We arrived back to the Abandoned Mines. Chorizo and Stump helped Kinski inside. He shrugged their hands off as he slowly walked toward his couch and flopped down. Resting his head. The other gunslingers sat at the table and played a game of cards. I grabbed a crate of fruit and walked out of the hideout to Kaliah's stable. I walked up the hill and found Kaliah sleeping upside down from the rafters. "Hey Kaliah," I said as I approached her stable. Kaliah opened one brown eye, then the other.

"Hello, Banshee, how are you?" she asked.

I lightly rubbed my bleeding wings. "Fine," I lied. Kaliah came down from the rafters and accepted the crate of fruit. She stopped and sniffed the air. Her eyes blinked in my direction.

"I smell blood…are you bleeding?" she asked me. I didnt say anything. "You are, aren't you. What happened?"

I sighed. "It's a long story…you wont like it," I said, as Kaliah climbed back to the rafters. She was about to eat a banana, but then stopped. She blindly looked down at me.

"How do you know I wont like it? And if it's a long story, I'm curious to know what happened," she said.

I sighed again and shook my head. "It's not what you think." Kaliah ignored me and flapped one of her wings. Wanting me to start the story. I rubbed my head. "All right," I said and told her...

Kaliah's eyes widened as I told her the incident at the saloon when Kinski went insane and attacked Ricochet. She held the crate of fruit close to her. Her ears pointed forward. She seemed to be shaking in fear. When I finished, Kaliah's mouth was hanging open in horror.

"Oh my gosh…is Ricochet ok?" she asked, still holding the crate of fruit tightly in her wings.

I nodded. "He's fine, thankfully," I said. I heard Kaliah sigh with relief, but still seemed scared. She didn't feel like eating after the story. When a coyote's far away cry was heard, she jumped and started screeching, nearly dropping the crate. Kaliah calmed herself down after that, and turned her head toward my direction.

"I don't want you around that…that monster! If he attempts to kill kids for no reason, then you shouldn't be around him either," the bat said, shaking from the rafters.

I felt my stomach twist at the thought, but took a deep breath and exhaled. "He's not a monster…he was just tired. He couldn't sleep last night," I said. Kaliah shook her head.

"I don't care. I don't…I don't want you to get killed," she said softly.

I smiled up at her. "Thank you, Kaliah," I said. Kaliah didn't answer. Her eyes were full of fear. I looked down and rubbed my sore wings. The bleeding stopped, but the pains were still there. The dried up blood crusts came off from my wings. I picked at one and stopped when it started bleeding again. Kaliah and I didn't say anything as we thought about the hunchback jackrabbit.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stick up. I was as scared as Kaliah. I didn't want to get on Kinski's bad side. I thought back to last night when Kinski couldn't sleep. I wondered what it was that he dreamed that made him wake up in the middle of the night and not go back to sleep after that.

The sky started to darken and Kaliah's glow- in- the- dark war paint was slowly glowing more and more brighter. I took off my sunglasses. Finally, Kaliah had the nerve to eat. She ate slowly and thoughtfully. When she was done, she was still hungry. I went back to the hideout for another box. I looked inside and realized that Kaliah had finished the last box. I groaned and headed back. "There's no more boxes of food," I said to Balthazar's bat. Kaliah sighed sadly.

"Oh," she said with disappointment.

"I'll get you more," I said. As I started heading down. Kaliah flapped her wings from the stable. .

"You are going to walk all the way to the town of Dirt?" she asked.

I smiled. "I'll take the wagon, the guys wont mind," I said as I headed to the wagon where the boar rested. I woke the boar up and climbed up into the wagon. The boar pulled the wagon. Kaliah continued flapping her wings. She sniffed the air and trembled nervously.

"W-what about...Kinski? You sure he wont c-come out and try to kill me?" she asked as she heard the wagon pass by the stable.

I shook my head. "No, I doubt it. I'll be back," I told her. I whipped the reins and the boar quickened its' pace down the hill and away from the Abandodned Mines.

I stopped the wagon when I approached the entrance of Dirt. I jumped off and walked down the main dirt road toward the general store. No one was around. The cold night air teased my short dark brown hair as I walked up the steps. A rusty bell sounded overhead. Mr. Furgus looked up from his counter. Next to him was Waffles and Wounded Bird.

"Miss Banshee!" said Waffles happily as he came running up to me and gave me a hug. I smiled and hugged him back. Waffles smiled up at me, but then realized what he was doing. "Oh, sorry," he said, backing away. I waved it off. "It's all right, no ones around to see," I said. Then waved to Mr. Furgus and Wounded Bird. They waved back. Wounded Bird spoke. "Be careful. People could be listening in on conversation," he said in his sad, low voice. I nodded. Mr. Furgus spoke next, "Haven't seen you for a while, how you doin'?" he whispered. "Did ya find out about the plan?" asked Waffles. I shook my head. "No, not yet," I said. I turned back to Mr. Furgus.

"I need some food, Kaliah and I ate the rest of it," I said in a whisper. Mr. Furgus scratched his head. Feathers fluttered down. Waffles looked up at me confusingly. "Kaliah?" the small horned lizard asked in his raspy voice. I explained to them about having to steal a bat in order to join the gang. Mr. Furgus raised an eyebrow, "Do you think it's part of the plan?" he asked. I shrugged, "I don't know, maybe," I said. Waffles looked down at the ground. Wounded Bird just shook his head. "Not good," he said in a low voice.

Mr. Furgus handed me two crates of food. I fumbled my wings to pull out money, but Mr. Furgus lifted his featherless wing. "You don't have to pay me, what yer doin' right now for the town is a good enough payment in itself," he said with a smile. I looked at him, then over to Waffles and Wounded Bird, they were smiling. I smiled back. "Thanks, Mr. Furgus," I said as I headed out the door. Mr. Furgus, Waffles and Wounded Bird waved goodbye to me and went back to tending the store.

I placed the crates in the back of the wagon and rode back to the Abandoned Mines. The sky became pitch black. I pulled the two crates out and walked down the rest of the way to the stable. Suddenly, I heard screeching. Kaliah.

"Help! Help! Banshee!" she screamed. I gripped the crates tightly and jogged to the stable. I gasped. Kaliah was flapping her wings and screeching in fear. Kinski stood at the stable, staring up at Balthazar's bat as she tried flying away from him. The rope tied around Kaliah's foot stopped her from flying any further.

"Banshee! Help me! He's going to kill me!" she screamed as she heard my footsteps approach Kinski and the stable.

Kinski turned around. I stopped dead in my tracks, almost dropping the two crates of fruit. The hunchback jackrabbit stared back at me. In his hands, he held his jacks. Kaliah's glow-in-the-dark war paint illuminated him, so I was able to see his face. His eyes calmly stared back. I saw no sign of anger or tiredness. I cautiously approached him. "Hi Kinski, are you ok?" I asked. Kaliah kept screeching.

"Don't talk to him! He'll kill you," she screeched.

I ignored her as I set one crate down on the ground. Kinski fumbled with his jacks. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said quietly. Kaliah kept screeching and telling me to get away.

"Kaliah! It's ok. He's fine!" I said to her. Kaliah stopped screeching. I lifted the crate of fruit in my wings to her. As I did, my wings screamed in pain. I rested the crate on the fence and rubbed them gently. Kinski noticed my wounded wings and looked away. Kaliah sniffed the air. Smelling the fruit. Hesitant. She slowly came down from the rafters, but would stop and listen if Kinski would come near. He didn't.

Finally, Kaliah accepted the box of fruit in my wings and climbed back up. Kinski watched Kaliah climb up back to the rafters and watched her eat. I looked back to him. "You couldnt sleep last night, right?" I asked him. Kinski's eyes fell back down to me. He didn't answer. He shifted his jacks from one furry hand to the other. "...nightmares...of things I did in the past..." He said. He noticed me eyeing his jacks. Kinski stopped jumbling them around in his hands. He tensed up at first, but gradually relaxed.

"They calm me," he finally said in a soft voice. I looked up at him when he spoke. "Where did you get them?" I asked. He lowered his head and stared down at the game. His eyes full of sadness. "They…were a gift to me…from my caretaker… at the orphanage," he answered slowly. My eyes widened. "An orphanage?" I asked. Kinski nodded, his eyes narrowing. Kaliah stopped eating and lifted her head up from the crate. Her ears pointed forward.

"What happened?" I asked. Kinski's eyes shifted on the ground, remembering bits and pieces of memories. He didnt answer me. His left hand tightened around his jacks. I slowly walked up to him. He didn't notice, until I placed my left wounded wing on his shoulder. He flinched. His eyes widened behind his bangs.

"It's ok," I said to him softly. Kinski's nose twitched in the cool night air. His eyes flickered over to my wing on his shoulder. Gradually, his left hand loosened around the game. His hands relaxed down to his sides. He placed his jacks into his left pocket and looked back to me. I smiled a small shy smile. His tired red eyes blinked behind his long bangs. He licked his dry lips. Slowly, his mouth formed a small smile back. I felt my heart beating fast. Suddenly, a crash was heard from behind me. Kinski and I jumped. I removed my wing from Kinski's shoulder. Kaliah screeched.

"Sorry! sorry, I dropped the crate," she said, flapping her wings.

I felt my face heat up from embarrassment. I turned back to Kinski, who brought out his jacks again. He looked down at the ground. His face hidden behind his long dishevelled hair. Finally, he muttered something and left. When he was gone, I narrowed my eyes up at Kaliah. "You did that on purpose," I said. Kaliah's eyes widened.

"What? Me? Doing that on purpose? Don't be silly," she said, but I could tell she was lying.

I just sighed, rolling my eyes, and walked down the hill to the Abandoned Mines.