Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5543592-20170125214247/@comment-5583506-20170127053217

"I still say we should have taken the mounts", said Pestin with a bitter sigh, followed by a cough.

"Stop moping", grunted Ward. "We are to keep a low profile, and I doubt riding in on horses is going to improve our situation." The tall man cursed lowly as the brim of his hat gave away to the weight of the downpour which had amassed and ran down in small, cold waterfalls onto his shoulders.

"I wasn't referring to the horses. I wanted my ride. Old White hasn't been burning rubber for two days."

"A motorcycle isn't going to improve our situation either", said Ward.

"And your bickering isn't helping the fact that I am hungry", lamented Famian, pulling his hoodie up over his head to shield himself from the rain. "Anyway, where is Deaph at? She said she would only be away for twenty minutes. It's almost been an hour now."

"Probably fucking over some unlucky bloke on the road for all we know", coughed Pestin as he tried to light another cigarette. "Bloody hell..." he grumbled with the cigarette in-between his lips. "It's too damp... Darn thing won't catch a spark."

"Good thing that is", said Ward. "Your fucking coughing will reveal us from miles away. If not your damn motorcycle."

"Hey, if you want to repair your Red by yourself from herenow on, be my guest, but I won't have you insulting my girl."

Ward mumbled something incoherent as he stared out from the sewage pipe they had made their camp inside. He observed his siblings with a raised eyebrow. Famian, still maintaining the form of a starved, moody teenager, wrapped his arms around himself, shuddering as the cold rain got the better of him. Pestin, in the form of an anarchistic greaser, desperately trying to light his eleventh cigarette of the day. Sometimes Ward couldn't help but wonder just from where he got them all. He couldn't remembering them making any stops for some idle shopping, and not that they were a common thing on the piles of corpses they looted on whatever path they roamed. And as usual, Deaphanie was being secretive about their current priority. The Old Man had without doubt instructed her with the intention that she would share her given mission with her younger siblings, yet Deaphanie preferred them to be working in the shadows, only giving them small hints, and sometimes letting them figure out for themselves.

Maybe it was due to her enigmatic nature? Or maybe it was just the way she were these days? Ageless as she was, even she wasn't immune to change. In this case maybe she had deliberately remained silent as to what their objective was, just because she found it amusing. But she hadn't always been like that. He couldn't remember her being so... childish. He remembered her as she were back in the day. His beautiful, yet horrifying sister. Completely without mercy and discrimination. Sometimes he wondered whether her current personality had been a change for the better or worse. A Deaphanie who was biased wasn't something that would please the Old Man, nor the world itself, as it would disrupt the fragile balance of things.

"Hello there!" a familiar voice suddenly exclaimed rather jovially. Deaphanie came skipping about in her black boots, mud splashing in various directions as she approached the opening of the pipe. "I have finally made some reconaissance", she said.

"Took you sweet time", muttered Ward. "So where in Seattle are we exactly?"

"Place nearby is called Queen Anne's Hill", explained Deaphanie. "Took me a good while to find a directional sign that wasn't completely blown up or distorted."

"I bet you were out doing other things as well", grunted Ward. "What have you been up to?"

"Well... there is this... group of Raiders hanging about nearby... I was just thinking that..."

"No", said Ward. "Not this time." He clapped his hands on the holsters of his revolvers. "My babies ain't moving an inch, unless I get an explanation of just what we are doing here, Deaph."

"It's just like the Aloha Islands", shuddered Famian. "Can't you just... be open about it for once?"

Deaphanie smiled a coy smile. "Oh, but don't you just love surprises?"

"No", snorted Ward. "And I think that most of the people who have to glare upon you as they go will agree."

"Deaph", coughed Pestin as he finally managed to light his cigarette. "You know that I love you. We get along better with each other than this lot, but I am gonna have to side with Ward and Famian on this one. I want to know what the Old Man told you. I want to know why we are here..."

Deaphanie pouted. "And here I was thinking this would be a fun trip for the whole family. Way to ruin it, you jerks. But alright, I will tell you..." She smiled slyly. "... after we take out that group of Raiders."

"You are all heart, Deaph", said Ward. "At least that's what I would have liked to say, if it was true. And if you actually had one."

"Oh, but I do... literally."

"But not figuratively", added Pestin quietly, followed by another cough.

"So, what are you baboons waiting on? Chop chop!" said Deaphanie. "These Raiders won't meet their respective makers on their own."

Ward yawned as he stepped out into the rain once more. "They just might if you are going to put them through as much bullshit as you have with us. Life is really nothing less than the bullet of a gun these days. I miss the time when people considered themselves and each other worth something."

"When was that again?" Famian asked as he reluctantly got up, his arms still wrapped around him to keep himself warm.

"I forgot", Ward replied cynically as they followed their older sister up towards the seemingly abandoned settlement known as Queen Anne's Hill.