A/N: Not the most popular fandom, I see... I've been looking around at other fanfictions for Far Cry 4 and even for Far Cry 3, and the large majority of them have been abandoned (either that, or the authors have forgotten to mark them as complete). I have even looked over some reviews of different stories (ones I've been interested to read) and I remember one guest saying to not abandon the story like other authors have. I wish to say this now, I am definitely not one for abandoning stories; I have abandoned two in the past, but that was because the writing quality was rather poor and I ended up deleting them anyhow. I promise, this story will not be abandoned.
Also, did some research on handguns and that thing that moves when its firing is called the slide. And you often see people move the slide of the gun after reloading the magazine; that's called 'racking'. Just so you know.
Also, I hope Pagan's character isn't too far off. But I'm not very used to writing such complex characters, so forgive me if he seems a little OOC... Sorry...
Chapter Genre: Action
Chapter Rating: M
Rating Content: Scenes of Violence, Scenes of Blood, Coarse Language
"The wildlife seems almost out of control, here."
"Yeah, I know. Almost got caught by a bear, once. I think that the Golden Path only kills animals if they're being attacked. Other than that, they have a respect for the wildlife. Even honey badgers."
Tahki sighed heavily, resting her elbow on the edge of the window and her head on her hand. Kyrat really has changed, she thought. "What keeps the population from growing out of control?"
"The need for food and pelts, KiKi."
She shot Jesse a dirty look. "Stop calling me that."
He glanced at her for a moment before smiling. "I've been calling you that for years. Why stop now?"
She glared.
Jesse huffed. "Sour mood. Alright, then."
She pursed her lips and turned her attention back out the window, watching as a group of sambars ran across and over the hills. Although she had been raised in a Western culture, Tahki still held her Native American heritage close to her heart. Her father used to say that it was because of her heritage that she had such a passion for the outdoors. And it was true, she loved the outdoors, and she especially loved seeing animals run free compared to staying trapped in captivity (but that didn't mean she wouldn't want to visit the occasional zoo or animal sanctuary). But what she didn't like seeing was animals growing out of control in the wild. It could easily destroy ecosystems!
As they traveled up the mountains in the jeep, she was able to get a stunning view of the Himalayan mountains. One thing she truly appreciated about Kyrat was the views and scenery. It would always take your breath away.
"So, are there any details about what happened while I was gone?"
Jesse shrugged. "Not really. All I heard was that some American guy came along and as soon as he did, the Golden Path started taking control of Kyrat." He jerked the steering wheel, turning at a sharp corner in the road. "A lot of Min's top soldiers went down; De Pleur, Noore, even Yuma. I've heard rumours that De Pleur is still alive, though."
"Why didn't the Royal Army stop the terrorists?"
He shook his head. "They weren't terrorists to begin with. More like rebels, a resistance group. Up until Sabal's leadership, they were never terrorists. And as far as stopping them went, it never worked for long. The Golden Path was bigger than anyone thought."
"That doesn't explain why Pagan Min isn't doing much about it now." She said. "His word is law. Granted, the Golden Path is a terrorist-slash-rebellion group, but isn't the King's army bigger than them?"
Jesse made a face. "Generally speaking. But after Kyrat was taken by the Golden Path, the Royal Army went down in numbers. Especially with Yuma gone."
"Has the Path left you alone?"
"Technically. They came around once to check up and make sure I wasn't harboring anything or anyone. Basic stuff."
"Good." She growled. "Because if they bothered you, I would shoot the Path leader myself!"
Jesse laughed loudly. "I know, KiKi. I know."
/ / /
Once they finally reached the bridge leading to the North, Tahki suddenly started preparing her small handgun, checking to make sure it was loaded and ready to fire.
"I wouldn't do that if they're there." Jesse warned her. "That wouldn't bode well with any Golden Path in the North. Then you really will be hunted."
Tahki loaded the magazine by hitting it with her knee and quickly checked to make sure the safety was off. "Hey, if they fire first," she placed the grip between her knees and racked the handgun. "They're asking for it."
As they approached the gate, Tahki made sure to hide the gun just slightly underneath her right leg. She didn't want to send any wrong messages if they didn't recognize her.
Jesse looked around. "I don't think anyone's here, Tahki."
"Then get your rear in gear!" She snapped. "We don't want to stay here for too long."
He slowly sped up the vehicle, watching just to make sure there weren't any sharp turns on the road. The roads just past the gate were on a mountain-side and they didn't have any protective railings, so if they missed a turn, they missed a turn.
Tahki looked over the edge of the mountain. "I don't get why it's colder up in Northern Kyrat; it's not that far from the South. The water is warm down south, too."
"Do you think the water is warm up here too, then?"
She tsked and made a face at him. "You know what, how's about you stop the car and jump into the river, down there? Then you can tell me if it's warm or cold."
"I like living, thank you."
Another red jeep rounded the corner ahead of them, which sported a mounted rail gun. "Is the army starting to move down south?" Tahki asked.
"I doubt it." Jesse replied. "They barely have the North under control!"
An arm suddenly stuck out from the drivers' window. It took them both a moment to notice that whoever was driving the vehicle had a gun in his hand.
Taki tensed up and grabbed her own handgun. "Jesse..."
"I see it!"
As the two vehicles passed one another, the man in the red jeep started firing at them, making Jesse flinch as the glass beside him shattered into small pieces. Tahki rapidly unbuckled her seat belt and leaned out of her window and started firing back, trying to aim for weak points on the vehicle.
The red jeep turned sharply, briefly driving on two wheels before it landed safely back onto the ground. A person in the passenger side leaned out his own window and started shooting at them with a shotgun.
Tahki quickly pulled herself back inside the vehicle. "Now that's just cheating!"
"Just shoot them!" He shouted.
She rolled her eyes before popping out the side window again, shooting at the windshield of the red jeep. If she was lucky, she would hit either the driver or the passenger. Either one would do, really.
The passenger fired as soon as she came back outside the window, breaking the side-view mirror off the jeep. Tahki sniffed. "Bad aim, guys!"
Just before she could shoot, Jesse roughly turned onto a small side road, tossing her back into the jeep. "Try to keep her steady, eh?"
"You try driving under fire!" He snapped.
Tahki pushed herself back out the window, just catching the red jeep turn the corner. At least we're away from the cliff edge, she thought. She then aimed the gun and fired a round. She immediately saw the passenger fall limp against the window edge and dropped the shotgun from his hands. She quickly pulled herself back in and started to reload the magazine. "Hopefully the driver is too focused on the road to do anything..." She muttered.
"Just give the gun here; no sense in wasting time!"
She quickly handed Jesse the handgun and, keeping a sure grip on the steering wheel, he started shooting at the driver of the jeep, which briefly skidded as the bullets broke through the windshield.
He pulled the trigger a few times only to hear the clicking of an empty chamber. He pulled himself back in and tossed the gun onto her lap. "Okay, now you can reload!"
As quickly as she could with a shaky vehicle (which wasn't meant for going off-road), she reloaded her handgun and looked into the rear-view mirror. "How did he manage to get so close? How fast are you going?"
"Fast enough!"
Tahki decided to take the proximity to her advantage. Looking out of her window, she looked back to see that the jeep behind them was just in a close enough range. Pointing her gun, she aimed down low to the one spot that could very well end the chase.
She quickly shot at the front tire and pulled herself back into the jeep, looking into the rear view mirror. The jeep could be heard skidding across the dirt as the driver attempted to regain control. Satisfied with her work, Tahki smirked. "You're welcome."
The jeep behind them suddenly turned harshly on its wheels, making the back end spin out of control. Jesse tried steering out of the way, but the back end of the red jeep clipped their vehicle.
Jesse immediately shifted the gear on the car and tried moving into the direction it was swerving. "Fuck!" He cursed.
Their jeep tipped onto two of its wheels and then completely overturned itself, rolling continuously across the road. Jesse attempted to hold onto his seat belt, hoping and praying it wouldn't suddenly unbuckle itself. Tahki was being mercilessly tossed around like a ragdoll, rolling along with the jeep itself. She just kept hitting things; the seat, the dash, the window, almost everything that her body could touch, before she was suddenly thrown through the open window of her door, causing her to skid and roll over the gravel path.
It felt like forever, but the momentum was finally lost and she landed harshly onto her stomach, briefly sliding across the ground before she came to a full stop. A deep, low growl escaped her throat as a searing pain ripped through her whole body. What did I manage to break? She thought.
Opening her eyes, she saw that the jeep had also came to a stop, thanks to a thick tree it crashed into. Thankfully, no smoke or flames could be seen. Gritting her teeth, Tahki attempted to crawl over to the jeep. It was only a few meters away but in her state, it felt like miles.
"Jesse!" She hollered. With a small shout of pain, she managed to lift herself up onto her feet. "Jesse!" She shouted again.
"You don't need to fucking yell, I'm right here!" He shouted back.
Jesse attempted to unbuckle his seat belt, but it refused to release. "Fuck..." He cursed. Sucking in his gut, he grabbed at the edge of his door and wiggled out of the seat belt, crawling out of the window and falling flat onto his back. Tahki... she had been without a seat belt.
He suddenly shot up from the ground. "Tahki, are you okay?!"
Despite that he had gone through the same ordeal she had, she couldn't help but be bitter. "No, I'm bleeding, dumbass!"
He stumbled to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are lucky to be alive! You shouldn't have taken off your seat belt!"
Tahki rolled her eyes and grimaced at the pain in her arm. "I'm still alive. I'm fine."
"You have glass sticking out of your hand!" He exclaimed. "You're bleeding almost everywhere, I hardly call that fine!"
She furrowed her brows. "Glass?" She then raised her hand up to see a shard of glass, at least five inches, sticking straight through her palm and the back of her hand. "It's funny... I can't even feel it..." She said.
"You're in shock, KiKi." Jesse explained. "We need to get you to the nearest hospital or medical center!"
Tahki looked around them. Nice and sunny, of course, but they were surrounded by nothing but mountainous hills, tall trees, small bushes and green grass. "How close are we to civilization, though?" She asked. "And would those villages even have a doctor there? And how far is it? Jess, we don't even have a car to get us there!"
The familiar sound of a vehicle could be heard and Jesse laughed breathlessly. "Speak of the devil..."
As the vehicle rounded the corner, as did another and another. One of them was a jeep, the other two were trucks. One thing they had in common, was that they were red. Last vehicle that approached them that was red, wasn't very friendly.
Tahki grabbed at Jesse's shirt. "Run..." She said.
They turned around to take off down the path, but they stopped as there were three more vehicles approaching them on that side, as well. They were red as well, and two were jeeps with mounted guns. The third one was also a truck.
They both kept turning their heads, looking between the two caravans. "Not home for a day and I'm already in shit with the law..." Tahki muttered.
She always had trouble with the Royal Army, even before Kyrat went to shit. When she first came to Kyrat, at first she was caught in illegal fights. Then she was caught stealing food. And then she was caught in a shack she wasn't supposed to be in (which she didn't know was some Military outspost). As she got older she became more mature, but if any soldiers trash-talked her or tried to make any advances towards her, she would always be more than ready to pick a fight.
With a loud groan, Tahki just collapsed to the ground, far too tired and in far too much pain to care. "Jesse, you have my gun, right?"
"No, you had it last!"
"Then we're both as good as dead."
All of the vehicles stopped within a few meters of the two people, and soldiers poured from them, guns in their hands, ready to shoot either one of them. "Well, it was nice knowing you, Jesse." She breathed out. "I guess I'll be seeing you in Hell."
Four soldiers approached them, their guns still pointed at them. "On the ground, hands up!" One of them shouted.
Jesse did as instructed, getting onto his knees and keeping his hands up. One soldier quickly grabbed his wrists and tied them behind his back, almost a little too roughly.
Tahki felt someone kick at her leg. "You, on your knees, hands raised!"
She laughed grimly. "I only have one hand."
"KiKi, this is no time for jokes!" Jesse hissed. "Just do as he says."
She sighed heavily and sat up, shifting her knees underneath her and raising her glass-pierced hand. The soldier who had told her to get up asked, "What do I do with her?"
Tahki scoffed. The one benefit of having only one arm, she couldn't be tied up.
One man approached her, the gravel crunching underneath the weight of his shoes. She looked up to him, a venomous gleam in her eyes. What did he have in his hand?
Without warning, the soldier stabbed her in the neck with a needle, making her yelp in pain. "The hell was that for?!" She growled.
"Get them into the jeep."
Tahki could feel someone grab her arm, forcing her up and towards one of their vehicles. Her vision was starting to become blurry. It most certainly wasn't her eyesight...
Did they give her a drug?
She was pushed into the back of the jeep, the door slamming shut behind her. Whatever they gave her, it was working absolute wonders on her brain! Whatever pain she was in was no longer existent, everything around her was spinning.
She looked around the vehicle and saw a man with a bag over his head sitting beside her. "Jessss..." She slurred. "What did they...?"
"It's alright, KiKi." He said. "Just stay calm, everything will..."
Whatever else he said flew completely over her head. She suddenly felt incredibly tired, her head feeling heavy, her sight growing dim. Without even realizing it, she stretched out across the seats, resting her head on Jesse's leg. "Drugs..."
Her eyes fell shut.
/ / /
There were voices. Booming voices. Why were they so loud? It almost sounded like a roar in her ears, like a tiger is just constantly roaring in her ears.
The roar soon turned into a dull hum as the voices grew quieter, almost to eh point where she could actually hear what they were saying.
"-the damn thing off! Can she even breathe?"
What thing? Who can't breathe?
Something was pulled off from her face and she winced as a bright light shone in her face. Her head hurt so badly. The light wasn't helping her, either.
"Jess..." She said, her voice suddenly hoarse.
"Right here!" He said. "But we're not alone."
"It's about bloody time she woke up. How much drugs did you put the poor girl on?"
Who was this person? Slowly opening her eyes, the bright light dimmed down enough to let her get a better look at her surroundings.
It was a dark red room. That's all she could really see. Dark red, most likely painted oak. Lots of pillars, some gold designs. She was at a table. A long one. Across from the table was an undoubtedly amazing view of the mountains!
Where the hell was she?
"So, so sorry for the manner in which you were brought here." The voice said, this time just behind her. "Really, my men just don't know how to follow orders."
As the dizziness and confusion wore off, the memories started flowing back to her. Crossing the bridge, getting shot at. The crash. Good lord, the crash. She had a shard of glass in her hand, which surprisingly didn't hurt anymore. She raised her hand to her face.
Bandaged. It was bandaged. But by whom? The soldiers couldn't have done that for her. Oh god, the soldiers. The Royal Army soldiers. They had been captured by them...
In a flash, Tahki shot up from whatever she had been sitting on. Before she could do anything else, she felt the head of a gun pressing against the side of her skull.
"Oh, put that away. If she does manage to run, she'll be dead in two minutes."
Hesitantly, the gun moved away from her head. "Sit." The soldier hissed.
She reluctantly complied. "Who the hell are you?" She demanded.
"Oh, of course you wouldn't recognize me by my voice. Your friend would, however. I think I met him once. Nearly killed him, but he had an honest air about him."
"Gee, thanks." She heard Jesse mumble.
As the man walked around from behind her, Tahki snapped her head around. "I'll ask again; who the hell are you? And where am I?"
What kind of a man dressed in pink? Lots of it. Or was it crimson? Either way, it was just a lot of pink, one of her least favourite colours. Pink shirt, pink pants, thankfully he didn't have pink shoes. More like maroon. There was a cream shirt underneath the pink one. Or perhaps ivory. He had slightly tanned skin, but it still looked like he barely got outside. Most of his head was shaved, save for the top part. The shaved areas were black, or dark brown. The hair that wasn't cut away was a platinum blonde.
Was this man trying to make people go blind?!
The man turned on his heel, giving her an almost condescending look. He placed his hands on the table and leaned in towards her. Was he wearing makeup?! "I don't believe you're in a very good position to be making demands."
"I never am, but I make them anyways." She snapped, her eyes narrowed and glaring.
The man smiled, a charming but at the same time, very dangerous smile. "I like your spirit, Tahki. So I'll humour you." The man sat down in a chair, folding his hands on top of the table. "You have heard of the... terrorists, yes? Well, of course you have, why else would you be in North Kyrat?"
Tahki stayed silent. If this man was only bluffing her, she best hold her tongue lest she give anything away.
"You see, after hearing about you and your coming into Kyrat, I figured that those terrorists would be after you." He chuckled. "You were a clever girl, being able to hide for so long. But you should've hidden for just a while longer."
She rolled her eyes and groaned. "This is answering nothing!"
His smile suddenly disappeared, his expression turning grim. "Did he not mention his work, your father? Or are you just choosing to forget."
Her brows furrowed. Of course, the bastard spoke enough of his work, but what did that have to do with anything? She then briefly remembered the young man that had spoken to she and Jesse earlier that day. "Your father did work for the King many years ago."
Her eyes widened slightly and a ghost of a gasp escaped her lips. This did not go unnoticed by him.
Pagan Min raised an eyebrow. "Ring a bell, now?"
Tahki snapped her head to Jesse, who only shrugged helplessly. This man, the one who had them captured... was Pagan Min.
In an instant, her heart turned ice cold and her expression turned dark, her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a snarl. "I don't care who you are." She stood from the table, leaning in threateningly. "You had absolutely no right to get me or my friend almost killed!" She growled.
He sighed. "As I said, my men don't listen to orders very well. I told them to stop you, not shoot you."
"I really couldn't care less." She glowered. "And unless you want to be the one getting shot, I suggest you let me and Jesse walk out of this place. I may not look like much, but if I wanted to, I could break your neck and kill your guard before you could even count to three!"
Pagan laughed, then, loudly and jubilantly. "Oh, I like you." He stood from his own chair. "I know for a fact that you could, Tahki. But, you see, with those terrorists knowing of your presence in Kyrat, you wouldn't last a day out there. That's why I placed it upon myself to keep both you and your friend protected. It's the least I can do, of course, for your father. He would no doubt want his little girl safe." He went to place a hand on her shoulder, but she instantly smacked his hand away.
"Even if my father was alive, he wouldn't care." She hissed.
"Well, regardless, you are staying under my protection until the matter with the terrorists is taken care of."
"We don't need your 'protection'."
"You don't have a choice in the matter."
"I could just kill you."
The head of the gun was pointed against her skull, once again. "And if you don't get that thing out of my face," She turned around and glared at the soldier. "I will take your soul and sell it to the devil himself for a fucking dime!"
For a short instant, the soldier backed away from Tahki. Jesse cleared his throat. "I wouldn't put that past her, either; she could take your soul just by looking at you."
"Shut up!"
He flinched away from her. "Look, KiKi, I'm thinking we should just listen to this guy." When she glared, he shrugged. "This is his palace, the most defended area in Kyrat. We won't be able to make it out of here alive even if we tried. Come on, use your common sense."
She huffed heavily. If Jesse was right (and he was rarely wrong), then there really was no way to get out of this situation. Pagan Min appeared to be friendly enough that he wouldn't hurt them, which was a helluva lot better than risking it out there with the Golden Path. By the sounds of it, Sabal wasn't the most friendliest person around. She could very well end up dead. Or worse.
Pagan waited patiently for her answer, seeing that she was most likely in charge. Or at the very least, the majority of final decisions were hers to make. He already knew what it would be, of course, but he still waited. No sense in rushing the poor girl; she had been through a lot, already. No need for pressure.
Tahki shot the man a threatening look. "If there's some sort of catch with us staying here..."
"I assure you, there are none. Unless you wish for there to be, then it can certainly be arranged."
She eyed him up, almost as if she were inspecting him. He was a very difficult man to read. Most psychotic men were, but they would at least betray a little bit of something. Not him, though. He was either really well practiced, or the drugs were still having some sort of effect on her brain. "Fine. But if there's something I see or hear that I don't like, Jesse and I are packing up and leaving."
Pagan's face suddenly brightened. "Ah, speaking of packing, my men salvaged your destroyed vehicle and managed to fish out your belongings. They're in your rooms." He clapped his hands together. "Now, with that all out of the way, I have some business to attend to."
Tahki watched in disbelief as he walked nonchalantly out of the room, almost as if nothing had happened. What was wrong with this man?!
The guard cut the ropes that tied Jesse to the chair. "You know, you really need to learn to cool your jets." He said, rubbing at his wrists. "I get it, you don't like him. But could you at least be a little, I don't know, civil?"
"You know, for a man who's hated by a lot of people, he sure is trusting." She muttered.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Either that, or he's just ignorant..."
Jesse sighed and turned to the guard who, in return, just gave him a blank stare. "Such welcoming people..." He mumbled.
"You two are to follow me." The guard said.
Tahki placed her hand on her hip and turned around. "And who is 'me'?"
He visibly hesitated. He wasn't used to people asking for his first name. At all. Then again, he wasn't used to just escorting prisoners. "Ronin."
"Alright, well, if we're to follow you..." She gestured with her hand. "Lead on."