"Get up."

Corey ignored the harsh voice penetrating his dreams. Maybe if he kept his eyes tight shut enough it would disappear. It would all disappear. He would disappear and become nothingness. "I said get up, bitch."

Corey turned over and opened his eyes blearily to see Vaas looking down at him with something unfathomable in his eyes. "You fuckin' stink, you know that?" The pirate nudged the boy with the toe of his boot. "Come on. It's time you appreciated the place your sorry ass has landed." He strode from the den, giving no indication that he expected anything other than Corey's attendance. Sure enough, the boy was soon scrambling to his feet, arms crossed self-consciously over his chest and his green eyes blinking from the sudden sunlight. The dirty little town wasn't so much to behold as he half-jogged after his owner. "You ain't seen nothin' of my island yet, have you?" Vaas asked. Corey shook his head, keeping his gaze downcast, mostly to avoid the broken glass that could shear through the skin of his bare feet. "C'mon hermano. Cat got your tongue?" Vaas shook his head dismissively and climbed in to what looked like some sort of off road buggy. Corey climbed in next to him and quickly discovered the handholds as it roared into life and sped out of the town and onto the rough road through the jungle.

Vaas let out a wild laugh and a whoop as they jumped a small ravine, swerving offroad. When they finally screeched to a halt they were near-perched at the edge of a shallow cliff leading down into a raging river. Corey's breath caught as he looked out onto the view of jungle and river.

"Where are we?" He murmured.

"Stop asking questions, it doesn't suit you." Vaas snapped. One large hand reached out and grabbed Corey by the upper arm, shoving him towards the edge. "Go take a bath. You can find your own way back."

"No. No please, oh god no!" Corey yelped, trying to scramble back from the edge. Vaas grimaced with irritation.

"Stop being a fucking pussy." He growled, and shoved. Corey tumbled over the edge, hitting his shoulder sharply before plummeting down and into the water.

He hit the cold current hard, the shock knocking the breath out of him and he took in water. It dragged him to the surface and he hacked up mouthfuls of water, gasping for breath and flailing desperately before he hit a log, hard. He scrambled at it with desperate fingers before tugging himself up, laying across it and wheezing until he could pull himself to the bank and lay down on the earth, face turned up to the sun and water still coming up with every cough.

After a while, he'd recovered enough to pull himself to his feet and look around. A bridge spanned across the river above him, cars rumbling across every so often. It had to be the way back, but he had to find a less sheer place to climb up so he could find the road. He made to start walking when a thought stopped him. Why go back? He sat and drank from the river, trying to calm himself a little and dry out in the late afternoon sun.

He thought of what his owner would do to him if he didn't and shuddered, but he was also grasped by a sudden fear of his surroundings. The jungle around him had been alive with noise when he and Vaas had arrived, but now it was near-silent except for the cars on the bridge and the river rushing by. He started scrambling up a part of the cliff that seemed more manageable than the rest, clawing at the loose rocks and dirt with difficulty until he pulled himself to the top.

Instantly he ducked down again. Three men in wifebeaters matching that of Vaas' wandered just a few metres away, guns clutched in their hands. Too late, he realized, as one of them caught his gaze and let out an animalistic whoop. Corey bolted, skinny legs moving with surprising speed as he zigzagged to avoid the rapid gunfire. When he lost them in the undergrowth behind him he shot up the nearest tree, tears streaming down his cheeks with fear as he desperately reached for the top. As the sun dipped towards the trees, he looked down, the leering faces of the pirates becoming like devils in the half-light.

As the evening wore on, Vaas was growing irritated with waiting, sitting atop the tin roof of one of the buildings and watching the road intently. He stood up and cursed loudly, throwing a beer bottle to smash on the ground below.

"I want a line of blow and a vehicle, now." Having received both of his requests, pupils large as dinner plates, he roared out of the town, speeding down the rapidly darkening road. He killed the engine when he reached the bridge and listened closely.

"Come on, white boy, come on down!" One of the pirates crowed, making noises as though to coax down a cat.

"Let's just shoot the fuckin' asshole." His associate grumbled. "It's no fun anymore."

"Oh really?" Vaas called out. The pirates froze in fear at his voice and turned around, agonizingly slow. Corey felt his heart leap into his mouth as he saw Vaas coming through the trees. He wore a manic grin and a grenade launcher was clasped in his arms. "So sorry that my property is failing to amuse you, amigos."

"Listen, Vaas, we didn't know, we wouldn't..."

"Ah, foresight's twenty-twenty, hermanos." Vaas shouldered the gun, and Corey shut his eyes tight, wrapping himself around the branch he clutched. Three horrifying screams tore the air before an explosion rocked it. The tree Corey was clutching lurched violently, creaked, and fell.

Despite his best efforts Corey was flung several feet into the undergrowth when the tree crashed to the jungle floor. The ringing in his ears from the blast was intensified by being thrown, rolling helplessly, from the branches. He hadn't much time to rest before Vaas pulled him out. "Couldn't even last half a day, huh." He growled. "Disappointing, amigo, very disappointing." Half-dragging the boy back to the truck, he threw the launcher in the back and climbed in to the driver's seat, gaze intent on the road as he backed them out and back on to the road. Corey curled in the passenger's seat, eyes wide and staring like a frightened animal. The name he'd heard in the jungle reverberated in his terrified mind until it became a mantra.

Vaas.