Author's Note:

It's occurred to me that I didn't link the artist who did the cover for this story. I can't post links in these notes. However, I can direct you to the Fiverr website and to the user "baguspratama" who did the work!

And oh ye of little faith. This story is not yet dead. Worry not, for I have much planned. My upload schedule is just wonky.

I've also decided to once again change how I do my uploading schedule because I'm indecisive and whimsical. I've got several chapters lined up and finished. This means that I have a buffer if I miss a deadline or two. What I'm going to do is I'm going to start uploading weekly on Wednesdays and use the buffer to keep me on schedule for a while. We'll see how it goes!

"Text"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters.

Remnants of a Courier

Chapter 27: The Days Roll By

"Why do I have to do this again?" Jaune's question seemed to be irritating his instructor—House—from the sigh he received.

"Because you told me to make you a better warrior, this is part of it."

The response didn't soothe Jaune's nerves as he held his arms out to the side before asking, "But how is this part of it?"

"Jaune, just hurry up." This time it was Cardin who spoke, the person he was supposed to be practicing on. The much larger student was clearly agitated from the look on his face.

"Right," the blonde conceded before approaching Cardin.

His instructor made a motion where he twisted around and bent down as he said, "remember, it's all about the motion. If they're off balance, this will almost always work."

Jaune had been pushing himself for the past couple of months since agreeing to train under House. The man was absolutely brutal in the routine. Luckily, it was only once a week. But for that one afternoon, he made the blonde's life hell.

Some days it was spar after spar until his muscles felt like they were going to tear. Other days it was exercising to the point of exhaustion. The worst was pain endurance days.

Of course, every now and then it would be mundane. Drills, practicing a specific technique over and over, even target practice. A lot of it seemed more practical to the stuff Beacon taught.

Jaune had to push such thoughts out of his head as he raised his hands expectantly. Cardin rolled his eyes before offering his arm.

The blonde student took one last breath before lunging forward and gripping the larger student's arm. In another quick motion, Jaune twisted around and pulled on the arm with a loud yell.

He could feel Cardin slowly lift off the ground and onto his shoulder. Could he even get such a big guy over him?

That moment of hesitation slowed him and Jaune quickly realized that he couldn't support the large student who was now just resting on his back.

There was a quick yelp as the two crashed to the ground. From under Cardin, Jaune let out a small moan of both pain and disappointment. The student on top of him was howling with laughter.

"O-Oh man Jaune, that's the fourth time. And the worst one yet. Are you sure he can do this teach?"

"Stop being an ass Cardin," House replied before slapping the back of the laughing teen. This dissipated Cardin's smile who let out a low growl as he stepped off of him.

Why had instructor House decided Cardin should be his partner for this? He had a much better partner in Pyrrha. She was smart, kind, and didn't make fun of him if he messed up, unlike Cardin.

The blonde slowly pushed himself to his feet. His muscles ached from the training.

"Why Cardin?" His last question seemed to finally break his instructor's patience as a sigh escaped House.

"Because, what you need more than any technique is to build some backbone."

House's words stung and Jaune couldn't help but look away.

"Don't do that," House continued as he took a step towards Jaune. "I know you're tired. We've been training for three hours. But you need to understand that guys like Cardin will never leave you alone if you don't defend yourself."

"I'm right here you know," the bully said while crossing his arms. "I'm not some great evil Jaune has to overcome. This is bullshit."

House turned his head before replying, "what did I say about cursing Cardin?"

A sigh escaped the problematic student before he said, "that only you get to curse when you're teaching."

"See what I mean," Joshua continued as he turned back to Jaune. "You need to not only better yourself physically but mentally as well."

Jaune's instructor took a few steps back before continuing, "now, go conquer your fears. Metaphorically speaking."

The blonde tried to believe House's words but it was hard when the person he had to train with was Cardin. An asshole and a huge dude that could snap him like a twig. Despite that, Jaune did feel like he was progressing in his training.

Instructor House was weird but Jaune did have to say he felt like the training was paying off. He felt more physically fit and no one tried bullying him anymore. Not even Cardin after that Ursa incident.

Pretty good for a student who made it here with forgeries. Still, he had a long way to go.

With that, Jaune took hold of Cardin's arm. This time he couldn't doubt himself. He needed to believe he could do it before he actually could.

The blonde twisted his body again and pulled Cardin's arm bringing the larger student over his shoulder. With another quick motion, he lowered his shoulders and bent his back before pulling with all of his might. Only the determination to send Cardin onto his ass filled Jaune's head.

A holler of pure effort escaped him as Carding finally was flung over his shoulder and into the dirt back-first.

Pants escaped Jaune as he gasped for air. He had done.

"Awesome!" The standing student didn't even register the word leave his mouth as he straightened his back.

"And with that, we can be done for the day." House's words seemed to upset Cardin.

"That's it? I stand here and let him practice moves on me and that's my training?"

Jaune had to admit that what Cardin said did seem pretty true. The guy didn't get to practice one move this entire time.

"That's because you were training something else. Being taught some patience and humility." What did House mean by that one? That didn't seem like something you'd say to someone unless you were trying to piss them off.

Which was the response Cardin gave as he jumped to his feet. "That's such bullsh-crap!"

"I'm serious, you need a serious attitude adjustment. If you want to survive as a huntsman, you need to behave like a huntsman. Why don't you think you ever hear about the boastful huntsman that walks dick first into a danger?"

A silence settled over the trio for a moment as their instructor waited. Jaune definitely wasn't going to give an answer and Cardin didn't seem to know it either.

"Because they're fucking dead Cardin. A huntsman's job ain't pretty. People die. Especially stupid shits that act high and mighty." As he spoke, their instructor walked up and poked Cardin in the chest. "Learn some patience and humility or you'll die. Jaune's more likely to survive than you are."

That last one seemed to hurt Cardin's pride as his face flushed red. It kind of hurt him too. Jaune didn't like being the bottom of the barrel.

"Y-You're just pissed because I saw you with your girlfriend in the city!" Cardin's words caused Jaune to raise a brow. What was this about now? House having a girlfriend? Never.

"Who wears bandages around in public anyway? Ya weirdo," the bully continued before House placed a hand on his shoulder.

A small grunt came from Cardin though Jaune wasn't sure why. And was Jaune hallucinating, or did it seem to be getting warmer?

"Keep your mouth shut, or I will." After House finished speaking, he let go of Cardin's shoulder who dropped to one knee and gripped said shoulder. How hard had Jaune's instructor been squeezing?

"We're done for the day, get out of my sight."

Jaune didn't need to be told twice. House could be scary when he wanted. The blonde turned before hesitating. Should he…

The blonde sighed before turning back and extending an arm towards Cardin. The bully seemed a bit stunned and embarrassed at the same time as he looked up at Jaune.

After a few awkward moments, Cardin took the offered hand and stood up. The two didn't give their instructor another glance as they walked towards the exit to the Murder Box.

"So, what did she look like?" Jaune's question brought a smile to Cardin's face. Something Jaune thought he'd never cause.

"She was cute, black hair, weird eyes…"

Joshua watched the two students leave. They were whispering about him or rather his "date." The thought churned his insides; both the organs that were in him and the organs that were no longer a part of him.

Still, it was good to see the training slowly paying off. It took two months of painstaking time and effort but it was worth it.

It was three months since this school started. That made it roughly seven months since he had entered this world. How the days fly by.

"Glad to see the training is paying off."

The voice caused Six to spin around only to spot Ozpin sipping his cup of coffee. This guy was a serious annoyance.

"There a reason you need to keep stopping by unannounced?" Six's question caused him to remember the previous times this happened.

Over the past few months, Ozpin seemed to take delight in trying to sneak up on him. Most of the time Six spotted him but every once in awhile the Headmaster would get the drop on him.

"Just stopping by to say keep up the good work Instructor House," Ozpin said with that familiar Cheshire grin of his.

"I keep telling you, I'm not a teacher here."

That made Ozpin chuckle as he began walking away. The guy was forever insufferable.

"It's as you say, "Mister Untouchable," the pale man said as he walked away. "Oh, and it's because I like a challenge!"

Six was tempted to yell an obscenity to respond but thought better of it. At least his run-in with Ozpin was over.

That gave him time to go over the files he received for his newest mission. He had only received them last night and hadn't had time to look them over. It was a bit annoying that it took nearly a week since the meeting to get it but better late than never. The Courier opened the file on his Pip-Boy as he began walking.

The operation was to take place in roughly a month. The White Fang would be stealing more cargo and Dust from a shoreline warehouse. He was supposed to show up as the Mimic and put a hamper in their plans.

This was apparently to distance the Mimic from Roman and Cinder's operations and throw the scent off their trail. Of course, this would also do to make an enemy of White Fang and Faunus in the region as well. Their plans apparently hinged on the Mimic acquiring the hatred of most of the city.

There were only two conditions. Allow Roman to escape with some of the equipment and don't kill any of the White Fang. That last one came from Adam.

Six had been given a month to prepare, blueprints for the area, and an in-depth rundown of the plan. He'd visit the area later to get a better idea of the layout.

There was one other thing that Six had been tasked with. The task entailed looking for a "weapon" that was going to be in Vale. More accurately, just keep tabs on a certain girl named Penny if she entered the city.

Apparently, the girl wasn't human at all but rather a robot given sentience. The thought sent a tingle down his spine as he left the Murder Box. He needed to get back to his room to get a few things in order.

Artificial intelligence wasn't something Six liked to mess with. It was one thing to make a virtual or "dumb" AI that could do simple tasks. Fully independent and self-aware AI? That was a different story.

Not only were they dangerous to humanity but they were hyper-intelligent and hard to control. Case in point being Yes Man.

Six didn't know how he hadn't seen it coming sooner. His eyes swept over the students in the hall as he slowly walked, more just searching for something to distract him as he contemplated Yes Man.

The "helper" and ever happy-go-lucky Yes Man had betrayed him. It was an egregious error on his part to have ever trusted it. But from the way it initially presented itself, Six had thought it a simple "dumb" AI. It going to improve itself should have been warning enough but he learned too late of its real intelligence.

And beyond Yes Man… Truly terrible memories of AI gone wrong. His time in Montana wasn't pleasant and the nightmares that came from it paled in comparison to the experiences he actually endured there.

AI couldn't be trusted and the fact this world was meddling with the idea was troubling. Not only that but giving it a perfect disguise, free will, and treating it like a young girl? Insanity.

They called her a "synthetic person." Six called it a walking timebomb.

Still, there was nothing he could do about it for now. He'd have to prepare for the operation and simply keep his ear to the ground. It wouldn't be hard with his newfound access to the CCTV cameras around the city. Maybe a facial recognition program to alert him when she was caught on camera?

Thoughts for later. Six glanced up at the door to his room, realizing that he had been reflecting the entire way back. It was time to get prepared.

Author's Note:

With this chapter done, I wanted to tell everyone reading to look out for the end of the last chapter I upload in this arc. I plan on leaving a rather lengthy thank you to my readers and what I have planned for the future!

Current Gear:

(Warning: This list does not contain food, Chems, or other miscellaneous items.)

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear (Modified: Mimic Edition)

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Civilian Clothing

Beacon Uniform

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Climbing Equipment

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (4)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (4)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats:

(The "+" stands for artificial boosts and perks that boost his stats past their base point. The more +'s, the more artificial boosts.)

Strength: ?

Perception: 10(+ +)

Endurance: ?

Charisma: ?

Intelligence: 10(+)

Agility: 10(+)

Luck: 5