No Place For a Hero
Authors' Notes: I feel like I need to give one very large introduction to this piece before the readers get to it. Borderlands is a video game series that my gorgeous awesome lady and I play on a regular basis. We began to toss around the idea of a Borderlands/Once cross over and I decided to run with it obviously. Borderlands takes place on the fictional planet Pandora where violence runs rampart. Creatures and bandits alike attempt to kill the characters who attempt to kill them right back. Skags are dog like creatures that are extremely fierce but are much smaller than their counterparts Bullymongs. Bullymongs resemble bears and are extremely fierce. They throw rocks and other things as well as using their claws and teeth to rip prey apart. So basically what I've done is drop Swan Queen and others into Borderlands and hoped it comes out right. I intend for this to follow somewhat closely to the second installment of the game, which is our favorite. I hope you all enjoy since this is likely to get rather violent as well as romantic? I suppose those two can go in the same sentence.
Prologue:
It was a hot day not unlike the days before. Dust gathered and fell as the train creaked along rusty tracks chugging on to a destination unknown to some but to most of the others on the train, it was taking them to a new job. The train pulled to a halt, allowing new passengers to get on or off as they chose. Regina's gold brown eyes traced over the wastelands of Windshear without thought to what had made them that way. A howl made her shudder, she'd all ready had a bad encounter with a Skag and she'd like to avoid the plated four legged beasts for a bit longer. Thankfully, her pistol had been enough to put the damn thing down after it had grabbed a hold of her leg and thought to rip it out from under her. Sad really but the damn thing had to die after trying to eat her. It shouldn't be allowed to live though there were far more vicious creatures that resided on this dust ball of a planet. It really was a shit hole but one that she hoped would prove useful to her purposes. She turned her head as a voice spoke near her.
"Is this seat taken?"
Regina's blue swirling tattoos flashed as she pulled her legs up offering the space beside her to the taller blonde woman standing nearby. She tensed, when she felt the blonde's eyes trail over her tattoos. She hadn't bothered to hide them like she had before in the temple. Instead, they were fully exposed in her high necked, blood red crop top, revealing her bare mid-drift which swirled with the same design that danced over her right arm on the same side. From her hips down were covered by her black cargo pants but she knew anyone with eyes could tell she was a siren just by the swirling blue patterns that danced along her right side. They began at the shoulder and went all down the right side of her body. Sirens were rare in the universe, women with so much power in their bodies they could bring down whole civilizations. Only six could exist at a time and of those six, she was still considered the rare one. Gifted with the ability to lock an enemy inside a void that would hold them completely immobile, she was a dangerous force to deal with in battle.
"You're a siren right?" The woman that settled in the seat next to her asked.
She cut her gold brown eyes at her, studying her for a moment before she replied.
"You're a soldier right?" The frost in her tone should've dropped the temperature of the hot train car ten fold but it only made the woman in the BDU's beside her grin.
"Something like that. Ex-Dahl soldier."
"I was unaware Dahl let soldiers out of their charge." Regina cut her eyes at the other woman who shrugged.
Dahl was one of many companies that operated in the galaxy, providing weapons and mercenaries and technology alike. They along with other companies run by rich men and women on planets far away truly controlled the universe and as such held the fate of this planet in the palm of it's cold, metal hands. Attempts to civilize the border world though had failed miserably but now attention was once again on the planet as valuable minerals and treasures untold were rumored to be under ground. That's what was beginning to draw treasure hunters, more bandits, and of course the most powerful companies in the galaxy.
"Well I don't think they had much of a choice with me." The blonde grinned. "I'm Emma by the way."
"Charmed." Regina muttered, finding the blonde rubbed her the wrong way. Her tattoos flashed electric blue with annoyance at the blowhard beside her.
"Well are you gonna tell me your name Siren? Or do I just call you Siren?" Emma grinned, shifting in the uncomfortable metal seat. Dust flew off her pants as she twisted to look at the beautiful creature beside her.
"Do you really enjoy the sound of your own voice so much?"
"Do you always try to detract others from conversing like civilized human beings with you?" Emma grinned back, clearly enjoying the combative nature of their conversation.
"You are the most annoying…"
"I prefer dashing but I'll take it. So in all seriousness siren what is your name?"
"Do you find pestering a woman gets your way with her? Or am I just special?"
"Well you can ask my ex-wife Lily that but seeing as she doesn't ever want to see me again…might be kinda hard to accomplish."
"You seem to be deliberating under the delusion that I give a damn." Regina stated flatly which got her another grin from the former soldier.
Emma shifted and stood up from her seat glancing around the train before slamming back down on the metal bench. "Well seeing as we're the only two chicks on this train."
"Do you always refer to yourself in misogynistic terms?"
"Do you always use big words to throw people off?"
"Figures, only Dahl would allow an overgrown ape into their ranks."
"Well seeing as I was discharged, I think you'll have to rescind that theory."
At Regina's surprised look, the former soldier grinned, "Didn't think I had a big vocabulary did you?"
"You're insufferable."
"And you're a rarity so why not stick with me or does the dude that smells like a bullymong's ass appeal to you more than I do?" Regina arched a brow to which the taller of the women grinned at her.
"If he has a larger vocabulary…"
"Hate to tell you sweetheart but I don't think he'd want to speak to you, maybe wrestle you to the ground for that pretty piece in your holster or you know other things but that's about all you're going to get out of him."
"You really enjoy the sound of your own voice don't you?"
"You really like trying to get me to leave you alone don't you?"
Regina scoffed, rolling her eyes as the soldier continued to counter every quick barb she could throw at her. She glanced back through the seats and wrinkled her nose at the blonde man standing there in dusty leather that looked like it had seen better days. She could practically smell him from here but she ignored that and turned back to the only other woman on the train.
"Fine…I'm Regina."
"Regina, that's a pretty name. Pretty name for a pretty siren."
"You really do enjoy the sound of your own voice don't you?"
"And you really are a prickly little thing aren't you?"
"Did you just call me little?" Her tattoos flashed electric blue once again as her annoyance peaked.
"So that is true. When sirens feel emotions their tattoos glow. Huh…never thought I'd get to see that in person."
"And what would you know about sirens?"
"Not a whole hell of a lot so; why not enlighten me?"
At her arched eyebrow, Emma laughed, "Still shocked at my vocabulary huh?"
"Something like that." Regina sat back, resisting the urge to fiddle with the revolver in it's leg holster on the opposite side of her tattoos.
"So they ever determine why sirens' tattoos glow like that?"
"Are you really that interested?"
"Just trying to make conversation; pass the time. That doesn't seem to be something you're even remotely interested in though so I suppose I'll just have to talk and occupy my time that way."
"Please don't."
"Well it's worked well so far; got your name didn't I?"
Regina shot her a withering look as her tattoos flashed once again. The grin on the other woman's face was annoying and she suddenly wondered if she should take her leather fingerless gloved covered hand and smash her fist in the woman's face. It would probably wipe the cocky smirk off her face that's for sure. She balled her fist up ready to strike when the train gave a loud squeal and jarred suddenly to the right.
"What the hell?" She asked, looking at Emma who turned to look at her with equally confused eyes.
"Get down!" Emma yelled, throwing her body on top of the siren's despite the inherent danger in doing just that.
A wall of fire shot up in front of them as the train car went airborne. The siren reached out, grabbing a hold of the former soldier and holding on to the only solid thing suddenly available to her.
"Welcome to Pandora Dearies!" A voice screeched before the world went black.