A/N Here it is! The Bandit AU I talked about. I'm really sorry about 'Transgression' guys, really. But I have a much better feeling with this one. It's actually an idea I've had for months now, and allows me to try some new things, such as Action scenes. That doesn't mean I still won't be careful however.
I'll be updating this story on Mondays. Chapters will vary in length, but no less than 5k words.
~Massive shout out/thanks to Shadowyman! He kept me company while I typed, sent me fantastic ideas, and is an all-round awesome guy. Be sure to give his stories a read, yeah?~
Chapter 1. Raid
"Whenever I'm caught between two evils; I pick the one I've never gone with before." -Unknown
6 Years ago...
'KRAKOW!'
A single, large caliber, round pierced through the air. Leaving an airy trail in its wake. Traveling at 2,998 feet per second; the .50 caliber trajectile whizzed towards it's target, missing by mere millimeters. The round continued to travel until it found an eventual placement in a dusty sand patch much farther away.
"Darn!" The shooter squawked. "So close." The wielder of the weapon pulled the bolt back and chambered another round -paying no attention to the empty clatter the guns action made. Placing her eye back into the socket of the digital scope; the young girl went for another try.
"Hey, hey, slow down Ruby." A commanding, but calm voice called from behind her. "Are you forgetting something?"
The young girl know known as Ruby pulled her eye from the scope and looked up from her prone position, locking eyes with a middle aged woman with deep crimson eyes. "N-No?" She sputtered, but already thinking over what she might've forgotten.
"That was your last shot, which means...?" She asked incredulously.
"Oh! I uh, need to reload, sorry." She stuttered, feeling foolish for forgetting one of the most important things when it comes to wielding any firearm. 'Stupid!' She internally scolded.
"It's alright, you were just caught in the moment." Raven surveyed the area before looking down to Ruby again.
"I think that's enough practice for one day. C'mon, your Uncle Qrow and Yang are probably getting worried." She gestured with a wave. Ruby quickly clamored up, almost dropping the rifle as she did so. Today's mishap wasn't so bad. Her Aunt Raven had started to train her on the rifle a mere two weeks ago, and she was already mastering the basics.
A thirteen year old with skills such as hers was already astonishing.
Not wanting to get left behind, Ruby quickly grabbed her goggles and placed them back into the tresses of her short black, crimson-tinted hair. Living in a jagged desert such as this, goggles were near mandatory. They were black trimmed with a shiny bright red lens running across. The goggles were themed to follow her current ensemble pretty well. She wore a high collared black and red plaid shirt that was torn in various places. Underneath that was a simple black tank top, with tight fitting blue jeans and tall sand gripping boots to top it all off. All of this was accompanied by a small backpack, and an empty holster on her right hip.
With Ruby being skilled in a similar fashion to Raven, she always looked to the ebony haired woman as an abundant source of knowledge to hone her marksmanship on. Raven herself was dressed in a similar ensemble, but with shorts and a thin duster cloaking her form, alongside a dark maroon bandanna that restricted the free flow of her ebony tresses.
"So... now what?" Ruby questioned, slinging the rifle over her shoulder.
Raven turned back and grinned, "Well you're almost ready for the big stuff." She emphasized the word big with a wide gesture and a small chuckle.
Ruby's silver eyes lit up, "Really?!" She cheered. Raven gave her a sly nod before turning around again, hand waving Ruby to keep following. Their point of choice today was shooting cactus far from the short crags a short distance from her home town of Signal. Cactus made perfect targets due to their human - like stance.
Signal rested in the northern part of the wastes, right at the far edge of the barren land. The town, like many others, was small, dusty, and above all; dangerous. Small homes made of old brick and metal was pretty much the standard of living, but not just in Signal -everywhere.
Well, almost everywhere.
There wasn't much in the way of roads either. Just a wide dusty path that cut right through the center of the small town. Outside in the wasteland however were old, cracked and rundown roads built not because people wanted them, built because people needed them.
Said 'people' were mainly weapon merchants either looking to buy, sell or trade in the towns that dotted the land. They'd come in large all - terrain vehicles known as Technicals. Massive all wheel drive trucks that could seat six, with a mounted gun to ward off any Bandit raiders looking to "have fun" with them.
Ninety five percent of what the gun runners brought was well, guns of course. From all different manufacturers all across the land. Six of the manufacturers reigned supreme however; Atlas, Schnee, Mistral, Haven, Goliath, and Mantle. Each known for different aspects giving purchasers a myriad of choices when it comes to how to duke it out in the wasteland.
Speaking of guns-
Ruby dogtrotted up to Raven, "So when you say big stuff, do you mean..."
"Ruby." Raven tutted. "I don't think you're ready for the Atlas rifle."
"Oh C'mon! Please? Yang got to use it, so why can't I?" Ruby was already entering her trademark 'begging puppy' mode.
"Because Yang is two years older than you." The woman turned and noticed Ruby's saddened expression, smirking she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and quickly formed an idea, "Tell ya what; if you shoot perfectly tomorrow, we'll try it out on the weekend. But this time we go up to my favorite spot."
"You mean... yes!" She cheered, not even taking the downside of the deal into consideration.
"Now hurry, sun will be down soon." Raven pointed to the western horizon, Ruby followed the gesture and met eyes with the brilliant orange of the sun setting below the jagged mountains far off in the distance. "Right." She affirmed.
Internally Ruby couldn't wait for tomorrow. Finally she'd get to ditch this lame Goliath manufactured rifle and get her hands on some real power. An Atlas. The two guns differed wildly. Goliath was the most common, built straight from the Bandit forges and sold for cheap, these guns only had one thing going for them; capacity. Bandit's like their bullets almost as much as they love to kill, so things like accuracy don't matter to them at all. Why should it when you've got a two hundred round box magazine? Such was the Bandit logic.
Atlas on the other hand; built for accuracy. High tech, and elegant guns equipped with stabilizers to mitigate recoil and allow the user to focus on precision. If it took more than one shot; you weren't using an Atlas.
Atlas, along with the Schnee's, are the only militarized group in the wasteland who, for the most part, keep to themselves. Only coming out to sell weapons, or to transport valuable items across the desert. Ruby herself has never seen an Atlas trooper, but what the roaming nomads who came through town said about them gave Ruby the feeling that they weren't the nicest of people.
As for the Schnee's, they were the ones who provided money for the Atlesian group to stay a cut above the rest. All of that cash came from Mineral and Dust mining -two things that guns need to exist. The Schnee's, are led by a man named Robert and his two daughters -one for which Ruby knew was roughly the same age as herself. The rich so-called family business used Bandit convict labor to work in the mines and extract precious ore. Ironically enough, said ore would be melted down and forged into weapon parts, sent on transports which would get raided, and then put in the hands of freelancing Bandit's who'd use them to fight the Schnee's in the first place.
Funny how things work out around here.
Dust on the other hand was a Schnee exclusive. Used to manufacture various expensive weapons elementally supercharged with things like fire and acid. It was one type of weapon that was extremely expensive, hence it being an exclusive for the rich Mercenary, or Schnee personnel.
As Ruby continued to mull over the various types of weapons, she hadn't realized she was almost home already. The abode in which they lived in was small to say the least. It sat alongside the wide dusty path in the center of town, the whole building didn't belong to them however. She lives with her Aunt and Uncle on the second floor above a gun store run by the infamous gun runner: Tukson. Head of the largest merchant business, backed by its own private group of Bandit mercenaries.
He's an overall nice person, and one of the only Faunus Ruby had the pleasure of knowing. But get on his bad side, or try to con him; he'll gladly shoot you in his own store.
Walking in alongside Raven, Ruby entered the well-lit storeroom and closed the door behind her. The low howl of the outside wind, and the clatter of footsteps caught both Tukson and the male customer who he was talking to attention. A radio in the background could be heard, blasting some ad for Goliath munitions.
Ruby gave a nervous grin to Tukson, but went stoic upon locking eyes with the customer. A man much taller than normal clad in a heavy jacket, and thick dark pants. He had large shoulder pads which looked to be comprised of scrap metal, a bandoleer crossing his chest, as well as various other bits of makeshift armor. His helmet is what scared Ruby the most. An army green helmet completely encompassing his head looking not unlike a helmet she'd seen in those Atlas recruitment posters scattered around town. The modifications to it however were a sharp metal mohawk on top, and two sharp lenses for each eye.
Ruby shuddered a little. It was a Bandit. In land full of discord and insanity, without a government, you either joined Atlas, stayed within the shanty towns, or became a Bandit. Around here it seemed option three was most preferable. The life of freedom, and zanin was definitely appealing, but your chances of being disemboweled are increased tenfold.
The crimsonette still stood there, Raven at her side. Finally one of them spoke up;
"What'dya lettin kids in here now Tuk? I thought you ain't sold to kids." The Bandit questioned.
Ruby stifled a laugh at the man's illiterate accent, muffled by his helmet. Another important thing about Bandit's; they're dumber than all hell. Always excited about loud noises and murder. Like modern gun-toting cavemen so to speak.
"Nevermind you Bandit moron. Look are you buying something? I'm closing up soon." Tukson spoke from behind the wooden counter.
The Bandit threw is arms in the air, with exasperation he spoke. "Whatever man! I'm gonna get outta here, great selection my ass." He literally pushed past Ruby and bust out the door, mumbling something about how "Tukson is a greedy bastard."
"Sorry about that. You know how they are." Tukson shrugged. "So how'd it go today, didn't break another rifle did you?"
"No." Raven laughed. "That was Yang. She hates the rifles."
"Well i should've known. She and Qrow were on the roof all day using low flying birds as target practice. Girls pretty good with a shotgun." Tukson nodded with a quaint grin.
"Yeah, she's always been the nitty-gritty close range type. More Qrow's style anyway." Raven looked down to Ruby, ruffling her hair a bit. "This one is using the Atlas soon."
"Impressive." Tukson nodded. He gave one last glance around his shop, "Well its time for closing. You two better head upstairs. I'm leaving soon."
"No worry, C'mon Ruby." Raven put her hand on the girls shoulder and guided her up the stairs behind the counter in the shop. The stairs led up to a three-room living space. A tiny rundown kitchen to the left, a small seating area to the right, and two doorways on the far wall leading into the bedrooms. The small home had two windows as well, one in each of the bedrooms.
Ruby took her time escalate the stairs until the muffled voices of her sister and her Uncle could be heard. The scarlet teen sprinted the remaining way and halted right in the main room, smiling widely. Qrow was at a workbench in the corner with Yang. Apparently rebuilding a shotgun. "Hey Uncle, hey sis!" Ruby beamed. Setting the rifle and her ammo down.
Her blonde sister ceased her work with Qrow and immediately ran up to Ruby and crushed her in a hug. "There she is!" Yang shouted. The older girl wore lighter clothing consisting of a faded yellow tank top, shorts, and various pockets and straps. On her back was a magnetic weapon holster capable of holding two guns at once. Something Qrow had fashioned for her.
"Gah! Lemme go!" Ruby wriggled in the blondes grasp. Qrow smiled and looked up from the workbench. He was roughly the same age as Raven, all with medium length dark blonde hair that was getting gray in random places. His skin was slightly more tanned than Raven, and his face wore a sharp but warm expression. "How'd it go today?" He asked Raven.
The ebony-haired woman gave an affirmative grin. "She did well. Only missed once. Pretty impressive for the range it was at."
"She's taking right after her mother." Qrow muttered with a smile. "Yang, why don't you tell your sister what WE did today?"
"Uncle Qrow and I spent the while afternoon-"
"Shooting birds?" Raven cut in.
"Hey, how'd you know?" The blonde irked.
"Tukson told us."
"Haha, yeah." The blonde giggled. "He came up here like five times to tell us we were being too loud. Oh! And look!" Yang dashed over to the workbench and produced the main chassis of a shotgun. "Qrow and I are building one too."
"Oh yeah? Well I get to test out the Atlas rifle tomorrow." Ruby picked up on Yang's actions as gloating and decided to give it back.
"Rifles, psh, whatever. Too slow for me."
"Hey! Rifles are awesome and you know it. I mean it's an Atlas! Nothing gets better than that!" Ruby gushed.
"Okay, okay sis settle down."
"That Rifle?" Qrow raised butted in. Raising an eyebrow. "Sure she's ready?"
"She'll do fine." Raven reassured. "Heck, she's better than I was when I was her age."
"Hm, I can testify to that." Qrow quipped. He ignored Raven's impending glare and eyed the bickering sisters. "I've got a job for you two." His proposal immediately caught their attention. "Take this money and go get something to eat hm? You both have done well today." He handed them a few bills. If there was one thing the Schnee's did right, it was the implementing currency in the wasteland long ago.
"Really?!" The girls said in total synchronization.
"Sure, don't be too long though." Qrow could barely finish his statement before the two of them bolted out the door. Their actions forced him to grin widely, a bond like Ruby and Yang's was such a rarity in the wastes. Most bonds he'd seen could easily be broken by simply tossing a wad of cash or a nice gun between them, instantly reducing them to cold killers. Such was not the case between the sisters however. Both of them would fight tooth and nail to ensure the others safety, and material possessions mattered null.
"They're so much like Summer and Taiyang, aren't they?" Raven queried.
"Hm?" Qrow snapped from his thoughts and averted his attention to Raven. "Yeah, they are. If only they could be here to see them now."
"Sad yes, but we're their family now. We're doing exactly what they would want us to do." Raven reassured.
"Hm."
Qrow went off in thought again. The four of them were family, Qrow himself being Summer's brother and Raven being Taiyang's sister. After the passing of them, Ruby and Yang were left in the care of Qrow, how got in contact with Raven not soon after. It was the best option in terms of survival. You either stuck with your family, or in a tight knit group of friends. The whole 'Lone Wolf' attitude would undoubtedly get you killed in a myriad of ways, only the biggest badasses could manage in their own, and even then it would prove difficult.
After Ruby and Yang came into the picture; Raven and Qrow took it upon themselves to teach the girls everything there is to know about weapons, hand to hand and survival so that one day they could manage themselves if things got too dicey, or entertaining.
Ruby almost immediately took a liking to rifles and pistols, always raving about how cool they are. Yang on the other hand took to the bigger, louder types. Mainly shotguns. In the end it worked out perfectly as Qrow was a master shot-gunner, and Raven an ace marksman.
Through a lot of practice and maybe a few arguments, the girls learned skills quickly and proved to be viable when it came to survival. So it was random days like these where he'd give them a reward for their hard work.
######
"So where should we go?" Yang asked, closing the door behind her. The blonde watched as Ruby shuffled the money around on her hand, the girl counting it over and over again.
"Here Yang," The crimsonette handed the blonde half of the money. "There's your half."
"Half? Ruby what're you doing?"
"I want to save my money and get my own rifle, so, there you can do whatever you want with your half. I'm saving mine." Ruby explained proudly.
"So you'd rather buy a new rifle than have dinner? Wait, that actually makes sense." Yang reasoned. Sometimes she honestly questioned the fact that Ruby could be a Bandit, the girl already fit the 'Unhealthy gun obsession' part, and she was basically reduced to a sputtering animal if you put any format of sweets in front of her.
"That's two out of three..." Yang muttered.
"Huh?"
"Oh nothing sis, C'mon how about we just go for a walk."
"Uh, okay." Ruby shrugged and followed closely behind Yang. They took the stairs down to Tukson's store and exited through the back door, their senses immediately being lightened by the cool crisp desert nightfall. A tiny bit of orange could be seen in the far distance, but everything else was already dark or a deep material purple.
Yang took a deep breath, "You small that Rubes?"
Ruby giggled, "You mean the gasoline and garbage smell?"
"Right on sis." Yang laughed a little. The back of the shop faced several other shanty homes and beyond them was some smaller crags providing the town with natural protection. Upon eyeing them Ruby came up with an idea; "I know! I can show you the place I practiced at today." Yang nodded along, she'd rather be eating right now, but choose to humor her sister a little while longer.
Following the same route from earlier that evening, Ruby led Yang up to the extended cliff she was sniping from. The bluff stood out among the rest as being the sharpest and tallest, giving the viewer a picturesque scene of the vast expanse of the mainland. Reaching the edge first the crimsonette excitedly waved Yang over. As soon as the blonde caught up, she ushered them to sit on the edge, feet now dangling a hundred feet from the flat sands below.
"Wow." Was all Yang could say. "Raven never took me up here..."
"Yeah, it's my favorite spot." Ruby clarified. Silence befell, the two of them soaking in the amazing night sights.
"Hey Yang?"
"What's up?"
"You ever wonder what's out there?" Ruby made a wide gesture to the landscape. "Like, I don't know, just go out and travel around? Meeting all kinds of crazy people."
"I don't know sis. Maybe one day we'll go out there and be the good guys, kicking Bandit ass and finding all kinds of cool stuff." Yang said, not taking her eyes off of the horizon.
"Yeah, we could find all sorts of things, and sell them, and become rich, a-and do... stuff..." Ruby trailed off, getting caught up in multitude of options.
"Heh, we'd bring the stuff back and Tukson would give us five bucks for it." Yang cracked up in laughter. Ruby following not soon after. "I'll give you ten bucks." Yang mocked in a deep voice causing Ruby to laugh even harder.
"Crap!" Yang shouted, sitting up quickly. Ruby immediately ceased her laughter and eyed her sister, the blonde looking down at her watch. "We better head back." The girl quickly stood up, "They're probably getting... worried..."
Ruby grimaced as Yang's expression dropped, the blondes face locked in fear but still looking out to the landscape. "Yang?" She asked.
"..."
"Yang- ack! Hey!?" Ruby hissed at the death grip Yang placed on her shoulder, forcing her to look in the same direction.
Her face immediately copied Yang's.
In the distance, maybe under a mile away from town, was four pairs of headlights rushing toward Signal. Ruby, already fearing the worst, hastily dug through her backpack and produced a pair of binoculars. She practically glued them ton her face and focused on the scene below. As her eyes came into focus she gasped.
Four technicals, each filled with Bandit marauders, sped directly towards Signal. Quick doing the math in her head, Ruby estimated there was at least 24 of them. All armed to the teeth. "Oh no." Ruby quivered.
"Bandits."
"What!?" Yang exclaimed. She took immediate action, "C'mon! We have to warn them!" She tugged on the scarlet girls arm and pulled her back from the edge. The sudden movement causing her to shake and drop the binoculars off the Cliffside.
Fearfully, Ruby followed. 'Of all days...' She should've known. All towns get attacked at some point in time. What made her feel worse was because Signal has yet to be assaulted; guards and defenses numbered few.
"We need to get back!" Yang shouted. She continued to drag Ruby along, the both of them sprinting at insane speeds. They made the short run back down the crags and into the rear of the town.
Already too late.
It was an inevitability really. Every so often Bandits will show up to have some "fun" with local towns. Most likely because they needed to resupply themselves, or were just plain bored. Usually it was the latter over the former. If you were lucky, they'd simply set fire to the place and leave. If you weren't lucky, like most are, you'd be dead within a few minutes or taken prisoner to do God knows what back at one of thier camps.
Down the main dusty path in the middle of town, both girls got a good view of the front entrance where the road ended and the town began. The loud roar of gas guzzling engines became closer and closer, townsfolk already starting to retreat into their homes while others took cover, hands on whatever weapons they had.
Ruby and Yang followed suit. Taking cover around the corner of a nearby brick home. Heart pounding seconds came and went, the engine roar was deafeningly close. Yang huddled her younger sister close and peaked around the dark corner. Lilac eyes widened as the first technical drove directly into town. The large vehicle did a quick one-eighty powerslide before coming to a halt. The other three vehicles stopping in other random positions along the center of town.
From the first vehicle, a large Bandit stepped out from the drivers seat -machine gun slung on his shoulder. He raised it into the air and fired several times. "Bang Bang Bang!" The Bandit called out, several other Marauders climbed out of the vehicle too, most of them dressed in a similar fashion. Dark heavy pants, heavy hoodies, with bandanna's and darkened goggles.
Ruby perked up, the voice of the first guy sounded... terrifying. She knelt next to Yang and snuck a peek too, it looked like the same Bandit from earlier. The one in Tukson's shop. She then noticed something he hadn't before; squinting her eyes an emblem came into focus on his makeshift shoulder plate. The emblem of the notorious Bandit group known as Crimson. One of the more powerful clans in the area.
It wasn't the same guy, but one that was way more powerful.
"Alright boys!" The leader squawked. "Get to it."
With the command given, each of the lower ranking marauders instantly went crazy. They spread out in a somewhat tactical order. The ones with heavier weapons took to the doors of townsfolk whilst the lesser armed ones ravaged the outside.
"Yeeeaaaahhawww!" One shouted. Ruby and Yang shifted their gaze to a home on the far right. A Bandit kicked the door in and immediately started firing from the hip like a madman, his Goliath machine gun blaring. Screams could be heard from inside along with muzzle flashes from the slats in the windows. Within mere seconds the screaming stopped, only to be heard again except from a different place.
"Ya'll three!" The leader called out, pointing a a small group of his subordinates. "C'mon, we gonna pay ol' Tukson a visit." He pulled the pin back on his gun and marched down the path, quickly evading the girls line of sight.
"Yang, what do we do?" Ruby shrilled, already terrified at what was going on. Bandit's were going home to home, killing, setting fire, repeat.
"You heard that big guy, he's going to- ERGH!" Yang screamed. A Marauder jumped out from around a corner and wrapped Yang in a near neck-breaking headlock. "What d'we got here?" He cackled, tightening his grip around Yang's neck. The blonde used a technique Qrow had taught her, she leant forward with all her strength creating a small gap between her feet and his feet. With the proper amount of space; the blonde reeled her leg forward and brought her heel back with as much force as possible, hitting the Bandit right in apex of his legs. "AGH! Owh..." He screeched, Yang felt his grip fall off as the man crumpled to the ground slowly curling up in pain.
"Yeah! Alright Rubes, let's..." Yang's gaze darted around, not being able to locate Ruby. "She must've ran to get Raven." Yang said aloud. The elder girl picked up the downed Bandit's tomahawk and took off in a different direction, wanting to avoid as much confrontation as possible. Her body was shaking with adrenaline, her mind was rushing with exhilaration. She'd never actually fought anyone in person like that, in an odd way it felt...
Good.
Finally she could put her skills to good use, even if it was mindless violence. She shook her head vigorously, trudging through town as gunfire and screams rung out from close-by, only one objective was what she focused on.
Get to her family.
As Yang continued on Ruby darted down a random alley just on the other side of the homes that faced the main dusty path. Her body was racking in fear, knowing all to well what happens when Bandit's decide to attack a town. Even in the cold desert nighttime, her she was sweating profusely.
"Damn!" She thundered coming to a dead end. The crimson teen looked to her left and saw an odd stack of scrap metal and junk that could be used to climb up onto the roofs and get to Tukson's shop back door a lot faster. Her body froze in fear however as loud footfalls thumped a little too closely.
"Agh! I'm gonna cook you!" Another bandit squalled.
Ruby stopped dead in the short alleyway, eyes widening at the voice. The crimsonette fearfully glanced up to her right, and leaped out of the way as a bandit wielding a tomahawk lurched off a nearby shanty roof. She heaved a feared gasp as the bandit's weapon became lodged in a nearby wall. "Goddamn!" He shrilled, imminently he began tugging on the trapped object.
Still in shock, Ruby bound up from the dirt, dashed behind the bandit, and bashed his face off of the concrete wall. "Oh god..." she gawked at her own action. "What did I-" she felt her adrenaline increase tenfold.
"Another little girl!" A similar Marauder shouted from the end of the alleyway. The young girl feared for her life upon seeing the Atlesian-model pistol in his grasp.
"Never mess with the-" He pulled the trigger, and Ruby cowered onto the dirt already accepting her fate. Three seconds past and... nothing? She cracked an eye open, and glanced at the bandit who was fiddling with his pistol. "Dammit!" He thundered. "Forgot how this these stupid things work..."
Seeing an opportunity; Ruby reached for the tomahawk still lodged in the wall and pulled with all her frail power. Surprisingly, she was able to pull it out -most likely due to the adrenaline racing through her veins. The girl sprinted up to the frustrated bandit and lodged the tomahawk right through the bandit's helmet. Smashing the front facade, blood smeared back -small droplets of it landing on Ruby's face and dotting her shirt. The bandit didn't elicit any sound, thanks to the blade now lodged into his jaw.
He crumpled to the ground, dropping his gun, and slowly staining the sand a dark crimson. Ruby felt her stomach churn, tempting her to vomit right there in the sand. She fought it off however, and used the heap of junk to escalate the wall and get over to the other side.
She dashed across the roof and jumped down upon coming in contact with the rear facade of the gun store. Within mere inches of the door; Ruby heard more footsteps approaching. The girl instinctively flushed herself against the wall to try and get the jump on whoever was coming.
"Aaagghh!" She yelled turning the corner, ready to attack. She ceased her charge however upon realizing who it was;
"Yang!"
"Ruby!"
Both girls enveloped the other in a tight embrace. "So glad you're okay." Yang spoke.
"L-Look, we need to get inside, I-I saw that guy a-and-" Ruby could barley form a sentence her body still racking in adrenaline fueled fear.
"Rubes are you alright? And- wait a minute, is this blood?" Yang's voice raised an octave upon seeing the dark red on Ruby's pale skin.
"Yang, I-I'm fine. Let's go," Ruby tried to reassure her sister. Yang gave an awry nod before opening the back door and running inside, the younger girl in tow. They paled however upon seeing the front door knocked off its hinges resting on the floor.
"Oh no! Yang!?" Ruby cried, unsure of what to do next.
"I got'cha three! C'mon boys let's take our prize back to the truck." The same voice of the Bandit leader sounded from upstairs. "Ruby, over here!" Yang whisper shrieked. The younger girl looked to Yang who was hiding behind a nearby munitions crate in the corner of the store. Seeing as there was no way they could take him on.
Several sets of steps came down the staircase, peeking over the box Yang watched as the leader left first, followed by his cronies, she almost screamed as she saw Raven, Qrow, and Tukson thrashing in their grasps.
Prisoners.
"Let me go you low-life Bandit scum!" Qrow exclaimed, he was silenced however by a heavy hit to the back of his head. Ruby couldn't bring herself to look, the grunts of pain coming from Raven and Qrow slowly made her eyes well up, her body racking and desperately trying to hold back from bawling.
"Load 'em up with the whatever else we's got. Boss Is gonna give us a big reward for this batch." The leader gave one final command. They exited the store, and not soon after the sound of engines starting up broke the silent air. Not caring anymore, Ruby dashed out from cover and directly to the door, he pushed it open, no paying the blood sickened handle any mind.
"Ruby wait!" Yang tried to stop her, but Ruby was just too fast.
The crimsonette watched as the trucks pulled away. With them they took whatever gear they could scavenge along with a dozen prisoners.
"No NO NO!" Ruby fell to her knees, tears cascading down her face, watching as some of the only family she had left was being taken away. Yang came charging out not soon after, the town now eerily silent. Around her lie dead townsfolk, empty bullet casings, and ruins of homes. She watched the heartbreaking sight of her sister crying on the sand.
What the hell just happened?
Yang dogtrotted over to the distraught Ruby but gave the girl some personal space. The scarlet teen was still dazed, racking in fear. She wiped the tears from her eyes; only to see a far more horrendous sight. Her hands slick with blood from the door. The girl lurched back and screamed, the memory of what she did to that Bandit coming back instantaneously.
"I can't..." she muttered. Ruby felt her stomach flip again but this time she couldn't hold it back. Yang walked over and held the crimson hair back as Ruby retched on the sand, disgusted with herself for what she just did.
"I killed someone... Yang..." she sputtered with a shaky voice. It was her first real encounter with a Bandit. Not the usual Cactus or small Grimm she's used to fighting. No, this was a living - breathing person.
"Ruby it's..." Yang fought hard with herself not to submit to the same sorrow Ruby was currently facing. Her bug sister skills were really being strained at this point. "You did what you had to do, it's just... I don't-"
Yang felt herself immediately wrapped in an extremely tight hug, the smaller girl softly sobbing into her shoulder. "It's okay, I'm here." She soothed. There wasn't much time however. As soon as the word spreads of a ruined town; scavengers will show up and finish the job. "Ruby I'm sorry, but... we have to go."
Ruby blanched, but internally agreed with what Yang proposed. She quickly wiped her hands off on her jeans and then dried her face off with her collar. "Just be strong, okay?"
Ruby didn't give a reply, instead she pulled herself together and brushed past Yang, back into their home. The blonde followed suit, still shook by this horrendous day. Horrendous, but part of daily life in a land like this. "Yang... w-what now?" Ruby quietly asked.
"We grab what we can... and... we leave."
"And go after them right?" Ruby almost pleaded.
"I'm sorry sis, but we can't. We're not ready, but." Yang stood tall and held Ruby by her shoulders. "We leave, we practice, and one day, I promise you. Well find them." Her tone was near aggressive, some pent up anger clearly being used.
"O-Okay, promise?"
"Promise."
######
Present...
Reminisce was something Ruby assumed ran in the Xiao Long bloodline. As that was she currently found herself doing. By blood she's a Xiao Long, but by choice she's a Rose. Her mother's maiden name. From that day on, she'd wanted to be called that. To honor what she's lost, especially her mother.
Yang did see that promise through however. But the results it yielded just made things worse rather than better. Upon tracking them down; Ruby and Yang, fifteen and seventeen at that time, came up empty handed. Turns out Raven and Qrow had escaped and were out roaming the desert somewhere. After that the sisters gave up. To many close calls with death told them not to try and investigate their whereabouts. Maybe fate would make them cross paths, but for now they've their own lives to attend to.
Now, Ruby and Yang had stopped off in a large town called Beacon. Beacon was a massive trading hub and practically the largest and safest place to be in the wasteland. Roughly three times the size of Signal, Beacon was forged of the same build philosophy, but there were mostly rundown brick buildings and an actual Road that ran through town. Technicals would come and go, guns were bought and sold, and bars would remain open 24/7 to cater to the needs of Merchants, Mercenaries, and even Bandits.
The now nineteen year old girl currently sits outside of a small grungy-looking bar known as the 'Purple Nevermore' she opted not to go in as the scene inside wasn't really her thing and told Yang she'd just wait outside.
So she did.
For almost four hours now.
It didn't bother her much, she kinda fit in around here. Her clothing hadn't changed much over the years. She now wore a red, black, and white plaid shirt, but with the same torn jeans, goggles, the works. However the once empty holster is now replaced with a sheath containing her prized blade; Crescent Rose. On her back was a rifle, but one that wasn't hers. It was her mother's.
The Atlas gun Raven had talked about all those years ago was in fact Summer's rifle. It's name is Morningstar, an elegant rifle with a black and crimson paint job, and formed plating gave it a perfectly smooth and consistent design. The regular scope on top had been swapped out for a digital compensation rangefinder, and a bi-pod was mounted on the end.
It was her pride and joy.
She continued to eye the gun, fiddling with the bi-pod to pass the time. There was a radio nearby blasting some godawful Death Metal, and multiple drunk patrons lolling around.
"Hey Ruby!" A familiar chipper voice sounded.
"Finally." Ruby threw her hands up in exasperation and jogged up to Yang who'd just left the bar. "Do you have to yell?" Ruby questioned.
"I would say something, but I can't, look, the unthinkable has happened." Yang said with excitement.
"You gambled our money away. Again?"
"No! And hey, that only happened once, stupid Merchant was using a stacked deck or whatever. Look, I found us a job to end all jobs."
Ruby sighed, last time Yang said that it ended up with her getting bit by a rabid Grimm, one of those ones with two legs. "I'm not being Grimm bait again."
"No no. It's got to do with those Atlesian jerkwads." Ruby gestured for Yang to continue. The blonde grinned madly and pulled a map out from one of the various pockets on her belt, she unfurled it and pointed to a spot almost in the middle of the desert. "Rumor has it that Atlas is transporting some pretty expensive stuff for the Schnee's. There's a dead drop here," Yang slammed her finger onto the map. "See the thing is, there's a ten minute delay until the retrieval guys come and get it to transport it the rest of the way, so-"
"You want us to steal it?" Ruby cut Yang off in a complete monotone.
"Exactly, so here's what we do; we get out there, open the shipment, grab what we can and then run back." Yang explained like it was the best plan in history.
"Don't they put trackers in that stuff? And I'm pretty sure we're not going to be alone when we get there." Ruby picked at her sisters so-called 'plan'.
"Ah ah ah, sis. See if we... I think... alright look do you have a better idea?" Yang questioned. She brought out her short range yellow and black shotgun, otherwise known as what she called; 'Radiant Zhu' gripped by her plated gloves Ember and Celica. The gun itself shot incendiary rounds, it wasn't built by the Schnee's however. The gun itself was an import coming from the tech forges of Haven. Haven guns excel in sheer elemental power, sometimes even more than the Schnee's. Haven stole the design plans for elemental weaponry a long time ago, most of them are cheap knockoffs, but the good rare ones like Yang's shotgun are incredibly deadly.
Watching her crazy sister already to go out and fight Ruby sighed by smiled. The job sounds ludicrous but she'd never pass up some one on one time with her beloved Morningstar.
Ruby slung her rifle back and eyed Yang. "Next time I get to pick what we do."
"Sure thing sis." Yang was secretly crossing her fingers behind her back.
So long as no one else gets involved this should be pretty easy, right? Stealing from the richest group in the land wasn't something Ruby had planned on doing today, but this is Remnant after all.
But for them, this job would spell their most zanin fueled, death-defying adventure yet.
A/N Alright, that turned out way longer than anticipated, but meh, writing action scenes like that was fucking fun as hell. Also: how'd I do with them? They're my first so let me know. As per the weapons, each character will have a unique melee weapon which is named after their canon weapon. Thanks to Shadowyman, we've come up with awesome names which are loaded with references, so try and figure them out!
I reworked some of this and the pairings are: Cinderruby, Banana Split, Monochrome, Crosshares, and more. This story will feature quite a few characters but Cinderruby and Banana Split are the main focus.
I know there's a lot of info in there too, so don't hesitate to PM me about it, as you can probably tell this AU is going to be frigging massive, so stay tuned!
