Advent Of A Gunslinger

“Ah. That’s right,” Martha went on once she remembered the topic of discussion, “So about a week after the discussion I had with your parents, I wanted to stick it out for just a bit longer as a pornstar to see how well it worked out. Had put in my week’s notice, so yeah. Figure may as well end it on a bang.”

Axel did his best to withhold his anxiety in regards to her past and tried not to lean in towards her. “And? What happened?” he asked, gritting his teeth.

“...On my last day, my boss tried to convince me to stay, and nearly put his hands on me.” Martha started to tremble as the memories flooded back to her. “...He wouldn’t leave me alone, and tried to force himself on me. I had’ta use the weapon your pa gave me, and put a fistful of buckshot through that bastard’s skull. I ran off, and never looked back.”

“...Wait a minute,” Axel thought to himself in between her recollections, “...didn’t she say her boss was ‘some catty asshole’? Better wait ‘til she’s done before I ask.”

Martha went on. “So I kept runnin’ and runnin’ until I could catch a stagecoach that led me to this here Milk Ranch. The previous madam--a minotaur--was getting on in years, so I offered to take over for her. So I trained under her, and once she passed on...I did.”

“...Were you able to adapt to the life of a brothel more easily?” he asked with a worried tone.

She nodded. “You’d be surprised, sonny-boy. The clients are much more relaxed here, and I’m able to work with lots of nice ladies who care about me and my health. I passed on the previous madam’s teachings to my current girls and they treat me with the same respect.” A smile would form on her face. “...I love it here. It’s done wonders for me, and the gals love me too.”

But that smile went away as soon as she thought over the events that transpired earlier that day.

“...Which is why I was so...distraught to see three of ‘em possessed by some creepy magic. That’s why I was so intent on using that dreamcatcher to cure ‘em myself.” She placed her free hand against her forehead. “Agh...I’m such a stubborn-ass heifer.”

“...No,” Axel shook his head, “You were simply trying to keep your girls safe. They’re like your family, and you have every right to want to protect them.”

Martha scoffed in response. “Hmph. I suppose. But still--I nearly hurt myself trying to keep them safe. And...if I had died there, they would’ve been rightfully emotionally scarred from losing me. So...thank you, Axel,” she made eye contact with him. “You’re a good man. Wish there was a way I could repay ya.”

“...I dunno about good,” he replied, “I’m not bad...but I sure as hell ain’t ugly.”

She playfully pushed him with her free hand. “Oh you. I’m serious. That’s not something I say to just anybody.”

“Alright, alright,” Axel would accept her words gracefully, “Thank you, ma’am. But don’t fret yourself over me. Your hospitality with that meal was more than enough.”

While she didn’t outwardly show it, Martha felt guilty for getting Axel involved in something such as this. Of course, she appreciated his help, but that only served to make her feel worse. The faun woman wanted to make sure that he felt comfortable for the rest of the time they would stay there. Almost out of an obligation...

“...The least I could do for his ma and pa is to treat their boy as best I can. He deserves it--whether he thinks it or not.” She thought it over in her head, but before she could say anything…

Axel brought up a point that came up previously in her conversation. “...Though, that ‘catty asshole’ you mentioned earlier. What did he look like? Specifically his fur and eye color?”

“If my memory serves--which it rarely does nowadays--” Martha sneered towards herself, “I believe my boss had dark fur...maybe a deep gray or even black. But I remember his eyes. Yella. In fact, I worked with quite a few catfolk that looked similar, if I recall correctly.” She took another puff from her pipe and looked up at the hippogriff. “What makes you ask, boy?”

“...So those sumbitches harmed her too, did they? I wonder what all they did? But naw...I can’t ask her outright. It probably ate her up inside just’ta tell me that little bit about her workplace issues. I just need’ta find some more info on my own. Wonder if Kora might know somethin’...”

Axel’s mind ran cold as he pondered what to do next with that info. For the time being, he decided to do some digging. He got up from his seat on the couch. “...No reason. Was just curious.”

“...Where ya goin’, boy?” she asked with a bit of disappointment in her voice.

The hippogriff had made his way to the door of her room. “...I’ll be back soon. Just wanna discuss somethin’ with my...acquaintances.” Without another word, he would unlocked the door, leave, and close it behind himself.

Alone, Martha would sigh to herself. “Once again, drove another one away with your sob stories. Ya stupid old bitch…learn to keep things to yourself.”

Downstairs…

Having finished the meals that Clarabelle had prepared for them, Kora and Vido were relaxing at the cleared table.

Axel came downstairs to find them, and sat in the empty chair that had his gear sitting on the back of it. “...Kora, Vido. I got some news.”

“Ah, you’ve returned,” Kora said as Axel took his seat, “Coincidentally, we too, have happened upon our own information. Or rather, Vido has.”

“Really now?” Axel turned to the griffon, “You first, kiddo. Tell me whatcha found.”

“Si,” he replied, and turned to grab something off of a nearby seat. A black tome with gilded edges around the front cover. There was also a cat’s head symbol on the front. “...I found this off of our magical feline friend’s dead body. I tried to read it, but I have no idea what it means.” He offered it to Kora. “Think you can decipher for us, gata?”

Kora grabbed onto the tome with both hands, and struggled for a split-second. “Y-yikes...this is heavier than I would have expected. Let’s see…” She opened it up...and as Vido previously stated, it was written in a foreign language only known to the Abyssinians.

Thankfully, Kora was able to read it. Her green eyes darted across the pages as her face contorted into horror.

“...What’s it say, miss?” Axel asked.

“...This is an Abyssinian tome written in our native tongue,” she explained, “It contains magic that ranges from basic things like levitation to the arcane arts such as alchemy recipes.”

Vido leaned forward. “Oh? Try it--see if one of those levitation spells work.”

“You crazy?” Axel interjected, “Why would we risk somethin’ like that now?!”

“Don’t worry,” Kora assured them both, “I can read all of this perfectly. For example...tenisafefu ibakiwoni.”

As soon as she said it, the glass in front of her started to rise off of the table.

“Tewe,” she said, and caused the glass to drop back down, to which she caught it in her paw. “Simple. But there are way more complex spells than this.”

Vido and Axel looked over her shoulders at the book. The characters used for the levitation spell were: ተንሳፈፉ እባክዎን. And just beneath that, the way to make it stop was noted by the characters: ተወ. To them, these appeared to be random symbols, but for Kora, she could read them out as words flawlessly.

THUD!

The trio turned their heads, and saw Roseanne fall out of the chair she had been resting in. “Ah!” The minotaur gal gasped upon impact, and looked up at them. “Ah’m alright, ya’ll! I’m listenin’!” she laid eyes on the hefty spellbook they had, and commented on it. “Oh hey, that’s the thang that the mage was readin’ from. I was surprised’ta see that a unicorn had possession of it.”

That was a detail the trio had missed.

“Wait, a unicorn?” Kora asked, “What do you mean?”

“Oh yeah, ya’ll weren’t there when it happened, but there was this brown unicorn gal with a Klugetowner servant--a possum or somethin’. Anyway, she was the one leadin’ the situation, but ran off before Ah could git her ass,” she grumbled, and folded her arms, “Damn yella sumbitch.”

“Que qué? Say what?” Vido spoke up, “A pony with a Klugetowner at her service? That sounds insane! Don’t they put ponies into slavery?”

Axel had to admit it as well. “...Sounds hella out the ordinary, I won’t kid ya. I’d also like to know just how she came into possessin’ a spellbook like this…”

Roseanne sat back in her seat. “Now that’s what Ah can’t tell ya. Wish Ah knew, really.”

Kora purred a contemplative purr to herself as she looked at the tome. Then she turned her attention back to Axel. “Oh yes. I almost forgot. Lord Remington, what was it that you managed to find out?”

“...I’ve got a lead in regards to my folks,” he said, “Martha said she met ‘em...but I also found out that she used’ta work with some’a the same black-and-yellow pussycats that took my folks away from me. She suffered some...unsavory times during her modellin’ career, and I think it’s possible that we both suffered from the paws of the same gang.”

“...My goodness…” Kora flicked her tail, and balled her paw into a fist. “...Just how many lives have these degenerate pieces of filth desecrated with their demonic presence?”

Vido fell silent, wondering to himself. “...Is it possible that papa was involved with them too?”

There were a lot of emotions going on within the group. It was also dark by this point, and everyone was more or less tired.

Noting just how messy it had gotten, Roseanne would make a suggestion. “...Alright, ya’ll. Look. It’s late, we’re bushed as bison, and it’s been a long day of crap. Let’s head on up to the guest rooms that Clarabelle said were open for us and rest ourselves. Ah’ll take ya’ll there. We can meet up back here tomorrah mornin’ and discuss what we wanna do next. Chang is workin’ with our gals in the ‘firmary, so don’t worry about him.”

Axel gathered up his gear. “...I think I’mma spend the night with Martha. I think she needs some company.”

“...Alright,” Roseanne replied hesitantly, “Ah know Martha well. Try not’ta mention her past too much from here on. It ain’t pretty.”

“A bit late for that…”