Black Sun

Chapter 6

It didn't take Ruby long to reach the former military checkpoint. Upon arriving, it was easy for her to tell what had happened.

"Gods…" she muttered as she brought her SMG up, just in case, and began to creep through the area.

Remnants of combat were everywhere. Fresh bullet holes pockmarked the various pieces of machinery and cover that had been left behind, and spent shell casings littered the ground. There were faded bloodstains too, but no bodies; Ruby figured that some mutants had scavenged them for carrion already. Naturally, that also meant there was no gear for her to take, not that she minded – she was already carrying enough gear on her, and any more would have just weighed her down and needlessly tired her out.

Still, this place gave her the creeps.

"He had to have been a real professional to get through the soldiers here…" Ruby noted to herself as she finally lowered her Vityaz SMG. "I think he only had a Makarov, yet he managed to take out at least a few soldiers armed with automatic rifles…" She shook her head. "Hope I never have to fight him… or meet him again, for that matter."

At the thought of meeting the Marked One again, Ruby's eyes narrowed. He had probably never intended for it to happen, sure, but he was still indirectly responsible for Wolf's death, since him taking out the checkpoint had led to the soldiers from the base attacking the Rookie Village. Ruby wasn't sure what she'd do to him if they ever happened to cross paths again. She certainly didn't want to shoot him, especially not after killing the Ukrainian officer in cold blood, but she also wasn't okay with the idea of the Marked One getting off completely free for it.

The sudden resurgence of the memory of what she'd done to the officer caused her to shudder. She'd been in the Zone for only a little while, and already it was changing her in ways she'd never thought possible. She'd killed people before – namely back in the tunnels under Mountain Glenn; the White Fang members that she and her teammates had thrown off the train into the horde of pursuing Grimm had certainly not made it through – but that had been indirectly, and she'd had no choice. The White Fang were terrorists, and they were trying to lead Grimm straight to Vale. She hadn't wanted to kill them, but she'd been forced to, as had the rest of her friends. That had made the resulting guilt a lot easier to swallow, at least.

Here, it was different. That man had been no threat to her – he'd already surrendered. And yet, she'd shot him anyway. She could try and justify it however she wanted, but the fact was that she had killed him because his actions had directly led to Wolf's death. He'd killed a friend of hers, and she wanted revenge for that, so she'd gotten it in the only way the Zone had to offer. And that knowledge made her feel horrible.

With shaking legs, Ruby took a seat on a large green crate underneath the ruined railway bridge. She shrugged off her pack and began to rummage through it, pulling out a bar of Ukrainian dark chocolate. She unwrapped the candy and tore off a piece, then popped it into her mouth. It tasted bitter, and not just because it was dark chocolate. She looked up into the sky and sighed. Her first instinct was to wish that her friends were here, but she pushed that thought away about as soon as it popped into her mind – the Zone was the closest thing to hell she'd ever experienced; she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy, let alone her closest friends or loved ones. So instead, she settled on something that seemed more appropriate.

"I wish I wasn't so alone…"

Only silence answered her. She let out another sigh, then went back to eating her chocolate bar. She managed to get about halfway through it before the sound of not-so-distant gunfire just about caused her to choke. She managed to swallow the piece of candy that was stuck in her throat, then jumped off the crate she'd been sitting on and shouldered her submachine gun, looking around cautiously to make sure she wasn't being shot at. As far as she could tell, she wasn't; the gunshots were nearby, but they weren't coming towards her. She weighed her options, then eventually decided to carefully investigate, just in case it was someone who needed help. With her decision made, Ruby grabbed her pack and slung it over her shoulders, then took off running towards the gunfire.

Before long, she found the source of it – it was coming from inside a ruined house. As she drew closer, she was able to make out another noise – a large amount of barking. Instantly, she came to a dead stop, her eyes widening. Slowly, her gaze drifted to her right arm, still wrapped in bandages from her first encounter with a blind dog. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to leave the Stalker to his fate, but she bit her lip and pressed on despite that.

Even in the Zone, she was still a Huntress, and she wasn't about to leave someone to be eaten by dogs, no matter how scared she was.

Ruby drew close enough to the house to see a pack of several dogs circling around it, looking for an opening. They were being kept at bay by a series of shotgun blasts coming from inside. Ruby hesitated for a moment, then shouldered her Vityaz and began firing. The 9mm rounds screamed downrange towards the pack of dogs, impacting against flesh and bone and ripping through them with ease. The frenzied barking soon turned to frantic whimpers as the dogs were thinned out one by one by bursts from Ruby's submachine gun and the other Stalker's shotgun.

Finally, after just a few seconds, the pack of dogs was no more. A few of them were lying on the ground, squirming and whimpering in pain, but Ruby quickly put them out of her misery. Once all movement from the dogs had ceased, she swapped magazines and hesitantly drew closer. Her arm wound burned as she approached, and her breath hitched in her throat at the memory of what the first dog had done to her. But that was all it was – a memory; this pack had been dealt with, she saw. So she swallowed her fear and placed her weapon on safe, then cautiously drew towards the ruined house.

"You okay in there?"

For a moment, there was just silence, before a gruff voice answered her.

"I'm fine," the man said. "Thank you for the help; those dogs would have killed me if it weren't for you."

Ruby grinned sheepishly. "Ah… it's nothing, really; I had to come this way, anyway, so those dogs had to be dealt with by someone."

"Still, I owe you one. Why don't you step inside? I'll get a fire going."

Again, Ruby hesitated before accepting the man's offer. She let her weapon dangle across her front, then stepped inside the house. Upon entering, she found herself face-to-face with another Stalker, who was carrying a double-barreled shotgun and had a relieved look on his face. Ruby noted that his outfit was covered in dried blood, but he was quick to wave her off.

"That's from a few days ago," he said. "Damn dogs… there's so many of them out here in the Cordon. Another Stalker had to help me then, too." He cast a glance down at his shotgun and gave a snort of disdain. "Guess that's my cue to stop being cheap and buy a decent weapon for a change."

He shook his head, then offered her a hand. "Fox," he greeted.

"Ruby," she answered, accepting his handshake for a moment before they each pulled away. "What are you doing out here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Living the life, I suppose," Fox answered. He motioned towards the nearby fire pit, and Ruby took a seat on the other side of it just as he pulled out his lighter and held it to the batch of tinder already in-place. It caught fire easily enough, and Ruby let out a sigh as the refreshing warmth washed away the slight autumn chill. "Couldn't stand the hustle-and-bustle of the Bar, so I decided to come out here and live the easy life for a bit. You can probably tell how that's going so far. What about you?"

"On my way to the Bar, actually," Ruby stated.

"Forgive me if I cross a line, but you're pretty young to be in the Zone," Fox pointed out as he pulled a flask out of his pocket and took a drink from it.

Ruby sighed. "It's… a long story. Let's just say I'm not here by choice, and I'm trying to find a way home… I figure the Wish Granter is my only real hope."

Fox choked on his alcohol. Ruby stared at him in surprise as he pulled the flask away from his mouth and began to gently pound on his chest in an attempt to stop his coughing. After a moment, his coughing fit ended, and he looked back to her with wide eyes.

"Something wrong?" Ruby asked.

"You're pursuing the Wish Granter?" Fox asked, concerned.

She blinked. "...Yeah. Is that bad? I mean, I know it's dangerous…"

"Yes, it is, and not for the reasons you think," Fox stated. "Think about it – the Zone is an awful place, full of a million different ways to kill you. Do you really think that something like the Wish Granter would exist without a catch?" He shook his head. "No, there's a catch somewhere. I don't know what it is, but if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that the Wish Granter is a double-edged sword, and everyone would be wise to stay away from it."

"But you're saying it exists," Ruby pointed out. "How can you be sure?"

"I can't be," Fox said gruffly. "I've certainly never seen it myself. But enough of the old Stalkers talk about it that I'm sure there's at least something to the rumors. These are people who have been in the Zone since the early days – if they're sure of it, then so am I." He paused and stared at her again. "Come to think of it, you remind me of one of them."

"I do?" Ruby asked, surprised.

He nodded. "Yeah. She was a woman – apparently arrived out of nowhere one day, looking for the Wish Granter, same as you. This was back in the early days of the Zone, so I never met her myself, and most of the people who knew her are long gone, but some people still know a thing or two about her. Rumor has it that she and a few other experienced Stalkers tried to push into the power plant to get to the Wish Granter, but nobody knows what happened to them after that." He shrugged. "Hell, maybe that whole thing is just a rumor, I don't know. Zone's full of bullshit stories like that."

"But you're sure the Wish Granter exists?" Ruby emphasized.

"As sure as I can be," Fox answered.

"What can you tell me about it?"

"Me? Not much, aside from the fact that I'm sure it exists and it's a bad idea to chase after it."

"Do you know anyone who could help me further?"

Fox hesitated, then sighed. "...I suppose I owe you that much for saving my life. You want to learn more about stuff like that? Look for a man named Seriy – he's my older brother; he's been here even longer than I have. If he's still alive, you'll find him in the Garbage or at the Bar. He can tell you more about it."

Ruby nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Fox."

"Don't worry about it."

He went to take another sip from his flask, but stopped at the last second. He hesitated for a moment, then went to pass Ruby the flask. She stared at it in surprise.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"You look like you could use a drink," Fox noted.

"How can you tell?"

"It's your eyes. I don't know how long you've been in the Zone, but however much time it was, it's far too long for someone as young as you."

Again, Ruby stared at the flask. After a moment, she heaved a sigh of resignation and accepted it. With great trepidation, she raised the flask to her lips and took a small sip of it. The vodka hit her mouth, and she just about recoiled from the taste and the burning sensation of it, but she forced it down nonetheless.

Immediately, she broke into a coughing fit, the same as Fox had earlier. After a few seconds, it subsided, and she hurriedly passed the flask back to Fox.

"Do people really drink that stuff for fun…?" she asked, her voice strained.

"Not really," Fox said with a shrug. "Some people drink it for the taste. Other people drink it for the sensation of getting drunk. Here in the Zone, a lot of people drink it because it's cheap and it helps get radiation out of your system."

"It does?" Ruby asked, surprised.

Fox nodded. "Yup. Radiation is expelled through urine. You could get the same effect by drinking a lot of water, but alcohol passes through you faster, so people do that instead… and also because it gets you drunk. So if you ever need anti-rad but can't afford the medicine or just don't want to deal with the needle, downing a few shots is a good way to keep it under control, so long as you're not too irradiated. Of course, helpful as that is to know, it's not the real reason most people in the Zone drink."

"It's not?"

"Nope. Spend enough time here and you'll realize that most of us get plastered in order to forget something, whether it's something we've seen or something we've done. Me, personally… well, that's another story."

Fox fell silent. Ruby gave him a sympathetic look, and then her gaze drifted back to the flask still clutched in his hand as she considered his words. After a moment, she tore her gaze away from it, then stood up.

"Thanks for the company, Fox," she said, offering him a hand.

"Don't mention it," he grunted, giving her a quick handshake. "If you're ever back in the Cordon, stop on by. Oh, and say hi to Seriy for me."

"Of course," Ruby said, giving him a small grin. She waved goodbye. "See you around, Fox."

He returned her wave with one of his own, and then the two of them parted ways, Ruby marching off deeper into the Zone.

It wasn't long before Ruby came across more of the Marked One's handiwork. She found the bodies at another military checkpoint towards what her PDA's map told her was the end of the Cordon. There were about a half-dozen of them all splayed out throughout the checkpoint. Ruby swallowed nervously as she approached one of the bodies, her weapon at the ready just in case. The dead man was face-down; she carefully turned him over with her boot, and began to dry-heave when she saw his left eye had been completely blown out and was leaking blood and vitreous humor.

Ruby managed to keep her food down, and instead pressed onward. She moved through the nearby shack that served to connect the Cordon and the Garbage, and as she emerged out the other side, the let out a small sigh of relief.

It lasted about as long as it took for her radio to suddenly come to life.

"Hey Stalker, you're just in time! We could really use your help! Those Bandit bastards are trying to take control of the Garbage. We had a shootout here half an hour ago and managed to take down three of the dogs. The others retreated, but I'm dead certain they are going to come back with reinforcements any minute now. There aren't too many of us left and another pair of hands wouldn't hurt."

Ruby stared at her radio for a moment before keying the talk button. "...Yeah, I'll help out. Where are you?"

"Great!" the man on the other end said. "We're at the vehicle graveyard – follow the road leading through the Garbage, you can't miss it! Ask around for me, Bes – once you get here, I'll tell you what we need you to do. You won't regret this!"

With that, the line went dead. Ruby again stared at her radio, wondering if she'd made the right choice, before shaking her head. Those Stalkers had asked her for help, and besides, the people she'd be fighting were Bandits, anyway.

So, with that in mind, she set off, following the road the way Bes had advised her to. It didn't take much time before she'd found what looked like the vehicle graveyard, if the rows of rusted and destroyed trucks were any indication.

There was a group of Stalkers standing out near the front of the barbed wire fence that surrounded the vehicles. By the looks of the patches they wore on their shoulders, they were Loners, though at this point, Ruby knew that didn't account for much in the way of whether they were truly friendly or not. Still, Ruby adjusted the sling on her SMG slightly, then jogged over to them.

"Hi, there," she greeted awkwardly. "Bes called me on the radio?"

"That would be me," a bearded Stalker explained with a grunt. He stepped forwards, then offered her a hand. "I'm Bes, and I must say, it's good to see you, even if you're a little younger than I expected. I know I asked for whatever help we could get, but are you sure about this? I'm not sure how I feel putting someone as young as you in the firing line."

Ruby shook his hand. "I'm sure," she insisted. "You guys need help. And trust me when I say that despite how I look, I'm more than capable of pulling my own weight."

Bes hesitated for a moment, looking at the rest of his allies for guidance. They all shrugged, and he furrowed his brow before looking back to her. "Very well, I suppose," he said. He turned and pointed out to the rows of ruined vehicles. "We've set up an ambush for them here. They'll be coming from the west, from the Agroprom Research Institute. The plan is to hold here, and when they come after us, we'll cut them off. You understand what we're asking of you, right?"

Ruby nodded. She understood perfectly – this was going to be an extermination mission. Any Bandits they encountered were going to be killed, and that was that. She knew that they expected her to kill Bandits, too, and while the thought of snuffing out human life still bothered her… they were Bandits. If anything, she'd only be helping the Zone by getting rid of them.

"I understand, Bes," she said. "Where do you want me?"

Minutes later, Ruby found herself hunched behind an abandoned vehicle of some kind – Bes had called it a helicopter – with her Vityaz clutched tightly in her shaking hands. She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled it through her nose.

This obviously wasn't her first time getting in a gunfight, and while it had gotten a little easier to deal with the stress and anxiety of it all, the knowledge that a single stray bullet was all it would take to kill her was nerve-wracking.

"First thing I need to get is body armor…" she muttered to herself.

Off in the distance, she heard several people speaking in Russian, and instantly pushed that thought away. She checked to make sure her Vityaz was set to semi-automatic, and then took another breath.

A gunshot suddenly split the silence. For a split-second, there was no noise, but then a chorus of yells erupted through the air, punctuated by more gunfire. It was ear-piercing – Ruby grit her teeth as the staccato of gunfire pounded against her eardrums, threatening to deafen her. Back on Remnant, she'd always had her Aura to act as ear protection, but not anymore.

"Ruby, hold that lane!" Bes shouted over the gunfire.

"Got it!" Ruby called back. She leaned out to the left of the helicopter, her SMG at the ready.

A Bandit rounded the corner, his short-barreled Kalashnikov barking out fully-automatic bursts at another of the Loners. Ruby didn't hesitate to bring him down with a trio of shots to his sternum; the full-metal jacket 9mm rounds made impact with the man's torso, and he fell to the ground in a heap, screaming. Ruby put him out of his misery with a quick double-tap to the head, then turned her attention back to where she had been looking.

Another Bandit had been following after the one she had just killed, but upon seeing his comrade die, pulled back and took cover around the corner. He poked the tip of his SMG out from behind cover and blind-fired, spraying her position with bullets. Ruby pulled her head back and grit her teeth as bullets and spall from the helicopter's tail rotor splashed all around her, thanking her lucky stars that she hadn't just gotten her head blown off by a stray round.

Rapid footsteps squelching through the mud from around the corner caught her attention, and Ruby managed to spin around to the helicopter's cockpit just as the Bandit pushed her and rounded the corner, his own SMG at the ready. He froze for a moment upon seeing she wasn't there anymore, and that was his undoing – Ruby came out around the corner she'd just ducked behind, her Vityaz bucking in her hand with every shot. The Bandit recoiled as the rounds tore through him, and collapsed in a heap on the ground.

There was no time to relax, however – more footsteps all around her told Ruby that the Bandits were quickly closing in on her position. Desperate, she looked around for something to use, and spied a grenade on the fallen Bandit's belt. She ripped it from his belt and pulled the pin.

"Frag out!" she shouted.

Her words cut through the sounds of combat like a knife through butter. Instantly, there was a chorus of shouts as everyone scrambled for cover. Ruby threw the grenade around the corner, and there was a shout of surprise just before it went off. The shockwave washed over her, leaving her slightly discombobulated, but she didn't let that stop her – before the Bandits could recover, Ruby pushed out, sprinting for where she'd just thrown the grenade.

Two Bandits had been killed outright by the blast, but there were two more picking themselves up. She didn't give them a chance, and cut them down in the blink of an eye with several quick trigger pulls. Both men fell face-down into the mud and didn't move any further. Ruby didn't even spare a glance at the corpses, instead falling back to cover and reloading her Vityaz. She pressed her back against the side of an old truck, her chest heaving with every breath as the adrenaline began to take hold. There were still some stray shots and shouts cutting through the air, but most of the fighting seemed to be over now.

Ruby peeked out from behind cover just in time to see a Bandit try to sprint back from where he'd come, only for a burst of Kalashnikov fire to bring him down. He landed face-first in the mud and didn't move. There was silence for a moment before Bes' voice cut through it all.

"Everyone alright?!" he shouted.

"Specter and Ash are down!" one of the Loners called.

"Piotr is wounded, but he'll live," another reported.

"All good over here," said a third.

"Alright…" Bes breathed. "Gather weapons and ammo, and tend to whoever needs help. If you find any Bandits playing dead, you know what to do. And you, Ruby – come see me. Let's have a chat."

Ruby breathed a heavy sigh of relief, then put her weapon on safe and came jogging out of cover, looking for Bes. She found him standing at the front entrance of the vehicle graveyard, lighting up a cigarette. The acrid smoke stung at her nose, and she furrowed her brow at the scent of it, but she pushed on regardless, stopping in front of him.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked.

"Mm." Bes nodded. He took a drag from his smoke and exhaled. "You really helped us out today. We won't forget this."

"Ah… it's nothing, really."

He shook his head. "No, it's not. What do you need from us? Ammo? Money?"

"Money certainly wouldn't hurt, but what I really need is information," Ruby insisted. "What do you know about a Stalker named Seriy?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Bes said apologetically. "I've heard the name before, but that's about it. I think he hangs out in the Garbage and the Bar, mainly. Still, if you run into any Loners who you think might be able to help you, tell them you're in good with Bes – they'll be more inclined to assist you that way. Oh, and before I forget."

Bes shoved his hand into his pocket and came back with a large roll of paper money. He handed it off to Ruby, who accepted it with a bewildered look on her face.

"That's… a lot of money," she noted.

"Fair pay for fair work," Bes grunted. "Now, I suggest you get going. Wouldn't want to be caught out here when night falls, right?"

Ruby nodded, then stuffed the roll of money into her pocket. "See you around, Bes."

Bes gave her a thin smile and a wave, then went back to smoking his cigarette. Ruby turned and began to walk away, heading deeper into the Zone.
As much as it pained her to admit that killing was getting easier, at least she could also take comfort in the fact that she was helping people by doing it.

"Coming back here is a terrible idea, and you know it."

Cinder cast a glance back at him over her shoulder. "What makes you say that? We just cleared the Bandits and Pseudodogs. It should be perfectly safe."

Jaune leveled his gaze at her as he pushed his way through the underbrush, his 870 clutched tightly in his hands. "I'm just saying. We know those Loners set up shop in the Dark Valley; I'd be surprised if they didn't hear that gunfight we got into yesterday. If we make a habit out of coming back here, they're going to find us eventually."

"Then we won't make it a habit," Cinder insisted. "This will be the last Dark Valley job we take for awhile. There, does that make you feel better?"

"Vaguely," Jaune said, his voice dry. "Remind me again what we're supposed to be doing, here?"

"Were you not paying attention?"

Jaune shrugged. "I tuned that fat fuck out when he started rambling about idiots getting themselves lost. Figured you were listening, so there was no reason for me to listen, too."

Cinder glared at him from over her shoulder. "We are looking for a missing Stalker," she reminded him. "Grizzly, I think was his name. Big man, with a large brown beard – Barkeep said we'd know him when we saw him."

"I'm surprised Barkeep cared enough about this guy to ask us to look for him."

"He must owe Barkeep something. That's the only reason I can think of as to why he'd care enough to pay people to look for him."

"Makes sense, I guess."

The two of them emerged out into the Dark Valley. Jaune looked around as they pushed their way out of the underbrush. It looked the same as it had the previous day, albeit now the skies were a lot more clear. Off in the distance, he could see the remnants of their battle with the Pseudodogs – the corpses were gone, but the spent shell casings and blood still lined the dirt.

"Where to?" he asked Cinder.

Cinder brought up her PDA and began to scroll through the map. "South," she said. "According to Barkeep, Grizzly was last seen traveling along the road to the Darkscape. Hopefully, we'll find him somewhere along that route."

Jaune shifted his shotgun, and then they started walking. "Did they have to make all the names for everything in the Zone so ominous? Seriously. It gets old after awhile."

Cinder did her best to ignore his complaining. Still, as annoying as he was, she supposed Jaune had at least managed to pull his weight so far, surprisingly enough; that was worth at least a quick death once she was done with him.

The two of them continued on, marching along the side of the road, trying to stick to the grass so they'd be at least somewhat hidden from view. As they drew closer to the center of the Darkscape, however, Cinder spied something lying in the road off in the distance. She held up a hand, signaling for Jaune to stop, which he did, giving her a confused look in the process.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Binoculars," she commanded.

Jaune blinked, but did as she said, reaching for his binoculars and passing them to her. Cinder looked through them, her mouth tightening at what she saw.

"I think I found our Stalker," she said. "But he might be dead."

"What makes you say that?"

"I can only see him from behind, but he doesn't seem to be breathing. A mutant probably got him from up front, and this was as far as he could make it before he collapsed."

Jaune's brow furrowed. "Are you sure about that? I always figured that mutants ate the Stalkers they killed."

"No, I'm not sure of it, but aside from that, the only explanation I can think of is that a Stalker shot him," Cinder said, putting a hand on her hip. "Neither one makes much sense. If it's a mutant, as you pointed out, the body should be gone. If it was a Stalker or Bandit, then the body's equipment would have been looted, but I can see from here that his rifle is lying next to him, and his gear looks untouched."

"It could be a trap," Jaune said carefully. "Think about it – people come to investigate the downed Stalker or try to loot him or whatever, and then whoever shot him attacks them, too – they get two bodies for the price of one, or three in our case. How do we want to approach this?"

"We stick to the grass," Cinder offered. "Draw as close to the body as we can in order to make a positive ID, then get away."

Jaune looked around, his gaze narrowing as he appraised the grass. "I don't know… I don't think this is tall enough for us to hide in if we get ambushed. And I don't fancy our chances in a firefight."

"We'll have to make it work," Cinder said, a tinge of resignation leaking into her voice. "I don't like this any more than you do, but we both know Barkeep won't accept anything less than a full positive ID, and we need the money."

"Fuck…" Jaune sighed. "Alright, just… give me a moment."

He fished around in his pockets for his cigarettes and lighter, lit one up, and put it in his mouth, then took a drag from it. Cinder stared at him, unamused. He stared back.

"Not all of us can relax by killing Bandits," he protested. "This is the best I've got at the moment."

"Is that what this is?" she asked. "Relaxing? All you're doing is making yourself stink like an ashtray and slowly giving yourself lung cancer."

Jaune stretched his arms out and motioned to the Zone around him. "We both know that it's not going to be cancer that kills me. And if it is, then it came from the radiation, not the smokes."

Cinder's brow furrowed. "Whatever. We can discuss your filthy habits later. For now, we need to inspect that corpse."

"Yeah, yeah," Jaune grunted. "Just keep me covered, will you? I'll see if I can get close enough to check if he looks like the guy Barkeep described. Brown hair, brown beard, and green eyes, right?"

"Yes," Cinder confirmed. "How good of you to finally remember the job we're being paid to do."

"Oh, shut up. Your sarcastic whining is almost as bad as Weiss'. Let's just ID this guy and head back to the Bar."

With that, Jaune hefted his shotgun and began to take off through the underbrush in a low crouch, his cigarette still held between his lips. Cinder walked after him, her Kalashnikov at the ready. They moved slowly, trying their best not to disturbed the underbrush too much and to remain as hidden as they could, even though Cinder knew that anyone who was bothering to look would find them after just a quick glance. Still, it was the best they could do, so they pressed on regardless of the danger.

After a few minutes of painfully slow movement, they found themselves off to the right of the corpse, still hunched in the tall grass. Jaune's cigarette was nearly down to the filter now, though he didn't seem to care; instead, he reached for the binoculars and angled them towards the dead body's face.

"Hey, I think it's Grizzly," he said. "Brown hair, long brown beard, green eyes… if that's not him, then it's a pretty big-"

A gunshot suddenly cut him off. Cinder tensed, pressing her rifle's stock against her shoulder and flipping the selector lever down to semi-automatic. Jaune, however, stayed rooted to the spot, not moving. Cinder was about to call out to him when she saw it – blood dripping down from his left thigh onto the ground, staining his jeans a dark red. She stared in open-mouthed shock as the cigarette finally fell from his lips and landed on the ground; the instant it did, Jaune himself collapsed, clutching at the bullet hole in his leg as he writhed in agony, a pained shout erupting out of his mouth. Cinder took a tentative step towards him, but a series of far-off metallic clicks stopped her. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she barely had time to hit the deck and lie flat on her stomach as fully-automatic gunfire sliced through the air just inches above her head.

"Jaune!" she shouted over the cacophony of automatic gunfire. "Jaune, lie still and keep pressure on it! I'm coming to get you!"

Jaune only response was to keep screaming as he clutched at his wound. Cinder grit her teeth; between the gunfire, the pain, and the shock of it all, there was no way he could hear her. She reached out to try and crawl closer to his spot a few yards away from her, but it was no use – more gunfire came in overhead, and she let out a surprised hiss as the supersonic cracks passed just inches away from her.

It was no good – even if she could reach Jaune, there was no way she'd be able to pull him out of the hot zone before he bled out. She ran her options through her head, over and over again, but none of them were helpful – if she tried to grab him and run away, they'd both just be gunned down. If she tried to fight back, there was no telling how many people were shooting at them, so she could easily be pinned down and eliminated.

That left just her ace in the hole.

Cinder closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, they burned. She took her hands off her Kalashnikov, and fire materialized in her palms. She aimed for where she thought she could hear gunfire, and then loosed the fire. In an instant, flames washed over the area; gunfire soon turned to panicked screaming and shouts of surprise, and through the tinge of cordite and copper-scented blood, she could smell burning flesh.

Her distraction now in place, Cinder again reached for Jaune, intending to try and drag him out. More gunshots split through the afternoon air, and she cursed under her breath. Cinder went to ready more fire, but the instant the embers began to materialize in her hands, the gunfire returned, this time focused on her position. A rifle round struck her torso, and though it was stopped by the ceramic plates in her vest before it could penetrate, it still had the desired effect – the air was driven out of her, and the fire that had been forming in her hands died. She hit the deck again as yet more rounds began to whiz by, and turned her attention back towards Jaune, whose struggles and cries had started to grow weaker as the blood continued to pool around him.

Cinder gave him one last look, and then she cursed under her breath and began to crawl away, leaving him behind.

Pyrrha let out a groan as she woke up. She sat up in bed, only for her hands to instantly fly to her temples as she let out a hiss.

"Careful," an all-too-familiar voice told her. "Your eardrums burst. We managed to fix them up with the Artifact, but there's still going to be some residual pain for a bit, and they're going to be sensitive."

Pyrrha breathed a sigh of relief as she peeled her hands away from her temples. "Thanks, Bonesaw."

Bonesaw waved her off. "No problem. And don't worry about payment for using the Artifact, either – this one's on us, after that crazy stunt you pulled."

Pyrrha grinned sheepishly, then looked around. "Where are Rat and Swift?"

"Waiting outside. I can let them in if you want." Bonesaw looked down at her torso for a split-second, then looked up again. "You, ah, might want to put something on first."

Pyrrha blinked, then looked down, and flushed red when she found that she was naked under the covers. Bonesaw looked away as she threw the covers off herself, then reached for her clothes and body armor, which had been laid across the foot of the bed.

"How bad was it?" she asked as she began dressing herself.

"Not terrible," Bonesaw answered, still looking in the opposite direction. "You were far worse off when you first arrived here."

Pyrrha suddenly stopped, then looked down at her bare chest. A large scar in the shape of a broadhead arrow stared back, situated directly over her left lung. She couldn't help but shudder when she saw it. That had been a fight she hadn't been ready for at all, and yet she'd so readily rushed into the fray, and for what? Because it was her destiny? Her brow furrowed at the thought of it.

If destiny or fate or the Gods or whatever was looking down on them, it certainly hadn't seemed to mind when so many of them were being slaughtered by Grimm and White Fang alike. And if that was the case, then none of them were worth believing in anymore.

Pyrrha pushed that memory aside, instead reaching for her undershirt and throwing it on, then grabbing her camouflage and her body armor.

"Not that I don't appreciate your company, but we really need to stop crossing paths like this," she noted.

Bonesaw crossed his arms and let out a snort. "That's on you, Pyrrha. Stop doing crazy things like that and we'll stop seeing each other so frequently outside of meal times."

"Well, you never know – maybe I keep getting hurt specifically so I can come back here and have you care for me."

"That'd be your loss; you're far too young and pretty to be spending so much time around an old bastard like me… or to be spending any time in the Zone at all, as a matter of fact."

"Hey, the instant you find me a way out, I'm open to it," Pyrrha said as she finished putting on her body armor, then began to lace up her boots.

"That is the kicker, isn't it?" Bonesaw mused. "May I turn around?"

"You may."

He looked back towards her, his arms still crossed. She'd finished dressing herself and was now in the process of readying her weapons. After a brief chamber check on each, she slid her Hi-Power into its holster, then slung her AR-18 across her chest and stood up, tightening her right glove in the process.

"Can you let them in, please?" she asked.

Bonesaw nodded, then moved over to the door and threw it open. Rat and Swift stepped inside, both of them making a beeline straight for her.

"Good, you're all healed up," Swift noted. "Lukash said we're not going to charge you for using the Artifact, and we'll replace any ammo you used free of charge."

"That's very generous of him," Pyrrha replied.

"Don't be so modest," Rat gently chastised. "You did something very crazy that somehow paid off. No offense intended, but at this point, the veterans here are saying you've got bigger balls than all the rookies combined."

Pyrrha barked out a short laugh. "No offense taken, Rat; I come from Remnant, where crazy plans like that are the norm rather than the exception. Anyway, next time I see Lukash, I'll be sure to thank him for providing for me. There's something I wanted to talk about with you two, though."

"What is it?" Swift asked.

Pyrrha's gaze turned serious, and she crossed her arms. "Do you two think it's weird that we were ambushed so suddenly after leaving the Mercenary camp? Because I do."

Rat and Swift exchanged a surprised glance with one another. "You think the Mercenaries are ratting on us?" Swift asked.

"Maybe not all of them, but I certainly think the timing is suspicious enough to warrant being careful around them, if not further investigation. From what you've told me about this area, Duty should not have a presence here. The fact that they were able to sneak in and establish a foothold, then ambush us so easily, tells me that somebody is passing them information."

"That… makes sense,' Rat said tentatively. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Can either of you speak to Lukash and let him know of my suspicions?" Pyrrha requested. "I'd do it myself, but something tells me that Bonesaw isn't ready to let me leave just yet."

"Correct on all counts," Bonesaw said absentmindedly as he looked over towards his desk and began to arrange his medical equipment. "You're here at least until tomorrow."

"I figured as much," Pyrrha said. "Are you sure you're not sick of me yet, Bonesaw?"

"Sick of you? Please; you're the one bearable patient I get these days. The others are insufferable in their own unique ways."

"And you love us for it," Swift quipped, earning a shrug of surrender in the process. He looked back to Pyrrha. "Alright. You go ahead and rest up, we'll talk to Lukash about this and see what he has to say."

"Sure," Pyrrha replied with a nod. "Thank you both."

They nodded and turned to walk away, only for Rat to pause and look back towards her. "One more thing," he added, "try not to do any more crazy shit for awhile, yeah? It's bad enough that the rookies feel the need to get themselves hurt, we don't need you out here doing it, too."

"No promises," Pyrrha said with a wide grin. "Take care, guys. See you both in the morning."

With that, they left her, and Pyrrha laid back down to try and get some more sleep.

I was going to make a quip here but I can't really think of one, so I'll refrain for now. There will be more quips in the future, I'm sure, but for now, I'm drawing a blank.

For those of you who were wondering if Cinder still had her Maiden powers, you now have your answer - she does, in fact, still have them. My reasoning for it is this: we know it's canon that Dust only works on Remnant, hence why Crescent Rose didn't work, because they're no longer on Remnant. Their Aura isn't working because it's being constantly sapped by radiation. But the Maiden powers are a separate thing entirely, being magic. I figured if anything was going to survive the trip to Chernobyl, it'd be Cinder's Maiden powers.

As for why she hasn't used them until now... well, without her Aura, she still dies as easily to a single rifle round as everyone else will. She's being careful to try and avoid painting a target on her back by exposing the fact that she basically has superpowers, because she knows the instant word gets out about them, people are going to try and hunt her down to kill her. That's the case even on Remnant, it's just that on Remnant, she has the abilities to stop almost anyone who'd conceivably find out about her powers. But here, on Earth, it's different.

And I know what you're thinking - why didn't she use her powers to save herself from the hostile Loners? And the answer is, simply, she was going to until Jaune showed up. If he hadn't shown up and taken action when he did, all those Loners would have been burned to a crisp, and things would be a lot different for her now. Instead, she gets to keep her ace in the hole a secret for awhile longer, and also gets someone to help watch her back.

That's about what I had to say with regards to the story content. As far as non-story content... admittedly, I'm far more interested in writing original stories now than I am fan fiction. I'm still going to keep working on all my currently-updating fanfics - so that would be this fic, Plastered Paradox, and Darkbloom - but I don't think I'll be starting a new one any time soon. At least, I don't plan to. I'd rather spend that time working on an original story or two, which will probably end up getting posted on Royal Road and maybe Scribble Hub. Neither of those are my preferred sites but posting original fiction on FFN is kind of like screaming into a void, so I'm not even going to bother with it here. And I know FFN has a sister site for posting original fiction, but still, screaming into a void.

I guess where I'm going with this is thus: I'm going to keep working on my current three fanfics, plus another short one I've hinted at in other stories, but after that, I'm probably going to try my hand at an original web serial or something, just to see what happens. I'm currently posting originals on Amazon, but honestly, the exposure there is not very good; I'm mainly doing it because people wanted to support me with money, so I threw something together and released it for them. That, and because I really needed to practice originals more. I figure I'll upload a few more original stories to Amazon first, and once those are done/I'm ready, I'll jump to RR and SH. That's going to take at least a year, probably closer to eighteen months or even two years, so you've got me here for at least that long, still.

What else, what else... I'm currently working on another short fanfic. It's a Jaune/Eve Taurus story. I intended for it to be a one-shot but it's probably going to be a two-shot or three-shot instead. Keep an eye out for it, it should be up relatively soon. I also wrote a Resident Evil shitpost story, so check that out on my profile if you're interested.

Past that... I apparently hate having money so I bought a USP .45. I've never fired a .45 before and the damn thing absolutely rocked my world the first time I took it out, my shots were all over the place at ten yards. My usual go-to handgun is one of the Langdon Tactical Beretta 92G pistols, which is basically easy mode to shoot because it's a metal-framed 9mm pistol with a PHENOMENAL trigger even in double action, so the USP is going to take some adjustment. But I figure that if I can end up shooting the USP decently well, then the Beretta will be even easier to shoot, too. That's saying a lot for me because I can already get decent groups at 10 yards shooting offhand/iron sights with my Beretta, I'd just really like to get even better with it so I can start shooting IDPA matches or something.

Really, though, the guys over at LTT make a fantastic handgun. I'm tempted to get a second 92G from them at some point, since my current one has A LOT of rounds through it (I did the math; I've owned it since May 2022 and put around 5,500+ rounds through it since then. That gun comes with me to the range basically every time I go since it's my favorite handgun and I go to the range generally at least once a week, so that round count probably isn't a surprise. The only other gun I own with a round count that rivals it is my Benelli M4, which is sitting at around 4,000+ shells as of the time of this writing). Anyway, I'd keep the used Beretta as a range/practice/competition gun and use the new one as a carry gun. The only problem is that the LTT P30L is also tempting me, too. So at some point I'll have to choose between standardizing on one 9mm pistol or branching out and trying something new. My head says to do the smart thing and standardize but my heart says to get the John Wick gun.

I'll stop rambling now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you next time!

Enjoy my work and want to help me out a bit? You can support me, as well as read more of my writing, over on Amazon. My first original story is available for purchase now, you can find it by going on Amazon and searching for 'I Accidentally Summoned the Demon Queen' by John Haruspex. The story is available now for three bucks in ebook format (or free with Kindle Unlimited) or twelve bucks in paperback format, if you prefer physical media.

www . amazon dp/ B0BLFL72MX