A/N: Hello, and welcome back to yet another chapter in my favorite werewolf/vampire story. It's not the only one I have, and I swear that I am working on RWBY the RPG at the same time as this. Just... yeah. I have no excuse as to why I haven't uploaded anything more since, what, last year? Sorry bout that. It is coming out though... probably next year?
Anyway, what do we have in store for you today? More bad trips with Weiss? Ruby and Jaune getting together? A random thirsty OC being naked? Who knows! You'll just have to read and find out.
And, as always, enjoy!
RWBY is owned by Viz Media and was created by the late, great Monty Own
By Blood and Teeth
Chapter 6
"And, then what happened, Ma'am?" The guardsman asked the still mostly nude woman as she sat there on one the chair in the sitting room of her Inn, dressed only in a thick, woolen blanket, pen to paper as he wrote down her testimony. Or, lack there of.
"Well, I - I don't rightly know. I screamed. Or tried to. And next thing I know I'm waking up on the bed completely naked. Oh, you don't know he did something to me, do you?!" The proprietress of the Inn asked the guard and his partner imploringly, her rich green eye concerned, and hopeful.
The guardsmen looked at each other for a solid second before turning back to the woman and saying, "Unlikely, Ma'am. Other than the bruising to your face, there is no evidence of foul play of any kind."
"Oh," the woman responded dejectedly as she sank back in her chair. The guardsmen looked at each other again and shook their heads, clearly thinking that this was a waste of their time. Especially when there was clearly a far more... intense case going on just down the street a bit. Still, they did their due diligence, asking a few more questions to see if the woman could remember anything else before saying their goodbyes.
A little later on, the woman, Patricia, sighed to herself as she held a cup of hot, herbal tea in her hands before sitting back down and muttering to herself as adjusted the blanket around her shoulders again, "Could've at least done something for all the trouble he caused." She sat there for a moment in misery, sipping at her tea as she tried to warm up from the early morning chill. "At this rate, the only thing I'll get out of this is a cold," She then muttered with a wince and a shiver.
"Ms. Trench?" A voice suddenly called out. A very masculine voice she noted. She blinked and looked up in confusion at that to find a big man with blond hair and blue eyes standing there staring down her in concern. "Are you Ms. Trench, Ma'am? I'm here to ask a few questions about the guests in 311. I heard that there was some kind of scuffle or trouble, and I was concerned."
The woman, Patricia, smiled slightly in amusement as she sipped at her tea before answering with, "Why, yes. I am indeed, Ms. Trent. If you'll follow after me, mister..."
"Arc, Ma'am. Jaune Arc." The tall, and rather muscular, younger man replied with a polite nod and a concerned smile.
Patricia took another sip of her tea before standing up adjusting her blanket just so, so as to show what she wasn't wearing beneath, and smiled wickedly ad the man's blush, before turning to lead him up the stairs, saying, ""Please, follow me, Jaune. And, I'll tell you the whole sordid truth." She made certain to add a purr to his name as she did, still smiling to herself as she strutted softly up the stairs.
Perhaps things weren't so bad after all.
/ /
There was a fog that night as the Ancient walked the streets of Old Mantle. The few Bloodkin blood whores trying to get by and their Kindred pimps, the various Bloodkin cutpurses or other rogues that were out, they all shrunk back away from her as they saw her, not wanting to get her way. Whereas even a Kindred noble might be accosted in the darken alleyways of that most ancient and corrupt of cities, their rankings within the hierarchy of the Castes not meaning a thing to these Lowest of the Low, she walked without fear, leaving only silence in her wake.
Her power and status was simply too great to approach in that manner. And, there was quickly given an example as to why that was.
When a Bloodkin urchin, no older that fourteen in Human years, barged out of a dwelling, a knife in hand, and demanded, over the protests of someone else inside, that she turn over all her money to him or else he stab her to death, not knowing who was before him. She had said nothing, done nothing, beside taking one of her hands that had been clasped before her chest as if in prayer, and brushed it across his face as she glided by. Not a moment later his confused features had erupted in a great shower of blood as his head exploded.
And she had walked on, seemingly uncaring, not looking back, as the mother of the unfortunate child, her exposed arms and neck riddled with fang marks, had staggered out her home to clutch at the dead body and wail her grief to the uncaring Night. But at the corpse's feet and been a pouch of coin. More than enough to pay for his cremation.
there were no other obstructions to the Ancient's path after that. In fact, there was no one else out on the streets after so subtle a display of power.
Eventually, the Ancient reach her destination, an unobtrusive door set in a wall so sheer that not even one of the Kindred, with all their spidery-like abilities, could climb. At a soft, rhythmic knocking on her part the door opened to reveal one of the Kleins in heavy armor, a sword at the ready. Behind him were another three of the seemingly identical beings, equally armed. After a moment's hesitation, where the servant studied her appearance for any trace of duplicity, the Kleins bowed to her with the lead one saying, "Good evening, Milady. We thank you for gracing us with your presence." On rising the male, if the race could be described as having gender diversity, the males only ever being seen, blinked and fidgeted nervously in place before asking her, "...To what does the House of Schnee owe such a gift for?"
"I have come to speak with the Mistress. Take me to her. Now." The Ancient vampress countess returned a marked edge to her otherwise soft tones as she stepped into the dwarfish man's personal space. The Klein shifted at that, as did his fellows, before he gave her a bow and turned to lead her further into the depths of the noble's manor eventually leaving her to wait in an elegant, if unassuming room.
"Lady Fria! Wha-what are you doing here, My Lady?!" Willow Schnee exclaimed in surprise and no small amount of fear on seeing the Ancient as she entered the room, having not been notified by her servants in time.
The Ancient turned from where she had been observing a tapestry hanging on the wall, one painted by the Mistress herself, and gave a small nod in greeting to the Bloodkin Noble before her. Willow stiffened at that before curtsying as deeply as she could, her daughter Winter right behind her immediately doing the same as she entered the room. She had followed after her mother after hearing that muffled cry.
"My Lady F-Fria, you honor us with your presence. May the Seventh House never fall." Willow then greeted the woman properly as she stayed there in that uncomfortable position, head down in fear of what the Ancient might do.
Instead, Fria smiled a small, sad smile as she walked over to the two nobles until they could see her from their position and motioned them to stand. It was only then that Winter was shocked to see that both she and her mother towered over the diminutive Ancient. The one they called the Blue Fairy.. As she did so, Willow was surprised to find her hands clasped in between Fria's and blinked down in surprise at that, finding a gasp escape her.
"Child of my Child, I ask that you forgive my impertinence, but could you direct me to the young Mistress Schnee?" Fria asked as she looked into Willow's blue eyes with her own imploringly, their shard silver-white hair flowing in a sudden invisible gust of air.
Willow swallowed, her innate fear for her daughter warring with an even stronger hope. Finally, she nodded and said as she turned, somehow still holding onto one of the Ancient's hands, "Yes. My Lady. Weiss is this way."
She took her by the hand and swiftly led her to a small room far inside her quarters well away from where Jacque would ever go. She, and Winter who followed nervously behind, failed to notice how Fria took in everything from the few scattered bits of clothing that hadn't been picked up yet by the servants, both Bloodkin and Klein, to the various scatter, crumpled up letters on her private desk asking for help or favors from various doctors to the lone handkerchief accidentally dropped in a corner, a faded droplet of dark red on its satin form. Fria frowned slightly as she took it all in, but said nothing in relation to any of it.
At a knock on the door from Willow the door opened to reveal Whitley Schnee standing there, a concerned look on his face as he said, "Still no improvement, Mother. Has there been - Oh! My apologies, High Lady Fria. *Ahem* You honor us with your presence. May the Seventh House never fall." The young, thing man said with a bow. Fria noted the sudden wince he made as he did so and faintly scented blood in the air at his back. She couldn't tell if there were any fresh wounds, though, the dark blue with white snowflakes vest he wore over his long-sleeved, white dress shift preventing that.
She gave the dutiful son a nod in acknowledgement as she past by him to fully enter the room. And stiffened visibly at the only other occupant in the room. Weiss Schnee was dying, that was plain to see, her wounds be they lashes from whips to burns from branding rods weren't healing and were clearly heavily infected but worse than all that was the shaking and dilated pupils that came from her withdrawal symptoms. The family had done its best with what they had on hand, applying new bandages daily while feeding her what blood they could, but it clearly wasn't enough. The girl was wasting away.
Fria took all of that in with only a faint grimace on her face before smoothing her features into a more ethereal, expressionless mask as she turned around and said, "Mistress Schnee, you, and your children will not inform anyone that I was here. Especially, that bastard that married into this bloodline. Is that clear"
"I- Yes, My Lady." Willow returned with only a moment of confusion, her children following her lead.
"Good. Now, leave," Fria said as she turned back to the ailing girl before her. "And shut the door behind you while you do. I shall see what I can do here. Again, speak nothing of what you see here to anyone."
"Yes. Yes, My Lady," Willow whispered tearfully as she bowed while closing the door.
Fria waited a moment more to see if the other Schnees would actually leave. At the sounds of a trio of footsteps leaving she knelt down next to the girl on the floor, uncaring that the ends of her gown were getting blood and vomit all over them, and brushed a hand through the hair on the girl's head before she leaned in and whispered, "Weiss Schnee, Daughter of My child's daughter. Last of my bloodline. I ask that you survive the gift I am about to impose upon you."
With that she stood back up and, taking a needle from her hair, pricked her finger once. As the blood welled up she then turned the finger on and flicked it once. As the droplet fell into Weiss mouth she felt a sudden intense burning within her chest and screamed as she burned, burned, burned!
/ /
Weiss came to suddenly, gasping for air. Shakingly, she rose to her feet as she clutched at both her head and heart as they pounded in pain and fear. She shook her head to clear the muddle thoughts from her mind.
That had to have been a dream, right?
No way an Ancient as powerful as the blue Fairy would give her her blood, even a drop of it. But, the Fairy was among the few Ancients whose blood was powerful enough to restore someone to full health in such a short time as Weiss. That had been the only reason why she survived against the Fangs as long as he had, the other Exiles being sent out alongside her straight from their incarcerations.
Still, though, she was a Bloodkin. Unworthy of such consideration. Only the finest of Kindred could even hope for such a gift, and only the strongest could survive what the blood transformed them into, an Elevated One. A newly risen Noble who could start a new lineage, not be tied in some way to another, older lineage.
And yet... It was said that the Blue Fairy was a master at manipulating the blood of others, going so far as to be trained in the art of reading another's memories from their blood. And that dream... had felt like what such memories would be like as her Master had once described to her during one of her more kind moments. Could she really have been given such a gift?
She just didn't know.
It... was possible, though. She had once snuck into her Father's study on a dare from Whitley and discovered the truth of their origins. Her Mother, Willow, and the Schnee namesake came not from her bastard Father, Jacques Gelé, but a more distant ancestor on her mother's side of the family, Nicolas Schnee, the grandson of the Blue Fairy, and Ancient, Fria.
"Not that being related to her would matter all that much -*Gasp!*" She started to say as she went to brush at her new sundress only to gasp in horror as she saw the blood on her hands, her dress. She stared down at the gore on her as her breathing began to comes in harsh little gasps before she looked to find herself in a building, a house she had never been to before.
"Oh, no," she gasped out as she looked around a bit before her eyes found the body of a man at the entrance to the home. "Oh, no, no, no, no."
She staggered towards the body of the man only to stop and stare into the room next to her. At the carnage there, at the body of a woman there. At the crib in the far corner, the sheet covered in blood. She staggered into the room, feet dragging, as her eyes staring unseeing at the corpse before her. At all the others in her mind's eye, that her Master had forced on her.
Abruptly she dropped to her knees next to the corpse, that of a middle-age woman with soft brown eyes and hair. Her face was set in a grimace of pain. Weiss vomited. And vomited. She puked up a foul smelling slurry of blood and what food she had eaten the day before. And as she did she cried as she whispered over and over to the dead woman beside her, "I'm sorry. I'm didn't mean to. I'm sorry."
/ /
"So, you heard a crash upstairs and ran up to find... what, Ma'am?" Jaune asked her as he looked around the room with far more intent than the two guards had. Patricia found that interesting, much like the butt in those tight little pants of his. And those thighs. She smiled at that as she once again adjusted the blanket that she was wearing, and nothing else.
He turned to look at her after a moment of her not answering him and asked, "Ma'am?"
"Oh, yes. Sorry. I was... occupied with something else." She chirped as she slunk over towards him, mindful of his eyes on her every movement as well as the sudden, slight flush on his face before he inclined his head away from her. So cute. Almost cute enough to bite. She quickly stifled the giggle that brought out of her before clearing her thought and thought about it once again. That incident. Then she blinked as she blurted out, "I walked in and found a naked man in the room where there had previously only been a small, youngish-looking woman and her rather large dog."
After a moment's reflection, she then continued under his questioning gaze - Really a look of absolute bewilderment -"A man who then said that he had been the dog. which was so bizarre a thing to say that it floored me. Then I screamed." She shrugged and said, "After that, nothing. I lost consciousness. Or, was knocked unconscious. Can't really remember which."
Jaune blinked at that before glancing at the slight bruising on her cheek before nodding to himself as he looked down at the floor while rubbing at his chin in thought. She did see how his eyes widened briefly as he saw something. Then he shook his head before saying, "Well, I thank you for the information, and your time, Ma'am. Uh, is there anything I can do for you?"
Patricia thought about it for a moment before flushing as a sudden image of a very furry-looking man entered her mind then. A very furry-looking man with a rather impressive sword between his legs. She swallowed at that, then again before she could compose herself, saying as she tightened the blanket around her, thinking about something she could do later in private, "Maybe tell the young man when you found that I'd be interested in him coming back to see me. No strings attached." Then she blinked at him before sashaying out of the room and down the stairs, shedding her blanket as she did so.
She heard Jaune swallowed and gape audibly at that and smiled, wishing the best for whoever that occupied the handsome young man's mind. She had done all she could to get him interested in her, but no matter what it seemed like there was something holding him back. Something more than mere propriety.
A pity that. She would've rocked his world.
/ /
Jaune sighed in relief and adjusted himself to ease the discomfort he had been experiencing for the past half hour. He didn't quite know why he rejected the innkeeper. It wasn't like he hadn't noticed... eventually. Later on, he have to do something about that. But, that didn't matter right now.
He had finally found the trail!
Between the glass, and whatever had happened between her and the Vampire, Ruby had left a trail of blood. It was a mere trace, a few droplets here and there, but it was enough for him to get started on. His days among the Watch and the even the short time he had with the Reliable Redoubts weren't without some benefit. He knew how to track to some extend in both a town like New Sauvignon and out in the forests nearby.
If he was lucky, he'd be able to catch up to her soon. She didn't have that much of a lead on him, and she didn't know someone was tracking her either.
He could do this.
He shifted the bundle of arrows tied to his back alongside the knapsack Saph had given him before walking out of the building. An intense survey of the ground around the broken glass outside had him finding two different blood trails. One older than the other. He took the fresher one.
Though, only a trace of blood could be found at times from the rapidly fading blood trail, Jaune was still able to follow along until the werewolf's unnaturally fast healing factor closed what wounds she had obtained. Enough so, that he was able to make an educated guess about which gate out of the town she had taken.
He grinned to himself as he stalked through the gates after giving the guards stationed there a quick greeting and goodbye, more old friends of his from his time training among them, he was finally going off to do something significant. Sure, right now it was only handing off some merchandise he had made, but he could feel it. there was something more going on here, and he would find out what.
Another intense survey of the ground outside the gates eventually turned up what he was looking for. Not the rather petite footprints of the girl, and her lack of shoes, though those were there as well. No, it was the massive paw prints of the wolf the inn keeper had said was with her that he had been looking for. Smiling almost wickedly to himself, Jaune traced those prints, watching as they headed off into the rocky terrain beyond the small knolls and farmlands around the town's walls.
"You're not getting away this time, Ruby," he found himself saying as he rose to his feet and started off. at a decent pace. The pair had half a night ahead of him. He needed to hurry if he wanted to catch up.
/ /
Weiss shivered and shook as she sat in the corner of the hallway closest to the entrance of the home, curled up into as of a ball as she could get wile she avoided looking at the man's corpse. She burned, shivering from that Thirst, but she refused to drink anymore of that tainted well. Tears down her face, she bit back a scream as her body throbbed in sympathy for just one more sip.
But she refused to let the cravings, the Addiction win.
She had already made the mistake of letting her emotional stage win out, and look where it had gotten her. She had the owner of that delicious scent, and almost killed him! Somewhere inside that scared her more than falling back into the Addiction her Master had forced on her in the first place. Gilda had always liked how she tasted, how she acted under the Addiction to Dead Man's Blood.
Weiss shivered as she felt the touch of phantom fingers, phantom lips on her skin, heard the sultry murmurs in her ears even now, and almost reflexively thrust an invisible sword out to pierce that heart yet again. She would kill that bitch as many times as necessary to be rid of this curse, this waking nightmare that she found herself in.
The one saving grace of her discovery this morning was that she hadn't actually fed off and killed an infant. The cradle had been empty, filled only with more blood she had somehow thrown up last night while in the throes of her high. She had checked to make certain that the meat she had thrown up as well wasn't that of a small body either. She had never done something like that while under the effects of The Blood, but she had heard the stories of other addicts eating their own young, or their masters forcing them to just to watch the results.
There were times Weiss hated being what she was, her race one big fucking nightmare of twisted pain and pleasure and gratification at times. Then there those times where they were the greatest race on Remnant such as when the Ancient sire of House Polendina created the Kleins so as to lessen the strain on their more bestial servants or the Blue Fairy using her gift with Blood Manipulation to ease the suffering of so many unfortunates without once asking for favors or monetary gain.
She shivered again, feeling a cold sweat break out on her naked skin as she knelt there, and knew it would be of the darkest blood color possible as he body force the contagion out. As far as she was aware the only way someone could die from such an addiction was by solely relying on the Blood of Dead Men, the lack of viable nutrients destroying even the likes of an Ancient after a while let alone some lowly Bloodkin as her.
She shivered and wept silently as she tried to withstand the withdrawal symptoms in silence. She couldn't leave the house right now, being trapped inside thanks to the Sun overhead. It was, oddly appropriate, that she be trapped inside with the consequences of her actions.
She turned and gazed at the dead man once again. She had done the best she can with both him and his wife, placing a spare blanket over both and even going so far as to scrub up all the blood and... other fluids she had found. She swallowed again at that, feeling the gore rise up. Lords of Darkness and Light she had already vomited three times now in that last hour! Surely, she had nothing inside, right?
Only to stop as a familiar scent wafted by.
She turned and blinked as she smelled that lovely scent, finding her self rising with no hint of her prior distress to stare out at the blue skies beyond the open window, really a small insert designed to ventilate the structure. "So... beautiful," She rasped as she looked out at that sky. While the Kine venerated the Darkness in all its glory, there was still a special regard for the Light as, for some unknown reason, all of the Kine secretly craved the Sun.
Seeing that sky and smelling that scent, Weiss found her resolve once again.
Yes, she could do this. She might only have been given a few short months to track down and kill those Fangs, but they weren't the only ones out there. She was sure of it. All she had to do was kill one and return with its teeth as proof of completing her Trial. And, luckily for her she had gotten the secret embalming technique from the Kindred that had been leading their little group of renegades and exiles.
Now, if only she had a weapon...
/ /
There were many things Jacques hated in life.
He hated having to grovel at the feet of those higher in rank than him simply because they came from a stronger bloodline. He hated the multitudes of lesser beings he had to put up with to get a job done. And, he hated having to tie himself to something so weak as his wife just to get to where he was right now.
But, right now, what he hated the most was in the dwelling before him.
He stared at the place that held him hostage even now. It was a simple dwelling. A lone stone hut near the end of a long, lone alley far into the depths of Old Mantle. Not a place one would think so prestigious a Kindred noble as he would be.
But there was the rub.
He inhaled deeply through his nose before sighing it all out in a huff of air as he stalked up to the steel door and used the brass knocker. Almost immediately the door was wrenched open to show a rail thin, ragged woman with black and grey hair going down to her ankles and eyes of such an unnatural red hue that they left afterglows tracing through the air as she twitched and bobbed about in place.
Jacques took in her ragged appearance as well as the blood staining the once immaculate and pristine gown she wore and grimaced before he said, "God evening, Mother. And, how are you?"
The Kindred's dull red eyes suddenly lit up as she blinked and took his face. Smiling, revealing a mouth full of blood-soaked teeth -And, were there more fangs that last time? He wondered mentally. - the old crone raised up her hands to cradle his face as she crowed jubilantly, "Och, Jacques! Why didn't you say you were comin'? I would've 'ad the servants spruce up the place for ye."
Then she turned and meandered back into the hovel as she purred over her shoulder, "Come, come, do come in!"
Jacques blinked and shuddered at that. He didn't bother to tell his mother that he had sent a messenger ahead of time. He was sure there would be no word from the poor man anyway.
He stepped inside and nearly gagged as the sudden smell of rotting corpses hit his delicate nose. And they were rotting. He could barely see in the gloom for some reason, but he knew they were there. Bodies piled upon bodies. Servants, slaves, serfs, messengers and guards, all sent to feed his mother's increasing appetites. Before long, there wouldn't much more his money could do to hide such, indiscretions. The public backlash that would occur would strike him hard, most likely ruining what remaining chances he had to elevate himself.
A quick glance down as he slipped on something had him coming almost nose to nose with a dead Klein, the servile race's watery fluids spilling from where his mother had near ripped off the creature's head, causing him to idlily wonder as to their birth once again. No one, other than Polendina's dead sire and the race itself, knew of how the seemingly male only species reproduced. If he, or one of his rivals, could find that out then Watts, The Doctor, might grant him the privilege up tasting his blood. Or, at the very least, treat his mother's addiction to Dead Man's Blood. The risks were severe, but the rewards for working in the volatile, good doctor's graces were equally immense.
He had heard that if one could do something to publicly ruin or slander the Blue Fairy or Polendina, the Scientist, that would fast track one into Watt's good graces. Pity he had yet to find anything on either of the two. Worse yet, the Fairy had apparently found out about his machinations, and other business, with her descendants, so even if he wanted to use her to help his mother he couldn't.
He had found that out the hard way. The Fairy had ordered his wife, children and servants to silence but one of the Bloodkin failed to hide her journal from his prying eyes. A bit of cajoling and torture later by one of the Night Lords, a group of elite warriors and assassins under Watt's purvey, including a couple of the Beasts, had her tongue wagging. He had then ordered the ace operative to silence her and her family.
Their corpses were later found hanging by their entrails but a few days later.
He had smiled at that. It was also nice to work with professionals, unlike his daughters.
He stopped as he entered his mother's bed chambers, and the pile of bodies she was using to... nest in. He'd have to do something about that. But, later. For now, he play the dutiful son a bit longer so he might continue to use his mother's inheritance to fund further projects of his own. Then, afterwards, he would do what he could about saving from... whatever thing she was becoming. And, if not, he would toss her in a deep, dark hole with as much spare flesh as he could afford and lock her away from the rest of her most likely short life.
And so he sat in a stiff wooden chair as his mother gossiped inanely while she fed off of one of the few living servants left in the household. The poor Kindred gasping and whining in pleasure under her administrations for now. He knew that wouldn't last. It never did.
Still, he smiled ad laughed as he mother continued to spiral in front of him while there was nothing he could do, but watch.
Ever the dutiful son.
/ /
"Shit! How did I miscalculate that so bad?" Ruby asked herself as she stalked back and forth in front of the small fire they had going later that night. Bert lay there watching her but said nothing else. What was there to say, anyway? "Damn it! Now what are we going to do? Between the two of us we had no shoat felling... whatever that thing was! Your claws and teeth couldn't breach its hide and my arrows weren't strong enough to matter either. Damn it!"
She flopped down on a nearby long and placed her head in her hands as she muttered despondently, "What am I going to do?"
There was a moment of despairing silence then -
"Maybe - *Pant, pant* you could not *pant* run away before we finished *pant, pant* our transaction?" The two Wolvens turned, startled into aggression to find a lone Human male there, panting at the edges of their camp, hands on his knees.
Ruby lowered her bow as she took in the sight before, that scent before her, and asked in confusion, "Jaune?" At his nod she unnotched the arrow she had readied before putting away her bow as she motioned for Bert to stand down, causing him to lie back down, ears alert for trouble, and inquired, "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"
"I *pant, pant* Let me take a breather. Sigh! Man, is it cold up here in the cliffs." And with that he brushed by her, bumping her shoulder, to sit in front of the fire and began to rub his hands together for warmth. He then said, absently, "You know, you need more than fallen branches if you want a fire to last up here. It's not quite cold enough for the ground to stay frozen all night and the rising moisture will kill so weak a blaze at the worse time of night."
"Oh, is that so?" Ruby returned defensively, not quite sure why, as she motioned Bert to go check for others. He gave a wolf nod to her as he got up and vanished into the night. Jaune didn't seem to notice. "You know, I've lived out here for more years than you've probably been alive, and I think I know what I'm doing. Besides," she shrugged as she crossed her arms before while looking away with sudden embarrassment. What was going on here?" Besides, Wolven are naturally hot blooded. this is barely cold to me, and if it gets worse, I'll simply transform."
"Huh, is that so? Then why did you make the fire?" Jaune asked with simple logic.
Ruby flushed at that and retorted, red-faced, "Hey, I asked first, okay! How did you find us? Now, answer me?"
At her, honestly, rather adorable-looking glare Jaune scratched at his cheek as he looked down and smiled, shrugging, "I mean, maybe cover your tracks next time? I'm not the best tracker, but even I can follow after a girl walking around in her bare feet. -"
Ruby abruptly looked down at her feet and watched as her own toes reflectively wiggled under her gaze.
"-Especially when they're followed by the massive pawprints of a great big wolf."
Ruby stared at her toes for a moment more in silence before shaking her head and coming over to sit down next to the tall, human male. And, boy was he tall in comparison to her. Well, at least her human form. Her hybrid form would tower a head over him in height. Maybe that would make things better? Why did she want to transform right now? She wasn't in danger right now. Was she in danger?
She shook those thoughts away and swallowed, smacking her lips to ask, "So, why are you here then?"
"Like I said, I'm here to finish the deal we made." He returned as he untied a bundle on his back and handed it to her with one hand. Ruby blinked at that before taking it. She gasped as she unwrapped it to find a score of well made, and polished, steelhead arrows, fully fletched and fastened to a dark Rowan wood shaft. They were beautiful to her eyes. "Sorry if the fletching isn't the best. Never was my strong suit." She distantly heard the human say as she inspected each arrow.
She blinked and looked up to find him watching her as she was inspecting the arrows and found herself blushing again with embarrassment. finally she said stutteringly, "Uh, uh, th-they're gr-great. Uh, th-thank y-you. You di-didn't have t-to go out of y-your way to give them to m-me. I, uh, I, um... D-don't have the kind of coins to pay f-for this. I'm sorry!" She bowed in her seat over the arrows, hiding the sudden tears in her eyes, as she exclaimed the last part.
"Don't worry about it," She heard Jaune say above her. There was a pause that was only filled by the crackling and popping of the fire before he muttered as he scratched at his chin in shame, "Besides, call it even for running away from you like a coward while you were just trying to save me back in Sauvignon."
She blinked at that and sat up to stare at him in wonder as he looked away, still scratching at his face with one finger nervously. "Thanks for that, by the way." He then said with a smile as he stared off into the distance.
Ruby found herself blushing in pleasure at that and shrunk down in her seat beside, smiling warmly as she replied with, a soft, "No problem." No one had ever thanked her before. Not like that.
"So," She asked as she shook the warm fuzzy feeling away. "What do you want instead?"
There was a pause as Jaune inhaled deeply, seemingly in thought, before turning to stare at her with intent as he said, "I want to join you."
After a pause, "What?"
/ /
Weiss turned to look back at the house and its former occupants one last time and whispered, "Thank you. I so sorry for how I acted. Goodbye, and thank you again." Then she turned and left, dashing out into the night in her new guise of a rich, dark blue dress, brown shawl, and a spotted red headscarf. Behind a faint breeze seemed wave farewell as it shut the door, and inside the building a fire began to build.
It took her mere moments to pick up the trail of that elusive scent. The smell taking her to of all things a Blacksmith's Forge. It seemed the Lord of Night was with her after all. A blacksmith was exactly what she was looking for. A bit or coin, or other favor, and the man could make her a new sword. If nothing else it couldn't be any worse than the cheap shit they had given her for this mission.
Though, parts of her burned at the thought using something other than coin to pay for her new weapon, and she swallowed, a hand to her throat, before she shook her head, certain it was simply the lingering effects of her high, as she turned and traced the scent back to a house.
There she stood outside far enough into the shadows that no one could see her as she stared into a window and watched as two human women and their children talked and laughed around a table, eating their dinner together. she allowed the small, sad smile to remain on her face as she watched that. Other than her father, her family was just as close as that, though, Winter often had to leave for an extended time to fulfil her duties to her master, the General.
If the man was as warm and gentle as these two women and their children this might not be all that hard. They were obviously a loving family with a warm home filled with love.
That was good. It would prevent any of the Kine from attacking them there.
Though the degree to which a true home could prevent one of the Kine from entering was different on both an individual scale as well as the race as a whole a few things were consistent. The Ancients, she had been told once by her master of all people, could not even set foot inside a genuine home, if the owner's did not invite them in. Supposedly, one could also revoke such an invitation, but that far easier said than done, and it wasn't like an Ancient would simply let you do so either.
The Kindred were not prevented from entering a home, but it left them severely weakened should they choose to do so uninvited. And a True home or a something like a Sanctuary outright prevented them from entering just like with an Ancient. The conquests of the lands here on Sanus were severely limited because of that, the beastmen having somehow created such sacred groves deep in the forest or the humans with their churches to whatever uncaring Spirit they prayed to. Whenever a Kindred somehow found a way into such a place... the desecration that they caused... It brought a tear to her eyes just thinking of such a waste.
She often wondered what such places would look like, should she ever be invited into one. She was sure they were beautiful.
Oh, yes, as for the Bloodkin or even the Kleins, such a Threshold did not repel them. though, there were many among her numbers who complain of feeling... uneasy in such homes, and frequently did all that they could to destroy them on entering one.
With one last look to that happy family Weiss turned and stalked away into the night, tracking down that man by his scent. She had all the time in the world for this one thing and he would not escape her again.
A/N: And, that's where I'll end things this time. thought about pushing just a bit more with another Jacques part, but I think once is enough, the bastard. Anyway, this is probably going to be the last thing I upload this month. Weird, I know. Month's only half over and all that, but the holidays are coming up and even I occasionally need a break from writing, especially after that massive chapter (That then got split in half) for RWBY DnD.
If nothing else, I'll try to write and upload the next chapter for Arc's Adventuring by week's end but don't hold me to that. Oh, yes, and again, RWBY the RPG IS coming out, alongside the next chapter of The Beast and a slight rewrite of Red Wolf, White Knight. (I would say edited version, but when I edit something somehow I create more rather than less, so...)
Anyway, that's all for now. Good luck and Happy Holidays to you all!
Essiter out!