THANKS FOR 2000 HITS PEOPLE! OH AND I'M MAKING SOME SMALL LORE CHANGES LIKE RYAN DIDN'T DATE A RAIDER. GO LOOK AT THE REWRITTEN PARAGRAPH IF YOU LIKE.

THIS IS BASICALLY A FILLER CHAPTER BUT ALSO A MAIN CHAPTER, ACTUALLY IDK IF THERE'S A WORD FOR THAT. ANWAYS ENJOY!

RATED T FOR VIOLENCE, THREAT, (CENSORED) SWEARING AND SEXUAL REFERENCES.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FALLOUT OR ATLA. ATLA IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON. FALLOUT IS OWNED BY BETHESDA (1, 2, NV DEVELOPED BY INTERPLAY/BLACK ISLE/OBSIDIAN)

It had already been a couple moments after we escaped into the forest. Akira still carried his unconscious brother, no doubt he was pissed at me for knocking Banko out and leaving their Mom behind to die. Damn my aim.

Missed Ryan already.

We stopped running, both of us were breathless. "How far... do you think... we are?" I asked constantly breathing.

"I honestly have no idea... where the hell we are, but... I know... we're far from the soldiers," Akira replied, fortunately he caught his breath shortly after, "You mind telling me what happened to the escape plan?!"

I caught my breath too, "That plan was fikked from the start. Nobody told me we were up against people who can literally control fire!" Those must've been mutants I was fighting. But they looked too human to be mutants. I really questioned where the hell I was now.

I glared at Akira, he placed his unconscious brother by a tree. Instantly reminded me of when I accidentally killed their mom. Just realised that they didn't know that I was responsible.

"I understand why you knocked out Banko, he's pretty stubborn. But I just want to know. How did Mom die?" He asked.

Could've told him the truth. But I immediately knew that was a bad idea, he'd hate me. Usually I wouldn't care if someone hated me or not, but when I'm responsible for something like this it's hard to tell the truth. Needed to think of a clever lie.

I sighed, "Your Mom... an... arrow... hit her in the... chest." I've always been a bad liar but it seemed to convince Akira enough.

"Oh, I-I don't know what to say. I-it's just me and my Brother now," he said emotionless.

"Were you and your Mom... close?" It was a stupid question obviously, but usually a kid his age would burst into tears.

He looked broken.

"She took care of us when dad was taken away. She was great, never gave up on being a mother," he said. I saw a tear go down his eye, so not completely broken.

"Hey, I know how you feel," I said trying to comfort him, usually I'd say 'it's war people die bla bla bla'. But he was just a kid.

"What am I going to tell Banko?"

"It's honestly up to you. You can tell him the truth or tell him a lie," I said. It was wrong I know, but it was better than just being broken the news. Could tell Akira was thinking hard about it. "You have some time to yourself. I'm going to hunt lunch."

I then went off into the forest straight away

It'd been a couple minutes since I left the brothers, ripped my bandages off too. Almost forgot I had them on, fortunately they quickly healed besides probably a permanent dent. Strolling through, I admired my surroundings. Non-dead trees, green grass, things that weren't There were more varieties of birds than just crows. Except they looked strange to me, some of them had the skin of a gecko, I believe Ryan called them 'scales'.

A small animal came by a tree, it looked really weird. It looked a bit like a rabbit I saw in a book but it also had... wings? What kind of mutant was that? Nevertheless, it was good enough to eat.

I slowly crept up to it, keeping my knife ready. Couldn't trust myself with my rifle, this thing was smaller than a radroach. Took another few steps, I was half a metre from it.

Instantaneously, I grabbed it by the neck. "Gotcha!" I whispered. Placed my knife to its neck. Listened to it squeal, like it was begging for mercy. Its legs kicked constantly.

Almost felt bad for it, but it's survival of the fittest. Jabbed my knife right into its neck, killing it instantly.

It was small but good enough for a few people's stomachs. Skinned its lifeless corpse then went on my way back.

On the way I thought to myself many questions, how long will it take to get back to Nevada? I already know I'm far from home, but how far? It could take months perhaps even years just to get to the desert. But would it be worth it? It's a wasteland where everything tries to kill me, there's nobody except Ryan to get back to. Maybe by the time I'm back he'll have already moved on, he already treats his parent's and his girlfriend's death like it hardly ever happened.

I shouldn't have been thinking about that straight away. Needed to focus on the now rather than the when.

Arrived back to the brothers, Banko seemed to be fortunately awake laying by the tree. Akira sat crossed legs by him.

"I brought back some food," I said holding out the skinless rabbit thing. Banko looked up at me. "You alright?"

"He just woke up a few minutes ago," said his older brother, "Doesn't seem to remember anything from after we left the house." Surprised I could give someone memory loss by just punching the forehead, didn't know it was even possible at all.

"Wha-what happened to Mom?" The young boy asked weakly. Both of us stayed quiet, we had no clue what to say.

"Banko... ummm... Akira you tell him," I said.

"Wait what?!" Akira replied extremely nervous. Dick move, I knew. But it was better if it came from a family member rather than somebody he knew for like a couple hours. "Umm... uhhh," he then came up with a genius lie, "Mom wasn't in the town. She... was caught breaking one of the laws and took her... away." Glad I wasn't the only bad but somehow convincing liar out here.

"Where?" He asked.

"Don't really know. Most likely a... labour... camp. We probably won't see her again." Guess Akira couldn't think things through either. Like that piece of shetze plan I had.

"Oh, what do we do now?" Banko asked seemingly unaffected.

"Actually, yeah. What do we do now?" He asked me.

"We get out of the nation. Head to... do you guys know any safe places?" I asked.

"Don't really know, haven't gotten much news from outside the village for a couple years. And the villages near Boshali are most likely occupied or probably razed to the ground. Ba Sing Se is just too far to walk." He went silent, had the look of hard thinking. I take it back, he could think things through. "Well we can at least had towards the frontline. It'll be dangerous but if we get past that we're home free. Last I heard the Fire Nation was fighting west in the mountains."

"Alright, first thing we need to do is get the hell out of this forest and we're good to go."

"Sounds good to me," said Banko.

We then went off into the forest, hopefully we could at least get the hell out of this 'Fire Nation', then it's off to the Mojave.

We walked a couple hours. Seemed to have walked for at least a dozen miles past rivers and the endless trees. Decided to take a rest. Get our energy back up.

Sat around a large campfire too with that dead rabbit from earlier being cooked. Might've already gotten spoiled or something but as long as it's food we're fine. I was then asked a couple questions.

"So, East. You mind telling me what your weapon is?" Akira asked.

"It's a hunting rifle. You guys do know what guns are right?" I asked. I was curious as there weren't anybody with a gun back in the village.

"Never heard of one. It's a pretty impressive weapon from what I've seen back in Boshali. If only the Earth kingdom had these things then we wouldn't be losing this war."

"Your faction doesn't have guns?"

"No but fortunately we have bending so that's something I guess."

"What exactly does it do? I can't remember anything," Banko asked.

"Honestly, I'm still a bit new to using these but it's kinda like a bow but a lot easier and more efficient to use, (at least that's what Ryan said). Killed around 10 or 11 legion soldiers with it." Funny thing was, all those kills were just lucky shots.

"What's 'Legion'?" Banko asked.

"They're the worst people you could ever meet," I deepened my voice. Didn't mind if someone brought up the Legion, but when I'm involved I just show my raging hatred towards them.

"They're basically a group of psychopathic killers," Said Akira.

"That doesn't even begin to describe them. They're rapists, slavers, cannibals, and somehow they're trying to conquer the wasteland."

"Sounds worse than the Fire Nation."

"Probably is but they could be ants compared to the Legion."

There was a brief pause. The dead animal was still sizzling over the fire.

"I have another question," said Akira, "What's with the black mark on your face?"

As much as it was uncomfortable to talk about I replied with the same attitude, "I'm a tribal."

"Tribal? Like the water tribes?" Banko asked.

"Water Tribes?"

"They're waterbenders who live in the North and South pole."

"Never heard of them. I'm like tribal tribal. Like... living in huts and all those weird rituals. That kind of tribal."

"Do they still exist?"

I sighed, "Mine doesn't. Change the subject."

"Do you have any friends or family?" Yet another sensitive topic, but I decided to skip anything family related.

"I have a friend called Ryan. He's a bit like my mentor since he's been teaching me how to survive."

"Mentor huh? Must be pretty skilled to be teaching you how to survive."

"I mean he's 16 but from a military family."

"Which army?" Banko asked. We were already gonna be there for a while.

We chatted for a little while. I told them about the NCR, at least what I know even though I've lived under their jurisdiction for a couple years. Ate the rabbit thing too, tasted a bit dry but it still fed us. Got some more information about where I am too.

Basically, according to these guys there's 4 nations. The Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and the 2 water tribes. Apparently there's a lot of people who have the power of a fikking Disney character, thought only a mutant could do that kind of crap but apparently not. Plus these guys believe in spirits, something I used to believe in. Plus there's a war that has lasted for like a hundred years.

All of us caught our energy. Got up and moved towards the mountains. At least we thought this was the way to the mountains.

Passed an occupied village along the way. Besides some more people the village was like Boshali. I could already tell the brothers missed their home despite the oppression they lived under. Thought about going into the village to get a map but the risk was too great, could end up worse than what happened this morning.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to my tribe. But there wouldn't really be a point would there?

Continued passed the village, we had a couple conversations along the way but other than that nothing really happened. It was quiet.

Stumbled across a small shop too, seemed to be isolated from civilisation. Probably an outpost or something for passing travellers.

The building was made of wood and had a straw roof. There was a doorless entrance too. A sign with a weird writing was placed above it.

"What does that sign say?" I asked.

"Can't you read?" Banko asked.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes I can read but not... whatever writing this is."

"It says Bao's Shop for Travellers. You wanna go inside?" Akira asked.

"Do we even have any money?"

"I guess... we could trade some stuff."

All of us walked inside. It was quite dull, a few candles here and there. Shelves with a variety of stuff surrounded the room. There was an old man sitting behind a counter. Must've been the owner.

The old man took notice of us, "Welcome to my shop, travellers! I am Chan!"

"Hi? I thought this was owned by Bao."

"Bao... was my wife. She and I used to run this shop together from before the Fire Nation annexed the region." He sadly explained, but was quick to change his mood, "Enough about me. You looking for anything in particular?"

"Just looking around," Said Banko.

Chan picked up something from the shelf behind him, "How about a necklace for a pretty girl like you. That sounded wrong." Glad to know he wasn't a pervert.

Akira and I went up to him to see this 'necklace'. My eyes widened with surprise, for it wasn't a necklace. But a holotag. "Where did you get this?" I asked.

"Some boy sold them to me a week ago, looked like your headband friend over there except with shorter hair and really strange clothing."

I usually see NCR soldiers with holotags, but a boy wearing them? I took a closer look at the tags.

"I can't read this," said Akira. Surprising he can speak English but can't read it. Could this place get any stranger?

"Thomas Matthews, Brotherhood of Steel Squire #4296. Oh shetze." Brotherhood? That was worrying. Me and those power armour guys weren't exactly on the best of terms last time we met.

"What's wrong?" said Akira.

"Chan, was this boy alone?"

"Of course, there wasn't anyone with him that day. Traded this necklace for some food and water. It can be yours." That was strange, the kid must've gotten lost or something. Breathed a sigh of relief that it was just one guy.

"I'm fine thanks. How much for water?"

"3 bottles each a copper coin."

I thought about it, I could've traded my bullets. Had like... shetze. Only a few clips with 24 bullets in total, not enough to fight so many people and the rest of my ammo was with Ryan. Thank God for those math lessons from the followers.

Took out 5 bullets, "2 bottles of water please and a map."

"What the hell are these?" Chan asked examining the ammo.

"Bullets, they're made from copper so i guess you could do some trading with it," I lied. Okay, maybe I wasn't lying, my bullets could've been made from copper. Fortunately he accepted the trade and we got our water and a map, must've been that valuable to him.

As we left the shop and continued through the forest, Akira questioned me, "What was that about back there?

"It's nothing. I'm fine, there's nothing to be worried about," I assured. Although I was filled with questions, probably more than what the brother's asked me earlier. I knew the Brotherhood had multiple... I think they were called chapters, but I had no idea they would be in a place like this.

"I'm pretty sure it was something, you looked pretty worried when you looked at that necklace, or whatever you called it."

I sighed, "I was worried because that was a brotherhood holotag."

"Brotherhood what?" Banko asked.

"Brotherhood holotag. I think it like identifies the soldier or whatever."

"Oh, what's the brotherhood? Is it like a cult or an organisation or..." said Akira.

"It's an organisation that... well, honestly all I know is that they hoard technology and wear really powerful armour. Last time I encountered one of them I almost died, tried to 'confiscate' (or whatever that word was) Ryan's Pip-boy. They are not a people to be messed with."

"Should we be worried about them?"

"No, this was just a kid so he probably won't be any harm. Plus the only technology we have is this rifle which is pretty crap compared to whatever they have."

"What weapons do they have?" Banko asked.

"Well usually they have laser guns, plasma guns, sometimes heavy weapons. The usual powerful stuff that can annihilate you," I said, the brothers both had nervous looks, "But this is a kid so he'd probably have like a small gun." Although brotherhood kids could get a basic military training, at least I thought that.

"A small gun? You're also a kid and you have that!" Akira pointed out my rifle, "And didn't you say you were still new to this?"

He was right, what's some tribal in her early teens who has only a couple years wasteland experience got against a boy who's spent his life training under an advanced organisation? Odds of a violent encounter would most likely end up with me getting killed. Don't know about the others though.

I thought about it and said, "He most likely won't fight us on sight. There's no need to worry about any violence or anything. I mean, all we are are just a group of kids, (well the brotherhood guy is a kid but probably a more experienced person). Also he's most likely be long gone now." This is what I thought, but there was no excuse to think it wouldn't happen.

We continued once again through the forest, the sun was about to set. The map helped out a lot making it easier to- I think the word was navigate. Turns out, the mountains were still miles away. However, there was a river we could follow to the frontlines. So we decided to head there for the next day.

Set up another campfire for the night and I just came back from a hunt, it was something larger this time. Some weird bird with horns. The mutants here just get weirder and weirder.

Anyways, we chowed down on the food. It tasted bland though.

There was a look of sorrow on Banko's face, he sighed, "I miss Mom." Guessed the food reminded him. "You ever think we'll see her again?" Akira and I looked at each other. He broke a sweat trying to think of something to say. I just stayed quiet.

"I-I'm sorry, but there's a chance we might not see her again," Akira said. I wondered how long he could keep this lie up. Actually I wondered how long my lie will last.

"Oh," Banko responded. He didn't say anything else after that.

All of us went to sleep shortly after, the brothers obviously did not like sleeping on the hard ground. And this was the first time I slept on grass. There was no chance of me sleeping well that night.

Never thought I'd say this, but I really missed the boiling hot desert where EVERYTHING tries to kill me. Yes, that's how much I missed the Mojave. Didn't exactly know why I felt that way, guess I was just more used to that than being surrounded by green grass and lush forests. Weird I know.

Just hope I can get out of this mess some time soon.

AND DONE! YES I'VE REFERENCED THAT SH*T EX PROTAGONIST FROM THOSE OTHER INCARNATIONS OF THIS STORY, THE ABSOLUTE WORST CHARACTER I'VE EVER MADE.

ANYWAYS HAVE A GOOD SUMMER!