The atmosphere inside the presidential suite of the Lucky 38 was, well, rather dark and gloomy as of late. The last week hadn't been too good to its occupants. Between Six's revelations about her past, the threat of Cass possibly being dragged to an NCR prison and the things some had said to others, the little rag-tag group of companions had become a little more standoffish with one another -to put it mildly- with the passing days. However, that morning -freakishly early as it were- everyone gathered in the kitchen at the request of Ruby of all people.
Ruby sat at the head of the kitchen's table, Rex sat on the floor by her right side and ED-E floated on her left. The remainder of the apartment occupants occupied the other chairs on each side. Some -Cass, Six and Arcane- were visibly tired, with bags under their eyes and obviously wanted to go back to bed. Veronica and Raul seemed fully awake though.
"So, what is the reason you dragged us out of bed at-" Six checked her Pip-Boy's clock. "five-thirty in the morning?"
"I would like to know that too." Arcade followed with a yawn.
The rest merely nodded and mumbled confirmations.
"Well, things have been…tense the last couple of days. Even without what happened in the past week with me and Six getting captured by the Legion and…the backstory stuff." Everyone glanced at Six. "All of us have been a little irritable–"
"Maybe if someone didn't eat my food we wouldn't have issues." Veronica glanced at Cass.
"For the last time, woman, I don't know it's yours if you don't label it!"
Veronica slapped her hands on the table. "You saw me eating it earlier, you lying skank!"
"Can you two not shout so early in the morning for something so trivial?" Arcade rolled his eyes. "How about worrying that the person we've all decided to follow is a goddamn terrorist carrying toy-shaped weapons of mass destruction in her bag." Six didn't respond, choosing instead to stare daggers at the Followers' doctor.
In an instant, everyone minus Ruby and Raul began yelling and shouting at one another for one reason or the other.
Ruby sighed and looked at Raul with pleading puppy eyes.
The blue-jumpsuit-wearing ghoul reached for his waist and upholstered his revolver. Aiming it at the ceiling, he pulled the trigger. In the moment that followed, no one was saying anything. "You were saying mija?"
"Thank you Raul. This exactly proves my point. We're all angry with one another, for whatever reason. Sooo, I think we should all do something together, leave the suite, get some air. Y'know?"
The previously arguing companions glanced at each other with a shared look of both confusion and curiosity. "What do you have in mind, Ruby?" Six asked.
A big smile grew on Ruby's face. "Let's go to the beach!"
Once again, the companions looked between each other with shared faces of utter confusion before all turning back to Ruby. "What?" They all asked in unison.
"The beach!" Ruby enthusiastically repeated.
"Yeah no, Rubes, we heard it the first time." Veronica started. "We're just…"
"Really confused why you'd say that." Boone finished.
"Wait…Have you guys never gone to the beach?" Ruby tilted her head.
"No? Why would we?"
"Y'know, beach stuff. Like go for a swim, have a barbeque, relax–Aaaaaaand I just realized why." Ruby face palmed. "Okay, sure, irradiated water is not the best to go have a swim in. Buuut, Lake Mead isn't irradiated."
"Only filled with Lakelurks." Six deadpanned.
"Well," Boone said, "technically not all areas are crawling with them."
"I was getting there Boone." Ruby turned back to the group. "Our resident sniper told me that the NCR usually goes on these cullings in the area around Camp Golf to train soldiers and keep the area sort of safe. So a lot of the Lakelurk population has actually moved further south and east. Meaning…" She smiled, waiting for one of the others to finish her sentence.
"That it's actually sort of safe to camp there." Cass sighed.
"Exactly!" Ruby snapped her fingers.
"Okay then, " Six smirked. "where would we be camping? I'm assuming we're camping."
"Glad you asked Six! Mister Tejada, if you please." She gestured to Raul who pulled out a rolled up map of the Mojave.
"After talking a little with Señor Sniper and a couple other soldiers on leave in the Strip that patrolled the area, we've learned that there's an abandoned camping park here." Raul tapped the map in a point a bit north of Ranger Station Alpha.
"We don't have Lakelurks to worry about and critters there should be easy to deal with. Not to mention the added security of the ranger station nearby." He passed the map along, making sure everyone got a look at it.
"Huh, seems pretty well thought out." Arcade admitted.
"Looks like it." Six concurred. The rest nodded and seemed to agree with the choice of location.
"So what do we do when we get there?" Boone brought up the question burning the post-war-born individuals in the room.
"Like I said, beach stuff. Go for a swim, have a barbeque, tell scary stories to each other by the campfire, sleep under the stars."
"Soooo…Stuff we already do everyday?" Cass seemed even more confused.
"Nonono." Ruby shook her head. "You do that out of necessity. Have you ever camped just for the fun of it?" The silence and odd looks between each of them told Ruby all she needed to know. "See?"
"I mean, it doesn't hurt to try it out. Right guys?" Veronica asked in her normal, jovial voice.
"I suppose there are worse things." Cass concurred.
"It's whatever." Boone shrugged.
"I suppose we would all benefit from going outside." Arcade adjusted his glasses.
Six shrugged. "Since everyone agrees, sure. Why not?"
"Then it's decided!" Ruby happily exclaimed. "Now," Ruby grabbed a large suitcase that was beside her chair and put it in front of her on the table "I took the liberty of getting some swimsuits for all of us since I don't think y'all have any." Ruby clicked the suitcase's latches open and spun it around, revealing its contents to be several small transparent plastic packs with the names of each of them written in blue sharpie. "Given yours truly is an honorary member of the White Gloves, Miss Margerie allowed me to borrow these."
They all took their respective packs and held it in their hands, examining the pieces of clothing. There wasn't much to them, they were all a darker gray with the symbol of the Ultra Luxe etched on each of them.
"These are just shorts…" Boone mumbled, looking somewhat confused.
"That is correct Boone! Guys usually just wear shorts when they go for a swim."
"So, like, do these have any special padding or are bullet proof?"
"Nope! Why would they, silly?"
Boone and Arcade exchanged an even more confused look before collectively glancing at Raul -being the resident pre-war ghoul he ought to have some actual answers. The ghoul merely gave them a shrug and a nod. "Ruby's right. Mi família and I used to go to the beach every summer."
Their doubts hadn't exactly been cleared, but the doctor and sniper chose to suffer in silence while pondering if this was actually a good idea.
"What about you guys?" Ruby addressed the women in the group who were looking pretty intently at their packs.
There was silence for a moment before Six spoke up "Ruby…what is this?" She asked, pointing at the pack.
Why is her face red? "A bikini." Ruby replied with a straight face.
"W-What I think Six is tryna say Rubes," Veronica continued "is that these swimsuits look a lot like…a lot like underwear."
This caught Ruby by surprise. "W-Wha? I-I guess? But it's not underwear. It's not even the same material I'm pretty sure. I don't see the issue." Seeing as nothing they could say -that wouldn't embarrass them to death- would change Ruby's mind, the 3 women relented and also suffered in silence. "Now that that's out of the way, let's get going! Me and Raul already prepared the other things we need to take and if we leave now," she looked at her new Pip-Boy 3000 to look at its digital clock "we should get there by two, maybe three p.m. give or take."
At that point, Six and the rest of the crew didn't even comment on the fact Ruby just expected them to do a 9 hour walk to the beach. Mostly because half of them were still hung up on the swimsuit thing.
"So what else are we taking?" Six tentatively asked.
"Oh not much. Just two coolers with food and drinks, two parasols–"
Ruby's voice slowly faded into a quiet ringing noise as she continued listing off items. Six's eye twitched slightly as she now very much regretted agreeing to this.
Rose of Sharon Cassidy had been in many a complicated situations before. Be it being outnumbered in a four-to-one in a bar scuffle, or that one time she drunkenly fought off 2 Vaulty City security guards, or many other of her drunken adventures for that fact. Though she had never, in all her 39 years of being, thought that carrying a cooler filled with food could be this fucking uncomfortable.
The group had now been out for seven hours -give or take- and were reaching their destination, earlier than they expected too. Veronica had spotted a caravan headed for Novac when they were leaving Freeside, so Six -with her ever pragmatic mentality- paid off caravan master to have the brahmin carry their equipment. They had been fortunate enough that the caravan had allowed their company up until the 188 but since the merry little group of companions were bound for Lake Mead, they split up with from the merchants and had made their way to Boulder City and make use of the old road that split off from Route 93 and head to their camping site.
Cass still didn't quite know why she'd agree to this. A beach trip? Not only did that sound completely fucking retarded, but dangerous and unnecessary. Sure they were all still heated with one another, why wouldn't they be? The bombshell Six had revealed wasn't exactly the stuff you get over in a night and then hug it all out the next day. Cass never believed the Courier to be a good person, maybe a decent person at best. But terrorism? Like any other Californian Cass had her problems with the NCR, but it was still her country. Though it did color her surprised when Arcade of all people was angrier than Boone. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be a day out in the sun with some barbeque that was going to mend this situation.
Another half an hour of walking passed by before the group of seven plus eyebot and cyberdog finally reached their destination. An old campsite complete with 2 trailers and a brick grill, and the lake right next to it down the slope. All minus Ruby and the two non-humans almost collapsed from exhaustion right then and there.
"Don't go dead on me just yet guys. We just got here!" She happily exclaimed.
"How." Cass panted. "How are you so energetic? We just walked for almost seven hours straight."
"Well, endurance wasn't always my strong suit. I was always more of a fast and quick kind of girl. But then some people." She not-so subtly looked at Six and Boone -who were currently on the ground gasping for air. "Made sure I trained my endurance quite a lot."
That earned the Sniper and Courier a scowl from everyone else who was exhausted.
"Enough dilly dallying!" Ruby clapped her hands, gaining everyone's attention. "We managed to get here earlier than I expected, which is great. But that doesn't mean we can slack off! I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty hungry. So why don't we get working on lunch?"
The adults all groaned.
In the short minutes after, everyone had been positioned to a certain station. Raul and Cass were on grill duty, Six and Arcade were cleaning up the trailers so they were actually sound to sleep in, and Boone was making some quick rounds to make sure there were no interlopers near to ruin their day. Ruby of course had the most important job of all, supervising. And of course the only way she could effectively supervise was by staying under a parasol and sitting in the folding chair she made a point to bring while sipping on an ice cold sunset sarsaparilla.
The hissing of a beer opening next to her drew Ruby's attention as none other than Veronica -who had sneaked off from patrolling with Boone- was sitting on her towel right next to Ruby. "Oh I can get used to this."
Ruby smiled a toothy grin, pulling out a pair of shades -much like the ones Boone liked to use- and slapped them on before clicking her drink with the Scribe's. "You and me Vee."
Back up the slope, things weren't so calm and relaxing though.
"What do you mean I'm doing it wrong?!" Cass waved the spatula in her hand at Raul.
"Cassidy, the meat doesn't have enough seasoning. You barely added a pinch of salt and pepper!" Raul pinched the bridge of his nose." Ay dios mio. Here, let me do it."
"Oh hell no." Cass slashed the air with her spatula, putting it right in front of the ghoul to keep him away from the burger. "It's my kitchen and I say the burgers are fine. They don't need more seasoning!"
"Shouldn't you intervene?" Arcade turned to Six, who was carrying a bag full of trash from cleaning up the first trailer with the doctor.
"Why does it always have to be me?"
"Aren't you our fearless group leader?" Arcade remarked.
Six scoffed and threw the bag to an unoccupied corner. "I thought you didn't want to associate with me."
"I never said that."
"Well, some don't need to be said." Six slumped down on the picnic table and pulled out a cigarette.
Arcade sat next to her, hunched over and with his arms resting on his legs. Both of them watched as Raul and Cass continued to argue about every step of cooking known to Man. Six seemed comfortable with the silence, but then again, it was Six. The woman brooded and stayed quiet as much as Boone on a bad day. So of course, it was Arcade who broke the silence.
"I didn't mean it."
"Yes you did." Six responded with a flat tone.
The Doctor gritted his teeth. "Six, I'm trying to apologise."
Six sighed and took a long last drag from her cigarette before flicking it away. "You don't need to. I…I knew it was gonna happen. If not you then one of the others. I don't blame any of you for being mad at me. I would be too. I thought I could just bury all of this, t-that the past was done and over. But I have shit luck. Even this piece of junk agrees." Six gestured to her Pip-Boy. Leaning over, Arcade could see on the screen Six's S.P.E.C.I.A.L statistics.
Strength 7
Perception 8
Endurance 9
Charisma 3
Intelligence 6
Agility 9
Luck 2
"Wow…"
"Yeah. "
"I mean, hey your physical stats are pretty good."
Six turned her head to Arcade and stared into his eyes with her blank, soulless, amber-gold eyes. "Don't patronize me, Arcade Gannon."
"Sorry."
The two fell into an awkward silence. Well, as silent as there could be with Raul and Cass still arguing with each other, which had now drawn out Ruby and Veronica from their lakeside relaxation.
"You know, I actually thought some of you would leave. Maybe if I said something sooner you would."
Arcade raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? D-Do you want us to leave?"
"Not it's not-" Six responded almost immediately, stopping herself mid sentence. "The way things are going, the way my past is catching up with me…It's coming full throttle and it won't care who gets caught in the crossfire. I don't want you guys getting hurt because of me." Six stared intently at the four person argument over something as silly as seasoning on burgers.
"You know, for the longest time I didn't understand why sometimes you could be so altruistic and other times be–"
"A dickhead?"
"I was going to say the most selfish woman on earth, but that works too." That elicited a small chuckle from the Courier. "But I think I understand now."
"Then illuminate me, Arcade the Genius." Six replied in a playful -but not so quite mocking- tone.
"Vulpes pilum mutat, non mores. The fox changes his fur, not his habits. You're a good person at your core, Alyx Nord. You've just covered your heart in stone, but now the cracks are starting to show. Because of something, or someone." Arcade gave Six his -very annoying- knowing look.
"I didn't know you were a psychologist." Six huffed and crossed her arms.
"I have brunch with Usanagi every other week." He shrugged. "Besides, good people do bad things for what they believe to be good reasons. Whatever you did, I'm sure you had a reason for it."
"Talking from experience?" Six smirked at the lack of an answer from the doctor. "Someone also has a cryptic backstory."
"What kind of member of this group would I be if I didn't?"
"Touché."
The two turned back to the argument, only to find there was no longer one. Cass and Raul were peacefully cooking together with Ruby right between them.
Ruby must've solved their argument somehow…Where did Veronica go?
"So did you two make up?" Veronica's voice suddenly came from behind, causing both Six and Arcade to jump out of their seats.
"You scared the shit out of me."
"Yes, please don't do that ever again." Arcade adjusted his glasses.
"You didn't answer my question." The Scribe replied with a shit eating grin.
"Yes, we made up." Six answered.
"Great!" Veronica clapped. "Let's go eat!"
Lunch came and went quickly and uneventfully, and to no one's surprise the food was great. Though there were some comments on the spiciness of the food, which only resulted in annoyed ramblings from Raul on how the group didn't understand the intricacies of Mexican cuisine. Once everyone had eaten and everyone had helped clean after themselves -just because it's the apocalypse, it doesn't mean they're gonna be filthy animals- it was finally time for the moment Ruby had been oh so eagerly expecting.
Veronica was, of course, the first to hop out of the trailer the girls had chosen for themselves wearing a not-so surprising two-piece swimsuit that was rather complementing of her small yet athletic build. Cass and Ruby followed suit, the latter wearing a one-piece while the former wore something much akin to Veronica's chosen design only appropriated to Cass' proportions and with her trusty straw hat still glued to her head. At the same time the guys came out of their trailer, all with the same identical pair of trunks. Regardless of gender, all swimming attire had the same color palette of a slate gray and white streak -on the right side of the trunks for the gentlemen and on the right end side of the chest and/or cups for the ladies- where the Ultra Luxe symbol was embroidered in a golden thread. None were barefooted of course. This wasn't a nice sandy beach, it was decrepit rock after all.
"These things are…surprisingly light." Arcade hummed. "And free to roam around too."
"Hmm. It feels weird." Boone grunted.
"Don't be such a grumpy pants Boone!" Veronica skipped over to the two, doing a little spin before stopping. "I get why those women were always smiling on those old pre-war posters of these things. Man, I look hot! What do you think Arcade?" The Scribe quickly whipped out a pose, leaving the Followers doctor merely staring blankly.
"...Veronica, you know I'm gay right?"
"Yeah? So am I. Your point?"
"...I guess you look nice?" The man shrugged. "I don't do fashion."
Unsatisfied with Arcade's commentary, the woman expectantly looked to the sniper, whose mean and grumpy look was enough to articulate a 'No' without words. Defeated and left unpraised, Veronica slouched over and wrapped her arms around Cass, her now only salvation. "Please tell me I look good Cass."
Cass chuckled and patted the younger woman's head. "You look great hon."
"Weren't you two fighting or something?" The sniper commented.
That simply earned Boone a weird look from the two. "Boone, we spent seven hours walking here. We talked and figured our shit out on the way."
The conversation eventually drifted topics -with Raul joining in soon after- but Ruby had pretty much zoned it out as it dragged on. She'd rather focus on the next stage of 'Operation Beach Fun' of course. However, a critical part of said operation was missing.
Six had not come out yet. She knew for a fact that Six had to still be in the trailer, simply because Cass and Veronica had dragged her butt in. Since her plans simply could not be deterred, Ruby went to check the trailer.
She knocked once.
No answer.
She knocked once more.
Still, no answer.
Ruby frowned with a pout. Why was Six always so difficult? "Six I know you're there. C'mon we're all waiting for you!"
Silence.
Now absolutely peeved, Ruby barged in. And there was Six, sitting on the floor of the trailer off to the corner. With her clothes on still! Sure she had her armor off and was just left with a shirt and jeans and the swimsuit laid bare in front of her. And she was just staring at it!
"C'mon Six, you haven't even put it on yet!"
The Courier didn't even look up to her.
Okay this is getting weird now… Ruby slowly stepped close to the Courier. "Helloooo? Siiiix? You there?" Only when she tapped her on the shoulder did Six come to her senses.
"O-Oh, s-shit fuck. Sorry I-I-I'll be out in a minute."
Realising something was up, Ruby's frown softened and she sat down next to Six. "Is everything okay?"
"It's-"
"And don't say it's fine. Or I will pester you to death." The kid responded with a stare.
Six chuckled and ruffled Ruby's hair. "You caught me there." Her smile dropped. "After I took off the armor and actually looked at the swimsuit, I-I dunno. I guess I just froze."
"Why? It's just a bikini." Ruby tilted her head.
"Ruby I-…I don't like showing skin. I think it makes me feel like an easy target? I-I dunno. It's a weird feeling."
"But you're fine at the Lucky Thirty-Eight."
"That's different. It-...I guess it makes me feel…" Six cringed, struggling to find the words.
"Safe?"
Six nodded. "Something like that."
"Y-You don't have to put it on." Ruby responded meekly. "I-If I knew it would make you uncomfortable I wouldn't have–"
"Stop." Six put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You couldn't have known, because I don't tell people this stuff." She sighed. "I'll push through and put it on. You put in a lot of effort so everyone could have fun and unwind. It wouldn't be fair if your plan got ruined because of me flaking out at the end." Six gave Ruby a small weak smile.
"But you–"
Six pressed a finger against Ruby's lips. "I don't wanna hear it. Just go grab my boxing tape. I gotta cover something up and its water-proof. It should be with my things."
"Why?" Ruby tentatively asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you hurt your wrists?"
Six glanced at her pip-boy covered arm. "Yeah, something like that."
A couple minutes passed before Six finally stepped outside the trailer. Much like Veronica and Cass, her swimsuit was one of those two-piece bikinis, but more on the conservative side -which Ruby was glad that ended up being the one Six got. Unsurprisingly, the woman was borderline pale from her neck down, and riddled with damage. Scars, some older than others, made their mark in differing corners of the Courier's body. Too many to count really, but the most noticeable ones -that Ruby could see- aside from the 2 circles in her head, were the machete sized stab she had on the left side of her lower abdomen and a pretty sizable burn mark on the side of her right thigh. There were surely more, but they were probably not really noticeable.
That or they were covered by Six's tattoos.
Ruby had only ever seen Six without long-sleeves that one time she collapsed right in the middle of the Lucky 38's kitchen and had to have her shirt taken off for Arcade to treat her, so Ruby hadn't really gotten a good look at them. Off the bat there were the two half-sleeves Six had on each arm. One looked akin to a Mistrali Dragon that circled around her arm and ended right at where the arm met the shoulder and the pectoral with its mouth opened, all the while big symbols she swore she saw in an old school anime floated around it. The other was a weird flaming tire on her shoulder on top of a wide road that went down to her elbow.
Wonder what that means… Before Ruby could ponder the meaning behind Six's tattoos, a loud squeal came right from behind her.
"Oh my god Six, you look great!" Veronica commented. "You really rock the badass old woman look."
Courier Six, annihilator of entire Legion camps, lieutenant of Mr. House, scourge of the Fiends, could do nothing but stammer and stumble over words in response to a simple compliment. "I-I-I-T-Thanks I guess..." She awkwardly crossed her arms. "Wait what do you mean by old?! I'm not that old!"
"I dunno Six." Cass, who seemingly materialised out of nowhere, scooped Six under her arm. "Aren't you pushing fifty or somethin'?"
"For fuck's sake, I'm only forty-two!"
"'Only' she says." The Caravaneer remarked, dropping her hold on Six. " But yeah, looks good on ya."
"If you say so." Six sighed. "Though, it's a little tight on the chest."
Everyone but Boone and Veronica let out a chuckle, the latter of which looked down before looking back at Six with the blankest stare there was.
"Alright guys!" Ruby clapped, rounding up everyone's attention. "Since we're now all in uniform, we can start with our scheduled activities of Operation Awesome Beach Day. Now, usually I'd have scheduled a great deal of fun beach sports for us to partake in. However, we don't have sand." She pointed to the very barren and rocky soil. "So I decided on the best next thing. A Treasure Hunt!"
"A…treasure hunt?" Boone tentatively asked and raised an eyebrow.
"Yup! We divide ourselves into teams of two and go off to search for treasure. We all have two hours to collect either the most amount of valuable things. When we get back together we count the value of the items each team gathered and…"
"The team with the most value wins." Cass finished.
"Correct Miss Cassidy!" Ruby snapped her fingers.
"Well, it could be fun I suppose." Veronica shrugged. "But it's not exactly the relaxing tanning experience I was looking forward to." She muttered that last part.
"Well count me out." Surprisingly, it was Raul of all people who said that.
"What?! Why?!" Ruby was suddenly hit by a wave of despair at the thought of Raul not participating.
"Mija, these old bones aren't meant to be crawling around everywhere. Plus you need an impartial jury don't you? Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on the camp, and I'm not letting Mr. Brooder here use that as an excuse to miss out on all the fun." Raul said with a laugh as he playfully smacked Boone's back, to which the sniper merely grunted annoyed.
"I guess it's decided then." Ruby quickly used her semblance to dart back and forth from her bag in the trailer, bringing with her 8 straws, with pairs equal in length. With Raul out, the 8 companions -of which ED-E and Rex were obviously included- drew straws and the duos were formed. Ruby paired with Boone, Veronica with Rex, Arcade got stuck with ED-E, so that meant Six and Cass were by default the last duo.
Without further ado, the members of the treasure hunt dawned their holsters -the area might be safe, but you never know- and waited for the bicentennial ghoul to initiate the hunt. And with a light squeeze of the trigger and the bang that there came out of Raul's revolver aimed at the heavens, the Super-Duper-Awesome Beach Treasure Hunt had commenced.
"Think I got something here." Six called out to Cass as she rummaged through the storage area of a fishing boat that had run aground on the shore.
Cass carefully tiptoed inside that compartment of the wreck. Even if it seemed stable, more often than not these carcasses of the old world could collapse at any moment. "Whatcha got?" The woman asked, putting down a toolbox she found near the engine.
"Just mostly parts and scrap. Nothing too exciting."
"Cool…"
An air of awkward silence took over the two, as it had for most of the treasure hunt so far. Things between Six and Cass were…complicated. Before revealing her history to the group, or even when Cass threatened to beat the living shit out of Six a couple weeks back, the two had always had a sort of strenuous relationship. Even the context in which they started travelling together was less than ideal, given it all came from a drunken brawl over a game of cards the two had in the Mojave Outpost after Six dealt with the whole sheriff issue Primm was having. It was in said drunken stupor - after they were kicked out of the bar- that the two vented to one another about their 'shitty-ass fucking life'.
Next thing both knew, they were travelling together alongside a floating metal ball.
Still, the last week had certainly been the spark that lit the powder keg and while the 2 were certainly on talking terms, they hadn't 'made up and become friends again' like Ruby would put it. If Six didn't know better she would've thought the kid had rigged it so that she ended up pairing with Cass.
"So…" Cass finally broke the silence. "Eighties tattoo huh?"
Six sighed internally. Of course one of them was going to recognize it. If not Boone, then Cass had to. "Yeah. Long story."
"And you don't want to talk about it."
"Yeah."
Cass sighed. "Figured as much."
Six stopped scavenging the storage compartment, but remained with her back towards Cass. "How'd you know? What it was."
"Cassidy Caravans used to operate out of Vault City before moving goods to the Mojave. Eighties raiders along the I-80 were always an issue."
Another wave of awkwardness hit them.
Six wasn't feeling enthusiastic about this whole thing. Sure it was awkward, but she could live with awkward. But then the kid came to mind. The Courier eventually relented in the battle with herself. "Cass, I-"
"Don't." Cass interrupted instantly in a rather harsh tone. Though, the moment after she audibly sighed and sat next to Six. "Sorry, that didn't come out right."
"It's fine." Six waved her off. "I understand if you're still mad."
"I'm not mad Six. Honestly I can't even remember why I was angry at you to begin with." She chuckled.
"I'm an alcoholic with serious issues who can potentially harm everyone in the group." Six deadpanned. "I think that's something pretty reasonable to be mad at."
"Oh please, get in line bitch." Cass replied rather annoyed. "The only people in our group who aren't a dysfunctional wreck are Raul and, surprisingly, the kid."
Six let out a chuckle. "I guess you're right." Her smile dropped. "Still, I, uh, do want to bury the hatchet. Like, properly. Cass you, well, were kinda like, like uh…God this is stupid." The Courier buried her face in her hands before taking a breath and trying again. "You were my first friend. Like in years. Someone that wasn't just a passerby. So it sorta, kinda, matters a lot to know if we're cool." Six braced slightly, she knew Cass wasn't a fan of the mushy feelings stuff -neither was she- but alas. Yet, no sarcastic comment, or punch game arrived and in a rather surprising turn of events to Six, Cass hugged her.
"Lead with that next time, idiot." Six was shaken for a moment but, tentatively, reciprocated the caravanner's hug before eventually breaking away. "You were my first friend in a while too. It hurt when you disappeared without saying anything. Especially after the stunt we pulled with the CCC and Van Graffs. I know you're a reserved person, especially after what you've told us, but you can talk to me. Y'know?"
"Thanks Cass. Really." The two shared a smile as they sat in place for a while longer. Then a realization dawned on Six. "D-Did we just hug it out and talk about our feelings?"
Upon having it said out-loud, Cass went wide-eyed. "Holy shit…The kid's rubbing off on us too much."
"Yeah…FUCK!" Six sat up suddenly. "The timer!"
"Shit!"
Ruby peered through the scope of Boone's hunting rifle, the isolated lakelurk that they'd found near the shore was about a little less than 300 yards from them.
"Now," Boone said calmly. "like we practiced."
Ruby took a deep breath, never closing her eye and keeping herself steady. Well, as steady as she could, the rifle still shook a bit when she handled it. Regardless, she had this. A second went by before she finally squeezed the trigger and the .308 round blasted out of the barrel and found its mark in the lakelurk's head, killing it instantly.
"Yes!" She turned to the sniper. "I told you I'd gotten better." She declared proudly with a smug face.
Boone hummed, not breaking eye contact with the teenager. "You're getting there. You still have a long way to go and things to fix."
Ruby pouted. "Like what?"
"The shaking." He responded without a second thought. "Every time before you pull the trigger, you hesitate and take an extra second before shooting." In a real combat situation that may be the difference between life and death."
The pout on her face faded, being replaced by one of cold neutrality. "Y-Yeah…Got it. Let's just skin it and win the treasure hunt." She got up from her prone position and slung the rifle over her shoulder, not looking at Boone as she started getting off the rocks they were perched off.
The sniper sighed. "Hold up." The teenager looked back at him and saw him tap the ground next to him. Ruby reluctantly sat down.
"I know why you're shaking, why you hesitate. It's nothing physical. Because let's be honest, physically, you're better than most recruits. You just need to put on muscle." Ruby unslung the rifle, inspecting it for damage, dust, anything. The expression on her face didn't change, so Boone got to the point. "You still can't get over it. Your first kill."
Ruby gripped the rifle harder.
"You keep bringing yourself back to that moment, reliving it over and over again. Thinking how you could've done it differently. Is that it?"
Ruby nodded meekly.
Boone sighed, breaking off eye contact and looking off into the horizon. "I was sixteen when I first killed a person. The NCR was rolling into the Mojave proper, not just some raider extermination expedition. This was before I got scouted for the First Recon, so we enlisted infantrymen were often sent on squads out to clear locations of raiders. On our way there we were ambushed by a group of vagrants. Junkies from Freeside if I had to guess. We didn't want to open fire, even if they were junkies, they were still just civilians. I guess they just moved too aggressively and before I knew it, I'd shot a hole through his heart."
"W-What happened after?" Ruby finally spoke.
"We continued to the place we were meant to secure and those vagrants got labeled as hostile locals. For a while that was all I could think about. The what ifs and such. But the more I was in combat, the more lives I took, the more numb to all of it I became. I suppose the fact they were mostly raiders, and then Legion helped."
"Mostly?" She asked with a tinge of worry in her voice.
Boone hesitated, like he was about to say something but stopped himself from doing so. "A soldier has to follow orders, regardless of his feelings." He finally looked back at the kid. "But you aren't a soldier. Your sense of justice and code are what make you strong." He ruffled her hair. "But for the sake of your own survival, you will have to learn to bury your hesitation to take life. Unfortunately, that's how the world works. And it will crush you if you don't adapt."
"Do you know how long it'll take?"
"Who knows?" He shrugged. "Might be a spur of the moment thing one day. Just know we'll be there until then."
Ruby smiled softly and hugged the sniper. "Thanks Boone."
"Anytime Speedy."
The teenager pulled back and raised an eyebrow. "Speedy?"
"You go fast don't you?" He replied with the straightest face.
Ruby laughed. "Yup, that I do."
By the time the two hours were up, everyone was back at camp ready for the final count. Six and Cass went first, putting down a toolbox filled with essentially scrap and tools. All together, Raul valued it at 60 to 70 caps worth. Next up were Arcade and ED-E who had a much smaller quantity of 'treasure', putting them in last place with 25 caps worth of scrap. Then came Ruby and Boone, the former proudly displaying their neatly scavenged 12 pounds of lakelurk meat, meaning they had about 144 caps worth of meat.
Finally, it was Veronica and Rex's turn. The Scribe had been very hush-hush about the contents of the filled up sack she'd brought back with her, but the sly smirk she had on her alongside the fact she looked pretty roughed up was more than suspicious. But when she finally turned the sack upside down, dumping its contents onto the floor, it was apparent why. 5 cazador poison glands, each valued at around 85 caps, meaning their haul was around 425 caps in total, placing them in first by a large margin.
"How in the heck…" Ruby commented agape.
"This…somehow feels like cheating. Are these real?" Arcade mumbled to himself, crouching down to have a look at the difficult to get glands.
"Oh I can assure you they are real Mr. Gannon." Veronica declared. "And to answer you my huntress-in-training friend, since no distance limits were established I went to a place I knew happened to have a small cazador nest."
"You took on a Cazador nest?...Looking like that?" Six seemed more unnerved than anything.
"Of course not silly! We merely hung around the periphery and drew out some of those isolated bugs! Rexie here is quite the bait." At that, the cyberdog in question barked at Veronica, like he was demanding something. "Don't you think I forgot about our deal my cyber-canine friend. Feel free to dig." She gestured at the glands and without a moment to waste, the cyberdog jumped on them, devouring the with his metallic maw.
The others could do nothing but watch in horror as Rex consumed the poisonous glands of one of the most dangerous creatures in the entire West Coast.
"So, what do I win Rubes?"
"W-Wha?"
"This was a competition right? What do I win?"
"I didn't get a prize. We were just doing it because it was fun." Ruby and Veronica shared the blankets stare there ever was.
"So…you're saying I punched a bunch of cazadors and got blood, sand and grime in the worst places for nothing?"
That got Six and Cass to burst out laughing and even Boone was smirking. "W-Well…did you have fun?" Ruby tentatively asked, shrinking slightly as she took a step behind Boone.
Veronica's eye twitched, as the only person in this group who treated her body -and most importantly her hair- as a temple, shined with a calm, yet murderous aura only the likes of Yang could rival.
"Ahem." Six coughed. "Since we're all a tad dirty, why don't we all go for a swim?" And stop ourselves from murdering the rest of us because of something stupid like hair. Six was a brave woman, but she wasn't brave enough to say that to Veronica's face.
The murderous aura surrounding the scribe seemed to fade instantly and just like that she was back to her cheery self. "Oh that's a great idea Six! Let's all go for a splash." Veronica then grabbed both Six and Cass' wrists and literally dragged them to the shore.
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait. Veronica, what're you doing?!" Cass wailed, as she tried -and failed- to squirm her way out of the scribe's hold. "Veronica, I don't know how to swim! Veronica! Vero–" The wails and pleas were interrupted as Veronica threw Cass in the water. Thankfully, not far enough to where Cass would drown.
The Scribe's friendly smile then turned to Six, who had calmly resigned herself to her fate. "Please be gentle." She said as she felt another hand before she was flung to the lake.
During her short lived flight, Six was just thankful the Rangers had taught her how to swim.
Veronica let out a proud sigh before slowly going in the water herself.
"I…I think she was still mad." Ruby whispered.
"Yup." Boone nodded.
"Do you think she'll still be mad after she comes back?"
"Possibly." Arcade speculated.
"Should we run?"
The four stood there, silently watching as Veronica graciously swam around and Cass flaid around in the water, all the while Six slowly tried to make her back only for Veronica to hold her in a choke hold and dragging both under the water.
"Mija, I don't think we would get far."
The hours passed by and soon the sun was not starting its descent down. Dinner preparations were now being put in place, as this time it was Six and Boone in charge of cooking. The others meandered around chatting over drinks or being left to their own devices as each patiently awaited dinner to be declared ready. Having just finished her round of playing catch with Rex, Ruby took a panoramic view of their little campsite and a proud sense of accomplishment flushed over her. Her plan had worked, everyone was in better moods and had made up with each other.
Almost as divine proof of her thoughts, she could hear Six and Boone laughing as the two hovered over the grill. Though off in the corner of her eye, she spotted Raul down by the shore, alone.
Not wanting to have any of her friends alone, the teen walked over to the 2 centuries old ghoul. "Is everything okay Raul?"
The ghoul took a second before turning to the kid, probably not even realising she had sat beside him before her speaking up. "Sí mija. I'm fine."
"Well, you're all alone out here by yourself while everyone is hanging out. So I thought something might be wrong. Y'know?"
"Do you always stick with the big groups and hang out with lots of people?"
Ruby's face flushed slightly "W-Well, no b-but–"
"I'm kidding. I'm just reminiscing."
"About?"
"Mi família." Raul's gaze shifted back to the still lake waters. "Despite the American occupation, mi família and I always visited our primos in Veracruz every year. Since it was a coastal city we'd always end up going to the beach and spend a whole day there. My abuela Elena would make the best guacamole in all of Mexico and my Tío Emiliano would always, always make these tortilla rollups that we devoured in seconds." A sad expression rolled over the old ghoul's face. "I remember all these, the flavours, the memories. The damn enchiladas my mamá always got wrong. But I can barely remember their faces now."
Ruby hugged her knees. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Great job Rubes, you made Raul sad because of your dumb id–
"Thank you mija."
Huh?
"I had almost forgotten." The old ghoul wiped his tearful eyes. "While it does hurt, and that pain may never go away, you honor your passed loved ones by remembering them and the happy memories you have with them." Raul gently ruffled the kid's hair and gently smiled at her, the light reflecting the tears still in his eyes. "Thank you mija."
Ruby gave him a half-hearted smile, before she too found herself aimlessly staring at the lake. "I don't…I don't like thinking about my family. T-They weren't bad or anything! T-They were-, they are great. My sister, my dad, my uncle. I admire them all so much…"
"But?"
"But if I think about them, I think about how sad they might be. About me being gone without even saying goodbye. So it's easier if I don't think about it. O-Of course I want to find a way back home. B-But what if I can't? Am I a bad person for trying to forget them and try to move on? Try to be happy in this place?"
Raul wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulders and brought her closer. "You're not a bad girl my dear. You're a brave kid thrusted into the world of adults. And a foreign one at that. I'm not in a position to judge, only God can judge us, in the end. My opinion? I think you should remember them, and cherish your memories. It's your memories and your experiences who make you who you are. You may find a way back to your world, or may not. Solo Diós sabe tu destino. But whatever may happen, you'll always have them in your heart." He gave her a soft peck on the forehead. "Regardless of what 'll have these weirdos and misfits as your family."
The ghoul chuckled slightly, only for said chuckle to be interrupted by Ruby borderline tackling him down to the ground with a hug. "R-Raul? C-Can I ask you a selfish thing?" Her voice cracked slightly.
"Of course Mija."
"C-Can I call you grandpa? I-I never met my grandparents a-and–"
"Ruby." The teen looked up. "Of course you can."
Ruby smiled, wiping away the tears that had formed up in her eyes. "Thank you…H-How do you say grandpa in spanish?"
"Abuelo. But I called mine Tata."
The two would've stayed embraced for longer, were it not for the ravenous growl coming from Ruby's stomach. She immediately recoiled from the hug, hiding her tomato colored with her hands. Raul in turn laughed, ruffling the teen's hair as he stood up. "Let's go get dinner, it should be ready by now. Assuming those two bundles of sunshine didn't burn down the camp." When Ruby didn't immediately follow after him, Raul turned back to see Ruby gazing at the water reflecting the gleaming light of the setting sun behind them. He placed his hands on his hips and let out a content sigh.
"You coming"? He asked.
Ruby turned to him, all worry had left her face as she flashed him her big toothy smile. "Coming Tata!"
Qrow ran his hand through the fallen oak tree, it had been cleanly bisected near the bottom with part of it still attached to the ground. Clearly not work of an animal nor a Grimm, but of a very sharp blade. He got up and proceeded south, walking down a path of broken trees, and ripped earth, as if a stampede had gone through there. He finally reached the end of the forest and his eyes met the endless ocean before him on top of a tall cliff.
He looked around the area, finding claw marks on a nearby boulder, more lifted up earth and many splashes of black blood. In short, a battle had happened there. The Hunstman heard a soft clicking metal sound as he moved his foot. Crouching down he grabbed the small object he had almost kicked away. A .50 caliber bullet casing.
Qrow's face contorted and he clutched the casing. Though the anger quickly faded and another feeling took him over, the same one that had consumed him for the past 2 months.
Emptiness.
He let go of the casing and walked back to the edge of the cliff. Qrow just stood there for a while, staring at the endless water that crashed against the spiky and rocky cliffside. He produced his trusty flask always filled with Qrow's preferred distilled Valean whiskey and downed the entire thing. He shifted his gaze to the rocks below. Qrow had always wondered how some of them got that pointy, how something could get to look that cartoonishly evil. He wondered how it'd feel to fall and have those spikes pierce his abdomen, chest and throat all at the same time. He told himself it'd be a quick death, with the pain only lasting for a split moment.
Surely it had to be.
It HAD to be quick.
It HAD to be mostly painless.
She couldn't have suffered.
She couldn't…
Qrow's heart began beating faster as the image of a young girl impaled like a fucking Mistrali kebab materialized in his mind. He felt his bones close in on his heart and suffocate his lungs.
It's your fault. A woman that didn't even get to her thirties whispered in his ear.
It's your fault! The blonde man she called father shouted.
IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S YOUR FAU-
"Qrow?" The voice of a woman snapped him out of his trance.
He didn't even have to turn to know whose person this voice belonged to. "What do you want, Glynda?"
Glynda Goodwitch walked up to the drunk Huntsman. "I'm here to check-up on you."
"We both know that's a fuckin' lie." He barked. "So what shitty job does the wizard at the tower have for me now?"
"Don't be like that. If I really just wanted to relay to you some mission I could have called or messaged you."
"I turned off my scroll and have been ignoring Oz's calls for the past two weeks." He turned, his tired red eyes finally meeting Glynda's emerald green ones. "I assumed he'd send his favorite lapdog to fetch me at some point."
Glynda burrowed her frow and opened her mouth ready to give Qrow a piece of her mind, but ended up not doing so. "Qrow I understand that you're grieving. But that doesn't give you an excuse to act like that! Coming back here time after time, looking for a clue that you missed isn't going to help you grieve. Ruby is dead. You have to grieve and move on."
"Move on?" The man chuckled. "Isn't that JUST precious coming from you. It's just so FUCKING easy to tell others what to do. Isn't it Goodwitch?"
"W-What?"
"Oh you heard me Glynda. It's sooo easy for you to stay up there in that ivory tower with that white haired asshole whose cock you like to suck so much."
"Qrow!"
"What?" The wide fake grin on Qrow's face shattered. "Don't like hearing that? Is it in bad faith? Well what do you think I feel when some outsider to my family tells me how to feel?! Are you going to tell me you understand? That you know what this feels like? Because last time I checked, your parents are still happily living in that retirement home you pay for every year?"
Glynda took a step back. "Qrow I'm not going to pretend I know what you're going through but–"
"But nothing! Stop telling me how to feel, how to grieve! The only thing keeping me together is the thought that she isn't dead! The hope that the lack of a body means she's alive!" Qrow wiped his eyes of the rivers of tears that had started to run down his face. "So please, please Glynda stop with the lip service and leave me alone. Stop pretending you care. We're not friends, we never were. Now go march back to Ozpin and tell him to leave me alone!"
Glynda's eyes scrunched to a pained expression. "I-…For what it's worth, I'm sorry Qrow. I'll relay to Ozpin that you're unavailable." Qrow didn't respond, merely turning away back to the cliff. Glenda stretched out her hand for a moment, but she relented and turned on her heel. "You should check on Tai. He's worse than when Summer disappeared. That can't be good for his daughter."
"I'll be there for them." He responded quietly. "That's what family does."
In a blink, Qrow was gone and the only thing left in his place was a black feather while the echoing flutter of wings slowly became more distant.
…Huh, it feels like it's been a long time. Lemme check the calendar…MARCH?! Oh. So it has been over 3 months. BUUUT in my defense, Finals had me by the balls…plus Marvel Rivals is really fun and can't get out of Plat.
AT ANY RATE
Our cast had a much needed break from the bullshit situation after bullshit situation I put them through. So what better than a beach episode? Plus I knew I was gonna make one since this fic's very beginning and I think it came out pretty well. Although it's obvious, I'm just putting it out that I will focus on some companions more than others. As you can guess, I love Raul, Cass and Veronica, hence why they get more screen time. But worry not, they will all have their own arcs and quests. Though some might be altered a smidge. Oh and don't worry about our Remnant friends, they're fiiiiine.
Also, go check out ViniTheProg on twitter who made this amazing piece.
Be safe, peace out.