Okay guys, yes it's been a while. I'm incredibly sorry about the delay, but I've been a little distracted. I hope you'll forgive me.

Vaan winced as he prodded gently at the hole that now passed through his shoulder. Penelo sat near him, watching as he examined the injury. Glancing at the knife he had laid in the fire, she looked back at him with fear in her eyes. With his bloodstained buckskin shirt now laying on the ground near him, he had been quick to make sure the bullet had gone all the way through. When he found the it had not, he had been very irritated. He had found where the bullet was still lodged under the skin of his back, and had then asked Penelo to cut the flesh and squeeze the bullet out. He looked up at her.

"You alright?" he asked. Penelo could do little more than nod. "Good. Now when that blade is red hot, I need you to press it to the wound. Use one side for the front, the other side for the back. And don't touch the blade yourself. Just the handle. It's bone and leather so it won't absorb as much heat. The hot blade'll cauterize the wound." Penelo stared at him for a moment.

"Will it hurt?" she asked. Vaan looked grim.

"Yeah. It's gonna hurt like hell, but it's gotta be done." Penelo looked like she was about to be sick right there, but barely managed to hold her last meal down. Vaan saw her expression, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, fear and nausea evident in her face.

"I don't want to hurt you." she whispered. Vaan stared at her for a moment before nodding. Without saying a word, he turned and picked a large stick. Placing it in his mouth, he scooped the knife out of the fire. The blade seemed to shimmer slightly from the heat the metal now held. Penelo watched in horror as he pressed the hot blade against the wound, smoke curling from the edges as the heat seared the skin, cauterizing the injury. He didn't scream, but she could see how much his teeth sank into the wood. As he repeated the process on the other side, she found she couldn't watch anymore, and stepped behind a nearby tree to lose everything she had eaten that day.

/

Rinok growled as she moved closer to where her prey should have been. She had seen them fall from the wagon after her shot and was sure that the boy at least was dead. But the fact that she had to bring his head back to prove the she had killed him irked her. As she slipped through the dense brush, she could almost smell her prey. She stopped for a moment before breathing in deeply. The scent of burnt flesh assaulted her nostrils, nearly making her gag. Looking around, she quickly spotted the location of her prey as he pulled the hot knife from his wound, the burnt skin still smoking from the heat of the blade. The sight nearly caused Rinok to vomit as her target spit out a stick with deep teeth marks scarring the wood. She squeezed her eyes tight in an attempt to control her rebelling stomach, a move that proved to be a horrible mistake as she felt cold steel pressed against her temple.

"I don't appreciate being shot Rinok. And I especially don't appreciate killers who can't handle their jobs. Now you get up, real slow. Then move over to the fire and sit down." Vaan's voice was level, but carried an edge to it that left no doubt that he would do anything to keep her subdued. She stood slowly, just like he said, and felt her gun taken from it's holster. He patted her down swiftly, making sure she had no more tricks up her sleeve. He found the boot knife that she had placed on her left leg and removed it. He pushed the woman against a tree before walking over to the fire and picking up a small stick that still had some burning embers on the end.

"Now, you're going to tell me exactly who your employer is or this will be going in places you don't want it." Rinok growled at him, but remained silent. She could see a dangerous glint in his eyes that told her he meant every word. "Fine, your choice." Vaan said as he approached her, still holding the smoldering twig. Rinok's eyes widened in fear as he pulled out his knife. A flash of steel and a bloodcurdling scream rent the air as Vaan cut Rinoks arm and slapped the burning stick to the open wound.

"Who hired you?" he asked again, his voice deathly calm. Rinoks eyes were wide with fear and pain as he lifted the knife again. Another cut, and another burn, another ear piercing scream. This continued for several minutes before Rinok had finally had enough.

"Okay, I'll tell you! I'll tell you!" she yelled. "It was Vayne, he hired us! Promised good money!" Vaan glared at her for a moment.

"Where is he?"Rinok shook her head.

"I don't know. He moves around all the time. No one knows where he is now." Vaan frowned as he looked out past the woman who now had a dozen cut and burn marks covering her arms.

"Where's your horse?" Rinok looked at him. Something resembling hope in her eyes.

"You're letting me go?"

"Maybe. Now where's your horse?" Rinok nodded her head in the direction she had left her mount.

"Over that way, tied to a limb." Vaan left the clearing in the direction that Rinok had indicated. As he passed a particularly large tree he found Penelo sitting behind it.

"Vaan, why?" she asked, tears dripping down her face. Vaan was quiet for a moment.

"Sometimes, a man has to get ugly to survive." he said. Turning he left to find Rinoks horse.

/

Balthier was starting to get worried. Vaan and Penelo should have gotten back from town by now, yet they hadn't arrived yet. The gunshot earlier hadn't eased his fears any either.

"Calm down Balthier, they're probably just taking a break in the oasis. Nothing to worry about." Migelo's voice didn't soothe Balthiers concerns. If anything, they made them worse.

"Vaan wouldn't have stopped at the oasis. He knows it's too vulnerable, especially with Penelo along with him." Migelo shrugged.

"There's no use in worrying about them." Balthier looked at him.

"Don't lie to me Migelo, you're more worried about them than me." the older man glanced at the former Archadian.

"I suppose you're right."

/

The light of the campfire flickered on the faces of nearly a dozen men. All of whom looked up at the sound of hoofbeats.

"Hello the fire! It's me, Benny! Can I come in?"

"Get in here ya fool! Ye've kept the boss waiting long enough." a tall man with a rough cut beard hollered out. Benny rode up to the fire before dismounting.

"Alright Jackson, keep yer shirt on." he took the cup of coffee that was handed to him. Jackson snorted.

"Alright ye've got yer joe. Now have ya got any news." Benny to a sip of the scalding liquid.

"Yep. That bounty killer we hired found that Morgan brat. He's riding for the pony express." Benny let out a cruel chuckle. Jackson frowned.

"Any idea how good the kid is?" Benny stopped, and scratched at the edge of the large mexican-style moustache he wore.

"He's good enough to beat Gijuk to the draw. It's likely that Ba'gamnan ain't gonna leave nothing for us." he said.

"Ba'gamnan won't last long against him." every man at the fire turned as a large man, clean-shaven and long-haired, stepped into the light. "He's not good enough to best a man who's been raised on the land. He's been living high on the hog for too long." Jackson seemed to shrink before the cruel glint in the man's eyes.

"Now boss, don't you think you're being a little overconfident in the boys abilities. I mean, he's only a kid." the man turned toward him slowly.

"Overconfident, you say?" the fireside was silent now, as the man faced his second in command. "It seems that you underestimate him." a sudden flash of movement as the man's hand flashed for his gun. A crash was heard throughout the camp, then a thud as Jackson's body hit the ground, a hole where his tobacco pouch had rested in his shirt pocket. Benny kicked the body over to look at the shot.

"You reckon the boy can come anywhere close to being as fast as you are mr. Solidor?" Vayne Carudas Solidor grinned maliciously.

"I'd be very disappointed if he didn't. After all, I let him live so that I could have a challenge. It's not the first time I've done it, and it certainly won't be the last." heavy and cruel laughter filled the night sky as Vayne Solidor, the most wanted man in three countries, walked away from his men.

So the ringleader finally shows his face. leave a review and let me know what you think. please?