Courier Six sat down on one of the big stones. He finally arrived at Zion. Clear sky, deep canyons, flora aplenty, and some damn good view. It was really all a wastelander could ask for. Combine that with the abundance of food and it truly is a paradise.

The Courier put down all his loot. From the Roughin' it! Bedroll kit to the duffle-bag full of guns and ammo, he'd been hauling nearly two hundred pounds for an entire week. That's not even counting the scraps and food in his backpack. All and all, about three-hundred-and-fifty pounds worth of gear was brought from the comfort of the Lucky 38 to Zion. Admittedly, most of the food had already been consumed during the two-week journey there.

The ammo, though, was barely touched. Using the Stealth Suit Mk 2 the Courier was able to avoid all wildlife along the way.

Courier Six takes off his elite riot gear helmet and breathes in the fresh air. It was definitely better that the Mojave air, and better in certain ways compared to the Lucky 38's cooled environment.

"The view here is nice," the stealth suit voiced.

"It is, isn't it," the Courier replied. He reached for a bottle of water in his inventory. "Makes ya wanna live here."

"Well, why don't we? Yes Man can run the Strip just fine without you. And, it'll be just the two of us here." The Stealth Suit put on a seductive tone for that last sentence.

"It won't, actually." He said that with a very neutral tone. While Courier Six might've been many things - murderer, Brotherhood Paladin, scientist, mailman, bounty hunter, Red Lucy's prime egg-snatcher, and Autocrat of the Strip - he is not one to have an... intimate relation with his armour. That said, he couldn't just yell at the stealth suit and tell it to calm it down in the flirting department because of the fact that it had feelings. The complication of having a horny AI in his main armour was something that displeased the bloodthirsty deliveryman greatly. "We should see some tribals once we get deeper."

The stealth suit made a disappointed noise.

Finishing his water and keeping the bottle on him to reuse later, the Courier packed up and made his was deeper into Zion.

He took out Dinner Bell from his duffle-bag just in case any Yao Guais show up. Can't be too careful.

Stopping along the way, Courier Six knelt down to pick a Nevada agave. The canyons were abundant with plants, and the Courier remembered picking up so much he had to crawl back to camp.

He kept on walking deeper until he got to the Crashed Scout Bus. Looking down, the Courier gave the poor souls a moment of silence. It was quickly broken by something moving towards him.

[Perception 10] Rustling to the left. The Courier turned around and used VATS to identify the source of the noise. Three geckos were charging at him.

One shot. The lead gecko fell to the ground without its head. Two shots. This one struck another gecko in the chest, killing it. Three shots. This one missed completely as the gecko had tackled Courier Six mid-aim.

It bit down on his shoulder, the armour absorbing most of the damage.

"Good boys and girls take their med-x," the stealth suit announced as it pumped painkillers into its wearer's system.

The Courier grabbed Blood-Nap from its place on his belt and stabbed it into the geckos throat. The gecko, getting many of its blood vessels cut opened, sprayed blood all over its victorious target. Courier Six pushed the creature off of him and wiped the blood off his helmets lenses. He looked at all the geckos he's killed and decided to only skin the one he stabbed and leave the other two for the locals.

He looked at his Pip-boy. Still good on med-x. At least she waited till I got hit this time.

After that, he got to work. The Courier grabbed the chosen body and hauled it the the Zion Valley Welcome Booth. He set the body near the campfire there and started skinning.

About an hour or so later, he got to enjoy the juicy taste of gecko steak. Just in time for lunch, too. The skin was just left to the side. He was going to give that to the Dead Horses.

[Perception 10] Footsteps directly behind. Dinner Bell was too far for him to grab. His backpack and duffle-bag would take too long. That left the four sidearms. Ranger Sequoia and the Mysterious Magnum are in the duffle-bag, but Maria and A Light Shining In Darkness were in their holsters.

[Agility 10] The Courier dropped the plate of gecko stake and sprang up and turned behind him. A Light Shining in Darkness loaded with special ammunition aimed at the level where a person's head would be at.

"Woah, owslandr," the Dead Horse scout recoiled.

"Shit," the Courier cursed. He holstered his weapon. "You guys ever not sneak up on people?"

"I bring you to warchief," the scout said, ignoring the remark.

"Wait, what?"

"You owslandr. I bring you to Joshua Graham."

"I... okay?"

Not how I thought this would go. The Courier went to grab his gear and extinguished the fire. "So does Graham know I'm here."

The scout nodded. "We tell him of all who came from out of here."

Courier six strapped his helmet to his belt and grabbed his gecko steak. "Last time I was here, Follows-Chalk was your greeter, what happened to him?"

"You know him?"

The Courier was dumbfounded. What do you mean 'do I know him?' I fucking saved your asses. Do you know me?

"You know who I am, right?" The Courier stared at the scout to gauge his reaction.

"You are owslandr," the Dead Horse replied with a straight face. "You come from the south."

Courier Six sighed. "Ah, fuck it. Yeah, sure, take me to Graham."

The scout nodded and turned around. He lead on and the Courier followed him. Though he might've seemed indifferent on the outside, he was quickly thinking as to why the outsider behind him knew of his fellow tribesman.

Damn, how the fuck did I miss those. At the top of the canyons were about a dozen Dead Horse warriors. Clearly they were there in case their visitor turned hostile.

The journey down the Eastern Virgin was silent aside from the splashing. There were many other tribals going about their business, and a lot of them glanced at the newcomer. Caravans would sometimes pass through Zion and stop to trade. But, no caravan was just one guy wearing some sort of odd black-and-white armour with a fairly threatening red-eyed helmet and holding enough equipment to rival a pack brahmin.

In the main encampment, Joshua Graham was sat down near a campfire reading the Bible. He looked up to see the Courier approaching him along with one of the scouts.

"When they told me we had a visitor," the Burned Man began, "I didn't expect it to be you." He closed his copy of the Bible and pocketed it.

"Some new clothes and a beard and you guys don't recognise me." The Courier sat down opposite to Graham. "You're almost as bad as the NCR."

Joshua chuckled. "What brings you to Zion?"

"Eh, visiting. Didn't have much else to do." The Courier took out a bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla. "Thought I should catch up with a friend after a whole year."

The Burned Man smiled. "Would you like for us to prepare you some food?"

The Courier shook his head. "Had gecko on the way here."

"Joshua; who is this?" The scout from before joined them by the fire.

"You seriously don't remember me?"

The Dead Horse shook his head.

"The name's Courier Six. Came here bout a year ago and cleared the White Legs for you."

The tribal's eyes widen up in realisation. "Sorry Six, I didn't remember you."

"Heh, don't worry about it." Courier Six chuckled. "Was it the beard or the armour?"

The scout looked at him for a moment. "The beard. We don't do that around here."

Only Daniel, the other missionary, had any facial hair. The two tribes in this area all shaved all their body hair, and Graham doesn't really grow hair on account of being burnt all over.

The two continued to talk until it was night. The Courier talked of how he went on to be a Brotherhood of Steel paladin, an autocrat of New Vegas, and a victor of Hoover Dam. And Graham talked of how the two tribes recovered and grew after the death of Salt-Upon-Wounds and how Follows-Chalk had already left to explore 'civilised lands'.


The next morning began with the duo going over to visit Daniel and the Sorrows. Everything went rather smoothly as the three talked for many hours. One of the topics happened to be about the Courier's arsenal.

"Well I've got a chainsaw, a bowie knife called Blood-nap, an anti-material rifle, a marksman carbine called All-American, a lever-action rifle using 45-70 called Medicine Stick, a pump-action shotgun called Dinner Bell, and riot shotgun, an assault carbine, a 9mm pistol called Maria, a .44 magnum called the Mysterious Magnum, a Ranger Sequoia, A Light Shining In Darkness, and this nifty things called a Sonic Emitter." Courier Six showed each one of them off as he listed them.

"Sonic Emitter?" Daniel raised a question.

"Hmmm? Oh yeah. It emits sounds at lethal frequencies."

The two New Canaanites look at the rambling mailman with a questioning tone.

"I hear it's also good for biogel massage."

"Where did you find this?" Graham asked.

"Same place I got this armour. Big Mountain, also known as the Big Empty."

"You went into the Big Empty?"

"More like kidnapped."

"Is that where you got those scars?" Daniel pointed at the surgical scar on the Couriers head.

"That and a few more. They lobotomized me and stole my heart and spine."

The two Mormons looked at their friend in silence and disbelief.

"Also the stealth suit talks."

"Hello," the stealth suit said.

The two Mormons continued to look at their friend in silence and disbelief.

"The Lord truly works in mysterious ways," Daniel mumbled to himself.

"I got them back. Well, my brain, anyways. They replaced my heart with an artificial one that filters out poison, and my spine with an overly-teched hunk of metal."

The three sat there in a mix of contemplative and awkward silence for about a minute. Then, Graham broke it. "You've had quite the adventure."

"I haven't even gotten to the part where I broke into a pre-war casino filled with solid holograms and unkillable abominations." The Courier chuckled.

...

A moment of silence went by before they started on another topic.


After their conversation, the trio went on a gathering trip. They collected various fruits, herbs, and vegetables before heading back. All of them went about their businesses 'till nightfall.

While the two New Canaanites slept in one of the many caves, the Courier rolled out his Roughin' it! bedroll and slept outside because he had his [Home on the Range].

"Even after so many years, I find it shocking that there is so much out there," Graham commented from his sleeping spot.

"Quite so," Daniel replied from his.

Joshua's gaze wandered to a cave mushroom on the wall. "It almost reignites my wanderlust. To go see what's still out there that we haven't seen, and to spread the good word of God."

Daniel looked at his friend. Behind the bandages, the Burned Man's scarred face bore an expression of sorrow, of sadness.

"I'm not saying what you did with Caesar all those years ago should be ignored, but you can't hang on to it forever."

"It's not about that." Grahams gaze turned back to meet Daniel's eyes. "It's about what I leave behind. To leave Zion is to leave the Sorrows and the Dead Horses. Though they are not New Canaanites, they are family. I don't think I can do such a thing."

"Joshua, you could always come back. Like Six did. If you want to follow him to New Vegas, go for it."

Graham thought about it for a moment. "I'll... I don't want to revisit that part of my history."

Daniel looked at him and sighed. "I'm not saying you should. But, there are many people out there that could use a helping hand or the teachings of New Canaan. All I'm saying is that, if you can help people while you learn something along the way, why not?"

Joshua smiled. "I'll think on it."


A few days and many dozen shenanigans later, the Courier was packing up to leave. His time in Zion had been eventful, but responsibilities back in New Vegas pulled him back.

That, and it was nearly time for Red Lucy to restock her supply of gladiators. Can't miss out on the fun and caps of it.

[Perception 10] Footsteps. Courier Six turned around to see Graham approaching him.

"Come to say your farewells?" The Courier smirked under his helmet.

"Actually, I'll be going with you," Graham responded.

"...wait what?"

"I've decided that, though New Canaan has been destroyed, its teachings should still be spread across the waste."

"What about the NCR, and the past, and the things, and... y'know."

Joshua chuckled. "I do know. But, God willing, they won't matter. If one more soul is saved, then I don't mind being shot at."

The Courier took out Medicine Stick and loaded it with SWC. "It'll be a long trip back to the Mojave, you sure bout this?"

Graham motioned at the .45 auto pistol on his hip. "Yes."

Courier Six turned back around and began walking to the Southern Passage. "Then lets go."