Author's Notes - Yee! My first trip out of Mass Effect fanfiction! Just a short little prologue, but hopefully a nice enough setup to garner a little interest. This story will primarily feature Charon, Dogmeat, and the Neutral-Karma (plus slightly batty) Vaultie 'Digit'. Maybe a little romance in later chapters? Maybe...Possibly... Like Three-Dog says, stay tuned!

All Who Wander

Prologue:

"Not all who wander are lost."

Charon scanned the horizon and sighed as the crowded vehicle rumbled across the Wasteland noisily. It was a ramshackle old army transport that'd been hacked together by an enterprising trader in order to move goods, but apparently business had gone sour. Instead of being stocked with crates of ammo and armor, the truck bed was now packed with people. Refugees of all shapes and sizes sat shoulder to shoulder, eyeing each other in dismal silence as they trekked towards Rivet City in seek of shelter. All except one, anyway…

"What a load of crap!"

The ghoul threw a quick glance at the speaker and shook his head slightly in amusement. A young woman with rust-colored hair and bangs that obscured her vision sat across from him with a comic book in front of her face. Her left hand was short a pinky; the result of a childhood accident and a likely factor behind the dubious moniker she carried. As he watched her, she closed the book and tore it in half before chucking it unceremoniously into the four winds of the ruined landscape behind her.

"Something wrong, Digit?" Charon asked her. The woman flicked her hair behind a pierced ear and hit him with a hard stare.

"I can't believe people read that garbage!" she declared in a voice loud enough to put their fellow passengers on edge, "If Grognak were a real hero he'd save everyone, not just blonde-haired, blue-eyed bimbos that are more boobs than brains. It's ridiculous!"

The travelers near her exchanged uncomfortable glances with raised eyebrows while a young male passenger muffled a twittering laugh.

"Do the idiots who write those things even stop to consider what a pain in the ass it would be for a barbarian to haul around a defenseless, woe-is-me woman who can't do squat on her own?" Digit continued in a huff, "That comic may call her a 'princess' but you know what I call people like that? Liabilities, that's what. You're a fool, Grognak - a fool!"

Charon looked back out towards the wastes to hide his grin. It'd taken him awhile to get used to his current captain's quirky nature, but once he had, he discovered her to be oddly amusing. It was as if the mind of a child laid daydreaming under all of her strict discipline and hard logic. Even the heavy weight of life in the wastes couldn't crush her unusual spirit.

"You know," he mused, "I think you're the first employer I've had with a sense of humor."

"Humor?!" Digit exclaimed, "I'm serious, Charon! Those comics offer up an unrealistic portrayal of women while enforcing the stereotypical archetypes of the strong, dominant male and the weak, submissive female. It's bullshit and it makes me sick! And stop calling me your employer! I've told you how much I hate that."

The ghoul chuckled as a few unnerving glints of light flashed in the distance. He fingered the trigger of his self-designed shotgun warily and focused in on the movement. When his partner realized his attention had been diverted away from her, she understood the brief, light-hearted moment was over and opted to followed his line of sight.

"What are you looking at?" she asked him, trying to get a lock on his target by shielding her eyes with her hand.

"Nothing," he replied, keeping his voice low to avoid alarming one of the many refugees crowded around them, "Not yet, anyway. But with that dust trail and all the noise we're making…well, you do the math."

Digit nodded, "Every raider around knows we're here."

"They won't be able to catch this caravan on foot, but we'll have to be careful once they drop us off," Charon added, "We should be passing near Evergreen Mills soon."

"Okay," the woman replied as she unlatched the metal case in her lap, "I'll start getting our gear ready, you keep playing lookout."

The travelers tried to scoot away from her anxiously as she withdrew a round of ammunition and began loading her weapon.

"Oh!" she started, shooting her head up again as she recalled something, "And Charon, holler if you see any Yao Guai. I need a new pair of boots…"

The Journey Begins...