#dragonslayerweek

[craziechwiv]

Daughter of Helios and Son of Athena

(Idk much about Camp half-blood so bear with me please...)

During their stay at camp, many of the kids there decided to greet themselves and get to know each other and which cabin they are from. This brings us to two different individuals making a quick bond as soon as they've met one another.

Yang was walking around the area, looking at every other kids socializing in groups around their cabins. As her eyes wandered, they set on one lone boy who was reading a book by himself, so she thought to introduce herself to him.

Yang: Hi!

Jaune: AH- O-Oh. Hey...

Yang: What's your name?

Jaune: I'm Jaune, and...you are?

Yang: Yang! I'm from cabin 239, daughter of Helios actually!

Jaune: Oh, that's awesome!

Yang: I know right? Which cabin are you froma?

Jaune: Oh, I'm from this one, cabin 6. I guess I'm the Son of Athena.

Yang: Woooah, that's super cool!

Jaune: Heh, thanks.

Yang: No problem, wanna be friends?

Jaune: Uh, sure. Wanna see what I've been writing in here? It's battle strategies and such.

Yang: Sure!

As the two socialize, they both didn't know this would spark into a undying relationship between the two. As this was faith written in stone that they would be a powerful duo together...

[dragonslayer-week]

Day 3 Way of the Househusband

Jaune decided to take over the domestic duties of the Dragonslayer home. What’s their lives like in that regard?

[sketch-shepherd-art]

DragonSlayer Week 2024: Way of the House Husband

I couldn't resist doing an entry for this one. I just had to draw Yang and Jaune as Miku and Tatsu from Way of the Househusband :P

@dragonslayer-week

[razorblade180]

Dragonslayer Week Day 1: Honeymoon

Cocktails, engines, laughter, bad puns. Those were the recipe for a glorious day for Yang Xiao Long. It has been for years, and it was just a few hours ago at what was easily the biggest moment of her adult life so far. However, right now she discovered a new recipe.

Salty air, a calm wind that played with her hair, rolling waves, and the gentle warmth of a setting sun as she rested in the arms of her beloved. It felt so perfect she thought it would only exist on postcards; yet her she was, a fresh bride with her groom carrying her step by step through the sand towards their beach house.

Jaune:All tuckered out? I’d be too if I drank that many Strawberry Sunrises.

Yang:I’m fine. Just enjoying the moment. Have I ever told you that you smelled nice?

Jaune:Only when you’re feeling mushy.

Yang:Is that right? *leans in more* You smell perfect~

Jaune:And you look breathtaking. A real shame wedding dresses are meant for a single day.

Yang:I’ll wear it all night if you like. Only if you keep the blazer on though.

Jaune:Tempting, but I think the two of deserve a little more comfort.

Yang:Awww, I was being serious you know. Picture have been taken, and not to mention this has been paid in full. Lasting a lifetime in my closet sounds a little boring. Go on; why not have your fun. After all… *whispers* Your wife is all dolled up for you.

Jaune:*blushes*….This is going to be a long honeymoon.

Yang:Hehe, sounds perfect to me.

She kissed his cheek and rested her head on him to listen to his strong heartbeat. He had gotten good at remaining calm, but the heart never lies. He was so smitten right now and that was just fine. After all, she’s been the same for a long, long time now.

Yang:I love you.

Jaune:I love you too, my beautiful wife.

[gotham-arts]

Dragonslayer Week 2023 Day 6: Monsterfolk

A Dragonborn Yang and a Dullahan Jaune

[musings-from-mars]

@dragonslayer-week 2022 Day 2 (July 26): Nerd Yang / Jock Jaune

(High School AU)

Whatever the deal was with these guys, Jaune would never know. He has spent all summer practicing, preparing for football season, but even with how much he had improved with his catching and route running, his "teammates" did not seem to like him at all. Four in particular. Was it because he'd improved? No, it's not like he would be taking any of their spots on the team. He was good, but not better than them.

But every day of summer workouts, Jaune would arrive to the locker room and either receive the cold shoulder from them, or receive short, combative warnings from them, about staying out of their way, "Don't look at me, Jaune boy."

His coaches weren't much help. "They're just being competitive." Again, Jaune knew that wasn't it. Why be so competitive with the 3rd string tight end?

It was Friday, scrimmage day. Jaune was having a good practice, having not dropped a single pass thrown his way, unless you count that throw that ended up intercepted because that definitely was not his fault. A few teammates were encouraging, but those same four guys, Cardin, Dove, Skye and Russel, could not stop making him feel uneasy.

After a particularly rough shove from Cardin, during a minimal-contact run-through, Jaune finally had enough. "What is your problem with me?!" He asked, pushing himself back up to his feet. He did not want to get into a fight with this guy, but Cardin was advancing towards him. Other team members and a coach had to step in.

The question was genuine. He really wanted to know why Cardin and his buddies were so hostile towards him. Jaune didn't think he'd done anything to them. In fact, he generally avoided them for obvious reasons. He didn't get an answer. The coach told Cardin to go take a seat on the bench for the rest of practice. He'd get a talking to afterwards.

After practice, Jaune waited on the curb near the field as usual, waiting for his ride home from his older sister (he could not wait to get his own car, whenever that day would come). Saph was notorious for running late, so he would probably be there for a while. And in this heat? He was fine with just sitting here instead of getting a little extra practice in like other team members often did. He just sat under this tree, on his phone.

Jaune: Practice is over. Now the wait begins

Yang: Lol nice. Wanna hang out later

Jaune: Maybe after I shower. And nap. And eat like ten hamburgers or smthn. Probably shower twice

Yang: Stinky

Jaune: Hey

Jaune: You're not wrong

He had been friends with Yang since they were kids, when his family would take vacations to Patch. Then Yang's family moved here, three blocks away from Jaune's house. That trip between houses was made many times on bikes. Or in Yang's case, on bikes, then on motorized bikes, and as she had been working on for a long time, eventually a proper motorcycle. She'd been saying she wanted to finish it before the school year started, and she promised she'd start giving Jaune rides to and from school. He wasn't completely up for it, given Yang had a reckless streak, but riding a motorcycle definitely sounded fun, even if it definitely would get him in trouble with his parents if they new about it. But Yang was wildly smart, so he wasn't worried about anything with the bike itself (he was still amazed that her dad let her build one).

This was an unusually long wait. Maybe Saph was occupied with her college classes, or studying, or Terra. He had probably been here for about an hour when he noticed someone walking his way. It was Cardin and his crew.

Yang: Hey, wanna see something cool?

Jaune didn’t have time to respond. These four were heading his way with a purpose. A purpose he was not excited about dealing with. He stood to his feet, trying to seem brave, but much like when on the field, he didn’t like his chances against four big defenders.

“You’ve fucked up, Jaune boy,” Cardin said. He towered about a foot taller than Jaune, and significantly wider too. He could probably squeeze the sap out of a tree trunk.

“What did I do?” Jaune asked, curious of what he’d say. Again, he legitimately wanted to know.

“Like you don’t know,” Cardin said, slowly closing the distance between them. Jaune instinctively began backing up, onto the empty road.

“I really don’t,” Jaune said. “You guys come after me for no reason.”

“There’s plenty of reason, pussy,” Cardin spat. “You think you’re all that, you think you’re better than me, well I’ll teach you, get you to know better.”

“What?” Jaune never considered himself better than Cardin. Football wise, anyway. They played two completely different positions. As a person, though? He was definitely a better person than Cardin.

“That girlfriend of yours,” Cardin continued. “No, actually, that bitch of yours.”

Girlfriend? This was news to Jaune. Wait… “You mean Yang?”

“Uhhh ‘you mean Yang?’” Skye mocked, chuckling with the others as they stood behind Cardin.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Jaune said. “And she’s not a bitch, either.”

“Oh yes she is,” Cardin said. “She never told you? What she did to me?”

Jaune tilted his head. “Huh?”

“She stood me up, for you.”

Since when did Yang agree to go on a date with Cardin Winchester? “What?”

“She just needs to see who the real man here is,” Cardin said. “Not some piss rag like you.”

“I don’t know what you’ve convinced yourself is true, but Yang would never want to go out with you,” Jaune told him.

“That’ll change.” Cardin grinned and clapped his hands, rolling his shoulders as if warming up.

Jaune considered running, but where to? Besides, there was four of them, and Skye was especially fast. He was stuck here. Would he really have to do this?

“What’s it gonna be, Jaune boy?” Cardin said, standing and waiting to see if Jaune would step up. “Fight like a man?”

Jaune remembered something his dad once told him. “Men don’t fight, but children do.” Too bad Cardin was being a very big, very angry child right now. He swallowed down the lump in his throat. Yep, he had no choice…

“Pussy,” Cardin said and set on Jaune, stomping forward. Jaune began backtracking, evading Cardin’s attempts to grab and punch him. Jaune managed to shove him away, but that wouldn’t keep working. Fuck, where was Saph? Or the coach? Anyone that could stop this? Jaune just wanted to go home.

Cardin landed a glancing blow to Jaune’s temple. It didn’t exactly hurt that much, but triggered reflex tears in his eye, which steamed down his face. “Yeah, cry,” Cardin taunted, only for Jaune to quickly lower his shoulder and block him backwards. Cardin was surprised and stumbled back, falling to his butt.

Jaune took a shaky breath and stepped back. Maybe he’d stop now?

No, of course not, and now Cardin was even more angry. She got up and grunted, breaking into an almost-run towards Jaune.

It was then that Jaune heard the sound of a motor quickly approaching. He turned to look down the street. It was a yellow motorcycle, the rider wearing a very recognizable flaming gold helmet.

“Yang?” Jaune muttered, only to get punched in the face. He partially dodged, taking it just under the eye instead of the nose. He fell to the ground, but when he looked back up, Cardin’s attention was turned toward Yang, who had skidded to a stop and dismounted her newly completed motorcycle.

“Oh hey, look who showed up,” Cardin said, grinning at Yang. He cracked his knuckles. “Don’t worry, hun. Just settling some issues.”

Yang was dressed in a brown jacket over an orange tank top and black jeans. She slipped the helmet off her head, letting her hair fall and revealing a very angry expression. She kept toward Cardin.

“Yeah yeah, that’s it, bring it in, cutie,” Cardin said, arms outstretched as if expecting a hug.

He instead got a helmet to the teeth.

Cardin stumbled to his knees and roared in pain. He held his mouth, blood dripping on the street. “Whath the thuck?!”

Yang looked at the other three, all wide-eyed and frozen in place.

“Oh, shit.” Jaune muttered.

“Fuck outta here,” Yang grumbled to the three, and gestured to Cardin with her helmet. “And take him and his teeth with you.”

“Thuck you!” Cardin cursed as he stumbled to his feet.

“Come on, let’s tell coach,” Dove suggested.

“Yeah, tell your coach a girl knocked your huge gopher teeth out, tough man,” Yang said with a smile, flashing her silver braces.

“Thut the thuck up, bisch!” Cardin yelled, his voice breaking. The four turned and left, likely to get Cardin home and call a dentist.

Yang made sure to watch them leave, then turned in time to see as Jaune got to his feet. She shook her head. “What the fuck happened?”

“Apparently,” Jaune said as he watched the four leave too. “He’s pissed about you standing him up?”

Yang leaned her head back and groaned. “Seriously?”

“Since when do you like dickheads like him?”

“I don’t? But he just would. Not. Stop.” Yang paused and poked Jaune in the cheek. “Does that hurt?”

“Ow— Slightly.”

She stepped closer and looked at his eye closely. “Hmm.”

“I see you finished your bike,” Jaune said with a chuckle. “Good timing.”

“Your eye looks fine, I think.”

“I think it was mostly my cheek,” he said, acknowledging the annoying throbbing along his cheekbone. She was still looking at his face closely. He could feel her breath on his face. Hair was sticking to her forehead from wearing a helmet in this heat. “What’s with the red contacts?”

“I can’t wear my huge glasses under my helmet visor.”

“But why red?”

“I’m a weeb.” She nodded, then coughed and stepped back. “Yep, you’re stinky. Well…” She gestured to her bike. “Want a ride?”

“Maybe after you explain the rest of whatever the hell Cardin was talking about.”

“He would talk to me every day between classes last year,” she said. “And I kept saying no, no, fuck off, no. I think he just thought I was playing hard to get. Which I was. I was very hard for him to get, but apparently he’s no quitter.”

“And so you eventually agreed to go out with him?”

“No! He walked up to me, handed me a movie ticket, and told me to meet him at the theater at 10pm to see that Jay Hawk movie.”

“The one we went to see?”

“Yep! I took the ticket and brought you instead!”

Jaune blinked. “Well no wonder he thinks we’re dating.”

“He thinks we…? Well no wonder he tried to fight you. He’s an insecure little weirdo.”

Jaune chuckled. “Thanks for saving me, by the way.”

“I mean, thanks for giving me an excuse to knock the guy’s teeth out.” She looked at her helmet and sighed, pointing at the top. “Left a mark.”

“My condolences to your helmet on its injury,” Jaune said sarcastically, smiling at her.

She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I’m sorry that douche hit you. That’s so fucked up, honestly. You didn’t do anything.

“Well, I don’t think he’ll mess with me anymore. He might think my girlfriend will come after him again.”

“I’ll take any chance he gives me,” Yang said honestly. “I just…really hate him. I hope he has that coin slot in the front of his face forever.

“Same.”

She led him over to her newly completed bike. “Well, what do you think?”

“You seriously built this whole thing all on your own,” Jaune said, not really asking, more just expressing his wonder. The bike had a yellow and orange color scheme and chrome accents. It was the coolest thing he had ever seen.

“With a little help from my dad.” She lifted the backseat and pulled a spare helmet from the hidden compartment. She tossed it to Jaune. “Safety first.”

He caught the helmet and laughed. “All that studying paid off then?”

“I taught myself how to build a motorcycle, and then I did,” Yang said with a shrug.

“Just as a fun little project.”

“Yep.”

Jaune would never not envy how smart Yang was. “So humble.” He said with a smile, then put his helmet on. “So, do I just…?”

She climbed onto the bike and started the engine. “Just climb on back.”

“Do I need to, like, hold onto you?” Jaune asked as he awkwardly got onto the bike behind her.

“Sure,” she said, having to yell over the engine. “If you really want to.”

He rolled his eyes and sighed, encircling her waist and locking his fingers together in front of her, because he didn’t know where else to put his hands. “How fast does this thing go?”

“Dunno, shall we find out?”

“Uh.”

Yang laughed. “JK, I’m taking things slow with her.”

“Her?”

“Her name’s Bumblebee.”

He patted the side of the bike. “Hi Bumblebee.”

Yang laughed, leaning back and nudging him with her shoulder. “Shall I get you home so you can shower and nap and eat your hamburgers?”

“Yes please.”

“I could join you.”

“You want burgers?”

“No, to shower and nap with you, duh,” she said sarcastically, nudging him again, and making him blush. “We aren’t actually dating, remember?”

“Well, I mean…” Jaune began, muttering softly enough to where he assumed she wouldn’t be able to hear.

Yang giggled and revved the engine. “Off we go!” She took off down the street, accelerating much faster than Jaune expected. He yelped and leaned back, jabbing Yang in the stomach with his locked hands. She shook her head and for some reason, began driving in a serpentine manner, making Jaune wobble side to side. “Just getting you used to it!” She yelled.

“Ahhhh,” Jaune responded in the most respectable way he could.

Yang laughed again and accelerated. He was a bit more ready for it this time. As she got on a busier road and sped up, he couldn't help but laugh. This was awesome! And terrifying!

But if Yang was being truthful about giving him rides every day, he would surely get used to it eventually.

[shizukku]

-Dragon Slayer Week-

*DAY 1(June 7): Natsu Dragneel 

[rainladyjuvia]

Fairy Tail Dragon Slayer Week Day 1 - Favorite Generation

I found out it was Dragon Slayer week so here’s some quick sketches of my favorite generation. It could also work for Day 1-3 but whatever. 

Please excuse Wendy. She came out messed up for some reason.

[bomberonion]

Dragon Puppy Natsu

For the first day of dragonslayer week

[ganyflamed]

Dragonslayer week day 4: Laxus 

 Hot damn XD Update: I fixed tatto a little bit, hope it will be okay :3

 My DA 

[craziechwiv]

Confronting the Blonds

Yang was whistling a small tune as she made her way towards Team JNPR's dorm room, as she and Jaune would be having a nice movie date. But once she entered the room, she was met with not only Team JNPR but also her team as well. They were sitting down in chairs in a circular motion, talking with Jaune as he looked annoyed about something.

Yang: Uh...am I interrupting something?

As Yang spoke, everyone turned to look at her with Ruby speaking first.

Ruby: Hey sis, we were just starting without you. Come, sit down. It's really important that you and Jaune are here to hear this.

Yang: What's this about?

Yang sat down in an empty seat next to Jaune, who she could see was agitated for something.

Ruby: So, we're all here today because we wanna confront you both on your...noisy nature.

Yang looked at Jaune confused who only shrugged his shoulders in response.

Yang: Yeah...we got no clue what you mean Rubes.

Weiss: Oh please, everyone can hear your muffled screams and how the walls shake from god knows what!

Ren: We can endure most of your stuff together since you keep it at a moderately low volume, but your alone time has to be private for us to endure that too.

Nora: Yeah! As much as I wanna be an Aunt, I don't wanna hear it daily!

Yang and Jaune were more confused on what their friends were getting at before the thought finally clicked in both their brains, then came the horrifying realization on what they were talking about. And it wasn't even close to what they were doing.

Jaune: OH gods- You guys got it all wrong! So, so, far off!!

Yang: Yeah! I mean, we're both still young for crying out loud! Not that I wouldn't mind having a family with Jaune, but it's not that!

Pyrrha: Then mind telling us what you do are doing alone together to make such a racket?

Yang: Uh...

Jaune: Er...

~Flash back~

Jaune and Yang are in a heated sparring match in RWBY's dorm room, which Yang trying to pin Jaune towards the wall but Jaune moving out of the way quick enough for Yang to bang against it, leaving a dent from the impact.

Yang: Hah! You're getting better at dodging Lover Boy, now show me what you're made of and try to hit me!

Jaune: Oh, believe me, You'll see just how much I've improved!

Jaune then charges at Yang as she held her arms out wide, grabbing a hold of the blitzing Jaune as they both were sent to the floor, making the room shake.

~End of Flash back~

Yang: ...

Jaune: ...yeah. That's what we were doing...

As they both explained their situation to their friends, they were all left appalled and embarrassed on what their first thought was to them being so aggressive and loud.

After this, not even one person spoke about it as one after another, they fled the room. Leaving the blond couple alone together.

[dragonslayer-week]

Day 1 Gamers

What will our favorite couple be like as gamers? Show us all what you think!

[lindorthedragonslayer]

#dragonslayerweek || day 7: rogue or a future version of your favorite dragon slayer { credits: xxx }

[razorblade180]

Dragonslayer Week Day2: Nintendo

Yang:*listening to music*

Aggressive knocking

Blake:You gonna get that?

Yang:I don’t know. Last time I heard a knock that fierce there was Nora covered in food and the approaching sound of a very angry Goodwitch.

Blake:What if JNPR is back from their mission?

Yang:Jaune would’ve called.

Jaune: *knocks again* Hello? Anyone there?

Yang’s eyes widen as she basically teleports to the door knob, fixing her hair right before she opens the door to see Jaune holding a sizable bag. Before he could say anything, Yang gave him a big hug.

Yang:What happened to calling beforehand!?

Jaune:It’s hard to surprise you, so I took the opportunity!

Yang:How did the mission go? Seems pretty well. Did the client gift goodie bags or something?

Jaune:I’d say this is pretty big for a goodie bag, don’t ya think?

Yang:Maybe it’s a testament to your job?

Jaune:If only. Nora was on a roll out there. Anyway, this is actually something I bought for you in town! Granted, with money from the job.

Yang:Really? Hehe, you didn’t have to get me anything.

Jaune:You say that, but…haven’t you been hinting towards a certain thing you wanted? “Something we could do together that may bewitch me.” Are your terribly corny words.

Yang:*red* You didn’t…

She quickly grabbed the bag from his hands. It was a little heavier than expected but that didn’t stop her from yanking out to gift. A gasp left her as she realized it was two boxes and the bold letters on them.

Yang:A N- You bought two Nintendo Switches

Jaune:Yeah! Now we can even play online together when we aren’t around.

Yang:Jaune that’s so expensive.

Jaune:It would be, but Ren didn’t mind pitching in a little for my copy if it meant he was free from cooking for two weeks. Anyways, I hope you like the gift.

Yang:I- this…guilt!

Jaune:*kisses cheek* Don’t feel bad. I like spoiling you when I can. Anyways, I really need to shower and take a nap. We’ll set them up later. *leaves*

Yang:…..

Blake:…Your hint was a Switch, right?

Yang:Yes, it was a switch.

Blake:…*looks at Weiss*

Weiss: *watching the chaos* Yang, I swear to all that is sane, were you referring to the console, or the whip.

Yang:*covers face* I didn’t mean for this to happen.

Weiss:What I hate most about this is while I completely understand Jaune’s reasonable logic, the moment he quoted you I knew something was wrong. How dare you make me say this. Ya don’t deserve him. Two! He bought two to play games with you!

Yang:I wanted to play games too…

Blake and Weiss:Not the kind he thought of!

Yang:*tearing up* Please help me reimburse him for at least one. I feel so bad.

Weiss:No. put on your shoes and say goodbye to any bike upgrades. You’re doubling down buying the accessories for both consoles.

Yang:Okay…

[gotham-arts]

Dragonslayer Week 2023 Day 8: Pregnancy

[musings-from-mars]

@dragonslayer-week 2022 Day 4 (July 28): Yang’s Birthday

Yang had wanted this for years now. Ever since her family moved to the city, she’d wanted to take all of her new friends to see her old home in Patch one day. And what better time to do that than the summer after they had all graduated from high school?

Her family still owned the house, though her Uncle Qrow lived there now. They visited every summer, but this was the first time they’d gotten to bring along friends.

It seemed Qrow didn’t expect this many visitors. It was Yang and her boyfriend Jaune, along with Ruby and her girlfriend Penny, Nora and Ren from their robotics club, and Pyrrha, Blake and Weiss from student council. They had all ended up forming a sort of extended universe of overlapping friend groups in high school, so despite Taiyang’s best efforts, Ruby and Yang would not budge on bringing all of them along.

And with them all here now, they were off to the beach! Well, except for Qrow and Tai, who were now tasked with cooking for all these teenagers. They didn’t seem to mind staying out of the sun, though. And Pyrrha was a lifeguard! So they’d all be fine.

Yang probably never once stopped smiling from the moment they started on the half-mile walk from the house to the shore. Even just after setting everything up on the sand, it was already going better than she had imagined it. Blake had brought her surfboard and was testing the tides, Pyrrha and Nora had already gotten in the water, and Ruby and Penny were setting up a bot they had built to assist in sandcastle building (Sandroid, they called it). Once the beach umbrellas were set up, Ren and Weiss were content with staying in the shade and reading. That left Jaune and Yang to set up the volleyball net. It already felt like everyone was having a good time. Yang just kind of stood there for a moment, looking around at everyone.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, which snapped her back to the moment. "You good?" Jaune asked her, and she nodded, smiling up at him. He smiled back, then offered her some sunscreen. "Need help?"

She smirked and wiggled her eyebrows. "Yeah I do."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "You're just very prone to forgetting." He poked her cheek. "Not that I don't love the freckles."

"Just wish there were less painful ways of acquiring freckles," she joked, turning to let him apply sunscreen to her shoulders. Their go-to cheap date for a long time now had been going to the park to play sand volleyball, and Yang still struggled to get out of the mindset that sunscreen was only necessary if you were going swimming. On the bright side, she now had a very freckly face and shoulders, and some sports-bra-shaped tan lines, but that also meant a lot of sunburns. Best to get better at the whole sun protection thing before a dermatologist would need to get involved.

"Could always go at you with a marker," Jaune joked, gently tugging on the shoulder straps of her bikini top to get under them.

"Just draw dots all over me?" Yang asked with a scoff.

"Less painful, right?"

"True, but the authenticity," she joked, making them both laugh.

Once she was fully sunscreened, she returned the favor for Jaune. Gone were the days of him being the skinniest boy in the world ever since he quit football, but the sand volleyball and long walks together had kept him athletic, with some added softness to his midsection. She found it so cute. He always seemed bashful about it, but she was happy to remind him that it wouldn't be fair if he could constantly compliment her for her cute chubbiness if she couldn't throw the same back his way. Besides, all the lower body work he'd been doing, in addition to the added softness, meant he looked really good in swim trunks~ "There," she said, and as he turned around, she poked his nose, leaving a dollop of sunscreen.

He smiled and rubbed it in, then leaned down and kissed her gently. "You're cute." She saw his gaze trail down her body for a moment, and she smirked at him. He seemed to blush at getting caught checking her out, even though, as she had reminded him many times, he was allowed to. Expected to, even? Though it was yet another confirmation that this bright orange bikini was a good choice.

"Wooo, go Blake!"

Their attention was pulled away when they heard Nora hollering, and they turned to see Blake, a ways out from shore, stand on her surfboard and catch a wave. Yang remembered Blake asking if Patch's coasts were good for surfing, and Yang, not being a surfer, had no idea. But judging by how fast and for how long Blake stayed upright before losing her balance and jumping off, it must've been perfect. That was confirmed when Blake's head surfaced from the water, and with her wet hair over her eyes, she raised both fists and yelled "Yeahhh!"

The rest of them laughed and applauded her. Yang then glanced at the volleyball equipment yet to be set up. "Want to get all that ready so we can kick someone's butt?"

Jaune nodded, giving her a determined thumbs up. "Yeah, let's kick butt!"

It's not as if it had slipped their minds that Pyrrha was on the varsity volleyball team all four years of high school. Jaune and Yang just figured they could at least hold their own against her and Nora. This was sand, after all! Pyrrha wasn't used to playing on sand, right?

But alas. Even at full effort and full focus, Pyrrha was just too good. She jumped too high, spiked the ball too hard. Even with them diving around the sand, it did little to halt the onslaught.

For perhaps the fifteenth time now, Pyrrha leapt into the air and struck the ball hard. Yang left her feet and dove in the direction of the ball, but could only manage to weakly bump the ball off to the side and out of bounds. She just kind of laid there face-down for a second, smelling the sand. "Bluh..."

Pyrrha, to her credit, wasn't gloating. She was doing the exact opposite, in fact. "I'm sorry! Was that still too hard?"

Yang heard hard breathing above her. That would be Jaune. "Don't you have, like, a casual setting?" He joked to Pyrrha.

"This is practice level for me!" She insisted.

Jaune leaned down and fiddled with Yang's ponytail for a moment. "You good?"

"We're losers, Jaune," she declared.

"No you aren't!" Pyrrha said.

"Yeah they are!" Nora said, arms in the air. "Victory for team Valkos!"

"You're only doing like ten percent of the work," Ren, standing nearby, teased her.

"Yeah, and we won because of it!"

Jaune chuckled and helped Yang to her feet. "Maybe we need Pyrrha as our coach."

Yang dusted the sand off and chuckled. "I guess so." She looked over at Pyrrha and smiled. "That was fun! Man, I feel sorry for literally everyone who has ever played against you."

Despite the good natured tone of Yang's words, Pyrrha still had to run under the net and hug them both. "Don't get discouraged! Keep practicing!" She told them. Neither Jaune or Yang minded. Pyrrha's muscly arms were good for hugging, after all.

Following the mini volleyball tournament, Blake's failed attempts at teaching Ruby how to surf, and Penny and Ruby's presentation of their Sandroid-assisted castle creation (literally all of them were so good at what they do; somehow valedictorian Yang and student council president Jaune were left feeling somewhat inadequate), they all gathered under the umbrellas for snacks. It was about an hour before sundown, so their beach time was winding down.

But it wouldn't end without a surprise first.

Her dad and uncle arrived, carrying a box and a big gift bag. Yang tilted her head at them as they approached, but then started noticing everyone else smiling at her, and this box looked suspiciously like it contained a cake, and... Somehow, she'd gotten so caught up with how amazing today had been, she'd forgotten about her own birthday.

"Before we begin the cake ceremony," Taiyang declared, "a quick disclaimer." He pointed at Qrow. "Don't believe anything he says about the shirt he's wearing, he loves it."

Qrow, who for the record was wearing a pink and white floral button-up, a palette swap of Tai's orange version, grimaced. "He forced me to wear this."

"He's lying," Tai assured them, then handed the box to Ruby.

Ruby grinned at Yang as she presented her with the cake box. "Happy birthday, sis!"

Yang was beaming and shaking her head. "I can't believe none of you said happy birthday to me once today. I somehow forgot it was my birthday!"

"Well, we weren't going to spoil the surprise," Jaune told her, lightly nudging her arm. They smiled at each other, then Yang elbowed him back. "Ow!"

"You goof!" She giggled before picking up the cake box. "Ohh, what kind is it?"

"It's Ruby's favorite!" Tai joked.

Ruby gasped. "Strawberry?"

Yang opened the box and laughed. It was indeed a strawberry cake (also Yang's favorite), with the words "happy birthday Yang" and a very poorly drawn dragon off to the side in icing. She nodded and reached forward, pulling her sister into a hug first. "Gosh, thank you!"

"The dragon was your dad's doing," Qrow said with a smile.

"That's also a lie!" Tai insisted, blushing.

Yang got up and went to give her dad and uncle hugs as well. They then handed her the big gift bag. "Kinda just piled everyone's gifts into that."

"Wait, gifts? Mulitple?" Yang asked, opening the bag to first find a motorcycle helmet. "Ohh!" She pulled it out. It was shiny and gold colored. "This is cool!"

"Put it on," Jaune advised.

She looked at him to find him smiling expectantly. She looked around at the others, who all also seemed to have an idea of what was going on. She put the helmet on, with the visor down. "Ooh, comfy."

"You feel that button on the side?" Jaune added.

Yang felt around the sides of the helmet, then felt a button and pressed it. She gasped when a see-through display was projected onto her visor. "Woah!" She looked over at her friends. "This rules!"

Jaune laughed. "You can connect it to your bike, the speed gauge, the radio, everything!"

Yang pulled the helmet off. "This thing had to be expensive..."

"Which is why," Weiss spoke up, smiling as she took her big sunglasses off, "We all pooled our money to get it for you."

"Happy birthday Yang!" Nora cheered, followed by the rest of them echoing the same.

"Ahhh, y'all are going to make me blush!" Yang said, putting the helmet back on to hide her face, making them laugh.

"There's more in there, you know," Qrow told her.

"She'll get there," Tai murmured to him.

"What, I'm excited," Qrow said with a shrug.

Yang took her helmet off and pulled out another gift. It was a brown leather jacket. "Nooo way." She turned it around, and across the back was the most badass illustration of a yellow dragon ever, in front of a sunny background. The word "Dragon" was stitched in script across the shoulders.

"That one was another joint effort," Jaune explained. "I bought the jacket, Blake did the dragon illustration, and Ruby did the embroidering."

"This is so cool!" Yang threw the jacket around her shoulders. It fit perfect, and was lined with wool on the inside. "Hell yesss..."

"You better get me something just as cool for my birthday!" Ruby reminded her. "Like my own motorcycle!"

"Uhh, maybe for your next birthday after this one?" Tai said.

Yang laughed and went around, hugging Ruby, then Blake, and then Jaune. "Thank you all so much!"

Qrow went over to the gift bag and looked in it. "Uhh, hey Firecracker. Might wanna check the pockets."

Yang looked over at him to see Qrow and Tai both smiling expectantly. She checked all the pockets (so many pockets!) and found an envelope. "'To Yang...and Jaune'?" She read, looking towards her boyfriend, who seemed just as perplexed.

Tai nodded. "Go on, open it."

Yang did so, slowly tearing it open and pulling out several papers. On the front page, there was a heading that read "Leasing Agreement," and at the bottom, on the line labeled "cosigner," her dad had already signed.

"Is...this..."

"Since you two are off to college this fall," Tai said, "and I know you both were planning on just living at home, but..." He shrugged. "You two...you two have something special going."

"And best to figure out whether Jaune's a nightmare to live with or not sooner rather than later, right?" Qrow added jokingly, making the kids laugh.

Yang shared a wide-eyed look with Jaune, both of their jaws hanging open. She then looked back at the papers, skimming through them. It was for a one bedroom apartment. She recognized the address being right down the street from Beacon University, where they were both going to be attending in the fall. "You're serious..."

"If that's cool with you two," Tai said with a shrug. "I understand if you'd miss my home cooking too much."

Yang immediately ran over and hugged her father. "Oh my gods, thank you!"

Tai laughed, hugging her back as Jaune got up to join. "Hey, you've worked hard for years, Yang. You're gonna do amazing in life...even if I'll miss you."

They parted, with Yang taking a shaky breath. She wiped at her eye. "Thanks, Dad."

"Hey, I'm forking part of the bill, too," Qrow said, pointing at himself. "I think I deserve a hug."

Yang laughed and hugged him, then paused. "Wait...forking the bill?"

"With all the scholarships you got, paying for an apartment is gonna be cheaper than tuition would've been, so..." Tai shrugged. "Consider this a thank you for saving us some money!" He then turned to look at Jaune, who was offering a handshake.

"Thank you so much, Tai," Jaune said, beaming.

Tai frowned. "Xiao Longs don't shake hands, kid, come here!"

"Woah-!"

Tai pulled Jaune into a hug, and the others laughed. Once the chest-crushing hug ended, Jaune and Yang smiled at each other. "We're getting our own place," Jaune said, disbelieving.

Yang nodded. "That's...super cool, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Can I take your room," Ruby interjected.

Yang laughed, smiling and sticking her tongue out at her sister, then stepped close to Jaune and hugged him. He hugged her back, and everyone aww’d at them. The two then separated and blushed, making the rest laugh.

“Well,” Tai said. “It’ll be dark soon. We should get back to the house, maybe have a game night?”

They all agreed, and soon everyone was one their way back to the house. However, Jaune and Yang lingered back on the sand for a moment. The others let them have some time alone.

The sun was setting over the water, the sky a pinkish orange.

“We’re going to live together,” Jaune said, still not quite believing it.

Yang held his hand, still looking out at the sunset. “Is…that cool with you?”

“It’s what I’ve wanted for so long.”

She looked up at him. The slight smile on his face, the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he grinned… Gosh, she loved him so much. Sometimes it still struck her how incredible this was, being together with Jaune, the awkward, sensitive boy she used to ride bikes with when he’d visit this very island as a kid. And here they were now, this same beach, over a decade later, about to go to college and beyond together.

Yang stepped into a hug, resting her forehead against his neck. He chuckled and hugged her back, cupping the back of her head. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, too,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“Hey Jaune?”

“Yeah?”

“In our new apartment…”

“Yeah…?”

“Instead of a bed, could we just get one of those gigantic beanbags?”

Jaune scoffed and laughed, parting from the hug.

“What? I’m serious!” Yang insisted, grinning.

“You’re so cute,” he said.

“Serious! I want to be consumed by the beans!”

He took her hand, turning back towards the house. “We’ll get a gigantic beanbag, in addition to a bed. How about that?”

“I’ll accept that.” She then kissed his cheek and smiled at him. He smiled back, and they continued on to enjoy the rest of Yang’s birthday.