I would again like to thank Mecharic for beta-reading this chapter, as well as all of you who have followed the story so far.


Ruby had just stepped off the monorail into the commonwealth. She was greeted by two men in Operator apparel. "Hi. I was told to give this to you?" Ruby reached into her pocket and pulled out a red arcade ticket.

"Okay kid, hurry up and get the hell out of here." One of the men said.

"Do you know whe-" Ruby was cut off by the same man.

"I said leave. I ain't getting paid to answer questions."

"Okay." Ruby squeaked. She walked away from the subway station towards an open road. Her eyes faced towards a grey horizon, ready to explore the world beyond her feet. So she took off. One falling rose petal at a time, she made her way further into the heart of the commonwealth.

First thing she saw was a cloth flag with a red dagger painted on it flying in the wind. The walls were lined with spikes and a vile gory smell made its way from beyond them. Ruby kept walking, which then turned into a frantic sprint upon the sound of a howl of pain. It was bloodcurdling, that combined with the smell only gave off an ominous aura.

Even further past the fortress was a small bridge, filled with old rusted cars, vehicles in decay, and a fractured road. The fog in front of her blinded most of her vision.

Just ahead of her were a group of figures that stood unmoving. "Hello?" She called out to them. With no response she called again while moving closer, "Hello? Umm... can you point me to the nearest city?" With still no response, she finally got within arm's reach of them. "Are you okay?" She asked while nudging the figure with her hand. It fell over and Ruby let out a slight yelp before realizing what it was. Ruby then kicked the sturdy figure against a concrete barrier. "Why are there manikins in the middle of the road!"

Ruby felt her stomach grumble a bit. She pulled up a small leather handbag that was worn out by weather. Inside was a small can of food that Ruby could only assume was still good. "What kind of canned food goes bad, am I right?" Ruby asked rhetorically in a slightly upbeat tune. She pulled the can out and reached for a small switchblade in her pocket. After digging the blade into the can, she used to lift the lid up.

The food let out a strange smell; not horrid but unusual. Ruby stuck the tip of a finger in the food. It was mushy and wet, kind of like a chowder. She gave it a taste and nearly pulled back in disgust. Ruby sighed with a shiver and took a decent chunk of it in. The teen struggled to swallow it, but forced it down eventually. "And goodbye!" She exclaimed as she tossed the can off the bridge. "That was... I wanna throw up."

After a long while, the fog disappeared and the bright sun gave her some warmth in the frozen hellscape. The grass she walked through poked out through the snow, brushing against her legs.

For miles it had just been her walking alone, with no living creature in sight aside from the birds perched on the transmission towers. Just in the far distance she could see an outline of small buildings sitting in front of her. A sigh of relief came from her mouth. She began to pick up a jog to rush to the buildings. There was a river between her and the point of interest, not the wisest move to swim across it but it wasn't like there was another option.

On arrival she was met by a wall made of wood and scrap metal with barbed wire at its bottom. Attached to a large white tower was a blue, defiled flag. "Hello?" Ruby shouted to the inside of the wall. As if in response a gate around a curve opened.

"Who the hell are you?" asked a man with a gun pointed at her.

"I'm Ruby, and there's no need to point the gun at me."

"Sorry miss, but nowadays I gotta point a gun at anyone who shows up here." The man answered. "Now is there something I can do for you?"

"I'm looking for a place called Diamond City. Could you point me in the right direction?"

"Directly south east of here into Boston. If you ignore the gunfights and mutants you should make it there in a day." He looked at the city that wasn't even that far out.

Ruby looked in the same direction as him. "But it's so close. Why would it take a day?"

"It used to be just an hour or two. But with all the fighting that's going on most people have to find ways around it. You got Disciples holed up in hangman's alley, super mutants in northern Boston and gunners are the closest to the city. The only way to make it there in two hours or less is to walk directly into the fighting."

"I see. But Diamond City is safe right?"

The man rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not sure. They have mortars, but I'm not sure how much that's gonna matter in a few weeks. The place might be filled with gunners, raiders, mutants or wild animals after."

"What about the south?" Ruby asked.

"I'm sorry?" The man replied confusion.

"From what you said most of what you said it sounds like all the fighting is happening in the northern part of the city. So what if I got into diamond city through the south?"

"There's only one gate though?" The man replied.

"So? Even then it's probably safer through the southern part to get to Diamond City."

"Probably. It'd only make the walk longer but less than a day I guess."

Ruby grew a large smile on her face. "Thank you!" She shouted while running off into the distance.

Stunned by the mythical display of speed it took him awhile to recover. "Hey!" The man hopelessly shouted. She was too far by then. "It's pointless at this point." He muttered to himself.

----

Just at the edge of the city an unrelenting wave of gunfire was heard on the other side of the buildings. Furious war cries and howls only measurable to that of beasts were the only things overpowering the bullets.

A sudden burst of wind blew through the inch-thin spacing between the buildings. It had a warm familiarity to it. A sickly aura that could only remind her of the odd grenades that were chucked at her back at Nuka World.

She slowly peeked around the side of one of the buildings, one that lead to a bloody street. Men and women wearing military styled equipment, carrying old beaten-up combat rifles and small plastic pistols. Above them was a hanging metal sign with words painted over it. It looked like a diamond shape above the words. "Diamond City" it read with an arrow pointed forward.

"I can see you." A voice yelled from around the corner.

Ruby suddenly froze. She pulled herself back around the corner, followed by an unrelenting burst of gunfire and lasers. Oddly none of it was in her direction. She looked back to the street to see these same soldiers firing on a large horde of muscly green monsters.

Ruby took advantage of the opportunity and rushed down to the next set of buildings as fast as she could, following the arrow. It wasn't as fast as she'd like, her semblance wasn't working, but it was still fairly fast. She took another step forward, stopped this time by a piercing pain on the bottom of her foot. She took off her shoe to see a caltrop punching through it with almost no effort. Looking at her foot, a large gash made its way across the sole of her foot. "I hate it here." she groaned in pain.

She couldn't run; she could barely walk. All she could do was slowly limp to a safe location and pray for survival. Ruby scanned the surroundings around her. Her gaze stopped on a small run-down diner. She did her best to reach it without hurting herself.

Ruby sat down at one of the tables, tears of pain blurring her vision. Blood began to spread out from her foot, beginning to pool on the floor after a few minutes. The background noise became fainter. Ruby felt her eyes beginning to droop even as she waited for her Aura to heal the wound.

Only another second passed before everything became a haze. Static took over her vision as the noise faded away.

----

It was another day at Beacon. The lunch room was filled with chatter and her sister sat across from her. She could actually hear Yang's voice this time. "We won't actually find anything."

"But what if we did! It would be so cool!" Jaune exclaimed with glee.

"Why even bother? The military is probably already there and we would be arrested on sight." Weiss protested.

"Why don't we hold it up to a vote." Ruby interjected. She didn't actively speak. It was as if she was forced to speak against her will, although her tone would say otherwise. "Majority rules. All in favor?" Nora, Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha and Yang raised their hands.

Weiss gave Yang a strange look. "You just said that we probably won't find anything."

"Well Ruby's going so that means I am." Yang answered.

"All against?" Ruby asked. Weiss and Blake raise their hands. "Ren, aren't you gonna vote?"

"Nah. I already knew the outcome before the vote so there wasn't a point."

"Six to two. Majority rules!" Ruby exclaimed.

Weiss slumped over in defeat. "Ren didn't even vote." She mumbled under her breath.

"That still would have been five to two." Ruby responded.

----

Ruby woke up to a bright light shining in her face. In a chair on the other side of the room were two people in doctors' uniforms. One a woman with a frazzled haircut and a man with a strict posture. "Miss, please stay in bed." The man said. "Curie, can you find the stitches?"

"Of course monsieur Sun." The woman replied.

"Thank you." Sun walked towards Ruby who had been laying on a small twin bed. "Welcome to Diamond city." He plainly greeted. "Before we get to formalities, I need to grab an anti-venom."

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"That caltrop you stepped on was laced with modified scorpion venom. It's a miracle you aren't dead actually."

Curie opened a door that led outside. "I found the stitches." Curie alerted Sun as she made her way down the stairs.

"You'll feel a slight pinch, but that's it." Doctor Sun took a needle to Ruby's thigh. "Curie I'll let you take it from here."

"Merveilleuse!" Curie exclaimed as she pulled up a chair next to Ruby. "May you sit up please?" She softly asked.

Ruby put the pillow under her head against the metal headboard of the bed. She leaned against it while keeping a straight of a posture as possible. "I'm Ruby. How did I get here."

"My name is Curie, and miss Piper found you unconscious in a diner just outside the city. And you have a wonderful name if I may add." Curie picked up a sewing needle and the sutures she brought down. "This is going to hurt. We lack anesthesia to help, so the stitches will have to be done while you are conscious."

"Is there something for me to bite down on?" Ruby asked while looking around the room.

"There is, but stitching up your foot won't hurt all too bad. Just a bit."

Curie opened up the box that held the sutures and began to apply them to Ruby's foot. Every time Curie stitched Ruby didn't flinch let alone feel the stitches going through. After the stitches were done, Curie gained a smile on her face and set the stitches down on the table next to her.

Ruby gave her an awkward smile, non-verbally thanking her doctor for saving her from dying. "You must be new to Diamond City, yes?" Curie asked, breaking the silence between the two.

"Yup." Ruby answered with a half-smile.

"May I ask where from?" Curie queried into the subject.

"This place called Vale. It's far from here."

"How far?"

"Very. I can't even place anywhere on a map it would be."

"Maybe one day I could visit." Curie added. "It is amazing to see the ways people survive together in times like these."

"Maybe." Ruby replied.

The door opened to a bright blue sky. Sunlight shone into the room, blinding the two for a small second. "Alright then. How is it going?"

"Excellent!" Curie answered. "The procedure is finished and she should be up and walking within the next few days."

"Good, I'll leave her in your care for the time being."

Curie offered Ruby a hand up from the bed. "Stay off that foot for a bit or you'll tear the stitches apart."

Curie walked her patient to the outside and into a market space. Next to the room was a vender. He was a skinny man with blonde hair and a long beard. Behind him was a metal shelf stacked with pill bottles, inhalers and various syringes. "Hey girls." The man greeted.

"Hello Solomon!" Curie greeted back.

Ruby looked around the market. Across from them was a woman with bedhead and a tight posture. Behind her was various junk and scrap. Next to her was a tan skinned man in a military jacket in front of racks of weapons. After him was a man carrying a baseball bat over his shoulder. In the center of it all was a... robot?

Curie walked Ruby across the market place to a corner near the man with the baseball bat. After turning another corner onto a metal walkway, they went up to the first door seen. Curie invited Ruby into her house with a warm smile and shut the door behind them.

"Take a seat." Curie offered a chair to Ruby.

Ruby sat down and looked at Curie for a second. "So... what exactly were you saying earlier?"

"Pardon?" Curie replied.

"The language you were speaking. I haven't heard it before."

"Oh my, I'm sorry." Curie apologized. "It is French. It isn't spoken in this region of the world, so whenever I talk to people in it, they don't understand."

"Is that the only other language you speak?" Ruby asked to continue the conversation.

"I can speak several." Curie responded. "I can speak Spanish, Polish, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Chinese..." Ruby let the doctor go on as she stared through her. She hadn't heard any of these languages before, but didn't have much to offer to the conversation. "What about you?" Curie asked.

"Me? I don't know any other languages. Sorry."

"It is perfectly fine. The need for such information is obsolete nowadays."

Ruby gave her a strange look. "Then why did you learn these languages?"

"I didn't exactly learn them. It's an interesting story, although I don't think you would be interested."

"Okay then." Ruby replied.

The room went silent for a bit. Curie retrieved a straw pillow and a thick gray, tattered blanket from a closet near the back of the room. "Would you like the bed?" Curie asked.

"No thanks. It's your house."

"Are you sure? It's more comfortable than the chair."

"I don't want to take over a house that isn't mine. I'm sure."

"If you insist. But if you change your mind, let me know."

"What time is it?" Ruby asked.

Curie opened a drawer in the end table beside her. She pulled out a pipboy and fiddled with it for a while. "It is one in the afternoon."

"Then why do I feel tired?" Ruby asked.

"It is probably the exhaustion from being outside, running from the fighters."

Ruby shrugged slightly and reclined slightly in the chair. "Do you have a blanket?" Ruby asked. "I'm a bit cold."

Curie handed Ruby the gray blanket she had. Ruby cuddled up inside while wrapping the blanket around her. Ruby shut her eyes for a bit before drifting off.

By the time Ruby had woken up, a woman in a red leather trench coat was sitting in the chair across from her. Ruby sat up slowly as to not burst open her wounds. "Hello?"

"Hey kid." The woman said. "My name's Piper just to let you know. I came to check in on you."

"I'm fine." Ruby replied. "Are you the person who carried me here?"

"Yep. I just wanted to see how everything was going over here." She reiterated. "Curie been treating you nice?" She rhetorically asked with a small chuckle.

"Yeah. She's actually extremely nice compared to most other people I meet."

"Really? What are the other people you meet like?" Piper said while reaching into her coat pocket.

Curie shouted from upstairs. "Miss Wright, are you here for a social call or an interview?"

"Just want to talk." Piper shouted back.

Curie began to descend the steps. She noticed Piper's hand in her pocket. "Then what do you have in your pocket?"

"Just my hand." Piper jokingly replied.

"And...?" Curie insisted.

"Just my hand."

Curie rolled her eyes. "Don't think for a second I will let you record my patient without her knowledge or consent."

"Are you recording me?" Ruby asked.

"No."

"If you wanted an interview you could have just asked." Ruby said.

"Curie wouldn't let me. She said you needed time to rest and I could do it later."

"So you are recording her." Curie commented.

"I won't say your right, but I won't say your wrong." Piper replied.

"Why did you feel the need to record me?" Ruby asked.

"Curie said that you're from outside the commonwealth-"

Curie cut her off. "I should not have given that information even if you weren't going to record her."

Piper continued "-and I couldn't just let a chance like that to slip by." Piper gestured excitedly with a holotape in her left hand. "By the time you were done resting you could've been gone by now and I wouldn't get to see you again."

"What questions did you want to ask?" Ruby said.

"What is it like where you're from? Is there a stable government? What's the wildlife like? How's your experience in the commonwealth compared to home?"

Ruby thought about for a second. "Nice, kinda, dangerous and I want to go home." Ruby answered all at once.

"That's... something I can work with. If you want to, you can give me a more in-depth conversation at the news stand when you feel better."

"Where is it?" Ruby asked.

"When you leave the East stands and come back around the corner near the swatters shop, go forward past the hair salon and look for a building with Publick Occurrences written on it."

"Thanks Piper!" Ruby responded as the reporter walked out the door.

"She can be quite persistent and rude at times..." Curie commented. "But she is a kind soul who would help her loved ones at any cost."

"So are you two friends?" Ruby asked. "Or is that a bit of a stretch?"

"Of course." Curie answered. "After an unfortunate occurrence we did grow closer."

"How?" Ruby pushed.

"Loss of a loved one."

Ruby went silent for a second. She wanted to ask who and how, but knew that this was a poor subject to press on. "Oh." She simply replied. Her chest felt tight and she hung her head in grief.

"Anyway." Curie said less cheerful than before. "You should get some rest." She looked at Ruby, still with a smile on her face.

"Okay." Ruby responded.

"If you ever need anything don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you."

Ruby curled back up in her blanket, so thick it blocked out the cold draft from the front door. The longer she closed her eyes the more comfortable she felt. It only took a few minutes for her to fully sink into the chair, rendering her into a state of sloth.

The wind blew in one more time before she fell asleep completely. The only noise now was Curie going into a back room and the door shutting behind her. Only quiet remained at this point, leaving Ruby to drift off further into slumber.