UGH. This chapter was a fucking bitch to write. Such a long and annoying writers block, forgive me all!
I think it's for the fact that it was revolved around the Lone Wonderer and how her personality is, and how her past was. Desmond is a lot more fun to write about, but, I need to introduce the Lone Wonderer in this story so that the readers can get a better feel about her.
So yes, this story is mostly Evelyn based. Not a lot of Desmond unfortunately. Still, it was a crucial to the story. Because you see, the title of this fiction, is really mostly about her, not Desmond. But, I will make that apparent in later chapters.
Enjoy! Hopefully the next chapter doesn't take this long!
(And to all my reviewers who asked me to not drop this story, are you kidding? It's Desmond FUCKING Lockheart. There is no way I'd drop this. :D)
I do not own anything Fallout related, obviously. I only write Fanfiction. Please Read and Review, even if anonymous, any little critique or compliment is much appreciated.
| Chapter Four – Childish |
Small foot prints smeared across a muddy path. A small gasp, a shiver, and little pale hands poked out from long oversized sleeves to tighten the heavy coat around a petit body. Evelyn had walked a good few steps away from the mansion before curiosity got the best of her and she turned back to see if the ghoul had been watching her depart. He wasn't.
She halted. Eying the mansion in longing to return into it's warmth. To it's safety. The poor girl had only been here for half a day and she already didn't like it. This Point Lookout was much too foreign for her. Much too gray and cold and sad. She missed the familiarity of the Capital Wasteland. Of the golden sun, the heat. And the familiar faces of those she had befriended.
But, too late on turning back now. She had promised Catherine she would at least look for her daughter, and Evelyn never broke her promises.
"…Ya know, I think that Desmond guy is a bit of a jerk." She spoke to herself, quite loudly. "I admit he saved me and all. But, c'mon! Who says that! My friends didn't hate me. Especially not my own dad! But… he did save me. Maybe I'm too quick to judge— Dogmeat? Boy?" She stopped speaking and looked around frantically, before remembering, she had left her companion back in the wonderful Wasteland she so longed to return back to. She blinked, giggling softly to herself as a rosy blush colored her pale cheeks. She must've look pretty silly talking to herself that way… An even stronger reason she missed the Capital Wasteland.
It had been a long time since she had left her Vault. But she had always had someone traveling with her, keeping her company. Wither it was a random passerby, a Caravan that didn't mind her following them, or her trusty dog, she had always had someone. And now, in a foreign place, far from the Wasteland, with not even her dog by her side, she felt truly alone.
She sighed, innocent and embarrassed smile faltering in slight sadness and fear, before clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth and looking down at her wrist. Or, to be more accurate, her beloved Pip-boy.
Reaching the top of the incline, Evelyn turned back around to look down the hill and realized, it was much bigger than she had originally thought. But she smiled anyways, because there were no more bothersome hills to climb.
Turning around, the young girl continued forward walking toward a dying tree and running her small fingers along the bark as she walked. At that moment, a thought came to her mind.
'Ghoul's seem to have rough skin. Don't they? Everyone I see looks different as far as their… umm, texture goes. It seems they are also quite rigid; it sort of reminds me of a tree! A tree is rough, and always has a unique feeling to them. It is almost like a ghoul could be a tree!'
Obviously, Evelyn's innocent and childish mind didn't comprehend how completely stupid that thought was. And false, too. But it was just a way to keep her from becoming completely bored while traveling alone.
She walked close to every tree that passed her way, her arm stretched out to run her soft fingertips to glide across each bark, marveling the scenery around her. To any other Wastelander, everything about Point Lookout must have been the same old uninteresting and ugly view. But for a Vault Dweller, this was all so lovely. Especially all these trees! Back in the Capital Wasteland, mostly all the trees were dried and withered and dead, so she hadn't seen many interesting ones. But these trees! It must have been the humidity from the island that had them so beautiful and tall! Alive and full of leaves! She loved them. So, their sight was a beauty to observe. At least for her.
As she continued onward, she came across a colossal tree! Excited, the naïve young girl ran towards it, and once close enough, she halted. Eyes widening, before reaching out and placing both her hands against it. It was just as thick as all the other trees, but easily three times as tall. Just as she gleefully walked around the tree, running her hands across the rough bark, Evelyn's eyes landed on something that was out of the ordinary among the rest. There, hanging from one of the twisted branches, was a doll. It's little feet adorn in black little shoes, with a dirtied pink dress with blotches of discoloration from exposure of the sun, long and tangled blonde hair, and a rope around it's neck, tightly wrapped around like a noose. Despite her curiosity, Evelyn refused to touch it. Just, stared at it with morbid amusement.
The doll reminded her of her childhood, and how she used to play with her best friend Amata. And thinking about Amata, reminded her about what Desmond had said earlier. That all her friends and family hated her just for shortening her name to 'Eve'. She quickly shook the thought away and slowly reached for the doll, smiling.
"It means love."
Evelyn stared up at her friend as she sat on the cold floor. Head tilting and eyes blinking rather fast before gasping? "Really! Amata means love? Wow… that's so beautiful." Evelyn exclaimed, causing the Overseer's daughter to raise her chin high in pride.
"Mhm! My daddy said so himself! Said my mama named me that herself. Because I was their little love."
"Wow! That's sooo cool! … I don't even know what my name means… My daddy never told me-"
"I did the honors of finding out what it meant for you!" Amata grinned, her pretty brown hair tied up in a messy pony tail and dark brown eyes sparkling as if she had done quite an extra mile for her best friend.
"Guess what it means! It means life!"
"Lo-… Oh. Life?" Evelyn couldn't help her sweet smile to falter. 'Life' what the hell was so interesting about 'Life'? That wasn't as cool as Love! How… plain! But she nodded in amusement anyways and watched as Amata giggled and plopped down on the floor in front of her.
"Mmmmhm! Life! Interesting, huh? My name means Love... yours means Life! It's awesome!"
"Y-yeah… it's great. Super cool…" She muttered, rolling her eyes to the floor in slight disappointment. "…Life… I mean, Life is cool… Life… yay."
"I also found out what Eve means."
The hope that rose in her eyes must have been priceless! "Really! Is it different then 'Life'? Is it?"
"Yup… it means, short for Evelyn, silly!" Amata giggled loudly and Evelyn's face faltered into slight annoyance as Amata fell down on the floor next to her, cackling wildly. "Hahaha! You gotta admit, that was a good one! Hahaha… come on! It makes sense. Eve… it's short! Just like you!" The Overseer's daughter hopped back up to her feet, once again showing off, this time about the good four inches she towered over her friend, who happened to be a few months older then her.
"…Oh shut up, Amata…"
As Evelyn reached her tiny hand out, smiling all the while, she grabbed at the doll and slowly twirled it to face her. She regretted doing so the moment she did. The dolls plastic face had been melted into deformity, one of the doll's glass blue eyes had been burnt into nonexistence, and in the empty eye socket, devious little insects fell. The sight of the doll horrified the girl and set her back, and by doing so, her foot landed upon a stick, and a loud sound radiated from the cracking wood. The sudden noise terrified the girl, and she shrieked and bolted blindly forward.
Running around trees, ducking under branches, she ran and ran. The poor naïve girl, wasn't excepting the descending hill before her, and only shrieked louder when she found her self tumbling downward. Luckily for her though, she landed on her side, so as she rolled down the grassy hill, her body wasn't being tossed around… at least not too much.
Her tiny frame finally reached the bottom of the hill. A grunt escaped her lips as she winces at the pain. Her tiny body had banged and bashed against small stones and scrubs. Painfully, she slowly sat up. Slowly running her palms around her body to see if there were any serious abrasions or cracked bones. "…" She sighed in relief. Everything seemed to be fine. She slowly sat back down and let her self softly lay down on the grass. That was quite the painful experience, left the poor girl hurt and exhausted. Laying there, aching in many different places, and staring at the slightly yellowed sky, forever ruined it's once pretty and pure blue color by the atomic bombs, Evelyn thought back to her times in the Vault again. And a crooked smile spread across her face at the memory of all those times she'd get into fist fights with Butch. And how that tumble down the hill, didn't even compare to how they fought.
Blood trickled down her smooth face and dripped into a small puddle on the cold floor below. The thirteen year old boy that caused it was standing above her, small but rough hands clutched into tight fists as he taunted her.
"Watcha' gonna do, huh, Nosebleed? Gonna go tell your daddy on me again?"
The little girl slowly pushed herself up to her feet, her hands lay on her sides, flat and pressed against her small hips. Big hazel eyes were turning red as she fought back the tears as hard as she could. Butch smirked and flicked his hand toward her, but this time pointing to somewhere behind her.
"Well, go then! Go daddy's girl! I'm sure doctor daddy is waiting to patch that nose up again and rat me out like always… Well? Go then!"
Evelyn's tiny hands clench into little balls suddenly and without giving the bully any chance to react, she punched him square in the jaw. The sudden hit caused the boy to bite his tongue before falling backwards and slamming hard against the floor.
Her eyes widened in surprised at what she had just done. She had never hit Butch back. She just never had the courage to do so. She'd usually run and hide behind Officer Gomez or her father. Or just let him have his way with her if she couldn't find either of them in time to protect her. But, look at that! She had finally hit him back! Oh! She couldn't wait to tell Amata about this…
And suddenly, Evelyn was snapped out of her thoughts and the sight of Butch quickly getting back on his feet, and twirling around and lunging at her. With a loud yelp and jump, it was once again like before, and she bolted down the hallway while he chased after her. But she couldn't help but smile, because now she knew damn well that she could inflict a pretty big bruise on her attacker. And she figured out, she wasn't as weak as she thought. She could defend herself now.
Eyes snapped open, and Evelyn quickly sat up. Brushing the grass and dirt from her body before looking around where she had fallen.
"I'm wasting time…" She muttered to her self and quickly got up. She forgot about what Mister Desmond had asked her to do. And about the promise she made to Catherine, about finding her daughter, Nadine.
Turning around, she noticed the cathedral was within eyesight. Happily, she walked towards it with a slight limp, which slowly faded with each step. Approaching the side of the building, Evelyn walked along the width of the wall, until it turned and revealed a rusty and chained up iron gate. She blinked and got closer to it, wrapping both hands on two of it's steal bars and looked at the massive cathedral behind it. She eyed the large wooden doors, brows narrowing in frustration. Now… how was she going to get in there…?
Her eyes caught something on the side of the building, and a grin spread across her face at the realization it was an intercom of some sort. She quickly walked toward it, eying it curiously before happily pressing the button… nothing. She frowned. She pressed it again. Still nothing. Confused, she turned her back to it, trying to find another way of getting inside before a statically male voice rose from the intercom.
"Hark! Who goes there?"
With a loud 'eep!' and a twirl, she was facing it again. Eyes wide with shock but she quickly composed herself walking up toward it once again and pressing at the button.
"Uhm... Hi. I'm just, um… searching these parts and-"
"Who lingers at the threshold of transcendence?"
"What? Oh! I mean! M-my names Eve- Evelyn! I'm… Uh… I'm… I-I s-seek the wisdom of your people! Yes! Yes I do!"
"What's this? A humble traveler, seeking the guidance of our awakened minds? Truly, this is a glorious day!"
"Um… yes? Yes it is! A glorious day indeed!"
"You are from far away, and must be strong indeed to have traveled this far!"
"…Why yes." She grinned in pride. "I am quite strong actually…"
"But strength is nothing with out the enlightened mind."
"And I do come from—Wait. What? What do you mean it isn't enough!"
"I'm sorry child. But if you seek entry, you must be prepared to expand your consciousness. You must prove yourself worthy to transcend!"
"I am too worthy!" Evelyn exclaimed in a childish manner, huffing up a bit before snapping back at the intercom. "I have no fear! I will take your test! And I will be victorious!"
"You may not be so brave when you face the Ritual of the Mother Seed. Stronger souls than you have attempted it, and have lost their minds. Venture west to the great bog, and within you shall find the mother of all Punga! She stands taller then a man, and her vines guide our future. Collect her seeds, and kneel before her wisdom. Only then will you be ready to enter these sacred halls."
The intercom then cut off and the males voice hid behind white noise. Evelyn stood there, dumbfounded. After she had heard him say, 'Stronger souls than you have attempted it, and have lost their minds',she had stopped listening to the rest. Suddenly, Evelyn's sudden pride and confidence hid behind uncertainly and fear. She had bitten off more then she could chew with this one, she was sure of it. She gulped, licking her lips nervously before slowly backing away from the intercom and turning her back to it. Taking a few steps forward, and eying the mysterious forest in front of her.
'…What did he said again? Something about going west, right? Or was it east! No. It was defiantly west… and what the hell is a Punga? And how is it possible it- she stood taller then any man? Oh my god… is it a monster!'
She shook her head. No. No no no. She was scaring herself. She shouldn't let childish things like that get to her. She was on a mission, after all. Trying to find the runaway and bring her back to her mother in the Capital Wasteland. She nodded to herself, regaining all of her lost confidence— but soon afterwards, losing it and turning on her heel, running away from the forest in sheer fear and uncertainness, and running passed the cathedral, and back down the hill.
She was heading back to the mansion. Back to Desmond.
Now, for anyone who asks… Evelyn is not dumb haha. She might come off as an idiot in this chapter AND the rest of the story, I know, but she isn't. She is actually very intelligent when it comes to certain things. She does indeed have some talents (Not the usual FUCK YEAH MY LONE WONDERER CAN SHOOT THINGS FROM OVER THE HILLS BEATCH) but they'll come up and become apparent in later chapters. I always figured that a pampered Vault Dweller like the Lone Wonderer would be quite dense and confused and curious about the outside world. I never understood stories when a Lone Wonderer was skilled as all fuck in such a short amount of time. So, I'm making Evelyn come off as a bit naïve, childish and innocent. She doesn't know a whole lot and asked far too many questions and makes way too much mistakes. But she is far from dumb, you shall see in later chapters!