Ensheathing Forfeits
Amaranth. For some reason the term struck something within Weiss. Some primordial terror for a reason she couldn’t understand.
A look at Winter said she felt the same but Velvet seemed unaffected.
Weiss pushed the book back to Winter who quickly slipped it back into her pocket not wanting to look at it any longer than needed.
“If we can trust Cinder at her word then Ruby is safe for now. I’m going to start getting the few things I have ready to move out. Hopefully before today is over.”
“You should get some more sleep Miss Scarlatina,” Winter said as she stood up. “I’ll assist Weiss but I’m sure you’re still a bit sore and tired from your transformation.”
I’m fine,” Velvet disagreed as she shook her head. “Apparently Ruby has been giving me some medicine she put together to help get me over the worst of it. I’m a little sore, but it’s more like a tough workout than anything else.”
Winter raised an eyebrow at that. “I see. Weiss if you wanted to begin packing your clothes I need to have a very important discussion with-”
“Out of the question. If you have something to say to her then you can say it to me. I know you Winter, or at least I thought I did,” Weiss admitted as she looked a bit ill at the reminder of her sister’s dalliance with the vampire.
“It’s alright Weiss. I’m sure she just wants to talk to me a bit. If there’s a problem I’ll call for you,” Velvet said softly.
Weiss frowned but relented with a nod. “Promise?”
“I promise,” Velvet said and then looked undecided for a moment before she leaned forward and gently placed a kiss on the corner of Weiss’s mouth on the very edge just shy of her lips.
A solemn promise of things to come if Weiss was reading it correctly.
“Velvet,” Weiss said breathlessly.
“Weiss, ever since we were in school, high-school anyway I…” Velvet trailed off. “When we talk to Ruby tonight I have important things to tell you both. I just hope.”
“Nothing will change how I feel, have felt about you, even if I don’t deserve you. Either of you. We need to talk to Ruby too,” Weiss added and was gratified Velvet nodded seriously in return.
A cough drew their attention back to a smug looking Winter who was putting away her phone clearly having snapped a picture of them, or several.
“Winter!” Weiss whined for once sounding like the young woman she should be to Winter’s amusement.
“Now Weiss, you’re a lovely young woman, and I’ve known of Miss Scar…Velvet,” Winter amended when she saw Velvet frown cutely at her, “for years. I do still need to meet this Miss Rose you both seem attached to however.”
“She’s absurdly pretty Winter. It’s not fair really,” Weiss complained and Velvet nodded.
“I’m sure. For now though I merely wish to learn more about my potential future in-law,” Winter joked as the other two flushed red.
“The vampire is a terrible influence on you,” Weiss said as she wrinkled her nose again.
“Perhaps we should all take a shower in turn while we gather your things?” Winter offered and Weiss nodded.
“If you scare away or make Velvet uncomfortable I’ll find a way to make your life miserable,” Weiss warned as she went to grab a change of clothes.
“You know when I said to come over I didn’t expect a whole party,” Ruby said as she let them into her apartment later that afternoon with a bandana tied around her forehead which she'd told them was from cleaning duty.
“Ruby, wait!” Weiss tried to warn her but she’d already invited Cinder inside.
“You just invited a vampire inside your home,” Weiss moaned.
“Oh well that’s neat. I wonder if she’d let me run some tests on her?” Ruby asked as she looked at the amused looking vampire.
“Maybe,” Cinder said with a shrug, not promising anything. “What are you gonna offer?”
“I make a mean grilled cheese, or you can play my Zweistation nine!” Ruby offered.
“Ruby I don’t think-” Weiss began.
“HOW DID YOU GET ONE OF THOSE? I WAITED IN LINE FOR WEEKS AND THEY SOLD OUT!” Cinder roared.
“I won a contest! I drew the mascot!” Ruby said pointing to the horrible chibi drawing of the corgi on the gaming console.
“They probably thought a child drew that and didn’t want to risk upsetting them,” Weiss snarked.
“I mean the important thing is I won though right?” Ruby asked with a smirk that widened as Velvet giggled and gave her a high-five.
“Yeah yeah take some blood. Let me get at this bad boy,” Cinder said excitedly, holding out an arm as Ruby quickly went to get a few syringes to take blood with.
“Do you always keep needles and supplies to draw blood with you at home?” Winter asked curiously.
“I keep a lot of medical supplies on hand, and whatever I manage to squirrel away so I can help Velvet if she needs it. She’s never been that injured when I see her, but better safe than sorry. Not sure how I could get away with trying to sneak her into the blood bank after all,” Ruby said as she rummaged under her sink for a moment.
“And there we go,” Ruby said a few minutes later as she carefully threw away the waste and put the full syringes down after labeling them.
“Actually. Velvet, would you be ok with me looking at your blood? I’ve never done it before but I think it’d be fascinating,” Ruby asked.
“I, uh don’t mind,” Velvet said as she and Weiss went into the small kitchen area while Cinder dragged Winter into playing a game with her.
“Ruby,” Weiss began as Ruby gathered another syringe.
“Hmm?”
“Velvet and I have decided to maybe start dating,” Weiss said bluntly.
Other than a small twitch and a string of bitter sounding Menagerian uttered lowly Ruby made no other action to indicate she’d heard her.
“And we’d like to talk to you about it,” Velvet said shyly.
“I mean you two seem like a good match. I’m sure you’ll be happy,” Ruby said uncertainly as she finished getting her supplies.
“We decided however that we were also amenable to dating you as well. We’re both rather interested, and well, were curious as to your thoughts,” Weiss said.
Ruby blushed prettily at that. “Oh, wow…really?” Ruby asked, sounding small and unsure.
“I haven’t known you as long as Velvet, but I’ve truthfully never been as instantly attracted to someone before. You don’t have to of course, but Velvet has had nothing but wonderful things to say about you,” Weiss said as she gave Velvet a gentle shoulder pat.
“Please Ruby? You don’t have to but I’d really, really like to get to know you better. We both would,” Velvet said as she grabbed one of Ruby’s free hands with Weiss following suit.
“This isn’t a joke, or something is it?” Ruby asked warily as she rubbed the center of her bandana a moment as if trying to ward away a headache.
“I assure you it’s not. I know we don’t know each other that well yet, but we both know Velvet, and I’m already attracted to you, and would love to get to know you better.”
“I…can’t choose between you. Whenever I try to think of not being with one of you it hurts. A lot,” Velvet confided in them as she put a hand to her chest in imagined pain.
Ruby pursed her lips in thought. ”I’ve noticed you’re rather clingy the day after your transformation, and you were always possessive of any mention of Weiss when it wasn’t with me. I wonder,” Ruby trailed off.
“Ruby?”
“I know were-rabbits, or whatever aren’t exactly a thing we thought existed but if it’s like other were creatures in legends, or just rabbits in general then,” Ruby blushed a bit as she trailed off.
“Rabbits typically choose to bond with one or a small number of partners for life,” Ruby said as Weiss flushed.
“Really?” Weiss asked clearly interested and Velvet flushed entirely.
“Uh yeah I had one as a kid and it had a small group it bonded with that he never strayed from even when Yang ended up dumping several of hers on me. So Velvet might be um,” Ruby offered with a helpless gesture between the three of them.
“That’s…kinda why I broke up with Coco,” Velvet admitted as she fidgeted.
“We got along well but something was always missing, and it didn’t feel right to keep leading her on. I’d keep thinking about Weiss, and someone else I couldn’t see, but now I know it was you,” Velvet said shyly as she fiddled with her hair band which helped pull her ears back down.
Ruby gently put her hands towards the hair band and waited for Velvet to give her a nod. When she did Ruby removed it and watched her ears spring back to life with a small smile.
“You know now that I’ve seen these properly with you awake you seem so much more expressive with them. I almost can’t imagine seeing you without them anymore,” Ruby offered as she gently rubbed one of the ears.
To Velvet’s mortification she began shaking her leg and whimpered.
“Sorry Velvet,” Ruby apologized as she withdrew her hand with a small smile and got the syringe ready.
“No it’s alright. It actually felt nice. It could probably put me to sleep in a few minutes,” Velvet confided in them.
“Something to remember then,” Weiss teased her as Ruby took a syringe of blood before giving Velvet a small bandage with a puff of cotton.
“So you’re saying you broke it off with Coco because you felt like you were leading her on but couldn’t exactly explain why to her. Did she know about?” Ruby asked as she labeled the syringe and gestured to the ears.
“No. I never stayed over when I knew the full moon was coming, and we never went uh that far,” Velvet said blushing furiously. “I just feel bad I could never really explain it well to her.”
“In that case,” Ruby said as she finished with the second syringe. “You said Coco works in the club, or Yang did. Talk and sort things out with her first. Clear the air, and then I would very much be ok with trying to make things work out with the three of us.”
“Really Ruby?” Weiss asked.
Ruby merely nodded. “The last thing she’ll want is to feel guilty or have any bad problems with exes that could crop up down the road. It’s mostly just setting things straight, and we can be there with her, but Coco sounds like she deserves to have the truth at least, or else she’ll find out about us eventually and wonder which doesn’t seem fair.”
Weiss winced but nodded.
“Weiss I know I’ve technically already had your blood drawn before but could I get another one of these?” Ruby asked, holding up a syringe. “I want to compare it to someone like mine, and then Cinder’s and the rest. We might get more answers that way,on well, lots of stuff.”
“I don’t see why not, but you have to destroy it as soon as you’re done with it,” Weiss said seriously unwilling to chance anymore of her blood falling into another vampire's hands.
“I promise. You can watch me. If I’m right the changes and differences should be obvious even with the minimal stuff I have here,” Ruby said as she took a few syringes of blood from Weiss and labeled them.
Weiss waved off the need for a bandage since the needle puncture had already healed which Ruby had commented was ‘handy’.
“Some food in the fridge for you two if you want. Let me go grab a few things from my bedroom and I’ll be right back,” Ruby said as she gave them a smile and left the room.
“Well that went well,” Cinder said from the doorway and the two jumped at how silently she’d appeared.
“You need a bell,” Weiss muttered in distaste.
“Thought you would have ‘smelled’ me,” Cinder joked.
“You stink up the whole apartment. I can't pinpoint you,” Weiss admitted.
“Something else to work on then. I spoke with my boss earlier and yeah they’re pretty sure it’s bad. They’ve gotten some other reports and well…we can all talk about it when little red is done with her science experiment or at the club.”
“You’re not interested in the result of her experiement?” Weiss asked as Velvet rummaged in the fridge for something to eat, and pulled out a plate with her name on it and smiled.
“Vaguely. If she finds something then yeah, but otherwise no reason to get excited over nothing.”
“How…pragmatic of you,” Weiss said as Velvet handed took a plate with Weiss’s name on it over to the microwave.
“You don’t make it to my age without learning to be pragmatic…most of the time,” Cinder admitted as her eyes flicked over to the couch which held Winter.
Weiss felt conflicted on how to respond but was saved as Velvet handed her the now warmed plate of food and a utensil as she microwaved her own.
They ate in silence for a few minutes as Cinder went back to annoy her older sister.
“Ok so I got some petri dishes, slides, my white board and display so let’s see what we got!”
“I didn’t see any plates for you Ruby, or I’d have heated them up,” Velvet apologized.
“That’s alright I ate at work. I might snag a cookie or chips after I see what’s going on with this blood though,” Ruby responded with a smile.
“Yes, the extra crispy ones. That’s the ticket, thanks!” Ruby said as Velvet got down the bag of chips for later.
“Ok, so the baseline is mine,” Ruby murmured as she looked through the microscope. After a quick nod she made a note on the board and changed slides.
“Alright now for Weiss,” Ruby said and blinked as she looked at the blood. “That’s…very interesting,” Ruby muttered and ignored the other two as she made another note on the board.
“Velvet’s next,” Ruby said as she did a double take and then looked again just to make sure before she made yet another note, and then put in the last slide.
“No way. This can’t be right,” Ruby muttered as she took another slide and put a few more drops of blood on it.
Cinder and Winter had joined them in the kitchen at this point as Ruby paled. “There’s no way,” Ruby mumbled.
Velvet put a hand on her shoulder and Ruby tensed before letting out an explosive breath and faced the room.
“Ok, so this is really weird,” Ruby said as she pointed to her board.
“The easiest outside of mine to go with is Velvet's,” Ruby said, gesturing to the smiling woman who looked only slightly awkward sitting in the kitchen with her ears out.
"Her blood is more robust I suppose you could say. Telomeres are part of our genetic code that are like an end cap to your DNA. It generally shortens as you get older and is theorized to be part of the reason we age, and die, but in Velvet’s it’s constantly being repaired to its full length, or that’s what the evidence is showing.”
“So she’s effectively immortal?” Cinder asked, sounding mostly bored.
“Yes, and no. I’d say it’s more that she can still be killed, but she merely won’t die of old age if that makes sense,” Ruby explained and Cinder nodded.
“Kinda how most werewolves operate. Freakishly strong, regenerate quick, and don’t age, but you can still kill ‘em.”
“Right and her blood when poked and prodded put itself back together quickly. It’s really interesting although I imagine putting silver in it would have…less pleasant results. I didn’t do that,” Ruby admitted as she turned to Velvet.
“Also it seemed like your metabolism was rather fast as well so I assume you eat a lot more than most people would guess?” Ruby asked.
“Um, well yes. I don’t mean to, but I’m just always hungry,” Velvet said.
“You might need to increase your diet then. You’re tormenting yourself and your body is likely close to eating itself to get proper nutrition. Doctor’s orders! Start eating more. Me and Weiss’ll make sure of it!” Ruby declared as Weiss nodded.
“You said hers was the easiest to explain?” Winter asked, looking uncomfortable with that notion.
“Yeah ok so Cinder’s is kinda the same right? The age thing I mean, but it’s also different in that rather than going for the optimal length it’s going to a specific length each time.”
“When we’re embraced we’re basically trapped in that moment in time and unable to change outside of some horribly dramatic injury. Likely that’s what you’re seeing. I was in my late twenties, or maybe early thirties when it happened,” Cinder said with a shrug as she began eating the chips Velvet had gotten out.
“You don’t know how old you were?” Winter asked, confused.
“It was hundreds of years ago. I really don’t. I could probably figure it out but I have no desire to. The less I have to think of that time in my life the better,” Cinder said bitterly as she crammed more chips into her mouth.
“At any rate the same high speed regeneration seems to apply, but and this is where it gets weird.
“This is from Weiss,” Ruby said, displaying the slide for the rest to see.
“Ruby, you didn’t change the slide,” Weiss pointed out confused.
“No, I did,” Ruby insisted. “Much like the others you appear to have regeneration and an increased metabolism to a lesser degree than Cinder, or Velvet, but still rather advanced compared to a normal human, but as for the rest…”
“You can’t be serious,” Winter said looking ill.
Cinder looked fully interested now even as she gently rubbed circles on Winter’s back, the elder sibling too distracted to even attempt to protest.
“Yeah it’s like you’re a vampire ‘lite’ or something, which is weird right?” Ruby asked toward Cinder who nodded.
“Extremely. I wonder if other hunters are the same because if you’re right they’re more like ghouls or thin-bloods than anything. Almost exactly like them now that I think about it,” Cinder mused as she studied the slide.
“Didn’t you say hunter blood tasted good, and made you more powerful?” Weiss asked.
Cinder nodded warily, clearly not liking where this was leading.
“This is like your book you showed us. Amaranth?” Velvet asked the others in the room.
Cinder had crossed the room and picked up in an instant, staring at her.
“Where did you hear about that from?” Cinder demanded before she felt Winter’s hand on her arm, Weiss’s gun in her gut and set Velvet back down.
She took a deep breath and walked to the other side of the small kitchen.
“It’s from one of our hunting books,” Winter supplied as she handed over the small book and watched Cinder flip through it for the page and wince when she spotted it.
“Yeah, that's basically…ok. Other than a guess, what do you know about it?” Cinder asked the room who shrugged indicating next to nothing.
“Ok so generally Amaranth is the fancier name. Generally it’s abhorred in our society,” Cinder began explaining as Weiss took out a pen and began to write this down.
“Generally?” Velvet asked.
Cinder nodded. “There are precious few times it’s allowed and even then it’s mostly a few clans of vampires that do so. Salubri do it, but it’s more complicated with them, and there’s so few left it’s not something you need to worry about.”
“I’d like to know anyway,” Weiss said and Cinder sighed.
“Salubri, depending on who you talk to, are the saints of vampires, or the most evil and underhanded of them all. I’ll let you read up on it when you come to the club cause I don't care enough about them at all to have an opinion.
Safe to say that unlike other vampires that will embrace many on a whim or for plans with most of the Salubri it’s done for the purpose of passing on their knowledge unless it’s from the warrior sect who act more in line with other clans.
Usually they grow tired of unlife as it were, and embrace a childe. They teach them what they can, stay with, train with them until they both feel that it’s time.”
“That sounds…almost parental,” Winter said.
“It can be, or it can be a more intimate lovers kind of deal. It really just varies by the pair. At any rate when the time comes the elder willingly allows the childe to drink from them and transfers everything. Generation, knowledge and what made them who they are.”
“What’s generation?” Ruby asked as she blinked at the strange term.
“A pretty crude but generally correct power ranking for vampires on the fly. The lower the number the more powerful. So for vampires we’re descended from the first vampire Caine. From him you have the ones he sired, which would be second generation. Not as powerful but still basically gods to most people. There were only three of those who had thirteen ‘children’ between them.
The problem being from what text we have the second generation were massive dicks and the third generation which while less powerful than the second all rose up to depose them. Those thirteen basically became the founders of the clans that vampires still use today and we call them Antediluvian.”
“That’s Menagerian isn’t it? Wait, are you saying?” Ruby asked wide eyed as she placed the term and Cinder nodded.
“Supposedly they’ve been around that long, yes, although only a Methuselah which is a fourth or fifth generation could tell you for sure since they’d be their children. Those are spread out with a good majority of them already being gone as well but there's plenty out there that are likely in torpor or hidden enacting plans or whatever.
At any rate I’m the seventh generation, and most of the vampires being embraced these days are usually between the twelfth or thirteenth generation or even later.”
“Usually?” Winter asked as Weiss continued to scribble everything down.
“If a Methuselah were to embrace someone today that vampire would be a fifth or sixth generation. You’re always one step removed from your sire unless you perform a right on them like the Salubri or Diablerie. Or hell if Caine himself sired another tomorrow then they’d be second generation but I wouldn’t count on that happening.”
“It looked like vampire cannibalism,” Weiss said as she nodded at the book.
Cinder nodded in return.
“Basically. It taints your soul when done on the unwilling, but you absorb all of the knowledge and strength of the vampire, and if they’re of a lower generation than you then you gain so much power you essentially ‘lower’ your own generation. It’s complicated but it’s abhorred by mostly everyone except the Sabbat, but since they’re an insane clan at the best of times that’s not a big shock. Not even the Malkavians practice it,” Cinder said as she waved them off.
“So getting back to this. It’s like Weiss’s family is being raised to be snacks for some vampire?” Ruby asked, sounding upset as Velvet tightened her grip on Weiss’s free hand.
“It could be most or even all the hunters. I know they’ve been around a while after all, so I suppose a vampire could have even started the entire movement as some millennia long plot. I just never looked into it,” Cinder admitted.
“This is why we hate vampires,” Weiss said in a deadpan manner.
“When you have potentially forever in front of you you start thinking of plans that take decades or centuries to come to fruition. Not that you’re not wrong for hating whatever this is. If it’s true then you and your entire family, and maybe even profession were made as nothing more than a way for some vampire to get a bit more power. That has to sting,” Cinder said with understanding.
“So we’re ghouls? Vampire servants?” Winter asked unbelievingly as she read the entry in her book to confirm.
“No, I said you’re like ghouls. Ghouls are stronger, and faster than normal humans but are typically obsessed with their master and live to serve them," Cinder said as she tapped her fingers on her arm her mind clearly elsewhere working out the implications of things while she answered without really thinking about it.
"The best you can get out a ghoul is a functional drug addict basically. While you’re obsessed with hunting, suffice to say you don’t act like that or else little miss were-hare over there wouldn’t have lived through Weiss finding out she wasn’t human.”
“And thin-bloods?” Ruby prompted the vampire, fascinated.
Thin-Bloods are vampires whose blood is so weak and diluted from being so many generations from Caine that many of them can pass as a human easily enough, and are barely above a normal human. They can eat, drink, and some even have kids which is…really weird. Don’t ask,” Cinder almost begged as she shuddered.
“Although…I know the Nikos hunting family is different from yours,” Cinder thought out loud.
“How so?” Winter asked.
“Typically holy water stings as does silver when you’re younger. However, for those hunters who have true faith? Like actual unwavering will and belief in the word of whatever brother god you believe in, those things work and have actual power. Sure you might think you’re channeling the brother gods power, but you don’t really believe it with all your heart and soul,” Cinder explained as she fixed them with a stare.
“She does. I’ve seen her stop a vampire’s attacks with pure faith that one of her gods would protect her, and seen her make use of a cross to cause a vampire insane amounts of pain among other things.”
“Was it you?” Weiss asked, sounding giddy at the thought.
“No. Faith only works to a point. You can have all the faith you want but you’re not stopping a tidal wave with a teacup unless one of the brother gods reaches down to do it for you. Stopping a neonate or younger vampire is one thing, but stopping an earlier generation? Not a chance,” Cinder snorted.
“That all being said, we had a lovely chat and we swapped a few books she has to bring back later,” Cinder said with a shrug.
At Winter’s look of disbelief she continued. “She was remarkably open minded and nice for a hunter, but you’re still my favorite,” Cinder assured Winter with a pat on the shoulder.
“Might be interesting to get her blood as well as any other hunters blood not from your family,” Ruby put in.
“I have to admit I didn’t expect to find this out when I gave you a few samples, little red,” Cinder said, mussing up her hair and relented when Ruby shot her a glare as she messed up her 'cool' bandana.
“Do you get hunters that show up at the club?” Ruby asked curiously as she gestured to Weiss’s blood and poured it down the drain followed by the others and finally bleach.
“Rarely. Most hunters will show up and try to make trouble and then when they’re stopped just not come back. There are a few that do still show up, and there’s definitely one of my ghouls there you can do your test on if you want. I’ll just tell him to let you and he’ll fall over himself to do it,” Cinder said before looking at the clock.
“I should probably get over there. Just tell the bouncer that you’re there at my invitation, or have Winter show up with you and he’ll let you in upstairs. Wear a cute dress or something,” Cinder instructed Winter who responded by splashing holy water in her face.
Aside from some minor sizzling it didn’t appear to do much. “Kinky! Ready to go again already?” Cinder teased as she left with a cackle.
"Miss Rose what's wrong?" Winter asked seeing how upset Ruby looked.
“She ate my chips,” Ruby said as she pointed to her empty bag, sounding despondent as Velvet giggled with Weiss and Winter following suit.