☢ R a d i o a c t i v e ☢ [[ M // ℓonesomє ]]

[Saviour]

The sun's unrelenting rays bore down on the landscape like a tyrant and sucked the earth of whatever moisture it dared try to keep from itself. Even the washed-out blue of the sky was lacking any real clouds. The ground was littered in cracks and fissures which spread out along the parched red dirt like a net or web, and what little vegetation dared to grow was stunted from the poor nutrients it held. Shade was a myth, and clean, drinkable water was a legend.

"Useless. All of it! None of this is worth anything!" Rowan growled, throwing a scrap piece of rusted metal with a little more force than was necessary at the ground. His gloved hands tightened into fists, and he kicked a rock hard at the heap of junk. "She's not gonna give us a thing for any of this," he added with a quiet sigh. The air whipped around him and sent a flurry of dust and old paper several feet into the cloudless blue sky. Even the breeze was hot; it reminded him of what it might feel like to be locked in an oven.

An old peaches can clattered along the ground beside him noisily and he pivoted on the heels of his boots rapidly, causing another small cloud of dirt to break free and take flight. His golden brown eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you doing? I already searched through that pile, there's nothing worth our time there," he spat, his patience wearing away like the landscape itself. His words were answered by a cocked hip and a sassy perk of an eyebrow. Pip, whose clear eyes were screaming haughtiness, beckoned Rowan over to her and stepped to the side so he could look at the rubbish. He complied with a heavy sigh and stomped over to her as he adjusted his gloves. "Remind me what I'm look for? I see nothing but junk, Pip," he said and crossed his arms. The woman beside him huffed in exasperation and rolled her eyes before reaching down. Her slender finger curled around the loop of a strap and as she lifted it the object took the familiar shape of goggles. With a wide grin, she placed them over her eyes and angled her chin up into the air, clearly very proud of her find. Rowan's unimpressed facade cracked and he had to press his lips into a hard line to keep from smiling.

"You're an idiot," he muttered playfully and snapped the goggles as he brushed past her and started walking off. Pipsqueak made a soft 'oomf' sound and adjusted the goggles on so they would rest on her cap safely before she dashed after him, her boots scuffing on the ground. She pushed him as she came to a stop at his side and giggled. Barely managing to keep himself from falling over, Rowan righted himself and sighed at her. "Where did the other's run off to?" He asked after a moment and stopped to glance behind them, but the only response he got from her was a shrug of her shoulders.

[ℓonesomє]

"To hell with it all, Hunter!" Ellie cursed bitterly, swinging around to face her chuckling brother. Her eyes hardened into a glare, and Hunter raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. "Frustrated?" One corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk, watching her hands clench into fists. "You wouldn't hit your own brother?" He asked oh-so-innocently, tilting his head slightly. "Depends." Ellie answered, turning and kicking at the dust, sending red clouds of it towards Hunter. "Ha." She muttered beneath her breath, moving away to continue looking. Mangled pieces of metal stuck up from the dirt, twisting and threatening to trip her if she didn't watch her step. Hunter watched her go for several long moments, until the wind blew up a shield of dust and his sister was engulfed by it, leaving him alone for a bit. He continued kicking around, digging up things that looked promising and throwing them all to the side when he discovered they were no different from the rest of the junk out here.

Ellie closed her eyes, trying to block the stinging dirt from entering them. The cloud of dirt faded quickly, leaving a fresh layer over everything and making her job all the more harder. Grinding her teeth together, Ellie kicked at a piece of metal, and moved forward. She didn't get the point of being out here, nearly delusional from heat stress and her temper shorter than normal, which was saying a lot. Glancing up at the sky, Elli sighed, and slipped to the ground. She was being weak, but she was seeing colors that weren't meant to be there, and that called for a bit of rest. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the light for just a little while. Her hand as wandered over the ground, feeling the twisted debris and pulling on it gently, trying to dislodge it. It came up with a puff of dry dirt, leaving a wrecked piece of unidentifiable metal in her grip. She let it fall, wondering what she had expected. Mumbling a string of curses, Ellie made her way to her feet. She crushed the metal into the dirt with the heel of her black combat boot, and after a minute of deciding, she turned back in the direction o her brother.

Hunter saw the dark silhouette that was Ellie out of the corner of his eye, and stood, waiting for her. He would never tell her that she should let her guard down, not without earning a bruised shoulder. The woman was different, and he couldn't change her. Hunter turned once she reached him, a silent agreement between the two. They made their way towards the others, defeated and slightly weary. Ellie kept her shoulders set, and the defiant look glinting in her amber eyes. Hunter gave her an encouraging smile, wondering I she was just pretending to be strong, for him. He didn't have much time to think it over. The other two came into sight, and Hunter heard his sister tense up slightly. He rolled his eyes, wondering if the girl ever relaxed.





(Not as bad as I thought it would be, so I'll just go with this.)

[Saviour]

Pipsqueak smiled brightly at the sight of the others and smacked Rowan to get his attention before she darted off towards them. She was fit and hardly tired, surprisingly enough, even though they'd been out in the dry sunlight for hours now. As she reached them, she slowed to a walk and finally stopped. She stepped back to keep the same distance from them as she walked and laughed soundlessly as she modeled the goggles she'd found. "Yes, we see the goggles, Pip," Rowan said as he walked up behind her and chuckled, patting her head and shaking his own. "Find anything?" He asked as his whiskey-colored eyes turned to look between the siblings. Pip snorted and did a small twirl as if she were dancing, then skipped off, finding another pile of rubble to search through despite knowing she would most likely find nothing.

Rowan turned to look in her direction and frowned when he saw her digging through the garbage again. A long sigh drew itself from his chest and he turned back to the two. "There hasn't been work in ages... we need something to bring back to her or she won't give us our supplies," he said pensively.

[ℓonesomє]

Hunter looked up as Pip neared them, smiling small and looking at the goggles on her head. Ellie smiled along with him, shaking her head and laughing quietly. Her attention was drawn to Rowan when he spoke. "Unless rusty scrap metal counts, no, we found nothing." Ellie rubbed her temple with her fingertips, sighing softly. Hunter cast his gaze to the ground, dark green eyes showing clear signs of frustration. "What could be possibly good enough for her Royal Highness?" Ellie replied bitterly, turning in a quick circle to survey the area around her. Hunter pushed her shoulder gently, shaking his head slowly in warning. "What? It's not like she can hear us. I wouldn't care if she could!" Ellie muttered, rolling her eyes in exasperation and moving a few meters away from the others to look around. Hunter massaged the bridge of his nose, grumbling softly to himself about his sister.

Cursing like a sailor, Ellie crouched next to a smaller pile, tilting her head and snaking her hand through the maze of rusty edges. Slowly, she pulled out half of a blade, rusty and dull. She dropped it, letting it hit the ground in a cloud of dust. Biting her bottom lip, Ellie stood, shrugging and joining Hunter's side once again. "We'll be out here for a while at this rate." Hunter commented, chuckling at the 'no duh' glare that Ellie shot his in his direction.

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