November 27, 1898
Cumberland Forest, New Hanover
12:15 PM
The two horses were riding undisturbed along a well-beaten path through the forest, and mounted upon them were Clive and Fallen Sky. Clive, being the leader of the gang, was riding ahead of Fallen Sky, his steel grey Breton, Dux, imposing a figure of authority upon anyone who was riding by. Fallen Sky's horse, Fortis, was following closely along Dux's hoofprints, making it look like only one horse had walked along the path, when in actuality there were two. The older man reached into his horse's saddlebag and pulled out a letter, signed by the Sheriff of Valentine, and quickly read through it. It was a summons to the Valentine Sheriff's Office, with the promise of a lead on an outlaw gang the two men were tracking. The sound of rustling in the nearby bushes alerted Fallen Sky, who pulled his horse to a halt.
"Clive, hold on. I heard something" he called out to Clive, who also stopped his horse in its tracks. Fallen Sky slid off his saddle and reached towards his gunbelt, ready to draw his twin double-action revolvers. The bushes rustled again, and Fallen Sky caught a glimpse of someone moving within them. He was just about to reach for his revolvers when he was grabbed from behind by a stranger. His instincts kicking in, Fallen Sky managed to elbow the stranger in the face and pry himself free of his grip, before quickly drawing a revolver and shooting the man in the face. That counterattack was enough to alert the rest of the attackers, who jumped from the bushes and attacked the men.
"CLIVE! IT'S THE O'DRISCOLLS!" Fallen Sky shouted towards Clive, who was already engaged in unarmed combat with another of the attackers. The stranger had his arms up, shielding his face from an attack, but Clive brought his knee up and hit the man in the testicles. He fell to the ground and Clive delivered a final kick to his face, knocking him out cold, before pulling out his knife and rushing towards another O'Driscoll. Fallen Sky followed suit, pulling his knife from its holster and flipping it in his hands so the blade was pointing towards the ground and ran towards an attacker. He knocked the O'Driscoll to the ground with his shoulder and plunged the knife directly between his ribs, killing him instantly, before pulling it out and throwing it at another attacker who was approaching him from the opposite direction. Fallen Sky stood up and dusted himself off, then drew his twin double-action revolvers and cocked them, ready to fire. He pulled the trigger and fired towards an O'Driscoll approaching from his left, then spun around and shot an O'Driscoll behind him, killing both. Having lost seven of their men, the remaining O'Driscolls scattered, but Fallen Sky was able to throw his bolas at one of the men's legs, knocking him down. Clive and Fallen Sky approached the restrained O'Driscoll and picked him up, setting him down at a nearby tree.
"So," Clive said, looking at the O'Driscoll, "who sent ya?" The O'Driscoll looked up at Clive and chuckled, before saying "Why, Colm, o'course. Who else woulda sent us, ya idiot?" Clive frowned and delivered a kick to the O'Driscoll's leg. "Why did he send you?" Clive muttered darkly, grabbing the O'Driscoll by the collar and pushing him up against the tree, forcing him to stand upright. The O'Driscoll shook his head and Clive slammed his head against the trunk of the tree, knocking him out. "What should we do with 'im, boy?" Clive asked, turning to Fallen Sky. The younger man chuckled and said "Let's leave him to the wolves. I bet they're hungry, and he should be the perfect meal." Clive unwrapped the bolas from the O'Driscoll's legs and picked him up, carrying him deeper into the forest, where the wolves' territory was. He delivered another kick to the O'Driscoll's face, making sure he would stay down, then returned to the dirt path and mounted his horse. "C'mon, Fallen. Let's get outta here. We got work to do."