A sea of nausea and dizziness surrounded Agate. She remember the beating, the wounds on her body… the days she spent with her mother. She wanted to go back to that dream, back to the warm she felt in her memory. But her body was still and cold. She felt a sense of dread spreading through her. She tried to reach to her mother, but the image slowly faded away. With all the strength left in her, she tried to push herself forward.
But instead, she woke up. The pain from the wound, which was already bad in her dream, hit her. Even the smallest move made her groan.
She expected to be in some kind of prison, or in a medical tent in the White Fang camp. She readied to face the lieutenant, for the scowling and the beating. She knew that they would never forgive her for deserting. But she wasn't in the White Fang camp, but a makeshift camp amid the ruins of Glenn. She slowly rose up from the bedroll, but couldn't. Her body felt heavy and painful.
"You wouldn't want to move much. Stay still and keep your breathe constant, that should help." An emotionless, rough voice told her.
She turned her head to the source of the voice. She saw a man sat near a campfire. He wore a camouflaged body armor and a khaki trench coat. His face was covered by a helmet with green eye lenses. The man himself was opening a small can of pork beans with a combat knife then pour all of the content into the pot on the campfire.
"A broken rib, dislocated shoulder, bruises almost every where. I don't know which button did you push, but you made them quite angry." He said, but he didn't even look at her. Instead, he focused on the can of sweet corn and different kinds of ingredients he brought with him. "Good thing I still have a dose of hydra with me. It should fix you up fine enough."
She tried to say something. But her throat was sore and dry. As if he read her mind, he put the foods down and brought a bottle of water toward her. She tried to get away, the man saw her intention, decided to stop and lower himself.
"Let me help you." He gently, or at least he tried said. She was reluctant at first, but then she allowed him to help her sit up. His left arm put behind her back to provide some support while his right hand open the bottle and helped her gulping it down.
The water helped, she felt a little better. The nausea became bearable. He put a duffle bag behind her and slowly moved his hand from her back.
"Wait for a minute, I am preparing the meal." He went back to the campfire. "Mostly just corn and beans, but I managed to find some vegetable around." The stew seemed to be finished. He took out two trays and poured the food in.
"Found some crackers in a nearby store, old, but still edible."
He put a blanket over her thighs and then a small wood blank supported by some piece of bricks, created a makeshift table. He put one of the tray on the table, with a bag of cracker and a spoon. He then sat next to her.
"You should eat, your body need energy to heal."
She looked at the stew. It was far from something presentable. Just a sad stew made of canned food with some chunky slices of onion and carrot. The cracker was old, as if it was made from the last century. She took a spoonful and tried to swallow the stew. Turned out it wasn't too bad, almost the same thing she often ate in her old camp.
The man just stared at her as she ate. She felt like she was in a hospital and he was examining her, maybe he was. As she finished half of the tray, she looked up.
"Is there a problem?" He asked.
"Why?" Her hand shook.
"Hm?"
"Why did you help me?" She put the tray down and turned toward him.
"You were being beaten by a bunch of thugs. Any man with just half of a decent mind would do the same." He took out a cup and poured some powder in, slowly stir them.
"In the middle of Glenn?"
"Even in the middle of the desert, especially in the middle of nowhere."
"Do you know who I am?" She grip tighten around the spoon.
The man didn't even look up, his voice was indifferent.
"Are you a slaver?" He put the cup down, his hand hung free between his thighs.
"W-what?!" She was dumbfounded by the sudden question.
"Are you a slaver?"
"Of course not!"
"Drug trafficker?"
"No…"
"A serial killer? Rapist?"
"NO! What are you talking about?"
"Then why shouldn't I save you?" The man shrugged.
She silently ate the rest of the meal. The man turned his back to her and returned to the campfire, seemingly having his meal.
She looked at the cup. It contain some kind of beverage smelled similar to orange juice.
"That's a good vitamin supplier. Pre-war, but the taste is okay and safe." She could hear the sound of the metal spoon hitting the metal tray, looked like he had finished his meal.
'Pre-war? As in the Great War?' She thought. Her hand reluctantly held the cup. If this happened in other situation, she would throw the cup away or ask the person if this was a prank or not. But here, he is the doctor and the one who decide whether she live or die. So she downed it in one go. It tasted old, but not disgusting, a little bit too sour.
"So, why was you wandering in the middle of the night in these ruins?" He donned his helmet back on, green eyes lenses stared at her.
"I…" Should she tell him? That man can be a human, or worse, a huntsman in duty. She could be captured and tortured so that they could drain every little bit of information from her. But if she don't say anything, it will be suspicious.
"I was running away from the White Fang."
"White Fang? Those thugs?"
"Yeah… They had me in custody since I owed them. But when they showed that they won't solve the problem peacefully, I ran."
"I guess that they didn't like that idea of yours?"
She replied with a sarcastic tone. "Oh, you know, they don't. And I was lucky that they haven't killed me yet."
"So what are you going to do now?"
"I am thinking about find a way back to Vale. But I don't know if I can make it out or Glenn or not."
"Vale? Where is it?" The question immediately caught her attention.
"You don't know where Vale is?"
"No, haven't heard of it." The man shrugged while checking his belongings.
"It is the biggest city in this kingdom, the capital city, Vale. You seriously don't know?"
"No, I have just came to this place for a few months. You are the first local I talked to."
'First? So he isn't a huntsman?'. She looked at him as if he was something strange. He didn't pay much attention to that. He looked through his belongings until he suddenly remembered something. He walked toward her and reached for her left arm. She pulled her arm back and stared at him. He realized how rude he was and silently cursed himself. He offered her his hand and asked.
"Can you show me your left arm?"
She was still on guard, but slowly gave him her left arm. He pulled out a bulky device and put it on her wrist.
"What is this?" She looked at the device almost yelled. "Is this some kind of shackle? A tracking device?" She felt its weight on her hand.
"A Pip-boy. I used it to monitor your condition. It shows you your vitals and other information about your health. This morning you seemed to be better so I took it off. But when I think about it, you should keep it." He pushed some button and turned the dial. Her body condition was showed on the screen. "This thing was a gift from a friend, but I don't think I need it that much. It can help you during your recovery."
He sat down and took a rifle out, checking it.
"So back to the problem. You said that you wanted to go back to this… Vale? Right?"
"Yeah, I think I should be safe there."
"But you said that you don't know if you can leave this place or not?"
"Well, Glenn is full of Grimms, not to mention the White Fang camps in the area. And there are bandits too."
"Doesn't sound like a fun trip."
He reloaded the magazines then used one of them to reload his rifle. His hand was quick with no wasted movement, showing the profession with the weapon.
"What about you?" She asked him.
"Me? I was just having a stroll when I found you. My home is not far from here."
"Here? Glenn? Do you have death wishes? Grimm are everywhere."
"Unless there is a deathclaw or nightstalker nest nearby, I don't mind them that much, just the same normal hostile wild life like anywhere else." He sounded indifferent no matter what the topic was.
Silence once again filled the air. The man used the rifle's scope to scout the area around them. They were on the third level of an empty building. The height gave them some advantages. The area was also clear and easy to spot if anything came close to them.
"What is your name?" He asked her, eyes still focus on the scope.
Her thought started to jump around. Part of her felt like she should tell him. The other still had many doubts about the man.
"If you don't want to, I won't force you." He put the rifle down and turned the low-light optics on. The green lenses shone bright.
After another moment of silent, she spoke.
"Agate Lace, Coyote Faunus."
The man didn't react, he simply replied.
"Randall Jackson, Desert Ranger."