Advent Of A Gunslinger

Near Klugetown…

Just as Leona had described. Once the group had traveled far enough by carriage, they sent the stallions safely back on the path to Panthera. In turn, this left them all headed towards Klugetown on foot the rest of the way, which--thankfully wasn’t too far from this point. About a few hours worth of walking at the most.

“Alright, it’s time,” Leona said to the group as she looked out over the desert horizon. “Is everyone ready to go?”

Both Tabs and Baretta readied their weapons.

“Yup!”

“Absolutely.”

Spitha flexed her arms and wings. “I’m prepared to do whatever I need to. He’ll regret his decisions tenfold.”

Mio had his revolver at the ready along with his deck of weaponized cards. “They won’t know what hit them. What’s our first move, Leona?”

The white she-cat opened up a map that detailed the desert and how it led into the valley in which Klugetown was located directly below. “We’re here,” she said, pointing to the bottom of the map, “We’ll need to be careful as we make our way through these sandy roads and all the way up to the valley. Once we’re there, we’ll scope the place out and move accordingly.”

Baretta would grab everyone’s attention with an explanation. “Intel reports that he’s the only one in charge right now. Convenient but we need to act fast, ya’ll. No telling when the leader will be back.”

Mio’s mind started to wander into apprehensive territory. “...I wonder if it really is Zula. It’s a terrifying thought for sure. There’s no telling how strong she is.”

“So we’re off to find out as much as we can before we make a move, yes?” Spitha asked.

“That’s correct, ma’am,” Tabs added, “It’ll be beneficial if we can find out any weaknesses in our enemy’s formation or personal ones. That way, we’ll be able to take him down effectively with minimal losses.”

Upon noticing the tom had been mostly silent, Leona decided to ask for his input. So she turned to him and inquired, “Any comment, Mio? If something doesn’t seem right we can always edit. You know this area more than we do.”

“Hm?” Mio snapped out of his mental stupor and replied, “Oh, yes. See--we’re going to come in contact with a lot of these corrupted nurses that utilize medical equipment as weapons. On their own, they’re not much. But in a swarm...that’s where things get dicey.”

“So it’s better if we stick together then, yeah?” Tabs asked.

“For sure,” said the tom, “If we split up at any point, we’re sure to be overwhelmed. Let’s stay together so we can have each other’s backs as best as possible.”

“Got it,” Leona replied and looked at her fellow she-cats, “You heard the man.”

With a formation established, they would all move along the warm desert trail. It wasn’t as hot as it usually was, so it wasn’t a painful experience. But the group still had to move at small intervals in order to converse their stamina. Everything was going rather smoothly to boot.

Since it was quite the trek, Tabs found room for some small talk on their way there. “Mind telling me more about yourself, Mio?”

“Hm? What would you like to know?”

“Anything’s fine. But I suppose I’ll ask you a question to make things simpler: Do you really think we can overhaul Klugetown enough to be on the same level as Panthera?”

He flicked his tail as he walked. “There’s no way I can answer that from our current situation. There are simply too many uncertain cards in play and our opponent’s hand could be far deadlier than ours. But…” he sighed. “Ideally, yes. And if it means killing Rongu and everyone involved with keeping it in ruin, then I shall.”

“...You know that we need him alive, right?” she mewled pointedly, “Killing him would set us back quite a bit.”

“Oh I know that,” Mio replied with a low purr, “Which is why I intend on making sure he dies once he gives us everything we need. A man like him doesn’t deserve to draw breath after what he’s done to loads of innocent lives. Not to mention being a general asswipe to a loving woman like Spitha. Hmph.”

“...” Tabs chuckled to herself…

“...What’s so funny?” the tom asked with a raised brow.

Tabs cleared her throat and spoke candidly. “Nothing, friend. It’s just--the way your face gets when you talk about the dragoness. You’re really passionate about gettin’ her life back together.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” he replied tensely, “Someone like this deserves a happy, quiet life. But no...it had to be stripped away from her by a lying snake. So I’d like to interrogate him myself if possible. Would the king and queen allow it?”

“I’m sure they would. It seems like they trust you enough to let you carry out an operation with us. And since this individual has a personal conflict against both you and Spitha, I’m sure they’d be happy to have your input.” Tabs said with a low growl. “Trust me, I know how they feel when it comes to family betraying family…and so does Baretta.”

Mio looked up at the stoic, confident lynx-gal. “She does?”

“...Absolutely. But that’s a story for another time,” she looked at Leona, “Mind handing me the map?”

“No problem,” the medical she-cat gave it to Tabs who then began to read it.

“Ah...I see. We’re almost there,” she said while comparing the map to their surroundings, “Just about another hour of walking and we’ll be closing in on Klugetown.”

Meanwhile, Spitha could be seen with an apprehensive expression on her face, looking off to the side and out to the sandy horizon. Something was clearly disturbing her and whatever it was, it caused her to become a bit distracted to the point where she didn’t hear Baretta speaking to her.

“...Ma’am? Ma’am. Spitha, yeah?”

“Huh? Oh...s-sorry, I was just…” she paused and gathered thoughts together, “Yes? Ms. Beretta, correct?”

“That’s me. You were looking a bit pale just then,” she explained with one of her ears twitching in her direction, “Something the matter? We can’t afford distractions once we’re in the thick of it.”

“It couldn’t hurt to tell her I suppose.” With her mind made up, Spitha went ahead and told her, “Well...I’m worried about my mother. She lives in the dragon lands and tends to come visit me every so often. I’m...terrified that something may have happened to her.”

Baretta’s eyes grew wide as she mewled to herself. “Rrrr….I see. I know that feel, partner. Does the boy know about that?”

Spitha shook her head. “No. I...he’s under enough pressure as it is. If he knew my mother was possibly in danger also, it could send him into a frenzy.”

“...Yeah, I get that,” the lynx said with a sigh as she kept walking, “But you won’t get anywhere unless you explain yourself to someone you trust. That’s why I am where I am right now.”

“...You are?” the dragoness asked cautiously.

“I am,” Baretta replied curtly. “I used to think that everything happens for a reason, but sometimes, things just happen for no good reason. And all you’re left with is something that you can’t understand.” She balled her fist, and her gait became more stiff as she continued her steps, “So before it’s too late, you’d better make yourself clear to him so he knows what he’s fighting for.”

Spitha stopped walking for a second. “...But…” Sadly, she knew what her problem was. A communication issue like this could cause more problems later than now. “...She’s right. I need to be straight with him.”

“...Spitha, is something wrong?”

“Eeek!--Oh…” she squealed and flinched when she heard her name called, then calmed down once she realized Mio was the one speaking. “I’m sorry. I just...got caught up for a moment. But, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Anything. Go for it,” he said with a nod.

“...My…” “I can’t. He’s got too much to think about.” “...We need to make sure we don’t allow any civilians to get caught up in the crossfire,” she explained as she began walking again, “The last thing we want is more hurt lives on our hands…”

Mio adjusted his glasses and followed her. “Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ve already thought ahead. No one is going to be hurt.” “Over my dead body.”