Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY nor do I own the Fallout franchise. I also have no intention of making money off of this story.

Dust. Dust and darkness. That was all he saw as he walked through the tattered remnants of Nevada. Nighttime had blanketed the wasteland and the far away lights of New Vegas did little to illuminate the path in front of him. Even so he kept his head high and swept his eyes back and forth, ready to face whatever the broken world would throw at him.

Glancing down at his Pip-Boy 3000 he found it to be nearly midnight and he sighed in realization. He had been traveling for hours down south and there was no sign of refuge anywhere. He admittedly did pass the town of Nipton an hour ago, but the town was still covered in gore and ash, a scar on the earth left by the now destroyed Legion.

Legion…NCR…Hoover Dam. He stopped and shook his head violently as images of the battle rushed back. The whole ordeal was a huge blur now, but several, torturous moments permanently repeated themselves in his head. Their screams, their cries for help…

No…no he had to steel himself. These flashes of the recent past were getting too numerous, too vivid and the nightmares were even worse. Nowadays sleep and dreams were not the usual sanctuary he could escape to, but were often worse than the hellish reality he survived every day. Radiation, the mutants, hunger, thirst, heat exhaustion, these dangers were all petty before his own mind, his own second hell. He shook his head again, clearing away the burning memories and trudged onwards. But with each step and each crunch of his steel boots he couldn't help but remember his companions, his dead companions; their bodies long lost and forgotten atop that forsaken dam, no epitaphs, no ceremonies, just war.

And what a war. A war for petty resources and a war for petty pride. A dying Bear and a brainless Bull , two broken armies fighting under the Mojave sun to scrounge up enough energy and dignity so that they may live on for a few more years. He himself fought for NCR because compared to the Legion and Robert House it seemed like the most reasonable of the three evils. He had thought the NCR perhaps had the talent and the manpower needed to save what little was left of the Mojave wastes before the dust of the wasteland would consume it. But in the end all the NCR did was give him a medal for his efforts, a speech, a title, and then went back to stroking its own pride. There was no change, no aid for the sick, the wounded, the irradiated, and hungry. All that mattered now was NCR and it made him sick.

Now here he was, the famous and infamous Courier, running away from it all.

"What's with this piece of junk?"

The Courier stopped the instant he heard the unknown man's question. He dropped down low to avoid detection and slowly crept through the darkness over what seemed like a group of old broken cars and trashcans. Soon more voices joined in and from the sounds of their swearing and growling he was sure they were simple bandits or gang members.

"Whatever this shit is its glowing blue. Is it alive? The damn metal leg is still twitching."

"Fuck that eye is scary! It's like some sorta giant is staring at me. Let's get the fuck outta here I'm getting fucking creeped out."

Now the Courier was very curious. Normally ridiculous ramblings like that was the product of Jet or Med-X use but all three of them couldn't be imagining the same thing. No, no they found something strange, something potentially dangerous and life threatening for the innocents around here.

As he crept closer he crouched behind a car and peaked over its hood to find several Jackal gang members and the group's findings. The Jackals themselves were typical ones, three men standing in a circle armed with scavenged and rotten weapons. Two were armed with lead pipes while the other had a sawed off shotgun hanging loosely on his shoulder. But it was between them that caught the Courier's attention.

It was a satellite and a crashed one at that. Its blue solar panels were shattered and its metal framing was warped and bent. One leg was indeed twitching erratically and a few sparks fled into the night from the satellite's exposed wires. Yet it was still somehow operational and its camera projected one lone, blue staring eye onto a large white panel. The Courier gave a quick glance at the eye and silently concurred with the scared Jackal member.

"Fuck you man," One of the lead pipe wielding members snapped. "We ain't leaving this thing. I say we break it apart and sell it. We could use the caps."

The other member gave a nod but the shotgun wielding one shook his head and readied his weapon. "Hell no! You see that fucking thing?" He asked harshly as he motioned towards the projected eye with his head. "I don't want anything to do with that…that thing! I say we leave and forget about this."

"And lose out on whiskey and Jet you fucking moron? This is a fucking treasure we have here."

The Jackal was quickly losing his patience and jabbed his shotgun right into his fellow member's chest. "I ain't repeating myself fuckhead! We are leaving right now!"

"No," The three gasped and turned to find a lone man walking towards them. If he was any other random Wastelander they would've been glad to find a nice victim to vent their frustrations on but this man was different. He wore black metal armor studded with rivets and ceramic pieces and nearly covered the man's body with the exception of a few areas to allow the man's arms, legs, and hands to move freely. His helmet matched the armor in color with the exception of a white mouth piece and glowing yellow eyes, making him look like some sort of metal demon of the night. "You aren't going anywhere."

"The fuck are you?" One of the pipe holding Jackals asked. "This is our loot asshole!"

"Shut up!" The shotgun toting one roared. "We'll talk about this piece of shit junk later," He then gave the Courier a sadistic grin. "After we scrap this tin man."

The Courier didn't offer the gang a reply and lifted his wrist to click on his Pip-Boy. "Good." He said as the men began to run towards him. "Better to fight me than kill the prospectors around here."

One of the lead pipe wielding members was the first to attack, charging headfirst and raising his weapon high into the night sky ready to pummel the Courier. A flash of amber and the Courier's yellow eyes was all he saw before his torso exploded into a shower of blood and gore. The mess splattered both of his companions behind him, forcing them to cover their faces and stop while voicing their disgust. The Courier wasn't fazed as he readied his Ballistic Fist, clenching his fist to unload a shotgun shell from his weapon. The second Jackal faced a similar fate as the Courier's fist crashed into his stomach, blowing apart his flesh and bone until it was only a bile and blood filled hole remained. As the bloody corpse fell to the crimson stained ground the last Jackal was busy running the opposite way.

"Fuck this!" He screamed sacredly as he turned his head, wide eyed to find the Courier chasing him. The armored man was fast on his feet, quickly closing the distance between the two Wastelanders as he reloaded his gauntlet.

"No escape Jackal," threatened the Courier. "I'm not letting you hurt any more innocent people."

The Jackal could only give a yell of pure frustration as he sprinted towards the crashed satellite. Then, showing off a surprising amount of athleticism, the gang member jumped over the pile and turned around to face his still charging assailant. "Like hell you are tin man!" The terrified man let loose a shotgun blast only to find the scattershot bounce off the Courier's armor as if they were thrown pebbles. "Fuck you!"

The Courier ignored the man's obscenities and stopped just short of the satellite wreckage and reached over it to grab the Jackal's arm. The gang member screamed towards the stars as the Courier effortlessly crushed his arm and pulled him over the satellite and slightly into the air. The Courier silenced the screaming with one final shotgun aided punch into the man's collar, blowing the Jackal's ribcage open and shooting flecks of bone and meat into the air.

Throwing the newly dead corpse to the side the Courier sighed as he surveyed around the wreckage. Finding no more threats in the darkness he fiddled with his Pip-Boy again. Soon his black armor and Ballistic Fist shined a bright amber glow and then disappeared, leaving the man in more casual attire.

"Three Jackals dead," the man muttered to himself as he cracked his neck. "Three less murderers out here in the south."

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden buzzing and popping noise. Surprised, the Courier quickly looked around only to again find nothing. Looking down he found the gore from his last kill had landed all over the satellite and into its wiring. The lone eye projection grew fuzzy as the buzzing intensified and finally turned into blue flecks once the satellite began to hum as well. The blue glow grew brighter and more intense until it threatened to blind the Courier who by now turned tail to run. He could only a single step before the satellite exploded into a blue light.

A few moments later and darkness fell over the Mojave Drive-in again, everything was still and quiet, and the Courier was never seen again in the Mojave.

The first thing the Courier felt when he came to was grass, but it was grass unlike anything he had ever felt before. As he opened his eyes and painstakingly lifted his sore head, he found bright green grass underneath him. "This grass," He muttered in awe as he ran his fingers through the vegetation, marveling at how soft each blade felt. His other hand was pushing on the ground to support him and he was surprised to find the earth soft and moist.

Pushing himself up, he sat down on the ground, shivering as cool earth tickled his lower body through his thin black slacks. When he looked up he saw the sun and sky, but as he lowered his head his eyes widened in shock. In front of him were trees, not the shriveled up and dead ones that dotted the wasteland but living, green trees. There were probably hundreds just in front of him and below him a veritable sea of vibrant green grass.

The Courier kept looking around the new landscape in awe. He couldn't believe how beautiful and pristine the land was. "Is…is this heaven?" he asked himself. "There…there was an explosion after I killed those Jackal members. I ran, got caught in it, and now I'm here." He replayed the events back in his mind. "So I must be dead."

He slowly sat up, cracking and popping his sore joints and bones as he did. Looking behind him he saw more trees and grass, only this time there was a humongous cliff far behind the trees. "Those religious folk down at Freeside mentioned heaven was a marvelous place in the clouds, but there's nothing but plants around me. But then again no one would truly know what heaven looks like, so maybe they were entirely wrong."

"Maybe," he whispered. "Maybe they're here. M-maybe they're all here, waiting for me." He stood up and looked around but still he didn't see anything other than trees and grass. "Cass! Cass are you there?" He called out in hopes his old friend would find him. However nothing replied back. The Courier kept looking around despite the silence and kept calling out. "Boone? Boone? Boone you watching me through your scope or something huh?" The Courier joked. "Veronica? Miss Santangelo you out there? Y-you there?"

No response still. "Raul?" The Courier's voice called out in a smaller voice. "Raul y-you there or are you busy…busy fixing that old revolver of yours again? Hey Lily you, you hiding from me again? I told you I don't, don't like playing hide n' seek with you Lily."

Reality began to set in as the Courier's eyes started to tear up. "Arcade?" He whispered. "Arcade is you and your family here? If you are I'm sorry about…about…" He stopped spinning around. By now he was clearly crying with tears dripping off his face and his face scrunched up in sadness. "Rex?" he choked out between heavy sobs. "Rex?"

The Courier found his legs soften and he buckled down to his knees. His face covered his eyes in a vain attempt to stem the tears but they wouldn't stop. Twin rivers of despair flowed down his face and onto the grass below. "Anyone? I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

A few minutes later and the Courier finally stopped his crying. Wiping away his leftover tears he tried his best to compose himself, taking in deep breaths and relaxing his muscles. "Maybe…maybe they're far away somewhere," the Courier muttered.

BEEP BEEP

"What?" The Courier lifted his Pip-Boy and was shocked to find a warning flash across its menu screen. "'Warning! No Rob-Co satellite detected. Until a connection is established GPS navigation and updated maps cannot be tracked,'" read the Courier. He gave the Pip-Boy a few more command prompts and button presses until the message finally disappeared. Curious to see what other changes occurred, the Courier took the chance to analyze his inventory, only to find much of his equipment and supplies had disappeared.

"What the-?" The Courier muttered as he ran through his weapons list. "No, no this isn't possible!" He cried out as he scrolled through his available weapons again. Somehow the Pip-Boy had lost track of several of his weapons, including some of his most prized ones. Turning to his supplies and food he found almost all of his medicine and all of his food were simply gone from the Pip-Boy's memory banks. His bottle caps, his various keys, and worst of all his ammo were all gone as well.

"There, there must be an explanation for all of this." Cycling to his message folder the Courier found another recent message besides the warning he saw earlier.

On August 25th, 2281 this Pip-Boy 3000 unit suffered from a system glitch originating from [outside energy disturbances]. If you the user have lost important files, stored messages, or digitized items please report to your nearest Rob-Co shop or call our service hotline at (Error: Unknown or Corrupted File) and inform us of your troubles. We hope you have a good day.

The Courier swore under his breath as he read the message a second time. "Damn it, that explosion did more than just kill me then. Better take stock just to see where I'm at."

Half an hour later and the Courier was marginally less pissed than he was before taking stock. Weapons wise he hadn't lost too many weapons. In total he had lost most of his guns which included his Riot Shotgun and Brush Gun and was left with his Ranger Sequoia Hunting Revolver, a gift from the NCR, and his powerful Anti-Material Rifle. His energy weapons for the most part were fine as he carried only a few. He still had his Tesla Cannon and the Gun Runner's special Flamer: the Cleansing Flame.

But the Courier was never really a marksman. He had always preferred close combat and his weapons reflected his style by consisting mainly of unarmed and melee weapons. His pair of fully upgraded Power Fists was intact and so was his pair of Ballistic Fists, Zap Gloves, and Displacer Gloves. His backup Brass and Spiked Knuckles were gone though. For his melee weapons however a few of his cherished ones disappeared. The Blade of the East, the infamous sword of the Legion's Legate Lanius, was now no more, so was the silver fire axe he jokingly named Knock-Knock he found in the irradiated Camp Searchlight. A lot more weapons were lost as well and all that was left now was his rusty Super Sledgehammer Oh Baby that he found near Jacobstown, the Nuka Breaker, a neon Nuka Cola sign that was solar powered, which the Gun Runners sold to him dirt cheap because it kept electrocuting their workers, a Thermic Lance he had taken from a Legionary Assassin, a Machete Gladius, two Combat Knives, and a fully upgraded Chainsaw also bought from the Gun Runners.

Supplies wise the Courier lost almost everything. Now he only had three Auto-Stimpaks, treasured and powerful medicine that could heal nearly any wound except repair lost limbs, one syringe of Auto-Med-X, a powerful pain killer, for emergencies, and two bottles of whiskey that he was saving to either drink or use as an antiseptic if need be. No repair kit, no medical bags, no food, no water, nothing. He lost all of his ammo as well, even the ones he had loaded into his gauntlets and guns; he figured the glitch had somehow mainly targeted all items labeled as ammunition and deleted them.

He only had one suit of armor, the Enclave Remnants' Tesla Armor Mk II, but the glitch had taken the helmet away from him to his dismay. Other than that he only had the clothes on his back.

"Damn," the Courier muttered to himself as he took his eyes away from his wrist. "I haven't been this low in supplies in months." He stretched out shoulders and gave a small sigh of relief. "At least my back feels a lot lighter."

Looking up the Courier was surprised to find night descending upon him. He was not only surprised at how suddenly nighttime came but also at the new noises that accompanied the growing darkness. Howls and hisses faintly echoed throughout the forest and now the Courier was pretty sure this land wasn't exactly paradise. The forests around him quickly became dark blotches and he could feel countless eye bore into him from between the trees and foliage.

"This place is too open," he noted. "I'll get seen immediately if the beasts or whatever that is that live here are as dangerous as the ones back in the wastes. I'll have to hide in the forest until daylight." His spoken thoughts were broken by his stomach rumbling and groaning for food and he frowned as he realized he was getting hungry. "Food will have to wait unfortunately," he said to himself, swallowing thick saliva. "Water would have to come first."

He gave a grim chuckle as he clicked on his Pip-Boy and equipped his Tesla Armor. "Heaven my ass."

For at least a few hours the Courier jogged in a straight line westward. He remembered to the south was the cliff so he would just be running into a dead end ultimately. He had no idea what the other three directions held but he would worry about his future travels later. For now it was a matter of surviving the night and finding water, clean, irradiated, or otherwise. But as he ran through the vegetation he found to his joy that many of the trees were bearing fruit. Of what nature the fruits were he couldn't tell because they were shrouded in darkness but he was glad that at least it meant food was plentiful here. Hell fruit itself was a luxury most wastelanders could only dream of and those fruits were usually heavily irradiated or dried. Here the land seemed to rich and fertile that the fruit would undoubtedly be safe and delicious.

He was only mildly annoyed that he hadn't found water yet. He didn't have the necessary items to collect condensation and eating the fruits and vegetation around him would be playing roulette of the deadliest nature. Even if everything looked edible and filled with water he couldn't chance anything until he had a properly stocked camp.

The forest itself was much larger than he expected and he was constantly at awe at how different it felt compared to the wasteland. For one he actually had to worry about what he was running into the entire time and more than once he would crash into a tree, his armor and momentum cracking the tree's trunk or break off pieces of bark. And every time he crashed he felt terrible guilt well up in him. Here he was in a strange, beautiful land and he was recklessly destroying nature. He was reminded of Jacobstown and the thin pine trees that dotted the former sky resort. When he visited he was so enthralled by the living trees that he would just sit and watch them collect snow on their branches or bend with the wind. Nature was something the Courier had long held in reverence and this land only made him love it more.

As the trees began to finally thin in numbers the Courier stopped once he reached a small clearing. Taking a small breather, he looked to his left and was confused to find a rock wall and a cave entrance. To his right and all around him were giant boulders scattered across the ground. The Courier narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what had happened here.

"Something giant was here," he assumed as he pushed one of the smaller boulders with his foot. It didn't budge until he applied more pressure and barely pushed the boulder across the grass. "Something big enough to throw these boulders around easily. These are heavy boulders too." He gave another glance at the cave entrance. Normally the most dangerous thing the Courier could expect to live in a cave would be a Deathclaw, a monstrous and horned mutant that could kill an entire town of people without any effort. He had fought and killed many in close combat but every time he only won by the skin of his teeth. The Courier unconsciously rubbed his armor over his left ab, remembering the most recent Deathclaw scar he had gotten; his body was littered with dozens of them. In the years that he fought them he had grown to more or less respect the creatures. They were fearless and savage for sure with powerful claws and muscles that could slice through metal but still they were probably the most respectable creatures the Courier had ever fought and he learned to improve his own brawling style from studying them in battle.

But he had never seen a Deathclaw throw around Super Mutant sized rocks before. Whatever did was probably even stronger than a Deathclaw and that brought a twinge of fear down his spine.

"Hopefully it was chasing something smaller into this cave. If that's the case then I should be able to handle whatever's inside."

A few clicks later and the Courier turned on his Pip-Boy's flashlight and summoned Oh Baby which he slung over his shoulder with his right hand, using his left one to light the way. Holding his most powerful weapon gave the Courier a small dose of confidence but he tightened his grip on the hammer's shaft in preparation for the unknown.

Unlike most caves in the wasteland the interior was not dotted with radioactive and glowing mushrooms and other various fungi. It was as plain as a cave could get.

However a smile finally graced the Courier's face as his Pip-Boy illuminated a small pool of water. Putting his Super Sledge down for the moment, he waved his Pip-Boy above the water to test for any radiation, just to be safe. To his joy the built in Geiger counter did not click and there was nothing to stop him from drinking as much as he could. Sighing in relief and refreshment, the Courier wiped his mouth and smiled wider. This was probably the best water he had ever tasted, better than the bland and flat purified water every wastelander treasured and infinitely times better than the irradiated pools and lakes of the wastes; it tasted so cool and clear.

"This cave should serve nicely as a temporary shelter," the Courier whispered with a smile as he picked up his Super Sledge. "But the cave still goes on, quite a bit actually. I'll have to go through and clear it of anything dangerous before I make camp."

A few minutes later and the Courier found a rather large chamber. Bits of earth were stricken everywhere but other than that there wasn't anything else to note. Further into the cave the Courier found a slightly larger chamber. This time small clicks echoed throughout the room and as the Courier walked deeper into the chamber the clicking only intensified.

"What in the world? Sounds like pebbles hitting the ground or…or the feet of a Rad-"

CRUNCH

The Courier looked down and lowered his Pip-Boy light only to find a tiny puddle of red and black ooze peppered with white specks. Lifting his foot he found he had accidentally stepped on either a tiny lizard or a very big insect. However as his eyes darted around the lit ground he found the source of the clicking, dozens of small scorpions scurrying around the cave floor. The Courier's eyes widened in astonishment as the small black and white scorpions were nothing like the giant dark green Radscorpions of the wastes, scorpions that could grow to be larger than a car and armed with a tail that could spear through an entire human body and laced with deadly poison.

"Heh, they look pretty cute when they're as tiny as a tin can."

The Courier's musings were halted as suddenly faint thumps came from further in the cave. Unable to see what was coming the Courier could only tighten his drip on Oh Baby and shine his light down the cave to prepare for whatever was coming at him. As the thumping got louder the Courier spied a faint glow coming from the darkness and as it got closer he was shocked to find something golden floating towards him. However confusion turned to fright as the object slowly took the form of a huge scorpion stinger and the worst part was that it was about twice as large as a Giant Radscorpion's.

That was enough incentive to get the Courier sprinting out the cave though the thumping was not getting any softer. Somehow he was still faster and by the time he stepped foot outside the Courier had a moment to catch his breath and ready himself. A shrill shriek came from the cave as the giant scorpion finally made it outside, crashing through the cave entrance and scattering rubble everywhere. Lifting his Pip-Boy, the Courier's fear deepened as the light illuminated a scorpion that easily dwarfed even the most giant of Radscorpions. Its body was easily five or six times as big as a Giant Radscorpion and was encased for the most part in a white bone-like shell decorated with red markings though its legs and bottom were completely encased in black exoskeleton. Large white spikes adorned the top of its body and along its tail as an added form of defense. Its claws were easily the size of a car and had spikes on it as well. However near its large mandibles were a second set of smaller claws that were about as long and tall as a man and with no spikes attached. Between the two sets of claws were twelve bright orange eyes, some large and some small.

The nightmarish beast wasted no time attacking and charged right for the Courier with incredible speed, much faster than Courier had anticipated given its size. He could barely lower Oh Baby to block the scorpion's claw swing and was promptly sent flying through a nearby tree and into the one behind it. He barely dodged the falling tree and was instantly on the move again as the scorpion charged again. This time he was ready and managed to dodge several claw swings while backing up as much as he could. Spotting an opening the Courier brought Oh Baby to his side and smashed the Super Sledge into the scorpion's left claw, meeting the claw halfway during the scorpion's attack. He had hoped it would've been enough to break its claw but all it did was break off some of the claw's spikes. The beast ignored the blow entirely and grabbed the Courier with its right claw and squeezed.

The Courier could literally feel his Tesla Armor start to cave in as the claw tried to cut him in half. His hands immediately pushed against the claw but try as he might the Courier couldn't pry open the pinchers and watched in horror as the scorpion's clicking mandibles grew closer, ready to tear into his exposed head. Quickly he clicked on his Pip-Boy and unequipped Oh Baby and materialized his Machete Gladius out and stabbed the closest eye. Chunky orange ooze squirted out onto the grass and the beast screeched in pain, tossing the Courier away before he could pull his Machete Gladius out.

With his weapon stuck firmly in one of the scorpion's eye socket the Courier found the beast's weakness. Materializing his Combat Knives the Courier rushed to try to totally blind the scorpion only to be blocked by its claws. He was poised to stab when the makeshift shields flew in front of him and the knives shattered into pieces upon slamming into them.

"Damn," the Courier breathed out as he threw away the useless hilts. "That shell is hard as steel." He watched the scorpion charge again while covering its face with its four claws, opening them slightly so that it could see the Courier. Its stinger flew down ready to impale the man but he jumped back and charged again with Oh Baby again. He slammed it into the scorpion's left claw again and the beast responded with trying to push the man back with both claws.

Its efforts left it exposed and the Courier took his chance to get behind the scorpion's first set of claws. He ducked under the larger set of claws and now faced the scorpion's last pair. The second set then tried to grab the Courier but he was ready this time and jumped on top of the smaller claws and then onto scorpion's head. He barely avoided landing on the scorpion's back spikes and he had to stand awkwardly to avoid getting stabbed. After a few shaky moments he was able to stabilize his footing despite the spikes and the monster's smooth shell. He finally put Oh Baby to good use and hammered the scorpion's head several times. At first the Courier was horrified as the blows seemingly did nothing but grinned once he realized the scorpion was getting dizzy and fatigued with each successful blow, groaning and slightly swaying back and forth.

"Go! To! Hell!" the Courier screamed as he punctuated each word with a hard smash of his Super Sledge. But the beast only groaned in defiance and showed no signs of relenting.

Initiation went accordingly for Professor Ozpin and the rest of Beacon Academy. Despite protests that starting initiation on a Friday was a terrible idea he was glad that most of the students performed admirably. Glynda didn't seem to mind though, but then again she hardly showed any emotion other than slight annoyance.

The team ceremony went well too. Putting the young fifteen year old Ruby Rose as a team leader was certainly the highlight of the event as most were shocked that such a young girl would lead a team of other seventeen year olds. But he knew deep down that she would do an exceptional job and if not he would only have himself to blame.

He gave another, final sip of his coffee as he finished his thoughts. No use in speculating about the teams right now. It was too early and they haven't even moved into their dorms yet. The students were still sleeping in the ballroom since initiation severely tired everyone out and no one was in the mood to move their belongings after the ceremony.

"Professor Ozpin."

Said man turned around to find the ever stoic Glynda Goodwitch approaching him and he greeted her with a slight nod. "Yes? What is it?"

The blonde professor gave a small click with her tongue before taking out her gray Scroll and looking through it. "I know it's getting late but something rather strange has come up in the past few minutes." Ozpin eye's narrowed in thought as Glynda continued. "I was walking past the front gardens when I heard birds cawing in distress. Upon looking past the Beacon Cliffs I saw most were fleeing from deep within the Emerald Forest. I didn't see anything else, however it's easy to conclude that something was stirring up the Grimm," Glynda explained.

"Such a phenomenon is natural. What is going on Ms. Goodwitch that requires our immediate attention?" Ozpin asked.

Glynda's usual frown slightly deepened as she stopped her search. "That's what I thought as well. However upon checking our cameras I found something very disturbing." She handed her Scroll over and let the video play for Ozpin. "This footage was recorded approximately when I heard the commotion." He watched with slight boredom at first since the video was too dark to show anything, however his attention was renewed as he heard crashing noises.

To Ozpin's surprise a dark outline of what seemed to be a humanoid appeared into frame, back peddling away from something large enough to topple the falling trees. A golden stinger in the darkness signaled the presence of a Deathstalker and soon both entities began fighting each other.

Ozpin lifted his eyes away from the Scroll as he saw enough. "Are all the students accounted for?" He asked with urgency. Glynda nodded and Ozpin felt a small twinge of relief at the news. "Good. However, even if this person isn't associated with Beacon we cannot sit idly by. He or she stands no chance against a Deathstalker alone, I trust you'll be able to help and retrieve him or her."

Glynda gave a small nod as quickly ran out and headed towards the Emerald Forest. Ozpin gave a small sigh of exasperation. He knew Glynda was more than capable of protecting herself out there against the forces of Grimm. But as he continued to watch the video he grew increasingly worried about the unknown person.

However his fears grew into something more as he watched the person hold off the Deathstalker. It grew into confusion, curiosity, and wonder.

Unfortunately even in dizziness the Deathstalker was giving the Courier a hardy challenge. It started shaking and moving everywhere, crashing into and toppling over several trees, trying to shake him off. Its tail couldn't do anything either as the scorpion didn't dare risk stabbing and poisoning itself however. Only its smaller claws could effectively reach the Courier and with all the shaking the Courier soon lost his footing and found himself caught in its claws again. The smaller claws exerted much less pressure than its primary ones but the Courier didn't wait to test his armor against it. Instead he unequipped Oh Baby, grabbed his Machete Gladius, and pulled it out, spraying more orange blood everywhere. With a tight grip this time he stabbed four more eyes in rapid succession. Bloodcurdling shrieks followed each thrust along with more and more bloody chunks spilling out and forming a small puddle on the grass until the Deathstalker finally had enough.

With incredible strength the Deathstalker slammed the Courier onto the ground while shrieking in rage. He groaned in pain as he cratered into the soft dirt but grunted in panic as the scorpion's golden stinger jettisoned towards his torso.

He tried to block the stinger with his Machete Gladius but the stinger broke throughout it like it was paper and jabbed itself into the Courier's left breast. The Courier gave a wheezed gasp of pain as he grabbed the stinger and tried to pull it out. The damned thing didn't budge at all and was actually going deeper into the Courier's body. The Deathstalker's smaller claws also clamped around the Courier's armored thighs ensuring he couldn't somehow escape.

"Fuck," the impaled man wheezed out. "Damned bug is too strong. It's like I'm being stabbed by a streetlight." He could already feel blood welling up in his left lung and beginning to flow into his mouth. Moreover his muscles were starting to grow numb and swell up, no doubt from the Deathstalker's poison. Now it was just a race to see which of the three hazards could kill him first and none of them were being merciful about it.

However the beast decided to finish preparing the Courier and removed its tail, spraying crimson blood all over its shell and the Courier, leaving a fist sized hole overflowing with it. The Courier silently thanked the monster and sighed in relief as his Auto-Stimpaks began to work now that the tail was gone, otherwise his flesh would've just healed over it. In an instant the hole and everything else the tail went through was nearly healed up. The Courier still had to cough up a lot of blood to avoid drowning and in his fit didn't notice the Deathstalker's gaping maw getting closer to his face. When he did the Courier reacted fast and summoned whatever strength he had left to punch another of the beast's eye.

It clearly didn't expect the Courier to retaliate and so stumbled backwards shrieking in pain. Its claws let the Courier go and he took his chance to hopefully finish the battle.

"Now or never," the Courier said as he spat out another splash of blood, phlegm, and saliva. He was literally dying in the inside and it hurt just to breath and stand. The Auto-Med X kicked in and helped ease his wretched pain but wouldn't do anything to combat the poison. But the Deathstalker still took priority and the Courier had to finish it off quick.

He struggled to lift his arm and click his Pip-Boy and shakily held his newly equipped Thermic Lance. He grasped the long welding tool as best he could and powered its tip, superheating it. With a pained grunt he charged towards the monstrous bug and the Deathstalker responded in kind.

The Deathstalker had its claws up as shields again as it attacked with its golden stinger again. The Courier jumped back to allow the stinger to embed itself into the ground and quickly stabbed the Deathstalker's tail with his Thermic Lance. The heated rod easily burned through the small joint between the tail and the stinger. The Deathstalker screeched in agony as its prized weapon stayed stuck in the earth, flailing its newly cauterized and smoking tail everywhere and lowering its defenses.

The Courier forced his burning legs to sprint forward and he easily got behind the pained Deathstalker's front claws. It took everything that he had to lift and spear forward his Thermic Lance into the one of the Deathstalker's largest eyes. His knees buckled as he struggled to push the welding tool further into the beast's body all the while the Deathstalker was roaring in pain and struggling to coordinate all its limbs. Slowly the Lance dug into the Deathstalker inch by inch until nearly half of the rod was inside it. By that point the Courier was down on his knees and gasping hard, his head down and his arms growing limp.

He forced his head up and saw the Deathstalker finally still. Its tail now laid flat next to its right flank and all of its legs and claws had dropped to the ground. Its few intact eyes grew less bright until they were only a dull orange.

The Courier had no time to celebrate however as he could feel the Deathstalker's poison still course through his body, forcing his muscles to contract and burn. He shakily unequipped his Thermic Lance and tried to stand up. His knees failed him and he was forced onto the ground again. Turning around he spied the Deathstalker's stinger and tried his best to crawl to it.

'If I can extract its poison, maybe I can somehow find a way to make an antidote,' thought the dying Courier. He knew deep down the last rational part of his brain was telling him to just quit his struggling and accept death, but right now he was working on pure survival instincts and logic. He'd been through even worse situations and somehow still survived.

'Give up now,' the Courier's mind finally said to him as he finally reached the golden stinger. 'You may have survived two point blank headshots but that doesn't mean jack shit right now.'

He lifted his Pip-Boy to access his supplies but his shaky hand pressed the wrong button and suddenly the stinger vanished. He opened his heavy eyes to see that he had digitized the golden stinger. 'Look at that. Lady Luck isn't here to save you now.'

He lowered his head and started to take his last few breaths. By now air was the most expensive luxury and his body was growing poor fast. He closed his eyes and tried to block out as much pain as he could. As he did his mind wandered back into his memories, memories of his old friends and what everything he did in the last year. The battles he fought, the people he killed, and the people he lost.

'You don't deserve another chance,' the Courier's mind babbled on. 'You've earned all this, time to cash in.'

He took his last breath and begrudgingly agreed with his delusional brain. He let sleep embrace his mind and soul, ready for the great beyond.

Glynda's scowl grew larger with every passing minute. Five minutes have passed and she still hadn't made it to where the fight was even with her Aura and Glyphs pushing her as fast as they could. Her pessimistic mind told her to just head back and forget about the whole situation. Fighting a Deathstalker alone was akin to suicide and the person was almost guaranteed to be dead by now, so there was no point even looking.

However she still had a job to do as a professor and a huntress and if the worst came to be she would at least kill off a Deathstalker. Besides she had even bothered to grab an antidote kit from the Beacon hospital just in case the person did survive but needed aid.

Suddenly a loud screech pierced the relative silence, no doubt by the same Deathstalker. Glynda kept her fast pace, using her Glyphs to propel herself through the twisting maze of branches and fauna towards the sound.

Within moments she found a small clearing amidst many fallen trees. Bits of earth and tons of branches and leaves littered the ground but what stuck out the most were a few bits of steel among them. She had little time to wonder however as she rushed over towards a prone figure within the center of the mess. She kneeled down and flipped the person over. Her first thought of was one of shock as she realized not only was it a man, but a young one at that. Her second one was that he wore some ridiculously heavy armor.

She slapped his cheeks a few times but found they were rock hard and swollen, no doubt because of the Deathstalker poison. She quickly opened the antidote kit and readied a syringe full of bright yellow liquid. She pierced his throat and emptied it all into him and sighed in relief as the antidote went to work immediately. A few seconds later and the young man's body was stable again and he was breathing normally.

Glynda scrunched her nose as she put away the kit. A smell not so different from burnt flesh and tar wafted through the air. She found it coming from the dead Deathstalker but upon further examination she found herself slightly surprised.

The Deathstalker was of the Brood Mother variety and its large white spikes and second set of claws proved it. They were also slightly larger than most Deathstalkers, though she had no other specimen to compare it with right now. It's surprising to find one out in the open as Brood Mothers stay in dark caves to lay eggs and protect their spawn. She knew from the initiation footage that Team JNPR had killed a regular or Drone Deathstalker, so the presence of a Brood Mother in the forest was not out of the question. They were powerful and ferocious when it came to their young and Glynda assumed the young man had probably killed a few, most assuredly by accident as no sane man would dare anger a Brood Mother on purpose. While not the strongest Grimm or variant of Deathstalkers, for a young man to singlehandedly kill one was a nigh impossible task.

And what a kill it was. Several eyes were badly cut while one large one in particular had been burned through and still slightly smoking. No doubt that was where the horrible stench was coming from. As Glynda walked around the corpse she found its golden stinger was severed and missing. Several spikes had broken off as well.

She gave a small hum of approval as she returned to the now sleeping young man. He couldn't have been more than eighteen or nineteen years old judging by how young his faced looked. However the two circular scars on his forehead seemed to prove otherwise or that he's had an unforgiving youth. His brown hair was short and curly but was also a mess of dirt, leaves, and blood. His armor had a large hole in it and was soaked in blood, yet his torso was for the most part okay.

He had a peculiar device strapped to his wrist however. It was a small monitor with a few buttons of varying sizes on it. It had a flashlight on its end still on and a few knobs around the screen. The screen itself displayed in a dull amber color a simplistic drawing of a man in a jumpsuit. The little man was looking at a watch on his wrist and beneath him was the message Pip-Boy 3000 now on Stand-By Mode. Press any button to access your personal data.

"Hmm," she hummed to herself. "Never seen a Scroll like this before…"

A chorus of howls and growls stopped her train of thought. She silently scolded herself for forgetting her assignment.

She picked him up with difficulty thanks to his armor and she took out her riding crop. She readied herself for the long trip back. The Grimm were already starting to rile up again now that the Brood Mother was dead and no doubt smelled all the blood on the young man. She had to make haste.

Ozpin was just as surprised as Glynda when she returned to his office with the young man in tow. He had just finished brewing another batch of coffee when they came in. He quickly got a large chair and sat the man on it. Glynda was tired and out of breath so she let Ozpin know firsthand how heavy the man was. Unsurprisingly Ozpin made it look easy to shoulder the young man over to the chair. She gave a huff of annoyance and took another seat, wanting desperately to rest her legs and Aura.

"He's younger than I expected," Ozpin noted as he examined the young man. "He doesn't look a day past nineteen."

"That's what I thought when I found him. There was no one else around though other than the Deathstalker Brood Mother's corpse."

Ozpin's eyes slightly widened at the news. "Indeed. I watched the battle on your Scroll. Thank you by the way Ms. Goodwitch," Ozpin thanked as he returned the portable device to her. "To kill a Brood Mother is no simple feat, especially for someone so young."

The elderly headmaster took a sip of his fresh coffee to clear his mind and put his mug down to get a better look at the sleeping young man. He note of his scars before he turned his attention to the device on his wrist. He raised an eyebrow at the picture but didn't say anything about it.

"I've never seen anything like it," Glynda remarked as she walked up to Ozpin. "Have you ever seen a Scroll like this professor?"

"I don't think it's a Scroll," Ozpin answered. He quickly pressed on of the large buttons beneath the screen and the Stand-By screen disappeared to show the jumpsuit man's body spread out. The screen now displayed medical information, showing limb and muscle conditions. Ozpin's eyes quickly blazed through the text with keen interest. The function was not unlike Beacon's medical scanners which were used to inform the medical staff the same thing for when injured students were brought in. He pressed the same button and this time the screen displayed hunger, hydration, and sleep meters. He was slightly worried when he read the declining hunger meter but he was more surprised at the sleep meter. It had a status box above it which had read ASLEEP when Ozpin first accessed the screen.

But now it turned to AWAKE.

In an instant the young man's eyes shot open, giving the two professors their first look at his bloodshot and deep green eyes. He quickly rolled back, slamming the chair onto the floor and onto his feet. His hands balled into tight fists and he got into a boxing stance, ready for any sudden advancements or attacks.

Glynda took out her riding crop in defense as she watched the potentially dangerous man look around the room. Ozpin however casually picked up his mug and sipped his coffee.

"There's no need to be alarmed. We have no intention of harming you," Ozpin assured the young man.

The Courier felt a small amount of relief at hearing English and the amount of civility present in the elderly man's words. He didn't expect to find humans in this strange and dangerous land but that fact that he found English speaking people who didn't want to kill him on sight was very appreciated. He lowered his fists and relaxed his weary body.

"I'm sorry," the Courier apologized.

Ozpin gave Glynda a slight nod. She kept her slight glare on the young man and tucked her riding crop under her arm. "Please, sit."

The Courier nodded and walked over to the fallen chair. He casually lifted it as he walked around it and sat down. He took the time to thoroughly examine the first two people he's met in this world. The white haired man wore dark shaded glasses and a black suit and vest with a green undershirt and dark green pants. A dark green scarf was wrapped around his neck while in one hand rested a black cane with a silver top and in the other a mug with a gray symbol on it. Overall the man looked clean and scholarly, something he had seldom saw in the wasteland.

Looking over to the blonde woman he was transfixed by just how pristine and beautiful she looked. Far from the rugged and dirty everyday woman of the Mojave wasteland, this spectacle wearing blonde was a picture of middle-aged beauty. Her skin was milky white, her face blemish free, and her eyes a vibrant green. Her blonde hair was wrapped into a small bun with her bangs slightly curled. Teal earrings adorned her ears and a teal jewel decorated her collar. However as his eyes lowered he felt compelled to look away as her white suit exposed a good portion of top of her breasts. He quickly looked back to the man though from the corner of his eye he found her black business skirt and stockings complimented her torn purple and black cape well.

"I understand you must have many questions young man, but let's start with introductions. I am Professor Ozpin and to my right is Professor Goodwitch," Ozpin said.

The Courier's eyes narrowed in confusion at the man's words. What was his name? After his incident at Goodsprings he had totally forgotten his entire past, even his name. On his journey across the wasteland he had always just called himself a Courier since that was what his job was even before he was stuck six feet under. Most folks knew what a Courier was so they didn't bother asking further questions. Plus names meant little in a land where your new friend could just as well be dead the next day. People and names came and went and remembering them was seen a hassle by most.

But here he couldn't just tell them his name was "Courier," that was a ridiculous name. It was just a title though he was given many in the past year. He was called the Slayer of the Bull, the Champion of the Bear, and the Guardian of the Wastes among many others. But none of them constituted a name really.

'Then again there was that crazy old man I saved all those months back,' the Courier thought. The poor wastelander was dying of dehydration when the Courier came across him in an abandoned shack. He offered the man all the water he could afford and was thanked with complete gibberish. Apparently the old man had gone insane, a common fate for most wastelanders. The Courier didn't understand a single word the man had said to him but one word was repeated over and over. It was something the Courier had never deciphered after he had left the man, but it stuck with him throughout his travels. And compared to everything else's he's heard it was the closest to a name that something he could still identify with.

"Anim," the Courier replied. "My name is Anim."

"Just Anim?" Ozpin asked.

"Yes."

"Interesting," Ozpin whispered. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

It was a start at least. "Where are you from?"

"I'm not from here," Anim answered. "In fact I'm not even from this world."

Now the professors were really confused. Glynda gave Ozpin a sideways glance but Ozpin just shook his head at her. Anim's head showed no signs of damage according to his wrist device so there was little chance that he was suffering from amnesia. "What do you mean Mr. Anim?"

"Please," Anim said. "Just call me Anim. But to answer your question I am certain I'm not from this world. In fact this world is nothing like where I came from." Anim turned his eyes to Ozpin. "Just what is this place?"

Ozpin rubbed his chin in thought. This could all very well be an elaborate trick, even if the evidence demanded otherwise. However giving Anim a brief retelling of Remnant's history was still perfectly fine. He took out his own large gray Scroll, opened it, and looked for a world map. Anim eyed the device with curiosity until Ozpin turned his Scroll around to show Anim a map he had never seen before. "The world we are on is called Remnant. Long ago darkness covered the world and was inhabited by animals and creatures of darkness collectively known as Grimm. Mankind was born into this world and was soon hunted down by the Grimm. For ages mankind fought for its survival against the Grimm with great effort, nearly driven to the point of extinction. However mankind then discovered Dust."

Anim looked confused at the new name. Ozpin then motioned for Glynda to explain as he took another sip of his coffee. She stepped forward and reached around her back to pull out a vial of what seemed to be purple dust.

"Dust is a natural form of energy found within Remnant's earth. It's naturally found in crystal form however when grinded into a powder it is useable as fuel for machinery and weapons, ammunition, and for casting Glyphs," Glynda explained. "Many different types exist, each pertaining to a natural power or element. Red Dust begets fire, Blue begets water, Green begets lightening and so forth. It was this power that allowed mankind to turn the tide of war against the Grimm."

Anim nodded in understanding. Dust seemed like a universal energy source and wonder material for this world; much like nuclear power and electricity was for the wasteland. Ms. Goodwitch mentioned Glyphs which befuddled him, but it would be best to ask about that later. Weaponry was another thing he wanted to ask about since it seems as though it's as big a part of this world as it was the wasteland.

Ozpin gave Glynda a nod of thanks before he continued. "As Ms. Goodwitch said earlier, Dust saved mankind from extinction. With it we became the hunters and the Grimm the hunted. Mankind marched forward, clearing out lands to erect civilization. We built cities and towns as refuges, advanced our technology, and lived." Ozpin took another sip of his coffee and continued, though with a tinge of determination in his tone. "However mankind is still not safe from the Grimm. For every day the Grimm grow evermore stronger and numerous outside our sanctuaries. Every day we are attacked and hounded by the forces of darkness, driven further and further into ever shrinking pockets of land."

He moved to his right and, seeing him do so, Glynda moved to her left. As they did they revealed Ozpin's desk and the large white symbol carved into it. To Anim it looked like two crossed axes and two leaves below them.

"And every day we train and battle the Grimm as our ancestors did, as hunters and huntresses," Ozpin stated. "You are currently within Beacon Academy," Ozpin said as he motioned with his mug towards the symbol. "A combat facility designed to train young adults into humanity's next line of defenders. I am its headmaster and Professor Goodwitch is an instructor here. There are many other facilities like mine scattered across various lands and kingdoms. Beacon is situated in the kingdom of Vale and its city and dedicated to protecting mankind."

Anim's eyes glossed over as he absorbed everything he had learned. This world is truly different than his in almost every single way. In a sense they were both beautiful worlds, if the old photographs and books detailing the Old World were to be trusted, that were plagued with their own kind of poison. He replayed the first few minutes of his first hand introduction to the wilds of Remnant. The boundless life and energy of nature here still stole his breath every time he imagined it. But if the Grimm were to prevail, that beauty might just as well rot into something just like his world, a different wasteland where life would still struggle to survival.

"I assume that creature I fought was a Grimm?" Anim asked after a few moments of silence.

Glynda nodded, her perpetual frown intensifying. "A Deathstalker Brood Mother to be precise. To take one on by yourself was practically suicide-"

Ozpin quickly interrupted before Glynda began to scold the young man. "But you killed it and moreover survived." Glynda rolled her eyes at the headmaster. "Though you certainly didn't leave the battle unscathed."

Anim looked down and blushed in embarrassment. His armor was caked in dry blood and Deathstalker ichor. The hole where the stinger struck him in particular was especially bloody. "Sorry. I prefer fighting up close rather than shooting."

"Yes I saw you had a myriad of close range weapons that you used against it." Anim's eyes widened at Ozpin's remark.

"You watched me fight it?"

"I did yes," Ozpin admitted. "However I was watching it on Professor Goodwitch's Scroll which was recording your battle live from one of our many cameras in the Emerald Forest. She was the one who first checked the camera to see what was stirring up the Grimm in the forest and saw you fighting. I observed you through the live feed as Professor Goodwitch hurried over to aid you."

Anim quickly turned to the blonde professor and lowered his head in respect. "Thank you Professor Goodwitch for saving my life. I doubt I would've survived the Deathstalker's poison." Glynda gave Anim a faint nod in acknowledgement though her frown still persisted.

"As I was watching my concern wasn't so much on the poison but rather the stinger wound you sustained on your chest," Ozpin pointed out. "No man could've survived a wound like that and yet you somehow healed yourself, flesh and all."

"He did what?" Glynda asked as she faced the ever calm Ozpin. She hadn't had time to ponder about Anim's armor breach and blood but to find out he recovered from a Deathstalker sting was astonishing.

Ozpin ignored his colleague and continued. "Not only that you could materialize and disintegrate your weapons with a flash of light as a means to swap them out. Also your body withstood against the poison much longer than a normal man's." He walked up to Anim and lightly tapped his Pip-Boy with his cane. "And I believe the answer to all that lies in this device."

Anim sighed. There was no point in hiding anything from Ozpin if he saw the entire fight. "The device is called a Pip-Boy 3000. It was produced for Vault Dwellers as an advanced everyday tool to help manage personal information. It was the pinnacle of my world's technology as it could, as you said, materialize and store items among many other features." Anim gave a few clicks on his Pip-Boy and his armor quickly disappeared in a flash of amber light, leaving him in his usual attire. He wore run down, dirty leather shoes which matched his slightly torn black slacks. A leather belt drew a line between his slacks and his white collared shirt. A dusty and dirt streaked black suit covered his upper body as well. "Like that."

"Interesting," Ozpin noted. His mind was teeming with ideas about the Pip-Boy. "Is there-"

"I can't take it off," Anim answered quickly.

"Why is that?"

"Each Pip-Boy is personalized and is conditioned to be latched onto its user's wrist indefinitely. The old man who had given it to me somehow took it off himself, but so far I haven't the slightest clue on how to remove it without amputating something off. Ever since he gave it to me it's been stuck to my arm."

Ozpin was about to starting talking but Animcut him off again. "Hacking or tinkering with it in any way is also out of the question. From what I gathered Pip-Boys are notoriously difficult to hack and failed attempts would cause it to short circuit and crash, erasing all of its memory and software files. It's a failsafe designed to ensure all personal files would be kept secret. The hardware is very sensitive as well, which is why the outer cover is so strong and waterproof."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes and nodded. He kept his gaze centered on Anim's unmoving eyes, replaying his words, trying to detect if he told the truth. Ozpin was usually an excellent judge of character and his surroundings but Anim was an anomaly to say the least. Anim could've been an excellent liar for all he knew, but given he seemed genuinely shocked at what he and Glynda had told him so far. Perhaps what he said was indeed truthful. Shame, then there really was no way to safely study the Pip-Boy. Producing something like it would give all hunters a great advantage in battles. "And the healing?"

"That was my world's medicine at work," Anim said simply while the two adults' eyes widened. "I had two kinds on me after I was teleported here, Stimpaks and Med-X." He checked his Pip-Boy again but frowned afterwards. "The first one was what healed that hole in my chest. It was designed to auto-inject if my body suffered major damage and it took all the ones I had left to heal me up. My only Med-X acted as a pain killer. It stifled the pain long enough for me to finish it off."

Another new asset lost. At least Anim wasn't hiding any from them. "Teleported? Is that how you arrived?"

A quick recount of his first few hours on Remnant brought the two professors up to speed.

"That explains why you didn't use any firearms," Glynda concluded. "I suppose it was thanks to your own penchant for close combat that saved you."

"Tell me about your world Anim," Ozpin said. "I would very much like to hear about it."

Anim gave a low chuckle at Ozpin's optimism. "There is nothing to like about my world professor."

"Humor me then."

"It was once as beautiful and amazing as Remnant. There were massive cities that housed millions of people. Nature grew unshackled and as vibrant as your forests here. There were cars and planes, animals of all kinds, and amazing technology." Anim's eyes grew half-lidded and dark. "But then the bombs fell."

"Bombs?" Glynda asked.

"War," Ozpin concluded. "Am I right Anim?"

He nodded in reply. "Yeah. The Great War as people called it. Supposedly every nation on my world sent out nuclear bombs to destroy one another, though no one really knows why. Nuclear bombs rained down on my world like rain. The explosions and the subsequent radioactive fallout decimated almost all life on my world, Earth. What few plants and animals that survived rapidly mutated, growing into monstrosities similar to the Grimm here."

Glynda narrowed her eyes once Anim mentioned radiation. The phenomenon was only partially understood on Remnant. Several kinds of Dust expel radiation and were extremely dangerous. Most of these Dust could produce immense, unprecedented explosions and were classified by all the kingdoms and governments as life threateningly dangerous. Radiation testing however was a slow process and no one had any idea of what that kind of energy could produce. To hear that radiation could cause such horrific damage was frightening.

"In fact there were giant scorpions too, Radscorpions as we called them, that roamed the land. I fought many throughout my travels, got stung many times too. I guess my body grew resistant to their poison and that somehow translated over to slowing down Deathstalker poison."

It was a stretch for sure, that two separate creatures from two distinct worlds would share a similar poison. Ozpin pondered the idea for a moment before motioning Anim to continue.

"But humanity still survived, somehow. Some escaped the bombs and the first centuries of fallout by hiding in large underground communities called Vaults that sealed them off from the outside world and devastation. That's where the old man I mentioned earlier came from and supposedly every Vault inhabitant had a Pip-Boy, he gave me his. Anyway, others that survived the bombs on the surface grew mutated along with nature. Some grew into human-like, insane mutants. Others were still sane but were horribly disfigured by mutation. Slowly humans tried to squeeze out a life in the new wasteland, scavenging whatever weapons and food they could find to survive. This was the world I was born into."

"You don't look disfigured," Glynda remarked. "So are you not so heavily affected by the radiation?"

"Oh thank you professor," Anim smiled. "But to answer your question, yes. Only those exposed to huge amounts of radiation are mutated and their bodies heavily altered. People like me who stay away from radioactive material stay fine for the most part. All living things in the wasteland are irradiated. It's something we can't avoid. Our food, water, even the air we breathe is irradiated. Don't worry though, I don't have much in my body and it's not contagious in anyway."

Ozpin took another sip as he digested Anim's words. It sounded like hell to be honest. No doubt banditry, violence, and starvation were an everyday threat. To not be able to drink water or eat without worrying about whether it would kill you or not, it would be a horrible existence. Not to mention there were monsters on the same caliber as Grimm. "What a terrible world."

Glynda gave a curt nod while Anim licked his lips. He hadn't talked so much at once for a long time and he found himself thirsty afterwards. What's worst was that his hunger was making itself apparent again. Ozpin's perceptive eyes noticed instantly and he quickly excused himself out of his office, setting his cane and mug on his table. A minute later and he returned with another one of his mugs full of water and a bowl of assorted fruit which he handed over to Anim. "I noticed you were getting hungry and parched. I apologize, this was all I could find on such short notice."

Anim did his best to not chug all of his water before handing the mug back and grabbing an apple. He'd only seen a few out in the wastes but none of them looked as healthy as this one. He took a bite and marveled at the explosion of flavor and juice it yielded. As he took more and larger bites between gulps his eyes began to water. "T-thank you."

Glynda's frown softened a bit as she noticed Anim's unshed tears. "Are you okay Anim?"

Anim quickly rubbed his tears away with his sleeve and stopped eating to answer her. "It-it's just that. Just to have a bowl of fresh fruit…anyone back on Earth would've paid a fortune for this. And you just gave it to me for free, because I was simply hungry."

Ozpin and Glynda gave each other a surprised look before Anim continued. "This kind of food, this beautiful land," Anim pointed out as he finished his second apple. "Even if Remnant is plagued by Grimm, any wastelander would see this is place as paradise, as heaven." He looked back at the rest of the fruit and hastily stuck the bowl out towards Ozpin. "I-I can't eat anymore. I-I can't waste your food like this. I don't deserve this," Anim cried out, his head hung in guilt.

Ozpin said nothing and pushed the bowl back into Anim's lap. Anim's made no move to stop Ozpin and simply looked up at the man, tears flowing freely down his face. His mouth was slightly open in protest, but he found himself mute against Ozpin.

"There's no need to be sorry about eating," Ozpin said quietly. Anim's mouth quivered at the simple statement, his tears quickening as he realized the extent of these people's hospitality.

"Thank you." Anim slowly finished the rest of the fruit and handed the bowl back.

The entire time Glynda had her eyes on Ozpin, waiting for him to look at her with that sheepish grin. When he did she just nodded with annoyance and turned her head.

"Anim," Ozpin started as said man looked up from his Pip-Boy. "I have a proposition for you." Anim made no attempt to stop Ozpin so he continued. "From what you have told me I think it's pretty clear that you have no intention of returning to your world, even if we knew a way to send you back."

"Yeah," Anim chuckled. "I have no plans to return after what I've seen here."

"Even if you nearly died your first night here?"

"I've lived through worse. Besides I was unprepared."

Ozpin couldn't help but grin at Anim's slight boast. "I have no doubt. That is why I want to offer you a spot in Beacon Academy."

"Excuse me?"

"Would you like to be a student here at Beacon?" Ozpin simplified. "Would you like to train to be a hunter?"

Anim sat still at the question as he pondered the invitation. Some dark recess of his mind told him to say no and just leave. It told him he didn't deserve a third chance at life after all that he did. He didn't deserve to be whisked away into a fantasy world and live a life that would be envied by any and all wastelanders.

But at the same time his very being yearned to stay and help as best he could. It would be worse to just leave these people to fight when he could be alongside them, fighting against evil and saving lives. And this wasn't simply a perceived evil either like the Legion or the Great Khans were "evil" simply meant differences in ideas and cultures, but an absolute one dedicated to the eradication of all human life.

He glanced at a nearby window, imagining what lay beyond the night's darkness. He may not deserve better, but these people certainly don't deserve to die.

If he could help ensure humanity's survival here, then, then he could accept his fate here.

"I accept." Anim reached out with his hand and Ozpin didn't hesitate to shake it. "When do I start?"

"Tomorrow," Ozpin announced as he finished his coffee. "You're initiation begins tomorrow."

Author's Notes: Any questions about the Fallout universe will be explained as the story progresses. I hope you enjoyed Anim's introduction to the world of RWBY.