Sandstorm over Remnant

Winter

"And then we can hide here!" a small child ran through the empty halls of the mansion as a cold blizzard struck against the large windows. A slightly taller teen followed with a smile as she looked at the spot the little one was pointing.

Giggling she shook her head "there is no way we can hide behind the statues Weiss, it will be too obvious!"-"But Winter there is no other place we can hide! I mean you know we cant hide in dad's place and mom told us…" Winter gently grabbed Weiss's hand. It was warm, something that she could not say for her own hand, giving her sisters hand a soft squeeze she distracted her of the current drama that assailed their home. "Don't worry there are other places, as soon as this blizzard hits we can go outside and play in the snow"

Weiss moved closer to Winter as she looked up fearfully at her big sister "I don't want to go outside, the monster is there"

"What monster?" Winter asked genuinely confused about this, something was wrong… this was not how it happened. Fearfully Weiss pointed with her finger to the outside and there standing in the middle of the storm a dark figure seemed to be standing there trying to catch the snowflakes. Its head twisted towards them and Winter was filled with dread before she could tell her sister to run the creature shattered the windows and jumped inside with them.

Without the cover of the snow Winter got a good look at the creature, a mess of cables, machinery and pulsating flesh the creature howled in agony as it stalked towards her, as it walked sand dropped to the floor from its wounds. Winter looked at its red eye as it all dawned on her "Six?" the skull cried in pain as her vision blurred.

Gasping for air Winter sat up from her bed, she could feel her heart beating at a rapid rate as her brain assimilated everything "A nightmare… hadn't had one in a while" she muttered to herself as she looked at the clock on her small room. It was almost time to get up anyways, might as well get an early start now that she was awake. Reaching for her towel she headed into her shower and made sure that the water was as cold as possible.

"… he is not a monster" she muttered to herself as the water poured down on her naked body, she would never admit it to anyone, but she had fallen in love. It was a complicated thing in her mind, she thought there was only space for her work and her family but here she was thinking about her under the shower like she was a teenager agonizing over her school crush, but at least she knew that the situation with him was not as simple as simple physical attraction because of any sort of childish crush or admiration paled about what she knew she liked, the way they were similar in many ways but totally different at the same time. She saw her will to do things and the want to help others, but she also saw things always wanted to be.

Free from any past, any labels. Six had nothing to hold him back when he wanted to do something, no one expected the mailman to be something or be part of any mold and yet he had proven that he did not need any of their expectations or guidelines to changed the fate of his world.

She sometimes wanted that for herself, not a Schnee not a specialist but a woman that could change the world "How selfish of me" but she could not and that's why she projected a bit to him, she wondered if he did that too. She saw him look at her when she walked with Weiss, his face had turned serious and he seemed to be on another world for a second before he snapped back to reality and a smile returned to his lips.

Was it a connection? Family? She did not know and for some reason now she felt shy around him, like there was something going on underneath the surface of both of them and it bothered her deeply, she needed to do something.

Turning off the shower she decided she needed to fix this as soon as possible she could not risk it harming her judgement and performance, and it was also a nice excuse to see what was going on in Beacon. The academy was declared no mans land and was given to Courier Six for safeguard or more specifically the company, RoboCo.

Winter frowned as she heard the news, that darned House already planning on expanding and making a profit, seems like the little factory they where given was not enough for them and just like her father they decided to test how far they could take things, but a couple of new laws against otherworldly enterprises should keep them at bay if needed. Her PipBoy now placed on her wrist she checked for information and to her surprise Yes-Man had decided to reach out to her.

"Hi there :), Six says he has an idea and wants to speak with you when possible. He is currently back home but I can send a robot to fetch him. Bye :D!" the machine that Benny had made unnerved Winter somewhat, but she could not deny that it had its uses, she briefly wondered if she should speak with the General about this but she shook her head quickly. No, the poor man was already up to his ears in things he needed to worry about and Six having an idea was not something that seemed all that important but there was another way to exert some influence over the situation and that also gave her the perfect excuse to ease her worries about the other person in her nightmare.

Weiss was back home, waiting for something to happen. She had been a huntress in training and now that was all up in the air and worse of all she was with her family which was always draining, no doubt her father was trying something and her mother was no help. As for her little brother that was hard to know, she never understood what the boy was thinking or doing, in a way that was her fault for leaving when the kid was still very young but it was not like he made any easier for her the few times she had actually spoken with him.

But maybe it was time to change that, reaching for her scroll she saw that her schedule was clear for the next few days but she needed to always be at the ready if needed. So with that in mind she decided it was time she headed to Atlas and more specifically, home.

"There once was a kingdom of sand, the dunes tall as buildings and the air as hot as fire. Unlike any other place, the ones that ruled this kingdom where monsters of venom and spikes, the human tribes that surrounded the are all agreed in one thing: They could never match in power the creatures nor their terrifying king, an old creature that made its subjects look like ants next to it.

The reign of the king was unchallenged for a century, but that all changed when one kid arrived to the far away kingdom. With the flag of a two headed bear behind his back the young boy watched as the other tribes lived in fear of the king and its subjects and so he steered from his journeys path and decided that he would put an end to its reign. The king saw the boy in the distance and seeing that he was as small as his children ignored him, this scrawny teen was no match to him but the boy swore that this giant will be fell by his weapons" the courier leaned back as he read from a book, the sound of machinery made him look up as the Auto-Doc did its thing, turning the page Six smiled at the drawing he had made for the story.

"And so began the quest to kill the god of the sands."

Cold winds, colder looks and imposing sights, her home had not changed one bit since the last time she was here. Winter nodded at the driver so they could take the vehicle away. As she walked up the unnecessarily long set of stairs, she looked up to see how a small gathering had formed on the front door of her house.

The Schnee household all had gathered to greet her at the entrance, was it to show how she was the only one that had not fallen in line? She could not care less what they tried to show her, after all it she was here on a mission of her own "Ah daughter how nice of you to visit… how long has it been now?"

She would have liked if she could have prolonged her absence if she was being honest but desperate times and all that "Hello father, not sure. Maybe it was after you cut me off from grandfathers will but details in all honesty" and the family fortune and access to her own personal account she had since she was a child. She never broke and reached out to him like he had desired and that made his blood boil, Winter was sure of that. Jacques frown deepened making his mustache look funny in Winters opinion.

"You have some nerve just waltzing in here, what do you want? Forgiveness?" Jaques said as his wife Willow simply looked sadly to her first born "From you? Never, but I am not here to fight with you or anyone I have a duty to my family and the company that my grandfather built" Winter saw the smirk that formed on both her mother and sister face, Whitley smartly put his hand on his mouth.

"And what is that?" Jaques said as he motioned for the servants to leave as he motioned Winter to follow him inside "If this is about that disaster in Vale the Schnee company has no interest in humanitarian aid, I already told Weiss that…"-"No, this is not about Vale father" Winter cut him off as Jaques simply raised an eyebrow at her and looked her up and down, something had changed with her. He did not voice his opinion and decided to keep walking to his study.

The one that did reach out to hold her daughter in a hug was Willow "Are you all right dear, oh it has been so long since I've seen you" Winter allowed herself to smile "Hello mom, sorry about that. I'm fine let me get this out of the way and I we can sit down to talk" she turned to look at her two siblings and smiled at them "All of us all right?" she let go of her mother and sniffed the air, alcohol.

But thankfully not as strong as she remembered, now moving into the office she saw the man she called father look up at her with a bored expression "So, not a family visit and not a humanitarian effort by the General. What on earth could you possibly even want here Winter? I thought I made it clear that you have no place here unless you reconsider this ridiculous way of life you have chosen, for yourself mind you, and come back and help with the company"

It was funny really, seeing her father parrot the same words over and over again did not cause the same amount of ire in her. If he had said something like this just a couple of months ago she would have either walked out or tried to fight him word for word, but she was not the same woman. She was tired of all the squabbling, it was not something that she liked to waste her time with to begin with and now more than ever she just wanted to be able to move on from this nonsense and continued with her plan.

"What if I where to tell you that I am here to do just that?" [Speech-25] PASSED. This made Jaques stop and look up at her with confusion, he chuckled as he almost seemed to gloat in her surrender "Ah finally saw the light my dear?"

Winter snorted "I can do both things at the same time, but if someone is going to have access to this sort of thing I think it will be best if it's the Schnee company is the one that has it" Jaques now looked confused as he pointed at her "You… you're not making any sense! What on remnant are you talking about?!"

"The dust monopoly might be coming to an end" Winter said as her fathers eyes widened like dinner plates "Wh-what?!"-"I have come to ensure that we stay ahead of the curve"

Winter watched her father go through every emotion in the human mind as he could only wait for her to continue. There was a pause as Winter touched her PipBoy and displayed the interface to her father "This has run for two hundred years without dust and it will run for a thousand years more after I am dead" Jaques stared at the ugly thing and then back at her daughter.

"This retro thing" it doesn't look stylish at all"-"Does style really matters when eventually everything we have will be replaced? Cars that run for ever with no need to refuel, machines that cant be hacked by any conventional means and all of them produced by a new competitor in town with limitless resources" that last part of the sentence was an exaggeration, but it did make her father grow weary.

Jaques looked at his daughter for a moment and then to his scroll "And how come I have not heard of this new competitor, the council would have said something. Heck the spies that I have all over other companies!"

"Because they are hidden right beneath your nose, they might as well have come from another world"-"What do you want then?"

Winter smirked "I want to ally ourselves with them, we can stay in the loop… and I can keep a close eye on them?" Jaques shook his head "That is a lot of investment…"-"It wont be, I have a plan I just need the Schnee Company stamp of approval and raw metal. Me and their representative are acquainted"

Jaques seemed to ponder for a moment and then shook his head "I do not trust this type of deal. A partnership has the chance to damage the company name! If I were to even begin to consider this possibility I want to meet this so called representative that you are talking about" Winter frowned

"I think it would complicate things, it would be better if you left this thing to me" [Barter-50] FAILED. "No and this is none negotiable, the idea of even entertaining this is ridiculous I am only doing this because you are my daughter!" and he was scared of the possibility of something that he might not be able to crush under money or lawsuits. Winter let out a sigh "Fine, I'll bring him here when I have the chance"

Jaques nodded satisfied with his victory "Fine, now if you excuse me I need to work. Some of us don't have the luxury to run away whenever we feel like. I wont see you at dinner I assume?"

"No, goodbye" Winter closed the door to the study and let out a long sigh "You got almost everything you wanted" startled she turned to see Whitley who was staring at her with a grin "Is a bad habit to eavesdrop Whitley" the young Schnee simply shrugged as he walked with his sister.

Winter looked at the boy and frowned "You are skinnier"

"I have been exercising, I am very good in it. Won a competition" pride was evident on his voice, Winter chuckled "Then a celebration is in order, where is mom and Weiss I want to spend some time with all of you before I leave"

Whitley frowned "Without father?"-"You were eavesdropping, you know he is busy at the moment" Whiley let out a sigh and nodded. "Mother is waiting for you in your old room, as for Weiss I think she is speaking with her friend this so called Ruby."

Ah yes Qrow's niece, the one with the black and red hair "Good, see you in a bit" Winter then did something she saw Six do with Sarah, she ruffled his hair making her brother let out a string of complains and comments about his hair, but Winter did catch the small smile that made its way onto his lips.

"The god of the sands did not think about the boy for the following its days, lazing around the dunes and eating as much as it could. Fattening its already grotesque mass, with one of its massive pincers it plucked one of its own subjects and destroyed the creature. There was nothing in the world the god of sands worried about but out there in the distance something was rumbling, the boy had returned with a carriage ready to meet the beast head on in its own domain.

The world itself trembled as a spear was shoved on the sides of the beast, now fully awake the god of the sands screamed in pain searching for the one that had struck it and there was the boy running away from him in the carriage, the king launched itself against him as the chase began.

It seemed to be unfair, the monster was almost upon him but the boy had a plan. Near the kingdom of the sands laid a ruin from a civilization that ended two hundred years ago and that where his trap would be sprung" Six placed a metallic arm on the table as he wiped away the blood from its previous owner.

"That king… the god of the sand it was a giant Rad-scorpion" Cinder said as Six helped her put the arm on, she flinched as the metal pierced her flesh but was pleasantly surprised when she could move her fingers "Yeah, but that doesn't help the story I am trying to tell"

Cinder made a face at him "How… interesting"-"Now now no need to be so critical, it can lead to fights" a fiery glare was sent his way "But that's no longer an option with you right? I couldn't even if I wanted RIGHT?!" A bright fury burned in Cinder as she lit both her arms ablaze, but she could not move, she could not strike Six no matter how hard she tried.

The courier sat back down as he placed a small picture on his book "Well… no, not anymore."

"It has been a while hasn't it Winter, I remember when you wanted this mirror to be changed. We never got around it did we" Willow commented as her daughter walked into her old room, Winter smiled sadly as she went to sit at her old bed. They had not changed a thing since the last time she was here "Yeah, I guess we kind of forgot about that when the big fights started to happen"

Willow frowned "That Jaques, he almost did the same thing to Weiss" she knew, Winter remembered how she almost shattered her scroll when she read the message from her little sister. But that was all in the past now "Will you be staying?" Winter shook her head.

"I cant, I need to go to Vale and… well I guess sooner or later I needed to introduce you" Winter saw how her mother raised an eyebrow at her and she fought the need to turn away to hide her small blush "Well, I need to do bring a colleague of mine to meet with father and well you know I wanted to…"

Willow smiled as she sat down next to her daughter "No need to be embarrassed, what is this about?" it was an odd feeling of seeing her mother this way after some many years of isolating herself in alcohol. Winter allowed her mother to hold her hand.

"I met someone" she said quietly as she allowed the shields she had built around her family to lower, this made Willow gasp as she looked at her daughter in surprise "You have! That's… great honey"

Winter chuckled "you don't sound all that happy" Willow let out a long sigh as she squeezed her daughters hand "Love and relationships have all really soured for me. I really thought that someone could love me for who I am and… no that's neither here nor there. I am happy you have met someone that you like, how's he like?"

"A good man, with an honest heart" she said as Willow giggled and shook her head "But how is he physically? I never met anyone that you liked. I need to know the details!" Winter blushed as she stood up "I… will tell you over lunch, I want to spend some time with you and the other two before I leave for Vale, but I should be back in like a day or two and then you can meet him. But DON'T tell father about this, I don't need any of his little comments."

Willow nodded as she walked happily with her daughter the smell of alcohol long gone and for the first time in what felt like years Winter walked with her mother sober by her side "I won't I promise, now how about we eat something tasty, what do you feel like eating dear?" Winter hummed as she tried to think of something "Anything is fine as long as it's not grilled mantis?"

"Pardon me?"

"The ruins all crashed around them as the god of the sand pursued the carriage, the time had come to destroy the foolish creature that had dared hurt him. As he destroyed the carriage he was surprised to see that no blood had been spilled and the sand remained unsullied.

The boy ran underneath the monster while this one was distracted and when the beast began to leave the sand gave way and the trap was activated, the sands had betrayed their master as the old world opened to swallow the mighty beast.

The king tried to run but the boy had made sure that this was the last time the king terrorized anyone, a rope was tied around it and the king could no longer escape his fate, falling into the abyss the creature cursed the boy and his ruse. He was to big, to proud to even consider the possibility of being tricked.

The small boy walked back into the desert as he had to face the Father of all his troubles and the head to the City of Lights" Six closed the book as he grinned at Cinder. The woman rolled her eyes and clapped at the story "Ah masterpiece, if I didn't have my brain all scrambled, I would have cried. No really, I would have."

"You know for being partially lobotomized you have quite the attitude" Six commented as Cinder simply glared "Oh how about you return me to normal and I'll show some REAL attitude."

Six chuckled "Not yet, but who know once I kill your former master and make things right I can set you free. Lots of empty space down south or on the other side of the planet where you can make your own kingdom"

"Ah are you not willing to share?" Cinder asked with a mock pout "We both know what type of person you are. I will not take any chances, for now I like the new you not able to hurt me or disobey me" Cinder frowned but her brain did not allow her to despair at what was done to her.

Six stood up as he motioned for her to follow "Come on, we have some things to do Maiden" with his new "employee" tailing him Six prepared to open the portal. The story of the god of the sand was something that he had kind of made up on the spot but there was a small lesson that he had learned from his time in Vegas and the other parts of the wasteland.

People always wanted to see what they wanted to see and believe what they wanted to believe, a simple misdirection was all that was needed to slay a god and it was time that he put the performance of a lifetime!

A/N: Hello! Hope you like this new chapter. Next time Six meets his in-laws (lol) see you soon and thank you for reading!