I do not own Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. I do own Core and her back story and the parts of the plot that aren't in the game. This fic spawned largely from my dissatisfaction with the ending of the game. It was an awesome game and I didn't want it to end. So I decided to write a fic. It's rated for language and violence mostly, but also for some sexual scenes.

Enslaved: Marks of the Past.
Chapter Seven: Arguments Abound.

"Why does it matter so much to you?"

"Because Monkey; she's obviously important to you, to who you were—"

"Exactly. Who I was. I'm not that person anymore."

"It doesn't matter that you're not that person anymore, Monkey. I want to know things about you—things like this. I want to know where you came from and why you're who you are!" Trip face flushed bright red under the weight of the confession, but she didn't take any of it back or anything, she just continued to look sideways at him as they trekked across the sand.

Monkey's mouth was twisted into a scowl, but the thoughts in his head at that moment didn't match the expression on his face. He was thinking that he was no longer the same person because of Trip, because she had put the headband on him, because she had made him head west, because she had made him do so many things and because they had become so close, Monkey was not the same person who had once hunted mechs with Core. Why he couldn't tell her that was beyond him. It should have been the easiest thing in the world to open his mouth and tell Trip what he was thinking, what he was feeling, but the words just seemed to get stuck. "It doesn't matter," was all he managed.

"It does," Trip said stubbornly. "What I don't get is why it's so hard for you to tell me anything about your past."

"Because it's the past."

Trip gave a huff and stomped off into the sand ahead of him, forcing him to keep pace so the headband didn't exact the wrath Trip was feeling all over his head. When Monkey caught up with her, he heard her muttering under her breath, but he couldn't exactly make it out. Something about a mech and stabbing. Maybe something about blue hair. It didn't sound overly pleasant.

"Look, Trip, can we put this argument on hold and go find Core?" Monkey asked, trying to sound less hostile than he had.

The redhead whirled around, her eyes alight with the fire of her hair. For a second, Monkey thought she was going to yell and scream and unleash everything in eyes, but instead she sighed heavily, her shoulders falling and her back arching slightly as she almost curled in on herself.

Monkey was overcome the desire to explain why he wanted to find Core. Those words didn't get lost. "She's been in the Pyramid world for so long; she's going to get herself killed."

"She seems to have done okay so far," Trip sneered.

The big man just scowled harder and marched ahead of Trip, behind careful not to get too far ahead. They walked for a long time in silence, continuing in the direction they had been going—which was the way Core had gone, but Monkey wasn't going to point that out. When the sun was approaching the top of the sky, Trip sighed again, loudly and to get Monkey's attention. He obliged her and faced her; there was a bead of sweat running down the side of her face.

"We need to find water and someplace to rest," she said.

Monkey nodded his agreement. He could have kept going, but then he was used to traveling for extended periods of time without a break. That was how he'd spent most of his time between losing Core and finding himself on board that slaver ship where he had first seen Trip. Not that he'd ever admit it, but part of him was tired of traveling. Part of him just wanted to find a colony to live in, to stop moving for a while.

Trip set up her dragonfly and then turned her attention to the holographic screen above her wrist. There was a whole lot of sand. And more sand. And more sand. After the golden expanse, the first plants to show up were almost shocking. Those first sprouts seemed to multiply across the ground until they were looking at a lush grouping of vibrant green plants with bright purple flowers and between the leaves they could see the welcoming blue of a wide river turning its way across the desert. It was a bit of paradise in the Wasteland.

The dragonfly started back to the young woman controlling it, flying back over the sand at a faster speed than it had used to fly away. Monkey stopped it.

"Go back," he said.

The dragonfly turned around and hovered over what Trip knew Monkey had seen. A small dark mark in the golden sand. Trip sent the dragonfly down for a closer look. The dark spot was blood.

"Shit," Monkey breathed.

Trip may not have wanted Core around, but Monkey was right; she'd been in that place for a very long time without fighting, without clawing for survival and while her skills in combat hadn't diminished at all—or had they? That was a scary thought—she wasn't used to the world as it was now and she was going to get herself killed if she kept trying to make it through the Wasteland by herself. They should never have let her go.

"Let me see if I can find her before we go and get ourselves lost," Trip said quietly, her face showing how much she really didn't like the idea. However, she was not going to let Core die; she hadn't, strictly speaking, done anything wrong.

She did a quick remote check of the dragonfly's systems and then sent it off again, following the dark spots that kept showing up in the sand. It was longer than the dragonfly had been out and farther than she'd ever sent it before, but the little mechanized creature made it. They found Core lying in the sand, the metal piece of the mech she'd been carrying lying in the sand to either side of her along with several more hunks of mech that looked to be from a recent fight.

Trip had made it about ten steps before she'd even realized she was moving. Monkey fell in beside her and they started across the sand, the argument of the past forgotten in lieu of keeping Core alive.

Author's Note.

I still can't get over the reaction to this story. Who knew it'd be so popular?

Not that I'm complaining. I love that you guys love this fic so much. Core is fun to write and I love Monkey and Trip. And for those of you who are wondering who Monkey is going to get up with… I'm not telling you that!

Anyways, hopefully you continue to enjoy this fic!

Next Chapter: Compromise Reached.