Arc I: A Clean Face


Louise woke to a soreness encompassing her entire body and a mind that did not get proper rest the night before. The sleep was not as peaceful as she originally hoped. She kept waking up periodically before trying to scan the room with nothing but dull cloud hidden moonlight invading through boarded up windows. And every attempt to get back to sleep in the cold, her teeth chattering somewhat not helping, just seemed to sap whatever energy she got out the abysmal sleep. Sadly, that perpetual warmness only served to annoy her and not actually keep her comfortably warm at all.

She was on the cusp of falling over to her side when she realized that the sun had risen, at least enough to fill the room with a yellow glow. It also served to remind her of all the dust she was breathing in as she watched particles float around in the light. She slowly picked herself up, feeling far weaker than she ever had before. She'd had to cram in a lot of studying for tests before, but this… it felt like her strength was literally being sucked right out of her. Then again, maybe it was the fact she hadn't eaten anything or had any water to drink for quite some time. Her dry lips accentuating that last part.

Or maybe it was the sunburns. Founder knows they started to kick in now. Her hands and face and thighs were all aching, her red tender skin giving her silent but painful protests with every movement. The process of simply getting to her own two feet felt like a weight had settled over her entire body.

She managed however and now with adequate light, and her attention no longer clouded by panic or shock anymore, she finally took in the building she was in in all it's odd and dilapidated glory.

The building she was in had been abandoned for quite some time, that much she knew. In hindsight, had she gotten a good enough look at the building she probably would have stayed out for fear of it coming down on her head. The architecture wasn't much to look at either. Simple looking stone floors and walls and it was a boxy utilitarian in nature. Other than a few long torn and faded posters on the all there wasn't a lively color to be found.

It was dull and unlike she had personally imagined them building. She'd always imagined the elves having some sort of elegance to their buildings. For all their hostility, a part of her did want to learn about them, at least a little. She could bring back something about their enemy after all, do something that would make this expedition more than a monumentally terrifying waste of her time.

But if dusty buildings were all she could report on, she shouldn't even bother. The bugs were more interesting. Cattleya would probably have gotten a kick out them. Maybe even could have tamed them… Catt…

Her breath hitched, and her eyes threatened to be more of a drain on her depleting hydration. She stopped herself.

No. She couldn't think about shook her head. She needed concentrate at the task at hand. Namely continuing on her journey back home. Finding out what way was north was paramount, even if she did feel more than a small amount of hesitation going back outside.

A rumble in her stomach and the sudden realization of just how dry her mouth was. Food and water. That too, was a problem. It always was, even yesterday, but it must have been the shock of… everything that made her put those things aside. Now however, she was starting to feel another pain in her stomach from the lack of food, and if she were to wander the desert again it was hardly something she could go without.

With not much choice, and the hunger ironically fueling her, she began her search for something to eat in this building. Unlikely maybe given how long this looked to be abandoned, but so was being able to walk for any respectable amount of time on an empty stomach. It was a small chance, both that she would find anything of value and that it would be edible, but judging from the barren land she had witnessed yesterday, small chances might very well what sustained her through this trek. She started with the shelves in the center of the room. Not much as was expected even just at a glance. A few more thorough searches underneath them yielded nothing of note either. She then headed over to the counter area and went behind it searching the nooks and cranny and cupboards.

After more than a few spiders, of which she noted were bigger than she was used to, and their presence nearly causing her to vomit. She really hated spiders.

She kept looking and was eventually rewarded with something. A small box sat tucking away in one of the cupboards.

Sugar bombs? What in Founders name was that? It wasn't anything she had heard of before. She wasn't even sure if she should eat it. If this building looked as old as it did, then how stale were these things?

A painful rumble in the pit of her stomach

Founder damn it, she was hungry and she felt another opportunity like this would not be a common one. She had to do it.

She opened the box, taking out three 'bombs' and stuffed them in her mouth.

The result was instant as it was bizarre. Her mouth physically hurt from the sheer sweetness that that these 'bombs' possessed. It was nearly to point of being sour, the sheer intensity of the flavor! It was saying something that Louise knew she ate something that was well past it's prime and still found it to be too strong for her.

She nearly gagged from the stale texture, but the demand for any sort of subsidence overrode that and she quickly took two more handfuls of the sugar bombs and scarfing them down.

However she suddenly had a jolt of realization and she stopped amid another grab for food.

She checked the box, and this time actually slapped her forehead. It was already halfway empty. Cursing her self for losing control she closed it and looked where it was kept for any.

Oddly enough she did find something. Or somethings. Small roundish metal pieces with very small words on them that read 'Nuka Cola', others that read 'Sunset Saspirallia'. Nuka Cola? Sunset Sarsaparilla? The Elves certainly had strange names for things. But these looked worthless and she promptly discarded them to the floor, the pieces making an irritating noise as they impacted the ground.

She looked again, but now there was truly nothing left in the space. Nothing at all. Sighing and picking up the sugar bombs she realized that the time to go back outside was drawing near once more and she hadn't found any water source to keep her hydrated. But she didn't have any options. This place was empty so staying here was unlikely.

Gah stupid summoning ritual bringing her here...

…wait a minute… wait just a Founder damn minute! What had she been thinking!? Why didn't use the summoning spell again!? Sure it wasn't meant to be a two way portal, but it also wasn't meant to transport people to Brimir forsaken deserts either now was it? If it malfunctioned as a portal, then surely it might work again.

Suddenly giddy at the blatant option she had missed so idiotically before, she began searching for a spot to conduct the ritual. Normally she would have taken the time to draw a pentagram for such an event, it was a holy ritual after all, but frankly, she wanted out of this place as fast as possible.

She pointed her wand towards a corner of the building and began chanting.

"Pentagon of the five elements heed my call."

The stale air in the building suddenly seemed to get a vitalization as she put more of her energy into the spell. A breeze began blowing inside of the building, fueled by the magical energy building in the corner.

"I beg of you, my servant that exists somewhere in the vast universe heed my call!"

The dust in the building was suddenly lifted from all surfaces. It began flowing with the wind, the building creaking from the sudden force within it. The wooden boards rattled as did the shelves, some of the toppling over creating a ruckess. Louise was drowning it all out with her concentration and desperation. It was rivaling her growing thirst.

It was harder than usual however. Her whole body seemed alight with a dull pain, her head in particular began throbbing with each second longer the spell went on.

Suddenly at the height of her chanting, it appeared. The summoning portal! It light up the dark room with it's holy green light. Her body seemed alight with warmth, slightly painful in fact, flowing down her arms to her wand, but she didn't care.

She made towards it as quick as she could, but the moment she took one step, something happened. In just one second the portal seemed to expand and changed color from green to blue. On her second, now much more hurried step, it seemed to jiggle as if it were made of gelatin. On her third step, so close to it as she reached out her arm, it cruelly contracted back to it's point of origin and then…

It… exploded. It sent her flying back into a painful smack against the wooden wall. Pain was instant, spreading across her body as if it were on fire. The sunburns was just insult to injury at this point. No… it was still pain.

She landed in a heap, amazingly still holding her box of sugar bombs. Well, the pain in her entire body told her she wasn't crippled at least… damn you sturdy spine… and damn you sunburns…

However she didn't have much time to truly mope. The new hole in the wall coupled with the explosive force was too much for the building. Sounding in what she assumed was roughly the same amount of pain she was in, the building began visibly crumbling. Bit's and pieces of the room fell, giving the feeling that the whole thing was trying to swallow her. The fact that the room started to sink in did absolutely nothing to disprove that thought.

Her heart now racing at top speed the second time in a week, Louise was on her feet, her sunburns screams of pain now outdone by her screams of terror. She ran as soon as she was able, her legs making bounds the likes of which would have sprained something

She flew out of the hole, a piece of debris hitting her in her shoulder as she did, she till held onto the box though, the building collapsing completely behind her as she did. She was some distance away before she stopped to look at it. It just seemed to collapse from the hole inward, the roof of it sinking into a giant dust cloud that quickly expanded outward, making all sorts of horrible scraping and screeching sounds all the way.

Well that settled it. She wasn't staying there anymore. Her first day and night in the desert and all she had to show for it was a half box of food.

No matter. She had to push on. And soon. This commotion would undoubtedly draw the attention of something, be it elf or wildlife. Thankfully the sun was just rising, though the sky was still overcast, the intense glow coming from one side the cloud cover gave her a pretty good idea of where it was.

Small good news then. She was heading north the whole time. It was a small something then. With one quick glance back at her temporary shelter, she set off as quick as she could, leaving the destroyed building alone.

...


She was thirsty. She was sunburned. She was tired. She was scared. She was lonely. She was so many things that really deserved some vulgarities before and after them. She held her tattered cloak overhead once again in an attempt to keep the sun off her already existing burns. It was working better on account of the sun not being as high. She clutched her box and wand. She really must have been tired today, they felt like they weighed far more than they should. The increasingly hilly and rolling terrain did nothing to ease it.

Her mouth was becoming unbearably dry now. The heat was getting to her and it had only been one hour at her best guess at least since she had set off from her ruined shelter. And she had been getting an bad feeling in her stomach. Maybe eating these sugar bombs had been a mistake. The last thing she needed to do was vomit. Her headache only wanted her vomit. She decided to put off trying the summoning spell again. She feared for her health. Actually she was doing that for a while now.

She walked a while longer. And longer. And longer. Thankfully she had only encountered sparse wildlife again. Her magic at least had been more than enough to take care of them. But as before with her second attempt the summoning ritual, she felt a strange dull painful and warm sensation pass throughout her body. It was odd. She'd never had that particular problem with her magic before. She knew there was something odd about this land. It had to be some sort of latent Elven magic maybe causing some sort of interference with her own.

Grumbling at yet another problem she suddenly realized she had come up up an obstacle. A large outcropping of rock had rudely cut her off. Well this was just lovely. If lovely meant being tempted to blow the offending thing up. She scanned for any way through and she found one. A path leading downward into an area behind it. It seemed to be a ravine like area. Well, she needed a break anyway. And down there certainly looked like a god place to catch some shade.

She descended into the ravine, keeping her wand at the ready. As she entered it she quickly realized it did indeed open up into a narrow shallow ravine area. It was cooler down here already. She made to sit down and take in the shade for a while before setting off again.

Suddenly, something rang out all through the rocky canyons before her. It was sharp and instantaneous, and it got her attention as she looked around in fear.

Then she heard more, and more and more. It became an almost constant sound assaulting her eardrums. Then she heard what sounded like yelling over it. With a growing horror, she realized it was literally just a few twists and turns away.

Oh Founder damn it, what had she wandered into? It was nothing good and Louise began frantically looking for a place to hole up and wait it out and hope they passed her. She was urged on by a particularly loud scream from the battle, the pain carried off the walls and into her very being.

Breathing rapidly, all her pains forgotten, she darted towards a groove in the side of the pass, pushing herself against the wall as hard as she could.

It went on after that. And on. The sounds of what she assumed to be gunfire just kept going. She heard shouts over it occasionally, but for the most part it was just an unceasing racket bouncing off the walls of the canyon and finding a way to her ears.

Then it became quiet. Quiet enough to rival the gunfire in it's intensify and dread. Louise made no movements, except for shivering in fear. She clutched her sugar bombs and wand tightly. She prayed to Brimir to let them pass her bye. Not notice her…

She heard someone walking... it was faint, but she could hear footsteps crunching on the sand and rock. It continued past her, her hopes lifting with the passing.

Then she heard something fall from a height impacting near her level...

She never had a chance to raise her wand before a figure appeared from the right side brandishing an odd looking musket at her.

"Don't move!"

Her eyes locked onto the enemy, her hands trembling fiercely.

The enemy of man was before her.

The elf looked at her through heavily tinted glasses, a ragged looking scarf covering it's lower face. Had she not been lying down, she most certainly would have collapsed on the spot. Her wand thankfully was not in his sight. She discreetly pointed her wand at the monster, intent at least taking one of them out.

"F-f-fireba-" She breathed out in a quiet whisper. She nearly completed it, but then she noticed something... her eyes locked on the oddity.

…Wait… those ears… they weren't pointed… they weren't pointed…

This wasn't an Elf? But…

"All right kid, nice an easy. Do as I say. Get up slowly and keep your hands where I can see them!" The now identified human barked at her again. She lowered her wand discretely, trying to shove away how quickly she nearly killed another person. This was a human!? But how!? Humans were the enemy of of the elves, they hated each other how in founders name-?

"Kid seriously, get the fuck up!" He ordered once more.

"Okay…" She said softly, this whole ordeal sapping more of her precious energy.

"Get up slowly, no sudden movements. Keep your hands where I can see them."

She complied, and frankly she barely had the energy to do that.

She slowly walked out, holding both her wand and the box over her head with both of her hands. She approached the man, he roughly grabbing her objects from her with one hand. He stuffed them into his side pack and returned his full attention on her.

He gestured to her left with his gun. "Get moving."

Not really in a position, or mood, to do much else she complied. She walked in spite of the protests her body was giving her. The gun being a good motivator

They walked a little ways through the winding canyon until there was a divergence to the right.

"Turn here. Go up the hill." The man ordered.

Once again, she complied. She went up the hill and out of the canyon like area she was in, the sun lighting up her burns once more. Frankly it was a good thing she was as scared as she was. Her legs felt weak and it was pure adrenaline that kept them going up this climb.

She continued walking,and once she reached the top of the hill she was greeted by the sight of six other humans. Well six living humans at any rate. There were a fair amount of dead bodies lying all around, their blood staining the sand as it leaked into puddles around them. Two of them stood with weapons ready, two others seemed to be going from corpse to corpse and taking whatever they deemed worth taking. The fifth looked to be in conversation with a man on his knees, his face already having obviously bruised and beaten, even from this kneeling man was wearing a green uniform similar to those littering the battlefield. They were all dressed odd in her opinion. In some ways, they seemed more rages than anything else, a myriad of patchworks marring them. and they didn't look like they hadn't been changed or washed in some time.

The man standing was wearing what looked to be a black jacket of some sort, his pants a faded blue color. He was a tall one, standing well above her in height. His head was shaved, but other than that Louise couldn't make much more about him out.

As they approached she caught some of the conversation that was apparently going on between them. The man paced slightly.

"…ya fuckers. Ya cocky fragile fuckers ain't ya? Going and on about how your the only ones strong enough bring the Mojave into an age of unity and civilization, when you damn whine for a nuclear winter every goddamn day. And… what the fuck?" The man stopped whatever he was going on about as he caught sight of Louise as she was lead towards him. His attention snapped to her.

She got a good look at his face as he stared her down. His head was shaved of hair and his eyes were a deep blue. He had a rough looking face with a rough looking beard around his mouth, the very sand of the desert seemed to stick to it. His pants, jacket and shirt all bore signs of extreme use, his white undershirt in particular having what seemed like a layer of sweat and dirt on it. A frightening number of scars marred his face, some simple red lines, others almost like canyons on skin. To her, he had all the appearance of a thug.

When he spoke, his accent was absolutely nothing like Louise had ever heard before. "Johnny, you found a girl with fucking cotton candy for hair! What the fuck?!"

…what? She had no idea what cotton candy was, but the look in his eyes, and the chuckles from the group made her bristle in the face of danger.

"Just making sure the area is secure boss. Found her lurking in the ravine not far from here. This was all she had." he reached into his bag and retrieved her possession, the box and her wand. The boss, as they called him, held them. He shook the box to gauge how much was left inside. He looked at her wand with mild curiosity before turning his attention back to Louise."

"Ah, good work Johnny. Do another sweep and keep an eye out for any more patrols." Johnny, apparently, nodded and set off to do what he was ordered.

Th man, whom she presumed was the leader, looked at her and sighed. "Well, you got here at a bad time girl. There's no getting around it. To brass tacks then. Are you with them?" He gestured to the bound man and dead people.

"…what?" She blinked in confusion, her arms shaking.

"Are. You. With. This. Fuck. Face?" He said, emphasizing every word with a pointed finger to the bloodied man.

"No!"

"She's not lying. I've never seen her." The kneeling man breathed out with effort. Blood was running down his nose, and he had a nasty bruise on the side of his mouth.

"We don't know that for sure." Said another voice, a woman from the sound of it. She couldn't get a good look at her.

The green uniformed man scoffed. "Why the hell would we allow pink hair in the middle of a brown fucking desert? You have any idea how many basic camouflage training instructions that violates? And look at her, she's too young to wear a uniform in NCR. I'm telling you, I don't know who she is."

"He makes good points. But the fact remains, she's an unknown." Another one said. Eyeing her behind his goggles.

She gulped at the pressure and scrutiny she was under. She had thought to maybe use her noble status, but without her wand even she felt like it wouldn't do much good. "Please, I don't want any trouble." She begged.

"Well you found it. It's a bitch." The man said, getting his weapon to a more visible spot.

The leader took offence."Hey! Stow that weapon! We ain't fucking bandits."

"…well we technically are." The woman said.

The leader paused. "Okay fair point, but we ain't murders... of completely random people." He said.

Louise shook her head. 'Please! I just want to find out how to get back to Tristain!" She begged.

The whole group, the two scavenging from the bodies had returned long ago, and the bound man included gave her a set of bewildered looks.

"…Trsitain? I've been up and down the Mojave all my life and I've never heard of any settlement with that name." Said one.

"Maybe it's new. Mojave has all sort of shit going on lately." Another said.

It was all pointless prattle to her. She wanted answers!"Please, just tell me how to get there!"

"Well girly, it seems there's a problem. Not one of us has heard of that settlement we can't help you. Have you?" He asked casually to the beaten man. He gave a a glare in response.

"But that's absurd! Tristain isn't just some settlement, it's home to the Magical Academy, the most prestigious one in all of Halkegenia!"

"Uh, Halkegenia? Magic Academy?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed her dry throat putting as much exasperation into it as it could manage. "They are blessed by Brimir to protect people and guard against the Elves!"

"… Brimir, Elves... what the fuck is she going on about?" One said.

"Elves? That some new type of mutant?" Said the woman.

"Muta- No! They are the enemy of man!"

"Well tell them to get in line…" The beaten man said.

The lone woman in the group scoffed. "Well, if it's any consolation I don't think your with the NCR anymore. I think your just Brahmin shit crazy."

This... this couldn't be possible. How could even these backwaters not know about the very foundation of society!? And would they quit with the NCR idiocy already!? "I don't know what the NCR even is!"

"The New California Republic." The leader next the bound man said, his tone taking a slight mock to it.

"Promises of safety, unity, thriving communities. Promises made. Made. But not kept." The man said with a frown.

The beaten man protested, blood and spit flicking from his mouth, his lisp persisting. "Oh come on, you know that's not fair. Yeah, it's not perfect, but it's better than anything else poking out of this fucking world. Better than the Legion."

"At least the Legion is honest about what it promises. Death and destruction. You little weasels however, like to make promises of safety and unity, a democracy. What a puddle of fresh liquid Bighorn shit. It ain't nothing but a glorified feudal system. Your president reaps the fucking rewards of all your annexed territory's, sending it back out the old regions, while the rest of us on the frontier don't even get a say on how we get fucking robbed!" The man yelled right into the others face.

Louise, although loyal to the crown with all her might, and proud as she was, could see how this could turn out poorly if she said the wrong thing. She wisely decided to not bring up her home in detail.

He sighed and turned and walked back to Louise. "Girl, listen to me. Oh and you can put your hands down, sorry." She put them down.

"If you really are just hearing about them, then hear this. They aren't what the Mojave needs. Nothing more than raiders with an over complicated way of organizing things. They make you a part of them weather you want to or not. They're making the mistakes of the old world while claiming a new age of enlightenment. I should know..." he said. Something flashed in his eyes.

Apparently having enough of having been indirectly insulted the beaten man retorted. "And just what do you precious little asses know about running a country? Fucking Lost. You're nothing but a bunch of angry people out in the desert, mad that civilization has a price tag. So what if you lose a bit of money. It'll be better in the long run. Ungrateful bastards!"

The man in front of chilled the very air around him, for even his companions shifted nervously after the speech. His eyes, though technically looking at Louise seemed to be going to a much different place. She could almost see the red fury in his very eyes. If she had, she had no doubt she would be blinded by it.

"Wade." He called gesturing the man over. He complied and stood right behind her.

"Cover her eyes." He said, the aggression already taking over before he finished his sentence, a snarl overtaking his features. He spun on his heel and was in the process of pulling out something. That was all she could make out visually before a hand obscured her vision.

Her ears however were completely unobstructed. She head something metal hit flesh and a cry of pain. More hits, she knew she wasn't hit in the head, his screams of pain told her that many times over. The attacker was letting loose a string curses matching the violence itself in intensity. Then, she heard a snap and the screaming reached higher still. Then it became muffled, the screaming becoming a wet strained gurgling sound. She heard a few more snaps of something before one final impact and it became quiet completely.

Louise was trembling severely even before the hand was removed. The leader was standing over the man, now dead. Louise couldn't help but stare. Today was her first day seeing dead bodies, but the now dead man looked grotesquely mangled compared to the others. The man was laying on his back, a red sploch visible on his stomach. His left arm was visibly broken at the elbow, lying at an awkward angle and the bone was sticking out. Most horrifyingly though was his face. The man's jaw was open far too much for it to be normal, and his mouth was missing some teeth only a bloody mess of gum and tooth fragments remaining. Louise could feel her heartbeat pick up, and her stomach go for another loop. If there was another shock coming her way, she didn't think she could be able to keep it down.

The man stood there, breathing heavily from the exertion, the blood dripping from his weapon onto the dry desert sand. "If I had the goddamn patience, I would bury every single of you fuckers up to yer neck, and watch the sun peel off yer skin like paint."

He said something so softly Louise barely caught it.

"You don't know the first fucking thing about loss..."

He was breathing heavy at the exertion, blood dripping from a piece of blunt metal held in his hand. He put it back in a holster, uncaring of the blood still on it. He let out a deep sigh, his form relaxing considerably. "I'm sorry you had to be present for this girl. I got a bit of a temper on me sometimes. Now... maybe we can talk in peace." He said walking over to her. He stood near her, his blue eyes boring into her pink ones.

"What's your name first of all?"

Louse resisted the urge to say and do a great many things at the events that just happened. That was it? He just murdered a man! How could these people go from such acts of barbarity to civil discourse? She wanted to say so many things, but she forced them down and gave an answer. Almost literally. "L-Louise."

He nodded. "Well Louise, I can't tell you where to find this 'Tristain'. None of of us have even heard of it, so we can't really help you find it."

She shook her head frantically, a part of her wanting to deny this was happening."But that's impossible! It is as well known as Halkegenia's two moons!"

At the mention of the moons confusion spread. She some heads tilt.

"...Two moons? Earth only has one girl."

Another sighed, apparently getting tired of this charade."Boss let's just leave her. She's probably some junkie or just plain nuts."

He held up a hand silencing the protests. He knelled down to eye level with Louise, his blue eyes "Louise listen to me. You are on planet earth. It only has one moon and there's no such thing as magic." He said very slowly as if he were speaking to a small child.

She looked him right in the eyes looking for any sign that this was a joke or a lie. He just continued to stare. As he did Louise felt a true chill throughout her body.

No... no no no no no this couldn't be true! It had to be a lie! This... this wasn't possible. It... it... it was too much... for her stomach.

"I... oh..." With no further warning she promptly lost her lunch right in front of the man, just barely avoiding hitting him with her vomit. He got to his feet quickly backing away from the foul substance.

The remains of her sugar bombs spilled onto the dry desert sand along with some bodily fluids."Ah, fucking hell." he said grimacing.

A chuckle came from the group. "Jeez Lorcan, I know your breath can be bad, but this is ridiculous."

"Ah, stow it ya walking anus!" The man, now identified as Lorcan yelled back.

Louise cared not for their words for her entire view had just shifted dramatically. She was farther away from home than she realized. Despite her being dehydrated she was, her eyes got moist, her entire form trembling as she tried to spit out the remaining dribble, the foul taste sure to stay with her for some time.

"This... I can't be... I..." She was near sobbing at this point. Was she truly on another world? She didn't know if she believed that for sure, but the fact that these people don't even know Tristan, or Halkegenia in general, told her she wasn't in the desert that was close to her home. But they sounded pretty sure about the moons... could it be...

She put it out her mind for the time being, for her problems had mounted and she didn't need that weight clogging up her head right at this moment, her plans had changed. She wasn't walking home then. Her magic was the only way she could return home. And if these people didn't know about magic, then that might cause some problems if she revealed her self as a magic user. She couldn't come up with all the answers right this moment though, for the man seemed to be waiting for an answer.

The man, Lorcan she barely remembered, was looking at her with an odd expression. It wasn't necessarily concern, but there was something about it that seemed softer than it had been before. "Well, believe what you want to believe girl. It doesn't change the fact that we can't help you find this Tristan Place. Only settlement that's close is Goodsprings. But if your looking for a place to hole up, you could also come with us." He said with with an easy smile.

The sudden offer took her aback greatly as it did for the other present as the protests started immediately.

"Wait what?" One of the group said.

"Yeah what the fuck? What if she's NCR?"

Lorcan glared at them. "She ain't with the NCR ya daft idiots. I don't know what she is, but she ain't NCR. Look at her. She's... odd." he said gesticulating wildly to her.

"Her clothes are too clean. She's too clean. There ain't nearly as much dirt grime and sweat on her as the rest of us. Her whites don't have the years of stains they get in the desert. And she doesn't stink nearly as bad as the rest of us. You don't think there's something odd with that?" He pointed out. The others were now gazing at her more intently at the mention of her oddities for this place. She had to give the man some credit. He was far more perceptive then she thought.

"Ugh, some fucking odd Vault Dweller, look boss, frankly I don't care about her. We've wasted a lot a time here and considering we just hit an NCR squad, I'd rather not be here when the next one shows up. We got lucky this time, but we won't the element of surprise anymore. The hell would she even contribute anyway? She look like she can barely take care of her self. She'd be nothing but a resource drain."

Lorcan seemed to pause. He tried again. "But can we really just leave her out here?" Lorcan asked.

"Well yeah. It's called ditching." The man deadpanned.

"You know what I damn well mean. We ain't a bunch of savages. We ain't gonna devolve into another band of raiders, so work with me here." The man he had brutalized said otherwise. He may ave been acting nice now, but Louise wasn't just going to forget that.

"Look Louise. I don't know much about you, but you really seem like you have no bloody idea what your doing. You looked parched, sun sick, and have no bloody idea on where to go. So I'll ask again, you wanna join us?" He asked.

There was some noises of protests coming from the group, but Louise was blocking them out as she herself was internally balking at the suggestion.

Join them? Why in founders name would she want to do that? From the sound of things, they were picking a fight with an army of a nation. She wanted to survive, how would joining something that involved lots of fighting help? Granted, he didn't exactly say that, but she had a feeling that being around them probably wouldn't help her reputation with this NCR.

"This... NCR... It's a powerful faction right?"

"Well yes. It's been expand into the Mojave recently. We got some beef with them and... well, I can't deny our life can be a bit exiting at times." Lorcan admitted.

Then that settled it. Joining them would cause her nothing but trouble. She had no interest in this country's politics, struggles, or any other thing in it. It wasn't her country and it wasn't her problem.

"I'm afraid I will have to decline." She answered.

The man eyes her intently at the statement. She stared at him defiantly, finally having a but of her noble spark in her. The man didn't look angry though. He seemed more disappointed. He sighed. "Well, I'd be a hypocrite if I forced you to join wouldn't I? That's the whole reason we fight these bastards." He said. Louise could see the regret on his face however. He held out Louise's wand and box of Sugar bombs out. She took her wand, and hesitantly grabbed the box. Seeing something you ate come back up lingered on one's mind after all.

"You mentioned there was a settlement nearby. If you could point out it's direction, I can make my way there." She asked wanting to get a move on.

He nodded. "Goodsprings." He pointed in a direction. East it looked like. "Bout two hours walk from here. We'd walk with ya, but alas due to our actions here, we don't want to get Goodsprings involved in this. They'd follow our tracks right to the town and then they'd accuse Goodsrpings of harboring murderers or some shit. I'd like to you help ya get there, I truly would, but If by some chance they do come snooping around, just say you came across the scene and scavenged what you could. Goodsprings is an out of the way town for the most part and the NCR has done a lot of things to get on people's nerves around these parts. They won't cause any trouble if they know what's good for them." Lorcan explained.

That sounded just what she needed. An out of the way location. Maybe she could take up some jobs to earn money of some sort and find lodging. She might have make due at first, but frankly, getting involved in life or death situations sounded like a far worse time than just sleeping in a less than ideal place. She could say she'd done that before at least.

"Just be careful when heading into town. They had some problems recently with some raider group harassing them. They managed to give em a god kick in the teeth though. Some courier, believe it or not, led a militia and sent them packing. I think the town is safe, but anyone will be shaky with some close calls like that."

Raiders? Well the random bandit was better than the random soldier in her book. And at least towns didn't go looking for trouble.

"Is there any possibility of me finding any work there?" She asked.

He nodded. "A good chance. There's a saloon that could do with some help, and the Bighorner ranchers always did have some trouble finding hands. If you don't mind getting your hands dirty that is..." He seemed to examine her.

"Course you do got some valuables on ya so that should help. That little golden thing you got on your neck could go for a decent price. Hell, your clothes look pretty damn pristine. Trade them in, you could get some decent caps for it. Should probably trade in that cloak for a decent hat." He chuckled.

Despite the utter absurdity of what the man was saying about trading in her clothes, the word caps seemed to stick in her mind. She blinked in confusion. "Caps?"

"It's the currency most of the Mojave uses. The NCR's got some dollar bills, but they're pretty weak." He explained as he took out some objects from his pocket to show to her. And she once again felt the urge to slap herself. The words Nuka Cola and Sunset Sarsaparilla stared back at her mockingly.

It was the same things she had seen back at the building! She had money in her hand the whole time and just let it fall through her fingers! Founder damn it, she really needed to learned how things worked around here.

"Boss!" The man called out again.

Lorcan rolled his eyes and barked a response."Ah, all fucking right!" He put his fingers into his mouth and whistled sharply. Another member came from somewhere out of sight from keeping watch, while Johnny from earlier came back as well. They all formed around him waiting to set off.

"We gotta get going Louise. Just head East from here and you'll get there." He said as he reached into his jacket.

"And try to step on rocks if you don't wanna leave tracks!" The man, Johnny said laughing.

She barely caught the object tossed at her from Lorcan due to that mocking tone.

The others looked at him, shocked that he gave up some water so easily. He simply smiled."Something for the road, and to prove I ain't lying. Like I said, we ain't savages." He said. The man seemed hesitant. Most likely to let her go. She appreciated the sentiment honestly, but her mind was made up. She didn't want to get dragged into their conflict.

"They got a doctor in town too. Nice fella. You be sure to see him, ya hear. And be careful. Mojave is a hotbed for trouble these days." With one more glance at her, Lorcan began walking off into the desert followed by his companions.

Louise didn't wistfully watch them go however. As soon as they set off, she was staring at the object she held with fascination. It was a clear material that held clean water. Despite having a vital substance in it, Louise was honestly fascinated with it's container. It somewhat molded to her grasp, but was strong enough to hold water. She could could just hold it for hours...

Actually, that might be the dehydration talking. She unscrewed the cap and as soon as the warm water hit her mouth, she began guzzling it down. She didn't care if it was warm, she was just happy to get some water in her system. She pulled the odd container away from her panting in at least some contention.

It was only when she looked back up again did she realize they were gone and she was left alone again.

It suited her just fine knowing the trouble that followed them. Pulling her cloak over her head again,she turned eastward and began walking towards the town named Goodsprings.
...


A day late on this, you can thank my computer throwing out Blue Screens like no tomorrow lately. Bleh... It might be turning into Fallout 76.