AN: Hello again Readers, DovahCourier here! I am sorry for this chapter being a little late and about my odd upload schedule in general lately. Long story short, the school year is wrapping up, and teachers are giving us literal mountains of homework. Once summer starts, I should be able to get a set schedule set up for writing and posting chapters. Anyway, I hope you all like the chapter!

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I do not own RWBY or Fallout: New Vegas. RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and New Vegas belongs to Obsidian Entertainment/Bethesda.

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The Tale of Dust and Sand

A RWBY/New Vegas Crossover

Chapter Eleven: Happy Trails!

Blake slowly opened her eyes, the warm embrace of sleep losing its grip on the girl. She sat up slowly, looking around the room. 'What the hell happened last night?'Veronica's robe was hung over the door to the closet, Yang's armor was scattered around the room, and F15T0's top and bottom halves were on opposite sides on the room. Blake began to roll out of bed, but quickly realized the only thing she had on was Cass' hat and the sheets embroidered with the Lucky 38's logo. Blake grabbed a bathrobe from the suite's closet and walked out of the room.

Blake entered the kitchen, and was greeted by Liz, Cass and Yang sitting at the table, eating the remains of the previous evening's dinner. Yang heard her enter the room, and turned to greet her. "Mornin' kitty cat!"

Blake grunted in response, sitting down between Cass and Yang. Cass turned to face Blake, reaching for her hat. "I'll be taking that back, if you don't mi… oh." Cass took her hat back, but suddenly froze, staring at Blake's head with a mix of confusion and shock.

Blake looked at Cass, wondering what could have caused such a reaction. 'Is there something wrong with my hai- FUCK, MY EARS!'Blake panicked, quickly reaching up to check the top of her head. Sure enough, her feline ears were exposed for the entire room to see. Blake shot up to make for the door, but was stopped when Yang firmly grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back into the chair. "Blake, sit down. It's alright."

Blake tried to get up again, but was stopped by Liz moving to kneel next to her. "Blake, it's alright. We're not going to treat you any different because of a slight… mutation."

Before Blake could respond, Cass spoke up. "Yeah catnip, calm down! This isn't even the weirdest thing I've seen out in the wasteland." Blake raised an eyebrow, not buying the idea of anything weirder possibly existing in the wasteland. Cass took a sip of coffee, than continued. "Yeah Blake, this is maybe a six out of ten on the weird scale. One time, I saw a fat vault dweller, an escaped slave, and a ghoul walking down the highway, arguing over the fat one's Nuka addiction." Blake smirked, trying to hold a giggle back.

Liz raised an eyebrow, obviously unimpressed. "You call that weird? Ha! One time, I asked this guy in power armor and his pet Eyebot for directions to New Reno and it turned into a four hour story about some guy with a tree growing out of his forehead." At that, Blake lost it and fell out of her chair, laughing. Liz stood up, smiling. "Alright, I'm gonna go see if Veronica is ready to leave yet." With that, she left the room.

Cass and Yang pulled Blake up off of the ground, giggling at the girl's reaction to the story. Blake turned to face Cass. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Cass took another swig of coffee before throwing the mug into the sink.

"Now, one last thing is bothering me…" Blake said, slight concern forming in her voice.

"What is it Blake?"

"Where is my bo-"

Before Blake could finish responding, Veronica barged into the room, bubbly as ever. "Good Morning!" She half said, half sang as she walked/skipped over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Sunset. Blake immediately noticed the woman had her hair down, and was shocked to see it reached halfway down her back. She followed the black, silky hair up to Veronica's head, and noticed the woman was wearing…

"So, is anyone else coming with Liz and me to- UMPH" Veronica was interrupted by Blake tackling her and pinning her to the counter. Veronica prepared to defend herself, but stopped halfway through a punch when Blake reached up to Veronica's head, retrieving her bow from the brawler's head. "Oh yeah… sorry about that. Last night sure was one hell of a party, wasn't it?" Veronica said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. Blake only threw a halfhearted growl at the woman before retying the bow on top of her own head, concealing her feline ears once more.

Liz walked into the room, duffle bag over her shoulder. "Ready to go, V?"

Veronica pulled her hair up into a bun before pulling her robe's hood up, concealing the dark, silky mane. "Yup! Let's get going!"

Veronica moved to leave the room, but was stopped by Blake placing a hand on her shoulder. "Where are you two headed?"

"Liz caught a radio signal from an abandoned Brotherhood bunker out east, and wants me to come investigate with her." Before Blake could ask about this 'Brotherhood', Veronica was out the door and down the hallway, dragging Liz by the coat behind her.

Yang was the first to shake off the shock of the moment. "Well… That was a thing. So, what do you ladies want to do?"

Blake sat back down, throwing her feet up on the table and leaning back in her chair. "It depends; where are the others?"

"Ruby and Weiss are still gone, probably taking the 'scenic route' home from the theatre, if you know what I mean." With that, Yang winked and poked Blake in the ribs with her elbow, grinning like an idiot.

Cass laughed, obviously liking the mental image Yang's joke had made. "Boone and the tin can left at the crack of dawn; probably went hunting or something."

Yang yawned. "Well, I'm bored. Anyone have any ideas what to do?"

Cass smirked. "We could try and put that damn robot back together, if anyone is up for another round."

Blake smirked at the memories of the night before, but shook her head. "No thanks, I don't think my hips could take it. What happened to it anyway?"

Yang blushed, guilt radiating from her expression. "Yeah, about that… it turns out ol' Fisto starts pulling hair after a while."

Cass stood up, putting a hand out. "Say no more. Well, if neither of you idiots can think of something else to do, I have an idea."

Yang looked up to the cowgirl, intrigued. "And what would that be?"

"An old caravan buddy of mine has a trip planned for New Canaan up north, and I'm pretty sure he leaves today. If you girls are interested, I'm pretty sure we'll get paid pretty damn well for a few days of lazy caravan work."

Yang looked at Blake, shrugged, and nodded. "Sure, let's get going."

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A couple hours later, Cass, Blake and Yang had reached the mouth of a mineshaft leading into the face of a mountain, with a pair of Brahman tied to a fencepost next to the opening. Above the entrance was a large sign labeled 'Happy Trails Caravan workers needed: Inquire inside'. Cass turned to face the others. "Alright, looks like we're here. Just stay back and let me do the talking." Blake and Yang nodded, and followed Cass into the mine.

Inside the mine, a small group of people were sitting around a campfire. One of the people turned his head to look at the new arrivals, and immediately grinned. "Cassidy, is that you?"

Cass smiled and threw her arms out. "In the flesh. How's it going, Jed?"

Jed stood up, moving in and giving Cass a friendly hug. "Eh, I can't complain. I heard about what happened to your caravan… sorry about that."

Yang saw Cass' eyes flash with anger for a moment, but it quickly subsided as the woman shrugged. "Eh, shit happens. Anyway, I got word that you guys have an expedition up to New Canaan, and I thought you could use a few more hands on deck."

Jed nodded and gestured towards the two people near the campfire. "Yeah, we were just getting ready to leave. You're welcome to join us as long as you're packing light enough to make the journey." With this last sentence, he looked at Yang's metal armor, a worried expression on his face.

Yang saw this, and retorted with a cocky grin. "Look bub, I may be a girl, but if I wanted to I could carry my gear, Blake's gear, One of the Brahman's packs, Cass when she's passed out drunk, and STILL have room to spare."

"Alright, alright; no need to get your armor in a twist. Glad to have the lot of you on board." He turned to face the other people by the campfire. "Alright guys, time to get going!"

A woman sitting by the fire stood up, picking up a laser rifle leaning against the wall and slinging it over her shoulder. "Finally! Zion, here we come!" With that, the group packed their gear, brought the Brahmin in from outside, and started walking up the tunnel.

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"Alright People. It's been a long couple days, but here we are: Zion." Yang stepped through a crevice and was greeted by a beautiful sight. The last five days (AN: I cut down on the travel time a little bit for reasons that will become clear later.) had been spent going from canyon to canyon, mountain to mountain, slowly making the way north with the caravan. Now, instead of another slot canyon or abandoned mineshaft, the group was greeted by the magnificent sight of Zion Canyon. Yang looked out, surprised by the amount of green compared to the Mojave. In the distance, she could see clear streams, massive rock spires, and long, twisting paths along cliff faces. 'Now THIS is one hell of an adventure!' She thought as she walked over to where the rest of the caravan was resting.

Jeb spoke up, addressing the entire group. "I know your feet hurt, and I know you're tired, but I need everyone's mind on the trail ahead."

The woman with the laser rifle, Stella, looked up at the canyon the group had just come through, a worried expression on her face. "It ain't the trail ahead that worries me. There is no way in hell we can make it back up those canyons."

Jeb groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. "Goddammit Stella I heard you the first time; and the fifteenth time, too. The New Canaanites know the way. And if they don't, our two friends here have Pip-Boys with maps on them." He turned to face the group. "Enough lollygagging! Get moving; and keep an eye out for tribals."

With that, the group grabbed their equipment and began walking along the path. Blake and Yang stuck to the back with Cass, while the Happy Trails members took the lead with the Brahman. Yang turned her head to look at Blake. "Well, one hell of a view, isn't it?"

Blake nodded. "It's beautiful. Reminds me of pictures Sun showed me of southern Vaccuo."

Cass looked at the duo, confused. "Vaccuo? Where the hell is that?"

Yang looked at Blake, eyebrow raised in an expression that just said 'you let it slip, you explain it.'

Blake moaned, exasperated, and turned to face Cass. "Cass… We aren't exactly… crap, how do I put this… We-"

Blake was cut off by a sudden gunshot and a scream farther down the path. Cass drew her shotgun, immediately charging in to see what was going on. Blake and Yang followed. As they got closer, Yang could tell something was wrong. There were gunshots, explosions, and panicked yells coming from the caravan. They reached the rest of the caravan, and were greeted with a terrifying sight.

Most of the caravan was already dead, blood and viscera splattered across the dirt beneath them. The only one left standing was Jeb, who was firing wildly at the side of a cliff. Blake followed the man's aim, and caught sight of what he was wildly firing at. At the top of the cliff was a group of men, wearing armor made from fur and leather. Each of the assailants was wilding either an SMG or a tomahawk constructed with scrap metal and wood.

Jeb turned to face the others. "RU-" The man's order was cut off by a tomahawk impacting with his face, shattering his skull.

Yang screamed, covering her mouth with her hands in an attempt to muffle the noise. Suddenly, a spray of bullets impacted the ground next to Yang, kicking up dust and sending gravel everywhere. Before she could react, Blake grabbed Yang by the collar and dragged her behind a fallen tree, forcing her behind the log. "STAY DOWN!" Yang complied, closing her eyes and getting as far under the log as she could.

Cass joined the two behind the cover, reloading her shotgun with a pair of slugs while she went. "Can I have one FUCKING caravan job that doesn't end in people dying?! Just one, please?"

Blake drew her pistol, taking aim at one of the attackers. She inhaled slowly, closing her eyes. 'It's in self-defense, it's in self-defense, it's in self-def-' Blake pulled the trigger, cutting off her train of thought. She opened her eyes, seeing the tribal she had fired at was now on the ground, dead, skull blown in half. Before she let her emotions get out of hand, she turned her gun, firing twice at another tribal. The shots caught the woman in the chest and neck, killing her instantly. Blake scanned the area, noticing that Cass had apparently killed the rest of their attackers.

Blake got up from behind the cover. "Cass, go see if there is anything left of the caravan." Cass nodded, running over to where the Happy Trails had met their end. Blake knelled down next to Yang, who was still hiding in the fetal position under the log, tears streaming out of her tightly closed eyes. Blake put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Yang, it's ok. They're gone now."

Yang slowly opened her eyes, relieved to just see Blake looking down at her. She uncurled from her ball, pulling herself out from underneath the log. She looked at Blake, noticing the girl had a look of fear in her eyes. Yang pulled Blake into a tight hug. "Thanks."

Blake pulled out of the hug. "Don't worry about it. What do you think friends are f-" Blake suddenly stopped speaking and fell forwards, unconscious. Yang quickly looked at her partner's back, noticing a feathered dart sticking out from the base of Blake's neck. Yang looked up, her gaze meeting a single tribal man holding a blowgun in one hand and a tomahawk in the other.

All feelings of fear and panic left Yang, replaced by pure rage. The girl jumped at the tribal man, tackling him to the ground. Before he could defend himself, Yang grabbed the man's weapons, throwing them out of his reach. The edges of her vision were filled with a red haze as she held the man down by the throat with her left hand, raising her right in a spiked-knuckle-clad fist. She brought her fist down, shattering the bridge of the man's nose and cracking the bone beneath with a sickening crack.

"DON'T."

*Crack*

"YOU."

*Crack*

"FUCKING."

*Crack*

"TOUCH."

*Crack*

"HER!"

*CRUNCH*

With the last punch, Yang's fist went through the pulp that remained of the man's face, going all the way through and shattering the back of the man's skull. Yang didn't stop; she just kept punching, turning the man's head slowly into a puddle of bloody red goo. She only stopped when she felt Cass' hand on her shoulder, squeezing firmly. "YANG! Fuckin' hell, the guy's already dead!"

The red haze left the corners of her vision. Yang pulled her fist out of the mess that had become of the man's head. She looked down at her hand, seeing that it was coated in blood and grey matter. She felt... cold. For the first time in her life, Yang Xiao Long felt truly cold. She slowly uncurled her fist, feeling the warm blood drip from between her fingers onto the sun-baked earth below.

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Blake awoke with a start. She quickly checked her surroundings, finding that she was in a large cave, lying on a warm cot next to a campfire. She darted up, drawing the knife she kept hidden under her arm. She rolled out of the cot, knife at the ready, and began to head for the cave exit. She made it about three steps before she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She spun around; knife at the ready, but was quickly disarmed and thrown back onto the cot by… Yang.

"WHAT THE FUCK YANG!?" Blake yelled, irritated at the blonde for startling her. Yang only grinned and stepped forward, sitting down next to Blake and pulling the Faunus into a sideways hug. All of Blake's anger melted away, and she immediately leaned into the hug. Blake was surprised when she felt something wet hit her cheek, and pulled away from the hug, only to see that Yang was crying."Yang…"

Before Blake could continue, Yang started crying harder. "I…I… Was it this hard on you too?"

Blake raised an eyebrow, slightly confused at her friend's question. "What do you mean?"

Yang began crying even harder, pulling her knees to her chest. "The blood… So much blood…"

Blake's eyes widened, realizing what must have happened while she was knocked out. She immediately grabbed Yang by the shoulders, looking the panicking girl in the eyes. In Yang's eyes, Blake saw the one thing she would never expect from the brawler: She saw pure fear. 'Fuck... what do I do?' Blake looked around the room, looking for something to calm Yang, who had begun to fall into a full blown panic attack.

As a last resort, Blake pulled Yang into a hug, putting her lips next to the girl's ear. "Shh... It's ok... it's ok..." Blake began to slowly rock Yang back and forth, whispering softly in an attempt to calm her down. Ten minutes later, Yang uncurled from her ball, slowly pushing Blake off of her as she went. She turned to speak to her raven-haired teammate, but stopped when she saw Cass enter the cavern.

The cowgirl walked over and sat down on the cot between the two. "Glad to see you awake, Blake. How are you two holding up?"

Yang only threw up a halfhearted thumbs-up, obviously still distressed. Cass looked the girl up and down, frowning. She pulled a bottle of whisky out of her coat, handing it to the blonde. Yang kindly accepted the bottle, downing half of its contents before Cass took the bottle back. "Hey, just because I'm feeling kind doesn't mean you can have all of my damn whisky." The woman turned to face Blake, leaning in to whisper to the girl. "I'm going to stay here with Yang, calm her down a bit. Our host is waiting to meet you upstairs; just go out the door and take a right." Blake tried to ask Cass to clarify the situation, but was interrupted by Yang beginning to sob once more. Cass pulled the depressed blonde closer, handing her another bottle of whisky. Blake stood up, patted Yang on the shoulder, and left the cavern.

Blake followed Cass' directions, walking up a tunnel into another cave, this one slightly larger than the one she had woken up in. The room was lined with shelves filled with scrap metal and gun parts. In the center of the room was a wooden table covered in handguns, with a man sitting behind it, face obscured by shadow. The man looked up from one of the handguns he was working on, looking at Blake. Blake got a better view of the man, and was shocked by what she saw. The man's entire head was wrapped in aged bandages, save a small opening for his eyes.

The man slid the action back on the handgun, placing the weapon in the middle of the table. The man spoke up, his gravely voice showing a mix of age and experience. "Hello, Ms. Belladonna; I am Joshua Graham, and I would like to welcome you to Zion Canyon."

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AN: Well, that was an interesting chapter. Sorry if it was a bit short, I have been busy with school and family stuff lately. I would like to say that I am deeply sorry for the odd upload rate lately, and plan on setting up a more constant upload schedule once I get my hands on a laptop for the summer. Now, for the fun part of these ANs: the review responses! (PS; any guests please use a name other than 'guest' so it's easier to discriminate between different reviews. Thx!)

Roach99: I wasn't planning on having a Kellogg reference because he has been working in the Commonwealth for at least 57 years at this point in time in the Fallout universe, so most traces of the man in the west would likely be gone by this point. As for the holotape thing; Thanks for the idea, but I am not including it for reasons that will become evident later.

Guest: Thank you for understanding. Feel free to throw any ideas into either a review or a PM and I'll check them out. As for JNPR, I do not plan on having them show up in the wasteland due to A) I cannot write for that many characters at once, and B) I plan on having them do their own thing in the background in a separate fic I have been considering for a while and might start over the summer.

Captaindickscratcher: Don't worry, it's not too evil of an idea, just a small scene I have in mind for the next chapter. While I can see Ruby becoming a McCree-style gunslinger (I have been watching WAY too much of the Overwatch beta gameplay lately), I mostly intend on having Liz become the most 'western' out of the group (well, second most western to Cass anyway). I'm probably not giving the others bikes, but I have a few ideas that should make the current ones a bit more exciting. Thank you for another review, and you are correct, I did not expect the Spanish Inquisition. I respond to them by throwing The Holy Hand Grenade on the count of three. One… two… fiv- three!

Cole Tyger: Well, glad to know I have a reader hooked! I don't plan on having anything to drastic happen in the story, just going to have the team join the legion and murder the Courier and her party… *Obvious sarcasm is obvious*. The body switch thing was an accident actually; I was very tired when I was writing the balcony scene and accidently switched their names a couple times, so I decided to roll with it and see if it got me anywhere. I considered making the heart joke, but Ruby is too good of a friend to do that. Yang on the other hand… *evil giggle* I decided to mix the Mysterious Stranger up a bit and see If I could give them a story, and I am glad it's working so far. Don't worry about the K-9000 being useless, Ruby will be using it as soon as the duo get their brains switched back eventually. I was planning on having MFC grenades/clusters come in, and I do have a plan on where to have Ruby get the schematics. Glad you liked it, and thanks for reading!

Guest: Go ahead and speculate on who the Mysterious Stranger is, I am not telling… yet.

On Soaring Wings: Weiss could try, but Ruby is going to love Toasty too much to let Weiss kill him.

Mandalore the freedom: We PMd about the things brought up in this review already, and thanks again for another great review!

Before I go, I have a couple more things to say. Thanks to a few IRL friends who have read the story, I noticed that I may not have developed/described Liz enough for her to seem special. Here is the easiest way to describe her in a nutshell: Combine Clint Eastwood (Badass ranger vibe/loadout), Ichigo from Bleach (Cockiness, wittiness and sword skills), and Liam Neason ('don't fuck with me if you want to live' vibe when pissed). Now take that combination, and give her a body that is similar in build to Diva from Overwatch, only a bit taller/leaner, slightly less busty, a couple of bullet scars on the temple and lower forehead, and black/purple hair pulled back into a ponytail. That is about the best description I can give of her for those who I have left confused, and I hope it was helpful with anyone having trouble with the mental image of our Courier 6.

I have just checked the poll for what final New Vegas companion to add to the mix, and it looks like Raul is in the lead, with Arcade only one vote behind, and Lilly in last with absolutely zero. I am collecting the poll on Saturday, so please go and leave a vote before then if you can, as it is greatly appreciated!

Thanks again Readers for making this story possible, and I will see you all in the next chapter. Just remember kiddies; don't feed the Yao-Guai!

-DovahCourier