Aw Geez.

Sorry for the long wait guys. Been working a LOT and have had a peachy case of writers block. But, thankfully, reading some other FC FF's has gotten some juice flowin' in my brain again, thankfully. ._."

Finally see Vaas though! Yay! 8D As my friend pointed out, it can be hard to see Vaas caring/not being pyhco, (I CAN SEE IT!) so bear with me. Just keep his accent/voice in mind and it works. :D

Read, review, fav, follow, and ENJOY!

Chapter 4: Wild Boars

Hot beams of light shone brightly above me, blinding my eyes as I flickered my eyelids open. The jungle canopy lay open and lush above me, the sun casting shadows of leaves on leaves through the leafy ceiling.

I groaned as I slowly sat up, by eyes felt raw and sore, along with the rest of my body. The jungle was alive all around me, birds and other creatures going about their daily business. That was a good sign to me; it meant there weren't any predators around, like the pirates. I looked around to see how I had gotten on the ground, and turned my head around. Behind me was a steep slope, covered in leaves and rocks.
Confused, I looked down to see scrapes and bruises covered my arms and legs, my shirt torn and dirty. I suddenly wondered how I looked, I certainly felt like crap.
I suddenly thought about the night before, and instead of a sense of panic, I felt a wave of great sadness and defeat. How could I even be in this situation?
Before I could think of anything else, a shriek rang out in the forest. I snapped my head in the direction, when suddenly a herd of wild pigs shot out in front of me, running past me and back into the dense brush.

I sat there frozen as the last pig waddled into the green, and scrambled up. I stumbled to the side and leaned onto a tree as my head spun. A snapping twig resounded, followed by a strange grunt. I looked up to see a wild boar with huge tusks staring at me. It pounded it's foot against the ground in a threatening manner.
"Shit." I swore, I had no weapon, and was certainly no match for those tusks.

I slowly tried to back away, hoping I could quietly sneak away to the side, but the boar had other plans. It shrieked and charged, and I swore and jumped out of the way. I turned my head to see the boar slam into the slope, only to turn around and charge again.
I quickly turned back and started pounding through the forest, but the pig found the back of my legs and sent me crashing to the ground. Pain shot into my legs, and it looked like one of its tusks only grazed me, this time.
I scrambled up as the boar started to turn back for me, and launched myself up and onto a tree, barely out of reach of the boar. It snarled and squealed, and I spat at it. "Get out of here dammit!"

My legs shook and my hands burned against the rough bark of the tree.
Before I could slip, I watched the boars ears perk up and turn, then dash away from where I hung. A gunshot fired out and birds shot up out of the canopy, while the boar lay motionless a couple feet away from me.
My eyes widened and my heart thundered, who shot that boar? The pirates?
The familiar panic sensation swelled in my chest, until a man and a woman emerged from the trees. The man bent down to examine the boar, he certainly didn't look like a pirate, he had a light blue shirt on with tattoos down his arm, and cream khaki shorts. The woman on his left was more heavy set, but just wore a faded pink shirt with a long blue skirt. Her dark, round face looked back and saw me dangling there, and gasped.
The man next to her looked up and quickly aimed his rifle at me, his accent was thick, "Who are you?!"

Before I could reply, I couldn't hold onto the tree anymore, and dropped to the ground with a loud grunt.
"Please, don't shoot!" I pleaded as I stumbled off my back.
"Ray, put your gun down!" the woman snapped, "She clearly isn't a pirate."
The big woman quickly rushed over to me, her warm hands finding my face quickly, "Are you alright my dear?"
I stared at the woman confused, "I'm not sure."
"Did you escape the pirates?" she asked as the man, Jay, walked up behind her, his rifle sling on his shoulder.
"How did you know?" I asked, my voice breaking.
"You certainly don't look like a pirate or a local." she said simply, "I'm just amazed to see someone like you."
I stared at her, "What do you mean?"

"No one has ever escaped the pirates and lived." Her eyes suddenly went wide, "Are they near here?" She shook her head side to side, and Jay grabbed his gun and looked around cautiously as well.
"I don't know, I ran until I blacked out."

I watched as Jay and the woman talked to each other, the woman's hands stayed on my arm. "They must have set up a temporary campsite." She wondered with a dark look.
"It must be recent, we've checked this area last week, and there was nothing." His dark eyes darted around the forest cautiously.
"I guess the rest of the hunting will have to wait." The woman sighed wearily.
"I'll go get Vaas." Jay said.
The woman turned her gaze back to me and I watched Jay walk away and disappear into the forest.

"Come, I need to skin this animal before we go. Do you know how to do that? Oh! Never mind me, you surely wouldn't want to see—" I cut the woman's sentence off with my hoarse voice, "No, I'd like to watch."

The woman's green eyes looked startled as she stared at me. "Are you sure you are ok child?"
I gave a slow nod, so I wouldn't bring on another dizzy spell, "I've skinned deer before with my dad. I'd like to see you work."
It didn't hit me until I said it, I was already looking for ways to survive on this island, and the realization made me proud and sick. I shouldn't be learning how to skin boars or God knows what else. I should be home, watching TV with Phoebe and John and… I immediately cut the thought from my mind. I couldn't cry now.

The woman simply gave a slight nod, "You are a surprising one then. Escaping the pirates, and you can skin a deer. What else can you do?"

As she led me to the body of the boar, I gave a shaky laugh, "I can shoot a gun too."
She patted my arm in a motherly fashion, "I'm sure you can."
The woman squatted down and a flash of annoyance crossed my face, did she believe me or not?
"Tell me, how did you escape?" she asked as she started to separate the hide of the boar from the body.
I proceeded to slowly tell the strange woman about the beach house, my friends, and how I escaped, periodically stopping to ask her what she was doing.

By the time I was done with my story, she was finishing wrapping up the meat in a burlap sack, and shaking her head.
"I'm so sorry, uh, what's your name?" she asked as she stood up, the bulking burlap sacks slung on her shoulder.
"Cyra."
"Cyra, I like that name. My name is Sophia."
"Nice to meet you, Sophia." I said and her eyes grew sad, "I wish it was." she replied.

"Come now, let us go back to the village." she said, her warm hand finding my back and guiding me.
As we walked slowly through the thick forest, I knew I had to get more answers.

"Where am I anyway?" I asked, nearly tripping over a large root as I did.
"You mean you don't know?"
I shook my head, "No, the map didn't say."
The woman shook her head, "Typical tourists, they always fall for that trap." I gave a strange look to the woman, and I wasn't sure if I should be offended of not.
"We are on Rook Island."
I gave a slight, "Ahh." And closed my mouth. Rook Island. So that was the name of this hell hole.

"So, how do you get off of this island?"
The woman gave a chuckle, "You don't, unless you own a boat or a plane."
"Do you?" I asked.
"I'm afraid not. Only the drug lords and traffickers do." she said glumly.
I gave an inward groan, "Fantastic."

"I am sorry, especially about your friends."
We finally emerged out of the jungle and started to follow a worn dirt road, and my eyes darted around anxiously.

"They aren't all dead. I'm going to find them." I said absently as my eyes followed a large bird swooping above me.
Sophia's voice grew sad next to me, "You shouldn't get your hopes up too much child."
My eyes burned as I turned my head to look at the woman. "I know two of them are alive."
"Let us not talk about this dear. We need to get you cleaned up and cared for. You look like you are about to pass out, and talking about this won't help."
Sophia's voice held an authoritative tone, so I pursed my chapped lips together and continued to follow her silently.

After a few minutes, a jeep appeared around a corner in the road, and came to a loud rumbling halt next to us. Jay jumped down from the old battered yellow jeep, along with three other men. Two of them wore similar clothing to Jay, but the other man looked much different.
"Oh, Jay! There you are!" Sophia exclaimed in front of me.

Jay gave a nod at Sophia, "Here, let me take those sacks mother."
I arched my eyebrows at the two of them, I should have guessed they were related.
The unique looking man jumped down from the driver's seat in the jeep, and stood in front of Sophia, though his eyes were locked on me.
I shifted my eyes as I observed the man. He had dark hair shaped in a short mohawk, his eyes were dark and intense, only made more prominent by the scar that ran along the side of his forehead and into his hairline. His skin was tanned and his fit body was covered by a dirty white tank top , army cargo pants, and black combat boots. Overall, he looked much more daunting than the other three men.

"Ey, so this is the girl, huh?" he spoke, his accent sounded Spanish, then again, I couldn't figure out anyone's accent on this island.
Sophia nodded at him, "Yes, this is Cyra."
"Cyra? I like that name." He said frankly, his eyes darting back to mine.
I shifted my eyes away from the daunting man and to Sophia, who seemed to see what I was feeling in my eyes.

"Vaas, we need to get her to the village, she needs medical attention. Can we use your jeep?" Sophia said with a stern, strong voice.
"You're telling me." the man, Vaas, whistled.
I gave him a strange look, and glanced down at my hands, suddenly aware of the deep and frightening ring of cuts and scabs around my wrists. I hadn't realized how bad I had hurt myself getting out of those ropes. The memory of the pain sent a shudder through my body.

"I'll take her." Jay piped up, walked back from behind the jeep, his eyes still continued to search the area.
"No, I need to you keep sweeping the area." Vaas commanded.
"But sir." Jay protested.
Vaas shook his finger, "I, should take Miss Sophia and Miss Cyra back to the camp. She is our guest. Besides, I want to hear more about these pirates myself."

I watched as Jay nodded, and motioned for the two other men to follow him, and they disappeared into the brush on the side of the road.
"Are you sure, Vaas?" Sophia asked.
"I am sure." Vaas said, his gaze turning to me, "Come, let's get you fixed up chicka."
Without warning Vaas scooped me up and lifted me into the jeep with little effort. I muttered a small thank you as I watched him help Sophia into the back of the jeep.
Vaas walked around the front of the jeep and hopped into the driver's seat next to me, and put the jeep into gear, turned around and drove back the way he had come from.
"So, tell me," Vaas thick accent spoke, his head dipping to the side to look at me, "How exactly did you escape?"

I looked at the man and held up my wrists, which were cracked and bled where the scabs broke, "I wriggled out of the ropes."
Vaas kept one hand on the wheel as the other reached out and pulled my wrist towards him, his brooding eyes closely examining my arm.
I couldn't help but look at the road; he hadn't looked up in awhile, and suddenly felt nervous with him driving.

Vaas gave a low hoot as his warm, rough hand released my arm, "That's some fight you had there hermana."
I stared at him, wondering what 'hermana' meant, but just nodded, "I guess."

"You're lucky they didn't shoot you, or rape you." Vaas said as-matter-of-factly.
Sophia's dark hand slapped Vaas on the shoulder, "Vaas! What is wrong with you!" her voice snapped harshly.
I sat there awkwardly, my eyes darting back and forth between the two.

"Ey! I was just speaking the truth."
Before Sophia could slap him again, I raised my rough voice, "No. He's right. One almost tried to, you know…" I let the rest of the sentence die, then cleared my throat, "But I head butted him." The reaction of the disgusting man made me smile, vile pig.

"Aah, so that's how you got that, eh?" Vaas chuckled, his pointing finger reaching over easily to lightly touch the middle of my forehead.
I gave a slow nod, "Yeah."

Vaas chuckled as he withdrew his hand and leaned back in the jeep chair, "You are in interesting girl, Cyra."
I hissed, "I'm not a girl."
Vaas dramatically widened his eyes, "You aren't?! Ey! Sophia! When did boys become so pretty?"
Sophia made a choking noise and I couldn't help but snort. I liked sarcasm too much.

I tried to hide the amusement as I cleared my aching throat, "That's not what I meant."
Vaas just chuckled, "Tell me then, how old are you Cyra?"
"I just turned twenty three. You?"
"Twenty four, but who's counting, eh?" Vaas said with an amused voice.

I was surprised how close we were in age; he certainly didn't look like he was around my age, maybe a few years older. I couldn't help but wonder what he was in charge of now. Did these people have an army that fought pirates?

Before I could ask, Vaas's voice took a sing-song tone, "We're here!"
I looked forward to see a slope with some plants on either side of a gap between the dirt formations.

Vaas cut the engine and jumped down, helping Sophia out of the jeep first, then extending his hand to me. I cautiously laid my hand into his massive one, his hand firmly wrapping around mine as he helped me down from the jeep.
As my foot touched the ground I suddenly became aware of my splitting headache, and another dizzy spell soon followed. I felt my tired knees buckle, but Vaas barely let me fall before I was secure in his grasp.
"You aren't looking to good, Cyra." Vaas shushed, his accent carrying a hint of concern.
I barely shook my head as I rapidly blinked my eyes, trying to get rid of the blotches in my vision. "I-I'm fine." I managed, as I tried to get my legs to cooperate.
Sophia's frantic voice was next to me, "Vaas, we need to get her fixed right away! She's about to collapse."
Vaas corrected her, "She almost did hermana, but I saved her."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, regretting the pressure it left in my sockets as I did.
Vaas must have seen it, and pulled me off the ground and into his arms, "I saw that Cyra. And that was very rude."
"Bite me." I muttered as my head lobbed and found purchase against his warm chest. My head thundered, and I wasn't sure if it was from everything that had happened, or that I hadn't eaten in a few days. It was probably both.

I could feel Vaas throw his head back and laugh, "I like you, you know. You're not the wimpy tourist I thought you would be, eh."
I kept my eyelids slowly closed, and all I could do in response is shrug my shoulders. The warmth of his chest and the steady thrumming of his heart became soothing.
I could feel Vaas's head turn, his voice was closer, "You just rest, ok Cyra? Vaas will take good care of you."

I would have laughed at the third person tone he took, but I couldn't even manage a shrug. I found myself drifting out of consciousness, suddenly aware of my trust in there strangers, but the blackness took me before I had a chance to worry.