Advent Of A Gunslinger

Soon enough, Remington and his crew would say goodbye to the little land of Ornithia. They waved down at Celaeno and her crew as they made their departure and took off into the sky. Off towards Caninia--the land of Diamond Dogs.

“And they said all pirates were out to swindle people…” Vido scoffed as he piloted the ship, keeping the wheel steady. “Whew. It’s been a minute since I’ve utilized the more traditional methods. Everyone alright?” he turned his head to check on everyone.

Kora was curled upon a crate down on the deck, trying to relax. “Hm? Yes. I’m quite well, Lord Magpie. Thank you.”

“What about Axel? Is he down there with ya?”

She took a look around the deck and came to a conclusion. “He must be below deck. I can’t blame him. These last few days have been quite tiresome.” She flipped over onto her back and stretched out all of her limbs like any regular cat would.

“Yeah--hopefully the Diamond Dogs are plenty hospitable…” Vido replied from above.

Once again, the mere mention of the canine race put a sense of unease within Kora’s stomach. The she-cat clutched her arms against her lower abdomen, and purred weakly. “Blech...I hope they’re not...all...unsavory.”

Vido engaged the auto-pilot of the ship and flew down onto the deck to speak with her more directly. “...Unsavory? What’s wrong, gata? Cat got your to--er, you know.”

The oddly applicable joke got a chuckle from the she-cat. “Oh you--good one. But...I’m a bit concerned about dealing with them. I know they’re not all bloodlusted creatures of violence but…”

Vido started to think back to when the monkey woman put him down simply for being a griffon. “I wonder if she had any past trauma with my kind in the past…” He looked at Kora, and spoke his mind to comfort her. “Hey. It’s good that you’re being honest with yourself instead of bottling those feelings. We don’t want you lashing out at them for no reason.”

“...I have no intention of such things,” Kora responded with a sigh, “I actually...I actually do desire to meet the diamond dogs. Just so that I may get a proper understanding of who they are and not let my past traumas cloud my judgement.”

“Muy bien, Kora,” the griffon replied with a smile, “We should arrive at Caninia in about...a day or so, given its position on the map.” His mind started to wander back to the finch man they had met down in Ornithia earlier. “By the way, what was up with Stratus. He seemed rather...crushed when he couldn’t join us.”

“Oh yes. That’s right…” Kora started to recall the look of utter disappointment and a hint of frustration that was plastered on Stratus’ face. “I’m...not quite sure either. He seemed so...eager to join us. But it was rather abnormal. After all, who willingly wants to join the first group of adventurers they meet? Unless they have a death wish…”

“Yeah...I don’t quite understand it either,” Vido replied as he looked out to the open sky surrounding the airship. “...Maybe it’s a good thing Axel turned him down. Wild cards like him are too hard to keep track of. I wonder what he’s thinking right now…”

Below deck…

Axel had picked one of the cabin rooms of the airship to rest within, and was doing just that--thinking hard about the young finch man that approached them. “...What’s a kid like him doin’? Ready to throw his life away at the drop of a hat…”

Meanwhile, in Caninia--or rather, a certain junkyard town near it…

“Ho-lee shit!” Kolasi said upon returning to her office with the gold bars. “I can’t believe that actually worked.”

Zula, who had stayed there and waited for her to return--lying upon a couch that was near the wall, replied with a purr. “I told you so. All you had to do was approach the right pooch and they’d be willing to give up the codes to the reserve.”

“Some risky business you pullin’, Lil’ Mis Puss,” the short dog woman growled with excitement, “And I like it. I can see us doing business way more often.”

The tigress she-cat sat upright. “I’ll cut to the chase. I want some of your diamond dog muscle on my side. It’s been non-stop failure from those I’ve employed. Plus, isn’t one of them the wife of Alade?”

“Who?” Kolasi paused for a second and thought about it. “Ohhh! The big black tom cat. Yeah--Ejei is her name. But she manages the breeding stables. I’ll be glad to offer ya help from some of our others. But I’m curious, what is it you after anyways?”

“The long and short of it? Remington’s weaponry,” Zula went on, “I was just barely able to escape from the coup in Abyssinia within an inch of my life. I don’t want any more of that war nonsense--Klugetown is a damn ruskbucket filled with poor bastards who can’t do anything for themselves…” She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small locket. “...But if I can fix that place up and change things...no one will have to suffer ever again.”

“Ah, I getcha,” the dog boss responded, “You wanna take back control since it was yanked away from ya. I respect that.”

In reality, there was a bit more to it than what Zula let on outwardly. But the she-cat kept her cards close to her chest, leaving out some important details that she didn’t feel comfortable with sharing. So she kept it vague for the moment.

“Thank you. But I need to be fast and fix everything up before anyone else can get their hands on my valuables,” the tigress continued, “So essentially, if you’re willing, I could provide you with a lot of raw materials and other secrets in exchange for mercs.”

Kolasi sat upon her desk and lit up a cigarette. “Sounds good’ta me. I’ll help ya get settled so we can sort ‘em out. Oh--but there’s one other thing: You got any ponies?”

“Mm, a few,” Zula answered cautiously, “Why?”

“We can use ‘em, duh,” the pudgy dog woman said as she blew off some smoke, “For our personal little operations out back.”

“Oh. She’s talking about her little slave dungeons.” Zula caught on to what she was referencing and replied with a shrug. “Hm. If I have any healthy spares that haven’t lost their balls yet, then I’ll send them over. For now, I’d better get back to Klugetown. No telling what’s gone on over there since I’ve left.”

“Yeah, and don’t worry, I’ll send ya my strongest bitches and wolves,” the canine lady responded with a wheezy, hysteric chuckle, “Have fun out there. I know I will.”

“...Of course you will.”