Yada Yada Yada, I'm super late in posting this chapter, I know! I'm sorry! But hey, I got good news. I started a new story! That's what took me so long! Thanks to my beta reader, Jam, I feel pretty good about it. I also have the 1st 5 chapters already written out! I stock piled them so I could release one per month until I finish, so here's to hoping I don't fall behind! The story is called the Fall of Remnant, and its a RWBY~Halo crossover! I'm pretty psyched about it, and I hope you'll give it a try.

Now onto this thing! The mission starts! But not before we get another check-up on our favorite Ocelot faunus-turned vampire!

Oh, and about the chapter title...Any Whitesnake fans out there? xD

Chapter 31: Still of the Night

"You did what?!" a voice growled out into the desolate streets of Mt. Glenn.

The Sun was cresting towards its apex for the day as it was mid-afternoon within the ruined city. The air was noticeably still as Emerald and Mercury had finished bringing the last of the nomad group formerly led by Onyx and Leo to the discussed rendezvous spot, only to be surprised when the Ocelot faunus was the one to greet them on their return.

"So we played around with him a bit before we finished him, so what? I don't s-…!" Mercury half-heartedly defended their actions as he made to step past the clearly upset woman as if her complaints held nothing over them. This proved a bad idea when instantly, he was choke slammed into the side of a crumbling building and held there by Scarlett.

"The whole reason you were sent outside the city was to get people while remaining undetected! Now you're telling me that the one's looking for Cinder are onto us?!" Scarlett spat in outrage as her newly acquired vampiric nature showed itself to the two soul bound undead in the form of glowing red eyes and inhuman strength. She easily held up the boy by his throat, her shaking free hand baring her cat claws as if she was going to end him right then and there.

An irrepressible sensation was rising within the vampire's head. Calling out for the useless life within her grasp over and over, only growing in clarity and volume as the ghoul squirmed in her grasp.

"You're right! We screwed up! But we'll be long gone before anyone tracks that beacon to this dump, so calm down!" Emerald grabbed the arm holding her partner up as she looked Scarlett in the eyes to try and talk reason. She found that the new vampire had no such intentions though, as she only clenched tighter on the hold and raised him a few inches higher. It was as if touching her only made the faunus more aggressive.

"What happened to you…?" It came out as a harsh, fearful, whisper as Emerald's red orbs narrowed on the changed woman.

Scarlett gasped as a moment of clarity sparked in her natural blue and yellow irises. She did not release him immediately though. Only relaxing her grip as she blinked a few times in dizziness. "I…I-I don't…!" Her head spun as the creeping whisper desiring his life vanished in an instant, leaving her lost.

With that, the new fledgling dropped her hold on Merc and let him recover on his own as she palmed the side of her head and turned to start walking away at a brisk pace. "Y-You still have your orders, so get back to it!" Scarlett growled out before continuing deeper into the demolished cityscape. "I'll deal with anyone that comes snooping after you." The last words held a sense of pain as she did her best to not stumble away in front of them, leaving their sight.

"Well…That's great…We have another one to deal with…" Mercury choked out as he regained his composure, certain that she was far enough away to not pick him up.

"Yeah… And this one seems just as short tempered as Cinder…Are they all crazy like that?" Emerald contributed before the two headed further in as well, but in a different direction.

Shortly after leaving Scarlett's presence, the two ghouls linked back up with the White Fang members that had gone ahead with the escort of the nomads and proceeded with their mission. Giving it little thought as to what was occurring within the new vampire fledgling…

"Wh-What's…H-Happening…?" The black and brown haired ocelot faunus groaned as she slumped against an alleyway wall to brace herself with one hand. She looked at it clutched into the wall as she suddenly felt she would retch, doubling over in the dirty walkway as she put her other hand over her stomach, now on her hands and knees. Her eyes were flipping their colors between their normal yellow and blue to radiating red every time she blinked. The new fledgling wheezed as a pressure steadily continued to build within her belly. Like a fire was being stoked within, ready to consume her, before it faded in an instant. Her eyes shot open as the agony ceased, tears blinked away as she huffed for breath.

'The process is getting easier now. Maybe…That means it-…' Scarlett almost managed to smile, as she thought her transformations were becoming easier to overcome as a sign that this period was almost over with, before her mind was shattered like glass.

She released a heart wrenching bellow as she reared up to scream at the sky. Every bone, organ, artery, and vein abruptly pulsing with the curse as it was made anew. The faunus dropped back down to her hands as she heaved for breath, her body still writhing as it felt like something was cutting its way through every nook and cranny of her flesh.

Scarlett whimpered a weak plead for it to be over as she felt that familiar pressure in her stomach again. Except this time, it felt like whatever it was, was poking at her from inside. She peered down at her stomach and her flickering eyes widened as she could see a mass bulging out. Terrified for her life, she reached to clutch at her stomach to try and stop it, but as she did, she felt nothing there.

Curious, Scarlett moved her hand away to get a better look, thinking maybe her pain addled mind was playing tricks on her… Just as a curved red blade jumped out of her belly, coming straight for her face…!

Scarlett awoke with a startled scream, coming to face-down within the same alleyway she had collapsed, but the sun of the new day had started to appear in the form of early light bouncing off of the alley wall.

Pushing herself up after a few calming breaths, she checked her mid-section for any cuts, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Realizing it was just a dream produced from her changing periods as a new vampire, the fledgling sighed deeply as she wiped her sweat slicked multi-colored hair out of her eyes and sat down to catch herself. "Just a dream…"

After a moment of respite, Scarlett looked around the trash filled passageway to determine which way would lead her away from here and to her destination. After getting her bearings, she got up and dusted herself off, ready to discuss the next step with her men in figuring out what to do about potential interlopers.

She nearly stumbled the first step however, when something caught her boot. But when she turned to check, she noticed nothing but old newspapers and empty bottles littering the filthy passage. With an annoyed grunt and a grumble about being too worn out for this, she turned back to keep going, not noticing the scarlet shadow in the form of a blade waft away into black ash from under her heel as it lost contact with her and was exposed to the light…

The day before…

The Sun had nearly descended from the sky of dark purple as a bullhead came to a stop above a forest East of Vale. Five figures leapt from the ship and into the green abyss before the transport vehicle took off back towards civilization.

"We should try to make some ground before stopping to camp. The sooner we get there the better. Ruby. Blake. Why not take point with your better senses?" Qrow's gruff voice carried out, receiving some quick nods as the team sped their way into the timberlands, weapons at the ready.

With dim light as the only source for the team, it made sense that the nocturnal would be the ones to lead, assuring their safety from unintentionally dropping in on creatures of Grimm as they traveled unabated for the next half hour or so.

Dark mist dissipated into the night sky as Qrow flicked his sword off and placed it on the small of his back once again. They found another lone Beowulf out hunting along their path and he elected to take care of it himself instead of changing course to avoid the minor threat.

With their light now all but gone, the huntsman checked his scroll for the beacon's location to keep track of the group's progress. "We're little more than a mile out from Onyx's last known location. I think here's a good spot to make camp. We don't want to get too close that we might be caught by whatever he needed help in dealing with."

"Speaking of making camp. Professor Ozpin told us what to bring, but you don't seem to have anything else on besides your sword. What gives?" Yang asked as she pointed a thumb to her own back to show off the rucksacks each of them were wearing.

"Kid. This is all I need." Qrow chuckled as he gave the hilt of his sword a pat. "Stay here to set up your tents and make a fire pit for us. I'll be back before you know it." Before anyone could get an answer out of him, he disappeared into the shroud of the forest, leaving them without an explanation as to why he left.

"Welp! See ya in a bit!" Yang chirped out as she slung her pack to the ground, heading off in a different direction of Qrow.

"Yang? Where are you going?" Ruby asked her sister, looking away from the pile of metal sticks and red tarp she had splayed out to build into her tent.

"Fire wood. Can someone else set up the pit? I'll only be a few minutes." Cheery lilac locked with silver as she smiled at her leader.

"I-I'll come with you!" Ruby stuttered as she rose up from her mess.

Yang released a patient breath as she pulled her sister under her arm in a headlock. "Someone's clingy~…" She laughed as Ruby tried to fight out of the hold, finally letting her sister have her way as she eventually relented. No doubt red dusting across the younger one's face at the comment. "…Wait right here, Rubes. I'll be back before you know it!" With that, she delivered a heartwarming kiss to her crimson tinged locks before completely letting her go, only to start towards the edge of the camp.

"O-ok…" The young fledgling whispered as she witnessed Yang disappear into the thicket.

She stared for a moment longer at the empty space, not even noticing that she was biting her lip in trepidation until she felt a familiar liquid seep into her mouth. She quickly wiped away the blood as a quick curse left her lips, annoyed that she had fallen into her bad habit again.

Seeing Weiss and Blake setting up their tents on the other side of the small clearing, the red head followed their lead, trying for something to take her mind off the sinking feeling in her stomach.

If she needed something to occupy her time with, then setting her tent surely fit the bill, as Ruby stared down at the bundle of metal rods strewn together by lines, all tangled up in a heap along with the ruby colored tarp.

"How did you even manage that?" Weiss asked as the monochrome pair had finished with their tents and the fire pit minutes ago, only to see Ruby over her pile of failure that, to a certain blonde, might look like a giant ball of yarn that a particular cat faunus might want to play with.

"I-I don't know! Please help!?" Ruby begged as the heiress just shook her snow white head in futility.

"I don't think there's anything to help with, Ruby. I doubt we could manage to untangle it in a feasible amount of time, let alone set it up. So why bother? Just share your tent with Yang?" Weiss put forth with a hand out as a gesture towards the missing brawler, before she blinked in recognition. "Where is she?"

"Yang! Sh-She said she would be right back, but that was so long ago!" Ruby started to panic.

"It's been 10 minutes…" Blake deadpanned as she slipped a gaze towards her girlfriend, almost worried for their leader.

"Exactly! Wh-What if she's lost! O-Or hurt!" Ruby then turned away from the pair to look back to the forest for signs of her sister. "Yang!"

"Ruby. I'm sure-…" Weiss began to reason with her partner, her eyes closed to better explain with deeper thought, only to be momentarily stopped as a hand landed on her shoulder. "…She's already gone, isn't she…?" She asked Blake before she opened her eyes, receiving an affirmative nod as well as the proof when she noticed a plume of rose pedals floating around them in the empty space of the vampire girl.

"Huhh…Sometimes I still can't believe she's the same leader that got us all through the initiation. She's just so impulsive and childish…" The Schnee sighed, thinking back on how inspirational Ruby seemed to be after coming back with Yang who was somehow still alive after her near life ending fall. Only to then think of all the other moments that were in complete contrast to her leader in that moment.

"Yeah, well…Like mother, like daughter…" A gravelly tone interrupted Weiss and Blake as Qrow returned while holding a string over his shoulder that appeared to hold a bit of weight to it. "…What did Ruby do this time? Or were you talking about Yang? Cause both of them are pretty similar in that regard…"

"Uh, is that…?" Blake began to question what Qrow held on his back, before the smell of fresh blood caught her sensitive nose. "Nevermind… Ruby went after Yang, because she's afraid something's happened to her. She left to go get firewood, but hasn't returned in a few minutes."

"She's overreacting, like usual…" Weiss finished with her arms crossed, but heard a deep chuckle from the experienced huntsman.

"Would you two be much different?" Qrow asked as he went to work cleaning the rabbits he found within the forest, getting them ready to cook.

"I don't see what-…" Weiss lashed out defensively, before she was interrupted by the red eyed man again.

"How would you handle it if an extremely powerful homicidal vampire was after you and Blake and she had gone missing out here?" Qrow asked, nodding towards the faunus, but not looking away from his catch.

Weiss opened her mouth, but said nothing as she looked down at her feet.

"Yeah, I thought so. Regardless, Ruby would be worried about her anyways. She wants nothing more than to protect those around her. To make sure that everyone's happy…." Qrow sighed as he stopped for a moment, thinking back. "…It's just the way she was…"

"Was…?" Blake picked up on the reminiscent tone, wondering if there was something she was missing from his external thoughts.

"Is…!" He hastily corrected, not even realizing he had started to think of the late vampire mother. "Look. Ruby's just reminds me of her mother, that's all… Two of the kindest, most generous people on Remnant…" Even with his complimenting words, the tone conveyed nothing but sorrow, especially as he shook his head in pity. 'Unfortunately, it's the kind ones that seem to go first…'

"What was she like? Summer?" Weiss asked softly as she took a seat on a log along with Blake, toeing the line of what was acceptable to query as her curiosity got the better of her. She wondered more about the woman that raised her partner. The person that helped against Schatten to protect the Council that she may very well be aiding one day.

"Heh…I say that she's just like her daughter, but one contrast would be if Summer ever had a differing opinion on something, good luck changing her mind." Qrow simpered as he absentmindedly cleaned his skinning knife. Once he finished, he glanced over to the pair with a humorous grin as a memory occurred to him. "You know, I think Oz chose her as leader because he knew how impossibly stubborn Summer would be as a subordinate!"

The man released a small chuckle as the other pair simply smiled at the remark. He carried on with a more subdued grin on his lips, never minding the fact that he was hardly one to talk about the past so openly. Only caught in the reminiscence of his time knowing his former leader.

Putting his knife away, Qrow laid down on his side with his hand to prop up his head as he stared into the forest behind the pair sitting on the log. "Summer would get so upset when Raven or I would take off without permission during a mission. And I would always trade back with a tease saying something like, 'at least you have Tai to look after!'" A chortle left the laid back huntsman. "The way she glared at me with an embarrassed pout was so adorable…"

After that the man calmed down, the smile on his face faded ever so slightly, but it stayed alight as he imagined her features again, lost in his memories of her.

As a period of silence over took the small encampment, the monochrome pair gazed at each other, both wondering the same thing.

"You had a crush on her…" Blake stated, a smirk cresting the side of her mouth as she knew she was right.

"Yeah, no shit…Not that that does me any good now, right?" Qrow brushed off the comment with a long draw from his flask. After wiping his mouth of the burning liquid, he folded his hands behind his head to stare up at the sky, savoring the warmth spreading down his throat that would soon turn to numbness.

"Why didn't you say anything…?" Weiss asked, this time feeling sorry for the man.

"Cause I fucked up." He replied simply, not bothering to face the pair as he closed his eyes. But after a moment of silence, Qrow cracked an eye to see them staring at him, Weiss making a gesture to elaborate further. "Mistakes were made, ok…? Ones that I felt I could never make up for…She deserved much better…"

The words hit hard for Blake, as she glanced over at Weiss to take her hand, feeling fortunate that she was able to see past her time with the White Fang. A smile returned to her lips when she felt her girlfriend mimic the gesture with a tight squeeze, still staring at Qrow as the white haired huntress began to talk.

"Well of course she deserved better than you! Look at you! How many drinks have you had today? I hardly know anything about Ruby's mom, and I know that she could have done better than you!" Weiss berated harshly, pulling no stops for the drunk feeling sorry for himself as his choice of words really set her off.

"Yeah, yeah. I get-…!" The red eyed man started to wave off, before the heiress picked up again, not letting up.

"Why would she choose someone like you!? …Someone who wouldn't even give her the chance to choose for herself who she wanted to be with…" Weiss finished softly, a frown overtaking her face as she glared at the man on the ground.

Qrow took a glance at the small girl, wondering if she really said that before determining that it wasn't just his imagination. He looked away again as he was reminded of Winter from her younger sister. A slow exhale left his throat as he closed his eyes, feeling like such a dumbass.

"Whatever you did, doesn't excuse you from telling someone how you feel!" Weiss yelled as she gripped Blake's hand harder. A breath then left her mouth as she flushed out the anger in place of determination. "…You could always make it up to them by apologizing. And showing them that you've changed…" She whispered, turning to her girlfriend before leaning on her shoulder as she locked their fingers together.

A soft, inaudible huff of amusement left his throat as he sat up. Finding it almost funny that he was going to make the same mistake again, before being lectured about it by Winter's younger sister. "Right. Um, thanks for the… The pep talk. I think I really needed that… 'Along with a good slap to the face'…Enjoy the rabbit, I guess…"

With an awkward pause, he then got to his feet and jumped away into the blackness, leaving them by themselves.

Silence once again took over the camp as the pair smiled at each other before returning to their close embrace, a thought soon occurring to Weiss.

"We should really get that fire going…" The heiress could barely make out the wry grin that graced her girlfriend's face through the darkness as she said that, knowing that the faunus hardly needed any visual aid at all.

"I'll go get some kindling…" Blake groaned comically as she got up, causing Weiss to release a cute giggle that she adored, making the effort more than worth it as she smiled in turn.

"Yaang! Ya-aaang!" A troubled voice screamed out into the dark woods, only dim starlight and pieces of the moon out to give illumination to the small red cloaked figure.

Ruby clutched her cape tighter as she continued, scared that something truly terrible happened to the blonde. Sliding down a small decline she was luckily able to make out, thanks to her vampirism, she kept searching for any signs of her sister, good or bad.

She was just about ready to call out Yang's name for the hundredth time, before she heard something other than the small insects chirping around her. It was quiet at first, barely even audible over the noise of the wildlife. Like a continuous crashing. Soon turning into a roar that never seemed to stop, only getting louder as she decided to follow after it.

Stepping over an exposed root as she clutched the tree trunk it belonged to so she wouldn't trip, Ruby soon gazed up to discover a magnificent sight ahead. A crystal clear pool of water surrounded by large rocks with a 12 foot high waterfall cascading down into it from a cliff above. You could nearly see the stars above from the waters in the pool, if not for the rippling the infinite current of vertical aqua caused.

What really gripped her attention though, was not the way the water seemed to splash down into the small pond endlessly. Nor was it the near mirror like quality of the water. It was the way the small luminescent starlight gently kissed Yang's naked curves as she stood up from soaking her hair in the waterfall.

The brawler's usually untamable golden mane was now straight and flowed down her shoulder as she cocked her head to the side and squeezed it out into the pool that came up to her hips. Her back was to Ruby, and that proved unacceptable to the young girl as her body started moving on its own, wanting to get a closer look.

Unfortunately, because she couldn't take her gaze from her adoptive sister's body, she failed to notice the next set of unearthed roots in her path. Ruby's foot caught one, and she came tumbling down with an audible yelp as she landed on her face within a second.

While groaning in the dirt, before she even had a chance to raise her head up, Ruby heard a loud splash as water was displaced nearby. Followed by a familiar voice…

"Who-…Ruby?! I was just about to tear you apart thinking you were some creep spy-…Ruby…? What were you doing over here?" Yang asked, ready to beat up some random peeping tom, only to then slow down with her question as she realized that her sister hadn't exactly made her presence known on purpose. Instead of becoming upset with Ruby however, a wicked grin spread across the girl's beautiful face.

"I-I was worried about you so…So I came to find you to make sure you were ok…F-Found you…" Ruby squeaked out, staring up at her girlfriend's exposed and dripping body, causing fierce scarlet to envelope her entire face.

Meanwhile, Yang just smiled down at her leader with her hands on her hips, no longer angered from being spotted if it was Ruby seeing her. "Sure did…Find anything else? You sure are staring intently~…" Yang asked salaciously, feeling her girlfriend's eyes never leaving her chest.

That was, until that comment. Ruby let out an 'eep' as she jerked her head away, not even realizing she was still staring as her blush persisted under her sister's watch.

Yang let out a harmless giggle as she turned away and sat down at the pool's edge, sinking her legs into the cool waters to relax while waiting on her sister to recover from embarrassment. "It's fine, Ruby. I'm not mad or anything. It was actually…Kinda exciting to think you were watching me…" She said chuckling, a bit of pink showing in the face at the admission. "…You seem to always shy away when you see me like this…I…" Yang's pitch took on a more somber one, but it wasn't allowed to go any further as she felt a warmth encircle her in the form of a red cloak. She looked down at the fabric across her shoulders, and just as she realized it was indeed her sister's cape, she felt Ruby press her forehead into the back of her neck.

"That's cause I don't know what to do with myself when I see all of you…It's just so confusing!" The red head breathed out in self-pity. "…But that doesn't mean I don't like it…" Ruby whispered cautiously into her golden hair, only wanting her sister to understand. If her heart was still capable of beating, she knew it would be primed to burst right about now.

Peering down and just past her right shoulder, Yang could see Ruby's right hand clenched into the grass. Mind made up, she slowly turned around, meeting her love's gaze as she took her sister's hand in her own and smiled. "…I know…"

Ruby's vision swam in those warm pools of lavender as she found herself smiling as well. She let it happen as Yang pushed forward. The ever brash blonde invading her space as she crawled closer, easing the silver eyed girl onto her back with a gentle coaxing on her shoulder.

The beginning embers of a roaring fire were coming to life within Ruby, similar to that same morning when they had spent time alone in the shower. It was starting to become clear to the young girl, what the yearning inside was asking for. That she wished to be closer to the girl that she had spent the majority of her life with. Impossibly closer…

Yang's hair was still wet and unkempt, as it dripped again and again around Ruby who laid under her. She was still smiling, but something in the usually confident teen made her hesitate, pausing while rubbing a soothing thumb across the small digits in her grasp.

The fledgling reached out first. She brought a timid hand to Yang's forehead to wipe a wet strand of gold back behind an ear before letting it come to rest against her dragon's cheek. "Yang…I love you." Her vision danced rapidly from one lilac to the other. Silently pleading.

The three words erased the apprehensive feeling in the blonde's stomach. Or at least it felt that way, as her heart hammered against her ribcage fast enough to take her mind off of it.

"I…Love you…Too…" Yang whispered as she began to lean in for a kiss. Each word vacating her lips as she got steadily closer to the person that made it all worthwhile, eventually humming in bliss as they connected.

The blonde could feel Ruby shifting under her, squirming in desire as the kiss got more heated. Before long, the two separated for breath, but stayed only inches apart as their orbs instantly locked again.

"How about I help you make up your mind this time~…?" Yang's voice was sweet but poisoned with a hint of longing, her eyes half lidded as the situation was starting to turn her on.

Ruby could see the lust swimming in her girlfriend's eyes as she held her cheek again. And she imagined hers were no different as she sent a desperate squeeze through their conjoined hands. Her legs shifted underneath Yang anxiously as the blonde got closer, but forgot her sister was still naked, meeting contact at the bridge of her long legs.

An uncharacteristic whimper left the older girl on top as she reared forward from the unexpected gentle graze. Yang stared down as her breath heated back up, a grin spreading across her face as she realized Ruby was just as surprised by what had taken place. "I'll take that as a yes~…"

~Lemon~

"Yang?" Ruby called out as she looked beside her to see closed eyes and a gentle smile on her girlfriend's face. It appeared that what she tried had done the trick, and she had managed to calm the blonde down from her lustful episode. The younger girl flipped over onto her knees to peer down over Yang, taking in her now serene features with her arms tucked close to her chest and legs curled up comfortably. A smile overtook her as well, before she brushed a sweaty strand of hair behind her now lover's ear and kissed her cheek goodnight.

"I guess I'm not the only one that needs help with self-control now…" Ruby giggled out quietly next to Yang. "…But I wouldn't be much of a girlfriend if I didn't help you the way you've always helped me…" A wistful smile took over her face as she continued for just a little longer to watch her sister sleep peacefully before deciding to join her.

The fledgling laid down beside the blonde and as soon as she faced away to be the little spoon, her red cloak caught her eye in the pile of their clothes. Ruby reached over and pulled it close, twirling it around the pair to cover them as a blanket. But before she could close her eyes and sink into her dragon's side, a pair of warm arms wrapped around her mid-section in a loving hug. She felt Yang's gentle breath against her hair as the older girl had instinctually pulled her closer while still asleep. The motion brought the grin back to the red head's face as she snuggled closer as well, hands holding onto her lover's arms.

'I haven't felt this warm in a long time…I love you, Yang…' Ruby thought contently, finding it almost hard to believe what had taken place only moments ago. They had went at it like animals from being so pent up. Most likely in no small thanks to that morning shower they had together. But she would never want to take it back. They had experienced parts of each other that no one else had. And she hoped this was just the first step with many more to come.

Her consciousness soon drifted off with this thought, a smile stuck to both of their lips as they slept under the stars, miles from home and civilization.

Aaaaaaand...They had sex! So if you haven't figured it out, "Still of the Night" is the name of a song played by Whitesnake. And if you say haven't heard them, you're lying. Who hasn't heard "Is This Love"? xD

Regardless, I know this came out of nowhere, but I did promise a lemon for this story! And you can find it at AO3. The story has the same chapter title.

So much happened! Again! You have Ruby and Yang losing their virginity's together, Qrow confessing about Summer, Scarlett having extreme nightmares, and Weiss and Blake not having any firewood! How are they going to cope?! XD

I'm sure you guys have questions, so don't be afraid to ask! PM me or something! Peace!