Another two weeks passed and Poison was glad that Sky hadn't bothered to bring up the necklace or going back to the shack again. Truth be told, he feared that going back there would bring back nasty memories, something he wanted to avoid, especially since she was doing so well. They hadn't really talked about what happened to her there. As much as he wanted to find out how he had found her, as much as he wanted to find the place again, there was so much more he still had to teach her before he was willing to even try. Even though he continued looking, he knew she was right, if they ever wanted to find it, they had to try it together.

Since Kobra was on patrol, Poison had taken over the work-out and combat training for a week. She had gotten stronger and her stamina was improving significantly. At the end of each day, the number of bruises she had given him, had increased and Sky clearly enjoyed pointing it out. When he wasn't training with her, he worked on the spare room he was converting into a bedroom for her. But the closer he got to finishing it, the more he dreaded her leaving his room. Poison had gotten so comfortable with her sleeping next to him, it made him feel calm and safe in a weird way he didn't know existed. He had never felt a connection like this with anyone, not even his brother. Being a leader was a lonely job. They were a group but the feeling of having someone by his side was unknown to him. With Sky, he had started to get to know it.

'So who taught you how to fight?' she asked him. They were taking a break from training and were sitting under a tree.

'I guess I taught myself.' he replied, not really sure how else to describe it. For some reason he had always known how to fight, how to defend himself, even how to shoot. 'I had no idea I could do it until I was 15.'

'What happened when you were 15?'

He wanted to avoid that topic. It wasn't a nice story.

'Well...you know, Kobra isn't my real brother. We're not blood-related, at least. His parents found me out in the desert one day, I must have been around 10 or 11. I was by myself and had no memory of what had happened to me. They took me in, pretty much raised me as their own. Kobra was my age so we grew up like brothers. And as far as I'm concerned, he is my brother. They were the only family I ever had. And now he's the only one left.' she looked at him with big eyes, encouraging him to continue.

'Dracs came and raided the village we lived in. Kobra and I were able to run but they got our parents. The last thing I saw was the dracs, pulling a mask over their faces. I don't know if they turned them or killed them. But I hope they did the latter. I hate to think that they're just like them now.' he could hear his own voice turning into a whisper.

*

It was nothing unusual. BL/ind killed or turned whole families, burning down their homes and leaving the younger children behind with nowhere to go. Most of them died, a few lucky ones were taken in by other families. Something similar had happened to her, although the place she had had to leave had never been a 'home' and she never had anyone to mourn. But hearing Poison's story made her sad. He could have had a relatively normal life, instead, tragedy had turned him into a killer.

'I'm sorry.' she mumbled, taking his hand and he squeezed hers softly.

'Don't be. It could be worse. I've seen enough corpses to know that.' he sighed. 'So what about you?'

It was the first time she ever told anyone about it.

'I don't remember much from my childhood either. I know I was in a cold, dark place. Maybe a hospital? But it could have been my imagination playing tricks on me. I know I always used to dream myself away so I didn't have to deal with reality. That's why no one would take me in. I was too weird, I think I creeped people out. After they found me, they took me to a pound, with a lot of other kids, all strays. Twice or so, someone tried to adopt me because they thought I was cute but I was too wild. This one woman kicked me out after just two days because I had night terrors and screamed all through the night. She took me right back after beating me wouldn't help. Then this man came a year or so later but he was a sick pervert, constantly trying to touch me and do things to me. I think he wanted to sell me to dracs as some sort of human porno droid or whatever. I ran away after a couple of days. At 16, I was too old to stay at the pound so they kicked me out too. And ever since I've been hiding and stealing to survive.'

He seemed lost in thought when she finished talking. That afternoon, he decided it was time he taught her how to use a gun.

And she was bad at it. Very bad. Poison assured her it was only a matter of practice and getting used to the weight of the gun as well as the blowback but a graze shot was all she could manage. She couldn't help but feel slightly discouraged but he just pointed out how she couldn't be good at everything after all.

Both the conversations, coming to terms with the past and the training had completely drained her. It felt like all the exhaustion of the last few weeks was crashing down on her at once. The day was coming to an end and all Sky wanted was to sleep. As she stepped into Poison's room that night, ready to pass out, she found him there, still wet and shirtless from his shower. She gasped.

*

'What the fuck!?' she yelled, pushing him back on the bed, her voice shaking with anger.

'What- Sky?'

'You lied to me! You told me you looked for my necklace and couldn't find it?!' he had no idea what she was talking about.

'I did! I did look for it and I told you the truth, why would I lie to you?'

'ARE YOU MAD? YOU ARE WEARING IT!!! You are wearing MY necklace!!' she grabbed the pendant he was wearing around his neck.

He couldn't believe what she was accusing him of. And just how angry she was. He had never seen her like that. He looked down.

'SKY! Sky! That's MY necklace.' he tried to explain but she seemed to get even more furious.

'Are you fucking kidding me? It is NOT! It's MINE. Take it off now! Take it OFF!' she tried to pull it but he finally grabbed her arms and yanked them away from him.

'STOP! Sky, STOP IT! Listen to me, listen! That's my necklace. I've had it since I was a little boy. It was literally the only thing I was wearing when Kobra's parents found me.' he could see the look on her face changing, anger turning into confusion.

'You're lying.' she muttered but he shook his head.

'Why would I lie to you? Sky, why would I ever do anything to hurt you?' she looked at him now, her lower lip trembling, her eyes filling with tears.

What had just happened? What the hell was going on?

'B-But...but it looks exactly like mine. The one I lost. It looks just like it.' it didn't sound like an accusation anymore, she genuinely sounded confused.

'I swear to you, I didn't take your necklace. You gotta believe me.' he loosened his grip on her and she lowered her arms. She did believe him.

'Why...why do you have the exact same necklace?' she sat down on the bed opposite him. 'I don't understand. I...what does it mean? What- you said it was all you had on you when your parents found you?'

Poison nodded. As a matter of fact, it was all he had left from the childhood he couldn't remember. He had no idea what it was or where he had gotten it from, most importantly, he never knew if it had any significance. Up until now.

'It was all I had on me when I was found, too.' she just said and he could feel chills running up and down his body, giving him goosebumps.

Notes

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