Advent Of A Gunslinger

Vido stared into the room.

It was a bathroom with a bathtub placed in the exact middle of it. Within the confines of the tub itself lied a bird-woman with a crystalline prosthetic that served as her right leg. That combined with the beauty mark below her left eye essentially gave away who she was to anyone who knew the world ‘pirate’. She was fully nude with her front-side lying down within the tub. Her long, green hair flowed downwards due to being wet. Pink bubbles were all over the place, and covered her in some areas.

“Ahhh…” she mumbled and trilled to herself. Because of how late it was--about 2 AM to be exact--she felt that she was safe leaving the door cracked to allow for some extra ventilation. Which was the explanation behind the steam that left the room.

Meanwhile, Vido was like a deer in headlights from the sight. No thoughts, no words. All he could do was stare. Not only was this the ship that belonged to the Captain Celaeno, but there she was, right in front of him. Her body was on full display. Her feathers were in pristine condition. Her butt was quite large and round, but looked firm. The rest of her back was well-toned, and representative of a very sleek, agile body.

“...Rrrr…” Vido’s lion-half took over and caused him to let out a very low set of purrs as he flicked his tail. To say that the sight was satisfying would be a massive understatement. So much so, that he had become fully distracted and was unable to remember what he was supposed to be doing.

The unintentional show wasn’t quite over yet. Celaeno would then sit upright, then lie on her back which caused some of the bubbles to spill over onto the floor. Her abdomen was just as toned as her back--not super muscular--but just enough to where she looked to be in perfect shape. And just above her midsection was her chest. A perfect pair of above-average breasts that jiggled with every movement she made.

All of which, only Vido could see.

“...Rrrrrow…” he purred slightly louder.

“Hm?” the bird-woman thought she heard something, and took a look at the doorway. There was nothing out of the ordinary--the door hadn’t moved, and there was no sound of footsteps outside. “...Must be the wind.” So she relaxed, and continued to enjoy her bath.

Vido nearly squealed, but kept his cool. He hid behind the wall to the right of the doorway to avoid being spotted. “...What am I doing?! Shit! I can’t wait for her to come out. That’d be creepy as hell! Just have to sneak past the door and go back up to the deck to let my compadres know what’s up. Simple…”

On the upper level of the deck…

Axel and Kora had been ambushed by two of Celaeno’s crew members. Both bird-folk from Ornithia.

The first, a large--twice as tall as the average pony--osprey Ornithian covered mostly in white feathers. Save for his face which had black feathers around his eyes akin to a bandit’s mask. He had on a black leather vest and a white stetson to complete his appearance. “What’re ya’ll doin’ here?” he asked with a flintlock pistol aimed and ready to fire.

The High Roller

The second. A bearded vulture--nearly as tall as his osprey crewmate--who was covered in dull, reddish-brown feathers. He had on a brown vest, and held two pistols that he spun on his fingers in both hands. “Hehehe...looks like they’re a long way from home, Monocrow! What’s say we tie ‘em up for our lady?”

The Extremist

“...Not a bad idea, Rusty,” the osprey replied--his voice was deep, yet relaxed. “Ya’ll’re few dice rolls short of a set. How’s about we make this interestin’?”

Axel shook his head. “We ain’t here to cause no trouble. We’re lookin’ fer aid from the leader of this here vessel.”

“Ohhhhh?” the vulture chuckled. His voice was rather shrill and raspy. “That’s a rich one! What’re you supposed to be, then? A stockman? Ain’t no-one out here dressin’ like that unless they’re searchin’ for candy or trouble.” He pointed at the hippogriff, noting his attire. “Come to steal our treasure, have you? Or--orr, better yet, you’re here to collect one of us as a bounty?!”

“That ain’t…” Axel sighed, and grabbed the bridge of his face with his claw. The last thing he needed was more hostility while they were stranded, lord knows where in the middle of the desert. The best he could do was try his best to reason with the crewmates until the captain made an appearance. “That’s not what I’m here for,” he said as he removed his claw from his face, “My partners and I here would like some navigation assistance.”

Monocrow kept his weapon aimed at them both, and smirked. “...Tell ya what. Ya’ll beat us. Then we’ll consider your words. If you lose, we’re tossin’ you overboard.”

“Oi! That’s sounds rather cunning, tell ya what!” Rusty added, “Listen to the larger birdman. You’ll learn something, Mr. Stockman.”

Axel looked down at Kora. The she-cat had kept her expression hidden beneath her glasses so as to not allow her opponents to gauge her emotions.

“...What do ya think we should…?”

“It’s fine,” Kora snapped a response as she took a step forward, “I need to get my head together. Blowing off some steam is perhaps the best way to do so.”

Rusty let out an arrogant caw. “There she is! Come on, little-miss-pussy. Show us what--”

Before he could finish that sentence, Kora had already lunged forward. Her claws slashed clean through both of his pistols, and the barrels popped off a second later. All Rusty could do was stare onwards in horror as his guns dropped off of his claws and clattered to the deck of the ship.

This was followed up swiftly. Kora leapt forward, and sent the vulture flying backwards with a powerful dropkick. The vulture let out a pained squeal when his back connected with the nearby deck wall.

“AWK!”

Axel meanwhile took a more traditional approach with his opponent.

“After you,” he said with his claws itching to draw his revolvers.

The osprey flicked the hammer of his pistol. “Roll.”

BANG!i

Unlike most weapons, this flintlock was able to fire a concentrated blast of metal that coagulated into one projectile. Essentially, the exact opposite of how a shotgun worked.

Axel would narrowly dodge, and perform a combat roll to the other side of the deck. As he moved, he fanned the hammer of his revolver to fire all six shots in a concentrated, looping pattern that followed his roll.

Monocrow flew upwards, and into the air to avoid the shots.

To which Axel did the same. Now both above the ship itself, they continuously fired off bullet after bullet at each other. And both would avoid each bullet almost in unison at a synchronized pace. It seemed as though they were evenly matched…

Meanwhile, below deck…

Still unable to make a move, Vido was stuck in that same hallway on the lower deck. “...Maybe she’s not looking this way anymore?” He decided to take another peek… “...!”

And what he saw made his body seize up once more.

Celaeno was drying off with a towel. All of her goods were on display as she shook off the rest of the water from her bath. Her feathers temporarily puffed up, and soon deflated and went flat against her skin once more.

“...” Vido was unable to do anything but stare in awe as the beautiful bird woman finished up her bath. But then…

The very next time he would blink, Celaeno would seemingly disappear. Was he safe to move on now?

“Wh-what?! Where did she--where did she go?!” Vido’s eyes darted back and forth. He was unable to determine just why or how the bird lady could have vanished in the blink of an eye. But he took it as a sign that he needed to escape right away. “Nope, nope. Need to get outta here rapido.”

Click.

Celaeno had appeared right behind him with a pistol aimed at the back of his head. The towl from before was now wrapped around her body. “...Going somewhere, pervert?”

The Captain

Vido turned as pale as a ghost. “...Mierda.”

On the upper deck…

Both the hippogriff and osprey landed upon the deck of the ship to reload.

“...You ain’t bad,” Monocrow complimented the gunslinger, “But you seem familiar. Have I seen yer face somewhere before?”

Axel loaded the bullets into his six-shooter, and scoffed. “Tch. Ya don’t know me. Prolly just one’a them fake posters that tries’ta shame one’s visage.”

“Uh-huh, right,” the osprey’s retort oozed sarcasm, “What’s yer name, cowpoke? You got a name, don’t you?”

“As if I’d tell you.” With his gun holstered, Axel hovered in the air, and folded his arms. “Now enough muckin’ around. Where in lord’s name is yer captain? I ain’t sayin’ nothin’ else until I get to speak with her.”

At that same moment nearby, Kora had the vulture pinned to the hardwood of the deck. She sat on his back, and threatened to snap one of his talon legs as she held him in place. “Yield.” Was all she said.

Rusty found that he had no movement in most of his body. Because of that, he had to concede. “Bugger it. Alright, alright--I yield.”

A few moments later, everyone on the upper deck would see two more individuals approach and rise out from the lower deck. Vido was in front, followed by the rightfully annoyed Celaeno.

“Keep movin’!” she commanded the griffon as they kept walking.

“I assure you, my friends are right here!”

“I’ll believe it when I--” the captain stopped mid-sentence. She gawked at the scene in front of her that contained two of her crew members in combat. One of the combatants in particular caught her attention the most. “...Axel Remington?!”

Everyone froze, and looked up at the captain. The biggest question that weighed on everyone’s mind was:

“...How does she know his name?”

“...Just how does she know my name?”