Scout

**Scout** is a recurring character in the World of the Exceed. She is a human that used to work on a farm in Belt-Buckle, Anytown, America before moving to River City to start a fresh new life.

## History

### Early Life

Scout was born in a small town known as Belt-Buckle, located in Anytown, America. She grew up happily with her sister and parents, working as a farm-hand and making many friends in the tiniest of towns. Her family would always take in the older folks that couldn't take care of themselves, and everything was going well.

However, when she was eighteen, there was talk about a new doctor moving into town. Scout thought something was suspicious, people only left Belt-Buckle, they never came in. So one morning she visited the doctor, Dr. Nice, and let him know of her suspicions even though he explained to her that he had only come after hearing rumors in a neighboring city that the older people here died so suddenly. Scout didn't believe any of what he said, she knew they just died of old age.

Later that day, she asked her father if she could go into the mines for some metal to help with her forging work, but her father disagreed and told her that the mines were too dangerous. All her life her father had told her that he would let her and her sister go into the mines when they were older, and now that he was sick, Scout thought it was time.

But before she could fully convince him, the bell at the farm's fence rang and Dr. Nice had appeared. He told Scout that he wanted to visit Betsy, an old woman that had been staying with Scout's family as she grew too old to take care of herself. Scout's father was harsh and scared the doctor away, though.

But Scout was still determined to make her way into the mines, and the next day when she went back to the forge she found that all of the metal that her father had previously gathered had been turned into dust, and only her tools that she had made earlier were still okay. She called her father over, and he seemed disturbed. He told Scout that it must have been the doctor.

Eventually Scout was curious enough that she went to ask Betsy if she even knew of this doctor, and Betsy replied that the doctor was very kind and wanted to help her with her sight. Scout also asked her if she believed in magic. Betsy told her that she only believed in the Devil, and that they would never know whether magic actually existed or not.

Fast-forward to a new day, Scout found that her family was acting a little strange. She asked them what was wrong, and her parents told her that Betsy had died late into the night of a heart attack, and that they had to drive her to the hospital in the neighboring town, but Betsy died before they got there. Scout grieved but didn't think much of it, and she went to go see the doctor to get some answers.

Once she visited Dr. Nice's trailer, he explained to her that Betsy's heart had been perfectly healthy when he saw her and the only thing she was struggling with was her eyesight. In vain, Scout demanded that the doctor come with her to the mines to see what kind of magical happenings were going on in the farm. Although he didn't want to, he was far too intimidated by Scout and gave in.

As they traveled through the mines, Scout found a strange cave area that had walls of iron. She knocked a few of the iron blocks off, and dumped them into the water, watching in awe as they changed their forms and switched from copper, bronze, diamond, gold, among other materials. Scout wished for bronze and when she took out the iron it was bronze. She pocketed some of it and went on further, going into a strange looking tunnel. The bricks in the tunnel seemed to move and wriggle. She stuck her shiv into the tunnel bricks and it swallowed up the blade.

Soon the doctor spotted a spotlight, and ran over to it. Scout then remembered that it was the well. They had a well on the farm, although no one ever used it. She never knew that the well would go down into the mines. That wasn't how wells worked, she knew from her fellow friends that worked on farms. As she neared, she spotted something on the ground, and the doctor tripped over it. They both looked in horror to see it was a fresh body, and the doctor instantly spotted the silver plate on the body's leg. He explained that Betsy had to wear a replacement silver knee.

Overwhelmed, they tried to escape, and the mines started to come alive, and move, and Scout finally saw everything coming together. Her father had made a deal with the Devil, had wanted all the minerals and ores in exchange for a soul. No wonder all the iron had turned into dust. The debt needed to be paid, and Scout suddenly knew everything. The old folks that her family took care of, she never knew what happened to their bodies when they died, or when they left. Her parents were killing them for the mines.

In a state of panic, she realized that she would not be able to run away from the mine, which was now coming at her from all directions. She ran back towards the well's opening and threw her pickaxe up into the rock, hauling herself up, and once she was safely up she took apart her belt and held it down for Dr. Nice to grab onto. But he had been burned badly, and Scout tried her best to mend him up. She also saw her sister, who told her that both their parents had gone. Moments later the police showed up and went to take Dr. Nice to the city hospital far away. The Sheriff questioned his burns but Scout lied and said it was from the forge.

Later into the night Scout told her sister everything, and then got a call from Dr. Nice. He had been healed up enough to speak to her on the phone, and he admitted he told the Sheriff everything that happened, and that she believed him. The Sheriff then came over to Scout's farm and told her that she should get out of Belt-Buckle. That perhaps she could never live there again after what happened. Scout accepted it and took her dad's truck (which he hadn't taken with him) and took her sister and Dr. Nice along with her, out to River City.

## Trivia

Scout was created by Gawr Gura as her character during Hololive EN's "World Of Darkness" playthrough.