*Alucard pov* 

How has it come to this? In my apartment I have one of the people I struggled to leave behind. Not to mention it isn't a temporary arrangement. She lives here now... And she wants to be a mercenary like us and join my and Neo's partnership. Well at least I can laugh at the fact that I probably finally got back at Ozpin. No idea why, but he had an obsession with her being in Beacon. I'm going to blame it on him most likely being a pedo.

We are gonna have to lay low for awhile. Not only have I just kicked the Beacon hornet nest, but now I will have Qrow, Lilith, and all the rest of the family tearing through Vale to find Ruby. Trained hunters are a pain to fight head on. I'll fight them if I have to but I don't have confidence that I can beat anymore than one at a time. Even that's pushing it with people like Qrow, who has decades of experience with fighting.

Roman was shocked when he saw Ruby. Apparently they have history but overall he didn't mind much. Cinder was a different story. She yelled at me saying that it was reckless and I could have ruined her operation. How could I let her in and blah blah blah. The only interesting but was about her "mistress" being displeased or something. 

You see I don't usually get into the business of my clients. They give me jobs, I do them, then they pay me and part ways. However lately Cinder seems to think that I will join her little cult. I've overheard her speaking about a powerful being that wants to see Ozpin burn. The way she spoke of that being seems like it's taken an interest in me. Cinder has not talked about it directly to me, but I don't want anything to do with it. I decided to end this current argument immediately.

Alucard: Cinder I really do not care what you think. I'm not like the rest of these people. I don't answer to anyone and my decisions are MINE to make. Now I'm going to go back and wait this hunter thing out and frankly I don't care what you do. Threaten me again however and I'll show you how much I have been training my power by using it to rip you inside out. 

With that I left the meeting. God she's annoying. Work for her a little bit and she thinks you will listen to her indefinitely like a drone. I'm just a mercenary. I don't want to be dragged into anything major. No amount of money is worth death. 

The fact that Cinder wanted me to risk bringing more attention to us by going to atlas and killing a strange priestess in a remote temple was pushing it. She was insistent with me and Neo both going alone. When we said that we wanted to wait she tried to force the issue. All of Vale was mobilized on Ozpin's request to find Ruby and you want us to kill a priestess?! 

The job itself has me on edge too. The temple is in Atlas and yet it's never been expanded into. Irondick has always tried to expand his influence yet he left a remote village and temple untouched in his backyard? The area itself has its fair share of unexplained phenomena. It's always cold year round for one and the weather around the village is always harsh. The locals don't trust outsiders and the last time a report came in about the area was decades ago. 

In other news the voices are back. Yay I'm popular again! Random whispers are back making even less sense than before. They don't even seen human. It's hard to explain but think pure darkness speaking gibberish softly directly into your mind. It isn't maddening but annoying. 

So guess what I found while I was dealing with a homicidal fire chick, extremely poor future jobs, and my own crumbling sanity? If you guessed Ruby and Neo playing tug of war with a tub of cookies and cream ice cream than your right! Bonus points if you can guess my mood.

Alucard: Ok what the hell girls...

Ruby: Tell her to share!!

Neo: Mine!!!

And this is the elite caliber of people I work with... and now I'm depressed again. 

Alucard: *sigh* Come on were going to the store... I'll get more... Ruby we need to get you some more clothes and stuff since you left your things at Beacon. 

Neo: That's a no go. The entire town is on alert.

Alucard: Well shit... Ruby you get my room for now. Just wear... Whatever I guess.

Ruby: umm I don't mind sharing the bed...

Then my head started to hurt and the whispers got much worse all of a sudden.

Neo: Hey are you ok?

Ruby: Alucard?

That's when I once again demonstrated my grace honed through years of thievery and assassination. I faceplanted and passed out.

-at Beacon-

*3rd pov* 

To say Yang was pissed was an understatement. Her sister seemed to disappear off the face of the planet. That and some of the students and staff have started a petition to kick Ruby out of Beacon due to the incident with Cardin. 

This petition claimed it was a mistake to let her in early and that she isn't mentally mature enough to stay. It even went so far as to suggest that legal action be taken. Saying that she almost murdered Cardin they wanted her jailed. 

Ozpin wasn't about to let that happen however. Ruby was integral to his war with Salem. The problem he faced however is that she went to Vale and promptly fell off the radar. That and the fact that the damned petition was causing a rift to appear in the school.

On one side were her friends and those who believed Cardin had it coming. He taunted her and the other students. It was only a matter of time until someone snapped. 

On the other side Russel led a large group of people claiming Ruby is a horrible person who almost killed his best friend. He played the crowd rather well. On the outside looking in he did seem to make a point. All most people heard was that one student left another in the hospital. 

The rift got worse when even racial lines were drawn. Cardin Winchester was a known racist. The faunus were never going to support anything Cardin or his cronies wanted. This led to people being divided by race. Ruby supporters had all of the faunus students and a few humans like JNPR but most humans sided with Cardin due to misinformation and RDL rallying the crowd. 

Fights between the groups became a common occurrence in the school often leading to hospitalization. The teachers were not getting involved due to them taking sides themselves. Beacon academy was falling apart at the seams. 

Ozpin was getting desperate to regain control of his school. The only teacher that seemed to listen to him was Goodwitch. The rest were fighting in the halls along with the students. The police couldn't help. Not only was their corruption constantly proven lately but even if they were loyal, the nature of the academy meant most students could beat the police soundly.

Between the war zone that was his school and the fact that Salem will learn of his weakness soon, that is if she didn't already know, he was getting desperate. He needed some kind of plan to regain some illusion of control. But with both the teachers and students waging war with each other, the only idea came to recalling the professional hunters that still listen to him instead of having them recover his silver eyed warrior. 

The thought of that would enrage the Rose, Branwen, and Xiolong families but he had no choice. It may be too late but he had to try. If his enemies learn of his weakness they may launch an attack sooner rather than later. He hoped it wasn't too late, but he feared that the rift in the school would never heal.

-Alucard's apartment -

Neo and Ruby had to act fast. Alucard was having a fit of nightmares. He was fine one second yet all of the sudden he just collapsed. They needed a medic and fast! That said the medical district was being monitored so they couldn't take him there. Neo then got a plan. She texted Cinder to send a white fang medic. It will take some convincing but she was going to take the chance.

A few minutes after she sent it, she received word that if she wanted it she would have to do a job for her. The white fang and Adam will need a whole lot of convincing to help a human after all. She didn't even blink before agreeing to go with both Ruby and Alucard after he was better. Neo wasn't about to leave him alone to a group that would rather stab him than heal him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A/n I would like to thank SuperJediWizardDude for making me a new cover for my story. And everyone giving this a chance. I hope to see you again soon)