Dog of the Fog

      Jonas almost stopped dead in his tracks. The thing that was giving him trouble was a dog? Dammit, he’d put a hundred of them in the ground before. One more wouldn’t be any trouble.

      He lifted his gun once more and lined up the sight. His hands gripped tight around his weapon. But for some reason, he just couldn’t pull the trigger again. Jonas took a tentative step backwards, lowering his gun once more. He had an idea. Of course it was going to involve talking down to an animal like an idiot.

      “ Hey, I know we got off on the wrong foot before. You feeling hungry? ”

      Thinking quickly, Jonas opened a pocket on his uniform and pulled out a small bag. He waved the back and then weaseled a strip of Brahmin jerky out and held it up. Maybe it wouldn’t attack him if he gave it something else to snack on.

Willow had tensed and growled when the gun lifted, lowering herself enough to more effectively dodge bullets if the need came up - but paused as the man lowered it, narrowing her eyes.

‘ ... Groof . ‘

That was a familiar scent on the air... It made her mouth water, and she relaxed - just slightly. Maybe the man had just been as on edge as her... Well, it wouldn’t be uncommon for a newcomer. Though still wary and glancing between the weapon and the paladin’s face, she approached slowly, tail swaying slowly in something that was almost a wag - not quite, though.

“ Boof ! “

“… Rrrooo?”

        There was that feeling again. His lip twitched in that sort of unamused way and he continued to look around. Taking a step towards the surrounding fog, he could tell that he was definitely being watched by something.

        Jonas’ finger wrapped around the trigger of his rifle and he unloaded a warning shot at the ground in front of him. Certainly that’d frighten anything off. Perhaps a Mirelurk would be brave enough to come running at him when a warning blast rang out, but there was enough ease on his mind that he didn’t worry about anything else.

      “ Damn fog, the others are probably having trouble with it, too. ”

The firing of the gun put Willow on edge and made her pause in her climbing, letting out a low growl. The fog, almost moving to her whims, carried her displeasure at the display of aggression across the clearing, and she slunk down to the ground, flashing her teeth as she came ever closer.

      A tense uneasiness rippled through Jonas stepped off the Vertibird and onto the dirt below. Even having been through both the Hells of the Capital and the Commonwealth, something about the fog didn’t seem to bode well within him. He didn’t like feeling trapped. That’s exactly how he felt now.

      Turning to his subordinates, Jonas began relaying orders. His voice, though muffled by the surrounding air, was deep and carried. He held a rifle in his hands, and stood with purpose.

      “ Start surveying the area. Make note of anything that might seem useful and report back to me when you’re finished. Dismissed. ”

      As he was left alone in front of the Vertibird, Jonas felt as if he was being watched. Maybe it was his imagination. Furrowing his eyebrows, he adjusted his grip on his rifle and continued to watch the fog intently.

So that one was the leader.

The canine watched the others go, noting that none tried to stray towards the path to the observatory - that was good, for now at least. Huffing softly, she made a path down the rocks, leaping across them deftly and taking comfort in the surrounding fog to get close; her form might be visible, but perhaps... Perhaps it wasn’t enough to blow her cover, not entirely. 

The strong scent of steel, lubricant and oil made her lip curl in disgust - hell, even Kasumi’s lair in Acadia didn’t smell that strongly of the stuff. The mission of these men was far from ‘peace’, she was sure. They were strangers sticking their noses where they didn’t belong.

Now, Willow worked closely with Acadia. The synths were as close to a tame family as she dared to get, and she would go so far as to say she truly loved many of them. Because of this, she made careful category of those who would seek to harm the synths she so dearly cared for and protected. Far Harbour was… Alright. Avery kept the peace, and they were neutral. The Children of Atom, though strange and sickly, hadn’t sought war with her people since she had arrived on the island. A group of people from the Commonwealth had once visited with little ink marks on their bodies in the shape of lanterns, and Willow had later come to know them as the Railroad - those were pure allies.

And the enemies - raiders and trappers, certainly. Super mutants, sometimes. The Institute - that there was a name known, hated and feared, all to familiar to her and those in Acadia. She recognized the smell of Institute folk before they could even get remotely close to the observatory and made sure to thwart their path somehow - be it luring a gulper or attacking them herself.

The Brotherhood of Steel, now, that was a stranger name to her. Not too strange - she knew enough about them to know they were dangerous. They hated anything not human in flesh and blood. Everyone had seen the airship and vertibirds - it had been the one day the fog had cleared in awhile, and the lights had been so bright everyone on the island was able to view the spectacle. Man’s greatness in plain sight. To Willow, she only smelled danger. That much artillery in the hands of man would only lead to destruction - she knew it, somehow.

Something about the new face was off. She smelled of the Commonwealth - enough synths had been guided by her for her to recognize the scent. But something else, too - something foreign to these parts that Willow couldn’t find in her memory.

A part of her didn’t like it.