Warmth

In hindsight, setting off on their journey right before a snowstorm was due to hit their general area hadn't been the smartest move.

They'd been able to board a boat taking them off of Patch, and two days later, they were out in the wilderness when the blizzard hit.

"It's too windy to set up a tent!" Nora shouted.
"And it's not safe to keep walking in the dark!" Ren agreed.
"So what are we supposed to do!?" Jaune demanded.

Fortunately, Ruby had spotted an abandoned cabin that the four were only too eager to enter.

The cabin had obviously seen better days. There were a number of holes on all four of the walls, and the hinges on the door were on their last legs. They'd needed to bar the door shut with their backpacks, but at the very least they'd be shielded from the snow and wind.

Unfortunately, the cabin was very small; it was obviously used as a shed rather than a place to rest, so there was no place to build a fire. And that, in turn, meant they had no way to keep warm.

"Guess that means we're all gonna have to huddle together, ha ha..." Jaune laughed weakly, but surprisingly the others just sighed.

"Can't be helped." Ren shrugged.
"Never had a sleepover with boys before." Ruby laughed. "The first night at Beacon doesn't count."
"You and Ren should have more body heat, so you take the corners." Nora declared as she pulled her sleeping bag out.

She tried not to act too eager to press her backside against Ren, who said nothing. Ruby very nonchalantly curled into Jaune, who gulped as he pulled the blanket over them.

Thankfully, having four blankets spread over them made it easy to forget the cold quickly. Forgetting that we were all huddled together was another story.

"I remember the time my sisters and I all tried to surprise our parents for their anniversary by crawling into bed with them before they woke up." Jaune said suddenly. "We nearly broke the bed and three of us ended up falling out and onto the floor."

Silence.

"I was one of them."

Nora snickered.

"One time Yang and I played a prank on Dad by swapping beds for a night." Ruby laughed. "We thought he'd have a bigger reaction when he came to wake us up, but he only looked confused for a moment before he laughed. It... wasn't really much of a prank."
"Still, it sounds nice." Ren mused to himself before gesturing at Nora. "Remember the time I fell in the lake near the village?"
"What time?" Nora asked. "It happened once when we were really little, and again when..."
"The first time."
"Oh, I remember." Nora sighed. "Your mom kept crying and you were sick for a week."
"But in hindsight, she was kind of overreacting. I got out fast enough, I just got a chill." Ren shook his head. "I'd never gone swimming there before, and my mother never let me after that, but it always sort of stuck out in my memory."
"Well, I can't blame your mom. It's not like when we first discovered my Semblance."
"Nora, you were lying on the ground for a full minute after taking an electric shock. We thought you were dead."
"Psh! Details."

The group fell silent while they searched for a topic.

"One of my sisters and I got a bad touch of pneumonia when we were really little. The doctors weren't sure if we'd make it, but we did!" Jaune laughed.
"I vaguely remember going somewhere with Yang in a wagon. I was asleep for most of it, but I woke up when I heard Yang crying and Uncle Qrow killing some Beowolves (at least I think they were Beowolves)." Ruby narrowed her eyes slightly as she tried to remember.

After another silence, Ren suggested that they all try to go to sleep. The other three agreed, for a moment, all four were silent when Jaune said

"This never leaves the shack."

The others gave murmurs of agreement and within a half-hour, Ruby felt herself drifting off when Nora kicked her. She moved to glare at her and saw that Ren was doing the same before rolling back over.

"Does she do this often?" She whispered.
"Back when we were homeless and had to huddle together at night, yeah." Ren nodded. "Having our own beds obviously made it easier to deal with."

Ruby snickered as she lay her head back down. A few minutes later (or perhaps it had been a couple hours), Ruby heard something on her other side. It sounded like someone whimpering. She turned over to see Jaune grimacing in his sleep. She gently shook him and he opened his eyes lazily.

"You okay?" She whispered.
"Uh huh." Jaune answered, but his next words sounded incomprehensible as he drifted off again. Still, his breathing went back to normal and his whimpering stopped, so Ruby allowed herself to turn back over and go back to sleep.

However, it didn't take long for Ruby to hear frantic breathing from the other side. She opened her eyes to see Nora doing the same. Nora blinked sleepily before widening her eyes and turning over to look at Ren, who she quickly began shaking.

"Ren! Ren, wake up!" Miraculously, Nora managed to keep her voice down. "It's okay, Ren! It's just us and Jaune and Ruby!"

Ruby couldn't see Ren's face, but he heard him murmur "Are they okay?"

"Yeah." Ruby whispered. "We're both okay. I think Jaune was having a nightmare, but he's okay now."
"You're sure?" Ren's voice sounded strained.
"Yep. I made sure."
"Okay..."

Ruby listened to Ren's breathing return to normal. She heard Nora give a sigh of relief and felt her snuggle back into the blankets. Finally, Ruby allowed herself to fall back asleep.

She dreamed of blurry images that resembled Grimm. Soon, it changed into a splash of red, gold and black. It felt familiar to her, but she couldn't understand why.


The following morning, it was obvious that none of them had slept very well. Ren, she'd expected, but Jaune and Nora were both yawning as well. They also seemed to be scowling at her as Jaune rubbed his cheek and Nora rubbed her abdomen. Ruby awkwardly realized that she'd kicked both of them in her sleep. Guess she couldn't complain about Nora anymore.