SO I have no idea what possessed me to dig up this years-old fic, spruce it up, and start adding chapters again but here we are. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I hope y'all enjoy the new chapter regardless! I don't want to make any promises with all the other stuff I'm working on right now, but... we'll see! We will see, that's all I can say. =]

The rat squealed shrilly as he cowered before me. The poor thing looked so pathetic, I considered trying to spare him. But I was already raising the axe above my head and charging at him, grinning madly behind my mask in anticipation. My axe went through his midsection with sickening ease, despite the bluntness of the blade and the thickness of his clothing. Part of me wondered was the Siren was thinking of all this. She'd stopped shooting at me, which was a good sign. But butchering a bunch of packrats in front of her hardly seemed like a way to convince her of my friendly intentions.

As I pondered my other half was having a ball. The next rat stumbled as my head whipped in his direction, as if he was going to run but decided against it. In an instant I was looming over him, splattered in the blood of his little rat friends. "I'M GONNA PUT MY PAIN INTO YOUR SOUL!" I roared deafeningly, my mask only inches away from his.

The rat whimpered in terror before his eyes rolled back in his head and he sunk to the ground. It wasn't the first time I'd scared someone unconscious. Since he wasn't moving anymore I lost interest and turned to look for the next kill. In the wrong direction, that is; I heard a shriek on my right, dangerously close. I hardly reacted fast enough to see the fourth rat leaping at me, claws outstretched for my neck. But before he could sink them into me, time froze.

I stared in confusion as the sputtering excuse for a human being stopped in midair, arms still reaching for me but stuck in place. There was a sound like rushing air as the hysterically screaming rat hung suspended in a swirling ball of light. I glanced questioningly behind me. The siren stood behind me with her bare arm outstretched, clutching a spherical light in her hand. Her tattoos glowed a brilliant cyan for a moment, then faded back to their original state. She stepped closer, meeting my gaze with an expression I couldn't quite read. I only panted and stared.

She helped me?

I still felt fazed by the whole situation, but outer me returned my attention to the rat. It shrieked as I brought my axe crashing down on it's bony torso. The bubble vanished, and the rat hit the ground with a light thud. It struggled for a bit, gasping and weakly grasping at the weapon buried in its chest. Once it went still I casually held its body down with my foot and tugged the axe out. I felt very aware of the Siren standing behind me, watching in silence.

Now tell her thank you. Tell her that because of her, we might actually one day be able to act like a normal person again.

I whipped around and gesticulated dramatically while shouting, "I powdered my cockatiel for the ribcage slaughter!"

She narrowed her eyes at me, and for a moment I wondered if she'd start shooting again. But her expression of distrust softened into a smile. I had been irritated with myself for yelling something so stupid, but that smile was worth any sort of nonsensical garbage I could've spouted off.

Huh... close enough.

She smiled at me. The subtle, earnest, genuine smile of a person who helped me, as opposed to the manic grins of murderers I was used to. It was like seeing an oasis in the middle of a desert. I was close enough to see her eyes were a striking silver, like the metal of a brand new VLADOF, unlike anything I had ever seen before. Did all sirens have eyes like hers, I wondered.

"We will be leaving the Dustfield terminal in five minutes!" A cheery voice echoing over a distant intercom startled me from my thoughts. I blinked and realized the siren wasn't smiling anymore, instead giving me a bewildered look. I anxiously averted my gaze, wondering how long I'd been staring down at her.

I hadn't even noticed the large train that had pulled into the station. It hissed as its doors slid open. The siren glanced between me and the train, seemingly worried. I questioned her guilty expression until I realized. "Well... thank you. For all that." she said with an apologetic smile. My stomach sank when she saluted me and jogged to the train entrance. Leaving me behind.

What did I expect anyway? For her to run off into the desert with me? She was a vault hunter. She was here for adventure and fortune, not to make friends with the nutty locals. My hand ran across the back of my head, twitching fingers fumbling with the leather straps.

Damn it all. Getting my hopes up over nothing.

Outer me didn't seem bothered at all, humming a disjointed tune as I slowly started to walk along the tracks, just as I was before I was hit by the train. The cheery song was completely out of place; I could feel my newfound hope falling apart each painful second.

"Hey! Wait!" I heard her call. I turned around. She stood in the train's entryway, leaning against the sliding door. "It's… pretty dead out here. You sure you wanna stay?"

I blinked at her, not comprehending.

"I'm heading for the vault, if you want to come along too."

The offer shocked me like a bucket of ice water. Me, accompanying a vault hunter on their adventure? I could feel excitement rising in my chest, despite all my doubts. Delving even further into the bloodfest that was the Borderlands didn't sound like a great way to get a handle on my sanity. But then again, neither was aimlessly pillaging bandit camp after bandit camp. The answer was a no-brainer.

Yes yes yes! Get on the train! Do what she says!

"Not because you told me to!" I yelled threateningly and scrambled up the side of the yellow train. The metal was hot from the beating sun, but I still seemed content to sit cross-legged on the roof and clang my axe against the metal.

IN the train numbskull, not on top of it!

I didn't budge. "Mush Buttershanks, mush!" I ordered, beating it with the axe blade.

"You sure you don't want to...?" she trailed off when I glowered down at her very seriously.

"No time? NO TURKEY!" I bellowed.

"Alright... just hang on tight I guess." She shrugged and waved a friendly goodbye before walking inside.

I could barely contain my excitement. There I was, on a train about to whisk me off to the far reaches of Pandora where I'd search for the legendary vault with a beautiful siren. I wasn't really interested in the vault of course. What use is money to me when all I do is try to eat it? No, this was my chance to finally get out of the badlands and spend some time with sane people who wouldn't try to kill me at every turn. It was my long-awaited escape from endless wandering and senseless murder. Maybe I could find the help I needed to get a grip on my sanity again. In my head I knew it was a longshot but for once I felt confident enough to hope.

I grunted in surprise when the train suddenly lurched forward, sending me flying off my ass. My fingers scraped across the roof as I slid backwards, trying to find some to hold on to, but I ended up slipping off of the side of the train. Terror choked me for one small moment, until my hand caught on the blessed metal of a safety rail. I thanked my uncharacteristically lucky stars.

Once I got over the initial shock of falling, I started chuckling, then laughing at the top of my lungs. The wind rushing against me was invigorating. It was almost fun, hanging on to the side of the the train as it sped down the tracks. I watched the desert whiz by in relative peacefulness, save for my incessant screaming. At one point I'd even slashed a bandit near the tracks with my axe while I was flying by. Poor bastard didn't even know what hit him.

But nothing could have spoiled my mood as I finally waved goodbye to the ramshackle, sun-baked bandit camps and dusty skeletons. I hung on to that handlebar for what felt like ages, watching the rocky wastelands thin out to snowy tundra. It'd been awhile since I'd seen snow. For once it finally felt like things were going to turn out alright for me. That is, until I heard the sound of gunshots coming from within the train.

What's going on in there?!

In a panic I looked behind me down the side of the train. The word 'Hyperion' was plastered across the cars in large white lettering. I wasn't even thinking!

Get in there, now!

Luckily I could sense the importance and started tearing away at the side of the car with my axe. I managed to make a hole in the metal, which I pried open with my hands. I poked my head in, but there was nothing but a bunch of crates stacked inside the dimly lit room.

The next one, try the next one!

I leapt against the wind to the next car with ease and prepared to break inside again, until I heard footsteps thundering on the roof. I peered over the edge of the car. A tall, dark figure stood before two Hyperion engineers with a glowing blade in hand. He hardly looked intimidated by the two mechanically advanced soldiers. Then again, it was impossible to read any expression he might've had as he wore an opaque helmet.

One of the engineers drew back his large metallic fists, but the thin, faceless man didn't budge. The fist sprang out, only to phase right through his chest. The engineer froze in bewilderment.

What the...?

The man (I assumed it was a man. Really there was no way of telling what it was underneath the full bodysuit.) simply disappeared, then reappeared behind the other engineer. Before they had the time to figure out what had happened, he skewered him through the back. The engineer staggered and stared down at the blade jutting out of his chest in bewilderment. Gracefully, the assassin kicked off the sword handle and twisted in the air. He pushed off the other engineer's back to his comrade, forcing the blade through his chest as well. The two stared at each other in shock as they bled out around the same sword.

I could only raise an eyebrow at the whole display. I had no clue what he did, but I was impressed. The assassin drew his blade from their bodies in a swift motion, a red holographic '0' flashing over the smooth helmet. As they crumpled to the roof he turned, looking right in my direction. I could only self-consciously duck behind the edge of the moving car and hope he hadn't seen me.

I heard the light footsteps on the roof just above my head and expected the digistructed sword to pierce me at any moment. The moving car shook with a loud crash sounding from inside and the footsteps stopped, then headed in the other direction. I cautiously peeked out again just to see him jumping into the manhole. Immediately I hoisted myself back up and crawled to the door, bracing myself for the kind of scene I might find in there.

My breath escaped me in a relieved sigh when I saw the Siren standing below, reloading her Maliwan SMG. Several others stood with her, other vault hunters I figured. Dead Hyperion soldiers, torn up loaders, and spent shells littered the floor. I probably shouldn't have worried so much. I mean, she is a siren with incredible powers. She'd defeated the first wave, but knowing him, he wouldn't just send a few goons after a siren. He'd be pulling out all the big guns, using all his dirtiest tricks. I cursed my own stupidity over and over for just letting her hop on a Hyperion train. Especially since Hyperion's just about the only people who even have trains running through the Borderlands. Stupid stupid stupid!

I considered trying to go down there, gather the vault hunters in my arms, and jump off the train with them, but a voice interrupted my plans. His voice. Though it was modulated, as if coming through a radio.

"It's cute that ya'll think you're the heroes of this little adventure, but you're not."

I heard a faint fizzling sound. It kind of sounded like…

A lit fuse…

"Welcome to Pandora kiddos!"

There was a deafening blast, an extreme pressure on my chest, then the peculiar sensation of flying through the air. I didn't remember much of anything after that.