Author's Headnote: Well, are you guys ready to read up on the Ruby chapter? Don't worry, Ruby didn't just suddenly teleport to the observatory last chapter, it was something called an error. In which I have now corrected. But without further ado, let's see what our cute lil'vampire is up to.

RWBY: Festival of Blood: Bartending Business

Ruby Rose:

Aura Status: 88%

Thirst: Thirsty

Semblance: Wilted Petal Burst

Weapons: Crescent Rose, Slice of Life

Team Relations:

-Weiss Schnee: She still admires her friend, but she'll have to carry the burden of leadership.

-Blake Belladonna: She still loves Blake, but she can't be with her.

-Yang Xiao Long: She still cares for her sister, but she knows that she'll have to learn to recover without Ruby.

End of main character status report.

Village of Calford, December 14, Sunday, 8:00 PM, Ruby's 'Residential' Inn Room

Ruby had woken up from her bed. Although given that her clothes were in ruins and that she can't visit her tailor. In addition, she didn't pack any pajamas. This means she had to sleep in her underwear. Well, the underwear she had 'acquired' from dead mercenaries and adventurers that booked a room at this inn. So, they do not match, yet again... Ruby would only wear matching underwear for the intention of showing it off to Blake. Blake... Ruby feels incredibly terrible about what she did to Blake. Although not directly, once she re-unites with the rest of Ruby's former team... well, Ruby would be happy if she were to find who cared for Blake just as much as Ruby does. She can't come back to Vale, to Patch. She needs to get enough money, not connected to Ruby's account, to take a venture to anima, and Mistral. Chances are Cinder might have been a thrall to the vampire clan in Mistral, so she needs to confront and deal with them.

But... that is the long-term goals and plans. As for the present. Well, she's in Calford. Named after the mountain adjacent to it, Calford is a small village that was founded ten years before the great war. With Vale's urban expanses, most of the Calfordites emigrated to Vale. Meaning that Calford never really grew... or developed. So, they are quite behind on their technology. Their plumbing is basic, too. Can only really work for toilets. Even than, the only building that has them are the public buildings. In addition, Calford's a very religious and traditional village because most of the people who wanted modernization went to Vale... so ya, it's a slice of medieval remnant here. Much to Ruby's expense.

With Vale gone, Calford is politically independent. With this news reaching Calford just after Ruby arrived, they've conscripted adult men and adolescent boys into their newly formed army. Which is underequipped, by pre-industrial standards. Only a helmet or hat as protection and only one of their men have a weapon. Ruby offered help, but for some reason, they did not want help from a former huntress... well, technically, Ruby never became a huntress, and Calford initiated a law against militant mercenaries. So... if Calford gets conquered by some warlord, that's on them.

Ruby was inside the inn, specifically in the room she had booked for free after mind-tricking the innkeeper. It may not be morally correct, but she needs to get as much money as she can. Meaning, she is in her underwear right now. Which, she had acquired from a bin from laundry packed by huntsmen and huntresses that have died before booking out, so they moved all their unpacked laundry into a 'free clothing bin'. Ruby right now was wearing men's boxers, which was plaid in colors of green and yellow and a purple strapless bra. These were the only underwear that were in her size. She would have taken some of the briefs and panties too, but they were either too loose or too tight. As for her assortment of clothes... well, she only took what she knew was her size. She's going to stay here for a week and than move to the next town over eastward... which... according to the map, is the city of Scorpio, northeast of here.

Could she use her grimm powers to make herself some clothes? Well... it would make her look like a creature of grimm, or a comic book villain... both of which are undesirable for Ruby's appearance. But as of now... she needs to put on some clothes... well, her bartender uniform anyway. It was a simple slide on dress. It was brown with a white skirt. Along with some tan, leather shoes. She put on some socks before putting on the shoes. Oh, and don't forget the bandana. The one she had coming her was in torn to pieces, which means she had to cover her mouth coming here, until she could find a piece of rogue cloth to cover her face around. Thankfully the pins had bandanas plenty. She grabbed all of them. In which she had put on the bandana. Ruby is now ready to serve drinks to drunk soldiers, farmers, and lumber workers, and the occasional passerby adventurer. It is the nigh shift, after all.

Although she wouldn't be known as 'Ruby Rose' here, or anywhere she'll end up going. People just keep calling her 'girl' or 'lady', because Ruby refused to say her name. She needs to develop a new identity; she has to keep the vampires or a theoretical grimm queen off of her trail. So, she really can't use her real name. Not anymore, that is. Even if it is painful, and overly paranoid. Ruby still has the locket with Blake's picture on it. She knows she needs to keep moving forward, but she cannot forget her past, if she forgets who she was... all she would become is nothing more than a monster.

But no less, with her being a bartender to an inn. She may as well get that payment from the tips from the patrons. Which covers almost the entire night-time here. If she hasn't already, she grabs Crescent Rose and Slice of Life, along with the bag of Penny's blades. She wonders if the last intact blade holds some trace of Penny left. Maybe she could revive Penny, alternatively if her memories or sapient AI could not be recovered, the blades under Ruby's craftsmanship would make good weapons.

Village of Calford, December 14, Sunday, 8:09 PM, The Burning Handkerchief Inn

Ruby had gone downstairs to the bar of the inn. Where she is to serve drinks to the people at the bar, whilst the waiters tend to the people not at the bar. The uniforms don't reveal a lot, being that this is Calford. The highly religious and traditional village that's practically defenseless. No less it looks no different than any ordinary inn. And then someone broke down the doors of the bar... well, kicked it open, the door is still attached to the hinges. Which oddly uncharacteristic for the Calford militia... wait, these guys look different... and more armed.

The three of them seem to wear uniforms which oddly resemble the White Fang uniforms, similar base colors, but except for White and Red, it's Blue and Yellow. And the wolf symbol is replaced too, instead of a side-facing wolf with a claw mark over it. It's a front facing wolf with a large glare in it's eyes. The grimm masks appear to be swapped with aviator sunglasses. It looks like a reskin of the White Fang uniform, in general.

No matter they came in and had a seat at the bar. It was three guys. Two of them mostly wearing that blue and yellow White Fang uniform as described, although it's impossible to tell whether they are human or faunas. The third one wears a uniform similar to that of a White Fang captain's, even with the color palette swapped. Ruby didn't recognize them.

"Hello. What can I get you guys?" Ruby asked in a monotone voice.

"How bout a beer and a slice of your bod of yours, doll?" One of the militiamen spoke.

"Excuse me?" Ruby said in an offended tone.

"Just gimme the beer."

"And the rest of you... gentlemen?"

"Ya deaf? We wanted beers and women!" one of the other militiamen spoke.

"Well, you are different from... the other guys." Ruby stated.

"Oh, you mean those unarmed sods? Ya, they surrendered this mornin when we came and conquered the place, surely you must have known that Calford's in our territory."

"Sorry, I was asleep... because I have to work the nightshift. Who do you work for again?"

"The warlord Arris, ya dumb wench! Now hurry with the beer so we can wreck things!"

"Well, are you going to pay?"

"You don't understand there, toots. Yer protection is payment enough. We don't have to spend a single Lien and we're staying the whole night."

Ruby's eye twitches, with her hand under the counter, instinctively forming her grimm claws in desire to rip them to shreds. However, she really doesn't want to get on the bad side of this: 'Arris' guy. So, she caught herself and reverted it back to it's human shape. Instead, she may as well figure she'd keep up using that mind trick of hers. It got her this job, and the hotel room she's staying in.

"You don't seem to understand the inn policy. Cash up front, no credit or favors allowed." Ruby said, waving her hand.

"Oh, sorry lady. We seem to have not understood what ya meant." one of the warlord soldiers said.

"Our bad, we didn't read the sign, talk about tough business." the second warlord soldier said.

"Ya fish fer brains! She's tricking ya!" The warlord officer said.

Well... it seems the officer has his aura unlocked. Makes sense, higher ranked officers need to be more powerful compared to the mooks. Well, this is going to be more complicated. She doesn't want to draw her weapons yet. Well, she has them hidden under the bar because having a giant pizza cutter on her back would draw unneeded attention. And Crescent Rose would reveal Ruby's true identity, she would have to get Cressie a makeover before using her in public. Again, she's going the: 'Ruby, don't know who that is' thing right now.

Thankfully, some online mall ninja martial arts videos have taught her some hand-to-hand combat. Although it may not be practical, it would be better than her pre-vampiric state, especially with her vampirism giving her punches an extra oomph. Kicks too! So, she could take them on unarmed, no problem.

"I don't want to upset the rest of the patrons here, but cash goes up front. If you don't comply, I'll have to ask you to leave." Ruby demanded.

"You think you can talk tough with us, toots? Yer not gonna be tough once we're done with ya." One of the warlord's mooks countered, drawing his weapon. It appears to be a military grade firearm.

The mook started shooting up the place, scaring off the employees and non-armed patrons... which was just about everyone, except Arris' mooks and Ruby. Well, sucks for them. They're about to fight someone who has partial huntress training. Ruby went under the counter and rolled downward to go behind the three warlord troops. She then went to punch one of the mooks out. The other two went and turned around.

"Wha? How did ya do that?" One of the mooks asked.

"I have my ways. Now like I said, just give me the money, and you'll get the drinks. I don't have time to deal with a bunch of men who think with their pants." Ruby said. This encounter has put her in a bad mood.

"We still wanna-" one of the mooks said, before being punched in the gut.

"I'm not repeating myself. Money. Now." Ruby demanded.

"How did you do that?" The officer asked.

"That's none of your concern. Just give me the money, never come back here, and be on your way. So, we can pretend all of this never happened. Does that sound like a deal?"

"Arris would want ya dead, and yer head will give me an invitation to his war cabinet. Sorry, toots, can't pass up on an opportunity."

"Wait, does he want me dead now?"

"Err... no?"

"Are you going to tell him what happened here?"

"Ya, obviously."

"Pretty sure he's not going to believe that a single bartender kicked your guys butts. A simple bartender girl?"

"Nice try, I'm not stupid, I know a trick when I see one." the officer said, attempting to shoot Ruby, but he ended up missing. And Ruby out of reflex, went and used her semblance to back behind the counter and grab slice of life. She also managed to knock out the other guy. "What the!?"

Ruby than, armed with a giant pizza-cutter went for the offense using it to strike the unsuspecting warlord army officer, but he managed to block the attack. But than Ruby started to fire up the spinning pizza-cutter, the rotation makes the blade grind against the sword, as it starts to react... the fire dust Ruby added onto it adds to this effect, as the rifle sword had gone to melt the blade. Which ends up breaking the opponents weapon.

However, he managed to grab one of the knocked-out officer's rifles and started to shoot at Ruby. In which Ruby went to Dodge, although they have grazed her arms a bit. she really cannot risk getting shot somewhere that would normally kill her if she wasn't a vampire. She does not want to raise suspicion. She was hoping she can just make things easy, just stay as a bartender, tolerate the flirting, and get enough money to afford a trip to Scorpio, beginning her trip to Mistral.

But things have to be complicated, they always have to be. Because now, she has to fire her pizza cutter blade toward the officer following with getting back under the counter to retrieve Crescent Rose. She wouldn't just leave Cressie in the bar, the smell wouldn't be good on her. She hides her scythe somewhere people don't see her, the scythe.

But with that out of the way, once the blade continues to give the officer a problem, constantly attacking him. He is calling for re-enforcements. As Ruby prepares to come in and knock him down in the forehead. This knocks out the officer. And the crisis is dealt with. And Ruby has to try and remove her association with the situation here... after she fed... finally she can feed off something that isn't wild animals. Even when she feeds off the wild animals, she doesn't intend to kill them... she just feeds around a deep time and than knocks them unconscious.

No less, she grabs one of the mook's wrists, lowers her bandana and starts seeking her teeth onto their veins, sucking their fluids to feed Ruby. Well, at least she doesn't have to drink animal blood tonight. After she was sated, she released her fang, licked off any remaining blood, and raised her bandana back up. It ain't easy being undead. Ruby then returned her weapons to their hiding spot.

After all of that, people have returned to the bar, no longer hearing the sound of combat. The patrons and employees return, and things are business as usual... say for the unconscious warlord soldiers. Other than that, it looks like it's business as usual.

"Girl, why are there unconscious soldiers in my inn?" the Innkeeper asked.

"They refused to pay for their drinks." Ruby responded.

"Well, that's fair enough. Remember, a customer can be rude as long as they want, so as long as they pay."

"Excuse me?"

"It's just something I say since a regular first came in."

And before Ruby can respond, another group of warlord soldiers came in. They really don't look like they are here to drink. Instead, they came in here to investigate the disturbance that was occurring back at the inn. And then they look at the unconsious soldiers.

"You got a minute to explain yourselves." one of the soldiers demanded to Ruby.

"They refused to pay for their drinks." Ruby responded.

"They are here to protect your little village from being razed by the White Fang, that's payment enough."

"Hold on, the White Fang don't have any activity here anymore since the incident at Vale, what more could they want here?"

"Assert a Faunas Dominant Kingdom in Remnant to shift the global politics. You are aware of Adam Tauras, yes?"

"I've heard of him, but never seen him."

"If he saw you, you wouldn't be alive today, the guy hates humans with a passion, and wants them to be nothing but rotting corpses."

"Wait, how come you know so much about the guy?"

"That is none of your concern. Now if you excuse us, we're going to have to convince those three not to have your entire inn razed by Arris." the soldier said, as he and the other two went and retrieved the unconscious bodies of the other warlord soldiers.

That was an odd encounter. Well, it seems her trip to Scorpio, along with her new combat outfit and a makeover for Crescent Rose is going to be a bit longer than expected. Even then, Ruby would have to pick a new color to wear. Since Red would be a too obvious a giveaway to Ruby's true identity.

Maybe all Black, change her name to something edgy... nah, that's not her style. Call it a bit narcissistic, but Ruby considers herself the main star, not the edgy rival or a background extra.

Perhaps swap it with blue and gold, dye her hair blonde and get blue contact lenses. Nah, that sounds like some sort of palette swap for a video-game.

Maybe she could stick with red and black, if ain't broke, don't fix it. But the point of this is to not try and make her taken for her true identity. So, she can't really pick that, no matter how much she wants to.

But she really can't go clothes shopping yet, she has to afford the trip to Scorpio AND the money to get new clothes. She may not be a huntress, but she needs the clothes, and a new look for her primary weapon to pass as a 'freelance mercenary'. But for now, she'll have to get money by means that won't shred away her dignity. Hence, why she became a bartender, and not a barmaid. Sure, Calford doesn't do barmaids, which is good for Ruby in sake of her dignity, but at least she can get a stable income... assuming that if the bar isn't filled with those soldiers paying with 'protection from the White Fang'. Given the state of the White Fang in Vale, the fledgling vampire would figure they'd leave. What more could they possibly want in the region?

But no less, here Ruby is, working at an inn serving drinks for free to some warlord soldiers.

Two Hours Later

Ruby sighed. As she went and served the next batch of beers to the soldiers, she sighed once again.

"Excuse me, I need to take a break for a moment, be right back." Ruby said, heading toward the washroom.

As Ruby went to the washroom, she looked around. It was a small place with a non-flushable toilet that Ruby have smelt before opening the door and a sink. The plumbing in Calford is basic, so they have the needs for sinks, just not toilets. When Ruby asked what people do with the filth, they stated that it is collected every once a month and re-used as manure. Which is disgusting to think about. So Ruby does not think about it all of the time.

Instead, she just came here, lowered her bandana, turn off the drain, turned on the sink for a small time, turn it off, and than went to wash her face whilst staring at the mirror. The fact that Ruby puts up with this is beyond her. She just wants to go ahead and punch something. Sure, her first night at work wasn't too bad, business is low and it was only just a couple people. But now she's expected to get the entire barracks drunk, free of charge. She would have to get the money to head to Scorpio somehow.

She looked at the mirror.

"Look at yourself. You're a bartender in a place where people use lighting as candles, while giving free drinks to a bunch of soldiers to some warlord whose uniforms strangely resembles the White Fang uniforms. You need to get a hold of yourself. Stop being such a pathetic bartender and find out how to deal with this Arris guy. He's the man keeping you from getting to Scorpio and Mistral. Come on Ruby, think!" Ruby ranted while banging her head on the mirror.

After twenty minutes of headbanging, Ruby raised her bandana, and left the restroom to head back to bartending. Pretty sure she cracked the mirror a bit. Her head looks undamaged too. But no less, Ruby needs to re-attend the bar. Unless there's a crisis.

She's actually not making the drinks; they are all pre-made. Most of it is beer, which is running low, and one 'special drink'. Guess the mixologist needs to restock a bit early. But no less, she needs to keep the drinks flowing, and watch as the soldiers wreck up the place, as the damage is taken out of her paycheck. The paycheck for the job she briefly mind-controlled her employer to give. She even feels disgusted to use her powers to get this job in the first place. But she'll have to endure it to get the money.

And as the soldiers go around brawling and the unarmed patrons cower to a safe place, the sound of the door being slammed open can be heard. A person enters the store. The person bore a feminine shape, a red combat jacket and a red combat skirt, with boots (also red) to match. This figure also had a grimm-like mask, similar to the kind the White Fang wore, except it covers her entire face. Her hair jet black, like Uncle Qrow's hair, or Yang's natural hair color. It's not common knowledge that Yang naturally has Black hair. Sure, when she was younger, it was blonde, but as she grew older it became darker. When she was eight, it turned brown, it went to Jet Black when she turned twelve. After that she started dying her hair blonde, eye-brows too. Although she quickly dyes her hair with special equipment every month so the roots don't pop up, exposing her natural hair color. The dye was made with a special dust so it doesn't damage her hair. Ruby doesn't know it works, but Yang hasn't been forced to go for the pixie cut.

She also appeared to have an incredibly wide sheathe for that sword. Wonder what that's for.

But no less, the figure went to walk up to the bar. But when one of the soldiers went to pick a fight with her by tugging on her hair. The woman responded by simply unsheathing the sword and swinging it toward him, she than unsheathed the sword, with the head rolling off from the body, decapitated. After that, the rest of the bar stayed away from her. As she sat down at the bar, she removed her mask. She looked a lot like Yang. Except she has the red eyes at standard, which with that face + red eyes triggers a natural reflex to be scared because either Yang is in a bad mood, or she's being over-emotional. Despite this figure not being Yang. In addition, there appears to be some expressive veins around her lips, although they appear to be red, not purple like Ruby's.

"Did I scare you? You must be new around here. Get me the Special Drink. Don't worry, I'm a paying customer. I have to say this to all the newcomers." the woman said.

"You... killed that person!" Ruby retorted.

"Him? Well, he should have known not to touch my hair." the woman countered.

"Oooh... so what do you want?"

"The 'Special Drink!' do these inns hire the hard of hearing now? I want that drink, and if I'm not buzzed, I get bloodthirsty." The woman threatened.

Well, out of fear and not wanting to fight that woman that has an uncanny resemblance to Yang in turns of appearance. She went to grab the 'special drink' and went to bring it to the woman. In which after receiving it, gives 8,000 lien. Well, that's enough for the ride to Scorpio. Bad news is, that she only keeps 2,000 as per rule of the bar. 75% of profits go to the innkeeper, who uses it to keep the inn up and running.

Soon after Ruby grabbed the money. She saw the woman chug down half of the bottle, which was around two pints. Ruby jumped out of shock.

"Ahh... that's the stuff. I had the bars around Vale and Mistral memorize the recipe of this drink. Good thing Calford caught on, and that none of the troops went after it." The woman stated.

"Aren't you worried about being... banned?' Ruby asked.

"Ban me!? Bah! I'd like to see them try. I'd burn the entire building down myself if they deny me service."

"I see..."

"Say, you look familiar... do I know you?"

"Nope, never seen you before in my life." Ruby stated.

Nor my post-life.

"What's with the makeshift mask?"

"The Bandana? Well, I just wear this... is there something wrong with that?"

"There's only two reasons people would try to cover their face when they're not sick or there's not an outbreak of a disease. Either they are trying to conceal their identity, or a part of their face conceals their true nature. I know, I wear a mask that covers my entire face."

"Uh huh... But I can assure you, I'm just a regular bartender who's not hiding anything."

"Well, then take off the bandana."

"I'm sorry what?"

"I said take off the bandana. If you have nothing to hide, why the bandana?"

"So that I don't leave a mess whenever I speak. Working as a bartender means I need to keep the bar clean. I don't want to create more work for myself."

"I see..."

"So... why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"Me? Well, I figured your employer would have told you about me."

"No... he hasn't."

"Well, I don't have to give an intense backstory, I need to deal with a bounty around here."

"Can you give me a name?"

"Incase you didn't recognize me, it's Raven Branwen: Bounty Hunter." Raven stated.

"Bounty Hunter?" Ruby asked.

"Don't have time to explain myself. I'll come back next month, assuming the White Fang or the Legion of Arris don't tear down Calford." Raven said, as she went to put her mask on and leaving the inn.

Well, if she's going to be a monthly regular... Ruby's going to need to find some costume makeup incase she rips the bandana off. In addition, it's best to get on her good side, it might be best to try and learn to make that 'special drink'. Guess she'll need to learn some mixology. Ruby is still surprised she met Yang's mother. Either way, this bartender business is going to be more interesting than what Ruby may think. Well, she'll have to close shop sooner or later since she can counter the amount of beer that's left.

Author's Footnote: Well, that's the Ruby Chapter. I know you are going to ask questions about Raven and the interview, and I shall respond in time about the Raven anomaly and how her profession, personality, and appearance are different in this story in due time. And I really can't get Ruby to jump into being super badass juuuuust yet, she'll have to work as a bartender. Although I originally planned for her to be a barmaid, but I figured that would be unwise given Ruby's age: Biologically 15, Legally 16. And as for who Arris is and his motives, that's going to be found out in due time. But alas I need to stop procrastinating on my other fanwork and other projects I am working on, so see ya on the Blake Chapter.