Chapter 2: Little Red and Snow White

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout: New Vegas or RWBY. The former is owned by Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda Softworks while the latter is owned by Rooster Teeth

[Unknown Forest, Another World]

Marston continued to gaze at his surroundings as Cass and Boone gathered their bearings. He'd never seen so many trees in his life before. He'd saw trees when he'd visit Jacobstown, but those were few and much more spread out. Marston then noticed something on the ground. It was his cigarette, which had miraculously survived the trip somehow. He picked it up and took a drag on it before turning to his companions.

"You alright," he asked as Cass righted herself up. She then got to her knees and picked up her discarded shotgun.

"I'm fine, boss."

"You know I've been through worse, Marston," Boone said as he got up, his marksmen carbine still in his hands. He then looked around at the forest.

"Any idea where we are?"

"We're definitely outside of the Mojave, on account of all 'em trees," Marston said as he fiddled with his Pipboy. He pressed the "data" button and scrolled over to the map, hoping to get an idea of where they were. However, he raised an eyebrow at what he saw. On the screen were the words "LOCATION UNKNOWN. INSUFFICENT DATA.". The courier let out a sigh as he lowered the device.

"My PipBoy is telling me nothin'. As it is, we're lost."

"That's a pisser," Cass said as she kicked a nearby rock. "What do you suppose we do, boss?"

"Best bet would be keep walking. There's got to be a settlement or somethin' 'round here. Any objects?"

"I'm fine with it," Boone said as he adjusted his ever-present sunglasses. ED-E let out a beep of confirmation and Cass answered with a nod.

"Good. Now let's head out," Marston said as he took a few steps forward. However, he soon stopped in his tracks and looked around the forest, a feeling of dread washing over him. His hand idly rested over the grip of That Gun.

"Something wrong, boss?"

"It feels like something's watchin' us, Cass."

The courier's fears were confirmed when some… thing jumped out of the shadows. It resembled a wolf, only it was much, much bigger. It was pitch black as the night, with glowing red eyes and what looked like bone plating covering parts of it. The creature immediately went after Marston.

"JESUS CHRIST," he shouted as the creature pounced at him. The courier attempted to grab his revolver from his holster, but the beast was too quick and tackled him to the ground. The beast was then on top of Marston. The courier brought up his left forearm to block the beast's maw while he still tried to reach for That Gun. Cass, Boone, and ED-E immediately opened fire on the beast. Cass worked the action of her shotgun, and fired another blast of buckshot. Boone fired round after round from his marksmen carbine while ED-E let out a volley of energy blasts. However, one of ED-E's shots went astray and hit Marston in the leg. The courier grimaced at the pain as he finally freed his gun from his holster. With that, he aimed the revolver under the beast's head and fired it. The round pierced straight through its head, and Marston continued to pull the trigger until the gun clicked empty. The beast let out a howl of pain as Cass and Boone fired their last remaining rounds into the beast, and it fell over dead. Marston quickly scurried away before the corpse could collapse on him, and got to his feet.

"Lousy, stinkin' mutt," Marston grumbled as he repeatedly kick the carcass. However, his eyes widened as the beast's body began to disintegrate and float away into the air. Cass raised an eyebrow at the disappearing corpse while Boone lowered his sunglasses to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The corpse was soon gone and now nothing more than dust in the wind. The courier than grunted as he felt the injury ED-E accidentally gave him. He turned towards the eyebot with an annoyed look on his face.

"ED-E, watch where you're firin' next time," he said as he began to rummage through his satchel before taking out a stimpak. He then jabbed the stimpak into his right thigh and let the medication flow through his body. His injury was healed within a couple of seconds.

"What the hell you think that thing was," Boone said as he loaded a fresh magazine into his carbine and chambered a round into it.

"Seemed like a furry, armored lil' deathclaw to me," Cass joked a she took out a few 12 gauge magnum shells and loaded them into her shotgun. Once the last shell was loaded, she pumped the action on it.

"Whatever it is, it's dead now," Marston said as he pressed a button on the left side of That Gun. The cylinder of the revolver then moved out and popped out the empty shells. Marston took out a speedloader from his pocket and loaded it into the cylinder. The cylinder moved back into place and made a ringing sound. Marston holstered his revolver before pressing a few buttons on PipBoy. A flash of green light appeared and two new weapons were in the courier's hands.

The first was a hatchet that had a rubber-gripped wooden handle. The second weapon was a lever-action rifle. The receiver of the gun was a polished steel, and the rear sight was simple and circular. The most unique part of the rifle, however, was on its stock. Wrapped around the stock was a piece of leather, and said leather had what looked like a medicine wheel that had a few feathers hanging off of it. Due to the medicine wheel attached to it, Marston had christened the rifle "Medicine Stick". Marston slung the rifle over his right shoulder and tucked the hatchet in his belt right behind That Gun. He then turned to his group.

"Let's get a move on. Daylight's burnin'," he said as he began to walk, his right hand grasping the swing on his rifle. Cass and Boone grabbed their respective weapons and followed their leader, with ED-E at the end.

The group continued to walk for several minutes. However, they were still stuck in the seemingly endless sea of trees. After a few more minutes, Marston suddenly stepped off to the side and leaned against a tree. He took his finished cigarette from his mouth, dropped it to the ground, and grinded it underneath his heel. He then brought his canteen out and took a drink from it. Cass stopped by him, her shotgun resting on her shoulder. She looked at her friend as he put his canteen away.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just stopping for a breather. You go on ahead, I'll catch up to y'all in a bit."

Cass replied with a nod and then walked off. Marston then reached into inside of his duster and pulled out a cigarette pack from one of the inside pockets. He took one of them, placed it in his mouth, and brought his lighter out.

However, a voice interrupted the courier before he could light his smoke.

"Huh? Who are you?"

Martson turned his head to where the voice was coming from. A few yards to his left was a teenage girl who looked around fifteen or so. She was very youthful looking, with black hair with red tips, silver eyes, and pale skin. Her choice of clothing looked interesting to Marston. It looked a hell of a lot more cleaner and colorful than what he saw in the Mojave. She wore a black blouse and skirt with red trimmings, a corset with red laces, and knee high boots with stockings, also red and black. What stood out the most to Marston was the red cloak and hood that she wore, which was attached to her clothing by a pair of cross shaped pins. Attached to her back was a rectangular piece of metal, which was also colored black and red.

"Huh, must be one of the locals," Marston thought to himself as he pocketed his lighter and cigarette. He might as well greet the girl, and she in turn might tell him where the hell he was. The courier then began to approach her.

"Howdy," he greeted with a tip pf his hat. The girl simply blinked at Marston's greeting.

"Uh, didn't you hear my question?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. The name's Marston, and I'm not around here," the courier said as he stopped in his tracks and extended his hand.

However, in the blink of an eye, Martson found himself facing the business end of a rapier. The courier quickly held his hands up as his eyes followed the rapier to the person holding it. Said person was also a teenage girl. She was slightly older than the one with the cloak, but was also slightly shorter. She had snow white hair kept up in a ponytail, and ice blue eyes, with a scar over the left one. She wore icy white dress with white high heels.

"Who are you and what do you want," the girl, one Weiss Schnee, said as the courier kept his hands up in the air, a look of nonchalance on his face. During his travels in the Mojave, he'd sometimes find himself with a weapon pointed at his face.

"…is this how you normally greet folk around these parts?"

"Just answer the question."

"Y'know, I'd be more willin' to oblige with your request if I didn't have a sword in my face," Martson said as he slowly began to lower his hands.

"Fine, I'll lower Myternaster if you hand over your weapons."

The courier frowned once he heard the request. Living in the wastes had taught him one thing: surrendering your weapons was a bad idea. Even when he went into one of the casinos on the Strip, he'd smuggle in a knife or a .22 pistol, just in case anything happened. The courier adjusted his hat as he answered Weiss.

"Sure, you can have my weapons… when you pry them from my cold, dead body."

"What? Look, I'm being perfectly reasonable here."

"No, I'm the one who's being reasonable. I don't go around threatening people I just met with a goddamn sword!"

"Uh, can we all just calm," the girl with the cloak said, trying to stop both of them before they could devolve into full blown arguing. However, this was soon forgotten as she heard the bushes nearby rustling.

A few moments later, Marston's group stepped out of the bushes. ED-E was at the lead, cavalry music blaring from its speakers. Cass followed the eyebot with her shotgun at the ready. Boone was at the rear, idly holding his carbine with his finger off the trigger.

"You can't go five minutes without getting into trouble, can ya boss," Cass muttered as she approached, her shotgun trained on Weiss. Boone and ED-E suddenly stopped in their tracks as Marston smiled to himself. Cass, meanwhile, focused her attention on the heiress.

"You, with the sword, step away from him. That man's both my friend and my employer."

"Look, I was just questioning him, and he wasn't cooperating."

"You better back off, princess, or you'll find out what a 12 gauge buckshot round can do to a human head."

The heiress and the caravan boss continued to argue as everyone else looked on. ED-E turned to Boone and let out a beep of concern.

"I'm not getting involved," he grunted as he adjusted his sunglasses by pushing up the bridge with his index finger. Ruby stared on, trying to find a moment to interject and end the arguing. Marston meanwhile, stepped back and opened up his satchel. Knowing Cass, she'd probably make good on her threat to Weiss. After some rummaging through it, he found what he was looking for, and pulled it out, holding it in front of Weiss. It was a whiskey bottle that was a filled with a golden liquid.

"What is this?"

"It's tequila, tequila that I brewed myself. But in this context, I'm using it as a peace offerin'. I think we all got started on the wrong foot. So I'm giving us a chance to start over fresh."

"Why liquor?"

"Where I come from, liquor is the basis of many positive relationships," Marston said as he glanced over and winked at Cass. She frowned in response. The courier then turned back to Weiss.

"So what do you say? We're good?"

Weiss simply responded by turning away and walking off, neither accepting or denying his offer. Marston frowned as he looked at his bottle.

"I'll just take that as a yes," he said as he uncorked the bottle. The upside to this was that at least he had more tequila for himself. He raised the bottle to his lips, but suddenly felt something hit him on the head. He turned to see an annoyed Cass looking at him. Her hat was off, and was in her hand.

"The hell was that for?"

"You know what's it for," she said as she walked off. Marston simply shrugged and took a quick swig of his tequila. As he put away the bottle, he noticed the girl with the red cloak approaching him.

"Sorry about what happened."

"It's alright. You have a name, kiddo?"

"Yup! My name's Ruby Rose."

"That's a pretty name. Like I said, my name's Marston. Daniel Marston. And your friend holding me up ain't the worst welcoming that I've gotten. There was the one I got in Zion Canyon, where a bunch of White Legs killed the caravan I was travelin' with."

Ruby perked up at this as Marston went on.

"And then there was the time in the Sierre Madre, where I got bomb strapped to my neck, and-"

Marston stopped when he saw Ruby's face. She looked innocent enough, and telling her about the Sierre Madre would probably give the poor kid nightmares. Hell, even he was still spooked by the memories of his time there.

"…and that's a story for another day."

Ruby frowned at this as the two began to walk, with Boone and ED-E following them.

"I should probably introduce you to my friends," Marston said to Ruby as her motioned back to Boone and ED-E.

"The gloomy one with the beret is Craig Boone. The one who threatened your friend is Rose of Sharon Cassidy. We just call her Cass for short, since no one wants to say that mouth of a name. And the flyin' toaster is ED-E."

"So, are you Huntsman, Mr. Marston," Ruby asked as they continued to walk along the forest.

"No need for the formalities, little lady. Just Call me Marston. And I guess I am, but I do doubt that the word of Red Lucy has much authority 'round these parts. Hell, I've taken up a lot of jobs. But I've always considered myself a courier. It's the job I had for the longest time."

"A courier? What's that?"

"Well, say that someone wants something delivered for them. Well, I'm the one that delivers it for them."

"So you're a mailman?"

"Yeah, but I get the package there much more quicker," Marston countered, annoyed at being referred to as a mailman. Ruby then eyed Marston's revolver on his belt.

"Oh, is that your weapon," she asked excitedly. Marston smiled as he withdrew the gun from its holster, and twirled it before grasping it in his hand. He then proudly began to talk about his gun. Ruby looked on with curiosity and interest.

"Indeed it is. It's a 5.56mm revolver, customized with a motorized crank and cylinder, and an exposed hammer. Usually holds five rounds, but I modified it to hold six. Like to carry it around since it can use armor-piercing ammo. I like to call this little beauty 'That Gun'."

Ruby blinked at the name of the revolver.

"What gun?"

"No, that's its name."

"What's its name?"

"…you know what, never mind," the courier dismissed as holstered the gun. Soon, Marston, Ruby, Boone, and ED-E had caught up with Cass and eventually Weiss. They continued to walk through the forest, with the only noises being the sounds of their footprints and the chatter coming from the courier and the huntress. Cass looked back at Marston and Ruby, with the former currently showing off Medicine Stick to the latter.

"Looks like the boss is busy makin' friends," she thought to herself as she adjusted her grip on her shotgun.

"So what's with that thing on your back," Marston asked Ruby, slinging his rifle back to his shoulder and pointed at the piece of metal on her back. Ruby smiled as she took the metal off her back and showed it to the courier.

"It's my weapon, Crescent Rose," she said as the piece of metal suddenly shifted and transformed into a very large scythe. Marston let out a low whistle, impressed at the weapon.

"Pretty nifty."

"Thanks! It's also a high-velocity sniper rifle," she said as the weapon transformed into a compact looking rifle, complete with a small scope on top. Marston did a double take at the changed weapon. The Mojave Wasteland contained a lot of pieces of advanced technology, from energy weapons to robots of all shapes and sizes, but he never seen weapon that can change into another.

"Huh. That's a mighty fine weapon, you have their, Ruby."

Ruby smiled as something suddenly caught Marston's eye and he began to wander off. Ruby turned and then went after him, followed by Marston's posse and lastly Weiss. Ruby arrived first and saw the courier standing near the edge of some trees.

"What is it," she asked as Marston motioned her to follow his line of vision. A few dozen yards away was another one of those wolf creatures, just like the one that had attacked him earlier.

"Huh, it's one of 'em mutts," Marston said as he then began to search through his satchel once again. Ruby then turned to the courier.

"Actually, they're called Beowolves."

"Really? That's interestin'," Marston said as he brought out the thing he was searching for. It was a flare gun, with a simple steel finish and a black handle. The courier quickly popped the gun opened, loaded a flare into it, and snapped the gun shut.

"Time for a lil' experiment."

"Hey, wait," Ruby shouted in an attempt to stop Marston, but he ignored her as he approached the beowolf. He then let out a long whistle to get its attention. The creature turned its head as Marston began to shout insults at it.

"Hey, you stinkin' mutt! I'm right over here! What, are you as dumb as well as ugly? Come and get me!"

The beowolf snarled as it bounded towards Marston. In the blink of an eye, Marston took aim and fired the flare gun. The flare hit the beowolf in the face, which let out a brief yelp of pain. Marston's eyes widened in fear as the beowolf continued its charge, undeterred by the flare.

"Aw, shit," he muttered as he quickly unslung his rifle and took aim. He fired off two shots off at the beowolf. Both rounds hit the creature's head, making it let out a grunt as the rounds cracked the bone plating on its head. Marston then aimed at its head before a red blur passed by him, trailed by rose petals.

Before he knew it, Ruby was in front of him with her scythe out. The beowolf was now split in two and was disintegrating into the air. She turned to him as Marston lowered his rifle.

"Uh, thanks, but I had it handled."

Ruby nodded as Marston took out two .45-70 rounds from his pocket, loaded it into the rifle, and then cocked the rifle's action. He then slung his rifle on his back as he noticed Weiss and his traveling companions coming out of the brush.

"You idiot! What were you thinking," Weiss shouted at him as the courier calmly ignored her shouting. He took out the previously pocketed lighter and cigarette, and proceeded to light up. Marston let out a puff of smoke as he began his explanation to the heiress.

"There was a time where I was traveling through a place called the Divide. Tunnerlers and deathclaws lived there, beasts you don't want to mess with. However, I found out that one way to deal with them was to shoot a flare at them, which would scare them off for some time. Wanted to see if they see if they same would apply to these critters here."

"Ugh, do you know anything about the Grimm," Weiss asked in an annoyed tone as Marston took another drag on his cigarette.

"Well, I know they don't like it when you shoot at 'em. Figured that out myself. 'Course, that can apply to most things that try to kill me, like that Powder Gangers, the Fiends, and the Legion. You can also count most of the critters in the Mojave."

"That reminds me, can you tell us where we exactly are, kid," Cass asked Ruby as the latter put away Crescent Rose on her back.

"Oh, you're in Vale, right near Beacon Academy."

"We never heard of either of those places," Boone said as he approached Marston, with ED-E following him. He held out his own cigarette to the courier, who lit it for him as well. The courier took a few steps forward, taking a puff on his cigarette. While he did so, a pit formed in his stomach, with one thought on his mind:

"Just where the hell are we?"

Next Time - Going Nuclear

A/N: And here's the second chapter of Into the Great Wide Open.

Yeah, not a lot of stuff happening in this chapter, except for Marston and his posse getting acquainted with both Ruby and Weiss as well as the Grimm. Don't worry, the action shall pick up soon enough, and our intrepid heroes from the Wastes will find out they're in a different world.

I have to credit DovahCourier with helping a bit with this chapter, with him suggesting a few bits for the chapter.

And I should clarify that this takes place during Vol 1. during the initiations in the Emerald Forest.

And in other news, I'll be going back to updating some of other fics such as Fate/Zero Shinobi, as well as publishing a few one shots as well. I'm going to be pretty busy with my college semester, so please be patient on the updates.

Anyway, please leave a review (since I like feedback) and fave or follow if you liked the chapter. I'll see you all next update.