She walked out the Kings home with a sign nodding her head side to side.
"Not even some free time huh Rex?" Rose looked down at him who tilted his head to one side. She looked around the street until her head saw followers of the apocalypse building.
"Well I'm most likely going to get injured or beat half to death by the legion so why not let Arcade help me with this." The black haired courier decided as she jogged up to the large wooden gates and got inside.
She wondered in see every doctor rushing around trying to treat all their patients along with helpless addicts trying to kick their addiction to whatever chem they had been using. She looked around for her blonde haired black glasses friend. Walking around weaving between scientist and doctors she noticed her friend reading a book in a tent across the yard. She picked up her pace and so she could explain the whole situation of their mission when a man stepped in front of her tracks with hands shaking violently.
"Y-your no doctor, tell me son you got some vodka? Or, or maybe some scotch? I need a quick fix, they killing me h-here." His skin was wrinkly and a shade of red, bags upon bags underneath his eyes darkening his face.
She looked at the man and pulled a bottle out of her bag before throwing it at him.
"Here, enjoy drunkie." She said as she tossed the bottle watching him chug it down, before one of the doctors came behind him. She walked towards her whispering, "It's just water in a vodka bottle let him believe its alcohol." Patting the exhausted doctor on the back and running towards Arcade.
Poking her head in the tent, she smirked as Arcade looked up from his book at her. Ignoring her completely, he kept reading as she slowly walked in. She stood in front of him and bent down at her waist staring him in the eyes as he read his book. Slowly she lifted her finger and poked his nose.
"Boop." She giggled as Arcade put his book down and raised an eye brow.
"You don't look injured, boulder to the head or something?" He chuckled at his own joke before putting his book in a drawer in his desk.
"Not yet Arcade, I have a favor to ask from you…." She let her voice dangle from her lips. As Arcade stayed quiet she continued, "I have a sort of invitation to a place that is a long journey away and I would be overjoyed if you would join me and Rex to this area." She ended it in a bright smile.
"Thank you for leaving out all the important information about this journey that would be vital for me to know. Now, what do you mean 'sort of invitation' and where is this place." Arcade asked as he scratched Rex behind the ear.
"Well, a man named Vulpes Inculta delivered an invitation from Caesar himself to visit the fort for a meeting I guess." Rose played with a strand of hair before looking back at him.
"You're an… hm, how should I put this… oh an Idiot." Arcade spoke sarcastically with a sign.
"I'm an idiot for being open to listen to other peoples options?" Rose shot back with a hint of anger.
"Yes if that man crucifies people for fun, news flash he hates women. The legion hate women, they use them as slaves and sexual desire. I am not letting you go there." Arcade stated with a serious voice. Picking up some med-x and twirling it in his fingers.
Rose thought for a moment about what he had said, she knew he was right and that they may be using her. Still she laughed.
"If I can take a bullet in the head then I can handle this." She snorted. "I'm going either way but out of all the companions I can have in the whole Mojave wasteland I would rather have you come with me. I mean I'll go get Raul or maybe Cass if you really don't want too."
"You seriously still can't be using the 'if I can take a bullet to the head then…' phase anymore. But if you say is true then I'll go with you, plus if you die then I can most likely bring you back to this world better than anyone else." Arcade sighed adjusting his glasses on his face. "Let me grab my bags and let's get going. Wait outside of the building I'll be there soon."
"Great! Thanks Arcade, you're the best!" Rose cheered jogging out the building.
Arcade watched her jog out and frowned. Packing his things, 'Is she seriously thinking about siding with the legion? It's because of this Vulpes Inculta most likely.' He thought to himself putting handfuls of stimpacks in his bag.
"*Puer, insipiens est." Arcade muttered under his breath as he walked out the tent and out the building.
Rose sat there back against the wall toying with her scoped assault rifle in her hands. One of the few weapons that she uses while travelling around. Sure she finds others that are more like 'side guns' than anything. The wooden door then opened and Rose slowly got up from her spot putting her assault rifle around her back.
"We ready to leave?" She asked him with a hand on her hip.
"Let's get this over with." He sighed as they walked out of Freeside and into the wild Mojave Desert.
They walked through the desert all day until settling at an abandon camp site, setting up a camp fire with the drift wood they happen to find around the area. Arcade started to set up the tent while Rose grabbed some Brahmin steaks from her bag and a pan to start cooking. Soaking one of the steaks in sunset sarsaparilla while the other she left with basic spices she had created before leaving. Placing both of the chucks of meat on the pan letting the meat cook and sizzle.
While the meat cooked she searched in her bag for some fresh foods she had bought when she had visited the Westside Co-op market. Pulling out carrots, apples and a few apples she had left. Pulling out a knife she began cutting the ingredients on a make shift cutting board and throwing it on a plate. Pulling out her a pot she scanned the area for some sort of water source.
Not finding one she turned to her companion, "Arcade did you see any ponds or lakes while we walk by?" She questioned standing up and stretching out her limps. Arcade, who was clearly struggling trying to pitch a tent, spoke up.
"Uh, yeah about one mile northwest of here, it will be hard for you to miss it, just try not to get killed by the Lakelurks surrounding it."
"Great, I need to grab some water to boil some ingredients for dinner, I'll be back soon." She said grabbing her super sledge named 'Oh Baby!' her .45mm named 'A Light Shinning in Darkness', a gift from an old friend you can say, and a pot so she could put the water in.
"Take Robo-dog with you."
"Nah, he can guard the camp will you 'try' to set up the tent." She placed emphasis on 'Try'.
Arcade frowned and shook his head watching her walk away 'Oh Baby!" strapped around her back and her .45 was on her side, at a close distance so she could grab it easily.
"Don't get killed, and if you do try to die close to the camp so it would be easier to find the body, okay? Great." Arcade waved his hand as he still struggling keeping up the tent with the other.
She walked along the sandy desert of the Mojave seeing little to none movement at all, once or twice a crow flew by and would land on a small tree by her but other than that the only thing keeping Rose company was the stars in the night sky. Her uneven skin tone glowed in the moonlight, uneven because of all the different armor she had went too leaving tan lines and different shades of tan on her skin.
Pushing some hair back she spotted the lake not too far away and sprinted to it, being wary of the enemy that might be lurking by to attack her, sensing nothing odd, she ran a little further down till she was by where the water met the sand. Walking into the water she let the pot she was carrying sink in the water, watching it fill up to the brim and lifting it up once again
Walking out of the cold water she placed the pot down onto the sand, making sure not to spill any of the water, she sat down by the water watching the water that sat in the lake move calmly by the wind. Clutching her knees to her stomach, she looked out over the beautiful area she was placed in. Surprisingly the ruined docks and camp sites just added to the beauty, and then a sudden roar and a blue ball of some sort of substance passed her vision.
"Fuck." She threw her head back before grabbing her gun and pointing it at the now running Lakelurk, aiming for the legs she watch as its run soon became a limb, that soon became a crawl. Still firing its power at her she aimed the last two bullets of the clip to its head.
"Goodnight, you ugly motha'fucka." And fired them watching the blood spill from its head. She smiled as she replaced the clip with a brand new one and stood up, dusting the sand and small pieces of rock off of her. She turned to face the direction she was headed, but not before checking her pip-boy for the time and the location of the camp site.
Looking back up from the yellow light she noticed a shadow that was not her own, that dominated her height, her breath hitched in her throat and reached for her gun. If living in the wasteland taught her anything, then it is to realize what kind of enemy you are up against without seeing it.
'Guessing from the height it could not be a Lakelurk, thank whatever god above for that, and from the sudden warmth behind me it could be a human or Ghoul. Also guessing that I am not dead yet, they either want answers or someone I know.' She thought before realizing she was grabbing air, her gun hostler was empty and her hand stopped there.
'Annnnd it's probably someone that hates me.' She ended her thought and cringed at the feeling of being over taken.
"Whoever you are, and whatever you want, just know one thing." Her voice filling the empty air around them.
"You're messing with the Courier who cheated death." She smiled at the end of the sentence and did a leg sweep seeing the feet of the person leap to the side to avoid the attack, quickly standing again she unhook her 'Oh Baby!' and attacked, focusing only on her battle than the opponent and who he or she was. Her attacks powerful, but with a heavy weapon like that, they were slow and predicable. While her opponent dodged swiftly, keeping light on their feet and pulling out a machete.
Her eyebrows rose at the sight of the machete, a light, quick and accurate weapon and powerful if the holder knows what they are doing. And they certainly did, swinging on her strong side causing her to lose balance. But quickly did what would have been the stupidest but clever thing to do, but with a certain amount of luck could this help her.
With all of her strength she pushed her weapon into her opponent, letting go of the weapon causing a sort of confused moment for them, then dropping to the ground tackling the legs see him hit the grunt with a grunt.
She sat on their chest pressing her metal arm onto their neck, enough pressure to make them gasp and feel uncomfortable. Placing more pressure just so they would know what it felt like to be overpowered.
Her eyes focused back on the figure to see the armor of the legionary, but with black shades and a certain wolf hat she knew all too well. She felt him rumble with a deep chuckle as she ripped the shades off his eyes.
"I wonder how Caesar would feel if I brought back the head of his best frumentarii? A gift perhaps?" She narrowed her eyes at the sight of him.
"Ah but I have the upper hand here, you see." His voice stayed calm even under the pressure of her metal forearm by his throat.
"No fucking idea what your talking-" She then felt a poke to her chest to see her .45 pointing at her heart.
"Unarming your enemy would have been a brilliant idea, profligate." His eyes were ice cold as he cocked the gun.
"Out of all the weapons I had, it just had to be this one." She sighed as the gun shined, the snake skin handle seemed to laugh at her, mocking her for her stupidly.
"Yes, you killed a lot of my scouts looking for you with this gun. Eight of them to be precise, your precious gun that you carry everywhere on the strip, even in the casinos if I'm not mistaken. You always manage to slip it pass them, or they just allow you, either or I heard you had a name for this 'gun'." The way he said gun made it sound like as if it was a curse.
"A Light shinning in darkness, is it not?" His smirk grew by the second seeing her eye the gun.
"It's funny because you would have killed me now. Not give me a speech about those assassins that attacked me with guns. But you don't seem to recall that part either huh, pups?" She snorted and eyed him down just as he did the same to her.
"You're Lucky that the legion has forgiven all sins that you have done against us. Now get off women before I end you and your miserable existence." Vulpes said darkly.
"I call a bluff." She leaned in and whispered before being thrown off and her back hitting the ground hard.
"Learn to play your cards better." He replied as he placed his machete back in his sheath.
Her eyes burned a hole with in him and he could notice it. Her mind raced with different ways to kill him and make the Mojave a better place. Getting up and dusting herself off she picked up the pot and looked over to see him walking off, but more importantly, with her gun.
Strapping 'Oh Baby!' to her back she rushed to him and stood in his path.
"And where do you think you're going?" She demanded holding the pot with on hand and her other on her hip.
"Back to my camp to rest, you intruded by my camp so it was only necessary to attack you." He eyed her seeing the pot in her hand.
"Don't give me that Brahmin Shit Inculta, give me my gun."
"It will be holding on to it for now, I will return it when you make it to the Fort, if you make it to the fort, that it." He stated seeing the anger rise in her by the second.
"The hell you are, I will pry them from your cold dead hands, and then I will feed those hands to Rex as a chew toy you filthy, no good legion." Her voice rose by the second and before long she was standing on her toes because of the hand caught around her neck holding her up. Her nails clawed as his skin, drawing blood.
"Your neck would look good with a Slave collar on it." He acted like he was examining her neck while her metal arm grabbed his arm putting as much pressure as she could. Her grip so strong that a bruise of a hand print would be left there.
"Yeah, and you would look pretty on your knees, Inculta, face down in the dirt as you look up at the dominate ruler of a women." She spit out gasping for breath before being thrown down harshly.
'That's going to hurt later.' She thought
She then felt her metal gun hit her as she was on the floor.
"A women being a leader? What a joke that is, when all you are good for is for pleasure and for common chores. The fact that Caesar believes that you will help the legion strive is preposterous, but I never question Caesar and his actions, you will eventually become a slave anyway. Have your precious gun back, only the weak use guns."
"You will see your death by this gun, and by this women, Inculta. I swear on it. I will wear your head on my belt to have everyone to see what I have done to you. Then, eventually I will make sure your name will never be spoken of again out of disgust, your head will be inside the lucky 38 in my master bedroom next to my Death claw hand collection, and close enough by my cazador stingers, that the venom will burn a hole in your cheek. I Fucking swear on it." Her green eyes burned with anger as she pick herself up and watched Vulpes walk away.
She looked down at her gun, picking up the piece of metal and dusting it off. She looked at the engravement that was on it and smiled.
"A little pain like that is not even comparable to yours." She whispered tracing her fingers over the engraved symbols. Rose looked at the pot to see the water spilled everywhere and sighed. Running back to the lake and filling it again she ran as fast she could without spilling the water to camp.
Making it to the camp she saw that Arcade managed to get the tent up. Sitting in front of the fire poking the meat with a stick to flip it.
"Hey you were gone for like half an hour, what happened?!" Arcade stood up as she approached the fire.
"Let's just say I ran into someone, I was lost in thought when he jumped me, but hey I got out alive." Smiling she threw the ingredents into the water and set it up by the meat to boil.
"What do you mean someone? From the sound of this it sounds like they knew you and you knew them." She merely nodded her head to the question while staring at the fire.
"That bastard Inculta. Said that I was caught on his 'camp site'. I had him overpowered at first but I was stupid enough to forget to unarm him." She let out a frustrated sigh.
"Fucking telling me to do the women's job. I'll kill him in his sleep." She mumbled grabbing some plates and putting the chucks of meat on them and splitting the rest of the food.
"Ah yes, women jokes from a Legion frumentarii. What a surprise, Rose. What a surprise." He let his voice trail off and grabbed his plate voicing a thank you.
"What do you know, Arcade? This whole thing is a game to everybody and House is running it. Plus what would you know about women jokes or even women in general?" She snickered, hoping to push some of his buttons.
"I know plenty of things, let alone me being a doctor and all. But we all have to have a little taste of everything, if you know what I mean of course." Arcade glanced at her to see her shoving the whole steak in her mouth.
"My god I just thought you were-" She let the meat fall out of her mouth and back onto the plate.
"Gay perhaps? I don't like to be put in a box with a label on it, but I play for both sides." He cut up another piece and smiled as he put it in his mouth.
Chewing off more and more of her steak she decided to keep the conversation going.
"Ghouls too? Or is that too far?"
"Haven't tried yet, but I'm more of a romantic type person not sex starved. Why don't you tell me how it's like to be with a ghoul?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rose blushed but held strong with her statement.
"Sure you don't, it's not like we haven't notice that you would take Raul to your bedroom after a long day, then hear some Spanish yelling and Latin shouting." Throwing the rest of his steak to Rex who gladly ate it up.
Rose looked up at Arcade, she shrugged her shoulders and held her lips in a straight line.
"Eh, shit happens. Ever have a stressful day and needed relief? Boone decline when asked, you weren't even in on it, well, because I thought you were gay, sorry for the assumption, and Raul gladly took the place."
"Non-taken. I'm still curious on why you still wanted to take me. Why not take your 'stress relief' or anyone else?" Arcade question leaning his back against a log and looking up.
"Well Lily was needed for some test, and I would like her to get some help for the stealth boys, Cass drinks a little too much and gets into it to the point where I can't keep a look out at night, Veronica I felt needed a break from everything, ED-E is my buddy but I knew you would prefer not, Raul, yes it would be nice, but I don't need sex, sure it's great and all but not when you're out on a mission, also he has been complaining about his knees, and Boone. How should I put it. 'My wife is dead. Yeah.'" Rose mocked and counted off her fingers for every companion.
Arcade looked amused as she spoke of all of this. His blue eyes wondered looking around making sure nothing was stalking them.
"Well I'm going to sleep, you have first watch. Wake me up when it's my turn." She stretched feeling her bones pop.
"Goodnight Doc." She called running a hand through his hair as she passed by.
"Goodnight Rose." His hand drifted over to touch hers as it made contact with his hair. Feeling her soft yet rough skin.
The flap to the tent has closed shut and Arcade was left alone with his thoughts, a book in his hands, and a metal dog laying by him.
((Yeah I made Arcade Bisexual in this. Whoops, anyway hope you enjoyed! There will be more Vulpes and Courier love/hate stuff going on soon. Sorry for the delay but I don't plan on leaving this story for some time. Latin translation is at the bottom of the page!))
*Boy, this is stupid