Chapter 8
The pre light of dawn hung on the horizon, and Kitty and Montayva sat watching the embers of the campfire die. The surreal experience of spending a night on Pandora was mind numbing. The girls had taken over watch at around the middle of night. LiveFree had passed out by the fire after two of the Rakk ale Mordecai had given them.
The sunrise was slow, prolonging the majestic beauty as the colours filtered through the derelict town, reflecting off the slag pools.
"So beautiful" Monty murmured, huddling closer to Kitty for warmth.
"Yeah, sure is" both girls jumped at the sound of the voice behind them. Mordecai stood, smirk across his face. "Not sure we're talking bout the same thing though"
Kitty felt the shiver run down her spine, and although she couldn't see his eyes through the goggles, she knew her and Montayva were being eyed. 'Damn this can't be happening' she thought to herself. Clearing her throat, she turned to Montayva.
"You wanna go and wake Irish up?" Kitty suggested. Monty stood, and as she passed the Hunter, Kitty realised just how tall he was. She hadn't given herself the chance to take in his full appearance. But as they waited for Montayva to return, she felt bold enough to eye him, as he was doing to her. He didn't appear quite as old or ragged as he did in the game. And his beard didn't seem as pointy and elfish. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his feet wide apart, making his stance seem rather cocky.
"Penny for your thoughts?" The Hunters head cocked sideways as he tried to decipher Kitty's expression. As much as she wanted to answer him, she just couldn't find the words. It was all still too surreal to believe. As the awkward silence lengthened, Kitty was relieved to see Montayva returning, with a sleepy Irish following close behind her. As Kitty and Montayva returned to their previous seat, Mordecai stuck his boot into the snoring form of LiveFree. The hungover man jumped up, grabbing at his assault rifle.
"Don't even think about it Amigo" Mordecai snatched the gun out of LiveFrees grasp before any damage could be done.
"Huh. We're still here ey?" LiveFree grumbled, rubbing his face.
"Did you expect to be somewhere else?" The hunter asked.
"My own bed, I guess" LiveFree shrugged, massaging his stiff neck.
"So what's the plan of action now?" Irish asked Mordecai, cutting LiveFree off, and still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"First of all, we gotta get you all back to Sanctuary. There's a few people there you ought to meet. Get yourselves outfitted more appropriately for battle" Mordecai handed the weapon back to LiveFree.
"Can I meet Moxxi?" LiveFree asked eagerly, still not taking the situation seriously.
"Well, I don't see why not. But I'm not sure why you would wanna" Mordecai crossed his arms over his chest, not realising that LiveFree had not the slightest clue of anything that happened past the opening of the first vault.
"Well Lillith lived up to expectations, I just wanted to see if Moxxi was the same" LiveFree shrugged.
"Do I wanna know what that expectation is?" Irish asked cautiously.
"I'm just surprised you even remember meeting Lillith yesterday. Or ANYTHING from yesterday for that matter. You were pretty hammered when we found you" Kitty pointed out.
"Lilliths a babe! As if I'ld forget" LiveFree exclaimed, a little offended by Kitty's statement.
"Ohhh kayy, lets get this show on the road ey?" Mordecai interjected before the conversation took a turn for the worse. "By the way bud, I wouldn't go mouthing off to Lil like that. She's likely to phase blast you for the fun of it" he directed towards the disgruntled LiveFree, who only scoffed at the Hunters advice.
As they gathered there few meagre belongings, the band of comrades followed Mordecai out of Fyrestone, and into the vast expanse of the Badlands.