I don't own anything from RWBY, that honor belongs to the fine people at Rooster Teeth
Prologue:The Most Reluctant Vampire
To hunt Vampires was a dangerous task, but it was also an honorable one filled with excitement and grandeur. However, Pyrrha Nikos was not in it for the nobility, nor the riches or even the honor. Pyrrha hunted Vampires because it was what she felt was right. There was no greater virtue after all other than hunting down those that would try to harm humanity. Despite this, Pyrrha wasn't one to believe that Vampires were beyond redemption. She had heard tales of conversions from Vampire to Humans and Faunus and while these tales were often filled with hardship and struggle, they all ended the same, the Vampire turned from the monster they once were into what they truly where. Usually.
But the lives of Vampire Hunters were often filled with peril and danger as was the nature of their work. It was not uncommon for there to also exist tales of tragedy and suffering as some less fortunate hunters and huntresses were often killed, converted or worse. Death was always a possibility in the work of Hunters, but it was one that they were accustomed to and one they were normally able to avoid thanks to their skills, abilities, luck and the importance of allies in their lives.
Such Allies had always been in Pyrrha's life after she came to Vale which offered her a fresh start away from her revered life as Mistral's best. Her life there was fraught with peril and fear as her status made her near inapproachable to those who wanted to help and her skills as a huntress constantly brought attempts on her life as the Underworld attempted to kill her for being the threat she was to them.
In Vale she found a new home, a place where she didn't need to worry that today might be her last day or when the next vampire family would strike. But that didn't mean Vale was by any means safe. Far from it as the land was filled with dangers all over and safety wasn't ensured even in the walls of the city. Less than rare, were instances of attacks inside the city by the Underworld but luckily the many hunters that the city sheltered were more the capable at defending it.
But of all the cases Pyrrha had seen of Vampires attempting to enter the city, she had never heard one of a Vampire that didn't want to drink blood. At least until today.
Pyrrha was walking down the street in the evening which lead to an inn where she often went to for some comfort food, when she heard a boy saying help from her left which lead to an alley way. Immediately, Pyrrha armed Milo and Akouo and ran into the alley to find a boy running from a hooded figure who seemed to just be running the boy's way. Arming her weapon with Silver Bullets, she fired at the hooded figure and shot at the figure who was merely stunned and started to panic in fear as Pyrrha let the boy escape the alley and turned Milo into a sword and was about to strike the figure before it grabbed her weapon in desperation and merely threw it and Pyrrha saw a small piece of the Vampire's shriveled skin, revealing that the Vampire was probably going to starve to death but despite this the Vampire made no attempt to sink his fangs into Pyrrha's neck which she hoped for. Instead the Vampire simply kneed her in the stomach and began to run.
Pyrrha quickly recovered and found the exhausted Vampire at the end of the road which left him stuck at the wall panting as he tried to recover from the effect of the Silver Bullets which had left the Vampire out of breath as well. Pyrrha took aim with her weapon and aimed at the Vampire's head but seeing the pitiable state of the vampire, Pyrrha felt nothing but sadness as the Vampire fell to his knees and begged for mercy.
Not moving a single step closer, Pyrrha asked the weakened Vampire "Who are you?"
"My name is Jaune Arc! Do you know where I can find Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie? Please, I don't want to drink anyone's blood or even want to do anything to anyone! I just want to live! Please don't kill me." Jaune frantically said.
Pyrrha asked further, recognizing the two of them as close friends "Why should I trust you?"
"I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but I chose to be turned into a Vampire because someone needed my help and as such a man and his wife named Ren and Nora wanted to help me out. I was supposed to get to them for my monthly Blood Bag, but I ended up forgetting the location to their place. I guess that's something that will only happen when I would have gone there a little longer than just two months." Jaune replied as he pulled out a transcript.
"Two months?!" Pyrrha asked as Ren and Nora hadn't told anyone about this. Not even her.
"Yes, here's the transcript of the receipt I got with them. Please, just don't kill me." The Vampire said as he dropped the piece of paper on the ground and faced the wall almost ensuring the fact that any attempt made by him would be easily intercepted by the huntress. Pyrrha read the transcript and sure enough it was an official print which had been dated back to the last month.
"Ok, but why do you need to go to a blood bank for feeding? Why not try to hunt the animals around for food?" Pyrrha asked.
"Drink blood from the living? EWWW! That's gross!" Jaune exclaimed as he nearly doubled over.
"Don't you realize you're going to have to drink blood from something eventually? Ren and Nora won't always be alive to help you out." Pyrrha said.
"Maybe but why should I try to take the lives of others when I don't need to? When no one's existence needs to be bothered by me, why should I try to bother others?" Jaune said which made Pyrrha wonder if Jaune was telling the truth or not.
Jaune had made sure that he was in every opportunity to convert the boy in the alleyway but still didn't drink the boy's blood. Pyrrha had given Jaune every opportunity to try to attack her and still Jaune chose not to attack her and even put himself in a position where Pyrrha would have every advantage meaning the boy was either a master deceiver or was truly as harmless as he said he was.
"Do you wish to be purified?" Pyrrha asked, seeing as how the boy would suffer if forced to live as a Vampire.
"Purify?" Jaune asked, scratching his head in a strangely cute manner.
"It's the process by which a Vampire can be turned into a human or faunus. It can be done easily if a Vampire is not too far gone into their conversion and given how you don't seem to be too old for a Vampire-" Pyrrha said.
"Wait, purify, I thought it was called Reingug or Reinigig or ah it was some strange language that I couldn't-"
"Reinigung. It's German for Purification and how do you know about that?" Pyrrha asked a little more suspicious.
"The person who turned me, she did it because-"Jaune started to say before he began to gasp and fell to the ground.
"Jaune! What's happening?!" Pyrrha asked, worried for what was happening to him.
"I haven't….. in a couple of weeks…. I need blood fast otherwise I'll… die soon." Jaune said as he began to start gasping for air.
Pyrrha knew that she had no chance to get the boy to Nora and Ren before he died. Unfortunately, there weren't many good options for the boy to heal his desire for blood. There was nothing living in the cold streets of Vale other than the two in the street. Leaving Pyrrha with only one option.
Pyrrha took Milo and cut a small piece of skin in her arm, deep enough to let some blood flow but not enough to cause some serious damage thanks to her aura. Placing her arm over Jaune, Pyrrha said "Jaune! Hurry and drink before you die.".
Jaune weakly tilted his head towards Pyrrha and Pyrrha let the blood from her arm fall into his mouth which thankfully was enough to stop him from dying but didn't stop the boy from falling unconscious. What Pyrrha also didn't notice was the strange feeling of companionship to the boy.
"Jaune! Jaune, can you hear me?" Pyrrha said as she cradled his head over her lap which he took.
"Thanks…. Need to rest… now." Jaune said before going to sleep and beginning to snore.
Pyrrha took Jaune's body over her shoulders and began to move towards Nora and Ren's place thinking over the strange events that had transpired.
Things certainly didn't get any less stranger when Pyrrha entered Ren and Nora's Blood Bank which as per Ren put it 'Was always open to anyone they called a friend.' Upon knocking on the door for 4 times, Pyrrha was greeted by a rather Ren who said "Pyrrha, it's good to see you, please let yourself in. who's the boy you have on your shoulders?"
"I suppose I should be asking you that question given how apparently this boy knows you and Nora." Pyrrha said as she laid out Jaune on a couch for Ren to see.
"Is he ok?" Ren asked, showing concern over his usually calm face.
"I think he needs a little more blood, but I don't think he's in any risk of dying from starvation." Pyrrha replied which reassured Ren who immediately set up an IV drip to Jaune's arm and began to slowly let blood return to the snoring Vampire who regained some of his pale complexion and also lost most of his shriveled state.
"When did you find him like this and where?" Ren asked as he checked Jaune's vitals.
"In the street, today at night. Who is he to you?" Pyrrha asked Ren who had sat down on a chair as he looked over Jaune.
"He's our first customer. He came to us after he basically showed up on our doorstep asking for blood. I had to physically hold Nora back from 'breaking his legs', although I doubt that's possible given Vampire Anatomy. After hearing about what happened to him- "Ren started to explain.
"What exactly happened to him?" Pyrrha asked, curious as to how she ended up with a vampire that was reluctant to drink blood.
"He offered himself up for a starving Vampire who needed a little more than just a cut's worth of blood to heal herself, also if I may…." Ren explained, before noticing the cut on Pyrrha's arm and took out a bandage, some cotton and an antiseptic.
Ren quickly treated Pyrrha's cut and made sure that she was no longer in any danger of an infection before resuming with his explanation.
"According to him the Vampire that converted him was supposed to meet him in a month at the location where she turned him and after she met him, she would purify him using some strange method. Problem is, she never came and since Jaune hadn't drank any blood purely out of his disdain for drinking someone else's blood, he began to starve to death until we found him."
"That's unfortunate. Is there anything else we can do to purify him?" Pyrrha said as she looked over the Vampire who just wanted to help and was now cursed to a life he didn't want.
"There is the ritual you and I know of which requires Vervain, Beowolf Essence from an Alpha Beowolf, the uncorrupted blood of the original converter and finally some water from another dimension which is thankfully available rather easily due to the rifts made by a certain forger who manufactures most of our equipment and also assists other young forgers who wish to learn how to craft weapons." Ren said.
"And how can we perform this ritual?" Pyrrha asked, wanting to help out Jaune who happened to have the opposite of what all Vampire Hunters had. Bad luck, none of the skills or abilities and very few people he could trust given how he entered the city alone and didn't even know the directions to the place keeping him alive.
"You need to place him on a bed of hemlock wood, then you need to lay the blood of the original Vampire at the place of his first conversion and bring the Beowolf Essence to his heart and then use a mixture of Vervain and the original Vampire's blood in order to start the purification. It's best that one person stays by the person's side as the ritual progresses as there have been some rather terrifying accounts of accidents occurring when Vampires were left alone." Ren calmly explained.
"Where's Nora?" Pyrrha asked now that she had some direction.
"Oh, she's still resting after having her front leg broken when attempting to fly with Magnhild. She always takes too many risks but that's something I've come to appreciate about her. Being willing to take risks has saved our lives in many cases but it's often led to some… rather unnecessary trips to the hospital." Ren said with a smile over his face. The two were, despite their stark differences, truly made for each other and their differences often served to make up for any weaknesses they had on their own while maintaining their close bond.
"Do you need our assistance with this quest of yours Pyrrha?" Ren asked, almost reading Pyrrha's mind as her thoughts also ran to Jaune. He didn't deserve to be turned into a Vampire, he was just unlucky and fell on some hard times in Vale. No one deserved that and being a Vampire Hunter wasn't just about killing Vampires and the occasional extra underdweller, it was also about helping out whenever you can. And Jaune was someone who could use some help. Jaune had a good heart and given the boy's physique and regenerating capabilities given his rapidly fast recovery rate as Jaune managed to recover extremely fast.
"No thank you Ren, I think you should spend some more time with your wife before you come with me on some dangerous quests. Thank for you everything you've done." Pyrrha replied, with a friendly smile before beginning to leave out the door with Jaune who had begun to wake to head out to the forge which was close to Ren and Nora's tranquil but lively home.
"As you wish. I wish you luck on your quest and I suggest you head to Mr. Xiao Long's forge before you head out, he said he had something for you." Ren said as he came with Pyrrha and closed the door behind her. "Keep Moving Forward."
"Where was I?" Jaune asked, sleepily as he leaned on Pyrrha for support.
"Ren and Nora's home, they gave you the blood you needed to survive and now we're headed to a friend of mine's house. I'm sorry for our first meeting. I didn't mean to be so…. Violent." Pyrrha said as she dragged both of them to Mr Xiao Long's house which was also a forge.
"Eh, it's fine, I've had some scarier encounters with a couple of monsters in the woods. Comparatively, that encounter was better than my first one." Jaune replied.
"Your first one?" Pyrrha asked
"It was the one in which I turned into a Vampire, I was in the woods out for a walk to clear my head and I met a Vampire there. She was really pretty but I don't think she liked me very much as she almost threw me out of the woods when we met. But she was so tired that she couldn't really do anything to me. She needed blood but didn't want to kill a human for it. But in her weakened state she was never going to able to get the blood she needed so I offered her mine. At first she declined but after seeing just how weak she was getting she agreed and then asked me to meet her in the forest in a week and if it took her longer than at least a month. I survived for the first few weeks but when she didn't come by the fourth week, I tried to find someplace where I could get blood without attacking anything and then I met Ren and Nora and well the rest is history." Jaune explained, which made Pyrrha angry at the Vampire who corrupted him.
"What did the Vampire look like?" Pyrrha said, through clenched teeth.
"She had white hair and eyes as cold as ice, she called herself Snow." Jaune said.
"Well then if we're going to help you out, then we need to find this 'Snow'." Pyrrha said as the forge came within her eyesight.
"Wait help me out?" Jaune asked his eyes hopeful as he looked at Pyrrha.
"We're going to turn you back into a human or faunus depending on who you were. For it we need a bunch of stuff including the blood of the Vampire who corrupted you."
"Wait wait Blood? You aren't going to ask me to drink it are you?!" Jaune asked, a little worried.
"No! I'll explain later but you don't need to do any drinking blood or even need to be conscious for the ritual." Pyrrha said.
"What ritual?!" Jaune asked, not eased at all by Pyrrha's words.
"In order to turn you into a human/faunus we need to get four things and a bed of hemlock. It's better if you're well rested when I tell you about it since it is a little…. strange. But It seems that Ren knows about it so it must have been successful and it doesn't seem to be too risky given the way he explained the ritual and based on the ingredients I don't think we have much to worry." Pyrrha quickly said hoping to reassure Jaune.
"Which are?" Jaune asked.
"Well we need Hemlock wood, Alpha Beowolf Essence, 'Snow's Blood', some interdimensional water from a rifter and Vervain." Pyrrha replied.
"What?" Jaune asked, perplexed.
"See what I mean, Jaune? I'll be able to better explain later. Right now, we need to get some supplies for the trip, and we'll get them from this forge." Pyrrha said as she came across the door of the forge.
As she knocked on the door in a rather special way she expected to be met with a hyperactive little blur. And she wasn't disappointed.
"HELLOOO PYRRHA!" said the silver-eyed girl known to Pyrrha as Ruby Rose who hugged her tightly.
"Hello Ruby, it's good to see you." Pyrrha said as she adjusted to the incredible strong hug and gave it back with a smile.
Out of all the young people learning to be a Vampire Huntress, Ruby was certainly one of the most driven despite her rather…. Eccentric and hyperactive nature. Her desire to be a huntress was only matched by her general enthusiasm and joy which made her fast friends with Pyrrha. That along with the fact that Ruby was extremely gifted when it came to tinkering and forging made her one Pyrrha's closest allies and one she could always depend upon for support.
"It's so good to see you! How have you been?" Ruby said excitedly as she unlatched from the hug.
"I've been doing well; I wonder how you have been as well?" Pyrrha said as Jaune tried to slink from view.
"Oh, I've been doing great! I just built my own custom scythe which is also a sniper rifle! It's called Crescent Rose!" Ruby said.
"A Scythe that's also a sniper rifle?!" Jaune said, shocked at the fact that a girl would be wielding such a weapon.
"Who are you?!" Ruby said as she jumped back upon seeing the Vampire.
"Calm down Ruby, his name is Jaune and he's a Vampire who wants to become human again." Pyrrha calmly explained.
"You should have started with that! How else am I supposed to react with some hooded figure behind you? I thought someone was trying to attack you!" Ruby said as started to get up from the floor.
"Oh, I wouldn't really worry about that, Jaune here is as harmless as a fly." Pyrrha said as she gestured to Jaune who finally took off his hood and revealed a boy with blond hair and cobalt blue eyes.
"Hey! Pyra or Pyrrhan or-"Jaune said as he tried to say her name.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby said, correcting Jaune.
"Pyrrha, look at these muscles! You think I'm weak?" Jaune said as he hopelessly tried to flex his muscles which were strong but not well toned.
"Well, if our fight from before was anything to go off of, then yes." Pyrrha said, while Ruby and her chuckled at Jaune's attempt at showing his strength.
"I mean I guess that's true. I guess I really am as hopeless as everyone tells me." Jaune said as he looked down at the floor in shame, which made Pyrrha feel a bad for what she said.
"Jaune, I'm sorry, I didn't- "Pyrrha began to apologize.
"No, it's ok, I can see why I never was accepted to become a Hunter but now that plan's useless given how well it's been two tries already and I'm a Vampire."
"Not for long, I'm sure Pyrrha will help you out! Otherwise you wouldn't be here right now."
"Indeed Jaune, once assuming you want to still try to become a Hunter, I'll train you to become a Hunter."
"R-Really?" Jaune asked.
"Yes, I would, now come inside Jaune and let's get some supplies for a trip." Pyrrha said as she followed Ruby into the forge of their house.
"Ruby's where's Tai?" Pyrrha asked upon noticing that Taiyang wasn't in the house.
"Oh, he's on a mission right now and my sister will be back soon, assuming her new friend doesn't end up turning her in one of their 'displays of affection'." Ruby said.
"Wait, Yang's with a Vampire?"
"Yeah, but she seems to be nice one though, it does make it a little difficult to be around them when they show their affection so overtly!" Ruby complained as she tried to remove the images from her brain. No luck whatsoever.
"But anyways here we are! The forge!" Ruby said excitedly as she threw upon the door to reveal a large forge with plenty of equipment and a large gleaming red scythe at the main worktable.
"This is the place where me, my dad and my Uncle make stuff!" Ruby said as she took inventory of everything that occurred in the place. "Some of it's scrap, some of it is useless but most of it is serious butt-kicking weaponry!"
Pyrrha chuckled at the statement while Jaune looked around a found a piece of equipment that looked around the forge. Seeing all the weapons inside reminded Pyrrha of something she needed to ask Ruby which was actually the real reason why she had come to this place.
"Ruby? Ren told me that you wanted to talk to me about something. What was it?" Pyrrha asked Ruby who was still caught in all the cool weapons inside the forge.
"Right! Sorry I didn't remember." Ruby apologized. "My father wanted me to test my skills on tinkering something, so I made a bunch of attachments for a whole lot of weapons, then my father allowed me to work on Crescent Rose."
"So?"
"So, in honor of our friendiversary I decided to make you some attachments that may fit Milo and Akou Akou-" Ruby said as she tried to pronounce the shield name.
"Akouo." Pyrrha corrected with a knowing smile as she knew better than anyone just how difficult it was to pronounce the names of her weapons.
"Akouo right! I made some scopes for Milo and some extra guard rails and handles unto Akouo. They can be outfitted right now! Should I help you out with it?"
"I would prefer if you did and if you could can you find something that Jaune would use?" Pyrrha asked Ruby as she gave her weapons to the young crafter.
"Sure!" Ruby said as she turned into Rose Petals and showed up at Pyrrha's back where she began to tinker with Milo and Akouo to modify the weapon as needed.
Jaune on the other hand found a weapon lying among the pile of weapons on the floor and started to inspect it before he heard a soft step behind him. Immediately he turned around and found himself being threatened by the throat by a rapier by a Vampire with the exact description he had given Pyrrha.
The one with hair as white as snow and eyes that were as cold as ice.
A/N: Hello everyone! To all the people who are wondering about Strange Fates, don't worry. I'm not going to stop uploading stuff for it, it's just I feel like I need to hash things out with it's story. I'm writing this fic since I had an amazing prompt given to me in my Discord Chat by a fellow writer and now I desperately wanted to write this story. I hope you all enjoy this one despite it being my first time going into Arkos. But anyways expect a little more time between chapters as I try to work a whole bunch of things out.
Keep Moving Forward!