Ruby gazed into the distance absent-minded, where toxic greens, pastel oranges and dull grays colored the landscapes down below, and where the sun had now sunk deep behind the mountains of the Glowing Sea. She rested her head on top of her arms, placed on the railing. Her legs dangled limbly into nothingness and were swung over the edge of the highway, where she had managed to find a safe spot for herself and her sister Yang, to catch a great view over the Commonwealth in a high and secure area, away from all the monsters.
The redhead yawned as she stared upwards, where millions of stars floated above them, with the occasional cloud lazily drifting by.
The screech of seagulls was audible in the distance, and the occasional roar of a wasteland creature that was situated nearby also filled the air. On the wooden crate that served as their table, there was a small portable radio, playing 'Atom Bomb Baby' through its speakers, a slight buzz siding with the melody.
But these were no sounds new to the 21-year-old Ruby Rose, who had been raised, injured, trained and who had grown accustomed to this rough wasteland of nuclear fallout; the land she called 'home'. Spread over miles of this nuclear desert, she had settled herself, made friends, allies and maybe some enemies.
It was almost funny; The sheer amount of adventures and dangers she had lived through to enjoy a sunset on a day like this. It was mind-blowing, yet amazing.
"Ruby?" Yang snapped her fingers repeatedly in front of Ruby in an attempt to grasp her attention. "Hellooo, Rubes?~"
"Welcome back to the land of the living.." Yang looked around, a barely audible 'ehh..' escaping her lips. "Well, sort of." she continued, patting Ruby on the back forcefully with a smile.
"You were totally daydreaming just now." She said mockingly. "Maybe about that cute girl back in Goodneighbor? Magnolia right?"
Ruby grunted irritably, taking a seat on top of her sleeping bag and flopping her head on the dirty pillow, her cheeks flushed a light shade of red. "Nah-ah, I was not."
She did find Magnolia very attractive though, but Yang couldn't find out about that. The thought of visiting her again had crossed Ruby's mind a couple times. Although, she would have to go there when she was on the road on her own, and when Yang was back at their home plate in Diamond City.
"Yeah, right." Yang chuckled, reaching into the pockets of her faded brown trench-coat while looking for her flip-lighter, a cigarette pressed between her lips.
"Yang, stop smoking." Ruby sat up, trying to snatch the cigarette out of sister's her mouth, and failing to do so. She frowned at her sister, who seemed to care little about Ruby's distaste for her bad habit, as she lit her cigarette and exhaled a cloud of gray, thick smoke into the air.
"It's not good for you." She pouted, dropping herself down on the sleeping bag once more, her arms crossed and pressed tight against her chest.
"Is anything these days?" Yang waved off, pointing in the direction of a small lake down below, where yellow radioactive waste barrels were glowing a toxic shade of green and bathed in the smudged green water. On the lakeside, a small group of feral ghouls wandered mindlessly around the barrels.
Then she pointed in another direction mockingly, and Ruby's gaze followed, narrowing her eyes for a clearer view.
A single super mutant was defending himself against a pack of hungry mongrel dogs, and he was doing a pretty good job at that. Swinging his wooden board around, he managed to strike one of the pack, killing it. Then he managed to kill another, and another. It seemed to go pretty well for hi-
Oh wait.
Nope. The super mutant was killed, and now became a feast for the remaining hungry mutated canines, that greedily pulled large humps of the green flesh of its corpse.
Ruby sighed in defeat, accepting the fact that she won't ever get her sister off those damned cigarettes. She had tried though; feeding Yang's single pack to a hungry mirelurk, and pretending that she didn't know where Yang had lost her cigarettes. She had also tried to bargain them to a nice, young lady in Diamond City for a few bottlecaps. But sadly it wasn't her most desired brand, so the deal was off.
She couldn't help it but scowl in distaste though, whenever Yang had managed to find another filled pack of the cancer bombs somewhere between the fallout and debris.
For a moment there was a comforting silence hanging over their campsite, with only the soft crisping sound of their campfire in the background. However, the redhead had learned that in the Commonwealth, peace and silence was always short-lived.
And she was right, because so was this moment of silence.
The repeating of a wet, fleshy sound made Ruby scramble to her feet, peeking over the railing of the highway while wondering what she was hearing.
"Oh cool!" She exclaimed. "Death Battle!"
A curious Yang gazed down, to wherever her sister was pointing, her face lighting up at the sight in front of her.
A savage Deathclaw was battling a Killclaw Mirelurk, bashing his giant claws against the big, intimidating-looking crab's shell. An attack proved futile, as the Deathclaw staggered backward, giving the Mirelurk the opportunity to hit a blow to the creature's kneecap, using his large pincer.
"That Deathclaw is totally going down." Yang said, taking another inhale of her cigarette.
"No way, he'll get his revenge." Ruby claimed happily, balling up her fists in anticipation for the fight.
Yang reached into another pocket, pulling out a handful of bottlecaps. 17 to be exact.
"Wanna make a bet?" She smirked, holding out her hand for a surprised Ruby to stare at.
Grabbing through her pocket, Ruby pulled out 20 bottlecaps, shimmering in the moonlight and the orange glow of their campfire.
"Deal." Ruby laughed, shaking her sister's hand to seal the bet. "Sweet! This would give me enough caps to buy that silencing attachment I've told you about!"
"First win, then buy." Yang winked, much to Ruby's chagrin who let out another grunt before taking her eyes back to the fight.
The Deathclaw had now managed to strike back, clawing at the Mirelurk's torso and taking off one of his legs. But the creature wouldn't surrender so easily, charging forward in a counter attack. His claw lunged forward, snipping through the Deathclaw's thigh, making him roar in pain while stumbling to the ground.
"Go Deathclaw!" Ruby cheered, throwing her fist up in the air while leaning over the railing. Yang simply chuckled and sat back, flicking her finished cigarette away and taking a sip from her bottle of beer.
As if encouraged by the redhead's cheers, the Deathclaw scrambled to his feet and charged forward, intimidating the Mirelurk with his battlecry that caused a gust of wind to race over the grass field. Jumping forward, the Deathclaw caught his foe, pinning him down to the ground and chomping his razor sharp teeth down into his enemy. A gory green paste started to run out of the Mirelurk's torso, the amputated claw clenched between the Deathclaw's jaws. He spit it out before turning his back towards his prey, stomping away.
"Yeah he's done for." Yang sighed, throwing her couch filled with bottlecaps towards Ruby, who clumsily caught it in reflex.
"Told ya." Ruby smiled cheekily, grabbing a handful of bottlecaps, and pressing them against her cheek as if holding a priceless treasure. Pain shot up her cheek as she noticed that pressing sharp edges of bottle caps against her face wasn't the smartest idea.
"Ouch!"
"Idiot." Yang laughed, putting up her feet on the table.
Until the table started shaking, and Yang's feet were thrown off.
"Uhh.. what?" Yang sat up, looking around for the source of her questions. "This is a wasteland, earthquakes are the last thing we need."
"Yang look!" Ruby called out, pointing down. A curious blonde head popped over the edge, looking down at where the Deathclaw and Mirelurk were fighting earlier.
But the fight apparently wasn't over, as a heavily wounded Mirelurk sped up in the direction of the Deathclaw, his legs rapidly ticking against the rock underground.
The Deathclaw however seemed unnoticed of his enemy, as he kept facing forward and stomping away. But the Mirelurk was faster with his many legs, catching up very fast to perform an avenging strike for his lost claw.
Another lunge of his remaining claw managed to strike right through the Deathclaw's tail, cutting it off before it hit the ground with a muffled thump and throwing the off-balanced and startled creature down to the ground, unable to get back up by the crippling injury.
Making his way to the Deathclaw's head, the crablike monster pushed his pincer down on the throat, forcing it down. The Deathclaw roared out one last time, before it got beheaded by the avenging Mirelurk.
Blood colored the rock a deep red color, and the twitching of the Deathclaw's body stopped, his arms going numb and dropping to the floor. The Mirelurk walked away, leaving the beheaded corpse of his enemy behind for the mongrels and the raiders to eat.
"Yes!" Yang beamed, laughing in victory. Ruby grumbled, avoiding her sister's smirk while handing back the pouch filled with the caps. She stood up, mumbling as she made her way to her sleeping bag.
"Goodnight." Ruby mumbled, the sheet of her sleeping bag tugged over her head.
Yang laughed, emptying the pouches on the table and counting her profit with a proud smile. It was always amusing to see how much of a sore loser her sister really was, even though the redhead would be defensive whenever she mentioned the trait.
Counting a total of 37 caps, Yang pondered for a second.
"Hey Rubes, how about we go shopping tomorrow? I'll buy you that attachment." The blonde bribed, watching as her sister's enlightened face popped up from inside her sleeping bag.
"Really?" Ruby smiled from ear to ear.
"Yes. But on one condition." Yang explained, holding up a finger while making her point. "You won't complain about me smoking anymore."
"Deal!" Ruby exclaimed happily, completely forgetting her frustration for her sister's habit, as excitement started coursing through her veins. She couldn't wait any longer.
"Goodnight Yang!" Ruby chirped, before once again tucking her head beneath the sheets.
"Goodnight Ruby."
A/N:
So it's been a while since we last met, hasn't it?
Well I'm back, with a new scribble of something that crossed my mind, which I hope you enjoyed.
Hello, after 2 years I decided to make a comeback as an author here, starting with this Fallout x RWBY AU. The first chapter was a short one, mainly because I got quite rusty in my writing, and to see if this is a concept that'll do well with you readers. I'm also going to continue on The Rose Thief, for those of you who were wondering, or recognized me from that story.
Ofcourse, since this is going to be a collection of stories with our favorite RWBY characters spending their lives in Fallout's area; The Commonwealth, I do take request and ideas on stories. So if you have anything fun that I can work with, let me know with a message, or write a review. (I love reading reviews ^^)
I'll be back for more of this story, and a couple of my other stories as well, so if you're interested, make sure you follow or favorite!
See you in the next chapter! :)
-TheBrokenBottle