"Choosing isn't the hard part. It's living with the consequences afterwards."
Dust in the Wind
is a Crossover between RWBY and Fallout: New Vegas written By Buried_In_Ash.
Life in the Mojave is good. Unless your name is Courier Six, and you just want to have five minutes of peace and quiet. It's been over a year since the Battle for Hoover Dam ended the war between the NCR and Legion. Leading to both factions being booted from the desert, as a new Independent power rose in their place. While most wouldn't say that things have been smooth, there's freedom, and a sense of security now that the fighting's done. But as Courier Six looks down over his hard won domain, he can't help but reminisce on his past failings. Those that he lost with them. But you can't change the past.
...Can you?
In a bid to re-write his own history, Courier Six finds himself swept across dimensions, to a world both familiar to his own, but completely alien as well. Where he's forced to re-learn old lessons, pick himself back up, and press forward again. War Never changes, so men must. Getting to do it as a younger man, with some new friends, just adds to the experience.
Bad Luck follows some people like a cloud. For Courier Six, it's a pack of Thirteen Pitch-Black Cats.
In desperate need of Wiki Magic Love.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Expansion: Downplayed. Much of volume 1 remains as it was in the original show. However, it's followed immediately after by a story arc that covers the weeks between volumes 1 and 2. The story also expands upon the role of team CFVY by Having them train with Six to better use and recover his Aura and increasing their interactions with the main cast. The White Fang Arc in Volume 2 has also been expanded from the single night represented in the show to a multiple week long endeavor.
- The Alcoholic: Six is a Functional Addict and he suffers from withdrawal. He ends up making a moonshine still from parts of Beacon Academy's heating system.
- Animalistic Abomination: The Grimm, as usual. After Six arrives on Remnant, new ones shaped like enormous armored deathclaws start appearing.
- April Fools' Day: A tradition of the story. Once per year, a chapter is uploaded, taking place in RWBY Chibi rather than the main timeline. Often with Six being stuck as the Straight Man to the rest of the cast's antics.
- Armor Is Useless: Several of the RWBY characters hold this opinion (as their Auras will protect them instead) and wonder why Six chooses to wear so much.
- Berserk Button: For some unexplained reason, Six can't stand being called "Courier."
- Black Comedy Burst: Not a regular occurrence, but when the story decides to do black comedy, it doesn't end until someone's hurt. Or tied to a chair, or lit on fire, or falls off a building and breaks their ass...
- Boring, but Practical: Gunpowder. It can't do all the pseudo-magical tricks Dust can, but it's a much more powerful propellant, ounce-for-ounce. Six points out that Ruby's .50 caliber Dust rifle is only rated for the same pressure as a decent pistol on Earth.
- Born Unlucky: As noted in the description, Six's luck is absolutely terrible. He describes it as like "13 pitch-black cats," which in New Vegas terms would mean a Luck Stat of 1. There are many times it's resulted in harm being brought to him, or plans outright failing.
- Covered in Scars: Six has an impressive collection from a lifetime in the Wasteland. There are enough of them to freak out the other characters and eventually tip them off to his lack of Aura.
- The Faceless: Six refuses to take off his gas mask, no matter what else he's wearing.
- Played with in a series of sidestories. While Six's face remains un-described, he does say that's not exactly easy on the eyes. Though commentary from Cass implies this might just be him downplaying himself.
- First-Person Smartass: The bulk of the narration is handled from Six's perspective, most of it laden with, at times undue, snark.
- Gun Nut: Ruby. Aside from her loving care for her own Crescent Rose, she's endlessly fascinated by Six's various foreign weapons, especially the Laser RCW.
- Immune to Drugs: Six has a partial immunity to drugs and poisons due to the Cardiac Arrest perk, which helps him survive Junior's murder attempt. He mentions that he would have a total immunity if he had stayed Heartless, but that also would have meant he couldn't get drunk anymore so he chose to have his biological heart returned.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Thus far, each complete chapter has run with the naming convention of "X in the Y". For example, the first chapter is Red in the Rose.
- Innocently Insensitive: Six initially doesn't know that Faunus are a distinct race, and assumes that the people with horns or animal ears are just following a bizarre fashion trend. He makes a few offensive remarks before being set straight.
- Made of Iron: Six repeatedly describes himself as "Unstoppable" in durability and unarmed combat, which is the Vit-o-matic Vigor Tester's way of saying his Constitution stat is a 10. The RWBY characters are amazed to learn that he survived multiple gunshot wounds and being punched through a wall by Yang without the benefit of Aura.
- This is further reinforced by Six having the 'Adamantium Skeleton' perk. Which, on top of his already insane constitution, reinforces his skeleton to make it virtually unbreakable.
- Named Weapons: The RWBY characters all have them, of course. A few of them get a little confused when they find out that most of Six's weapons don't have names.
- Outscare the Enemy: Six has the Terrifying Presence perk, which he uses either to get out of trouble or just when he's angry enough.
- Power-Strain Blackout: VATS is described as working by using a special processor in the Pip-Boy to speed up the human nervous system. Overusing it causes Six incredible pain and eventually knocks him out.
- Pungeon Master: Yang.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The initial premise, and what winds up stranding Six in Remnant. However, it's quickly abandoned as Six realizes both where he's trapped, and what he can expect to encounter.
- Side Bet: Ren and Nora have multiple going on at all times, with the stakes being Ren making pancakes or Nora giving Ren a back rub.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Six forms this relationship with Glynda Goodwitch early on, after he insults her when suffering from alcohol withdrawal.
- Slipping a Mickey: Junior drugs Six and Yang when they drink at his club, planning to kill Yang.
- Snarky Inanimate Object: After getting his Aura unlocked, Six's Pip-Boy lists a new "Aura of Life" perk that includes a joke about him actually having a soul.
- Super-Strength: Nora is ridiculously strong, with Six comparing her to a super mutant.
- Time Machine: The Think Tank created one, but they considered it an unusable failure because it wouldn't work if it was covered in pudding. It sends Six to Remnant instead of the past because they forgot to account for multiverse theory.
- Un-Sorcerer: Being from Earth, Six is the only main character with no Aura. Even when it's finally unlocked it turns out to be incredibly weak, stopping him from relying on it much.
