Advent Of A Gunslinger

Back on Celaeno’s ship…

The bodies of the dead deer they had warded off were tossed overboard and into the desert along with Typh’s ship as it went down in flames. Everyone was tired and had to take a minute to recover from the long battle they had endured.

A jet black griffon would approach Celaeno and speak to her in a whisper, then scurry off below deck once more.

As everyone got patched up by Chang on the main deck, the bird woman came to everyone and made an announcement.

“...Alright. So apparently they had some kind of remote shut-off system that could disrupt--eek!--airship engines,” she said with a small squawk as Chang bandaged her wings up. “Messing with rival ships and tampering with their engines is completely outlawed--so I’ll have to make a report as soon as we get back there.”

“What of the engine?” Kora asked with a few bandages along her tail. “Will we be able to continue our journey?”

“Don’t worry,” Celaeno replied, “Our weapons and engineer expert has let me know that he’ll be able to get the ship back up and running within a matter of hours. We’ll be in Ornithia very soon.”

Axel gave a sigh of relief, and looked over at Roseanne who had a few bandages applied to her arms and abdomen. “...Rose? You alright?”

“...I am...now that I’ve realized somethin’.”

“...Eh? What could that be?”

Rose got up and sat next to her newfound brother-figure. “...The bond you had with mah pa. It was...it was there for a reason. He liked ya and latched onto ya since I hadn’t been around in a while.”

“...That’s true, yeah...good man he was. Shame to see him go, though…”

“Of course it was. And it still hurts like the dickens. But…” she looked up to the empty sky, “I remember you sayin’ that you wanted revenge for yer family, yeah? What were they like?”

“...I was the youngest’a four. Two older twin brothers and an eldest sister…” He looked at Roseanne with a solemn frown. “And you...you remind me of mah sister. Brave. Righteous. Deadly with a weapon.”

That earned a small giggle from the minotaur gal. “...Yeah, she sounds like me, alright. Would’ve loved to meet her. But regardless...I don’t wanna lose ya, Axel. You and these here crewmates is the only family Ah got left…”

At long last, the loner of a gunman couldn’t hide his attachment any longer. As it turned out, there were people who were worth bonding with in this world after all. “...Same here, Rose. Wouldn’t trade ya’ll for the world.”

“...I’m happy to hear that,” Rose turned and wrapped her arms around the hippogriff, clutching him in a tight hug. “I’m gonna miss ya’ll when ya leave…”

“HRK!” he coughed up a small squeal upon the embrace, and quickly broke it to regain his air. “Ahem...well. I got a feelin’ I might see ya again sometime.”

“Hm?” she tilted her head, “Whatcha mean, bro?”

“...You still intend on gettin’ stuff from Milk Ranch, don’tcha?”

Rose nodded. “Yeah. Always. Why?”

“Well…” Axel rubbed a claw behind his head, “I may just head back there myself, sometime. T-to check on things, a’course.”

A knowing, smug smile cropped up on Rose’s face. “Oh...I see. You’re a fan of Clarabelle, ain’tcha? Did she feed ya her world-famous apple pie?”

“...M-maybe--wait. World famous?” Axel was curious about that particular nugget of info. “For real?”

“Okay maybe not world famous, but def famous across the South. She loves bakin’. To the point where my pa got recipes from her to impress ma. Worked like a charm too. Ma and pa always had fun whenever they ate good pie like that…” she reminisced with a wistful smile.

“...Maybe that’s why Clarabelle’s cookin’ worked so well on me,” Axel thought to himself, then spoke aloud. “Swell little lady...but yeah, that place is like a second home for me.”

“Little?” Rose scoffed, “She’s twice your size, bro!”

“Er...y-ya know what I mean…”

She raised her hand and gave him a friendly pat on the head. “You’re adorable, ya know that? The ladies’ll appreciate ya comin’ back so it’s good you think about ‘em. Most cowpokes don’t consider ‘em people and how hard they gotta work.”

“It’s a profession--so long as both folks involved are happy with the exchange--it don’t matter to me.” He then looked off to the side. “...But I won’t lie, her pie was damn good. And she was just a sweet doll of a woman. Martha too--she kinda reminds me of my ma.”

“I know, right?” Rose replied, “It’s like she’s the perfect balance’a carin’ and strict witchya. Guess that comes with the territory of managin’ like--dozens’a minotaur and faun gals. Almost like family, huh?”

“Yeah...family…” Axel replied while looking around at his companions.

With a small huff, Rose got up and stretched. “...Thanks, Axel. Talkin’ to ya has made me feel a whole lot better about mahself and what Ah need’ta do next.”

“Really? I ain’t no therapist, so I’m surprised’ta hear that.”

“You don’t need’ta be no therapist’ta help somebody feel better ‘bout themselves,” she replied with a smile, “You a damn good listener and Ah’m proud’ta call you mah brother. Pa loved us both, didn’t he?”

The gunslinger had to admit that it was a wonderful thing. Being able to have an open conversation with someone like this and be honest with each other. A far cry from what most of his life consisted of until now. “That he did. And I’mma make sure everything he left behind stays right as rain. Includin’ his connection to the ranch.” He then started to think about other parts of Tony’s life that were left incomplete. “...That there restaurant…”

“Damn straight, partner. Alright, I’m gonna go get started on lunch for everyone,” Rose turned to head below deck, “See ya later, yeah?”

“For sure, sis...for sure.”

About an hour had passed until the ship’s engine was recovered from its state of being stalled. Once moving again, it would be another two hours before they would arrive in Ornithia.

While they were on their way, Vido wanted to pay one last visit to Celaeno before they left formally.

“Hey, captain,” he addressed her while approaching, “Just wanted to say thank you for having our backs out there earlier. You were amazing.”

She turned her head to glance back at him. “Yeah, well--anyone on my ship is a part of my crew,” she said, then turned her head back to focus on the open air in front of her while controlling the ship, “And anyone that’s a part of my crew is going to make it out alive no matter what. I just hope Rusty will be alright.”

“Oh yeah, did Chang say anything about that?”

“If I recall correctly, he said that Rusty will need some minor surgery to fix his wound, but he’ll be good otherwise.”

Vido nodded. “God to hear. You lead your group well, ma’am. I hope to become half as good as you someday.”

“If you ask me, you already have,” she replied, “I have a feeling that your mother is going to be super proud of you by the time you get back to her. Heck, I’m proud of you too, bud.”

The griffon squealed with a bit of a blush on his cheeks. “Oh, uh...thank you! Shame that we didn’t get much time to hang out or relax so that we could talk more. It’s been nice chatting with you.”

“Yeah, I’m with you there, Vido. But I have a feeling that we’ll have more chances to get along in the future…” she said with a wink. “You’re a swell young man, so don’t let anyone take that away from you. Understand?”

“Y-yes ma’am!” “...My name will go down in history. Just you watch.”