AN: … So… really glad I didn't have this take place at Beacon a year after season one started… would have been awkward as all hell. Man, did Rooster Teeth hire Gen Urobuchi?

No… no that would have been worse… oh God would it have been worse.

So, just to say it, I think Rooster Teeth should be crowned the King of Cerebus Syndrome. First RvB and now RWBY. What's next? X-Ray and Vav?

Sorry it took so long, been busy with university. Here you go!

-October 4, 2281

There are those who doubt the human spirit, calling it a naive, childish, idealistic notion that "undermines the cruel nature of man". It is a rather sad state of affairs when such descriptions of our nature are not wholly unwarranted; we did burn this world after all. Any man can look out the dilapidated windows of once beautiful homes and see what remains of the earth, in all of its radiated horror.

But it is far more tragic in that after walking the bar for their daily therapy, safe inside the rebuilt walls of civilization, and passing churches, schools, markets, and refurbished houses, they drink their fill, the mindset of humanity in a dead end state clear in their minds.

"They call us couriers because we always deliver."

-Michael Cheng, Package Courier for the Baja Express.

Chapter 5: Determination

As wastelanders viewed their lives in multitudes of varying ways, all shaped by experience in both their content as well as location, there existed no consensus on what could be described as "the most dangerous", as every wastelander gave different answers. These answers often depended highly upon the particular environment in which wastelanders lived, as each particular area of the land once known as America produced different threats. In the Mojave, for example, the average wastelander would have considered the Legion as a whole to be the most dangerous force in the wasteland, had their infrastructure and leadership not cracked from the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. Likewise someone in the Capital Wasteland might have called the Enclave the most dangerous force, and a scavenger from the Commonwealth might still call the Institute such. Some citizens of the New California Republic might even name individuals such as the Courier, the Vault Dweller, or the Chosen One, out of either malice and fear or love and respect.

However, despite the many differences there exists a single entity that is considered a universally dangerous force amongst all of the known American wastelands. The mere presence of this entity is enough to pause even the most veteran wastelanders in their tracts. Its mere existence pauses entire routes of commerce, causing both physical and economic danger to the surrounding communities. The denizens of the wasteland first saw this entity as mere myth, tall-tales told by junkies looking for caps for their next fix. It took little time for those myths to be replaced with the horrors of reality. They gave this entity a name, which described both its appearance and the horror one would feel should they find themselves unlucky enough to encounter it.

Deathclaw.

Unfortunately, the Courier felt as though the grimm before him, which only looked similar to the monstrous beast, would have eviscerated the entirety of Quarry Junction in mere minutes. Turning back towards the mesa, he shoved the wounded student back into the crevice, causing several small lacerations on the unconscious boy's face and arms. As soon as the student was not so gently shoved into place the Courier let to the side, dodging the blind grimm's charge. Looking back towards the crevice he felt slightly relieved to see the student still in place, and uncrushed by debris. The Courier's eyes shot wide open, and he took several potshots at the grimm's torso with A Light Shining in the Darkness, taking the grimm's attention off of the bleeding student.

"Over here!" the Courier shouted, his throat hurting from the strain. He reloaded and shot at the grimm's face, hitting it with three of the six shots. The grimm charged at him again, charging at speeds he thought impossible, dust forming clouds behind him. Rolling to the side, he barely managed to avoid the sharp mole-like claws that came at him as the grimm charged. Holstering the pistol, the Courier pulled out the Gauss rifle before dodging another strike at his head by ducking. Jumping backwards, he distanced himself from the large grimm by a slight hair. Quickly aiming the rifle, he fired the prepared shot into the grimm's back left leg. The sound of the slug's impact and subsequent explosion was followed by the sounds of cracking and a loud roar of pain from the grimm. Reloading, he began dashing as the grimm lunged towards him, ducking under the grimm and slipping underneath the grimm's groin.

The Courier fired the Gauss Rifle at point blank range as he passed the grimm's legs, further breaking the appendage. The miniature plasma explosion also caught the Courier and he stumbled back behind the grimm. He managed to get his footing, and emptied the Gauss rifle, preparing to reload it. The sky rapidly zoomed past him as he flew backwards, his rifle dropping to the ground as pain surged through his body, his ability to breathe becoming an excruciating task. Looking towards the grimm, he felt the vibrations as the grimm slammed its lizard-like tail into the ground.

How'd I miss that?

The grimm took a few tentative steps towards the rising Courier, limping slightly, to his immediate relief. Said relief died a rather wretched death when the grimm stopped a good distance away and brought up its front paw rather suspiciously. Looking at the ground before the grimm, the Courier's eyes widened in shock as he made to run towards the grimm. The sound of crunching metal halted him, and he winced in pain as he looked to the ground again.

Under the damnable grimm's claws laid the now only mostly intact remains of the Gauss Rifle the Courier had come to love. Screws and broken coils surrounded the poor device like severed limbs, and the barrel of the device bent at an angle similar to the injured student. Sparks flied from the disemboweled wires that once lovingly wrapped around the barrel like wedding rings. The Courier sniffed as he looked up towards the wretched grimm, its maw opened slightly as if grinning.

"You're dead," he stated, breaking the mourning silence which seemed to surround them with quiet anger. The grimm snorted defiantly, pleased with its damnable atrocity. Pulling out Clark's old Rifle once again, the Courier strafed clockwise around the grimm hitting its uninjured back leg with every one of the magazine's ten shots causing the grimm to growl loudly in pain. The grimm lunged forward towards him, its speed hampered by its nearly severed back leg. Its speed was enough to allow him to strafe to its right side, giving him time to reload and get in several more shots to the grimm's other leg. He realized his mistake when the grimm's hip slammed into him, causing him to fly backwards towards one of the large rocks that populated the battlefield. He slammed into the rock, making his entire body scream in pain.

Raising his rifle as he opened his eyes, he sent several shots into the grimm's softer torso before rolling his entire body to the side as the grimm slammed both of its claws into the spot where the Courier had landed. Repeating the process, the Courier found himself continuing to roll as the grimm's attacks refused to end. He was stopped in his attempts when he felt a heavy weight press down on his chest. He knew well enough his skeletal system's reinforcement was the only reason his body wasn't crushed under the weight. Looking up, he found himself face to face with the grimm, its snarling maw just a scant half meter above his face. It head moved upwards and the Courier instinctively raised his left arm. The grimm's head sped towards him and bit down on the first thing it could, only to have its jaw stopped by the Pip-Boy on its victim's arm, several teeth cracking against the metal. The Courier chuckled dryly at the grimm's futile attempts to bite through one of the most durable devices known to man, only stopping when the grimm yanked up.

A loud pop sound filled the air, and he felt a thousand knives jam themselves into his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he drew his Ranger Sequoia and fired three shots into the grimm's now exposed neck. The grimm released his left arm and it fell limply beside the Courier, and he found himself unable to move it more than a hair at most. The grimm growled again and he unloaded the remaining shots into the grimm's face. Finally sighing as the grimm backed up, taking its clawed appendage with it, he backed up and got on his feet, using his right arm to speed up the process. Holstering the revolver, the Courier began to jog away from the creature, wincing as he grabbed his arm.

The Courier's body flew forward as the creature slashed him in the back, the sound of its claws scraping against the thick body armor the only indication his torso didn't rip apart. Landing on his front he could only groan in pain as he rolled to the side and began pushing himself away from the slowly approaching grimm. The Creature snarled as it prepared to launch itself at him, only for a wound to open on the creature's front leg, tripping it. Not a half second later, a crack sounded from afar.

Both looked towards the sound, and the Courier grinned as he picked himself up and ran to the side, perpendicular to the direction of the fenced in area. The grimm roared as it tried to follow him only to be pushed back by the sniper fire. Taking advantage of the grimm's hesitation, he shoved his dislocated arm upwards and back into place, grunting in pain as it fit back into place. Moving his arm, he found the pain minimal enough to allow for his left arm's use. Looking around the battlefield, he spotted his rifle. Looking towards the immobile creature he began to run for the rifle, maintaining eye contact with the dark creature's form. Grabbing the rifle, the Courier firmly smacked the side of the rifle to dust the dirt off.

The Courier loaded the last clip into his rifle and aimed towards the creature's legs, only to feel a dozen projectiles hit him in the chest, only bounce off his armor. Running towards the cover to his right, he looked about in an attempt to find the assailant only to blanch when he looked back at the grimm. The grimm's head faced towards him and its mouth was open, its four jaws giving the creatures face the appearance of a flower. Its fangs rattled violently before launching in his general direction, each shot filling the air with a squelching sound. Jumping behind a thick rock, he listened as the teeth bounced off the dense cover standing between him and the disgusting grimm. As he began to plan, he felt his pockets for whatever ammo he could find, smacking the back of his helmeted head against the stone when he found nothing but the Microfusion Cell based ammo for his Gauss Rifle.

Okay, dumbass, you wasted your ammo on what? Crippling it so you and your unconscious friend could escape? Great plan! Now there's no ammo left and a pissed off grimm is shooting its teeth at you! Grade-A work right there. At least it can't claw at you without tripping in pain. The Courier sighed. Alright, I have two options. I could stay, and hopefully kill the grimm, or I could run to safety, leaving Mr. Dog Ears… The Courier shook his head and looked around the rock at the creature. It breathed slowly and surely, its bony back poised towards the fenced-in area, providing a shield from the sniper fire. It remained unmoving, but its eyeless visage gave him what he could only assume was a glare.

He studied the creature for a moment before noticing the blood dripping from its neck, the gov't rounds from earlier having hit far harder than he could have ever hoped. Smiling under his helmet, he looked back at the few unused Gauss Rifle cartridges. Pulling out the knife the Courier quickly unscrewed the enclosed ammunition, allowing him to see the simple circuits. He pulled out one of connected Microfusion Cells and screwed its top off. Removing the heavy batter inside, he began a long process of dismantling his rifle rounds, filling the empty battery case with gunpowder. After screwing the top back on, he loaded his last bullet back into the magazine and loaded his rifle. Placing the poor excuse for a grenade back in, he began repeating the process with another cell. Sighing in relief when he finished, he screwed the Gauss Rifle cartridge back together, and looked around behind him. Seeing the crack where the injured student was, he cracked a smirk under his helmet.

The Courier grabbed his rifle and dashed from behind the rock, aiming his rifle at the creature's front legs as he once again strafed the grimm. Roaring, it shouted to the wasteland that he had its attention.

"TRIP ALREADY!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he fired the last bullet, which he left chambered when he removed the magazine, into the grimm's leg and the creature stumbled. Holstering the rifle, the Courier pulled out his combat knife hoping the creature would fall. The strange grimm towered back up just as the sniper fire ceased, and opened its maw, a knowing grin plastered on its alien face. Dropping the Gauss Rifle cartridge, the Courier sprinted towards the crack in the wall. Taking a look back he saw the grimm approaching the fallen cartridge. Crossing his fingers, he watched as the grimm stomped down on the cartridge.

And he watched in horror as nothing happened. Turning his head back around the Courier began to increase his speed towards the crack, hoping to at least get enough distance from the grimm that he could hopefully turn the fight around. Then a loud bang went off, and he heard the creature roar above the high pitched ringing. Twisting his head to look at the grimm, he could only smile as smoke rose from under the creature's stumbling form. The few Microfusion Cells which he left intact had emitted sparks when the creature crushed the device, setting off the gunpowder filled cells that had spilt the moment the grimm crushed them. With only a slightly more explosive yield than a flashbang, the makeshift mine worked as intended, creating a loud sound, disorienting the auditory dependent creature.

The Grimm stumbled without falling, moving back in forth in its deafened state as if drunk. Making it to the crack the Courier quickly found the injured student's weapon. Sheathing the knife, he picked up the now dirt covered spear. Turning around, he found himself finding the grimm still stumbling around like a patron at the Atomic Wrangler. When the grimm began to stop stumbling it began to shake its head, clearing itself of the dizziness. As it stood still, the Courier shot back his right arm, gripping the spear in the middle, where it was balanced. Running forward, he flung the spear straight at the creature's front leg.

As soon as the spear entered the leg, the barbs just below the head of the spear shot out to the side, stabbing the barbs through the grimm's thigh and severing the leg. The grimm roared as it tripped and fell, its body sending dust flying when it landed. The Courier sprinted straight at the struggling creature as it attempted to stand on three legs. Jumping as he reached its front, he landed on top of its large head. Gripping the grimm's neck with his left hand he swung his right arm around, stabbing into its neck with his knife.

It bucked like one a mechanical bull from New Reno, and he could barely hold on. When the creature stumbled, and a break in the bucking appeared, he began stabbing into the creature's neck repeatedly. Just as he was about to stab again, he felt sharp pains travel up his left leg, and he dropped the knife. Grabbing the edge of the cut flesh with this right hand, and the other side barely with his left he began pulling, hoping to cause as much bleeding as possible. As the grimm continued to buck, his leg screaming with each movement, he felt the skin tear further and further, and he could smell the distinct scent of copper.

After a particularly nasty buck the Courier lost grip with his right hand. Panicking he shot his arm back around by throwing his body to the right. Attempting to grab the flap of skin his hand missed and he instead felt himself grabbing something cylindrical. Realization struck like a fifty caliber round to his head, and he began pulling on the cylindrical object. The Creature's maw opened in pain and the Courier's leg was freed. The last buck sent him flying towards the bones on the grimm's back, but his grip on the grimm's trachea caused him to turn about and fall below the creature. The grimm's attempt to remain standing caused the wastelander to bring with him the creatures now ripped trachea as he fell.

The Courier landed with a hard thud, dull pain rising from his back only to be doubled as the creature's corpse pinned him to the ground. He groaned in agony as the corpse started to evaporate, all too slowly for the young wastelander. After the corpse vanished, he pushed off the ground and attempted to stand up.

CRAP!

Excruciating pain rose from his leg up his spine and he collapsed, his stomach churning. Reaching up with his hand he quickly tried to take his helmet off, but wasn't quick enough and a gross acidic slop of what was once eggs, toast, and the floppiest bacon ever fried left his mouth, filling the bottom of his helmet. Finally releasing the latch, he was able to take off his helmet, letting the vomit flow out and giving him fresh air to breathe. Twisting over, he looked at his injured leg. Blood flowed freely from his lower left leg and in a few holes he could see the metallic reinforcements that were grafted to his bones. He grunted as he took out the last of the stimpacks he brought to initiation, injecting them both directly into his leg. As the wounds began to close up he looked around before crawling on hands and knees towards the injured student's spear. After putting his helmet on the head, he braced it in the ground as he stood up, using it to help hold his body weight.

He made his way to the crack in the mesa, picking up his knife and Gauss Rifle in a couple of quick detours. When he got there, he noticed his injured companion was breathing more clearly. It took a good few minutes for the Courier to pull him out, and he nearly reopened up his wounds preventing the body from hitting the ground. Bending down he managed to catch the still unconscious student, and managed to twist his body so he could grab the student's right hand in his own, after once again stinging in his right arm between the student's legs. Greatly pushing down on the borrowed spear, the Courier still stumbled standing up, the added weight causing more pain to shoot through his body. Ignoring his body's screams he began to slowly limp himself and his load forward.

The afternoon sun beat down on his body as he made his way towards the fenced in area, hunger pains registering like jagged knives. With every two steps the pain in his left leg would shoot up his spine, despite his use of his companion's metallic spear to hold their combined weight. After almost fifteen minutes of agony he found himself staring at the large fence, relieved to be close enough to see the individual wires that made it. Increasing his speed he began to make his way up the ramp, noting the sound of a bullhead in the distance.

"Caleb!"

Looking up he found himself facing eight students running towards him, only to watch in confusion as they all stopped in their tracks to look at him. He slowed down slightly to take in their appearances and weapons. He passed his gaze over the three he had met earlier, happily noting that none of them even seemed to use guns at all. Looking over the others he found himself both relieved and shocked that only one of them used an actual gun. His gaze lingered on the one who actually used a gun. The cap wearing girl shrank under his gaze, her one visible eye looking away from him.

Now I feel bad.

After less than five seconds, he looked forward and continued on his way towards the landing zone. They all stayed silent as he dragged himself forward, shock evident on their faces. They did not stir until after he passed them, and it took them a few seconds to catch up to him.

"You-You're bleeding," the girl he met earlier spoke with shock evident in her voice. She tried grabbing the student's arm, trying to pry it from the Courier's hand.

"I'm fine," the Courier responded as he adjusted the wounded student's weight, causing her to pull her arm back.

"Those wounds go halfway to the bone," Roy spoke up.

"I'm fine," the Courier repeated, with an unusual force in his voice.

"Come on, at least let us help you carry him!" a girl in a green dress exclaimed.

"I'm fine," the Courier said for the third time, slight exasperation hidden under a flat tone. "Don't worry, please, I've been through worse than this."

They all became silent, and he knew they wore shocked or possibly annoyed expressions despite a lack of visual proof. As he approached the fence, the roaring of engines filled the air. Looking up, he witnessed a bullhead, a red cross on the side, fly above his head and begin to descend into the landing zone.

As he entered the landing zone he gave the rest of the students a wide berth, cautious of their intentions as they continued to stare at him in a mixture of horror and confusion. He continued on towards the bullhead, stopping when he was near the outskirts of the waves of dust created by the ship's descent. He faced away from the ship as he noticed several students approach, and turned to face them, giving them a discerning gazed. He studied each of the students who seemed to utilize guns, looking for anything that utilized a small caliber, and continued to do so even as he heard a door sliding open behind him.

"Mr. Caleb, I believe Dr. Calendula would like it if you and Mr. Rain entered the Bullhead."

Turning around he found himself facing Thena Lyons, her eyes glaring angrily at a point to his left. The Courier nodded his head and slowly limped towards the open doors of the bullhead, with expensive looking medical equipment bolted down inside. The inside looked more like a small medical clinic with its chairs and large array of cabinets. There was a woman inside who was placing a strange mechanical stretcher on the floor of the bullhead. When he made it to the opening he gave her the student's arm and crouched, grabbing the boy's left leg while the doctor made to grab the student under his arms. She pulled the injured student into the bullhead while the Courier pushed his left leg up. After pulling him in and placing him on the stretcher, she gestured for the Courier to enter the bullhead, which he did with some difficulty. After entering she hit the metal wall behind her, letting a couple of bangs fill the air. The sides of the bullhead closed and she motioned for the courier to sit down where he stood instead of sitting on one of the bolted chairs.

He felt the ship take off as he sat down, noting that the ship did not lurch as much as it did when he left Shade. He leaned back against one of the walls and watched as the doctor began to examine the unconscious student closely, checking his ribs and skull for any breaks first, and moving downwards, examining the lightly stained bandages around the boy's stomach. After raising the stretcher to her waist and hooking up a very tiny heart monitor to his finger, she turned to the Courier. She walked over and crouched by his legs. Looking at the large amount of holes in his left leg from above, she gave the Courier a sympathetic glance.

"You walked on this?"

The Courier shrugged and looked to his unconscious companion. As he was forming a response she began rolling the pants leg up to his kneecap, and he could feel the tightness just above his knee. As she was examining his leg, he continued to study the unconscious dog-eared student with a sad look.

"Is he going to be okay?" He asked as the doctor began to wrap his leg in the softest gauze he ever felt. She looked back at the unconscious student and gave him a mirthful smirk.

"Oh yeah, he'll probably even wake in a couple of hours if not by the time we get back," she responded. "I'm more concerned about your leg right now."

"I'm sorry," he said. She turned to the Courier with a confused expression plastered on her face. He gave her an apologetic smile, "I made your job that much harder, didn't I?"

"Actually, that's just it," she said, shaking her head, "You're leg's heavily injured, but-and I have no clue why- but your body's already beginning to repair damage to the muscles and skin, and if I could hazard a guess, is already in the process of undergoing angiogenesis. You're making my job too easy." There was an awkward silence as she looked straight into the Courier's eyes, and he could see questions forming in her mind through her orange eyes. He shrugged before responding.

"I'm a fast healer, that's all," he said. Looking down at his leg he noticed she had finished wrapping his leg in gauze while she was talking to him. She stood up tall above him, as she walked towards the other side of the room, opening one of the lower cabinets.

"You don't just skip nearly half of week of wound healing in a little under half an hour. Even those with massive reserves of aura don't just skip entire steps in the natural healing process."

"I don't know what to tell you. I heal quickly. It's probably the only reason I'm still alive."

"Are all the people from your world such quick healers?"

The Courier stared at her blankly, not expressing any surprise or emotion at her statement. She responded by giving him a warm half smile, giving him the conformation that Lyons had already informed her of his otherworldly origin. He smiled back and lifted his head back to rest against the wall.

"PHOENIX Monocyte Breeder," he said simply as he gazed at the ceiling.

"What?"

"PHOENIX Monocyte Breeder," he repeated, looking back up to the doctor. "A cybernetic implant. Cost me an arm and a leg to get, but it drastically speeds up the healing process. I'd explain its workings but I feel like death. Sorry."

"Cybernetic implants that can exceed aura... your world must be impressive" she said, missing the dark chuckle that came from her patient. She once again approached him, carrying a large black walking cast. The Courier began to sweat, looking at the cumbersome device. "So, you were lying then?"

"No, I've always been a quick healer, but the implant just makes it even faster," he replied. "It also means I heal faster than most people back on Earth."

She nodded as she bent down, lifting his leg into the air and removing his boot. She held his leg in place for a minute as she placed the large boot under it, before gently laying his gauze covered leg into the cast. For the first time since examining the other injured student, she wordlessly worked, tightening the thick straps around the overlapping padded front so that his leg was encased in the hard plastic device. She gently placed his leg down and reached her hand out for him. Smiling to himself, he gave her his hand and felt her tug at his right hand. It took her ten seconds before she let go and huffed out, breathing heavily as the Courier stood up by himself. She gave him a rather accusing stare.

"Do I want to know why you weigh far more than your appearance would imply?"

"No," the Courier said with an apologetic grin. The woman stared back at the boy and his hundred-seventy-eight centimeter frame, giving him a stare he was all too familiar with. "Sorry, but it's a bit… personal." The woman responded by shrugging. She then went back to the cabinet where she pulled the walking brace, pulling out a large roll of gauze and a similar roll of what appeared to be fiberglass. She walked around the unconscious student and sat next to his legs. Lifting his broken leg, she removed the medical brace, handing it back to the Courier who shrugged before placing it in the corner. When he turned back, she had already finished wrapping the broken limb in gauze, the smell of alcoholic cleanser indicating she had also washed the leg as well.

Dr. Calendula quickly wrapped the broken leg in the now wet fiberglass wrap, covering the student's right leg in the material from the ankle to above the kneecap. After finishing her rather quick work she took the refuse wrappings and moved to throw them into a small container on top of one of the counters.

He limped around the still unconscious student, grimacing with how unwieldy the cast was. Finding a chair between the counter on the rear side of the bullhead and the door on the opposite side he finally took a seat on something relatively comfortable. Leaning his head back against the wall he decided to doze off while the ship continued to travel to Shade.

The Courier woke to the sounds of almost silent footfalls. Standing up quickly he looked to the source, only to tilt his head back in surprise. The injured student was almost thirteen centimeters taller than him, and the top of the Courier's head only reached up to the other's nose. He stared at the other student, who was adopting a rather amused grin while adjusting the weight he put on the crutches.

"Damn. And here I thought I might sneak up on ya," he said with a friendly tone. The Courier briefly wondered what they would call his accent if Ireland didn't exist on remnant. His wide grey eyes stared down at the Courier. "You're pretty sharp bud."

"Are you alright?" the Courier asked, concern etched within the rather quiet voice. Looking around he found the doctor dozing off on the third chair in the room.

"Never been better!" he exclaimed with a surprising cheer to his voice. His smile showed the Courier his unusually white teeth, indicating his rather good grooming habits. He felt a pang of jealousy towards the student in front of him. Most people would kill to have the full set of teeth the Courier had, let alone the shining beacons like the ones in the student's mouth.

"No offense, but I believe not being shot in the stomach would be 'better'" the Courier said dryly. The other student gave him a questioning gaze before looking down at his own stomach, raising his head back with understanding plastered on his face. The student nodded a few times with a smirk.

"I'm alive when I should be dead," the student said with a joyful expression.

"Story of my life in seven words," the Courier replied. The two stared at each other for a few minutes before the larger student began to chuckle.

"Man, you must have some seriously amazing stories to tell," the student stated through his laughter.

"Not really." The tall student shook his head back and forth. They could feel the ship lurch and stop. They felt the ship slowly land, and the dog eared student started fidgeting in his seat.

"Aw, man, I can't wait to see what teams are formed! Do you think they'll let us at least attend the naming ceremony?" he asked with a sigh, finally realizing the two of them would have to wait for their turn. "Ah well, one year's not so bad, yeah?"

"Nope," the Courier said with a grin.

"I just wish it didn't happen on a Festival Year! Grrr," he growled out. "Racist assholes!"

"Racists?" the Courier asked, a frown forming on his face, giving him the appearance of someone dealing with a particularly troublesome radroach.

"Yeah. Those humans that shot me called me a damned 'mutt'" he said grumbling.

"...What?" the Courier said flatly. "Why?"

"... You're… ah… pretty new to the world aren't ya?" It took all of the Courier's willpower not to burst out laughing at the statement, preventing a horrible death by asphyxiation. "Do you know what racism is?"

"Unfortunately yes, but I don't get why… mutt… specifically," the Courier began before looking up at the dog ears, remembering they existed. When one has seen things no other man should ever have to, such as the unholy FEV amalgamations of dogs, humans, and other randomly selected creatures known as centaurs, the birthing process of Cazadors, or the contents of a New Reno toilet, a teenager with the ears of a dog seems tame and, frankly, rather unremarkable in comparison. Most people in the wasteland would stare for a minute or so and then continue on their way, assuming the individual afflicted with a particularly benign mutation compared to some of the more physically horrible mutations that people found amongst the populace.

Being a racist asshole consumed too much energy for those who lived outside civilization, and took up time that could be better spent fixing guns, finding nourishment, or producing the next generation.

"Oh."

"You look like you've never met a faunus before," the student stated.

"What's a faunus?" The Courier asked. The Student across from him simply gave him an incredulous look before letting out a single chuckle. He moved his hands to the dog ears on his head and flopped them about. "Oh…sorry. I guess the answer's no then."

"Well, you have now," he said, grinning from ear to ear. The two of them sat the rest of the way in silence until the ship came to a stop waking the doctor from her slumber. The two students chuckled as the doctor groggily stood up, shaking herself awake as she mumbled something about pie. The door behind her opened and the three found themselves staring once again at Shade.

It took them a minute to exit the ship, having to carefully step out of the now silent bullhead due to their injuries. Stepping onto the marble walkway, the Courier watched as bullheads landed beyond the small landing he and his faunus friend found themselves standing in. After staring for a moment, he looked back over to his friend. For the first time since the two officially met, the student had adopted a look of pure sadness on his face. After grabbing the medical brace from the bullhead, the Courier turned around and patted the student on the back. The other student gave him a rather tired smirk in return, his floppy ears still drooping.

They walked through the double doors, finding themselves in a medical room. The doctor shambled in, reading something on her scroll. The two walked out of the room and into the hallway, and the faunus began looking down the hallways, a confused expression on his face. Flipping a switch on the side of the Pip-Boy, the Courier watched at the device flickered to life. Pressing the third button under the screen marked DATA, he found himself staring at the only map available. The orange lines contrasted with the dark screen to display a map created from the built in sensors of the Pip-Boy. After looking over the map he made when he decided to walk around the previous night he tapped on his friend's shoulder and pointed to the right.

"You boys might want to head towards the amphitheatre," said the doctor from behind them. Turning around to face her, they stared incredulously as she indulged her inner child, spinning herself around rapidly on a chair. "You're going to be late for your team assignment."

The two students stood there for a moment as she spun, letting out a laugh at the end as she enjoyed the feeling of dizziness. While they both understood with perfect clarity the implications of what she said, neither moved a muscle, their mouths still slightly open from shock. It took them twenty seconds before they began to move towards the opposite direction in a panic, "running" through the hallways as fast as their injuries would allow. The Courier watched in amazement as his friend blazed forward on his crutches with a speed that rivaled that of a golden gecko on a Turbo high. Every time the two came to a stop he would wait for the Courier to catch up, bouncing up and down as he checked his Pip-Boy for the correct direction.

After ten minutes of searching they came to a set of double doors next to a plaque which read "Amphitheatre" in a strange font. Opening it as quietly as possible, the two found themselves staring out at a darkened, two story amphitheatre. The top floor contained numerous bolted rows of cushioned folding seats, with pillars holding up the ceiling behind each set of rows. While some seats remained empty, many students could be seen watching the team assignments. The bottom floor consisted of a raised stage, where the headmaster stood speaking while a group of four students faced him, their bodies illuminated by the studio lights hanging from the ceiling, and a large open floor, where a large crowd stood.

Every member of the crowd in the center stared at the holographic screens that hung above the headmaster. There were four faces projected onto the screens, with the letters 'G' 'L' 'D' and 'S' coming together in a sliding animation as the Headmaster continued speaking.

"-White. Congratulations," he said before whispering something to the team as they left. The two students met his gaze and he smiled, nodding at them subtly before he continued speaking.

"Noire Pinot, Achilles Yarrow, David Evergreen, and Roland Pallid, please step forward."

Four students walked upon the stage after he called their names. The young man who fell rather ungraciously to the ground before the Courier's turn walked nervously onto the stage, followed by the student who had stood behind the Courier as he jumped and two other male students he did not recognize. The word "PEAR" appeared on the screen as the letters under their names came together to form.

"From this day forth, you shall be known as team Pear, led by David Evergreen. Congratulations!" Lyons said, as one of the students the Courier didn't recognize, who wore grey armor with some yellow patches, saluted the man before they all walked off the stage, to the sounds of polite applause.

"Brawnz Ni, May Zedong, Nolan Porfirio, and Roy Stallion, please step onto the stage."

The Courier smiled as he watched the two he had met the other day stepped up to the stage along with their partners. He tapped his friend on his shoulder and tilted his head towards the crowd of people near the stage. The two walked forward as the Headmaster continued, ignored by the students sitting in numerous rows of seats on the second floor of the amphitheatre. On the screen letters again appeared and formed the word "BRNZ".

"-team Bronze, led by Brawnz Ni. Good work today, all of you!"

The look of shock on Brawnz face was soon replaced with a confident smirk as he put his hand on the May's shoulder and nodded. As the four left, Roy caught sight of the two injured students and pointed to them while whispering to Brawnz. The newly christened leader looked over and gave a two finger salute to his friend as they fell into the crowd, a polite applause welcoming them back.

"Kumiho Myeong, Lili Laurent, Cu Rain, and Caleb please come forward." Lyons said as the applause ceased.

If the Courier's heart wasn't made of plastic metal and circuitry, it would have skipped a beat. He always hated being near the center of attention, let alone being exactly in the center as he noticed he and his partner seemed to be due to their injuries. The Courier at least sighed in relief as most of the students' attention seemed to be on his friend as he hobbled forward on his crutches.

The four made it onto the stage, and the Courier stood on the far right, looking over to the three students to his left. To his immediate left stood the faunus he had carried on his back for just under eight kilometers. The corslet wearing spearman stood tall next to the Courier, wearing a smile which exuberated a combination of overexcited-ness and relief. Beyond him were two girls, each with an impressive weapon on their backs.

The girl immediately to the left of Cu Rain, Kumiho Myeong, who he recognized from the bullhead, created a contrast with the tall faunus. She stood to just above a half a meter below Cu Rain, but gave off feelings of confidence and strength. She wore an open fur lined wine colored leather jacket over an orange t-shirt and black jeans, her orange fox tail sticking out the back of the latter. On her back sat a large two headed battle axe, a bundle of barrels where the tip of the heft would be. She looked back at the Courier and her eyes widened in recognition. She gave him a dry smirk and a nod of acknowledgement, before looking back towards the headmaster.

The Courier recognized the last girl as the one who had been giving him glares before initiation. She stood just a few centimeters shorter than him, but she lacked the confidence that her partner exuberated. Her body was covered in white clothing, from her word filled t-shirt to the slacks which went down to her ankles. On her back sat the most massive sniper rifle the Courier ever saw, dwarfing even the Anti-Material Rifles that Veteran Rangers used. She looked back at him as he looked at her, and she gave him an apologetic glance while looking to the side with her eyes, her wolf ears flat against her head. The Courier looked forward when the headmaster began to speak, noticing the ord "CRML" forming on the holographic screens.

"From this day forth you shall be known as team Caramel, led by Caleb!"

What?! Oh no...

The Courier's face went pale, and he felt that he was going to vomit again. He was about to question the decision when a rather large amount of applause came from behind him, along with the feeling of a hand slapping against his armor. Looking over to his new team he found they were either smiling or giving him a thumbs up. In all honesty, he felt like passing out. He said a quiet thanks to the headmaster out of a sense of politeness, before walking off the stage, his team following close behind. As his team stepped off the stage, he barely heard the headmaster calling the next team up to the stage.

"Nebula Violette, Dew Gayl, Gwen Darcy, and Olivia Ember, please step forward."

He watched as the four girls walked up and onto the podium, bowing their heads slightly in respect towards the old headmaster. They each looked at each other with smiling faces as the old headmaster finished, the word "NDGO" formimg on the screen above them.

"From this day forth you will be known as team Indigo! And you will be led by Nebula Violette."

The Courier barely continued standing when he found himself with an arm around his neck. He fought the now hardwired instinct to throw the individual touching his neck onto the ground, knowing the dreadlock headed student meant no harm from the gesture. He stared blankly at Roy Stallion, whose grin could match a deathclaws in terms of wideness.

"That concludes this year's naming of teams. To all students, both new and returning, I am proud to officially welcome you to Shade Academy."

There was a cheer from the group around him and he regretted not putting his hands over his ears. After the shouting died down and the groups began to disperse, the Courier found himself in a rather large group. Roy let go of his neck and began to mingle with the large group.

As the Courier sighed in relief at his neck being released he felt several flat blows on his back. Each carried an impressive strength and he stumbled forward briefly before catching himself. Looking back, he found himself looking down at his fox-tailed teammate, who was giving him a rather wide grin.

"Caleb, right?" she asked, smiling wider when the Courier nodded. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did."

"Er… did I do something for you?" he asked confusedly.

"Well, I meant thanks for saving Cu Rain. Most humans wouldn't risk their lives like that for a faunus." The Courier frowned at that, knowing at least a dozen individuals who would. "But I guess I should really say thanks for proving my dumbass cousins wrong."

"I'm pretty sure anyone else here would have done the same thing," he said shrugging.

"Maybe," she said sighing. "Regardless, though, please never do something so stupid as fighting a deathjaw by yourself." She looked back at him and scrunched her face in confusion. The Courier stood there, just staring over her head for a minute in complete silence. As soon as his brain began to work again, he looked down to find her waving her hand in front of his face.

"Did you say … deathjaw?"

"Yeah, you didn't know what that grimm was called?" she asked, mild horror tipping her soft voice.

"Ah-tha-ha-hah-" the Courier started before descending into uncontrollable laughter. Some of the other students looked at him strangely and he saw Kumiho back up slowly reaching back towards her weapon.

"Caleb," she said worriedly, "Am I going to have to use this?"

"HAH! Heh...huh… nah," he said as his laughter died down. "Sorry, it's just, that name reminded me of this one lying asshole I met a few months ago."

"Oh?" she asked, letting go of her weapon as the other students decided to continue their conversations.

"Yeah, I owe him an apol-URK," the Courier responded before being interrupted by the force of a push on his back. Looking behind him he found himself facing the eight students he had met outside of the landing zone, the members of the newly christened teams BRNZ and NDGO. They all looked at him impassively, the three he had met the first day going so far as to fold their arms over their chests to complete the angry parent image.

"So, Caleb," Violette began, her voice cutting and dark.

"We heard that our friend," Brawnz continued, making what little hair remained on the back of the Courier's neck to stand up on edge.

"Who we have been told hadn't eaten for four days prior to initiation," one of the members of team NDGO spoke up. The Courier heard his new teammate gag behind him in shock.

"Threw up after his big fight with the deathjaw," the girl in the green dress said, her eyes glaring accusingly at him.

The Courier was about to explain when the sniper girl he had met earlier spoke up.

"Sorry," she said, shrinking when the Courier looked at her. He opened his mouth to apologize for somehow scaring her when the huntsmen and huntresses in training continued.

"So… being the concerned friends that we are," said Roy, his face surprisingly angry.

"We thought we might ensure our starving friend obtained the," the last member of team BRNZ spoke up, pausing before giving the Courier a sadistic grin, "Nutrition… necessary for his continued function."

The Courier watched as every one of the eight gave him a rather frightening grin, their eyes hidden by their forward tilting heads. For the first time in months, he felt the sensation which he thought had abandoned him in the world of the living: fear.

AN: Caleb understands the pain of hip checks. He is now a monster hunter.

Alright, now that my daily dose of weirdness is out of the way, here are some answers to questions you might have:

I'm using metric because I used meters last chapter (mostly so I could do the calculations easier) and I try to stick with what I use as I hate both flip flopping decisions like that in stories about as much as I do retconning. As far as I can tell you, I will do my best to prevent both of those things.

No one brought it up but, in the last chapter, the drop was slightly lower than 15 meters (49 feet) so while a short period (1.75 seconds) as far as drops go, it was VERY substantial. Most people would die if they fell from that height. The Courier survived in part due to three things: Rolling when landing, reinforced bones (this will be explained in a later chapter), and a literally unbreakable (artificial) spine. If he had neither of the latter, he would be extremely lucky to come out with only several broken bones.

Those implants and augmentations are why the Courier can, at the very least, match up with SOME of the forces of Remnant.