Chapter status: FULLY REVAMPED. This chapter has a lot of new content, which is why it has been split so that it's not over 20 000 words lol. Worth a full re-read, Ironwood has been replaced with someone else.
Yang didn't get much sleep that night. She kept tossing and turning, and for the first time in her enforcer career, the dark made her anxious. But it made her even more anxious to look out the window and see the waning moon's shattered last quarter, so she dragged herself to her feet at some ungodly hour and shut the curtains. And then she paced by her bed for a while because she couldn't stand the thought of lying there, waiting and feeling trapped in the tangled mess she'd made of the blankets.
She kept checking her scroll, too, making sure no unnatural entities were on the move towards the duplex.
It was unnerving not being in a much taller building with higher security. Yang felt like the set up they had here was woefully inadequate for what they were facing.
It was a joke, really, is what it was.
All of it.
A couple cameras and lights weren't going to stop whatever thing Nightshade was from showing up.
And maybe a higher security facility wouldn't make much of a difference anyway, but at least Yang wouldn't feel so gods-damned vulnerable.
Pyrrha had written up a detailed report of their situation to SUN – that they had spoken with Flynt Coal, who revealed there were most likely at least a dozen vampires in Vale, four of them going by the aliases Mocha, Vulpes, Axis, and Nightshade, and that a genetics research company associated with the Schnee Minerals Company in Atlas called Cryolife was providing blood packs for the bloodsuckers here in the city – and was, assumingly, doing the same thing in Atlas.
Pyrrha also stated that when she and Yang had gone to question Cardin Winchester on Cryolife's premises, he had fought with them and proven uncooperative, but that he was most likely not the culprit behind the murders and abductions, regardless of that – and his current status was unknown, presumed dead, after being attacked by Nightshade. She said that, taking into consideration all clues and events and behaviors, Nightshade had become their number one suspect at the moment.
Or, at the very least, it was a lethal threat that needed to be further investigated.
Only an hour after sending the report, the two women had received a short and ominous message from SUN that notified them to "Please, standby. Two senior and two junior enforcers on route, ETA 72 hours. Vale priority two: Eliminate Nightshade."
There was no explanation. Not an order to apprehend it and put it in jail – just straight up kill. Yang and Pyrrha would probably have to wait to be briefed by the senior enforcers when they arrived. And Yang had no idea what to think – why was Aurora ordering a kill without hard evidence showing Nightshade truly was the culprit? After all, they just had suspicions. And regardless of how dangerous it was, Nightshade had technically protected Yang and Pyrrha against Cardin. Technically. Death seemed slightly excessive as a consequence for being, well…a menace in general. Yang was more of the mind that Nightshade needed to be stopped and questioned, if not put into Aurora's specialized jail facilities.
No matter how scared the demon made Yang.
The four other enforcers were supposed to arrive within the next three days, and Yang knew they were all going to die trying to outright dispose of Nightshade at this point in the investigation. Gods, what would they think if they knew it will come searching for me to drink from me again?
Yang froze in her pacing. Her heart was trying to beat out of her chest, it was racing so hard. And the silence in the room was deafening enough that she could hear it. Aurora couldn't know. If they found out, they may use her as bait. That was what she would have done, if the circumstances were different.
If being used as bait wasn't a surefire death sentence.
It didn't matter what plan they devised. They would fail. Whoever – whatever – Nightshade was, it could turn into shadows. UV-C bullets rendered useless; any kind of traps rendered useless. And Yang refused to put lives in danger unnecessarily. Hers was enough as it was.
"Ruby?"
"Yang!"
Ruby tackled her older sister into a gigantic hug in the doorway, and Yang wrapped her arms around her tightly, laughing in joy and disbelief. "Oh, my gods, Ruby! I'm so happy to see you."
"I knowww! Me, too. It's been forever."
They continued hugging and giggling for another moment, and then Yang let go and held Ruby by her shoulders at arms' length, grinning wide. "You were off the grid! Gods, where were you? You gotta tell me everything."
Ruby moved to the side and motioned behind her, "I will, promise, but how about you let Sun in first, and we can all catch up together?"
"Right! Your new partner." Yang moved out of the way and backed up, allowing Ruby to come in properly, and then from behind her came a guy with short and messy, sandy blond hair and a tanned complexion. His bright blue eyes were friendly, and the smile he gave Yang upon entering inspired trust...if not some mischief, too. He extended his fist towards her, and she snickered and fist-bumped him.
"Heya, I'm Sun Wukong; on the field I'm Private Ruyi."
Yang immediately couldn't stop the grin from taking over her face. "I'm sorry, it's just – your name is Sun?"
He waved his hand, also smiling, except it was a bit sarcastic. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. If anything, it just means I'm the perfect SUN operative. I'm literally it."
They both laughed good-naturedly, and Yang finally introduced herself properly. "I'm Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister! Operative Ember at your service. Come in and meet Pyrrha." Yang slung her arm around Ruby's shoulders, and the two of them walked into the kitchen with Sun in tow. Pyrrha had been preparing tea, but when they came into view she left it and approached to greet them.
"I'm so glad to see a familiar face and have backup!" she exclaimed, bringing Ruby in for a hug.
"Hi, Pyrrha! It's been a while." Ruby returned the hug fiercely. "How have you been?"
"Good, all things considered, but we can talk about that in the living room with some hot drinks in a moment." Pyrrha pulled away with a kind smile, giving Ruby's hair an affectionate ruffle, and then turned her attention to the newcomer, extending her hand. "Hi, Sun. I'm Pyrrha Nikos, or Operative Akouo. I heard you introduce yourself to Yang – it's a pleasure to have you helping us out."
It was then that Yang noticed Sun had a long, slightly scruffy tail whipping behind him. He was a faunus. One of the few still left on Remnant. The fur on the tail was blond with beige undertones, but it was otherwise difficult to tell what kind of faunus he was, exactly.
Yang didn't mean to stare, told herself she was being rude and decided it didn't matter. He was Sun, he was here to help, and he seemed like a chill dude right off the bat. It wasn't like he was the first faunus Yang had ever seen or even interacted with, anyway.
They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then decided to get comfortable in the living room to discuss more serious things. Pyrrha gave everyone a cup of tea, and, as they were settling down, Yang said, "So, where have you been, Ruby? Are you at liberty to say?"
"Um, yeah! Because I was told that helping you here would actually help us find out what's happening in Atlas." Ruby giggled at the faces her words caused. "Lemme tell you, I could not get here fast enough, especially knowing we were joining you!"
"Yeah, she kept telling me to hurry up every two seconds," Sun added with a laugh.
"Wait, hold on, you were in Atlas?" Yang leaned forward in her seat, and, at practically the same time, Pyrrha asked, "What's been happening in Atlas?"
Ruby shrugged. "We were! But that's the thing – we don't know what's going on. Our job was to figure out why there's no vampire activity over there. The SRO doesn't even have any on file that moved to Atlas! So, Sun and me were just literally trying to find vampires for the past two months."
"Makes us look super suspicious to the public, too." Sun shook his head. "Most boring task I've ever been assigned, and I've done a lot of boring, since I'm just starting. Our lures didn't even work."
Pyrrha and Yang shared a look. "That's odd. Well, it certainly isn't excitement that has been lacking here," the redhead offered, and upon receiving looks of morbid curiosity from Ruby and Sun, she launched herself into the explanation of what she and Yang had been through for the past week.
By the end of it, their little audience of two's eyes were wide – and, yes, somewhat in excitement, but also in great worry. "That's crazy..." Ruby glanced at Sun, adding, "It never crossed our minds to look into companies run by mortals. They aren't supposed to know vampires exist."
"Then I think our next job is gonna be investigating Cryolife." Sun punched the palm of his hand. "A genetics research company feeding vampires? That smells hella fishy all the way to here."
Yang was beginning to like Sun's obvious earnestness and energy. He had that fresh meat determination and drive, and while it made Yang a little nostalgic, it was mostly just really needed for this case. She could see how he and Ruby probably worked very well as a partnership, too – not that Ruby would have chosen her new partner, herself, but Aurora, at least, knew what they were doing. Just like how Yang and Pyrrha had been a good match from the start as well.
Pyrrha nodded and sipped her tea. "We'll have to wait and find out what the two senior enforcers have to say, first. They should be here tomorrow sometime."
"Hopefully, they can shed some light on what we're actually dealing with," Yang muttered. "I mean, kinda seems like Aurora does know, if they're ordering a straight up kill."
"Yeah, definitely," Ruby agreed. "It'll be nice to be more prepared."
Yang still recalled the black eyes before Nightshade fed on her, the aggressiveness in which it had attacked. She remembered that monstrous form that had taken shape in front of Cardin. The shadows, the voice that resonated with power. Yang clenched her fist on her lap, the one where scars now adorned her wrist, and felt cold fingers crawling up her back. Nightshade would come to feed on her again – and it already seemed like too much time had passed. Vampires usually needed blood five to six times a week. Synthetic plasma could maybe reduce that to three or four times per week. And if they drank directly from a mortal, like they weren't allowed to, that could hold them over for about four or five days.
Still no sign of Nightshade. At least, no sign of Nightshade seeking out its food.
Maybe, just maybe – and Yang hoped this with all her might, but she knew all too well she shouldn't expect it – Nightshade was trying to starve itself again, like it had said it'd been doing before it fed on Yang. Maybe Yang would be long gone and far from Vale by the time that demon decided to feed again.
Maybe, even, Nightshade had lied and didn't need to feed on Yang, specifically. Maybe it really had just been an intimidation tactic.
But that was, of course, wishful thinking.
"Hey, me and Rube-Rube are gonna go out for a jog. Are you two gonna be okay without us?" Yang walked into the kitchen, Ruby in tow.
Sun was helping Pyrrha with the dishes – or, trying to, at least – after he and Ruby had stayed with Pyrrha and Yang for supper. He didn't know all the storage places yet.
"We'll be fine, I'm sure you two need to catch up," Pyrrha offered with a smile over her shoulder. "Just be careful out there."
"Yeah, we'll hold the fort. Just don't be gone until midnight, can't promise you won't find this place in shambles by then." Sun grinned – shit-eating wide.
"You know, if it wasn't for Pyrrha being here, I might actually be worried about that," Yang chuckled, heading out the front door. "See you guys in a bit!"
Ruby followed Yang outside, calling out a goodbye as well, and, after stretching their muscles on the front lawn, soon both sisters started on their jog on the sidewalk, side by side.
They hadn't gotten to do this in a long time, often stationed in different places – and then there'd been those two months of radio silence because Ruby and Sun had been on their secret mission in Atlas. Really, ever since they'd joined Aurora, the opportunity for a jog together had been sporadic. Ruby was the one who liked running – and she was fast, too. Always had been, even without the enhancements. It had become valuable bonding time for the sisters early on.
After their parents were killed, they'd really only had each other.
Their uncle had taken them in. But Qrow had been distant. And often drunk.
"It sure is weird being back here after so much time," Ruby eventually said.
Yang didn't say anything, figuring her silence was agreement enough. This neighborhood was quiet. No cars driving by, nobody else out and about. It was nice, if not it being another reminder of the direly missed secure facilities.
"Did you go to Patch yet?" Ruby wondered.
"No. Didn't get the time. Maybe after we find the missing civilians. They're more important."
"You're not wrong. What about Uncle Qrow?"
Yang arched her eyebrows, taking a breath and making sure to keep pace. "What about Qrow? He's probably passed out at some bar."
Gods only knew how much alcohol that man actually drank – and it didn't even taste good to enforcers anymore. Nor was it so easy to get intoxicated at all.
"You know he's rogue, right?"
That almost made Yang stumble to a stop. She hopped over her own feet and quickly recovered, eyes wide. "Whoa, what? But he said –"
"That he retired, I know. But…I saw him. In Atlas. I think Sun mentioned him in a report, and next thing you know, we get assigned a secondary mission to arrest Harbinger."
This time, Yang did need to come to a halt. Ruby kept going but then also stopped when she realized Yang wasn't beside her anymore. She came back, concern in her gray eyes. "It's wild, right?"
"Uh, yeah." Yang put her hands on her hips for a moment, breathing as evenly as she could and frowning. "So, then…did you guys arrest him?" And what is he doing in Atlas?
Ruby scoffed, looked around as if they were being watched, and then leaned in closer to Yang to say, "No, dummy. I'm not gonna arrest family. Also, he literally didn't do anything."
I have so many questions. But Yang's brain was a jumble of contradictory thoughts, and she tried opening her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a slight wheeze. She smacked her hand to her face – her prosthetic hand, and the metal was quite a bit more unforgiving than flesh. "Ow." She shook her head and then just started jogging again before she embarrassed herself even more.
Ruby easily caught up, giggling. "Hope you're more coordinated than that in the field."
"Oh, shhh. You know I am. Well, except for…anyway. What the hell, Ruby? And Sun was okay with disobeying a direct order, too?"
Ruby didn't reply right away, and Yang glanced over to see that she was giving her a skeptical side-eye.
"What?"
"You're telling me you'd just obey an order even though it's wrong?"
"I –" Yang fell silent. She'd been about to say 'Yes,' in full confidence, because Aurora had always been right, had never steered her or Pyrrha into a moral gray zone where the consequences of a vampire's harmful actions seemed questionable, but then Yang remembered literally everything they'd been dealing with in Vale. And how Yang had already started keeping secrets. How there was so much she already didn't understand. "I guess not," she finally admitted, half-hearted, but followed up with, "it depends on the situation. Did SUN explain why they wanted Qrow arrested?"
"Yeah, I told you. He's rogue. A rogue enforcer."
"Ruby."
"Yang."
"Explain."
Ruby shrugged. "It means he stopped reporting for duty. And that's it."
Yang was beyond bewildered now. "That's it? Aurora wanted you to arrest him because he just…quit, or something?" I didn't know that was possible. It certainly explained why he'd told Yang not to contact him after she joined. But…the mutagens. They were a permanent change, the next part of the contract they signed with their very bodies. Protect the mortal world for the rest of the extended life they were given.
Qrow would have been in full knowledge of what he agreed to. Enforcers were essentially made demi-mortal, superhuman – to combat even deadlier forces. Experienced enforcers were even given the power to alter recent memories, to help reduce mortal backlash and keep vampires hidden. Even Yang and Pyrrha had had to make use of that more than once in the past. Maybe it made sense that Aurora wouldn't want to be the cause of more supernatural issues in the world. Maybe it made sense Aurora regulated itself, too.
"Yep," Ruby responded, popping the P. "And I don't know about you, but I feel like we should be allowed to change our minds. Even if we're…well, enhanced."
Yang didn't know what to say to that, didn't even know how to process it because it had never occurred to her. So, she chose not to address it at all. It was one of her many talents – repressing negative emotions. "You didn't get punished?"
"We just told SUN we weren't able to find him again. Pretty sure they believed it."
They were halfway around the block now. Yang was quiet for a while, mulling over the things Ruby had said. She shouldn't have been surprised that Ruby played loose with her obligations. She'd always had a free spirit – and Yang had done her damnedest to nurture that and keep it that way. Their parents were gone, Qrow had failed them, and Yang had refused to let her baby sister deal with the grief by herself. She'd worked her ass off to make sure Ruby was happy. And then she'd sworn to stop other vampires from fucking up more families.
Ruby had joined Aurora because she'd wanted to follow in Yang's steps. She wanted to help, too – and Yang figured she must have done something right if Ruby turned out so great and still wanted to be close to her older sister.
These revelations changed nothing. Ruby continued to pave the way for different approaches with a more open worldview, once more making Yang realize how much her little sister had grown up and turned into her own woman.
Yang couldn't find anything wrong with that at all, in the end. Ruby made her so proud.
"How are you holding up, by the way?" she asked, eventually coming out of her head. Ruby had experienced something traumatic shortly before her mission in Atlas, and Yang wasn't about to forget to check up on her sister's emotional wellbeing.
Ruby sighed through her heavier breathing. "I'm dealing. I know it's not my fault, everyone keeps telling me that, but there's always that little part of me that feels like I could've done something, you know?"
Sun was Ruby's second partner, recently assigned after he finished his training. Previously, her partner had been an equally earnest girl called Penny Polendina. They'd worked together for fifty years. But a terrible vampire attack had caused Penny's ward to shatter, and she'd been affected by a charm, been made to hallucinate and misjudge her surroundings. As Ruby told it, they'd been in a heavy-machinery storage unit, hunting a murderous vampire in hiding. But the location had turned out to be a trap meticulously laid out for them. They'd tried to escape but something had broken and fallen on their path.
Penny had been cleaved in two at the waist.
No way to heal from that.
The fact that Ruby was still functional, still powering through, spoke of her inner strength. But she also had a lot of people supporting her, and she didn't shy away from them.
If Yang had lost Pyrrha like that, she could have never forgiven herself. There'd already been too much of a close call, made Yang even warier of vampires who had accepted what they were – because after acceptance, there came the embracing of it. And that was when things got dangerous.
Even Cardin had proven that much. And he was far from being the only one.
"Believe me, I know. You didn't learn to blame yourself for things out of your control from the neighbor. Give yourself time, Boopy. And I'm always here for you, if you need a hug or don't want to be alone, or even just need some cheering up."
"Thanks, Yang," Ruby said with a heartfelt smile, crinkles at the corner of her eye. She sniffed and shook her head. "I know you are. I hope I can be there for you sometime, too."
Yang smiled, squashed down the sudden pang of grief. It was tempting – to come clean about what she had done. Ruby certainly didn't give the impression she'd reveal anything to Aurora, or even be mad at all. But there was a barrier there, a phantom wall in Yang's mind composed of all those years taking care of Ruby, forgetting her own self for her sake – none of which Yang regretted, but she'd spent her time ensuring she didn't burden Ruby with her own feelings. Now wasn't any different.
"Aw, you aren't getting soft on me, are you?" Yang teased. "C'mon, I'll race you all the way back to the duplex!" She didn't even wait to see if Ruby was ready, she just took off into a sprint.
"H-Hey!"
"Last one there is a rotten egg!"
"That's gonna be you!"
…The rotten egg was, in fact – and surprising to no one – Yang.
"Oh, they're here."
There was an armored, matte black SUV parked in the driveway of the duplex facing the one the two other pairs of enforcers were residing in. The four of them had gone out to show Ruby and Sun Cryolife's premises, and then they'd found a gym about fifteen minutes away they could use to workout. It certainly wasn't a proper training facility – no marksmen target ranges, obstacle courses, or wrestling arenas and the likes – but it was better than trying to use a spare room packed with gear and ammunition with only a mat for exercise equipment.
Pyrrha turned their sedan into their shared driveway, and then the four enforcers got out of the vehicle.
"We might as well go see them now," Yang said. "The faster we get briefed, the better."
Nobody disagreed, and they crossed the road to go knock on the other duplex's door. It was absolutely strange having to just stand there, waiting to go into a home, to discuss mission plans.
A very tall woman – taller than even Sun and Pyrrha, who both stood at around the six feet mark – opened the door, sized them up with sharp leaf green eyes behind glasses, and then stood to the side to let them in. "Good, we were starting to wonder where you were. Gather in the, ehem, living room."
There was a stern, no-funny-business air about her, immediately commanding respect. Yang almost felt small in her shoes, kind of like when she'd sat in front of the principal one time next to her mom back when she was in Signal, the only elementary school on Patch.
She'd never wanted to repeat the experience again.
Pyrrha and Ruby took the lead, Yang and Sun going in next, and the woman followed behind them. She was in heels, made obvious by the clacking on the floor. The layout of this home was very similar to Yang's and Pyrrha's, so they found the living room without a problem.
It seemed the two senior enforcers had rearranged the furniture so that the living room functioned more like an actual conference space. The chairs and couch had been moved to form a circle around the coffee table, and extra seating had been brought in, too. The TV was gone.
There was another woman already present, sitting on the couch facing the entrance into the living room, one leg crossed over the other. Her stare was unblinking and hard as she watched everyone take a spot. And, as Yang lowered herself down on one of the plain chairs diagonally from her, she realized that stare was now very much fixed on her.
Yang stared back. Auburn irises, reflecting close to a deep red if the light hit them just right. Thick and wild black hair, some of it pulled back in a crimson cloth bandana. But the face. The face. Yang recognized the straight, angular nose, the rounder cheekbones, the high arch of the eyebrows. She especially recognized the divot right below the two bumps of the full lower lip, almost like its own upside-down cupid's bow.
She recognized these things because she saw them every day. In the mirror.
Yang had her father's blond hair, his longer face, the shape of his big, kind eyes. She'd never looked like Summer.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch," the tall woman said, not taking a seat and staying near the arch of the living room's entrance. "You will call me Agent Dust on the field." She gestured over at the other woman on the couch. "This is my partner, Raven Branwen. Agent Omen."
Qrow had warned Yang.
She'd been seventeen at the time.
He'd told her, when her idea to join Aurora had become concrete plans. About her mother. Her biological one.
'Aurora took us in together,' Qrow had said in one of his few moments of clarity, drawling with his gruff voice that perpetually sounded sarcastic or cynical in some way. He'd just shown Yang an old picture of himself and Raven standing with her dad between them, his arms slung across both their shoulders. 'The Branwen twins. Called us Harbinger and Omen. She's still out there. You're sure you want to follow in her footsteps?'
It had been a severe punch in the gut, finding out that Summer, Ruby's mom, wasn't also Yang's – but however upset and destabilized Yang might have been by the news, it hadn't changed her goal. In fact, after assimilating it, there was a part of Yang that maybe even hoped to meet Raven one day. She was angry, yes, that her birth-giver had just left her, but Summer had treated Yang like her own child. Yang had never felt like she'd missed out or been placed in second priority to Ruby. It was more-so the hope of finding another parent, someone who could, just maybe, fill up a little of the void left behind by Taiyang's and Summer's deaths that fueled Yang's interest.
And Raven was here now. In this very room. Sent by Aurora to help with this Vale case. Calculating. Cold.
Seventy years. It took seventy years for this moment to come.
Yang couldn't tear her eyes away. Couldn't bring herself to look at Ruby yet.
"Uh, well, I don't know if you already know who we are, but –"
"We know," Raven interrupted Sun, and she finally traveled her piercing gaze over the group again. Where Glynda was collected and observant in her composure, like a teacher, Raven was steely and cutting, like an assassin. "We've read all your reports so far regarding Vale and Atlas, and SUN has provided us with our main directives going forward."
"Aurora will be establishing a proper base of operations in Vale soon," Glynda added (and Yang breathed a huge sigh of relief), "as the situation appears to be much more dire than we thought, according to your discoveries. Raven and I will be guiding you and helping you with background tasks, but our main goal at the moment is assessing the true extent of the vampire problem in Vale."
Raven leaned forward then. "Operatives Ember and Akouo, you have been doing excellent work gathering information, but you were about to hit a roadblock – we don't sufficiently know who the vampires in Vale are to pinpoint clear suspects. This case is unique in that we will have to build it from the ground up. You will have to provide the SRO and the Archives with documentation and history."
"Which means what, exactly, as a task?" Pyrrha asked, eyebrows arched. If she made any connection between Raven and Yang, she didn't show it.
"Visit Vale's Historic Library and Museum. Search for information about Vale's past, folklore, anything relating to vampires or strange occurrences. If you can weed out names, even better. Also, find Fox Alistair and Yatsuhashi Daichi. It doesn't matter that we haven't gotten an update from them in decades. Stakeout at Cryolife several days in a row if you have to. They are older vampires and have been here for a while, chances are that they know other vampires in the city. We need to know who Vulpes, Axis, and Mocha are."
Glynda stepped forward then and placed her scroll on the table. A holographic projection of a vampire profile from the Archives was cast from it, big enough for everyone to see clearly. "Your secondary mission," she started, measured and careful, "which you will all be keeping in mind as you work on your other tasks, is eliminating Nightshade." She made sure she had everyone's attention before continuing, "What you have found here, Yang and Pyrrha, is called an ancient vampire; creatures that have lived for so long they have gained powers and abilities beyond comprehension. Aurora does not want these creatures alive. The fact of the matter is simple: If even just one of them decides to snap, then thousands of mortal lives could be lost within weeks, even days."
"Oh..." Ruby's mouth formed a little O. Maybe each of her eyes, too.
"Thousands?" Yang and Sun both repeated together, disbelieving. They gave each other a look.
"Aurora identified several major death-count events throughout history which were caused by ancients – for example…" Glynda glanced over at Raven, who gave a curt nod, so she continued, "I'm sure you heard of the tragedy of Brunswick Farms. An ancient who went by the alias Springtide caused the wiping out of the entire population over a century ago and Aurora had difficulty covering up the evidence from the mortal world. Fortunately, thanks to the aggressive vampire hunting of our medieval predecessors, not many vampires ever made it to such ages, and known ancients have all been disposed of one way or another thus far."
She flicked through several pages of information and a few vampire profiles. The last one she stopped on, and Yang couldn't help giving it a closer look. It was a picture of a painting, faded and cracked by time, but the vampire had faunus horns protruding from his red hair, and a chilling blue eye – the other had scars like burn marks ruining it. Adam Taurus, alias Spite. Age: 1000+. Approximate total death-count: 126 100 lives. Yang's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as Glynda continued, "As you can see, they are extremely lethal. They will not be defeated by regular means."
There was a heavy silence, at first, Glynda and Raven allowing the younger enforcers to realize the gravity of the situation. Then, Yang tore her eyes away from Spite's image and managed thickly, "I'm sorry, why does that profile say he killed over one-hundred thousand people? Is that a typo?"
"I'm afraid it's not," Glynda replied with a frown. "We calculate the average number of mortals they need to feed from per year, which they either turn or kill in the process, and that is approximately one-hundred-twenty lives. Then we multiply that by the number of years we believe they've been alive. In this ancient's case, Spite, that would already equate to more than one-hundred-twenty-thousand people affected just by his very basic cost of survival. Added on to that is the number of lives he's taken because of his greed and power." Glynda's tone became grave. "The cost of mortal life even just one ancient vampire demands is monumental."
"So, what do we do, then?" Sun asked, shifting uncomfortably. There was a wariness in everyone's expressions, and Pyrrha happened to glance down at Yang's left wrist. The blonde wrapped her prosthetic hand around it self-consciously.
Aurora had not warned them about ancient vampires when they were in training. She could not imagine why. This seemed like vital information necessary to avoid being caught off-guard, as they had.
And Yang was liking the implications of having been fed from by one less and less.
"We have to set up a lure, and snipe Nightshade from a distance with high-caliber explosive UV-C rounds." Raven nodded towards Ruby, who straightened her stance. "That's where your skills will be valuable, Private Crescent. As for the lure…Nightshade won't be tricked by our usual tactics. For now, standby on that. If you run into Nightshade in the meantime, do not engage. Take notes, we'll open a profile for it for the SRO. Killing it will be a process."
I could so easily be used as bait. If what Nightshade told me is true, I am one-hundred percent the perfect lure. But Yang couldn't make herself admit the truth out loud to the other enforcers, even when every sensibility told her she should. There was a fucking ancient vampire bound to come seeking her blood, and that particular creature was a horrific nightmare with terrifying abilities, and Yang should have been trying to get every ounce of support she could get.
But she had already lied by omission, so who knew what the consequences would be if Aurora found out now? Did it even matter, though? And, more importantly…
Yang's eyes traveled back to Raven.
Raven would definitely disapprove. Raven did not seem like the type to accept failure.
And any failure on Yang's part would reflect negatively on Pyrrha, too. It was a domino effect of things Yang didn't want.
Glynda took her scroll back before Yang gained the courage to speak, and said, "We're going to divide tasks among our pairs. Ruby and Sun, your job will be to continue your previous assignment – you now know you must investigate, infiltrate, Cryolife."
"Glynda and myself will be getting ourselves organized and better prepared to further help you," Raven nodded at the group, "and we will also analyze the strange heat signatures you've found at some of the key locations in your case. Any questions?"
The younger enforcers all looked at each other. There was a silence, then Pyrrha asked, "When is a vampire considered ancient, exactly?"
"At around the thousand-year mark," Glynda answered.
The thousand-year mark… Imagine being alive that long. Was it boredom that caused an ancient to stir shit up all of a sudden?
But it appeared that Pyrrha had an ulterior motive in wanting that piece of information because her expression darkened and she immediately followed up with, "So, to be clear, Aurora allows vampires to live until – or up to right before – they become ancient, and then orders them to be killed? Regardless of what kind of long life they've lived? What if they've only been feeding on blood packs and synthetic plasma during that whole time?"
Yang firmed her expression, too, and she saw Ruby and Sun exchange uncomfortable glances.
Raven was the one to reply to this, and her tone was sharp. "Let me put it this way – do you really think an old and powerful creature will just be fine with sustaining itself forever on frozen dinners when there is a feast of fresh food easily available?"
Pyrrha didn't seem to have an immediate response, but the look on her face was unconvinced. Yang glanced over at Ruby, saw a similar expression there. Except Ruby had something to say. "Counter point," she started, finger raised in the air, "we have a few records of vampires who are over five-hundred years old whose only crimes happened shortly after their transformation, but once they knew how to survive without hurting anyone, they never caused problems again. Is there something that, like, changes once a vampire becomes ancient for them to be put on death row?"
The glare Raven set on Ruby made Yang tense in her seat. Nobody looked at Ruby that way. Not if they didn't want Yang's fist in their face. "Yes, something changes – they fucking develop powers," Raven snapped. "The blood packs and synthetic plasma stop being enough to sustain them. And didn't you listen when we spoke about the amount of death they can cause if they lose it? Mortal lives are not to be gambled with."
Yang's jaw was locked tight. She wanted to warn Raven not to speak to Ruby like that, especially not when her question was perfectly valid. But this was Raven. Their superior. Yang's biological mother. Not some dumb mortal or weak vampire thinking they held some kind of leverage over Ruby.
"Don't misplace your sympathy, enforcers," Raven added as her glower passed over each of them in the room. "Ancient vampires will have none for you." When her gaze landed on Yang, it sharpened, became almost challenging, and it was clear she hadn't missed how Yang had been thinking similarly to Pyrrha and Ruby. "I do hope this sentimentality will not get in the way of completing your task."
Yang looked away from Raven, losing her defiance, and met Pyrrha's stare, then Ruby's. They really didn't have a choice in the matter. Yet Yang still had hesitations. And Ruby seemed to have some, too, if the uncertainty in her eyes was any indication. Even Sun looked uneasy. But when Yang's gaze returned to her partner, Pyrrha seemed to determine her stance, and her expression hardened. She was the first to look back towards Raven and say, "Of course not. We'll do what needs to be done."
Yang clenched her jaw, but she nodded. She did understand, and Nightshade didn't inspire any warm or fuzzy feelings, either. None of this did. But it was the principle behind it all that certainly seemed to be existing within a moral gray area, and Yang didn't like that. She had interacted with far too many vampires who had been turned against their will, now cursed with requiring blood to survive. Most of them did not want to hurt anyone. A lot of them never again caused problems by accepting the terms of their continued freedom Aurora set for them, just as Ruby had argued. But it sucked for everyone, and it wasn't fair.
Yet Aurora had deemed the risk too great – and the bitter part of Yang that had experienced terrible loss and witnessed horrific murders had to agree. Power corrupted.
Power required greater greed.
If vampires just didn't exist from the start…
Glynda dismissed the group once everyone was clear on their tasks.
Yang started to get up, but Raven said, "Operative Ember, I would have a word with you. In private."
Yang glanced at Pyrrha, glanced at Ruby, and they both looked like they wanted to hang back and offer support or be there to hear the conversation, but they ultimately left without questioning anything. Before long, everyone else was gone and Yang was alone with her biological mother.
She didn't know what to say, now that she was here. Didn't know what to do with her hands all of a sudden, either, so she shoved them into her jacket's pockets. This wasn't how she had imagined meeting Raven. Usually, in her mind's eye, the scene played out at Aurora HQ somewhere. Or even bumping into each other in the field while being stationed in the same place, somehow.
This was technically that, but…the circumstances were wildly different. Raven was here to help and guide. And under that mercilessly scrutinizing auburn gaze, Yang very much felt like a kid again. She wasn't Raven's equal, wasn't in a position to assert her expertise, wasn't even sure there was anything she could present to Raven as something to be proud of.
Pride? That shouldn't matter.
The situation was just so…weird. Strained. Awkward. More complicated than she'd thought, too.
But this woman was a stranger. And she'd abandoned Yang – purportedly to focus on hunting vampires. Protecting the mortal world. Yang couldn't exactly fault her for that.
Raven approached Yang slowly until they were only two feet away. She was a few inches taller than Yang, thanks to the heels. And she looked only slightly older, too, maybe a woman in her mid-thirties, because of how the mutagens extended their lifespans. Raven would have been some one-hundred-sixty years old now.
Something in her unforgiving gaze actually, finally, softened a bit. Her eyes were taking in Yang's face, and she had raised one hand a little as if she were about to touch Yang's arm, but let it drop again. Eventually, she murmured, "I never expected you to look so much like me." She took a breath. "And yet remind me so much of him. You have the same…disarming presence."
Yang swallowed hard. Her father. She still remembered his good-natured laugh and terrible dad jokes, how easily he lifted her and Ruby onto his strong shoulders. His cheery whistling when he cooked on the barbecue, keeping a watchful eye on his daughters while they played on the swing set in their front lawn. He'd been their rock. And Yang had tried to be like him, tried to be like the memory she had of him. Maybe she'd succeeded, maybe she hadn't. Either way, there was a knot of emotions making its way up her chest, a tangle of negative and positive vines battling to choke each other out. She couldn't decide whether to smile or to glare. "You knew? That he was killed?"
"Of course I knew. Qrow told me."
There was tension in Yang's shoulders and neck, and the sentence made anger gain the upper hand. "You knew and you didn't come to the funeral? Didn't even…" come check on me. Yang snuffed out the heat behind her eyes, but the vehemence of her emotions caught her off-guard. This was ridiculous, actually. "Sorry, I don't know why I expected you to care."
She would have taken anything. Even if she didn't know who Raven was at the time – anything solid and reassuring to hang on to when it felt like her whole world was crumbling around her.
Raven's stare returned to blades. "I do care. You're quick to judge for somebody who decided to live the same life that I do."
What? Yang was still, tried her best to contain the shaking happening inside herself. You don't even know me. There were so many things she wanted to say. So many insults she wanted to hurl, accusations she needed to make. The truth was that she would have moved the sky and the earth to be there for Ruby if she was dealing with something difficult, Aurora's mission be damned. They'd been lucky to have already been stationed in the same area when Ruby had lost Penny. No professional obligations or reputation to sacrifice.
But that was why Yang had become the maternal figure at the ripe age of ten years old, and not Raven, a grown-ass adult, Yang supposed.
She understood things a lot better now.
And with this understanding came a sense of calm. Yang was able to relax her stance, ease out of her glare. Before she could even say anything, though, Raven added, as if seeing Yang closing herself off, "I've been trying to find the vampire who killed him, whenever I can. And I guarantee you, now that I'm back here in Vale, I will be trying to follow that trail, no matter how cold."
The admission had its probably intended effect – it stopped Yang's dismissive reaction in its tracks. Her eyes widened, her fists clenched. If she had thought her emotions were contradictory earlier, they were certainly at polar ends now. Maybe we aren't so…unalike as I thought. Because Yang had been of a similar mindset from the start. If she ever found the vampire who killed her parents – and, yes, Summer had been her mom, far more than Raven had any claim to – Yang would not have shown him any mercy. She didn't necessarily go out of her way to search for him, but she was always on the lookout for clues, if they fell onto her lap.
And Raven wanted the same thing she did. His death. Revenge.
Except it didn't settle well on Yang. Something felt…wrong, somehow. She wasn't sure this was what she wanted to have in common with her biological mother.
Yang unclenched her fists, finger by finger, and let out a slow, strained sigh. Finally, all she said was, "I guess we all have our jobs to do, then. Let me know if you find anything, or whatever. We'll…catch up some other time. Bye." She turned away, not waiting for a response, and headed out of the living room.
Raven didn't try to keep her, and said nothing else, either.
But Yang still felt the daggers of her gaze at the back of her head as she left.
Ruby was on Yang before she could properly come into the living room. Pyrrha, thankfully, had the good graces to stay where she was on the couch and just watch it play out.
"Was that your mom?" Ruby asked, eyes wide as she leaned towards her sister.
Yang heaved another sigh. "Yeah, that was her. Not, uh…not how I thought meeting her would go. Or how I really imagined her to be." She wasn't really sure what she had been thinking or hoping for, in hindsight. Maybe someone less distant – which felt a little stupid now, all things considered.
There was no stipulation against getting pregnant as an enforcer. But it was next to impossible to raise a child when missions required so much traveling and time out in the field. And, so, either Aurora did the raising at headquarters and trained another enforcer, or the baby had to be given up in some way or another shortly after birth.
Most made the smarter choice to either not conceive at all, or terminated the pregnancy.
It was confusing for Yang. Raven didn't seem like the type to accept going through with all that. And…she hadn't been completely devoid of emotions when it had just been her and Yang in the room, too. That had to mean something, right?
Maybe the relationship wasn't totally worth trash. Just maybe.
It was too many maybes.
"You were, like, twins or something," Sun commented with a chuckle from the armchair. She saw that he and Pyrrha and Ruby had started a simple card game laid out on the coffee table as they waited for Yang to come back. But then he paused, and his tail flicked behind him. "You seem like the cooler one, though, not gonna lie."
Yang sat down across from him, beside Pyrrha, without replying, but she offered him a weak smile. "Deal me in."
Ruby took her spot again on the floor as Sun gave Yang some cards, but it was Pyrrha who spoke next. She was thoughtful. "Was she…already an enforcer when she had you?"
Yang shrugged. "I think so. The timing would make sense."
This caused Pyrrha to crease her eyebrows. "So…you were already part enforcer before taking the mutagens?"
Yang blinked. And so did Ruby. They shared a look. Neither of them had thought of that.
But suddenly, now that they were thinking about it, there were some things that made a lot more sense to Yang. Like how good she'd always been at sports without putting in too much effort when she was in school. Or how, after taking the mutagens, she seemed to be stronger than the average enforcer, easily capable of giving any vampire younger than two hundred years old a run for their money in brute strength – which was a lot of them.
Well, usually, at least. Cardin was an exception – they'd been basically matched.
"I…I guess so," Yang finally replied with another shrug. She looked at her cards, frowning, and laid one down on the growing pile when it was her turn. Maybe she did want to play catch up with Raven sometime, after all. How had she and Yang's father even met? As far as Yang knew, Taiyang had always lived in the Vale area. And if Aurora had never sent enforcers to Vale until now…
There was also the question of how a woman like Raven, who seemed so cold and work-focused, had both entertained a relationship with someone who most definitely was not either of those things and also went through with the pregnancy.
Although…Yang supposed Raven had alluded to a 'disarming presence'…
It was a story Yang would be quite willing to listen to. To figure out more clearly where she stood with Raven, hopefully wipe away some of the confusion and upset.
And, more importantly…she'd get to hear about her dad.
Her heart squeezed itself in her chest, and Yang took a breath and pushed away the memories. Now really wasn't the time to spiral down the roots and thorny rabbit holes of feelings she'd refused to address all this time. She didn't want anyone to see her cry. She didn't want to cry, period. So, Yang brightened her expression and went, "Anyway! What do you guys think of what we learned earlier?"
"Oh, my gods!" Ruby exclaimed.
At the same time, Sun also exclaimed, "Totally nuts!"
"Like," Ruby continued, "when you were telling us about how you got fed from that night, I was really just thinking that maybe your bracer malfunctioned and you were being affected by a charm. But then you and Pyrrha both saw that crazy shadow monster while fighting Cardin, and it was pretty wild that both of your bracers would have not worked at the same time. I mean, either way, it sounded terrifying, but now knowing what you saw was real makes this just…oof."
"Did you guys know about Brunswick Farms?" Pyrrha chimed in, glancing at the three others curiously.
"No way," Sun answered with a shake of his head. "But there's something else that I thought of. See, I'm originally from Vacuo, right? And any born and raised Vacuan knows there's an area in the desert that literally no one has managed to get to or else they almost all die trying in the quest." The more Sun spoke, the more animated he became with his gestures. He even set his cards down in order to slowly spread his arms in reference to the dunes of the Wastelands. "But people see it out in the distance sometimes, over the hills of sand and through the heatwaves in the air. This temple. Old, the kind that has to have treasure inside. The story from the loonies who have managed to come back is that as soon as it looks like they're within reach, a huge sandstorm starts up." He'd hopped onto his feet to crouch on the armchair now, tail flicking excitedly behind him. "Impossible to get through, doesn't relent until you're either out of range again or dead. Doesn't matter what method of transport you use."
Ruby was hooked on his words, and Yang could safely say she was, too. She and Pyrrha had been to Vacuo before, and Ruby had even gone with Penny at some point as well, but this was all entirely new information to the three of them, and they were gobbling it up.
"You think it could be an ancient vampire's home?" Pyrrha asked, eyebrows arched. At this point, their card game was basically forgotten.
Sun crossed his arms, but his blue eyes were nothing but good-humored. "Uh, I was getting to that part. Psh. Anyway, so I'm in enforcer school, doing enforcer-student things, and Aurora sends me back to Vacuo for my field testing. And I suddenly realize, as I'm going about my enforcer job, that I can't see the temple anymore. Ever." He slapped his own forearm, hard enough that the sound made Ruby jump, and Yang smirked. "Because I have this freaking shiny new enforcer bracer now! Charms can't affect me!"
"Did you alert Aurora?" Yang wondered, eyes wide as she leaned forward. That's one insane hell of a charm, to be affecting an entire city's population. As far as Yang knew, a vampire's charm capabilities could maybe influence a maximum of three people, and those people had to be in the vampire's line of sight. But, then again, the past two weeks were quickly making her realize she didn't know diddly squat. And of course Yang or Pyrrha or Ruby hadn't suspected anything strange about this temple in Vacuo if they'd never even seen it in the first place. It was as Sun said: Only an enforcer native to Vacuo could have spotted the incongruity.
"Not yet!" Sun responded with a snapped finger-gun at her. "Because I literally just thought of it! Again! Knowing what I know now about ancients…it can't be anything else. There's an ancient vampire in Vacuo."
Yang realized she'd stood up. She wasn't really sure what for, but she couldn't stay sitting at the moment.
Maybe the anxiety was coming back.
"It's crazy to me that a creature with the power to charm so many people without having eyes on them is using that power to…just make them see something interesting out in the distance," Pyrrha murmured, fingers drumming on her lips thoughtfully.
"With the occasional killing, let's not forget," Sun pointed out.
Ruby leaned back on her hands, legs crossed in front of the coffee table. She tilted her head to the side, and suddenly she looked so much like Summer with that serious expression mixed with worry in her gray irises that Yang wondered if the world was trying to send her a message about her unhealthy coping mechanisms – today in particular. "Well, if I were trying to stay alive forever, I probably wouldn't do things to draw too much negative attention to myself? I mean, like Glynda said, there supposedly aren't very many ancient vampires in the first place, and we're aggressively hunting them whenever we hear about them on top of actively stopping vampires in general from even reaching those ages. So…if I wasn't evil, and I just wanted to keep sticking around in secret…"
"That's true…" Pyrrha shook her head and sighed. "Well, for the greater good, they still have to go. The mortal cost of letting them stay is… I can't even wrap my head around it. Yang, you and I should start filling out a basic profile page for Nightshade, provide whatever little information we've gathered so far – at least, with regards to what we've seen. And, Sun – definitely alert Aurora about the ancient in Vacuo. They're going to want to make that a priority."
"Sure thing, boss," Sun saluted, and whipped out his scroll and extended the holographic interface to get a bigger screen.
"I'm not your boss," Pyrrha said with a small shake of her head. "Just trying to keep things clean and cut. Gods only know how messy this is going to get."
Yang clenched her fists, decided to head out of the living room to go grab her laptop. And just hide for a moment, away from the prying looks of people who might be able to see right through her.
She had a pretty bad, solid feeling 'messy' was an accurate descriptor for things to come.
And Yang wasn't sure how much of it would be her own blood splattered among the evidence.
Hope you enjoyed! Lots more opportunity for Yang's characterization with Raven in the picture now, eh?
Thank you again to my wonderful girlfriend for being my beta-reader, thank you to my writer friend for all her input as well, and thank you to Wolfcreations21 for the inspiration! See you all in the next chapter!