Hades

No, Miyuki has not been diapered by Surra. I didn't plan on it either, but to be honest someone else mentioned that possibility before so who knows? Maybe i will throw it in there. Also, its not that Rain's diapers are hard to hide, but more to the fact that she wears skirts mostly so she can move a bit easier.

To answer your question, Gabriel probably would have listened if the priest had not continued to command as well as silence Tali. Plus, I'd like to think the priest is a fairly smooth talker. He has a way......a presence I guess. Maybe even a charm. Tali yelled, where he stayed calm, spoke slowly. Good catch though.

It is based on Lovecraft, I'm a big fan, but so is Bethesda too, since they put Lovecraft stuff in there all the time. Gabriel is the former Brotherhood of Steel guy. One eye? Tells a different story for how he lost it everytime? I realize he's the least developed character, but we will get into his past and why he left the Brotherhood very soon. Glad you liked it!

It took another two days before they finally reached the church of the Good Priest. There had been little conversation among the two groups. Miles and Surra watched the religious group closely, with thinly veiled suspicion. Rain had to admit, they were an odd bunch. The townsfolk moved like zombies, and refused to speak to the mercenaries. At night, they gathered around the Good Priest and his two disciples and prayed under the stars. The disciples were a bit more chatty, but only to talk about how wonderful the Good Priest was, and how thankful they were that he was showing them the “way”. Miles held back with Mr. Happy. “I want you to stay here, out of the camp. If you see anything going on, any fighting, then swoop in and put down any resistance.” “I've always wanted to burn a church, preferably with people inside it. I hope something happens so I can show my skills to Miss Surra.” Their home was a large camp of short, rusted shacks, surrounded by ugly wooden barricades encircling every side for about a mile in each direction. At the center sat a large, old broken down church, and though she couldn’t say why, the structure gave her the creeps. There was something ominous that hung in the air above the church. On the right side of the church, there was a large bed of red flowers. Seeing anything grow was a shock, and the flowers themselves were a unique shade of red, unlike anything she had ever seen before. Behind the church was a large field, brimming with crops. Carrots, tomatoes, corn, and more. They clearly weren’t in any danger of starving. “It's beautiful isn't it?” Rain jumped a bit, her diaper growing warmer as she noticed the Good Priest standing beside her. He had managed to sneak up on her somehow. In his right hand he held a small leather bound book that had the same sense of malevolence the church did. She cleared her throat. “It looks…..cozy, I guess.” The priest smiled at her. “I sense you're uncomfortable. Not the religious type?” She was uncomfortable for a few different reasons, but it was true that the church was part of it. In truth, she had never been introduced to any religion before, or at least not that she could remember. “I don’t really know. It's never really been something I thought about before.” He nodded grimly. “It's these times we live in. When life is so difficult, men and women don’t ask questions. They don’t think to question their role in the world. They focus only on surviving, without wondering what the point of surviving is.” He paused, scratching his chin idly. “ We are small creatures, young lady. Small things of a much larger design. It's so blindingly obvious to me, and so I have made it my mission to enlighten my wasteland brethren. Yet so many are either uninterested or even insulted by the idea of a higher power, something greater than themselves.” “Something greater than ourselves.” Rain repeated. It was a fascinating concept. “And that book tells you that?” “Oh yes. I came into possession of this book when I was a small child. It took my entire life to decipher it's…..arcane language, but I did. And then I found him. Our Lord, slumbering deep in the earth, awaiting his moment to return and cleanse this wasteland of the filth that inhabits it. But it also lead me to ask a question.” His eyes had taken a fearful light as he spoke, and Rain found herself unconsciously to where the others walked. The Good Priest was smiling as he looked down at her, through her. “Do those who can't or won’t see the truth…..do they deserve to be saved?” “What are you saying?” Rain trembled. “I'm wondering if the best that these unbelievers deserve is to be part of our glorious Lord, not to stand at his side, but to be shown his glory first-hand, and then bemoan the consequences. I have seen such wonders…..such beauty as well, disguised in horror.” He seemed to trail off, his gaze looking upwards, so she moved away, closer to Rocco and Gabriel. The party moved forward until the Priest's followers began to appear. They seemed to come from every crack and crevice in the place, from around every corner, and from the church, until a small mob was before them. The Priest smiled and seemed to greet each one by name. Despite how unnerving he had been moments ago, he radiated charisma now, as his followers fell to their knees before him. Most wore dirty white robes, although a few wore the same purple robes as the Priest. One was a middle aged woman with short brown hair, who knelt briefly, but seemed less enthused. “Ah, this is my lovely assistant, Joyce. She tends to things here when I’m away. If I'm the Good Priest, I suppose she should be called the Great Priestess.” Joyce gave a forced smile. “And who are our guests? They don’t look like they're interested in…..spiritual matters.” “What makes you say that?” The blue haired Surra asked with a steely gaze. Joyce met her eyes unflinchingly. “Most of our recruits don’t come armed…..or with the stink of violence.” The Good Priest cleared his throat. “Your instincts are right, as usual. We are honored to have Miss Surra and her brothers from our generous overlords, the Oro Tribe, and their….associates. They're looking for Sister Bethany. Would you happen to know where the dear is?” Joyce looked at the group suspiciously, then to the Priest. “No, I’m afraid not. I’m sure we can find her though.” The Good Priest nodded happily. “Excellent. Before we start our search, would anyone care for some refreshment. We have a well, right over there if you're thirsty. One of our members built a purifier for us, so the water is crystal clear.” Surra spat on the ground, rejecting the offer. Rain was tempted, but she was trying to manage her fluid intake. Her diaper was a bit damp, and she didn’t like changing on the job. Gabriel was the only one to take a drink, and he seemed to like it well enough. “Hmmm…..we might be more effective if we split up. This is a rather big place. I can take a group, Joyce can take another, and well…..how about Lucia and Penny for the last group, they’re lovely dears.” The Priest sent one of the nearby acolytes to fetch them. “You want us to split up?” Miles asked, eyes narrowing. Joyce gave a haughty look. “In the interest of getting you on your way as soon as possible, yes, I believe it's a grand idea.” Miles reluctantly agreed. “Fine. Gabe, Tali and myself will go with you, Priest.” Surra smiled wickedly. “Me, Miyuki and……the baby will go with Joyce, because she seems to just love us so much.” Rain clenched her fist at the nickname, but Miyuki put a calming hand on her shoulder. Joyce just scowled, not bothering to hide it. Rocco lit a cigarette a gave a glum look. “Yay. I'm with the twins. Fantastic.” “Fuck you too, tumor-face.” Arax replied. “So we're going with Penny and Lucia? Where are they?” “Right here, handsome” Two voices said simultaneously. The girls wore purple robes, meaning they apparently ranked higher in…whatever this place was. Both girls were very pretty, almost ridiculously so for the wastland, one with brown hair, the other with red. They smiled brightly as they approached. Rocco and Arax gave appreciative glances. “I'm Penny.” The girl with red hair said. “This here is Lucia. I hear we get to show y'all around?” Rocco dropped his cigarette as Lucia wrapped her arm around his. Maybe he wasn’t used to contact from anyone outside the team. With his looks, many tended to keep their distance. “Still unhappy, zombie?” Arax asked, courting Penny on his arm. “I'm good. Always liked you best out of the Oro anyhow.” Penny reached with her other arm for Hanno, but he recoiled as soon as she touched him. Hanno shook his head and made a sign with his hand. If Arax noticed, he didn’t show it. “Don't worry about him. He'll stay close. Come along, bro.” * Miles followed behind the Good Priest. Tali was by his side, Gabe took the rear. The other groups had gone either right or left, but the Priest led them straight ahead into the church. Despite it's shabby exterior, the inside was pretty impressive. Everything from the floors to the pews and altar were immaculate. The altar itself was draped with a cloth a dark red. They were lead to the back of the church, around a corner which lead to a long hallway. At the end of the of the hallway was a single door, painted dark red. “Where does this lead to?” Tali asked quietly. “Downstairs, where we store our food and such. If Sister Bethany is on kitchen duty tonight, I bet that's where she'll be.” “I guess you have an answer for everything, don’t you?” Miles said softly. “You don't seem to trust me, and while that saddens me, I'm not surprised. People like you stay alive by being distrustful and suspicious.” “People like me?” “Fighters, hired guns, killers. No offense.” The priest said as he took an ornate key from his pocket and unlocked the door. “Right this way.” They followed him through the door. It led to a stairwell that descended down in a spiral, for how long they couldn't tell. With every step Miles felt more and more uneasy. The Priest had grown quiet as they continued further down. The walls were no longer stone, but earth. Yet still they descended, deeper and deeper. Tali tugged at his arm. “Where are we going, Miles? We must be underground by now.” “We are. Stay on guard. Something is off, here.” “How far do these stairs go? And it's getting so cold too.” “Oh yes.” The Good Priest muttered. “Colder than you'd expect as we go down into the earth. It's funny isn't it? The things you find in…….unexpected places.” * Rain grumbled behind the others. Surra had once again managed to make a bad day worse. Joyce reluctantly led the way, Surra and Miyuki followed. Rain however, was a good thirty feet back. They had barely even begun moving, Surra had bent down to demean her yet again. “Yeah……we're gonna need you to walk a bit further behind us. I got a lot on my mind, and your……incessant crinkling will drive me insane. So scoot, shoo.” Rain had looked at her blankly, hardly trusting herself to say anything. She had finally managed whisper a response. “Are you….fucking serious right now? You want me to walk further away so my…..diaper doesn't annoy you?!” Surra smiled and poked her on the nose. “Exactly, you get it. Plus there's your talking, oh that's awful too. Look, just pretend your helping, watching our back. It can be your big girl job, how's that?” “Pretend to help?! You-“ Surra had silenced her with a single glare. Too angry for words, she had stormed off further back, then stood with her arms folded. Joyce tapped her foot impatiently. “If you're quite done, let’s get moving. You'll meet with Sister Bethany, see all is well, and then take yourselves away from this place.” Rain followed from a distance, seething. They were talking up there, but she couldn’t hear a word. As they began to traverse the maze of tin houses, she saw that there were metal bridges that seemed to connect them all together. It also meant that an attack could come from above. She thought about saying something, but at this point she decided against it. Stupid Surra could figure it out on her own. They kept moving and Rain felt eyes on her the whole way. Something was off. She tried to stay calm and focus on what the people around her were feeling. The only feeling that came from the members of the church was a strange feeling of righteousness. Whatever was going through their heads, they believed with all their hearts that they were right and the world around them was wrong. Something was off. It was in the air, it lingered in the stares that followed them. It was as though they were waiting for something, a sign maybe. She couldn’t help but feel like she wouldn’t know until it was too late. * Miyuki looked back at Rain. She felt bad for her, but her position was intentional. From there, she could make sure no one snuck up on them, and if someone went after her, they would instantly know it. “Your pet is fine. Stop worrying about her and keep your wits about you.” Surra said dismissively. “You could stand to be a bit nicer, you know. You don’t need to demean her every chance you get. Why make her hate you?” Surra rolled her eyes. “If she's too dumb to see the sense in us not all being packed together, I'm not gonna explain it to her. And that sounds suspiciously like back talk, Miyuki.” “Sorry! I-I didn’t mean….” “Quiet. Stay focused. These people aren't what they seem.” On and on they walked, until all the homes seemed to blur. Surra seemed to get more tense as they went. She sensed something, but what, Miyuki couldn't say. These people seemed harmless enough, if not a bit simple, but then she had never been particularly religious herself. She found the idea strange, so maybe she was being a bit judgmental. Miyuki looked back again. Rain didn’t look mad anymore, she looked nervous and tense as well. What were her two companions sensing that she wasn't? “I don’t know what you hope to find here.” Joyce said as she walked. “Why come here now? Normally you just have someone pick up our tribute. When did that stop being enough?” Surra raised an eyebrow. “It stopped being enough when you took two of our people and sent one back half insane.” “We had nothing to do with that. He wanted to leave and we allowed it. And you sent them to us. To spy on us I believe?” “We did. Strange then that one came back babbling like a madman and one didn’t return at all.” Joyce sighed. “Bethany will sort all this out.” Miyuki couldn’t help but shudder at Surra’s smile. This Joyce bitch didn’t know who she was dealing with. “Oh she had better clear all this up, Joyce. Cause ya see, I don't like you very much. If I find out you're lying…..it won’t be pretty.” * “You want to know why I don't trust you?” Miles said as they continued down the seemingly endless stairway. “By all means, sir.” “It's because parents don’t just up and leave their children to follow a travelling priest. Brothers and family members and survivors don’t just pack up and leave the one place of safety they ever knew. It's because those villagers we met when we found you……had glassy eyes…..like they had been drugged. I don't trust the fact that you've separated us. I don't trust you or this place.” The Good Priest stopped in his tracks. “Oh very well. I suppose the truth had to come out eventually. It's the flowers you see. Those red flowers you saw when you were coming in? We discovered early on that they had certain…..properties. They tend to make people docile. Over time, people seem to forget their old lives. They know and understand only the faith. We discovered that these flowers could be used if say….they were crushed and ingested, like in water for example.” “The water?” Tali asked startled. There was only one of their group who had drank any water, and he had been suspiciously silent. Before Miles could respond he saw them. Three men in robes, but they were red, a dark red. They pushed past Tali and before he could reach for his pistol, he felt stabbing pain course over his body. * Tali watched in horror as the robed men pierced Miles over and over again with long knives. She raised her rifle and tried to fire, but they were too close to Miles. She didn’t want to do anymore damage if she missed. “Gabriel. Please take hold of our guest firmly. She seems liable to hurt someone with that gun.” Tali felt her arms being pinned to her body as Gabriel took her into a bear hug from behind. Miles was barely upright. They kept stabbing him over and over. “”Gabriel, let me go!” “Ignore her, Gabriel. You're doing very well.” The priest said as he took a roll of duct tape from one of the men in red and used a strip to gag her. “You must bring her, Gabriel. She needs rest.” Gabriel held her firm in his arms, but sounded confused. “Yes…..she's probably…..tired.” The priest smiled gently. “That's right, Gabriel. She is very tired. You must bring her downstairs.” Tali kicked and squirmed, trying to protest, but Gabriel held her tight. The Good Priest snapped his fingers and spoke softly again. “Gabriel, can you here me? You need to bring your friend with me.” Gabe nodded numbly and followed behind the priest. The men in the red robes withdrew their daggers and followed as Miles slumped to the ground on the stairs, watching them go and bleeding from a dozen wounds. * “It's so nice to have outsiders here.” Penny said, her head resting on Arax’s shoulder as they walked. “It seems to me you get new people all the time.” Rocco pointed out. Lucia smiled at him from his arm. “Oh yes, but they always get so wrapped up in worship. It's hard not too, I admit. Once you see true greatness, how could you not want to praise it all the time?” “But you don't?” Rocco asked smiling. Penny laughed, her hands running over “Arax’s body. “We're bad nuns. We tend to favor more……corporeal pastimes.” “Oh, I bet you do.” Arax said with a leer. “It was sweet of you to come all this way to check on Bethany. You must have been very worried about her.” Arax shrugged. “Not really. But my gram, you know, she's a paranoid old bird. One of ours doesn’t come back, and she's ready to burn and massacre to find out why.” The girls grew silent at that. They continued to lead them in a maze of houses. There didn’t seem to be any real destination, and seeing as how Rocco didn’t know what this scout looked like, he had to rely on Arax. In the meantime, Rocco was content to clutch at the brown haired beauty nuzzling into his chest. He was still a man, ugly or not, and he had his own needs. Tali was boning Miles and Miyuki swung the other way. Even thankful villagers weren’t normally that grateful. Hanno walked a bit back from them, just as unfocused as ever. Arax had to continuously snap his fingers to keep him moving along. Hanno seemed to have an obsession with touching everything he saw, and that included some of the people they passed, most of whom didn’t seem to approve. They came at last to an open space that ended at a fence. No one else occupied the space, they were alone. Rocco sighed quietly. He had a feeling of what came next. Sure enough he saw Lucia and Penny reaching into their robes. He caught Lucia’s hand as she went for his chest, a sharp dagger in her hand. Hanno had snuck up behind Penny and seized her before she made her move, throwing her to the ground. Arax chuckled as he drew his machete from the sling on his back. “Ladies, ladies. That wasn’t very smart.” Penny scrambled back until she was against the fence. Rocco held Lucia in his grasp and slowly twisted her arm until she dropped the knife. “How did you know?” Penny asked. “My brother. You underestimated him cause he seems simple. That was a mistake. He told me before we started that you two were bad news. I always trust my brother's instincts. I don't know how the ghoul knew though.” Rocco sighed. “Nobody just cuddles up to someone who looks like me. That left two options. She was either gonna try and kill me, or she had a ghoul fetish.” Arax didn't waste anymore time. He walked briskly to Penny and took her head off with one swing. Lucia looked on in horror as he turned to her. Rocco raised a hand to intervene, but too late. Arax swung again and the brown haired beauty fell to the ground, minus a head. “Aw man, you didn’t have to chop off her head.” Rocco complained as he knelt down beside Lucia’s body. “You damn Oro barbarian, you killed my lady. She was such a babe too.” “She was gonna kill you, zombie.” “I don't know……maybe she had a ghoul fetish after all.” Arax snorted back a laugh. “Yeah, I don’t have time to cater to your delusions. Anyway we kept it quiet so that means the others are in danger and nobody else thinks we're alive. Let’s go do some killing before my sister gets to have all the fun.” Rocco reluctantly stood and began to follow the brothers. What a shame, he thought as he glanced back at their would be assassins. Hanno made another series of hand gestures, which Arax responded to with his own. “What's he saying?” Arax grinned. “He wanted to know if anyone really has ghoul fetishes.” Rocco grumbled. “I haven’t met any, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.” * They heard Rain cry out, and instantly pulled their weapons out. In between them were a number of men and women from the camp. Some wore purple robes, while many wore white. When they turned back they had men in front of them as well. Many were armed with long daggers, but Miyuki saw guns and rifles among them too. Joyce smiled maliciously. “I didn’t lie. I told you Bethany would sort this out and she would have. But I'm afraid you're not worthy to know the truth. You will die here, then we'll bring the truth of our faith to the Oro by force.” Miyuki heard Rain begin firing as the cultists advanced, killing two blocking her way to the alley in between two houses. She looked at them briefly before running through and disappearing. Surra smiled and pulled a knife from her boot. “Finally, you've made your move. I'd run very fast if I were you, Joyce. When I find you again, I'm going to rip out your heart and eat it in front of you. That’s a promise.”

I thought it was clear Rusty. And may I just say, my earlier predictions seem more likely based soely on this interaction.

I think you might be picking apart the wording just a bit. Being AB/DL isn't a choice either. But to outsiders.....it's seen as a lifestyle. An alternative lifestyle. Not saying it's right but.....I mean here we are in the Our Lifestyle area. Most people who are different don't choose to be that way, we just are. No one is trying to claim that being AB/DL is as hard as being gay.

Well yeah, but being gay and our thing are so different. I mean, yeah, none of us chose to be this way, but with the lgbt crowd, I think a lot of people were able to be sympathetic to them....because their basic rights were being infringed. Our rights aren't, so I feel, if anything, the lgbt crowd might resent such a "coming out", and more ignorant people would simply roll their eyes, convinced that freaks like us coming out is just another sign of the end times, or the further degradation of the world's supposed morals all that.

I don't know that it's necessarily a good thing, to be honest. It has nothing to do with being or feeling special. I just don't think exposure is a good idea. I don't wish to be "accepted" by the general population, because it's my private business. Every time one of us has gone on t.v. or whatever, they're basically there to be mocked. My freedoms aren't being infringed upon, so why on earth would I need acceptance from a mob that would probably just mark me down as someone who's mentally unstable? Jesus, people can't get around the idea of people marrying who they want, and I've seen so many ignorant comments calling homosexuality a mental disorder. I can't even imagine something like this being in the open.

Hey all, I know it's been like a month, but I finally have the next chapter ready. Sorry/not sorry. It's been a shitty month and I lost my writing mojo a bit. Anyway, I'm hoping on the next one being done shortly. Enjoy. * They had been travelling for days. Luckily, the Good Priest left quite the trail. From village to village, they followed him, and at each village the story was the same. He strolled into town with a small number of his Disciples, and left with twice as many. Most went to wherever his base was, while the Good Priest kept moving. There didn't seem to be any connection between those who followed him. Doctors, engineers, scavengers, and hired guns. When the Good Priest showed up and preached, people just stopped what they had been doing and left with him. That was the most disturbing part. Husbands left their wives, mothers left their children. From what little witnesses had said, he preached a strange religion about some ancient deity, trapped behind the “Gate”. The details were scarce on how this Gate was supposed to open or what would happen when it did. One thing was clear. Those who stayed behind were deathly afraid of this Priest, of his power and influence. That fear made the possibility of this ending peacefully look more and more unlikely. In the meantime, they kept moving. This morning was going about the same as usual, with Surra and Arax quarreling as they always seemed too. Hanno lost interest in stopping it after a while, intervening only if they came to blows. Rain noticed that Hanno either stayed back far from the group or close to his brother. Despite his awkward nature, Rain couldn’t help but like him. He was…..sweet, in an almost childish kind of way. He was certainly better than his siblings. “This is a waste of fucking time.” Arax said in his usual crude manner. “We've been chasing this asshole all over the state for a damn week. Every shithole village says the same damn thing, and we still aren’t any closer to finding him.” Surra scoffed. “And what exactly, little brother, should we be doing, aside from following the obvious leads?” “I say we stop chasing rumors and start looking for his base. We know his cult has a home somewhere. Let's go there, find our scout and find out the truth.” “We don’t know where his base is.” Surra pointed out. “Then we find it. Someone has gotta know. Let’s question the villagers a bit more roughly and find out. Someone is hiding him, I know it.” “So your brilliant plan is to stop following the Good Priest, and search for his base, even though we have no clue where it is, or where to even start looking. Oh, and you want to torture some dumb farmers for information, which they probably don't have, and which Miles here would kill you for. What a dumbass.” “I didn’t say torture, and at least it might point us in the right direction.” “You're an idiot. Be quiet until the fighting starts. Trust me, that's all you're good for.” Arax threw down his gun and marched up to his sister, his face red with fury. “I’m getting real sick of your fucking mouth.” Surra turned to face him, her hand reaching for the machete strapped to her back. “That's a shame. Especially since I'll be the boss once granny kicks it. It looks like I'll be telling you what to do for a very long time. Better get used to it.” The team had stopped during the altercation. Miles was fuming silently. It was probably from the delay, but he didn’t like the Oro tagging along anyway. Hanno wasn’t even paying attention, he was focused on some type of insect crawling on the ground. Rain sighed and leaned against Tali, smiling as the woman wrapped her arms around her. “No one is gonna follow you, certainly not me. You don’t inspire loyalty and you never have. You’ve always wanted to go your own way. I think a change in the status quo would be a great idea. Maybe I'll lead instead.” Surra had a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. “Maybe you could lead, brother. After all, you are a woman.” “Enough!” Miles yelled from the front. “I'm tired of this squabbling between you two. We follow the trail until it leads us to his base. He normally spends a day or so at each village preaching, so if we keep up this pace, we'll find him eventually. If you don’t like it, leave. Otherwise, shut the hell up and fall in line.” Arax grunted angrily, but picked up his rifle. They finally got moving again, although Rain had to fall back again nudge Hanno from his spot. He flinched a bit from the contact, ever so slightly, but followed anyway. Rain saw he had a notepad in his hand, a pencil in the other. “What's that? Can I see?” She stuck out her hand. Hanno looked at it for a moment, then down at his pad, and then back to her. Finally he shrugged and handed it over. Rain opened it up, marveling at his drawings. The notepad was filled with them. There were trees, animals, some buildings and other views. Each drawn with incredible detail. Her favorite was of the view from the top of the Oro village during a sunset. “These are amazing, Hanno. I didn’t know you were so artistic. You think you could draw me something?” “She does know he doesn’t speak right?” Surra asked. “She's being friendly.” Tali answered stiffly. Arax smiled back at them. “I got to hand it to her. Hanno normally avoids new people. The fact that he hasn't shied away says a lot about the girl. He must like her.” Surra grunted. “Well, our brother is fond of weak and delicate things, gentle soul that he is.” “Fuck you.” Rain muttered under her breath. Surra tossed her head back and smiled dangerously. Damn, her hearing was amazing. The look in the woman's eyes scared her. Miyuki sensed the tension but kept her head lowered, her frightened glare begging Rain to be quiet. “Something to say, little one?” Surra asked. Despite every fiber of her being urging her to back down, she couldn't. She was a warrior, and she had fought hard to get where she was. She wouldn’t be broken by some woman who thought she was all powerful. “I'm not weak. I can fight just as well as anyone else on this team. You don’t know anything about me.” “Is that a challenge? Are you wanting to prove to me how tough you are?” “Rain, shut up. Please shut up.” Miyuki moaned. She hesitated for a moment. “I don't have to prove anything to you.” That's when the ground began shaking, and all her talk of bravery was forgotten. Rain knew what was coming and her heart skipped a beat. Slowly, two giant radscorpions burrowed out of the ground. They were dark black and moved quickly, their many legs propelling them forward, their stingers ready. Without meaning too, Rain let out a screech and ran to the closest person near her. She latched onto Hanno, who looked shocked and confused at both her fear and the contact. “Kyaaa!!! Kill it!!” Rain cried, squeezing the confused man harder as he tried to wiggle away. One of the scorpions was moving right towards her, it's stinger ready to descend into her flesh. Surra grabbed it's tail casually, showing amusement and not a hint of fear. The stinger was mere inches from her face. Arax moved forward instantly, hacking the tail off with a single swing of his machete. Surra unslung her rifle and unloaded the clip into the wounded creature. Despite their near constant feuding, the two siblings fought together seamlessly, without words, and in perfect sync. Miles and Gabriel had already finished the other one, and Hanno was still trying to gently free himself from the frightened girl attached to his waist. Surra looked at her with a sneer. “Very impressive showing, little one.” Rain could feel her cheeks redden as she finally let Hanno go, who immediately moved as far away from her as possible. She didn’t mean to run, but she just hated radscorpions. They were gross and creepy and they made her skin crawl. She wasn’t proud of herself, but she couldn’t help it. “Don't feel bad kiddo.” Rocco said as he lit a cigarette. “I never liked those things either. Their venom is no joke.” Surra was still sneering as she reloaded her weapon. “I killed my first radscorpion when I was six.” “Good for you. Let’s just remember that you Oro were raised differently than normal people. You're about as wild as the beasts out here.” Rocco shot back. Miles pointed to the sky. “Sun’s going down. We'll make camp for now and head out first thing tomorrow. If I'm right we should catch up to this priest before he leaves town again.” He stormed off without another word. His patience for their guests had reached it's limit, but a job was a job. Tali hesitated, wanting to follow him, but also wanting to stay for Rain. “Okay, Rain. Just….just wait here, get your tent set up. I'll be right back okay? Okay?” Tali whispered before running after Miles. Hanno and Arax got to work setting up the Oro tent while Surra continued to look at the young girl with increasing bewilderment. She couldn’t fathom why so many thought this diapered embarrassment was something special. She would never have lasted in the Oro, that was certain. She ran from a bug. In the Oro, such fears and weaknesses were burned out at an early age. When she had been a young girl, no older than ten, her grandmother had sent her blindfolded with an escort out of the village. She was led for three days before she awoke in the morning to find herself alone. She was left with nothing to eat or drink. She was given no weapons. She had no idea where she was or how to get back. For Surra, it had been an easy test. Her anger had pushed her forward, and it allowed her to triumph against every wasteland creature that came at her. She made a crude weapon until she found a knife two days later. When she finally arrived back at the village, she was badly wounded and weary. Yet all of her anger vanished the moment she stepped inside her home. The whole tribe was gathered to greet her. And her mother was smiling with pride. That had been the best part, and it was what caused her to burst out laughing when the ordeal was finally over. The anger had melted away as though it had never been there to begin with. And yet, the girl had been accepted by Miles and his group. Her own grandmother seemed to see something in her. Fuck, even Hanno liked her. It was maddening. Surra watched as the small girl fidgeted nervously, eyeing the others who moved around her, her hand trying in vain to subtly check the pink garment under her skirt. Miyuki had finished setting up the tent they would share. With a snap of her fingers, her subdued lover was at her side. “Take your little friend in our tent and change her before she starts leaking down her leg. Then make her own tent and put her to bed.” Rain turned to them in shock. She heard the words clearly and felt a fury rise up from within her. Miyuki swallowed nervously before she tried to lead her into the tent. “Who the hell do you think you are?! I don’t take orders from you!” Rain yelled. Surra smiled and grabbed her chin cruelly. “Your cowardly performance today has earned you a suitable punishment. In my village, you would have been whipped bloody. In this case, I think going to bed without dinner will do fine.” “You go too far, Surra.” Miles said in a low voice. He had appeared suddenly with Tali by his side. Gabe and Rocco had moved closer as well. “Rain is my soldier and she follows my orders. You're a guest on my team, you don't run it. Watch yourself or I will end this mission here and now, and leave you to your own problems.” “That would mean war, Miles. We would see it as a betrayal.” “I doubt that. Your grandmother knows we're as good as our word. She would know that you would have had to provoke us into leaving. She’s also not dumb enough to start a war with me. I suggest you back down and shut your mouth before we do it for you.” Surra whipped around, drawing the machete on her back as she spun. The blade cut across Miles’ cheek. Miles however, hadn’t flinched. A thin line appeared where the blade had passed, but he healed before any blood left the wound. In a mere few seconds, the wound was gone as though it was never there. Miles had drawn his black handgun and had it pressed firmly against the wild woman's stomach. Surra looked down, then back up at him with a crazy smile. “I wouldn't do that again. I'm pretty sure you don’t heal as quickly as I do, and I have no more patience left. Are we going to have a problem here?” Arax and Hanno looked on from behind her, but they didn’t seem interested in aiding their sister. Arax seemed amused, searching his kin’s face, perhaps searching for a trace of fear. He didn't find any. Surra looked like she having the time of her life. Rain watched in silence as the two faced each other. Still smiling, Surra let her machete drop. Miles kept his weapon trained on her, knowing that she was still dangerous. She reminded Rain of a serpent about to strike. “As you like. Goddamn, you people are touchy. I was only trying to toughen the kid up. I'll behave if it means so much to you. Come along, Miyuki.” Miyuki looked at the others before following her mistress to her tent. Tali hugged Rain affectionately. Disappointed that no blood was shed, Arax nudged his brother and went on his way. Miles put his hand on Rain’s shoulder. “We'll eat inside our tents tonight. We need…I need to be separated from these people.” “Thanks Miles.” Rain whispered. “Thanks for standing up for me.” Miles nodded and went to his tent, while Tali began helping her set up her own. Once it was done, she took her inside for a much needed diaper change. Once again the pink diaper had nearly leaked, and soon she was once again feeling safe in her normal, thicker diaper. Tali clapped happily. “Okay! Now that's taken care of, let’s eat and get some rest. We need to move out before first light, and pray that we get this job done before we kill each other.” * “I suppose you think I was in the wrong too, don’t you Miyuki?” Surra asked in her dimly lit tent. “This is a hard land, you know that. Are your friends doing the little one any favors by protecting her from the harshness of reality?” “Maybe your zombie friend is right. Maybe we Oro are little more than beasts ourselves, but at least we are strong. We are feared and respected. It seems to me that our ways are effective, no?” Surra laughed softly to herself. “Did you know, Miyuki, that I once wanted to leave the clan? I wanted to see the world, join the scouts maybe, travel around and see what the world had to offer. My mother was to take the reigns, and I would have been free to do as I wished. Then she died, and now—” She laughed again. “—I am trapped being the heir, the one who will one day have all the clan on my shoulders. I'm no longer free. Despite all the arguments, it's been fun travelling with you all. It’s a life I would have liked to lead I think.” The bound woman grunted and buckled underneath her. “Oh, I know. No doubt you would have more to contribute to the conversation if you weren't gagged, but I'm afraid I need to punish someone. Anyway, enough listening to me blather. This might feel a bit weird, so bear with me. You don’t have any objections, do you?” Miyuki let out a strained growl, the gag muffling her speech. Surra looked at her with satisfaction and removed her shirt. “I didn’t think so. Well, better take a deep breath.” * Rain awoke to her diaper being ripped open. The shock of cold air startled her, and she rose a bit, expecting to see Tali. Instead, Miyuki looked down at her, meeting her eyes briefly before going back to cleaning her up. She felt her legs being lifted, before being laid down on the thinner pink diaper. “You look tired, Miyuki.” Rain said sourly, still unhappy at being awakened. Miyuki blushed and tapped the diaper up. “I….didn’t get much sleep. Surra sent me to get you ready. The camp is getting ready to move out. We need to catch up to this damn priest before he gets away from us again.” “Yeah, that’s an understatement. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can get you away from that psycho bitch that's keeping you under her thumb.” Rain didn’t have time to flinch, she barely saw Miyuki’s slap before it connected. Her head rocked back and she couldn't help the tears that appeared in her eyes. “Don't say that! Surra is a warrior, and trust me when I tell you she is a good person to have as an ally. You don’t know her, Rain. You only see the surface. She's more than what she seems. I….need her. She helps me… to stay me, don’t you get that? Promise me you'll try to understand and make peace with her.” Rain swallowed hard, still hurt. “I don’t understand why she's so important to you. She treats you like a servant. I don’t like her. But I love you Miyuki….so I'll do my best.” Miyuki smiled and wrapped her in a hug. “Thanks, kiddo. I love you too. Let’s just get this done so we can go home. We haven’t made a whole lot of progress. It's like we have a writer whose fumbling for character development or something.” Rain chuckled, wiping her eyes. “Yeah, no kidding. Let’s get on with it.” * It was about midday when the village came into view. The sight drew a whopping cheer from the whole team. They were tired of trekking across the endless wasteland plains. They had been travelling about four hours today before they finally found the town. As they drew closer, Rain looked over the ruined town. Like most others she had encountered, it was a depressing and broken down place. She could see people looking at them from shelled out buildings and torn up tents. Not surprisingly, most of the people looked at them with a mixture of curiosity and distrust. While most people were armed for survival’s sake, seeing a group of heavily armed people walk through your gates was still enough to anyone pause. The big worry was that they had somehow missed the Good Priest yet again. The town looked sparse and deserted, with few people out on the streets. It looked like he had already came and went, but they couldn’t be sure until they searched the whole town. “This place is creepy. I have the feeling that the people here aren’t too happy to see us.” Rocco stated, looking around wearily. “With a face like yours, I can’t imagine most people are happy to see you.” Arax joked. “They probably say things like put a bag over his face, or kill it with fire, something like that.” “Funny. Y’know, for a clan that prioritizes women, there are suspiciously more men than women. What, do you guys share? You're fond of deathclaws, yeah? Do they ever look….too good to you guys?” Arax snorted and elbowed his silent brother. “I like him. He's funny for a decomposing corpse person.” “Quiet.” Miles ordered. “I think we found them. Look over in the square.” There was a large gathering at the center of the town, where it seemed most of the town had apparently congregated. At the center of it all, stood three people in faded, torn purple robes. The man in the center saw them coming and ceased his preaching. He was a pale young man with shaggy blond hair. His eyes were calm and gentle, not at all what Rain had expected when she had pictured this mysterious cult leader. The crowd parted as he made his way to them, smiling warmly. “One moment my friends. We will be leaving shortly, but it seems we have some new guests to welcome. I hear you’ve been looking for me.” “How do you know that?” Miles asked. “Word gets around. I have many friends who keep me informed of various things. I even stayed an extra day here to meet you. Based on how exhausted you look, I'd guess you've been trying to find me for quite a while, although I'm not sure why.” Surra strode forward, her face all business, her finger on the trigger of her assault rifle. “Do you know who I am, Priest?” The Good Priest laughed softly. “Well, we've never met, but I know who you are from my brothers and sisters. Surra from the Oro, correct? You're reputation precedes you. Was there some issue with this month's tribute?” “They pay you tribute?” Gabriel asked. Arax shrugged. “This is our land. Everyone pays us tribute.” Surra had a bloodthirsty look on her face. “You took two of our people in a while back. Do you remember?” “Hmmm…..yes I do recall. But we don’t keep anyone who doesn’t wish to be with us. I believe one left. Miss Bethany is still part of my flock, at our church.” Bethany must have been the second scout, Rain thought to herself. The crowd had begun to gather closer, some twenty men and women, all looking at them with glazed and dull eyes. Miles sensed it too raised his gun slightly, his other hand reaching for his second pistol. Something was wrong here. “The man you sent back is insane and near suicidal.” Surra said accusingly. The Good Priest bowed his head sadly. “The wasteland is a harsh place. It's horrors can break even the fiercest of men. I'm truly sorry.” “I want to see Bethany. I need to speak with her, obviously. You will take us to your church, and I will get to the bottom of this.” “My church is a place of peace. It is meant for believers and those who wish to have their eyes opened to the wonders of our Lord.” “We aren't asking, bud. If there's nothing to hide, then there should be no issue.” Arax said. There was something in the man's eyes. Arax was hoping for things to go south. He wanted things to get violent. Rain suspected that both Arax and Surra wanted a fight more than their missing scout, and they were simply waiting for a provocation. The Good Priest sighed, but retained his most charismatic smile. “Very well. I'm both happy and obliged to assist you. I've been away from home for too long, and I've been looking forward to returning home. I'd be honored if you were to join us.” The team looked at each other before Miles nodded, his eyes still searching the crowd. “Lead the way, Priest. We have a lot of questions.”

You see yourself as a parasite. That's how you view yourself. I get that too in a way. everytime I've been bailed out by family, I've felt that way. Nothing I say will make you feel differently, so I'll simply say this. Having known a few people who have ended their own lives, I can honestly tell you that they had far more of an impact than they knew. You might not believe it, but I'm willing to bet there are a lot of people who love or count on you. Good luck, amigo. Personally, i bet things will get better with time.

well, again, I daydream. a lot. that can't be overstated. But the characters themselves normally fit into an typical archetypal role. Miles: the stoic leader with a fearsome reputation Gabriel: Knowledgeable old veteran Tali: The freakin motherly type. (We all know a group mom) Miyuki: The badass. Nuff said. Rain: The rooki, coming into her own. Been done millions of times Surra: She is so much fun because she had no limit. She can do pretty much anything, because I made her that way. So I make my people fit into their own archetypal pattern, then add backgrounds to make them more interesting and fleshed out. They have to feel like genuine people, like they have their own hopes and dreams and fears.They have to have.....life.

Master, I most certainly am not. The details of setting up scenes are always tough for me. I do a bit better with characters and dialogue. As for my process, I mostly just try to imagine conversations in my head, what they would sound like, the emotions each character feels during them. I daydream a lot. So what I write, the scenarios I come up with, have already played through my head like a movie. But what's in my head normally doesn't translate as well to paper. I do the best I can, basically. There are writers on this site that are so much better, and when I read their stories, I can get so engrossed, like I'm in it. With my writing, I can't do that, so most of the time I don't like my own work. But as long as people enjoy it, I'll keep writing.

The five of them were all sitting together when Lady Oro arrived to announce dinner. Miyuki was still with that maniacal bitch, Surra, and Rain had been fretting over what Surra was possibly doing to her. The others wouldn't answer when she asked, so she eventually gave up. As the team walked to the only building in the camp, Rocco decided to test their host, who had yet to acknowledge his presence. Lady Oro moved at a rather slow pace, so Rocco positioned himself so that he was walking on front of her. “Hey granny! How do you like this, you old fossil?!” He cried, smacking his butt in front of her over and over. “Yeah, you like that don't you? I bet you haven’t seen this type of action since before the bombs fell.” It was a funny display, but to her amazement, the old woman showed not a single sign that she noticed. She just kept walking, seemingly oblivious. A number of the clan were out in the courtyard watching, some looking angry and insulted, others laughing in amusement. “Kiss my ass, old lady, kiss my ass!” Arax came out of the building to see the scene, instantly breaking into a smile. It was clear that this wasn’t the first time Rocco has done something like this. It was also clear that the rest of the tribe had no trouble in seeing Rocco, evil spirit or not. So it went for the whole walk to dinner. They followed the aged leader, who went right on ignoring the ghoul slapping his ass in front of her. The building was bigger inside than it looked from the outside. They moved to a side room that served as the dining hall. The entire tribe was there, so it was pretty packed. They sat at a large rectangular table. Lady Oro sat at the head, with Miles, Tali, Arax, and Hanno to the left. To her right sat Surra, Miyuki, and Gabe. Rocco sat further down, content to keep a distance between him and Lady Oro. Whatever they were cooking smelled amazing. She wasn’t surprised that the menu consisted mostly of meat, and while the smell alone made her mouth water, she couldn’t help but look at the food suspiciously. The Oro were known cannibals after all. The others dug in without any fuss, but Rain was paralyzed with indecision. The meat that had been put before her looked and smelled delicious, but the idea that she might be eating….someone else, made her sick. “It’s deathclaw, girl.” Lady Oro said, looking amused. “We have a special relationship with the creatures if you hadn’t noticed. Like us, they are tightly knit animals. Living in matriarchal packs. Not to mention how deadly they are.” Arax chuckled, still chewing. “She thinks it's a person. Don't worry so much, kid. That type of game is only for the tribe, and only for special occasions.” “What are you afraid of? The human heart is a delicious organ.” Surra smiled maliciously. “Perfect with the right seasoning.” Rain ignored the comment and focused on her meal. The meat was surprisingly flavorful, and more tender than she would have thought. It did have more of what she called a “radiation aftertaste”. Most food did, but it was stronger in some types of foods. For example, you could hardly taste it in Mirelurk meat or corn. In something like Sugar Bombs, it actually made the cereal taste better. Miles cleared his throat. “Lady Oro, how is your health? You look well.” She laughed ruefully. “I'm old, Miles. I'm alive today, and one day I'll be dead, and my granddaughter will lead the tribe. In the meantime, I know you're not happy to be here, so spare me your false concern.” Geez. So maybe that's where Surra’s fiery attitude came from. “So who leads if Surra dies? Do you have a daughter?” Rain asked before she could help herself. Miyuki winced. That was the first sign of trouble. The air had changed in some unsubtle way. “I hate kids.” Surra said. “I’m not interested in anchoring myself like that. I like my freedom.” Lady Oro shot her granddaughter a dark glare. “You have a responsibility, Surra. You will lead one day and like it or not, you need an heir. I told you the day your mother passed away, you are not free to do whatever you wish. The tribe comes first.” “Well…..I mean it's not for lack of trying.” Arax said smugly. “I mean, she spreads her legs for just about anyone willing.” Surra had leapt onto the table in an instant and before her brother could move, she had delivered a foot to his face. He fell backwards, laying prone for a moment before jumping onto the table himself. He dabbed at the blood coming from his nose, as his face got more and more red. “You dumb bitch!” He slugged her. Right in the face. She responded with another kick to his stomach. A wild smile was on her lips now. The two traded blows for a while. The others from the tribe cheered them on, while their grandmother continued eating impassively. Plates of food were sent flying as the fight continued, but aside from Rocco angrily rolling his eyes when his meal was lost, no one seemed to care. But Arax was fighting a losing battle. Surra was faster and more aggressive. Her blows rained down mercilessly, before an uppercut sent her brother flying off the table. Surra hopped down, still smiling wildly, ready to continue, but Hanno stepped in between them, raising a hand, his eyes pleading for understanding. “Baby bro, I love you to death, but if you don’t move, I'll make you sorry.” When he only shook his head, a softness slowly seemed to appear on her face. She touched his face gently. “Oh, alright. You win. Again.” Hanno smiled happily, that same goofy smile that seemed so infectious. He helped his brother off the floor, who glared at his sister but left well enough alone. “If you two are finished fooling around, maybe we can go ahead and fill our guests in on why we called them here.” Lady Oro said in a bored tone. She didn’t wait for an answer. “People have been disappearing. Slowly, over the last few months, but more are going missing every day.” “Any idea what’s causing it?” Tali asked. “I have suspicions, but I need someone to confirm it. That's why you're here. The beginning of all this seems to coincide with the arrival of a mysterious man known as the Good Priest. He arrived about six months ago and began preaching his strange religion. The number of his followers grew exponentially in a short time. They call themselves the Disciples.” “We don’t involve ourselves in religious fights.” Miles said gently. “You know that.” “We have never forced anyone to believe as we do. This seems more insidious. People who have spent their whole lives with a tribe, just got up and left to follow this man. Some were seen amongst his followers, but many were never seen again. This concerns not only the Oro, but all who look to us for protection.” “Have you sent anyone to check it out? Gabriel asked. “Just out of curiosity.” “We sent two scouts. Only one returned.” Surra said, having gone back to eating. Miyuki still sat close to her, head down meekly. “Would you like to meet him?” Lady Oro asked. “This is something better seen than explained.” They followed the royal family, as Rain called them, down a flight of stairs, into a darkened and narrow hallway. Rain could hear a muffled yelling from further down the hall, echoing endlessly as they approached. Arax pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked a large, heavy looking, steel door. The room was small, and had what looked like couch cushions taped over the walls. A single man was bound inside, his arms trapped in a straitjacket, his mouth taped over several times with duct tape. He had a wild look in his eyes, as he struggled to his feet, still screaming through his gag. Miles looked disgusted, his eyes narrowing. “What is this?” “Why is he gagged?” Rain asked angrily. The man brought back unpleasant memories of her own bondage, so long ago. “He tried to bite off his own tongue, that's why.” Surra said, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. “Ungag him. Let's hear what he has to say.” Arax cut the tape off and backed away. The scout began speaking as though he had never been impeded. “The Good Priest has the key! Only he can open the gate! The gate that's not a gate! The mist is the darkness, the darkness is the mist…..The Good Priest can open the gate! He has the key. Stay away from the mist!” “That's enough, Arax.” Lady Oro commanded. Arax gagged him again, but he was still trying to speak. Then he got to his feet and began running his head into the padded wall. It took both Arax and Hanno to force him back down. “How long has he been like this?” Miles asked. Lady Oro hesitated briefly. “Two weeks, give or take. This is serious Miles. I need to know if the rumors about this… Good Priest are true, if he really is up to something nefarious. If I sent Surra, there would be a bloodbath and heads would be taken. Since they are a religious group as you pointed out, I need to be sure before I incite violence. Many smaller tribes resent our authority, and I would not give them more reason to do so.” Miles was quiet for a time, his eyes focused on the deranged man bound before him. Finally, he let out a sigh and looked to the leader of the Oro. “Point us in the right direction. We'll leave first thing in the morning.” When they finally left the building, it was dark outside, and Rain was trying to subtly check her diaper for leaks. Tali nudged her and she looked up to see that Lady Oro was looking at her intently, seemingly amused. She blushed before a gnarled hand was extended to her. “Would you mind helping an old woman to her home? Walking gets tougher for me every day it seems. I know you're a…..battle hardened mercenary, surely this would be an easy task for you.” Rain didn’t know why she accepted, but she let the old woman lean on her arm. After a nod of farewell to the others they began walking. Rain knew the old woman was lying. She didn’t need any help getting around, but she was curious as to what she was after. Due to her unique insight, most people were pretty transparent, at least on a surface level. She knew when they felt angry, or scared, or happy. Aside from Rocco, Lady Oro was the only other person she couldn’t get a clear read on. There was a mystery to her, like she was more than what she seemed. A fragile old woman was but a façade that she wanted people to see. “Would it be rude to ask what a young girl like yourself is doing with Miles and his crew?” Ah, so that was it. She was curious too. “They uh….helped me out of a bad situation. After that I just sorta….stuck around. It's good to have a group to travel with.” “Miles was okay with that?” Lady Oro asked. “It’s a dangerous line of work to thrust upon a child.” Rain bit back her irritation. “I'm not a child. I've been trained and blooded just like anyone else. I'm not just some orphaned waste rat.” The words mirrored what Miyuki had called her back then, but she meant it. The old woman's eyes narrowed on her. “Orphan? Were your parents killed in this….bad situation you talked about?” “I….I don’t know. I lost my memory. I don’t remember anything about my childhood, or my parents. Nothing.” “I see. Very interesting. You're a mystery even to yourself. For what it's worth, I hope you find what you're looking for. You remind me of Surra, when she was younger. Tough, maybe not so wild, but certainly strong-willed.” Rain saw Hanno wandering around the camp as they walked. He didn’t seem to know exactly where he was going, nor did it seem like he cared. His eyes wandered vacantly as he shuffled along. Eventually, she saw him head for the front gate. “What about him? Rain asked. “He's…..different.” Lady Oro chuckled, her whole small frame shaking. “Hanno is different. He's suffered for it too. Let’s find a place to sit, and I'll tell you more. My home is close, and I need to rest these old bones.” * They reached the small hut and sat down in the cramped, but comfortable confines. There was little in way of decorations. Some colorful cloth hung from the rafters, and the were a few mementos laying around, but little else. “Would you care for some tea?” “Ummm…..sure. That sounds good.” Rain said, still aware of her perilous diapered state. The pink diapers were comfortable, but they held far less.” “Ah, excellent. You can make it then.” She pointed to the small fire in the center of the tent, before laying out the tea and two cups. “In the meantime, what were we discussing?” She was lying again. She knew what they had been talking about. Rain ignored it as she began stoking the fire. “Hanno. And why he's so weird.” “Ah, yes. Sweet natured Hanno. He was born four and a half minutes after Arax. It became apparent fairly quickly that he was different from other children. Surra was three years older and already wild for her age. Most children played pretty aggressive games, we're an aggressive people. Hanno…..He didn’t like to be touched. He seemed a bit slower as well, not just in the speech department. The other children could tell he was different. He was picked on rather mercilessly.” Rain took a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of the cooking tea. “No one did anything? He's practically royalty right? I can’t see Surra letting someone pick on her little brother.” Lady Oro’s feelings became clear for a moment, and there was a brief moment of sadness in her eyes. “My daughter, Lana, was a huge influence on her children, Surra especially. Lana knew her son was different….She hated that boy, and she made it no secret. He wasnt wild and reckless like Surra, or headstrong like Arax. Surra was young and impressionable, so she hated him too. Even I…..didn't treat him as I should have. He simply didn’t interest me.” “The boy was alone. Except for Arax. I don’t know if it's because they were twins, but Arax saw something more and protected his brother. Later, he would painstakingly train Hanno to defend himself, but it wasn’t easy. Teaching Hanno anything is taxing. They were hardly ever apart, and even though everyone else looked down on him, at least Hanno had his brother.” Rain had served the tea, but she had froze during the tale. She couldn’t imagine a mother hating her own child. Despite being odd, Hanno seemed nice enough, and capable. To face such hatred and contempt for being different. How horrible. “Lana was wounded in battle. Hanno and Arax were about eight if I remember correctly. Surra was eleven. Despite our best efforts, my daughter was dying. There was no hope for her. Such a time of weakness is shunned here, so she was placed in a room with a few attendants to wait for her end. I had been nearly retired when suddenly I needed to lead again, and more importantly, I needed to get Surra ready to lead.” “So she died alone?” Rain asked, drinking more of the tea. It was warm and tasted very good, although she couldn’t put her finger on the flavor. Lady Oro gulped her tea down before continuing. “As new responsibility was thrust on Surra, she had little time to visit her mother. Arax was uncomfortable seeing Lana so weak and avoided her. So in the end she only had Hanno, the child she scorned. That boy stayed with his mother to the very end, despite her curses and her anger. He brought cold rags when she was feverish, brought her food, anything else he could do. I passed by the door once before the end. He was laying next to her. I don’t know what she was saying to him, but he was smiling that silly smile of his, and she was crying. They had finally embraced each other. It's just a shame they didn't have more time." Rain was crying too, but she had turned away to hide it. Her tea had gone cold, and suddenly she wanted out of the tent. She wanted to be in the cool night air, away from all this. She also sorta wanted to give Hanno a hug. Lady Oro continued, her eyes glancing at nothing in particular. “That's when I saw what Arax had seen. Hanno was special, he was more than what I had seen before, be cause i never bothered to look past his flaws." She paused. “Look at this. The tea has gone cold. You should…..you should get some rest, young lady. I worry that tomorrow will be rough for everyone. I am....very tired now." Rain didn't need to be told twice. She thanked her for the tea and made a hasty retreat. She was eager to get back to Tali and the others. She felt her diaper again, grimacing at the wetness she felt on the plastic covering. She was leaking. She stopped at the gate before going to her tent, but Hanno wasn’t there. Once she was back in her own tent, she quickly laid down, grabbing her supplies and one of her regular diapers. After cleaning herself, she put some powder on herself before pulling the diaper up and taping in place. The extra thickness was both reassuring and annoying. She thought about searching for the others, but decided against it. She was tired from the journey and didn’t really feel like talking anymore, regardless of who it was. She fell asleep rather quickly once her head hit the pillow. * The morning came too soon as usual as the team busied themselves with preparations to leave. Rain was checking her weapons, while Tali was checking her medical supplies. She head Gabe outside, regaling some of the tribe with how he lost his eye. This time he claimed a Mirelurk had plucked it out when he was asleep. Miles stopped by, looking eager to leave and they followed him to the gate. Rocco and Happy were already there waiting. Miyuki was there too, looking happy to be leaving. However, Surra and her brothers were there too. Hanno smiled at her and Rain smiled sweetly back. “What's this?” Miles asked. “You're not gonna like it, captain.” Rocco said glumly. They turned as a cackling laugh sounded behind them. Lady Oro had come to see them off. “I told you I couldn’t send Surra on her own, but I never said she wouldn’t accompany you. This is Oro business, of course my grandchildren will go too, if only to ensure our interests.” Miyuki paled at the news. Rain once again spoke without thinking. “You can’t trust her on her own, so we have to babysit her?” Everyone turned to her, including Surra. The look in her eyes chilled Rain’s blood instantly. Surra strolled up, grabbing her hands in an iron grip, before tripping her to the ground. He’s skirt flew up, revealing her diaper. Arax had the decency to turn around, and Tali quickly helped her up. “A little girl in pretty pink diapers should really watch her words don’t you think? Children should be seen rather than heard.” Rain blushed, but couldn’t being herself to say anything, despite her anger. Happy was laughing merrily, from her humiliation or the fact that Surra and her brothers were coming too, she couldn’t say. “Surra, Arax, Hanno. You are to assist Miles and his crew in bringing this trouble to a close. Find this Good Priest and find out his intentions. If he means us harm, kill him.” Gabriel stepped up warily. “If they are coming with us, they need to be able to follow orders.” Arax grunted. Surra gave her best innocent look. “I'll be good….as long as it suites me.” She pulled Miyuki close to her, her hand reaching low and grasping the Asian’s bottom. Miyuki was blushing again, but didn’t fight the contact. Miles stared at the elderly leader, but he knew he had no choice. “Fine. If this man is innocent, just some religious leader, he will not be harmed. It's important that's agreed upon. We've had differences in opinion with employers before.” Lady Oro smiled widely. “We are in agreement. I don’t wish for blood unless it's needed. Surra will be the judge of that.” She paused, staring at Rain again. “Safe travels to you.” With that, their group of nine pulled up their bags and marched out the gate, heading east, where the mysterious Good Priest was supposed to be.

From a philosophical stance, I agree with the OP. Yeah, life is kinda pointless. A repetitive cycle of work, paying bills, and frustration. There's no real reason in my opinion to go by day to day aside from just doing it. For the vast majority of us, we live pretty forgettable lives and won't be remembered a few generations after we die. That being said, it's all we got. You don't need a reason for the pointless existence we live in because regardless, you're living it. I exist, therefore I am. You've pointed out that people do try and excel at various things, so you can too. And I get the frustration, I do. I have a pointless degree that has done nothing for me, but shit, even having a degree is something you did right. Final thought: You already said you aren't going to end things, so living in a constant state of self-loathing achieves zip, aside from bumming you out. Mind as well keep trying to make things better. You never know where an opportunity might lie. My purpose is my child. I can't give up he needs me. That doesn't mean life is any less pointless, but I have my reason to continue it. I doubt this will help, but I can honestly relate to you and your admittedly nihilistic outlook. That doesn't mean giving up is the way to go. I hope things get better for you, and I honestly think they will. Just gotta keep on keeping on.

Mute characters can be tricky. They have to have personality or it seems lazy. One of my favorite movies has a "mute" and he's the one crap role in the film, like they ran out of money a picked a dude who couldn't act, so they made him mute. Hanno is a very special character, modeled after someone very dear to me. I'm glad everyone's enjoying the story. Finally, I know it's silly, but I could use some help in choosing a name for Rain's stuffed bear. It will be an important memento for her, and I've been hard pressed to think of a name for it. I'm looking for something Wastelandish that a child might name a stuffed animal. any ideas or suggestions would be welcome!

She was walking in the darkness. She could hear the echo from her footsteps, but everything was shrouded. There was a sense of familiarity, but the room was still unformed, the shadows covered everything. Rain could hear voices from the darkness as well, but like everything else, she couldn’t place who they belonged too. The whispers only served to make her sad, taunting her with people and places she once loved. As she continued on, a face finally came from the blackness. It was a small boy, and the sight of him crushed her with sorrow. She knew him! She knew his face, but she just couldn't remember who he was. “Who are you?” She cried. The boy was speaking, but she couldn’t hear him. He had no voice. His eyes pleaded with her, urging her to understand. From far away, she heard a song. She didn’t know what it was, but the sound filled her with fear. It came closer and grew louder, it’s tune ominous and melancholy and vaguely familiar. The boy looked around nervously, still trying to speak, before he started to fade away. “I don’t understand. What are you trying to tell me?! Please! I don’t know who you are. Don’t go! Don’t leave me alone!” A dark a booming laughter surrounded her, and she clamped her hands over her ears, trying to shut it out. “Rain! Wake up!” She shot up choking on a scream. Tali was already there, waiting to catch her. She sobbed as Tali held her, unable to get the fear from her system. It was strange that a dream that had shown so little could impact her so much. It was the fear though, that was the worst. It had crushed her so badly, felt so real, that even now she couldn’t shake it. They had been travelling for three days, and Rain was in desperate need of sleep. Miles was in the tent as well, and despite how upset she was, she couldn’t help but be embarrassed that he was watching her display. Miles always displayed control in any situation, and he was practically dying! “What's wrong, sweetheart?” Tali asked while stroking her hair. “You were screaming pretty loud. It must have been a pretty horrible dream.” Rain nodded, her face still buried in Tali’s chest. “Really bad. I hate not being able to remember anything. It always feels like memories are just on the edge of revealing themselves. I can’t remember no matter how hard I try.” Miles came forward and knelt down beside her. “You can’t force this, Rain. I know it's not what you want to hear, but your memories have to come back naturally.” “When I first got here, Miyuki told me I was lucky….that I couldn’t remember anything.” Rain said, sniffling. “But even though I can’t remember anything, I still have this feeling of…..loss. This crushing grief, but I can’t remember for what or who.” “I know how you feel. Just because you can't put together the names or faces, it doesn’t help that feeling of loss. When you remember your past, that feeling will still be there, maybe worse, maybe not.” Rain sniffled. “When? What if I never remember?” “Rain, I promise you, I will do everything I can to help you discover who you are. All it's gonna take is a single hint, just one clue, and that will lead to the rest.” Tali spoke up. “No matter what, Rain, you always have a place here. With us.” Rain felt more tears and ran to Tali. “I know that. You guys are my family now.” “Tali stroked her hair gently. “Yes we are, Rain. Yes we are.” * They continued on in the morning, choosing to cut through the city, rather than go around it. It was more dangerous, they were more likely to run into raiders or super mutants, but it would save time. Killing raiders was what they did anyway, and super mutants were the one type of creature Rain enjoyed killing. They hadn’t fought many during her time with the group, not many of the monsters had migrated here. Rain would never be able to forget how they had killed Mrs. Sellers, her guardian, and burned down the farm. She felt no pity for those creatures, and relished in each one she killed. Despite all the fighting, she normally didn't enjoy it, even if it was something to do to stave off boredom. Miles, Gabe, and Tali were the same. They fought because they believed they had too. Miyuki and Rocco were the only members who really seemed to enjoy fighting. The team looked tired, and Rain found out it was partially her fault. Miyuki had been dragging her feet the whole trip, but she looked especially rough today. “Geez, Rain, were you having a bad dream last night, or fighting off a yao guai? The whole city probably heard you.” Rain looked on sheepishly. “Was I that bad?” “I met a really old ghoul once who said he slept through the bombs 200 years ago.” Rocco said glumly. “I bet he heard you screaming away last night. I hardly got any rest. Do you think all this beautiful comes on it's own? I need sleep.” Mr. Happy hovered closer as well. “I keep telling you that you wouldn’t have nightmares if you would let me take out your brain. Humans are so sentimental about their organs.” “Well, I slept like a baby.” Gabriel said proudly. “My youth was spent sleeping around loud machines, laser fire, and explosions. I almost can’t sleep without the noise. Rain really did feel bad for keeping everyone up. “I'm really sorry everyone. I'll try to be better.” Miyuki waved her off. “Relax, kiddo. We're just teasing. Don't stress out about it.” The city was pretty deserted. Occasionally, they would see a traveler or group pass by, giving their armed band wary looks as they hurried past. Walking here was different than traveling through the countryside. The city felt lifeless and dead, surrounded by broken monuments of mankind’s former greatness. It was unsettling, as though ghosts were constantly lurking in the shadows, clinging to the shell of what used to be. As they drew near the end of the city, they were greeted by a couple of familiar faces. She recognized Yusef immediately, his large form and enormous beard giving him away. The trader known as Elijah Freeson followed nearby, dragging along his pack brahmin. Both waved enthusiastically to her, and Rain ran to them happily. She hadn’t seen them for a few months, getting her supplies from other caravans. “Rain! It’s so nice to see you again!” Elijah said once he caught up. “I've been wondering how you've been faring. We've heard plenty of stories, but it's good to see you in the flesh.” Rain smiled proudly. “Stories huh? What have you heard about me? Am I really famous?” “Of course! They say you're even more fierce than the rest of the team. Raiders fear your very name. They say if someone encounters the new young girl from Miles’ crew their days are numbered.” Rain puffed up even more at the praise. All of her hard work, all the exhaustion, training, and beatings were worth it, if only for this moment. “Yeah. I am pretty amazing I guess.” The group groaned and snickered, but she ignored it. She saw Rocco mocking her, mimicking her with his hands on his hips. Jealousy was so unbecoming. But Elijah had more to say. “One rumor was a bit weird though. People say that after you're done killing people and the battle is over, you just plop down on the ground, not moving until you get a bottle, and that you cry hysterically if you don’t get one. Then you curl up with stuffed bear and take a nap.” The team burst into laughter, while Rain slumped in horror. Who the hell had come up with such a ridiculous rumor? She knew her diapers were public knowledge, but did people really just see her as some killing machine toddler? Plus, how did anyone know about her bear? Yusef chimed in with a shake of his head. “We knew that was just dumb talk. In all seriousness, you look good, Rain. You look like a fighter, tough and all that. Not like Elijah here. He runs and hides like a defenseless child anytime we run into a mole rat.” Elijah reddened instantly. “That's not true! I just don’t take risks, that’s what I pay you for.” Yusef chuckled. “Right, so that wasn’t you a few weeks back when those Mireluks came at us, crying behind your brahmin, begging me to save you.” “Those things are very dangerous! One nearly took my arm when I was a child. I wasn’t crying either, I was just stressed.” Elijah crossed his arms indignantly before remembering something and digging into his pack. “I almost forgot, Vault 21 had your normal supplies, but they also sent a different kind of….uh….protection for you to try. You should really go out there one day. They got stuff you just can’t get anywhere else.” “I don’t like vaults.” Rocco objected. Elijah pulled out a second duffle bag, quickly unzipping it and removing a new diaper. It was horrible. Still plastic and crinkling, it was an obnoxious shade of pink. While there weren't Vault Boys all over it, there were what appeared to be Vault Girls up near the top of the diaper. They looked to be dressed like princesses, each one in a different colored dress. “Aww…Those are adorable!” Tali squeaked happily. Elijah cleared his voice. “Well, you see the diapers you normally wear are designed for the elderly. They're thick and made to be worn for a while. These were actually made for toddlers, and then made bigger for you. And since you're a girl….here they are.” Rain wanted to gag. “Why would I ever want to wear these? The normal ones lack enough dignity as it is. Did you tell them I'm not a toddler?” “That's not why they sent them. They know your situation. The most important part of these diapers, is that they are a good deal less thick, so they'll be easier to move around in, probably more comfortable. Obviously, they're less absorbent, so watch that.” “Tell them thanks, but no thanks. Cutsie diapers are the last thing I need. My reputation is ridiculous enough as it is.” Miyuki wrapped her arms around her with a smirk. “Not so hasty, kiddo. They made these just for you. It would be rude to not even try them.” “This should be a practical decision, Rain.” Miles said, almost suppressing a smile. “If these allow you a better range of movement, you should take them. Pride should come second to survivability.” “But I don’t wanna wear those.” Rain whined. “They're so dumb looking, and besides they hold less. I don’t want to leak.” Tali took the bag before she could argue anymore. “We'll just have to change you more frequently, it'll be fine. These will go so nice with a certain outfit we got a while back. Remember, you still haven’t worn it for me.” Rain cringed at the mention of that stupid pink dress. With the diapers underneath, she really would look like some toddler waiting for a bottle. “That’s just great. I can’t wait to try them on.” She said sarcastically. * The village of the Oro tribe was a large and sprawling place, built at the top of a very large hill, about three hours away from the city. However, their dwellings were mostly huts, with only one man made building around. It wasn’t a very large structure, and she couldn’t have guessed what it used to have been. The sun was only just setting, and with it, the remains of what little dignity Rain still had. She would need to be changed soon, and those awful pink diapers would be brought out for her humiliation. They were met at the gates, by three people with assault rifles. On the arm of each was a small tattoo of a Deathclaw head. The two men were clearly identical twins. They both had short, cropped hair, and aside from one having a rough shadow of a beard, there was no telling them apart. Miles waved to them, keeping his other had within sight. “Arax. Hanno. It’s been a few years.” The one with the stubble smiled back. “We normally like to handle our own issues. You sure got here fast, Miles. Makes sense though. The Oro tells you to jump, and here you are, wondering how high.” The smug man nudged his brother, who was staring forward as though they weren't even there. “Hanno, don’t be rude. Say high to our guests.” Hanno jumped a bit from the contact. Still, he didn’t really seem to see them, but he waved half-heartedly anyway. Rain was about to ask what he was so interested in, but then she saw the third person step forward. She could tell immediately that it was Surra. She was muscular and lean, her shoulder length hair had been dyed into a teal color. Her eyes drifted among them, sizing them up, before locking on Miyuki, who tensed up in fear. “Miss Surra!” Mr. Happy chirped happily. “Do you remember me? It's so good to see you after all these years. You're looking as beautiful as ever, if I may say so.” “Of course I remember you, Happy. How high is your kill count nowadays?” “Not as high as yours, my lady, I’m sure. You are without peer, truly.” Surra looked back to the group. “Miles. Nice of you to answer my grandmother's call. She's waiting for you inside, but first, I want to look over your new…..fighter. The one everyone has been talking about.” She strode up confidently, grabbing Rain’s chin with a look of disdain. “You don’t look like much to me, child, certainly not as special as I had heard. Then again, you could only be as good as your teacher. I doubt Miyuki had it in her to really train you properly.” Miyuki strode up and slapped the woman's hand away angrily. “Hands off. Leave her be.” Surra raised an eyebrow in fake surprise, as a wicked smile appeared on her face. “Oh, well now. Look at this. Someone grew a backbone.” Then she struck Miyuki with the back of her hand hard enough to send her sprawling. Rain reached for her pistol, but the quiet twin, Hanno, moved faster, hitting her in the gut with the butt of his rifle. Her assumption that he wasn’t paying attention was wrong, and she fell to her knees as the breath was knocked out of her. Miyuki got up slowly, a trail of blood running down her lip. Her eyes were defiant, but Surra just stared challengingly. The other's hadn’t moved an inch, and didn’t seem likely too. Surra laughed and took Miyuki’s face into her hands. “It’s always so amusing when you act tough.” Miyuki was shaking with anger, but the blue haired woman just laughed harder. Suddenly, she leaned in close and licked the blood away before forcing Miyuki into a deep kiss. Rain felt her mouth open in surprise, but the others seemed unconcerned. Tali looked embarrassed, while Rocco openly leered. Miles and Gabe looked on impassively. Miyuki shook slightly as the kiss continued, her knees wobbling just a bit. When she was finally released, there was a mixture of fear and something else in her eyes. Surra smirked maliciously. “After the meeting with my grandmother, you will meet me in my tent, is that clear? Unless you think today is the day you'll break free.” To Rains disappointment, Miyuki only slunk back meekly, not meeting anyone's eyes. Surra turned away, not sparing Rain or anyone else a glance. Rain got up slowly, seeing that they were about to go inside the camp. Arax, the twin with the stubble, followed behind, tapping his brother on the shoulder. Hanno broke away from whatever he had been staring at reluctantly and followed behind. As they were heading through the gate, she finally looked back at what Hanno had been staring at. The view from the hill was beautiful. With the sun setting over the countryside, everything was tinged in a soft orange glow. The sky was a pallet of purple, and blue, and orange. It was breathtaking. Hanno turned back and saw her admiring the view, and a silly looking smile spread over his face. He was a strange guy, but there was a gentleness to him, a sense of serenity almost. Suddenly, he turned back and walked up to her. To her surprise, he began gently rubbing her stomach, a curious look on his face. “Uh….what are you doing?” She asked with wide eyes. “What is he doing?” Arax looked back and chuckled. “He's sorry about hitting your stomach. He wants to make sure you feel better.” “He doesn't talk?” Arax shrugged and lit a cigarette. “Never picked up talking. My brother’s a bit….unique." Hanno stared down at her worriedly. His concern was so earnest, she couldn’t help but smile. “I'm alright, really. Thank you, Hanno.” The village was busy as they walked in, and Rain could smell the food being prepared as tribesmen moved to and fro. She noticed that every single one of them had the same deathclaw tattoo on their arms, a sign or brand, that showed who they were, and who they belonged too. Many of the villages and tribes she had dealt with had similar devices of recognition. An old woman stood in the center of the village. She looked ancient, and was slightly stooped over, leaning on a wooden cane. Surra and her brothers let the group go ahead while they drew together, with Surra and Arax speaking quietly together. Surra still had a mocking grin as the team went down on one knee before Lady Oro. Well, most of the team, anyway. Rain followed suite and knelt down as well, but Rocco stood defiantly, his arms crossed over his chest. Lady Oro didn’t seem to notice, her gaze never even met the ghoul, as though he were literally not even there. They stayed knelt down, and when a gust of wind blew up her skirt, Rain could tell by Surra and Arax’s laughter that they had seen her sagging diaper. The blush on her face must have shown, as the old woman smiled at her before motioning for them to rise. Like her granddaughter, Lady Oro took Rain’s face in her hands, looking deep into her eyes. The old woman had an otherworldly gaze, something was different about her for sure. Lady Oro smiled a toothless grin. “There's something different about you, girl. Something inside. Hidden away.” Rain looked around awkwardly, her face still in the old woman's pruning hands. “You think so? If I'm so special, do you think you could let go of my face?” She gave that same eerie smile as she let go at last. “Miles, I'm sure you and your team are tired from the journey. Rest for now, dinner will be served shortly, and then I will explain why I called you here.” * Miyuki screamed as quietly she could as the cattle prod was shoved against her side. She was face down on the ground and naked as the day she had been born. Her arms were bound behind her back. Surra was prowling above her, smiling maniacally, her eyes taking in her captive happily. “Come on now, I lowered the voltage on the prod, it shouldn’t hurt that badly. You've always been such a wuss. Are you angry? Do you want to be free? All you have to do is stand up and take me down.” Miyuki huffed as she struggled to her knees. If it had been anyone else, she would have put the fear of god into them. But this was Surra of the Oro, and she was more than some raider dirt bag. She was a master of combat, and her ferocity was legendary. The thought of fighting back terrified Miyuki. Her emotions were muddled as humiliation, anger, fear, and a more primal feeling warred inside her. “I hate you!” Miyuki gasped. Surra lifted her up, and her fingers moved over her captive’s body. “Look at you, Miyuki. You think I'm cruel? But I give you what no one else can. I am the only one that you can’t beat, no matter how tough you are. You’ve never had that before have you? You're always in control because nobody else can tame you. But I can.” Miyuki squirmed as Surra began kissing her body, letting out a moan as her breasts were squeezed. She couldn’t fight back, not against Surra. She was too strong. “You're mine. You will always be mine. Until the day you can stand up to me. Until then, all pleasure, all pain, all ecstasy is mine to give you as I please.” The shock came again, the burning pain taking her breath away. “I know.” Miyuki said weakly. Surra smiled wider, her other hand still exploring. “Say it. Tell me you're mine.” Miyuki shuddered in pleasure. “I’m yours. I'm all yours. Please.” More pleasure followed, on and on. There would be no rest for her, not until Surra decided to end it. Surra forced her to her knees, before taking off her clothes slowly. “Since you're down there, slave, maybe you should start trying to make me happy.” Miyuki sighed before leaning in between Surra’s legs and getting to work. It was going to be a long night. Oh, how she hated this woman. * Tali looked over the pink diaper happily as Rain squirmed unhappily on the cot in her provided tent. The time of reckoning had come. In a few moments, she would be clean and in a new, somehow more humiliating diaper. Tali began cleaning her up. “I know you're embarrassed, but you'll look so precious. Pink is really your color.” Rain wasn’t listening. Her mind was drifting back to Surra. She had seen her dragging Miyuki back to her tent. That woman irritated her. The look in Surra’s eyes when she had “sized” her up was like she was looking at particularly unpleasant insect. She was so haughty and arrogant, and Rain didn’t like the hold she had over Miyuki. Lady Oro’s words also replayed in her head. She said that there was something inside her, something hidden. As cryptic as that was, she wondered if the old woman was right. Some of the things she could do were weird. Dream sharing and all her emphatic abilities had raised a lot of questions. Maybe one day she would get answers. She felt her legs being lifted into the air and set down on the diaper. After the obligatory dose of powder, the pink diaper was taped up and the change was over. Rain sat up, surprised at how different this diaper felt compared to her regular ones. It was certainly much thinner and she found her legs weren't awkwardly pushed out. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but admit that they were cute, in a girly sense. She hadn’t felt girly in a very long time. They were more comfortable for sure, but they still crinkled loudly. Sitting in just a black tank top and now a bright pink diaper, Rain winced at the happy noises coming from Tali. “Awww….you're so adorable, I wanna die!” “That's funny, I wanna die too, at how stupid I look.” Rain pouted. Tali scooped her up, ignoring her attitude. “I can’t wait to get you in that dress. Oh, and I’m gonna do your hair all pretty. I bet I can find a camera that still works too.” Rain cringed at the thought. Could anyone possibly be more uncomfortable than her right now?!

I understand your frustrations, really. My son is autistic. He was diagnosed when he was three (He'll be six soon!) But every so often we have to go back up to the center that diagnosed him. Disability purposes and such. The Doc is a real asshat. My son is non-verbal, although his vocabulary is growing, he's not one to have a conversation with someone. So we go up there so proud. He's speaking more, interacting more, his spelling is freakin amazing. We had notes from his therapists and teachers, talking about what incredible improvement he was showing. It meant next to nothing to this doctor. Since my boy wouldn't play with a total stranger in a specific way after they shoved him in a tiny room for 15 min., he's "not making much progress". Oh, I nearly leapt over the table at the guy. Point is, I know how frustrating it can be when people who don't know you try to tell you what's "wrong" with you. There's nothing wrong with you, just like there's nothing wrong with my son. Life might be harder for you, and I would be lying if I said I didn't worry about my sons life, but you are perfect as you are, no matter what anyone says. I don't have any useful advice, but please know that at least. The only thing that anyone should want for you, is for you to be healthy and happy.

That would depend on your definition of normal. If it makes you happy, who cares? Normal is boring anyhow. I will say you don't need to be ashamed of your feelings. Anyway, if you're looking for answers, this is probably the best place to get them.

He's not entirely right, and not entirely wrong. That's all I can say. Just keep expectations at a reasonable level.

Thanks for the comments. I have been worried about the diapers becoming kinda normalized, specifically because this is fanfiction. I want them to be at the forefront. cause I do love diapers. At the same time, I have such a bigger story, so it's tough. The Oro are a fun chapter. I've been looking forward to them. Surra, the heir, is a fun character to write. Her brothers are pretty interesting as well. In fact, one of them, Hanno, is probably one of my favorites from a personal standpoint. I'm really excited to keep expanding things. I'd say we're maybe a quarter of the way through my loosely planned story. Jericho Thorne will also be making an entrance in the future, so it's exciting.

It was another month before they got an new message. Surprisingly, it was met with more groans than when they had received the one from Oz. They were sitting around the base just after dinner when Happy informed them they had a visitor at the gates. Rain had been sitting around in a simple shirt and her diaper. Everyone knew anyway, and with all of them living so close together, everyone had seen them at one point or the other. She watched from the door as Miles and Gabriel met the messenger. The man was dressed in thin, brown clothing, and he only spoke a few words before running off. Miles was running his hands through his hair, looking hesitant to deliver the message. That was never a good sign. She followed him to the training yard, where Miyuki was “teaching” Rocco some of her moves. Rain knew from experience how painful those lessons could be. To his credit, Rocco gave back as good as he got. Though less disciplined, he had a more rough and tumble style that was still effective. They stopped as Miles approached, and Tali had followed as well to hear the news. Miles sighed as he reached them. “We've…..been summoned.” A collective groan ensued, and Rain couldn’t help but chuckle at how the team seemed to dislike so many of their clients. Rocco cursed and Tali shook her head in denial. Miyuki had gone nearly rigid, frozen in place with a look Rain had never seen in her companion, but she couldn’t say what it was. “Anybody want to fill me in? Who has summoned us, and why do you all look like a brahmin took a dump in your Sugar Bombs?” Miles scratched his chin idly. “The Oro Tribe. They're a major power around here. Between their tribe, and those that swear fealty to them, they can host a sizable force. They are not to be trifled with.” “Plus they're cannibals.” Rocco added, pretending to bite Miyuki’s arm. She yanked her arm away and turned her back, looking more unsettled with every moment. Rain felt herself pale at the thought. “We're going to go to a tribe of cannibals?! To do what, help them?” The idea of walking into a camp full of cannibals did not appeal to her. Tali rolled her eyes. “They aren’t cannibals….not exactly. They practice a ritual form of cannibalism, on their enemies.” “Do they have a lot of enemies?” Rain asked quietly. “Not really……not anymore. There's always troublemakers, people who want to test the boundaries. It doesn’t end well for them. The Oro pride themselves on……problem solving. If they called us, we have to go. They don’t take rejection well, and believe me, we don’t them coming to us.” “We've worked with them before. They are a matriarchal society. All power lies in the oldest female of the ruling family, who they believe carries the essence of their goddess. When she passes, the power goes to the next in line.” “What’s old Lady Oro’s heir’s name again? Its her granddaughter right?” Rocco pondered. “Miyuki? Do you remember?” He had a wolfish grin on his face, but Miyuki wasn’t laughing. She glared at him angrily, but still managed to squeak out a reply. “Her name is Surra. You know that. Her two brothers are Arax and Hanno.” “Oh, that's right. Well, like Tali said, we have to go. It will be a thoroughly unpleasant experience for all of us.” Rocco said. “Especially me, but not so much for some people, right Miyuki?” To Rain’s surprise, the beautiful Asian actually blushed, and she gave one final frustrated look before she stormed off. Rocco watched her leave with a look of triumph. There was an awkward silence among the group after she left that Rain couldn’t stand. “Uh….so why is it going to be so awful for you, Rocco?” She asked finally. “Well, Lady Oro is of the belief that ghouls aren't people, but ghosts. She thinks acknowledging my presence will invite evil spirits or some bullshit like that. I find the idea just a bit insulting. It is a little funny though. Wait and see, she won’t react to anything I do.” Miles put a hand on her shoulder. “Just stay close and be careful. Lady Oro is….different, and Surra and Arax love to fight.” Rocco scoffed. “The whole bloody tribe loves to fight, bunch of bloodthirsty savages. Goddamn, this is gonna suck.” “We leave tomorrow.” Miles said, sparing a glance at Rain and smiling. “You look pretty soaked, kiddo. Have Tali change you and then get packed. Pretty bold by the way, walking outside like that.” Rain froze and realized she was still in just a diaper, out in the open. Anyone passing by the compound would be able to see her! With a squeak of terror, she bolted as fast as she could back to the safety of the inside. She could hear Tali and Miles laughing, but she didn't care. “I'll be in to change you in a few minutes!” Tali yelled after her, amusement in her voice. She had almost made it back to the safety of her room, when Mr. Happy blocked her way. The hallway was small, and the Mr. Gutsy was hovering right down the middle. When she tried to go around him, he moved to block her again. She was uncomfortable around the robot anyway, and seeing as how she was unarmed, his silent hovering made her more nervous. “Miss Rain, might I inquire as to what the ruckus is all about?” “Ummm….I guess we got a job. From some tribe of cannibals. Miyuki seemed freaked out.” “The Oro?” Oh, capital! I hope I get to go this time! Seeing Miss Surra is always such a delight.” Rain could feel her jaw drop. “You're telling me there’s actually a human you like?” “I'm offended, Miss Rain. I like humans. I like plenty of humans. You for example, I enjoy you and your defective bladder, it makes me laugh. I just think I would enjoy killing you more. There’s nothing wrong with that right?” “There’s so much wrong with that. So why is Surra so special?” “Miss Surra is one of the few humans I've met that shares my enthusiasm for…..violent pastimes. She is an artist with a knife I'll tell you that! A battle to the death with her would be a dream come true.” The robot sighed happily. “Okay…..well it sounds like love. I’m gonna go now.” “Indeed! Your defective bladder is at it again from the looks of things. I need to make myself presentable for Miss Surra. I wonder if she remembers me.” He moved aside so she could pass, before continuing down the hall, humming a cheery tune. She glanced in Miyuki’s room as she passed, seeing her comrade sitting on her bed, staring into space mindlessly. Despite her discolored diaper, Rain couldn’t turn away. She stepped in and sat down on the bed as well. Miyuki glanced at her slowly, but neither of them said anything for a few minutes. “You're gonna leak on my bed. Go get your supplies and I'll change you real quick.” Rain reluctantly stood and headed to get her supplies. She didn’t really want Miyuki to change her, but it would give her a chance to probe her a bit. She didn’t seem in a teasing mood anyway. When she got back, Miyuki seemed a bit more composed, sitting with her legs spread, awaiting Rain to get into position. With a sigh, Rain climbed on the bed and handed the new diaper to Miyuki. Miyuki tore the tabs of the wet diaper, before beginning to clean her up with the wipes. She was gentle, but a bit mechanic. “You might as well just ask. I know you're here for a reason. You always wiggle and look embarrassed when I change you, and you definitely don’t just sit around creepily and wait for me to offer.” “You seemed upset about going to the Oro. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” It wasn’t exactly true. Miyuki was feeling a lot of emotions, Rain could sense it. Her emotions were out of control, with fear being a primary one. But there were other feelings beneath the surface. They were complicated and Rain wasn’t sure what they were. “It's Surra, Old Lady Oro’s granddaughter and current heir. Listen to me, Rain. When we get there, I want you to be very careful. Surra is dangerous, and she doesn’t take lip lightly. She'll try to bait you, then punish you if you rise to it.” Rain took a breath as she felt the baby powder being rubbed into her skin. She didn’t know how the Vault made it, but it was wonderful. “You seem really nervous, Miyuki. It's not like you. You’re the one that told me I needed to be a badass, but you’re practically shaking in your boots.” Miyuki stayed quiet until the new diaper was taped on, then took Rain by the shoulder. “You listen to me, dammit. This isn’t about being tough, it’s about being smart. There’s only three people in the world I'm scared of and Surra is one of them. Behave. Don’t provoke her okay? No matter what.” Rain nodded, feeling more uncomfortable than ever about meeting these people. Miyuki didn’t say another word. She took the rolled up used diaper and left the room to dispose of it. Rain figured she wanted to be left alone, so she headed to her room. Tali was there already, looking for her probably. “There you are! I guess you got tired of waiting. Sorry about that.” “I had Miyuki do it, but I was really just trying to figure what has her so frazzled.” Tali looked away, giving a nervous laugh. “Yeah, she's……well it's…..I mean it's…….tough to explain.” Rain sighed angrily, tired of being in the dark. “Do you know how annoying it is to be constantly confused as to what the heck’s going on all the time?” Tali sat on the bed and invited her to as well. With a sigh, Rain laid back into the woman’s arms. “The Oro…..they're…..very intense, I guess is a good way to put it. Surra’s brother Hanno is a sweetheart though. Nothing like his twin, Arax at all. You'll like him.” “I always feel out of the loop.” Rain insisted, pouting. Tali giggled. “Well, you were late to the party, baby. We were doing this for two years before you came along. We know some people you don’t. You’ve only been here what, a little over six months? Trust me, in time you'll know everyone, and you'll be no better off for it.” They sat together for a long time, enjoying the silence. She could hear the others making ready, and knew she would need to pack as well soon. Aside from her weapons, she would have to pack at least a week’s worth of diapers. The weight of those alone were tremendous, but she always carried them herself. They were her burden to bear. Tali had her own. “Miles finally looks back to normal, and here we go again to jump into another fight. Is it weird that I’m a little excited? It gets a bit boring otherwise.” Tali shook her head. “I know. The others are the same, always looking toward the next fight. I’m probably the only one who loves the quiet. It means everyone is safe and whole.” “Why do this then? We could stop, right? We don't have to do this all the time, anyway.” “Miles won’t stop, so I can’t either. We're making the world a better place, right? No matter how much blood we spill.” Rain was a bit surprised at how much doubt and bitterness she heard in Tali’s voice. Knowing what she did about Miles and Tali now, Rain figured her friend would like nothing more than to settle down with Miles and stop all the fighting. Maybe he would even get better if he were out of harm’s way. But that wouldn’t happen. Miles had his mission, a need to keep fighting, and it wasn’t likely to end anytime soon. “So…..how long have you and Miles been an item?” Rain asked, hoping to get to a better subject. Tali thought for a moment. “I guess we got together about a year before you came? It's sorta been an open secret ever since. Miyuki suspects it, and I think Gabriel does too. Rocco is totally oblivious though.” Rain grabbed her bear from the bed, still pondering over a name. “Do you think you'll ever get married?” Tali laughed at that. “Married? Where did that come from?” Rain shrugged. “Why not? That’s what people do when they're in love, right?” “I don’t know….seems silly, doesn't it?” Tali asked, but her blush gave her away. “I doubt Miles would be interested, not in me anyway.” Rain turned, grabbing Tali’s hands. “How could you say that? I've seen him look at you, he's crazy about you. I can’t believe I never saw it before.” Tali’s cheeks reddened even more. “You think so? I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like……like I’m a distraction, walking beside him, but not with him. If I died tomorrow, would he grieve for me, or would he just keep moving on to the next battle? Does he really love me, or am I just someone to keep him warm at night?” Rain didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to sooth such insecurities. She remembered how Tali had once said that Miles was always so focused on his mission, sometimes he missed what was in front of him. Maybe he was. Here was an amazing woman who would follow him to the end of the world, and yet she wasn’t sure how much she meant to him. “You need to talk to him then. Tell him how you feel, or you'll just drive yourself crazy.” “Hmmm…..maybe. A wasteland marriage ceremony. It's a funny thought isn't it?” “Life is short. Especially out here. You deserve to be happy.” The mood was broken by loud singing coming from the hall. They peeked out and saw Mr. Happy spinning around and while singing in a foreign language. It was erratic behavior for an already strange and erratic robot. Tali shrugged and grinned. “It's opera. Sometimes when Happy is….well…..happy, he likes to sing opera music.” Rain watched as the robot hovered and spun wildly. “Somehow that's the most weird and disturbing thing I've learned today, and I just found out about these cannibal people.” Tali wrapped an arm around her, and kissed her on the head. “We need to pack. Oh, by the way, I wouldn’t call the Oro “cannibal people”. I doubt it would go over well.

I normally pick a day to wear, and then no matter what happens, I'm in diapers for the day. So yeah, It doesn't usually bother me to go out to places in a diaper. To be fair though, I've never tried something like eating out when wearing. Mostly it's quick store stops.

The gray areas are a big focus in this story, and I can already predict that some choices my characters may make might upset some people. It's sort of a Negan/Game of Thrones ideal, where the reader can relate to most of the characters in some way. As a child, I always rooted for the villans in Disney movies, and never really knew why, but I figured they had a good reason for whatever they did. Everyone is the hero of their own stories after all.

The mystery nagged at her as a silence descended. Miles seemed reluctant to continue. Tali had to physically get up and take his hand before he looked at her again. Rain was struck with the idea that she had never seen Miles falter before. He was a distant and stoic leader at the best of times, and it was frightening to see weakness in him now. “I have an implant deep in my body. Now, implants aren’t exactly a new thing. You could go to New Vegas right now and get one. Some make you smarter, some can make you stronger. One is called the Phoenix Regeneration System. It heals the body from minor wounds, slowly.” Rain shook her head, confused. “What I saw wasn’t a slow healing of a minor injury. You were dead, Miles.” “As far as I can tell, it seems to be a new model of the Phoenix system, a prototype. It repairs my body at a cellular level, it can even restart my heart if needed. Minor injuries heal instantly, and I don’t age as far as I can tell. I’ve never seen anything like it, and to this day, I haven't found anything that can kill me.” “What about your arm? Coughing up blood?” Tali cleared her throat. “His body for some reason, is rejecting it, which is always a risk. That’s why normally you don’t just shove those things in there willy-nilly. The prototype is dormant for the most part, and only partially activates for minor injuries. When his body suffers major trauma, it activates completely, and that’s when his body notices it, acting as though it's an invader. His nervous system is slowly collapsing as it destroys itself.” “I don’t understand. Why can’t the prototype fix him?” Miles showed his arm again. “With my body and the machine at odds, it does what it can to limit the internal damage, then backs off, but the side effects are still pretty bad.” Rain wasn’t sure what to say. Miles was at once both immortal and dying. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live in such a state. “What happens if you keep using it?” Tali swallowed hard, tearing up again. “I can’t be sure….but if I had to guess, I would say that eventually his organs will fail…..and…..I don’t know what happens then. I don’t think it will be good.” Rain took her hand as she asked one final question. “How did you get it?” Miles took a deep breath. “After the Regulators fell, I should've died. I had tried to kill Thorn when I saw the battle was lost, but his generals struck me down. I awoke to find an old man operating on me. I don’t know who he was or why he saved me, but he told me I couldn’t die yet, that the world still needed me. When I woke up again he was gone, and I was….immortal.” “The others don’t know?” “They know I can’t die. That’s all they need to know. They have questions sure, but they haven’t eavesdropped on me yet.” Miles said with a smirk. Rain looked down sheepishly, as Miles leaned back, trying to steady his breath. It had been days since he has been shot, but he still suffering from the recuperation. That was why he had kept himself hidden away. He didn’t want anyone to see his weakness. Tali pulled her up gently. “Miles needs to rest. Let’s get you back in bed okay? We leave tomorrow.” She followed behind Tali, and had reached the door, when Miles called to her. “This has to be a secret, okay? The others would only worry if they knew the truth. It’s kinder for them to believe I'm immortal, truly. Do you understand?” Rain nodded reluctantly, the truth eating away at her. It was quite a secret to have to keep, and it didn’t feel right to keep the others in the dark. She headed down the hall, back into her bed. Her bear was back into her arms, though even he probably wouldn’t be enough to help her get back to sleep. Tali seemed to sense her anxiety, pulling out another book from Rains bag. It was more her age than some of the other books she had read in her early days with the group. It was an exciting tale of good vs evil, where of course the good guys would always win in the end. She knew real life wasn’t so simple. Tali laid beside her and began to read, maybe to get her mind off of Miles. Now that she knew how close they were to each other, Rain felt a bit special. Tali had always fussed over her and Miles the most. In a way, she figured she was almost as special as Miles was to Tali. It was a nice thought. She curled up closer to Tali, her bear close to her, not caring as she felt a familiar trickle flow into her diaper. She thought she needed to name the bear at some point, but she didn’t know what to pick. She was thinking of names as she finally fell asleep. * They began packing for the road shortly after breakfast. Oz had kept his distance then, knowing that the group might still be angry with the past day's events. However, he met them at the gates with their reward. It was a pack brahmin, the beast was loaded up with weapons of all kinds, from assault rifles and shotguns, and ammunition to go with it. There was also food and medical supplies. It was without a doubt the biggest payload they had received. “I owe you more than this for what you've done for my city. With Trenton and his lot out of the way, business can go on as usual.” Oz beamed. Miles nodded and shook his hand. Gabriel and the others followed. Rain didn’t move. She kept her gaze forward on the gate. The sight of Pride’s leader would only infuriate her. “I'm glad the threat has been taken care of, Oz. I wish it had ended differently.” Miles said sourly. He looked a bit better today, Rain noticed. Oz clapped him on the shoulder. “We've known each other a long time, Miles. If you ever need my help, just say the word, and all of Pride will answer.” Rain snorted in derision, earning her awkward glances from Rocco and Miyuki. Oz noticed too and to her irritation, he walked over to her. “Still don’t like me much, do you, Princess?” Her eyes met his deep with fury. “Don’t call me that. And I hate you. You're a coward who killed a good man, and now you want to shake hands with us, fuck you.” Oz frowned, then took a breath and knelt down beside her. “You liked Dane, I get it. I liked him too. It was a shame what I had to do.” “You could’ve let him live, or banished him, anything else! Don’t pretend you cared. He apologized and you killed him anyway!” “I did. Maybe if he had come earlier, if I hadn’t had to send you and Miles to fetch him, things could've been different. Do me a favor. Look around you. Do you see all those people?” The town was busy at work, but she saw many staring at Oz. Many nodded and smiled as they met his eyes. “These people look to me to lead them. I take that very seriously, but they also look to me for justice, the same way so many look to Miles for justice. How could I face those that lost sons, brothers, or husbands to Trenton and his gang, if I hadn’t seen justice done? Whether he had part in that killing or not, he was with that group, shared the blame for their crimes.” Rain could feel tears welling up in her eyes again, but it couldn’t be helped. “He was sorry. He didn’t want to hurt anyone” she said weakly. Oz wrapped his arm around her, choosing his next words. “I know he was sorry. But Princess, sometimes…..sorry just ain’t enough.”

You're gonna make me blush, Trip.