decided to take a walk.

They stayed near the edge of the water to keep their paws cool, and followed the shoreline. Crashing waves, squawking seagulls, and chatting people filled their ears as they went. The wind buffeted their fur and feathers, and the smells of salt and fish stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

They found a couple of little crabs which Ruby tried to befriend, but Blake and Weiss had to gently pull her away from the pinchers. They found more shells, and even a washed-up jellyfish, which Weiss warned them about right away.

Blake came across a sea star, which looked like it was drying out. Yang gently picked it up in her jaws and brought it back out into the water where it belonged.

They walked to a certain point until they could just barely see their humans' umbrella, then turned back.

They played catch with their ball some more, Yang jumped in the water some more, and Blake and the others tried to build a little sand hut for Ruby. It kept collapsing, but in the end Ruby just burrowed into the sand and said that sufficed.

The day passed by all too quickly, and before they knew it their humans were calling them back. The four of them trudged over with their fur and feathers full of wet sand, but they were happily exhausted.

"I can't wait for my bath," Weiss said.

"I can't wait to go to bed," Blake added.

She managed to sleep a bit in the car ride home, and even Yang was too tired for all her usual jumping.

When they finally got home, everyone was given a proper bath - which Blake didn't like, but she appreciated getting the sand out of her fur - and then joined in the kitchen for supper.

By the end of the evening, the four animals were curled up on the carpet as always.

"Boy!" Yang said, stretching out as far as she could. "That was so much fun!"

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. "And we got to keep our souvenirs!" She waved her tail over to one of the book shelves, where the woman had set their collection of shells and seaweed out on display.

"I suppose it was a nice experience," Weiss said. "A change of pace."

"You're right," Blake admitted. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. But I still think I'll be tasting salt for a few more days."

They all chuckled and began their nightly grooming routine. Ruby was asleep in seconds, and Weiss wasn't far behind. Yang dropped her head onto her front paws as she and Blake exchanged 'goodnights,' and fell asleep quickly afterward.

And that night, they all slept well, and dreamt of sand and waves, not knowing of the shadows shifting closer outside the house...

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A/N: The calm before the storm...