Updates! Updates, here's another one!

The castle began to quiet down after the earlier assault, Weiss was thankful that they were able to repel the human invaders once again. It felt as they were getting smarter with their approaches each time they tried to invade... at least saving the best soldiers to deal with theirs. Blake gave her a good explanation of how the infuriating young girl managed to escape, she felt bad for her sister but she too had failed to kill the damn blonde girl.

Her ebony-haired sister told her that the scythe wielder had punched her in the gut just as she managed to sink her fangs into her throat, she winced at that detail. It must've been painful to be interrupted like that. She shook her head as she continued down the hallway, her heels echoing off of the stone floor. Weiss needed to give her report to her father about the result of the siege.

When she entered the royal hall, she found her father talking to Winter on his throne. Both were discussing about the injured soldiers or creatures, especially the damages done after the raid.

"Winter, please have Blake oversee the rations again. We need to distribute the blood to the wounded." Jacques said.

"It will be done, father. But what about the other soldiers?" Winter asked.

"If they aren't critically hurt then give them a small portion of the blood. We need to conserve all the blood we have until we're done collecting the human corpses or harvesting the animals in the forest nearby."

"Understood." Winter said with a bow before leaving.

The eldest sister gave a small nod to Weiss as she passed her, who smiled in response.

"Weiss, I believe you have a report?" Jacques questioned.

"Yes father, we killed at least one fifth of their army, the ghouls are collecting their blood as we speak."

"How long will that take?"

"About two days, at most."

"Excellent, now... how have you been?" Jacques asked in a lighter tone.

"I'm fine, father. Just a couple of scratches, nothing else."

"Are you sure? Did you visit the infirmary just in case?"

"Yes father, I have."

The white-haired man let out a sigh of relief, "Good, your mother would've been petrified if you were greatly harmed."

"I know how to take care of myself!" Weiss retorted.

"I'm aware however I can't help but worry for you Weiss."

"If anything you should be concerned about Blake, she got punched in the gut while feeding."

Jacques winced when she mentioned that, "I'll check up on her later, in the mean time- relax. You earned it sweetie."

"Thank you father." Weiss said with a smile as she bowed.

When vampires had some free time after the raid, some would go out and hunt for food while many others would start the repairs on the castle. This wasn't the case for Pyrrha as she was in the courtyard batting against a wooden dummy that was stuffed with straw. The thought of her losing to the female human soldier fueled her determination for trying to become better so that she would win next time.

However like all of her previous thoughts, she eventually began to think of the human male that fought her before the red-clad girl showed up. There was a huge contrast between the two of them and yet she found herself thinking about him more than the defeat she had. Was it that even though he was defeated, he was still content? Satisfied even- despite his loss or undoubtedly his death. Her train of thought was broken as a familiar voice called out to her.

"How was your first time out in the field. Pyrrha?" Blake asked as she entered the courtyard. Both the vampires donned different outfits from the time of the battle, Blake opted to wear a black shirt with gray leather breeches and boots while Pyrrha wore a white undershirt with pants as she practiced.

"It was... exhilarating at best. Although their soldiers were very weak from what you told me." The red-haired amazon replied, as she struck a wooden dummy with a training spear.

"Were they? I'm sorry for getting your hopes up then."

"No, it's fine. There were a couple people who did put up a fight... and one that nearly bested me."

"Oh, really now?" Blake's ear twitched interest was piqued.

"The one that you warned me about, the one with the red cloak. She's very terrifying to deal with."

"I know what you mean, I still don't know how she uses her weapons like that."

"She nearly skewered me five times when we fought, in a span of several seconds. I still have dents in my shield from her weapon."

The feline let out a small chuckle at that remark, "Well just steer clear of her the next time you see her, otherwise try and call for me."

"I'll keep that in mind in the next attack." Pyrrha said as she landed another solid hit on the dummy.

Blake nodded in response as she made her way to the only tree in the courtyard, sitting at the base of the tree before she pulled out a small book. The peace in the courtyard only continued for a solid minute before the courtyard doors bursted open with a worried white-haired woman emerging from the door.

"Blake! I heard that you were wounded from the battle!" Widow Schnee said as she ran towards the faunus.

"Wha- mother?! Who told you that?" The ebony-haired girl said as she rose up from the tree.

"Don't worry about that, we need to check you out in the infirmary." The white-haired vampire stated as she grabbed Blake by the wrist and dragged her out of the courtyard, with the feline protesting every step of the way.

"Wait Mom! I swear I'm not hurt-" Was all that Pyrrha heard until the door closed.

Pyrrha watched in amusement before she returned to fighting the practice dummy, as if nothing had happened.

Jaune felt his body ache as he laid down in his cot, after they returned from their attack the captain punished everyone to run several laps around the fort. Many of the soldiers protested about being overworked to death but he stated that anyone who would die from this kind of training shouldn't fight against the vampires again as they would be dead weight.

As a result, he ran about four laps around the fortress without stopping. However there were a few that were exempted from this punishment, mainly the injured and Ruby- who shrugged at his threat and went to her room. When he finished he felt his muscles burn as he crashed onto his cot, letting out a content sigh as he was finished with the torture.

After a great amount of time, he got up from the comforts of his cot and made his way towards the canteen as his stomach demanded him to. The canteen was mostly empty, making it much easier for the blonde boy to pick up a meal. He picked stew and hard bread from the cooks with a tankard of water, just as he turned around he was greeted with a very familiar orange-haired girl with a wide grin on her face.

"Ey! How have you been rookie?" She asked. She was wearing a plain tunic but she covered in bandages across her arms and her forehead.

"Um... I've been better. But what about you? Are you okay to be moving around like this?"

"What? Oh, nah it's nothing really. Should be fine in a couple of days." She replied, "I forgot to ask, but what's your name?"

"I'm Jaune."

"Nice name, I'm Nora. It's nice to meet you again!"

"Likewise," Jaune said nervously, somewhat taken aback from her loudness.

"I mean, you fought against a vampire by yourself. A vampire! And lived to tell the tale!" Nora exclaimed as she pointed at the blonde knight, "Tell me. Now."

"C-can we find somewhere to sit first?" Jaune suggested.

"Fine, but you're still telling me that story." She grumbled as she crossed her arms.

The two settled at a small table in the middle of the canteen, it didn't take long for Jaune to explain the story to Nora- who hung onto each of his words.

"You are so lucky that Red was there to save you." Nora said as she let out a sigh.

"I know, I need to thank her when I see her again."

"Eh, I don't know about that. I mean no one really knows where she goes when we return."

"What do you mean? Doesn't she go to her room?" He said as he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Not exactly, she does when we arrive but after a couple hours she just disappears."

"Where? Wouldn't she visit the blacksmith or go into town?"

Nora shook her head, "She does weapon maintenance by herself, you know? The twin cycling blades of doom?"

"Wait, she made that? I mean, don't get me wrong but she made those weapons herself?"

"Yeah, she makes a lot of cool shit and gadgets from time to time."

"What about going into town? Surely some of her friends invited out to enjoy themselves, right?"

"Nope, I don't think she talks to anyone else but the commander or higher ups. And those are usually her talking back."

"So wait, Ruby's been alone this entire time?"

"Ruby? Is that her name?" Nora asked.

"Yes, but wait does that actually mean that she's been by herself?"

"Unless she's been seeing someone while she disappears then yes she has been. But the real question is how you know her name. She never told anyone, at least no one here had mentioned it."

"Ruby told me after the fight."

"Did she now? I didn't think that she would be interested in you." Nora said with a wide grin in which Jaune rolled his eyes.

"I don't think she's interested in me. She was just telling me to take care of myself, you know- something you said to me before the raid."

"I kid, I kid. Besides, she seems like the kind of girl that wouldn't settle down with anyone. However I wonder if she's ever going to stop fighting." Nora pondered.

"What do you mean by that?" Jaune asked.

"I enlisted into the ranks three years ago, when I joined she was there- although her death contraptions weren't as deadly as they are now."

Jaune furrowed his brow.

"Trust me, they weren't as deadly but it still didn't stop her from killing almost everything that moved... aside from that vampire that goes after her."

"Wait, there's a vampire out to get her? What's the history behind that?"

"No one's sure. I believe that they first encountered each other last year and since then they've been going at each other. Heck they both will cut anything that stands between them, and I'm saying this from experience."

"I'm not sure that I want to know what happened to the poor souls that did."

"Took us three hours to identify who they were along with which side they were on, not counting the amount of time that it took to retrieve their pieces."

The blonde boy shuddered at that image, "At least she's on our side. I think she's scarier than the vampire that almost killed me."

"Ditto." Nora said as she nodded her head, "But I'll be honest with you, I'd never thought that we would run into a new vampire like that."

"New? Like she never showed up before?"

"Yep, I was going to report this to the commander but... they were in a really bad mood when I showed up."

"Why?"

"Who knows, although there was another knight beside him who really smelled. Like he hadn't washed himself in weeks or something."

"Yikes, maybe he was the reason why the commander was angry."

"Maybe, but enough worrying about that. I heard that there was a visiting mage coming here in a week or two! Isn't that amazing?"

"A mage? That sounds cool, I wonder what kind of magic they can use." Jaune pondered.

"Oh! Oh! I know!" Nora said in excitement.

Before Jaune can say another word, Nora began to list all the elemental magics that she could remember. The two of them sat there for two hours until the orange-haired hammer wielder was finished.

The forest was quiet this time around, not that she didn't mind. The shattered moon above provided enough light for her to navigate through the forest. Ruby kept her eyes out as she trekked, unsure if anything would jump out from the shadows to ambush her. Her hands rested on her belt, where her scythes were holstered and hidden underneath her red cloak.

Eventually she found herself at an edge of a cliff, overlooking the vast forest with the outline of the castle towards its fringes. Ruby unstrapped her scythes and quickly examined the blades and tested the chains, satisfied with their condition she took a deep breath before she jumped off the cliff. The night breeze rushed past her as she turned around and tossed one of her scythes at the cliffside, embedding itself into the rocky surface.

The chain yanked her towards the cliffside as she braced for the impact, landing against the rock face. She planted her other scythe into the cliff before she tugged at the one above her, eventually freeing it. From there she kicked off and descended further down the cliff, repeating the process until she was at the base of the cliffside. Ruby let out a sigh of relief as she wrapped up the chains and holstered her weapons.

She continued her journey through the forest, cautiously examining the surrounding area to look out for patrols or wandering vampires. She hid in the branches or in bushes as a couple of patrols passed by her. A small smile crept onto her face as she slipped pass the guards. Ruby then found herself near the cliffside again, climbing up to a nearby ridge- pulling herself up using her scythes.

Ultimately her journey came to an end as she reached her destination, a stone building that she presumed was a chapel at one point in its life. The building was located nearby the castle however it was tucked away in an isolated corner of the forest and somewhat difficult to travel to. Safely out of the marching paths of the army and out of sight from the vampires residing in the castle.

Its stone exterior had vines and vegetation growing on its walls while the building remained intact for the most part. She opened the large wooden door and slipped inside, quietly closing the door behind her. She was greeted with a large room with many stained windows that filled the room with various colors, most of the furniture was rearranged to accommodate her.

A large bed sat towards the back right corner of the room while a table and a couple of chairs sat in the center. A large wooden bench with several cushions on top was to her right while a couple drawers lined up the left side of the room. She made her way towards the drawers and unfastened her belt and left it on top, along with pieces of her leather armor and her red cloak.

Ruby changed out of her gear and into a comfortable tunic and black leggings, she then pulled out a matchbox from the drawers and began lighting the torches that hung against the walls. When she was finished she placed the matchbox back and laid on the bench, letting out a sigh of content as she stared at the ceiling.

"Isn't this a surprise?" A voice made the crimsonette jump up and search for the source. Ruby saw a figure stand at the wooden door with their hands on their hips and their amber eyes staring back at her. The figure wore a white coat along with black leggings and a sword attached to her belt.

It was Blake, with a slightly amused expression on her face as she strode towards the petite girl. Ruby shot up from the bench and ran towards the feline faunus, as she closed the distance between them the crimsonette leapt and wrapped her arms around Blake's neck- spinning the two of them around. The faunus, who was used to the younger girl's antics, kept her balance as they spun with a small smile on her face.

"Blake!"

"It's great to see you too, Ruby." Blake said as she put her girlfriend down.

"I didn't think that you would be coming today, not that I don't mind." Ruby said as she had a small smile on her face.

"The servants at the castle won't mind me going out, my mother however is a different story."

"Well, you're here now-" The petite girl stated as she rose on her toes to give a chaste kiss on the lips.

"And there's no place I'd rather be." The vampire followed up with a kiss of her own.

"Awesome," Ruby whispered as she broke away from the ebony-haired girl, "So, are you staying for the night?"

"I don't see why not." Blake said as she hung her coat and left her sword on the drawer.

The crimsonette let out a silent cheer as she made her way towards the drawer.

"What about you Ruby? Isn't your army going to notice that you're missing?" Blake asked.

"Eh, not this time. The captain made it clear that he didn't want to see me until the next raid, plus no one in the castle cares of what I do."

"A part of me doesn't want to know what you did to piss of him off this time." The vampire said in amusement.

"You sure? Because it involves a huge mess and a knight falling into a horse's dung pile."

"I retract my earlier statement, do tell."

"Sure, but I'll warn you- it's a long story."

"I don't mind, I love the sound of your voice." Blake said as she place a kiss on Ruby's cheek.

"Aww, you do?"

"Yep, your cheers, your laughs," The taller girl took a step forwards and said in a husky voice in Ruby's ear, "Even the sounds you make under the sheets."

Ruby was blushing profoundly as Blake stepped away, earning the vampire a light chuckle.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed."

"L-lets continue this conversation somewhere more comfortable." Ruby sputtered as she crawled into her bed.

"You know there are more subtle ways to invite me to sleep with you." The ebony-haired girl jested, causing the crimsonette's face to redden once more.

"S-shut up, do you want me to tell you the story or not?" Ruby pouted.

Blake chuckled at the sight before she joined her girlfriend, "Of course, it's just that you're so cute when you're flustered."

"Geez." The crimsonette huffed as she buried her head underneath a pillow.

"I'm sorry Ruby," Blake said as she brushed her hair, "Would you forgive me if I give you a cookie?"

The younger girl peeked out from her pillow, "Really?"

Blake nodded in response, which earned her a wide smile from the crimsonette.

"Your apology is accepted." Ruby stated.

The vampire giggled as she wrapped her arm around the smaller girl, "Now, what was the story behind the knight?"

"Would you believe me if I said I wasn't the one who pushed him?"

Blake raised a brow at her.

"It's true though!" Ruby stated as she recalled the events of how the knight "supposedly" tripped and fell into the stable's dung pit. The two girls were laughing until they both eventually fell asleep, wrapped up in each other's arms.

Sorry for the sporadic updates, finally got over a difficult hurdle in school so I have some free time to write!