Quick note: I have officially changed my mind – this collection will continue well past 8 chapters. I have FAR too many AU ideas to stop now, and I'm too lazy to split this series into multiple entries. Also, there will be a few other chapters written by The Layman somewhere down the line, as he's having just as much fun with this as I am.
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She turned 50 today.
By all accounts that mattered, she considered this the greatest sign of her failure.
Crunch
Crunch
Crunch
Crunch
All around her stretched the vast, untamed wilderness of the eternally red forest known to the locals as Forever Fall. She loved it here. And it was a damn sight cooler than the desert she'd just spent 2 weeks crossing, that was for sure. Here she at least had a chance of finding small springs of clean water along the way. Vacuo had no such luxuries. Of course, that kingdom also considered 'shade' as little more than the name of its capitol city. She'd been forced to sell her hat for a canteen of water. She missed that hat.
Crunch
Crunch
Crunch
Crunch
Countless dry leaves crumbled underboot as the woman made her way east, into the civilized lands of Vale. She didn't have to see the trail to know where it was – she had walked every road in Remnant so many times that she knew full well she could navigate every kingdom with her silver eyes firmly closed. Heh… someday she might actually try it, too.
Maybe then one of those bounty hunters might get lucky.
Crunch
Crunch
…?
Speak of the devil.
With no wind, she clearly heard a sound that had become unmistakable after so many years – the telltale click of a hammer being pulled back, ready to strike the firing pin and shoot a small projectile through a rifled metal tube, usually aimed at her head. The sound was fast and clean, indicating both brand-new guns and young, eager fingers waiting to pull the trigger.
There were 3 of them, all hiding behind the trees up ahead. Waiting for her.
Without a second thought, her right hand drew and fired twice. Both bullets passed right through the trees in the road ahead, tearing through the trunks like paper. Two distinct thumps could just be heard over the echo of the gunshots, but she never bothered to check and see who they were. She didn't care.
She held her pistol up against her shoulder next to her head, feeling the heat of the barrel radiating into her face. The smell of gunpowder had already infused itself into her jacket, so a little more would have no noticeable effect. "Still wanna dance?" she spoke aloud, addressing the lone gunman who remained.
No response, but the wind shifted slightly and brought the aroma of boiled eggs to her nose.
"I'm in a good head right now," she said. "Either get out here and dance or piss off."
For a few moments, nothing moved. Then a rapid series of crunches broke the silence of the forest as the lone gunman bolted, dropping his weapon into the leaves with an audible whimper as he vanished into the trees.
"Pisser. Figures…"
That's how it went more often than not. She would come into a new area, a few brave souls would find out she had a bounty on her head, they would get Lien signs in their eyes as they snatched up a few guns and tried to ambush her, most of them would die and the rest would piss their pants in fear as they tried to run away. It was sad how far the young people of this world had fallen. Had this been even 20 years earlier, her attackers would have at least fired back.
The gunslinger calmly walked off the trail, eyes peeled, and located the glint of metal next to the roots of a large oak tree. Luckily the weapon didn't fire upon hitting the ground; the carpet of leaves provided enough of a cushion to prevent it. A quick check of the chamber revealed 6 intact bullets of low grain but exactly the right caliber. Excellent… until she pulled one free and found that these were rubber bullets, not intended to kill at all. Either her assailants were stupid enough to think they could take her in alive or they were duped into thinking these were normal bullets by their town's gunmonger and simply didn't know any better.
She sighed as she emptied the chamber and tucked the ammo into one of her smaller pouches, dropped the gun back where she'd found it, then spent a minute searching the guns of the two she'd killed only to find both were fully stocked with more rubber. Damn. A few of the cartridges were wet with spilled blood, rendering them useless; she tossed those to the side, stowed the remaining ammo then turned and resumed her march along the trail.
2 dead bodies, 1 witness. And a total of 17 new non-lethal bullets. A lot of trouble for such a paltry reward. Still, you can never have too much ammunition, even if it appeared useless.
Crunch
Crunch
Crunch
Crunch
Not that long ago, she'd been regarded as a hero. A legend. A warrior who could face down the darkness without flinching, make it turn tail and run, then plant a few shots in its backside for good measure. Now she was little more than a relic of a bygone era, a 'dangerous person' who most considered past her prime and would gladly pay money to have someone else kill her to put her out of their misery.
The world hadn't just moved on… it tried to run over her foot as it passed.
A long, long time ago, her parents had given her the name Ruby. Her teachers back at Gilead Hall had called her many names, most notably Deadshot for her uncanny accuracy. Her old friends usually called her either Ruby or just Rose, her family name. One or two of them knew her as Rosy, but not many.
Now… she had no name. The gunslinger had left all of that behind.
She had moved on.
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The town of Gull was what she considered a 'pop-up' town – people moved in to the area, started putting up a bunch of prefabricated homes and shops, connected them to the grid and called it a day. An entire settlement could be established in less than a year now. It was almost sickening. Humans simply didn't give a shit about living in harmony with nature anymore.
Small wonder the Creatures of Grimm were still around.
The corpse of a Beowolf rapidly dissolved at her feet as she emerged from the woods, heading for the town. Behind her floated wisps of black fog that had once been an entire pack of the things, now sent to oblivion. She'd barely noticed the creatures at all, letting her hands do all of the work as she walked.
She did, however, update her mental inventory: 3 shots used on the Grimm, 28 left, and still 4 of the special rounds kept safely tucked away. Hopefully someone in this godsforsaken town had some spare silver lying around, as 4 was nowhere near enough for what she fully expected to be dealing with soon.
Gull had a few guards at the town entrance, so that was a promising sign. Two burly men armed with rifles gave her a look as she walked up, but a quick tug at her jacket revealed the gunslinger's pistols – gleaming steel frames set with polished sandalwood grips, tucked into well-oiled holsters that hung from her belt. They took one look at her firearms, nodded to each other and let her pass without question.
Nice to know there were still some gentlemen left in this sad excuse for a world.
She had no intention of lingering, so the woman made a beeline for the general store and bought as much food as she could fit in her pack. The rest of her Lien went towards fresh ammo; 2 boxes of 100 rounds each, all in good shape, and an 8-ounce nugget of silver to be melted down later, when she was out and on her own.
Before she left, however, the gunslinger decided to use the last few Lien she had to eat a proper meal. Only one eatery in Gull served actual food – the other 5 all sold processed blocks of not-meat that they were a bit too good at dressing up – so she went there and settled herself down at a table.
Her food arrived a moment before she was joined by the town sheriff, a tall man with a golden star on his vest and ram horns on his head. Huh… not often you see a Faunus holding a position of authority. Times were indeed a-changing.
"Good day, stranger," he spoke in a deep voice, keeping his words slow and clear. Likely had a natural accent he was trying to hide. "I am Ocher, the sheriff of Gull."
"Hail, Ocher," said the woman as she started eating. "Don't mind me, I won't be stirring up any of your dust."
"I believe you already did."
She chewed quietly, waiting for an explanation but already willing to guess what he was going to say.
"Mayor Hickory informed me a few minutes ago that 2 of his boys were killed in the forest yesterday. Shot to death. His youngest made it back and described their attacker as an older woman matching your description."
The gunslinger nodded, finished her bite and said, "Woods are dangerous these days. Shoulda been more alert."
Sheriff Ocher slapped the table with his hand, drawing the attention of the entire restaurant. "Don't you mock me, Ranger!"
Wow… that was a term she hadn't heard in a long time. Didn't expect anyone here to know of it. "I mean no disrespect, ser; I don't believe in mocking the dead. But tell me true… as a gunman yourself, would you try to discipline a young'n using a hunting rifle?"
"Of course not! Do I look that foolish?"
"Not at all." She quietly chewed another bite as Ocher waited on her to continue. "But on that same note, would you pursue a dangerous criminal, knowing he has 3 or 4 loaded guns on his person, using only a wooden stick?"
"…" Ocher's brow furrowed.
The gunslinger calmly pulled one of the rubber bullets from her pouch and set it on the table. She took a few more small bites as the sheriff examined it, then said, "Hunting a criminal using a piece of wood is far smarter than trying to ambush a Ranger using non-lethal ammunition. No bounty or reward is worth your life."
A dark look came over the face of sheriff Ocher as he clutched the bullet in his fist. "Get out of my town," he growled.
"I mean to."
"Now."
"I'm still eating-"
The taller man stood up and flipped the table, scattering nearby patrons as it crashed to one side. The gunslinger didn't even flinch. Ah, well… at least she ate most of the meat. Too bad there was no time for dessert. That strawberry tart on the menu looked really good, too.
Without another word, the older woman stood up and collected her bags while everyone in the building watched her every move. A few reached for their sidearms, but Ocher's gruff voice kept them from doing anything more. She glanced back at him once, right before leaving, and caught sight of a glimmer of fear in his eyes – he was scared of her. Scared of what she might do if anyone in his town dared draw a gun on the last Ranger in the world.
She had all but admitted to murdering 2 boys, and they weren't even armed with real weapons.
What hope did a town full of civilians have?
The gunslinger once known as Ruby calmly walked out of the building to find the entire town standing still, every eye watching the stranger in their midst. She swept her gaze over every one of them, most withering beneath her look but not all. She marked those who didn't flinch, making sure to keep her guard up. It was no fun being shot in the back.
Fear. The town of Gull reeked of it.
A rogue wind carried another smell from the nearby woods – the smell of Grimm – and the gunslinger found she didn't care. Let the monsters come. There was nothing in this town worth protecting anyway-
click
Her left hand moved without hesitation, drawing and firing directly behind her before her brain could even catch up. One agonized voice came rolling out, along with a few screams. She turned to find that her hand had served her well once again; the boy who had pulled the gun was still alive, though his hand was bleeding. The gun he had tried to pull lay a few yards behind him, the barrel destroyed from where the gunslinger's bullet entered and destroyed the chamber from within.
Ocher was there in a heartbeat, helping the boy tend to his wounds. More eyes flashed her way, most of them angry but a few now holding the sparkle of awe. Of respect. It might only last until she left town, but it was more than she was used to regardless.
She made a show of sliding her pistol back into its holster with a spin, then turned and left the town of Gull. No one else tried to stop her. No one else tried to pull a gun on the Ranger. She left them behind with no regrets, save for one; she never did find a new hat.
Oddly enough, news would reach her ears less than a week later that Gull had banded together to repel the nearby Grimm, apparently galvanized by a random traveler who had simply passed through one day.
Huh… maybe there was something worth saving in Gull after all. And if there was something in Gull… there might be something in some other town on Remnant… right?
The last Ranger walked on, ever searching for her place in a world that had long since moved on without her.
And she didn't mind.
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Designation: Remnant-1019 (World That Has Moved On)
Type 3 Pre-Modern World
Class 3 Population – 80/20 HF (Human/Faunus) Ratio
Grimm Threat DETECTED
Environment: GREEN
Integrity: GREEN
Culture: YELLOW
Dust/Aura: RED
Deviation from Standard: 11.4 %
Special Note: I know the everyday usage of Dust only really took off in the modern age, but it's very odd to find a world where there's almost none of it at any point in the timeline, yet they still have Grimm running around. Dust was vital for helping humanity to defend itself against the Grimm, so this world is very interesting to me – I need to know how they do it.
Special Note [2]: I want this Ruby to be my grandma. :3
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Author's Note: As you no doubt can tell, this one was directly inspired by the title character in Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower series. Honestly the only trick here was making sure I kept enough elements of Remnant tucked into the setting to make sure I wasn't just replacing Roland with Ruby and calling it done. Much like with Briar Rose, this Ruby is near the end of her journey – the difference being that she's still ON that journey, rather than being done with it already. Personally I'm looking forward to bringing her back into the spotlight later on, when the narrative needs her.
Next Chapter: Japanese culture has always been fascinating to me, whether in anime or actually visiting the country (which I have done IRL) – next time we'll be visiting a Ruby who lives in a modern day Japanese-style setting, and all the fun times therein.
=^..^=
