Rue [Borderlands fanfiction]

Part 1

[Italics indicate a flashback]  [Events take place in the timeframe of Tales from the Borderlands, however the dialogue and events will not be identical to that of the game]

['That's just in fairytales, kiddo. And this ain't no fairytale.']

The hot Pandoran sun on my skin is what woke me. I crawled out from the sheet of board that I slept under and stretched. Another day on Pandora. I automatically put my hand to my hip, feeling for my gun. A gave a small sigh of relief as I felt it there. This was my routine every morning. Wake up, check I've still got my gun. I'm skag meat without it. 

I stood up, walking over to an old bin. Hopefully it had some food in it. I was starving. I stuck my hand into the warm gunk in the bin, trying not to think what it was that I'd stuck my hand into. I'd rather not.

I grinned as I managed to grab an old stick, which still had some meat attached to it. I was about to bite into it ravenously, then realised I should probably know what it was first. I activated my Echo-Eye, scanning it.

I put my hand to my temple, wincing at the pain. 

"What is this?"

"It's an Echo-Eye, babe. It'll save your life one day."

I smiled at the man who had just spoken, holding my hand. He rubbed it, comfortingly. 

"Go on, try it out pumpkin. Be careful though, it might hurt a bit."

I looked over to the wall and saw a painting of a boat. I felt a strange sensation in my head as my Echo began to scan it automatically. Lots of data flashed in front of my eye, so much that I couldn't comprehend it all. Eventually it stopped and showed one piece of information, telling me about the boat.

"This," I said as I began to smile, "this is awesome! Thank you thank you thank you!" I sat up, tightly wrapping my arms around his neck. I felt him softly kiss my cheek. 

"No problem. See, whenever you scan something, it will always bring you back to this moment. You'll always remember me."

It appeared on my Echo as just 'unidentified meat'. Great. "I'll assume it's just skag meat" I said to myself as I bit into the still warm meat. I tried not to think about the flashback that had just occurred. It didn't matter anymore, he was gone. I focused on eating instead.

Once I had consumed the 'unidentified meat' I took a swig of water from a canteen in my satchel, which was on the ground, by my sleeping area. It wasn't as nice as beds I'd had in the past, but with minimal supplies, it was the best I could do.

"And this... This is your new bed, pumpkin!" He led me into a bedroom by my hand to see the largest, comfiest looking bed I'd even seen. "Or should I say, our new bed?" He added, winking at me. "We can have some fun here", he chuckled. 

"This is amazing!" I squealed, running over and jumping on the bed, lying on my back. He chuckled. 

"Glad you like it cupcake." 

I sat up, looking at him.

"Thank you. This... this is perfect." I said, smiling at him. He came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You're perfect." He said, before placing his lips on mine.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek as the flashback finished. I missed him. I quickly wiped it away roughly with the back of my hand. "Stop crying" I hissed at myself, taking my canteen and sitting on a wall, facing the abandoned town where I lived. Old Haven. For the last few weeks, I'd been having these flashbacks. Random moments from my time back on Helios. My old life. 

No. I was happy here, on Pandora. Right?

I told myself that everyday, although deep down I missed my life on Helios. I missed my life with him.

As I was wrapped in my thoughts, I heard a crash from behind me. It was a pair of skags, who had knocked over the bin, looking for something to eat. They suddenly noticed me, and began to approach. I rolled my eyes.

"Get out of here!" I yelled, grabbing my gun and shooting the ground by their feet, hoping they'd get the message. They did, running away. I sighed. What was wrong with me lately? I would've normally just shot them. And there were the flashbacks...

I quickly put the gun back in its holster, angry with myself. I was loosing my tough aura. I needed to keep my reputation down here. That I was not to be messed with. It had worked okay so far. People had avoided me, I'd avoided them. What? I didn't need anyone. I was a lone wolf. A goddamn lonely wolf...

I took another swig from my canteen, thinking that I should probably stop drinking so much, I needed to save my water. Suddenly I heard the noise of a vehicle stopping near. Strange. Usually no one came to this area of Pandora. Maybe they were lost. 

I stood up, putting my canteen back in my bag as I walked over to where the noise came from. It was a caravan, with a Loader Bot on the top. I backed into the shadows as I saw two Pandoran women getting out with... two Hyperions. 

"Hello?" Yelled one of the Hyperions, his voice echoing. I noticed that he had a robotic arm. The other Hyperion walked around, and started to approach the place where I was hiding. I decided to do something. 

"Hey!" I yelled, jumping out of my hiding place, pointing the gun at them. The four of them put their hands up.

"Woah woah woah" Robotic arm spoke in a slightly panicked voice. 

"What are you doing here?" I questioned, pointing the gun at them again. The Pandoran in the hat walked over to me.

"We're looking for the Atlas facility" she spoke. I smiled.

"Course you are." The other Hyperion walked nearer to me, looking at me strangely.

"What's your deal?" I asked him. 

"You look really familiar, that's all. Where you ever up on Hyperion? I feel like I've seen you on a poster or something..." He spoke, looking at me. I rolled my eyes and chuckled softly.

"Hyperion? Yeah, I know Hyperion."