Blood of The Rose

Chapter 4: Orientation

En Route to Santa Monica

Ruby Rose, fledgling vampire, sat across from a relatively unknown elder vampire, in the back of a limo heading towards Santa Monica. It was not, actually, the strangest thing that had happened to her that evening.

"Sooo…" The brunette cleared her throat hesitantly. She glanced aside at the other occupant of the limo, a statuesque blonde wearing a pinstripe skirt suit that the man had introduced as Glynda, though she had yet to acknowledge Ruby's presence, instead focused on typing furiously into a late-model ultralight laptop.

She fidgeted slightly in her seat, knowing she had an opportunity here, but she wasn't sure where to begin. The man, Ozpin, had informed her that she had the duration of this ride to ask her questions of him. And while a good deal of the basics, of being a vampire anyway, had been covered by Jack, there was so very much more that was far beyond her comprehension.

Well, when in doubt, start with the obvious. That's what Yang always used to tell her.

"Who exactly are you, Mr. Ozpin?" she asked quietly.

The grey-haired man straightened the cuffs on his dark suit and offered her a small smile. "I am the Ventrue Primogen here in the Greater Los Angeles area. And now, I'm sure you would like to know what that title means."

"Um… yeah." Ruby fiddled with the wooden baseball bat resting on her lap, rolling it back and forth across the tops of her thighs. She was cognizant of her rather ratty state of dress, from her torn jeans to her messy red-tipped brown locks of hair, the number of bulletholes in her beloved red hoodie notwithstanding. Certainly a large step below the elegant attire of her hosts. "Actually, if you could first cover more about, um… the Ventrue? Jack mentioned I'm one of them, but I don't really know what that means."

"Hmm." Ozpin leaned back in his seat, pushing his darkened round spectacles up on his nose. "Do you have an understanding of how the clans work?"

"Sorta, yeah… I mean, I know there are these clans of vampires… er, Kindred… And each one is a descendant of some really older… Kindred. And they all have different abilities."

"Close enough," he conceded with a smile. "There are, at this time, thirteen clans. Each clan share a bloodline, or heritage, back to a certain common ancestor. I won't go into the particulars of the Generations… But this will suffice. Each clan has its own organization and culture that is considered important by its members, and clan members often elicit a certain... preference for those of similar blood. We are Ventrue, who many consider to be the aristocracy of the Kindred, and we are the ones who create and enforce the laws that allow for our continued existence as a race."

"Like the Camarilla do?" the brunette interjected.

"Indeed, the Ventrue are the head of the Camarilla organization. Since time immemorial, Ventrue clan leaders have been enforcing these ancient traditions, weaving the destiny of all Kindred whether they maintain ties with the Camarilla or not. Out of any of the other thirteen clans, the Ventrue are the primary force for maintaining stability and order within the Camarilla." Ozpin gave her a tight smile. "It is a great burden at times, but immensely fulfilling."

"I… see." Ruby furrowed her brow. "So… what are the other clans, then? At least, the other ones here in LA?"

"Los Angeles certainly has representatives from all the clans," Ozpin replied levelly. "Were there any in particular you wished to know about?"

"Well, I don't really know about any of them!" Ruby complained. "I mean, I'm pretty sure Jack isn't Ventrue from the way he talked, but I don't even know what he was, y'know?"

"Hmm, yes, 'Smiling' Jack. Well, he is a Brujah."

"Brujah?"

"Correct."

"Sounds, I dunno… angsty? Like some kinda Mexican punk rock band?"

Ozpin gazed at the petite girl, making an effort to still his face. Glynda, for her part, only stumbled slightly in her typing before resuming once more.

"Yes… Well, the Brujah…" The suited man sighed lightly. "They are, as a clan, notorious as troublemakers and hotheads. Very passionate and brutal warriors."

"Um, okay." Ruby scratched at the back of her head. Jack, a warrior? Okay, yeah, he was a total badass against those Sabbat assholes… and yeah, kinda passionate about how he felt… Whelp, I guess that's my yardstick for Brujahs then. "How about the other clans?"

"I can give you a quick explanation of the clans within the Camarilla," Ozpin replied. "I don't expect you to require further elucidation during your trials in Santa Monica."

"Eluci... Elucidation?" Ruby stammered hesitantly.

"Explanation."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"In any case, there are several major clans that compose the Camarilla aside from our clan. The Tremere are Mages, wielding great powers through their use of blood."

"No way, we have vampire wizards?" Ruby squealed excitedly. She quickly settled down at the identically level gaze given her by both Ozpin and Glynda, their eyebrows quirked. "Sorry," she whispered. "Um, please continue." Freakin' vampire wizards! That is sooo cool!

"Yes… There are also the Toreadors. They are creatures of beauty and passion, artists and musicians and poets."

Ruby nodded as she followed along. Okay, so Toreadors are the Drama Club geeks from high school.

"Malkavians… have been blessed, or cursed depending on whom you ask, with a second sight of sorts. They see and hear things which give them insight into the workings of the world around them. Unfortunately, this comes at the price of their sanity."

Uh-huh. Malkavians are the crazies. Got it.

"The Gangrel are not as numerous within the Camarilla, much like the Brujah. Those clans tend to march to the beat of a different drummer. But so far as the Gangrel go, they are as fiercely combative as the Brujah, though their power derives from animalistic instinct and rage, rather than anarchic anger."

Pissed-off animal rights activists?

"And then we have the Nosferatu." Ozpin sighed as he leaned forward, steepling his fingers while his elbows rested on his knees. "To put it simply, they are the damnedest of the damned. Disfigured and unable to show themselves amongst the kine, they are nonetheless experts at assembling information and retrieving secrets. Their clan has been an invaluable means of support in our efforts to bring order to Los Angeles."

"Uh, yeah… I think I saw some at the theater. They were pretty, um…" Ruby shuddered. "Yeah." Creeeeepy as fuck...

"They would certainly not be winning any beauty pageants," Ozpin agreed with a smirk. "Next question?"

"Okay, so I just heard you say something new. Um… kine?"

"Yes, that is our term for mortals. It is a somewhat archaic and derogatory term, but still in common use." Ozpin tilted his head to the side. "Obviously, I am guilty of such on occasion myself."

Ruby nodded, glancing out the window. She had no idea how much time she had left, but there was perhaps enough to cover some of the bigger items. "So, can you tell me about the Sabbat?"

"Hmm, yes, I heard you had encountered them." The elder vampire tapped a finger on his knee in thought as he leaned back once more. "The Sabbat are a collection of Kindred in direct opposition to the Camarilla. They reject our laws and traditions, as well as the import of the Masquerade. In short, a group of violent, extremist malcontents who enjoy wreaking havoc and destruction."

"Yeah, that seems to fit," the brunette mused. "Wait, what was the other thing? The Masquerade?"

"Indeed, this is an important law that I would have thought Jack to have covered already," Ozpin commented with mild reproach. "It is our cornerstone for survival of all Kindred, essentially preventing the… mortals from knowing of our existence."

"Oh, yeah, sorry… He did talk about it, just not… using that word. Masquerade."

"Hmm, yes, well the Anarchs do tend to only follow the letter of that law, don't they…"

Every answer I get gives me more questions, Ruby grumbled to herself. Out loud, she spoke up once more. "Anarchs?"

"Yes… Anarchs are vampires who reject the status quo of vampire society. Most of the West Coast here has been Anarch territory for some time, but the Camarilla seeks to rectify that." Ozpin looked rather displeased to be even talking about it, but the brunette fledgling decided to press just a little more.

"So… is Jack an Anarch or Camarilla?"

"Anarch," he replied shortly.

Yeah, okay, pushing my luck there, let's move on…

"Okay, so… how about your title that you used earlier? Primogen? What is that all about?"

Ozpin inclined his head. "A Primogen is the leader of his or her clan from a city or territory. They are, in fact, ambassadors from their clan to the Prince."

"Oh." Ruby blinked her eyes uncertainly. "But… isn't the Prince a Ventrue? I mean, that's the impression I got…"

"This is true, Prince La Croix is indeed a member of the Ventrue clan," Ozpin agreed. "But by tradition, the Prince is supposed to represent all clans and favor none, so the Ventrue are still represented."

Glynda chose that time to speak up in a disinterested voice. "Two minutes."

"Ah, well, I'm afraid our time is almost over," the suited man stated regretfully. "I assure you, I will be available for further questioning once you return to Los Angeles, depending on my schedule, of course. Was there anything else I might offer a brief explanation for?"

"No, I guess not," she sighed, her eyes downcast. "I guess I'll just, um… figure out the rest as I go."

"Hmm." Ozpin seemed to consider her intently as the limo pulled to a halt. "Perhaps I might still be of assistance, fledgling," he murmured, causing Glynda to glance up at him sharply. With a decisive nod, Ozpin reached behind him and rapped twice on the window there that separated the driver from the rest of the vehicle.

Ruby felt the limo rock slightly from someone exiting the passenger seat, and then the rear door on that side opened to permit a small figure to slip inside and sit on the seat next to Ruby.

"Yes, Sire?" the platinum-haired girl asked steadily, her gaze affixed on the grey-haired vampire.

Ruby tried to discreetly look the newcomer over. She wore a white peacoat-style dress with black edging and two columns of four black buttons across her abdomen. Her long white hair was tied into a side ponytail that hung past her right shoulder, and she wore white, heeled wedge boots that went up to her mid-calf. A soft but long white bag was slung over her shoulder, evidently containing something around the length of her baseball bat but much thinner.

"Weiss, this is Ruby Rose, the newest member of the Ventrue clan here in LA. I'm sure you must have heard of her by now?"

The girl turned her head to regard Ruby. Her pale blue eyes, like crystalline ice, quickly ran over her body, and evidently decided she was left wanting, as her head snapped forward once more. "Yes, Sire," she repeated with the same inflectionless voice.

"I would like for you to accompany Miss Rose during her trials here in Santa Monica. Assist her as you are able, and instruct her in the traditions and ways of the Ventrue."

Weiss blinked her eyes at the Primogen uncertainly for a moment or two. "Sire..." she replied hesitantly.

Ozpin raised a hand in consolation. "This is only temporary. But it is in the best interests of the clan if she were to succeed in this, and retain a favorable impression of the Camarilla."

The platinum-haired girl sighed softly and inclined her head. "Of course, Sire," she murmured.

"Then it is settled. Ruby, your belongings from your hotel room have been moved to your Haven here in Santa Monica. Weiss has the key. Be sure to check your email." He offered the brunette a small smile, while Glynda continued to ignore her existence. "I wish you well."

"Er, yeah. Um, thanks for everything, Mr. Ozpin, sir." She opened the door and clambered out awkwardly into the street, holding it open for Weiss. The pale vampire girl, however, rolled her eyes and exited out her side and onto the sidewalk.

"Oh, yeah… that'd probably be the right way to get out of a limo," Ruby chuckled to herself self-consciously. She closed the door and walked around the back to stand next to her new… mentor?

Together they watched the limo depart with varying degrees of remorse.

"Sooo… Weiss, was it?" Ruby chirped awkwardly.

The white-haired girl turned towards her, narrowing her eyes. "Yes. And I am not in the mood to discuss anything tonight. The sun will be up soon, so let us retire to your… Haven." She turned and began to stalk into the nearest alleyway, grumbling under her breath. "Hopefully not as flea-ridden as the ones here usually are…"

Ruby skipped forward to keep up with the girl's steps, even though they were of about the same height Weiss was walking with determination. They passed by a shop sign for a pawnbroker (Tripp? I guess he owns it?) and entered through a door on the side at the end of the alley. The small vestibule had several small mailboxes which Weiss passed without a glance, taking each step with considerable force for such a small girl.

Up on the second floor, past the shabby-looking wallpaper that lined the hallway, they came to a door on the right for room 12. Weiss pulled a key out of her pocket, inserted it into the lock, and turned it. She had to use her shoulder to open the door all the way, stepping to the side and ushering Ruby on through.

The brunette skipped forward, and, looking around, was incredibly underwhelmed.

"Huh," she mused, taking in the single-room apartment. The dilapidated kitchenette was in a tiny alcove and the bathroom missing the door. Various debris littered the floor and every visible surface, including the single stained mattress. The only clean spots seemed to be the small desk, which had a notepad and a closed laptop sitting on top, as well as the decrepit-looking television set on a rickety stand that looked ready to collapse any second. "You know, I had a friend who used to live in a condemned building. I think that was in better shape."

She did note the one tasteful addition to the room, a large poster over the bed featuring a giant sunflower. The band was Lacuna Coil, one which Ruby actually knew and liked.

"If you're going to complain, you could always sleep on the streets," Weiss retorted, examining the sheets of plywood that had been haphazardly fastened across the windows. "I'm sure you could find a suitably shady spot if you tried hard enough."

"Nooo… that's okay, I'm good." Ruby stepped over to the kitchenette and pulled the noisy refrigerator open out of curiosity. "Oh, hey, there's a few bags of blood in here! Isn't that nice? Kinda like leaving pillow mints, but for vampires…"

Weiss snorted softly as she brushed off a clean spot on the mattress and sat on a relatively stain-free section. "I suppose it's a good thing, being able to joke still after the evening you've had…" she mused. "Speaks well for your ability to handle things under pressure."

"Oh, trust me, I'm all freaked out to hell and gone," Ruby reassured her, poking her head into the bathroom and screwing her nose up. Hey, at least there's no shit coating the walls… "But yeah, I'm sure I'll have some sort of breakdown eventually, when it all catches up to me."

"Well, since we still have a little darkness left, why don't you examine your laptop?" the platinum-haired vampire prompted. "There should be some instructions for you."

"Right," Ruby muttered, sitting down on the dusty desk chair with a loud squeak of rusty springs. "Let's get our marching orders, huh?"

Her backpack was sitting on the floor next to the desk, depressingly limp as she really didn't have all that much so far as personal belongings went. A few changes of clothes and that was it. She swiveled around, kicking it against the wall before noticing the surprisingly neat writing on the notepad in front of her.

"Hey. The password for your computer is 'sunrise'. Keep the cash in the drawer… it's yours. The cell phone in there is also for your use, just watch who you contact, right? I dropped you an email with my address… come on over after you get settled. -Mercurio"

Ruby laughed softly to herself. Is the concept of computer security really such a foreign concept to people?

She pulled the drawer open, spying an envelope and a fairly recent-model Android phone. Huh. Didn't really expect vampires to be all technological and stuff. It was powered off, and had a charger cord wrapped around it. She pulled it out and set it atop the desk, and as there was an outlet next to the desk, subsequently went ahead and plugged the charger in and hooked it up to the phone. Next the envelope, containing five bills of twenty-dollar denomination, was emptied, the cash jammed into her jeans pocket.

Underneath where the envelope had lain was another note, this one a folded piece of monogrammed paper with some fancy cursive letters, MST, she thought. Inside was more writing, but in a different hand than from the notepad. She read it out loud to Weiss, who looked up from reading something on her own phone.

"At your convenience, please come and visit me in my home downtown. I leave you this to guide you:

Dark blood, our curse, a light the verse.

Such power I sense in one so young.

Come find me where burns the mystical sun.

M. Strauss, Tremere Regent"

Ruby rolled her eyes once she was done. "Dramatic much?"

The platinum-haired vampire huffed slightly at that. "Yes, well, you come to expect such things from Tremeres."

"Duly noted," Ruby chuckled, tucking the note back inside the drawer. "And a Regent, is that like a Primogen?"

"Yes, precisely."

"Okay." She closed the drawer and continued with a murmur. "What do we got here, then…"

She opened the laptop lid, waking it up. After typing her password, she was logged in to the already-running email program. Five unread emails awaited her attention.

[1]A reminder

[2]DANG! It's big you know!111

[3]Kilpatrick's Krime-Puter

[4]Welcome

[5]The opening

"How much time do we have?" Ruby asked curiously as she clicked on the first email.

"Fifteen minutes, give or take," Weiss replied. She sighed lightly when Ruby gave her a look. "It's not an exact science, at least not for those as young as we are."

"Right," the brunette murmured, her eyes drawn back down to the laptop.

(Subject) A reminder

(From) LaCroix

Mercurio will contact you when you arrive in Santa Monica. Waste no time in meeting with him. - SL

"Yes, dad," Ruby snorted derisively. She ignored the strangled gasp from the other Ventrue, grinning at her own irreverence as she continued on to the next email, which turned out to be a spam for penis enlargement.

She sighed to herself humorously. Nice to know even vampires can't get spam outta their email system.

The next one, though also spam, held more interest for her.

(Subject) Kilpatrick's Krime-Puter

(From) arthus

Looking for that lazy ass ex-husband who's late on his alimony payments?

"Well, now," she murmured, eyes rapidly scanning the contents. "...You can find almost anyone with a record… blah, blah, blah… So come on down to Arthur Kilpatrick's Bail Bonds…"

"What was that?" Weiss asked distractedly as she tapped out a message on her phone.

"Oh, nothing, just more spam," the brunette replied glibly. This might actually be helpful in helping me find Yang… not that I can let Weiss know, I don't think I'm supposed to be looking for her anymore, am I? She glanced sideways at her temporary partner as she deleted the email and moved on to the next. I'll either need a really good reason to go there, or somehow ditch her...

"Hey, Weiss?"

"Yes, Ruby?" the other vampire replied levelly.

"Um… am I allowed to, like… contact anyone I used to know?"

"No, absolutely not," the platinum-haired girl replied adamantly, setting her phone down to regard Ruby with her pale blue eyes. "That would violate the Masquerade, you cannot have any contact with anyone you used to know in life, especially family."

"Oh," she replied, feeling a bit more downcast.

"Er…" Ruby glanced up to see Weiss regarding her somewhat curiously. "Did you have a large family?"

The brunette just shook her head wordlessly, setting the conversation aside as she read the next email.

(Subject) Welcome

(From) Mercurio

Hey. Welcome to town. Come on over to my place tomorrow night once you get situated, and we'll talk about what you'll need to get the job done. I'm going to pick up explosives before dusk , some Astrolite… I should be back by the time you wake and come over. I'm at 24 Main Street, in number 4. Walk to the end of the alley and my building is the next one on the right. - M

"Okay, got Mercurio's address here."

"Yes, I know it. I've been there before, it's right next door."

Ruby rolled her eyes, though she made sure to conceal it from Weiss' view, as she read the last in the list.

(Subject) The opening

(From) a friend

The game begins. A pawn is moved.

She snorted once more, reading it out loud as well for Weiss' benefit. "What the fuck is with all this cryptic bullshit?" she asked exasperatedly. "Does every single vampire talk in riddles?"

That actually earned a smirk from Weiss, the first real sign of humor that Ruby could recall. "Well, yes," the other Ventrue responded. "The older the Kindred, the more cryptic, generally."

"Great," Ruby sighed. "Well, I'm done."

"Just in time too."

"Sooo…" Ruby looked around the room. "Um… where do I sleep?"

"It's not like you're really sleeping," Weiss remarked, patting the bed next to her where she'd cleaned it off when Ruby wasn't looking. "Just lie down. You won't be aware of a thing until sunset."

The brunette nodded nervously, glancing over to make sure the door was securely locked before stretching out uncomfortably next to the other vampire, the both of them on their backs and shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Weiss?" she whispered, staring up at the stained ceiling with her hands folded atop her stomach.

"Yes?"

"Does… Does it hurt?"

The white-haired girl sighed gently, her eyes already closed. "No, not really. It's… a little uncomfortable. But you get used to it."

"Okay. Um… thanks. For, y'know… helping me."

Whatever response Weiss might have made was lost, as the sun rose and consciousness flew from both fledglings like a flock of startled birds from a field.

A/N: So there we go, Weiss is revealed. Figured Ventrue fit her all too well, and there were quite a few guesses regarding that. And yep, her standard outfit for right now is the SnowPea variant. Also got a lot more background on Kindred in general (much more than the character in the game gets without a lot of grilling of various people). This brings us up to the end of Ruby's very, very long evening. Next chapter, we'll meet some more familiar faces, and eventually (still got a few chapters to go) we'll see a little action. I've got the transcribed game completed so far through chapter 8 (though I may need to break another one up, we'll see) and have up through chapter 6 written out. This thing is gonna be huge by the time we reach the finale, I mean, it's going to take over 20 chapters just to get out Santa Monica...

Hugs for my lovely Beta and collaborator, Live to anger the World, and my thanks for reading up to this point! Pyrojack1, zerosabers, carpenter656, djjohns94, Mossblomma, Chim3r4, Nicodemus Cain, kaiju62, Reaper Whisper, and Whispering Kataclysm, thank you all for the reviews!

Stay shiny!