Advent Of A Gunslinger

Later, Monocrow would visit Chang’s infirmary to check on his friend.

“...Hey, doc?” the osprey said as he opened the door, “How’s he holding up?”

“The wound wasn’t severe,” the primate explained as he walked up to Monocrow. “But he needs rest. You should focus on yourself for the moment. He’ll still be here when you get back.”

“...Makes sense,” the bird man replied, “Sorry to barge in here like that.”

“I hope that horrible woman gets what’s coming to her,” Chang thought to himself as Monocrow left.

Soon enough, the airship would arrive in Ornithia. The large, mountainous kingdom could be seen standing tall over the land around it. With airships constantly arriving and departing, there was quite a lot of air traffic going around--to the point of looking like a massive fleet in the air.

Celaeno steered her ship towards the depot where other airships could be bought and refueled. “Alright, we’re here at long last,” she called out to the gunslinger’s group. “It was great travelling with you all. And I’m happy to call you honorary crewmates.”

“I agree,” Kora replied with a purr, “It was a joy to tag along with you all, but we must be off. The world waits for no one.” She turned to Axel. “Do you have the gold we’ll be using to purchase the ship?”

“Right here,” Axel said as he raised the case that held the gold in his claw. “Things’re finally lookin’ up ‘round here. Appreciate ya, Cap’n,” he said to Celaeno with a tip of his hat.

“Same here,” Vido added, “You’re a wonderful captain and it was fun to hang with you all.” He turned to look at the osprey. “...And I hope your friend gets well soon.”

Monocrow regarded them with a simple nod. “He’ll be fine. Chang knows what he’s doing.”

“That I do,” said the princely doctor, “And you three are great people. You give me ideas on what I should do in regards to my home.” With a big smile on his face, Chang walked up to, and hugged Kora, Vido, and Axel tightly. “Going to miss you three. Don’t forget me, okay Lords Remington and Magpie? Lady Kora?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, doctor,” Kora replied while petting him on the head, “You’ve also given me inspiration on how to handle my students when I return to my home. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve more than earned the title of Emperor.”

“Si, what she said,” Vido commented, “Your padre is already proud of ya. And he’s gonna be even prouder when ya take control.”

While Axel didn’t outwardly show it, his sympathetic eyes said it all. The gunslinger was more than happy that the prince had grown into himself. “Give it yer all, friend. Don’t hold back fer nothin’.”

Luckily, Chang had gotten to know Axel well enough that he could see it perfectly. “I will not, Lord Remington.”

Right after that, Roseanne stepped forward, and knelt down to Axel, giving him a gentle hug. “...No matter what happens...we’re family, got that?”

The hippogriff returned the gesture, putting one of his claws around her back to return the hug. “I cotton. Ain’t nothin’ on this here earth gon’ change that. We’ll keep things sacred in this world no matter what.”

Once she let him go, the trio stepped off the airship and waved longingly at the new friends that they had made over the course of their journey.

Now, it was time to move on.

It didn’t take long for Vido to find and select an airship that he thought was perfect. Once he did, he used the case of gold to purchase it.

Meanwhile, Kora and Axel were waiting outside of the airship depot’s hangar on a bench for their griffon friend to return. And as they sat there, Kora brought something to the gunslinger’s attention.

“Lord Remington?”

“What’s up, Kora?” he responded right before taking a small sip from a liquor flask.

“Do you think our new friends will be fine without us? That eagle and those deer…”

The hippogriff tilted his head upwards, and noticed the parrot captain walk towards another side of the guild alongside Monocrow. “I reckon she’ll be just fine. Looks like she’s headed on her way over there’ta make a report now.”

“Ah, I see. That’s good. Still--I never would have expected deer to attack us. One would figure that such docile forest creatures wouldn’t want to pick fights.”

Axel put a cap on the flash, and put it away within his vest. “They clearly wanted’ta pick a fight with us. Can’t trust nobody out here.”

“Well, except your close friends and family of course. Which reminds me…where shall we go next, Axel? The world is our oyster now that we’ll be able to travel wherever we wish again.”

The all-important question. Axel had thought hard about where he wanted to go next on his journey. Klugetown was just one wheel that was part of an entire cartful of corruption through slavery. The chance that there were other places being corrupted by its influence was vast and massive.

“I’m thinkin’, I’m thinkin’,” he replied as he tapped his claws against the wooden bench. “I came out here thinkin’ I was just after one thing, but found a cotton’s field worth’a others that I fer damn sure was not expectin’.”

“Yes...I know how you feel,” the she-cat agreed with a sigh, “This journey has taken us very far. And yet...there’s still some things that I myself haven’t found answers to yet.”

He turned to her with a concerned eyebrow raise. “...Whatcha mean by that, little lady? Somethin’ you wanna get off yer chest?”

A regretful frown appeared on her face. “Ah, yes...I haven’t told you about that yet.”

Axel narrowed his eyebrows. “Make yerself clear, little lady. What’s wrong?”

“Alright--well. Do you remember the situation my sister and I were in? To where we both were caught in a situation at the mercy of those gang members?”

“Yeah...what happened?”

She nervously grabbed her tail within her paws. “Well...I initially didn’t tell you or Vido because I needed time to get to know you two. Now that I can trust you, I may as well explain it. To make a long story short, once our family was killed, they gave us a place to live and work: Me in a dojo, and her as a welder. It was fine at first--and I didn’t even notice anything wrong until...well, until I was forced to watch you nearly...lose your manhood.”

Which in turn, is what led to the chain of events that brought them together. “...I see now.”

Kora let go of her tail, and crossed her legs on the bench. “I’ll explain the finer details of the situation to you when both you and Vido are present. But for now, I--”

“Hey...are you Axel Remington?” a voice called out to them.

Instinctively, his claw prepared to reach for one of his weapons. “...Who wants’ta know?”

Their visitor was simply an Ornithian citizen. A young brown finch male wearing a pair of rounded glasses who stood half as tall as Monocrow with a messenger’s bag looped around his shoulder. “...M-me, sir! I’m just...I’ve heard a lot about you, but I’ve never seen you in person. Anyway. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. My name is Stratus. Pleased to meet you.”

Once he saw it was a harmless young bird man, Axel relaxed his claw, and nodded. “...Thanks, kid. What brings here?”

“Oh, well...if you’re in the neighborhood for a bounty...I may have something for you. I’m a guild manager for the Ornithian Royal Family.”

“Oh?” Kora asked with wide, surprised eyes. “That’s...unexpected. What do you have for us, Mr. Stratus?”

The finch boy reached into the messenger bag, and grabbed a file out. “Here it is. How do you folks feel about Diamond Dogs?”

“...Diamond Dogs?” Kora shivered in her seat, pulling her knees up to her chest. “...R-rogue Diamond Dogs?”

“That’s the long and short of it, missy,” Stratus replied, “Why?”

“...Lord please no.”