Fallout: Storm Over The Mojave

[BaldurAnthology]

Greebo snarled.

 

"Did I say you were evil? No. I heard most of that conversation. So he threatened you. I've been threatened. I still try and find the peaceful solution. But then again, perhaps that's me having wizened up in my VERY old age. He didn't force your hand. YOU did. You are in control of your own actions, not the NCR Trooper. If you were going to kill him, you could have at least done it more discreetly. But nope, right in the open where anyone could see it, and indeed at least two did. Myself and the young lass. So, mister Not Evil, prove yourself. Start doing things right, and maybe the girl won't be so frigging TERRIFIED of you. Do something stupid, like say try to hurt her, and I'll kill you where you stand. Understood? This conversation is over. You know what you have to do." He turned on his heel and walked away to deal with Shiori once he calmed down.

[Flipout6]

Jason could not believe this. Well, yes he could. He was just surprised at how narrow-minded he perceived Greebo to be acting right now. He walked beside Greebo as he said his piece. That little fire of anger within him, which started out so tiny, was slowly beginning to grow. (although it was still quite small.)

 

"Think I'll let him kill Guardian? Just Shoot him, turn the gun on me? He kills me, Guardian's alone in the world. I play along, I betray those who raised me, leading to miniature genocide. I lie, they find out, target you, Guardian, and the robed woman. If I knocked him out? He knows who I am." Jason didn't bother about mentioning Greebo's bit on hurting Shiori. Greebo was angry, said things he didn't strictly mean.

 

Thinking about Guardian, Jason whistled to his beloved hound, and pulled a piece of meat from his rucksack and fed it to Guardian, before giving him some water. Guardian barked happily and looked lovingly up at him, despite being fully aware that Jason's slow fuse had been lit. Jason sat in the sand against a wall and kept to himself as he usually did, not sulking or fuming, just keeping quiet. He wasn't one for talking, anyway.

[Macman253]

Ronin watched this event in silence, He knew the trouble they were facing. The young girl was terrified and armed but she wasn't emotionally mature to handle a firearm, the brotherhood member was cold-hearted and needed a lesson in humility but time may see to that. The girl clad in purple was a zealot, no better then the people she hunted. But then again what disturbed Ronin was he was a piece of each and everyone of these people. The only sane one is the ghoul and most people consider ghouls to be borderline insane.

 

"Irony is such a fickle thing..." he said to himself, things had gotten out of hand quickly but atleast noone was killing each other yet.

[Flipout6]

Jason heard every word of Ronin's comment, and didn't bother commenting himself. He could figure out what was so ironic: Greebo, a ghoul, was the only one who acted perfectly sane. It occured to Jason that an event such as that was highly unusual of him, to act that stubborn in an argument with a child. The reasons were clear and reasonable enough, but that was still unusual. As for his life story, well, he was describing The Lone Wanderer more than himself. And if they wanted the actual life story they'd be waiting a long, long time.

 

Jason sat against the wall, lost in thought. Something told him Shiori wouldn't be the only one learning some lessons in the road ahead. As trained and experienced as he might be, he was still only 24 years old.

 

Guardian laid down beside him and laid his furry head in Jason's lap, not wanting to talk to anyone but his master. After all, one had yelled at him, one had hit him, and one had pointed a gun at him, so Guardian was angry at them. The dark-skinned one in the duster that was like his master but not quite wasn't in the mood to talk, and besides. Guardian could sense Jason was angry, and wanted him to feel better. Jason thought it incredible how intelligent canines could be, and scratched his only true companion's chin affectionately.

[BaldurAnthology]

Greebo walked for several minutes before he was calm enough, then went to have a word with Shiori. The little girl looked at him slightly nervously, after all, she did just see him hit Jason, and yell a lot, but she wasn't scared of him. He grabbed an old folding chair, and sat down on it. He put his face in his hands for a moment, and said,

 

"Sorry I yelled at you kid, but you really have to learn to think before speaking and drawing that gun of yours. One of these days, you're going to draw it, point it at the wrong person, and they're gonna get mad at you, and maybe try and hurt you. Can you try and do that?"

 

Shiori nodded shyly, knowing the old ghoul was still stressed by the lack of his normal verbal tics and cheerful expression. Greebo stood and ruffled her hair, before taking a deep breath and going over to Jason. He stared out across the wastes, not looking at his friend, and said,

 

"I think I owe you and apology my friend. I shouldn't have hit you, nor should I have implied that you were gonna hurt the kid." Greebo looked downcast.

 

Shiori shyly walked over and gave the old ghoul a hug, hoping to cheer him up, giving him the most adorable smile she could muster trying to get him to smile too

[Flipout6]

Jason simply nodded in response to Greebo's apology. He had gone back into his usual routine of speaking as little as he could. He continued to scratch Guardian's chin, unsurprised that he was being completely ignored by Shiori. The fact that he terrified her felt uneasy in his stomach, maybe he'd try and change that. He stood up, Guardian did as well. From a distance, he spoke to Shiori.

 

"I'll still teach two defensive moves, if you wish." He told Shiori. "A takedown, and a counterattack." He left his backpack where he was sitting, so that should she accept he would be able to properly demonstrate. Not against her, of course. Although she'd be able to practice on him if she so wished.

[Macman253]

Ronin slid a hand through his braids and smiled. "The more you treat her like a child, the more she doesn't want to listen to you..." He thought as he slid a arrow on his bowstring.

 

"I'm going hunting...anyone want to come?" He asked, normally he would just leave but he didn't really want to.

[BaldurAnthology]

Shiori took a deep breath, thinking to herself, Perhaps I can practice these on him. and nodded, assuming a loose stance in front of Jason. She had been taught a little hand to hand, but mostly enough to deal with bullies, or to break out of being restrained. She nodded, ready to learn.

 

Greebo pulled out his sniper rifle and chambered a round.

 

"Sure smoothskin. Let's go." His irritation was still there, and he would welcome a chance to shoot something to vent.

 

"Oh, and if I start going a little.. funny, just give me a cuff upside the head. Not to hard or you'll hurt me, but enough to cause a solid whack."

[Flipout6]

Jason noted Shiori's loose stance. She was ready to learn. Jason smiled a bit in his head,(his face didn't change)and spoke.

 

"First move is defensive. A takedown. Use it to gain distance from a stronger enemy, or leave them open to attack." He performed one himself as an example. Shiori watched him intently, learning fast. Jason gestured for her to try on him. She did so, and wound up nailing him in the side of his knee. "Go for the ankles." He said, unfazed. Shiori tried again, and this time succeeded in knocking him off his feet and onto his stomach. The impact forced a bit of air out of him. He got to his feet. Shiori smirked a little, satisfied that she got to hit him.

 

"Good. Next one is a counter, goes like this. Block, then..." He imitated blocking a blow, and then brought his fist up and into an imaginary opponent's jaw. He crouched down to Shiori's level, and had her block a (very soft) punch from him that wouldn't hurt even if it hit her square in the nose. She performed the move properly the first time, and hit him quite hard in the jaw, even making his head snap backwards a little bit. He nodded his affirmative that she did it correctly and stood back up. Shiori felt a bit satisfied. It was fun hitting a murderer (or so she perceived him.)

 

 

Greebo accompanied Ronin on his hunting trip, happy to get away from all the arguing. He was having trouble figuring Jason out. He was a Regulator, a doctor, and put himself before others in the battle of Novac, but he'd also gotten into a fight with an NCR Ranger, murdered a trooper, and seemed to...lock others out. Why would he do that?

 

"Jason's a strange one, old bean. A strange one, indeed." He said absentmindedly to Ronin. He scanned the horizon, his eyes sharp, and saw something move. It looked gray. He took aim with his sniper rifle. It was a gecko, full-grown. Perfect. Greebo took the shot, and the gecko slid three feet across the sand from the force of the round. "What ho! A great shot. We have a gecko to eat, boy, but that won't feed everyone." Diefenbacker rushed to retrieve the corpse, and brought it back to Greebo. "That's a good dog!" He picked up the lifeless gecko. "What say we do some more hunting?"

Edited November 17, 2012 by Flipout6