I am now closing in on the end of Volume 1 and I am truly humbled by how much support I am getting for writing this, truly I appreciate all the kind words. Now that Volume 2 is out I have to start planning how this is going to go along. I have so many ideas...and so little time to write them down. Who knows what adventures await team RWBY and their intrepid wanderer? Maybe they will encounter a force unknown to Remnant. Maybe you might hear stories of Boarbatusks being taken into the sky and sightings of strange lights at night.

Chapter 7

Toils and Snares

"The Girls are the prettiest, Way back home..."- Way Back Home by Bob Crosby, Galaxy News Radio.

Royce yawned before finally finishing up his test and turning it in. As always Professor Port was pleased with his results. The Wanderer just smiled politely and bid farewell to the mustachioed professor before heading out for lunch. When he saw that bacon was on the menu he pretty much wanted to make damn sure he was first in line.

When Weiss found him in the cafeteria she rolled her eyes as she saw the impossibly huge sandwich on Royce's tray. Yang and Ruby shook their heads giggling while Blake simply tilted her head. They never did figure out how Royce never seemed to get fat over the things he ate. Then again he usually hit the gym when he wasn't reading, shooting targets, tinkering with his weapons and armor or studying for classes. Weiss at one time asked what his plans after graduating were.

The young man had simply shrugged and said. "Apart from the Hunter job? Probably a mechanic or repairman. Hell, I actually just want to travel. See what Remnant has to offer." Royce always had that wanderlust and he didn't seem to have any plans of settling down in any foreseeable time. Ruby looked absolutely crushed that he was going to leave but Royce had reassured her that the future was never set in stone.

The Wanderer did sometimes ask himself when he would settle down. He just couldn't see himself as a man with a family yet. Who knows? Maybe he'd find the answer to that question here on Remnant. Or maybe he'd finally be able to put away his guns and knives and explosives, buy a small house to call his own and live the rest of his life in peace.

/

The Xuanlong cracked as Royce sent another three round burst into the Ursa shaped target's head. Royce fired again and again. He never did get to practice his marksmanship much but he tried to back in DC. Most of his targets were raiders who were high off their asses and charged straight in with melee weapons. It may have sounded stupid but underestimating your enemy usually ended with you getting brained with a pool cue.

Royce learned that the hard way. And scars never faded. Instinctively he reached for his temple. The pool cue broke right there and the Raider holding it received a broken trachea for his troubles. Seriously though it hurt.

The Wanderer finished up his target practice, he then said good bye to Professor Colt and then went to put his Xuanlong away. As he was walking he saw Cardin Winchester, again bullying some poor girl by grabbing one of her long rabbit ears. Royce shook his head as he walked over. His mood soured immediately and few people stood in the way when the Lone Wanderer was in a very bad mood.

"Hey, Winchester!" He barked angrily. Cardin looked over in irritation at first then he paled considerably as Royce Walker marched towards him, his expression turning stormy. The angry frown set on the older young man's face and his tall, muscular build made it even harder for the wannabe bully to look him in the eye. The derisive comment Cardin had on his mouth promptly went back to his brain as Royce's blazing hazel eyes locked onto the boy.

Cardin tried to leave but Royce caught up first and grabbed the other boy by the collar. "You really haven't changed have you." He stated calmly as he roughly shoved the boy away from the Faunus girl. "You know what, I'm not even going to dignify you with a punch to the face. Just get out of my sight." Cardin cringed and ran for it.

"Go on!" Royce snapped in irritation causing Winchester to run even faster lest the Wanderer shoot lasers from his eyes. It was a popular rumor amongst the younger crowd of Beacon, if he had listened to the rumors Royce would have found it rather funny. "Run away before I change my mind! GO!" Cardin ran even faster. Royce swore under his breath then looked at the shaking Faunus girl and apologized. "Sorry, he really should know better than that."

"N-No...I-it's okay." The Faunus girl murmured. "Th-Thanks."

"You heading back inside?" Royce asked her. "I'm Royce by the way."

"Oh...u-um yes I-I know..." The girl stammered. "You're the one everyone talked about. The- The guy who woke up in the forest." She smiled uneasily. "I-I'm Velvet."

"Royce, nice to meet you." Royce nodded back politely. He then eyed her ears in a concerned way. "You sure you're okay? He was tugging on your ears real hard."

"I-I'm fine..." Velvet told him, her rather large ears twitched. "I-It's not a problem. I-I should get going. Thank you a-again." And before Royce could say anything else she walked off. Royce didn't see that her face had turned beet red from embarrassment. The Wanderer blinked and then he shrugged as he headed back to the Academy.

When Velvet had finally reached a more private area she gave a small smile. "He's a lot cuter than I thought he would be," she murmured.

Now inside the academy Royce sneezed and then shuddered as a chill went up his spine. Yeah he screwed up somewhere and was confused as to how. He then shrugged that thought off and continued on his merry way, whistling. It was almost dinner time. He didn't want to be late to get food.

/

The next morning...

"Ah Mister Walker, good to see you." Ozpin greeted the Wanderer who gave a polite nod as he sat down in the Headmaster's office. Situated way above the academy Royce found it to be peaceful up here, if a bit intimidating.

"Likewise Headmaster." Royce said leaning forward. "You uh...needed me for something?"

"Just wondering how you've been holding up." Ozpin told him in a reassuring tone.

"Oh...well, I'm fine. Really I am." Royce smiled. "Just keeping up my grades in class and hopefully I graduate with flying colors."

"Good, good." Ozpin nodded. "Now I am sure that you have heard the announcement that the Vytal Festival begins next semester."

"Right," Royce nodded. Apparently it was a showcase of cultures in the city of Vale and students from academies all over Remnant came together to test their skills in combat. Everyone was excited about it apparently and Professor Goodwitch was pushing everyone to practice. Especially Royce since he had caught her eye during physical training. The Wanderer...wasn't exactly enthused. He wasn't a tourney fighter. He wasn't a warrior at all. Every combat skill he had learned in the wastelands of DC was carefully honed towards one singular thing: ending the lives of his enemies.

Besides the only reason he was excited for the Festival was because Weiss mentioned that there would be food. Lots and lots of delicious food. Royce had to force himself to focus. But he liked food so it proved to be a difficult task.

"You've stated that you were having...doubts mister Walker." Ozpin commented. "Professor Goodwitch told me that you were against having to participate. While it would be disappointing if you forewent attending the festival, it begs the question why. You have quite a skill set."

"...That's the thing." Royce said quietly. "My skill set isn't exactly appropriate for tourneys professor. I might kill someone on accident. I'm pretty sure no one in Remnant would appreciate that."

"Ah you are more concerned for your competitors, I can understand." Ozpin said. He just seemed to know what to say to someone. Royce admired that as it reminded him of his father. He shook that reverie away. "Just do what you can."

"Sure, but I'm still thinking about it." Royce said. He looked...nervous. "I'm not much of a showy kind of guy."

"We all have stage fright Mister Walker." Ozpin assured the wanderer. "You'll be fine."

Royce made a noncommittal grunt.

"I have seen many young men and women come through these halls you know." Ozpin continued. "Some have fallen to baser instincts, and it is so disappointing to see such potential wasted. You? You have already walked a more perilous road. One that would have caused lesser men to fall. And yet despite all your trials, all the lives you have ended you still possess a kindness that few would have. Never underestimate that kindness Mister Walker. The world has far too much hatred. It is about time that someone started adding good things to the world."

Royce sighed and closed his eyes. "Alright, Headmaster. I'll see what I can do."

That afternoon Royce Walker walked up to Professor Goodwitch and asked her to add him to the list of participants of the Vytal Festival. The professor gave him an approving glance as she signed his name onto the list. He didn't exactly hear Yang squealing in excitement. He also did not see Cardin flinch in fear or Jaune's face turn a pale color.

A lot of students had the same reaction. Then again it was understandable, the Lone Wanderer would be a formidable opponent to face.

/

When the Wanderer left Ozpin went back to his desk and consulted his scroll. Another message from Qrow. Ever since Ozpin had told the man some things about the Lone Wanderer he had been most intrigued. What Ozpin saw now was a bit concerning.

Qrow was shrewd and well informed about the movements of certain groups. He often kept contact with headmasters from the other academies of Remnant. Though it was a time of peace, one always had to be careful. Especially since the White Fang were planning something. For Qrow to sound this surprised, judging from how the message was framed, then whatever he stumbled upon must be serious indeed.

The message read:

Fang is moving quicker. Schedule has slipped. Messenger heads to Vale. Hunting prey.

Messenger? Hunting prey? Ozpin made the query. In a few seconds another message appeared:

Just appeared out of nowhere. Bears the flag of a faraway nation. Extremely Dangerous much like your new student.

The Headmaster's eyes widened, if Qrow thought that someone was dangerous then that meant trouble. That meant that he had to make a few calls...

/

The Beowolf had wanted to snarl but it whimpered before simply ceasing to exist as the MPLX Novasurge ended whatever life it had by turning it into green goo. Royce holstered his plasma pistol before walking over to his fallen Xuanlong. Picking up the assault rifle he frowned as he dusted the weapon off and checked it for damage. Seeing none he shouldered his rifle and exhaled through his nose.

Muttering to himself he looked around Emerald Forest. He remembered how Ozpin had him walk into it to start his initiation. Now? He was launched off the side of a fucking cliff by catapult. What kind of asshole did that? At least his landing was safe, even if he had blacked out for a few minutes. His right arm had suffered a fracture but thanks to Stimpacks and his own bizarre healing factor it was all healed for him in a few minutes.

"Hey Royce!"

The Wanderer turned to find Ruby appearing from the bushes. She looked okay from what he could see. "Ah hey," Royce said then asked. "You all okay? No broken bones or anything?"

"Nope. You? You were yelling pretty loudly when the exercise started." Ruby said tilting her head.

The wanderer reddened slightly around the ears. Nobody in JNPR or RWBY was gonna let him live this one down.

/

A few moments before...

"Wait," Royce said nervously to Professor Goodwitch who was smiling at him as Yang was launched into the air. "What do you mean landing strate- OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" He was launched into the forest as the platform below his feet revealed itself as a very strong catapult.

Glynda Goodwitch frowned slightly as Royce hit the tree line. He really should watch his cursing.

/

Now...

"You know you could have told me that those platforms launch people." Royce said looking sheepish as he tore a small branch off a tree to get it out of the way. He stepped over a root as his head moved on a swivel checking every angle. The Grimm had a nasty habit of appearing seemingly out of nowhere. His Pip Boy had nothing on its motion sensor.

"Aw...come on, it wasn't that bad." Ruby told him as they continued towards their meeting point.

"It wasn't that..." Royce just shook his head. He was not very fond of heights or of flying. Sure he had learned to banish such things but he still held reservations when it came to leaving the ground. The Wanderer preferred to have his feet on the ground.

That was when a Beowolf decided to show itself. Royce snapped up his Xuanlong and fired a series of three round bursts. The beast snarled as the Dust Rounds punched into its body. The snarl was abruptly cut short as Ruby seemingly blinked into existence behind it and promptly cut the creature in half.

"Two more coming in Royce!" Ruby announced as she spun her scythe ready to meet the two Beowolves that just burst through the brush to charge straight at the duo. Royce nodded as he opened fire with the Xuanlong before running out of rounds. He and the first Beowolf closed in. The Wanderer ducked under the overhead swipe meant for his head. Rolling to a stop he drew the Blackhawk from its holster and fired an explosive round that sent the beast flying forward, a hole the size of a dinner plate punched through its back and through the chest. He turned, aiming Blackhawk only to see Ruby there. Behind her was a cleanly bisected Beowolf.

She raised her hands. "I surrender?"

Royce smirked and lowered his revolver.

/

Weapons reloaded, the pair continued to their rendezvous. Yang and the others were already there. "Hey guys!"

"Hey yourself," Royce greeted back.

"Have a nice flight?" Blake asked Royce cheekily. The Wanderer put on a look of mock offense as Weiss giggled.

"Very funny," Royce scoffed. "So...what are we after this time? I swear Professor Goodwitch likes keeping all of us on our toes."

"There's a Deathstalker nest a few miles north of here." Weiss told him.

"Seriously!?" Royce exclaimed then shook his head. "She wants us to kill that!? Remember the last time we tried fooling around with those giant scorpions?"

"Yeah well she said it was good experience, and why are you so worried anyway?" Yang asked him. "You're the one with the explosives. I remember you killing the last one with nothing more than a lunch box and bottle caps."

"Okay then, you got a point. But who's gonna go in the cave?" Royce asked. No one had an answer to that.

They all decided to draw straws.

Unfortunately Royce, much to everyone else's amusement, got the shortest.

/

"Damn it." Royce said as he planted the Bottle Cap mine down a few meters away from the cave entrance. Everyone was waiting outside away from the cave. "Actually..." He planted another mine then continued inside. He made damn sure to check the sensor modules before he made these. Bottle cap mines were no joke. Royce had used these before and their ramshackle design was often overlooked in favor of their potency.

When he finally saw the ominously glowing golden sphere Royce raised his Xuanlong and fired off a long tearing burst that smashed right into the sphere. The loud screeching of an angry Grimm echoed out of the cave. Royce turned tail and sprinted back out the cave, jumping over his recently placed mines as a massive Deathstalker scuttled its way out of the cave. Royce sped up then took cover, covering his ears.

Two beeps sounded.

The mines exploded with ear ringing force severely injuring the Deathstalker scorpion. Two of its legs flew into the air. Screeching in pain the Deathstalker kept moving out of the cave determined to kill whatever had disturbed its sleep.

"Now!" Ruby cried as she pumped shots from Crescent Rose into the beast. "Yang, take its stinger off! Hit it with all you've got!" With a jubilant war cry Yang jumped towards the Deathstalker, punching its stinger off. She was covered by Royce who pumped burst after burst of incendiary rounds into the rapidly dying beast. Weiss and Blake moved too fast for the eye to see, coming in as soon as Royce backed off and yelled "Reloading!" as the Xuanlong expended its last round. Weiss, using her Myrtenaster, switched modes to ice and gracefully thrust her rapier forwards, emitting a wave of icicles that impaled the dying Deathstalker. Blake severed the tail with two swings of Gambol Shroud, causing a gush of gore to erupt from the stump left behind. The beast let out a keening cry before finally succumbing to its injuries.

"We got him!" Ruby crowed. "Way to go team!"

"Yay," Royce said pedantically as he loaded a new magazine into his weapon. "It's dead." He then rolled his shoulders. "I hate bugs."

/

"Royce..." The Wanderer looked up from his book found Ruby this time. She had an expectant smile on her face. He closed his book.

"Uh...hi?" He asked looking uncertainly behind her shoulders. "You need help with something Ruby?"

"No...just wondering if you'd uh...like to take...a walk...with me?" Ruby asked pressing the tips of her index fingers together looking nervous. Royce, perceptive as he was, just sighed and put his book back into his bag and stood up. First Weiss, now Ruby. It was getting a bit more complicated with those two now. Sometime this afternoon after Glynda Goodwitch's Deathstalker Hunt assignment, he caught the both of them glaring at each other. In fact ever since Weiss asked to take a walk with him it had been a common occurrence. He didn't want them to start something that would tear the team apart.

"Sure, why not?" he conceded to her request. "Did you have any place in mind?"

"Oh nowhere special, just...around..." Ruby said.

/

"Well, isn't this interesting." Yang quipped as she followed Weiss who was currently following her sister around, it was rather funny because Royce was being dragged around by Ruby. She was pretty sure Royce outweighed Ruby by a few kilos and was taller than her by a mile. To see him getting dragged around by a small fifteen year old was rather amusing.

"What? From what I'm guessing you guys did the same thing." Weiss snapped at Yang. She then turned back to Royce and Ruby. Ruby said something and Royce just chuckled and answered back with a cheeky grin. They then began a discussion about assault rifles and other instruments of death. Weiss found it a bit disturbing that a fifteen year old had so much knowledge on firearms.

"Hey I ain't judging, I just find it kinda funny." Yang raised her hands in defense. "I mean, wow I am so surprised you guys haven't gotten serious. You know he likes ya a lot Weiss."

Weiss started sputtering much to Yang's amusement. She decided to continue. "I mean come on what's not to like? He's smart, strong and if he'd just walk around shirtless..." She gave a sigh. Time for the finishing blow. "Better yet if he wore nothing but that cute smile of his..."

Blake tried not to laugh but the fact that Weiss had turned an extremely deep shade of red at what Yang was saying it was proving to be quite a challenge indeed.

"T-T-W-What!?" Weiss sputtered indignantly."I-I-I'm n-not s-some...S-s-some p-perverted woman! H-How dare you..."

"I was just kidding!" Yang said as Blake failed to hold in her laughter.

/

Ruby found herself unable to say a word after a while. But much to her relief Royce simply accompanied her on their little stroll. She didn't mind but it was getting awkward real fast. While she knew she liked Royce the moment they met, she was not used to talking about things other than weapons.

Like...that was totally an understatement. Every dream was either about weapons or Royce feeding her strawberries on a beach somewhere wearing nothing but a smile. Ruby realized that the picture in her head was very embarrassing to think about. Blood rushed through her head.

"You feeling okay?" Royce asked her. He looked a bit concerned. Ruby was beet red. And she was breathing heavily.

Huh!?" Ruby jolted. "Um...yeah!? Hey is it a little too warm?" She pulled on her collar with a nervous smile.

"Um Ruby..." Royce reached out to help Ruby when she overheated. She fainted and Royce quickly caught her before she hit her head on the ground. The Lone Wanderer sighed and pinched his nose smiling. He then picked Ruby up in his arms and went to the dorms, he said nothing when Yang and the others followed.

He felt Ruby snuggle into his chest. Royce sighed again but he soldiered on, ignoring the giggling and the odd looks he received.

/

Ruby blinked then sat up. She realized she was in her bed in the dorm room.

"Oh hey, you're awake." Royce was looking up at her. He was sitting on his mattress studying his textbook. "You uh kinda fainted on me." He stood up and checked on her. "How are you feeling?"

"How long was I out?" Ruby asked. "I didn't mean to..."

"Hey come on," Royce said frowning. "Take it easy, nothing bad happened. Apart from you missing dinner of course." He gestured to the tray of food beside him. "Yang was obviously worried. I told her to calm down, we're all cool."

That was an understatement. Yang looked quite upset when Royce carried an unconscious Ruby to their dorm. It took a lot of convincing for Royce to calm her down. Royce watched Ruby scarf down her meal with an observant eye before turning back to his textbook. He didn't seem surprised when Yang burst into the room and hugged her little sister, asking her if she was alright or needed anything. Royce closed his textbook and kept observing the sisters.

"I-I'm fine Yang." Ruby told Yang. "I just...well."

"She was probably stressing out too much." Royce said. "Just be careful next time Ruby, you might have overexerted yourself in PT or something." Royce stood up and stretched. "Well I should probably go get ready for bed."

When he left, Yang turned to Weiss. "You wanna go watch?" she asked grinning.

Weiss' response was a very angry glare.

/

Friday, City of Vale

Royce was too busy looking at the police tape surrounding the store to be paying any attention to Weiss and her lecture on the Vale festival, actually it was all just an excuse to sneak a peek on the arriving competitors. It surprised him but at the same time it didn't. The Wanderer overheard something about increased White Fang activity in the area.

"Hey did you hear?" One officer asked his partner as they continued observing the store.

"Hear what?" was the annoyed answer.

"You know that one girl we caught? The one with the antlers?" The first officer asked again seemingly ignoring his fellow officer's annoyed glare. "She kept muttering something about a guy chasing them. I mean dang...whoever that dude is he must be real tough to make the White Fang piss their pants."

"Oh jeez, this bullshit again Marty really? He's probably some special forces guy from Atlas or something." The second officer retorted.

"Royce!"

The Wanderer turned back to Ruby and the others. "Oh, sorry."

"Really? Another one?" Ruby looked up at the currently closed Dust shop.

"Yep!" One of the officers walked over. Royce remembered that his name was Marty...or something like that. The officer took one look at Royce's Pip Boy.

"Whoa, hey! Hey Mick!" Marty pointed at the Pip Boy. "I think this is the guy chasing the White Fang!"

Team RWBY looked to Royce who was gaping at the officer. "I'm sorry?" Royce asked. "But I'm just a student at Beacon officer."

"Marty you really need to tone it down." Mick walked over. "Sorry kids, my partner's just been listening to too much scuttle butt. Run along now."

"What was that about?" Weiss asked before turning to Royce. "And what did he mean about you going after the White Fang?"

"I don't sneak out of school to go off and fight crime, Weiss." Royce said. "I have no reason to." His face was impassive but Ruby noticed his hand clenching and unclenching. The remark about his Pip Boy must have shaken him up.

"Well, that's just too bad. Scum like the White Fang deserve to be hunted down." Weiss commented. At her side Blake didn't seem very happy with what she was saying. Royce just shrugged. But he did notice what was going on.

"There's always a reason for things to happen," The wanderer said as the team walked over to the docks. "The Faunus haven't exactly been treated right on Remnant from what I've read. It would make sense for some of the more...extreme groups to act out."

"That does not give them permission to lie, to kill and to cheat!" Weiss argued back.

"They're just misguided." Blake spoke up suddenly. "If they were all treated better-"

"It still doesn't justify their actions." Weiss looked very angry as Blake frowned.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!"

Royce would have spoken up. He totally would have, if a young man with blonde hair hadn't pushed passed him. He caught a glimpse of a tail before an officer bumped into him and fell on his ass. Royce, forgetting for a moment that compared to most people on Remnant that he was a lot more solidly built, helped the officer up and watched the older man go after the Faunus boy.

"Quick! After him!" Weiss exclaimed suddenly.

"Why-" Royce started asking.

"We have to observe him!" Weiss just ran after the speeding Faunus. Sighing to himself as the other girls went after her, Royce just headed in the same direction. The chase came to an abrupt halt when Weiss bumped into a girl and knocked her down.

"He got away!" Weiss cursed still on the ground.

"Uh Weiss?" Yang gestured to the girl they ran into. She was a cute young thing, Royce observed, with curly orange hair and bright green eyes. Her grin was a bit creepy which was the reason why Weiss screamed, and promptly hid behind Royce as though he were a tree.

"Are you alright?" Ruby asked.

"I'm quite fine!" The girl said, still not moving. There was an awkward pause.

"Would you like help getting up?" Royce asked. He jumped back when the girl suddenly sprang up to her feet without assistance. Motherfu-

She introduced herself. "Hello there! My name is Penny!" She then zipped up to Royce who stepped back. "Hey! You are really tall! What's your name?"

"Uh Royce." Royce answered slowly.

"Nice to meet you! Are you all friends?" Penny asked.

Okay, Royce had to admit she was pretty adorable.

/

In the end they lost the other Faunus and the day was about to end. What began, unfortunately, was an extremely long argument between Blake and Weiss. Ruby tried calming them down only to find that they were both very entrenched in their views. Royce just let them go at it. In his experience trying to interrupt was just not a good thing to do. His eyes closed as he just sighed and waited the argument out.

It was nighttime. Royce just crossed his arms as he watched Blake and Weiss argue for the umpteenth time tonight. His expression was...impassive. But as he watched Ruby and Yang's expressions he could not help but feel rather saddened how today turned out. In all honesty he was surprised when Weiss was a victim of the White Fang. And judging from Blake's reaction she must have been far closer to the group than she let on. He felt...pity for the both of them.

He exhaled. Enough was enough.

"Guys," He said calmly then sighed again when he was being ignored. He took a deep breath.

"Enough!" he separated Weiss and Blake forcefully. "What the hell is wrong with you two!?"

"Royce is right." Ruby said looking at Weiss, "We shouldn't be fighting like this!"

"I'm not trying to fight anyone!" Weiss spoke. "I'm just stating facts-"

"Facts!?" Blake laughed coldly. Weiss glared at her.

"Weiss." Royce said. "Come on, it's late."

"Yeah could ya keep it down?" Yang spoke up. "People are trying to sleep."

The arguing pair looked at each other. Blake just stormed out. Royce kept Ruby from stopping her.

"Let her be," he said calmly. "Things...are pretty volatile right now." He turned to look at Weiss who looked...ashamed.

"Nothing to be done." Royce stated when Weiss tried to apologize. "What has been said, has been said."

/

Blake was gone the next day. Ruby was depressed. She felt that she should have done better, she was the team leader, she was supposed to keep things like this from happening. Royce and Yang supported her. Yang was a little pissed off at Weiss for starting stuff in the first place but that anger was quickly focused on trying to find their intrepid team member. Weiss stood by what she said but knew she should have been a lot more careful with her words.

But what made her feel even more guilty was Royce's apparent disappointment with her. So much so that he refused to talk to her, spending his time trying to cheer Ruby up. They were going to go back to the City of Vale this afternoon to look for Blake as soon as everyone was done with whatever tasks they needed to do. Royce was in the workshop retooling his weapons and armor.

He sat at a work bench as he loaded explosive shells into the Blackhawk. Once he was done he holstered it and grabbed his Xuanlong. Slinging that over his shoulder, he adjusted his belt, checked his armor and retied his bandana over his hair. He didn't know why he was bringing the Xuanlong but for some reason he felt that he had to bring the rifle along.

Gut instinct told him to expect a fight.