Yang stared at Ozpin uncomprehendingly. Why was he here? She was looking for her friends, and for Ruby. Maybe he knew where they were.

He stared back at her, a grim look visible over his thin glasses. She wanted to say something, but found that she simply couldn't. She simply stood, rooted to the spot, still staring at Ozpin with a bewildered look.

He drew in a deep sigh, then spoke, breaking the silence.

"Hello, Yang. You're looking well this evening. Well, considering the circumstances, I suppose. I'm guessing you don't have much of a clue as to what's happened, do you? No idea how long you've been away?"

Yang felt her jaw move as she tried to speak, but the muscles in her throat weren't working well at the moment. She felt some annoyance at this fact, but mostly just felt stunned. There was something about the situation that she couldn't quite wrap her head around. Nothing seemed to have changed too much, other than her friends being gone.

She shook her head, and Ozpin nodded. He spoke again, saying, "That's unfortunate. Well, in any case, allow me to explain what's going on, at least from my perspective."

His shoulders dropped, and he seemed suddenly more tired than Yang had ever seen him, his face falling and back slumping over. "Perhaps you should sit down. I don't expect this to be a pleasant conversation for either of us."

He motioned toward Yang's bed, and she followed his direction, still unsure of what to do. She was starting to come out of her stupor, but still couldn't quite focus too well. She sat on her own bed, facing Weiss's bed, and Ozpin walked over to lean against it, putting a shoulder against the wooden frame, and resting the rest of his weight on his cane.

"Well, to start with, you were proclaimed dead roughly a week ago. You were found in the Emerald Forest, and estimated to have been there for several days. You had several broken bones, indicating that you had sustained a heavy blow. The distance into the forest also indicated that it was the launching pads that had been used to move you, but your body hadn't been touched, not even by natural creatures who would take advantage of your corpse. I thought there was something off about that, and opted to keep your body, just in case."

Yang raised an eyebrow and repeated the words, "Just in case?"

Ozpin nodded, and said, "Yes, you see, I knew what was going to happen. It might come as a surprise to you, but this will not be the first time I've dealt with a situation like yours. When your body was retrieved, I was present, and saw the signs of what had happened. Doctors who examined you said that you showed signs that would suggest you bled to death, but the bite on your neck would have been too small to cause that kind of blood loss. I had your body set aside for further examination, and "forgot" schedule another examination."

He took a deep breath and continued, "Your sister had gone missing that day as well, and at first I thought she was out looking for you. I had seen her earlier that day, and she seemed quite distressed. I generally try to refrain from taking too much interest when it comes to my student's personal affairs, but when I saw the bite on your neck, it became clear that my intervention was necessary. I'm sure you've noticed that the city was rather empty tonight, I couldn't risk anything happening, so I had that part of the city closed down so you could make your way here…" he paused, searching for the right word, "undistracted' so to say.''

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, worried there were more risks to her new super powers than she had found.

Ozpin spoke again, a heavier tone on his voice. "I take it you've already noticed that you have certain capabilities that you didn't before. You have your sister to thank for that, unfortunately. Even more unfortunate is that while it may seem extraordinary at first, these abilities come with a terrible cost. Are you familiar with any of the old Atlas legends? About Huzur and his adventures that would lead to his supposed founding of Atlas?"

"You mean from 'The Atlas'? The dude that was like nine feet tall and killed Deathstalkers with his bare hands? I use to read stories of him to Ruby when she was little. I actually think she brought a copy of the book with her to Beacon. But what does that have to do with Ruby?" Yang couldn't see how this was relevant.

"Well one of the stories, closer to the end, after he built the walls of Atlas, was about a man of the night who fed on the blood of mortals. He severely hurt Huzur, but even while wounded, the battle lasted the whole night and only ended when the sun rose, banishing the creature to a painful death of fire and judgement."

Yang's eyes widened when Ozpin mentioned that the sun had caused the man pain. She recalled what had happened when Ruby had looked out the window, seeing the sun for just a split second. Ozpin's face went flat, recognizing Yang must have had some degree of familiarity.

Ozpin continued his voice a handled monotone. "Though many regard these stories as nothing but wishful thinking, a number of them are likely true, or at least have some basis in reality, including the vampire; as you yourself prove."

Yang sat in silence, not sure how to respond. So vampires were a thing, and both she and Ruby had turned into them. did that mean that both of them were going to die? There had to be a way out of this. She could still save her sister, and herself, she just had to find it.

Her growing panic showed on her face, and Ozpin responded to it without waiting for her to voice it. "Now the book doesn't go into great detail about the aspects of vampires other than their fighting prowess, but luckily there are other ways to find information like that. There are ways to revert the process, and restore a person to their normal selves. These are not easy, though, and would require a huge commitment on your part. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to save your sister?"

"Yes!" Yang exclaimed, jumping up and almost grabbing his collar in excitement, "Where is she?" She tried her hardest to not sound like she was demanding an answer, but failed.

"She is on Patch. I was worried when her and the other vampire met that she might-" He stopped seeing Yang was completely ignoring him as she dashed for the door.

"Wait!" He called out to her, moving as quickly as he could to get to the door before she got too far ahead. "You can't help her directly, we need to-"

"You do that then!" She called as she ran down the hallway, not at all concerned about waking anyone else up, "I need to get to Ruby!"

Ozpin was going to continue, but Yang had already rounded the corner and out of sight. He let out a soft growl in annoyance, but let it go, knowing it was just impulse. Memories of when he went running after his first vampire filled his head, and guessed it was just part of being a Hunter. He collected his cane and made pursuit. This was something Yang was going to have to see firsthand, and he knew Yang would be back. In the meantime he would get everything ready and meet her on Patch when the truth finally sunk into that occasionally thick skull of hers.

She wouldn't be making it to patch today anyways, that was a certainty. Not as she was now. He reached into a pocket and pulled out his watch. It was four in the morning; the sun was bound to be already peeking out over the horizon. If Yang didn't heed the warning he had given her, she was going to feel just what kind of pain the sun could cause.

He hadn't told her about the hunger that would soon come. The mind bending, soul rending hunger that all vampires felt eventually. And after they tasted blood, their sanity was lost, replaced with only the desire to get more, and more; a thirst that could never truly be satisfied.

Yang's feet pounded on the floor as she sprinted faster than the eye could follow. She was going to get to Patch, find Ruby, and convince her to hunt the vampire. She was her sister, she had to listen.

The door to the outside loomed at the bottom of the stairs, and Yang bowed her head, bringing her shoulder up like she had with the door at the morgue. She wasn't going to waste any time, not even a second. The door burst open, nearly knocked off its hinges, and there was a moment where Yang felt powerful and free. Like she could do anything. Finding Ruby was going to be easy, and hunting the vampire that hurt her might even be enjoyable.

Then all of that was replaced with a searing pain, so complete that it seemed to engulf her. Yang's body could only respond with one final spastic jerk as it tried to get back into the building, but all she managed to do was stop moving.

She didn't feel when her knees hit the ground, or when her chest let out an animalistic, inhuman cry of pain. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, and twitching helplessly was all her body could do.

She didn't feel it when two hands grabbed her collar and dragged her back into the building. All she was aware of was that the pain started to subside slowly. When feeling returned to her limbs, and the ringing in her ears started to subside, she tried to feel around her, asking, "Hello? Am I dead?"

The redundancy of the question occurred to her briefly, but she wasn't in the mood to laugh about it. It felt like she was on the floor still, and she started trying to get up. A firm hand on her shoulder held her down, and she heard a familiar voice say, "I must insist you stay down. I had hoped that you would be a little more cautious."

It was Ozpin again. She bit back a few curses, and tried to knock his hand away. Under normal circumstances, she was sure that she could do it. With her new vampiric strength, she was certain that she could knock him around if she wanted to. But now it seemed like his arm was made of steel, and hers of jelly. She wasn't sure if she needed to breathe, but her chest felt constricted, like she couldn't catch her breath.

She felt her eyelids move, but was still as blind as a bat. Her fingers went to her eyes, trying to tell if she still even had eyeballs. She could hear Ozpin's voice, talking with others, but she couldn't quite catch what it was they were saying. It was something about everything being fine, and that they just needed to go back to their rooms, but she couldn't be sure.

Slowly, her vision started to return as well, blurry at first, but gradually growing clearer. She looked down at her own arms, able to tell that there was something off about them, and as the detail of her vision grew, she was able to see more clearly.

Her normally fair complexion had turned to an angry red, with patches of skin peeling off. As she watched, more patches peeled away, revealing more tender, but better colored skin underneath. Her nerve endings tingled with pain still, but it was at least tolerable now.

She stayed sitting for several minutes, simply taking the time to recover. Her mind was still reeling from the pain. She thought she felt sick to her stomach, but that could've just been her imagination.

When she felt well enough again, she stood up, and took in her surroundings. She had been dragged back into the entryway of the building, and Ozpin was close by, peering at her concernedly. She felt embarrassed that she had simply run out like that, but she was going to get Ruby. There was nothing he could do to stop her. Now it was simply that there was another challenge.

If she could find a way to travel during the day without that happening again, she would be set. She remembered that Ruby had been walking to classes with her hood up, and her cape drawn around her tightly. Maybe if she could imitate that, she would be able to get to Patch.

She tried to avert her eyes as she made to walk past Ozpin, but he called out to her, his voice more gentle now than it had been.

"Yang, please, just listen to me. You can't help Ruby this way. The only thing you can do is go after the vampire that infected her. If you don't-"

Yang clenched her fist tightly, jaw working as she tried to keep from snapping at the man. Before, she could've simply ignored him, but now she wasn't in such a patient mood. Now she was much more irritable, and Ozpin's voice grated on her ears in a way that she didn't find particularly enjoyable.

She rounded on him, feeling her anger plastered across her face. He stopped, but he didn't seem scared. Instead, a very peculiar look washed over his face. He was sad. Not angry, not even a little intimidated by how close or agitated she was. It was like he was looking at a kid throwing a tantrum.

Yang sighed. That was what was happening anyways, although she didn't want to admit it. She tried to calm herself down, and started walking again. Ozpin didn't try to stop her this time. She had made it quite clear that her mind wasn't going to be changed about this.

She stalked back to her room, feeling her senses continue to restore from the damage they had taken. It was good to know she could regenerate like that, but it was obvious that betting that ability against the sun wasn't an extraordinarily good idea.

As she walked back up the stairs, she thought about what that meant. She shook it off as something to worry about later. For now she needed to focus on getting to Ruby, it wasn't safe until she was under control. She changed into a more covering outfit, the one she wore when they were fighting Roman Torchwick in that Atlesian Paladin down town a while back. She pulled the zipper up to cover her chest and wrapped her scarf around her neck to provide full protection. Her dad had gotten her a full face motorcycle helmet with a sunglass visor, which she threw on as well.

Once fully enclosed she made her way back to the door. Ozpin stood there still, looking up and down her outfit, probably looking for any gaps she might have missed. Yang didn't pause for him as she pushed the doors back open.

This time the light flooded in, and she could feel it maneuvering its way through the small threads and fibers of her clothes. It didn't hurt, at least not too much, so she continued. She still felt a core instinct in her chest saying to run away; but she couldn't, not with Ruby on the line.

As she walked off, Ozpin called out from the doorway of the building. "Yang, if you're going to insist on being stubborn, fine. Just know I'll be waiting when you realize it's pointless to do it this way."

"I'll save her."

"You can most certainly try. But I'm afraid this isn't something strength alone can overcome. Unless you intend to kill her, but I doubt that."

He fell quiet as Yang continued to make her way through the light of the morning. Ozpin pulled out his watch and took a moment to remember the time when the ferry to Patch would open for the day.

Yang was going to head down the cliffside to the boat dock, but was stopped by a man calling to her.

"Wait! Ozpin wanted me to give you a ride!"

She turned back to see one of the many pilots who lived and worked on campus running toward her. Even though her helmet was covering her face, she could smell something horrible, and quickly realized it was him. It had to have been at least a day since he last showered. He had probably been woken up before he could take one. Her mouth watered slightly as he approached for some reason, but ignored it as he stopped in front of her.

"Whew, glad I caught you here. Those stairs can be a killer," He gasped, out of breath from his pursuit.

"A ride? To where?" She asked, not knowing how informed he was on what was happening.

"Ozpin said you had a mission on Patch, but since the ferry is closed for another two hours, he

told me to just drop you off on the dock there." Apparently not very.

"Alright sure, where is your plane?"

"Dock 3, this way." He waved to her, seeming to have recovered enough to lead the way.

The city streets passed under her as the Bullhead flew over the city. Her feet lazily hung over the side, letting her legs absentmindedly wave in the wind. This was much faster than if she had ridden her bike, but all the same she wanted to go faster. Patience was never her strong suit, she always had to be moving, always doing something. The pilot tried making some small talk, but after Yang tailed off her sentence for the third time, he decided to just stop.

The rest of the flight was spent with Yang fidgeting, still feeling the pressure of the sun on her makeshift armor. It was holding up. It wasn't comfortable, but it was holding up. The need to do something was growing in her mind, making her incredibly restless. She spent a few minutes pacing back and forth in the cabin, trying to settle down, but it didn't help.

The only thing that she could do was watch the landscape whizz by impatiently.

When the pilot finally spoke again, saying, "We're coming in, you might want to hold on to something."

She ignored his advice, instead walking back to the open bulkhead, just waiting to jump out. The sooner she could find Ruby, the better. The craft hovered over the wooden dock that the fairy between Patch and the mainland ran. As soon as the wheels of the Bullhead touched down, she was out, peering around. The pilot said something about taking back off towards the school, that he had another flight to take care of or something, but Yang wasn't paying attention. She had already focused entirely on finding Ruby.

The doors of the Bullhead slid shut, and its engines wined as it took back into the air, leaving her behind. Her eyes quickly turned to scanning the dock, and she found a man standing at the far end of the dock, where it let out to the island.

She started walking towards him, watching carefully for anything out of the ordinary. His gaze followed her as she approached, but it seemed like he was barely aware of her. His body didn't move like it should have if he were really reacting to her presence.

As she came within arms reach of the man, he put a hand up in greeting, but the motion was jerky and unnatural looking. He started to speak, and Yang stopped, figuring that he might be able to help. "Hello stranger. Welcome to Patch. I hope you enjoy your stay."

Yang raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down through the tinted helmet, realizing that she recognized the voice. They had never had any real interaction before, but she knew that her father had him over to their house several times. She knew that he probably wouldn't recognize her after so many years, and with her body wrapped up like it was. She spoke, saying, "Right. Actually, I used to live here. I'm looking for my sister, Ruby Rose. I heard that she came here a few days ago, and I was wondering if you might have seen her?"

The man stared blankly at her for a few more seconds before his head dipped slowly, and a dull smile slid across his face.

"Yes, she was so torn over the fact you went missing. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to see you. I think she's at Signal right now, probably talking with her friends. You know how kids can get."

Yang's eyes narrowed as she thought about what he said. Why would Ruby go back to Signal? And why would Weiss and Blake go with her?

The man started to speak again, saying in a slow, friendly voice, "I could lead you there, if you-"

Yang cut him off by pushing her way past, her shoulder knocking into him as she went. "I know the way." She sounded rude, but she doubted it mattered. Something was obviously wrong with the man, and she intended to get to the bottom of it.

She walked down the dirt path that lead away from the dock, towards the main town that surrounded Signal. The path led through a small wooded area, and Yang was glad for that. The beating of the sun on her clothes was growing more and more uncomfortable as time went on, and she would be glad for whatever shelter she could get.

Leaves weren't the best cover, but they took a little of the heat away. Her pace slowed as she walked through the somewhat overgrown path, but once she was out, and could see the town ahead, she sped up again.

People were out on the streets, but something seemed wrong. On the occasions that she had been here as a kid, everyone had seemed very cheerful, like Patch was it's own little world, and nothing could go wrong. Now there was a very definite change. Everyone she saw walked with backs hunched, arms around themselves nervously, and casting many nervous glances behind them. Those that weren't seemed to be gazing around looking at everyone within sight, save her.

Everyone seemed to be either avoiding Yang or just flat out ignoring her, whenever she approached, groups whispered among themselves and scurried away quickly.

She started to feel paranoid, sure that there was something much worse going on than what it seemed. She continued to walk, either being feared or ignored, until she was about halfway through the city.

She thought she could feel someone following her, but tried to shake the feeling off as merely being nerves. It didn't disappear though, and Yang thought about what she could do about it.

Before she could do anything, a small voice said from behind her, "Excuse me, miss? I think you dropped this."

She turned, and found that the person following her was a woman with brown hair, a slight build, and strikingly blue eyes. Yang might've been suspicious of her, but there was something in her eyes that seemed almost pleading. Her hand was extended out towards her, and in it was clutched a fistful of Lien.

Yang stepped back suspiciously, holding up her hands and saying, "Sorry, I don't think I did. Maybe you should ask someone else, or turn that into the police."

The woman took two steps forward, bringing her into an uncomfortably close distance, and Yang could see that there were tears in the corners of her eyes. He voice was almost a begging whisper now, and she said, "I'm sure! Please! It's yours!"

Yang reached forward and took the money hesitantly, and shoved it into a pocket. "T-Thanks…" She didn't know what to say, or whether or not she could trust the woman. It seemed like she was trying to get something, but there was also the sneaking suspicion that she was simply insane.

"We don't get many travelers out here this time of year. Where you going?" She asked with honest curiosity.

"I'm from Patch actually, me, my dad and sister live out over by the cliff on the north side of the island."

"Oh? Why are you here now then? Shouldn't you be in school or something?"

"I'm looking for my sister. The man at the docks said she was at Signal right now, so I was just heading over there." Yang stated, turning away hoping to end the conversation.

The women took her arm, proclaiming "I can take you there, I know a shortcut, just down here." She seemed overly excited about helping Yang, and was literally pulling on her arm down toward a back alley. Something about her enthusiasm seemed fake, and Yang raised her guard suspecting a trap, but went along for now, waiting till she saw this woman's hand.

They walked down the alley, away from the street filled with people. Despite being the opportune moment to do so, Yang detected no malice from the lady leading her.

"So your sister ditching class or something?" The women asked as they walked along.

"Um, no. She's well-" Stopping to think of a way to explain without sounding crazy, "She's sick and I need to take her home before something bad happens."

The lady stopped in front of her looking her dead in the eye, actually making a small chill go down Yang's spine. "So you're taking her away? Off the island?" Her voice sounding desperate for an answer.

"Yes. Why do you care so much?" Yang asked, suspicious of the women's intent.

The women quickly leaned in, so her lips were next to her ear. Yang reflexively pulled back, but was held in place.

"You must listen. That girl showed up here almost a week ago, with a small group of people and proclaimed herself 'Queen of Patch.' When the people blew her off, she grabbed a Huntsman and killed him right there plain as day in front of everyone. Taiyang and many of the teachers are out in the woods trying to stop her, but she has full control of the island. She's made a lot of people her slaves; they'll do anything she says. Anyone who breaks her rules, or just random people are taken up to signal and they don't come back. Sometimes we hear screams, but they never last for long."

"Wait, wait!" Yang interrupted, so she could ask a few questions, "If my dad and the teachers are out in the woods, why haven't they been able to help you?"

"Shhh! Not so loud." raising her finger to her lips slowly backing away so Yang would keep moving down the alley with her, "They have been able to save a few people, but if they ever try to do something more forward, the Queen's servants will just put knives to their throats and threaten to kill themselves."

This fact hit Yang hard. The fact Ruby would make people kill themselves seemed unreal to her. "So, all you have to do is make a right here and keep walking down this road till you reach Signal!" The women exclaimed, an unrealistic amount of joy in her voice considering what she just said. Yang looked up and realized it was because they were back on one of the main roads. She nodded and thanked the women for directions as she waved back and wished her a good day, before quickly walking the other way.

She watched the woman go for a moment, not sure if she should offer to help her, or simply let her go. The speed she walked at clearly indicated that she didn't expect any help, so, with a sigh, Yang turned to face Signal.

The tall spires of the school gave it a normally welcome and distinctive appearance, but now that she knew what was waiting inside, she saw only danger. She could hope that Ruby would be a little more compliant than what the woman had said, or that she was mistaken when she had said it was Ruby, but all of that felt hollow.

The road to Signal didn't seem long enough, as she found herself at the gate of the school grounds before she knew it.

She had gone to this school for four years, and this was the first time she had ever felt like she wasn't safe.

Her foot crossed over the threshold of the gate, and she felt the air around her go still. it was suddenly very, very quiet. she looked around, and didn't see a single thing stir. One thing stood out to her. Next to the door was a whiteboard covered in colorful lettering reading "Yang's Welcome Back Party - Main Auditorium." Inspecting it closer she could tell it was recently written, with small drawings of balloons and other party themed images decorating it.

A chill ran down her spine as she looked at it. It was so much like Ruby to draw something like this, and yet Yang couldn't imagine what horrors waited for her ahead.

She put her hands on the large door, pushing on it with all her strength. Even with her improved body, the massive barrier of wood took several seconds to swing fully open. Once it had, Yang peered into her former school.

The main hall, where students had their meals, among various other functions, was almost pitch black. Yang knew there were several massive windows set high on the walls, but as she walked in, she found that huge sets of sheets, some sewn together to form better curtains, blocked out all the light.

The weighted door swung back shut behind her, and her eyes quickly adjusted to the total darkness. Even wearing a tinted helmet, she could see perfectly fine. That must have been what it was like to be a faunus. The idea to take the helmet off occurred to her, but she wasn't going to risk that. She still didn't know what waited for her.

The main auditorium was in the first floor of a building behind the main building, through the large courtyard. The walk was slow and eerie for Yang as she passed through many halls and classrooms that were normally bustling with activity. Not a single sound met her ears the entire time, except for those of her own feet against the ground.

The walk through the courtyard was equally unsettling, and there were usually at least two couples of students hidden in some remote fold of the large garden, making out. She might've been a part of more of those couples than she would ever admit.

The sun still beat down on the plants, but as she got closer to the auditorium, a heavy cloud passed between the school and the sun. Yang stopped for a moment to glance behind her at it. It looked like a big thunderstorm would be rolling in soon.

She turned back to the door, refocusing herself. The weather didn't matter. She had to get Ruby, and she was right through this door.

She pushed it open, and was immediately greeted by a series of what looked like flashing holiday lights strung along the short and narrow corridor. Her attention wasn't settled on them for long. Down the hall where Ruby wrote she would be, she could hear soft moans echoing down, with her sharpened hearing.

"Oh yes, Jaune! Right there, but harder!"

In that moment Yang completely forgot about Ruby's current state, and went into protective sister mode. She bolted down the halls as fast as she could move her legs. The smaller hall door was no match for her as she leapt forward, a flying kick blasting the wood open as she passed through the portal.

She stood with Ember Celica ready to go kick the dumb blonde's teeth in. The sight wasn't quite what she was expecting, but it was close enough. Ruby was in the center of the room, illuminated with torches and candles scattered around. She laid on a wood table with Jaune over her. His hands were pressing down on her back, with more than a few soft pops reaching Yang's superior hearing. The rest of everything going on reminded her what was happening and she forgot about Jaune for the moment. Pyrrha and Weiss were at the end of the table, rubbing her feet softly, while Blake stood over by Ruby's head with a large basin in her hands and a bright green curly straw leaning over the edge. Yang quickly guessed what was in it, when an overwhelming smell of iron reached her nose.

Ruby let out one last moan as she pushed herself up slightly, but Jaune simply shifted to her shoulders. Yang looked over her sister, noting she was only in her undergarments before looking back at her sister.

Ruby flashed her a smile, her two long fangs being shown off, plain as day for the world to see.

"Yang! I'm so glad you're ok!"

Author's note:

Thanks Leivve again for the help on this, it wouldn't happen without you.

If you had any thoughts on what's going on, leave it in a review!