AN: Hello again Readers, DovahCourier here! Ok… this is the third f**king time I've had to write this chapter thanks to my flash drive being a complete dolt. Let's just hope this means the chapter is as refined as I can get it. Sorry again for the delay; I would blame the flash drive problems, but that's not the ONLY reason I was delayed… *COUGH*FAR HARBOR*COUGH*. Well, time for 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 Fourteen: Shiny New Toys

Ruby looked up at Goris, an expression of wonder pasted on her face. "Who… what…"

Goris did the deathclaw equivalent of raising an eyebrow. "What? Never met a talking deathclaw before?"

Ruby only shook her head, still shocked by the massive creature in front of her. Goris let out a deep chuckle. "Well at least I know you aren't a compulsive liar. I am the last of my kind." With that, he pointed a long claw towards the large spire in the center of the crater. "Is that where you are currently staying?"

Ruby shook herself out of her shock. "Yeah… that's where Weiss and I are currently staying."

"Who?"

"She's my friend. The two of us appeared here a couple of days ago, and are working on getting out."

Goris nodded. "I know how you feel; I appeared here about a week ago, after getting chased out of the cave I was using as a home by a few of those damn cazadors." Goris began walking towards the tower, ruby trailing closely behind.

"Cazadors? What are those?"

Goris looked at the girl, almost surprised by the question. "You don't know what a cazador is? I envy you, young one. Take the largest, meanest wasp you can think of, and give it a body about the size of a large child. That, my friend, is a cazador."

Ruby shuddered at the mental image, and continued following Goris. After a few minutes of walking, she looked up at the beast. "You mentioned recognizing my outfit… what did you mean by that?"

Goris looked down at Ruby, before letting out a sigh. "It's… it's a long story."

Ruby only sat down on a nearby rock, pulling out her rifle to clean. "I got time."

Goris grunted and sat down, accepting defeat. "Alright… You are not the first I've met to wear a vault suit through the wastes. I've met two before you. But only one bore the number thirteen like you. The other one… what was the fatty's name… Twat? No… Twig! That was it. He came to me about five-ish years ago, back when I was living in a self-built library in an abandoned mine out west of here. Brave kid… but not very accustomed to wasteland life. He was a pretty nice swinging arm with that Nuka Cola sign, though." Goris let out a light chuckle.

"Now, the other one to wear the suit you are wearing now… she was in a category of her own. She was friend to a few, a legend to many, and an enemy to many more. I merely knew her as Elizabeth Arroyo. She was the heir to the Vault Dweller himself, and she definitely picked up her grandfather's... um… enthusiasm, when it came to adventuring the wastes."

Goris smiled, as if reminiscing upon a fond memory. "To know the rest of her tale, you must first know what I am." Goris crossed his legs, getting comfortable for the long story ahead. "As you probably know by now, not all deathclaws are quite as… social as I am. My kin and I -were created as an experiment by the Enclave; a small chunk of the Pre-War government that survived the war. We were intended to be the ultimate soldiers; meant to take an order without question, and execute it perfectly."

A small gecko ran by. Goris grabbed it by the tail and pulled it towards himself, taking a bite out of the creature. "Sorry, I haven't eaten anything since I arrived here. As I was saying; we eventually broke free from our Enclave masters, and colonized an old vault. We eventually opened up to trade with humans, even allowing a few to live amongst us. Things were going good for a while, until the vault's computer died. Lucky for us, Elizabeth was searching for some pre-war tech for her village, and ended up wandering into our vault. She fixed the computer in exchange for some of the tech we had stored in the vault. I decided to join her; a little bit of adventure couldn't hurt."

"I was not the only one to join Elizabeth on her suicidal adventures. Eventually, it was me, her, three dogs, a cyborg, a super mutant, and the angriest drunk I've ever met, all making chaos across California. One day, we returned to my vault to visit my kin…" Goris closed his eyes, and Ruby noticed a single tear run down his cheek.

Ruby walked over to Goris, sitting down next to her massive friend. "What happened at the vault?"

Goris' eyes flew open. All signs of sadness were gone, replaced by primal rage. "THE ENCLAVE HAPPENED, THAT'S WHAT! They went in there and killed… no, the bastards SLAUGHTERED the entire Pack! For once, the Enclave got off its ass and decided to clean up what they saw as a 'mistake', and ended up nearly wiping out my entire SPECIES!" Goris began sharpening his claws against a nearby rock. "All because of that bastard Frank Horrigan… What I wouldn't do to be able to kill that scumbag again… and again… AND AGAIN!"

Ruby looked up at Goris, realizing that while he was more civilized than the creatures back in Quarry Junction, he was still a deathclaw. She could tell that, despite his best efforts, the memories of this 'Horrigan' were slowly driving him over the edge. Ruby panicked and grabbed Goris around the midsection, hugging tightly. Goris' breathing slowed down, and the creature looked down at the girl holding on to him. He patted her head softly before picking her up by the collar of her vault suit and putting her down on a nearby rock. He then looked at her sternly. "That was not a very good idea. Normally, an angry deathclaw is something you would want to get the hell AWAY from, let alone grab onto."

Ruby only threw Goris a cocky smile. "It worked, didn't it?"

Goris put a finger up and opened his mouth to argue, but quickly realized the girl was right. Goris only grunted exasperatedly, stood up, and began walking towards the Think Tank, Ruby tailing close behind.

Half an hour later, Ruby and Goris were in the elevator leading up to the Sink. Ruby looked up at her new friend, realization suddenly striking her. "Ok; when we get up there, I need you to stay in the elevator for a minute. Let me talk to Weiss about this, and then you can come out." Goris nodded, understanding the girl's logic. The door to the elevator slid open, and Ruby stepped through into the Sink.

Ruby walked into the living room. To her surprise, Weiss was sitting at the weapon workbench, apparently very focused on something. Ruby began to walk up slowly behind her partner, but tripped over an empty bottle of Nuka. Weiss heard the noise and immediately threw a large oilcloth over the project, blocking it from Ruby's view. She than stood up and walked over to where Ruby was sprawled out on the floor, putting her hand out to help the young girl. "Good morning. Where have you been?"

Ruby accepted Weiss' hand, pulling herself up onto her feet. "I just went out for a hunt. Clear my mind, get used to being back in my body. Anyway, I have to ask you a q- wait… did you do something with your hair?"

Ruby looked Weiss up and down, realizing something was different. Weiss' hair was out of its normal ponytail, and was only long enough to reach just below her shoulder instead of its previous back-length. Weiss blushed slightly. "You like it? I decided to see how I would like it if it was a bit shorter."

Ruby raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, looking at Weiss accusingly. "You got it caught in the workbench's drill-press and had to even it out, didn't you?"

Weiss facepalmed and muttered under her breath. "Yes."

Ruby chuckled before patting Weiss on the shoulder reassuringly. "Well I think it looks good on you. Brings out that inner-child you do your best to keep locked up."

Weiss only blushed harder, which made Ruby laugh more. "Weiss… I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Well… do you remember when I tried to bring a pet lizard into the dorm and you freaked out?"

Weiss looked at Ruby, a mix of worry and confusion forming on her face. "Why do I get a bad feeling about where this is going?"

Ruby looked over her shoulder. "Goris, would you come in here please."

"Ruby, what is this all a- LOOK OUT!" Weiss tackled Ruby and pulled her behind the Sink's center table. Weiss put a few commands into her Pip, leading to her RCW appearing in her hands, fully loaded. "Alright Ruby; I don't know how, but there is a fucking deathclaw on the other side of the table. I'll distract it, you make a run for the elevator, go-" Weiss turned her head to see if Ruby was listening, but stopped when she saw the girl had left cover and was slowly walking away… directly towards the massive wall of scaly death waiting in the doorway.

Weiss shot up, weapon drawn and trained on the deathclaw. "RUBY, GET DOWN!"

Ruby turned around and shot her hands up, shielding the beast. "Weiss wait! I can explain!"

Weiss looked at Ruby in disbelief, but noticed that the creature was just standing behind Ruby, and had raised a massive hand to wave at Weiss. 'Wait… what?' Weiss did a double take, thinking she was either crazy, dreaming, or both. She pointed at the creature. "Did that thing just wave at me?"

The creature stepped around Weiss, hand outstretched almost as if to shake Weiss'. "Where are my manners? I am Go-"

Weiss fainted before the creature could finish his sentence.

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Weiss slowly opened her eyes. She felt an odd pressure on her midsection, and looked down to investigate. Sitting on her midsection was Ruby, shaking her by the shoulders violently. "WEISS; ARE YOU OK?!"

Weiss shoved Ruby off, sitting up as she did so. "YES I'M OK YOU DOLT!" She looked around the room, relieved to not see anything too out of the ordinary. She was about to stand up, but stopped when she heard breathing coming from right behind her. She turned her head, looking up to see a massive deathclaw sitting cross-legged, staring down at her with a worried expression on its face.

"I am sorry for startling you. I tend to forget most humans don't take very kindly to my kind. I am Goris." Goris stood up and put out a hand to help Weiss up. She grabbed one of his massive fingers and pulled herself up, shaking his hand as she did so.

"Weiss Schnee. Nice to meet you." Weiss attempted to stay courteous, but was still extremely weirded out by the fact that she was talking to a deathclaw.

Ruby saw this tension and quickly intervened, hoping to kill the awkward silence. "Who wants lunch?"

Ruby led Weiss and Goris into the kitchen, where the trio made their way to stand around the table that held the Toaster. Ruby looked down at the psychopathic device, surprised when it didn't immediately start spewing profanities, flames, or both. "Weiss, what did you do to the toaster?"

"All of the AIs are turned off. Apparently, activating all of them at the same time locks them down for a few hours."

Ruby groaned. "Alright… I'll improvise. Now, let's see what we have to work with…" Ruby thumbed through her Pip, looking at everything she had categorized under 'food'. "Alright, we have gecko, Brahman, a little bit of radscorpion, and leftovers from when Liz made death-" Weiss stomped down hard on Ruby's foot. "OW! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FO- oh yeah… oops. So… who wants brahman steak?"

Ruby pulled a cutting board out from under the table and put a few commands into her Pip, materializing a few large cuts of Brahman on the table, along with the knife she had picked up during her fight the previous day. Ruby looked at the blade, surprised to see that it was still glowing orange, and was emitting extreme amounts of heat. Ruby shrugged it off and swung the blade down, aiming for one of the slices of Brahman. The blade cleanly cut through the cut of meat… and the cutting board… and the table… and embedded itself in the wall when Ruby panicked and released the blade, sending it flying behind her. Ruby picked up the slice of meat, noticing the edge the blade had touched was no longer pink and raw, but was a deep golden-brown, cooked to near-perfection.

A few minutes of trial-and-error later, Ruby had diced the Brahman meat up into small, 'medium(ish)-rare' cubes. She took three wire frames from the Sink's lab, straightened them, and lined them with the meat. She handed Weiss and Goris a kebab each, and the trio sat down right there in the middle of the kitchen, eating the meal and talking about whatever came to mind.

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Goris took a large bite out of a chunk of brahman, finishing his kebab. "So, there we were, pinned against a cliff wall, surrounded by a dozen or so Khans with Elizabeth nowhere to be seen. Marcus had John passed out on his back, the dogs were hiding behind me, and Skynet had been taking a nap in the back of the Highwayman. Next thing I know, a burst of rifle fire comes in from above us and I look up to see Elizabeth, Bozar at the ready, sending waves of lead into the bastards." Goris let out a hearty laugh, tossing the now empty kebab skewer behind him.

Ruby smiled. Goris had just wrapped up his third story of wandering the wastes with the 'Chosen One', and had only managed to further show his skill at weaving a tale. She turned her head towards Weiss, who was tearing into her meal in a way that made Goris' eating habits look almost civilized. Goris spoke up once more. "Well, that's enough stories for today. How about you two? Any more stories about this 'Remnant' you hail from?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nope, not really. We've told you everything there is to know."

Goris sighed, disappointed. "Alright than. Any idea what we should do now?"

At this, Weiss stood up, beckoning for the duo to follow her into the living room. She stepped up to the table, looking down at the interface. "Central, full map of the area please."

"With pleasure, sir." Suddenly, a three-dimensional map of the area popped up, taking up the surface are of the entire table. Weiss pointed to three buildings, holographic pins appearing where she pointed.

Weiss cleared her throat before continuing. "Alright, we need to collect the tech from these locations. I can head after the Stealth Suit, as it seems I am the most… subtle out of our current trio." Weiss ran her hand through one of the icons on the eastern edge of the crater, causing the pin to evaporate.

Ruby quickly pointed at a large satellite tower on the southwestern edge of the facility. "I can go after the antenna; the tower will make a great sniper spot after I grab it."

Goris groaned. "I guess that leaves the sonic emitter upgrade to me… this should be interesting."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me…" Weiss looked down at her Pip-Boy, materializing the sonic emitter and handing it to Goris. Goris nodded, placing the device in a pocket deep within his robes. With that, he walked over to the elevator, heading downstairs to handle the upgrade.

Ruby moved to follow suit, but was stopped when Weiss put a hand on her shoulder. "Wait, Ruby. I have something that might help a bit."

Ruby grinned like a child on Christmas. "What is it?"

Weiss walked over to the workbench, picking up the large shape she had covered with the oilcloth. "I know it's no Crescent Rose… but I hope you like it." With that, Weiss pulled the oilcloth away.

Ruby's jaw hit the floor. Weiss was holding what had to be one of the most beautiful rifles she had seen in a long, long time. The stock and foregrip were apparently carbon fiber reinforced with steel, and were painted a deep red. The semi-auto receiver appeared to be a blend of steel, aluminum and titanium; perfectly balancing speed, power, and durability. The stock was only semi-solid, but was reinforced to the point that it wouldn't make any difference as long as it wasn't swung like a battleaxe, and had a sheath for a combat knife built in. The scope was jet black, with Ruby's rose emblem stenciled in red on each of the larger tuning knobs. The barrel was capped off by a half-foot suppressor, which had the name 'Christine' painted along the side in the same color as the roses and the stock.

Ruby tackled Weiss, screaming an unintelligible combination of every version of 'thank you' she could think of. It took all of the younger girl's willpower not to latch onto Weiss and plant a kiss right on the heiress' cheek right then and there. Instead, she picked up the rifle, inspecting it with precision accuracy. She was slightly disheartened when she found it wasn't a .50cal, but was impressed when she found the clip was large enough to hold at least twenty .308 rounds. Ruby pulled Weiss off of the floor. "Weiss… it's beautiful! How did you manage to do this?"

"The rifle itself was pre-made. I just redid the paint and mounted the knife sheath. I was about to take the name off of the suppressor when you got home."

Ruby hugged the weapon defensively. "Leave it… it gives her a bit more personality. Thanks again!" With this, Ruby hugged Weiss again, loaded the rifle, and ran to the elevator.

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"Well… that was interesting." Ruby said to nobody in particular. She had just exited the large satellite tower, leaving a pile of destroyed roboscorpions in her wake. She had the insanely heavy antenna strapped to her back; apparently, even the Pip had its limits for item size. If it wasn't for her modified spine, ruby was sure she would have been forced to get Goris' help with collecting the massive weapon.

She began walking northwards, passing underneath one of the many pipes that crisscrossed the facility. Suddenly, a muffled *crack* sounded from behind her. Ruby spun around, rifle at the ready. She took aim, training her scope on… a dog.

Well… it looked like a dog, anyway. The creature's hind legs, along with one of its forelegs, were all robotic. The creature was holding its remaining biological leg up to its chest, and Ruby could tell it was broken. The creature's head was normal up to the top section, which was replaced with a glass dome containing what Ruby assumed was the creature's brain. The creature was walking forward slowly, whimpering in pain as it went. Ruby stepped forward, readying a stimpack to help the hurt creature.

Ruby knelt down, lightly scratching the dog on the chin. "It's going to be alright… this might sting a bit." Ruby pressed the stim into the creature's skin just above where the leg met the body. The dog sniffed Ruby for a moment, before nuzzling up to her side. Ruby looked the creature up and down, impressed by how complex the robotic mechanics were. She noticed the word 'Roxie' was painted in fine blue print along the creature's side. Roxie lowered her paw, apparently noticing the stimpack had fixed her leg.

Ruby stood up and began walking again, but stopped when she noticed the dog was following her. She turned around, kneeling down to the dog's level. "Hey…" Ruby quickly darted her head down. "…girl, don't you have a home? Go home girl, go home." Ruby began walking again, but stopped once more when the dog continued following. "Ugh… alright. I give up. Wanna come with me?" At this, the dog barked excitedly, running around Ruby in a circle. Ruby giggled. "Alright. Just don't hump anything and we'll get along fine." Ruby began walking once more.

Ruby was less than a kilometer from the Think Tank when she heard a loud bang from behind her. She turned her head, noticing a trail of smoke running from the sky down to a spot just beyond her view behind a ridge. Ruby looked down at Roxie, who merely barked and began running towards the source of the noise. Ruby began running after the dog, not wanting her new friend to get killed less than an hour after meeting her.

Ruby crested the ridge, and looked down into a small smoking crater. The smoke was an odd shade of bluish-green, and was billowing out of the center of the crater. Ruby jumped off of the ridge, sliding down the crater's wall. She reached the center, and found the source of the billowing smoke.

In the center of the crater was a metal pod, roughly the size of a locker. The metal was sleek, and lined with blue lights. The 'nose' of the pod was scorched and damaged, either from the impact or the flight. Ruby stepped towards the pod, lightly tapping the surface. She jumped backwards when one of the pod's previously seamless surfaces split open, widening with a hydraulic hiss.

Ruby peeked inside the pod, noticing an odd assortment of items. Inside of the pod were a large bag of caps, a couple of glowing blue bottles of Nuka, a hardcover book with a skull on the cover, and a large revolver. Ruby picked up the revolver, looking it up and down. It was chambered in .44 and had a large scope mounted on it, along with the image of a hawk feather inscribed in the wooden handle. Ruby holstered the revolver and picked up the book. "'The Wasteland Survival Guide'… sounds like fun." Ruby stored the book in her Pip, along with the bottles of soda and the stash of caps. Ruby stood up to leave, but stopped when she saw a slight glint from the inside of the pod. She leaned into the device, noticing the back of the pod was not solid, but a folded tarp. Ruby pulled the cloth away, and could only manage a high-pitched squeak for joy at what she found.

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Weiss stepped off of the elevator into the Sink. She had just run the most… interesting physical exam of her life, and had gotten what she needed. She stepped through the doorway into the living room, and immediately had to duck to avoid a flying wrench. "WHAT THE?!"

Ruby looked over her shoulder from the workbench, noticing what (well, who) she had almost hit. "Sorry Weiss! I didn't hear you there. How did it g…" Ruby stopped talking when she saw Weiss' outfit.

Weiss was wearing a jet black jumpsuit lined with white armor plates. The armor formed perfectly to the Weiss' curvature, emphasizing her stunning body and giving Ruby very little room for the imagination. Weiss stepped forward, slight sway in her hips, and lightly set her chin on Ruby's shoulder, looking down at the workbench. "What are you working on?"

Ruby snapped out of her trance, looking back to her work. "Just a few repairs on a revolver I found."

"I've never liked revolvers. Too loud for any good kills."

Ruby jumped backwards, landing flat on her face a few feet away from the workbench. She pulled herself up, looking at Weiss with a mix of confusion and intrigue. "What… who… how…"

Weiss didn't even open her mouth to respond; the suit apparently did it for her. "What; never met a talking set of armor before?!" Ruby just shook her head. "Well than; I am the Mk. II Combat Stealth Armor. I am built for basic infiltration and assassination missions, along with basic battlefield medical assistance procedures."

Ruby nodded. "Glad to meet you. Please don't kill my friend."

Weiss laughed at this. "Don't worry, I am still in full control of the suit; it just has a bit more personality than most outfits."

Before Ruby could ask any follow up questions, Goris entered from the elevator room, panting like a wild beast. Ruby darted to her friend's side, noticing he had many scrapes and cuts along his arms and back. "GORIS! What happened?"

Goris only sat down, still breathing heavily. "Big… dog…" He placed the sonic emitter on the table, then leaned backwards against the wall, applying a stimpack to a large bite mark on his right arm.

Ruby stood up, walking into the bedroom. She returned, pulling a large footlocker. "Well, this should cheer you up. I made it myself."

Ruby emptied the large locker at Goris' feet, revealing a large pile of metal and leather. Weiss stared at the pile of scraps, confused slightly, before Goris stood up and began pulling the pieces onto his body, a cocky smile returning to his lips. By the time Weiss realized what was happening, Ruby was already standing on the table, observing her handiwork.

Goris was now wearing a custom-built set of heavy leather armor, with large metal plates protecting the shoulders and chest. His claws each had a massive dagger, doubling the size and sharpness of the appendages. Weiss looked up at Ruby, shocked at her teammate. "Good job Ruby; you have taken the most dangerous thing in the wasteland, and made it even MORE dangerous!"

Ruby laughed maniacally. "That's the point!"

Weiss pinched down on the bridge of her nose, shaking her head slowly. "Alright, fine. So, we all have the tech; what now?"

"We could assassinate the brains downstairs and take the tech for ourselves."

"Oh you shut it." Weiss reached under one of the armor plates on her chest, pulling the power cord to the AI's speaker out of its socket. "Alright… I say we get a good night's sleep in, and we handle Mobius tomorrow. All in favor, say 'I'."

"I."

"I."

Goris nodded, then let out a long yawn. "Alright, I'm headed to bed. Anyone needs me, I'm taking the couch." With that, the deathclaw walked into the living room, hopped onto the ancient piece of furniture, and was snoring before Ruby and Weiss could even blink.

Ruby tapped Weiss on the shoulder. "I have something I want to show you."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Well… I wanted to repay you for the rifle, and I know you took a liking to Zwei, so…" Ruby turned her head towards the bedroom and let out a quick, high-pitched whistle.

"Ruby, what are you trying to do ex- WOAH!" Before she could finish her sentence, Weiss was knocked to the floor by a ball of fur, slobber and steel. Weiss opened her eyes, only to be met with an enthusiastic lick to the face from Roxie. The girl sat up, petting the dog as she did so.

Ruby smiled, watching as her teammate bonded with her knew friend. She walked into the bedroom, pulling a large box out from under her bed. 'Now… time to play with MY new friend!' With that, Ruby pulled the lid off of the box. She hoisted her new weapon up, pulling the chain to start up it's industrial-grade motor. She looked at its heavy duty frame, making sure the chipped yellow paint wouldn't get in the way of her practice. She inspected each of the four symmetrical axe blades, making sure they were all sharpened and balanced, before revving the motor and giving her new Auto-Axe a practice swing.

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AN: Sorry again for the short chapter, a few things have happened recently that have distracted me from work. The good news is that summer has started, So I hopefully will fall into a more regular pattern for writing and posting the chapters. Now, onto reviews:

Guest: Thank you, I do plan on having a good summer. While I do like the f03 companions, I don't plan on adding them to the story for plot reasons. As for lemons, I don't plan on having any full blown-dirty scenes, maybe just a few borderline-smutty moments. Glad I have you hooked, and have an absolutely amazing day!

Captaindickscratcher: I PM'd you a response to this while the review sustem was being buggy. Thanks again for the review, and have a nice day good sir!

Shaneman17: Like above, I PM'd you earlier in response to this. Thanks, and good day!

Roach99: Yeah, I wanted to use the connections between Joshua and Blake as a foundation for a strong alliance. Glad I did it well! As for the shipping, I have nothing against Monochrome/Checkmate, but A) Bumblebee is by far my favorite pairing behind Nuts n' Dolts (Ruby x Penny), and B) Thanks to how evil this fanbase can be, Monochrome oftentimes leads to the door being opened for *shudders* Enabler. Glad you like the story so far, and have a good day!

Well, that's all for now folks. Please, don't be afraid to leave a Review or throw a PM my way; this story is only here because of you guys, and I want all of the input I can get on how you want it to be shaped as a story. Make sure to have an absolutely amazing day, and just remember kiddies; Don't feed the Yao-Guai!

-DovahCourier