Blood of The Rose

Chapter 28: Acceptance

The Last Round, LA

Two girls sat next to each other, on the floor and leaning against the wall, clasping their hands together as if afraid the other might vanish like a dream. The taller blonde stared out towards the far wall, focusing on a framed photo of a 1970's era Vietnam protest rally, while the brunette just gazed down at the floor past her outstretched legs, a rag clutched in her other hand.

It was almost a normal, conventionally domestic scene, were it not for the blood-soaked tee shirt of the blonde and the equally stained rag that the brunette clutched in nervous fingers.

"So."

Ruby jumped slightly at the sound that broke the silence. She glanced over at her big sister, the woman she'd come down to LA to find in the first place. Her grand quest.

Until, of course, it all went to complete and utter shit.

But she had her sister back, now, even if she was… if they both were…

"Yeah," she sighed. "Vampires, huh?"

"Yup."

Ruby snorted softly. She was just about all cried out over the past half hour or so, blubbering out a broken rendition of what the brunette fledgling had experienced since her Embrace. None of the other Kindred from downstairs had intruded on their reunion, which she didn't exactly blame them for, not after the scene she'd made. The music hadn't resumed either, just a low hum of conversation to fill the empty void now left from her bouts of emotional outpouring, ranging from hysterical bawling to morose sniffles.

It was time, though, to finally talk about more than herself. And where they could go from here.

"What happened to you, Yang?" she whispered hesitantly. "When you left… I waited for you, waited for some word, anything…"

Yang let out an unnecessary but obviously cleansing sigh. "Yeah, well… I wasn't in the best of places, in my head, when I left. I was just so… so… pissed at everyone and everything."

"Noticed that," her sister interjected dryly.

The blonde huffed out a quiet laugh, giving her hand a squeeze. "So I got myself down here, wandering around, and… venting."

"Venting?" Ruby blinked her eyes before understanding dawned. "Ohhh… So, how many bar fights?"

"More'n I can remember, really." Yang shook her head, almost wearily. "Never enough to burn out my anger, though. Every day, all my searching turned up empty, an' then I'd go find some new bar that night to trash in Hollywood. Until…"

"Until?"

The blonde swallowed convulsively. "I found her," she whispered hoarsely.

Ruby was silent for a good minute, at least, before she realized a continuation of this revelation wasn't immediately forthcoming. "Do you want to talk about it?" she prodded gently. She wasn't used to this Yang, somewhat downcast and troubled. Big Sister Yang was nothing if not confidence, willpower, and sunshine.

Though, perhaps the latter couldn't really apply to her anymore.

"Not just yet," Yang finally murmured. "It wasn't what I was expecting, anyways. And it was enough to send me over the edge… I mean, my first thought was, 'gotta get back to Rubes and dad, they'll be worrying about me'… but then I just… I saw red and had to get blasted outta my head first." The blonde chuckled darkly. "It was the brawl to end all brawls."

"Must've been epic."

"Well, considering it left me lyin' on the floor of a bar, bleedin' my life out from a knife wound to my gut, not so much, really…"

"Oh, shit, Yang!" the brunette gasped, gripping her sister's hand tightly. "What happened?"

"Whelp, this biker dude wades in, breakin' necks and smashin' bones of all the assholes who were wailin' away on me." Yang smiled softly in reminiscence. "God, I've never felt pain like that, but it all just faded away as I saw this dude fight. When he was done, he crouched next to me…"

The blonde closed her eyes briefly, remembering the raspy voice from two years ago as if it were yesterday.

"Ya got spunk, kiddo, I like that. But if you don't die tonight, yer just gonna end up that way soon enough." He chuckled roughly. "Lemme make a deal with ya…"

"He gave me a choice," Yang whispered, still smiling. "Leave my old life behind for immortality and damnation, or let what I had keep spirallin' down, wastin' what I had left." Her smile turned into a brief frown. "Didn't think the consequences through all the way, honestly, 'cause I shoulda figured out I wouldn't get to see you or dad again." She shrugged. "He hadn't taken a childe under his wing in, like, a century or so, but he saw somethin' special in me, I guess… So there we go."

Ruby nodded numbly, piecing the puzzle together in her head. "And your sire is…?"

"Jack."

The brunette let her head fall back against the wall with a thump. "Well, fuck me sideways with a stake."

Yang barked out a laugh. "I've missed your colorful cussin'," she snickered.

"I just… Jack. Smilin' Jack, the badass vampire who saved my ass when I first got to LA… That Jack is your sire?"

"Yup."

"Huh."

"He's been great, really."

Ruby snorted softly. "Honestly… I'm kinda jealous."

"Well, yeah," Yang retorted loftily, shaking out her golden mane of hair. "Who wouldn't be? This package ain't ever gonna age." She lifted up one boob with her free hand, cooing at it affectionately. "You girls are never gonna get saggy, now, are ya?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Yang," the brunette groaned, though she couldn't hide the grin as she slapped the bloody rag against her sister's already stained shoulder. "No, I mean with Jack, y'know? I don't have a sire, I mean, not like I asked for any of this shit, but I'm just kinda… figuring stuff out as I go."

"But you got me now," Yang reminded her gently. "I'll help, Rubes. I swear, ain't gonna leave you again."

"Even if I'm Camarilla?"

"Even if you're a Cammie whore, yup."

"Ass."

"Dork."

"Bitch."

"Skank."

The sisters grinned widely at each other before settling back again, their grip on each other unrelenting.

"So, what do you do now?" Ruby asked after another minute. "For the Anarchs, I mean?"

"Well, I'm kind of a troubleshooter," Yang explained with no small amount of pride. "They gots problems, I fix 'em. Y'know, Sabbat start gettin' too uppity, or some idiot lets slip the existence of Kindred, I clean shit up." The blonde shrugged. "Pays the bills. Oh, and I got this sweet side gig down in Santa Monica, doin' some bounty hunting, trackin' down bail jumpers, that sort of thing."

Ruby grinned, recalling how a certain portly man had referred to his 'chick' in LA. "Kilpatrick?"

"Um, yeah, how do you…?"

"I'm doing a job for him, too."

"No shit?" Yang barked out another laugh. "Well, maybe we should do some jobs together, y'know? Sisterly bonding an' all that."

"I'd like that," the brunette fledgling sighed. "I'm kinda nervous about taking that kinda stuff on, I mean, like I said before, I really do suck at this whole vampire thing…"

"An' like I toldya before, Rubbles, I'll help with that."

"Yeah." Ruby blinked her eyes suddenly as a thought occurred to her. "So, hang on… If I'm, like, fourteenth generation, and Weiss is… twelfth generation… and Jack is one of the oldest vampires I've seen... Well, aside from Nebula and them all..." She glanced over at Yang suspiciously. "What are you, then?"

The blonde Anarch chuckled as she rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "Um, well… Eleventh."

"You're shitting me."

"Nope, I shit you not."

"You suck, you know that?"

Yang snorted, which turned into a giggle. "There's a dirty joke in there, but I'll refrain."

"Thanks ever so much," Ruby returned dryly. Shaking her head, she briefly closed her eyes. "I guess we should head back down, huh? I need to apologize to everyone…"

"Yep, we should, but don't go worryin' about that." Yang levered herself to her feet, bringing Ruby up with her as she did so. "Ain't nothing but a thing. We're Anarchs, babe. Actions count, yeah, but who a person is matters most."

"Yeah, well..." she sighed softly as they headed towards the stairs, finally letting go of her sister's hand. "Somehow that doesn't reassure me any."

"Nines won't be a problem, trust me. Damsel and Skelter… Well, you're gonna have to work on them some, they got a lotta hatred of Cammies to get past before they can see who you are."

Ruby followed the blonde down the wooden steps until they came to a halt at the bottom. The other fledgling took a half-step back and flung her arm around the brunette's shoulders with a grin, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

She spotted Weiss and Nora, sitting amicably enough at the bar, each with a bottle of what was likely warmed blood. Nines was in a booth sitting across from a beret-wearing woman, and another cluster of unfamiliar vampires sat in another booth behind them. Skelter was standing directly next to the stairwell, leaning up against the doorframe of a storage room with an unreadable expression on his face.

And every set of eyes was focused on the pair of siblings.

"Okay, so, lemme make this real official-like," Yang started out cheerfully, her arm still wrapped around Ruby's shoulders. "This here's Ruby, my little sister. I don't give a fuck what her clan is, or any of that political crap, you mess with her, you answer to me. Got it?"

Skelter stirred slightly, earning him an appraising look from the blonde. He immediately raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Yeah, we all got it, blondie. Cammies get free reign now, just 'cause you say so."

"Not every Cammie," she corrected firmly, letting go of Ruby to step towards the bar. "Just this one. Oh," she added nonchalantly. "And this one as well."

Weiss looked up, startled, as the blonde woman's hand came down to rest briefly on her thin shoulder. "I beg your pardon?" she asked mildly.

Settling down onto a barstool and allowing Ruby to hop onto a neighboring one, Yang turned to regard the petite Ventrue with a toothily fanged smile. "Heard you've been looking out for Rubes since she got Embraced."

"Er, well… Yes, I've been trying, that is, not just as a fellow Ventrue, but…"

"Nah, it's good, I got it." Yang gave her a friendly nod, all traces of animosity or teasing gone. "I owe you now, so we're good, you an' me, okay?"

"O- Okay…?"

"Whelp, if you're good with Yang, you're good with me, then," Nora interjected with a trace of glumness. "Gotta figure out who we can pick on now."

"How about Damsel?" Yang grinned.

"Fuck you," the beret-wearing woman retorted before returning to her hushed conversation with Nines.

"Nah, I like my spleen where it is," Nora returned. "Emerald?"

"Too prissy and violent. Never seen a Toreador that likes combat so much. Oooh, we could rag on Mercury, he's always a right bastard!"

"Ugh, I met him," Ruby muttered. "He's an ass, had to put him in his place."

"Wait, wait just a sec, hold the school bus," the orange-haired Anarch interjected. "You stood up to Merc already, fledgling?"

"She did," Weiss sighed, staring at the bottle of blood in her hands. "Got right up in his face and told him just how unimpressed she was. Oh, and that if he couldn't handle it, then he shouldn't have stepped up."

Ruby looked between the open-mouthed stares just about everyone in the bar was giving her. "Um, why do I get the feeling that was a really dumbass thing for me to do?" she inquired meekly.

"Dude, no, that was totally badass," Nora laughed loudly. "Seriously, kid, for that alone I'd make you an honorary Anarch."

"I'm so proud," Yang sniffled, pulling her sibling into a big bear-like hug. "My little sis is all grown up as a vampire now, standing up to one of the most dangerous Cammie fucks there is…"

"Yang, smothering me," the brunette complained, her voice muffled. "So glad I don't have to breathe anymore, I didn't miss this at all… And what do you mean, most dangerous?"

"I told you he was Cinder Fall's bodyguard," Weiss muttered.

"Oh, not just a bodyguard," Nora giggled. "He's, like, an actual assassin! Or, at least, he was before he was Embraced, from what I hear. Might be a Brujah like us, but yeah, I wouldn't want to fight him, and I've been around a few decades now."

"Oh." Ruby extracted herself, looking downcast. "Well, fuckwaffles."

"Don't you worry any, Rubes," the blonde stated reassuringly. "We'll keep him outta your hair." She stood up from her seat, stretching. "Okay, so look, I need to change shirts, this one is all, y'know…"

"Yeah, sorry," Ruby muttered.

"Don't even worry about it. I saw Nines wander back upstairs with Damsel, though, why don't you go speak with 'em? I'm just gonna run downstairs into the basement and grab another."

"Sure, see ya soon, Yang," the brunette returned warmly.

Nora gave Weiss a nudge with her elbow as the blonde headed towards the back of the bar. "You wanna go with her upstairs?"

"Er, yes, I would like to, if Mr. Rodriguez won't mind…"

"Seriously, Ice Queen, just call 'im Nines, he'll likely get insulted otherwise."

"Right." Weiss rose from her perch, walking over to where Ruby stood, waiting for her. "Honestly, I do have an actual name."

As the fledglings passed by the dartboard to return upstairs once more, Ruby glanced aside to see a familiar face grinning at her. "Jack!" she squealed happily.

"Well, well," the bearded vampire chuckled wryly. "Looky who made it back in one piece. How was Santa Monica, kiddo?"

"Yeah, well," Ruby shrugged. "I didn't get to do much sightseeing, y'know."

Jack threw his head back and barked out a laugh. "I can't imagine you did. Probably too busy gettin' pushed around by every vampire with a week of seniority over you, am I right?"

"Pretty much, yeah," she chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck.

"That's usually the way the story goes. Same old bullshit politics from when you were alive, huh? Don't it make you just wanna rip somebody's spine out?" Jack grinned disarmingly at the brunette's surprised laugh. "What, you sayin' that's just me?"

"Well, I can see why you idolize the man so very much," Weiss sighed humorously.

"Oh, right! Jack, this here is Weiss, I owe her a lot, she helped me in Santa Monica. We're kinda partners now, she's trying to make me a better Ventrue."

"Izzat so?" Jack regarded the platinum-haired fledgling closely. "Hmm. Ozpin's childe, right?"

"That's correct," she stated primly.

He grunted, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed. "He's a decent sort, better'n that pile of piss sitting on top of his tower. I'll keep my eye on you, girl. Just don't steer this kid here wrong."

"I'll… try not to. Sir," she added belatedly.

"So, Jack," Ruby interjected, her voice muted. "You ever heard of the Elizabeth Dane?"

His ears seemed to perk up at that. "Why, plannin' on visiting?"

"Yeah, well… The prince is sending me over there." Ruby shuffled her feet awkwardly as Jack seemed to peer directly through her.

"Oh, really?" he asked, his voice coated with some unreadable emotion.

"Um, yeah… really…"

"So," the bearded vampire began, his brow furrowed. "Did La Croix tell you about the Ankaran Sarcophagus?"

Ruby wore a matching frown, though her reply was a bit more hesitant. "Um, no, not the specifics of it, really…"

"He did mention it was aboard, though," Weiss quickly interjected.

"Yeah, well, maybe I should fill you in on the details," Jack scoffed, clearly unimpressed with Weiss' loyalty towards the Camarilla. "That sarcophagus is bad news. Kindred around the globe have been goin' batshit since it was discovered."

"Really?" Ruby asked cautiously. "Why?"

"The word is, there's an ancient asleep in there. One of the fathers, one of the vampires that, if you traced your lineage way back, there's a chance it'd end up with him at the root." He gave Weiss a smirk. "Now, I know the Camarilla don't exactly acknowledge the existence of these ancients…"

The pale fledgling, however, wore a hesitant frown on her face. "The Camarilla do tend to assert that the Antediluvians are dead or never even existed in the first place," she stated slowly. "However… as with the matter concerning thin-bloods… I do not hold to such stories. I'd like to form my own opinion based on fact, not superstition."

"Oh, really?" Jack drawled once more, his eyes glinting. "Well, now, aren't you just a little paradox… A Cammie fledgling who doesn't toe the line and wants to think for herself…"

Weiss ducked her head slightly as if embarrassed by the attention. "Er, yes, well… So, you believe there might be an Antediluvian asleep in the sarcophagus?"

"And what the hell," Ruby interjected. "He was sleeping the whole time this sarcophagus was buried or whatever?"

"Ancients don't just nap," Jack assured them both. "They sleep whole ages away. And when they wake up, they're hungry."

Ruby swallowed reflexively. "So, what, he might wake up and go hunting?"

"It's more than that, kiddo. Most Kindred think it's one of the signs of the end. The apocalypse. Every religion has their own version of it…"

"Gehenna," Weiss breathed, almost inaudibly.

Jack nodded in agreement. "That's the Kindred term for it, and the way I've heard it told, it starts when the ancients rise to devour their children."

"Is this… Is this for real?" Ruby squeaked, suddenly feeling even more out of her depth than ever.

"No one knows for sure, really," Jack intoned darkly. "That's just the word that's been handed down through the ages. Like I said before, the Camarilla denies these ancients exist."

"That's… crazy. Wow." The brunette shook her head wonderingly. "Wonder if any of that is even true…"

"Well, kiddo, I guess you're gonna be the one to find out," Jack chuckled. "Hey, good luck! Try not to wake Grandpa Munster and kill the world, huh?"

"Yeah, thanks for that awesome nugget of advice, there, Jack," Ruby snorted before her head suddenly perked up. "Oh! And what the fuck, man, you're my sister's sire?"

"Hmm." The elder Kindred regarded Ruby closely. "Yeah, Yang's my childe. And I know what you're gonna say. I had a feelin', yeah, that the two of you were related… But I didn't want to say anythin' until you got here to LA."

"W- What?" the brunette sputtered indignantly. "Why?"

Jack shrugged unconcernedly. "Would it have really helped any beforehand? Or… maybe make you fuck up in Santa Monica by rushin' the job?"

Weiss laid a hand on her partner's arm, though the other fledgling's temper was rapidly cooling. "He has a point, Ruby," she murmured. "And you know now, at least."

"Yeah," she sighed, the beginnings of a smile quirking at the corners of her mouth. "Yeah, at least I have her back, now."

Jack grunted as he levered himself up from the wall. "Knew you'd be coming here eventually to The Last Round, made sure Yang was here every night. She's been callin' me all sortsa names for keeping her off of jobs." He chuckled, shaking his head as he moved past the pair and towards the front door of the bar. "Well, got shit to do 'fore sunrise. 'Later, kiddos, keep outta trouble."

"Bye, Jack!" the brunette chirped.

"Somehow that does not surprise me about Yang," Weiss snorted softly. "That woman has no sense of propriety."

"Well, not like she had any growing up," Ruby grinned as the pair of them turned to head up the stairs, once again passing the bar where Nora was now regaling Skelter with an animated discussion. "Why would she change just 'cause she's dead?"

A/N: Eyyy, I'm back! Well, kinda. So, I feel kinda bad about just popping this out and making folk think we're resuming, 'cause, well… that's not the case. And I really dislike the idea of putting a chapter out that is nothing but an author's note, such a letdown of a tease. So we get a little more from these adorkable vamps while I lay out the situation.

See, back on December 30th, lovely old 2016 decided to leave me with one last kick to the nethers. My apartment complex sent me a letter to inform me they weren't renewing my lease. And now I have until the end of February to move. I've found a new one, but we're going from a three-bedroom to a two-bedroom, so we have a lot of downsizing to do, getting rid of crap we don't really have a use for. Between that, and packing everything else up before the movers arrive Feb 25th (day after my birthday, yay), this is becoming a serious detriment to my writing time. I haven't really gotten much of Renegades written at all. So, while I was hoping to start strong once again next month, I just don't see that happening. March might be a better goal, but don't despair if you don't hear anything from me in awhile. I'll still be around, and I am absolutely not letting this story die off, it's gonna go on for a long, long time until we actually finish out the game. Might have to go to posting every other week for a while, but we'll get there, I promise.

Much love to my Beta and collaborator, SilvanaCrowe (the writer formerly known as Live to anger the World), and hugs to all you patient readers! Quick shout-out to those who left reviews on the last chapter I posted: kinigget, Silly-Scare-Crow, AntonSlavik020, Sharkdude5, JimmyHall24, SixPerfections, carpenter656, Rimmer Dall, RealTerminal, kaiju62, Mossblomma, TacoKing23, DeamonHunter, Crescent Sunrise, steamrick, zerosabers, and a guest, love you all to pieces, and welcome to the party, all of you new faces! Try not to get munched on!

Stay shiny!