Don't go into town tonight (Reina X Alisa Perne)

[Alisa_Perne]

The song that inspired this roleplay.


Smoke billowed up from under the brim of her hat as she struck a match and lit her cigar. Sonia took a puff and exhaled. The noises from the bar rushed to her ears as she walked inside, four man poker game to her left and the usual songs being played on the piano. She walked over to the bar and sat down taking another puff of her cigar. As if on que the bartender pulled out a bottle of whiskey for her, and poured her a glass. She pulled out a few gold coins from her satchel and sat them on the bar. "Leave the bottle." she said in her feminine yet somehow raspy and deep voice. The bartender nodded and walked away. Two months, every day, two months she had came to this bar. Her secret was safe here. She was an outlaw, turned bounty hunter. The fiercest and quickest gun in the west. Thousands had died by her wicked hands. The moment she had to go and hunt down a entire gang of bandits, something she could easily do, her hands were steady, her fingers were skilled and her eyes were sharp. She could gun down six men before a shot was fired. She hunted them down to the last, and found the leader, at the end of her Colt. Only their leader was her father. He went for his gun, she went for hers, he was laid out before his gun left his holster. She turned in her badge and quit that day. She had killed her own father after believing the stories her mother told that he had died when bandits attacked their ranch, and he had died defending his family. She had lied to Sonia, all the way to her death bed, her father was a wicked man indeed. Body count in the hundreds, him and his gang had killed whole towns.


Sonia took another puff as she stared at the glass of whiskey, and hoped to once again, spend another day drowning her sorrows. Another day silently sulking at the bar, and trying to drink herself to death. Of course that fool of a man the sheriff would never let her get into any sort of trouble. He knew her secret and kept a close watch on her. Any man that looked like he would draw a gun or raise a hand to her, found himself cuffed and in jail. Not because Sonia was incapable of defending herself, but because she vowed to never take another mans life unless in self defense, and even then, on some days she thought about falling on the six inch bowie she carried with her. She carried a knife and not a gun. If you thought she would be a fool you were wrong. The sheriff also knew that Sonia was keeping her identity a secret, if she killed or even fought, she would be recognized, her unparalleled skill with blades and gun were well known, her face, not so much.


She lost herself in the background noise, "Fifty of 'em swear to god." a man said, "She hunted them down and gunned down the whole gang, and when she found Billy The Kid, he surrendered, he laid down his gun and got on his knees. She blew his god damned brains out, and you know what she said." the old man said to his younger compatriots as they played poker, "What'd she say?" one asked, "Go to hell. BOOM! Fuckin Billy's brains all over the place. Then she disappeared." he said, "Some say she killed herself, some say she bought a ranch in the middle of nowhere and she shoots anyone that gets within a mile, but I think she is hold up in some little town somewhere." Sonia smirked and thought, If he only knew how right he was, if he only knew that the bandit slayer was a stones throw away from him.

 

[Reina]

Terrence Cassidy was the town sheriff, and a great one at that. Quick to stop crime but also quick to join the locals at the saloon for a drink. He always had his hat low so you couldn't see his eyes. Armed with his trusty 45-70 Govt. caliber revolving repeater, his sidearms, and a glance that could kill made sure no one crossed him or his acquaintances. The word acquaintance seems more useful in his situation since he isn't allowed to have favorites. However, he wasn't without the ones he enjoyed spending time around. Among them was the town clowns who always spread rumors at the saloon and a new person that just recently came to town. He pulled his hat down while riding his horse. "Hmm, just Sonia huh? I don't know if i like that, but she pays me enough to keep my mouth shut, so i don't really care. As long as she don't cause trouble then i don't care what she goes by." He mumbled to himself as his horse rode up towards the saloon. He got down off the horse with a loud thud, and the clink of his prodders made it obvious the sheriff was around.

He pushed the Saloon doors open and all went quiet. He hated quiet. "The fuck you all looking at? Someone got a problem? Get back to drinkin and fucking. Just don't cause trouble!" The bar erupted in laughter and Terrence followed suit. He loved how much the townsfolk liked him, and he wasn't one to turn down a good ice breaker. He walked over toward the rowdy bunch that were spreading rumors about his newfound friend. He slammed his hand on the table and they all jumped. The dopey one stared. "S-sheriff when did you come in?" Terrence answered. "Oh...you somehow didn't hear me yelling at everyone huh? Get yer ears checked, they obviously don't work. Now pipe down with your rumors, you never know who is around. Might be starting trouble unintentionally. And i ain't got time for that bullshit." He tipped his hat and headed towards the bar. He popped a seat next to his new acquaintance and bidded her a howdy by tipping his hat.

"Good afternoon there. Same bottle of whiskey as always? Youd think you were damn near immune to it by now." The barkeep approached the sheriff and asked what he would like. "I think ill just have the same thing she's having." He fished a few coins out and patted them down like his neighbor did prior. "Leave the bottle. I'll be here for a while."

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"Sherrif." Sonia said, "Taken a liking to strange company have you?" A smile crested her hardened face, "Terrance's cattle got out again this morning." she said pouring herself a shot, "Offered him a hand since my place is a stones throw away but he said he would have em rustled by noon, still out there grazing." she took the shot, "Would be a mighty big shame if some rustlers took his cattle, just out there in the open like that." Poured another. "Reckon you can send some of your boys out there to give old man Terrance a hand? I'd say we could go our selves but." she took the shot, "Seems we have gotten ourselves into a bottle."

One of the town drunks stumbled up to the bar, he reeked of alcohol and sweat, "Hey there." *hic* "Beautiful, what sayn men you..." *hic* "Head upstairs to a room and...." His last words were a gasp as her knife was drawn in a flash and the point aimed at the mans stomach.

"What say you watch where you stand." she said, "Lest I gut you where you stand and make you watch me finish my drink while you bleed out like a stuck pig."

"Hey hey whoa, were all friends here." *hic* He ordered a drink and left.

 

[Reina]

Terrence took his shot and winced, like he always did. "Well i reckon i have taken a liking to you odd lot. I can't say you are all bad though. You don't cause trouble, and that's the best kind of company." He smiled and poured himself another shot. "Yeah i can have the deputies go help the old man out. Christ that man is always having trouble with them cattle. It's like he's too old or something. Heh." When the drunk stumbled up he rolled his eyes and turned to face the altercation. He grumbled to himself. "I fucking hate this guy, always smells bad and always after the bar escorts, but he aint never got enough money to back his mouth up."

He let the drunk go when he wandered off and he turned back towards Sonia. "You know, just cause i like you dont mean i won't throw your ass in the slammer for being so uppity. Don't go guttin my guys, can't have that happenin. But if he causes trouble again just chill out and i'll take care of it. Got it?" Terrence turned back towards his drink and downed another. He put his hat on the bar and let his long black hair flow. It was rare, but he did take his hat off every now and then.

"So what are your plans for today Sonia?"

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"Finish this bottle." she said, "Reckon I may need to go huntin' this evening, racoons got into my smoke house and I am damn near out of meat. You bet your ass I am smoking me some racoon though." she said with a chuckle, "Needless to say, six of the little bandits are skinned, gutted, and hangin up." she took a puff of her cigar, "Care to join me this evening? Gunna do some hunting and check out the old pass, saw some smoke comin up there the other day, wonderin' if someones campin there or if we might have some trouble headed our way." she poured herself another shot and slid the glass over to the sherrif, "Go 'head sheriff, this ones on me."

 

[Reina]

"Preciate you." Terrence said as he downed his third shot. "Even though i already bought a bottle huh? Let me grab my deputies and we can see what's going on. Not really something i want to take on with the two of us." He pushed the bottle away from himself and stood up. "I need to get ready then. Meet me at the center of town in two hours. Don't get to hammered before then." Terrence patted Sonia on the shoulder and placed his hat back on his head. "See you soon." He made his exit from the saloon with bidding everyone a farewell and hoping they have a decent day. Terrence climbed back on his horse and headed back to the sheriff's office to prepare for their little adventure.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

Sonia pounded her last shot, and grabbed the bottle and sat it on the poker table, where the drunken man who had accosted her was sitting, "Have a good day boys, no hard feelings." she said and winked at the man to show she shared no animosity. She walked out to her horse where her pistol belt was and her rifle was holstered, she only carried guns when hunting or when she was sure trouble was afoot, unlike everyone else, her guns stayed far away from her when it was necessary. She shouldered her rifle, put her pistol belt on and glanced over her shoulder, making sure no one was around, she pulled both pistols out, they were as black as the night sky, from tip of barrel to the grain work on the handles. She spun them a few times, then holstered them before pulling one out and making sure they were loaded, a few more spins and a glance at the clock above the church told her she had about an hour to kill. She fished another cigar out of her saddle bag and lit it before hopping onto her horse and riding over to the center of town, she simply sat and waited and watched the occupants of the town go about their daily lives.

 

[Reina]

Terrence got to his office and the deputies were sitting around fucking off, as per usual. "Saddle up cunts, we have some work to do." He said while he slapped Clark's feet off the table. "And if come back in one more time and you boys aint doin something, your ass gonna be fired." He puffed his cheeks and grabbed his gear from his locker. Two pistols and his trusty repeater.

The boys all headed out towards their horses and galloped off towards the center of town. They saw sonia in the distance and slowed to a trot when approaching her. "Howdy darlin, you ready to show us where all this commotion is?" He said with a faint smile on his face, happy to see his new friend again. He puffed on his cigarette and then threw it on the ground. "Cause im ready if you are." He tilted the brim of his hat to cover his eyes more and shouldered his rifle before pulling his horse to a complete stop. Waiting for Sonia to spill the beans about what she knew.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"Sure Sheriff." she said, "So like I said, its at the old mining pass thats abandoned now, four days in a row I've seen smoke comin from there, its about half a mile from my place, figured we could cut our time in half if we crossed the river just west of town here, that way we can approach the pass without bein' seen." she took a drag of her cigar, "But you're the law sheriff, that's just my two cents, you make the call."

 

[Reina]

Terrence thought to himself for a few minutes. "Well little lady. I dont know they layout like you do. So why don't we just do what you think is best?" He tipped his hat towards her and then looked over towards his deputies. "Get ready, you are gonna take orders from her this time. Don't like it? Too bad."

"Alright, we will follow you. Lead on."

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"This way." Sonia said and lead them out of town, she moved at a slow trot, and then once they were out of town she moved to a gallop, they got to the river and stopped for a second, "Alright, we cross here, its only about two feet so no swift under current, then we head north, we can get to the cliffs and hug the wall, that way whoever is in the pass wont see us coming, there is a hill about a hundred yards away from the pass so if we cut hard left once we get there we can get to it and not be seen, lets ride." she said as she spurred the horse and they took off into the water, riding through it effortlessly as it was not very deep. An hour of riding later they were at the base of the cliff that lined the pass. She got off her horse, "Alright, lets leave the horses here, we can leg it the next few hundred yards." she pointed to the left, "Hill is over there, swing wide and we can get to it without being seen." she pulled binoculars out of her saddle bag and hung them around her neck. "Lets move, nobody shoot, alright, if they look friendly, I'll go say howdy, if they don't, we can all go say howdy." she said smiling.

 

[Reina]

Terrence agreed with how she wanted to approach the situation. "Alright, you heard her boys, we are going to try and resolve this without anything being uppity, which is my favorite way of handling stuff in this town." He pulled his mares reins towards the side so he could face his two deputies better. "You two stay behind me since you like to make a ton of noise, and ill stay right on her ass. No one dies if we can help it. Jail, maybe, but no death. Now, off the horses." He said before he climbed down off of his horse and the clang of his spurs broke the silence that had followed his sentence.

"Clark you tail Moe, and Moe you...try to shut the fuck up and be quiet for once in your life." Moe tried to fight back but Terrence shushed him and they all headed out. The air was thick and Terrence didn't like it. You could hear hootin and hollerin from over yonder that sounded like a band of rowdy boys, stirring up trouble as they normally did. Terrence mumbled to himself behind Sonia. "I don't like the feel of this place."

His hair stood up and he readied his guns, hoping he didn't have to use them and needing to use them were in two different realms of reality. He was a keeper of peace, but he wasn't going to die in a random field to some shabby hillbillies if he had any say in the matter. He steadied his breathing and followed suit. Soon they came upon a camp that had just a few individuals in it. Probably no more than five guys. But they were all around their fire, talking about what wagon they were going to hit and how to split the innerd of it when they busted the merchant chests open. It's insane to think no one had reported this yet, but it looks like whoever they ran into didnt see the next day. So how could anyone report it if they were dead?

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"Sherriff, these are some bad men." Sonia whispered, "These ain't the kind o men who are gunna just put out their arms, listen to a little sweet talk and let ya cuff em." Sonia put out her cigar on the side of her boot and put the stub into her satchel. "I used to run with their kind and the likes o robbers and thieves, let me try talkin to em, very least they get distracted and you three can flank em." Sonia didn't really wait for the sheriff's reply as she headed off, not bothering sneaking, she didn't want to appear suspicious.

She walked straight up to the camp. "Evening gentlemen." She said, "Beautiful day innit?" she pulled out her cigar and lit it by striking a match on the butt of her pistol.

"Yup." one of them said as he stood and drew his pistol and pointed it at Sonia, "Be even more beautiful if you just walked away, so me'n my pals here don't have to bury you in a shallow grave after I put a bullet in your skull."

"Easy now." Sonia said putting one hand up, but keeping the other at her side, "Don't want no trouble now, I live about a mile that way." she pointed towards her house, "Just comin to see whos out on my land is all. You boys passin through?"

"Passin right into town tomorrow, gunna rob the bank and shoot anyone in our way." another gentlemen said.

"Well god dammit Ronnie, now we gotta kill her." a fat man said standing up and drawing his gun, two guns pointed at her now. "You fuckin told her the whole plan, we let her live and...." That was all the confirmation needed, in a flash her pistol was drawn and she shot the gun out of the fat mans hand.

"Kill that bitch!" that was it, she gunned them all down before the one man who had his gun out was able to fire, and before the others had even drawn their pistols. They all fell down to the ground, dead. She started kicking the nearby man, "I....was....gunna...let...you....live!" she kept kicking him, "Stupid sonofabitch!" she was mad, not at them for trying to kill her but because she had to kill them. "God dammit."

 

[Reina]

Terrence watched the whole situation go down and he simply pinched the bride of his nose in frustration. "Fuck man, it's gonna be hard to keep you a secret if you keep going around dropping everyone who has bad intentions. I could have stopped these guys, their guns were not even loaded. They were probably just bluffing so you would go away." He sighed heavily and looked over towards his deputies. "Grab a shovel, we can't just leave these guys here. Bandits or not, everyone deserves a proper burial." He looked over towards Sonia who was kicking the body.

"That is quite enough now. You too. Grab a shovel. You did this, so you can help clean up the mess that it made. Put out their fire and pick up their weapons. Might as well sell them in town." Terrence started digging a few graves to hold all the poor bastards that Sonia had taken down. He sighed heavily as he was digging. "I know why you acted that way, but you have to learn that there are other ways. Not saying i wouldn't have done the same thing, but jesus we gotta calm you down." He put a hand on her shoulder and patted her a few times.

"That being said, sheriff scolding over, good job. I don't think these guys would have gone quietly anyway. So from that aspect, you did good. Now lets get this taken care of so we can get back to the bar and have another drink. Maybe i'll nab me one of them bar hookers tonight." Terrence laughed at himself. "Yeah right, those girls seen to much action for my taste. Ill just drink and crash, like i always do." He looked over at the deputies who were done digging since they hadn't been talking. "Alright boys, you can have some extra pay today. I dont give a shit how you use it, but i better see your ass in the office no later than noon tomorrow. Have your fun tonight, but don't be sleeping the whole damn day away. We still have a town to look after." Most of the day had passed before they finished cleaning up the surrounding area of all traces of a camp.

"Alright, ready to head back to town? I sent the other two earlier since they already finished while we were bullshittin."

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"They had guns sheriff, not my job to figure out if they was loaded or not, they had guns and intent to kill, that's enough for me." she said, " 'sides, I didn't shoot these men, our brave sheriff was the one who came over here and handled this, I was hidin on that ridge there." She pointed to the hill where they had overlooked the camp, "I'm just a hunter I would never kill a man." A smile crossed her face, "I will see ya back in town sheriff, I still got some huntin to do, I may head a few miles east, head into the canyon and see if I cant find a bob cat or antelope." She tipped her hat, "Unless you are keen to join me?" she asked. "Could always use an extra lead slinger and a lookout."

 

[Reina]

"Well sure why not. Been a minute since i did my own hunting. Maybe you could show me the ropes?" He smirked while she was explaining how the bandits were taken care of. "You are a sly one aren't you?" He finished the small prayer he was saying for the dead people and then threw his shovel on the ground. "Alright, im done with this place. Let's go. Ill follow you." He saddled up and waited for Sonia to be ready to go.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"As sly as a fox sheriff." Sonia said and tipped her hat again as she got onto her horse, "Ya got supplies? Canteen? Anythin like that on ya?" she asked, "We can stop by my house, its in the same direction we are headed, "Got a spare canteen there and some viddles we can bring along, fresh corn bred and some jerky, we can snack on, I reckon we may be out till sunset at least, gotta stalk the canyon quiet and look for sign." she started riding off in the direction of her house, a puff of smoke coming up from under the brim of her hat as she puffed on her cigar, "Also, need some new cigars. You smoke sheriff? The general store got some tobacco bought off the Indian's, mighty good stuff."

 

[Reina]

Terrence felt around his saddle bag. Then came to the stark realization that he was out of water. "Well i'll be damned, guess i am out of water. Got food though, and smokes. So just get me some water from your place and i'll be all set. I'll hang out on the horse. Not too keen on goin into a ladies house. Chivalry and all that bullshit, you understand." Terrence laughed while they rode towards her place." He made sure all his stuff was secure while they rode. He had food but he wasn't trying to be out and about looking for somethin to hunt while his food was layin on the ground for varmints to get ahold of.

"Alright missy, you said you were after coons right? Tons in this area, and pesky little shits they are. So i reckon we should kill us about five or ten and the town will just be better off. Plus itll be enough meat for a while. So how do you hunt these critters? Sly little cunts they are."

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"Coons?" she said with a laugh, "I only kill coons that get into my stash sheriff, we are headed to the canyon, wanna bag a bobcat and maybe an antelope, bobcat skin fetches a pretty price back in town, not bad eatin either, you ever had bobcat stew? Meat's a lil gamey but once you let it soak in some salt water over night then boil it, it gets nice and soft, well is out back of the house, help yourself to some water." she said as they rode up to her place, "Ill be back in a beat, and don't you worry about comin in sheriff, I aint no lady in that sense, you wont find no girly frilly stuff strewn about." she opened the door to her house and walked in, "So feel free to come in after you got your water and take a load off."

 

[Reina]

Terrence took her up on her offer and went around the back to the well. After filling his canteen up he headed towards the door. He mumbled to himself "Girly or not, still feels wrong but whatever." He knocked on the door before opening it and walking inside. He found a random stool in a corner and popped a squat, letting his rifle slide down his shoulder and leaned it onto the wall he was next to.

"So you been hunting this area since you been here? Not to many hunters. There is honestly a shortage of pelts, you should think about doin it for a livin if you actually enjoy it. Im sure the local traders would love to get their hands on some quality antelope hide. Heard its great for makin shoes and the like. Mind if i smoke in here?" He said while he pulled out a cigarette and held it in his mouth, waiting for her to answer.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"Not at all." she said grinning as she put a freshly rolled cigar in her mouth and lit it, then rolled a second, "Yep, bobcats are big game too, most people too scared to go after em, reckon I killed about five of em in the past few months. The bobcat and antelope have a relationship sorta, we find either one, we find em both." she held up the cigar, "You want one?"

 

[Reina]

Terrence put up his hand to signal he didn't want a cigar. "No thank you ma'am. Cigarettes do just fine for me. Cigars turn me green as hell." He lit the cigarette he was already holding and took a few puffs before leaning back against the wall he was sitting against. "Bobcats huh? Can't say i ever heard of the traders asking for bobcat pelts, but im sure you could sell those too. Everything has a price. Just might not be what you wantin o' them." He finished his cigarette and put out the butt. "Alright, well im ready if you are."

 

[Alisa_Perne]

She turned around, put the spare cigar in her pouch and grinned, cigar between her teeth, "Lets ride." she said and headed out the door, scooping up her provisions on the way out. she grabbed a case of rounds for her repeater and tucked them away. "That rifle of yours sighted up right." she said as she hopped on her horse, "Because if ya miss, and he comes for us, ya need to be quick with those pistols, bobcats are meaner than a castrated bull in a pen full of heffers in heat." This of course came from experience, she rolled up her sleeve and there were three long scars down her arm, "Trust me on this one sheriff, you don't wanna miss."

 

[Reina]

Terrence shouldered his rifle and looked over at Sonia. "I aint the sheriff for nothin. Miss? Heh i dont fuckin think so." They set off towards the mountains post haste and the sheriff was right behind his acquaintance, making sure to keep up with her as best he could, but she knew these mountains better than him. "You sure you only been here a few months? Seems like you know this area better than i do missy."

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"Told you Sheriff, was an outlaw turned bounty hunter, was my job to learn the lay of the land quick, as an outlaw I was a sharp shooter and gunman for the heists, as a bounty hunter I learned to take high ground and not be seen, guess bein a criminal and bein a badge sort of go hand in hand. Only been in this pass a few months but I know that a hundred yards down there is a tree just high enough to climb and get onto a ledge you can walk up to get a view of the whole damn canyon, hunned yards from that and you got an old abandoned mine shaft, havent been down it yet, but there might be some bears down there. Seen some tracks and bear shit outside, bear never shits in his cave. Can't stand his own smell." she chuckled, "But you know what worries me sherrif? Those bandits we laid out, they werent no amateurs, but none of em was a ring leader either, they were runnin too far in too small o numbers to just be doin a bank job, not with five. Would take a good ten men to take the bank here in town, too many good folk own gun and will protect theirs." she took a puff of her cigar, "What I'm sayin is, the bank job was a test, it was a front, they were lookin for somethin else or they wanted to report back to their boss, if they were able to shoot their way outta town. I think we got a bigger fish out there that ain't takin the bait so easily."