Dust in the Wind

by Buried In Ash

Choosing isn't the hard part. It's living with the consequences afterwards.

58. Vol2: Days in the Week IV

**Special thanks to Mecharic for Beta-ing**

I rolled my shoulders, working the kinks out as I stepped out of the locker-room hallway. Most of the students had begun making their way to the elevated seating to one side of the room. My teammates and CFVY were waiting for me towards the far end of the arena. By the door to the training room. It'd been a pretty normal day so far. As I approached them, I could hear Goodwitch preparing to begin class. Which amounted to asking the students who wanted to take time to kick the tar out of the people next to them.

As I prepared to join my teammates, however, a single voice rose up.

"I want to fight him." The boy said.

"…Who?" Goodwitch asked.

"The idiot with the gasmask." The boy said.

"…" I turned around and looked up into the seating of the Sparring arena.

Up, in about the third row from the top, stood a young man with gray hair. I'd never actually had the chance to meet the guy face to face, but I'd met the company he'd kept in passing. It was the boy I had assumed to be Cinder Fall's teammate, one of them at least. A lean looking boy, with an imperious look of boredom on his face. He was dressed in dark colors, black pants and boots, a high collared gray shirt with padded shoulders and sleeves, and bracers on his forearms. His hair was shaggy, long and mostly swept back, save for a few locks he let cover part of his face. His expression was narrowed towards me that suggested he was either smugly intent, or constipated.

"…You want to rephrase that so you sound less like a dick-weed?" I asked

The boy continued looking smug, as he turned his attention to Goodwitch. Definitely smug, cocky would've been more overt, and infinitely more fragile. "Seems like I have his attention."

"Mr. Black, I must ask you to refrain from speaking to your fellow huntsmen and training so coarsely." Goodwitch answered, before turning to me "You as well Mister Six, please do not further antagonize him."

"He started it." I pointed out "I was just minding my own business."

"Quite." Goodwitch said, turning back the young man "If you wish to spar, I would suggest that you find another partner, Mister Black."

"Why?" he sneered, not taking his eyes off me "Am I picking on the Special Needs kid?"

"Kinda proving my earlier statement." I muttered, as I flipped him off and kept walking. At the very least Coco seemed amused, if her smirk was an indicator.

Goodwitch ignored me for once, and focused on the kid instead. "Mr. Six is currently undergoing remedial training. His Aura proficiency was found to be lacking, so he is being given time to correct it."

"So, he is the Special Needs kid." The kid said snidely.

I ignored him and approached my teammates and tutors, who were waiting patiently by the door. For what it was worth, Ruby was giving a pained look to the peanut gallery. Everyone else, however, had thicker skin. Weiss, Blake, and Yang just looked more annoyed and off-put than offended.

CFVY, meanwhile, was giving the kid the collective stink-eye. He was honestly just doing a really good job of making an ass of himself, and little else.

"Ignore him." I said, motioning to the door "We've got better things to be doing than listening to that clown."

Coco gave me a lopsided look, shifting between me, and the peanut gallery. She seemed to be looking rather intently at the one nut that needed a good cracking. "I dunno, kid. Something about him is rubbing me the wrong way."

"Hence why we're better off ignoring him." I said.

"What's the matter?" I heard the Peanut call from the gallery "You worried you suck at your job?"

Coco's gaze sharpened as she focused onto the stands. I spared a glance back up once more. The kid, Peanut, Black, whatever he wanted to call himself, had seemed to notice he had Coco's attention. He was looking down at us smugly. So, I guess, technically, he was just looking down at us.

"Hasn't he had a few weeks to get better now?" He asked "If you're doing it right, it shouldn't take him that long to catch up."

"Mr. Black." Goodwitch spoke once more "Ms. Adel and her team are the best among your year, and proven in their abilities. I am more than confident that she and her team are capable of getting Mr. Six up to par."

"You mean up to spar." I muttered.

I could collectively hear everyone around me groan inaudibly. Except Yang. She either managed to either catch herself, or sneezed in a funny way.

"And is there something wrong with testing that?" A voice asked.

Goodwitch's gaze shifted to the seat next to the boy's. To his teammate, who I was informally familiar with. Dressed in an outfit I found annoyingly similar to something I'd see in the Wasteland. Sturdy Jeans, belted with a litany of pouches, heeled leather boots, dusty leather vest, spaulders, and gloves. Her vest was open, revealing a top consisting solely of wrapped bandages around her chest. Also, confusingly just above the belt line. Her entire midriff was exposed between the two.

Still, something I felt I would see in the Mojave.

I will never understand fashion.

Cinder Fall looked beatifically at Ms. Goodwitch. "While my… teammate's candor leaves much to be desired, he has a point. Isn't part of additional training to ensure that the one being trained is at everyone else's level of experience?"

"That is correct." Goodwitch answered.

"-Then, wouldn't it also mean that, they would have to be tested to see what their progress has been?" Cinder asked "To make sure that they are both improving, and that their instructor is doing their duty properly?"

"…" Goodwitch paused as she scrutinized the two students. Idly, I noted that Cinder and her male teammate still had only a third teammate with them. A girl with earthy skin and pale green hair.

Goodwitch turned towards us, down in the arena. "Ms. Fall's reasoning is not incorrect. However, both combatants would need to be in agreement to the fight. Ms. Adel, do you believe Mr. Six is of a suitable level to be tested?"

Coco looked up at the stands in thinly veiled irritation. She was holding onto the boy's words when she shouldn't have been. "Honestly?... Yeah. If Six wants to get into a fight with him, I think he'd be fine."

"… Very well." Goodwitch said, her gaze shifting to me. "Mr. Si-"

"Hard pass." I answered, stepping past my teammates and reaching for the door to the side room. "I've got better things to do than entertain some dickhead who's clearly just trying to act demicky."

"Sounds more like you're afraid." The boy said, clearly just looking for whatever buttons he could press on me.

I'd heard better zingers from Hadrian and Billy Knight.

"Kid, of all the things you are worth right now, my time is not one of them." I said, turning back towards my teammates and CFVY. "You want to get into a dick measuring contest, go bug Cardin. You might actually stand a chance at that one."

The room, massive as it was, got so quiet I could've heard a pin drop. It was actually quite impressive.

I opened the door to the side room, and waited patiently to see what would happen next. I'd made it clear I couldn't give less than a shit what the boy wanted, and that should've been the end of it. All that needed to happen was for my teammates and CFVY to walk through the door. Then we could get on with actually doing something productive with our day. I was really starting to get a handle on how Aura was supposed to work. I wasn't proficient with it yet, not by a long shot, but the control over the meager amount I had was proving itself invaluable. My efforts seemed to be subtly increasing the amount of it I had as well, if only slightly.

Literally, my time was worth more than some arrogant prick.

But as the seconds passed, no one moved. Though I was starting to feel a lot of eyes on me.

I wasn't the one wasting everyone's time. Frankly someone should've started complaining about how they were wasting valuable sparring time with all the nonsense.

"… Mister Six." Goodwitch spoke, tone authoritative "While I am understanding of your situation, refusing to spar with Mr. Black purely due to his demeanor is not an acceptable reason."

"Oh, so when I kicked the crap out of Cardin and his pinhead friends for acting that way it was a problem. But now that I'm refusing to do it for legitimate reasons, it's still a problem?" I asked.

"No, it was a problem then as well. However, refusing to spar with Mr. Black because you view it as a waste of time is different." Goodwitch spoke "It would be a chance to test your progress, and prove that the remedial lessons are indeed helping you."

"Beneath me?" I asked "… Ma'am I beat the tar out of Cardin's team in a pitch-black room, and had previously bashed one of their heads through a window multiple times. The only thing beneath me here is that I'm not going to give rise to the taunting of…" I motioned a hand to the boy "Whatever-the-fuck yer name is."

"Mercury." The boy finally supplied.

"Yeah, him." I said "He's actively trying to goad me into fighting him, and while I'm not afraid of him, I can recognize when someone's just antagonizing me for the sake of being a jackass."

"Be that as it may-" Goodwitch started.

"Can someone please start fighting already!?" Nora shouted from a few rows down, Ren rubbing his brow beside her.

"… Ms. Valkyrie, please refrain from interrupting." Goodwitch answered succinctly, before turning back to me "Mr. Six, I think this has been enough stalling. You may proceed to your lessons after sparring with Mr. Black. The point has been made that your progress needs to be gauged. While Mr. Black shall be reprimanded for his conduct, should he continue, he has made it clear he wishes to fight you. Under different circumstances, I would request him to find someone else, but yours are extenuating."

I looked up at Goodwitch for a moment. Funny that this was probably the closest either of us had ever come to having a civil conversation. She was also being completely unflinching on her decision, and was actually providing some reasoning for it. Anyone else under my circumstances would probably be thrilled to have a chance to properly test their skills, show that they're getting better. More than anything, I saw it as an annoyance, because I'd already seen my own improvements.

I also wasn't keen on fighting someone who was just trying to actively antagonize me. Not out of fear, but pragmatism. You don't waste energy on every idiot who runs their mouth.

Clearly, however, other people were more inclined to entertain him. Considering they would prevent me from training by virtue of training with me, it was a more polite way of trying to strong arm me.

"… You're not actually giving me a choice here, are you?" I muttered, then sighed through my nose "The sooner I beat his ass into the ground, the sooner you'll let me move along?" I clarified.

"Correct." Goodwitch answered.

"… Fine." I said, stepping away from the door, shifting my gaze to Mercury "I'll give you a minute. After that I'm getting on with my day."

Mercury looked at me smugly, and rose from his seat, and started down from the stands. Whatever his weapon, he would need to retrieve it.

As I would mine, now.

I gave my teammates and CFVY a nod. "This won't take long. A warm up will do me good anyway."

"Make him eat dirt." Coco commanded.

"You can't tell me what to do." I retorted snidely.

"I can." Ruby said, giving me a cheery smile "Kick his butt."

"… As you wish." I nodded, and began to trot back to the locker room.

It was a quick thing getting my kit together. I stuck with the weapons I'd been using for my nightly runs into Vale, and was glad I'd taken the time to put them back. Lever-shotgun, That Gun, Blood-nap, and Cattle-Prod. I omitted the Flare gun more for practicality than utility. I was starting to get a handle on Dust rounds, but not to the point I was going to fire them off for something like this. Since it had been slowly relegated to a Dust delivery system, my Flare gun was really only useful for a few things. Most favoring ambush and guerilla tactics. Something I got the feeling Goodwitch wasn't going to take so kindly to anymore. Not that she ever did in the first place. But there also wasn't much sense in going the extra mile this time. I'd needed to get close to Cardin undetected the first time. Now, I just needed to pummel an upstart brat.

Given everything I'd learned recently, it was all stuff that could be handled with a straight-up fight. One that I wasn't so afraid to approach properly armed anymore.

If Mercury got hurt, so be it. A little scar tissue never hurt- well, killed, anyone. I had better things to do than waste my time on him.

Plus, now I wasn't afraid to start shooting. An upside to having spent so much time familiarizing myself with how the people of this world fight. The psychos weren't the only ones shooting at each other.

I situated my gear and double checked everything was loaded. That would've been an embarrassing mistake to have happen, and carelessness leads to accidents. After making sure I was good to go, I closed my locker and walked back down the hall to the arena.

Mercury was waiting not far outside the hall leading into the arena. Apparently, he was already packing whatever weapon he was planning to use. He'd also chosen the side of the arena closest to the locker room. He was watching me with relaxed regard as I walked past him, a smirk on his face. A part of me had to wonder if it was supposed to be an effort to try and set me on edge. It fell flat. Frankly I put him in about the same category as the thugs who walked the main drag in Freeside outside the Strip. Two-bit knife artists who thought trying to bleed people for caps the on doorstep of the Kings and House was a good idea. Typically ended in them running away with broken bones, or dying on the sidewalk from laser burns.

The dumbass currently trying to pick my bones was not only barking up the wrong tree, but was doing it in front of Goodwitch. Along with a host of people who would, hypothetically, jump in to help me if it turned that way. Death wasn't on the table, but if the kid actually managed to be something bad, broken bones were always an option. Nora was always keen on legs at least.

I walked past Mercury and settled up across the room from him. I levered my shotgun off my back as I did, and rested it at hip level, just over That Gun. The barrel was pointed to the floor, a quick flick up would have pointed straight at him. I let my gaze drift up to Goodwitch.

Goodwitch looked down at us scrupulously "The rules remain the same as any other spar: Do not endanger the life of your opponent. Be mindful of your Aura. Obey the instructor." She looked at me rather pointedly with that last one. "Should either combatant fall from the ring, the match will end and the victor will be decided. Should either combatant's aura falls beneath safe parameters, the match will end, and the victor will be decided. Should either side forfeit, combat will cease immediately. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, could you keep a stopwatch going?" I asked "I don't want to try and actually keep track of a minute while I'm fighting."

Goodwitch looked at me blandly. "The fight will be timed for grading, Mister Six."

I shrugged, turning to face Mercury "Just making sure."

Mercury shook his head. His gaze narrowed at me as he regarded me coldly. Like a snake, eyeing a tasty mouse.

Joke was on him. I was a rat, not a mouse.

The tension in the air grew thicker, as we waited for the go-ahead. I heard the overhead display blink to life, displaying our respective information.

"Combatants- set." Goodwitch spoke.

I let the tension leave me, let my body go loose. Mercury slid into a stance I didn't recognize, his expression challenging and unchanging. I exhaled a smooth breath between my lips.

"… Begin!" Goodwitch barked.

Mercury's legs began to glide forward-

My shotgun flung around front of me, held by the fore grip in my off hand. My right hand slipped down to That Gun. Pain old, sharp, and hot shot through my palm, up my wrist. Scarred ligament and broken bone grating against each other from a wound that never healed right.

I used my aura to clear leather with a speed I hadn't since the last time I went 'Hunting'.

Before Mercury had even made it a step, my pistol locked to my hip. A flash of VATs gave me time to aim. A trio of rounds sailed through the air, all nailing center-mass. Killing Mercury's forward stride.

The expression fell from Mercury's face, as his legs suddenly shot back to keep him from stumbling.

I shifted my aura into my legs, as That Gun slammed back into its holster. My head flicked up to the monitor for a fraction of a second, scanned Mercury's aura, and then snapped back to him. Allowed me to gauge how much the bullets had done to him. Then I shot forward on an aura-infused stride, shotgun swinging back properly into my grip.

Mercury's gaze locked onto me as he got his footing.

Right as I was within striking distance.

His eyes shot wide, one of his legs began to sweep up in a kick.

I slid my aura into my right arm, tightening it into a guard as I brought my shotgun up. His kick hammered into my arm and stung, but little else. My finger twitched, and the shotgun went off. Fire leapt from the muzzle, straight against Mercury's clothes, peppering him as the buckshot slammed into him at point-blank distance.

I could have hit him from further away, but I knew how destructive gunpowder was proving against aura. A single shotgun blast was basically the last thing I was going to be able to hit him with without things getting messy. I needed to make it count.

As it stood, Mercury's eye nearly shot out of his head from the hit, and his breath left him in a wheeze. The blast almost sent him off his feet again, but he managed to turn it into a retreating step instead.

Seamlessly, I stepped in after him. Turning the shotgun on its grip, bringing the butt of it around in an upward swing. Mercury's head slipped away from it, so I slammed it forward on the return motion. The butt of it hammered into the outer corner of his eye. The strike drew a hiss from him. He pivoted on his heel suddenly and his opposite leg came around in a kick. But I saw it coming, kicks are a hard thing to rely on. When used recklessly, they can be telegraphed from a mile out. So far, of the two strikes he'd tried, they'd both been kicks. The first I'd caught with a guard.

The second I didn't even allow that.

I dipped beneath the kick and countered with one of my own, a low and sweeping one. I hooked him behind the back of his supporting knee, and hammered in. Suffusing the strike with a sliver of Aura. I had to give him credit, he must've trained his legs well, because it felt like I was striking iron.

But his knee buckled anyway. Swore I heard something pop too.

Mercury felt his leg give out, and reacted instantly. An arm lashed to the ground, providing another point of stability as he continued to swing his kick through the air. Allowing it glide through as he tried to turn the motion into another attack. All he did was further telegraph himself, he should've abandoned the motion and dodged.

I carried my own momentum through, and swung my shotgun around like a club. I connected with his arm, robbed it of its the stability. He began to tumble, and his attack suddenly turned into a defensive roll.

It was already too late.

I shot to my feet and caught him as he began to curl into the roll, my knee driving into his curling stomach. The force sent him tumbling to the side. Using the momentum of my rise, I pressed forward. Following his tumble with a driving kick, pouring aura into the strike.

It punted him a solid fifteen feet. He tumbled maybe another five after that, and came back to his feet with the motion. I ran with him.

He came to his feet in time to find my shotgun kissing his forehead. A look of bewilderment on his formerly smug face. His eyes, an odd steely grey, locking on me for a moment before tracing the length of the barrel. He went cross-eyed for a second, before blinking and looking back to me.

A solid moment passed with my gun pressed to his forehead. He wasn't in immediate danger. The spent shell was still in the chamber. But I counted on him not realizing that, in the flurry of everything. I'd kept the pressure on, and it was actually a mistake on my part, not cycling the action, sloppy. But considering I wasn't going to risk shooting him any more than I had, it removed an unnecessary risk.

I waited, until the brat started to open his mouth, probably going to say something inane.

Then I thrust the gun forward a few inches. Jabbing it into his head.

Mercury went to step back and keep his balance, only to discover a crucial detail.

I'd walked him to the edge of the arena.

Which rose up from the rest of the floor a solid foot and a half.

His foot fell behind him, and I saw the realization on his face as the fall begin to lurch through him. His words devolved into a curt yelp, and he tumbled backwards. Landing on his ass directly outside the ring.

"… and that's how it goes." I said, flipping my shotgun by the lever loop, reloading it and sliding it back over my shoulder in a single fluid motion. I turned back towards the stands, and looked up towards Goodwitch. "Time?"

Goodwitch stood at the height of the stands, looking down over the students, to the arena. Her face was a cool, calculating mask. I expected her to begin harping on me, as she had any other time I'd participated in one of her classes.

Breaking the trend however, Goodwitch simply looked down to her scroll. "… Thirty seconds."

I nodded, looking as though I was mulling over how long the fight had taken. "Hm, ahead of schedule then… Satisfied?" I asked.

Goodwitch returned my nod. "An adequate display, against an opponent who clearly overestimated their abilities."

"Thank you." I said, giving a curt bow, and turning to begin walking back towards my teammates and tutors. I cracked my neck as I walked, working a kink out. My teammates all seemed quite pleased, and maybe surprised. I could tell by the look on Coco's face, best as she tried to hide it, she'd had different expectations. Of everyone who's seen the fight though, CFVY and my team were the only ones who even began to have an idea of what I could do when I tried. They'd never seen me step into a fight properly armed either.

I had to imagine anyone who didn't know me, which was most of the class, hadn't expected that.

Mercury clearly hadn't, and he made that known.

"Hey." I heard him growl behind me "We're not done yet."

"I beg to differ." I said, not bothering to turn and look at him "I gave what you asked for, and you couldn't handle me for more than half a minute. I've proven my point, take it up with Professor Goodwitch."

"Mr. Six did as requested, Mr. Black." Goodwitch spoke "While I do not appreciate his tone, he is correct. The fault lies with yourself, and your lack of preparedness. If Mr. Six wishes to return to his own business, I will allow it now."

I should've been happy, for once, to have Goodwitch on my side.

Nope. Still felt weirder than putting your shoes on the wrong feet.

I turned around and looked at Mercury over my shoulder. Silently goading him to try something stupid. Sometimes, the only way people learn was the hard way. Mercury had been adamant about fighting me, right up through my beating him. I wasn't expecting him to try and attack me while my back was turned, but it wouldn't have been the first time it happened. Not even on Remnant, given Cardin's friends had tried to jump me while I'd been relieving myself.

Instead, Mercury looked at me coolly, and smiled. "No, I suppose that's fair. I can see there's a pretty big difference between us."

"Hmm." I grunted "Better luck next time."

Without so much as a hitch in my stride, I walked back over to my waiting teammates and tutors. They looked pretty pleased with how things turned out.

"Nice job, Six." Ruby nodded.

"It wasn't much." I shrugged, motioning to CFVY "Especially given some more recent fights."

"So, what was that?" Coco asked, walking through the door as Yatsu opened it "You pulling your punches whenever we're sparring?"

"Naturally." I said snidely "It helps that most of what we've been doing doesn't involve weaponry. I'm no slouch, fighting unarmed or with melee weapons. The same applies to guns. Considering most people can't outrun bullets, they tend to work better."

"Which is why you haven't used them until now?" Velvet asked, slightly confused.

"No, I haven't used them until now because I was concerned about accidentally hurting someone." I said, filing into the side room "I can moderate my own strength on-the-fly better than how fast a bullet leaves the chamber."

"Well then, maybe we should stop going so easy on you." Coco said snidely, as everyone entered and Yatsu shut the door. "Maybe having a few rounds of armed sparring will be better, if we're not challenging you enough."

I pretended to consider the idea "… Nah, I'm good. Besides, I'm not wearing the right armor to deal with getting shot at."

"Sounds like you're just afraid of an actual challenge." Yatsu said rolling a shoulder as he walked up

"Pft, fat chance." I said, squaring up with Fox. "Speaking from personal experience: getting shot sucks."

…

Training came and went fairly quick. Funny how times flies when you're busy trading blows, barbs, and pleasantries. I wound up going a few rounds with Fox, then traded him out for Velvet. After eating dirt a few times, she asked Yatsu to step in for her while I rinsed my mouth out. It was an oddly nostalgic experience sparring with him. Reminded me of the times I'd gotten closer to some less-than-friendly Supermutants than I was comfortable with. Made for a good refresher course on fighting people larger than me. He even wound-up trading out for Coco towards the end, just to give her a crack at me. She actually did better than I thought she would, given she was still fighting in those ridiculous lady stilts.

As our time started to wrap up however, we started to file back out into the main arena.

"So, you've been shot before?" Velvet asked curiously.

"A couple times." I said "Sometimes the only way to get good at something is trial by fire. It just so happened that was how it's played out for a lot of my fighting experience."

"That explains why you were so much armor at least." Coco said narrowly "If you'd only listen to my advice about the color though."

"Oh, don't start that shit again." I said "Not unless you want me to start griping about how impractical your choice of footwear is."

"I seem to remember my heels hitting you." Coco said.

"True, but I remember knocking you off them a few times as well." I countered.

"Well I-" Coco began.

"*ahem*" Velvet cleared her throat.

"…" Coco nodded to me "Good fight."

I chuckled "You as well."

I also couldn't help but notice the smiles and smirks on both of our team's faces.

We all exited the side room to the arena, and Fox locked it up behind us. We'd timed ourselves well, it seemed, as class was indeed wrapping up. The students who'd been watching from the upper levels had begun to funnel back towards the locker rooms. I could see Goodwitch, still at the uppermost portion of the seating, finger gliding over her enlarged Scroll. Probably setting grades and notes for the students that'd actually made a decent showing.

Notably however, was a trio of students, who descended the stairs and approached us.

"Don't look now, but here comes trouble." I heard Yang mutter.

"I've seen worse." I muttered back, before acknowledging the newcomers. "Hey Cinder, how you doing?"

Cinder Fall smiled at me primly "I'm doing quite marvelous, actually, thank you."

Cinder Fall stood, still dressed in her cropped outfit, with her two teammates. Mercury, who was looking at me blandly, and the green haired girl, whose name I'd yet to learn.

"… Oh, hey, I remember you!" Ruby said brightly "We bumped into each other in the hall a few weeks ago."

"You did?" I asked, looking to Ruby. Something the rest of our teammates did as well.

"When I went back to the library to get my board game." Ruby said, looking to Cinder "How are you guys settling in?"

"Quite well…" Cinder paused for a moment "I don't believe I got your name the last time we met."

"Oh- uh- right-" Ruby stuttered, before gesturing to herself and our teammates "My name's Ruby, this is Weiss, Blake, Yang, and uh…" Ruby paused and looked at me "How'd you meet them?"

"I met Cinder while doing grounds work." I supplied, before looking to her teammates "Hadn't met the other two until now."

"Oh… well, we're team RWBY." Ruby said, finishing her train of thought.

"Plus one." Blake added snidely.

"A pleasure." Cinder answered, voice velvety "You may call me Cinder Fall" She motioned to her teammates "I believe you've already been introduced to Mercury by now."

"Hm." I grunted "Knows how to make a first impression."

Mercury grunted in return, still looking at me blandly.

I looked away from him to Cinder's other teammate. The green haired girl. Her eyes were a decidedly bright shade of red, and her skin an earthy shade of brown. Her green hair cascaded down around her head in a uniform way, almost like a helmet, the front cropped in a V for her to see through. The only exception, were two long, thin locks that notably reached down to the small of her back. She was wearing a strappy croptop, with a green… what was the piece called that holds the chest? Not a bra… bustier? What would the shorthand for that be, bust?... is that where the phrase for-

Off-topic.

She wore a strappy white and green crop top. She wore white pants that weren't dressy enough to be fancy, nor sturdy enough to be jeans, just somewhere in the middle. Over them though, she wore a pair of belts that crossed over to a pair of pouches at the small of her back and, bizarrely enough, chaps. Leather chaps, dark brown and the kind you'd see in a pre-war western. Which then lead down to a pair of strappy black heels. An obsession that was only beginning to annoy and confound me.

"And you would be?" I asked, politely.

"Emerald." Emerald answered brightly "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." I nodded, looking around "Hate to state the obvious, but you seem to be down a man. Everything alright?"

"They're… running behind." Cinder said "They had some personal business to take care of in Haven, and said they would join us when it was finished."

"That's strange." Yang said "I thought half the point of teams was to help each other."

Cinder's gaze drifted to Yang "They did not wish for us to help, so we obliged."

"Hate to interrupt. But we've all got other classes to get to, is there something that you needed?" Coco said, cutting in before giving Emerald a once over. A smirk coming over her face. "By the way, love the outfit, kid."

"Thanks." Emerald said, drawing the word out somewhere between appreciative and cautious.

"There is indeed, Ms... Adel, I believe?" Cinder asked.

Coco's brow rose a little. "That'd be me." She nodded.

"I see." Cinder said, looking over her teammates "I believe, then, that these would be your Teammates? Yatsuhashi Daichi, Fox Alistair, and Velvet Scarlatina?"

Coco's brow rose further, and I noticed her teammates seemed off-put. Having a stranger know you by name is a bit disconcerting. "That we are, Team CFVY.

Cinder seemed to notice this, and softened. "I realize that what I said was off-putting. The Headmaster of Haven, Professor Lionheart, told us of you when we were leaving for the festival. That you were a promising team of First Years, last year, and you'd be trouble."

"Really?" Coco asked, a pleased smirk stretching onto her face "Hadn't realized we'd gotten that big."

"Says the girl with her own fan club." Yatsu muttered, about as softly as an idling reactor.

"A pleasure to put names to faces." Cinder said, before focusing back onto me "However, we do have some business to tend to, and hope not to take more of your time than needed."

"And that would be?" I asked.

Cinder smiled at me, before looking to Mercury.

The boy continued to look blandly at me for a moment, before sighing through his nose. "Wanted to say sorry for being a jackass… Sorry for being a jackass."

"… Uh huh." I said, as blandly as I could, before motioning to Cinder "Was that your idea, or hers?"

Mercury cracked a smirk at that. "Told you he wouldn't buy it."

I shrugged "Might've if you'd sold it better. You talked a lot of shit."

"Language." Both Weiss and Velvet said, in sync. The two immediately looked at each other, which apparently got a chuckle out of Cinder.

"Mercury went a little… overboard." Cinder said "He wished to see how you fight. I did not expect him to act the way he did."

"It wouldn't have worked either, had neither you nor Goodwitch intervened." I said "It takes a lot for me to reach the point where I'd be willing to fight someone purely out of anger."

'-The times that it has happened, don't normally end well for either party.' I refrained from saying

"So I noticed." Cinder said "Either way, I wanted Mercury to apologize for his… words."

"Well, that's a lovely sentiment." I said, looking sternly at Mercury "It's a shame that it's only that. Words without true intent tend to ring a little hollow."

"Hmm." Cinder hemmed.

"In the end, it doesn't really matter." I said "I appreciate the effort but…" I winced a little as a sudden, sharp pain jolted through the front of my head. I reached a hand up to my forehead, technically my helmet, and rubbed ineffectually at it. "… ow."

That earned a look of confusion from Cinder and her team. Not without reason, considering it came out of nowhere.

"Something wrong Six?" Ruby asked.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, just a sudden headache is all. No clue where it came from."

"Hit your head or something?" Emerald asked, giving me a curious look.

"Yes, but that's not where headaches come from." I said.

Emerald nodded, but continued scrutin-

"OW." I intoned again, as a much more noticeable migraine rolled from the front of my head to the back. Then bounced off my skull and started back the other way. Ping ponging around in my skull like it owned the place.

"Six?" Ruby asked, a little more concernedly now.

"Still just a headache." I said, bracing my hand more flush against my helmet. "Probably got dehydrated and it's catching up now."

"Are you sure?" Emerald asked "Perhaps you should carry some water with you then."

"I do actually, hold on." I said, and pulled my trusty Vault 13 Canteen out of my pocket. I took the cap off, uncorked my mask, and took a swig. I took several long gulps from the waters of life, then pulled back for air. "Ahh- better."

Almost miraculously, I felt the headache begin to ebb away.

Water. Lakelurks piss in it, a lot of things do, but there's no substitute.

Cinder and Emerald continued to look at me, in confusion. Something a few other people were doing in my peripheries.

"Right… well, it appears that this has been a waste then." Cinder said succinctly "Mercury won't apologize, and I can't expect you to act as though he has."

"Eh, wasn't looking for one anyway." I said "Like I said, I'm not going to hold a grudge over him acting like a clown."

"Thank you." Cinder said, smiling "Perhaps the next time we meet, we can avoid… unnecessary confrontation first."

"That'd be nice, I prefer not having to get into fights with acquaintances." I said.

Cinder flashed me a, vaguely sultry, smile before turning on her heel and starting towards the locker rooms. Mercury flashed me a smirk and followed suit, While Emerald gave me an inquisitive look. Her eyes lingered on me a moment, before flashing over to Ruby.

Then they drifted up to the ceiling.

"… Is that a red balloon?" She asked.

"…" Confused, I craned my neck up to the ceiling. Aside from the lights and rafters far overhead, I couldn't say I saw anything. "… I don't see anything."

I heard someone that sounded like Ruby shuffle beside me "Yeah, I don't- wait… what's that doing there?"

I looked down from the ceiling, toward the voice, that was indeed Ruby, and found the others looking at her as well.

"There's nothing up there." I said, confused.

"Yeah there is." Ruby said, looking to me, before craning her head back up. "It's right… Where'd it go?"

I looked quickly back up to the ceiling. Just to confirm that a red balloon had not, in fact magically appeared. Satisfied by the lack of crimson latex in my immediate vicinity, I looked back down to Emerald. "What're you-"

She was gone.

In the exchange of trying to figure out what she was talking about, Emerald had rejoined her team. Still walking towards the locker room.

"… Did she seriously just pull a gaffe on us?" I asked.

I stood there a moment longer, as Ruby tried futilely to convince everyone there was a balloon somewhere. Because the idea of her eyes playing tricks on her was clearly impossible. But, she gave it up after a moment or two, seeing that no one would believe her. With that settled, we started back towards the locker room once more.

"… Well, aren't you popular with the ladies?" Coco ribbed.

"Pff, yeah, right." I said "Because clearly I go out of my way to befriend you lady-folk."

"She has a point." I heard Blake say "Most of our social circle are girls."

"That just makes it a coincidence." I shot back.

Coco chuckled "Keep telling yourself that, Ladykiller"

...

A noise of pleasure and delight escaped Yang as she chewed her food "This is amazing."

"Thank you." I said, piling another piece of flat bread with rice, meat and cheese "Wish I could take credit for it, but it's a recipe Raul made a couple of times. Tay-coes Ass-ada."

"I've never heard of it, but I know you're saying it wrong." Ren said snidely, picking at his meal.

It was a good meal really. Raul only made it handful of times, but I paid attention. Meat left to marinade in sugars, salt, and acid with herbs, spices, and aromatics. Then seared to completion and sliced thin. It was a pain in the ass solely because everything had to be gathered and prepped by hand. Including the flatbread it was served on, tortillas from dried maize.

But, given my present locale, I had room to improvise and substitute.

After a day of marinating, it made for tender and flavorful food. It could be cooked just about any way you want as well. Provided you could get the dry heat needed for a good sear. I could've done it in my skillet, over the hot plate in the dorm room.

But where was the fun in that? Food tasted better around a campfire anyway.

No, I was not looking for excuse to eat outside again, do not insinuate such things.

But I figured that having a chance to cook and eat outside, in such beautiful weather, would be a treat. A nice way to shake up all the meals we'd been eating together recently. It wasn't quite the same as the last time we'd done it, but it was close enough. I'd cleared out a little space in my garden, setup some space for sitting, and pulled it all together with a little help from everyone.

Zwei certainly appreciated the change in scenery at least. He seemed to prefer lying on the grass over the dorm floor. My teammates and JNPR were more than comfortable themselves too, sitting on logs, stumps, and whatever we could pull around the fire. I had more than enough bramble and brush to burn too after all the grounds work was done. They had to be burned or composted anyway, and the ashes would make good fertilizer, so Peach couldn't complain either.

A perfect storm of conditions if ever there was one, as far as I was concerned.

Early evening was beginning to settle in, as I stoked the campfire. Throwing on thicker branches and dense clusters of bramble to keep the temperatures up. The knots of bramble would burst into flame almost immediately, and help the thicker firewood along. A little fanning and corralling with a fire poker kept it controlled.

"Mmm- ok, so what are we going to talk about tonight?" Ruby asked animatedly, pulling out a stringy piece of meat and feeding it to Zwei "More Weapons… please?"

"Sorry Tiny, but not tonight." I said.

"Aww." Ruby whined.

"Hey, we didn't talk about weapons last time either." I reminded her "In exchange, we got to learn about princess-"

Blake shot me a silencing look.

I chuckled at her.

"How about the second part of the Joshua story?" Nora asked "C'mon, I'm still waiting for that!"

I pretended to consider her suggestion for a moment. "Hmm… No."

Nora looked at me shrewdly for a moment, then bit down into her tay-coe.

"I would actually like to hear a bit more about that story as well." Weiss admitted "You left it at an uncertain point."

"That's the point of cliffhangers." I said snidely.

"Well… I would still like to hear it at some point as well." Weiss snipped.

"Noted, snowflake." I said.

"Then… what are we going to talk about?" Jaune asked "You covered a lot of stuff, and each time it just gets crazier."

"Well, I mean, yeah." I said "If I sprung all the crazy on you at once you'd think I was lying. If I don't ease you through it, you won't believe me when I say something like: The molerat-men are real and they want to steal away our young women with riches and fancy mud mansions, equipped with all the latest designer products."

"…" Jaune looked at me as though I'd lost my mind "… I… What?"

I smiled, and did my best to suppress the giggle it caused me. Playing it off as a cough. "Nothing." I said "Just something a friend told me once… I wasn't lying about the molerat-men though, they're real."

"Oh…" Jaune said, scratching his head in confusion. A sentiment shared, and then quickly brushed off by everyone else present. They knew the drill by now. Real or not, I'd address them in time.

I noticed however, that as she brushed off the silly notion of gold bearing rodent-people, Ruby began staring intently at the campfire. She chewed her food slowly as she seemed to mull something over. "… Hey, Six?"

"Yes?" I answered.

"Do you remember that ghost story you told us?" Ruby asked "That one from the last time we all ate outside."

I thought about it for a moment. "…You mean the one about the girl lost in the Sierra Madre?" I asked, trying my best to remember the specifics.

"Mhmm." Ruby nodded.

"What about it?" I asked "I couldn't tell it to you again even if I wanted to, it was kind of an off the cuff thing."

"You said it's based on a real place though." Ruby said "That the…Sierra Madre? It's real." She said, pausing to make sure she said the name right.

"… Yeah, that it is." I said "One of the most dangerous places in the Wasteland, and what was supposed to be a preeminent casino and resort before the Bombs fell. What about it?"

"Well… You said you've been there, right?" Ruby asked "You've got things from there, and you've said you'd been there."

I nodded, though a bit reluctantly. "That I did."

"So… at least some of what you told us had to be true then, right?" She asked.

I didn't answer that question. Instead choosing to poke at the fire, keep it burning good.

"If there's any of these places you should really be able to tell us about, wouldn't that be one of them then?" Ruby asked.

"… Are you saying you want me to talk about the Sierra Madre?" I asked, pointedly. Less out of malice than aggrieve-ment. There were a list of reasons I had to not want to talk about that place. Most of them just relating to the fact that I had enough nightmares about the time I'd been stuck there. It was too personal for me to be comfortable talking about.

But, Ruby didn't know any of that, and was just asking innocent seeming questions.

Ruby, in keeping with that shrugged. "Maybe. I mean, we are outside again, and it's kind of like how it was the last time we talked about it, y'know?"

"… and if I were to tell you no?" I asked.

Ruby looked at me curiously. "I- um… I'd probably ask why?"

"Then I'd tell you that I'd just rather not think about the Sierra Madre." I said "I… have been there. I could tell you all about it, the things that happened there. That while most of it is not of personal consequence to me, the idea of explaining some of the things that happened in that place is a heady and frankly tragic topic."

"Because nothing you've said so far has been tragic at all." Yang said.

"Not in the way the Madre is." I said, pausing before blowing out a long breath "… If you really want to cover this, I… suppose it's not so personal a thing I couldn't do it… But you need to decide if you're comfortable with that yourself."

Ruby nodded and mulled the decision over for a moment, not anywhere near long enough in my book. However, when next she looked at me, I could see that determined look in her eyes. A familiar, resolved gleam of silver. "I want to know."

"… Ok." I said, throwing a little more wood on the campfire. "… I suppose then, that the best way to start this explanation, is how I got involved with it. Try to walk you through it the way I did."

Ruby nodded, and everyone leaned in close.

"… It started, after I'd just come off of another job." I said "I'd just finished aiding some associates I'd had, at the time, root out some trouble in their midst. It turned into a big mess, but we got through alright. A little scratched and bruised, but alright."

"What was that job?" Nora asked "Were you delivering packages or-"

"Unimportant." I said, cutting her off. If I gave her too much room to build steam, she'd try to weasel something out of me. "The point, is that I'd just finished a job, and was alone. I'd asked, Boone, who'd been with me at the time, to head home and have someone else meet up with me. Give him a chance to rest while I figured out what we were doing next."

Weiss looked at me curiously. "You were giving people orders?"

"Sort of." I shrugged "We were all companions, and if anyone had something they wanted to do, or handle, we supported each other. When it came to work, I just tended to take point."

Weiss's eyes widened slightly "So, you're saying you were the lead-"

"Again, that doesn't matter right now." I said "The point is, I was alone and working on getting a direction for us. While I was working my way towards one, however, my Pip-boy picked up an unfamiliar radio signal. That might not seem strange, but there's only a handful of places in the Wasteland capable of actually making those broadcasts. Having a new one pop-up out of nowhere wasn't a common occurrence."

"So you listened to it." Weiss surmised.

"Yes." I nodded "It was an uncommon frequency, in the Ultra Low range. Reserved for emergency broadcasts… But it wasn't one. It was an Invitational broadcast. To the Opening Gala of the Sierra Madre Casino and Resort."

"…" Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, and inhaled sharply.

"You received a mysterious invitation over the radio, and you followed it, no questions asked?" Blake asked, incredulous.

"… When you put it like that, you make me sound like an idiot." I said "Firstly, yes, I was aware of the danger, and knew the odds of it just being a trap. Probably some raiders or bandits who'd cobbled together enough garbage to bait in careless travelers and caravanners. However, I was not only aware of what to be on the lookout for, but knew I was going to have people on my trail looking for me. Plus, the location given on my map had me going in the direction I was already heading. It was easier to investigate on the way than not."

"… So you walked into a trap, knowing it was a trap, and got caught anyway?" Blake pressed.

I fixed her with a flat look. "If you keep asking questions, I can stop talking now and never cover this topic again. Or you can accept the fact that I'm human and capable of making mistakes, and we can move on. Your call."

Blake gave me a catty grin, but said nothing. Perhaps letting her catch-up on sleep had been a mistake.

"-But, yes, I did walk into it. If for no other reason than it was the first I'd ever heard of the Sierra Madre at the time." I explained "It's important to understand: despite being a very real place, very few people talk about the Sierra Madre. Those that do, treat it like a myth, or urban legend. An oasis among the Mojave's sands, free of radiation and ripe for prospecting. But despite those rumors, there was a very clear fact everyone who knew about the Madre kept to the front of their mind. Those who go to the Madre don't ever come back."

"Just like in the story you told us." Jaune said, with a look of child-like fright.

"Yes." I said "However, I had never heard of the Madre. Maybe I knew about it, before receiving a lead lobotomy. But I didn't at the time I went looking for trouble. So I followed the signal, out into the middle of nowhere. To an abandoned Bunker, once marked as belonging to the Brotherhood of Steel."

"Brotherhood of-" Ruby said before pausing and thinking "… The guys that act like knights, right? One of your friends is with them."

"Was with them." I clarified "But, close enough. Veronica left them after a falling out."

"What did they want with the Sierra Madre?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing, actually." I said "I think the bunker had belonged to them at one point, but they'd abandoned it. NCR and the Brotherhood had enough bad blood that they'd had to do that with a lot of their safe houses and hideaways. The person who'd claimed it after them had just never bothered to change the signage. Though it certainly helps that said person was once a member of the Brotherhood as well, but that's not important right now."

Ruby nodded, accepting the answer for now.

"So, alone at the time, I came across the bunker." I explained "I, in my infinite wisdom, went in alone to try and scope it out. I was pretty well versed in how those types of situations went, and the bunker was ultimately a small one. There wasn't enough room for anyone to hide, and I made sure to check every corner before going in. The place was devoid of life when I got there. So, naturally, I assumed it was safe enough to poke around a little more thoroughly. I wound up finding where the signal was coming from: an old radio. Of a style I didn't recognize. It was setup in a main room, in a display that was so obviously a trap, it would've taken an idiot not to see it. Being that I was alone however, I decided to approach it and take a look."

"It was booby trapped." Nora said.

"It was…" I gave Nora a sharp look

She gave me a childish smile.

"… Yeah, it was booby trapped." I said, sighing "Booby traps aren't uncommon in the Wasteland. Setup a few land mines, bear traps, string-up a bouquet of grenades if you're feeling especially mean, or just rig a shotgun to fire when someone walks through a doorway. A couple clever ones even rigged computer terminals to explode when someone tried to use them. But by far the most effective one I've ever encountered was the one in that bunker. Not because it wasn't obvious, but because there were few others like it, and it was damn effective."

"Language." Snowflake muttered, trying to figure out how to eat her taycoe without making a mess. The moment she bit into it, juice and liquid squirted out the back of the taycoe. She grimaced, as the liquid rolled down her arm.

"The most obvious way the radio could've been booby trapped was that it was rigged to explode, like the terminals." I explained "However, that's not what happened. The moment I entered the room, the door slammed shut behind me, and I was hit with a flash bang. It kept me disoriented long enough to make sure I couldn't escape, and the room was pumped full of gas. I couldn't tell you what kind, but some sort of anesthetic. Really, I guess the miracle of that whole thing was that it didn't kill me. If too much had been pumped into the room, it'd have been real easy for me to O.D."

"… They booby trapped the whole room?" Yang asked incredulously "Like, the whole room?"

"Yep." I nodded "Probably only got away with it because they knew the bunker as well as they did."

"Seems overkill." Ren said.

"It was, but the trap was meant to be open for any idiot who wandered in, and hold them until they could be collected. A larger trap is better for that, but more obvious." I said "And, ultimately, I was the idiot who sprung it that time. I got put under, lost track of time, and just about everything else. When I finally came to, I'd been dragged to the front gates of the Villa. The resort town that surrounded the Madre proper. Which, I suppose, is where the real explanations begin... How much do any of you remember about the Sierra Madre, from the story I told you?"

Looks of thought and concentration fell over everyone. Though I noted Jaune's and Ruby's were tinged with a most childish degree of discomfort, if not fright.

"I think… There was mention of a fog hanging over everything." Weiss said, cleaning up the mess on her arm. "Also that it was isolated."

"There's also the monsters." Jaune said, trying to sound more resolute than he looked "The- um… ghosts."

"And treasure." Nora noted brightly "Apparently there was lots of treasure."

Her teammates, and mine, looked at Nora in confusion.

"… What?" Nora chirped indignantly "People had to go and die there for some reason. It had to be pretty good."

"Well, you're not wrong, none of you are actually. Though you're all a little vague, I can't blame you for that, because I was trying to be vague." I said, looking into the campfire as embers rode the updraft into the evening sky. "To start with: there was a fog hanging over everything, though I think the exact word I used was gloom. One of the most pervading elements of the Sierra Madre, was the dense, crimson cloud that filled its streets and hung over its rooftops. It was so thick; you couldn't tell whether it was day or night. Everything would be dyed this shade of bloody crimson color. It was caustic and toxic as well, and even in the lightest concentrations you could taste it in the air. Coppery, and smelling of solvents."

"What was it?" Weiss asked "It had to serve some sort of purpose, correct? Why else would they fill the streets with it?"

"That's just it Snowflake, no one knows what the Cloud, as it's known, was." I explained "Even with all the time I was forced to spend in it, I have no idea what it was."

Which wasn't a lie. I knew it was part of the experiments Sinclair had running with Big Mt. to bankroll the casino, but that was it. In the months after settling at the Dam, I'd visit the Big MT, in a drunken stupor, to search for paperwork related to the Madre. Try to get some closure on it. I found some things related to a few of the projects. The Saturnite foundry, the Holograms, and one of the Hazmat suits the Ghost People wore. There were documents for most of them, but none that explained much of anything to me.

There wasn't anything for the Cloud. No work orders, no plans, not even so much as a document about its chemical composition. Whatever the Cloud was, they made damn sure it stayed secret. I don't even know for certain if Sinclair was aware The Cloud was one of the experiments he signed on for. Many of the notes made it seem as though Sinclair hadn't been paying attention when he signed off on them.

More than likely, he hadn't been.

"So… you don't know what the Cloud was?" Snowflake asked.

"No, I don't." I said "What I do know, however, was that the Cloud was deadly. You could stay out in it, for a time, as long as you stayed to the more open areas of the Villa. Most indoor locations were safe from it. The lack of air flow caused it to condense on the walls into a thick residue. However, staying out in it for more than a few hours was lethal, and sleeping in it was a death sentence. On contact with your skin, it would slowly begin… eating you, in a sense. It would strip the oils out of your skin, then begin breaking it down slowly. It would have the same effect on your lungs, but was slowed down by the moisture and mucous of the human body. Instead, it would steadily fill your lungs with a thick, rust colored mucous, and try to drown you… Plus it would hang in the back of your throat, like post nasal drip. And burn your eyes like tear gas on Buff-Out. Just a generally unpleasant experience."

"Oh, no, it sounds like a gas, really." Yang said,

"… Yang, seriously?" I asked.

Yang shrugged "It's a habit."

"… Yeah." I shook my head "Well, there was nothing pleasant about the Cloud. It was everywhere in the Villa, and made even being present at the Madre a test of survival. Worse, there were pocket of it that were densely concentrated. Just passing through it could be lethal by comparison, and it was always in places that were less than ideal. Probably the worst part, however, was that respirators and gasmasks were ineffective against it. The Cloud would force its way through them regardless, and poison the user. I'd been stripped of my belongings, when I got dragged there, so I couldn't test that myself. But there were enough notes and things still around from before the War. The crew hired to construct everything had to order an experimental Hazmat suit to try and counter it. The results were mixed, from what I found."

"Mixed how?" Blake asked "Some lived, some died?"

"No, because most of them are actually still around." I explained "Remember, as Jaune mentioned, that there are monsters in the Sierra Madre?"

For a moment, no one said anything, and the only sound in the air was the crackling of the campfire.

"The Cloud… turned people into monsters?" Ruby asked.

"… Sort of." I said "I… don't know the specifics of how it happens, but the Cloud has to play a part in it somehow."

"… How?" Weiss asked, looking at me sharply.

I shrugged "Again, I have no idea… The story goes, that the Cloud just began to appear one day. Seeping out of the vents and pipes of the Villa's infrastructure. No one knows for certain where it came from. Only that the people responsible for building everything were catching the brunt of it, trying to avoid it. But, after the construction crew started getting sick because of the Cloud, they needed a solution. They couldn't figure out where the Cloud was coming from, or what was making it. They also couldn't just go damming up every place it leaked out of either, because most of those points existed for a reason. All they could do was work around it."

"Wouldn't that mean that the cloud would eventually just build up and poison anyone who… Oh." Ruby said, realizing how events played out.

"Yeah, oh." I said "The point stands, the construction crew wasn't in charge of what happened after the place was built, they were just the labor. They left the big problems to the people who would own the place. Instead, they got hold of the aforementioned Hazmat suits. Supposedly, the suits would work against the cloud, but came with a host of issues. They were cumbersome, and would grow stiff the longer they were exposed to the Cloud. The suits had poor ventilation, which made them hard to breathe in, and were even harder to communicate in. Worse, getting in one was far easier than getting out. The latches that actually sealed the suits shut would wind up rusted and corroded by the Cloud. Trapping the wearer inside, and requiring the suit to be cut open to get them out. Also, the supposition that the suits could handle the Cloud, can you take a wild guess at what that was?"

"A lie." Ren answered.

"Bingo." I said "The suits could handle almost any toxin or element thrown their way… except the Cloud. The one thing they'd been ordered to protect against. If anything, it would trap the workers inside of them with the Cloud. There were a lot of 'work place accidents' and fatalities because of them… but that was only the beginning."

"Of course it was." Weiss said, somewhere between horrified and disgusted.

"Believe me, that's not even half of it." I said, nodding "The Cloud… it did something to the people trapped in those suits. I don't know what. I wish I could explain it, not because it would make it better but because it takes the punch out of it. Explaining things makes them understandable, even when they're still dangerous. It means you know enough about how they tick to combat them better, smarter. There's no explaining what the Cloud did to the people who would become those creatures… the Ghost People."

"Is that what they're called?" Nora asked, looking at me intently.

"I know it sounds childish, but the name, much like Deathclaws, is an apt one." I explained "They're the Ghosts of the People they once were, still wandering the Madre, haunting it. But they're not human anymore. Whatever the Cloud did to them, it twisted them. The only sign that there is any life in them, and they're not just some animated nightmare is that they're still breathing. A horrible rasping noise that echoes off every surface-"

"Please, don't." Jaune said suddenly "I only just got over the nightmares."

"Lucky bastard." I said "… But they're not stupid either. They can use tools, they make weapons, they set traps and ambushes, and they can even communicate to one another. Some crude form of sign language they cobbled together. Most of the monsters in the Mojave are dangerous purely because they are fierce and vicious. The Ghost People are that, plus intelligent, devious, and scarily hard to kill."

"How hard?" Ruby asked, voice soft and thready.

"Very. Like trying to take down a brick wall with a carpenter's hammer." I said "The Cloud, with whatever it'd done to them, rendered them almost functionally immortal, and I mean that. I don't think they age, I think the Cloud and the suits chemically preserve them or something, like human pickles. But they shrug off life threatening injury with contemptuous ease… The first time I ever had to hold my ground against one, it almost killed me. I did things to it that would've killed almost anything, even supermutants, twice over. But it kept coming after me like I was pricking it with a needle and…"

I looked at Ruby at noticed she was going a little pale.

"… You ok tiny?" I asked.

"Y-yeah." Ruby said, still visibly pale and uncomfortable "It just… it sounds…"

"Scary?" I asked.

Ruby nodded "I used to have nightmares about stuff like that."

"… Well, I've had to be in it." I said "You'll never encounter them, but my advice: run. Run like hell and don't stop until you've got a couple miles between you and them. They're not unkillable, but they're more dangerous than fighting's worth. If you have to fight them, go for the head, or the legs. A Headshot will kill, but you have to thoroughly destroy the brain, or decapitate them. Anything less, and they'll keep moving. They don't move normal either, they're erratic, and lunging. They don't have super speed or anything, but on flat ground and a straight shot, they can run down most normal people. They're monstrously strong too. Can't say they're stronger than an aura, but I wouldn't be surprised if they can match one."

"You're really not making me feel any better." Ruby said.

"Same." Jaune said.

"Sorry." I said "There's really not much to feel 'better' about with them… Go for the head, run, or take out their legs and then run. Removing their legs just makes sure you have better chance of escaping. In a group, you're basically asking to die. They're easily the most proactive of the Madre's problems, though not its only ones. But I can get to the rest of them in a moment. There's probably some other things I need to address first." I turned and looked to Weiss. "You had some questions about its location?"

Weiss nodded "You mentioned that it was in a remote location. I assumed that helped keep it from being some place people would settle. But having heard about the things that apparently already live there, I'm realizing it's not as important."

"No, its location actually is important, and plays a part in everything." I explained "its location, in a valley between the mountains and mesa helped keep it remote. It made it unlikely that radiation, fallout, or any of the bombs would wind up striking it. It also made it unlikely that looters or survivors would come knocking because it was so remote."

Weiss started to say something, then caught herself. Her eyes widened a little. "… Was that planned? Did the person who built the resort build it specifically to avoid the war?"

I nodded. "Yeah, the guy who owned it did much of what he did with that in mind. Built it where he did so it'd be nestled outside the blast radius. Planned the Villa out so it'd be too narrow for vehicles, only foot traffic. Made it so the whole place was safe, secure, and self-sustaining in the event that war broke out."

"Which it did." Weiss said succinctly "… But it didn't work. With everything you've said, all the efforts put in ultimately failed."

"Not for the reasons you may be thinking either." I said "However, The Villa itself was built on the cheap and with as many corners cut as possible. The only reason it's even still standing is due to the Madre's isolation and the numerous other dangers prowling it. Had it actually worked as intended, the whole thing would've rotted within a decade, much less a few centuries."

"But… why?" Weiss asked "Why do all of that?"

I shrugged "The answer's complicated. It doesn't really matter either, as it ultimately failed. The Madre is nothing but a giant Old-World tomb, ready and willing to accept anyone who wishes to add themselves to its interment list. There're more than a few who were willing to take the chance as well, to plunder a place as untouched as the Madre."

"How would it be any different from any other place?" Pyrrha spoke up "Though it was clearly home to some strange things, I can't imagine there was anything there that would make it more attractive. Why would they risk their lives in such a way?"

"Because of the rumors and legends." I said "The resort proper sits above the Villa, bathed in almost Golden light. That the place is basically unreachable, and the Villa is so intact, means it is ripe for the picking. Literally, if scavengers could just work the Villa over, they'd come away with quite a haul. But the Madre was a temptation too great for most. If the Villa alone was so full, what about the actual Casino?" I prodded the fire, making sure it kept burning good and strong "But even if that wasn't the case, there were things in the Villa and Madre that are both worth more and far more dangerous than you can even begin to imagine."

"Like?" Nora asked.

"Well, vending machines, for one." I said snidely "Real useful when food is scarce and you could use a quick snack."

"... Seriously?" Blake asked "Vending machines?"

"Yes, actually, the vending machines were perhaps one of, if not the most important innovation at the Madre. Because they didn't work like normal Vending machines." I explained "They didn't have a set amount of items in stock, or even a display for them. Instead, you'd select an item, drop your casino chips into the machine, and the machine would spit it out."

"… That's how a normal vending machine works." Weiss said flatly.

"True, but most vending machines can't produce nothing from thin air." I said "That's what the vending machines in the Madre do."

Everyone's eye collectively popped open.

"What?" Weiss asked.

"The vending machines in the Sierra Madre did not hold stock." I explained "They converted the matter placed into them, the casino chips, into the item requested. Rearranging the atomic structure of the material to create the materials requested."

"… They what?" Yang asked.

"I… I think he's saying the machines made the items." Weiss said "From… the casino chips?"

"Correct." I said "The chips contained a high quotient of potential energy. They'd fuel the machines, which would use the raw materials to make whatever it was the buyer selected. Everything from food, to medicine, to clothes and armor, or even weapons and ammo."

"… The machines turned pieces of metal into food?" Weiss asked.

"… I realize, now, that you seem a little stuck on this." I said "… Well, aside from converting the chips into items, the machine could also do the process in reverse. Converting whatever items you placed into it, back into chips."

"How does something like that even work?" Weiss asked "That's, that's just-"

"I don't know, it's too far above my pay grade." I explained "I just have some idea of how it functions, the guts of how the machines actually work are beyond me."

"But they could convert anything?" Ruby asked "Like, make anything?"

"Well… yes and no." I said "They required the power from the chips to make anything, but they were also limited. You needed special codes to unlock certain options for purchasing. If I had to guess, for an item to be made, an atomic 'blueprint' would need to exist for it in the machine. So it's not like I could just put some chips in and ask it to make, I don't know, a car or something."

"That… that's impossible!" Weiss shrieked "That makes no sense- that is literally magic!"

"Welcome to my world." I said snidely.

"But- wait- if your world had machines that could literally transform materials into other ones, shouldn't that have solved everything?" Blake asked "Why not just- make more resources?"

"Because, as is so often the case, it wasn't that easy." I said "These machines were rare, and only just started to become viable just before the bombs fell. The Sierra Madre is the only place I've ever actually encountered them. But even that aside, the machines still required energy to work, specifically the potential energy stored in the casino chips. Matter, and by extension energy can neither by created, nor destroyed. Only transformed. While in theory these machines could've been used to create raw materials from others, they would still require the energy to do so. More so if you were trying to, say, convert lead back into something like uranium."

Which ultimately just brought further tragedy to the Machines' existence. That they existed, and could do what they did, should've been a miracle. If they could've been coupled to a more potent, or inexhaustible energy source, they could've changed everything. Maybe they couldn't have stopped everything. Maybe they couldn't have produced enough material to meet demands. But they could've helped stem the tide.

They were a gift unparalleled, given by people who were mentally and morally insane. If they'd existed sooner, who knows, House might've bought out Big Mt. altogether. Put their work towards something he deemed 'greater'. Assuming the government didn't beat him to it, or some similar cloak and dagger drama destroyed everything.

"That… seems so insane." Blake said.

"I know, and that's only the start of the strange things the Madre had." I explained "The owners apparently made a deal to field a whole host of crazy thing in the Madre, for the sake of making sure everything was bankrolled. The Vending Machines were one of them, and the Hazmat suits that, unfortunately for everyone, created the Ghost People were another. Whether or not you could slot the Cloud into that deal is open for debate, but there were more semi-benevolent experiments as well."

"Like what?" Weiss asked sarcastically "Medical robots that overdose you on painkillers or Perfectly Preserved Five course meals that give you Food Poisoning?"

"Well-" I said, then paused a moment "… Did you just try to make a joke?"

Weiss's face flushed "Never."

"Uh huh." I said, noticing the snickering of our teammates "Well, for your information… yes and no. There were medical robots, of a fashion, but they didn't… intentionally O.D. someone on painkillers. If there was any food intended to give people Food Poisoning, I wouldn't know. Any food I found was actually perfectly preserved, and if I got sick it was because of the Cloud."

Weiss fixed me with a serious look "… That doesn't sound like no one died."

"I never said they didn't." I retorted "… But, keeping on track, of the experiments the Sierra Madre was supposed to field, there was a type of medical robot fielded. You all recall what an Auto-Doc is, correct?"

"Robots meant to perform surgery and check-ups!" Nora chirped.

"Correct." I nodded "The Sierra Madre was fielded with a number of them. However, they were advanced models compared to any other in service at the time. Capable of performing more fine-tuned operations, more smoothly and efficiently than previous models. Even slowing deteriorative conditions, albeit only for a short while."

Weiss flashed me a satisfied smirk.

"Don't let it go to your head." I said "Aside from the Auto-Docs, there were two other major experiments of note. One of them was less technically sophisticated, but still impressive. They were a series of kitchen knives called cosmic knives, and they were… well, honestly they were just really sharp kitchen knives."

"… really?" Ruby asked, narrowing her eyes at me "… Nuh uh, I don't buy it. What else did they do?"

"Nothing, they were just a series of really high-quality knives." I said.

Ruby, however, didn't budge and continued to look sharply at me. Something Zwei, apparently sensing his Mistress's scrutiny, mirrored by looking my way.

"… Seriously, that's it." I said "They were made of a special material, and survived in the Cloud for nearly two centuries with minimal damage. As in you only need to brush the residue off them and they're good as new. But they were just really good knives."

"… How good?" Ruby asked, deadly serious.

I shrugged "I found notes of the kitchen staff cutting through their cutting boards and nearly losing fingers. The workers would even use them to cut their Hazmat suits off. Speaking from personal experience, they cut bone like fresh fruit."

Ruby continued to eye me seriously. Like a silver-eyed puppy convinced that today is the day they chew a hole in that tennis ball. But then she smiled, and let it go. "Ok, it's kind of cool. Wonder what made them so special.

"The material for sure." I said "The knives themselves were terribly designed. The handles were uncomfortable because of this weird, flanged design they went with. They didn't come to a good point, but had a weird chisel tip instead. The design sucked, but their absurd cutting power made up for it. The Ghost people would stick them on the ends of pipes and sticks to make improvised spears. And they were scary effective. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing one of them sink it into solid stone. Like a dart."

"… Ok, yeah, I can see how that's kinda cool." Ruby said, shrinking as she nibbled at her Taycoe.

Which Zwei then began pawing at her for a piece of food. She crumbled and fed him some strings of meat.

"Minor side note, the material also has absurd heat retention and structural integrity." I explained "I heated it until it was glowing orange. It stayed that way for hours, while still being sharp enough to split hairs."

Yang looked at me funny "How did you split hairs with it if-"

"Figure of speech." I said "Anyway, the last big thing that the Madre had going for it was by far the one people feared the most. You all might actually be somewhat familiar with them, as they exist here as well: Holograms."

"Holograms?" Ruby asked "You mean like the ones they use for street signs?"

"Yes and no." I said "You're familiar with the concept, but the application is completely different. In essence, the base hologram is the same: an array of lights used to create a three-dimensional image. However, here, you use them for largely commercial means. Communications, advertisements, and basic signage to name a few. Holograms in the Madre however, were made to function around a different purpose."

"Such as?" Weiss asked "They're holograms, there isn't much they can do since they can't touch anything. They're made of light."

"Of course, but they could still fill other rolls, albeit not as well as intended." I explained "For example, they could replace vendors and basic staff, in a pinch. As long as the automated systems were available, you just needed someone, or something to ensure the cash was being collected. The same goes for Casino staff. They could function as your dealers and croupiers as long as some automation existed. They could even work as individual pit bosses too."

Weiss looked at me as though I had a screw loose. "That- how does that even remotely make sense? What's to stop people from just stealing what they want!?"

"And wouldn't automated casino games mean that the casino has already rigged everything?" Jaune asked

"Oh, Jaune-y, the games are rigged before you even walk in the door." I said "The phrase 'the House always wins' means that, one way or another, everything flows one way. Even when you win, all the money you spend winds up in the casino's pocket anyway. They'll just find a way to swindle it out of you with food, drink, and accommodations that cost them a pittance." I then turned back to Weiss "In some ways you would be right, Snowflake. Holograms would be terrible vendors and casino staff if they were the same as over here. They're not, however, the same. They're similar is some respects, but not the same. Largely because of one major factor: The Madre's Holograms were repurposed to function as security for the casino. A job which they are so terrifyingly effective at that even the Ghost People steer clear of them."

"… Seriously?" Weiss asked, cocking a curious eyebrow at me.

"Deadly." I said "The Holograms themselves are usually referred to as Ghosts because, much like a theoretical ghost, you can't touch them. But they can touch you, and will do it with bolts of light that cut to the bone and don't give two shits what you're wearing. They're not incredibly bright, being simple machines set to perform fairly simple tasks. But when the task is: patrol a set area and fry anything that's unauthorized, they can be really efficient."

"How could they not be bright, they're made of light." Yang said snidely.

"Har har, pull the other one." I said "But in all seriousness, they are incredibly dangerous. Most would be projected from an emitter located somewhere nearby. As long as they weren't shielded, you could typically destroy them and remove the Hologram. When you couldn't do that though, things got dicey fast. Coupled with the Cloud, the Ghost People, and a certain other factor, it made traversing the Madre extremely dangerous."

"Ok, but why are they called Ghosts though?" Nora asked "Having them named Ghosts and Ghost People is confusing."

"Which is why I just call them Holograms." I said "Other people only refer to them as ghosts because, technically, they look like ghosts. Being flickering human shaped projections that resemble dead men probably helps."

That last sentence seemed to catch everyone's attention.

"Dead… men?" Ruby asked "So… they're, like, actually ghosts?"

"Not really… it's complicated." I said "Y'see, the holograms need to be based off something, otherwise they default back to an otherwise blank slate. The people who designed the Holograms, instead, used the actual staff of the Madre as a basis for what the Holograms look like. That way they would come across as slightly more personal, and less menacing… in theory."

"And since most of the staff would be long dead, that makes the Holograms their ghosts." Ren said "The last thing showing they ever existed."

"… Yes." I said, a bit grimly "Sad as it is to say, those Holograms are all that remains of a lot of people who are long dead and gone. Given how things went, I can guarantee, they didn't pass peacefully either."

Silence fell over everyone, as they mulled that grim knowledge. No matter what way you sliced it, the Sierra Madre had nothing but bad history to it.

I was glad I never had to go back.

"… Well, I think this is my stopping point." I said, dusting off and getting up "Got a flight to catch, put out the fire when you're-"

"NOW HOLD ON THERE MISTER MAN!" Nora squawked, shooting up from her seat "You're not done yet."

"… I'm not?" I asked.

"No you're not!" She squawked again, giving me a beguiling grin "You never finished your story."

"Story?" I asked "What… Oh, you mean my story."

"Don't think you'll get away that easily." Nora chirped "I wanna know how you got out of there."

"Who says I did?" I asked "Maybe I'm a spooky ghost man here to haunt you all with sarcasm and bad food."

"…" Nora looked at me blankly. Then, she took a piece of her Taycoe and threw it at me. I let it bounce harmlessly off of my helmet, and onto the ground. Zwei immediately bounded over to enjoy the spoils. "… You seem pretty real to me."

"Funny." I said.

"I would like to hear this as well." Pyrrha spoke up "You've told us a lot about the world you're from. Yet you rarely talk about your own journey. To have traveled between worlds, surely you've lived a strange life."

'More than you know. Literally.' I thought.

"I've got stories, but most of them are pretty standard for the Wasteland, and don't seem so big here." I said "And I've made it clear I'm not going to talk about the things I don't want to talk about. Myself is just one of those things I don't feel comfortable talking about."

"Oh, and you think we are?" Blake asked.

"… Point conceded." I said.

"We don't want to make you uncomfortable Six." Ruby said "We just want to know more about you, you're our friend… alsoIreallywanttohearhowthestoryends."

She said that last part really fast.

I stood there in front of the campfire look at all of them. I could see the way their faces were lit up, both by the campfire, and by interest. For the most part, this was something they all seemed to enjoy doing. It wasn't a history lesson to them. It was a strange wanderer sharing tales from the road about a world they hopefully would never need to experience.

I won't lie, it was infectious.

"… Alright, just this once." I said, settling back down by the fire "But we need to keep this moving, because I really need to catch that flight."

"YEAH!" Nora squawked, flopping back onto her seat.

"But, before I go any further with my own story, I need to address another." I said "One that pertains to the Madre as a whole. The story, of Fredrick Sinclair, Vera Keyes, Dean Domino, and the wicked game run between them.

(…)

Once, long before the bombs fell, there were two men. Fredrick Sinclair, and Dean Domino. One, a business man. An entrepreneur, tycoon, and romantic of the highest degree. The other a rogue. A lounge singer, actor, and charlatan unparalleled. No one is quite sure how these two met-

"Do you really need to make a story out of it?" Weiss asked "You could just tell us-"

"Shush!" Nora and Ruby shushed.

… *ahem* No one is sure how they met. Only that they did, and at first, it was an ambivalent affair. Both regarded the other with a degree of geniality and camaraderie, and it needed not to be any more than that… However, that all changed one day. Sinclair… slighted Domino, in some way. No one's really sure how or why, but it was likely unintentional. Domino was a diva, narcissistic enough to believe the sun getting in his eyes was the sun's fault, not his for looking at it. Some believe that it was purely because, despite some hardships, Sinclair was simply a happier man, than Domino.

Whatever the reason Sinclair, in Domino's eyes, had snubbed him. He would not simply let it go. So, Domino began to plot the best way to go about destroying him. How best to ruin the man for the slights perceived against him.

Enter Vera Keyes.

A young starlet and singer, whose career had struggled to take off. A country girl, from a town in the middle of nowhere. Destined to have her story end the same as untold others like her, with large dreams and high hopes. Vera, however, was a beauty. With luxurious black hair, vibrant green eyes, and a voice that sang so sweetly, she made Snowflakes sound like crows.

"Hey!" Weiss whined, giving me a sour look.

It was those features, that caught the eye of Domino. In an act imperceptible charity and kindness, he took the starlet under his wing. Helped her to make her dreams come true. Let her star in movies alongside him, Helped her sing to sold-out clubs and lounges. He gave her career the desperate shot in the arm she needed. Allowed her to become famous, and catch the eyes of those she desired.

But charity and kindness were the furthest things from Domino's mind.

The truth of it, was that Domino had bolstered Vera's career for his own ends. He intended to use Vera to get close to Sinclair. Use her as an instrument in his quest to ruin Sinclair's life. Something he set in motion when, during a 'chance' meeting at a party, he introduced the two.

Sinclair was instantly taken with Vera, and the two set off into a whirlwind romance. Lavish vacations, luxurious locales, and every exotic delight the man could muster. Anything, for the woman that had captured his heart. In so far, that he began to make strides to protect her. For you see, Frederick Sinclair saw the looming war on the horizon. The one that would bathe the world in nuclear fire. Wash away everything man had done, and wipe the slate clean.

He would not let it claim his love.

To that end, for his love and almost obsession of Vera, he began work on a fortress. One of self-sufficiency, and nigh impregnability. Safe and secure from the fires of war, where all he cared for would be sheltered.

The Sierra Madre Villa and Casino.

Construction and furnishing the Madre took years, and placed a strain on Sinclair's fortune. Troubles compounded by his own decisions, as well as Vera and Domino. For you see Domino, ever lurking in the shadows, took every opportunity to undermine Sinclair. Silently taking control of the company constructing the Madre. Allowing Sinclair's money to line his pockets, as he ensured the instability of the Madre. Finding every way he could, to corrupt the staff and workforce Sinclair had so meticulously arrayed. Something made easier, through Sinclair's own decision to ban any outside items. Contraband, including everything from food and clothes, to Chems and Weaponry. It made Domino's work all the easier. As for Vera, her part in things was far less maliciously driven. For you see, regardless of Sinclair's actions, Vera's time was short, far shorter than any could desire. She was ill with a disease that ravaged her, left her in immense pain. Forced her to rely upon pain medications that only further ravaged her, left her addicted and unable to be free.

But Sinclair did not know this. Did not know his actions would only cause her more pain.

As the years of construction dragged on, Sinclair struggled with the Casino and the Villa. Mismanagement led to hemorrhaging, and he cut corners every way he could. Knowing the damage it would do, but uncompromising. He sought only to protect Vera. Above all else, that was what mattered to him. The love he would not Let Go.

For you see, Sinclair knew that Domino meant to betray him.

He had known from the beginning that Domino only meant him ill. That he sought to destroy Sinclair thoroughly and utterly. Sinclair had predicted the ways Domino might try, as they were few. Domino was the only one to know, beyond Vera, what hurt him. So in turn, Sinclair made a plan of his own.

Domino sought to steal Sinclair's fortune, and destroy the happiness he held.

So Sinclair laid a trap in the vault of the Sierra Madre. A trap that, once sprung, would ensure his 'friend' would never again be able to hurt him so again. It was all going according to his plan.

Until, he discovered, how Domino truly intended to destroy Sinclair's happiness: Through Vera.

In a bitter fit of Pique and wrath, Sinclair altered his plans. Turned the Madre, his haven from the nuclear holocaust, built almost solely for Vera, into a deathtrap. One that would see both his love and former 'friend' dead.

His new trap laid; Sinclair bided his time. Waited for the casino to be finished. It was not long then, before the Sierra Madre was ready to open. A luxurious resort and casino, for all the rich and affluent to enjoy.

A grave, for Vera and Domino.

But then the day of the Opening Gala arrived. Sinclair approached Vera, to see that she was ready, that all could go forward.

Then, once more, everything changed.

Vera, utterly remorseful, told Sinclair everything. About Domino's plan to destroy him, about how he'd intended her to break his heart. How Domino had coerced her, through his connections and the knowledge of the medicines Vera used to keep herself alive. How Sinclair would've misconstrued why she used them.

She told him everything.

Sinclair's heart broke once more. He had allowed his anger to blind him to the truth.

Fearing what he had done, Sinclair descended into the vault of the Sierra Madre. Determined to alter the trap he had laid for his two saboteurs. But was unable to do so. The work was done, and to undo all of it would take more time than he was capable of giving. But he did what he could, and made to return.

But then, fate chose to twist the knife in one final, cruel act.

As that day, before the gala could begin, Humanity took the plunge.

The bombs fell.

The Great War began.

Sinclair was, most likely, the first to perish. Having stumbled off one of his own shoddily built platforms, falling into a Cloud filled crevice. Either breaking his neck or losing consciousness, and perishing to the toxins.

But he was not the last, his foolish decisions ensured that.

The security censors within the Madre detected that the bombs had begun to fall, and the system went into overdrive. The Holograms began to sweep over the Madre and the Villa. Indiscriminately slaying anyone and everyone, worker or not. The only few to escape, would go on to haunt the Villa as the Ghost People.

Except for Vera Keyes, and Dean Domino.

Domino vanished. As the Holograms scoured the Madre, Domino took his chance to disappear. His chance at the Madre, its treasure, and quest, ruined.

Vera, however, could not escape. She had been within the Madre when the bombs fell. The security protocols sealed the building tight, locking out everything and anything. While also trapping Vera within.

Completely and utterly alone. Save for the holograms, that she feared greatly.

For hours after the bombs fell, she tried to escape, to get Sinclair's attention to 'Let her go'. But Sinclair, dead, could not answer.

It was then, that Vera's story came to an end as well.

Illness ravaging her body, freedom truly beyond her grasp, and inescapable isolation her only companion, Vera made her choice. Gathering all of the pain medication she had available, Vera scrawled her final words. Then allowed herself to drift into the unknown.

With her, the Madre fell still, and then silent.

Save, for one final message. Broadcast on a frequency reserved for emergency communications.

An invitation, to the Sierra Madre Opening Gala.

Spoken by none other than Vera herself.

(…)

I looked over everyone. "That's the story behind the Sierra Madre, in as simple terms as I can put them."

"… Holy cow that is dark!" Nora squawked "Why can't people where you're from just be nice to each other?"

"Because clearly you're all sunshine and roses over here." I said.

"Well, it certainly explains a lot about the place." Weiss said "The whole place was a giant cage. Meant to keep one person safe, at the cost of everyone else."

"I can't help but feel Sinclair just made everything worse." Ren said "There had to have been a better way to handle everything."

"Agreed." I said "Really, while I empathize a little with Sinclair, I feel more for Vera. In the end, while she aided Domino, she was coerced through the whole thing, and from everything I found was genuinely innocent. She didn't want to betray Sinclair, and is honestly the most tragic victim of this whole thing."

"The innocent workers notwithstanding." Blake said.

"Believe me, fewer of them were innocent than you'd think." I said "Their deaths are in no way diminished by Vera's either. Just that, in the end, the whole thing was a tragedy. Brought about because two men couldn't let go. Domino of his bitterness to Sinclair, and Sinclair of his obsession with Vera. With everything the Madre had going for it, he could've easily made it rival Vegas. With all the self-sufficiency he pushed, he could've even surpassed it."

"But that doesn't explain why you were taken there." Ruby said "Why would somebody set up traps to knock people out and drag them there? They couldn't even get inside, right?"

"No, no they couldn't. But the temptation was there." I said "Which is ultimately why I was brought there: to crack open the Madre, and steal everything of value."

"… They kidnapped you, to help with a heist?" Yang asked.

"Not just a heist." I corrected "A heist for the centuries. To break into a place that'd been protected for nearly three hundred years, and walk out with everything I could carry."

Everyone looked at me, either skeptical, or completely amazed. Because if I wasn't lying, as I so claimed I wasn't, then my being there meant I'd done it.

"… So what happened?" Ruby asked "C'mon, don't keep us in suspense!"

"Easy, Tiny. A little patience goes a long way." I said, reaching down to give Zwei a belly rub "… After getting gassed, and blacking out, I woke up at the gates of the Villa. The gate wasn't locked, so there wasn't anything physically barring from walking out. Except that, the person who'd had me kidnapped, a man calling himself Father Elijah, had strapped an explosive collar around my neck. Threatened to take my head off if I stepped out of line."

"… You had a bomb strapped to your neck!?" Ruby squeaked.

"Yep." I said.

"Were you scared?" Nora asked.

"Nope." I lied.

"You couldn't just figure out how to take it off?" Weiss asked.

"Have you ever had a bomb around your neck?" I asked.

"… fair." Weiss answered.

"Honestly, for how long I was forced to have it on, it could've been worse." I said "The threat of it wore off after I realized it wasn't just going to suddenly and randomly go off. At least it did, until I walked to close to some of the radios hanging around the Madre. Their broadcasting frequency had decayed over the centuries, and matched the one meant to trigger the bomb. If I stayed too close to one, the collar would start to beep, and would eventually go off if I didn't back up."

"… Ok, that sounds pretty scary." Ruby said.

"I got used to it." I said.

"So, he kidnapped you to help break into the Casino." Pyrrha said "What then?"

"Well, after getting dropped off at the gates with a barebones explanation, I was left to fend for myself. Told that there were other people, spread throughout the Villa who would were needed to break into the Madre. Elijah, at least, had a plan. The stage had been set centuries before, after all, to open the Madre to the world."

"… The Gala." Pyrrha said, recognition passing over everyone.

"Bingo." I said "The Gala had been written into the programming of the security protocols. When triggered, there would be a brief window when the Madre would open her gates for people to enter. Originally as part of the celebration, and the Casino would then open again in the morning. But because it never happened, the Gala became the only means to override security long enough to slip into the building. Otherwise, you'd be banging against an almost unbreakable structure while un-killable monsters burned you to death. If you missed your window? You'd have to start the whole thing over again."

"That doesn't seem so hard to do." Weiss answered "If all that needed to happen was for the Gala to trigger, then why had no one gotten in sooner?"

"Because of the amount of legwork involved." I explained "Because the Villa was crumbling, and because everything needed to happen in quick succession, it wasn't something easily done. Not by one man at least. Which is why Elijah had to forcibly assemble a team that could do it. He didn't do it on the first try either. In the time I was forced to spend there, I got to see a good number of the people Elijah had offed trying to get everything in motion. Those collars really weren't for show."

"So then, you managed to trigger the Gala?" Ruby asked "You all worked together and managed to get inside?"

"Barely." I said "None of us enjoyed working together for the most part, and it took a lot of teeth pulling to make it happen. Then, even after we set everything right, the Gala attracted the attention of every Ghost Person hiding in and underneath the Villa. Setting it off wasn't a cake walk, but trying to get to the gate while being chased by those things was tantamount to suicide… But we made it through, and into the Madre. There was a little more trouble after that. A matter of actually cracking into the vault and dodging security. But compared to everything else it was a cakewalk. There was just one teensy problem: a few loose ends Elijah had to worry about tying up."

Ruby's eyes widened "He was going to kill you?"

"He certainly didn't much care about me to begin with. I was little more than a tool to him, the same as the other people he'd collared." I explained "He certainly tried to kill us, but he didn't succeed. Outsmarted him, right at the end. We had to, there was no way in hell we could allow him to succeed."

"… Why?" Weiss asked, clearly confused "It was just money, what good was it going to do him?"

"It wasn't about the money, it was about the Madre." I said, leaning towards Weiss "Tell me Snowflake, with all of the things I've told you about the Madre, what do you think was the most valuable thing there? The money?"

"Of course not." Weiss said "Honestly of all the things you told us about, the things that sounded more important…" Weiss trailed off, as the pieces fell into place. It was interesting, seeing the way the light changed in her eyes. "… What did he plan to do?"

"… He planned to unleash the Madre's technology on the Mojave." I explained "Use the cloud and holograms to scour the region, kill anyone who fought back. The Collars ensured people would obey him, be compliant. The vending machines would provide food and necessities. He would crush the Mojave under his boot, and keep it that way. Make the whole world go silent."

"He could do that?" Ruby gasped.

"He could with the Madre." I answered "If I dropped even one hologram in the streets of Vale, hundreds of people would die before they even realized how to deal with it, much less destroy it. Elijah would've had hundreds of them at his command, plus the Cloud, and possibly even the Ghost People. If he could figure out how to control them."

"… What did you do?" Ruby asked, clearly beginning to grasp the magnitude of the situation I'd been in.

"What I had to." I explained "When I was done, I took everything I'd earned and walked home. The collar fell off not long after, being so far away from Elijah, it lost its connection and went inert."

"… You killed him." Yang said.

A look of understanding swept over my teammates, though JNPR seemed far more off-put. They'd missed our blow-out about the subject.

"… I've told you, there are things I don't regret doing." I said "Elijah caused a lot of people, including my companions and myself, untold pain and suffering. He was insane, and was going to kill countless more people. He got exactly what he deserved."

"I'm… not gonna touch that." Yang said.

"Which then leads back to here." I said "In the end, I walked away from the Madre, scarred but still alive. There's not much to really take away from it. Besides the obvious: be smart, avoid obvious traps."

"And getting a fact check about who's working for you." Weiss said.

"But the bigger thing you can take away from the Madre, and something everyone will struggle with at some point, is the importance of letting go." I explained "The place is a testament to what happens when you allow yourself to become obsessed with something. Allow it to erode and destroy you. Domino and Sinclair, Sinclair and Vera… Elijah, and the Madre. Even as everything crumbled around them, and it became clear that cutting their losses was the better option, they refused to."

I stood up and surveyed everyone. In a number of ways, I could tell they were paying attention to what I was saying. Which was good. If they could understand the importance of the story of the Madre now, they'd save themselves some heartache in the future.

"It's important to remember, it's never too late to begin again." I said "Because beginning again isn't the hard part… It's letting go."

...

The rain rolled down the goggles of my gasmask, as my duster grew heavy. The material was water proof, but water has a funny way of making everything heavier. Comes with the territory of being one of the densest substances in nature, I guess. Made moving uncomfortable, but not unworkable. At the very least my coat was keeping it from soaking into and beneath my armor. Last thing I needed was to catch a cold, or start worrying about keeping my core temperature up, even if my Aura lowered the chances of it. The White Fang clearly didn't care about those sorts of things though. Most of them had some place warm and dry they could hide away in. I'd already seen two of them by that point in the night. One being some sort of substation and the other being the crawlspace over a fast-food joint.

The place I was standing behind, at that moment, wasn't a White Fang hideout. At least, I hoped it wasn't, otherwise I was going to feel silly. It wouldn't be the first supermarket I'd found to have them lurking in the basement or backrooms. From the outside at the very least that's what it was, a supermarket. A 24-hour place. Surprisingly convenient, but I had to wonder how much business they actually got in the later hours.

Well, it worked in my favor anyway. I'd taken to hitting places like it during my nightly prowling. Get myself something to eat and drink, have a barebones break. Tried not to hit the same place more than once, keep anyone from seeing me often enough to ask questions. Like: What's that kid doing out past curfew?

It was also a nice chance to get out of the rain for a bit. The summer nights had been mostly cool, but they got humid real quick when the rain started. Enough that the moisture fogged up my goggles the moment I stepped into the climate-controlled store.

The store itself was a rather large place. Yang and I had stopped in to one back around when I'd first arrived. This one was even larger than that, but I could tell it paid for it in quality. It was midsummer, and the produce didn't look all that appealing. On the flipside though, they had other conveniences, like a pharmacy at the back of the store. Pity I was there for the food.

The store was largely deserted. There were a few, absolutely exhausted looking, people manning the registers, but I didn't see too many people roaming the aisles. Which made sense, it was getting to be late, and I'd probably walked in about the time most people went to bed. The entrance fed directly into the produce and deli section. Which made it easier for me to just grab something ready to eat. Fruit was easy enough to scarf down, and most of the delis tended to have sandwiches pre-made. It was just a matter of picking the one I wanted. Though given how late it was, most of them would've already been discarded if I was too late. Which was nonsense to me, and a waste of perfectly good food. So what if the veg is starting to wilt? A hungry stomach doesn't know the difference between day old and week-old bread. It won't notice a little soft lettuce.

Unfortunately, as I reached the deli counter, I saw I was already too late. The people behind it were already cleaned up for the night. They were also giving me strange looks, but otherwise seemed to not pay me much mind. I'd seen what people wore at Beacon, I was not the weirdest thing wandering around. I distinctly remember hearing one of them mutter something like 'Huntsmen gonna huntsmen'.

It wasn't just them though, there was one other person giving me strange looks. A small, frankly tiny, elderly woman with a cane, who was waiting at the deli counter. When I say tiny, I mean it as well, because she was only maybe half the height of the deli case. Something in the ballpark of an incredibly optimistic four feet tall, which might've been a major rounding error.

I didn't pay her any mind, and chose to move along. If cured meats and cheese were out of the question, that meant moving on to the second-best option for preserved food. Canned beans.

Snagging an assortment of fruits from produce, I walked along the back of the store. I scanned the overhead signage, looking for the canned goods section. There were plenty of other dried goods I could have gone with, but the canned stuff was just the easiest to work with. Didn't have to worry as much about trying to get any of it prepared, or eating it 'raw'. I'd eaten more than my fair share of uncooked BlamCo Mac and Cheese. It wouldn't kill you, but you'd feel like you were chipping your teeth with every bite.

The hardest part about eating canned beans was the can. Which was optional unless you were a bighorner.

I walked along the back of the store, until I found the aisle with the canned vegetables. I turned down it and began perusing my selection. There were other options besides beans. Carrots, corn, potatoes, spinach, and beets among others. They had medleys and others too, including peas. But most of them were unseasoned and meant as sides or, like peas, were some class of bean.

Among them: Brickie's Baked Beans. Not the best beans I'd ever eaten, but the only kind I'd had that wasn't two hundred-plus years out of date. They tasted like the tree-sap from the Forever Fall, and had bits of meat floating in them, which was nice. It came in other flavor options too, for the little they matter.

I pondered over them for a minute, mulling over which was worth trying.

As I stood before the shelving, a rhythmic tapping began to echo down the aisle, from the way I'd come. I initially assumed it an employee, moving through clean-up for the night. However, as the tapping continued, and was slow in approaching, I turned to look.

It was the elderly woman again, tapping along with her cane. A knotty piece of wood that, I had failed to notice prior, was capped with a skull. Painted blue and highlighted with almost glowing teal accents. Or perhaps they were cyan. I had to image it was either wood or metal itself, and painted or enameled. If it was a real skull, kudos to that lady, she was more hardcore than half the Mojave. Violent whack jobs that the wasteland was full of, I'd never met one who kept the skull of their enemy on a walking stick. There wasn't much about her that was really notable besides that. She was wearing multiple layers, which was a bit strange in the heat of the summer. But they were loose, billowy, giving a very light appearance. A long, blue-grey skirt that reached down to a pair of brown boots, and a deep blue blouse. She was covered, however, by some form of shoulder wrap. Not a cape, like Ruby wore. Something bigger, more encompassing. Something more like a shawl, or a cloak. Trimmed with a pattern of light blue triangles. It was a darker shade of slate than her blues, with a hood she had drawn over her head. Just enough that, down the aisle, I couldn't make out her face. Likely meant to be against the rain outside.

Paying her no mind, I went back to perusing the selection of canned fiber in front of me. Silently pondering why someone would mix ketchup into their beans instead of something sweet. Yet there was an offering for beans in tomato sauce, which I was sure tasted alright, but confused me anyway.

As I pondered, however, I heard a quick tapping of the woman's cane.

I turned my head to look, and found that she was still looking at the shelf. However, she was now several yards closer.

'…'

I turned back towards the shelf myself and made to look like I was examining the merchandise. Waiting a moment.

The tapping resumed, and my head whipped back towards the elderly woman.

Again, she was several yards closer.

I looked up to the signs hanging from the ceiling, pretending to search for something. I took a random can of beans and started down the aisle, turned out of it, and walked into the next one. Dried goods, snack food specifically. Chips, trail mixes, similar dried and crunchy carbs. Things you'd want to eat by the fistful and leave your mouth stung by salt.

I grabbed a jar of nuts and continued on my way. Listening carefully as I went.

It was softer now, with distance and shelving between us, but I could still hear the woman's cane. Rapping sharply against the floor. A strange thing for me to feel the need to focus on. We were in a grocery store; it was perfectly normal to go about shopping in your own rhythm.

But the atrophying sense of paranoia I'd once had said something was off. The worst I could do was to test it a little, and see what exactly was going on.

After a moment, however, my paranoia eased off. The sound of the woman's cane disappeared among the dull hum of the store. I probably looked a little strange to the worker who was pushing a broom down the aisle. Honestly wasn't sure if he was paying me any mind though. He had the glazed-over look of a wage-slave who'd been at it for ten hours, and just got assigned extra over-time.

I walked down the aisle, past him, and to the back of the store again. I turned to do another loop, then head for the register. I just needed something to munch on, and what I'd grabbed would be more than enough.

Then, I felt something tap me on the small of my back.

I turned around, and the elderly woman was standing there, craning her head up to me.

She had a vaguely rectangular face, though rounded with the softness of age. A few strands of silver-white hair hung in front of her face. The corners of her mouth creased with smile lines and lips that were a little wrinkled. Her nose was wide and flat, but did no disservice to her. If anything it helped give her a rather jovial appearance.

Really, the thing that stuck out the most about her though, were these goggles she wore. I'd almost have mistaken them for a prosthetic of some kind, if it wasn't for the band wrapping around her head. They were these over engineered, cumbersome looking things. All steel and glass, the lenses large circles of blue that obscured her actual eyes. They even had lenses on them, which almost seemed to function the same as eyelids. They snapped open when I suddenly turned.

"Oh! Sorry!" the woman said suddenly, voice carrying the crotchety croak of age "I didn't mean to startle you like that."

'I call bs on that.'

"A-all good." I said "… can I help you?"

The woman raised her cane up, and pointed towards the top of a nearby shelf. "Could you reach that can of cashews for me, I wouldn't have had so much trouble in my younger years."

"… Of course." I said, nodding.

Without looking away from the woman, I reached up to the top shelf. I gripped the can and brought it down to her level. The woman took the can and returned with it to a nearby shopping cart, and dropped it into the basket. The woman herself was only just tall enough to see over the one side of it, as she began to push forward.

"Thank you, young man." The woman said, smiling pleasantly "Do yourself a favor: don't get old. There was a time I could have done that without asking for help."

"No problem." I said, preparing to continue on my way.

Until the woman stopped me again.

"One more thing, if you don't mind?" The woman asked "There's this bag of rice that is just a bit too heavy for my old bones to lift. I don't mean to be a bother, but could you help me carry it to the register?"

I looked at the woman for a moment, gauging her. While I didn't mind being helpful, that didn't change the strange feeling she was giving me. She'd been giving me strange looks since I'd walked into the store, now she was asking for my help. While it's not a crime to look, that didn't change the feeling.

Whatever her deal, I chose to play along. Nodding, I followed her to the aisle with the dried goods. I grabbed the large bag of dried rice she indicated, and foisted it into her cart. The bag wasn't particularly oversized, but I could see how someone of her stature would struggle with it.

"Thank you young man." The woman said "Now, why don't you follow me up to the register, and we can see about getting you checked out?"

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Your food." The woman said "It's the least I can do for the helping me. It doesn't look like you've got a lot either."

I shook my head "It's no trouble ma'am. You don't have to do something like that."

The woman chuckled "I insist. Especially because I'm sure you'd rather have gotten a sandwich instead."

"True, but it's no big deal." I said.

"It is to me, who do you think is going to carry this bag for me?" The woman answered candidly, giving me a smirk.

"Umm…" I looked around for a moment. She was, indeed, shopping alone. Which raised a question: "… How were you planning to get that bag of rice if somebody didn't help you?"

The woman looked at me a moment, then shrugged "I was fine until my shoulders started acting up."

"… if you say so. " I said, then motioned towards the front of the store "You don't have to buy me anything, but I'll at least help you get everything unloaded."

The woman smiled at me, and the lenses of her goggles shifted, gaining a pleasant edge. "Why thank you."

I followed the woman up to the register, and helped her unload her cart. It didn't erase the unease, but it helped abate it. The longer I helped her, the more normal things seemed. Sure, she'd basically shanghaied me into it. But taking a few minutes out of what had been an admittedly slow night wasn't a big deal.

Funny word that, Shanghaied.

The burnt-out cashier began scanning the items as I finished unloading the cart. "That should about do it, ma'am." I said, recollecting my gathered food.

"Thank you." The woman answered "If you just set your food down-"

"Ma'am, I'm serious, it's not necessary." I said, squeezing past her and back into the space between the aisles and registers. "I have no problem paying for my own stuff. Helping you was enough."

The woman looked at me for a moment, curiously "Are you sure? I don't mind paying for it."

"I appreciate the offer Ma'am, I really do. But it's ok." I said.

The woman nodded, before focusing intently on me once more. "Well then, if you don't mind, there is one more thing I need to ask-"

Before the woman had a chance to finish, all hell broke loose.

There was a crash of sound back towards the entrance of the store, breaking glass. Followed closely by shouts that dissolved to incoherent echoes, then a staccato of thunder.

Gunfire.

Scream and shouts followed, moving deeper into the store, towards the back.

'… You've got to be fucking kidding me.'

Without hesitation, I bolted down the aisle, towards the back of the store once more. Listening carefully as the source of the sudden racket moved with me. Rather, I moved with it, same difference.

I reached the back of the store, and kept to the edge of the aisle, waiting to see what transpired. After a moment, from the far side of the store, I saw several people hurriedly moving down the back of the store. I recognized one of them as a worker in the store, likely a manager.

The others were White Fang.

Three of them total, a small group compared to the normal fare I seemed to run into. They looked pretty roughed up already, like they'd just crawled out of a burning building. Only two of them were armed, one a man with a pistol, and the other a woman with a hatchet. Hatchet wielder had a broken arm. Third looked like he was nursing a bullet wound. The blood stain on their shirt and general posture said he'd been shot in the side.

I couldn't remember running into them, so how they'd gotten the tar kicked out of them was a mystery. Initially at least.

The two fairly intact Fang pushed the manager along the back of the store. Towards the pharmacy. The pistol wielding Fang kicked the manager in the rear, causing him to stumble forward. He crashed against the door, and scrambled to get up.

"Open it!" The pistol Fang ordered.

"I am- I am." The manager said fumbling at his side and pulling out his scroll.

The hatchet Fang turned to her bleeding partner. "How're you holdin-"

"I've been shot Rosa!" The bleeding Fang snapped.

"Okay, easy!..." 'Rosa' turned towards the manager "Might have to kill him now, thanks for that."

"Fuck!" Bleed-Fang shouted.

"Will both of you knock it off?" Pistol-Fang hissed "We've got the cops on our asses, we need to grab the shit and get out."

"How the fuck did they know we were going to be there?" Bleeding Fang asked.

"Don't know, every pig gets lucky once in a while." Rosa grit.

'The police did this? Shit, good on them, didn't think they actually had it in them.'

The manager swiped his scroll against the door finally, and it unlocked with an audible beep. The pistol-Fang shoved him aside and kicked the door open. Being the clearly least wounded of the bunch, he had no problem leading the charge.

"Tam, get in here so we can get you patched up." He called "Rosa, watch for the cops… and take care of that idiot, if he gets out of line."

Bleeding-Fang, now 'Tam', stumbled into the back of the pharmacy behind 'Pistol'. Rosa meanwhile moved over to the manager. Menacing them with their hatchet, one arm still hanging limp at their side.

"Sure, just leave the one with the broken arm to watch for the police." Rosa griped "I'm totally fine."

Rosa loomed over the manager, while I heard the other two begin working over the back of the pharmacy. She didn't look like she was about to make any moves, but it wouldn't take much. Worse, they already knew the cops were on their tail, so it was only a matter of time before they arrived. There weren't many people to get caught in the crossfire, but police involvement was a problem.

'First thing I find all night, and it just had to be during my break.'

I grimaced as I tried to come up with a quick plan of attack. It was a straightforward thing. There were only three of them, they were already wounded, and they'd isolated themselves well enough. If I took out Rosa, that would alert Pistol and Tam. Pistol would have to take priority, he was the least wounded, and the only one armed beside Rosa. Tam's wound would likely slow him down.

That's how I was going to do it, Rosa, Pistol, and then Tam if his wounds didn't automatically disqualify him.

Then a new element asserted itself into the mix.

From the aisle next to mine, accompanied by the tap of footsteps and her cane, came the old woman. Before I could even react to her, she strode up to Rosa without missing a beat. Who, in turn, took immediate note of her.

Rosa's head snapped to the old woman "What the fu-"

"Excuse me dear, you know it's a school night, right?" The woman said "You shouldn't be out partying."

Then, as an affront to logic, the old woman suddenly launched herself at Rosa. That's not hyperbole, she launched off the ground like a little wrinkly rocket and delivered a flying kick to Rosa's face. Hitting with enough force to crater the Fang into the wall.

Rosa slumped to the ground as the little old woman flipped through the air, came to ground, then darted into the Pharmacy's back room. There were a couple of shouts, and a crash of splintering wood and broken glass.

"… Oh what the fuck." I muttered, and moved from behind cover to the pharmacy door. I looked down at the manager, who looked at me somewhere between terrified and utterly confused. Like he'd never seen an old woman turn herself into a missile before.

It was a first for me too, but still.

Keeping behind the edge of the door frame, I peered into the pharmacy.

The place was completely overturned. Couldn't tell if that was an effect of the Fang digging through the place, or the old woman pin-balling off the walls. Tam was frantically trying to guard themselves, while 'Pistol' was already lying face down on the ground. His weapon knocked away from him.

The woman collided with the wall and slid to the floor facing Tam. She had a wide smile on her face, and was cackling like a madwoman.

Without hesitating, Tam turned towards the door and started blindly running towards it. Never one to waste an opportunity, I got in his way.

I stepped out from cover and tossed my can of beans at his head. The metal tin impacted his face and erupted into a spray of fiber and sticky sauce. He stumbled in his run, and fell forward, hitting the ground limply.

'Seriously, what is in the food here?'

As Tam slumped to the ground, the woman looked at me with a smile on her face. Slowly she got her laughter under control.

"Well-" She said "This was certainly something, wasn't it?"

…

The old woman hurried back to the front of the store, after we made sure the White Fang stayed put. Rather than return to her cart though, she just dipped out the exit. I felt inclined to follow her, as dealing with the police wasn't something I had the energy or time for. I dropped almost everything I'd picked up, save an apple, and tossed a couple lien at the cashier.

We got probably all of a block away from the store, before the woman seemed to remember: she was old. Most old people don't do what she did.

The rain poured down around the two of us, as the woman doubled over on herself, panting.

"Oof, haven't had to do this much running in a while." She huffed, as I loomed over her

"That so?" I asked "So it's not normal for little old ladies to go bouncing off walls?"

"Oh, hush you." She huffed "I may be small, and out of shape, and a little older, and my eyesight's not so good, and the rain is having my shoulder act-up, but… um…" She trailed off

"… But you can still bounce off walls?" I offered.

The woman straightened out slightly and gave me a playful smile. "Yes, thank you."

"Hm, still wouldn't call that normal." I said, turning to look back over my shoulder "You left most of your stuff back there."

"Well, it's not like I paid for it yet." The woman countered "What about you? You didn't exactly wait for the police either, young man."

I nodded at that. "Fair. But I guess we're both waiting for the police now, considering we're just standing around."

"Hmm… nope, it's raining. I'm going home." The woman said, adjusting her hood.

"Smart." I said "You good to get back on your own?"

"Very funny." The woman chuckled "But I wouldn't mind if a nice young man would be willing to escort me."

"I don't know any nice young men." I apologized "But I know a smart-ass who could probably fit the bill."

The woman nodded "I believe he'll do. And his name would be?"

"Six." I said "Just Six."

"Hm, easy enough to remember." The woman smiled "Well, my name is Maria. It's a pleasure to meet you, young smart-ass."

I snorted out a small chuckle. "Likewise… so, shall we get walking?"

"Let's." Maria agreed adjusting her goggles "These blasted things are starting to fog over."

The two of us began down the sidewalk, as the rain began to kick-up. The streets were all but abandoned, the rain driving away anyone who'd want to spend the night out. The street lights dyed the rain spattered streets in shades of yellow and amber, surrounded by rainy grays and inky blues.

"So, Six, can I guess that you're a huntsman in training?" Maria asked "Or do you just have a habit of charging towards gunfire."

"Both actually." I said "I'm currently going to Beacon, though I gotta say I'm not so taken with the place at times. What about you? Most of the old women I meet aren't half as spry as you."

"Retired." Maria answered "Have been for a long time. But I still try and practice the old moves, occasionally… You know, you're not supposed to be out here at night, right?"

"Who's going to stop me, the police?" I asked snidely.

"Yes, actually, I believe they passed laws about huntsmen in training performing vigilante justice a few years ago." Maria said "Though I could be mistaken, I only visit here every once in a while."

"Really?… huh. Wasn't aware of that." I said "Mores the reason to avoid the police then."

The two of us came to a cross-walk, and I helped her across. Traffic was light at least. Not so many people to worry about.

"So, what brings you to Vale then?" I asked "Seeing as you're a tourist rather than a resident."

"Visiting an old friend." Maria answered, smiling "It's a long trip from Mistral to here, so it makes it hard for the two of us to see each other. But I try to get over here for a week or two, once or twice a year. What about you? It's been a while since I've been to Vale, and you don't strike me as a resident either."

"Bit of a wanderer." I said "Long ways from home, but figured this was as good a place as any to study. Among other things."

"Strange, I seem to have a habit of running into wanderers." Maria said "Always from far-away places I've never heard of either… Well, that's how I met my friend, so I suppose that's not such a bad thing."

"How do you know I'm from some place you've never heard of?" I asked.

"That's just how it goes. There's a lot of places that crop up and disappear in the blink of an eye." Maria said "In my day, being a wanderer was just a good way to get gobbled up by Grimm… still is, come to think of it."

I nodded "Pays to be careful then."

"Very." Maria agreed "There's a lot of dangerous people out there. Pays to be dangerous in return. I remember it used to be worse, when I was your age. They didn't have all the Huntsman Academies and everything. You just took a licensing test, and bam, you were a Huntsman. Lot of people who weren't cut-out for it wound up either not making it or turning to crime."

"Honestly, I could care less whether or not I ever get the license." I said "I don't need a piece of paper to tell me I can do the right thing."

"Yes, and I'm sure your Pip-boy can point you in the right direction." Maria said snidely.

"If someone's in trouble, I'll just do what feels right to me." I explained "There's a lot of cases where someone saying that just results in more problems. But by and large, I'm not one of them."

"I saw that." Maria nodded "You at least were trying to figure things out before rushing in. Smart, a lot of people tend to just rush-in without thinking."

"You didn't seem to take a lot of time to plan dive-kicking that one girl." I countered.

"I'm a slow walker." Maria chuckled "I've got plenty of time to think."

The two of us rounded a corner, and Maria's walk slowed further. She stopped in front of a shop door and turned to look at me.

"Well, this is me." Maria said "Thank you for walking me here, young man."

"My pleasure Ma'am, you take care of yourself, ok?" I said.

"I will, have a good evening, and don't be afraid to stop in and visit." Maria said with a smile "I'm probably going to make this a long vacation." She reached a hand up to the shop door and pulled it open. I held it for her, as she tapped her way in out of the rain.

As I released the door however, I felt my scroll go off. I pulled it out and checked it, finding that a new message had gone through.

The White Fang were moving, it was time to go to work.

"So much for my break." I grumbled.

Turning on my heel, and started away from the store. I slid my scroll back into my pocket, and went to the map of my Pip-

I stopped dead.

Maria knew what a Pip-boy was.

A complete and total stranger to me, knew what the hunk of metal on my wrist was. She also had an idea of what it did.

I turned to look back at the store I was walking away from. It was a squat brick building, fairly modern and recent in appearance. A large display window with painted gold lettering sat beside the door. The shop beyond was fairly dark. But I could make out the lettering.

'Brown's Antiques and Knick Knacks'.

I stood there, in the rain, frozen in the summer's breeze. A part of me wanted to immediately rush after Maria and find out just what the hell was going on. The other part of me, knew that the White Fang were about to start causing trouble. If I didn't tend to them, it would only get worse. Both were important, and demanding of my time.

But, only one of them had the potential to bring immediate harm to people other than myself.

I would have to come back when things were quieter.

I swore, and turned back down the street. Breaking into a sprint before my legs could turn and point me the other way.

'Don't forget this one, dumbass.'

---

IT. IS. DONE!

Finally, we can get back to our irregularly scheduled programming!

Managed to overcome my illness, but these last few chapters were an absolute grind to get through. I think it goes without saying: but it's time to try and get back on track now.

'Poison_Pen37': It was thankfully, I basically spent the rest of Christmas and the day after zonked out in my bed. Made it fly by fast enough but left me feeling like a slug.

'Rhazort': You're Awesome.

'Zero': All hail Princess Blake Belladonna, First of her name, May her milk dish never run dry.

'Spenge': All is well, thank you

'Thepkrmgc': Perhaps at some point, a little further along. I will admit he left a mark on her though.

'ODSTFRymann': It's coming, don't you worry about that.

'Selfishgecko': It would take some doing, but it would be interesting all the same. One has to wonder what Ice Queendom would look like with a Weiss post character development. The Grimm preys on your deepest insecurities and fears, and those are things that can last a lifetime. How you perceive them can certainly shift.

'Felix_The_Brave': Mistakes are normal. Mistakes are human. It's what you learn from them that counts the most, even if it takes a try or two. When you fail to learn from them, you'll be damned to repeat them. So it's best to try to learn from others where you can. Best of luck on your endeavors, You've certainly got some things to learn from ;)

'SpatialYeti8': I apologize that I was not able to make our duel transpire. So here's a quick draw: Who's the nemesis of GHAZGHKULL THRAKA?

'PilotWithThreeStrikes': Those are very dangerous questions considering the way Blackholes work.

'Ironically_Challenged': *God has now entered the Game*

'Rio_Skyron': Did this chapter answer your question?

'Dklett': Y'know, its odd that for some reason that feature continually slips my mind when I'm writing. I'm fully aware of what the Pip-boy can do, but the recordings have such a rare utility it just doesn't occur to me that there are times they would be handy to use. I'll try to be more mindful of that in the future.

'B433': Will do.

'Guest': Well hopefully we can get back to more of the PLOT now. Also, Craigslist Courier? That's a new one, I actually got a chuckle out of that.

'Raffix': CIA-CIA-CIAPHAS CAINE: HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! (I've enjoyed them as well, found them far easier to get into than the rest of it.)

'Chad': Mm, and the only thing you'd have to sell is your soul. An easy enough trinket to part with.

'Guest(2)': Hopefully in the time since you posted your review you've caught up to present, and hopefully some of your concerns have been addressed. If not, I'm sorry, I'm doing my best to try and get to them.

'Whytf': Only on the inside.

'April-551': Glad to hear you like it. As for the TvTropes thing: I'm honestly not sure. I don't do much advertising, and the wiki rules say I'm not supposed to self-promote either. Just kinda figured at some point someone would decide to put it on the site, but I'm honestly pretty ambivalent to it at this point. I've got a wonderful audience that I love to watch grow, but know the larger it gets the harder it is for me to connect with you guys like, for example: this. Always figured if it happened, it would be in due time, and a sign that maybe I've got the chops for writing more seriously after all. But I'm not waiting on signs anymore, and if it happens, then that's awesome and I'll still appreciate it.

Alright, back to the grind. With luck we'll get back to monthly updates, if not sooner from here on. I'll see you all soon.

This Fanfic is brought to you by Brickie's Baked Beans: "You make sure the brickyard is filled, We'll make sure you're filled."

Adios.

-Ash