Braided Paths

The heat and humidity of New New Orleans almost made living there unbearable to Brunhild. Almost being the key word.

The palm trees swayed with the almost nonexistent breeze on either side of the broken asphalt. Dilapidated buildings filled the ruined city as people filled the streets. Garbage littered the streets and some streets were entirely made of water. Closer to the edge of town, there were patches of cattails and lily pads floating in the water.

The town had done well for itself, despite the setbacks of the nuclear apocalypse. It was one of the numerous reasons why Brunhild had chosen to live here. That and it was the one place Brunhild could forget about her former life in the Commonwealth.

The blonde made her way onto Bourbon Street. She could feel her armor and clothes stick to her as she walked. Brunhild's long champagne hair was held back in a bun with a blue camouflage bandana. She wore leather armor and carried a knapsack on her back.

She walked into the Razor Gator. Despite wearing armor and being armed to the teeth, Brunhild could hear several drunken catcalls and whistles aimed at her. She ignored them as she stepped into her favorite bar.

The floor of the Razor Gator had black and white tiles while on the walls hung images of the Babineaux Family. According to the locals, the Babineaux Family had been running New New Orleans since before the war.

The wall behind the bar, the bar counter, and the stools around the counter were all mahogany. The various tables and chairs were oak. To the right of the entrance were two doors with rest rooms for each gender. In the wall behind the bar was another door that led to the kitchen. A jukebox in the left hand corner of the room played music as customers filled a few of the chairs and two seats at the counter. Hanging from the ceiling were lanterns and a fan. On the wall next to the wall behind the bar was a bulletin board of all jobs within the area.

Brunhild then made her way to the counter, keeping a tight hold on her backpack. She took her typical spot at the last seat on the left side. Bastien, the brunet bartender, was currently talking with another customer at the other end of the bar. As soon as she sat down, he moved over to her.

Bastien was a middle aged man with balding brunet hair. He had a beer gut and wore a greasy yellow short sleeve shirt with dirty slacks. Over his yellow shirt was a white apron, filled with an abundant amount of stains.

"Nice to see you again Blondie," he said with a smirk. He grabbed an empty glass behind the counter and a wash cloth before starting to clean it. "How long has it been since you were last in town?"

Brunhild shrugged as she set her backpack down at her feet, "Long enough I suppose.

"The usual?" Bastien asked and Brunhild nodded. He then picked up a Gwinnett Ale and slid it across the counter to her. She took it and was grateful it was ice cold. "So what was the assignment this time?"

Brunhild popped off the cap, pocketed it, and knocked back the Ale. The cold tasted excellent against her parched throat. She swallowed and put the glass back on the counter.

"Had to kill a 20 foot gator," Brunhild replied and took another swig of her drink. "Guess Quentin Babineaux wanted a new pair of boots. All I know is it was an easy 1,000 caps."

"Sounds like something he'd want," Bastien said as he continued cleaning the glass in his hand. "Did you hear a group of raiders moved in?" Brunhild shook her head and the middle aged man continued, "Word has it some raiders got on the wrong side of the King himself, so he's asking if anyone has the balls enough to take them out."

A million questions ran through Brunhild's mind as she took another long drink of her Ale. She finally decided on the most important question.

"What's the pay?" She asked as she fished out the caps for her drink and placed them on the counter.

Bastien collected the caps and gestured to the bulletin board. Brunhild's gaze followed him.

"Don't know much about it. One of Quentin's goons came and posted it this morning," Bastien replied and Brunhild slid off her stool. With her Ale in hand and her knapsack over her shoulder, she made her way to the board. She half ignored him as he called after her. "Good luck and don't die."

Brunhild waved and stopped as soon as she stood in front of the board. She searched for the correct announcement until she found the one with Quentin Babineaux's name in large letters at the top. She read the message thoroughly, noting the location of the warehouse was a little ways northwest of New New Orleans. She noticed there wasn't an exact number of raiders but whoever they were, they weren't heavily armed. Her eyes bulged at the amount of caps they were offering.

Brunhild then finished her Ale before tossing it in the nearest trash can. She adjusted her blue camouflage bandana on her head before leaving the Razor Gator.

Eric found himself on mostly dry land. The ground beneath him was a little squishy, especially in the cracks in the road. Rusted cars and trucks lay on the street behind him. Eric stepped out of the way of the raiders firing at him. He mentally cursed as he hid behind a nearby car. He ran a hand through his thick black hair as he waited for an opening.

Eric's black hair parted on the right. He had a thick beard with stubble on his chin. He wore metal armor and currently held a laser gun. Adrenaline coursed through him as he reloaded. He then popped out from behind the rusted car and aimed at the nearest raider's head.

Eric fired at the man's head three times. The first two shots hit, but the third missed. Blood squirted from his head after each shot, eventually dripping from his nose. Eric cursed under his breath as another female raider threw a grenade at him. Rolling out of the way, he then threw a grenade of his own at the pair.

Eric held up his arm as the explosion blew the two raiders in opposite directions. He went to the left, where the man had landed, and shot him in the chest a few times. Once he stopped moving, he made his way to the woman. He grunted when he felt something hit him in the back of the head. He turned around to see the woman, who held a baseball.

Eric engaged her, shooting her in the stomach until she fell over. He grunted as her dead corpse landed on him. Shuddering, he pushed her body off of him and went to loot the other two corpses. He found a few caps and some Med-X and pocketed those.

Eric then continued on his way toward the abandoned warehouse in front of him. The hairs of on the back of his neck stood up and he had a sense he was being followed. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around, but no one was there. He reloaded his laser gun and pointed it at the nearest ruined car.

"Whoever you are, you can come out. I have weapons and I'm not afraid to use them," He called.

Just then, a blonde woman emerged from behind a nearby truck. She had leather armor and her monolid sapphire eyes matched her camouflage bandana. Her heart shaped bubblegum pink lips looked kissable and he shook off the thought.

"I'm Brunhild Schwartz," the blonde woman said and held out her hand.

"Eric Mallory," Eric said and shook her hand. "Hey, aren't you some famous mercenary from New New Orleans, moved here a few years ago."

Brunhild snickered as she moved past him, "That's one way of putting it I suppose."

Eric then turned back toward the abandoned warehouse. The warehouse was two stories and the upper wall was missing on the right side of the building. The lower half of the left side of the structure was submerged underwater. Raiders moved in and out of the building.

Brunhild then turned to Eric as he counted the number of raiders.

"Look, I think we're working the same job. It happens all the time," Brunhild hissed. "We can split the reward and I'll even throw in a free drink."

"Free drink?" Eric asked and turned to Brunhild. She laughed and her laugh sounded light and merry. It reminded him of Ceila and he shook away those thoughts before they could linger.

Brunhild shook her head, "You don't miss much, do you?" She asked placing a hand on her hip, "Look, I figure we can either both sneak through the back door and split up, or find a side door and go in that way."

Eric sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Well let's see if this thing even has a back door."

Brunhild nodded, "Sounds good."

And with that, Brunhild fell in step behind Eric. He kept low to the ground, keeping his eyes on the raiders and the water at the same time. He moved slowly through the ankle deep water, not wanting to attract attention to himself. Eric's heart pounded as they moved around the back and found a set of large double doors.

"Okay here's the plan," Eric hissed. "We sneak in and stay together, understood?"

Brunhild nodded again and Eric opened one of the doors to the warehouse.

Brunhild followed Eric inside, trying not to focus on his cute little butt. If it were any other situation, she would've taken him back to her place. She bit her upper lip and focused on focused on their current objective.

The interior of the warehouse was a wide open space. Several cots lined the front entrance to the left of the door while a wooden desk stood in the center of the cots. Most of the floor on the right side of the room was submerged in water. To their immediate left was a staircase that led to the second floor. Roughly four raiders were on the ground level while seven to eight raiders occupied the second.

Brunhild then pulled out a dagger. While she would've preferred to snipe them, they were in an enclosed location and that wouldn't work. She waited until he got close before rising and wrapping her arms around him from behind. She heard him struggle and make noise until she placed her hand over his mouth. Before he could do anything else, Brunhild stabbed him until he stopped moving. She lowered his corpse to the ground and crouched again.

"Nice work Blondie," Eric whispered and she felt a sense of pride at his compliment. However, she simply nodded and the pair snuck over to the right wall where two more raiders were talking in hushed tones in ankle deep water.

Brunhild then walked up behind the woman, and kicked her in the back of the knee. The woman grunted in pain and hunched over. Brunhild then switched to her 10mm pistol and shot her in the back.

As soon as the other one called out to his companions, Eric pulled out his Pipe bolt-action gun. He aimed at the other man's chest and fired. His first shot pierced the man's chest but the raider dodged the second one.

Brunhild had shot the other woman in the foot. The woman cursed as she pulled out a spiked baseball bat.

"Be careful Blondie," she heard Eric say beside her as they danced out of the way of gunfire.

"You too," Brunhild called as she fired two shots at the woman's forehead. She moved out of the way of the woman's falling corpse and went to engage the blonde woman with both sides of her head shaved.

Brunhild switched to her acid soaker and aimed it at the woman's head. She leaned to the left as the woman swung her Chinese officer sword. Brunhild avoided the hit, but just barely.

Eric fired his Pipe bolt-action gun at the other man's chest. Blood filled his mouth as the raider took aim at him. Eric reacted just a second faster, following up with two more shots to the same location.

Once the man dropped, Eric moved to the raiders upstairs. He ran toward the stairs and was stopped by another raider with a spiked baseball bat. He swore under his breath and switched to his machete.

Eric swung the machete at the man, grunting as he was met with resistance. He then kicked the other man in the knee. The raider grunted softly and loosened his grip on his weapon. Eric thrusted his machete forward and was rewarded with the raider's blood on his blade. Eric pulled the sword out and used his blade to deflect the bullets from upstairs.

Eric switched to his laser gun again and ran sideways upstairs. He aimed at a raider woman with a brunet Mohawk and fired at her head. She grunted as her head fell back and blood filled her mouth. Yet she still managed to keep her weapon trained on him.

On the right side of the second floor was Brunhild, using a light blue bladed baseball bat to smack one of the female raiders behind the head. Eric winced as the crack of the bat connecting with the back of the woman's head reverberated throughout the warehouse. He could see blood and brain matter on the bat as Brunhild pulled it out of the woman's skull.

Eric felt like the wind had been knocked out of him as he was pushed up against the wall. The female raider with a Mohawk had hit him with a baseball bat. Eric then aimed his laser gun at the Mohawk woman's stomach and pulled the trigger. He stopped when she dropped her weapon. Blood dripped out of her mouth and her wide eyes stared at him. He pushed the corpse off of him and made his way to Brunhild.

Fortunately, all of the raiders were dead on the ground. To make sure they were dead, Eric kicked each of the corpses. When they didn't move he nodded in satisfaction.

"Nice work Blondie," Eric said as Brunhild put the bloodied bat back onto her utility belt.

"Thanks," she said with a nod. "And you too."

And with that, the pair began looting the corpses. They both found 20 caps, a few syringes of Med-X, and some Gwinnett Stout. They split the caps and Eric took the Med-X while Brunhild took the Gwinnett Stout.

As soon as they were done, Eric made his way toward the stairs. He hurried and stopped as soon as he saw the giant scales of a Mutated Gator. His heart raced as he watched as the creature moved toward one of the dead raiders. The gator grabbed the man by the head and dragged it closer toward the water. He felt Brunhild bump into him from behind.

"Go back up," he hissed and she hurried to do so without comment.

Eric moved further up the stairs, watching as the Mutated Gator dragged the dead body into the water. Eric and the gator locked eyes for a moment and Eric's adrenaline kicked back in. He raised his laser gun at the creature's face, as if that would stop him from being next on the menu.

For what felt like an eternity, Eric stared into the gator's eyes. Eventually, the gator hissed at Eric before reclaiming his prize and slinking back into the water and out of sight. Eric let out a sigh of relief as he put his gun away.

"That was pretty ballsy of you," came Brunhild's voice from behind. He turned to see her leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest. "I don't know many people who could stare down a gator and live to tell."

Eric let out a shuddering breath and sniggered.

"Yeah well," he said and shrugged. "Most people are stupid. Take the front entrance this time?"

"Sure you don't want to swim with the gators?" Brunhild teased as they descended the stairs.

Eric chuckled again, this time rolling his eyes. He steered clear of the right wall as he opened the front door.

"I think I'll pass," he answered before turning to her as she stood next to him. "Do you need a ride? I have a boat waiting at the shore."

Brunhild shook her head, "Thanks but no thanks. My friend Lola is waiting for me and she tends to get antsy if I don't come back when I say I will." She then smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her touch tingled and Eric shook it off as she removed her hand, "But thanks anyway. I guess I'll see you around."

And with that, Eric watched Brunhild walk away. The way Brunhild's hips swayed made Eric want to follow her, but he decided not to. He then left the warehouse too, racing toward Bud and away from the gators.

It had been a few days since Brunhild had taken down the raiders at the warehouse with Eric. She'd collected her 1,000 caps and assumed Eric had done the same. She made her way to the Razor Gator, ignoring the drunks and addicts calling her name as she stepped through the door. She immediately made her way to the bar.

"Nice to see you didn't get killed," Bastien said as she slid into her usual seat. "I assume that means you finished them off?"

"With a little help," Said a familiar voice and Brunhild turned to see Eric slide in the seat to her right. He smiled as he turned to her, "Nice to see you again Blondie."

Brunhild rolled her eyes ay the nickname as Bastien slide her a Gwinnett Ale. She took it and popped the cap open.

"You too," she replied. "I was beginning to wonder if you actually lived here."

At that, she got a laugh. Eric's laugh was rich and deep and coming from him, it reminded her of home. Or at least, what she thought home should feel like. Brunhild removed those thoughts as Eric addressed her.

"Actually I live on the corner in the center of town," Eric said. "Easier to keep track of things that way."

"Like what kind of things?" Brunhild asked. She downed a few swigs of Ale as she waited for his response.

"Like when someone owes me a drink," Eric answered and Brunhild rolled her eyes again.

"Fair enough," she conceded. She jabbed her thumb at Eric. "He gets a drink on me."

"Wow good on you Mallory," Bastien smirked. "Must have done something right. So what'll it be?"

"I'll have whatever she's having," Eric said nodding his head at Brunhild.

Bastien then pulled out an ice cold Gwinnett Ale from behind the bar. He slid it across the counter and Brunhild handed him the correct amount of caps. She then slid off her stool.

"Take care of yourself," she said to Eric as she grabbed her Ale. "And enjoy that, because that's the last drink you're getting from me."

"Going somewhere?" Eric inquired and Brunhild nodded.

"I got another job," Brunhild took another drink of her Ale. "A missing persons case. I think slavers are involved but I don't know for sure. Anyway, I hope to see you around."

And with that, Brunhild left the Razor Gator. She could feel Eric's eyes on her but didn't say anything as she stepped out of the cool, refreshing bar and out into the humidity of Bourbon Street.

Author's Note: So I did say I would write another Fallout story and I have. I know it's probably not the story you wanted, but I promise I will finish Calamity Jane and Natalia's story. However, for the time being, I've been inspired by Brunhild and Eric. Both are OCs that were in my previous Fallout roleplay.

I would like to thank Malachi288 not only for reading this story, but for editing it and allowing me use of his OC Eric Mallory. If you're interested in this story, then you'll definitely like the sequel Companions of the Wasteland. Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: Bethesda owns Fallout, Malachi288 owns Eric Mallory, and I own Brunhild Schwartz.