Keoko belongs to Keokotheshadowfang
Chrysanthemum to myself
Fallout to Bethesda
Of family and faults
However it may be, Keoko 'Lone wanderer' saviour of the Capital Wasteland and all around nice gal, had little, to no patience for the heat of the capital wasteland. There was an explanation for the overall, stuffy and often oven-like heat for the majority of wasteland locals across the world. Some 205 years previous, when the bombs were dropped, the sea level rose (if not temporarily) as the icecaps melted and disintegrated before the volume could even begin to affect the sea level and coastal regions.
'How much is that?' Keoko mused to herself as she leant against the struggling, if not deadened tree in the trading 'plaza' of Canterbury commons, 'Just how much of the world's water just went 'poof' and decided that being atomised was their calling.'
The young woman was used to amusing herself while she waited for her companions and expected guest, either listening to Galaxy News Radio or otherwise helping any random wastrel that asked for assistance. In the five years since her forced exit of vault one-oh-one, Keoko had learnt and experienced much, the first month… no, the first couple of weeks were the most astounding and frightening of her life. The moment she had stepped out into the Capital Wasteland, the dirt and rocks crunching under her boots as she shifted away from the ramshackle door, the glare of real sunlight high above her- real light! Not UV bulbs and bars powering on and dimming to mimic the suns warmth and grandeur.
There was so much wonder and many new things to see, the world was big and so much beyond the cramped confines of the vault at her back.
She had been so amazed, if not paired with horror with the outside world, starry eyed nativity and kindness had been her mantra for her life. After all, her father had raised her to be a good person, accept others and be as strong as she could be. Of course, when Keoko left her vault, she knew that she wasn't THAT strong physically, weak perhaps… well yes, she could barely hold her baseball bat with her noodle strength arms, but that was beside the point, she was strong in other ways.
Nonetheless, if she had been stronger, then perhaps Jared wouldn't have died. Maybe he could have talked Dinah out of trying to kill her… Keoko scowled, 'From trying to coerce and threaten Harkness.' Her mind reeled at the thought of the vile raider having Harkness, HER Harkness in any way or form. Keoko's mind niggled at her, 'Harkness wasn't yours at the time,' her conscience whispered, 'if Dinah would have let you go with one moment 'to get to know Harkness' with no repercussions, would you have let him?'.
"No, of course not!" Keoko said aloud, causing a nearby Brahmin, trader and guards to swivels their heads and stare at her. Keoko's face bloomed red, partially from the sun, mostly from sheer embarrassment. She waved at the mutated cow, trader and his two hired companions until they looked away in amusement.
With a sigh, Keoko rubbed her face, what was she doing with her life? Arguing with herself, like some drugged up raider? Looking like an idiot to a wasteland who knew what she had done for them. Would they lose faith for her if they knew she argued with herself? With a deeper sigh, Keoko tapped at her Pip-Boy, turning the volume knob up a half turn and popped a few painkillers- nothing as potent as Med-X, just strong enough to soothe her oncoming headache.
Helping people.
Wasn't that what she did?
At least, that was what she had hoped to do, even before she left one-oh-one. Keoko had assisted old lady Palmer, Jonas, her father; everyone that asked.
At least, those who were nice to her, Keoko still smiled at telling Butch to 'go soak his head'.
Questioning her strength and merits, Keoko wondered if anything she was doing actually meant anything in the long run. Was it all just circumstantial? Right place, right time? Granted, Keoko had always been very, very lucky. Find a penny on the ground, last box of mac n' cheese, truckload of Nuka-Cola in a ditch, survive a lethal dose of radiation- Keoko was rather fortuitous in overall in circumstance.
Yet, she was standing around Canterbury like an idiot, waiting for someone who should have been there hours, if not days ago! All on the request of Doctor Li. The snarky scientist should be doing her own leg work, instead of getting Keoko to run around the wasteland in some inane attempt to salvage their working 'relationship' because the icy woman felt pity for Keoko's dead father. If Doctor Lee had just listened to her father, actually put the past behind her and just-
Keoko bit her lip, exhaling thickly.
It was okay.
She was better than that. It wasn't Doctor Li's fault that her daddy- that James was dead.
Keoko felt her heart clench. She wasn't a child anymore, not the little girl she was years ago.
Keoko wasn't the weak, naïve young woman she was when she left vault one-oh-one. The vault dweller had seen so much, a paragon for the people of the wasteland, her people by birth. She had faced raiders, super mutants, the sheer monstrosities of science-fiction- she took down the Enclave and took on the brutal, if not pragmatic Ashur.
Of course, she had been afraid, but Keoko was always the trooper and was set on getting out and finding her father, reuniting and being a family again. The brunette felt her guts tighten, a nasty burble of phantom pain- Keoko's eyes flicked down to her Pip-Boy, Geiger counters needle resting far in the safe zone of radiation ambiance, no tick, tick, ticking for her.
It was a reminder of radiation.
God almighty, Keoko detested radiation.
Sometimes she desired to just retire, live in Oasis with the tree worshippers and just… be.
Admittedly, Keoko was tired.
Tired of the wasteland and all of the problems that came with it.
Not just of the radiation; there was the monsters, the feral abominations, the raiders that lurked about every dark hole and pile of rubble in an attempt to give the wasteland a makeover with cadavers and blood. No matter how much Keoko tried to do, everything just seemed to grind to a lethargic halt and flail around in a manner like a headless Molerat before blowing up in her face.
There were good points of course; Keoko had Harkness, their adopted kids Bryan and Emilie, their faithful guard dog Dogmeat and of course, Keoko's collection of Bobble heads and a little house in a fairly protected town. Granted, the megaton nuke at the bottom of the crater was disarmed (Keoko was unsure who disarmed the nuclear device), there was still ambient radiation in the shallow pound that surrounded the bomb, even more so when the rain bonded with the radioactive particles and gathered together in the bottom of the crater.
Keoko supposed the trigger mechanism and wires were removed or cut from the megaton nuke, that there was still radiation being produced. It didn't mean that a heavy whack couldn't wipe the town out in a cloud of fire and nuclear fury. Perhaps Lucas Simms would remove the bomb if Confessor Cromwell and Mother Maya passed away or moved the church to a more secure location- surely a cave would protect the bomb than the open aired wasteland where the 'holy relic' could be accidently shot of tampered with.
Amidst her musings, Keoko noticed that the song 'civilisation' was coming to a close, loud and rather boppy for a life of freedom that pre-war tribals seemed to have, "Civilisation, I'll stay right heeeeeereeeeeee!"
"Well children, seems like nobody should take a vacation if they have a job," Three-Dog chuckled as the last notes of 'Civilisation' faded into nothing, "as they end up back into the grind of work, hassle and the endless monotony of life." Keoko rolled her eyes with a sigh, Three-Dog seemed to love ribbing the pre-war people and their repetitive lives. Because the wasteland was so very exciting and enjoyable. If 'exciting' was replaced by deadly, and 'enjoyable' with horrific.
Sure, there were good points too. If the nuclear apocalypse had never happened, what would have been the chance of her and Harkness meeting? Her parents? Heck, for all Keoko knew, if the bombs hadn't dropped in 2077, what was the likely hood that world wouldn't have gotten worse and worse? Granted, the world, pre-war society and all its nations could have strived to be better and find a solution to the energy crisis across the globe. Surely, if the right people had taken command, maybe then the-
Wait, what?
Keoko turned up her radio again, to a hairs breadth belong maximum volume, the radio a little tinny from the strain on the speaker.
"-so if you see a big old bear with a woman with a giant mop of auburn hair, don't shoot at her, offer her a drink and let her be." Three-Dog advised his audience with a wry laugh, "She's a little lady from way back west, a hero in her own right and could send our Lone Wander a run for her money."
…what?
"Wow-whee, Danny Kaye is some sort amazing!" a cheery, if not childlike voice said behind Keoko's right shoulder.
Turning her head slightly, Keoko's chocolate eyes widened at just what she could see in her peripheral. With a jerk of reflex, Keoko drew up her Chinese assault rifle, brought it to bare and aimed at the behemoth a wasteland creature before her- a Yao-gui. The mutated bear blinked at Keoko, large eyes, calm and seemingly unperturbed by the woman's threat and antsy stance.
"Hey now, don't be positing that gun and Frankie, he's a good boy." The voice said again, this time higher, a little back a ways from the Yao-gui. Keoko eyed the beast warily, and begrudgingly looked upwards and right into the bright eyes of a bushy haired woman with a large green (almost radioactive green) and a look that gave the impression she was on some sort of stimulant. Keoko's eyes wandered, slipping down as the unnamed woman lowered herself down the bear's side, to which the animal plopped down on the ground, resting his large head on a paw, 'Better than the dusty and cracked tarmac', Keoko supposed, eyeing the wicker baskets strapped to the yao-gui's lower back.
"Hi." The unnamed red-head said to Keoko, her tone polite and friendly.
Turning her attention to the woman, Keoko raised a brow, "Now, just might who you be?" she asked, her tone rather wary and guarded, just who was this woman? And why did she- Keoko blinked as the woman giggled and threw her arms around her in two seconds flat. Did she have no comprehension of the term 'personal space?'. Evidently not as the woman dug around in her pocket as she still held Keoko, a moment late she drew back, holding out a creased photograph. Not pre-war old, several decades at most. With a look of confusion, Keoko took the offered photograph and looked it over; the photo was old- not pre-war old, but at least a few decades old. Looking at the people in the photograph, they appeared to be Keoko's age, or close enough to it; a Caucasian man and a woman.
The woman had dark hair, the same wiggly manner that the woman in front of her had. Her mother clearly. Keoko's eyes moved from the smiling woman to the man, his hazel eyes just oozing a giving and kind nature. 'This odd girl's father?' Keoko thought, before her eyes widened. She recognised those eyes. Eyes she had looked up into everyday of her life until she was thrust outside vault one-oh-one. It was her father. Albeit, he looked to be around her age, mid-twenties, unwrinkled and carefree as he embraced the woman at his side, it was undoubtedly James. But still… who was the woman?
Who the heck was she!?
It took a moment for Keoko to realise she had snapped out aloud.
The unnamed woman smiled, holding out her hand, in a form of greeting with a rather cheerful sense about her, "Hi, I'm Chrysanthemum, and you're my cousin."
Keoko's brain jutted. "H-huh?" Very astute and on the ball. "Huh!?" she repeated, her entire rhetoric of suspicion gone.
Chrysanthemum nodded widely, her rather vibrant eyes seemed to sparkle, "Uh-huh, my momma is your daddy's sister." She pulled Keoko into a tight hug (again), an undeniably happy look on her face, "You're my little cousin."
Keoko's brain jumpstarted, giving her the here-withal to complete sentences without sounding like she'd never read a book in her life. A thought struck Keoko, she had family outside of her father. Before she realised what was happening, tears wet Keoko's eyes, her hand clasped around Chrysanthemum's, shaky and trembling.
"C-can you-" Keoko started, her throat hitched up, thick with emotion. Clearing her throat, Keoko looked at the photograph once again, then up to Chrysanthemum, "Can you tell me about them?"
The auburn woman nodded, laying her free hand on Frankie, she told him to stay and watch the bags. Though, she wondered aloud why anyone watched inanimate objects.
Having a sense of etiquette, Keoko lead her cousin to Dot's Dinner, run by Joe Porter and bought a couple of Nuka-Cola's and sat down in one of the more undamaged booths opposite her cousin and turned her radio down as 'A wonderful guy' started to play. It added a sense of ease and ambience to a no doubt, riveting and informing conversation.
Chrysanthemum cracked open her Nuka-Cola, pushing the cap to Keoko's side of the table and took a swig of her drink. Keoko copied her former and latter actions, revelling in the pre-war beverage. "So, do you want to hear about momma? Or my siblings? We don't have anybody else gem-net-I-calley related to uncle James."
Keoko raised a brow, ''Gem-net-I-calley', she must mean-' "Yes, no one on my mother's side, so just whoever father is genetically related to-" Keoko blinked and frowned, "-well, not that I'm aware of." She admitted, as she wasn't exactly sure if her mother had any family. Heck, Keoko didn't even know her paternal or maternal grandparents names or what they looked like. Keoko looked at her cousin, her honey eyes lowered, "What's it like?" she asked, biting her tongue, "What's it like to have siblings?"
Chrysanthemum tilted her head, seeming to ponder the situation. "It's like a war with people you don't wanna hurt."
With a nod, Keoko brushed her bangs back from her eyes, "You love them and don't want to see them hurt."
The black haired woman before her laughed, "Yes!" then her look turned a bit confused, "But sometimes ya gotta hurt family, even if you love and want ta' protect them." Chrysanthemum said softly, her hair seeming to droop in reaction to her emotions.
Keoko gave Chrysanthemum a pitying look, was her relationship wither parents complicated. That thought alone made Keoko smirk, like she was one to talk; with a mother she had no memory of, a father that abandoned her to save the wasteland to become a martyr for his cause. Keoko sighed, "Is it really that difficult?" she asked, her voice a little strained, surely there were worse things than a family that didn't get along.
Chrysanthemum pouted, putting her hands on the tabletop, sleeves of stitched and reinforced leather. Pulling back the right sleeve, Keoko saw a Pip-Boy, rather like her own in design. "How about I tell ya about how I got this Pip-Boy and how my family decided that their dreams were more important than family." Clearly she didn't feel comfortable talking about her family just yet. Keoko could relate.
"Okay," Keoko said, taking a sip of her Nuka-Cola, "I'll hear you out," she gave Chrysanthemum a level stare, "if you tell me all about your mother and my father."
The wavy haired girl beamed, her sadder demeanour flicked in an instant, "Okay!" she said excitedly, tapping her Pip-Boy, "It started before I got this here techy wristwatch." Keoko could only bite her tongue, muffling her laughs, "I was born into a family in Shady Sands- that's way out in the west, near California."
"Isn't that why it's called 'New California Republic'?" Keoko asked, an amused smile on her face. The black haired woman blinked at Keoko, her large eyes rather dim and displeased. "Well, it is." Keoko murmured, her cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment.
"Well, yes," Chrysanthemum, huffed out, scratching her head, "I may be dumb as a bag of rocks, but I know 'NCR' means 'New California Republic'." She muttered.
Rather put out by her cousin's sudden turn of emotions, Keoko could only guess to what bothered her- they had barely known each other half an hour. What could pinpoint how Chrysanthemum called herself dumb, and Keoko wasn't going to out rightly ask to see her Pip-Boy and see the marvel of her S.P.E.C.I.A.L's. Keoko herself would be embarrassed to show her meagre strength (though improved), it wasn't stellar or even that average at the best of times.
On a turn of a dime, Chrysanthemum seemed to bypass her moment of depression, and brushed her hair upwards, exposing a scar on her forehead, roughly the circumference of a- "Bullet…" Keoko whispered, her eyes widening at the scar tissue. Her chocolate eyes flicked down, to Chrysanthemum's face, content and smiling, "H-how? How could you possibly survive," Keoko rasped out, her heart hammering in her chest, motioning to Chrysanthemum's forehead, "How on earth, in god's name, j-just how?"
"Got shot in the head by a man named Benny." The black haired woman said, propping her head on the table as she placed an ornate 9mm handgun on the table before her. Chrysanthemum's eyes met Keoko's panicked and confused gaze, light twinkling in her cousin's eyes, "It all started with a platinum poker chip…"