en	It wasn't the red morning sun, now risen just above the horizon, that had woken you.

en	Nor was it the gentle slumbering breath of Joseph against your neck, doing its best to lull you back to sleep.

en	What woke you wasn't even the familiar crick at the base of your tail from sleeping on the bedroll, a stiffness you couldn't wait to stretch out.

en	It was your thoughts. All the thoughts in your mind, like so many wild horses running, of what may come next.

en	What you both had to do.

en	The nights spent on a lookout were better than the sleepless nights back at camp, but you still dreaded the dawn that came after.

en	At least you had Joseph this time.

en	At least you had him for what was to come, you hoped.

en	You could feel one big wing of his, wrapped around your stomach, shifting as he started to wake too now.

en	As much as you wanted to keep lying here with him for just a few more minutes, you knew you had to get up.

en	Coffee wouldn't brew itself.

en	You peeled back the blanket as little as you could to let yourself escape, gingerly untucking Joseph's fingers from your side.

en	Sliding off the bedroll and through the dirt, you let Joseph's arm down gently.

en	Crouching low on your knees you gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Feeling the soft, dry, dusty feathers beneath your fingertips.

en	Holding this moment in your head, that it might stay there.

en	You stood up, dusting yourself off everywhere you could.

en	...Time to get ready.

en	Even with Joseph here your morning routine was mostly the same. Just doubled, you supposed.

en	Feed and water the horse. Horses. Both of them.

en	Make a pot of coffee. Double the amounts though. Let it brew for a little longer too, on the same fire as you'd used last night, together.

en	You kept thinking while the coffee boiled. There were many things you didn't have time to think about yet.

en	Even so, unimportant thoughts still rose.

en	An unimportant thought that kept bubbling up, was how nice it was to not have the usual knot in your stomach.

en	The tightness that twisted every time at camp when you had to get food, or a drink, to use the same tools and the same space as the others.

en	It was nice not to have to worry right now, you thought, about sharing this.

en	Joseph wouldn't complain about having to get coffee from the same pot as you. He wouldn't get angry that you were handling his stuff.

en	Could it have always been this easy...?

en	Your stomach rumbling snapped you from your thoughts. Of course, you'd forgotten breakfast.

en	You went back to your bag and unwrapped some salted pork, holding it between your teeth and tearing a chunk off.

en	You always liked how chewy it was, when you weren't in a rush. The rhythm of your jaw grinding it up helped you think.

en	Possibilities were rolling around in your mind, dice cast along the branches of a tree. How things might play out.

en	Although you couldn't just keep it to yourself, now. For better or worse, this was about the two of you.

en	There was both weight and comfort in that thought.

en	As you watched the pot start to bubble and steam, you heard the sound of sleepy shuffling, turning to see a waking Joseph.

en	He was propped up on one elbow, blearily trying to figure out what was in front of him, rubbing his eyes with one winged hand.

en	You saw his pupils contract to the morning sun that was getting brighter and brighter, focusing on you.

en	"G'morning, pardner. Is that the sweet smell of coffee ah smell brewin'?"

en	"Not sure I'd so call it sweet."

en	You looked into the pot at the dark brown, tar-like substance, regretting the large snoutful you got of its acrid, bitter scent.

en	"Well, the idea's sweet ta me at least. Stuff's damn near magic far as I'm concerned."

en	With surprising energy for someone who had just woken up, Joseph whipped the blanket off of him, standing and dusting himself off.

en	You watched still as he stretched.

en	His fingers locked together, wings pushed and pulled, in front and behind.

en	The way the feathers of his neck parted and ruffled as he rolled his head around his shoulders.

en	The hem of his shirt, usually tucked in but now loose after a night's sleep, rising ever so slightly as he twisted his body.

en	He sighed as he finished, wings on his hips, and met eyes with you.

en	"...What're you lookin' at?"

en	"Nothing."

en	"Uh huh."

en	A shy smirk crept across his face as he tucked his shirt back in and walked over to you.

en	"Whatcha eatin'?"

en	"Salt pork. There's some in my bag if you want."

en	"I think ah will, thank ya kindly."

en	"Can you get some cups too? This coffee looks 'bout done."

en	You looked behind you at Joseph, crouched as he dug into your bag, giving you a quick thumbs up.

en	You turned to the pot again and stirred it with the spoon a little.

en	Joseph came back round and sat beside you, setting two tin cups on the ground with one hand.

en	His beak tore at the piece of jerky in his other hand, hungrily swallowing it down after a few chews.

en	He picked up the pot and poured you both a hot cup, eagerly tapping his cup with yours before drinking.

en	"Cheers."

en	You both sipped quietly. You could feel the heat of the coffee travelling all the way down your gullet, burning in your belly.

en	"How did ya sleep?"

en	"Hm, good. Like a pup. Didn't wake once."

en	"Me too. Slept better than even that hotel ah stayed in one time."

en	"Ah swear, the sheets on that bed were the softest darn thing I've ever touched."

en	"Sounds nice."

en	"It was. Last night was nicer, mind you."

en	Another silence between you now.

en	Likely you were both thinking the same thing. Thinking about last night, what you talked about.

en	Silence, because if neither of you spoke, maybe nothing would happen.

en	Maybe the world would stop turning, and the sun would stop rising.

en	Of course, it still does. You can see it, charting its course away from one horizon to the next.

en	"So."

en	"...So."

en	"What's our plan?"

en	Joseph shuffled a little, legs restless.

en	"We kill Curly Wolf and Black Vulture."

en	"That's what we said, right?"

en	You nodded.

en	"...Maybe, we don't hafta."

en	"We could just run away."

en	"We... talked about that Joseph."

en	"If we run we'll spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders. We'll never really be safe."

en	"...Yeah, yer right."

en	"Besides, have you never thought about it?"

en	"'Course ah have. It's... not that simple though. Everyone around him is loyal, it'd be hard to even get the chance."

en	"Even if ah killed him ah wouldn't get away with my life."

en	"And even when I've thought about it, thought about that ideal world where he's got a bullet in his brain and I'm home free..."

en	"There's nothing after, $Player. Ah could never see what would happen in the rest of my life. It was blank."

en	"Just a desert."

en	"If you were to kill him now, what do you see?"

en	Joseph looked ahead, thinking. The feathers on his face fluttered in the wind.

en	"...Something, ah suppose. Not nothing, at least."

en	"...Ah think maybe I can trust that."

en	"Are we really going to be able to kill them, though?"

en	"I don't know. They bleed and die like anyone else, it's just hard to get a chance."

en	"At some point, our gangs are going to go to Clemency and take us with them, whether we like it or not."

en	"I think we should try to use that to our advantage... unfamiliar place, for them at least."

en	"What about everyone in town? They... shouldn't hafta be involved with this."

en	"They're already involved. We can't change that."

en	"I just wonder if any of them would help us. I doubt it."

en	"Do you think..."

en	You looked at Joseph, and he turned to look at you too, his brow furrowed.

en	"Sheriff?"

en	You felt a cold dread wash over you, even in the heat of the morning sun.

en	"No, I don't think Sheriff wants anything to do with us. We'd be dead before we even crossed the town line, remember?"

en	"Ah know, ah know, it just... there was something about it. How Sheriff was when we were told to leave."

en	"I don't know if ah fully believed it."

en	"Sorry Joseph, I think that's just wishful thinking."

en	"Hey, you listen to me now, I ain't makin' it up."

en	His voice was suddenly sterner, the timidness that had been in his voice now gone.

en	"I'm telling you, Sheriff... ah don't think Sheriff wanted to tell us to leave."

en	"There was something far too sad about it."

en	"You saw it too, right? I'm not imaginin' it?"

en	You thought back. It had hurt too much to dwell on it, but now you thought about it, you had to agree.

en	It wasn't like other times, when you'd been exiled or barred from places. There was anger but there was also... frustration.

en	Disappointment.

en	That wasn't normal.

en	"...You might be right."

en	"Even so, I don't think we can go waltzing back in to Clemency and expect Sheriff to welcome us with open arms."

en	"We still don't even have a plan."

en	"Ah think we need to talk to Sheriff. Even if we don't have a plan, Sheriff needs to know what's comin'."

en	"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

en	"I just don't know how."

en	"We'd need to get to Sheriff without being seen, ideally. I don't want to risk getting shot, however unlikely."

en	Without being seen...

en	You set your coffee down, getting up and walking to the edge of the cliff.

en	You didn't need binoculars to see the shape of the town from up here, how the land moved and shallowed down towards the buildings.

en	You looked along the cliff, in the opposite direction to where you'd gone yesterday.

en	"Hey Joseph."

en	"I think... if we ride our horses this way, we could maybe get to the town from the back."

en	"Sheriff's office is at the back of the town there. If we surrender ourselves, we might get to talk to Sheriff."

en	Joseph got up from where he was and walked over to you, looking along the cliff where you were pointing, sipping his coffee.

en	"Ehh... ugh, yeah. That could work."

en	"What, not a fan of the idea?"

en	"Oh, no we can do that, this coffee is just mighty vile."

en	He held the cup over the edge and tipped it upside down, the brown sludge falling into the sand below.

en	"Less get going. We don't have much time 'fore both of us'll be needing to head back to our gangs."

en	"Yeah, 'course."

en	You took one last look along the cliff face, then started helping Joseph clear up the camp, making haste to get on your horses.

en	You rode as quick as you could down the cliff face, taking a long route around the back of the town.

en	Climbing off your horses, you tied them up out of sight behind a rocky outcropping.

en	You started your cautious walk to the edge of the town together, cautious about being spotted.

en	Sheriff's office was right in front of you, the squat building backing up onto this side of the desert.

en	Two square windows were cut into this face of the building, holes in the frame from where bars once were.

en	As you got closer, you listened out for anything that might tell you where Sheriff was.

en	The rhythmic tapping of wood carried on the wind to you from the front porch.

en	Carefully, you and Joseph sidled up to the building. Sticking close to the side you shuffled along the stone wall, cold in the shade.

en	At the edge, you slowly peeked your head out, squinting through the morning sun.

en	Sheriff was sitting on the porch outside, looking out into the town, cane tapping idly on the wooden boards. You hadn't been noticed yet.

en	You pulled your head back and nodded to Joseph, him nodding back in turn.

en	You both drew your guns, backs to the wall, and called out.

en	"Sheriff?"

en	You hear the panicked shuffling of someone getting out of their chair, and the cocking of a gun.

en	"Who goes there!"

en	"It's us, Sheriff, Joseph and $Player. We mean you no harm."

en	As you heard Sheriff's footsteps coming towards you round the corner, you both put your hands up, guns hanging limply by the fingertips.

en	You stepped back from the building and out of the shade as Sheriff came to face you, a gun loosely pointed in your direction.

en	"...What am I lookin' at here, why are you back? Are you surrenderin'?"

en	"Yeah, kinda... Sheriff, we need to talk. For real, this time."

en	"Oh yeah? And I'm s'posed to believe any collywobble you say now, am I?"

en	"No, we..."

en	"We know we betrayed yer trust."

en	"We lied to ya about why we were here, but we didn't lie about the danger to the town."

en	"We're askin' you fer a chance to explain ourselves."

en	Sheriff's brow was furrowed, you could see that even under the tough and scaled skin. A few moments of silence passed between you.

en	Sheriff holstered the gun slowly and calmly, the click of it uncocking letting you breathe freely again.

en	"Come into the office then, if we have things to discuss."

en	You gave each other a look of relief as Sheriff turned to walk back. You put your guns away as well and followed the lizard round.

en	The office was darker inside than yesterday, the morning sun not quite shining in the same way.

en	Sheriff stood with both hands on the cane, face curious and stern, still untrusting.

en	"So, boys. What do we need to talk about?"

en	You looked at Joseph, and he met your eyes. They were darting about in the small way they do, even when you're focusing on a point.

en	He gave you a little wink. That was all you needed.

en	"Yesterday, when we told you about those outlaws heading here, that... wasn't a lie. Or I guess it was a white lie."

en	"Our gangs know about this place, and they're gonna be coming here, gold or not."

en	"So you were scoutin' our town out. Makes sense."

en	"Still, I don't see what's stoppin' you from lying about this town. You both know we can't do much to defend ourselves from a whole gang."

en	"So frankly, if I'm picking up what you're puttin' down - and you don't want to hurt us - then just lie to 'em."

en	"Tell 'em we're armed to the teeth. Scare 'em off, they won't be stupid enough to still try."

en	"I... guess we could, but-"

en	"But what? Look I appreciate you tryin' to come clean and help somehow, but this ain't our business, you see."

en	"It's not one gang, it's two. I'm from the Curly Wolf gang."

en	"And I'm from Black Vulture's."

en	"...You're from two different gangs? Well, I'll be damned. You seemed so friendly with each other."

en	"The thing is Sheriff, we..."

en	"We don't wanna work for 'em anymore. Curly Wolf and Black Vulture. We wanna kill them."

en	"We need each other's help to do that, we can't do it alone, y'see?"

en	Your heart was beating fast in your chest. Saying it out loud, saying it to Sheriff, changed things.

en	Before you could convince yourself otherwise, you took Joseph's hand in yours, squeezing it tight as you stood next to him.

en	"Yeah. Besides, there's no guarantee we'd be able to convince them not to come here even if we did lie to them."

en	"We need your help too, Sheriff."

en	Sheriff's face remained stern, or maybe concerned you thought. Eyebrows flat across the eyes. Thinking.

en	"...You boys are sure about this? This is what you have to do?"

en	"Yes."

en	"Yeah."

en	Joseph's hand moved, ensuring the grip of his fingers interlocked with yours.

en	"Psh... getting a little old for things like this, but alright."

en	"I can't in good conscience endanger the people in this town, but I think I might be able to help."

en	Sheriff got up and started pacing.

en	"So your two gangs, they're both gonna come here?"

en	"Yeah, I know Curly Wolf will for sure."

en	"Black Vulture is bored, ah can tell. He's itching to do somethin'."

en	"Hmm. Any history between 'em, any scuffles?"

en	"Would they fight or make a truce if they met?"

en	"Black Vulture has said before he'd fight Curly Wolf, but ah dunno if Curly even knows he exists."

en	"Curly Wolf wouldn't work with another gang unless he had to. I don't think he'd give up this place so easily."

en	"Seems to me like them meeting up would be beneficial to your goals, don't you agree?"

en	"A fight between them would be chaotic... but maybe that's what we need."

en	"Someone might even finish them off for us."

en	"It would be dangerous for us though, too."

en	"Well now, hold on. When do the lookouts get caught in the scuffle? Almost never, unless we start it."

en	"If anythin', we should be the safest ones of the bunch."

en	"You're right, you're right."

en	"If you can delay their arrivals, then I might have a solution for you."

en	"Clemency gets supplies, monthly. They arrive by train about a day and a half's ride from here, that's where the nearest station is."

en	"Since it's a whole town's supplies, and the trip is long, everyone in Clemency goes in a wagon together."

en	"Easiest and safest for alla us."

en	"As luck would have it, that's in three days."

en	"...So the town'll be completely empty?"

en	"Not a soul, I can guarantee that. We ride early in the morning and ain't back till the next day."

en	"You get your gangs here on that day, and do what you need to do. Best I can come up with on short notice."

en	"That could work. Not like we have any other plan, and anything could happen, but it's better than nothin'."

en	Things were happening so fast. Sheriff really wanted to help, this was incredible.

en	Was this really happening? Was this something you could do?

en	"Three days, right? We need to both be here in three days."

en	"Yup. Do you think you can do that?"

en	"I think we can."

en	Joseph looked at you, both of you holding each other's hand tighter.

en	"We have to."

en	"Good, good."

en	"And, thank you. For trusting me with this. You took a real gamble comin' back here."

en	"No, thank you, Sheriff. Really and truly."

en	"I hope to see you again, when this is over."

en	"God willing, you'll make good on that promise."

en	"Fer sure."

en	"Ah think we both needta get going, now. We'll be expected back today."

en	"Yeah, we need to start riding soon."

en	"God speed, then, both of you. Keep yourselves safe."

en	You felt sick to your stomach and light on your feet. You nodded at Sheriff, and left, still holding Joseph's hand.

en	Back with your horses, you made last minute checks of your bags, ensuring everything was secure for the long trip back.

en	Three days from now... three days from now you'd be back. Both of you.

en	Some part of you dreaded needing to start this journey. Lingering on the feeling of standing here, not moving.

en	So much had changed since you got here. Now, you might be risking it all.

en	Doesn't feel fair. The idea of losing something you only just found, only just got the chance for.

en	You shoved it down, though. The ride back was long, you didn't need that kind of worry gnawing at your heart.

en	Pity for you, that every time you saw his face, even a glance as you checked your saddle - it all came rising to the top once more.

en	Like a drowning man, pushed under the waves, breaching the surface again as he refuses to sink.

en	"Ah think I'm all ready."

en	"...Me too."

en	Joseph stood by your side now, waiting for you to turn and look at him.

en	You contemplated just getting in the saddle, not lingering for longer than you had to.

en	You felt the light touch of his hand on your shoulder.

en	Twisting, pressing your face now over his shoulder, arms clinging round his side, you were holding him before you could think.

en	Joseph said nothing. He did nothing too, for a moment, until you felt the weight of his arms on your back tightly clinging to you.

en	Your hand took a great fistful of his clothes between your fingers where they lay, and as you held him tighter, he squeezed you even more.

en	You wouldn't care right now if he squeezed you hard enough to break a rib.

en	Feathers on his neck tickled your face and poked your closed eye. You could feel the way his back bent as he leaned ever so slightly over you.

en	You don't know how long the hug lasted, but eventually you let go.

en	You could feel imprints on your skin from where the hardness of his clothes, his buttons, his belt, had dug into you. Still, you didn't mind.

en	He held you still, facing each other. Holding each other's arms, looking at each other.

en	Joseph's eyes flicked around your face, and to the top of your head, holding his gaze there for a moment before leaning in.

en	You felt the gentle prod of his beak on your scalp, the sharp edges tugging at your fur.

en	He preened through a few more times, pulling gently and spitting the loose hairs to the side.

en	Done, he pulled back, his face a little sheepish.

en	"There, that's better. Need to look yer best when you go back."

en	"Thought your mama said it was impolite to use your beak, hm?"

en	"Well, she's not here. 'Sides, ah think you fit the, uh, criteria."

en	"...Thank you."

en	Your cheeks were hot and flush with what felt like all the blood in your body. You were sure you could see the same under his feathers.

en	"I'll see you in three days, y'hear?"

en	"Yeah."

en	"We'll kill those bastards."

en	"Yeah..."

en	You nodded. His hands trailed your arms as he walked away to his horse.

en	You got up in to your saddle too, the reins familiar in your hand.

en	Joseph trotted his horse round up alongside you, facing the opposite way.

en	"Well, pardner. Time to go."

en	"Wait, Joseph, just... promise me, if something goes wrong, you'll run."

en	"Promise?"

en	"Killing them isn't worth it if you die too."

en	"If you run, ah run. They ain't worth the effort of dyin'."

en	You smiled at him with the same type of smile as when you left home. Weak and worn, but relieved all the same.

en	"G'bye, $Player."

en	"See you soon, Joseph."

en	You both started your horses moving, gently trotting until you were no longer beside each other.

en	You heard Joseph give a "Cyawh!" and his horse set off at speed, kicking up dust into the air when you looked behind you.

en	You set your own horse into a gallop, the rush of the wind in your ears as you rode through and out of Clemency.

en	Back to your gang.

en	Back to the man you were plotting to kill.

en	The midday sun hung harsh and bright in the sky as you made it back to the camp, you and your horse both tired from the ride.

en	The current hideout of Curly Wolf and co. was a ramshackle affair, nestled in the depths of rolling hills, hidden from the sight of any passerby.

en	Riding slowly in, you climbed off your horse onto the sun baked ground, and led it over to tie it up with the others.

en	The smell of food wafted, but you could see people cleaning up already. You'd missed lunch.

en	As you made to leave the horse, a sudden thought struck you, and you doubled back to scramble about in your bag.

en	Where was it? You hadn't left it behind, surely.

en	The trickle of panic that had started to leak into your chest thankfully stopped, as your fingers felt the soft brush of what you were looking for.

en	You pulled the feather Joseph gave you out of your bag, holding it closely to yourself. You let out a short gasp of a sigh.

en	"Oi! Tomboy!"

en	Your ears pricked up and you stood up straight at the sound of Curly Wolf shouting at you. You hastily tucked the feather away in your pocket.

en	You turned and made your way over to Curly, eyes down at the ground, avoiding the looks of the others.

en	"You know how things work around here, don't you tomboy?"

en	"...Yes."

en	Curly grabbed a handful of your poncho, pulling you forward, stumbling, before roughly shoving you off your feet onto your back.

en	You'd learned how to take a fall by now. You didn't scramble, you just let yourself lay in the dirt for a moment, waiting.

en	"Get up."

en	You pressed your hand to the ground and got up, not too fast and not too slow.

en	The others still got a laugh out of this routine, but you were too bored of it to be embarrassed anymore.

en	"If you know how things work, then I shouldn't hafta punish you for not doing what you're told."

en	"When you come back, you come straight to me with what you found. You don't stand around playing with your little horsie."

en	"...Yes, boss."

en	"Right. Come on then, spit it out."

en	"I found the town. Place called Clemency. It's got some gold, from mines, but no bank or anything like that."

en	What would you say now? If Curly knew Sheriff was the only person there who even resembles a lawman he'd just go barging right in.

en	This lie was crucial. He couldn't catch you out.

en	"Place looked armed to the teeth, even so. All the townsfolk had some way of defending themselves, no gun laws like other places."

en	"Well, shit. Was hoping it'd be a breeze, we need an easy win right now."

en	"We- I, found out from Sh- uh the Sheriff that. That the place is gonna be empty soon."

en	You were focused on a hill in the distance, not daring to look directly at him.

en	Still, on the edge of your vision you could see Curly's eyes narrowed, staring at your face. Studying it.

en	"How come?"

en	"Overheard that they retrieve supplies for the town every so often, and the next caravan drive is in three days."

en	"Whole town is going to be going, it'll be empty and unguarded."

en	The suspicion in Curly's eyes melted into a smugness, and a grin split his face from ear to ear.

en	"Hot damn. Now that is an easy win."

en	He turned his face away from you, shouting into the air of the camp.

en	"Boys! Three days from now, we're gonna be rich!"

en	He walked away around the camp, kept talking, hyping it up, riling everyone up for what was to come.

en	You didn't need to listen anymore. Your job was done for now.

en	You went back to being invisible. Staying out of the way. The usual.

en	That night, the hills were full of the sound of howling, cheering, drunken songs as the Curly Wolf gang prematurely celebrated their victory.

en	This was a bigger deal than you had maybe anticipated. In any case, your goal was the same, and they didn't know what was coming.

en	Curly Wolf, didn't know what was coming. He was the cockiest you'd ever seen him.

en	The days after were a blur. If you weren't needed to help with some menial work somewhere in camp, you were just sleeping in your tent.

en	Trying to avoid the blazing heat, keeping out of everyone's way, like you always did.

en	Waiting, just like everyone else, for the day you'd ride out.

en	On the night before you were due to leave, you snuck out of your tent, out to where no one would see you.

en	Away from the camp, the sounds of it echoing lightly through the air, you clambered halfway down a hill and sat.

en	You didn't do this often. Who knew when someone might come to your tent, needing to drag you away for something.

en	You couldn't risk it often, being unfindable. But you thought it important enough to do tonight.

en	To come out here and breathe in the cool night air. To stare into the sky, across the horizon, at the blanket of stars in the sky.

en	Trying to pinpoint constellations you were told about when you were much younger.

en	You wondered if Joseph knew any... you didn't think about it at the time.

en	The feather was in your pocket still. The safest place you could think to keep it.

en	At night, when the lights were out, and the tent was filled with the sound of someone snoring, you'd hold it in your hand.

en	Flicking through it with the claw of your thumb, feeling the smoothness against your fingers, just for a bit, before you put it back.

en	It helped you get to sleep.

en	Again, now, while you were alone and sitting under the stars, you pulled it out of your pocket.

en	Fiddling with it in your hand, feeling it tickle the pads of your palm.

en	Your mind wanted to wander, to think about important things. To think about all the ways tomorrow could go wrong.

en	To think about what might happen to you both.

en	You didn't let it. The feather helped, too. For once, you just let yourself be calm.

en	You'll see him tomorrow. Until then, worrying would do you no good.

en	You imagined that was the kind of thing he'd say to you, if he were here. Sitting next to you.

en	The imagined weight of his head on your shoulder. The thought of his warmth sidled up next to you.

en	All the things you wouldn't feel again, if you lost him.

en	...

en	You'll see him tomorrow.

en	It's the morning.

en	You're awake early. You didn't sleep much anyway, as much as you tried to.

en	The sun was as bright as always coming through the yellowed fabric of the tent.

en	You laid awake, waiting for others to get up. Waiting for Curly Wolf.

en	He'd start rallying guys together for the ride to Clemency soon enough. You needed to make sure you were there.

en	The minutes ticked by, and you heard more people get up, the camp coming to life once more with the sounds of work and talk.

en	You got up and got yourself ready, sitting on your bedroll after and waiting more.

en	Then, the voice of Curly Wolf.

en	"Alright, boys, gather round! We're heading to the town of Clemency this morning."

en	"I need ten or so men with me to haul valuables, it's around a half day's ride from here."

en	"Who's comin' to get our gold?"

en	You heard all this as you were leaving your tent, making your way to the small crowd of canines.

en	Instantly there were people joining, eager to prove themselves, to get their hands on real gold. One, two, three already...

en	You subtly pushed your way through the crowd, trying to reach the front.

en	Pushed out the edge of the crowd by the huddling bodies, you found yourself standing in front of Curly.

en	He stared at you even as he clapped the hands and shoulders of other guys walking past, joining the excitable group.

en	"What you standin' there for, tomboy? We don't need any little pups to help shift the goods."

en	You needed to be on this crew. You... couldn't talk back to him though, you didn't know what to say. What could you say?

en	You just kept standing there.

en	"You think you're gonna be of any help with this scrawny stick?"

en	He grabbed your arm, raising it up and down, shaking it by the wrist.

en	Every inch of you was screaming to snatch your arm from his hand, but you knew what would happen if you did.

en	He threw your arm back at you, making you stumble a little.

en	"Go make yourself useful someplace else. I only need real men for this trip."

en	You had to say something. You had to. You had to. You had to be there.

en	"I... You'll need a lookout."

en	He was looking at the assembled group, doing a quick headcount.

en	"Alright boys, that's ten, be ready to move out in five minutes."

en	He didn't seem to hear you... your words were quiet, whispered.

en	You tried again.

en	"You'll need a lookout, Curly."

en	His ears twitched. He still didn't turn to face you.

en	"I heard you the first time. Stop yapping at me about bullshit."

en	"We don't know when the townsfolk will be back."

en	"It'll be bad if they come back while you're there, and even worse if there's no one keeping an eye out."

en	"Y'all will have your hands full already."

en	You heard him sigh, and a little growl rose in his throat, before it subsided into nothing.

en	"Fine then, tomboy. If you're that eager to come, I suppose I'll hafta let you."

en	"You're riding in the wagon. You don't need a horse."

en	No, you didn't get that privilege when other people needed them, you supposed.

en	The wagon was fine by you. You knew it was a punishment of kinds, that you'd be riding in it on the way back too, along with everything else.

en	Boxes and sacks and supplies and whatnot, all bumping about, hoping none of them fall over and hit you.

en	Cramped space with nowhere to sit or lie, just standing for hours waiting for it to stop.

en	"Get a move on."

en	You followed after Curly to get ready.

en	Of course, what Curly didn't know, was that you weren't gonna be coming back here.

en	Neither of you were.

en	From where you sat, slumped in the corner of the wagon, the wind whistled through the gaps in the canvas next to your head.

en	The edges flap, the wind ruffling your clothes and your fur, drying up your nose as you sit with your knees up.

en	The wagon rocks and bumps as its dragged by horse through the desert, and this corner is the only place you feel safe enough to stay.

en	You could at least keep yourself steady even as it tried to knock you about, clinging onto the wooden frame.

en	Looking toward the entrance of the wagon, where the covering split down the middle, you couldn't see much.

en	Or rather, what you could see were great clouds of dust, billowing out from the wheels and into the dry air.

en	As uncomfortable as the wagon was, at least it provided you shelter from the sun, unlike riding on horseback.

en	The winds coursing past your ears were welcome too, cooling your head that was swimming with thoughts.

en	You knew you were close to Clemency now. The entourage had been travelling long enough.

en	As you got closer and closer, the minutes stretched on, you felt sick to your stomach. Less so butterflies, more like hornets.

en	This was going to be it. This was what you'd been waiting for - not just for days, but... years, really. A chance like this.

en	All the anxieties and concerns you'd pushed down last night were rushing back up, like geysers.

en	What if Joseph wasn't there? What if his gang wasn't there? What if you reach Clemency and Curly realises you were lying?

en	What if you couldn't kill them both? Or they demolished the town, and Sheriff came back to find nothing left?

en	To find you'd broken your promise? What if you were killed, quickly, or slowly? You'd seen Curly kill traitors before.

en	The simple fear of dying took hold of your heart. The chill of the reaper's shadow.

en	...No. This wasn't going to be it. This isn't all there was going to be.

en	You'd see him again, soon. You'd do what you had to, together. This wasn't going to be it. There would be more, after.

en	It was hard for you to imagine, but you knew it to be true. There would be days after today. You wanted to see them.

en	And if you die, at least it was for a reason. You sure as Hell weren't going to go out without a fight.

en	This was a risk you'd always be willing to take. You and Joseph would take it together, and you were going to see it through.

en	You steeled your resolve, locking the furnace of your heart so that no one may put it out.

en	The rumble of the wagon started to slow.

en	The rocking back and forth became gentler and gentler, until everything came to a stop with a small lurch.

en	The constant motion that had been in your body was gone all of a sudden. Everything seemed impossibly still.

en	Like when the many conversations in a bar all died down suddenly, leaving it quiet in a strange moment.

en	You heard the thud of Curly jumping off of his horse, and crawled the floor of the wagon to the front.

en	Curly came and opened the low wooden door, letting you slide out of the wagon and jump out.

en	The light of the late morning sun was blinding, and you held your arm over your brow to shelter your eyes.

en	As your eyes adjusted, the bright desert became clearer. Hazy rock formations in the distance became familiar.

en	Walking round the wagon you saw the shapes of buildings that set your teeth on edge. The town of Clemency.

en	"Here we are, boys! What a shithole. No one here, at least."

en	"We'll take what we're here for and leave sharpish. Won't know what hit 'em. Ain't that right, tomboy?"

en	He slapped you hard on the back.

en	There was an anticipation in the air amongst yourselves. This was the place they'd been waiting for.

en	You'd been waiting for it too, but, the anticipation was not one of eagerness.

en	Even in your brief visit here many things had happened. In some way, being back in Clemency was comforting.

en	Despite that, you couldn't ignore the chill in your veins at the prospect of what will come next. There was no backing out now.

en	It felt like those few times in the past, when the fuse on a stick of dynamite had been lit, and you were still holding it.

en	There was only going to be a few moments more until the spark reached the end of the wick.

en	Curly started walking into the town, and you followed suit with everyone else, staying close behind him.

en	Clemency was dead quiet, not a soul in sight - just like Sheriff said it'd be.

en	He studied the town as you walked down the main street, peering through windows, drawing up plans in his head.

en	Every building you walked past filled you with a little more fear. You were still waiting for something to happen.

en	For anyone else to appear. Soon enough, Curly would want to get started for real, and ask you where the gold was supposed to be.

en	Then, at the end of the street, you saw what you were waiting for. Who you were waiting for.

en	A hazy, clumped group of guys, making their way up onto the main street from the other side of the town. As they got closer, it became clearer.

en	The figure of a tall and slender bird, with many others in tow straggling behind him, much like you behind Curly.

en	Curly stopped as he spotted the group too, staring them down.

en	"...Now who the Hell is that in my town?"

en	He started walking again, with purpose and menace, and they quickened their pace in turn towards you.

en	You felt your heart beating in your chest now, reaching up to your throat, blood rushing. Adrenaline starting to build in you.

en	They were really here, and you could see Curly wasn't happy about it.

en	Both sides slowed as they came closer to each other, coming to a stop halfway down the street, a few dozen paces between them.

en	Not too close, not too far.

en	You saw Black Vulture much more clearly now, and he was looking with intrigue at Curly.

en	You looked past him though, desperately searching the small crowd of people following in his wake, until you saw the one you'd been waiting for.

en	Joseph, stony-faced and stern, blending in with his compatriots.

en	It was almost funny to compare to the laidback and jovial man you'd gotten to know.

en	After a few moments longer of staring each other down, Black Vulture spoke.

en	"Well, well, is that who I think it is? The infamous Curly Wolf?"

en	"What's it to you, and what are you doing in my town."

en	"Well, I'd imagine we're both here for much the same reason! I've heard tales of your exploits."

en	"Can't say the same. Who are you."

en	"I'm Black Vulture, gentleman outlaw of the-"

en	"Doesn't ring a bell."

en	The feathers of Black's neck clearly ruffled at Curly's rebuttal, but he waved it off.

en	"More fool you, I say."

en	"You here for the gold, then."

en	"Yes, and how strange that we might run into each other like this. I'm willing to bet you're not a sharing man."

en	"Like I said, this is Curly Wolf property now. So you best go on and fly away."

en	"No, I don't think we will be, Curly. I think it would be a shame for so much gold to be wasted on scum like you."

en	"Should keep that highfalutin beak of yours shut 'less you want the barrel of a gun inside it."

en	"Let us see then, Curly Wolf! To the victor go the spoils, and I intend to spill that tiny brain of yours across the dirt."

en	"Fine by me. Don't need much a brain to shoot you."

en	This wasn't how you'd wanted things to go. You and Joseph were still in the thick of it, facing each other. You thought you'd be out of the fight.

en	The air was still. Hands came to hover over guns, every pair of eyes trained on the opposing side. Waiting.

en	In a standoff like this, it was a test of the boss' mettle, their mental fortitude. How long would anyone last before pulling the trigger?

en	Trying to psyche each other out. Being the first to take the shot wasn't always the best call, but having to react to that first shot could be worse.

en	It was a test of loyalty, too, for everyone following them. Your underlings couldn't step out of line, or take the shot themselves.

en	To break rank early would be a betrayal, but when bullets went flying it was unpredictable. Staying meant a risk to yourself.

en	You knew Curly was a good shot. He had the upper hand here, but you were reminded of something Joseph told you.

en	Black Vulture wasn't the shootist, he had someone else for that. He could brag but he wasn't the real one.

en	You thought about whether Curly should know.

en	Keep quiet

en	Tip him off

en	The seconds dragged on.

en	It felt as though your very breath may tip the scales, chest heavy from breathing the air of people who wanted to kill you.

en	There was safety in numbers. In the crowd. Even so, you found yourself for the first time thinking about running.

en	Never before had you considered it. This time was different, of course. There wasn't going to be a next time.

en	Running would tip the scales for sure, but you couldn't know in whose favour.

en	Play it safe with the gang, or run and let all Hell break loose.

en	Stay

en	Run

en	No, it was better if Curly didn't know about the shootist.

en	As dangerous as it was to leave someone like that hanging around during a fight, it was more a danger to him.

en	An expert shootist in a fight was a danger, for you, as well as Joseph if things got hairier.

en	It was risky, but if Curly knew then the fight may be over sooner.

en	"Boss... I've heard about Black Vulture."

en	Curly side-eyed you, like someone would a child that had spoken out of line.

en	"Tch... What about?"

en	"He's not the shootist. He's got someone else for that, is what I heard. Can't shoot straight himself."

en	The slight contempt in Curly's face toward you disappeared, morphing into something more contemplative, studying the crowd.

en	"I see him... I got his number now."

en	"Maybe you're not so useless after all, pipsqueak."

en	A cruel feeling of pride rose in you that you wanted to burn and bury.

en	...No, if you ran you might make yourself a target. Better to stick with the gang till they scatter.

en	Curly spoke up in a low voice, cast to those behind him.

en	"Watch and learn, boys."

en	He flexed the wrist of his hand, holding it out, before clutching his gun in its holster.

en	You saw Black Vulture react in turn, reaching for his gun. Curly liked to play with his food, to show off.

en	He waited for the moment Black grabbed his gun the same, then quickly and expertly pulled it free, pointing it dead straight.

en	He knew he'd always be quicker on the draw.

en	You had to run. Staying wasn't worth the risk of getting shot; not here, not this time.

en	Across the impossibly long feeling gap between Curly Wolf and Black Vulture's gangs, you looked closely at Joseph, catching his attention.

en	You nodded once at him, and he nodded back, understanding. If one ran, you both ran, together.

en	To your right side, you spied a gap, an alley, between two buildings near to you.

en	Heartbeat pounding like a drum in your chest, you set your feet steady in the dirt.

en	You ran out from behind Curly as fast as you could, letting the momentum of your legs pounding the ground carry you.

en	You were down the alleyway and out of Black Vulture's sight before almost anyone could react.

en	Looking back, you saw Curly's expression vacillate between a moment of surprised anger, then a snarl, before landing on gritted teeth.

en	The shot rang out - a bang that made your heart jump - and you saw Black Vulture double over, clutching his side.

en	The smoke was barely rising from the barrel of Curly's gun when another shot rang out.

en	Full on ego and admiring his handiwork, he hadn't noticed one small bird hanging on the edge of the crowd that had raised his rifle.

en	Curly's face instantly twisted into a full-toothed cry of pain, eyes clenched shut, staggering back a step as he clutched at the side of his chest.

en	"Fuck!"

en	A moment passed before the crowd behind you dispersed, everyone running to take cover as the fight broke out.

en	On the other side you saw the same, the clump of figures scattering like ashes to either side of the street.

en	You couldn't see where Joseph went, and you couldn't afford to hang around as more shots were fired.

en	Curly was struggling to move, and he turned to see you still standing there, alone. A bullet whizzed by, striking the ground.

en	He gave you a look and slumped over onto you, one arm slung over your shoulder, much of his weight bearing down on you now.

en	You had no choice but to help carry him out of the street, knees shaking as you walked as quickly as you could.

en	Your compatriots fired a volley of rounds down the street, providing you enough cover to drag your bleeding boss between two buildings.

en	He was heavy on your neck, and wobbling as you walked together, his strides still outpacing you as you tried to keep up and push him along.

en	You kept walking through the long clump of houses that lined the main street, pushing through to the other side where it gave way to a hill.

en	At a corner that led out of the shade, he rested against the wall, lightening the load off of you as he craned his neck to check if the way was safe.

en	Again without a word he reslumped onto you, and you walked around the corner together.

en	Curly used the houses as support too now, bloodied hand dragging across the walls as he used you to drag him ever forward.

en	Gunshots continued to ring out, bouncing through the alleys and streets next to you.

en	The acrid smell of gunpowder grew stronger, even as your nose was full of the scent of Curly's sweat-laden fur.

en	You stumbled along this back path a little more before Curly's weight on you suddenly became crushing, like gravity itself had become stronger.

en	The full weight of Curly lay on you for a moment, before your knees buckled and he slid off with a grunt.

en	He threw out a hand, trying to catch himself, scraping it on the wall of a house as he fell, coming to sit in the dirt.

en	He sat with his back flat against the slatted wooden wall, one hand reaching across to grasp his side so hard you could see the tendons.

en	The other hand clutched his gun, finger resting next to the trigger.

en	He breathed slowly and heavily through gritted teeth, staring out over the edge into the rest of town, across rooves and into the desert.

en	His ears twitched with the pop of guns around you, seeming to come from every direction.

en	This was the best chance you were going to get, you thought. He was so... vulnerable looking.

en	Some part of your mind, though, said you couldn't. You can't kill him. Something will go wrong. He's a hurt and cornered animal right now.

en	"Staring real hard at me there, tomboy. Worried I'm gonna croak on ya? Don't. I'm not going anywhere."

en	You could feel the weight of your gun in your holster as you shifted on your feet. The space where your hand needed to be to grab it.

en	Curly fidgeted about, like it was impossible for him to get comfortable where he was, before giving up and sitting crooked.

en	"We'll hide out here for the time being. The boys'll take care of things."

en	"You're not much good in a fight, but you're better protection than nothing."

en	"Some of Black Vulture's lot might come this way so keep your eyes peeled."

en	You gently unholstered your gun, letting it dangle on your fingers by the handle.

en	You didn't want to stick around. You didn't know how the fight was going. You didn't know if Joseph was alright.

en	You were just wasting time, standing here, with this bastard bleeding on the ground next to you.

en	Just shoot him. That's all you had to do, just shoot him and be done with it.

en	You've killed people before. He deserves it more than most.

en	And still, you can't bring yourself to do anything.

en	Your ears prick up. You hear the sound of someone running this way, thudding fast against the dirt, and look up.

en	You swing your gun up hastily, ready for whoever's coming your way.

en	You don't see anything for a few more moments until a bird comes running out, looking around frantically.

en	It was Joseph.

en	Panting, holding his shotgun in both hands, and as he looks your way and his eyes land on you, they light up like the brightest fireworks.

en	"Ah shit, there's one."

en	The glint of Curly's gun shone in the corner of your eye as he moved, arm crossing his body, pointing upward.

en	Joseph's eyes widened, pupils becoming pinpricks, trying to turn tail and run as he saw Curly take aim.

en	It was all so quick and felt like an eternity as you yourself lifted your gun, aiming directly at Curly's hand as it steadied itself.

en	Before doubt and fear could take ahold, you squeezed the trigger and saw his hand explode.

en	The sound of the shot rattled through your head, Joseph staggered and stopped as it went off, Curly snatched his hand away.

en	His gun dropped to the ground with a dull thud, and he buried the hand into himself, crying out and growling.

en	"Graaah fuck! What the- what..."

en	He looked bewilderingly at Joseph, failing to understand what had blasted the fingers off his hand; before looking to his side, at you.

en	Looking at the wisps of smoke from the barrel of your gun.

en	You felt yourself panting heavily, hand shaking; in fact your whole body, shaking with adrenaline.

en	You heard the thump of footsteps again and looked up to see Joseph run over, slowing as he neared you and Curly.

en	The two met eyes, anger and disgust spilling onto Curly's face in equal amounts, while Joseph's became... pitiful, you thought.

en	"So this is him, huh? The great Curly Wolf?"

en	Joseph came down from your eye level, crouching to Curly, studying his face.

en	"Hah... all makes a lil' more sense now. Found yourself a little buddy, did you?"

en	"He won't stick around... I can see it in his eyes."

en	"Shut yer trap, Curly."

en	Anger flitted across Curly's brow, but he wasn't stupid. He knew he wasn't getting out of this situation. He was as good as dead.

en	"You really are two peas in a pod... traitors and cowards who just run... from everything..."

en	His breaths were haggard, throat hoarse and harsh. Holding on out of spite more than anything else.

en	"Whatever he told you... promised you, tomboy... it's not real."

en	"I know people like that when I see it..."

en	"When things get tough, he'll leave. He'll run... like all the other times."

en	"Or will you run first... haha..."

en	"You might say that's not so, but... I know you're a liar... always have been."

en	"Shoulda known you'd betray me sooner or later... saw it in your eyes all those times... never liked you."

en	"Do you even know his name."

en	Joseph regarded Curly coolly, but his anger wasn't concealed by the sharp spite in his voice or the clench of his jaw.

en	"Does it matter?... What's a name, anyhow. If I call someone and they come... that's their name."

en	"Answer the question. Do you know his name."

en	Curly squinted up at Joseph, the sun shining in his face, you and Joseph's shadows cast up the wall beside him.

en	"...No, 'course I don't, wh-"

en	The deafening blast of Joseph's shotgun cut him short, and you flinched away, averting your eyes from the peppered red mess of his chest.

en	You followed the momentum of your flinch, turning around, gazing out across the hill and down into the town, breathing in and out.

en	You heard one last breath of sorts behind you, a gurgle of blood from the mouth, and the rustle of clothes as he fell limp.

en	"Wrong answer."

en	"$Player?"

en	You gingerly reached a hand behind at him, tugging at his shirt when you found purchase, pulling yourself in.

en	His arms caught you as you took a weak step toward him, returning his embrace as he held you close, your heads over each other's shoulders.

en	There was a pit in your stomach making you nauseous. You closed your eyes as you breathed in, focusing on his smell, so close to you.

en	"Are you alright? Are ya hurt?"

en	"I'm fine, I-I'm fine."

en	You pulled away from each other as you heard more gunshots, the fight starting up again, no doubt caused by Joseph's shotgun.

en	"We need to get somewhere safe, wait for this to blow over."

en	"Once they realise Curly's dead the guys'll probably hightail it out of here."

en	"Where's Black Vulture?"

en	"Not sure. Lost him when the fight broke out, ah was more concerned 'bout finding you really."

en	Holstering your gun, you stooped down and picked up Curly's revolver from where it had fallen.

en	You grabbed Joseph's hand and placed it on your shoulder to pull him with you, walking briskly, keeping on the way you'd been going already.

en	"We can skirt around the edge of town and make our way to the saloon, safest place I can think of."

en	Joseph nodded and followed you, trailing by his arm, your gun held firm and ready in your hand, cautious of every alley you passed.

en	You kept following the edge of the hill, heading for where the street bent, Sheriff's office being across the way.

en	You were aiming to loop round the back of the office and avoid the firefight in the street, but as it came into view, a tall figure started to pass by.

en	He didn't notice you at first, but the sound of you both stopping short caught his attention, and you met the eyes of Black Vulture.

en	"Well, well. What do we have here? Taking a prisoner, Joseph?"

en	You could see the blood staining his coat, his shirt, on the side of his stomach where he pressed a hand, but he seemed surprisingly unfazed.

en	Following Black from behind the building came the bird you recognised as the shootist, the one who shot Curly.

en	He stood behind Black, rifle firm in both hands, a mask covering his face, small eyes watching keenly.

en	The grip of Joseph's hand on your shoulder grew tighter, and he pulled you toward him a little, continuing to walk you forward slowly.

en	"Yeah. Thought he might be useful. Should have some knowledge about Curly Wolf's hideouts and whatnot."

en	Black grunted, hunched over but now standing taller, his crooked neck raising his head above you.

en	"Always so quick on your feet, Joseph. It's good thinking. I'm just curious as to why you're not holding him to gunpoint."

en	He took a few steps closer to you both.

en	"Or indeed, why I had to take a bullet for your actions."

en	"My actions?"

en	"You ran, you slimy traitorous coward, you ran with your tail between your legs and now I'm bleeding from the stomach."

en	Your palms were sweating, your head down, faced away from Black and his shootist, hiding the gun in your hand. It was a bad time to be caught in the act.

en	You thought about whether this was your chance to kill Black, but he was so close to you both, with his own gun drawn still.

en	And you knew now, how hard it would be for Joseph to try kill him. The fear dripping inside his chest.

en	"We shouldn't stick around, Curly's guys might find you."

en	You dared to look behind you, look at where they were standing, but you saw in Black's eyes you'd made a mistake.

en	The glint of a gun in your hand, hidden and now revealed as you twisted your body ever so slightly too much.

en	Joseph must've seen the connection too, the spark of realisation in Black's eyes.

en	He swung his arms suddenly toward Black, bashing him upside the head with his shotgun and knocking him to the ground with a grunt.

en	The shootist, even while watching closely, was caught off guard, and though he readied his rifle quickly, you had already been looking at him.

en	You aimed the revolver at his head and fired a shot clean through. His mask flew off, twisting in the air.

en	As the shootist fell, his dying trigger finger squeezed enough to let loose a final shot from the tilted rifle.

en	You heard the telltale wet thud of a bullet hitting someone and Joseph cried out for a moment, hand snapping to clutch his thigh.

en	"Damned little... son of a gun. Still got me."

en	Black was already starting to stir from being knocked down, and you pushed your head under one of Joseph's arms.

en	"Come on, we need to go, now!"

en	Joseph held his arm around your shoulders, using your help to take some of the weight off, but still limping as fast as he could with the pain.

en	You abandoned your plan to go around town and ran down the nearest alley, toward the main street, and toward the fight.

en	You couldn't afford to get caught out by someone again, Black or otherwise. Joseph was too hurt, you just had to get to the saloon.

en	As you reached the street everything had lulled once again, the air deadly quiet all of a sudden.

en	You poked your heads out, but wherever people were hiding, it wasn't anywhere near you.

en	The saloon was just across the street. You looked to Joseph, his face so close to yours, and he nodded.

en	You pushed off together, running and walking as fast as you could to get across without being seen.

en	Halfway across the wide street, the saloon porch so close, you looked behind you, only to see Black coming to a halt as your eyes met.

en	Wiping blood off his face from his cracked beak, he aimed his gun at you both from the alley entrance.

en	Your heart skips a beat and you crash to the ground, pulling Joseph with you, hoping you might dodge the bullet.

en	A shot rings out. But it didn't come from behind you, and in fact you quickly look toward Black to see him ducking down.

en	His hat was knocked off by the unknown shot, and he grabbed it before scuttling back, hiding further in the alley.

en	The shot spooked the hiding gang members too, as a couple shots were fired back, and then many more adding to the cacophony.

en	You picked Joseph and yourself up off the dusty ground, seeing down the street that many were shooting up at some attackers on the rooves.

en	You took off running in a crouch, with your hand balled into a fist around your gun and the back of Joseph's clothes, dragging him with you.

en	Both stumbling up the stairs of the saloon porch, you flung open the doors and helped Joseph inside with haste.

en	There was a loud crack as the wooden doorframe was struck and splintered near your head.

en	As you turn and slam the doors shut, you see Black pull away from aiming at you, now having to reload.

en	With the doors shut, your eyes adjusted to the dimly lit interior, the sun not quite shining in the same as last time you were here.

en	Joseph stood with his injured leg slightly off the floor, leaning on a table with one hand.

en	You go over to him and unholster your gun, handing it to him by the barrel, handle pointed upward.

en	"You take it, you need something better than that shotgun."

en	"Ah have it for a reason, $Player, I'm a real terrible shot. More likely to hit you than who I'm aiming at."

en	"Then take it for good luck. I've had it for a long time and it's always done me well."

en	He gave you a hesitant look still, you both knew time was of the essence, but he didn't want to put you in danger.

en	You trusted him. You knew this wasn't dangerous.

en	"Two revolvers isn't much good to me."

en	"Just take it and hide, Black's still coming after us."

en	Joseph took the pistol from you and slid his shotgun across the floor to the end of the bar, limping over to hide behind it.

en	You ducked down yourself and scuttled over to the nearest window, listening to the shootout happening outside.

en	You needed to know where Black Vulture was. You pulled up and peeked over the windowsill.

en	As soon as you pulled your head far enough up, your eyes landed on the distant figure of Black, rifle aimed directly at you.

en	You immediately snapped away from the window and pressed yourself against the wall, holding still as one louder shot echoed in the street.

en	The window next to your head broke with a shrill twang, the panes falling on the sill and shattering either side, the floor covered in glass.

en	You felt a sharp pain pierce your ear and reached up for a moment to feel the tip missing, your fingers slick with blood as you brought them down.

en	The side of your face started to feel wet, you could feel your fur matting and sticking to itself inside your ear.

en	He'd known where you were, he'd almost got you - but you knew where he was now, and he'd probably try to move and throw you off.

en	You reared your head up along with your gun, spotting Black sneaking away from where he was as he tried to avoid errant bullets.

en	He saw you as you took aim through the window, but you weren't going to falter and let him get the jump on you again.

en	You followed his movement with your hand, watching where he was going, and squeezed the trigger just ahead of him.

en	The gunshot echoed through the saloon and a single moment later Black fell with a small spray of blood, kicking up dust as his legs splayed out.

en	You stood up a little, still crouched, peering more clearly over through the window to get a better look at him on the ground.

en	He didn't seem to be breathing.

en	You kept watching for any sign of life, any movements, but even as bullets from the fight hit dirt and wood beside him, he didn't seem to stir.

en	You gingerly kicked the broken glass under you aside, taking a deep breath.

en	You slunk down and sat with your back to the wall, ears down, not wanting to attract any of the shootists still outside.

en	The wary head of Joseph poked out from the end of the bar, looking at you, his eyes then flicking around the window.

en	"I got him. He's dead, Black's dead. We should just... lie low here for a bit."

en	Joseph nodded, shuffling out from behind the bar a bit more.

en	"Made a bit a mess of the saloon. Hope Bart won't be too mad about it."

en	You hoped so too. You guessed Sheriff must have told people about what was happening, but you weren't sure.

en	You'd help fix it up if you could.

en	You sat there, waiting, listening still as the fight outside died down.

en	You could hear some distant shouts, sounds of people running, the wind howling through the open window.

en	The crunch of glass.

en	You ears flicked towards the noise as a feathered hand shot through the window, grasping at your face.

en	The arm grabbed under your chin and pulled and jerked you up. Breaths became caught and strained as you were half-choked to the window.

en	You dropped your gun and desperately pulled at the arm, claws digging into the skin of Black's wing as you tried to break free.

en	Another arm threw itself in as he got to his knees, pressing your head against the wooden windowsill and tilting your head back.

en	You could see his face close in your periphery, and his other hand now came to your throat, something sharp and cold resting against your skin.

en	The shard of glass glinted in the sun and refractions danced around the dim saloon. Your claws hurt from scratching feathers out of his arm.

en	You didn't want to die. Your head forced back, neck thrust forward, exposed, looking at the nothing of the ceiling above you.

en	"This is gonna hurt you much more than it's hurting me."

en	The words brushed past your ear. You felt the arm move, the glass start to prick into your skin.

en	A loud bang went off, reverberating around the room and vibrating deep in your body for a moment. You fell to the floor.

en	You crashed into the shattered glass beneath you, twisting to look up at the window, running your hand along your throat with subsiding panic.

en	The arms that had been around you went limp, hanging through the window along with Black's long neck, his face motionless and frozen.

en	The bloodied shard of glass in his hand fell to the floor with a tink. The blood from his head started to drip next to it.

en	You looked over at Joseph and saw him sitting lopsided on the floor, your revolver in his hand still pointed towards the window.

en	He was looking past you at Black, breathing heavily, and then looked in your eyes, his head not moving an inch, just the flick of his stare.

en	He blinked after what seemed like an eternity and you felt the roughness of breaths in your throat. A hoarse cough every so often.

en	You pushed your hand against the floor and sat up, Joseph putting the gun down carefully beside him.

en	"Ah think we got him for real, then."

en	You gave a small nervous chuckle, as did he. More gunshots started up outside, only less than before.

en	You got on your knees, holstering the gun you'd dropped, and crawled carefully over the broken glass, across the floor to Joseph.

en	He took a gentle hold of your shorter arm, a warm squeeze.

en	"We might be in danger here still if someone sees us, 'specially with ol' big beak there being a window ornament."

en	"Uh, yeah... we could go in the storeroom for now I suppose."

en	He looked over the bar at the door to the store, the gentle curve of thinking on his brow, before meeting your eyes again.

en	"The saloon has rooms don't it? Think that's what Bart said."

en	"Yeah, must be upstairs."

en	"...Should we go? Up? Would be a darn lot safer and comfier than down here."

en	You thought about it, for a moment. Your only worry was whether you might get blood on something for when Bartholomew came back.

en	Though considering the state of the saloon already, you thought, what the hell. You'll deal with it later. Together.

en	"Yeah. Let's."

en	You stood up and helped Joseph, with his stiff thigh still, to get up too. You walked briskly together past the window, out of sight.

en	You took your time getting up the stairs, taking it slow for Joseph, who was huffing and breathing through gritted teeth as he made his way up.

en	You stumbled along the landing, one arm around each other, towards the furthest room.

en	Curly tried, with a quick and practiced motion, to reach for his gun, but it was too late.

en	A shot rang out and a sharp whizz in the air was cut short by a wet thud and Curly flinching hard.

en	That was all you saw before you took off, as did everyone else in the town it seemed. You heard the scuffle of many shoes.

en	Curly was the most dangerous person here right now, even when hurt, so you were glad to be making distance from him.

en	As you ran through the houses that lined the main street, many gunshots started to fill the air, loud cracks that echoed down the alleyways.

en	You kept running through the maze of houses, as far away as you could get, slowing down as you reached the last of them.

en	These houses led to a hill that sloped into the rest of town. You stopped in the shade and leaned against one of their wooden walls, panting.

en	The fight continued, and you listened. It didn't seem to be moving away from the street much. You would be safe elsewhere in town.

en	You needed to find Joseph now, that was all you focused on. You'd be safer together, he ran when you did as well.

en	You slid your gun from its holster, the grip of the metal a small comfort in your hand.

en	If you followed the curve of this ledge along, you'd reach the other end of the street where Black and co. were. Joseph can't have gone far.

en	You started walking, carefully, listening and looking at each alley before crossing, steadily making your way past the houses.

en	It wasn't long before you heard someone near you, shouting. Familiar.

en	You heard the scuffle of feet in the dust before two figures burst out from behind a house, one chasing the other.

en	It was Black and Joseph, Black hot on his heels, and you saw him grab the back of Joseph's shirt as he tried to run away.

en	He kept running and crashed into Joseph, sending them both tumbling down the rocky incline, kicking up clouds of dust as they did.

en	You ran over to the edge of where they fell, watching for a moment as they tried to get ahold of each other in the dirt.

en	Clothes stained with brown patches of desert dust, their guns tossed and laying discarded near them. Joseph grabbed at Black, punching his side.

en	You hastily holstered your gun and slid down the hill towards them, stumbling as you hit the bottom.

en	You carried the momentum of your stumble into a run, then swung your leg towards Black, foot connecting hard with his stomach.

en	He let out a grunt and a retch, clutching his stomach, giving Joseph the chance to throw him off.

en	Joseph rolled away on to his arms and knees, standing up quickly.

en	Black tried to get up too despite still being winded, but Joseph easily kicked him down onto his back with one foot to the chest.

en	Joseph shuffled over to you and you both stood over Black, who slowly propped himself up on his hands, leaning back and looking at you.

en	He eyed you over, catching his breath back, trying to mask the fear in his eyes with a smug smile that spread across his face.

en	"Well, well now. Who's your little friend, Joseph?"

en	"...I'm $Player. I'm another lookout."

en	"So you're in league with this treacherous scumbag, then? What a twist!"

en	"You're very much going to regret this, Joseph, when this is all over."

en	"Punishing people is so... distasteful, but sometimes it must be done."

en	"Sorry Black, but you ain't gonna get the chance. This is the end of the line."

en	Black's smile softened a little at Joseph's words, either not having listened or simply not believing him.

en	"Joseph, don't be foolish. Help me up and I won't punish you too harshly - then we can forget all this nasty business."

en	"Your... friend, can even join us if you'd like. Let's go take care of Curly, and then we can search for that gold."

en	You saw Joseph waver for a moment. The offer ticking over in his mind, his breath hitched for a moment. Steeling the resolve of his promises.

en	"You really don't listen, do ya? I'm going to kill you, Black. For everything you've done."

en	Black scoffed, brow knotting in anger and indignation.

en	"For everything I've done? You ungrateful little whelp."

en	"I'll tell you what I've done, I've been a gentleman and shown you nothing but kindness ever since you joined me."

en	"I fed you, mentored you, brought you under my wing - and this is how you repay me?"

en	"By threatening to kill me?"

en	"...Ah can't tell if yer lying to my face or really just that delusional. You don't care about me."

en	"You don't care 'bout any of us. You just like havin' a posse that'll talk you up in saloons and do all the work for ya."

en	"A city slicker playing cowboy for the sheer Hell of it."

en	"Maybe you can fool other folks, but none of us ever bought all this gentleman shit for a second."

en	Black's face was pure contempt, the face of someone used to always being told what he wanted to hear.

en	You unholstered your gun, handing it to Joseph on top of your palm. He took it, holding it by his side and cocking the hammer.

en	"How absolutely dare you. You have no idea what I've sacrificed!"

en	"I gave up my life in the lap of luxury to rough it out in the desert with people like you. To live the life I was told stories about."

en	"I made a name for myself. Black Vulture, the gentleman outlaw of the West."

en	"You're not a gentleman. You didn't do anything. Your gang made your name for you."

en	"Joseph made your name for you. He's more of a gentleman than you'll ever be."

en	Black's brow furrowed and his eyes squinted at you, filled with the rage of a man who was never told no. The wind died down for a moment.

en	Everything was impossibly still. Not a movement, not a sound, the whole world seeming to take pause. Waiting.

en	The stillness was broken as Black's body twitched, and he threw himself towards his gun, scrambling in the dust to try and grab it.

en	Joseph shot at him, missing, then shot again as Black just touched his gun, the bullet passing through his head with a spray of blood.

en	Black's frantic body fell limp, settling. A few moments passed, the sand under his head becoming a stained dark brown.

en	Joseph turned to you. He was trembling, his hands fluttering. He grabbed the gun by the barrel and gave it back to you.

en	You took it and holstered it again quickly, stepping closer to put your arm around him.

en	He was warm, and as he put his arms around you too, you felt every shake and tremble of his head on your shoulder, arm tight across his back.

en	"You're alright, you're alright. Are you hurt?"

en	"I'm... no, I'm just fine. Few bumps n' bruises is all."

en	He pulled back, gently grabbing you by the shoulders, eyes meeting.

en	"Are you awright? What happened, where's Curly Wolf?"

en	"Yeah I'm not hurt. I don't know where he is, I ran before he could follow me. I think he got hit."

en	"Ah would say the same, he got shot by Black's shootist. They both tailed me after I ran too."

en	"Ah put the shootist down with my shotgun but then Black was right on my behind, that was just before you found me."

en	"Right... I think we should get to the saloon. Safest place in town I can think of, we can keep a lookout for Curly."

en	"Sounds like the fight's died down too, y'think we can sneak across the street?"

en	You nodded. Joseph picked his shotgun up and you both climbed back up the short hill, cautiously approaching the street.

en	You both sidled up against the wall before an alley, staying out of sight, looking and waiting to make sure it was clear.

en	You saw and heard no one, not from the street, and if you cut through here you could get to the saloon quickly.

en	Joseph thought it a safe bet too, and nodded at you to go. You left the cover of the buildings, walking close to each other.

en	As you round the corner, you walk past the thin side door of a house. You take no note of it, or of it being slightly ajar.

en	Not until you hear the creak of its hinges as it opens more.

en	Not until you feel a hot, piercing pain in your side, and the vice-like grip of a clawed hand on your shoulder, pulling you into the knife.

en	You cried out at the sharp metal invading your flesh, flailing to try and grab onto Joseph, who snapped around to look your way.

en	Enveloped in the shadow of the dark house against the midday sun, Curly Wolf crouched in the doorway, dragging you down.

en	Without a second thought Joseph bounded toward you both, leaping past you to bodily tackle Curly.

en	You felt the relief and the searing emptiness of the knife slicing its way out of your body. The flesh below your ribcage staining your shirt.

en	You fell to the ground, any twisting of your body pulling at the new injury with new pains.

en	Joseph had pushed Curly to the ground, and was rightly wary of the knife, but his hesitation gave Curly too much of an opening.

en	Attacking without thought like the hurt animal he was, he swung the knife at Joseph, and Joseph recoiled out of the door with a cry.

en	He clutched at his eye as he fell next to you and sat straight up, taking deep, tearful breaths, backing up further.

en	You were on your hand and knees, and stood up more, hand scrabbling against the nearest wall to help you get to your feet.

en	You reached for Joseph's hand and he eagerly grabbed you by the wrist, both tightly holding on as he got up and started running with you.

en	"Traitor! You can keep running but I'll kill you! There's nowhere to hide in this town!"

en	You hunched over slightly as you ran, trying not to put any stress on the cut to your side. It didn't seem to be too deep but hurt like hell.

en	You ran through the many houses until you reached the main street, pelting forward to the saloon, not stopping for anything.

en	The street was quiet. Glancing down it you saw the shapes of people tucked into doorways and behind buildings and fenceposts.

en	Still waiting for someone else to make a move.

en	As you ran to the saloon with Joseph in tow, both of you breathing ragged and your feet stumbling, you tried not to make too much noise.

en	Leaping up the short stairs of the porch, you charged into the doors, barrelling through into the dim interior.

en	You turned round and slammed the doors shut, giving yourself a moment to breathe with your head down and hand flat against the wood.

en	"You're bleeding."

en	You turned to Joseph, getting closer to him. His stony expression was fixated on your side, where blood continued to soak through.

en	"So are you."

en	You reached up to his hand on his face and took it away slowly, his arm resisting for a moment before he relented, letting you look.

en	The feathers of his right eye were stained and matted with blood. Blood seeped from a red slit that traced from his cheek up to past his eyebrow.

en	His eye was closed, and before you could check it further, he clasped your hand in both of his.

en	"I'm alright $Player, don't worry 'bout it now. We've got a fight on our hands still."

en	He gave his best confident smile, and a wink with his good eye, the reassurance somewhat lessened by the red stain down half of his face.

en	"Alright, yeah, you're right. You should go hide somewhere, he's gonna come looking for us."

en	Joseph gave your hand one last tight squeeze before looking around and crouching over to the bar, hiding at the end out of sight.

en	You crouched down too, walking low down to the window, peeking over it to see what was happening outside.

en	As if on cue, Curly stumbled out of the alley you'd just come from, wildly searching with his head swinging back and forth.

en	A growling bellow broke the silence of the street as he shouted into the air.

en	"Come on boys! We've got a traitor in our midst! Start searching!"

en	It was hard to see from where you were, but a few of your fellow gang members crawled out from the woodwork.

en	The Black Vulture gang had seemingly been taken care of already, save for Joseph, and one other bird who sprang out from a doorway.

en	You saw him start running down the street, towards the entrance of town, his only panicked thought being to try get out with his life.

en	Curly pulled his revolver and aimed a single shot that whizzed down the street and felled the running bird.

en	He hit the dirt like a sandbag and lay there, unmoving.

en	Although he didn't see you, Curly turned to the saloon afterwards, and your eyes saw his.

en	You jerked back from the window, head against the wall and covered your mouth to stop the yelp you'd been about to let out.

en	Perhaps it was just the stress, the sheer animosity of the situation, but you could swear those eyes made you feel like you were already half dead.

en	You heard Curly make a hacking cough before calling out again.

en	"Spread out and search around! They can't have gone far. It's the tomboy and some other bird."

en	You peeked over the windowsill again. The small group of canines left to listen to Curly dispersed, walking with their guns drawn.

en	A couple started heading your way. Toward the saloon.

en	This was bad, this was really, really bad, they couldn't find you here, not now. Your eyes searched around the saloon for another way out.

en	Before they could reach the porch, however, shots rang out in the street once again.

en	You couldn't tell where they were coming from, and seemingly neither could the others. There was a panic as people took cover.

en	After a few moments you saw some fire shots back, shooting at the rooftops somewhere.

en	Some stragglers from Black's lot must've gotten on top of the saloon at some point, and were now raining fire upon the street.

en	Curly had taken cover too, he wasn't stupid enough to stand out in the open still, but as he looked around, yours eyes caught upon his.

en	This time, the eyes caught yours too, you saw the flicker of recognition at what must be beady eyes poking from the darkness of the saloon.

en	Without hesitation he levelled the gun up towards the window and shot. A loud crack of the wooden wall made you recoil to the floor.

en	He'd missed, but now he knew where you were hiding.

en	There was no need to look out the window again to know he was coming, undoubtedly striding across the street towards this place.

en	You didn't have the time to waste either to make sure, scurrying in a crouch past the door with the bared flesh on your side screaming.

en	You hopped on the first couple steps of stairs to the upper floor, and crouched by the door, waiting, waiting.

en	Gun drawn and mouth dry, your mind was ticking a million times a second like an anxious metronome, waiting, the short moments so long.

en	You heard him now, the cadence of footsteps you knew well, ones that kept you wary and ready and still.

en	The thumping of wood stopped at the door.

en	Slowly, the door on your side started to open, sunlight pouring into the saloon, and the gunshots cracking the air outside so slightly clearer.

en	You didn't dare move, feet planted on the stairs, your arm held close to you and your gun pointed just past the door.

en	As you listened and watched, focused on door and figure behind it, you didn't expect the loud shot that came from behind it.

en	The bullet lodged itself in the floorboards at the other side of the room, but the noise was what broke your focus.

en	You couldn't react in time to Curly's hand sharply reaching around the door to grab your gun, roughly yanking it from your hand.

en	You didn't hold on to it for fear of breaking a finger, and Curly stepped out from behind the door with your gun held by the barrel.

en	His own gun was pointed your way, arm outstretched and the revolver so close you could see the pitch black of the inside of the barrel.

en	He chucked your gun away into the room, eyes still trained on you, it clattering against the floor and sliding out of sight.

en	Your heart now felt like it was trying to beat out of you and disappear into the desert, like your chest would burst.

en	The rhythm of it pumping was loud in your ears, relentless inside you, as if you'd been sprinting for hours.

en	Curly took a step towards you, and you tried to take a step back of your own, only to fall over onto the stairs, your back colliding with the edges.

en	He took another step, and another, gun still pointed out toward you as far as he could, and you clambered backwards up the steps.

en	Your hand scratched and scraped the wood and your legs bumped against the stairs as you tried to get away on your back.

en	Curly just kept looking at you all the while, savouring the moment, his face a smile of unmatched malice. Teeth bared and eyes wild.

en	"Isn't this just the turnabout, huh? The pathetic yellerbelly of the gang decides to stick up for themselves for once."

en	"Only to end up at my feet, once again. Quite ironic, don't you think?"

en	He let out a short bark of a laugh.

en	"I never fuckin' liked you. Not sure why I even kept you around."

en	"You're stupid but I guess you have enough a brain rattling around in there to know I didn't like you."

en	"In the end, this is for the best. For the both of us."

en	"Putting a bullet in your skull will put my mind at ease with what to do with you, finally."

en	"If I'd killed you before now, might've put down morale, killing a pathetic sap that did no harm."

en	"I was just looking for an excuse all this time, wasn't I?"

en	He cocked the hammer of the gun with his thumb, a theatric to strike fear in you. His hand was shaking ever so slightly, swaying.

en	Despite playing it cool, you could tell it was an effort for him to pull it back, the click of the chamber a relief in his arm.

en	You saw now where he'd been shot, just next to his gun arm, a small red hole below his collarbone.

en	"And don't think I've forgotten about the bird you ran in here with. Once I've taken care of you, they'll be next."

en	The panic in your heart coalesced as he spoke. You thought about Joseph. Your breath settled in your lungs for the next moment.

en	In that moment, you twisted your body and kicked, your leg swung through the air and your foot collided with Curly's hand.

en	The momentum of the kick through his arm, stretching on his injury, sprang the gun from his grasp.

en	His arm bent inwards and your foot carried the gun away over the bannister to bounce and clatter against the floor.

en	You didn't hesitate to scramble around onto your front and start trying to run up the stairs, Curly still reeling in anger at what just happened.

en	A few clambering steps on your hand and knees were all you made before you were jerked back, your leg held aloft and dragging you.

en	You fell onto the stairs, trying to claw at the landing you'd just reached.

en	Slipping as you were dragged, you collapsed and bashed your chin on a step, teeth clattering together in your skull.

en	Curly had a firm grip of your ankle, and the panic in your heart once again was spreading through your body, like blood clouding water.

en	Your ears twitched at a familiar sound. The sound of Curly's knife being pulled from its sheath.

en	No, this wasn't it, this wasn't how you were going to die, scrabbling around on the stairs of a saloon.

en	Being pulled up by the leg for a butchering, like a piece of wild game.

en	He wasn't unbeatable. He wasn't unkillable. You saw it, he bled, just like any other mortal man. He hurt just the same as you.

en	You hurt even more than him. Every day for years. Even now, the tear of flesh next to your ribs being pulled on as you clung to the stairs.

en	Pushing off of the stairs, you balled your hand into a fist and twisted your body, carrying the momentum into your arm and thrusting forward.

en	You focused your eyes on Curly's face and heard a crack as your fist connected with the end of his snout, knuckles hitting bone.

en	Again you fell onto the stairs as Curly cried out, letting go of your leg to clutch at his nose.

en	You weren't sure if he was more hurt by his bleeding nose, or simply his pride for being caught off guard like that, but it was enough.

en	In the few moments he had reeled back you scrambled up the steps again, making it onto the long landing of the first floor.

en	Running wasn't so easy, with the cut in your side and your banged up legs after falling onto the stairs.

en	Even so you moved as fast as you could, looking for something to help, some way out on this floor.

en	You barely had the time to think about your next move before you heard footsteps bound up the stairs behind you and across the landing.

en	Curly was upon you again, and you turned yourself, arm up, trying to shield against him as he flew into you, tackling you to the ground.

en	His full weight hit you like a stampeding horse, your body slamming into the wooden floor to knock the wind out of you.

en	Your head bounced off the floor as you fell hard, thankful for the rug underneath that softened a little of the blow.

en	On your back, your vision swam for a few moments, coming to, you see the ceiling, and then the snarling bloodied face of Curly Wolf above you.

en	He pushed himself up to straddle you, kneeling either side, pinning you down before you could think to wriggle away.

en	You still pushed up and tried to get away, but it quickly became apparent to be fruitless as Curly just started to chuckle with a growl.

en	"Where was this fight all this time, eh? This fire and attitude, anyone would think you'd grown a spine finally."

en	"Might've been useful if you'd been like this more often. Not that it would change your fate now."

en	"Traitors don't get any special treatment, no matter how good they been. Have to set an example. You know that, dontcha?"

en	Curly raised his hand with the knife in it, twisting it in his palm to point downwards and grasping tighter.

en	"Say yer fuckin' prayers, kid."

en	He raised the knife level with his shoulder, aiming it at your chest, and plunged downward.

en	No thoughts could even pass through your head before your arm shot out, grabbing at the knife.

en	Your hand slid past it and caught onto his fist, locking your arm straight, desperately keeping it away despite his immense strength.

en	Every muscle in your arm was screaming with the effort to keep him away, shaking, the struggle of force between you swaying the knife.

en	All the bones and tendons in your wrist felt like they were going to snap as Curly still pushed downward, forcing your arm to bend.

en	You didn't want to die. There was nothing you feared more right now than the thought of the metal plunging into your heart.

en	Every second felt like it stretched on. Curly's snarling, sharp toothed grin was gone, now just a steely gaze that stared towards the knife's goal.

en	You weren't strong enough. As you kept putting up the fight you just got weaker, and his arm got lower, and lower with yours in tandem.

en	The blade so close now you could smell your own blood still on it.

en	You closed your eyes. Your jaw ached from your gritted teeth. Your arm felt like it was on fire.

en	With what might be your final breath, you gave one last hard push, stretching toward the sky, the knife edge pressed on your arm.

en	You pushed and pushed and pushed against the vile knife, breath held deep in your lungs. A final prayer.

en	Your arm sprang out and your eyes snapped open as Curly's arm jerked, and you shoved it away with all your might. Your ears were ringing.

en	Two gunshots had gone off, and to the immense relief of your arm Curly rolled off you, bullet holes in his stomach and chest.

en	He tried to stay on his knees but couldn't stop himself from falling against the wall, the side of his shirt staining with red.

en	You rolled to your side without another moment's hesitation, grabbing at the bannister to hastily pull yourself up and get away.

en	Curly was still bewildered, and before he could decide what to do next, you carefully kicked the knife out of his hand down the landing.

en	You looked over the bannister to the ground floor where the shots came from, and saw Joseph in the middle of the saloon.

en	One arm propping him up on a table, the other pointing Curly's revolver up to you on the balcony.

en	He was panting and out of breath, but a smile lit up his face when you met eyes with him.

en	Curly was still against the wall, trying to cover up the holes in his side with a hand, but didn't seem to be trying to get away.

en	He knew he was too hurt, you had the upper hand now. You waved over the balcony for Joseph to come upstairs.

en	He did just that, shakily standing up and then slowly climbing the stairs, still wary of any tricks Curly might have up his sleeve.

en	Joseph kept the revolver pointed at Curly as he walked over to you, passing it to your hand, keeping it level all the while.

en	The metal of the gun was warm in your hand and sticky with Joseph's blood. You held it firm, wrist straight.

en	Finger on the trigger. Curly's face was no longer angry, or focused, or anything else you'd ever seen. It was just tired. Defeated.

en	He had nothing left and he knew this was the end. What else was there for him to do?

en	He was at your mercy and it left a great pit in your stomach, a bottomless well that made you sick to think about.

en	"What are ya waiting for. End it."

en	"...Say your prayers then, boss. We both know you're going to Hell anyway."

en	He grinned at you, weariness in his eyes, but a smugness in his smile.

en	"Don't worry, I'll save you a spot down there. Not that you'll need it after all you've done."

en	You squeezed the trigger, slowly, and felt the click and pop of the chamber before the deafening bang that left a hole in Curly's head.

en	He slumped against the wall and sat limply, like a child's discarded doll.

en	"...Ah guess that's it, then."

en	"Pretty much. There's still a fight going on outside, but it's not ours."

en	You looked at Joseph. One eye bloody and swollen and staining his feathers red, the other wide and staring at Curly on the ground.

en	You holstered the gun and gently touched your hand to Joseph's, brushing his palm. He felt your hand in turn, fingers intertwining.

en	"We should wait up here till it's over. Safer. Ah think these here are the rooms Bartholomew mentioned before..."

en	"You wanna rest in here?"

en	You thought about it, for a moment. Your only worry was whether you might get blood on something for when Bartholomew came back.

en	Though considering the state of the saloon already, you thought, what the hell. You'll deal with it later. Together.

en	"Alright. That seems good."

en	Already a bit along the landing, you walked together towards the furthest room.

en	The deafening noise of a gun going off did not come as expected. Curly kept his arm locked straight down the street.

en	Black pulled his gun too, but that wasn't what Curly was waiting for, not quite.

en	In the huddle behind Black, a small masked bird brought their rifle to rest on their shoulder, aiming down their eyeline towards you all.

en	Towards Curly.

en	"Gotcha."

en	Your whole body jumped as the shot rang out. The telltale whiz of a bullet down the street was cut short as it hit the small shootist.

en	He flailed and fell back with a spray of blood from his head, falling into the crowd.

en	The tension in the air shattered like glass as all sides scattered, kicking up dust in their wake.

en	Black started to run too, but Curly stayed just as he was, gun held out. His arm swung and tracked Black's movements as he ran.

en	He fired another shot, and Black stumbled and fell, tumbling across the ground and out of sight behind a building.

en	"You know what to do, boys! Take 'em out for me. I'm going hunting."

en	Curly turned and slinked away before the fight started for real, the air now filling with the cracks and pops of gunshots.

en	He walked down an alleyway, heading away from the main street, and you quickly followed, catching up to tail him.

en	You followed him into the maze-like clump of houses that lined the street, trailing his shadow as he headed to the other side.

en	Emerging at the edge of a hill that sloped into the town, Curly had stopped just around the corner and noticed you as you came out too.

en	"Huh. You really are eager today. Help me find that dandy playin' cowboy, and I might reward ya if he gets a bullet atwixt the eyes."

en	He kept on walking, along the curve of the hill, past the many houses, with you in tow close behind, your guns both drawn.

en	Maybe this would work out for the best. Curly taking out Black for you would be mighty convenient.

en	Curly strode with cautious bravado, even as you neared the other end of town where Black's gang was holed up in.

en	No one was around to spot you, the air becoming laden with the smell of gunpowder from the fight in the street.

en	You couldn't know where Black had retreated to exactly. You were behind enemy lines at this point, so he had to be close by.

en	As you started to approach the end of the street, a large figure scurried out from behind a house, walking away from you.

en	Looking closer you realised, it wasn't a figure, but two figures, one carrying the other with their arm slung across their shoulder.

en	It was Joseph. He was helping Black away from the fight, seemingly headed for Sheriff's office at this end of the town.

en	Curly muttered.

en	"There you are."

en	He started walking again, softly and quickly, sneaking up closer. You followed suit, the pace of your heart starting to pick up.

en	The two birds slowed down as they passed the town well, the low chatter of voices making its way to you on the wind.

en	Curly stopped. He raised his revolver slowly, arm held straight, taking his time.

en	Reminding you of a hunter in the woods, calm and collected as he raises his rifle, sights set on skittish creatures.

en	By luck or circumstance or just fear, Black took a glance behind him, just a moment. You saw the glint of the sun in his eyes.

en	Even as he turned his head back he realised what he'd seen and made panicked movements, grabbing at Joseph and stumbling about.

en	He pulled Joseph in front of him to face you, grasping a shoulder with one hand, his other arm wrapped across Joseph's neck.

en	Using him as a living shield without a second thought. Joseph himself went wide-eyed, struggling for a moment before thinking better of it.

en	Curly's arm went a little limp, the gun tilted towards the ground, but his gaze was still fixed on his target.

en	Almost like he was looking through Joseph.

en	The beat of your heart was thumping now in your ears, almost drowning out the loud shots echoing from the street.

en	Curly grumbled with a low growl as he squinted at Black's sorry display.

en	"Coward."

en	His arm straightened again, elbow locked, his head cocked a little to the side, lining up the barrel with their heads.

en	A chill ran down your spine so cold that you forgot you were in the desert. Fur standing on end, body stiff but trembling.

en	You stared at his back. It was like a rock wall. Immovable. You were scared of the possibility of even approaching him, even with his back turned.

en	You felt like you were going to pass out. Your whole body swaying, as if the ground underfoot was shifting, fear taking ahold in your heart.

en	You slowly lurched forward, your sense of balance giving out as you started to fall to the ground.

en	As your whole body started to tilt, you felt your feet that had been rooted to the ground, spring forward.

en	One foot stopped your fall, the other following and launching you toward Curly. Before you knew it you were running at him.

en	There were only a few paces between you and him, but in that moment, you knew he wasn't unstoppable.

en	He was the most dangerous man you'd ever met, and you were going to stop him. You were going to kill him.

en	Right now though, you stooped into a crouch as you ran, opening your arms wide, and crashed into his legs.

en	Your head and shoulders knocked into the back of his knees and you threw your arms around his legs, pushing against the ground.

en	Almost instantly Curly fell over, his balance so caught off that all he could do to help himself was twist around as his massive frame toppled.

en	He fell beside you, hitting the ground face and hands first, his legs falling out of your hold as he twisted.

en	Your body was filled with a rush when you heard him hit the ground, you jumped up on your knees and sprang to your feet.

en	There was no time to waste while you had an upper hand. You were just running on instincts.

en	You took a step toward him and kicked hard at his hand, foot connecting with his revolver and spinning it across the sand.

en	It span away to the edge of the hill, resting and tilting for a moment before tumbling down.

en	Curly was still trying to figure out what was going on, and you didn't give him the chance to catch up before you started running.

en	You ran at full pelt towards Black and Joseph. Joseph kept still, Black's arm still tight around his throat and head pressed behind his back.

en	"Joseph, move!"

en	Joseph tugged at the arm around his throat, and to his surprise Black relinquished, even pushing Joseph aside.

en	The side of his shirt was stained red, hunching and holding a hand to himself.

en	His face was one of relief, but quickly changed as he laid eyes on you - a frantic and sprinting coyote who somehow knew Joseph's name.

en	He'd thought someone who knew Joseph's name would have to be another lackey of his.

en	His confusion remained deep-seated on his brow even as you ran fast and punched him hard in the gut, making him collapse to his knees.

en	Your hand ached a little in your joints and you shook it off, looking at Joseph whose eyes were wide in surprise but lit up with delight.

en	"Holy Hell! Howdy to you too!"

en	You looked over your shoulder at Curly. He was already slinking off down the hillside to get his gun, tips of his ears just disappearing.

en	"No time for howdys, we've gotta kill this guy and get outta here. Curly waits for no one."

en	Joseph understood what you meant, his face becoming solemn. His hand reached up to his shotgun but froze as it touched the stock.

en	You could see the trepidation in his eyes. The figure of Black keeled over in pain reflected in his keen gaze.

en	You understood the thoughts, the doubts you were also wrestling with about what you were doing.

en	Dreams of putting down the people who made your life miserable didn't quite match up to the reality.

en	You gingerly reached your hand out onto his, squeezing gently.

en	"We can do it together. Like we promised."

en	Joseph, still looking at Black, took a deep breath - and sighed even deeper. He nodded.

en	His hand shifted under yours as his fingers wrapped round his shotgun, pulling it from its holster, and you pulled with him, stepping closer.

en	Your arms crossed where your hands held on the stock, Joseph's other hand holding the barrel.

en	The wind whistled in your ears, the feathers of Joseph's neck ruffling. Your shadows cast across Black as he knelt in the sand.

en	He didn't raise his head as he spoke.

en	"Who are you?"

en	You thought for a second. It felt like there were many things you could say. You weren't sure any of them were true anyhow.

en	"I'm another lookout. That's all."

en	Black scoffed.

en	"That's all? You're a stranger about to kill me, and you won't even give me the dignity of a name."

en	"I'm not sure you ever earned that kinda right, Black."

en	"I don't think I earned an execution at your hands, either, Joseph. Yet here we are."

en	Standing so close to Joseph, shoulder to shoulder, you could feel him freeze up. His face was blank, but his eyes gave him away, flitting about.

en	"Whatever cockamamie plan your friend has come up with here, you don't have to go along with it, Joseph."

en	"You're smarter than that. Point that gun somewhere else, and help me, so I can help you. We can move past this."

en	"..."

en	"Ah don't believe you. You must think I'm real stupid to try and get me to go along with you."

en	"Maybe ah was grateful to you, once. We're way past that now, the idea that you're gonna help me? That dog don't hunt."

en	"This has been a long time comin'. There ain't an honest bone in your body, Black, and you deserve every pellet of this."

en	Black was silent, head still bowed, face covered by the brim of his hat.

en	"Yes, I suppose you're right... I don't think you're as smart as I gave you credit for."

en	"You rode with the best. You know that Joseph, don't you? The gentleman outlaw of the West."

en	"Stupid boy. Wouldn't know a kindness if it spat in his face."

en	You couldn't even tell if he was talking to anyone but himself anymore.

en	Joseph's brow furrowed. You felt his hand shift underneath yours as a finger passed over the trigger and squeezed.

en	The blast was deafening, the buck of the shotgun rocking you both. Your ears were ringing even as the gunsmoke rose into the air.

en	Black fell hard on the sand, his punctured and bleeding body leaving a streak of blood where he landed.

en	His arm moved for a moment, like it might've been grabbing at the ground, at the dry grass of the desert.

en	There was a tension to the way he lay there, but as the dirt was stained a dark brown, it disappeared. Lying totally still.

en	Joseph turned and pulled away from you, wrapping a hand around his beak. His whole chest heaved with quiet breaths.

en	"Joseph..."

en	You reached your hand out to him, but your whole body tensed as your ears flicked to the sound of something down the hill.

en	"Don't move a muscle, beaky. I know you see me."

en	Joseph was still now, too. He was looking out across the hill, but to his right, a dozen or so paces away, Curly was just peering over the ledge.

en	His gun was drawn, and Joseph dared not to move, as Curly clearly knew he'd seen him in the corner of his eye already.

en	"Botha you turn around, hands up, face me. No funny business."

en	You both turned slowly, backing up a little as Curly climbed up the hill, revolver trained on you all the while.

en	He took a few steps away from the edge, gun now held lazily with his elbow on his hip, pointed between you two.

en	"Shouldn't have to tell you to drop the gun, birdbrain."

en	Joseph flicked his wrist and tossed his shotgun aside, eyes locked with Curly's.

en	Curly reached a hand up to his face, rubbing his chin and flexing his jaw. Thinking, some confusion running across his brow.

en	"Real pain in the ass stunt you pulled back there, tomboy. Care to explain?"

en	"Who's your friend here?"

en	You shifted your weight from foot to foot, full of nervous energy, racking your brain to think of what to say.

en	He hadn't immediately assumed you betrayed him, not yet. You'd be on the ground begging for mercy by now if that were the case.

en	You'd been still playing along till this point. Helping him out, backing him up, tipping him off.

en	He didn't like you, but you'd just about wormed your way into his good books. You can use that.

en	Just keep playing along.

en	"This is Joseph, he's one of Black's lot. We met a few days ago and made a truce."

en	You relaxed your arms in the air a little, slouching too and putting on airs that you were less tense than you really were.

en	"He didn't like Black much, so we set up a plan to kill him, and he'd come join our gang."

en	You looked at Joseph for a few moments, meeting his eyes, seeing that he understood where you going with this. A reassurance.

en	"I know he's... not our usual fit, but he's a goodun. Smart, hard worker."

en	"When it looked like you were gonna shoot him I panicked, I had to stop you."

en	"I can only apologise for that."

en	A silence hung in the air. The gunshots in the street had died down, and as you stopped talking, Curly didn't reply. He just looked at you.

en	His gun shifted in his hand, fingers fidgeting about with it as he thought. Contemplating what you said.

en	You didn't know if he'd believe it, you were just stalling. It was a lie that broke down under any real scrutiny.

en	But it might be enough.

en	Beside you was the well, a simple build of stone and wood. Sand was piled up around the base, swept into mounds against it by the wind.

en	You hoped that would be your ticket out of here. You just had to wait.

en	"So you conspired to lead us both here, and then Black would be taken out, leaving the rest for us."

en	"Putting everyone in danger just for the sake of... him."

en	A lump formed in your throat. You squinted your eyes as the wind blew in your face.

en	"...Tch, it's a stupid gambit, but I can't complain that you showed guts for once."

en	"Sounds like something I woulda done when I was younger."

en	"S'all well and good to have you vouch, but I wanna hear from beaky boy himself. Why do you wanna join us?"

en	Joseph looked at you, unsure, a little panic in his eyes. You just nodded at him, and nodded in Curly's direction.

en	Joseph stalling for you was perfect. It let you focus on what was more important right now.

en	The wind. That's what you were waiting on.

en	"Uh, cahw, well, sir, a-ah was just. Sick of the way Black treated me. There was no respect."

en	You felt the wind whipping around you, blowing into the town. Whistling through the alleys.

en	"Ah was hoping for a fresh start, I s'pose. New gang."

en	Curly's face remained the same. Contemplative, a little bored.

en	The wind was dying down. A new gust, soon.

en	"Ah can make myself useful, ah know a lot abou-"

en	Curly waved his hand at Joseph and shook his head.

en	"Save it, kid. You've given me a lot to chew on, but I'm not a patient man. I've made my mind up."

en	The wind was picking up again, blowing past your ears.

en	"You're a traitor, Joseph. I don't have time for that."

en	The wind was rushing at your back now, the whistling of the alleyways gone. This was the moment.

en	You stuck your foot behind the mound of sand next to you, piled against the well, and swept your leg to kick it all as hard as you could.

en	The sand and dust exploded as you cleared through it and sent it into the air towards Curly.

en	The desert wind you'd been waiting on rushed in his direction, the grit and rock forming a cloud that covered him.

en	He didn't realise what was happening till it was too late, his guard down. It was a momentary sandstorm, in his eyes, in his mouth.

en	Joseph and you didn't wait as the dust cloud swallowed Curly, turning tail and running past the well towards the main street.

en	Joseph was ahead of you, jumping over Black's body as he ran. You slowed down and stooped to grab Black's revolver from his holster.

en	A shot rang out behind you, and another, and another. You ducked down, and there was a loud crack of rock as one of the bullets hit the well.

en	Curly, usually a cool and collected shootist, was firing blindly in the direction you ran, just trying to hit anyone he could.

en	With Black's gun in hand you peered over the well at Curly. He was standing in the same spot, covering his eyes with his arm, gun held out.

en	He couldn't see again yet, but he was listening for if he'd hurt anyone.

en	You knew how good his hearing was, just like yours. He was waiting for you to move.

en	Crouched on one knee, you leaned forward, feet poised to launch you from behind the well.

en	You pushed hard and sprinted from your standstill, running at Joseph who was cautiously waiting round a corner for you.

en	Another gunshot, striking the ground near where you ran, and you stumbled as all the momentum of your run propelled you forward.

en	You glanced at Curly as you ran and saw him start walking towards you both, round the edge of the building.

en	Joseph's hand tapped you on the back and pushed you forward as you ran past, running behind you as you headed towards the saloon.

en	Two more shots rang out. A window on the saloon burst and shattered glass fell out of the frame. You heard Joseph cry out behind you.

en	There were more shots now, but not from Curly, as you cleared across the street. The fight started again, bullets flying.

en	Joseph and you slammed into the doors of the saloon as you leapt onto its porch.

en	There was a red gash on Joseph's shoulder. You couldn't stop yourself from staring at it, a deep pit suddenly opening in your stomach.

en	Joseph snapped you out of it as he opened the saloon door and rushed inside. You made to follow him, but looked behind yourself first.

en	Curly was standing at the end of the street, wary of the shots going off, staring you down all the while.

en	Something in his eyes changed when he saw you looking at him. He looked at his gun before tossing it aside, not waiting to reload.

en	He pulled his knife from its sheath and started booking it towards the saloon.

en	A chill of ice ran down your spine as he started running at you, and you hastily threw Black's revolver across the floor towards Joseph.

en	"Hide!"

en	He looked at you, then saw Curly past you, then looked at the gun on the floor and grabbed it after a momentary pause.

en	The last thing you saw as you slammed the saloon door shut was Joseph sliding to the end of the bar, before Curly was upon you.

en	You swivelled around in time to see Curly reach toward you as his hand closed around your throat, shoving you against the wall.

en	A dull pain throbbed at the back of your head as it bounced off the wood, Curly gripping your neck and keeping you there.

en	Your hand snapped to his arm and pulled, claws digging in and scratching the muscles of his arm straining against his skin, drawing blood.

en	He had no patience for that and snatched his arm away, snarling, before snatching your wrist and holding your arm up, pinning it to the wall.

en	Your back was flush with the wood, forced onto your tiptoes by his pulling on your arm, bringing you to his height.

en	His grip was tight around your wrist, your hand starting to feel numb and prickly.

en	He came up close to you and brought his knife up, tracing the blunt side around your face before turning it around to threaten your cheek.

en	The blade cold and hard through your fur, just below your eye, held still to your skin by Curly. He was so close now, face to face.

en	You could smell the days of coffee on his breath and see your own tired, fearful face in the pinprick blackness of his eyes.

en	Your mouth dry, your panting breath hurting in your throat.

en	"Always knew you'd turn traitor. I never fuckin' liked you. The way you looked at me sometimes... hate, I think I'd call it."

en	"Had me going for a moment back there, though! Thought you'd finally seen some sense, in your own screwy way."

en	"Too good to be true, hah. But what should I have expected. It's always been your game, blending in."

en	"You knew what you were doing. Never giving me an excuse, never giving me a chance, cuz you know what I do to traitors."

en	"How I like to make 'em squeal. You're stupid, but not stupid enough to let that be you."

en	"Till you blew it today, of course."

en	You felt the knife twist so slightly in his hand, toying with it. Thinking of what to do with you.

en	"Shame that I don't have time to give you the proper traitor's punishment, but I have your feathered friend to finish off after you."

en	"Say yer prayers, kid."

en	The beating of your heart pitched into the rhythm of a stampeding horse at the thought of dying, of the knife about to slice you open.

en	The thought that Curly was about to kill you, but... what scared you even more was the thought of what he might do to Joseph.

en	Time felt like it was at a standstill. Curly was going to make his move. You had to do something.

en	You weren't going to let this happen, you couldn't, you came here to kill him. You weren't going to die.

en	The fear propelled you now as your head lunged forward, you stuck out your neck with the speed of a cracking whip, snapping your jaws open.

en	Curly hadn't even pulled the knife back yet and it sliced through your cheek as you stuck your head out and clamped your teeth on his snout.

en	You bit as hard as you could on Curly's face, teeth meeting bone and cutting through flesh, all the tension in your body locking up your jaw.

en	You tasted blood as it hit your tongue and knew you'd done enough, throwing your mouth open wide and pulling away as Curly recoiled.

en	He let go of you, staggering back a couple paces, and your feet fell flat on the deck.

en	His hand covered his maw immediately, feeling the damage, wincing, blood starting to pour down his chin.

en	You kept your mouth open, not daring to breathe yet, sucking on your teeth and spitting a red glob to your side that splattered on the floor.

en	The taste of blood in the back of your throat made you want to be sick.

en	Curly was breathing heavily through his fingers, hackles raised, growling, eyes flitting around you but absolutely focused.

en	In an instant he rushed towards you, the knife in his hand twisted downwards now, and he raised it up to stab at you.

en	You were frozen still for a moment before you threw yourself out of the way and ducked as Curly plunged the knife where you had just been.

en	It buried itself deep in the wooden wall of the saloon. You stumbled, hand landing and steadying yourself on the edge of a window.

en	Curly tugged at the knife, once, twice, but it wouldn't come loose. You made eyes towards the saloon door, thinking of running.

en	Curly gave up on the knife as soon as he saw you make a move, snarling and throwing his weight out to catch you.

en	His arms stretched out and grabbed you, both hands digging in under your armpits and pulling you back, lifted up in front of him.

en	He held you aloft for a moment in his fit of rage, your feet clear off the ground.

en	He swung you one way, then swung you back with all his strength, the inertia lifting your stomach as he hurled you at the window.

en	You shut your eyes tight as you were thrown and your whole body tensed as you crashed through, the glass cracking at your back.

en	Your senses were overwhelmed as you sailed through the window, the sound of shattered glass deafening in your ears.

en	You were in the air for what felt like minutes, totally weightless, before you crumpled upon the ground.

en	Your body screamed at the bruises, the cuts, the scrapes covering your body. Your back felt like it was on fire, your face wet and sore.

en	You were curled up, lay on your side. You wanted to get up, to move, but you couldn't, your limbs were too weak, your head swimming.

en	It was all you could do to crane your neck and lift your head up enough to look towards the window.

en	The sunlight was streaming in, so bright from your view on the floor. You heard the sound of wood creaking and cracking.

en	Curly walked slowly into view of the window, holding his knife again, breathing hard still, muzzle stained and matted with blood.

en	He wiped his arm across his face, getting the blood out of his nose - relaxed, like a boxer who'd won his fight, just cleaning himself up.

en	His frame filled the window, silhouetted by the sun, shadow spilling into the saloon. He looked at you with smug relief, and sighed.

en	"...Getting too old for this."

en	He started carefully climbing through the broken window when a loud bang went off behind you, echoing off the walls of the saloon.

en	Staggering back a step he clutched at his chest, and another bang went off, a second gunshot that made another small red hole.

en	He stumbled, trying to catch himself on the porch railing but sliding off, falling out of sight past the window with a series of thuds.

en	You heard shuffling behind you as Joseph crawled from the end of the bar over to you.

en	His gun rattled on the floorboards next to you as he discarded it, hands gingerly touching you, trying to find some purchase to help you up.

en	You could tell he was trying not to hurt you, but you were hurt anyway, there wasn't any avoiding the searing soreness as you tried to sit up.

en	Your head was clearing and everything became less muddled, the pain in your body also more noticeable to you.

en	Cuts and tears in your back screamed in protest as Joseph helped push you to a sit, and you hunched forward, legs straight, taking a moment.

en	"Uh, ah don't know if you should move yet $Player, just stay put."

en	You could hear the worry in his voice. You didn't know how bad it looked, only how it felt. You'd live.

en	The other thing you heard concerned you more. Past the cacophony of guns outside, past the wind howling through the broken windows.

en	You shifted your weight to the side, pressing your hand to the ground and rolling onto your knees. You took another moment to breathe.

en	Your back was on fire every time you moved but you could deal with it, you just had to take it slow.

en	Facing the floor, you saw yourself reflected in the shards of glass scattered around you. There were gashes on your face, on your cheek.

en	A large red wound went around the top of your snout, and you resisted the urge to scrunch your face and see how it felt.

en	"$Player where are you goin', yer gonna hurt yourself."

en	"I... I'm alright."

en	It wasn't very convincing that you winced as you said that, a long pain-relieving exhale as you slowly stood up.

en	Straightening your back felt better even as the many cuts flared up, soreness fading as you stood to your full height.

en	You turned to the window and walked gently over to it, stepping between broken glass, towards the sound of struggled breathing outside.

en	Your hand passed over the handle of your gun and you pulled it from the holster, pointing it down past the window as you peered over.

en	Sure enough Curly was lying there on his front, shirt stained with blood. He met eyes with you as you peeked out, still wary of him.

en	"Hah, came to finish me off did you... Surprised you can stand like that, you look like shit."

en	You didn't respond. You had nothing to say to him. You fidgeted with the gun in your hand, fingers readjusting.

en	Joseph approached carefully behind you, feeling him close at your back, looking at Curly over your shoulder.

en	Curly's eyes studied Joseph for a moment, and flicked back to you, before turning them to the sky, staring at the porch ceiling.

en	"What did he promise you, huh? Sex, money; safety. Whatever it is, he's lying."

en	"Life makes liars of us all, sooner or later."

en	"You don't know the real world, pup. You can't trust other people."

en	"At least I was honest with you, wasn't I? Never lied about anything, you knew the stakes."

en	"Can you say the same for others? I don't think so."

en	"You'll miss me when I'm gone. You'll regret it."

en	He'd accepted his death already. There was a bottomless well in your stomach as you aimed at Curly's head.

en	You shook away the thoughts nesting in your mind, the little fear that he might be right. Taking a deep breath in, and out.

en	You didn't know if there was credence to a dying man's words. You just wanted this to be over.

en	"Go to Hell, Curly."

en	You squeezed hard on the trigger and let your arm jerk as the gun went off, a bang that made your heart jump.

en	Curly's head whipped to the side with a wet thud, a hole in his skull. Blood started to pool, dripping to the sand, and his arms fell limp.

en	You put the gun back in your holster. You wanted to be sick. Stepping away from the window, walking over to a table, something to fall on.

en	A little stability, your fingers tapping the varnished wood, staring at nothing at all.

en	"Hey, hold still."

en	Joseph walked over to you, close behind, a hand reaching up to your shoulder.

en	"Don't move, ah mean it."

en	Something in your back, below the shoulder of your shorter arm, you felt it move for a moment. Suddenly a flash of searing pain.

en	You barked and covered your mouth, biting a little on a finger to distract from the pain.

en	It felt like someone was dragging a white hot poker through the left of your back; it only lasted a couple seconds, but it felt like minutes.

en	Joseph's other hand on your opposite shoulder held you in place, and you resisted the urge to struggle until finally it stopped.

en	You panted like you'd just run the length of the town. The back of your shoulder felt molten.

en	"Sorry, sorry about that, s'why ah told you not to move in the first place. Real nasty bit of glass in there."

en	"It's alright... thank you."

en	Your back did feel different, less stiff. You hadn't noticed it before, even if it really hurt now.

en	You turned around to face Joseph, your eyes gravitating towards the gash in his shoulder, a great red tear through his shirt and skin.

en	"Are you alright?"

en	"Yeah, I'm fine, I'll live. Yer in way worse a shape than I am."

en	He gave you a gentle, worried smile, then looked behind him, through the window.

en	"We should probbly get out of sight, someone sees us in here we might be in trouble, 'specially with that freak of nature out there."

en	"Yeah we should, uh... freak of nature?"

en	"Curly! The man tossed you through a window, I'd say that's pretty freakish! I'm just glad you made it through that."

en	"Maybe I'm the freak, huh? Anyway, you're right, we should hide and wait for this to blow over."

en	You looked around, your eyes dancing across the saloon for somewhere to nestle into, looking up and seeing the upper floor.

en	Joseph followed your eyeline up, and you looked at each other.

en	"...Bart said the saloon had rooms, didn't he?"

en	"Yeah, he... did."

en	"...Should we go? Up? Would be a lot comfier than hiding down here ah think. Safer too."

en	You felt your face warm, and thought about it a moment. You were both bleeding a lot. Would Bartholomew get mad?

en	The saloon was a mess already. You'd deal with it later, together.

en	"Yeah. That would be good."

en	You had a minute together of trying to help each other, trying to link arms or put an arm over your shoulder.

en	You were too hurt and sensitive to really be touched by Joseph though, and his shoulder too busted up to hold your weight.

en	Together you just walked up the stairs, closely, side by side, holding yourself steady on the bannister, Joseph watching you with keen eyes.

en	You knew he'd be there to catch you if you fell, your legs a little shaky as the adrenaline started to subside, and your heart beating slower.

en	The landing stretched across the saloon, and you walked towards the furthest room, Joseph trailing close behind you.

en	Curly's hand reached for his gun, but something he saw had him hesitate. Hand hovering over the holster.

en	He ducked and ran, throwing a hand up in the air to signal for the gang to scatter, his large frame running away from you across the street.

en	He dived out of sight as one unlucky coyote behind him was cut down by a whizzing bullet, blood spraying across the dirt.

en	You didn't hang around as the fight started, but you knew, you saw, as you took off between the houses of the main street.

en	You knew Curly had seen you as he'd sat up, eyes piercing from the other side. He was coming for you.

en	The clump of houses lining the street made a maze that you could hide in as you scurried through.

en	You heard many sounds of gunshots now, starting to fill the air, cracks and pops.

en	You ran haphazardly through the alleys, past the many empty houses, catching glimpses of your panting face in dusty windows.

en	The shelter of a long house with a porch that shaded you from the sun was where you stopped, catching your breath.

en	Listening to the sounds of people running, shouting, shots going off in cascades.

en	You were safe here for the moment, but that didn't matter. You needed to find Joseph. He must have run when you did.

en	Staying here wouldn't help you find him. You needed to get out of all these houses, out somewhere clearer.

en	You looked round the corner of the building you hid in the shade of, seeing the edge of a rocky hill that went down into the rest of town.

en	If you skirted this side you should be able to avoid any trouble.

en	You slinked out, now sliding your gun from its holster, the metal a comfort of sorts in your grip as you emerged into the sun again.

en	You started walking past the houses, the sheer wooden backsides of buildings looming over you, following the curve of the hill.

en	Your pace was brisk and cautious, listening for anything or anyone nearby, but the fight continued to rage away in the street.

en	At this rate you'd be behind enemy lines, on the side of town Black's gang had come from.

en	You needed to be careful. You couldn't know how many guys Black had brought with him, if there were more waiting elsewhere.

en	Your steps were cut short and you jolted as a figure jumped out from behind the house you were passing, and you stuck your gun far out.

en	The barrel was exactly eyeline with Joseph as you regained your footing, the tension in your shoulder giving way as recognition sparked.

en	You felt the panic melt from your face the way it did from Joseph's as you met eyes. He was holding his shotgun, poised and ready.

en	A few moments passed as you both lowered your weapons and your faces tried to find the right shape to take.

en	Surprised, incredulous, almost not believing you were seeing each other, like a missed connection showing up again suddenly.

en	A warmth started to fill your heart, like sweet coffee, and you couldn't stop yourself from jumping at him, throwing your arms around him.

en	Joseph didn't miss a beat in catching you, scooping you up into an embrace, your heads over each other's shoulders.

en	Squeezing each other so tightly, like the desert wind might take you if you let go.

en	"I'm so glad to see you again."

en	You couldn't help but laugh a little, the chuckle caught in your throat that was pressed against his shoulder.

en	You pulled back, getting a better look at his face.

en	"Little formal of you, but I'll take it. It's nice to see you again too."

en	"Aw come on, $Player, what were you expecting me to say? I'm mighty happy to see you, but my heart's beatin' like a jackrabbit."

en	"Ah barely got outta there before all Hell broke loose, what made you run?"

en	"I'm sorry Joseph, things just... weren't turning out how I thought they would, I thought running was safest."

en	"Yeah, probably. We're alive so I'd say it was a good call."

en	He twisted his head sharply, looking around with his piercing eyes, squinting in the sun.

en	"Ah think we should hide out a lil', wait till the fight dies down some. They can pick each other off."

en	You let go of each other and he led you round the corner of a house, walking close to the wall, careful and alert.

en	The sun at your backs as you walked closer to the fight, back into the maze of houses on the main street.

en	"We should head thatta way to the end of the street, where Sheriff's office is, keep an eye on things from th-"

en	Joseph halted as he approached the front of the house, coming up short before the porch, you almost walking into him as he stopped.

en	Breath caught in his throat, slowly taking a step back, then another, one wing protectively reaching out as if to cover you.

en	You looked past him, confused, only seeing the tall wood slat walls of the houses next to you - until you looked at the ground.

en	Seeing what Joseph had seen, what made him hesitate, made him take steady, fearful steps backwards.

en	The barely peeking, almost unnoticeable shadow spilling just past the edge of the house's own shadow.

en	Unmistakably canine, a snout and the half-shadows of whiskers, a hiding face poking out just enough to give itself away.

en	The shadow of a face that you felt you recognised, ice creeping down your spine before your mind could even settle an answer.

en	The joints of your hand straining against your skin as you gripped your gun tighter, finger resting next to the trigger.

en	Your advance backwards stopped as the shadow recognised it had been spotted, and emerged, knife first.

en	Curly Wolf, stepping out into the sunlight that streamed through the alley. Even through his squinting, you could see his eyes trained on you.

en	He stood a few paces away, blocking the end of the alley, filling up the space between the two houses.

en	A cocky grin spread across his face as he spoke.

en	"Well, whadda we have here? Not just one traitor, but two by the looks of it!"

en	Curly eyed Joseph over, his wing still held out past you, a feathery gate keeping danger at bay.

en	You couldn't see Joseph's face but his whole body was still, like a statue. Your own wanted to crumble as Curly looked past him.

en	The glare of a predator waiting to strike. You didn't want to hide behind Joseph, but your resolve was withering under Curly's stare.

en	His eyes flitted back and forth between you as he spoke.

en	"Alright beaky, I've got no beef with you. You can walk away safe and sound from this."

en	"Yer Black's problem, not mine. Just... make this easy and hand over that miserable excuse cowering behind you."

en	Joseph didn't move. Even though you knew he wouldn't, there was still a small fear, that understanding of self-preservation.

en	Maybe he would. Maybe he'd step aside, wordlessly, and let Curly take you away, because it's his best option.

en	But as you stood there behind him, that small fear slipped further and further away. Joseph didn't move a muscle.

en	In fact, as he was he was hunched a little, frozen in the pose he'd stopped in. Now, he stood taller, rising up, puffing his chest out.

en	You didn't know if it was brave or foolish, but Joseph took a step forward, standing firmly in front of you.

en	"Sorry Curly, but ah don't think I can do that."

en	Fear and pride swam in your chest as Joseph stood between you and Curly. His large hands gripped his shotgun close to him.

en	Curly growled a little, the smirk on his face slipping into the starts of a snarl, his knife twisting a little in his hand as he spoke.

en	"Maybe you didn't hear me right, birdbrain. You can walk away right now."

en	"Or you can end up with a knife in your gut. What's it gonna be?"

en	Joseph didn't hesitate to retort.

en	"I'm not gonna let you take $Player. Ah think you're the one that's got wax in yer ears, so let me make it clear."

en	"Go to Hell, Curly."

en	You barely had a moment to be afraid for Joseph before Curly launched himself, snarling and swinging his knife overhead.

en	Joseph hefted his shotgun upwards, holding it sideways and clashing it against the blade, knocking Curly's arm off course.

en	Surprised at Joseph fighting back, he also didn't anticipate Joseph then throwing the shotgun at his head, bashing his muzzle.

en	Curly's knife dropped from his hand and he stepped back, trying to distance himself, but Joseph ran straight at him, ducking his head down.

en	Joseph crashed into Curly's stomach, wrapping his wings around the wolf's back, pushing hard to try and topple him.

en	Curly gave a deep growl, swinging his foot back and digging into the ground, regaining his footing to push back against Joseph.

en	He wiped blood from his mouth and let out a sharp, snarling bark as he brought his hands up into a fist, then down hard on Joseph.

en	One blow, two blows against Joseph's back, but he continued to cling on, wrestling with Curly's weight.

en	Curly grabbed Joseph's sides with both hands and thrust one leg up, knee digging deep into Joseph's stomach.

en	Joseph grunted and let go, winded and trying not to double over too much as he held his hands to his stomach.

en	Your heart sank as he tried to stand up straight and defend himself, but Curly took the advantage to score a punch across his face.

en	Curly pushed him down, and he staggered a moment before falling into a heap on his hands and knees, clutching an arm across his stomach.

en	You didn't move, you didn't dare. You stayed where you were, watching it happen. Blood running cold against the desert heat. Mind racing.

en	Stiff but trembling, the chill of fear was creeping into your heart. You had to help but what could you do?

en	You were watching Curly beat Joseph to a pulp. Your hand clasped against the metal of your gun.

en	You stared at him. This indestructible man, a beast in his prime. What chance did you ever stand against him?

en	Even now, a small voice in your upstairs was telling you to turn tail and run. Grab a horse and ride away.

en	Curly looked down at Joseph, watching his movements. Satisfied, he reached for his holster, cleanly pulling his revolver free.

en	He opened the barrel out, checking it over, flicking it back in. You wondered if he was showing off for you.

en	That he had the upper hand, that he could take his time. You'd seen it before. You didn't want to see it again.

en	Your heart was beating hard and fast in your chest, breaths hitched and faltered in your throat as you panted.

en	You wanted to raise your gun, try and take a shot, but you could feel how much your hands were shaking.

en	Curly cocked the hammer of his gun back, an unnecessary display, bringing it up to aim at Joseph.

en	No, no, this couldn't be happening, this wasn't it. You were supposed to do this together, with Joseph.

en	You stared at the small drip of blood coming from Curly's nose. He wasn't indestructible. He was just a man, like any other.

en	The fear inside you pitched high, as you took off running, feet pounding the ground. In your heart of hearts, you knew you would kill him.

en	You ran full pelt towards Curly, his gun still trained on Joseph, and as you got closer his ears twitched, taking notice of you too late.

en	You didn't slow down as you sprinted at Curly and lunged at him, jumping forward with all your momentum to throw yourself at him.

en	You caught onto Curly like a hangman's noose, wrapping your arm tight around his neck, clutching past the shoulder.

en	Your whole weight bore down on his throat, and you clung tightly, squeezing his neck in the crook of your elbow, trying to drag him down.

en	You flinched as a shot went off, Curly firing as you had jumped on him, and heard the crack of wood struck by a bullet.

en	Curly staggered and stumbled backwards, you felt the struggle of his throat to draw breath past your arm.

en	Your face was pressed tight against his back, feet barely scuffing the ground as you let yourself be heavy, weighing him down.

en	The beat of Curly's heart inside his chest was clear in your ear, another rhythm next to yours.

en	Curly kept stumbling backwards, now starting to thrash around, wrestling against your weight on his back.

en	Your stomach lurched and your arm strained as you were thrown around behind him, holding on with all your might.

en	You felt his desperate hand clutch your elbow, claws digging into your skin, and pulled wildly as he swung his body.

en	You let go, the strain on your arm too much, and felt yourself in freefall for a few moments. The whole world turning.

en	You hit the ground flat with a thud that bounced from your head through your body, the breath knocked from your lungs.

en	From where you lay, looking up, you saw Curly looming over you before he stood straight, rubbing at his neck.

en	He coughed raspily, a great glob of spit flying from his mouth to hit the dirt.

en	You lay there as Curly stood over you, regaining his composure; getting his breath back, as you did yours.

en	"Fuckin'... brat."

en	"I never liked you. Always knew you'd pull a stunt like this someday. No loyalty."

en	His words came out with a breathless, frustrated venom.

en	He turned suddenly, facing behind with his gun held out, and moved away a few steps, seemingly searching around the houses.

en	He walked slowly back to you, leaning over, face upside down. A smirk crept across his lips again, crueller and cockier than before.

en	"Looks like I could say the same thing about your friend, tomboy. He's turned tail."

en	What. What was he talking about, Joseph? Where did Joseph go?

en	Joseph wouldn't run away. He wouldn't leave you, not now, right? He wouldn't leave you here?

en	Thoughts swirled in your head. Chest tight and breaths short at the thought that you might be alone.

en	You sat up urgently, hand and elbows scraping through the dirt, twisting round to look where Joseph had been.

en	He was gone. You didn't know what to think, staring unblinking, eyes starting to water.

en	"Gonna cry, little pup? Not surprised, but that's what you get for trustin' people."

en	He crouched down low, bouncing on his heels - bringing his gun gently to your chin, tilting it to bring you eye to eye.

en	"I'd say be more careful next time, but, there's not gonna be a next time. You know that, don't you tomboy?"

en	"I don't have all day, so as much as I'd like to give you the full traitor's punishment - I need to cut to the chase."

en	Even with your faces so close, eyes to piercing eyes, you glimpsed something past his shoulder.

en	Two figures huddled at the edge of a house, watching. When your eyes came back to Curly, he had noticed, his own eyes flitting to the corners.

en	His ears flicked and tilted back, listening intently for a moment before he stood up sharply, swinging round to level his gun at the strangers.

en	Two bangs, one after the other, his shots skimming the house into the alley - you heard birds squawk and curse, scrambling to hide.

en	As Curly was focused on the birds hiding from him, nearby, you heard the scuffle of someone sprinting from a standstill.

en	You pushed yourself up and turned around to see Joseph burst from behind a house, running at Curly with his knife raised.

en	Seeing him again your whole body lit up in excitement, in relief, a wave washing over you.

en	His face was stony, determined, whole body tilted forward as he ran past you and grabbed at Curly, plunging the knife in his back.

en	Curly cried out to the sky, letting way to a guttural growl from his belly that rumbled through the air like thunder.

en	Joseph jumped back, wide-eyed, seeming shocked that he'd been able to do it.

en	Curly desperately clawed at his back for a few futile seconds before giving up on reaching the knife.

en	He swivelled, eyes full of rage, teeth bared, his gun arm snapping out to point straight at Joseph.

en	Panic filled your chest, eyes flicking between Curly's straining arm and Joseph's own panicked face.

en	You had only one thought in your mind, and acted on it, scrambling off the floor. Your only thought of Joseph, and keeping him safe.

en	You pushed off the dirt hard, up onto one knee and reached up to grab Curly's arm tight, pulling yourself up on it.

en	Your jaws opened wide as you pulled with all the strength you could muster to bring the arm in reach, clamping down and biting hard.

en	Curly cursed and shouted, you felt the muscle of his arm flex and tense around your piercing teeth, the tang of blood reaching your tongue.

en	You heard Curly's gun clank as it hit the ground, dropping from his hand, and quickly relented from biting his arm to drop to your knees.

en	Joseph wasted no time in following up, lunging forward and swinging his fist into the side of Curly's face, grunts coming from them both.

en	You got up on one knee, facing Curly, looking for an opening. You held nothing back as you threw your fist at his stomach.

en	Your attempted punch seemed fruitless, it felt like your fist had smacked into the dense hide of a bull and your knuckles ached.

en	Curly took no notice and had no patience for you, his eyes blazing with fury, and he grabbed your wrist and threw you to the ground hard.

en	You held your shorter arm out and squeezed your eyes shut to try and soften the fall, but your face scraped the dirt all the same.

en	"Get your fuckin' hands offa him!"

en	Joseph and Curly grunted and growled behind you, you heard the shuffle of shoes in the dirt, the dull thud of a punch hitting.

en	You picked your head up off the ground, shaking the dust and rocks off of your sore face, craning your neck to look around you.

en	Looking for anything to fight back with, you needed a gun, you'd dropped yours during the fight. You spied Curly's revolver.

en	It had fallen under the porch of a house, the black metal hard to see in the shadows. You crawled over and stuck your hand under, reaching for it.

en	You pressed your face against the wood, stretching your arm out as much as you could, your fingertips skimming the handle.

en	Pushing and reaching desperately, your muscles protesting as they stretched to their limits, your claws found purchase on the handle.

en	You flicked the gun towards you and hastily grabbed at it, clumps of sand in your hand that gripped the gun tight.

en	Gun retrieved, you scrambled off the floor, looking for Joseph. He was next to a porch now, slamming Curly into the wall, the wood rattling.

en	You ran over and raised the gun, but Joseph was too close to Curly, you couldn't find a clear shot.

en	The two wrestled for control, grappling each other's arms, gripping tight, neither willing to give up.

en	Joseph's heels dug into the dirt as he pushed against Curly, sand piling at his heels as they scraped backwards.

en	You caught a glimpse of Curly's eyes. He knew what you were trying to do, that he was backed into a corner, filled with furious fear.

en	He wasn't going to die without a fight. Your heart beat fast and loud in your ear, he was going to overpower Joseph any second now.

en	"Joseph!"

en	You cried out at him, voice cracking, a plea for him to do something, to at least get away safe. You knew he understood, his body shifted.

en	Joseph pulled back, Curly faltering forward, and threw his arm over his shoulder, grabbing at the knife.

en	He yanked on the knife, hurting Curly enough to get away from him. Curly barked loudly into the sky, breaking his hold on Joseph.

en	Curly, in his fit of pained rage, swung his hand at Joseph as he tried to back away - but Curly's claws still reached, slashing wildly.

en	Joseph stumbled back, falling to the ground, you saw great red gashes on his stomach through his torn shirt.

en	You dragged your eyes off of Joseph, whole body running cold, and looked at Curly again. Standing there, panting, wildfire in his eyes.

en	He pushed off from the wall with a strong arm, taking a large step your way, a faltering confidence driving him forward.

en	With the gun raised to his head, you saw clearly in his eyes, as he tried to run toward you - this was the end. He must've seen it in your eyes too.

en	You squeezed the trigger, a click before your hand bucked with the crack of the gunshot, a spray of blood from Curly's head as it snapped back.

en	Curly fell, hitting the floor with the scattered thuds of an uneven fall, as if he'd tripped. You kept your eyes elsewhere, averted from him.

en	Moments passed, wisps of smoke left the barrel of Curly's gun that you held in the air, you waited, listening.

en	The pops and bangs in the street reaching you still, and the dying breath of your boss on the ground. Fading, fading, till he was still.

en	You turned your head back, not looking down at Curly's lifeless body, but at Joseph laying on the ground, scared to move.

en	You rushed over to him, stepping over Curly, stooping to kneel next to him. Through his torn shirt you could see his stomach, raw and bloodied.

en	"Joseph, Joseph! Joseph, I'm here."

en	"How... how bad is it?"

en	You leant over, gingerly pushing aside the cloth over his belly, examining the best you could how badly he was hurt.

en	The feathers of his stomach were stained and matted, but you saw nothing that made you worry more than you already were.

en	The gashes looked painful, but not too deep, slicing through the fat but no more. A deep relief settled in you that you held onto tight.

en	"I think I'd say you're lucky, if you can believe it. Tore the skin and such but everything else seems fine..."

en	"You sure? Lady Luck's got a sick sense of humour is all ah can say. Feel like I've been split open."

en	"Can you sit up? We need to move, we can't stick around here too long."

en	"Think so. Just... gimme a second."

en	You stood up first, offering your arm out to help. He looked up at you, taking a deep breath as he braced for the pain.

en	He reached up, feathered hand grasping your wrist, and you leaned back against his weight.

en	He groaned as he sat up, eyes shut, leaning forward now with one hand pressed flat to the ground, fingers digging into the dirt.

en	"Ow... Ah think I'm alright. Help me get up."

en	You pulled on his arm again, helping him shift to his feet, and as you did you looked up.

en	You saw the two figures from before, walking towards you. Two birds, their guns out.

en	"Joseph, we need to go."

en	As Joseph hefted himself off the ground with your help, he looked up at you, hearing the panic in your voice.

en	He looked behind him as he stood up, squinting, holding onto you.

en	The tension of his hand around your arm relaxed as he seemingly recognised the birds walking over.

en	"Don't worry, ah know these guys. They're fine."

en	The two fellow gang members jogged over, slowing down and eyes growing wide as they saw Curly's body.

en	The shorter bird spoke first.

en	"What the hell, is that Curly Wolf?"

en	"Yeah, that's him. Sorry for dragging you two into this, but we needed the help. Saved me and $Player's life here."

en	"Oh, er, $Player, this is Vic and John. I flagged 'em down earlier to help us."

en	The taller bird shrugged, wiping his beak on his arm as he spoke.

en	"Fat lot of good we were anyway. Bloke shot me hat off, scary good he was. Could barely see us!"

en	Sure enough, you could see a small hole in the fabric of his hat.

en	"Who killed him?"

en	"...I did."

en	"Well, shit! You got him good. Right through the eye."

en	You felt your stomach twisting, a little knot inside. Your eyes were firmly away from Curly. You didn't want to see.

en	"Listen, fellas, we don't have time to waste. We're gonna kill Black too."

en	Vic and John's faces dropped, becoming grim. Discomfort played across Vic's features.

en	"...I don't... that's... not gonna happen Joseph."

en	"Why? You gonna stop us?"

en	"No, I just..."

en	"It's fucking suicide, Joseph. I thought you were smarter than this."

en	"Ah am smarter than this, but it ain't about doing the easy thing. Where has that gotten me?"

en	"Look, you guys should get outta here, no point dying for a man like that."

en	"...Are you really gonna kill him?"

en	"Yeah. We will."

en	"If you're really set on it... we won't stop you. Black's still a dangerous man, Joseph, much as we like to joke about him."

en	"I hope you know what you're doing."

en	"You should come back this way, Black's been going down the street picking people off. Hopefully you can take him by surprise."

en	"Alright. Thank you both, really."

en	"Good luck..."

en	"Yeah, good luck. See you around, maybe."

en	They both ran off past you, down towards where the fight had moved. Joseph shouted after them.

en	"That ah should be so unlucky!"

en	Vic disappeared behind some houses, and John, just before following suit, gave Joseph the middle finger as he ran.

en	The wry smile on Joseph's face softened, disappearing as he thought ahead to what you needed to do next.

en	The show of bravado for his friends fading.

en	You stooped down, holstering your gun and snatching Curly's off the ground, still avoiding looking his way.

en	"We should head to the saloon. Safest place in town, I think. Wait for our chance."

en	"...Yeah, ah think so too. Let's go."

en	You both walked as briskly as you could down to the end of town, sticking close to the houses, away from Black.

en	Gunsmoke filled the air now, sharp and acrid in your nose.

en	Rounding the end of a house, you were back on the main street, peeking past the wall to get a look at the saloon.

en	It seemed clear, no one inside or outside.

en	"Come on."

en	You started running, close behind Joseph, feet pounding the dirt, wind rushing in your ears.

en	Please, God. Please God let us get there safely.

en	As you neared the saloon, Joseph suddenly slowed down, his head snapping, skidding to a stop in front of you.

en	You saw what he saw, people down the street, Black's gang, but one person was facing the other way. Facing towards you.

en	Black Vulture, gun drawn. He'd spotted you both, Joseph caught up short by fear, and you couldn't quieten the desperation in your voice.

en	"Joseph, move!"

en	You kept running and bumped into him, pushing him to get moving again. He tore his eyes away from Black and stumbled back into a sprint.

en	You both knew you'd been seen. As you bounded up the stairs of the saloon porch, a wooden post cracked, struck by a bullet.

en	Another splintered the frame of the doors as you flung them open, scurrying inside the dimly lit bar.

en	You slammed the doors shut, crouching down, Joseph following suit. You held out Curly's gun to him, balanced on your palm.

en	"Take this and hide, quickly."

en	He looked at you, and then the gun, for a moment, his uncertainty plain in the furrow of his brow.

en	Still he took it, hurrying over to hide behind the other end of the bar, sitting on the floor. You shuffled over to a window, peering out.

en	Black had moved back up the street, opposite the saloon, bringing a few men in tow as the rest fought what was left of Curly's lot.

en	As they cautiously walked to surround the saloon, new blasts sounded in the air, the ground being peppered with shots.

en	Black and a small masked bird near him took cover, split from the rest of the men who backed up, shooting up at the roof.

en	You didn't know how anyone got up there but you were thankful for it.

en	Black was still determined. He pointed at the window. At you, you realised, as the small bird took aim with a rifle.

en	You ducked down, a second later hearing the echoing shot of the rifle before the window shattered.

en	You covered your head with your arm, the glass falling and breaking on the windowsill, falling to the floor and over you.

en	You looked up when the glass stopped, small cuts covering your hand. Your felt your heart beat hard in your throat.

en	Peering back over the ledge, you saw Black and his shootist still taking cover down the side of a house.

en	The shootist was reloading, and you took the chance, aiming your gun at the small bird through the broken window.

en	You squeezed the trigger hard. The gunshot was loud in your ears, and the shootist recoiled a moment later as he was struck down.

en	He fell to the ground, clutching at his chest, the rifle he dropped spinning on its stock and falling too.

en	Black stared at the bird dying on the ground in front of him for a second, before realising your eyes were still trained on him.

en	He levelled his gun at you and fired, once, twice, and you ducked again. Bullets struck the walls outside.

en	You thought to look again, but more shots cracked in the air outside the saloon, and you kept your head down.

en	A few seconds passed, you waited a little longer until you were sure the shots had stopped.

en	Warily you poked your head past the window again, looking where Black and his fallen shootist were.

en	Black was gone.

en	You looked around again, down the street, but you couldn't see him. Surely he couldn't have run off with the fight still happening?

en	You kept looking, but there was no sign of him. You holstered your gun, anticipating you'd need a free hand in a moment.

en	He must've retreated behind the houses, but that gave you time to breathe.

en	Ducking down again, you stared into space, studying the grain of the wall, thinking on your next move.

en	It was then that you felt a movement, a whisper of air on your whiskers, and looked to your right.

en	Your eyes flitted around the scene - someone's dusty legs, the deep green of a wine bottle in their hand, the open door of the store room.

en	Black was upon you now, and you were too slow, too surprised, to stop him as he swung the bottle, striking you in the mouth.

en	A new tang of blood slipped onto your tongue, the fresh sharp pain of a broken tooth shooting through.

en	The bash of the bottle knocked you over, sprawling you on your front across the ground. Your jaw ached in your head as it lied on the floor.

en	Your mind was reeling, you couldn't believe he'd weaseled his way round to sneak up on you. You pushed yourself up off the floorboards.

en	You did your best to try and get up quickly, but it was met with another blow of the bottle, hard against your back, knocking you down again.

en	Now on your hand and knees, bruises bristling on your arched back, you tried to crawl away, knees crunching on the scattered glass.

en	You heard Black walk at you, your fur standing on end, you reached out for help, heart galloping in your chest as he stepped forward.

en	The bottle whacked you on the back again, below your neck, and you hit the floor again, head resting by the leg of a table.

en	You rolled over, pushing through the pain in your bones, hoping to protect yourself, but too late as the bottle came down on your midriff.

en	All the breath in your lungs left in a painful tensing of your stomach. You felt like you were going to be sick.

en	Black, standing over you, tutted disapprovingly, his face as he regarded you like the one of a curious zoo patron, speculating on captive animals.

en	"I do quite hate getting my hands dirty like this, but when needs must, I suppose."

en	"You've given me some real trouble, haven't you? Clearly you had some arrangement with Joseph, wherever that low-life is."

en	"And then you shot my best shootist! You know how hard people like that are to come by? So many hopped up on their own egos."

en	You sat up a little, tried to roll, wanted to crawl, but the nausea kept you glued to the floor. Black crouched down, stooping over you.

en	"Where do you think you're going now? I've still got a lovely bottle here with your name on it."

en	"I don't like doing this, I really don't... but I may as well make the most of it while I'm here."

en	Black climbed on top of you now, and you screamed in your mind to push him off.

en	He sat with knees either side, straddling your stomach, pinning your arm to the floor under his leg.

en	You struggled with as much as strength as you could call on, but you couldn't move him. And as he didn't move, you fought back less.

en	Your skin crawled as Black relaxed his full weight, sitting happily atop you.

en	The strength to fight back left your body. What was the point now? You couldn't see a way to get out of this.

en	The pain in you flared, you felt it so clearly as you lay your head back. You deserved to feel this. This was all your fault.

en	"My boys outside are cleaning things up. This town'll be ours soon, and I'll take care of Joseph too when I find him."

en	"No doubt he's nearby, but he wouldn't dare lay a finger on me."

en	He put both hands on the neck of the bottle, raising it high above his head.

en	"I'll make your death as quick as I can. I'm not a monster."

en	His voice was light and quivering. You weren't sure if he was even talking to you anymore.

en	Fear pitched high in your heart that beat like a drum in your chest, staring up at the vulture about to bash your skull in.

en	You didn't want this to be it. You didn't want to die, battered and bruised. Dreams of a better life floating away.

en	You shut your eyes tight and made a prayer.

en	Your eyes snapped open as you heard the telltale shatter of glass, wetness splashing on you. The sound of a gunshot echoed off the saloon walls.

en	Another gunshot, before Black could even think what was happening. The wet thud of a bullet hitting someone, the bottle dropped.

en	Falling off of you onto the floor, clutching at his neck.

en	You felt the floorboards shudder a little under you as Joseph walked over, still cautious of Black, his face tense and wide-eyed.

en	He stooped down to you, grabbing you by the arm, hand trembling as he helped pull you to your feet.

en	You leant against him as you stood up, holding onto his shoulder for balance, and twisted your neck to look down at Black.

en	He was sprawled on his front, face to the ground, legs curled up. Hands held against his neck.

en	Feathers and clothes shining with wetness and stained red, dripping to the floor.

en	His eye was trained on Joseph, staring up at him.

en	"I'll spare ya the slow death, don't worry. Not that you deserve that kindness."

en	Joseph opened his mouth again as if to speak, but nothing came out, just wordless words. He raised the gun to aim at Black's head.

en	You gave him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. Your nose was filled with the smell of his blood, so close.

en	The shot rang out in the saloon as Joseph squeezed the trigger. With a hole in his head, Black fell limp, tensed arms swaying to the ground.

en	"That's it then, I guess."

en	"...Yeah."

en	"Fight's still goin' on outside, mind you. We should try lay low till it dies out."

en	"We can hide in here I'm sure."

en	"...Bart said the saloon has rooms, don't it?"

en	"Uh, yeah, I think he did."

en	Your face warmed as you looked up in the saloon, towards the upper floor.

en	"We could hide out in one of 'em."

en	You mulled it over for a moment, your body tired and bruised. You worried whether Bartholomew would get mad if you got things bloody.

en	...It would be fine. The saloon was already a bit banged up, what was some blood on a carpet. You'd help clean it up. Together.

en	"Yeah. I think that would be nice."

en	You both shuffled, arm in arm, over to the stairs, taking slow steps up them, trying to help each other even if it hurt.

en	Reaching the landing, the beat of your heart still slowing, you walked together towards the furthest room.

en	Twisting the handle, you opened the door with some haste, shuffling inside together.

en	You turned and closed the door as quietly as you could, still bumping against the frame, the handle creaking as it turned beneath your hand.

en	You waited there, facing the door, giving yourself a moment. Breathing slowly, feeling the metal in your palm. Gripping it tightly.

en	With the door closed, the peppering of gunshots from outside was much softer.

en	You could imagine them as raindrops against the window.

en	"Nice room."

en	You let go and turned to look around the room. You agreed. It was nice.

en	It was bright, the sunlight skimming in through the window, curtains open, fading onto the pillows. A clean bed, a side table, a dresser.

en	You wandered over to the bed, reaching out to touch, but thinking better of it when feeling the blood sticking between your fingers.

en	A large rug laid on the floor next to the bed, so instead you lowered yourself down to sit on it, leaning back to rest against the bed.

en	You rested your head against it too, at least feeling the softness of the sheets brushing your fur, meeting the curve of your neck.

en	Joseph still stood where he was, looking into the middle distance. After a few moments his glassy stare turned down to you, coming back to life.

en	"Whadda we do now?"

en	"...We wait. Wait for the fight to die out. Once they realise who's died, they should leave. Hopefully we won't be looked for."

en	"Right..."

en	He shuffled over to the bed and leaned down, groaning as he hit the rug, sitting against the bed as you did now.

en	"Sit here and hope for the best. As good a plan as we've had so far."

en	Quiet, Run option

en	Quiet, Stay option

en	Tipoff, Run option

en	Tipoff, Stay option

en	"You can get patched up when all the townsfolk come back. I hope."

en	"Yeah I'll be fine, don't you worry."

en	You tried not to worry, settling yourself down. Trying to rest.

en	You stared at the wall of the bedroom. Unsure what to think, unsure how to feel. Tracing the grain of the wood with your eyes.

en	You wondered if the numbness you felt made you a monster. Some strange lacking that left you sitting there, bereft of feeling.

en	You were brought back from your thoughts as your ears drew your eyes away from the wall, down to your side.

en	Down to where Joseph's hand fidgeted, tapping against the floor.

en	The softest of patters against the rug, an unheard rhythm from within him.

en	His breathing caught your eye too, the noticeable rise and fall of his chest, the long exhales through his nose.

en	Your eyes continued up to his sullen face, the feathers of his head subtly shaking, nerves bubbling to the surface.

en	You looked back down to his hand and found yourself reaching across, reaching out to take hold.

en	Joseph jolted as you touched him, his hand almost reflexively jerking out of yours. As he came back to the world, he looked down.

en	He relaxed his arm when he saw, squeezing you a little and letting you steal his hand away into your lap.

en	It was trembling as you stroked your thumb over the feathers, squeezing his hand back firmly.

en	Your hands moved around each other, grappling and dancing, exploring each others fingers and palms.

en	A distraction of each other's fur and feathers, just the two of you.

en	Joseph's arm being pulled away from him started to make him lean, his body subtly shifting inch by inch closer to you.

en	He started to tilt, and his head tilted too, laying on your shoulder with a comforting heft of weight.

en	You laid your head on his, feather ends tickling you through your fur. He untwisted his arm into a comfier position, keeping it near.

en	You took ahold again, holding the back of his hand, digging your fingers inbetween his, intertwining.

en	Now you were both still, only the small movements of getting comfortable to disturb you, hands fidgeting together.

en	"We're alive, huh. Did we really do that?"

en	"Nah, there's no way. When we rolled up on Clemency, and I saw y'all, ah thought we had no shot."

en	"How did we make it out alive?"

en	There was an incredulity to his voice that weighed on your heart. He was right. You nearly died.

en	Nearly - but you didn't. You were still alive. You were still here, with him.

en	"I don't think I care about the how or the why. We're still alive and they aren't."

en	"All that matters to me is that I'm sitting here with you. That I can feel how warm you are."

en	Joseph sat up at that, his head no longer on your shoulder as he turned to look at you.

en	Looking into your eyes.

en	You found your hand let go of his, reaching up. Wanting to feel him, feel his warmth, the way his stomach moved as he breathed.

en	His heart still beating strong inside him, like it was reaching out to you. Quickening as you let your hand lay on his chest.

en	You felt your own heartbeat thrumming louder now, like you had just minutes ago.

en	Not out of fear this time, not that kind, as you reached up past his shoulder.

en	He closed his eyes as your hand rubbed gently up his neck, feathers fluffing, stroking up till you cupped his face.

en	The feathers of his face were soft, intermingled with the dust and dirt, the specks of dried blood that you felt beneath your hand.

en	He opened his eyes again, those big honey gold and brown rings that started to flick around your features, studying you.

en	Looking at you in a way you don't think you ever have been before.

en	He cleared his throat a little, dry and unsure of his words, but wanting to say them all the same.

en	"Y'know ah didn't... I don't- did I ever tell you... how handsome you are?"

en	You couldn't help your little snort as you laughed, turning your face away, giggling over the nervous trip of his words.

en	"No, no, I don't think you did..."

en	"Aw, come on, $Player."

en	Looking back at him, it felt like your faces were closer. Your laughter subsided.

en	Cheeks starting to warm as the sweetness of his words trickled into your thoughts like honey.

en	You found yourself leaning in, slowly, slowly, as did he, your eyes glancing at each other's mouths.

en	The stretch of tension in your back as your head pushed forward had your hand, buried in the softness of his feathers, pulling him closer.

en	Eyes meeting once more, just a moment before...

en	Your faces met. You pressed your lips to the end of his beak, his hot breath on your lips, in your mouth, as yours was in his.

en	You held the kiss there, holding your lips to his, unsure if this was what you were supposed to do.

en	You'd never kissed anyone like this before. You hadn't met anyone like Joseph before either. You just want to be close to him like this.

en	Your heart was beating hard in your chest, your cheeks flushed and hot.

en	You heard what sounded like sweeping, realising it was your tail wagging across the floor.

en	A few more seconds passed before the kiss was broken, your hand falling from his face to hold onto his arm.

en	You looked at each other with quivering breaths. You could feel the strong rhythm of his heartbeat in your hand.

en	A big, gracious smile spread across Joseph's face. You matched it with a more sheepish one, embarrassed still despite everything.

en	"Guessin' you never kissed someone with a beak before?"

en	"Uh, no... no, I haven't. Or anyone without one for that matter..."

en	"Well, if that really was your first time ah got nothin' to complain about."

en	"I'd just say it was a very... mammal kiss."

en	"Oh really now? Do educate me."

en	"You have a lot of lip to it. Birds can't do that so well, y'see? So we tend to kiss a little differently."

en	Your face warmed even more, your ears burning as he leaned in closer, talking softly.

en	"Let me show you."

en	One hand came to rest on your leg as he leaned forward. His beak passed flush with your snout.

en	You closed your eyes as he came closer, the whispers of his breath warm on your face as the tip of his beak gently poked at your cheek.

en	He preened and rubbed his beak through your fur, almost nibbling at you, feeling soft scrapes against your skin.

en	Joseph's affections continued against your cheek, the feathers of his face close to your nose, smelling of sweat and tobacco.

en	He nuzzled through the fur of your face a few moments more, before rubbing his beak all along your snout as he dipped his head back.

en	You opened your eyes again, bemused by Joseph's new kiss, to gaze upon his bashful face.

en	From the blush of his cheeks and the unusual shyness he was trying to shrug off, you felt as if you'd been entrusted a secret.

en	"Wh... Whadda ya make of that?"

en	"Hmm... I think I liked mine better, but I could get used to those too."

en	He slipped an arm around your back, holding you closer as your heart fluttered at the thought of familiar kisses.

en	"Ah would be happy to oblige."

en	His face beamed with a warm smile, and he leaned forward to rest his head atops yours.

en	You reached your hand across him and grabbed his other hand, pulling it into his lap, keeping you all close like a bundle of sticks.

en	Letting your mind focus on him. Feeling his hand squeeze your side firmly, squeezing his other hand back.

en	Listening to his breathing, to the small shuffles of his clothes, to the faint beat of his heart in his chest.

en	Your ear flicked around a little as you heard something else, some subtle noise you wanted to ignore, focusing on the warmth of Joseph.

en	The fight in the street seemed to be over. No longer could you hear the muffled shots, the pops or bangs or cracks that split the air.

en	What you could hear now though were rhythmic thuds, distant and soft but growing louder by the second.

en	It was footsteps. First at the stairs, but now coming along the landing, coming closer.

en	You sat up sharply, knocking Joseph in the chin a little, as you heard one of the doors open, and then close.

en	Whoever it was was checking the rooms. Joseph sat up as he took note of the noises as well, realising the same as you.

en	Someone was looking for you, or at least, someone was looking for stragglers.

en	Your hand snapped to your gun and pulled it from the holster, aiming it square at the door.

en	You heard more doors open and close. Whoever it was would be here in just a few seconds.

en	The footsteps grew that little bit louder and you found something familiar within them.

en	There were four footsteps, two people, but there was another offbeat thump there, out of pace. A fifth footstep?

en	As the hunters came to the door you realised what it was, your hand coming down, pointing the gun away. Joseph whispered urgently.

en	"What are ya doing?"

en	It wasn't another footstep you heard. It was the thump of a cane.

en	The door swung open, with two figures standing in the doorway. A moment of uncertainty had you pointing the gun back their way.

en	You put it away again though as, sure enough, you saw who you were expecting.

en	It was Sheriff, along with a man unfamiliar to you, a lanky serious-looking hare who leaned in, still holding the door handle.

en	"Woah, put that thing away there, we don't mean you no harm."

en	Both of them had rifles slung over their shoulders, and Sheriff's worried face turned to one of relief when you met eyes.

en	"And there I was gettin' all twisted up worrying 'bout you two. I knew you'd be alright."

en	"Sheriff? What are you doin' here, ah thought everyone was outta town?"

en	"Well, everyone is, 'cept for us. Oh, I should introduce you, this is Matthew, he stayed behind to help me."

en	"I couldn't go with everyone else, I was worried 'bout the town and you boys... so Matthew and I stayed here to help however we could."

en	"We were up on the roof shooting as a distraction, I hope it was of some help."

en	"Wait that was you? I thought you were supposed to be pacifists."

en	"Well we didn't actually shoot anyone. We just shot near them, heh."

en	"Trying to tip the scales in your favour and give them something else to worry about."

en	"Looks like that made the saloon a bit of a target though, Bartholomew's not gonna be happy about this mess..."

en	"I'm sorry, we'll do whatever we can to help..."

en	Matthew waved it off cheerily.

en	"Don't worry, my husband's a very forgiving man, but this saloon is like his baby."

en	"He'll wanna know you're alright but after that he's just gonna wanna fix it up."

en	So this was the husband? You didn't think your first meeting with him would be... like this.

en	"Seems like you got banged up pretty bad too, I don't know if we shoulda done more..."

en	"No, I think you may well have saved our lives. We knew the danger of what we were doing."

en	"Thank you for helping us like that. You didn't have to."

en	"Yeah, thanks. We owe you one."

en	"Don't mention it, we'll ask for your help when you're better, but right now you need some seeing to."

en	"Lucky for you the town doctor's here."

en	"Where?"

en	"You're looking at him!"

en	"Ah, sorry."

en	"Nothing to apologise for. We've all had quite the day."

en	"What happened to everyone else?"

en	"We told 'em to leave. Their bosses are dead, and we said more people would be back soon too, none of 'em felt like sticking around."

en	"You're safe."

en	Inside yourself there was some deep sigh of relief you didn't realise you'd been holding onto, like you hadn't breathed right for days.

en	You nodded gratefully. Matthew came in to the room and started tending to Joseph first, looking over his injuries.

en	You were both hurt, and bruised, and bloody - but you were safe now.

en	You wondered how long it would be until you could believe that.

en	His hurt leg stretched out against the floor as he massaged the muscle gently, bringing the other closer out of the way.

en	"Leg's killing me, hah. Well, not really, thank God."

en	The bleeding looked like it had stopped thankfully, but it still needed tending to before it got worse.

en	Your ears flicked as you turned your head, and you felt the still air stinging against the exposed tip of your ear.

en	You reached up for a moment, feeling it, fingers running past the matted, sticky fur. The bleeding had stopped there too.

en	How were you supposed to feel when Curly's sitting behind a house, limp, body baking in the sun.

en	How were you supposed to feel with Black draped over a window, lifelessly hanging in the shade of the porch.

en	You couldn't shake the feeling of the glass pressed against your neck through your fur, cold against your skin.

en	Like it was still there. Like if you moved, in a second you'd find yourself gasping on the ground, drowning, grasping at your throat.

en	After he got comfortable he gingerly lifted a hand up to the long slash on his face.

en	He let out soft, short groans and noises as he tested the cut, checking how bad it was.

en	He pulled his hand away, rubbing his fingers together, inspecting the minimal blood he'd found.

en	"Not bleeding too much anymore... still hurts like hell though, ow."

en	You leaned forward a little to try look at him too, but got a harsh reminder as the cut in your side flared up.

en	"At least we'll have matching scars now."

en	Joseph looked at you, befuddled for a moment till he realised you meant the old scar over your own eye.

en	"Haha, well! Guess it must be fate. Can't complain 'bout that."

en	You smiled at the thought too, reaching your hand up a little to touch the slice in your side.

en	You were lucky. It had gone past the ribs, not through them. If he'd twisted the knife it might've been different.

en	Joseph reached up to his face again, still testing his eye.

en	"Hey stop that, you'll make it worse."

en	He put his hand down shyly, like a naughty kid caught in the act.

en	"Sorry, s'just hard to ignore..."

en	How were you supposed to feel with Black lying in the hills of the town, baking in the desert heat.

en	How were you supposed to feel when Curly was just a few steps outside the door, slumped against the wall.

en	You went over and over in your mind the knife against your arm, the strain as you fought against him.

en	You thought about how close you'd been to giving out, how close the blade had been, the cold metal threatening to spill your heart.

en	He sat awkwardly as he tried not to put any pressure on his shoulder. The red gash was painful just to look at.

en	"Shoulder hurts like a son of a gun, gah... least it's stopped bleeding by now."

en	"Yeah, mine kinda hurts still, probably not as bad as yours though. Suppose we should be lucky it wasn't worse."

en	"Ain't that the truth."

en	You gingerly touched the cuts on your face, checking over if they were still bleeding, how deep they'd gone.

en	Only a little blood came with your fingers, your face sore and raw, but you'd live. What's a few more scars?

en	How were you supposed to feel when Black is crumpled up by the well, desert heat drying the wet and stained sand.

en	How were you supposed to feel with Curly lying peacefully in the shade of the porch, windswept fur catching drips of red.

en	You thought about how helpless you'd been after Curly threw you. You wouldn't have been able to fight back.

en	You thought about his smugness as he came to step through the window. You thought about him walking over, boots clacking against the wood.

en	The cold metal of the gun through your fur as he stooped down to press it to your head.

en	He struggled to get comfortable as he sat, sitting up straight in an attempt to not move his stomach around too much.

en	"Ah know you said these cuts weren't too deep, but boy it doesn't feel like it."

en	"Stopped bleeding at least..."

en	You'd already checked it over, but you couldn't resist leaning to look at his stomach again, just to make sure he was alright.

en	You leaned back and tried to get comfortable too. Breathing through your mouth made your broken tooth hurt more, a cold soreness.

en	Breathing through your nose made it more bearable but you still had the pain in your jaw, throbbing.

en	You felt the deep bruises rising in your chest, and your back too, your ribs complaning if you shifted too much. Hopefully nothing was broken.

en	How were you supposed to feel with Curly lying in the midst of the houses, hidden from sight save for the midday sun.

en	How were you supposed to feel when Black is curled up downstairs, red stains mingling in the white of his clothes.

en	Your body was haunted with how you'd felt as you'd laid underneath him, pinned to the ground.

en	Dizzy and beaten, waiting for the final blows of the deep green glass, for it to crack against your skull till the light faded.

en	You're not sure if you knew back then, or when you realised, that you'd carry the scars from that day for the rest of your lives.

en	You and Joseph were put up in separate rooms at the saloon by Bartholomew, who insisted you stay so that Matthew could treat you both.

en	The month you spent resting and recovering there was full of sleepless nights. Nightmares came often, some more vivid than others.

en	You often woke in the early morning to find you and your bedsheets drenched in sweat. Some nights you were woken by Joseph shouting.

en	Those nights you'd sit up in bed, waiting for him to come into your room and crawl in, lying with him until he fell asleep.

en	Other nights, where you felt shaken and sick by what you dreamt about, you'd wake him asking if you could sleep in his bed.

en	Neither of you talked much otherwise. You kept to yourselves in your rooms, resting. Doctor's orders.

en	You weren't sure of their benefits, but Matthew brought you medicines occasionally, often some concoction involving whiskey.

en	He joked about the perks of having a bartender for a spouse. The taste was vile to you still, but you found it helped just a little.

en	It was odd, you thought, that the respite of bed rest felt like just as much work as being up and about at the camp.

en	It sometimes felt like resting was the last thing you were doing.

en	As the days rolled by, there did come the point you'd been waiting for, where you both were feeling fit enough to get up and do something.

en	You still kept to the saloon, only seeing a handful of familiar faces at odd times.

en	The saloon was already clean and mostly fixed up by the time you were recovered enough to lend a hand.

en	You felt like you'd missed your opportunity to help out, but Bartholomew assured you he'd need help when the new windows were to be fitted.

en	He'd also brought up that neither of you had joined in on the nightly gathering at the saloon.

en	That now you were better, everyone would love to see you.

en	You'd heard the gatherings all those nights you'd been resting. Attendance waxed and waned, but every night the saloon was bustling and merry.

en	Full of people enjoying each other's company, singing songs, telling stories.

en	The idea of being in the midst of that crowd put ice in your stomach.

en	Joseph happily agreed to come along to the next gathering, and so did you. You knew really that it would be good to be around people.

en	Now here you were. Standing in front of the window in your room, looking out, past the vague reflection of your face in the glass.

en	Night had fallen. Lights in houses down the street snuffed one by one as people left for the saloon, the downstairs filling with the town.

en	Already you could hear the muffled sounds of mingling, chatter, spatters of loud laughs that had grown familiar to you through the walls.

en	You kept looking out the window, into the dark desert, knowing that you'd have to move soon. Just waiting another second, another minute.

en	You had to go, go on, leave the room. A short sigh at yourself sent you off, walking across the room to meekly open the door.

en	You pulled it open just a crack, the warm lamp light in the saloon spilling in, and to your surprise you found Joseph standing there.

en	One hand raised about to knock on your door, he flashed you a little smile, clearly asking if he could come in.

en	You opened it just enough to let him in before closing it, leaning with your shoulder to the door as he stood close to you.

en	"Hey-"

en	"Hi."

en	Your greetings practically stumbled over each other, both clearly antsy, trying to get some words out.

en	"...Are you ready?"

en	You chewed the inside of your cheek a little as you thought. You wanted to be ready.

en	You wanted to go down and see the people who had cared for you. Joseph was here too. It would be fine.

en	"I'm not ready either, if it helps. Ah figure if we dilly-dally about it though we'll never be ready."

en	"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

en	You sighed and Joseph patted you on the shoulder, a little reassurance to get you going.

en	"Alright. Let's go have a good time."

en	"That's the spirit."

en	Joseph followed close behind as you opened the door wide and stepped out, eyes adjusting from the darkness of your room.

en	He closed the door as you left and you walked along the landing together, down the stairs, looking out over the disparate crowds.

en	Clemency was a small town, but with so many packed into here, it felt like even the busiest of bars you'd glanced inside of before.

en	As you neared the bottom of the stairs you heard a voice call out.

en	"$Player, Joseph, over here!"

en	You looked over at the bar and saw Bartholomew waving at you, his arm stuck up high to catch you over the taller patrons milling past.

en	It wasn't just him either, standing at the bar were other familiar faces you were happy to see, namely Jacob and Sheriff.

en	You took Joseph's hand and walked through with him, excusing your way past people to the bar.

en	Jacob and Sheriff sidled along to make some room between them, a friendly gap for you both to squeeze into.

en	"It's good to see you well again, $Player. I found myself rather worried after what happened..."

en	"I'm glad to see you too Jacob. I didn't lose another limb so I think I have nothing to complain about."

en	He gave you a gentle reassuring smile, seeming genuinely calmed by your jokey reassurance. Sheriff leaned in to address you both.

en	"It's good to see you both in good health, for sure, and you'll be in even better health with a drink down you."

en	"Bartholomew?"

en	"S'what I'm here for! On the house fellas, what're you drinking?"

en	"Damn, really? Y'sure? We've been takin' up yer rooms and now free drinks, you're really spoilin' us."

en	"You need something so we can toast to your health! Go on, take your pick."

en	"Ah, well... I think I'll just stick with a beer."

en	"Alrighty, how's about you $Player?"

en	"Hmm... can you do me a whiskey?"

en	You felt Joseph giving you a quizzical look, surprised you'd choose such a hard liquor.

en	"Sure thing! Let me get on those."

en	He turned and busied himself with finding what you'd ordered, and you looked at Joseph, his face still confused over your choice.

en	"What? I've acquired a bit of a taste for it."

en	"No, ah can respect it, just didn't see it being your kinda thing."

en	"I'm full of surprises, huh?"

en	"Sure are."

en	You felt a little blush rise to your cheeks as he gave you a wry smile.

en	Bartholomew set down a stout tumbler of whiskey alongside the beer on the counter.

en	You took your drinks as Sheriff started to speak.

en	"That's more like it. Now, a toast! To $Player and Joseph. You boys pulled off something incredibly brave, and I'm thankful you made it."

en	"Hear, hear."

en	You went round clinking glasses, with Jacob, Joseph, Sheriff, and Bartholomew, before taking a sip of your whiskey.

en	Before it even reached your lips the smell was burning in your nose, and continued to burn as it slipped down your throat.

en	It was a pleasant burn of sorts, though. You weren't sure if that was the way it was meant to be, but you enjoyed it all the same.

en	"So, boys. I don't know what your plans are, now you're all fixed up, but I thought I'd take the moment to ask if you'd like to stay in Clemency?"

en	"I really... think you'd fit in here. It's just an invitation mind you, no need to gimme an answer now, but- just think about it for me."

en	You and Joseph glanced eyes for a moment, both humbled and blindsided, unsure what to say.

en	Why did the question leave you gripping your glass, fidgeting your thumb over the rim. Wasn't this something you wanted?

en	"Thank you Sheriff, that's... a very kind offer."

en	"We'll have to sleep on it ah think."

en	"Not a problem. Just a suggestion really, don't mind me none."

en	"Truth be told ah can't say we have much in the way of plans as of now."

en	"Uh, yeah, no, I haven't- We've not really thought about what to do next."

en	That was the honest truth. All you'd focused on was getting away from Curly, out from under his shadow.

en	Now you were free, you could do anything - and yet could think of nothing.

en	A tightness took ahold in your chest.

en	"If it isn't my favourite patients!"

en	Matthew came wandering over to the bar and greeted you both with a beaming smile.

en	"Great to see you up and at it."

en	"All thanks to you, doc."

en	"Aw, you're too kind. I'll drink to that."

en	He took a swig of the beer he held, as did Joseph in kind.

en	"I'm setting up a poker game right now so thought I'd wander round and see who's game."

en	"I'll join in."

en	"Alrighty, I've already got another guy as well so just need at least one more person. You able to sneak away from the bar hon?"

en	He spoke past you to Bartholomew who rolled his eyes.

en	"I admire your tenacity Matthew, but I'm not gonna join in on your poker no matter how many times you ask."

en	"Alright, alright, can't blame a man for trying..."

en	Joseph caught your eye and gave you a look to ask "you mind if I go?", to which you just nudged him encouragingly with your elbow.

en	"I'm game, if yer prepared to lose."

en	"Oh that's fighting talk! I shoulda known you'd be up for it, come with me to the table."

en	Joseph gave your arm a gentle squeeze before he grabbed his beer, and headed with Sheriff towards the back of the saloon.

en	You watched him disappear in the throng of people before turning back to the bar, just left with Jacob and Bartholomew.

en	"Not a gambler then Jacob?"

en	"Oh, heavens, no."

en	"Not that I have any particular objection, I'm just terrible at it. I have to say my poker face is quite dire."

en	You chuckled at that, certainly seeing how it could be the case. Your eyes turned down to your drink, small talk dying away.

en	Staring into the clear liquid that streaked the glass as you rolled it around in your hand.

en	Were you a whiskey drinker now? You couldn't have foreseen that a month ago.

en	Nor could you have foreseen before that, that you'd meet Joseph. That you'd end up here, having left the gang, Curly gone.

en	Thinking back on it, it felt like you were always going to be under Curly's thumb. What else was there for you?

en	That was going to be your life until the tides of fate swept you elsewhere. You didn't think you'd ever have a chance like this.

en	Now you have the chance to choose your life, everything is still just as hazy. What comes next?

en	"I know that look."

en	You turned your eyes up to Bartholomew as he put his elbows on the bar, leaning in with a friendly, knowing demeanour.

en	"That's the face of someone with a lot going on in the upstairs. That or there's something very interesting at the bottom of that glass."

en	"You thinking about what Sheriff said?"

en	"Yeah, it's just... I don't know."

en	"What are your plans now?"

en	"You must have some idea of what you want to do."

en	"I... can't say I do, I've not. I've not thought about it I guess."

en	"You know, you don't have to stay in Clemency. You could go anywhere really!"

en	"Oh yes I would say I agree. Travelling is an incredible way to learn, and to discover what kind of man you are."

en	"What... kind of man?"

en	"Indeed. It is easy when young to think you know the world, think you know yourself well."

en	"That is what I thought before I went on my pilgrimage."

en	"The man who left Pennsylvania all those years ago is not the same man who arrived in Clemency."

en	"In fact the man who arrived in Clemency and the man sitting at this bar now are not the same either."

en	"Convening with your fellow people gives a great deal of clarity and substance to your character."

en	"I... think I see what you mean."

en	You knew what he meant, of course. You'd run with Curly for years now.

en	Who you were when you left home and who you are now are strangers to each other.

en	You weren't sure, if that person from years ago met you now, that you'd be someone you wanted to know.

en	"It's not just yourself either! You can learn a lot about someone else from travelling with them."

en	"Me and Matthew learnt so much about each other on the trail, both the good and the bad."

en	"I don't think you really know someone till you've had to share the same bed for weeks on end."

en	"It could be good for you and Joseph."

en	"... Maybe."

en	You could feel your cheeks turning red. Joseph had talked about riding east before, but that was more like running away at the time.

en	What Bartholomew said stuck in your head. Do you even know Joseph? Do you really know him?

en	You thought you did, but really, you've only just met. You don't really know that much about each other.

en	While you may feel things for him you never have anyone else, and you've gone through Hell and high water to be here together, is that enough?

en	Is that a reason to stick together? Do you want to know who he is, do you want him to know who you are?

en	You have no idea what the future holds. You have no idea about anything. You don't know Joseph.

en	He doesn't know you either. You don't even know yourself.

en	Tar was welling up in your chest, coating your insides, making you heavy. Breathing deep, tapping your fingers on the bar.

en	It's too warm in here, too many people. You need some air.

en	"You feeling alright, $Player?"

en	His words snapped you out of your thoughts, but the feelings remained. You nodded subtly.

en	"Yeah, uh. I think I'm gonna go outside, get some air."

en	Giving them both a weak smile of reassurance, you left your drink on the bar and stepped away, passing strangers to head out the doors.

en	The night air was refreshing as it cooled your head. You welcomed the chill breeze from the desert that ruffled through your fur.

en	You didn't hang around long on the saloon porch, walking away into the town, leaving behind the yellow light that spilled from its windows.

en	You left the town too, past the sign that read its name, making your way up a path at the outskirts that brought back forlorn memories.

en	Memories of feelings not unlike the ones you were harboring now, as you stood at the top of your climb, on a familiar cliff.

en	You took slow, deep breaths of the night air, filling your lungs, clearing your head.

en	You wandered over to the cliff edge and gazed over the town, the light of the saloon stark against the inky dark.

en	The desert was quiet save for the whistle of wind carrying the chirp of insects.

en	You crouched down and fell on your haunches, sitting and letting your legs hang over the edge of the cliff.

en	It was funny to think how many life changing things had happened to you up here.

en	Meeting Joseph. Spending the night with him. Sowing the seeds of your plans to be free.

en	Was there some comfort to being up here, perhaps. Fond and fresh memories that calmed you. Reminding you why you were here.

en	Still there was a gnawing feeling on your heart no matter how much you hoped for there not to be.

en	Why are you feeling like this? Why are you so worried, why are you so scared, what's wrong with you?

en	Shouldn't this freedom you have now be a good thing? Why does it feel like everything is about to come crashing down around your ears?

en	What about Joseph? Sweet Joseph, that you made a promise with.

en	You let out a heavy sigh. You didn't expect to be weighed down with so many thoughts tonight. This was supposed to be a celebration.

en	Now you were up here, away from everyone, many contradictions running through your mind.

en	That's always been your answer to things. Running away. The only time you didn't was because of that promise.

en	How stupid can you be to choose to fight, and then want to run away from everything you were fighting for.

en	You'd probably run away from yourself if you could.

en	You just wish you could answer why.

en	You sat for a little while. The wind up here was still a pleasant breeze.

en	It blew past your head, cooling your warm ears, taking small grains of sand with it that floated off the cliff.

en	Not thinking about much at all as you looked out into the night, at the distant, dark blue silhouettes of hills.

en	"Howdy, stranger. What brings you out here?"

en	You were drawn from your trance by Joseph's voice all of a sudden. You were so out of it you hadn't even heard him approach.

en	You turned and looked up at him. He was standing a few paces away, his beer in one hand, your whiskey in the other.

en	"Mind if ah join you?"

en	You nodded at the ground, letting him know he could come sit.

en	He walked over and lowered himself carefully to sit next to you, keeping the drinks steady.

en	He held your whiskey glass out to you by his fingers, and you took it as he put it on your palm.

en	"Thanks."

en	"No problem."

en	"So like ah said, what brings you out here?"

en	You absentmindedly scratched the side of your glass with a blunt claw as you thought of your answer.

en	"I just... needed some air."

en	"Yeah, it was a lil' stuffy in that saloon. If ya ask me we did Bartholomew a favour breaking some windows. Air out the place."

en	You giggled a little at that. He was good at making you feel better.

en	"How are you always so charming? It seems to come so easy to you."

en	He looked a little bashful at that comment, scratching his head, unsure what to say.

en	"Uh, I don't know. Ah just... picked it up over time I guess. Helps get you out of fights and whatnot."

en	"Yeah... that makes sense."

en	"... You feeling alright? Didn't say anything when you left."

en	"Sorry, I didn't wanna bother you during your poker game."

en	You thought about what you wanted to say, but so many things vied for your tongue, everything swelling up inside you, chest fit to burst.

en	You didn't know if you could admit how you were feeling to him. It almost felt too personal, it felt wrong, it felt harsh.

en	"I feel... strange. That's the simplest way I can put it."

en	He looked at you a moment, eyebrow cocked, unimpressed.

en	"Lay it on me."

en	"Huh?"

en	"Lay it on me! Ah wanna know what you're thinkin', I know you've got stuff on your mind you ain't telling me."

en	You blew through your lips with a sigh, thinking about whether you should. He was right after all.

en	You don't have to hide how you feel anymore. If you were honest you didn't want to keep hiding it.

en	"I'm scared, I guess. I don't know what the Hell I'm supposed to be doing, what I'm going to do next."

en	"Everyone at the saloon was asking us about plans and I realised I don't have any. I didn't think that far ahead."

en	"Now we're here I don't know what to do."

en	"I feel like an animal that's been let out of its cage and gotten lost in the wilderness."

en	"But what are ya scared of? What's the worst that could happen?"

en	"I don't know! That's why I'm scared! What if I do the wrong thing, make the wrong decision?"

en	"What if I decide to settle down in Clemency like Sheriff said, and I don't like it. Where would I go?"

en	"I've had so much of my life... wasted running with Curly."

en	"I don't wanna lose more of it to bad decisions. I've made too many of those."

en	"I don't wanna waste my life either. We can make those choices together now, though. We can turn over a new leaf."

en	"I know we could but... I'm worried about you too."

en	"I was talking with Jacob and Bartholomew and I realised I don't know you. I don't know anything about you."

en	"You don't know me either."

en	Joseph's face was solemn. He just stared into your eyes, like he was trying to unpick some meaning from your expression.

en	"I've done horrible things Joseph."

en	"So have I."

en	"I don't know that I like the person I've become after Curly. I don't trust myself."

en	"You did what ya needed to stay alive. You don't have to like it."

en	You were growing frustrated with his rebuttals, like he wasn't listening to you. You twisted your body round, one leg up, facing him head on.

en	"I love you. And I'm scared of hurting you."

en	"I'm scared that the man who could hurt Curly is the same man that could hurt you."

en	"I'm scared that if we really knew each other, we wouldn't be here in the first place."

en	The wind whistled in your ears. Joseph's face was still, eyes squinted a little, contemplating your words.

en	A few moments passed before he opened his beak to speak.

en	"I love you too. And I'm not scared of you."

en	"I wanna find out who you are, and hope ah have the courage to let you find out who I am."

en	"I'm scared as all hell too. Ah know what you mean, now that I'm free of the gang, I don't know what to do with myself."

en	"All I know is I wanna be with you. Maybe we'll make bad choices, but who cares?"

en	"You helped show me ah don't have to live my life in fear, $Player."

en	"I think if we're scared it means we have our heads screwed on right, but it doesn't hafta stop us from livin'."

en	"We can make whatever mistakes we want. We can stay in Clemency forever, we can go travelling the country, I don't give a hoot."

en	"Tonight ain't the night to worry about the rest of your life."

en	"Whatever happens to us, if I can kiss yer face at the end of the day, then everything will be alright."

en	A great wave of relief washed over you as Joseph spoke. You didn't realise how much you'd needed to hear that from him.

en	"A kiss and a prayer?"

en	He laughed.

en	"Yeah. On a kiss and a prayer, we'll be just fine."

en	"Story of our lives, huh."

en	He leaned in and pecked you on the cheek, bringing a blush of warmth to them that even the night breeze could not cool.

en	"Seems pretty good to me."

en	"Now come on, let's get on back down there and have a good time."

en	"Ah think someone said they were gonna dust off that ol' piano and play us all a tune."

en	He made to stand up but you reached out, placing your hand over his.

en	"Wait."

en	"Is it alright if we just sit here a little longer? Then we can go down."

en	"It's a nice night is all."

en	He smiled, eyes softly tilting to the sky, looking to the stars.

en	"Sure is. You wanna stay here a spell, that's just fine by me."

en	As he settled back down he scooted over closer to you, shoulder to shoulder, and you tilted your head to rest on him.

en	You slipped your hand into his, and he held yours tightly, squeezing back between your fingers.

en	The night may be cold, but he was all the warmth you'd need.

en	You've spent so long looking out for yourself, looking out for people who didn't care about you.

en	Now you can look out for each other.

en	That's the end, thank you for playing Lookouts!

en	This has been a huge project for both of us and we're super proud and happy we've been able to share it with you after so long.

en	If you enjoyed the game, please leave a comment or rating on GameJolt, twitter, whatever! We love hearing from people about their time with the game.

en	If you enjoyed the game, please leave a comment or rating on itchio, twitter, whatever! We love hearing from people about their time with the game.

en	If you'd like to support us so we can keep making games, you should check out the paid Gold Edition. It's only £5/$6.50 on GameJolt!

en	If you'd like to support us so we can keep making games, you should check out the paid Gold Edition. It's only £5/$6.50 on itchio!

en	The Gold Edition comes with a bunch of stuff like the full soundtrack, loads of original art and doodles, wallpapers for desktop and mobile, and a development artbook!

en	Once again thank you for playing, from the bottom of our hearts. You can click the button that'll pop up on the next screen to restart the game.

en	<3 Col and Hawky

en	To The Start

en	Woah! You found us!

en	Whoa! Good job!

en	This is our humble little room where we made the game.

en	Or something like it at least.

en	Welcome to our twisted mind palace >:))

en	You can click around and check things out! Clickity click!

en	Just please don't tell Bart we're in here.

en	Yeah please don't tell Bart.

en	please please please please please please

en	Huh, looks a lil sus.

en	Oh it'sa the big dumpy. The amogus pillow my beloved.

en	Or your beloved I guess.

en	Saves me from gamer back because I just work from my bed!

en	You fell asleep on this thing so many times sdgjsdgosdjdfh

en	At uni I would fall asleep on this upright with my laptop open.

en	And when I woke up I'd go straight back to work!

en	Uni was very healthy for us. Not really obviously, fuck uni.

en	Yeah, fuck uni.

en	handshake meme but its me and you and bad unis that fucked us up

en	Col got this little Apollo figurine for me off ebay and I treasure it with my life :pleading:

en	It's some sort of Japanese blind box or smth?? That the ebay seller had imported, it seemed quite lucky to find.

en	We tried getting smth like this when I was a kid but they never arrived :((

en	I live vicariously through you, brother.

en	And now my bird husband sits on my shelf :)

en	I think an ex gave me this?

en	I stopped talking to them bc they were annoying and kept getting crumbs all over my bed like a caveman.

en	But I could never stop talking to Blahaj :))

en	It's just another comfy friend. Gay people love blahaj we know this.

en	Hey Hawky how many rams does your pc have

en	Idk but a few months after I first got this computer literally all the ram died and I had to send it back to get fixed LOL

en	This was the computer I spent most of Lookouts development on, where it all started. It's been through a lot with me, I got it when I was 16.

en	When I was in primary school there was a joke where kids would ask you if you had a pc and if you said yes they'd laugh at you and say "plastic cock".

en	Yeah that was not a thing anywhere else your classmates were just like that i guess

en	I fully thought this was a universal kinda thing but no, only Colin.

en	Col had so much cream soda in his room oh my god.

en	I love Barr brand cream soda so much and my mum is worried.

en	You left the window open at night to keep it cool because Scotland is just like that.

en	But it meant I was always cold too ;v;

en	Put a jumper on, I'm not having a warm sodie pop.

en	It is very good though......

en	Creamy Creamy Creamy Creamy Creamy Creamy Creamy MMM SO GOOD!

en	This poster's the bane of my life but I can't do anything about it.

en	It just hangs on my wall being cringe and impossible to avoid in any photos of my bedroom.

en	My boyfriend makes fun of me for it all the time asdgjisodgjo

en	I pointed at this and laughed in Hawky's face when I saw it too.

en	I never asked for it!!

en	Get a new poster, cringeass!!!

en	This is maybe the least cringe thing I own?

en	It's one of those This is Fine dog plush toys they made for a while.

en	K.C. Green is cool, they responded to an email I sent them about one of their comics a while ago haha.

en	Wait what, what did they say??

en	I asked about the ambiguous gender of a character in one of their comics and they responded that they were indeed a non-binary character, so that was cool!

en	He was very very nice with his response ;v;

en	Chad.

en	Grrrrrrr

en	Oh hello Frankie!!

en	This is my dog!! He's such a good and sweet boy!

en	He's a good boy who growls at everyone but not aggressively. It's like purring or something.

en	He's just a weirdo.

en	Yeah he's craaaaaazy. Love him!

en	*He's wagging his tail now but is still growling*

en	This is my big wife!

en	I love her so much.

en	The big garf wife that sits on your bed.

en	She watches me sleep!

en	I rested my head on it a lot during the end of development when sitting on your bed lol

en	Where did you get the big garfield again?

en	I got my wife on ebay like any normal person does

en	(Wif)ebay

en	Ebay is good fuck amazon lol amazon got no bitches

en	I uh, really like vintage garfields...

en	During the pandemic I had a phase of bidding on them on Ebay because they're so cheap.

en	Honestly I couldn't bring myself to draw as many as I actually have, I have 5 industrial sized boxes of vintage garf plushies alone.

en	There's lots on the shelf at my home too. Nowhere escapes them. Not that I'm complaining.

en	Oh my god I left Daddy Cool Garfield at your house!!!! Noooooooo!!!!!!!

en	I bought a big bottle of Irn Bru but despite being Scottish no one in Col's family likes it so I had to drink the whole thing myself.

en	All part of the plan B)

en	Tastes like blood...

en	This is another little figurine of mine, it's Jotaro Kujo. I... don't even remember where I got it in the first place.

en	It might've been one of the few anime cons I went to in The Before Times.

en	I went to an anime con once and someone dressed as the weird chef from danganronpa stole my partner so I've never been back out of spite.

en	I have however convinced Col to start watching Jojo, we've almost finished part 5 as of time of writing.

en	I don't watch much anime but I gotta say... these bitches gay! Good for them!

en	I tried sitting in this chair at the desk but it's such fucking hard wood even with a cushion on it my ass hurt after a couple of hours.

en	We had an actual desk chair before I moved out for uni and they replaced it because it "didn't go with the decor".

en	WHAT

en	And now we can't afford a new desk chair :((

en	Every purchase of Lookouts: Gold Edition brings me one step closer to having an actual desk chair, please, in this time of need, think of Hawky's ass <3

en	I used to smoke cigarettes but Hawky made me stop because it "is bad for me" or something.

en	So now I blow vape puff puffs in his eyes.

en	Ah my eyes! They're so minty!

en	My child, it's time for me to take a fat rip!

en	There's always a tangle of wires by Col's bed. It's like a snake pit.

en	I need all these wires for my funny little devices!

en	Like my laptop and my phone and to charge the tiny vacuum to clean up all the fucking hair I shed.

en	There was one casualty of the wires when he spilt a mug of coffee on the carpet lmao

en	I soaked it all up and hoped to GOD your mum did not notice.

en	Tbf you did get all of it, I can't see where it happened at all. Cleaner skills.

en	Working a summer as a cleaner at [REDACTED] really came in clutch! Even if they did take away our water because we didn't work fast enough.

en	I've heard your horror stories about that place so many times but they never stop being fucked up.

en	Being a furry artist on funni game projects with my best bro keeps me out of working at [REDACTED], so thank you! The person reading this right now!

en	Yes, thank you!

en	Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you

en	Oh going so soon? Well thanks for stopping by.

en	Yeah tysm! We love having people round, just don't tell Bart!

en	Don't tell me what now?

en	Gasp!

en	Wh- what's- You two again? Get outta here! Go on, scram!

en	Ok byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

en	...

en	Well.

en	I think we can both agree that was a lil' strange. I don't know how those two got into my store room or... what all these knicknacks are.

en	Let's just get back to where we were and not talk about this again, shall we? Our little secret.

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en	OK

en	Get me outta here!!!!!

en	Credits\n\n<size=12>Programming and Narrative - Hawky <link="https://twitter.com/ParanoidHawk">@ParanoidHawk</link>\n\nArt and Character Design - Colin <link="https://twitter.com/Coldoggo">@Coldoggo</link>\n\nMusic - Jamie <link="https://twitter.com/fakegamercomics">@fakegamercomics</link>\n\nSound effects:\nFree sound effects from <link="https://www.fesliyanstudios.com">fesliyanstudios.com</link>\nStill North Media\nFreesound.org users:\nIanM_56\nkangaroovindaloo\nTRP\nUnderlinedDesigns\n\nOur wonderful beta testers:\nMike <link="https://twitter.com/Nenekiri_Dragon">@Nenekiri_Dragon</link>\nClawe <link="https://twitter.com/clawepolish">@clawepolish</link>\nBasil <link="https://twitter.com/BasilKuna">@BasilKuna</link>\nMint <link="https://twitter.com/jellicores">@jellicores</link>\nGunsparce <link="https://twitter.com/actuallyagun">@actuallyagun</link>\n\nAll our love to our friends and family and partners who supported us and made it possible for us to make this gay little game. You mean the world to us <3</size>

en	You've got the {0} and {1}, making your total {2}.

en	A natural!

en	Dealer's face up card is the {0}, making his current total {1}.

en	You draw the {0}.

en	Total is now {0}.

en	making his total {0}.

en	Push! No one wins, go again.

en	Dealer's bust! You win this round.

en	Your total is higher! You win this round.

en	You're bust! Dealer wins this round.

en	Dealer's total is higher! Dealer wins this round.

en	Ran out of cards... Joseph quickly shuffles the discard pile back into the deck.

en	ace of diamonds

en	two of diamonds

en	three of diamonds

en	four of diamonds

en	five of diamonds

en	six of diamonds

en	seven of diamonds

en	eight of diamonds

en	nine of diamonds

en	ten of diamonds

en	jack of diamonds

en	queen of diamonds

en	king of diamonds

en	ace of hearts

en	two of hearts

en	three of hearts

en	four of hearts

en	five of hearts

en	six of hearts

en	seven of hearts

en	eight of hearts

en	nine of hearts

en	ten of hearts

en	jack of hearts

en	queen of hearts

en	king of hearts

en	ace of clubs

en	two of clubs

en	three of clubs

en	four of clubs

en	five of clubs

en	six of clubs

en	seven of clubs

en	eight of clubs

en	nine of clubs

en	ten of clubs

en	jack of clubs

en	queen of clubs

en	king of clubs

en	ace of spades

en	two of spades

en	three of spades

en	four of spades

en	five of spades

en	six of spades

en	seven of spades

en	eight of spades

en	nine of spades

en	ten of spades

en	jack of spades

en	queen of spades