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Chapter Text

Ruby walked down the streets of Vale. The sun was setting and most people were beginning to go inside. She looked up at the giant airships that inhabited the airspace of Vale and Beacon. Those ships followed King Ironwood wherever he went, and he was in town for the Vytal festival, a tradition where Knights and Knightesses from each kingdom would compete in battles for all the kingdoms to watch. Customarily, squads of Knights were groups of four, and they would fight in those teams. Although it was technically against the rules for Knights and Knightesses to leave the castle without the rest of their squad, Ruby liked to explore on her own. The townsfolk of Vale were kind enough. Those who recognized her as a Knightess would offer her gifts, even if she usually declined. 

Tonight would not go like any other. Tonight, she noticed a very familiar hooded figure stumble into a bar down the road. She ran over and into the bar. Before he could sit down at a booth, she ran up behind him and squeezed him into a hug. “Uncle Qrow!!!” she squealed.

“Quit it kid, we’re in public ya know.”

“A Knightess can’t be happy to see family?”

He sighed. “Just, take it down a notch.” he murmured. They both sat at the booth on opposite ends of the table. 

“When did you get back into town? I thought King Oz sent you all the way out to Mistral.”

“Just got back.”

“And you went straight to a bar?”

“I swear Kiddo, do you even know me?” Then, a waitress came over. She curtsied. “No need for formalities.” Qrow stated. 

“I know how you’d prefer it, but there is a Knightess sitting across from you too.” she replied.

“Fair enough. Would you be a dear and get me a drink? And make it a double.” Then he glanced at Ruby. “And some fries for the table.” The waitress nodded and left.

“You okay? You seem a little… off.” Ruby observed. Qrow straightened his posture slightly and shifted in his seat. 

“I’m fine, Kiddo.” He murmured. In a clear attempt to change the topic, he asked, “What are you doin out here without your squad?”

“Exploring.”

“You wouldn’t also be trying to track down the man who you prevented from robbing a dust store?”

“Nope. Hasn’t been on my mind since that night. Crazy how it’s been three years already, huh?”

“Then what’s hanging out of your pocket there?” Qrow asked, pointing at drawings in Ruby’s pocket. She used her semblance to disappear from the bar and then come back. 

“There’s nothing in my pocket Uncle Qrow.” Qrow sighed. The waitress came back with the fries and his drink.

“Now that we’ve got our food, let’s get walkin.”

“Where are we going?”

“The castle.”

“Fine…” Ruby muttered. She thanked the waitress, and Qrow winked at her while putting a tip on the table. 

The walk back to the castle wasn’t too long, but Ruby noticed Qrow acting stranger by the minute. “Are you sure you’re okay, Uncle Qrow? Your eyes look kinda red.”

“I’ll be fine.” Qrow growled in response. He again changed the topic. “How’s your sister?”

“Yang is Yang. Now that she’s drinking age she gets into slightly more trouble but that’s about it.”

“Do me a favor Kiddo, don’t let her go crazy with it. ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ or whatever.”

“Will do.” Ruby replied.

When they got to the hallway leading to Ruby’s room, she said goodnight to Qrow and started walking, but ran back into the main corridor when she heard a commotion. 

“Ah Ice Queen, heart as cold as ever.” Qrow stated.

“If you do not shut your mouth, I will have to shut it for you.” Winter replied. Qrow lunged at her and she dodged and put him on the ground. She placed her foot on his back to hold him down. 

“Both of you, come with me.” Glynda Goodwitch, King Oz’s second-in-command, ordered. Winter helped Qrow to his feet and they followed her towards the throne room. Ruby walked straight back to her room. She wanted to ask Weiss if she knew more about whatever was going on between her older sister and Qrow, but when she got back to their room, everyone else was already asleep.

Glynda and Winter walked Qrow into the throne room in handcuffs. “If he were one of my men, I’d have him shot.” King Ironwood growled.

“If I were one of your men I would stake myself.” Qrow replied.

“Qrow, how long has it been since you’ve last fed?” King Oz asked.

“A week or two?” Qrow muttered. Everyone groaned. 

“And what happened to your emergency pack?”

“Drank it.”

“Speaking of drunk, I can smell the whiskey, and so could everyone else in the castle probably.” Winter grumbled.

“When isn’t he drunk?” Glynda asked.

“That’s your excuse for him? What if the alcohol is what’s speeding up his instability?” Winter replied. Everyone turned to glare at him as he chugged more whiskey from a pocket flask.

King Oz sighed. “The theory that alcohol cuts down on the time between feedings for vampires is not proven yet. If it is true, it’s even more commendable that he survived this long. Find him some blood to feed on, for now.”

“I have a silver bullet ready in the chamber. I could just rid us of him right now.” King Ironwood replied, pulling his pistol out. 

“Unless you’d like Vale and Atlas to return to the days of war, I suggest you holster your weapon.” King Oz ordered. The other king complied. Oz nodded in Glynda’s direction and she left.

“Onto other orders of business. The best minds in Atlas have created the next step towards a better version of us.” King Ironwood announced. A girl with curly orange hair walked into the room.

“On average, a normal vampire can go up to two weeks without feeding. A normal hybrid can only go a few days.” Winter stated. Then, she gestured to the orange-haired girl. “Despite being a hybrid, Penny can go up to a month.”

“I get the feeling that’s not all.” Oz replied.

“She can daywalk.” Ironwood replied.

Chapter Text

Glynda brought a flask of blood for Qrow and threw it at him. He caught it and immediately drank. “Oh, that feels better.”

“You could… maybe not push yourself to the limit every time?” Winter murmured.

“Are we or are we not supposed to keep the whole ‘vampires are real’ secret? I could’ve fed twenty times if that’s not an issue anymore.” Qrow retorted.

“Would you stop acting like children?” Glynda ordered. Winter and Qrow nodded and shut their mouths.

/////

After everyone else had left Oz’s throne room, he whispered to Qrow, “I have another assignment for you.”

Qrow groaned. “Already?”

“I think you’ll prefer this assignment. I want you to stick around and keep a closer eye on your nieces.” 

“What?”

“You and your sister are both hybrids, yes?”

“Yeah…” Qrow murmured.

“Yang, being of your sister’s, has not presented any signs of vampirism so far, despite being a quarter vampire, and I think a study would be useful. I would just like to do it more discreetly and less… intrusive than Atlas’s scientists.”

“So, to be clear, my mission is to spend time with the kids?”

“That’s the long and the short of it.”

“Thanks, King Oz.”

“You already call me Oz instead of Ozpin. Feel free to drop the formalities when it’s just between us.” Oz replied.

“What makes me so special?” Qrow asked.

“I am going to assume that was rhetorical.” Oz replied. “Now go get some rest and for Gods’ sake stock up on blood packs or something.”

/////

Ruby awoke to the sunlight streaming into their room. She jumped down from her loft and quickly got dressed. Today was a day for a new assignment for her team and she was very excited to see what her team would be doing next. Weiss groaned. “I can hear how eager you are.” 

“Only Yang could sleep through Ruby jumping up and down.” Blake added, pointing up at the snoring blonde.

“She didn’t even drink last night.” Weiss stated.

“Doesn’t make her any less of a heavy sleeper.” Ruby replied. “Yang could probably sleep through an explosion.”

“Or a train crash.” Blake joked. 

“Should I get the whistle?” Ruby asked.

“I’d really rather you didn’t.” Blake hissed. Her ears flopped down in disgust.

“Right, super sensitive ears.” Ruby replied. “Plan B!” Ruby grabbed a very long metal stick she’d obtained exactly for this purpose. She poked Yang in the stomach with it from a distance.

“Ow!”

“Sorry Yang! It’s assignment day!” Ruby announced.

“Five more minutes…” Yang whispered sleepily. Ruby poked her with the stick again. 

/////

Almost as soon as team RWBY entered the assignment hall, King Ozpin stopped them. Weiss curtsied and the rest bowed. “I would like you four to be moved to the night patrol.” Oz declared. “And an experienced Knight will supervise, just in case.”

Weiss deflated a bit. Yang silently celebrated, as that meant she could go back to bed. She looked at Blake. “Guess we could call it K-night patrol.” Yang joked, pronouncing the usually silent k. Weiss glared at her. Blake shrugged. 

“You really must be sleepy.” Blake replied. Yang rolled her eyes.

“Experienced Knight?” Ruby asked. Then, Qrow walked over. 

“Everyone’s favorite Uncle.” Qrow murmured sleepily.

“Wait, we get to work with Uncle Qrow!?”

“Yes.” King Oz replied.

Ruby bowed again. “Thank you so much, King Ozpin!”

“You kids go get some sleep, I’ll come find ya at sunset.” Qrow stated with a yawn. 

/////

Half an hour later, Yang was already snoring again. “How do you even fall asleep with the sun out?” Weiss complained. She shut the curtain before laying back down. 

“You could stay up all day and drink coffee for the night! Then, when you lay down tomorrow morning you’ll be plenty tired.” Ruby offered.

“Might have to.” Weiss replied. She looked across at the other bunk bed. Blake’s ears twitched periodically, but no other movements. After another half an hour, Weiss gave up. She got dressed and did her best to leave without making a noise. 

After she made it to the hallway and started walking, she heard footsteps behind her. She whirled around to see Ruby. “Mind if I tag along?” Ruby asked.

“How did you…?” 

“Semblance.” Ruby replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, come on.” Weiss muttered reluctantly.

“Where are we going?” 

“My father has not been responding to my calls, so I’m off to go buy some dust to refill Myrtenaster.”

“Wait, you’re leaving the castle grounds without the whole squad? Since when does Weiss Schnee break rules?”

“You’re the worst.” Weiss groaned.

/////

Weiss grabbed a box of each type of crystal and walked up to the counter. Ruby helped carry some. The man rung her up, and then when he ran the card everyone heard an electronic buzz. “Card declined.” The store attendant stated.

“My card doesn’t decline. Can you try it again?” Weiss replied. The buzz sounded again.

“I’ve got it.” Pyrrha announced. Ruby and Weiss turned around to see some very familiar faces. 

“Team JNPR! What are you guys doing here?” Ruby asked.

“We got assigned to city patrol, and saw you come in here and wanted to say hi!” Jaune replied.

“I appreciate the assist.” Weiss whispered. This is so embarassing!

“Don’t mention it.” Pyrrha replied. 

“Where’s Blake and Yang?” Nora asked.

“Sleeping. We got assigned to night patrol so…” Weiss replied.

“Weiss Schnee breaking rules? Is it opposite day?” Nora asked.

“That’s what I said!” Ruby chimed in.

“Weiss Schnee’s card declined too, so maybe it is.” Weiss groaned.

“Winter’s in town, maybe she knows what’s up with your dad.” Ruby suggested.

“Winter’s in town!?” Weiss shrieked.

“Yeah, I saw her fighting with Uncle Qrow last night.” 

“I saw that too. It was pretty one-sided.” Ren added.

“He was pretty drunk.” Ruby replied. Ren shrugged.

/////

Weiss found Winter in the Beacon Castle main hall. “Winter! It’s so nice to see you!” Weiss called.

“Likewise.”

“How’s Atlas?”

“No issues. Why do you ask?”

“My card declined. Do you know what’s up with Father? He isn’t taking my calls.”

“He’s… upset. Remember how he reacted to me joining the Atlas Guard? According to Whitley, he’s been calling you a traitor to the Family Business and our home.”

“Oh.”

Winter tensed up more than usual. “I suggest you give him time to cool off. He’ll start asking you for information on Beacon and Vale eventually, anything to profit the business. In the meantime, I suggest you apply for Royal grants for any expenses.” Winter replied.

“Thanks, Sister.” 

“Other than that, how have you been?”

“I’m excelling in swordplay, ranked second in the Castle.” Weiss replied. Winter smacked her. 

“I didn’t ask about rankings or work, you dunce. How are you? Any friends besides your team?”

“There’s team JNPR, they started around the same time as us.”

“And…?”

“And I have been eating and resting well, until today. We got moved to the night shift.”

“I see.” Winter replied, her face turning pensive. Then, another Atlas Guard walked over and whispered into Winter’s ear. “Again?” she growled. “I have another matter to attend to, goodbye Sister.”

“See you later, Winter!” Weiss called. It was then when she realized Ruby wasn’t nearby. Actually, I haven’t seen her since… the dust shop.

/////

Ruby, as determined as ever to explore, walked around town. Occasionally, she would stop someone and ask if they had seen the man she’d drawn. His hat alone would make him stick out like a sore thumb, so Ruby was sure somebody would have seen him. Yet, no one she asked knew anything. She noticed a group of unfamiliar knights heading towards her, and not wanting to get caught, she ran into a nearby alleyway, colliding with another girl. “I’m so sorry!” Ruby exclaimed, as she quickly helped the other girl to her feet.

“It’s okay, I am unharmed.” she replied. Ruby and the other girl hid behind a dumpster as the patrol passed.

“Are you a Knight too?” Ruby whispered.

“Sort of.” she replied with a shrug. “I haven’t been assigned an official title yet.”

“I’m Ruby.”

“My name is Penny.”

“Nice to meet you, friend!”

“What did you just call me?”

“Uh… Friend?”

“I’ve never had a friend before!”

“What?”

Penny sighed and sat against the wall. “There’s a reason I’m hiding.” Penny replied. “I grew up in a laboratory of sorts. My father is an Atlesian Scientist, and he was the only one of the people I’d known the name of out of all of them until a couple weeks ago.”

“So you were experimented on your whole life, even by your dad!?”

“My father was there to make sure that they would do the experiments safely. He had relatively little choice in the matter, though.”

“So how did you get to Vale? And why are you hiding?”

“King Ironwood brought me here. I do not like being experimented on, so I will hide as long as I can.”

“If it’s okay, I’d like to help you.”

“I would like that, friend Ruby.” 

“I can probably sneak you back into the castle.”

“I just escaped the castle, why would we go back?”

“If they think you’re still outside the castle, then in the castle is the last place they would look.”

“That is very smart.” Penny replied. She smiled for the first time, and Ruby immediately noticed her teeth. The puzzled look on her face was so apparent that even the girl who’d grown up in a lab without friends could read. “Please do not worry. I have no intent to harm you.”

Ruby made eye contact. “Let’s get back to the castle. Once you’re safe, we can talk more.” She smiled at Penny to try and make it seem gentler.”

“Okay.”

They snuck past every group of Knights until they got to the castle wall. “I have an idea.” Ruby whispered. 

“What is it?”

“Kind of hard to explain, but I can zip us in there and you won’t be seen.”

“Okay.” 

Ruby grabbed Penny’s arm and then activated her semblance. She made it all the way to the door to her room, before falling to the ground to catch a breath.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, just tired. I’ve never used my semblance on anyone else before.” Ruby explained. She opened the door to her room and shoved Penny inside. She closed it behind her.

“Who’s that?” Weiss asked. Ruby whirled around.

“Her name is Penny. She’s a new friend.”

“I am so excited to finally have a friend.” Penny added.

Weiss stared at her with an expressionless face. “It’s a long story, but we’re hiding her from Atlas. Also maybe hiding her from Beacon Guard and other Valean Knights.” Ruby explained.

Weiss and Blake simultaneously asked, “What?”

“I am Penny. I am an Atlesian experiment, and I do not like being experimented on. Besides my father, Ruby is the first person to treat me like a person, and not an experiment.” Penny explained.

“That explains your language.” Weiss muttered. Blake punched her in the shoulder. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me.”

Penny tilted her head to the side and wore a puzzled look. “I am unharmed.” Penny stated. “Why are you sorry?”

“Let’s get Yang up.” Blake interrupted. “She should be filled in too.”

“I’m up!” Yang shouted. “I swear to the Gods if you poke me with that stick again…” Ruby laughed. Yang jumped down from the bed.

Ruby turned to Penny. “Now that the whole team is awake, let me introduce you! The blonde is my older sister, Yang. The one with the bow is Blake, and the one with the white hair is…”

“Hello Weiss. I have heard about you.” Penny replied. Weiss flinched.

“How?”

“Winter Schnee was talking about you during the journey here. I may have overheard.”

“What did she say?” Weiss asked.

“Anything said on King Ironwood’s ship is strictly confidential. If they find me, I’d like not to be in more trouble than I already am.” Penny replied.

Ruby put her hand on Penny’s shoulder, and smiled at her. “They won’t find you, Penny. You’re safe here.” 

“Thank you for the comforting words.” Penny replied. She smiled, and everyone else noticed what Ruby had noticed.

“Are those…” Weiss murmured. Penny realized she’d accidentally revealed herself again and hid her face against Ruby’s shoulder.

Ruby gently used her hand to lift Penny’s chin. “Are you a vampire?”

“I am half-vampire. We are called ‘hybrids’ by most. My father is human, but my mother was not.”

“So that’s why you were experimented on…” Ruby replied, pensively. “Wait, how were you walking around in the daylight?”

“That is what the experiments were. According to my father, I am the first vampire they have successfully turned into a daywalker.”

“I’m sorry, vampires are real?” Weiss shrieked quietly.

“You were not aware?” Penny asked.

“Why would I be?”

“Jacques Schnee is a vampire.” Penny stated. Weiss fainted.

Chapter Text

“I apologize. I did not mean to harm her.”

“I think she is just in shock. She’ll probably be fine.” Blake replied.

“Does that mean Weiss is half-vampire?” Ruby asked.

“No. According to the conversation that I was not supposed to overhear, Jacques was only turned a few years ago.”

“Turned?” Yang asked.

“Right. You would not know what that means exactly. Full-vampires can turn a human into a vampire with a bite. Hybrids cannot turn humans into vampires. Theoretically, this would mean that our food source is more sustainable, given we can feed off the same human multiple times. However, hybrids need to feed more often than full-vampires. Except for me, that is. In addition to my ability to daywalk, my maximum duration to go without feeding is roughly a month. Winter gave me statistics to compare with. On average, a vampire can go about two weeks. The average for hybrids is much shorter, around half a week.”

“What about faunus?” Blake asked.

“I am sorry, I have not overheard any conversations about faunus-vampires.” Penny responded.

Weiss slowly woke up. “If my father is a vampire…”

“You’re not a vampire, Weiss.” Blake repeated. “According to Penny, he was only turned a few years ago.” Weiss nodded.

Ruby hugged Penny. “I’m sorry you had to go through whatever experiments they did on you.”

“Do hugs always give you this warm feeling?” Penny asked.

“Yes.” Ruby answered. Penny smiled wide and quickly ran around hugging the rest of team RWBY. Ruby chuckled.

“Should we get her a bed?” Weiss asked. 

“No need.” Penny replied. She then jumped up and started hanging from the ceiling.

“Let’s get you a bed. If I wake up in the middle of the night… or day, I guess, and see you hanging from the ceiling it’ll freak me out.” Weiss replied.

“Uh… guys? It’s almost sunset.” Ruby pointed out.

“What happens at sunset?” 

“My uncle Qrow is going to come here and take us out on assignment.”

“Qrow? He reports directly to King Ozpin! Please do not tell him about me or where I am.” Penny begged. Ruby nodded. 

She dragged Penny over to a closet, and opened the door. “Hide in here, okay? After we leave, you can come out.” Ruby told her. Penny nodded. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Ruby opened it, and Qrow was standing there. She immediately hugged him. “Hey Uncle Qrow! Ready when you are!”

“Let’s go then.” he replied shortly. The girls all filed out and they made sure to shut the door behind them. Luckily for them, Qrow thought nothing of it.

A few minutes later, Weiss was already complaining. “Walking down every street in Vale is so boring.”

“You aren’t even doing a patrol march.” Qrow grumbled. “Stand up straight.”

“In her defense, this is her first time being out at night.” Blake offered.

“Dunno about you guys but I feel great!” Yang exclaimed. 

“I’m sure you do. You slept for like 20 hours.” Weiss replied snarkily. 

“That and I finally don’t have to worry about a sunburn.”

“Do you kids always talk this much?” Qrow muttered.

“Yeah.” they replied in unison. 

“It’s not like there’s much going on in Vale. Other than Ruby’s missing thief, that is.” Yang added. Ruby gave her a playful punch in the arm.

“Don’t count on it staying that way.” Qrow whispered. Up ahead, there was a group of Atlesian Knights, so Qrow crossed the street to avoid them.

“What do you mean, Uncle Qrow?” Ruby asked.

“I get the feeling Atlas isn’t leaving anytime soon.” Qrow growled. The group finally fell silent. Qrow took a flask from his pocket. 

“Can I have some?” Yang asked.

“Absolutely not. You are on duty.” Qrow hissed, putting the flask back in his pocket. 

“So are you.” 

“Second reason: you don’t want to be me.”

“Says the coolest uncle ever.” Yang retorted. Qrow gave a heavy sigh. “How’d you get King Ozpin to assign you with us anyway?”

“He wants me hanging around as long as Atlas is here. His idea is that this is also a way to try and get you four to stop breaking the rules so much, having supervision.” Qrow explained. I hate lying to the kids like this. In honesty, it’s my punishment. He knows my semblance is bad luck.

“Us? Break rules? Never!” Ruby joked.

“Seriously, you kids need to start following at least a few of the rules.” Qrow continued. Yang opened her mouth, but knowing what she was going to say, he followed with “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Then, a group of Atlesian Knights walked around the corner. “Hello fellow Knights.” they greeted. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen an awkward girl with curly, orange hair around?”

“Nope!” Ruby answered. Qrow raised an eyebrow.

“Very well. If you see her, report it to Atlas immediately.” Another Knight said, before they continued marching.

“So she’s who they’re after…” Qrow mumbled. The group was eerily quiet. They marched like they were supposed to in silence for the next hour. Qrow finally broke the silence. “I thought you four were supposed to be talkative.” Ruby tensed up.

“Still adjusting to the night shift.” Weiss murmured with a yawn. Ruby quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Qrow smirked. “You kids wouldn’t hide anything from quote, ‘the coolest uncle ever’, would you?” he asked dramatically.

Yang and Blake chuckled at Qrow’s performance. “Don’t get too desperate now, Uncle Qrow.” Yang joked. 

Qrow turned to look at Ruby and realized she wasn’t there. He looked across the street to see her looking through a store window admiring a weapon. The group followed his gaze. “Classic Ruby.” Yang murmured. “Hey Sis!” she called. “What metal is it?”

“Damascus Steel!”

/////

Qrow walked them back into the castle half an hour before sunrise. When he was finally gone, they all finally relaxed. “That was quick thinking with the weapon store, Rubes.” Yang complimented.

“I would have done that anyway.” Ruby replied. They opened the door slowly, and heard footsteps dash to the closet. “It’s just us.” Ruby whispered. Penny slowly opened the closet door. 

“Oh. Hello friends!” Penny greeted, before sitting on the floor.

The group filed in and locked the door. “Hey Penny, are you willing to answer more vampire questions?” Ruby asked.

“I do not see why not.”

“I was thinking, what happens to a vampire if they go awhile without blood?”

“The first symptoms are fatigue and headache. Then, our eyes will start to turn red. Then, the bloodlust takes over. Most vampires do not let it get to that point, though. I know of an idea called ‘blood banks’ where vampires can feed off of stored human blood. At hospitals, humans are given an option to donate blood, and it can either be used for blood transfusions for other injured humans, which is the cause humans know about, or they will send it to the banks. Atlas has several, Mantle has only one, or at least that King Ironwood knows of, and supposedly there are a few in Vale.”

“Not in Vacuo or Mistral?” Yang asked.

“The existence of vampires is supposed to be a secret. Most consider them a fairy tale of sorts. As far as I am aware, the only Kings aware of the existence of vampires, and helping us, are Ozpin and Ironwood. I am unsure if they are vampires or not. Since it is a secret, they tend to hide the blood banks in plain sight. They are often private sections of bars, hospitals, or grocery stores. It is entirely possible those other kingdoms have secret blood banks, but they would be less well known and possibly and probably illegal under those kingdoms’ rules.” Penny explained. Ruby yawned, and leaned her head against Penny’s shoulder. Penny blushed. “Friend Ruby, are you aware you are resting on me?”

“You’re nice and cool. It’s comfortable. I’ll stop if it makes you uncomfortable.” Ruby replied.

“No… it feels… nice.” 

Yang raised an eyebrow. Ruby opened her eyes briefly. “I will not hesitate to get the stick.” she grumbled. Yang laughed. 

“If no one ever talked to you, how do you know all this?” Blake asked.

“I am a very good listener! My father told me a lot, mostly so that I would know about plenty of resources if I were ever to be free. The rest I overheard from other scientists’ conversations or on King Ironwood’s airship.” 

“Will your father be worried about you?” Weiss asked.

“I think he would understand. He watched a lot of the experiments. I also could never leave the facility until I was brought here, so I see this as potentially my only chance.”

Then, a message sounded on everyone’s scrolls, causing Ruby to jump to her feet. Yang read the message aloud. “Attention all Valean Knights: Atlas is asking for help locating a missing girl. If you see her, report it to Atlesian Knights immediately. Picture attached.” Yang sighed.

“They must really want Penny back.” Weiss whispered.

“They can’t have her.” Ruby replied confidently.

“I mean… are we ready to hide her in here forever?” Weiss asked. Ruby glared at her.

“I like it here. I am treated like a person in here.” Penny stated. 

“So we keep everyone out of this room until we know we can trust them. Even our usual visitors, team JNPR and Uncle Qrow.” Yang declared.

Chapter Text

The next few days felt like more of the same. They would sit and talk with Penny, go out with Uncle Qrow on patrol, barely managing to keep their secret, then come back and sleep. After the third day, Ruby had hugged (and fallen asleep on) Penny enough that Penny became used to physical affection and wasn’t startled by it any longer.

Then, on patrol one night, by the docks, Ruby caught a glimpse of a very familiar face. “Guys! It’s the thief!”

“I was starting to think he wasn’t real.” Yang joked. 

They watched as the ginger in the hat, as well as plenty of masked figures, lifted boxes and carried them to a nearby airship. “Is that the White Fang?” Blake hissed. 

“You grew up with them, didn’t you?” Yang whispered.

“My dad used to be the leader, but he stepped down years ago.” Blake responded. “What I don’t understand is why they would be working for a human petty thief.” 

Then, someone else started giving orders. She was on the airship being loaded. They couldn’t see her, but they could hear her. “Need I remind you this is time sensitive?”

“May I ask what we’re getting all of this dust for?”

“Oh, Roman… It’s need-to-know. You’ll know when I have use for you to know.” the woman replied. He rolled his eyes. 

“We should report this.” Qrow whispered.

“Or we can stop this right now!” Ruby declared.

“We have no idea who’s in that ship. The guy with the funny hat may be a petty thief, but that doesn’t mean he or the people he works for aren’t dangerous.”

“She just said they’re gonna be quick. We wouldn’t be able to make it to the castle before they get out of here, and then there’s no trail.” Ruby argued.

“Fine. Be careful.” Qrow whispered. He walked out into the loading dock. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Just one Knight?” Roman asked. The girls ran out from their hiding spots, weapons ready. Roman smiled. “This’ll be fun.” He quickly aimed the bottom of his cane at Qrow. A shot fired off, and Qrow deflected it with his scythe. The airship began taking off, so Blake used Gambol Shroud to try and hold it down. She braced herself against a heavy box for leverage. The woman in the ship ordered a random goon to shoot at Blake, and Blake ducked down. Ruby aimed her sniper at the ship, and shot the goon in the knee. Yang and Weiss fought off more of the goons on the ground while Qrow lunged towards Roman. He used his scythe to hook onto the cane and pull Roman closer, only to kick him to the ground. Roman slowly stood up with the cane, and began running. The woman in the ship dislodged Gambol Shroud’s hook and the airship took off and flew away. Ruby and Blake ran after Qrow and Roman. Eventually, he stopped under a bridge. He turned back and smiled at Qrow, who lunged at him and slashed with his scythe. As it passed through where Roman was supposed to be, pink sparkles faded away. They watched as the real Roman and a girl with half pink and half brown hair got into a white car and sped away.

“Damn it!” Qrow growled. “Alright Kids, let’s go report this to Beacon.”

/////

Qrow walked into the throne room. “Hey, Oz.”

“Qrow. You have news?”

“On patrol we stumbled upon some thieves stealing dust and loading it onto an airship down on the docks. Most of them were wearing White Fang clothing. They were being ordered around by Ruby’s dust thief she was so adamant about, and a mysterious woman who didn’t show her face.”

“The White Fang taking orders from a human?”

“I don’t know enough about his boss to say anything more.”

“Interesting. I’ll have the other Knights made aware something suspicious happened. Any sightings of Ms. Polendina?”

“Not that I’m aware of. You want my opinion? She’s probably not even in the kingdom anymore. Given what we know about Atlas’s methods, who knows what they did to her. And if she doesn’t need to feed for a month she could make it to Vacuo on foot without issue.”

“I don’t disagree with you, but King Ironwood is refusing to go home without her. The longer he stays, the more nervous Valeans are getting. If only he hadn’t brought so much military power…”

 /////

“Hello, friends!” Penny greeted them. “How was your night?”

 “We got to actually fight somebody for once, but he got away.” Yang replied. Ruby took off her cape and hopped up on her bed to lay down. 

 “I told you he was real!” Ruby exclaimed.

 “I wonder who that woman he reports to was.” Weiss pondered. 

Penny walked over to Ruby’s loft. “Ruby, would you mind if I shared your bed with you tonight?”

“You want to sleep in my bed?” she asked.

“I have been getting anxious and slightly paranoid about Atlas, and that seems to go away when you fall asleep on me.” Penny explained.

“Sure, come on up here.” Ruby answered after a moment. She didn’t have to look at Yang to know she was making some suggestive face. Penny climbed into the loft, and Ruby cuddled up close, resting her head on Penny’s shoulder and resting her arm across Penny’s stomach. Penny blushed hard enough that her pale skin didn’t look so pale.

“Are you sure that bed can support two people?” Weiss asked. “I don’t wanna get crushed beneath you if it snaps.”

“I’m sure.” Ruby murmured.

Weiss shrugged and laid down on the bed beneath them. Blake and Yang watched as the sun rose, and then filed into their beds too.

Ruby woke up that evening tangled even closer with Penny. Her leg was wrapped around one of Penny’s, and Ruby’s head had moved from Penny’s shoulder to her chest. Ruby blushed and lifted her head. She looked up at Penny, who was already awake, and was blushing pretty hard. They made eye contact, and both of them blushed harder. They untangled, and hopped down from the bed. Then, they heard a knock at the door. Penny hid in the closet. Weiss shot to her feet. Ruby slowly opened the door. “Oh, hi team JNPR.” Ruby murmured sleepily.

“We haven’t seen you much since you guys got moved to the night shift, so I thought we’d stop by for a bit.” Jaune said.

Ruby looked over at Yang, who was still snoring loudly, and the sun which had not set yet. “I don’t think Yang will be waking up anytime soon, but I can meet you in the dining hall in a few minutes if you’d like.”

“She seems to be enjoying the night shift.” Ren observed.

“It’s like she was born to be nocturnal.” Nora added. 

Ruby flinched as a massive realization hit her. “I’ll meet you guys in the dining hall.” Ruby repeated before shutting the door on Team JNPR. She turned to her team. “I think Qrow is a vampire.”

“He is.” Penny confirmed.

“Why did you come to that conclusion?” Weiss questioned, ignoring the voice in the closet.

“When he first got back to Beacon, his eyes were super red and he looked tired. Then, we get moved to the night shift and he gets assigned to us, because he wouldn’t be able to go out in the daytime. Also, I don’t think it was just whiskey in those flasks.” Ruby explained. Weiss and Blake cringed. “And Qrow’s sister is Yang’s mom. If Qrow is a vampire, then it’s likely Raven is too. Then team JNPR comments on Yang being kinda nocturnal, sunburns easily…”

At some point during that conversation Yang had woken up. “If I was a vampire, wouldn’t I need to drink blood at some point?”

“Qrow is a hybrid, so it would be likely Yang’s mom is also half-vampire. That would make Yang a quarter vampire, but given the lack of fangs, the most reasonable explanation is that Yang only obtained the human half of her mother’s genes. Although, vampire genetics can be… varied.” Penny explained, finally getting out of the closet.

Then, another knock at the door. Penny quickly slipped right back into the closet. Ruby opened it to see Uncle Qrow. Instead of waiting outside, he simply walked in and sat down.

“Guess the beans are spilled.” He growled. “And Ms. Polendina, if you’d kindly come out of the closet.” 

Penny complied. “Are you going to turn me in?”

“No.” Qrow replied. Penny came over and sat down. “Guess I’ve got some explaining to do.”

“How could you lie to us?” Yang asked. 

“I was under orders.” Qrow replied. “King Ozpin wanted me to keep an eye on you, and wanted an… unbiased view of whatever Yang’s situation is. Oz’s main thing is being discreet and ordering others to be discreet. How long have you had that one cooped up in here?” Qrow pointed at Penny.

“Since the day she ran away.” Ruby answered. Penny’s hand scooted closer to Ruby, and Ruby held it. Penny blushed and looked away.

“Look, Oz and I are not fans of Atlas’s methods. There’s two schools of thought on vampires. Our King’s perspective is there is no reason vampires and humans can’t coexist.” He looked at Blake. “Oz thinks every race has a home in his kingdom. Others think vampires should be the dominant species on Remnant. Atlas is somewhere in the middle. Their king leans away from humanity, while lots of his subjects, especially in Mantle, are more on the coexist side.”

“Am I a vampire?” Yang asked. 

“I don’t know. You don’t show any of the major signs. The sunburn thing could just be from you and your father being pale as vampires. Some humans are as nocturnal as you, albeit rare. But the lack of fangs means either you skipped out on the vampire gene… or you’re a late bloomer.” 

Yang groaned. “Very helpful.”

“How do vampires affect faunus?” Blake asked.

“Faunus taste different from humans. The reason it’s uncommon to have faunus-vampires is that most vampires don’t like the taste.” Qrow cringed, as if to show he were one of the vampires who don’t like the taste of faunus blood. He continued, “Other than that, there simply aren't enough of them to do any kinds of studies on how it differs.” Qrow noticed Ruby and Penny holding hands. He sighed. “Apparently, King Ironwood is refusing to leave without her. I’ll keep the secret, but things are getting tense and you should be aware of that.”

“Thanks, Uncle Qrow.” Ruby whispered.

Chapter Text

Oz was so angry he couldn’t even sit. Ironwood and his team, as well as Qrow and Glynda, filed into his throne room. “Let me get this straight, your Knights tackled a Valean Knight for wearing a cloak?”

“It could have been her. Same height and build.” Ironwood replied.

“You have no authority over any Valean.” Oz hissed. “And honestly, I think you’re looking in the wrong place. Qrow brought up the idea of her traveling on foot to Vacuo, which is entirely possible for her without help if she really can go without blood for a month. For Gods’ sake, she could’ve boarded a boat and been halfway to Mistral or Menagerie by now.”

“So you expect us to just give up?” Ironwood asked.

“No, I expect you to leave my kingdom. If you haven’t found her yet, she isn’t here.” Oz growled.

“And maybe if you’d treated her differently she wouldn’t have run in the first place.” Qrow added.

Before any of the Atlesians could speak, Oz yelled at him first. “As much as I agree with that sentiment, it is not useful to the conversation at the moment. I am trying to do this as diplomatically as possible and I will not have one of my Knights make it more difficult. Go find somewhere else to be.” 

Qrow bowed. “My apologies to both of Your Majesties.” and with that he quickly walked into an elevator. He really must be pissed if he’s gonna yell at me.

Oz turned back to Ironwood. “ Leave , and take all your military personnel with you. You are welcome to keep diplomats and one group of Knights here. If Ms. Polendina comes back, we will let Atlas know immediately. And honestly, I’m surprised that with how precautious and preemptive you are, that you didn’t get whatever it is you needed before presenting her like a class project .”

Ironwood nodded. “Fine.” He turned to Winter. “Ready the airships, we’re going home.”

“Thank you.” Oz replied, finally sitting back on his throne.

/////

The next morning, Winter apologized to the Valean Knight that had been tackled and arrested by Atlas on behalf of King Ironwood, and the ships left. Team RWBY, Penny, and Qrow sighed breaths of relief. Yet, the peace didn’t last long. In the middle of the afternoon, an explosion rocked Vale. 50 boxes of dust were set off in an abandoned subway station underneath an arcade. Team RWBY and team JNPR ran out together to help civilians.

“It had to be Roman, right?” Ruby asked. Yang, who was nearby, shrugged.

“I think it was Atlas.” The civilian they’d just rescued from the rubble declared. She was a smaller old lady with glasses, but had plenty of fighting spirit. “It wouldn’t be unlike them.”

Ruby frowned. She used the radio communicator as she walked through the rubble on the street. “Hey guys, I think the White Fang is pitting us against Atlas.”

“What do you mean?” Weiss responded.

“They waited until the moment Atlas left to detonate this, and the civilians are blaming Atlas.”

“Maybe my dad knows what’s up with the White Fang, I’ll call him.” Blake offered.

“In the meantime, let’s just hope this doesn’t lead us directly to war.” Weiss stated. 

It took all afternoon, but they managed to clean up the rubble. Team RWBY was exhausted, but still had a night patrol to do. “Do you think they did it during the day on purpose?” Blake asked aloud. “That narrows down the amount of people who can help.”

“You think this has to do with another faction of vampires controlling the White Fang?” Yang asked.

“Not necessarily. Whoever is in charge could know about them, at least. The White Fang back in Menagerie denied any involvement when my father spoke to them.”

“I wanna go back to our room and rest.” Ruby complained.

“And cuddle with Penny?” Yang asked, earning a punch in the elbow. 

“Laying on her is like a cold pillow. It’s nice and refreshing and easy to sleep on.”

“Then what was holding hands with her?”

“She was scared Uncle Qrow was gonna turn her in! I was comforting her.” 

“Uh huh.” Yang responded sarcastically.

/////

“Tell me you didn’t have any involvement in this.” Oz stated.

“I do not. If you’d like my army to come back and help, though…” Ironwood offered.

“Given the tensions between our citizens at the moment, I don’t think that’ll do any good.” Oz murmured. He hung up the transmission.

“I’m surprised you even asked him.” Qrow stated, walking out from a shadow of Oz’s throne room. “You know exactly which building was targeted.”

“Vale Arcade, a common blood bank.” Oz replied, his tone more strained. “Even more of a reason not to raise any alarms.”

“Not raise any alarms? Any more of these attacks and we will start running out of blood. Are you really ready to let one half of your population attack the other half when the bloodlust starts taking over?”

“It’s not like we can just tell the humans. They’ll panic. And given that our numbers are not more than a fifth of Vale’s population, I don’t think we’ll win that war. If we are to descend into war and chaos, I’d much prefer it be against her. ”

/////

Ruby slowly opened the door to their room. “Salutations!” Penny stated gleefully from the bed. Ruby walked over to the bed and collapsed on top of Penny. Penny absent-mindedly started stroking Ruby’s hair.

Weiss looked up at the strings holding the top bunk to the ceiling. (which Weiss was surprised hadn’t snapped in the four years they’d been sharing this room) “I don’t think you have to hide in here anymore, Penny. Atlas is gone.” Weiss stated bluntly.

“Where else would I go? All my friends are in this room.” Penny replied. Weiss sighed. 

“You could come on missions with us.” Yang suggested. Penny’s smile disappeared. 

“I am not exactly trained. Also, the Iron King has eyes everywhere.”

“Does he really call himself that?” Blake asked with a snort laugh. 

Before Penny could respond, “Don’t worry Penny, I’ll protect you.” Ruby murmured sleepily. Penny’s smile returned. She hugged Ruby tightly. 

“I will think about it.” Penny said quietly. Just as they settled in, and the sun set, another explosion rocked Vale. Ruby leapt to her feet, and team RWBY began quickly grabbing their weapons. Blake, Yang, and Weiss dashed towards the castle gates. Ruby paused in the doorway, and looked back to Penny. Penny slowly shook her head. Ruby nodded and dashed after her team.

As they ran down the streets, they had questions. “Another explosion?” Blake thought aloud.

“Can’t be good.” Yang replied. They were silent the rest of the way.

At the source of the explosion was Junior’s nightclub. “Ah, Junior. What did you do to piss off the White Fang?” Yang murmured. The team ran inside to see if there were any survivors to help. Weiss used ice dust to tame the flames, leading the way for the rest of the team. They found a couple dead goons, but no survivors. They pulled the bodies out into the streets as the building crumbled.

As they walked back towards the castle, Qrow found them. “Kids, we need to talk.”

“Our room okay?” Ruby asked. He nodded silently. The walk back was quiet, except from the grumbles creeping out of Qrow.

As they entered the room, Qrow looked both ways before closing the door. “Both the arcade and the nightclub were blood banks.” He muttered. Penny walked over and sat next to Ruby.

“So, the White Fang is attacking vampires by attacking the food source.” Weiss pondered.

“Seems so.”

“Why would the White Fang go after vampires?” Blake asked aloud. 

“Maybe funny hat guy just has a vendetta against vampires for some reason.” Yang replied.

“Whatever the reason is, we’re… us vampires are gonna be hurting, and if any other bombings happen, this Kingdom could very well fall.” Qrow announced grimly. “We’re gonna be doubling security at all remaining blood banks, and tripling it at Vale Medical Center.”

“How do we help?”

“I’ll see if Oz wants you to take up guard shifts. In the meantime, get some rest. That’s an order.” Qrow growled.

The group filed into their beds, and fell asleep. Ruby woke up in the middle of the night and noticed Penny was not in her bed. She scanned the room but did not see her. She quietly hopped down from her bed. Ruby quietly and slowly opened the closet door, and Penny was in there, facing away from her.

“Penny, what’s up?” Ruby asked. Penny flinched. “Please, talk to me?” Penny slowly turned around, and silver eyes met red eyes. “How long has it been since you’ve…”

“29 days plus the 7 I have spent in your room makes 36.”

“How long have you had a headache?”

“It started while you were away cleaning up after the first explosion.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I was going to ask Qrow to get me some, but then I heard what he said earlier. I thought it best to see how long I could really go without.”

“Oh, Penny…” Ruby murmured. She pulled Penny into a hug. 

“I am scared, Ruby. I do not want to hurt you.”

“How about you drink some of my blood?”

“What?”

“While you’re still in control, you can drink from me.”

“I have not drank from a human before, I have only drank stored blood.”

“I trust you. It’s okay.”

“Are… Are you sure?”

“I mean… we already sleep in the same bed.” Ruby whispered with a smile.

“I… will that interfere with your duties?”

“Not as much as you going bloodlusty would interfere. Penny, I give you permission. I promise.” Ruby hugged Penny. “I promise.” she repeated.

Penny slowly inched her face towards Ruby’s neck. She felt around with her hand first to find the veins. She sent one more look to Ruby for confirmation. Ruby nodded. She lined up her fangs with the veins, and bit into the side of Ruby’s neck. Ruby moaned quietly. Penny removed her teeth and backed away. 

“I’m sorry! It felt good, and I wasn’t expecting it.” Ruby explained. She checked to make sure her team hadn’t woken up. Then, she motioned for Penny to try again. “I’ll be quieter.”

Penny returned, and noticed some blood had escaped from the first marks she’d made. She tried to get her fangs as close as possible to the same spots. Ruby successfully managed to stifle the noise this time. Penny tasted the blood, but her mind wasn’t just on that. She was also wondering how this made her feel similarly to when she was being hugged by Ruby or laying in bed together or when they held hands the other day. She also wondered how Ruby was feeling about this.

Ruby was having the time of her life. She hadn’t lied, it really did feel good to her. She already knew that hybrids couldn’t turn so she didn’t have to worry about that. What she was worried about was the feelings she was having about Penny. Within a week she’d gone from meeting her on the street to sleeping in the same bed with her and now letting Penny drink from her. Was it too early to be having romantic feelings for her? Then, there was the heat between her legs. There was no going back on the sexual feelings she was having about this moment. Would that make Penny feel weird about it? She decided to let herself enjoy it for now, she’d contemplate when she wasn’t helping Penny. She felt a little dizzy after a moment, but she did notice Penny’s eyes turn back to green.

Penny felt quite refreshed, and thankful for Ruby in that moment. She felt Ruby’s blood dripping from her mouth, and realized she’d made quite a mess of Ruby’s neck. Ruby stared up at her, smiling wide.

Then, Weiss got out of her bed and stretched. She turned like she was going to the restroom, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the moonlight bouncing off of the bloody mess on the ground and Penny’s fangs. “What are you doing?” Weiss hissed. It was loud enough that Yang and Blake woke up to, and noticed what the commotion was over.

“Ruby!” Yang shouted, protective big sister mode activating immediately.

“She gave me permission.” Penny explained. Ruby weakly raised her hand and raised her thumb up. 

Weiss sighed. “I’m not cleaning that up,” she growled. She went to the restroom and threw wet wipes and a box of band aids out before closing the door.

Penny licked her lips, and then went for the supplies. She gently wiped up the excess blood on Ruby’s neck and applied the bandages to the puncture marks. Ruby tried to stand but wobbled. Yang sighed and helped Penny lift Ruby onto her bed. Blake got Penny’s attention and motioned wiping her face. This is when Penny realized she still had some of Ruby’s blood where her tongue couldn’t reach. If there hadn’t been blood all over her face, Yang and Blake would have been able to see a very obvious blush. She turned away and wiped all of the excess blood off of her face.

She climbed into bed next to Ruby. “Thank you, Ruby.”

“You’re a bit of a messy eater, huh?” Ruby teased in response.

“I told you it was my first time!” Penny protested. Ruby giggled.

Chapter Text

Yang, being a worrier, did not sleep much. She kept getting up to make sure Ruby had a pulse. Ruby’s pulse was fine and everyone else was sleeping just fine. As the sun set, as usual, Qrow knocked on the door. Yang, being the only one up, shouted, “Uncle Qrow’s here!” and let him in. He watched as everyone stirred. 

The first thing he noticed was Ruby and Penny in the same bed. The second thing he noticed was the bandages on Ruby’s neck and the leftover dried blood on Penny’s fangs. The third thing he noticed was the red stain on the floor near the closet. He sighed. “Ruby, Penny. Could I talk to you privately?”

They looked at each other and then back at Qrow. They nodded. They closed the door briefly and then got dressed. Then, they walked out into the hallway with Qrow. “You should’ve said something, Ms…” he cleared his throat. “You should’ve said something Penny. You could’ve seriously hurt Ruby.” Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but he continued, looking at Penny. “I get it. All I’m asking is that you learn how to safely drink out of a human in the next month.”

Penny nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir. Come with me, and I’ll introduce you to Doctor Oobleck. He’s gonna teach you the basics. And I promise you can trust him, he’s a friend of the family.” Qrow stated gently. Penny looked at Ruby for guidance. Ruby nodded, and Penny hesitantly followed Qrow, but not without looking around every corner.

Ruby walked back into the room. “Where’s Penny?” Weiss asked.

“Uncle Qrow’s taking her to learn how to safely drink blood from a human.” Ruby replied.

“How do you feel, Ruby? That was… a lot of blood.” Blake asked.

“I feel good. Still slightly light-headed, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.” Ruby replied, leaving out the more personal feelings involved. 

“So… lil sis is keeping vampires in the family?” Yang joked. 

/////

“You sure you’re good to be on guard duty, Rubes?” Yang asked.

“How many times do I have to say I’m fine?”

“You keep staring off into space so either you aren’t okay or you’ve got something else on your mind, either of which could be dangerous.” Weiss added

“I’m fine. Seriously. Just thinking about Penny.” 

“When aren’t you?” Yang teased. Ruby ignored it.

“It’s her first time leaving the room. Not to mention being left with an unfamiliar face.” Sure, that is true, but it’s not what I’m really thinking.

“She’ll be fine. It’s Oobleck.” Yang replied. 

Ruby didn’t reply. Just kept thinking about Penny. Should I tell her about those feelings I had last night? Or about how much she makes me smile? 

“My dad just texted me. The leadership of the White Fang in Menagerie still denies any involvement. Apparently the Vale branch is being labeled as a rogue faction under… oh no.”

“What’s up, Blake?” Yang asked immediately.

“Adam Taurus. He’s the reason I left the Fang, and apparently he’s in charge of whatever’s going on.” Blake whispered with shaky breaths. 

Recognizing the anxiety and pain in Blake’s voice, Yang immediately went into help mode. “Hey Blake, think better thoughts. Like the Ocean Festival!” Blake’s mouth immediately started watering at the idea of all the fish she’d be able to eat, and she quickly shoved any thoughts about Adam away.

“Isn’t the Ocean Festival coming up soon? What are we gonna do to protect both these buildings and the festival?” Weiss asked. Yang glared at Weiss for ruining the distraction.

“I don’t know.” Ruby replied. “I doubt the Vale branch of the White Fang outnumbers the Knight system though, right Blake?”

“Not when I was around, they didn’t. Although the Fang can be… persuasive and it has been five years. Especially if he’s in charge.”

“I’ve got your back.” Yang declared proudly, winking at Blake.

“Thanks, Yang.” Blake whispered. If Adam really is behind all this, how long before he comes for me?

/////

“I’ve heard rumors of a daywalker from Atlas that went missing.” Mercury stated. “Maybe we should find her before Atlas does.”

Cinder nodded. “That could be beneficial.”

Then, Neo and Torchwick walked in. Torchwick went over to the couch nearby, sat down, then stretched his legs. Neo went and sat next to him. “Do my ears deceive me or did you just say Atlas made a daywalker?”

“Apparently.” Mercury growled. “Seriously, for people that are supposed to work in the shadows, you are quite flashy.”

“Nothing wrong with a little style.” Torchwick retorted.

Cinder brought up the latest Atlesian broadcast. “This one?” Cinder asked, pointing at the photo of the orange haired girl.

“Supposedly.” Mercury answered.

“ That’s their daywalker? Carrot Top should be no problem to find.” Torchwick joked. Neo smiled. 

“If Atlas couldn’t find her, either she’s long gone or King Ozpin is hiding her. Either way, I think that distracts from the mission. Right?” Emerald asked aloud.

“Let’s hope it’s the latter. When we take down Beacon castle, finding her in the rubble could be a bonus.” Cinder sneered.

/////

When RWBY arrived at their room, Penny was back, waiting for them. “Salutations!” The team waved, and then started getting into their pajamas. Ruby motioned for Penny to follow her, so Penny did. They walked out into the hallway.

“I just wanted to talk about last night.” Ruby whispered. “Privately. Come on, I know somewhere we won’t be seen.” Penny nodded nervously, and then followed Ruby to a flight of stairs. They climbed the stairs to the top of one of Beacon’s towers. 

“Is everything okay?” Penny asked.

“Yes.” Ruby answered. “I just… I wanted to ask how you felt.”

“I feel grateful. I also feel… I do not know how to describe it, but I feel it whenever you are with me, and more so when we are physically touching. It is a warm, buzzy kind of feeling, I think.”

“I think I know what you mean.” Ruby replied. “I feel something similar.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I haven’t ever really had it before, but I think it’s the thing that makes people… more than friends .”

“I do not understand.”

“Normally, friends don’t just sleep in the same bed or be as vulnerable with each other as the way we did last night. I started doing it to help you, but I want to continue doing it because I like you.”

“Is that why your sister teases you so much?”

“Yeah. Of course, that could just be a bit of jealousy too, because she hasn’t confessed to Blake yet.” Ruby joked.

“So… what does this conversation mean for us?” Penny asked.

“It means I want to protect you forever. It means I want to continue spending as much time with you as possible. It means I want you to be my girlfriend.”

Penny tilted her head to the side. “I do not understand, I am already a girl and your friend.”

Ruby laughed. “It means love, Penny. It means being partners.”

“Oh.” Penny replied.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Is that what partners do?” Penny asked. Ruby laughed again. She scooted forward, and her lips touched Penny’s. Ruby ran her tongue across Penny’s fangs. She pulled away, and noticed Penny’s eyes were glowing. “Can… Can we do that again?”

“Of course.”

/////

The door opened to the room again, and Ruby led Penny back inside. Both of them were practically glowing, and in the case of Penny’s bright green eyes, literally glowing. They changed into pajamas, Ruby wearing her normal pajamas, and Penny borrowing a t-shirt from Ruby as she usually did. Then they climbed into bed, and within seconds they were kissing.

“That was quick.” Yang whispered. 

Ruby took a small break from kissing Penny to fire back, “At least I had the nerve to confess my feelings.” Yang’s mouth dropped open.

“Godsdamn, Ruby. When did you get sassy?” Weiss asked. Ruby didn’t reply.

Chapter Text

Ruby spent all of her free time in the next week walking with Penny out of the room and trying to get her more comfortable with things outside of their room. They also often went up to the top of their tower, and looked up at the stars or the clouds depending on the time of day. With added security, the city had been quiet enough for Ruby to relax. Whenever RWBY weren’t on shift, Ruby went to spend that time with Penny.

Then, Penny finally felt comfortable going with RWBY to the dining hall. “I can't wait to introduce you to team JNPR!” Ruby squealed. She grabbed Penny’s hand and dragged her to their usual table. Sure enough, JNPR were in the usual spot. Ruby sat down next to Jaune and Penny sat on the other side of Ruby. Everyone waved, then noticed Penny. The only thing that was more surprising than the new person was that she was wearing Ruby’s cloak.

Nora, who had no concept of an inside voice, was the first to shout, “Hi, Ruby! Oh, another ginger! Nice to meet you!”

“Salutations! I am Penny.” Penny replied. 

“Aren’t you…?” Jaune started. Ruby’s hand flew to cover his mouth. A text popped up on all of team JNPR’s scrolls:

Say a word about Atlas and I will slice you in half with Crescent Rose.

Team JNPR nodded slowly, and Ruby’s eyebrows unfurrowed. Yang was the next to make it to the table. She waved, and then plopped down across from Ruby. “You gonna go get some food for you and your girlfriend?” Yang asked. Ruby went to go get some food without so much as a flinch, which told Yang that either Ruby didn’t hear that last part or she just didn’t care who knew.

“Girlfriend?” Pyrrha asked, her voice making her interest in the conversation apparent.

“Yes! Ruby and I have been officially girlfriends for 7 days.” Penny announced proudly. Her eyes drifted off to the food line until she landed her gaze on Ruby. She softly played with the material of the red hood between her fingers while she stared.

“ Officially ,” Yang teased. “But, you were basically dating from the day you met.”

“You’re really lucky, Penny. I’d do anything to have love at first sight.” Jaune murmured. 

“It is entirely possible to have love at first sight, but not act on it right away. I think the strength between her and Ruby was the courage to confront it so soon.” Pyrrha replied, while looking at Jaune and then shamefully looked down at her half-finished meal. Yang also flinched at Pyrrha’s words. Everyone was too focused on the new girl to notice, however. 

Weiss and Blake sat down too, and everyone was silently eating their food until Ruby came back to the table, and raised the hood of her cloak over Penny’s hair. Her eyes were trained on a team wearing Atlas clothing who had just walked into the dining hall. As they looked in their direction, Ruby kissed Penny to further obscure her face from view. As soon as the Atlas knights looked away, she gave Penny room to breathe. It was apparent to the rest of the table that Penny was blushing profusely. Her big green eyes practically sparkled. Blake and Yang, who had noticed why Ruby had done that, fixed their posture to block as much of the view of Penny from behind them as they could. “May I borrow your shield, Jaune?” Blake asked. He nodded and handed it over, and she fastened it to Weiss’s back to block more of the Knight’s vision. 

Of course, Penny didn’t notice any of this. That was the point. Team RWBY had talked about strategies to protect her without her noticing because she might start to panic if she did know Atlas personnel were nearby. It helped that team JNPR caught on quickly. Then, Penny kissed Ruby, and her hand slid over Ruby’s thigh. Ruby blushed hard. She quickly glanced at her friends, and then said, “Uh- See you later!” and then Ruby and Penny vanished into a cloud of rose petals. Weiss handed Jaune’s shield back to him.

Blake heard someone sit at the table behind her, and she turned her head just enough to see the Atlas team sitting there in the corner of her eye. Did Ruby do that for ‘bedroom reasons’ or did she notice them get closer before I did?

/////

Next thing Penny knew, they were back in team RWBY’s room, and Ruby locked the door. Ruby leaned in to kiss her again, and Penny’s heart fluttered as she leaned into it. Ruby pulled away to catch a breath. Between pants, she asked, “Hey… Penny? I– Would you–” Ruby paused again to finish capturing her breath, and to try and get clearer words out. “Would you be willing to bite me again?”

“I do not need blood again so soon; it has only been a week.”

Ruby contemplated how to phrase her next words carefully. “Remember the feelings we talked about when we became girlfriends?” Ruby asked. Penny nodded. “When you bit me, I felt that warm buzzy feeling, and a lot of it. There’s something else that couples do…”

“You mean sex?” Penny asked. Ruby practically coughed out a lung from surprise.

“How do you…?” she asked hoarsely.

“Blake has plenty of novels about it. I found myself bored while you were out on missions, so I read some.” Penny explained. Ruby blushed hard. The heat in her cheeks told her that her face was likely the same color as Crescent Rose.

Ruby opened and closed her mouth several times trying to push out a response. “Y– yes, I meant sex.” Ruby finally replied.

“I would love to, Ruby.” Penny stated. She smiled, showing her fangs, and the heat between Ruby’s legs only got hotter. Ruby led the way onto her bed, and quickly undressed. Penny did the same. They froze for an indiscriminate amount of time, just lovingly admiring each other’s fully naked bodies for the first time. 

“You’re so beautiful, Penny.”

“You are also beautiful, Ruby.” After a moment longer, Penny couldn’t wait any longer to pleasure Ruby. Penny brought her head inches away from Ruby’s neck, and then instead of biting down, she dragged the tips of her fangs down Ruby’s neck. Ruby gasped. Penny pulled back. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, it felt really good.” Ruby explained. Another thought tugged at her mind, but she fought to push it away. Maybe not for their first real time, anyway. Penny leaned back down, and kissed Ruby’s neck in the spots her fangs had marked. She looked at Ruby for confirmation, as she had a week ago. Ruby nodded, and now Penny bit into Ruby, now that there was even more anticipation. And now, Penny wasn’t worried about how Ruby felt about it, so she could focus on how good Ruby tasted. She also now had a few lessons from Oobleck on how to keep it safe for Ruby, which improved her efficiency. She grabbed as much of Ruby’s neck between her lips as she could and inhaled, and a purple bruise began to form. Things were going better than she’d imagined while reading about similar situations in Blake’s novels. Ruby moaned, and Penny gently pressed her pointer finger against Ruby’s mouth.

“Are you trying to let everyone in the building know what we’re up to?” Penny whispered. It came out low and breathy, but not at all sarcastically. Ruby didn’t know how to answer that. It would be embarrassing, but if Penny wasn’t in danger of being sent back to Atlas she might’ve nodded. Penny’s other hand moved to massage Ruby’s chest. She grabbed a nipple with a slight pinch. 

Ruby moaned into the full hand that was now covering her mouth. She didn’t mind. Penny must have learned a lot from Blake’s collection.

Penny licked the puncture wounds she’d left, and then quickly reached down to the night stand for bandages. She quickly bandaged that side of Ruby’s neck, and then dragged her fangs down the other side. “ Harder. ” Ruby whispered desperately. Penny smiled, and complied. Penny moved her hand from Ruby’s chest down towards her crotch, and then waited until Ruby was mid-moan to sink her fangs into the vein in Ruby’s neck. Ruby moaned longer, and louder, to the point where Penny’s hand didn’t really muffle it that much. Penny’s fingers curled inside of Ruby’s pussy, and Ruby’s breathing sped up. Then, her fangs slowly exited Ruby’s neck, and Penny raised her head above Ruby’s. The sight of her own blood dripping from Penny’s mouth drove her crazy, and she started rotating her hips trying to force Penny’s fingers. Penny intentionally let a few drops of blood drip from her fangs onto Ruby’s face, before licking her teeth and lips. Then, she moved down, and carefully placed her mouth next to Ruby’s crotch. She licked right above where her fingers were, eliciting another loud moan from Ruby. She curled her tongue up, and she found Ruby’s clit quickly. She began pumping her fingers and sucking on Ruby’s clit. “Pen-nnyyyy!” Ruby cried. Penny felt Ruby’s body convulse, and she waited until Ruby’s body became still again and her breathing returned to relatively normal before she removed her fingers. Ruby looked down to see Penny’s face and hands absolutely covered in cum. Penny moved back up to kiss Ruby again, and as their tongues met Ruby got a clear taste of her cum mixed with her blood. Ruby broke away first, panting for breath. “Penny, that was… amazing!”

“I am so glad you enjoyed it!”

“Can I try pleasuring you?” Ruby asked quietly.

“I would like that.” Penny replied. Ruby and Penny switched places. Ruby kissed from Penny’s neck all the way down to her chest. She gently grabbed Penny’s nipple with her teeth, and gave it a small tug before releasing it. Penny gasped. 

“Ruby, I am not as much a fan of pain as you are. Please, be careful.” Penny whispered. Ruby nodded, before trailing her kisses down to Penny’s crotch. She stuck her tongue out slowly and began to lap. Then, she felt Penny’s cold hand bury itself in her hair and pull her forward. Ruby moaned and then began licking faster.

Then, unfortunately, there was a knock at the door. Both girls froze. “Hey girls, don’t mean to interrupt but… we kinda need to get our gear.” Yang shouted. 

“Uh… one minute!” Ruby shouted back. Penny leapt from the bed to go get wipes. She began cleaning her thighs while Ruby ripped the sheet off her bed and threw it into the washer. Penny handed Ruby the wipes so she could clean off her thighs and neck while Penny helped tie Ruby’s corset. Ruby popped open the window, and fiddled with her hair, while Penny threw on the shorts Ruby had gifted her. Black basketball shorts with a green line on both sides pointing outward. Ruby opened the door to see Yang smiling at her, Blake laughing, and Weiss frustrated and pouting. 

“Hey Rubes.” Yang greeted, her voice almost sing-songy. Her eyes darted to the new bandages on both sides of Ruby’s neck. 

Blake pulled Ruby into the bathroom, before anyone else could speak. “Qrow’s on his way, you might want to brush your teeth.” she whispered. She ducked out of the bathroom, and Ruby looked in the mirror. Her hair was still a mess, and her skirt was slightly crooked. 

Weiss eyed the lack of sheet on Ruby’s bed, but decided against saying anything. Penny sat on the bed, and used reading a book to avoid eye contact with the team. Blake noticed exactly which book from her collection that Penny was holding and smiled. It was a book about being tied up and at the mercy of another. Wonder what else those two will get into.

Ruby exited the bathroom with a fixed outfit and minty breath. Her hair was still disastrous, but it was definitely an improvement. She threw on her utility belt, and started pacing waiting for the arrival of her uncle. Penny looked up from her book and stared at Ruby sadly. She jumped down and walked over. In Ruby’s ear, she whispered, “I love you. Everything is fine. Thank you for that.” Ruby practically whipped around to hug Penny. In an even quieter and lower tone, Penny continued, “and I have some new ideas for next time.” Ruby blushed, and noticed Blake roll her eyes. Yang was stretching and did not seem to notice, and Weiss was staring at her scroll.

“Hey, you kids ready?” Qrow asked. He glared at the bandages on Ruby’s neck.

“Y-yep!” Ruby exclaimed nervously. She vanished into a cloud of rose petals that led down the hall. 

Qrow shrugged. If she’s still got that much energy, then Penny is a quick learner.