Once upon a time

I swore I had a heart

Long before the world I know

Tore it all apart

Once upon a time

There was a part of me I shared

Years before they took away

The part of me that cared

"Hey boss, I've been wondering this for awhile now but that weapon you've got attached to your hip there..." Maccready was sitting next to a blasted tree trump while he was enjoying lunch in front a settlement. Cecilia was within hearing distance but she wasn't too close to the hired gun, it's not that she didn't trust him. She doesn't trust anyone, she didn't want to bother him while he was eating. "Is that a claw of some sort?" Cecilia heard him open the Nuka-cola bottle that she had given him a few minutes ago.

"We've been traveling for a month and you barely gather enough balls to ask about it?" Cecilia shook her head in disbelief that the hired gun didn't recognize the claw. But then again, most people who've seen one usually end up as lunch. Unclipping the weapon from her right hip, her exploding pistol is on her left side, she held it in her hand for a moment. Her fingertips gently caressed the weapon that meant the world to her, a gentle smile on her face. "Here." She didn't give him a warning before tossing it over to him, the weapon falling between his legs landing claws first into the dirt. The weapon being embedded into the dirt with ease, she looked over her shoulder to see a stunned Maccready. "Just pick it up already."

"A warning would've been nice you know! You almost castrated me with that thing!" He growled at her before taking a deep breath in order to calm himself down. Shaking his head when the girl didn't say anything, he placed down the empty bottle to pick up the weapon. Putting his hand through it, "I wonder..." He mumbled to himself as he stood up from the ground to start swiping at the air around him. Grunting a bit when he tried to swipe faster, he noticed that the claws were familiar. "Wait... Why do I have the feeling I've seen this before...?" He was trying to figure out the feeling of fear that was starting to eat at him.

"Deathclaw." Cecilia's voice was heard behind Maccready, which caused the man to turn around with a look of amazement, "I made it." She was waiting for her weapon back, as she was doing so she was staring off into the distance. Maccready was calling her name a few times before she finally came back. "What? Oh, thanks." She took the Gauntlet back from Maccready before clipping it back to her hip.

The man decided to sit back down at his spot so he can enjoy a cigarette before she had them move out once more. Opening the pack, he cursed underneath his breath as he tossed the pack away from him, he had nothing left. Shaking his head, he knew he should have bought some packs from the trader before they left about an hour ago. They might be able to catch up to them if she was going that way. But highly unlikely since she told them they were on their way back to her home after visiting this settlement. It was a near the ocean, something manor. There was a statue in the middle of the grounds. Pulling his hat down over his eyes, he wondered why people said the ocean view was breathtaking... It looked horrible.

Cecilia noticed that pack that Maccready threw away, he must be out of cigarettes. What a fucking idiot. She was leaning up against a tree that was still somehow growing, just watching the brunette. Shoving her left hand into the pocket of her dirty army pants, she pushed herself off of the tree just using her back to walk a few steps over to Maccready. Taking her hand out of her pocket, she walked past him in order to drop the fresh pack of cigarettes for her companion. "Here. I don't need 'em." She placed her empty hand back into her pocket before turning the corner into the settlement.

Maccready picked up the pack of cigarettes from the dirt between his legs, the pack in his hand. "You don't smoke these, do you, Cecilia? You're actually nicer than you want to let on." He opened the pack to pull one out, placing it into his mouth, he lit it with the lighter he had in his pocket. While he was enjoying his smoke, he overheard some settlers talking about Cecilia. At least some rumors.

"I'm surprised that Preston trusts that girl. I don't trust her, even if she did kill the ghouls that lived here." The older settler with graying hair spat out, wiping the back of his neck with a dirty rag. "Don't tell me you trust her being here, with us doing all the hard work of keeping this place afloat?"

The woman he was talking to looked shocked that the man didn't trust the girl who saved them from living in the wasteland. "You must be joking! I don't see anything wrong with her. She is cute, strong, young. Just like someone I know." The woman laughed as she pointed at herself, the man not looking amused with her. "What? You don't think that about her?"

"Hardly. Look, you never once questioned her? Not even a little bit with how she acts?" The man was obviously beating around the bush, not wanting to say anything yet. He got annoyed when the woman shook her head, not seeing the apparent obvious facts that were laying around. "Fine. I'll tell you." The woman leaned in close, in order to hear what the old man was going to say. He looked around to make sure that no one was listening in and whispered in her ear. "She's supposed to be dead."

The women blinked a few times before smacking the old man on the arm. "That's the stupidest reason for not trusting anyone. Fuck, I thought it was something like that she used to be part of a raider gang." The old man cleared his throat when the lady realized that she spoke the truth. "What? No way. Which one?!" The woman was starting to get nervous, she didn't want to be near an ex-raider, even if she didn't do anything to harm them. Yet. That was the major thing, raiders always harm people for food, shelter, or just because they could. And no one could be able to tell when Cecilia could finally snap and turn back into a raider.

The man looked around to see if the girl in question was in earshot, she wasn't. At least from what he could tell or see. "Ever heard of Deathclaws?" The woman just rolled her eyes, everyone knew about the monsters. And the large animal. But that still doesn't explain what he was asking her. "She used to be a part of them but for some reason, she was kicked out."

Maccready stopped paying attention right around that time. He's heard of the Deathclaws, but for some reason, he just can't imagine Cecilia being part of them. Or why they would kick her out. He'll just go ask her. Getting up from his seat on the ground, he went into the settlement to try and find her, it was a small little manor, it couldn't be that hard to find the girl here.