Chapter 5: Sleepy Town Blues. (I)

Edward could not sleep, no matter how hard he tried. He was worried about the family business, about his little sister, about the recent raids, about the war that seemed to know no end, and a lot more. He was young, just turned twenty-three last spring, but he already had to deal with all sorts of responsibilities ever since the death of his parents.

Not only he had to bear the pain of losing his father and mother, he also had to take care of Lilia, his little sister and now the only family he had left, all by himself while running a declining business in a backwater town, barely making enough to put bread on the table. His dreams of becoming an adventurer and moving to Lescatie had been shattered, now he could only hope for a boring and monotonous life, one where he and his sister were not homeless, and that was the optimistic possibility.

"Ugh," he complained while getting up, sitting on the edge of the bed while rubbing his face with frustration.

Only a couple of months had passed since the last raid, in which he lost several friends to the monsters. He suffered countless nightmares since then, still vividly remembering the screams and pleas of his friends as they were dragged into the forest, never to be seen again. Anxiety was killing him. So many worries were preventing him from resting, he wasn't even able to remember the last time he'd had a pleasant night's sleep. Sometimes he considered just running off into the woods and letting the monsters do whatever they wanted to him and be done with it all.

He was just tired, so, so tired.

"…huh?"

Perhaps it was lack of sleep that made him hear things, but for a moment, he could have sworn he heard what sounded like laughter coming from outside the window. He contemplated the option of ignoring it and returning to his sleep struggle, but curiosity got the better of him.

The brown-haired man slowly got out of bed, looking with concern and interest at the window. It was dark outside, with the clouds covering the moon and blocking any light, so he couldn't see what was outside. Edward didn't know why, but he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat as he approached the window, as if some primitive survival instinct was warning him of impending danger.

He heard laughter again, louder now; it was undeniable that there was someone on the other side of the window. This made him gasp, quickly taking a step back. A few excruciating, stressful minutes of silence passed, during which time he remained frozen in place, not having the courage to move. Part of him wanted to think that if he stayed still, everything would work out. Whoever was outside would get bored and leave, and he could go back to bed without a problem.

"I know you are there!~" a teasing female voice crooned from the other side of the window.

Edward's heart stopped at that. He involuntarily opened his mouth in terror, more than ready to scream, but the sound of breaking glass echoed through the room before he could react. The young man didn't bother to stand and stare at the invader, let alone try to defend himself; he simply fled for the door as fast as his legs would allow.

"Lilia, intruders!" he shouted in panic while exiting his bedroom. "Lilia!"

His biggest concern was his little sister. She was the only family he had left, and unlike him, she still had a chance at a bright future. He didn't care if the house was robbed, they barely had anything of value, he wasn't even worried about his own safety, the only thing on his mind was making sure his sister fled to safety.

The young man managed to get out of his room, closing the door behind him. The room was plunged into darkness, making it difficult to see where he was running without a candle at hand; it didn't help that he was in a state of panic, so it was inevitable that he would soon crash into a nearby table in his panicked rush, falling to the floor.

"Damn it!" Edward cried out in pain.

"Edward?" a squeaky female voice rang out in the middle of the pitch darkness. "Where are you?"

"Lilia! Stay where you are, I'm—"

Suddenly, the front door burst open. The clouds that hid the moon cleared, allowing the moonlight to illuminate once again and show who had just invaded the house: monsters. Specifically, five orcs, who laughed and cheered as they dragged the siblings out of the house.

The siblings could only watch in horror as they witnessed how the orc tribe attacked their town once again. Entire families were taken from their homes; houses were destroyed or burned to the ground, cattle and crops stolen from their righteous owners, people trying to flee and very few succeeding, and more atrocities that they did not have the stomach to endure. Lilia was the first to break down, crying and shaking in fear at the sight.

"Look at this cutie I found!" said the orc who dragged the whimpering brunette.

"Leave my sister alone, you monsters!" shouted Edward in what appeared to be a brave outburst, but instead sounded like a sad whining.

The siblings found themselves surrounded by the five orcs, with two of them charged with pinning them down while the others began groping the older brother, forcing the younger sister to watch. He was now the center of attention, having all those filthy hands exploring his body, from his chest to his nether regions, touching, rubbing and even grabbing what he had so devotedly reserved for marriage. One of the monsters even grabbed his face, forcing herself against his lips in what tragically was his first kiss, all while the others began tearing at his clothes, stripping him naked. He had hoped for a better life, to be an adventurer, to gain fame, to meet the woman of his life, maybe even have children, but instead he was being swarmed by the orcs with no chance to do anything but listen to Lilia's faint cry.

Edward was not able to do anything. If he was a hero then he could easily slay all of the invading monsters and save his sister and the village, but he was not. He was weak, and that frustrated him enough to start shedding tears of despair.

"Chief God… please help us," he began to pray in a low voice as he was pinned against the ground, with one of the monsters getting on top of him. He was surrounded by orcs, no longer able to see his sister, but still listening to her cries for help. "Please, someone, save us."

"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day."

A male voice resonated in the village out of nowhere. It was singing, but it was in a language that neither villager nor monster knew.

"Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have too much to say."

The orcs looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of that strange voice. Suddenly, they heard screams.

"No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip."

Not only could they hear screams, but also small deafening explosions, as if someone was casting explosive magic but on a lesser scale.

"The stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip."

"W-what is happ—"

The orc lying on top of Edward could not finish her sentence, for her head burst bloody, to the horror of the other present.

"Lyra!" screamed one of the orcs in horror, barely able to comprehend what just happened.

The other orcs quickly put themselves on guard, trying to defend from the mysterious attack, but it proved to be a futile attempt. One after the other they fell to the ground, dead, without knowing what took their life.

"Big iron on his hip."

Edward remained on the ground, half-naked and covered in blood and viscera, not knowing what in the Chief God's name just happened. The monsters were dead, and he was saved, but how?

He could hear footsteps near him, and with that, the strange singing voice became louder and louder. Edward looked at his side, finding a tall and shadowy figure with what appeared to be two large glowing red eyes. He was sure that it was the grim reaper coming to get him, so he closed his eyes and expected the worst.

The Courier couldn't catch a break. Not only did he have to go through that damned forest during the night instead of getting a good night's sleep, but now he had to face a raid on the first settlement he found. He expected to arrive and find a place to sleep, but instead, he found the village attacked by raiders. To make matters worse, the mutant bird that showed him the way vanished into thin air the moment they arrived, probably using a Stealth Boy to flee.

Now he had to deal with raiders, his only source of information of these new lands escaped, and he was still sleep deprived. Needless to say, he was pissed.

"ED-E, play one of the classics," he asked his robotic friend while he drew the Ranger Sequoia from the holster, checking up the ammunition. After that, he put up his helmet and set up the night vision, causing the helmet lens to glow with a bright reddish light. "Maybe some good ol' Marty Robbins, if you're so kind."

The eyebot agreed, quickly searching his databanks for the appropriate song. It did not take long for him to start playing the beginning of Big Iron.

The Courier nodded in approval. "You know me so well, lil' buddy."

And just like that, Courier and ED-E rushed into the center of the battle. The man took advantage of the chaos and darkness of the night, firing one head shot after another in a cold and precise manner. He moved quickly, and one by one, the assailants fell lifeless to the ground, without even a chance to react. The eyebot kept playing the song as he stood beside them, using his internal speakers at full blast to make sure Robbins' sweet voice was louder than the gunshots and screams.

It was a massacre, which the invaders did not realize until it was too late; he would even feel bad if it were not for the fact that they were a raiding party. The Courier was now heading towards the center of the city, leaving a trail of corpses behind him, something that in a twisted way made him nostalgic. He could easily wipe out the raiding gang, but frankly, it would be a waste of ammunition and time, the quickest solution would be to find the leader, but that proved to be difficult. They all looked the same.

The Courier came across a little group of about five raiders, all circling around something. He decided to end it quickly, so he entered V.A.T.S on his Pip-Boy, targeting the heads of each one of them. Five consecutive shots fired, all hitting the target. Nothing stood in his way by the time he had to reload. However, something caught his attention while reloading new bullets into the barrel of the revolver. It was the body of a young man almost naked and covered in blood, but still alive.

"You feeling okay there, fella?" the Courier asked him as he approached.

The Courier crouched down next to the young man, inspecting him closely. The stranger did not show any kind of injury or wound, even when his body was exposed and his clothes ripped apart. He could determine that the damage was not physical, but on an emotional level.

"Here, this will help," he said while taking out his trusty Vault 13 canteen, pouring some water on the stranger's face, wiping away the blood. Next, he offered the canteen, inviting him to take a drink. "Drink up, fella. It's not whiskey, but it will calm you down."

It wasn't much, but a good drink of water was always able to lift the spirits. The stranger merely looked at him in terror and confusion, hesitant to accept the offer. Finally he conceded, raising his trembling hand to take the canteen, taking a long sip of water. As he did so, the Courier could hear someone running toward them, so he quickly drew his revolver and took aim. He expected to find a raider trying to attack while he was distracted, but instead, he found a small brunette with tears in her eyes.

"Leave my brother alone, fiend!" screamed the girl at the top of her lungs before launching herself against the taller man, giving weak and childish blows against the chest plate of his armor.

The girl was fighting valiantly in the defense of her brother; it honestly warmed the mechanical heart of the Courier.

"L-Lilia, wait," murmured the older sibling while trying to get up, still shaking. "H-he saved me."

"He… he did?" she asked while stopping her infantile attack.

"I did," the Courier said jovially as he ruffled the girl's hair. "Now if you'll excuse me."

The man stood up to his full height once more and took one last look at the siblings. The girl hugged her brother, with her face buried in his chest. The young man still had the canteen in his hand, looking particularly nervous.

"Save it for me while I come back," he told the youngster as he turned his back on him, resuming his way.

ED-E followed him close, making both siblings jump back in surprise, no doubt the first time they had even seen a robot, and that meant bad news. He was starting to believe that he landed in some unknown tribal lands far away. His explorer side was excited with the prospect of exploring a new and mysterious region, but the other part of him started to fear the possibility that he would not be able to find a nice cold sunset while he stayed there.

Urga could not be more proud of her girls, not even if she tried. Most of the time they were the cause of her migraines, but when it came to raids they always stood out. They were a relatively small tribe, with only thirty members, but they made up for their lack of numbers with a strong and unbreakable sisterhood. They had the back of each other, never falling into trivial disputes or rivalries, always working together for the good of all of them.

That night's raid was a success like none other, even better than the one of months ago. They managed to take the town completely by surprise by taking advantage of a sleepy entrance guard. Once he was taken care of, they had the stealth factor on their side, managing to slip through the town undetected, capable of attacking before the humans had the opportunity to react. By the time they became aware of the raid, it was too late.

"Keep them coming!" ordered the high orc as she watched proudly how a nicely organized line of new slaves marched in front of her, escorted by her best warriors.

What she thought was a bad idea ended up being a major success. They managed to claim not only enough food and alcohol to guarantee daily feasts, but also caught the biggest number of slaves in her time as a leader. She even reserved herself three cute males for personal use once they got back to their camp.

The rest of the girls were free to do whatever they wanted. Urga gave them permission to have fun with any human they found before bringing them back to the camp, and by the moans she could hear in the distance, it was obvious that most of them decided to accept her kind gesture.

It was indeed a good night, the best she had in a long time. Her nerves finally calmed down, she felt peace in her mind… and then she heard screams.

"Huh?"

At first, it was only a faint scream in the distance, maybe one of her girls playing too hard with a human, but soon she heard more and more, one after the other, and they were all orc's screams. They screamed in horror and pain, and then a deadly silence. Not only that, but she could also hear some kind of music and a distant voice singing in an unknown language.

Urga began sweating cold. Her girls were in danger.

"You!" she pointed at one of her warriors. "Watch the slaves, do not let anyone get away. The rest of you, follow me!"

With that order, the high orc and her underlings began a panicked race, trying to find the reason for those screams. In her way she found other orcs who, like her, were disturbed by the screaming, but without knowing the cause of them. They quickly followed her, putting aside her raiding.

Her worst fears become reality when she finds the corpse of Irla. She only recognized her by the smell; otherwise, it would be impossible to do due to the brutal state of her body.

"What is this…" she muttered to herself as she clenched her fist in rage. "Who… who did this!?"

The high orc screamed in fury, with her voice resounding through town, instilling fear in the hearts of both the orc and human. It did not help that she found more corpses the more she walked. Karla, Andrea, Jan, Aqui, all girls she knew and cared about, her underlings, now mere corpses on the dirty ground. She found twelve dead bodies in total; almost half of her tribe was now dead. She was now shaking in rage, gripping the hilt of her battle-axe with such intensity that it threatened to break the wood from which it was made.

"Who is responsible!?" she shouted as she attacked the wall of a nearby house with her battle-axe in a fit of anger, causing it to crumble. "Show yourself, you bastard!"

"No need to be so loud, sweetie," said a mysterious voice at the distance, earning the attention of those present.

Both the high orc and the orcs looked up from where they heard the voice coming. There they saw something that made them shiver: a couple of big, bright, red eyes in the middle of the darkness. None of them were able to move, not even Urga; they remained all frozen in fear as they watched how that unknown figure came closer to them.

"Who… what are you?" Urga managed to ask despite her own fear.

The figure came slowly, approaching a nearby fire and allowing its light to reveal its true appearance. It was a humanoid figure covered in a kind of cloak that looked relatively familiar, with a helmet that concealed its true face, only showing those terrifying glowing red eyes, like an evil overlord from legend. Its essence was unmistakable; it was a male, a human male.

The mysterious man did not reply; instead, he just stared at them in silence, as if analyzing them.

Then he spoke.

"Just a courier passing by."

It was not strange for him to deal with female raiders, in fact, once he had to deal with a gang of mugger grannies in Freeside, but it was the first time he ever saw so many attractive raiders. However, none of them compared to the beauty that stood in front of him. She was tall, just as big as he was, maybe even a bit taller, with brown skin and long silver hair. Her voluptuous body was barely covered with a tribal garment like no other he had ever seen before. Truth be told, he would rather invite her for a drink, but a raider was a raider.

"A… courier?" asked the silver-haired, looking at him with caution.

"Ah-ah, I answered your question, now you answer mine," he gleefully said. "Would you happen to be the leader of these gals?"

The expression of the woman's face was one of notable confusion, but she soon adopted a stern and serious look.

"I am," she stated firmly. "Are you the bastard who massacred my girls?"

"That I am," the Courier replied nonchalantly, as if it was not a big deal, at least not for him. "Now, are you perhaps interested in a deal?"

She glared at him in confusion. "A what?"

"Y'know, a bargain, negotiation, parleying, that kind of stuff," he explained in a somewhat condescending manner. "In my opinion there's been enough bloodshed and tragedy for one night. Why don't you and your girls get out of here, so we can all go our merry ways?"

The raider leader blinked twice, looking both shocked and insulted at such a suggestion.

"Retreat? After you killed my girls, you expect me to flee with my tail between my legs!?" she erupted in rage, pointing her battle-axe at him. "I have a better idea, how about I turn you into my personal fuck toy for the rest of your life?"

"That's an alternative," he calmly replied. "Then how about this? You and me, one on one, the winner gets to decide and the loser obeys. That way everyone's happy, don't you agree?"

She seemed honestly surprised at that offer; maybe it was the first time anyone dared to challenge her. The leader turned around to see her underlings, nodding at them before looking at him once again.

"I, Urga, accept your challenge!" she proudly proclaimed. "State your terms!"

"The first to touch the ground loses, that's all," the Courier detailed while crossing his arms.

"Fine by me!"

And with that, the tall woman began to race at him while wielding her battle-axe up in the air, surely expecting that a single and swift swing of her weapon would be enough to end the battle. The Courier just stood there, with his arms crossed, not moving an inch and without bothering to draw his revolver. The villagers and raiders alike thought that perhaps fear had caused him to freeze on the spot.

"You are mine!" she announced with a smile, finally reaching him and swinging her battle-axe down with both hands in a powerful attack, one destined to slice him down.

The Courier finally decided to act just when the blade of the battle axe was just inches from his neck, backing up and ducking to evade the attack. Not only that, while crouching he performed a quick but powerful leg sweep, kicking his opponent's legs with such force that he knocked her backwards to the ground. The woman's back hit the ground sharply, causing the air to escape her lungs. It was Ranger Takedown, a souvenir of an old soldier from Novac.

Without giving her time to process what just happened, the Courier unsheathed Blood-Nap and quickly pinned her to the ground, putting the edge of the knife against her throat. The battle ended in less of a minute, and he was the clear winner.

"Now, now, can you believe it? It seems that I've won!" he jokingly proclaimed. "And if my memory serves me right, the loser must do what the winner says, isn't that right?"

He expected to see her cute face disfigured in an expression of hatred and rage, for her to insult him, threaten him, and even call for her underlings to come for her aid and attack him, but instead of that, he found something that no years of experience in the Wasteland could prepare him. A blushed face.

"You can do whatever you want with me," she shyly muttered, gazing at him in a submissive manner.

'The fuck did she say?' he thought to himself, thinking that it was maybe some sort of trick.

She did not look like a defeated raider who was humiliated in front of her band; instead, she looked like a shy bride on her honeymoon moments before surrendering her body to her new husband. That truly freaked him out.

Courier looked away, seeing ED-E who was still hiding in the shadows, just as instructed. If things went south, he had the order of sniping down the other raiders from a distance while the Courier dealt with the leader himself. However, that plan was apparently no longer necessary. All the other raiders quickly dropped their weapons, with most of them falling to their knees, bowing before him while a few others hugged themselves with panicked expressions on their faces, their fighting spirit extinguished the moment they saw their boss falling to the ground.

"Well…" the Courier began to speak, although still confused about the situation. "First, I want you and your gang to get the hell out of this town and never come back. And you better leave with your hands empty, if I discover that you left with something, be it food or people, I'll be pissed."

The woman nodded silently at the order, not daring to reply.

"Second, you'll keep your cute mouth shut about what happened today. I don't want you gossiping around with your friends and bringing me trouble. If I found out that you did, there'll be consequences, comprende?"

She nodded once again.

"And third… I like your ax, I want it."

That last condition was just a petty one. He loved to collect exotic stuff on his travels, and a nice tribal battle-axe from faraway lands would make a nice addition to his collection in the Presidential Suite of the Lucky 38.

Like before, she agreed without saying a word, even dropping her weapon to the ground for him to take.

"Good, I'm glad we came to an agreement."

The Courier pushed Blood-Nap aside, standing up once more, leaving the silver-haired defeated on the ground.

"Now leave, all of you," he instructed. "And you'd better not set foot in this town again in your life."

The leader of the raiders rose quickly from the ground, placing both hands on her own chest, never ceasing to look at him with those submissive yellow eyes of hers. She looked conflicted, as if the order to leave was the one that affected her the most. She lasted a few seconds before she slowly turned around, giving the order to the others to retreat and leaving with the surviving members of her band, but not before turning one last time to look at him, giving him a melancholy look before disappearing into the darkness of the night.

The raid was finally over.

"A hero! A hero has saved us!" announced one of the villagers in jubilation.

The Courier found himself surrounded left and right by the townspeople, all wanting to thank him for his deed. No matter how he tried, he was unable to take a step before having to face a grateful villager.

"You saved my son! Thank you hero, thank you so much!" cried out an old woman while hugging one of his arms in tears.

"The Chief God has blessed us with her champion!" said one man in religious fervor.

Things were not going according to plan. He just wanted to keep a low profile, to do two or three jobs around to gather information and resources, but now everyone in town knew about him and were cheering him out loud.

"Hey now, there's no need to ex—"

The sudden grabbing of his hands interrupted him. The responsible was an older man, surely the elder in charge of the place.

"Oh, great hero!" he began to say as he wept with joy. "We can never make up for what you have done for us, but rest assured that your deeds will be remembered for generations! Your name and your actions will spread throughout these lands, we will make sure that the whole world knows about the miracle that took place today!"

That was bad. If the news of his actions reached the ears of certain people, then his journey back to the Mojave would be more than difficult. He made many enemies over the years, all of them waiting for the perfect moment to attack, and his current situation was more than ideal for them.

ED-E still remained hidden, far from the group that now surrounded the Courier, keeping an eye close for any suspicious movement. Bad experiences in Freeside taught him to be aware of big groups of people; one never knew from where the stab came from until it was too late.

"Please hero, tell us your name, so we can immortalize it in the history of our village!" begged one scholar.

That was something that he could not say, because once the word got out both NCR and Legion would send their men to hunt him down and sabotage his return home. Worse still, if it were known that he was no longer in the Federation, they would certainly take advantage of his absence and attack while he was gone.

Unsure of what to do, he looked down to his newly acquired battle-axe and a sudden memory came to his mind, specifically that of an old comic book he found in Jacobstown.

"My name is… Grognak," he said, hoping to God that none of them knew about comic books.

"All hail Grognak, our hero!"

The crowd began chanting his fake name, much to his embarrassment. The sun was already rising on the horizon, bringing with it a new day and the beginning of a new legend.