Gol's torment at the hands of Kassra continues. And something else occurs… Plus, my theory on why Gol has that weird glove on one arm.

And thanks very much to the reviewers.

Chapter 3: Engines

The feeling of something touching him brought Gol out of a fitful sleep. His eyes shot open to witness the woman examining his leg. If it was in a more desirable condition, he'd kick her.

"What are you doing now?" the Sage asked, sitting up straighter.

"Being a good doctor." She looked up only long enough to grin before going back to her work. He could see now a ragged gash in his leg, sewn up. She wiped a towel over it, and he winced. That stung!

"Wouldn't want it getting infected, now would we? I sewed it up myself. How do you like my handiwork?"

"Why did you need to sew anything?" Surely he wasn't injured that severely. He started to wonder if she broke his leg herself so she could imprison him here.

"The bone broke the skin, silly. You were in a pretty bad accident. You're lucky that I found you." The fact that this bothersome woman had was a testament to exactly the opposite, he thought.

She dried off his wound and started to re-bandage it and put the splint back in place. She made it very tight, but was surprisingly gently, considering.

"And you fixed all that yourself." It was more of a statement than a question. She wasn't quite as stupid as she looked. He'd give her that much.

"Mm-hmm. Told you, I'm a good doctor. You gotta know how to treat injuries out here. What can I say, I got the gift."

He snorted. He'd hardly call it a gift. He had treated worse than that, back before the Dark Eco had transformed his sister and him into their current, superior forms. People had always viewed them with distrust, him especially. He was the Sage of Dark Eco, after all. They always feared those they didn't understand, simple, close-minded fools that they were. But, when someone was hurt or sick from exposure to Dark Eco, they'd always come running to their Sage for help. And he always healed them. He was too nice back then.

The screech of the chair on the rough wooden floor as the woman stood up, her previous task done, brought Gol out of his thoughts. He still had something to ask before she left.

"My sister, have you seen her?"

"Um…should I have?"

Did he not make his question quite clear? "She was with me, during the accident. She should've been nearby. Surely you must have seen her!"

The woman scratched her head. "Sorry, I really can't say that I did. If I had, I would've brought her here, too, y'know. There was so much rubble, I could've missed her." Seeing the look on his face, she smiled. "But, don't worry, I'm sure she's okay. I mean, you survived. I'll tell the other villagers to keep an eye out for her, 'kay? What's she look like?"

"Same blue skin as me. Same white hair. You'll know her when you see her." Where could she be? And why hadn't the woman seen her? Was she buried under a pile of rocks? He didn't even know where exactly he was to find his way back to her, and his leg was aching more than ever after the woman messed with it. Not that it probably mattered by now, if she was already… No, better not think about it. His dear sister was quite resilient. She was out there somewhere. Perhaps someone else had found her. Perhaps.

The woman stopped at the doorway and turned back to him, leaning against the doorframe. "Y'know, it's funny."

What could possibly be funny at a time like this? Gol looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"I found you outside one of the entrances to the old Catacombs. The people of my village had sealed it up long ago, claiming that if they didn't, something evil might come through one day." She laughed. "Superstitious, I guess. You and your sister didn't come from there, did you?" She laughed again and turned to leave. "Get some rest. I'm sure your sis'll turn up soon."

The Catacombs? That's what those tunnels had been. He vaguely remembered reading about them once in an old history book. The Precursors had built them, way back at the beginning of the planet's creation.

He leaned back to his earlier position and rubbed his forehead with the palms of his hands. He had done hardly anything but nap and deal with that woman, but he was still tired. And his sister… There was nothing he could do about that right now. Best not to dwell on it too much. She had to show up soon. Or he'd find her himself.

Gol spent the next several weeks in relative peace. His headache had subsided, and he hardly noticed the pain in his leg anymore. The woman had enough sense to bother him less, and at his request, she brought him all the books she could get her hands on. Without them, he'd be bored out of his mind, plus he could try to learn about this new time he had found himself in. Most of the books were not much help. He at least wanted to know what year it was, but he certainly couldn't ask the woman outright without looking insane.

But, he did learn a few things. It seemed there was a great city named Spargus out in the Wasteland, built by the people banished from a place called Haven City. This Spargus seemed a small enough threat. Just a ragtag bunch of idiots that knew about nothing more than shooting guns and riding around in the desert on wheeled vehicles of all things. What happened to the A-GraV Zoomers of his time? He and his sister would crush them with ease. Especially if they were anything like, what was her name? Kassren. Or something.

This Haven City, on the other hand, might be something to watch out for. Unlike Spargus, their technology had advanced. Their destruction would be even more satisfying.

In addition to bringing him books, the woman only came back in to bother him when she was tending to his leg or bringing him meals. She finally stopped bringing anything that contained vegetables when she saw that he never touched them, but when she was examining his leg, she still would sometimes bother him with her babbling. Not as much as previously, but still some. And he'd make as if he wasn't listening, even though he was. It wasn't that he was interested, but her talking distracted him from his reading.

Apparently she, like every other Wastelander, was not far different from the gun-toting buffoons of Spargus. While her father had taught her to hunt, her mother had done her fair share of it herself. The woman also spoke of how she had made herself armor from the plating of Metal Heads (the name was vaguely familiar to Gol, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard of them). She laughed when she commented that she thought the mask made her look tough. She also told him about the other members of her family and her garden and other such drivel. Gol really couldn't care less about any of this, but telling her so would likely only cause her to talk more, so he stayed silent.

She only braved a question directed at him once, about the glove on his right arm, but that was understandable. Not many people had a large glove made of Precursor metal that went up to the elbow, with tubes going into their arm. As with her query about his name several weeks prior, he avoided answering. Frankly, it was none of her business. Just an experiment gone completely and utterly wrong. Due to a slight miscalculation or a staggeringly large error in judgment on his part, likely both, now that he thought about it, the Dark Eco had eaten through much of the muscle in his right forearm, greatly reducing his ability to use it without a large amount of pain. And so with the aid of his sister and his knowledge of Precursor technology, he had constructed the glove to regain the use of his arm. Even though it had been a very long time since he had seen his right arm in its entirety, he still remembered what a gruesome sight it had been. Even Maia had cringed.

Aside from the woman's occasional nonsense, though, it was a rather peaceful time. Mainly he'd spend his time reading with the silence broken every here and now by a noise from the woman, either the usual everyday sounds or her humming. This bothered him at first that she had the nerve to disturb his peace in such a manner, but he gradually grew accustomed to it. Maia used to sing as she went about her work, as well, before the Dark Eco had taken any major effect on her. He rather missed it, but he knew his sister would tease him if ever he mentioned it.

Only once did he believe he heard another sound, like soft crying from the other room. He couldn't tell for sure, as it was barely audible, but there was certainly a noise one night that he couldn't quite identify.

But, aside from all that, the Sage noticed that it was a surprisingly quiet village. In fact, he didn't believe he heard any noise not made by the woman. His own village had been quiet, the one his sister and he had grown up in and the one they had moved to when he could no longer stand to be within one thousand feet of their disapproving father. But, not this quiet. It was perplexing, but Gol couldn't say he didn't find it soothing. He enjoyed this peace quite a bit, until one night it was broken by the loud growl of engines outside.

Ooooh, what could it be? Why don't you review while you wait? I hope you are filled to bursting with suspense!