The bounty hunter entered the saloon, his cold eyes examining the place. He walked towards the counter, where a blond man was serving drinks to his clients and took a seat. Without raising his eyes to the barman, he asked in a cold tone, putting the money on the counter.
"A bottle of your best whisky."

The barman was wiping a glass to his apron when this newcomer had entered. He was annoyed a little bit by the attitude he showed but he didn't show a thing. After all in Far West those people were as common as the red grains of sand. He himself (despite his young age) had seen countless of those men.

"Right away, sir"
He said politely and quit the glass he was mopping to check over the counter for a sealed bottle, since his client had ordered a bottle. When he found it, he grabbed it and unsealed it and placed it to the counter along with the glass with the ice in it.

"Here you go, sir."
While doing this he had the time to observe the man. He was tall and well built with kind of dusty or dirty dark chestnut hair and icy cold eyes. His attire was usual for a man of his age around but the material was kind of old and had started to weather. It made the young barman wonder how he could afford an entire bottle of whiskey especially the good one but then again, with the recent commercial deals, booze was cheap like sand and water was more valuable than gold.
The man's clothes were also dusty and the barman could guess he was riding a horse before coming in. His riding boots also proved that. He could see two sheaths to either side of his hips with pistols hanging there. His long coat was of a light violet color and had a matching hat.

The man took the bottle and poured some whiskey into his glass and took a sip, in silence. His icy cold eyes wandered around the place again, like an eagle searching for its prey. While he was drinking, he had the time to examine the saloon better. The place was noisy, full of drunk man and Can-can dancers. He hated these kinds of places, but since it was a bustling saloon in the town, maybe he could hear something interesting from one of the people who attended this place. Maybe someone knew something about that scumbag Giovanni and his gang. He took another sip of his whiskey and finally raised his eyes to the barman in front of him. The blond haired man was staring at him, which was annoying to Seth, but he didn't minded, as long as he got important information from him. He leaned over the counter and said in a low tone, as if he didn't want the others to hear.

"I'm looking for a man. A wanted outlaw, in fact, by the name of Giovanni. Surely someone around this town must have heard of him. He's a despicable worm who committed a lot of crimes around these parts."

The barman seemed kind of stirring at the direct question but he rubbed his chin and played with his little, blonde moustache in a thought.

"Hmm...quite a lot outlaws come in and out this town. There is a bounty hunt in every corner I look at however recently no burglary or robbery was occurred in this town..."
However he looked at his left, then to his right and leaned closer to speak in a low voice but still be heard over the mass sound of the piano and the talking of men around.

"Although recently a man came here. He was awfully drunk and dirty and his clothes were torn here and there. He sat to this counter and ordered for more booze. While he was drinking he said something terrible happened to him and then mentioned something about his house being taken and his wife being stolen but even in his awful state he wouldn't let anything more slip out. I haven't seen him ever since. It's been a week now..."
He rubbed his moustache thoughtfully again.

"Some people said that the well-known criminal Bullet Bill was the one who did it with his gang but...I really do not believe that. As far as I know Bullet Bill is not interested in properties of people such as houses. I suspect it has to do with the so-called "Desert Mafia" even if we do not know the actual name of the organization, this name kind of came in handy for them since they work in a similar way..."
The young barman sure liked to gossip from time to time but also because he had seen this man had something in mind. Either he was a bounty hunter or he wanted to join the gang but the first one seemed more possible, or else he would have asked him directly about a specific gang. For some reason he felt like trusting this guy with this much of information.

The bounty hunter let out a small smirk by this bit of information. It wasn't accurate, but maybe it could lead him where he wanted. He straightened his hat on his head, which allowed the barman to take a better look at the young gunslinger's face.

"It sounds like something he would do. Giovanni loves to mess up with families, as it seems."
He looked at the barman again, his icy blue eyes revealing a little of his satisfaction. He took another sip of his whiskey and leaned over the counter again.

"You know, twenty five years ago he murdered a couple. The woman was his lover in the past, but she left him and married another man. She had a son, but not from her husband and Giovanni later found out. He wanted to take the boy for himself, so he killed the boy's stepfather. The mother fled with her son and gave him to a nun who was the owner of an orphanage. Unfortunately, she was also killed by that bastard. You see, this man loves to destroy other people's lives. You think he can be behind this?"
Seth wasn't a man who trusted others, but if he wanted to chase down the man who destroyed his life, he would have to make a little effort. The barman seemed like a man whom loved to talk and gossip with his clients, so maybe he could get a little more information by giving some information he knew too, even if it was about himself, but surely, this man wouldn't suspect anything about who he was or what he was after, since there were a lot of mysterious men like him all over the West.

The young barman had indeed leaned closer without noticing. Of course he wasn't the top...gossip-guy of the neighbourhood but at least he really got interested in such kind of stories. After all many people came to the saloon, drank themselves to stupour and then told the barman everything that was bothering them as if the barman was a preacher to tell your sins to or something.
The man here was different. He had anger in his voice and perhaps hidden sorrow (despite the fact he was trying really hard to conceal it) but still he wasn't talking only for the sake of it. He seemed really into a case he wanted to discover something from.

"Hmm..." the young barman rubbed his chin in thought, "I believe yes. I don't know the guys too well but I heard this is the way they work. When they find an area with someone in need, they lend him money but demand great things in return or pay for the guy's protection and when he cannot pay, they take what they believe they deserve themselves. Most likely our drunk fellow had a deal with them without knowing what deep waters he was swimming into."
All the time he was looking straight into the unknown man's blue eyes. His story seemed really filled up to be just a rumor he heard somewhere not even if it was some personal business of some brother of his. Most likely he was the one directly involved to the case, something that concerned him personally. After all he could sense the feeling of revenge in his eyes.
The young barman simply picked the previous glass up, mopped it and then took another one.

"We live in dark times no matter how you look at it. Imagine that there are so many outlaws outside that the Sheriff has put so many bounty hunts around. Demanding from citizens to do the job cause they do not have time or hands to do it themselves. But there are also people like the Mafia who do those things."
He was speaking carefully. He knew that even walls had ears and that if he said something careless some Mafia wouldn't bother to...drop by the saloon and burn it to the ground.

The young gunslinger listened carefully to everything the barman just said, his icy blue eyes sparkling with a hidden satisfaction. That really sounded like something Giovanni and his gang would do, after all, he lived among them for most of his life and he knew very well the kind of scum they were. He felt he was in the right track, so he decided to continue his conversation with the barman. The man sure knew a lot of useful information he could use. He was right at trusting this man, after all.

"I see... Do you know anything about this drunk guy? Where can I find him? Perhaps he could tell me who did those terrible things to him."
He was also being careful while he spoke, after all, he knew very well that Giovanni had some "ears" around that would love to ruin his plans.

"Hmm...I know not his name but..." rubs his chin in a thought, "Perhaps he mentioned once or twice his farm was somewhere outside this town. I think he called it "Wide Range" or something like that. Like I said he hasn't appeared since the day he came here. Perhaps he is to his farm for as long he has it that is. After the entire house was burned to the ground. If I had to guess, his house is East from here. I heard there were some fires there nowadays so if I had to take a bet...this would be where I would look for"

Seth finished his glass of whiskey and put the glass down. He lifted himself from his seat with a small smirk on his face.

"Well, thank you for the information. I will take my leave now."
But then he leaned closer again and looked to his sides, to be certain that no one was listening to him.

"And, by the way, if anyone asks... You haven't seen me, understood? I am not a criminal, but I know very well how to be a bad guy to those who betray me."
His eyes suddenly stared at the barman with a cold and threatening way. Despite his good conversation with the man, he wasn't willing to risk everything, so a small threat was necessary, just for precaution.

The young barman wasn't sure what to think of the guy. He already met enough drunk men that made empty threats that never intended to make into action but this man seemed at least capable of doing so. Despite the fact a drop of sweat ran down his back he showed a calm face.

"I understand sir. Everyone has his reasons to do what he does. After all I do not want my death sentence by some mafia if you do not mind!" he added humorously

The expression on the gunslinger's face softened a little, but he was still trying to maintain a posture of confidence and intimidation

"Good for you then. I would not want to have to get rid of you. Believe me, I do not like to dirty my hands with blood, except when it is absolutely necessary."
He straightened his hat in his head and walked away from the saloon.

The young barman sighs a little and runs a hand through his blonde hair. Just another strange day to add to the list... He looks down the counter at the half-finished bottle of wiskey and the money next to it and then towards the door the man had left from

"I didn't even get his name..."
He thinks with a small smile

Finally your waiting has come to an end! The very first chapter of "Between Love and Revenge" just arrived!
This is the amazing roleplay I do with AnaPaulaDBZ (Deviantart Account)

Aaaand the roles are!:

AnaPaulaDBZ as Seth
katerinaaqu as Ishizu

and we share all the others!
Here we see the first introduction of our awesome roleplay!

Seth McLeach was AnaPaulaDBZ
Joseph Wilson was katerinaaqu

(Joseph Wilson = Joey Wheeler/ Jounouchi Katsuya)

Seth McLeach has barely started his adventure! What's gonna happen to him? Wait and see!
Just a small introduction cause it is too late here and I cannot tranfer more and also...I want to keep you all in agony!

Anyway please comment me and please visit AnaPaula's page to check her AMAZING art.

Please do not claim or steal this art/story/plot without OUR permission! Thank you