A/N: So, I am playing FC4 and I have just broken into Northern Kyrat, but I must say, I love the game to absolute pieces! And, although they're still bad guys, I'm developing a soft spot for some characters in the game. With that set aside, I want to explain a few things;

At the end of the credits, depending on if you chose to kill Amita or Sabal, Kyrat will turn out to be one thing or another. It can be a drug and slave filled land with children as soldiers (not children-children, but young adults). Or, it can be ruled by a dictator-like leader, Sabal, who values tradition almost as horribly as Ajay's father did. With Bhadra as the Tarun Matara (and most likely married to Sabal). In my game, I'm going to end up with Sabal (yes, I looked stuff up ahead of time) and I'm going to keep Pagan Min alive. However, in my personal head canons, I believe that Ajay would not be King of Kyrat because he did what he had to do and he most likely felt betrayed by the Golden Path for what happened, so he most likely heads back home. He doesn't want to rule Kyrat and undo all the work he did, but he also doesn't want to aid the Golden Path any further.

So, Pagan Min remains to be in rule and slowly is trying to gain back Kyrat. I wanna explain more, but that would ruin the story. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy! (Also, Gagné is pronounced 'gahn-yay')

Chapter Genre: General

Chapter Rating: T

Rating Content: Brief Coarse Language, Brief Mild Scenes of Violence

She had previously thought that Kyrat would be a good idea, a way to get away from home. She had already done it once, and it worked, but this time she just wanted to come back. Too many bad memories back home.

Her sister had warned her against going even near Kyrat at this time, but she had countered with the fact that her best friend was still in Kyrat and was expecting her, anyhow, so there was no point in staying.

However, as she felt the bus stop, she knew something was off.

She heard someone whisper, "Passport.", and she quickly pulled it from her bag and held it out. It was immediately taken from her gloved hand.

She heard someone arguing outside of the bus and she turned her head to see men in blue jackets confronting the driver of the bus. There was some sort of odd symbol on their jackets, but she could barely distinguish it.

They also had guns.

She was truly beginning to regret her decision in coming back to this country.

She quickly fished her phone from her bag and put it into the inner pocket of her leather jacket, along with her small wallet. If something was going to happen (and her instincts were rarely wrong), she wanted to have the essentials with her in case she lost her bag. Some form of contact and money. Of course, she had a few bills inside her shoe (a trick her friend taught her once), but she preferred to have all of it with her if possible.

One of the men in a blue jacket skimmed over all of the passports (which was really only three of them), and handed them back to the driver. All except for one.

She cursed under her breath as she realized it must have been her passport. She should've just kept her old one; would've drawn less attention. The man showed the driver the passport, clearly asking something. The driver hesitantly nodded.

Okay, something was definitely wrong.

The man with her passport gestured to the bus with his gun and another man immediately began to approach it, his gun ready to fire if necessary.

She was very tempted to duck under one of the seats and hide until they left (if they were dumb enough to not look under them), but she stood her ground.

The man entered the bus. "Tahki Gagné."

Tahki cleared her throat. "I am she."

The man approached her. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with me."

"On what grounds?" She snapped.

"This is not up for debate." He retorted. "You are coming with me."

"And if I refuse?"

The man cocked his gun at her in a threatening manner, glaring pure ice at her. She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Very well."

Swinging her bag over her shoulder, Tahki followed the man off of the bus, seeing as the other passengers gave her almost apologetic looks before she exited the bus. "Are you the law, or something?" She asked, watching as the bus drove off down the dusty road. So much for transportation.

The man didn't respond to her and whispered something to one of his companions, who nodded and spared her a glance. She readjusted her bag on her shoulder. "What?"

"You are to wait here."

She glared at them. "You have no right!" She exclaimed. "I have places I need to be in this moment, and unless you're the law in Kyrat, you have no right to hold me here."

"Not our problem." The taller man said. He grabbed a walkie-talkie from his belt and spoke into it in his native language, something that Tahki berated herself for not learning. Her friend had said to learn it since they were basically living in Kyrat, but she just didn't have the time or even take the time to when she did have it.

A woman attempted to grab her bag, to which she harshly tugged back. "Excuse you."

"We need to check it for weapons." The woman explained.

"They already checked me earlier before I got onto the bus." She snapped. "I have none."

"Don't make this harder than what it needs to be. We are not afraid to shoot you."

"Then shoot me, because you are not taking my bag!"

No, Tahki was not lying when she said she had no weapons, but if these people were who she thought they were, then chances were that she wouldn't get her bag back. She had a gift for her friend, and she wasn't intent on losing it to some terrorist group. She also had some medications that she couldn't afford to lose under any circumstance.

One of the men aimed his gun at her and she held tightly to her bag, glancing between the two of them. "Come on, just leave me be. I didn't do anything to you. Yet."

The woman attempted to grab her bag again and Tahki delivered a swift roundhouse, kicking her directly into her face. The woman fell over, most likely unconscious. The man who had pointed the gun at her was too shocked at her sudden attack and before he knew it, Tahki was swinging her bag into his face, knocking him out cold. It was a lot heavier than it looked!

Tahki put the bag back over her shoulder and grabbed the man's gun, pointing it at the third member of the group. He had had his back turned when she had attacked the other two, so he was not prepared for the gun that was pointed at his face.

"I may just have one arm," Tahki said, "But I am still a crack shot. I'm not a murderer, however. So, you can either let me go, or you can have a bullet between your eyes."

The young man immediately dropped to his knees, holding his hands up. "Please, I am only doing my job!" He exclaimed. "I only did what I was ordered to do!"

Tahki sniffed and dropped the gun. "I trust you won't shoot me."

He quickly shook his head. "I swear on my own life!"

She nodded sharply. "Good. Because if you do, there are some people here who would not take kindly to the person who murdered me."

/ / /

Jesse Harper tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch, constantly looking up at the clock. She's late. Why was she so late? She was supposed to be here almost three hours ago!

The door to the small home suddenly opened and slammed shut. "Lord, this place is a nightmare!"

Jesse shot up from his seat. "Where the hell were you?!" He asked, running over to her and hugging her. "You were supposed to be here hours ago!"

Tahki rolled her brown eyes at him. "I'm fine, Jess. Just got held up at the border, is all. Made one of the idiots think I was someone important and he let me go."

"Was it those Golden Path people?"

"Who now?"

Jesse sighed and took the bag from off her shoulder. "A lot has changed since you've been gone, Tahki."

She rolled her shoulder and winced. Walking with a heavy bag really wasn't good for her. "A year isn't that long." She said, walking over to the fridge and opening it. "Where's the beer...?" She muttered.

"For Kyrat, that's more than enough time." Jesse said, placing himself back onto the couch. "This Golden Path group, they were making a name for themselves for a while. Pagan Min had even came here and threatened me. Something about harboring rebels."

Her head snapped from behind the fridge door, her eyes widened with shock. "Hold on, King Min? Came here?"

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Yeah. Anyways, the Golden Path must have taken over Kyrat, because there has been less and less Royal Guards and patrols and all I've been seeing is a bunch of Golden Path members guarding certain areas in Kyrat. It's actually annoying. Oh, there's also this Tar Matata or something, now."

"Tarun Matara." Tahki corrected. She closed the fridge door and walked over to the couch with two beers in hand. She sat on the couch beside Jesse and handed him one of the beer bottles. Raising the other bottle to her mouth, she used her teeth to remove the cap and she spit it out into a waste basket beside the couch. "You know, I could've opened that for you." He said.

"I have one arm and one eye, but-"

"You're not incapable." He finished. "I know. Girl, you really got to learn to accept help. You're not invincible, you know."

She took a swig of the alcohol, grimacing slightly as it slid down her throat. "That may be, but I'm always willing to try my limits."

"You need to learn them, first." He muttered.

"And you need to learn to cut your hair." She joked.

He brushed at his blonde hair. "I like it longer. Gives me a surfer look."

Tahki rolled her eyes. "Or a greaser look, with that stubble you're trying to grow."

"Hey, don't you talk." He snapped, taking a quick sip of his own beer. "You normally keep your hair short, and now look; it's almost shoulder length!"

"I'm a woman, Jesse. I'm also a Native American; I can get away with long hair more than you white people can."

"Fuck you."

Tahki laughed and took another swig of her beer. She and Jesse had been best friends for as long as she could remember. Of course, as soon as she told him about going to Kyrat, he refused to leave her alone in this country. He came along and of course, they both became full fledged citizens of Kyrat after not heading back to Canada. She didn't want to leave, he didn't want to leave her alone. Luckily for the both of them, Tahki used to have family in Kyrat so their house was still standing. It was now their personal living space. It was small, having only one bedroom and bathroom and an open area, which had a kitchen, dining room and living room all in one. It was small, but it worked.

Of course, Tahki had to head back to Canada and the visit took a lot longer than expected. Jesse (miraculously) kept the home clean and tidy.

She suddenly remembered something. "I also got something for you for your birthday! In my bag."

Jesse unzipped the bag and pulled out a small totem pole. He smiled. "Just like home." He said.

He always had a fascination of the Native American culture and Tahki was an excellent source for information on her culture. Of course, she would sometimes get him things that were Native in nature, such as dream catchers or native dolls. The totem pole was a new one, however, and he liked it. He immediately set it on the table beside the couch. "I always felt this table was empty with just a clock."

/ / /

A loud knock came to the door, making Tahki groan loudly. She looked at the digital clock on the table beside the couch. She groaned again.

Jesse growled and turned over onto his back, swinging an arm over his eyes. "KiKi, shut up whoever's at the door, please."

The woman removed herself from the couch, making sure to step on his groin as she did. He groaned and rolled onto his side, holding a hand over his family jewels. "Why...?"

This was normally how things went on Saturday mornings. They'd have a beer the previous night, fall asleep on the couch. Jesse would most likely fall off the couch and end up sleeping on the floor and Tahki would spread out on the couch. Of course, there was a bed in the house, but Tahki was too lazy to get into it on Friday evenings. And, whenever she woke up, she would accidentally step on him (and sometimes "accidentally" step on him, as well). However, what never happened on their Saturday mornings was someone harshly knocking on their door. "Whoever invented early morning wake up calls," Tahki muttered, "I'll murder him."

Brushing her hair back so she could at least look presentable, she quickly opened the door. "Yes?"

"Tahki Gagné."

Her eyes widened. Blue Jacket. Yellow symbol. Uh-oh.

She kept her cool and sighed heavily. "What do you people want, now?"

"I'm the man you spared yesterday, Miss Gagné. I'm not here to harm you."

"KiKi, who is it?"

"Golden Path."

Jesse shot up, tripping over his own feet as he attempted to run to the door. "Don't worry. He's friendly. I hope."

"Yes," the man responded. "I'm here to warn you!"

Tahki leaned against the door frame. "What about? And go slow, I literally just woke up."

"Our leader, Sabal, has heard of your arrival. Because of your father, he believes you'll be a danger to Kyrat."

She raised an eyebrow. "A one-armed, half blind woman?"

"If not dangerous, then valuable. Your father did work for the King many years ago."

"Yes, but what are you warning me about?"

The young man looked around, looking to make sure nobody was there to listen. "You must escape to Northern Kyrat. It is closer to Pagan Min's palace, and the North is slowly being taken back by the Royal Army. There are less members of the Golden Path, there."

Jesse placed a hand on Tahki's shoulder. "We aren't going anywhere."

"If you do not leave here, Sabal may find you."

"Sabal?"

"Golden Path leader." Jesse explained. "A worse tyrant than Pagan, in my opinion."

Tahki sighed. She wasn't even home for a day and things were already going to shit. "So, why should I care about this Sabal? I'm sure I can handle him, especially if he isn't law."

"Southern Kyrat is owned by the Golden Path, Miss Gagné. We are the law, here. In the North, we have less control."

Tahki considered this for a moment. She barely knew of the events that had transpired while she was away, but judging by what she had already heard, it wasn't good. If the Golden Path really had turned into a terrorist group, she wouldn't want to meet the face of the Golden Path. "If we were to go to the North, wouldn't there be Golden Path members at the border?"

The young man shook his head. "No, the bridge is open. There is an occasional patrol, but it is not guarded. I am certain you can make it there safely."

Tahki looked up to Jesse. "What do you think?" She asked.

He shrugged. "All up to you, really."

The young man began to take his leave. "Make your decision soon. I am certain that word has reached the Golden Path in the North that you are here. You best pass the bridge before there are guards stationed there."

The young man walked down the stone stairs and left the two people alone. Tahki let out a breath and closed the door. "Why is it that crap follows me wherever I go?" She asked nobody in particular.

"I don't know Sabal personally," Jesse said, "But I do know that his love for tradition is sending Kyrat in a downward spiral. He's more insane than Pagan Min is. If that guy was being serious, then I personally think we should leave."

"We don't have a house in the North."

"I know a few people." He stated. "We might be able to crash somewhere up there."

"If the Royal Army is taking the North back, wouldn't that put us in more danger?"

"Nope. It's a hell of a lot safer than confronting Sabal."

"Can't the man be reasoned with?"

"Nope."

Tahki sighed heavily. "I hate when you're right."

Jesse smiled obnoxiously. "You know you love me."

"Love you enough to be the one to drive?"

His smile immediately disappeared. "No!" He shouted.

Last time Tahki had attempted to drive, she had nearly killed the both of them. Granted, the skidding of the vehicle was on purpose, just to give him a little scare, but the rolling of the vehicle off a cliff-like hill was not on purpose under any circumstance. That experience had frightened him enough to never let her drive again.

She released another heavy sigh. "Alright, well, we should probably start packing up or something. I have a feeling we might be staying in Northern Kyrat for longer than we think."