The hellhound in New Vegas

Chapter 7: Pieces of the Past and Camp Searchlight.

24/05/2281

8:15 am

Loona froze in shock, finally realizing what she had done. She had inadvertently revealed to a guy she had only known for a week that she wasn't even from Earth. A million thoughts and possibilities began to race through her head. How was Six going to react? Would he see her as a monster like so many others had when they found out what she was? Would he ditch her to fend for herself? Would he treat her as some freak of nature to be experimented on? Loona was beginning to panic when she was startled by a hand gently touching her shoulder. Turning to see and possibly tear apart the person who had dared to touch her, she stopped when she saw it was just Six.

"Loona, I'm not mad at you, and I'm sure not going to ditch you. I want to know the truth," Six explained looking at her with concern, "So please tell me the truth. What are you?"

For a moment, Loona said nothing. Six immediately thought that he had said something wrong. Before he could take back his request, Loona finally spoke up.

"Well, I figured you would probably ask sooner or later, after all, anthropomorphic animals aren't exactly common. I'd just hoped it wouldn't have been soon," Loona admitted before looking directly at Six, "Fine. I'll tell you. But you have to promise me you won't tell anybody else. Got it?" She asked with a stern look.

"No worries Loona. My lips are sealed," Six answered, "And if I do tell anyone without your permission, feel free to cut my dick off, skin me alive, and leave me to the geckoes," he added with a smirk, earning an eye-roll from Loona.

"Ok, I'll hold you to that," Loona said, "Well no point in beating around the bush anymore, so I'll be honest with you. Yes, I am a Hellhound, and yes, Hell is real. I used to be part of an assassination group, called IMP. Basically, we took jobs from sinners who wanted someone dead on Earth and we killed them."

"Huh, interesting," Six remarked, "I'm guessing that sinners used to be human before dying and being sent to hell. So who else was in the company?

"Well, besides me, there was also Moxxie, the company marksman, Mille, the company powerhouse, and Blitz, the company's boss, and my adoptive father. And before you ask, no they weren't hellhounds like me. They were imps."

"Imp? What's an imp?" Six asked.

"Another species of demon. Short, red skin, long tail, and horns," Loona explained.

"OK, so how did you go from being part of an assassination company to being stuck in a nuclear wasteland?" Six asked in confusion.

"The Great War happened," Loona answered.

"Wait, the Great War? Do you mean the war that destroyed the entire world? That Great War?" Six asked in shock.

"The same one," Loona answered.

"But, if you were alive during the Great War, that would make you..."

"Over 200 years old?" Loona asked, " Well, it's 225 to be more precise. 226 this year. The only reason I survived for so long was because of those stupid Vaults, but, I don't really want to talk about it. Come to think of it, I don't really want to talk much about my past at all."

"Painful memories, huh?" Six asked. Loona didn't say anything but Six could tell from her body language that the answer was yes.

"Well, just so you know, I'll be more than happy to listen if you ever need someone to talk to. Now, despite the myriad of questions I have regarding Hell, I think it would be best to wait until we are somewhere a little more isolated. We'll be approaching an NCR outpost soon and I don't think it would be an excellent idea to have anyone overhearing us talking about hell."