Advent Of A Gunslinger

Meanwhile, at the trade guild…

As Vido previously stated, he knew exactly where the guild was. It was located beneath a sand dune and accessible via a set of steps that led to a door that was hidden to those who didn’t know of this location.

“Si, just as I remember it,” said the griffon, “The ETG’s main passage that allows hunters to collect bounties.” He turned to Celaeno. “Pretty smart of you to ask me to come instead of Axel. Nobody will know who I am since I have no bounty to speak of.”

“You catch on fast, huh?” Celaeno said as she pushed the door in, “Guess you’re smarter than I initially gave you credit for.”

Vido followed with a huff. “Eh? Just what do you mean by that, Captain?”

“I want to start over,” she said, “We met under rather...awkward circumstances, and I don’t think it’s fair to judge you entirely based on that one interaction we had.”

Relieved, Vido would reply amicably. “...I see. In that case, I’ll show you who I really am.”

The door shut behind them, and they were now in the guild. A series of underground markets and stands akin to those found in Klugetown. Except these were dealing with more dangerous goods. Substances, weapons, and of course--bounties.

Celaeno, however, wasn’t focused on any of that. Her goal was to get to the bounty stand as quickly as possible, and leave as quickly as possible. Thankfully, there wasn’t a whole lot of activity going around on that day within the underground guild. In fact, the line for the bounty stand wasn’t that long either--only three individuals were ahead of them.

Once they both got in line, Vido would look ahead and see various posters plastered upon the Bounty Board. One of which was Axel’s caricature. Or at least, that’s what it was supposed to be. It was simply a crudely drawn image of an equine-like face with a cowboy hat and a facemask. There weren’t many other details besides that...and the price on his head.

One-and-a-half million bits.

“...Well now,” Vido whispered, “Seems as if his price has gone up a little bit. I wonder why.”

“Word of mouth travels fast within the guilds,” Celaeno whispered back, “The more notable you are, the more your head price increases. And the less you accomplish, well--you fade into obscurity until everyone forgets who you are.”

That response made Vido tremble. The idea of one’s name being forgotten as a mere footnote through history was something that he didn’t like the idea of. “Yikes. I’d at least want to be remembered by my own children if I had any…”

Soon enough, it would be their turn in line. Celaeno tossed the duffle bag on the stand, and spoke. “We’re here to claim the Valley Ranch bounty. The one that’s worth 800 thousand bits.”

The teller, who was clad in nothing but a dark cloak that concealed who they were, looked into the bag in order to verify that the correct target had been eliminated. And sure enough, after looking into the contents of the bag, the teller nodded. “Good. You’ve earned it.” They would then take the body behind the counter. In exchange, the teller would give them a treasure chest filled with the money they had earned. Thankfully, it was small enough to carry.

“Appreciated,” Celaeno said as she took the chest, and turned to leave, “C’mon, Vido.”

As the griffon followed, he couldn’t help but take a visual survey of the place and think about something aloud. “Hrm...ever wonder what they do with the bodies after we bring them in?”

“On occasion,” she replied, “But that’s not my responsibility anymore once the target has been defeated. All I’m focused on is collecting our next one--that being the dragon. In fact, I’m currently curious as to what makes his worth so much…”

Rongu’s bounty was worth two million bits--fifty percent more than Axel’s. How? Why? That was anyone’s guess. All they knew for the moment was that the dragon was their next target. How they would deal with that would be the next big issue…

Celaeno and Vido would return to the airship with no trouble. It took off into the air, and set off for Klugetown once more. It wouldn’t be too much longer from this point.

Within the confines of the ship, Axel was with Roseanne in her quarters.

“I’mma kill anyone who hurts mah pa,” she said as she loaded up her shotgun with hollow-point slug rounds, and paced the floor of her room. “God as mah witness, Remin’ton.”

Axel would do his best to keep her relaxed. The last thing he wanted to deal with was another raging cow. “Hey,” he commanded her attention, “Calm yerself. Yer pa ain’t some yellowbelly. He ain’t gon’ fall that easy. And I don’t think he’d want ya flippin’ out either.”

“I ain’t flippin’ out!” she shouted, and immediately stared down at the floor, realizing what she had just done. “...Dammit all. You right. Ah need’ta calm mahself down…” she sat down upon her bed.

“Listen,” Axel continued, “I’m going to scout the area and locate your father first. Then we’ll get him outta there as soon as we see him. I ain’t no strategist, but it’s far smarter than just runnin’ in like chickens with our heads cut off.”

While it was a fickle plan that wasn’t very successful last time, Axel wanted to at least get a general idea of what they’d be up against.

And even in her state of unrest, Rose couldn’t exactly disagree with the gunslinger’s idea. “...Fair enough, sir. Pa always said’ta listen’ta those with more experience than mahself. So Ah’m willin’ta follow you.”

With a sigh of relief, Axel would be able to think more clearly. “Alright...good. Wouldn’t want ya goin’ loopy on us at a time like this. So like I was sayin’--let me scout the area and gather info before we make a move. Then we snag yer pa and bring him back, ya hear?”

“Ah hear ya…” she replied weakly.

About half an hour later…

Celaeno’s ship would arrive over Klugetown. However, she chose to keep her vessel suspended within the air. Everyone had been gathered upon the main deck to await her orders.

“Alright,” she began, “We don’t wanna take any unnecessary risks. I recommend one of us check out the area before we touch down. Who would like to volun--”

Before she could finish that statement, Axel had already offered himself up. “I’m goin’ down there. First sign’a trouble I see, I’ll shoot a signal--but it won’t be a flare. It’ll be somethin’ a bit more subtle.”

“...And what do you mean by that?” the captain asked.

“You’ll know it when ya see it,” the gunslinger replied as he spread his wings. “Any objections to that?”

Neither Celaeno’s crew nor Axel’s acquaintances had anything to say against his desire to go out there.

Though, Monocrow had one thing to say. “Don’t forget who you’re dealing with, friend. We’re here if you need us.”

Axel didn’t respond verbally. Instead, he tipped his hat as a sign of respect.

With that, he took off down towards the mess of a metallic ‘town’.

In the back of his mind, he had to wonder… “...Did Rose actually inform the cap’n about that letter? She didn’t seem’ta have as much urgency as I thought. Was she too scared to let Celaeno know?”

Whether or not that was the case, there was no time to dwell upon it. Axel would have to make haste in order to find Tony’s home and see if he was there. Thanks to his impeccable eyesight, he would be able to spot the minotaur’s broadside from a mile away if he needed to.

“Right, then. Where are ya, old man…?”

It took a while, but Axel would eventually spot Tony through a window in one of the nearby buildings. His own home, apparently. But there were no signs of any danger...yet.

“Think I should move in for a bit of a closer look…”

So that’s exactly what he did. Axel flew down towards the building, and landed upon the steps that led up to it. He then approached the door, and knocked.

“Hello? Mr. Giovanni?” he called out, “It’s me.”

At first, there was no answer. It took a few minutes for the minotaur to come to the door. But once he saw who it was, he was relieved.

“...Who is it?” he asked while opening the door slowly, “Oh...That you, boy? Come on in.”