RWBY: A Grimm Insert

Chapter 1: Impromptu Tutorial

I strapped the last of my NCR Ranger costume onto my chest and smiled behind my exceedingly expensive helmet. This was going to be the first comic-con I went to, both in costume and in general. So obviously I was going all out.

Thinking about that my hands drifted down onto my bed where I'd left the bluetooth PIP-BOY I'd gotten from the Bethesda website and strapped it to my wrist. I powered it on for the fun of it, glad that I'd charged it for the day. I was bringing a microcharger for it just in case anyway.

"Oh right." I said out loud, the voice modulator in the helmet doing its job and slightly distorting my voice as I turned to my backpack filled with everything I'd need for the day.

I smiled down at the few bottles of water and such I had in there along with a few good packets of beef jerky, everything I needed for the day with enough room for whatever crap I was going to buy at the Con.

"Welp, now or never." I said to myself slinging the backpack over my shoulders.

I left my house with an excited grin that no one else could see, mainly because it was four in the morning and no one else was awake. The PIP-BOY on my wrist pinged as it finally loaded and I grabbed out my phone to sync it to the device while I was walking.

Shame I didn't see that car while crossing the road.

Shame it didn't see me.

The first thought that came into my head as I flew through the air was absurdly simple. although I suppose thinking on it, it was appropriate.

'Well fuck that hurt.' The hit into the brick wall of a nearby house didn't do much to alleviate that pain.

My eyes were clenched shut as I heard tires screeching. The bastard...or bitch I suppose driving off. I tried moving and realised my back was probably shattered, and considering how hard it was getting to breath I must have internal bleeding.

'Well that's nice, guess Ma was right.' I thought to myself, shifting into a slightly more comfortable position on my stomach. 'Life is shit then you die.'

*Ping*

~I Don't Want to set, The World, ooon ,Fii-eeere~

I made a few choked gasped and I tried to laugh as the PIP-BOY played what would probably be the last song I hear.

~I Just want to staaart a flame in your-~

I clenched my eyes again as the PIP-BOY on my wrist crackled, Probably damaged from the flight into the wall. I cracked my eyes open a bit though when the crackling stopped and was replaced by a familiar pitter patter of soft guitar strings.

~Red Like Roses Fills My Dreams and Brings me To the Place You Rest~

'Wow That's scarily appropriate.' I thought to myself, my blurry vision turning towards the broken device on my wrist. The screen was full of static and seemed to glow white as I looked at it.

~White is Cold and Always Yearning, Burdened By a Royal Test~

'Why am I still awake I should have passed out from oxygen deprivation a few minutes ago.' I thought to myself morbidly as the song continued to play. 'Also still creepy.'

My vision faded to darkness as the song continued.

~Black the Beast Descends From Shadows, Yellow Beauty Burns Gold.~

My thoughts faded into a garbled mess as I lay there, probably bleeding on a patch of grass. But the white light from the PIP-BOY didn't seem to fade, burning itself into my mind until even that left me. My thoughts left. I left.

An Eternity Passed

I woke slowly, my mind coming back to me as if from a long distance. I tried to get up but my body didn't feel like responding at the moment so I left that problem until later.

~'Aint That a Kick in the heeeaad...~ My PIP-BOY droned on, the words echoing slightly as I regained consciousness.

A shock went through my body and I felt myself jolt but not get up as I remembered what happened. Going over a mental check list I realised I felt a lot better than I should, even if I'd been taken to a hospital. Trying to move again I was disappointed when my body didn't respond.

'Okay, this is better than dead, I think. Unless this is hell.' As I thought that a breeze rolled over me and I heard what I thought to be the rustling of leaves and grass in the wind through my helmet. 'Would've thought hell would be warmer, okay not hell then.'

Forcing my eyes open I waited for a second for the blurriness in them to subside and then took in the vibrant red tree's above me, a lot more red than I was use to.

'Skippy I don't think I'm in Oz any more.' I thought to myself as I looked at the red tree's through my helmet. 'Oh right the helmets eyes are red unless I switch them off.'

Pushing through the fatigue I reached up to the helmet and fiddled with the switches on the side, turning the flash light on and off before getting to the LED switch which made everything become much more green.

I grunted and blinked my eyes as I tested my body again and managed to sit up, bringing my knees under my head to support myself and my arms. I wheezed a bit as I forced more air into my lungs while looking around. It was green forest almost as far as the eye could see, the trees were Oak I knew that but the small plants and brush around me were of a species I hadn't seen before.

"Okay this is weird." I thought to myself as I slowly stood up.

I'd been in the outback before and as far as I knew I wasn't there, and anywhere that isn't outback in Australia is- 'Wait a minute, I'll just check my phones map' I thought to myself as I stuck my hand in my jacket pocket and grabbed it out. It was smashed.

'Fuck, well the PIP-BOY has a map option I think.' I said raising it to my head as I started going through the screens. 'Wait, wasn't this broken?' I suddenly thought to myself as I stopped navigating to the map section and just stared at the supposed to be broken device.

Taking a quick look around for I honestly don't know what, I started exploring the other features of the device and was shocked when I got to the Stats screen.

"What in the god damned?" I exclaimed as I looked over the information displayed on the screen, MY information. "Okay, so I'm in a coma or something after getting hit by that car." I rationalised as I looked through the rest of my information.

'Only level 13? I call bullshit.' I thought to myself as I sat down against a tree and continued looking through as I got comfortable, the leaves and grass rustling lightly as I sat. 'Fair enough special stats, terrible barter. Not that that's going to be any use. Pretty good Melee Weapons, heh Larping actually came in handy.'

Odd thoughts began to creep back into my head when I got to the item screen though. WEAPONS was empty except for something listed as 9mm {FAKE}, which was one of the things I'd brought with me to go with my costume. APPAREL was weird as well as it listed what I was currently wearing pretty well. I gave a small chuckle when I noticed that the Lord of the rings replica ring I was wearing underneath the gloves gave me a +10 to Stealth.

'Okay so suddenly the PIP-BOY is actually accurate, what did the name come up as again?' I thought as I scrolled back to the status screen.

[Courier Six]

"Well at least that's stayed somewhat the same, even if that's not right." I muttered to myself out loud as I took a look up at the scenery around me. "Still I don't think I've ever had a dream this lucid, still a coma maybe?" I added as I started a slow pace through the forest, running one of my gloved hands down the bark of a tree and feeling it catch a little as it slid down the rough surface. Everything certainly felt real enough.

'Only thing to do is move I suppose.' I thought as I continued walking.

~Tell me quick! 'Aint that a kick, In the Heeeeeaaad!~

"Oh right, music." I said to myself as I turned it off while walking.

After a couple of hours wandering through the trees I heard yelling and picked up the pace, When I heard screaming I started running. I dashed through the trees towards the sound of the screams and was taken a back when I saw someone getting attacked by a big black werewolf covered with white-

"Holy shit that's a Grimm."I said out loud to myself, the noise drew the attention of the one getting attacked though.

"HELP ME!" Screamed the middle aged man, dodging behind trees and rocks nearby to avoid the teeth and claws of the Beowolf in front of him.

I didn't have any weapons on my so I quickly ran to the best looking branch I could find nearby and attempted to snap it off of the tree, succeeding on my second try. It left me with a vaguely sharp object and that was good enough for me.

With the Grimm still occupied I grasped the branch firmly in my hands and ran forward, at the last moment the Grimm turned around and I panicked, turning the branch upward and blocking a swipe from the Grimm's claws. With a yell I thrust was I had of the branch forward into the Grimm's neck and was batted away from it in response.

I rolled off of the dirt nearby and to my feet, nursing the not so slight amount of pain emanating from my shoulder and looked over to see the Grimm collapse and slowly fade away into black dust.

[+25 exp] Popped up along the side of my vision and I suppressed a small chuckle at my situation.

"You saved me...Are you okay?" The middle aged guy I'd saved asked as he looked me over.

"I'll be fine." I replied, not exactly sure myself "I've been through worse."

"A-are you a Huntsman then?" He asked looking me over.

"Courier." I replied almost automatically, it felt easy to get into character with all this bullshit going on. It was like a comfortable second skin. "Although I'm also a freelance mercenary. Depends, have you got any paying jobs?"

"I don't know about paying, but I could use an escort back to town." The old man asked, still looking at me with curiosity. "We could both get some rest and talk more there."

I nodded back in agreement before gesturing him forward "Lead the way."

He gave me another look over before shrugging and walking in the direction of his town, I followed next to him as we walked.

I brought my Pip-Boy back up to my face as we walked and examined it, ignoring the curious look from the guy walking next to me and looked through the stats section, moving over to perks. I'd hoped to find one in particular, but was a bit surprised at what I actually had.

'Not complaining but what the fuck?' I thought to myself as I saw the phoenix-monocyte breeder implant from New Vegas show up in my Perks along with the subdermal Armour and-and...

My eyes blinked behind the lenses of my helmet as they read and then re-read the text on the Pip-Boy in front of me.

[Grimm Nature] With your lack of a soul you came into this world as one of the Grimm! Worry not as the Queen has no sway over you or your decisions, but the rest of the world may not see you in the best light. [Chance for other Grimm to ignore you for a time] [Negative reputation gain whenever a faction learns of your Grimm status]

"Hey buddy, you okay?" The man I'd saved asked, noticing I'd stopped in my tracks.

It took me a few seconds to run his question through my head but eventually I replied "Y-yeah, I'm fine. That hit from earlier must of knocked me a little harder than I thought."

"Come on, we're pretty close to town. We can have a rest when we get there." He said putting a hand on my shoulder trying to comfort me.

I just nodded in response, waiting for his hand to remove itself before bringing my Pip-Boy back up and flicking back to the stats screen so he wouldn't accidentally read what I'd just read.

"Say, what's that on your wrist? I don't think I've seen anything like it before." The man asked, probably taking note of it since I'd spent most of our time walking to town using it.

"Something I found out scavenging in abandoned towns." I replied, bringing it up a bit closer to him so he could take a look. "It records personal information and has a mapping system and some other stuff."

"Pretty lucky find." The man said, examining it closer.

"Considering that the place was crawling with Grimm I consider finding anything and getting out with it lucky." I said back, bringing my arm back down.

"How'd you get out of there?" He asked curiously, his eyebrow raised.

"Running for my life." I lied simply, my mind still lingering on my apparent soulessness.

The man simply nodded in response and brought his sight forward once more, leaving me to my thoughts.

'Okay, sooo...FUCKTON to process here.' I thought to myself, the sound of crunching dirt and twigs underneath my boots filtering into my helmet. 'So, first off. NOT DEAD, which in hindsight is a good thing. On the other hand, the FUCK is going on with this whole Pip-Boy thing?'

I brought the device up to my head again and looked at the images on the stats screen through the lenses of my helmet, my eyebrows furrowing a bit before letting my arm swing back to my side as I kept walking.

'As awesome as that is I have a lot of questions and no answers.' "Come on, it's just a bit further down this path. We should be reaching the gate soon." I heard the bloke in front of me say, I just nodded in response and kept pace as my thought continued flowing. 'And that's not to mention that I'm now a soulless Grimm, apparently. All this is gonna take a while to get over but I think I can deal for now, I'd like to know why I'm in RWBY but fuck it it's better than being dead.'

"And here we are, Jocasta." The man in front of me said as the gate came into view as the trees broke away in front of us. With a smile he beckoned me forward and I followed with no further prompting, looking forward to having a bit of rest after that fight.

"You know I don't think I ever got your name?" The guy in front of me asked with a small smile as we passed the tree line and made for the gate.

"I go by Courier Six, so Courier or Six will do I suppose." I replied, frowning a bit behind my helmet. 'Well that was damn near automatic, I guess this second skin I'm wearing is tighter than I thought.' "Yours?" I managed to ask back, not really wanting to know the man I'd saved as just some guy.

"Courier Six?" The guy asked incredulously, he shook his head and chuckled a bit before adding "Well if that's your name then that's your name. It's not what I would've picked for you but...Oh well. Anyway my name's Carob. Thanks for the save back there."

"Eh, anyone else would have done the same. Probably have done a better job too." I replied, thinking back on the fight. I really needed to get some actual weapons.

"Are you kidding me?" Carob asked sarcastically before going on "You tore a fresh branch off of a tree and stabbed a Grimm in the throat with it, that was incredible! I was surprised when you told me you weren't a huntsman."

"Ahh that was nothing, give me a few simple guns, maybe a nice or a sword and I'll kill twenty Grimm." I boasted, mainly for reputations sake. It managed to peak Carob's curiosity.

"So why didn't you have any weapons?" He asked, looking me up and down before realising something. "Or anything at all really besides that armour and your... whatever you called it."

"They uh, broke in a previous fight a week or two ago." I replied, hoping he'd buy it.

"Wait, how long have you been travelling?" Carob asked, stopping just before the Gate, I noticed a guard with a spear-rifle moved down from the top of the wall.

"I lost track after...a month? Two?" I said, feigning thought as I watch Carob's eyes widening.

"You've been in the Brothers damned wilderness for over a month?!" Carob exclaimed, looking me over again. "How in the-No you know what? Doesn't matter, I reckon you could do with a good meal and a good drink after all that surviving in the wild against the Grimm."

"I wont say no to..." I almost agreed before realising I'd have to take my helmet off, I had no idea what I looked like under all this armour now that I was Grimm. Had much changed? "Actually I think I might get myself cleaned up first."

The gate opened in front of us before Carob could reply and we were met with the smiling face of the guard I'd seen before with the Spear-Rifle.

"Ahh, finally back from berry collecting then? But no berries?" He asked before turning to me. "And a newcomer, well the Town's just buzzing today."

"Had an encounter with a Beowolf before I could find any cowberries." Carob replied with visible disappointment. "I doubt I would've made it back at all if it weren't for Six here."

"Six?" The Guard said back, a little confused. He shrugged it off though. "Strange name but sure, we don't judge to much out here."

"Good to know." I replied, ignoring a popup which told me I'd discovered Jocasta and giving me 10 exp. "Have you guys got somewhere I can clean up? I'm also looking for some new weapons as well."

"Well if you're looking to clean yourself up you could do worse than renting the bathroom at the tavern." The guard replied, pointing out the now very obvious tavern just into town. "A bit further down the main street you'll find the Dust shop, generally they sell weapons as well as we don't have a proper smith here. They're not of the highest quality but they'll keep you alive during a Grimm attack in the wilds."

"I see..." I said in reply as I thought about a new problem which just came up. "And is there any immediate jobs which need doing around here? I kind of...well light on Lien at the moment."

"Tell you what, you come by my bakery and I'll give you some Lien for saving my life." Carob stated with a smile. "Least I could do."

"Much appreciated, lead on."

It was a fairly quick walk to Carob's bakery from the front gate, with Jocasta being a relatively small town all things considered. As I looked around I realised that the town had a sort of old western vibe going, all the stores were up one street with houses along the back streets. Or in Carob's case attached to his store as I found out when we walked into the Bakery.

Carob motioned for me to wait in the front so I did, leaning on the counter while I did so. A minute or two of waiting later and Carob returned with a few different cards of Lien.

"There you go." He said, handing them off to me. I happily put them in one of my Jacket pockets, glad that I was no longer broke like a joke. "It's not much but it's all I can give you without this place going under, thanks again for saving my life."

"You're very welcome, if you've got any other troubles or things I could do let me know." I replied kindly.

"I'm fine, but some of the other folk in town might need a hand with some things." Carob said, stroking his chin in thought. "For now though you should probably go get cleaned up like you said, I doubt being in the wilds for so long have given you the chance to do so."

"Right, thanks mate. Pleasure to meet you." I replied, giving him a wave as I walked out of the shop and towards the tavern.

I stepped up and opened the door to the tavern, it was a bit quieter than I'd been expecting. I still got a few looks thanks to the armour I was wearing, a few of them lingered but most people just went back to their drinks.

"Can I help you sir?" The Bartender asked, giving me a curious look at she put down a mug she was cleaning to give me her full attention. She was a middle-aged woman, the wrinkles on her brown telling me such. Though the smile on her face told me she still had a lot of life left in her.

"Yeah, I was hoping for a bath and something to drink." I replied, walking up to the counter where I saw a register.

"With the bath or while you wait for the hot water?" She asked, looking me up and down.

"With please." I responded, getting a nod back.

"That'll be 45 Lien then." She replied, holding out her hand.

Hoping that it was enough I reached into the pocket I'd put my Lien into before, I was a bit surprised to find there wasn't as much in there as there was before. Had I been robbed? But with her hand waiting expectantly between us I grabbed whatever was in my pocket and handed it over. "Hope this is enough."

"Sure is, exact amount too." She stated putting it in the register before yelling "Hey Danny! Get a bath run!"

I heard a quick response down the hallway next to the counter and she gave me a smile "It'll take a bit to get the water hot enough, so feel free to take a seat." She gestured over towards an abandoned Piano in the corner with a turn of her head as she continued. "Or if you've got the talent for it you could hop on that old thing, liven this place up a little."

"Would it be worth some Lien?" I asked in reply, looking curiously at the standard upright piano with dust and webs on it in the corner. "Also does it still work at all?"

"W-wait. You can actually play the piano?" She asked, her hand freezing over a dirty mug. "That's just a joke we play on most newcomers, hell that thing hasn't been touched in ten years."

"Well I can't read sheet music but I know a few tunes I could play." I replied, glancing between the Barkeep and the Piano. "Don't know whether anyone here would enjoy them though."

"No no go ahead, it'll be nice to hear anything from it." She said with a hopeful smile. "I'll even give you a bottle of something good if I like the tune."

"Alright." I replied with a nod, not having much else to do until the bath water was heated anyway.

The stares which had been pointed at my back since I walked in followed me with curiosity as I made my way across the tavern floor between tables and chairs to the Piano across the room. Once there I dusted off the seat and lifted the lid on the piano keys to find them still a nice clear white, although a few of the keys seemed a bit more worn than others. Whoever had played this before me definitely only knew a few tunes.

I was a bit nervous at first with everyone watching but eventually I tested a few of the keys to make sure they were in tune, and after that played a few simple notes. After that the notes turned into tunes that I knew which flowed into each other nicely. A couple of cheers and the clinking of glasses told me that the sound was much appreciated to my relief so I continued playing, changing up the song and tune every now and again.

I was glad when a few minutes in I got a call from the bar telling me my bath was ready, although the moans of disapproval from the patrons told me I should probably come back here sometime and play again. I'd about exhausted what I knew though so I'd have to try and either remember some more or try and recreate some other tunes I already knew.

"I have never heard ANY of those songs before." The Barkeep stated, sliding a bottle of... I don't know what across the counter. "Where did you say you were from?"

"Somewhere very far away." I replied vaguely, picking up the bottle and pretending to examine it. "Thanks for this too, should hit the spot pretty well."

"Well you seemed the whiskey type if you don't mind my judging." She said, gesturing towards the bottle. "Now you better go take that bath, the water'll only stay warm for so long."

"There a mirror in the bathroom by chance?" I asked, hoping I'd finally be able to get a look at myself for the first time since I'd been dropped onto Remnant.

"Sure is, do you need a shaving kit as well?" She asked in return with a cock of her head, I guess she was trying to imagine what I looked like under my helmet.

"No, I should be fine." I said with a shake of my head.

"Well in that case, it's the first door on your left down the hallway. Can't miss it." The Bartender stated, gesturing over her shoulder down the hallway.

"Thanks again." I said with a quick nod in her direction before I made my way to the bathroom.

I opened the door and a bit of steam rolled out, I stood there for a second or two feeling a bit out of place before walking in and closing the door behind me. Looking around I saw the 'Bath' of the bathroom in the centre of the room, a large ceramic tub that had been filled with water by hand it looked like. Steam rose quietly from the water in the tub giving the room enough humidity to fog up the lenses of my helmet.

Not being able to see I quickly turned on the helmets ventilation system and slowly the fogginess reduce enough that I could make my way around the room towards the mirror on the wall. I dragged the only chair in the room over to the mirror and took in a deep breath, holding it as I turned off everything on the helmet and took it off.

I jumped but managed to hold back a yell at the terrifying image before me. Gone were any facial features I might have had, in their place were one plates forming a skull with sharp teeth that interlocked perfectly with each other when closed. Honestly after seeing that I was hesitant to continue stripping, worried about what I'd find.

"Wait a minute." I said to myself as a thought popped into my head. "How in the hell am I even talking properly? Don't I need lips to make certain sounds?"

It was a bit freaky watching myself talk so I looked away for a few seconds to regain my cool before continuing to take clothes off. At which point a came across a problem.

"How in the hell am I supposed to take off a shirt or this jacket with a Pip-Boy I can't take off?" I asked myself with a bit of frustration before the answer hit me. "Oh right, video game logic."

I raised the Pip-Boy and unequipped the NCR jacket, finding myself in my underwear. Which lead to seeing more of my body. The rest of me was scarcely protected by bone plates, only having a few around my crotch and on my chest and legs.

'Speaking of crotch.' I thought to myself, dreading to check.

Mustering what courage and hope I had left let my hand try to feel for something, and was gravely disappointed to find only flat bone plate there. I held back a tear and slipped out of my underwear, before testing the bathwater.

I flinched back a bit but was surprised about how It still felt the same now that I...Was this black stuff technically skin? Can I feel stuff through the bone plates? I gave one of the two on my chest a knock just to make sure and it made a hollow clunk sound but I felt nothing.

With a depressed sigh I resigned myself to the fact that this was my life now and just tried to enjoy the bath while it lasted. During the bath I looked down at my vaguely clawed hands, wondering how they fit in the gloves of the NCR costume so well. I chalked it up to more video game type bullshit.

A light beeping from the Pip-Boy grabbed my attention, so I lifted it up over the lip of the bath and shook water water I could off of my other hand. Trying to check what had just happened. When I got to the Data section I was surprised to find not just one, but two quests.

[Dear Hearts and Gentle People: Get to know the people of Jocasta]

[optional: Gather Cowberries for Carob]

[Red Like Roses: Find Ruby Rose]

'Okay, easy enough.' I thought to myself as I thought through the quests. 'First ones probably something similar to a tutorial or something. Get myself equipped and ready for the world. And that would make the second one...the main quest?'

I found myself a bit puzzled as to why this would be the main quest but shrugged it off. At this point I was so deep in gamer fan-fic bullshit that I'm not sure anything thrown my way could phase me.

I looked around nervously for a few seconds expecting retribution from an author or some other 'godly' entity for just thinking that but was glad when nothing happened, and was just sitting awkwardly in a now cooling bathtub.

Sighing to myself I stood up and stepped out of the bath, grabbing a towel nearby and very easily dabbed myself dry. I suppose that was one of the few benefits of being a hairless monstrosity. After that I put my underwear back on and re-equipped my NCR outfit, noticing that it seemed a bit cleaner than before. Did the Pip-Boy clean stuff too? Neat.

I made sure to walk back and grab my helmet, before realising my bottle of alcohol was missing. On a hunch I went through the Pip-Boy and indeed found it in the Aid section under Whiskey.

'Well at least the Pip-Boy can read that bullshit called a language.' I thought to myself as I put the helmet back on and made sure it was properly in place.

I looked back into the mirror and felt a mix of sadness and relief at the image of my helmet staring back at me with red lenses. This was going to be my face for humanity, god forbid anyone learn about me being Grimm. I mean I trusted my Pip-Boy but I doubt the reaction would be only my reputation going down.

Gathering myself I opened the bathroom door and was greeted again by the sound of the tavern, which by the sound of it had gotten a little bit livelier since I'd bathed.

"Took your sweet time in there." The Bartender said as I turned the corner, her hands once again occupied with a rag and a dirty mug. "I hope you didn't leave to much of a mess."

"I certainly hope not." I replied cheerfully. "I'd hate to have infringed upon your hospitality."

"It's no problem, I'll have my boy clean up whatever mess you've made in their regardless." She replied, setting the glass down and gesturing back over to the Piano. "You going to get back on the piano?"

"No, I've got a bit of shopping to do." I said, getting a nod from the Bartender in reply.

"You'll be heading to Crazy Carmine's Dust Emporium then." She stated with a smirk. "Tell that bum he still owes me for last night's tab will you?"

"I'll be sure to mention it." I replied with a chuckle, the sound coming out a bit strangely from the voice modulator in the helmet.

I left with a wave and walked back up the street past Carob's Bakery and a Doctor's office before stopping in front of the doors to a run down store with imagery of Dust and Gun's painted over the windows so it wasn't possible to see inside.

With a shrug I pulled open the door and walked inside, surprised to see that despite the state of the shelves themselves that fresh boxes of ammunition and what I assumed to be various parts of things I had no idea about lined-

"I TOLD YOU BEFORE I DON'T HAVE THE- Oh butternuts it's a customer." Came the scratchy voice of the most stereotypical western man I'd ever seen wearing red overalls and a hat that had way to many holes in it to still be functional. He emerged from the doorway to a back room which by the sound of things falling over was a lot less organised than the items sitting on shelves around me.

"Sorry there fella, thought you were that whiskey witch from the drinkin' hole." The man I assumed to be Carmine said, quickly putting away some items he'd been holding down on the ground behind the counter. "Well then, what brings you to my fine establishment partner?"

"I was hoping you'd have some guns for me to look at." I replied sincerely, remembering my desperate need for something that goes bang to keep the other monsters away.

"I think I've got a few mecha-shift weapons lying around, you huntsman types like those right?" He asked, not bothering to wait for an answer before scurrying off into the back room of the shop where he'd emerged from before.

"Actually I'd like a look at ALL your weapons if that's alright?" I stated as loudly as I could, hoping my voice would reach the aging man scurrying around in the room behind the counter.

"ALL of them?" I heard a disbelieving voice say back. "Alright, it's your afternoon!"

'He can't have THAT many weapons can he?'

'WHY DOES HE HAVE SO MANY GUNS.' I thought to myself, my outward image simply nodding at the selection. Trying to pick something I might be able to afford.

"And this particular piece we found on another traveller who didn't quite make it into town." He said, trying to get me to buy a curved silver dagger. "While it didn't serve it's previous owner so well I'm sure that it will be put to much better use in your hands."

"Sorry, but I'm just looking for something simple at the moment." I stated looking over the selection and only seeing a few things I remotely recognised, one of which I had my eyes on in particular. "How much for the old revolver?" I asked, pointing out the big black chunk of metal which was practically screaming I buy it.

"That old thing?" Carmine asked, walking over to me and picking up the gun. "This things from way before the great war, been through a lot too by my guess. It's a rare piece though, been modified so it can use standard Dust rounds as well. How much Lien did you say you had?"

"Give me a sec." I replied, quickly going trough my Pip-Boy. I was surprised to find I had a decent amount of Lien. I needed to remember to thank Carob again. "I think I've got enough for it, what do you reckon it's worth?"

"I reckon about three thousand Lien would be alright." The old man said with a smile and a nod.

'I have no idea whether that's a good price or not, and that's almost ALL my Lien.' I thought to myself anxiously, my gaze drifting down to the revolver. 'Oooooo but I WANT IT.'

"If you throw in a holster and a few boxes of ammunition for it you've got yourself a deal." I stated, holding out a hand to shake. My hand was crushed in the mighty grip of this Hercules in disguise.

"YEEE-HAWW. Partner you've got yourself a GUN!" Carmine yelled excitedly, near zipping around the room before handing me the small pile of items. "She's all your's pal, and if you ever need a refill of bullet or feel like buying another hole maker you come right on back to CrAAAAAAZY CARMINE'S! Now if you'll be excusing me I've got a tab to pay off and some money to spend!"

With that Carmine ran out the door leaving me wondering just how much Lien I'd just given him. Although as the door closed shut I realised in his haste to go drinking he'd left me alone in his store. With all his weapons and ammo arrayed in front of me.

'You know I find myself trying to make reasons not to rob this man blind.' I thought to myself as I eyed up a few different rifles.

I sighed and kicked myself mentally before checking whether the old man had any camera's watching the store front, somehow I felt worse when I couldn't find any. I shook my head and tried to look away but I still couldn't walk away from such a hoard, not when my survival might depend on taking something.

'One thing.' I thought to myself, nodding in agreement as I looked over the selection. 'I'll only take one thing.'

My eyes quickly found a lever action shotgun which looked like it was straight out of New Vegas and I took it and scoured the shelves for ammunition, taking ten boxes for both of my weapons before. Putting it in my jacket and walking out into the town, expecting to get shot or something for stealing.

When I wasn't filled with holes I sighed in relief but was alerted to a beeping from my Pip-Boy. By instinct this time I flicked to the Quests section of the data menu and looked for updates.

[Dear Hearts and Gentle People: Get to know the people of Jocasta]

[optional: Gather Cowberries for Carob]

[optional{FAILED]:Don't steal from Carmine]

'Right, I should probably start thinking about leaving town before that hillbilly finds out some of his stock is missing.' I thought to myself as I looked around and realised the sun was starting to set. 'In the morning, god damn kleptomania...I blame video games for this.'

The mix of dirt and gravel that made up the main road of Jocasta crunched audibly under my feet as I walked calmly away from the store. The people of the town gave curious looks my way before going back about their business, it was as I was looking back at some rather curious children who'd stopped their play to look at me that I was given a tap on the shoulder and I turned around to find a town guard.

"You're the Huntsman right?" He asked, digging the butt of his spear-rifle into the dirt next to his boots.

"I'm not a Huntsman but given I'm the new guy I'm gonna say yes." I replied, getting a nod back from the Guard.

"Right. The Mayor wanted to have a word with you about something, he seemed a bit... oh it doesn't matter." The guard said with a shake of his head before pointing out the second largest building on the main street. "You'll find him at the Town Hall. They'll know who you are."

"Thanks." I replied as the guard walked away, not really paying attention to my reply. I shrugged and walked towards the Town Hall, maybe I'd finally be able to start getting some Lien back.

The door of the Town Hall creaked as I opened it, leading me into a small lobby with comfortable looking seats along the walls. A cheery receptionist waved me over and I didn't waste a second as I walked over, leaning on the desk.

"You must be Courier Six, The Mayors been waiting for you for a few hours now." The receptionist said, organising a small amount of papers before opening a draw and filing them away. "He's just at the end of the hall to my left, have a nice day!"

"Thanks, you too." I replied before walking around the desk and down the hallway, floorboards creaking under my feet as I went. 'Wow, wonder whether she gets paid to give off that sort of energy or whether she's just like that?' I thought to myself as I reached the door leading to the Mayor's office and gave it a knock before walking in.

"Ahh, finally." The Mayor stated, closing down the holographic screen emanating from his desk. "You must be our newest visitor to my fine town of Jocasta, And a Huntsman no less! Courier Six if I am correct? A strange name to be sure, but as long as you can complete the job I have for you I'll make sure you're very well compensated."

"I'm not-Well compensated you say?" I replied, taking a seat in front of the Mayors desk and getting comfortable. "Well it does depend on the Job, mind explaining a little bit more?"

"Glad to." The Mayor said, tapping a few buttons on his desk.

A holographic map popped up in front of us and locations slowly filled themselves onto the map, coming up as named red dots. Finally Jocasta itself and a few small dots closeby loaded up and the Mayor began speaking. "The fine town of Jocasta was settled some generations ago, before the great war. Since then we've had our troubles with the Grimm and bandits alike but we've always managed to beat them back, until recently."

The Mayor tapped one of the small dots just outside of Jocasta and the map zoomed in, showing a few pictures of what appeared to be a destroyed house.

"What you're seeing right now is what remains of a guard outpost made outside of the towns walls." He continued, zooming out and tapping another dot. Similar images coming up one after the other. "The last few years Grimm seem to have been amassing closer and closer to Vale for some reason or another, all located at Vale's failed expansion at Mountain Glenn."

I noticed the obvious frustration on his face as he mentioned the ruins but he calmed himself rather quickly and moved on.

"Regardless of the reason for this build up it's become harder and harder for us to remain a viable settlement, the only revenue we have left is really the Tavern." He stated sadly, sitting back in his chair. "The Job is simple, we've discovered a few clusters of Grimm staying around the area of these Outposts. I want them eliminated to that we cant attempt to rebuild our first warning system in case we do need to abandon the Town."

"Sounds easy enough, How much are you willing to pay?" I asked in return. The Mayor shut down the Holographs before replying.

"Two thousand Lien." I was about to reply that it wasn't that much when the Mayor held up a hand and continued. "For each Outpost that you liberate. As for letting us know, there should be a beacon in each of the outposts that will send a message to my desk in case of emergencies. Simply find and activate the Beacon once the area has been cleared and I'll send some of my guards to secure the area."

"Easy as that huh?" I asked, thinking about how many Grimm I might have to fight. I hope these weapons were as effective as they arm in New Vegas.

"Easy as that." The Mayor nodded, sitting back and pulling out a cigar. "Now if you'll excuse me I have some more matters that require my attention."

"Of course." I said back, standing up. "I look forward to getting that Lien."

"Wait a second." The Mayor said, making me pause as my hand hovered over the door knob leading out of the room.

"Something else you need me to do?" I asked, turning sideways to look at the seated man as he lit his cigar and took a puff.

"You're not a Faunus are you?" He asked, making my eyes raise a little. "Just curious is all. What with the helmet and everything, It's hard to tell whether you're a Human or not."

With the subject matter brought up I realised that I hadn't seen a single Faunus since I'd gotten here, and I'd seen about a whole town of people. I thought about what I could say in response, sentences bouncing around in my head as I contemplated that I may or may not be helping a town of racists.

"Would it be a problem if I was?" I asked back, making sure he could see my gloved hand as I drew back my jacket a little and fingered the grip of my new revolver.

"Oh no, of course not." The Mayor responded carefully, eyeing the revolver at my hip. "All are welcome in Jocasta."

"Good to hear." I replied, giving the man a nod before leaving the office.

I quickly left the Town Hall as well and made my way back to Crazy Carmine's, knowing he'd probably still be at the Tavern for at least another hour or so. No one stopped me as I walked in, and as I looked back to the windows I was glad for the painted images on them preventing anyone from seeing in.

I quickly checked my Pip-Boy to see whether I could carry all of the weapons arrayed before me, I smiled.

I walked out of the dust shop with a smile on my face. Not because I thought I'd done any good, I definitely just put someone out of business and possibly done irreparable harm to this towns economy. But if it meant one upping a town of racists so be it, beside if I managed to find my way to Vale and sell all of the extra dust I found I'd be rich. Which was good because something told me that when the Mayor found out he wouldn't be happy.

At this point I checked the map on my Pip-Boy and decided to leave town and head North towards Mountain Glenn, then towards Vale from there. I just needed some food and water for the roa... It was at this point I realised that I didn't actually feel thirsty, or hungry for that matter.

'Guess there's some perks to being Grimm.' I thought to myself, as I flicked over to the quest section. My eyes glanced over my quests and I raised an eyebrow 'Okay...'

[Dear Hearts and Gentle People: Get to know the people of Jocasta]

[optional: Gather Cowberries for Carob]

[optional{FAILED]:Don't steal from Carmine]

[Red Like Roses: Find Ruby Rose]

[Don't Fence Me In{FAILED}:Help the Mayor retake Jocasta's Guard outposts]

"Eh worth it." I said out loud, switching the Pip-Boy back to my stats before making my way out of town. As I reached the north gate I waved at the gate guards and they nodded, probably having gotten orders to let me go freely from the Mayor. That was proven as the gate opened and I walked through without any trouble.

With a sigh of relief I took one last look at the towns walls and started following the dirt road north. I didn't make it too far into the woods though.

After about five or so minutes of walking I noticed two white clad Faunus block my way forward on the road, I'd seen white fang before in the show so I recognised them. I could tell they didn't have my best interests at heart either so my hand hovered over my revolver, waiting for one of them to do something appropriately hostile.

"You will go no further Hunstman, our leader has plans for Jocasta and we can't let you interfere with them." One of the grunts said, I heard the rustling of leaves behind me but made no move to look back.

"It's a good thing I wont then." I replied, hoping this wouldn't escalate. I wasn't sure how much damage I could take without any aura.

"Nothing you say can save- wait what?" The Grunt asked in reply, suddenly very confused. "You...You're not going to try and stop us? Weren't you hired by the Mayor just a few minutes ago to go clear Jocasta's outposts?"

"Yeah, doesn't mean I plan on doing it though." I stated, resting my hand on my revolver now. At this point I was sure they weren't going to attack me without being provoked. "Besides that place is clearly messed up. A town that big and there's NO Faunus? Honestly you guys may be terrorists but whatever you guys got planned for that town is probably well justified."

"Oh...Well..." The Grunt rubbed the back of his head as the two White Fang behind me walked over to the two blocking the road. "This is awkward, we were kind of told to eliminate you. But... well..."

"We can't exactly go back empty handed, the boss would skin us." One of the other Grunts said.

"Well why don't we just kill him then?" Another one said, one of the two that had hidden in the bushes beside me.

"Because if you try to kill me, I'll end you." I stated simply, pulling my revolver from its holster and giving it a spin before letting it rest at my side. "While you have a chance of surviving if you go back to wherever your camp is."

"You know what, I think I left something back at camp." The leader of the group said nervously, before running away. Two others chased after him leaving the one who'd suggested to kill me. I took one step forward and then she too was running, quickly catching up to the others as they sped out of sight.

'That was easy.' I thought to myself, holstering my revolver.

[+50 exp]

'Oh yeah, that's still a thing.' I thought to myself as I continued down the road, trying to be a bit more careful about ambushes this time. 'Still got the whole video game thing going on.'

With a sigh I lifted my Pip-Boy back up and went back to the quest section, at which point I realised I hadn't even had any of the quests selected. With a bit of curiosity I selected [Red Like Roses] and switched over to the map, I was both surprised and pleased when a small blip was visibly on the map somewhere in Vale. Telling me that one, the Quest system worked exactly the same, and two, Ruby was currently in Vale.

"I wonder whether she's attending Beacon yet though?" I thought to myself out loud, the sound of dirt and twigs crunching under my boots the primary sound I could hear.

I shrugged in answer to my own question and just settled for walking as far as I could tonight, and hope I get to Mount Glenn sometime soon. Or maybe I should just head straight for Vale? I scrolled around a bit and in the end decided heading straight for Vale would probably be easier in the long run. I didn't want to deal with any more White Fang bullshit and while I didn't know when in RWBY's timeline I was I'd prefer not to take the risk.

And so I walked the road to Vale, hoping I wouldn't run into too many Grimm on the way.

A/N HA HA! I HAVE BEEN REVIVED FROM THE DEAD!

While encountering a bit of writers block for my previous story I decided to continue writing about some other idea's I'd had waiting in the wings so to speak. While there are only two chapters done at the moment they are a lot longer due to action scenes and other stuff.

This isn't the end of My Steven Universe Self insert, I'm still slowly working on it and the next chapter is almost finished.

If you liked what you read make sure to leave a review! hell leave one even if you didn't. And remember to Stay Tuned For More!