Dissension and Inception
Thunder roared through Bart's chest as the oncoming skags beat at the baked clay toward him. Ten yards away... He let his pistol click empty before turning around to check on his compadres. Lilith lay over Roland struggling to stand as a fallen Rakk attempted to escape. A bombard of emotions swept over him at the thought of losing his new family. Never... His next actions blurred into mere senses as he turned around to stop their destruction.
Brown, red, and black swirled in front of his face as he pumped slug after slug into any skag that reared its ugly head. Sweat, shit, char, and blood filled his nostrils enraging the murderer in him. Two of the beasts leapt at him from either angle leaving little room to dodge. He raised his gun and whipped the foul hound to his left taking the brunt from the right. Burning engulfed his side when he attempted to get up and the weight only seethed the pain further. More skags beat past as he fought off his foe with little success. Dry foaming spittle blotted out his vision as he struggled under the weight reaching for his gun lying against the ground. Slowly he inched his gun to the beasts mouth while punching at the opposite side gaining some leverage before firing. The second hound started to squirm from underneath him and dread filled Bart.
Clumps of clay splattered against them as the remaining hoard passed by searching for the dead. Shots rang out from Bart's side bringing his attention to the barrage of Rakk diving at Roland and Lilith. No.... At that moment his chest burned with a cold chill and then black consumed him.
Bart stood upon a marrow bridge covered with shifting patterns melting in and out of intense luminosity. Before him stood a snow covered cliff side against a sky of molten lava burning against the heavens.
"Hello!" He yelled out. "Hello!"
He waited on the bridge in silence too afraid to move or call out again.
Come… it is safe…
"Who are you? Where am I?"
Trust yourself… follow your instincts…
"…What do you want from me?"
The patterns beneath him swirled and multiplied covering the whole surface before receding to pale white again. Gathering what courage he could muster he took a soft step cringing as the toe of his shoe pressed against the hard surface. Safe. Each step quickened as he brought himself closer to the end and wide open ground. Suddenly the sky erupted in bright arcing flames as a whip crack rattled his thoughts.
When you go out from the night air, I will be there waiting in the darkness. Expect the chill of death to embrace you with satisfaction beyond accord. Tear not the last moments of your life away but retain the essence of your memories, as soon they all will be lost forever more. Break through barriers of realms known into the wilderness unexplored and everlasting knowledge will be bestowed. Release your soul and grants of lust and power and desire will cascade unto you. I will be watching… and waiting…
The bridge erupted into crystalline cobalt shards around him pushing him off his feet into the puffy white snow. They sky broke into tears of shifting red smoke and a fiery orange haze.
The smell of bile and feces choked at his senses bringing him back to reality. What was that… Bart opened his eyes to the sight of his arm covered to the elbow inside of a skags throat.
"What... the... fuck..."
He shifted his head around searching for purchase of reality.
Lilith... Roland....
Roland lay on the ground as Lilith fired wildly into the air cursing to all known gods. Turning back he noticed Mordecai leaning against a baron tree frozen in mid reload staring at him. The skag jerked against his arm pulling him down to a knee. Bart slammed his head against the mongrel freeing his arm. He chanced a glance on the ground for his weapon. Gone...
Two shots rang out as the last skags fell into smoking lumps around him freeing his path. Bart took a moment to nod at his saviors before heading over to Lilith. "You.... need.... help ma'am?"
"Oh come off it. Help me pick em up and carry em over to those skag dens." She said while nodding off to a distance patch of dirt mounds. Pain shot up his arm when he lifted Roland onto his back. He could feel fragments of bone shifting between his elbow but he shoved the pain to the back of his mind. Focusing on savings his friend he hefted the weight and turned to Lilith with a grin. "Is it just me, or are you bad luck?"
She gave a dirty look and spit on his shoe before turning around to get Mord and Yuj to follow.
Foul stale air filled her lungs with each passing breath as she sat inside a den resting her body. The dens were a pitiful sight to anything but a skag, but it was a moments respite from the afternoons events. Roland came to after a shot from a med kit, but Bart still had her worried. She gave a lazy glance out of the corner of her eye at him leaning against the front of a den.
His arm is still drooping... but he doesn't complain about it at all...
"Here, this will give us the boost we need before earning the rest of our blisters today."
Mordecai stood above her with a haunch of roasted skag leg. She grabbed it and took a mouthful of meat letting the grease flow down her face while thinking of home. Pa's gonna be mad I've been gone this long... gotta get back soon.
"How much farther do you think we've got? Bout an hour or three?"
"Meh, hard to say really. All depends on the wildlife out here. We should be able to get back by nightfall without any more encounters." He paused for a moment before shooting his eyes at Bart. "Did you see what happened to him? When the skags overran him?"
".... no? What happened?"
He scratched the back of his head and gave a quick shake before answering. "Rage.... it's the only thing I can describe it as. He went into a frenzy and took out half the skags with his bare hands. I don't think he knows it either..."
That would explain why he is so distant....
"Hun.... I ain't seen it. Was too busy trying to protect Roland. He okay now?"
"Yea. Says his head is still feels like a driller's been at it but he seems up and ready."
Taking another bite of the haunch she stood and headed out of the den.
"I'mma see if he wants some. Thanks!"
Sand peppered her face as she headed toward Bart. The blue in his eyes told her a tale as she walked up to him and handed the leg over with a smile. He does know... something happened... he's scared...
"Thought you might want to reap your reward after all that fighting."
"Thanks..."
The wind picked up blowing her hair in her face as they stared at each other for a moment. The creases on his forehead moved slowly down revealing his attempt to think of something to say. He's scared...whatever it was...
"Bout ready to head out. You feelin up to another long walk with me?" She said with an idle grin.
He took a bite and nodded.
"Yea...soon" He said turning away from her into the wind.
"You know, I am here if you need me... for anything at all..."
"I know." He shrugged. "I just don't know how to explain it. Give me time. Please."
Yujinny came out of one of the dens and gave a flourish with his arms. "Alright boys and girls, we ready to pick up some dust?!"
Flathills Quarter... Home...
The trip back was long, boring, but safe and the deep blue of night fell on them like a speckled blanket. Mordecai gazed at the stars giving a moment for thanks kissing his thumb and tracing an upside down leaf in the air. In the distance he could see the flickering of lights from his small town and anxiety washed from his nerves. The clay turned into packed gravel as they stepped onto Bandito Ave heading straight home.
"Almost there! HAHAHA!"
Exhilaration pushed the group faster after hearing this and the smells of the buttered foods and sweet meats.
Food... good food... and sweet delicious water...
Yujinny slapped Roland on the back showing a toothy smile. "Ain't no thing like the comforts of home after a long trip. Welcome to your new home..." He gestured to the lights "Flathills Quarter!"
Lilith turned to him with a curious look and asked, "Why Flathills Quarter? There ain't no hills round here..."
Nudging her he said "Observant are we?... Yea, these lands have changed over some time from what I hear. There use to be short plateaus around here which hid this town but all that's been changed. The quarter part is because of this little war that happened between the townsfolk and manufacturers workers..."
"Oh? Did it now? Some of the boys steal some guns from a warehouse or something?"
"Well, see, there is the thing, that happened all the time, and nobody cared. At least, from what I hear. Apparently S&S didn't care about guns getting out of hand as long as it was IN a hand. If you know what I mean. This was something else entirely. Since the manufacturers came here the simple folk had a harder time keeping up with food demands. Farms were expanded but the weather never supported the crops. The workers paid more and more for apples, lettuce, carrots... you name it. After a while the workers got tired of it and started raiding fields. Then things got carried away and they started raiding homes, families, slaughtering the animals and raping anything with a hole."
He glanced at Lilith to judge her response at this. The horror in her heart was plain as day so he decided to step lightly.
"As you can imagine, the towns folk didn't like being abused this way and started arming themselves more heavily. Sleeping in barns, keeping to themselves at markets, and taking more extreme measures."
They made it to the town and Yujinny walked first through the entrance of the town in between the wall of cemented barricades. He spun around with a look of amusement on his face.
"No welcoming party Mord! Ha! Shows how much this places cares for this ol' gent! After all I done for em... Guess we'll just keep on with our plans."
Seeing the worry still on Lilith's face he lightly took her hand in his. "If you truly want to know more I will tell it later. It's not a story for a weak stomach, but it is good to know the history of Pandora's settlers." She nodded and squeezed his hand. "Thanks. Let's find out about what we're gonna do first. Then I might consider my history lesson again."
He walked through the town kicking at the generators as they stopped working. Bloodwing screeched overhead before landing on the roof of their home hoping impatiently on the ledge.
He's homesick too... it's been a while for him...
He clicked his tongue twice and held his arm up for Bloodwing after unlocking the front door. Blood landed giving a soft peck to his forearm. Mordecai smiled and walked in giving a quick once over to the place for security. Shutters closed... no damage to the door... vendors not moved...till still on the table... we're good.
He showed them into the kitchen motioning toward the square table met with a bucket and three metal chairs. The room was narrow but sufficient composed with a counter and cupboards for normal kitchen storage. The walls were the color of pale green moss with exposed sheetrock covered by a Tediore calendar and a chalkboard. Immediately Yujinny went to the counter and set up four hot plates. "How bout some boiled potatoes with seared skag meat... oh and some cayenne and..." He trailed off as he rummaged through the cupboards.
Roland sat his duffel bag down against the back wall taking out the left over meat from the days gain while the rest sat down at the table. "I think we would all like to know where we are going and what we are doing next. What say you pops?" Roland said while starting to cut the meat.
"Of course, of course. Business before pleasure...kids now a days..." he set his knife down and cracked his knuckles before turning his attention to them.
"First off, we are splitting up in the next couple of days... the four of you will be put into a set of two each. Roland and Bart will head out to the old mines for light observation work. I heard there was some noises coming from Toby mine and it couldn't hurt to check em out. Remember, if someone catches you out there, just play the whole we were playin round and didn't know no better bit. Lilith and Mord, you two will be heading over to Silpium to find out what you can about any up and coming raider bands. If someone stops you two, well, I shouldn't have to tell you what you need to do. Just be careful."
Lilith looked at him irritated and voiced her fury. "That's it? That is all we are doing? All that build up for some menial task?"
"Young lady, all good things start with information. Before we can dive into our treasures we have to get everything straight. And right now, we need to make sure the Sirens are here and someplace we can get them. In the meantime, we will all be learning new things and working with each other. Think of it this way, if I were to go around asking bout raiders and bandits and gangs around Pandora then word would get back to these two. If they found out, we might as well give up, but if you go about poking your nose in their business pleading innocent no one will suspect anything out of the ordinary. If we play our cards right, we can get to the Vault by the end of this season."
Bart chimed in "Sounds good Yuj, but what about our families at home? What do you want us to tell them when we come home at random times with oddities or loose ends?"
Yujinny held up his finger to retort but hesitated for a moment. Roland picked up his steak cubes and dropped them in the skillet. "Tell them you found a job and hours are random. Pay is regular as long as you can make it. Tell them it might take days to finish a job so you can't say when you'd be home till the jobs over with."
"That's my boy!" Yuj said while rubbing Roland's head. "Oh, some garlic salt on those... mmm...hmm.. and how bout we melt some cheese on those potatoes? Damn that's some good stuff."
"Oh... one more thing for the lot of ya. If you find some girls with strange tattoo's on their body take note, take a picture, but don't act. They are the leaders of this pact and can do some amazing things. Like blow a man's head off with a flick of the wrist.... Dinner's up!"