Two Years Ago.
Pandora. She'd heard a lot about this place over the ECHOs. They said it was dangerous to anyone without a gun or any association to a mercenary group. How some of the animals were so big that they could literally snatch you in their talons and fly you off at a moment's notice, or stomp on you and leave you as flat as a pancake. But she also heard about the greatest thing to exist on Pandora.
A fresh start.
It was something Blake needed, particularly after the train. It was the one place no one would think to look for her, and if they did, she had plenty of ground to cover and use to hide. It was large enough to where she could probably hide among one of the local bandit groups for months and never be seen. So, with that in mind, she stowed away on the first ship she could find and in a handful of days, made it on Pandora without anyone noticing, taking a bus and sitting in the back to get some rest.
"Tell me now!"
"Tell me now!"
"Can you show me how!"
That is, if it weren't for two of her other passengers in the seats in front of her singing songs every couple of minutes for the past two hours.
"Understand!"
"What makes a good wo-maaaaaaaaan!"
If only they hadn't picked a song that she really liked.
Opening her eyes, Blake sent glares to the pair of singers. Neither of them noticed; the shorter girl with black hair and red highlights was nodding her head in beat with the music. Her cohort, a much taller and bulkier woman with blonde hair, strummed the air like it was a guitar, even making guitar sound effects with her mouth. The woman with white hair a few aisles further down either grew to tolerate it, or more likely, had noise canceling headphones in to spare herself. Oh, how Blake envied her.
"Cuz lines get drawn and they get kicked and bluuuuuured, indelible is what I need to spread the word-"
Okay, that's it, this had gone on long enough. There was only so much Blake could take. That said, morphing Gambol Shroud to its gun form and putting it to the head of the blonde one (she was closer and it definitely wasn't because she looked less like a child than the other one) was probably not one of Blake's smarter moves. Especially when the younger woman pulled out a gun of her own.
"Get away from my sister," she threatened.
"Ruby, relax," the blonde warned. "I'm sure we can work this all out." She turned to Blake and offered a cocky smile, lilac eyes lighting up. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Your singing," Blake replied immediately. "It needs to stop, now."
A few seconds passed before the two of them replied in the driest voices possible:
"What."
So, she repeated it for them again, adding, "I really like that song, and you're ruining it for me."
"So you put a gun to my head?" the blonde raised an eyebrow in skepticism. It's only then that Blake realizes that this may be a bit overkill.
"My apologies, it's just been a long ride," she sighed and returned the weapon to her back..
"Ah, it's no problem," Ruby shrugs. "I guess Yang and I were being a little loud."
"We can dial it back a bit, gorgeous," Yang winked at her.
"Oh god, Yang, can you please not."
Blake smiled. "So, why are you guys here? I get the feeling you're not on Pandora for your singing career."
"We're here for adventuuuuuuuure!" Ruby jumped on top of Yang's shoulders with a huge grin.
"She means, we're here looking for the Vault," Yang whispered. Both women looked towards the fourth passenger up front, surprisingly silent and eyes closed. If Blake didn't see her shoulders roll every now and then, she would've thought that she died.
"I thought the Vault was a myth," Blake whispered back. "Just something they tell to people at bars to get them to buy another drink."
"Trust me, beautiful, it's real. If it wasn't, then Charon Industries wouldn't be sending people and tech here all the time."
Blake had to concede that point. There was plenty of proof that Charon Industries and their owner Malcolm Hargrove were sending a lot of people to Pandora, perhaps to make up for their failed artifact hunting excursion on Chorus six months prior. Hargrove had believed there would be something valuable on Chorus that would elevate his already substantial fortune. To say he was wrong was underselling it, and the failure was so large that the press had all but declared Hargrove unfit to run the very company that he founded.
"Say you actually do the find the Vault," Blake said. "What's stopping Charon from killing you and taking the credit for your discovery?"
Yang grinned. "Trust me, beautiful, this ain't my first rodeo. If they want us dead, they're gonna have to work for it."
The assassin chuckled. This woman seemed pretty sure of herself, and if it weren't the defined muscle in her arms, Blake wouldn't think she'd be able to cut it here on Pandora. Her beauty certainly gave that indication.
"Blake," she whispered. "My name's Blake."
"I didn't ask for your name," Yang grinned.
"But I'm guessing you were thinking of asking."
Before Yang could reply, the bus lurched forward and came to a halt. "Alright, first stop Fyrestone! Everyone out!" the driver ordered.
Stepping out into the bright sun of Pandora, Blake turned her head at the three women next to her. With Yang's orange tank top and black shorts, Ruby's red short sleeved shirt and grey camo jeans, and their silent fourth partner's white blouse and jeans, Blake found herself wishing she owned colors that weren't on the darker end of the spectrum. Her black sleeveless shirt and black leggings suddenly felt more constrictive and heated now that she was standing under the sun full blast, and not helping were the black sunglasses she was wearing to conceal her identity.
"Ugh, I'm too hot," she muttered aloud.
"Hot damn," Yang said as she stretched her body to soak up the sun. "Never thought we were gonna get off that bus! Well, guess we better get going if we're gonna...um...find that thing." The blonde's lilac eyes drifted to their still silent fourth guest.
"Smooth," Ruby whispered in her ear before yelping as Yang punched her shoulder.
"You're looking for the Vault," the white haired woman said. Her blue eyes stared into the sisters, but bore no animosity. "Aren't you?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat, no," Ruby waved her hand dismissively. "The Vault's a myth! We're here for-"
All four women clutched their ears in pain as a loud ringing filled their ears. It was to the point where Blake nearly collapsed to her knees. Slowly, the ringing subsided until it was replaced by a voice.
"Don't be alarmed. I need you to stay calm. You don't have any reason to trust me, but I need you to believe that I'm here to guide you to the Vault. Believe me, it's real, and only you can get to it and open it before it falls into the wrong hands. But if you have any hope of reaching it, you'll need to do so together. Head into the town and look for a man with white hair. He'll be noticeable by all the coffee he drinks."
Collective groans came as the voice disappeared. Blake rubbed her head to try and lessen some of the pain.
"So, Vault's a myth, hm?" the white haired woman crossed her arms. Ruby, for her part, grinned sheepishly. "Well, if what that voice said was true, then we need to find whoever this man is and question him about it."
"And what makes you think we're letting you tag along?" Yang crossed her arms.
"Don't be thick, you dunce. Whoever or whatever that was said that only we can reach the Vault together. So until then, you're stuck with me."
Yang grumbled, "Fine. But one wrong move, and I'll flay you alive, lady."
"Tch, I'd like to see you try, you blonde-"
"So, what's your name?" Ruby chuckled nervously. "I'm Ruby, and that's my sister Yang. That's uh..."
"Blake," the dark haired woman replied lamely.
"Kara. You can call me Kara," the pale woman said after a beat of silence. "Now, let's go. The sooner we find the Vault, the sooner we can all part ways."
"You ain't wrong about that," Yang muttered as they walked into town.
Blake sighed. Not even on Pandora for half a day, and she was already being roped into someone else's cause.
"Hey Blake, you coming?" Yang called out. The assassin sighed and followed her into the town of Fyrestone. Hopefully, this cause would end better than the last one.
The song that Yang and Ruby are singing is "What Makes a Good Man?" by the Heavy. It was used in the commercials for Borderlands 2, along with the end credits for the Pre-Sequel.