Nothing.

After a whole night of running around Vale, I'd turned up nothing.

I almost had something, when I'd managed to corner Torchwick and his crony of a girlfriend. But then Jaune, of all the people Jaune, came swooping in out of nowhere and distracted me.

I'd spent the rest of the night, running around in the rain, trying to find something- anything- that I could use to explain this mess. At the end of it though, all it amounted to was another night of lost sleep, and wet boots. So wet that, even hours after the rain had stopped, and I got back to Beacon, each step was punctuated with a spongy wet *squidge*.

How could anyone take one look around and think everything was hunky dory? We all looked like fucking kewpie dolls, how the fuck was that normal?

I'd officially reached the point of being too tired to care at the moment. Instead, I was going to go back to sleep for a while. It hadn't sorted itself out the last time I'd gone to sleep, but attacking it with a fresh head was better than the present. Hopefully I wouldn't wake up and find myself someplace else again either. I don't know how I'd gotten into 'detention' with Ruby, but I was inclined for it not to happen again.

I *squidged* my way back to the dorms and up to my team's wing. Ready to fall into my cot and put the day behind me.

Or, barring a bed, collapse outside somewhere.

I stopped in front of my closet door and jiggled the handle, only to find it was locked. I wasn't necessarily surprised. The janitor wasn't particularly fond of sharing space with me after I wrec- appropriated the boiler. I had no problem with picking the lock either, it's how I got in most of the time.

As I began to work the tumblers though, the thought occurred to me.

I don't sleep in the closet anymore. Goodwitch had forced me to start sleeping with my teammates. Which was Ruby and everyone… wasn't it?

I slid the bobby pin and screwdriver back out of the keyhole, and tapped the tip of the driver to my mask. Trying to figure out why I'd woken up in the closet then. I hadn't slept in there in forever. Why was my stuff in there then?...

I slid the bobby pin and screwdriver back into the keyhole, working the tumblers until I could twist the mechanism open. Unlocking the door, I pulled it open and peered into the dank little room that I used to sleep in.

Sure enough, my cot and belongings were nowhere to be seen.

I slid my screwdriver back into my coat, and resisted the urge to scratch my head. I was certain I'd woken up in here, but now there was no sign of it. Did the janitor move my cot back to my room? What was I doing in here in the first place? Why couldn't I remember any of it?

The harder I thought about it, the less clear everything got. I was tired, and my head was muddy to begin with. The only thing trying to think about it accomplished was give me a headache. Nothing was making any sense, and the harder I tried to assert logic to anything, the less logical it got. At least, that's how it felt.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

So rather than fry my brain any further trying to force an answer out of it, I took the answer that made sense. I shut the door and started down the hall to my team's dorm room.

A dozen or so yards down the way, I found myself at my team's door. Funny thing about the doors: They'd stayed closer to the same size, just like everything else. But because I- we- all of us were now significantly smaller, that left the door knobs sitting inconveniently at eye level. Also two times the size of my hand. Whoever had been doing the remodeling must've forgotten to take the vertically challenged into mind when working.

And I just acknowledge myself as being vertically challenged. Terrific. Bed time.

I clasped the doorknob with both hands and twisted, pushing the door open. Right before I could take my first step inside though-

"WAIT!"

All four of my teammates started shouting at me.

The door was already swinging wide, so I couldn't make an immediate effort to stop it. Normally when you hear someone screech at you to keep a door shut, the wise thing is to do as they say. Last thing you'd want is for someone else to walk in on you changing, or having a conversation with Rosie Palmer. Or- well- any number of other things really. Entering without knocking was just considered rude by civilized standards.

As the door swung wide though, the only thing 'weird' I saw were my teammates. All of whom were precariously perched off the floor. Weiss, Blake, and Yang on the bunk beds to the right side of the room, and Ruby standing on a chair towards the left. Her arms outstretched in a halting gesture.

"The floor is lava!" the four of them shouted.

"… Say what?" I asked.

"The floor is lava!" Yang shouted again.

"…" I looked down at the floor in front of me "… It looks normal to me, but why is Torchwick's hat on the floor? More importantly, why do we have it?"

"There's no time to explain!" Ruby shouted "If you step one foot into this room you will die!"

"…" I rubbed the bridge of my mask, trying to suppress the growing migraine I felt "Girls, I've had a long night. Whatever game you're playing at right now, I'm not interested. I'm just going to lay down, and get some shut-eye, a'ight?"

"Wait- STOP!" Ruby squawked.

I started into the room, setting my right foot first.

The excess water in my boot instantly vaporized into steam, flash frying my foot.

"OW!" I shouted, lurching back out into the hall, hopping on one foot.

The sole of my boot was on fire. I quickly tried to stamp it out, only to be reminded of my steam burns, and get locked into a cycle of trying to put the fire out and not put my foot down.

It resolved when I pulled my canteen out and poured water onto my foot. It didn't help my potential burns, but it at least kept me from bursting into flames. I was pretty sure all the water in my boot had steamed off my foot calluses.

I looked down at my foot. Despite the visible flames I'd seen, there didn't appear to be any scorchmarks.

At the sound of snickering, my head swiveled back up. I couldn't help but notice that my bed bound teammates were busy fighting a fit of the giggles.

I swiveled my head back to Ruby, choosing to ignore them. "… You're serious, the floor is lava!?"

"Yes!" Ruby cried "That's what we were trying to tell you!"

"… how are you all alive right now?" I asked.

"We haven't touched the floor." Ruby said brightly.

"Haven't touched- Do you not know what convection is!?" I growled, still hopping on one foot

"That doesn't matter!" Ruby said, pointedly ignoring me "Six, if you want to go to sleep, you must prove yourself an acrobatic marvel and cross the room without touching the floor!"

I looked at Ruby for a moment, slowly letting my foot down. It touched the floor, and was a bit tender, but I could walk on it at least. I eyed the distance between me and my cot. Only a couple of feet into the room. I could probably amble my way across the desks and chairs. Might take a second, but it wouldn't be that hard.

There was, however, a better option.

I slammed the door shut, and began hobbling my way back down the hall.

I preferred camping anyway.