Frontier Haven - IC

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KurosawaShirou

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Another morning, another day to pass by.

Nothing out of ordinary, nothing too simple either, just a nice balance.

Everyone is at peace, no one is fighting, no one to turn in.

No work to be done, the tavern is all open, all is good.


At least that's what Liz wanted anyway. She just finished turning one of the troublemaker to the town's sheriff. The troublemaker was drunk, really drunk, in the morning. That's a new stuff for Liz. Then again, it's the wild world outside, so anything could happen. Maybe the guy alcohol tolerance is low, so he got trashed from the night to the morning. Or perhaps that drunk-like behavior was his hangover behavior. Nevertheless, he caused one hell of a ruckus inside the Howling Jackal, and into the jail he goes.

To be honest as well, that was one of the easiest turn in ever for Liz. The guy didn't pose much of a threat, and a single backhand slap was enough to put the guy down. Liz actually thought for a moment that she got extra stronger, but then realized that napping all day won't probably develop her muscle strength. Still, the reward for turning it isn't all that bad either.

After successfully turning the troublemaker in, Liz decided to go to The Cactus to get some food.

"Hey, give me your breakfast set" Liz said to the owner after taking a seat on one of the empty table.
 
The sun was beating down something fierce as Buck rode into town. He glanced around as he slowed his horse to a trot. "Quaint little place." He thought to himself as he went down the middle of town. "Still fairly new though. So, that'll change." Buck had just came off a particularly rough bounty. He was a little battered and bruised, but none the worse for wear. He had tracked the outlaw heading to this up and coming town. So, Buck decided to give it a once over. That and his bounty had let slip that there might be a lead on a "big time" gang leader here. It was information Buck couldn't afford to pass up.

He eventually came to the stables. He dismounted and handed his horse over to a gentleman named Dan. He seemed like a decent enough person. That, and Buck's horse seemed to take a shine to him. Dan gave Buck the run down of the town. Just places to eat, drink, get a decent bed. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Buck thanked him and decided to grab him a bite to eat before heading to the gambler's den, as Dan put it. That would be Buck's best bet to find out any possible bounty information, but a good meal came first.

Buck sauntered into the Cactus Tavern. It was pretty sparse, but it was still early in the day. He saw a young woman eating a plate of delicious looking food to Buck's hungry eyes. Buck tipped his hat to the woman as he sat down at the bar at ordered a small plate of food. "Cute little thing." He thought to himself as he eyed her while he waited on his meal. A glint of a pistol caught his eye and he went back looking at the bar. "A woman with a gun. Hell of a town." He smiled to himself as his food was sat down in front of him.
 
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Tori rode back into town and headed to Dan's to drop off Stryker, her Bay stallion. She dismounted from him and handed the reins to Dan.

"Take good care of my boy, ya' hear," she called, waving over her shoulder.

Her job had gone well. Some flush mayor in the next town over had hired her to escort him and his family back home from visiting other kin. Simple. Or it would've been if a pair of bandits hadn't rode in looking for an easy catch. Tori snorted, remembering the baby-faced crooks.

Fools didn't know their trigger from their barrel She thought.

Tori had a hog-killin' time putting them in their place. She didn't kill 'em or nothing like that. She did shoot both their horses crippled though, and left them stranded.

Iffen they're any kind of real men, they'll survive, if not then tough. It was as simple as that.

The mayor had paid Tori a pretty penny for her services.

She sauntered into the town's square and considered her options. The coins in her pouch jingled as she went.

Could go and piss some of this change away at the royal flush... She shook her head in rejection of the thought. She didn't feel like lookin at J.J.'s ugly mug, in case he was back. Instead she decided on the Cactus for some grub.

She pushed passed the swing doors and went to sit at her usual spot on the edge of the bar. There was a man seated next to her regular seat, she flashed a grin at him before turning to the owner.

"Gimme the usual," she ordered slapping her payment on the counter.

The owner returned with a large breakfast set along with a shot of whiskey and a pint of beer. She downed the whiskey easily and moved on to devouring her breakfast.
 
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Elora drove her mules down the dusty road to town. They pulled a cart loaded with wheat and corn for sale, but on the back of the wagon was the tiniest foal she'd ever laid eyes on, resting in the lap of one of her ranch hands. She looked back occasionally, as if making sure the pair hadn't run off. The foal had been born the week before, small but healthy. Now he wasn't nursing and seemed to be very lethargic. Elora had seen this before, something about an infection, the doc had said, but this time she wasn't going to wait for him to come out when it was too late. She was bringing the poor animal to him.

She wouldn't have needed Ituha, but the foal seemed to like him and had a little energy when the man was near. It was the strangest thing she couldn't explain. She told him she needed help lifting the foal into the wagon, but she asked when the other men weren't around. At any other time she'd laughed at the offer for help; Elora Haight would be working in the fields until the day she died and nobody was going to tell her she couldn't.

The town stood quiet at this hour, though a few bodies mosied around. Elora climbed down from the wagon and lifted the brim of her hat, giving little thought to the girl who handed the saddler the reins of her horse and hurried off across the street to breakfast. There was a lot of action in this town and Elora didn't want any part of it, the good ones or the bad. Ituha climbed down from wagon while she spoke to the saddler about her foal. He leaned against the rough wood with his hands in his pockets, watching people mill about the street. He hadn't been into town before, not any town. It was strange to him.
 
"Thanks Cigs." "Glad I could help Master Ranno. Please inform me if you start to feel a serious burning sensation in your leg." A round, short man with a bandaged leg left the smaller building that was Cig's Surgeon, supported by two wooden crutches. He headed in the direction of the mines, causing a man in grey with a wooden smoking pipe in his mouth to come running up after him. The smoke form is pipe left a trail, as if for him to follow back to his house.

When he caught up Doctor Montisque Ciggen, or Cigs to anyone who couldn't be bothered with his rather long name, looked at the man bewilderedly and straightened his gold rimmed spectacles. "Master Ranno you cannot just go back to work, you need rest." "They'll be plenty of time to rest after I've finished my shift Doc, I've suffered worse trust me." With that the man turned and continued on. Causing the good doctor's shoulders to sump.

Dr. Cigs heard a growling noise and looked around in a panic, only to realize that the growling was his own stomach. He hadn't eaten all day due to a long line of costumers that he had just finished. With that the man went back into his Surgeon, retuned with his wallet and cane, and made his way to The Cactus.
 
The breakfast set arrived as quick as usual, maybe even faster, due to the fact that she's the first customer here. Maybe. In any case when she got in, there's no one else, so that's why it's quicker than usual. The breakfast set itself isn't really hard to make, so that also contributes to the speed of serving. It's your usual simple breakfast, giving you all the stuffs you need to survive the day. 2 scrambled egg, 5 slices of bacon, some mashed potato, and some sauteed spinach, with some coffee or tea. Liz herself favors the tea much more than the coffee, due to the fact that the tea was brought here by the Asians, or the Celestial, as the people around called it. Compared to the western tea, the eastern tea gave Liz the tingling sensation of bitterness that she can't get from the western tea. And of course, getting the imported tea cost more than the usual tea. Not something that bothers Liz at the most however.

While she was happily eating her breakfast, a gruff man, a head taller than Liz, walked in. The man gave out the aura of danger around him, and Liz couldn't help but kept her eyes on him. While she's not the sheriff around here, she can't afford to have someone with that kind of aura do some kind of crime. But then again, thinking about it, why would a dangerous man get a breakfast in a tavern, in the morning? It kinda seemed too innocent for a gruff man like him. Then again, her fantasy of a gruff man who drinks beer for water and eat raw eggs everyday is pretty deluded. Just as Liz assumed the worst, the gruff man tipped his hat to her. Now that's a friendly greeting. Without much thinking, Liz tipped her hat as well, with a smile, awkwardly.

"Well that was a whole lot of misunderstanding" Liz thought to herself. Nevertheless, Liz knew that the gruff man have seen his share of bloods and gore. Whether it's for the greater good or not, she didn't know. At least he's civil enough to not cause any trouble.

Not long after that, Tori came in the tavern as well. She doesn't really take long to sit on her usual seat, which is, next to the gruff man from earlier. It is one of the example why "Ignorance is Bliss" is useful in real life situation. Well not exactly useful, but in this case, she was saved from all the misunderstanding that could happen. Liz could already imagined what would happened if one of the trigger happy sheriff came in and see the guy. Thank god the sheriff is chasing a bandit somewhere.

While thinking all of that thought, Liz realized that she already emptied her plate. Seeing that there's nothing to do, she decided to pick the plate up, along with the cup of tea, and sat next to Tori. After she sat, she gave the plate back to the owner.

"Delicious as usual. Thanks" Liz thanked. After the plate was taken back, she started sipping her tea. "Got a good haul? You seems kinda happy" Liz said to Tori.
 
Tori passed back her own, now empty, plate and thanked the owner. She turned to Liz and tipped her hat in greeting.

"Then some," she said, grinning widely. "Some ace-high mayor, up and decided to pay little-old-me to take him and his family back home. Pair of runts thinkin' they was crooks tried to ambush us. So I put them in there place, reaal quick. Easy as pie." she boasted with a laugh.

"Damn man was so grateful he forked over twice my fee!" she jingled her coin pouch for emphasis.
 
Buck started gulping his food down eagerly as the noise of someone coming in took his attention away from his food. He looked the young woman up and down, nodded and went back to his food. He stopped mid bite as she plopped down on the seat next to him, smiled, and ordered. Buck raised and eyebrow and looked her over more thoroughly. "Another cute little thing." The shotgun at her back caught his attention for a few seconds before he went back to his meal. He scoffed slightly to himself. "What type of place am I in?" He soon finished off his meal and ordered a whiskey to wash it down before he headed out. He shot the whiskey back and went to sit the glass on the table when the girl at the table came and sat down next to the girl sitting next to him.

He listened to the two girls talk about a haul and an escort mission. Buck chuckled to himself as he ordered another shot. "Guns for hire?" He thought to himself. "Probably the type some rich guy hires to make himself feel safe." He dismissed them as any really skilled gunslingers, but decided to keep an ear on their conversation in case information on a bounty spilled out.
 
As he was slowly approaching the Cactus Dr. Cigs glanced over to see a older woman and what looked to be a sav- No, he promised himself he would respect those of all backgrounds, what looked to be a Indian. He rose his cap to the woman then the Indian, as a act of apology even through he was pretty sure they couldn't read his mind. You could never be too sure though, and it's polite either way.

...Anyway the good doctor entered the tavern and upon seeing Tori and Liz he took the pipe from his mouth and blew out the remaining, scratchy smoke that filled his lungs. When he passed them Cigs removed his hat and, placing it to his heart, gave them each a nod as he passed. "Morning Madams Steele and Chanes, pleasure seeing you well. And Masterrr..." He paused at the man, who he had never seen before. "...Sir," he finished, not able to think of something else he could say.

A slightly flustered Cigs quickly ordered the breakfast meal that everyone else was getting due to the fact that it was the only breakfast meal served. Upon receiving and paying for his food he took a seat that was close enough to have a conversation with the counter goers but far enough from the man so that he couldn't stab him. Very assumptive of the doctor but that was how he was, and as desperately as he was trying to change this it had kept him safe from deadly situations on multiple occasions. The man placed his hat on the table and began to eat as well mannered as a man as hungry as he could.
 
So she does gets some good haul. Seeing at the pocket she jingled, it really is some good haul. Maybe enough to be eating quality food for a week. Elizabeth on the other hand, doesn't really have that much money. To begin with, being a cowboy means her paycheck came from the bounty board. If the person she turned isn't anywhere in the bounty board, then her paycheck depends on the sheriff's mood. As a comparison, the pay for turning in that troublemaker earlier was enough to keep her from starvation for a week. Well, in comparison as well, a hired gun's job is much harder usually anyway, compared to a freelancer cowboy. Maybe it's time to get some more jobs? She does need to buy a new scope for her rifle and a grip for her peacemaker. Not that it's that much in need of repair. Yeah, it's not that important anyway.

"Yeah, i can see that" Elizabeth said, as she took another sip of her tea. "Wish those runts could also boost up my pocket. Turning in troublemakers doesn't pay as much as those kind of job. Can't turn in underaged troublemakers as well" Elizabeth sighing a bit.

Well that's your fault to be this lazy anyway

Elizabeth could hear herself thinking. While it's true that she usually spend most of her day slacking off somewhere, it's not like she hated working in general. What she hated is doing something she doesn't like. So far, preventing trouble from happening is the best thing she could come up with. Escort job is too tireful, since it'll be long time out in the plains, and bounty hunting is tiring as well, finding the target and such. So in the end, the only job that she can see herself doing is the job around the frontier. But it's not like she ever tried those stuffs.

"Maybe i should try something else?" Elizabeth thought out loud, part hoping for some methods to earn cash easier.

Just as she said that, the Cactus's door swung open. Now enter, the doctor. He greeted both Liz and Tori, along with the gruff man. Humble and polite as usual. She could practically see how intimidated the doctor is. Well then again, with a build like that and an appearance like that, it's easy to get intimidated. "I bet he could scare an outlaw just by staring at him" Elizabeth thought to herself, while still sipping at the tea.

"Morning as well, doc" Elizabeth greeted back, raising her hat, also smiling at him. Being the freelancer around has it's own benefit though. Most people know Elizabeth, and she herself also know most people. Although she's known as 'The girl who slept at the roof' or 'the girl who slept on top of her horse' or 'the girl who slept everywhere'. On some occasion though, she's also known as 'the girl who's doing sheriff's works'. Although rarely.

"So" Elizabeth said, after emptying her cup of tea. "Does being a hired gun fun and all that? I kinda need some income soon, since the bounty board is filled with some big fish that i can't catch" Elizabeth added.
 
Eliza stood outside on the steps of her farmhouse as she gazed out over the acre's of land. She loved every day here to be honest and it for certain kept her away from her father's constant want to sell her off into a marriage. It was the main reason why she moved out from his "District " Of the town. It was than she snapped her head away from the thoughts as she realized she needed to make a pit stop in town before opening the schoolhouse for the day. With that she grabbed her bonnet and stack of books off the outdoor porch table as she held her skirts in her freed hand to glide with ease down the steps. She maneuvered her way over to her station cart as she gave Starla a lightened pat as she huffed loudly in response to her greeting. Eliza placed her books on the seat beside that of her bonnet before hoisting herself up with nimble ease into her seat. At that she gave the reins a flicker as they set off down the dirt road towards the town.

A good bit later she entered the town as she smiled softly to all she passed as she slowed down her speed. She turned her head a bit as her darkened curls whipped behind as she flashed warm smiles to all those that she passed. The children giggled happily as they waved ever so eagerly to her as she gave a small wave back. She at last came to a halt outside Sanctuary School as she set the brake into place. A passing farmer stopped as he tilted his hat in response to her as her offered a hand out to her to help down. She gave him a warm smile as her small hand came to rest in his as she stepped down with her things gathered under her arm. Once down she mouthed thank you before entering the schoolhouse. She had at least an hour before the students began to arrive so it would give her a chance to set and clean things up again. Eliza placed her things atop her desk as she took up the stack up writing tablets only to walk about the space of the room to put them on each spot of the children's desks. Once she had finished up that task she fetched the broom from the corner and made her way out the open door as she set to sweeping off the entryway area as she flickered her gaze between the passing people.. Most people avoided her especially men due to who her father was, for once she wished she could have people she could be close to.. She sighed softly as she continued prepping for the day ahead.


Jewel stood infront of the mirror of her room that was above the Flush as she tucked a feather into her hair. Another day of drunks and drunken flirtations laid ahead for her as per say usual. Her hands nimbly finished lacing off the corset that lifted her breasts with ease as it shrunk her waist. With a few finishing touches she fluffed her hair a bit before exiting out her door with a solid slam resounding behind her. She placed her hand to the railing as she walked down the steps as her boots clicked loudly against the wooden steps only to do such when she came down upon the floor. The tender gave her a nod as he began to finish cleaning up the glasses as her skirt swayed behind her pinned against the back of her outfit.

She took up on of the nearby cloths from the rack as she turned quick on the heel of her foot as her braid whipped behind her in that moment. Jewel's piercing blue eye's gazed out the window as she watched all those with free lives set to work and bustling about.. She greatly missed that carefree life. Yet , now her life depended on doing all of this to keep her fed and with board. With a chuckle fallen from her ruby red lips she set to dusting off the tables and bringing the chair's back down upon the grounds as they began to re-set for the day ahead and all the patrons and men to flow in for the time.
 
Enrique had been dreaming of home, of the family, the dog. He imagined his mom waking him up by lightly dragging her fingers down his arm, she never did that. He opened his eyes and before seeing what it was he shook his arm and watched a small light brown figure fly against the canvas wall of his small tent home. He immediately sat up in his bed and threw his feet over the sides of the small mattress. He grabbed his Griswold from the side of his bed and pulled back the hammer, he looked on his wall and saw a tarantula. He brushed off his left arm and grabbed his pants from the temporary floorboards. He pulled them on then grabbed his boots and turned them upside down to make sure they werent infested. He pulled them on his feet and stood up, he strapped on his belt with its gun holster and knife.

"Fucking spiders," he said as he pulled on his shirt and dirty grey vest, he grabbed his hat as he walked to the tied flap that led to the outside world. He undid the ties and stepped into the dry dirt of the Kansas town. His tent was on the outside of town, a small ways from the Blacksmith's shop. He walked through town calmly and went to the General store to pick up some jerky. He didnt have a plan for the day but he felt energy with the town, something was different. He walked into the Cactus and sat at the bar ordering a simple meal, he saw the doctor and smiled at him with a simple nod. The doctor had helped Enrique with a pain in his sides from a horse kicking him a month or so back. He had some of the strong coffee that the tender brewed, first time he'd tried it he coughed a bit but he'd gotten used to it. The man not far down the bar had a strange air about him, probably a bounty hunter. He saw Tori further down the bar enjoying a beer and smirked.

"Bit early dontcha think bounty hunter?" Enrique said poking fun at the local gunslinger.
 
Tori leaned back in her chair and considered Liz's question.

"I s'pose, if it's the life for you then yeah you'd find it fun. Really the best part of the job ta me is the chance to test my skills against others." She swirled her beverage around in its mug a bit then downed the rest of it. "Thing about that is, you do your jobs wonderin' if you'll find someone whose better than you. Then one day, ya' do." Tori's face had considerably darkened by then. However Tori was never one to let grim details keep her down for long, she was smiling again soon enough.

"Hehe, listen to me talk." She snickered a bit and turned back to Liz smiling "S'not that bad really, the pay can get pretty sweet. Sometimes you even get to do right by some good people, those are the best days." She finished up with a smile.

When the Cigs came and greeted them looking like a scared puppy she just had to laugh a little. She tipped her hat to him "Mornin' doc," she said but left it at that since the man looked flustered already.

Tori had been in a pretty nice right she delivered some advice, if you could call it that, had a good breakfast and all. But then Enrique dragged himself in and she heard him ribbing her.

"Don't you worry yourself about me," she said waving her empty mug in his direction "Hmph! It's a said day when I can't have drink after a hard days work," she finished shaking her head in overdramatic offense.
 
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Buck ignored everyone else when he heard talk of a bounty board. Usually he took private bounties. He didn't like working for the sheriff. Too much paperwork and they frown on killing if you don't have to. It all just made Buck's life that much harder. But, he didn't know anyone in this town. Getting private bounties when no one knows you isn't the easiest thing. That, and with competing guns for hire, just adds to it all. He shot back his whiskey and stood up. He hated the thought of asking for help, but when it came to money, Buck was adaptable. He walked past the girl that was sitting next to him and leaned against the bar on the other side of the girl who had mentioned the bounty board.

Buck smirked slightly and tried to put on his warmest demeanor. "Well, howdy little lady." He smirked as he pushed the brim of his hat up slightly. "Name's Buck and I couldn't help but overhear your little predicament. You need some money, but there's some pretty tough bounties out there. Well, I'm a bounty hunter myself, a damned good one too, and I think I may have your solution. Why don't I help you out? I mean, you seem to know most of this town pretty well." He waved his hand dismissively at the other patrons. "So, I figure you could probably get information about the bounties a lot easier than I could and two people after a big time bounty. Bound to go a lot smoother."
 
Tori was severely unimpressed by Buck's very intrusive introduction. She stared on stoically at him over Liz's shoulder. His first mistake was inturupting her conversation, Tori hated being interrupted, but it was innocent enough and she let it be. However the more that came out his mouth, the more irritated she became. That this stranger had the nerve to come into her county with that faker than gold teeth smile, make propositions. and fit himself where there was no space boiled the blood in her veins. She perhaps wouldn't have been so pissed had he just come honest, not snooty and entitled, as Tori found his approach to be.

Her index fingers flexed a bit, itching. She ignored it though, she wasn't about to raise no hell in a saloon full of civilians. Besides, Liz was a big girl. She had to make her own decisions. While Tori found this joker's behavior more than a little unsavory, Liz might not see it the same way. Tori shook the chip off her shoulder and simply watched the two closely.

'Less he take that tone with me he can do what he pleases she thought.

She grinned a bit to herself, If he thinks he's gonna muscle his way into my territory that easily he's got another thing comin'. The truth of the matter was, lots of the real sweet gigs pass right over the boards and landed right in Tori's lap. It's just the way these things work, people like their privacy and Tori was a county favorite around these parts. It would be tough for people to give an unknown face the time of day, even with Liz at his side.

Liz shouldn't have no trouble, she's known around these parts. But him? Not a chance. Her countenance returned to its normal exuberance and she stretched her fingers out casually, as if she'd never been thinking about drawing in the first place.
 
As he ate, Dr. Cigs found himself very intrigued by the conversation Liz and Tori were having. He was tending to a lot of merchants and travelers with bullet wounds recently, speaking of bandits and outlaws. With a home that was on the outer rim of town, the doctor believed that he would be attacked first in a raid. He would feel much safer if they had more bounty hunters around, also on a lesser note, Liz really, really needed a job. She nearly gave Cigs a heart attack when he found her sleeping on his medical table, even though he was nearly certain he had locked the doors. He didn't want to see the girl too broke to pay for getting a bullet removed.

Cigs saw Enrique and returned his nod, but disagreed with the poke at the gunslinger. Very unhealthy. Woman could draw her gun faster than a... a... The good doctor recognized why he wasn't the type of person to make analogies, or whatever that use of wording was called. Went to medical school, not English class. Anyway the man had stood up and offered to help Liz with her unemployment problem, introducing himself as Buck. He worded his offer in such a way that Cigs felt somewhat offended, especially with his uncaring wave at the fellow patrons. He of course didn't say anything, but the doctor knew that with one wrong step by Buck, someone would, with their fists.


The soon to be patrons of the Royal Flush Tavern gathered outside. Ragged clothes and ugly faces amassed, the sound of foul words and confident bets could be heard radiating outward from the crowd. Among these gruff folk were seven people that didn't belong. Young, most looked to still be in there teens, clearly were far too poor to be gambling. With them were two individuals in worn, dark garb with red bandanas around their necks. The oldest of the teenagers looked around, tried to make himself look confident, and asked one of the men, "so he com'n er not?" The man immediately replied, face set like stone, with, "Mr. Ember is never late."
 
Austin Marsh
Crystal Forest

Austin tightened his grip on his rifle as he, and the four other men guarded a rather chubby man who was clearly spooked. Each man rode a horse down the dirt trail, the only sounds were birds in the distance and the occasional snap of a twig. Finally, the chubby man broke the silence.

How much longer Marsh?
Not much longer I suppose. Ain't been out here in a few weeks though.

Marsh was hired first as a locator of sorts, charged with the task of finding one of the gold mines in the forest that didn't house wolves, an Indian tribe, or one of the bandit gangs. Reporting back to the man who hired him, he and the other four who being paid to escort this man safely, and once at the mine help bring a few ores back to the city. So far it had been pretty smooth, though one of the men swore he saw a "Savage" watching them from the bushes.
Austin didn't believe it, until the first of the arrows fired from the trees.


Running Wolf
Crystal Forest

Wolf loosened his grip on the arrow as he let it fly through the air, slamming into the chest of one of the men holding rifles. The man gave a cry of pain, and struggled to stay on his horse as another arrow slammed into his shoulder. Finally giving in, he fell sideways and his horse started to ride off. His fellow tribesmen joined in the attack. Bobcat, a close friend of his, dropped down from a tree and onto the mount of another man, one he recognized as the one they called "Marsh."

Bobcat gave a warcry, and rose a tomahawk to slam it into the cowboys head, but the gruff man head butted his attacker, breaking his nose and dropping him off his horse. Firing his rifle down at the native, Running Wolf gave a warcry and notched an arrow, just as Bobcats last breath gave way. As he pulled the bowstring back, Marsh caught sight of the Indian and aimed his rifle. Dodging out of the way, the tree splintered from the bullet. Rolling to a knee, Running let the arrow fly, as it cut the mans cheek.

Austin Marsh
Austin growled as the Indians attacked, the arrow slicing his cheek not helping. His employer turned to ride off, but an arrow caught the man in the ribs. Austin turned his horse and rode towards the man, the other cowboys behind him, though their cries hinted of their deaths. The savages didn't follow, and soon the river was in sight. His employer wasn't in good shape, the arrow jutting out from his ribs stopping him from bleeding out, and he was slumped over his horse gasping for air.

Stay awake.

Marsh said, hopping down from his horse and pulling the man off his. Tearing the mans coat off, the wound was worse than he thought. The arrow was lodged deep into the mans ribs, and pulling it free would be juts as deadly as leaving it in. Even if he survived the arrow wound, the infection would surely get him. The mans eyes blinked, and it was clear he struggled to keep them open. Slowly drawing his revolver, the man breathed once more before Austin pulled the trigger.

An hour later, Marsh found himself back in town, his mount standing in the road between two Taverns.

Too early to drink. Hell, but I could go for a bottle of liquor right about now.

He said, looking from the Jackal, over to the Cactus. Finally making his decision to get hammered another time, he tied his horse onto a post and headed inside.
 
Feeling for another cup of tea, Liz ordered some more tea, another brew this time, the peppermint. She puts the payment on the counter, and not long after that, another cup of tea is standing in front of her, giving the sweet and cool scent of a peppermint. Liz then listened to Tori's story about her job. So far, Liz couldn't disagree with that part. Being a hired guns meaning you get out often from the town, meeting new people, getting payments, and fighting off against people you don't know, and probably won't need to know. Liz herself hated to admit it, but being a freelancer cowboy in the town means that she doesn't gets to shoot as often. The troublemaker around here won't be using guns, and even if they do, they won't be sober enough to shoot straight. So far, her rifle hasn't seen much use, while her peacemaker couldn't be more bored.

"Testing your skill huh" Liz mumbled to herself, as she take a sip of the peppermint tea. It's true though, most of her time taking people in, most of them are just drunkards, petty thieves, molesters, those kind of lowlifes. She hardly have any needs to take out her gun at all, since she could just ram their heads to the ground and drag their sorry arse to the sheriff's office. While that seems fun to her, and also nets her some penny, while keeping the town peaceful, she kinda lost the point of having a gun. Well it's not like her gunslinging skill is good, or that she could bring in more dangerous troublemaker, or that she could survive out in the wild, or that she owns a horse in the first place.

Thinking about it again, Liz has been too lazy to do anything to make herself more capable than she is right now. Realizing that, Liz scrunched her face a bit, and went into her thinking mode, thinking on how she could improve without much hassle or effort. Such is the way of the girl-who-slept-everywhere-anytime.

That is, until she realized that the gruff man from earlier took a seat next to her. This sends a jolt throughout her body, and forced her out of her thinking mode, and back into reality. Negative thoughts started to flew in to her minds at the rate of indian's arrow volley. Did i do something that offends him? Did he thought that i'm an easy prey? Did he thought that i have a bounty on my head? Did he wants my gun? DID HE WANTS TO HAVE HIS WAY ON ME?!? and so on, and so on. Outside of her minds, she herself looked pretty flustered now. The gruff man himself was giving the friendliest and warmest tone to her, but with that kind of physique, that came off as, kind of scary to Liz.

Oh so the guy was into bounty hunting. He must've heard it when she mentioned the hard bounty out there. That at least cleared up on the 'why does he took a seat next to me'. From the look of it only, the gruff man, who calls himself Buck, does seems more than capable on taking such harder bounty. Something tells her that he's not all that he said he is. There's something hidden. Not that she's a good judge of people, but Liz gets this uneasy feeling that if she decided to help Buck, she'd get something she doesn't want.

Then again it's easy money.

Her mindset changed however, once Buck decided to dismiss Cigs and Tori. It shows something that she didn't see it earlier, something that she sensed earlier. Buck isn't here for pleasantries, he's here for the bounty. He's not from these parts, therefore the only reason why he would be in the Crystal Spring was to get some bounty. Not that it's anything wrong by itself, but the idea of dismissing the other for money rubs her the wrong way. While she is in a predicament in which she needs money, it feels like working with Buck would leave a bad taste on her mouth.

Then again, it's someone who needed help.

"If you ask me, people around here don't exactly know about the bounties itself" Liz said using her normal tone, as she took another sip of her now warm tea. "And besides, if there's a bounty in the town, I'd actually would look into it. As of now, most of the bounties lies outside the frontier" Liz said, shrugging. "And i don't feel like getting out of town without a horse" Liz added, sighing now. Then again, even if she actually has a horse, she herself doubted that she'd go out of the town just to find some bounty. It's not like the bounty would be worth risking the trip there, hunting it, and dragging it back to the town.

Then again it's this attitude that puts her in this kind of predicament.

"But you could ask about the bounty to the sheriff however, since he's the one posting the bounty. Why not try dropping by the sheriff's office and see if he has some info?" Liz suggested, all in her usual helpful gesture. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that both Tori and Cigs are, annoyed, making the situation a bit like a landmine. One wrong move and a fight could break out, and it won't be a fight that she usually deal with.
 
Buck opened his mouth to speak, but then slowly closed it and forced a smile. "'Preciate the information ma'am." He tipped his hat as he stood up and started to walk out. He noticed the other girl was shooting daggers at him so he made it a point to wink at her on his way out. He got outside and leaned up against the building. That didn't go at all like he planned. He just wanted some easy bounty, but apparently strangers are viewed negatively. He could have pushed a little harder, but there's no reason to cause unnecessary animosity. Plus, it was too early to get into a gunfight.

"Well, tried the easy way. Let's go the fun way now." He said standing up and made his way for the Royal Flush Tavern. After a short walk he heard shouts and curses ringing out in the air. Sounds of people both winning and losing money at the flip of a card. He smiled in spite of himself. Buck loved dealing with gamblers. He knew their language very well. While the information might not always be the most reliable, bad information was better than no information.

As he approached he saw a group of people amassed outside. "Must not be open yet." He thought to himself. As he got closer though, there was a group of people just standing off. They were in the crowd, but Buck could tell they didn't belong. Buck slowly made his way into the crowd, far enough away from the small group of people that were out of place to be easily seen by them and waited.
 
Antoinette Hines

Antoinette was cleaning off the bar of the Howling Jackal and cleaning up the mess from the night before. There seemed to be a brawl every other night in the place, leaving it in disarray but it was to be expected from a place where people went specifically to get drunk. The tables had been left overturned and a few broken glasses were scattered about but Antoinette hummed happily as she started to sweep up the glass, bar life and life of a showgirl was something she knew all too well. Her mother had been a whore of a well known tavern, raising Antoinette behind the bar. She didn't mind though, she rather liked the people that came in and told their stories, placing Antoinette right in the middle of many's adventures. She rather enjoyed entertaining people with song and dance every night as well, the Howling Jackal certainly brought good times and to Antoinette it was a home.

She had just finished cleaning up when the first patron came in, coming in and sitting at the bar, tipping her hat in the direction of Antoinette. She must have been knew around here as Antoinette didn't remember seeing the woman around here.

"What can I get ya?" Antoinette spoke in a sweet tone that matched her long gold locks and high bone cheeks perfectly.

Jane Pritchett

Jane had made it into the city Crystal Spring as bar time approached, her horse had grown tired of their hunt for the day and she decided to give both of them a break, heading into the nearest town. She came across the first bar and hopped down off of her horse, bringing it over to the water trough and tying her trusty horse up before patting it on the neck and feeding it a treat or two before heading into the bar.

The door swung open and gave way to a quaint lil' bar and a bar maiden that was humming and cleaning up from what she assumed was quite the night before. Making her way to the corner of the bar, she tipped her hat down and looked at her hands as she waited to be serviced, seeing the girl approached, Jane tipped her hat in her direction and gave her a smile as she asked what she could get her.

"Give me a glass of your strongest whiskey."


 
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