Sandstorm over Remnant

Chapter 2

The world bellow the broken moon

"Damn Uncle Qrow, you almost killed the guy!" Yang laughed as she took out a bite of her pizza. Her uncle simply snorted as he rubbed his jaw "I wasn't trying to, I thought he was a threat and even if he wasn't I just would have gotten to see what the princess boy-toy was all about. Imagine my surprise when he just didn't doge my attacks and then took a killing blow, he got stabbed and beat my ass… scary bastard"

"LANGUAGE UNCLE!" Ruby complained as she tried to choke him, Qrow laughed as he easily shook her off.

Yang finished her food as she brought a hand to her chin "So that's why Weiss is not here, she's with her sister. Gottta admit I've always wanted to meet the big sis of Weiss scream. From the way she spoke of her she sounds like a badass" from her side of the room Blake nodded as she held her nose, the stench of alcohol coming from Qrow a little bit too much for her sensitive nose.

"Well I better get going, I bet you kids got a lot of training going on with the festival so close and all that. I'll be sure to be here if you end up in the final"

Ruby smiled "You bet we will, team RWBY is going to show what we are made of!"

The old crow felt a pang on his chest as the smile that Ruby gave mirrored that of Summer's, time had come and gone before he had time to blink and now they had to deal with aliens and who knows what else. He just hoped than there would be time for him to just spend time with those around him before his time came.

Weiss walked in as Qrow said his goodbyes. "Hey there kid, Ruby saved you a slice of pizza. If she says she didn't she ate it" the ice queen nodded and added a short thank you as she entered the room and Ruby's uncle left.

"Oh Weiss hi! Ermm I didn't know if you would be coming so didn't save any pizza for you sorry" Ruby said as she quickly wiped from her face what looked like to be a piece of cheese. Blake chuckled quietly while Yang whistled as she looked at the window. Weiss just gave a short nod as she felt a little bit out of it right now, something her team quickly picked up on.

To the surprise of the two sisters it was Blake the one who first spoke up, closing her book "You ok? Something happened with your sister?" Weiss nodded as she sat on her bed.

"I… Winter is resting on the room that Headmaster Ozpin gave her. We talked a lot but something changed in her… it's so hard to describe, she jumps at shadows and she is covered in scars. She told me stories I have a hard time believing and I guess what worries me the most is that she looks so tired, I have never seen Winter like this before"

Yang briefly looked at Ruby "Sometimes… the older one has to put up a front you know, be strong for the other ones. I guess this is the first time you've seen her without that mask, give her time she will be back to the way she was in no time and if she isn't then it's your turn to help her out" Blake smiled.

"That's surprisingly sweet of you Yang" the cat girl commented.

Yang shrugged "I got my moments, so what will you do now Weiss cream?" Ruby nodded "Yeah, if you want to talk we're here for you! But if you just want to be on your own, I promise to not make any noise"

Weiss shook her head "No need, I just need to take a small stroll to clear my head and maybe grab something to eat" leaving the dorm Weiss walked with no clear direction on sight, she tried to sort out her thoughts as images from the stories Winter told her fought on her mind.

Beast with razor claws, an army of slavers, sands and robots.

It all sounded like something out of one of the movies Yang and Ruby liked and yet it was real. A bullet wound the size of a golf ball was on the side of her sister, her weapon fired energy and she had even brought a man from another world… who apparently she was in a relationship with. And if fate would have it, she encountered the man in question staring at the forest a large bottle of whiskey on hand and a cigarette on the other.

Weiss walked until she was next to him, staring into the forest to see what captivated the man so much. Courier Six downed half the battle as he let out a sigh, Weiss still on his blind spot. The girl had to cough into her fist to catch his attention, snapping him out of the trance that he was in "Oh sorry, I got a little lost there…"

"No need" Weiss said as she tried not to flinch under the stare of the red eye. Six smiled as he put two pieces together "Is nice to finally meet you Weiss, Winter spoke a lot about you! All of them good things I promise"

His friendly demeanor contrasted heavily with the fact that he was dressed like he was ready to kill anything that moved, the weapons now all returned to him shone eerily under the moonlight. "I see, nice to meet you as well. Winter spoke a bit of you, it is high honor to have my big sister to an interest in anyone I hope you know that"

Six chuckled "Don't worry I know that, is… is she ok?"

Weiss nodded as she looked back at the forest "Yes, she just… well she was tired so she's sleeping, I assure you that there's nothing wrong with her."

"You good kid? No need to be all formal with me I am just a courier, but I am glad to know that Winter is resting. This entire thing had her on edge for weeks, it's a miracle we actually got the portal to work on the first try, part of me thought we would end up in China or some other place on the wasteland"

Weiss bit her lip "I… she spoke a bit of the place, how this wasteland used to be a country and that now it was all sand"

Six finished his bottle and put out his cigarette "Yes and no, it was sand back there too but it was less… you know, filled with stuff that wanted to kill you. I can give you the summary that I just told Ozpin, my world burned itself in a great war and we are what managed to survive. Even centuries in the future the sins of those that came before still burn the land but it's not a bad place I quite like it, to me its home. But it's sure not as pretty as what you got here! Man I had never seen so much green"

Weiss frowned as he pulled out another bottle from his pocket "That is going to ruin you liver"

"I got no liver and don't worry this is not alcohol. Sunset Sarsaparilla?" Six said as he offered the bottle. Weiss smelt the sweet aroma and shook her head "I'll pass, why are you out here? I thought you were with the headmaster"

Six nodded "I just got done talking with him, gave me a room and my weapons back. But I don't think it's time for me to rest, there's so much I want to see and besides I prefer to have my dinner out on the open. What about you?"

"I… actually I just wanted to walk. Winter's stories made me worry and I wanted to clear my head, maybe get something to eat; the cafeteria is still open I think" Weiss commented as she watched with quiet horror as Six pulled from his many pockets some dried piece of meat. "Ah Gecko steak my beloved, I got this piece from the fire breathing ones. I know it sound silly but the meat is actually spicy"

Weiss stopped him "No…. no, don't eat that. We have food here, I suppose I could take you to the cafeteria as long as you don't mid a few stares. You stand out you know"

"Is it my hair?" Six said with a grin making the heiress roll her eyes. She lightly slapped him on the chest as she lowered her defenses "Don't be a dolt, come on. I still got questions, for example. Your name, is it really Courier Six?"

The courier followed the girl as she led him through the halls of beacon "Sure, that one is easy to answer. See this" Six tapped on his forehead, two bullet wounds could still be seen.

"I got shot in the head by some bastard when I was making a delivery. Those bullets scrambled my brain and made me forget all about the past. But one thing remained, I was courier number six and I was supposed to deliver a package. Funny thing that's when I met your sister, I was just stumbling out of Goodsprings when she fell out of the sky and I don't mean it in a cute way you know"

Weiss looked at the man in shock "How did you survive that?"

"Lady Luck has always been by my side. Well when it comes to surviving at least and gambling" Six said with small smile as he recalled the time he got kicked out of the Ultra Luxe for winning too much. The other casinos had been kind enough to let him know that he could no longer play, the masked freaks on the other hand got a little offended when he robbed them in one sitting.

Weiss frowned "I guess I should be thankful that Winter survived. I was shocked to see her so full of bruises and scars… when in reality is a miracle that she made it out alive in the first place" Six laughed.

"Nah she's too stubborn to die. She was planning on how to return from day one, said there was some one that was waiting for her back home" Six gave her a small wink as they grabbed their meals. Six looked at all the food and frowned, well a part of him was disappointed that almost everything looked like something he could in the Tops, no weird purple tentacles or the like. The food here was less dirty looking so that was a plus, letting out a sigh he reached for a burger just to be safe, maybe he was allergic to whatever the rest of this was "I don't suppose you guys got soda here"

Weiss reached for a glass of juice "Your organs must be in shambles Mr. Six"

'I don't have most of those anymore' Six thought to himself as they took a seat, Weiss for her part was studying the man her sister had fallen for. The courier herd his PipBoy update itself as he smiled "Aha! Finally I was waiting for this" Six tuned in as the radio began to play from the device on his wrist.

A song that neither of them knew came on as Six listened enraptured "Now that's a style I have never heard before. But that's not what I want to hear let's see… ah there we go"

"Breaking news, there have been sightings of lightning in the city of Vale. Residents claim to have seen Atlesian Knights around the area, General Ironwood commented that their robots had nothing to do with the freak accident at the plaza. Now the financial district has…"

Weiss grabbed a bite as they listened to the news for some time, the prices of dust had gone up thanks to the robberies and the general demand of the product, a part of her knew that would mean that her father was getting even more rich but another part of her knew that it was bad news that the demand of dust was so high "Man, that sucks so if the price of dust is that high I guess I won't be able to trade for it"

"You want to… trade?"

Six turned off the radio as he gave the last bite to his meal "Sure do, I think it doesn't hurt to let you know and if it does the headmaster can yell at me later. I didn't come here just for Winter's sake, my boss Mr. House is looking for ways to begin to rebuild our planet to make it more… alive you know. And I agree with him, it is time that we stopped living in the shadow of the Old World and rebuild. Problem is time and resources, so we wanted to accelerate the process and would you look at that you people have more resources than you know what to with, just wood alone can make us turn things around"

Weiss hummed "But what would you trade with? No offense but if the situation is so bad on your planet how are you going to trade?"

"Robots!" Six said with a big smile. "I would bore you with more details but I think it would be best if I just take a stroll, if you see Winter around tell her that I will see her on the morning. It was nice to meet you Weiss have a good night!"

Weiss nodded as she waved at the man, her mind a bit more at ease. But just in case she would make a visit to her sister's room just to check on her and then she would get back to RWBY's headquarters as Nora liked to call the room next to hers.

Ozpin hummed as he followed the direction of their newest guest with the cameras from the academy, Courier Six was headed straight into Emerald forest. Glynda stood to his side as they observed the live footage "Should we…?"

"Not yet, specialist Schnee must have told him about the grimm. He told us much about the dangers of his world, I believe that he wants to see what our demons look like. But do be ready in case we need to rescue him"

Glynda nodded "Understood. I did as you asked and sent General Ironwood a copy of all the relevant things we discussed"

"James will no doubt be excited about the idea of new technology" Ozpin said as the moon hung high above the night sky.

A/N: Another short chapter to establish motivation and how some characters interact. I always found it funny how remnant is so full of… well everything but because of the grimm they never really exploit their resources so they rely one thing, dust. Kind of like the opposite of Fallout where everything was used and abused to keep the big wheel of "freedom" going.

Oh in some other news, the prequel that I spoke about in Snowflake on the sand is up, Blood from Vault 18 deals with the events that transpire long before a familiar face walked in the sands of the Mojave. I intend to write it alongside this story, prioritizing this one so don't worry.

Thank you so much for the support on this story I really can't thank you enough, see you soon!