By the Campfire

Pain

That was what she was feeling right now. Searing hot pain, her hands and knees were on the ground. A look of defeat in her eyes, and yet she still had the burning sensation of continuing. Unfortunately, the body can only take so much pressure and had finally succumbed to its countless amounts of bruises and wounds.

Stilettos on concrete reached her ears as her adversary watched her; similar to how a predator watches its prey. The look that her enemy gave to her was something akin to a goddess looking down on a mere peasant. The 'goddess' circled her one last time before finally stopping right in front of her.

"It's unfortunate that you are promised a power that was never truly yours," she said.

She walked closer until her stilettos were just within her peripheral vision. She took a knee and placed a hand under her chin. Her down-casted eyes met with the Fall Maiden's own. She had a look of superiority, the look that told her that she was the most powerful being that had ever walked on this earth. Her malicious grin was a contrast to her heated glare.

"But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined," she gloated.

Despite her entire form looking down on her, she decided that she would rain on her parade one last time. With one final glare, she asked Cinder Fall a question.

"Do you believe in destiny?" She asked

She did a mental cheer for herself when the self-proclaimed goddess lost her grin and replaced with a frown. She paused for a second before locking her eyes at the non-believer.

"Yes,"

She stood up from her kneel and conjured a bow made of ichor glass. The nock of the bow was pulled back and the arrow of similar colour was pointed at her. She gave her last defiant look on the 'goddess' before said goddess released her hand that was pulling the bow.

Pain

She snapped her eyes open and sat straight up, taking in copious amounts of air in her system as she tried to recollect what had happened in her dream. She looked at her makeshift bed; a bunch of clothes that they took from some thieves down the highway, I-15, was used as a mattress. While it did manage to alleviate the uncomfortable feeling of sleeping on the cold sand, the air conditions could be said differently; irradiated winds of the Mojave Desert that blew from the north graced her. The only thing that was keeping her on this front was a duster.

"Had another nightmare?"

She turned her head at her only company; a young man who seems to be around her age plus a year or two. He wore a brown leather long coat. Inside the coat was thick armour which looked like it can handle a beating. He wore dark grey pants along with some combat boots to finish. Sat next to him was the helmet of the armour; it had red lenses and a filtration system. Right now he was stoking the fires of the campfire that he had made with some cinder blocks and planks of wood.

They had been travelling for almost three months now. She still remembered when she first met him. She had been ambushed by some raiders and one decided to have 'fun' with her. It was when one of them was about to put his member in her did a gunshot rang out. The raider's head was nothing but a stump as it dropped next to her. The next events were a blur as the other raiders dropped left and right – all were shot cleanly to the head, and by the time they had gathered their bearing to retaliate to their attack it was already too late. It was then and there did they finally meet, he took care of her for a while. When she had managed to walk on her own did he finally asked questions.

"What's it about this time?" he asked.

And like always, her answers remains the same.

"I don't know," she said.

"Are you alright?" he asked this time his voice sounded concern.

"I'm fine… why do you ask?"

Then she suddenly felt something stream down her right cheek. She touched it with her hand and notice that it was wet. The same sensation was felt to her left cheek and only then did she notice that she was crying. It was weird for her though; she had not noticed that she was crying until the tears came falling down. She didn't know why she was crying, she chalked it up to because of her memory loss since she woke up in this world that felt like home and at the same time it wasn't.

She felt like she was an alien to the Mojave Wasteland, whenever she would look up to the night skies for solace the first thing she would see is the full moon that would always look down on her. And for some unknown reason, she felt uncomfortable about it. A sight of the full moon brought unexplainable unease to her, but for the life of her, she could not know why. It was frustrating; to not know something yet at the same time the answer to all of her problems is at the tip of her fingertips. She had all of the puzzle pieces with her and yet she doesn't know where to place them. And that scared her.

The man before her stood up from his sitting spot and sat next to her. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to calm her fraying emotions. He whispered to her that everything was going to be alright –this mantra that seemed to work for now. Once she had calmed down she looked at him with baggy eyes.

He looked back at the campfire with a sombre look on his face, "I had moments like that too you know… times, when there is nothing I can do but watch," a pause with the only noise throughout the night, is the wind and the crackling fire. "I had to watch my own father die behind glass as he poisoned the room that he was in. I had to watch as one of my oldest friends succumbs to insanity. I had no choice but to put him down. I had done so many things and sometimes I think to myself how I could've done something else,"

He looked back at her with tired eyes, it spoke volumes for her. It was like she was looking at a person who was decades older than her. A teenager who grew up too fast, while she finds it difficult to sympathize for losing a father – since she doesn't even remember her own parents' faces – or the thought of killing one of her oldest friends. It still impacted on her hard enough to give her a look of empathy.

His deep blue eyes locked with her emeralds. Those eyes had seen enough pain and suffering to make a normal man dive into the depths of insanity, the voices of people that he had killed for the 'greater good' echoed in those eyes. She looked deeper in the ocean to find something… a hole; a hole so deep that nothing could ever fill it. Perhaps it was the reason why he wanders. Forever a wandering nomad that travelled the wastes of the Old World, in search for that one thing, that one thing could fill the bottomless pit.

It was for a split second did she realize that they had both been staring into each other's eyes for a while now, yet for some reason, they can't pull away; too engrossed into studying each other, and the more they look the more curious they became. Their heads grow closer; her breathing became short and frequent. The pounding in her chest increased its pace.

Their lips met

His chapped and dry lips met with her soft and moist lips. It was a simple kiss, yet it expressed plenty of emotions. They were both eager to learn more from each other.

"I got kicked out in all of the casinos anyways," Courier Six thought.

One thing leads to another…

Gunfire peppered the concrete, behind said concrete Courier Six, with his Ranger Sequoia, roared in defiance. The sound a crying toddler reached his ears. He looked to the left to find Patricia – his wife – clutching on their two-year-old daughter, Morgan.

She caressed Morgan with the gentleness of a mother. She looked at Morgan with a happy smile on her face; a smile that seemed to ignore all of the loud gunshots. The city of the Commonwealth was within sight and it was only a day or two left of travelling. Courier Six stumbled inside the pockets of his riot gear to find something that can fight against the Raiders. He found his quarry in the shape of a fragmentation grenade. Pulling the pin he threw it behind the cover they the raiders were taking.

A panicked shout came and then an explosion. Taking that as his cue, he emerged out of his cover and proceeded to shoot the surviving raiders, not one bullet was wasted as they all found themselves in a raider's head. Two reloads from his gun later the entire highway of I-90 had gone silent.

"Okay… they're all dead," he called out.

Patricia stepped out of his cover with a cute pout on her face, "Couldn't you have been faster?"

Courier Six looked at her with a slightly irritated look, "Try going through a dozen raiders who do nothing but camp behind their covers,"

She raised an eyebrow, seeing this as a challenge, "Fine, but you take care of Morgan,"

Courier Six froze, "Uh… on second thought… I'll take care of the raiders,"

The redhead smiled, "Thank you, James"

"No problem, dear"

Morgan dropped to her knees in defeat. Her father was laughing at her. She was supposed to win, she was sure she had shot those sarsaparilla bottles precisely. Her father must've cheated! That's right; there was no way her aim was that bad!

"Guess who's going to be peeling the carrot today," her father taunted.

"Shut up old man!" she retaliated.

Her father gave her an offended look, "I am not old!"

Morgan stuck her tongue out, "Yes you are, so old that your face is sagging!"

James grinned, "That's it, come here young lady!"

Morgan gave an 'eep' before jumping off the porch of their humble shack. Meanwhile, inside the shack, Patricia sighed and went out, "Lunch is almost ready!"

The sight of her daughter and James put a smile on her face. Seven years had already passed since they left the Mojave Wasteland. Living in the Commonwealth was easier since it wasn't a desert. While it still does have the same problems that the Mojave had, at least here it was safer due to the presence of the Minutemen.

When they had reached Boston for the first time, they were stopped by the faction and asked if this was their first time. It was nice to see some settlements band together to protect what was rightfully theirs. Meeting the leader of the Minutemen was interesting too. James had told her that he had met him and after some favours done by the general's right-hand man, Preston Garvey, they finally had a chance to meet the man and say their thanks and gave their support. Nate was his name if she remembered.

She had finally let go of her memory loss and decided to fill that with new memories with her and her family. And to think that the young man she had first met would become her husband. It was something alright. But she could admit that she would not have it any other way.

And to think that this all started by that campfire.

A/N: Well, what do you guys think? This was just something that popped in my mind while I was playing one of my favourite games in the Fallout series. By the way, for those who still haven't caught on Patricia is Pyrrha Nikos.

I was thinking of making this a series, by putting both Teams RWBY and JN(P)R. Albeit there is a slight twist in it. I'll give you a hint; it has something to do with time. Tell me your thoughts!

With that being said I bid you all adieu

Peace~