Howdy's Hootin House o' Hooch, Redwood Run
PULL!
"OUCH!"
PULL!
"OUCH!"
PULL!
"OUCH!"
"Hold on."
PULL!
"OUCH!"
"Hold on!"
PULL!
"There." he tossed the troublesome splinter he had held in a pair of rusty tweezers to the table beside him before turning back to the mysterious man in black he had been tending to for the last couple of hours, his body still stinging from head to toe with troublesome splinters.
"Now for the rest of them."
That seemed so to set a serious scare in the missionary's red eyes as he was quick to hold a hesitant hand onto his less than helpful host's own before he could try to 'help' him anymore.
"How about I handle this one, señor?" and with a series of simple bodily shakes and tussles later, all the stinging splinters stuck to his body fell flat to the floor one by one, allowing him to breath a serendipitous sigh.
Only for his form to irk in irritation once more as the splinter spots began to instantly itch in indescribable agony, causing a morose moan to murmur from his mouth.
"Ay…" he surrendered his sore-ridden self to the chair he had been sitting on since his sudden arrival to the saloon by airdrop, his hands hanging uselessly by his side as he knew the consequences that came with trying to scratch the sores away.
Nothing Howdy's Hootin' House Special Spell-Em-Up soup can not handle, however.
BEEP! BEEP!
"MEOW!" the hillbilly's cat came crawling out the thankfully surviving saloon kitchen area, his own cute little coonskin cap holding a warm can of microwaved Campbell's Cream of Chicken as he made his way to his master's side.
"Ah, thank you, Cat." he relieved his pet of the can followed by a soft scratch to the cat's head before averting his attention to his groaning guest with a silver guitar strapped to his back, can now in hand.
"Slowly now. Wouldn't wanna burn all o' them taste buds outta yer tongue, now would we?" he dipped the can's contents over the man's mouth as he began to drink down the soup.
SLURP!
GULP!
…
"Ah… muy bien." the splinter spots on his body began to fade as a euphoric aura washed over every inch of his skin. Whatever was in that soup, he was going to have to request for the recipe later.
"Gracias, señor." the fully healed missionary grinned in gratitude.
"Think nothin' of it, kid. Just glad to see you still got some pep in your step, even if I ain't seen nothing in 10 years." Howdy smiled softly as he placed a palm on his shoulder.
"So… what's your story? Got ejected from some little gray men in a space saucer or did the milk man on the moon needed a delivery boy to make this piece more interestin'?" the secular stranger took off his wide brimmed hat to wipe the sweat on his strangely silver hair before turning to his hillbilly helper.
"Well… for starters, my name is Nada. Nada And."
"Good to know ya, Nada. I'm Howdy. Howdy Morning." he held out his hand, to which Nada took and shook. "I run this here fine establishment."
SNAP!
FALL!
CLATTER!
…
"What used to be my fine establishment." he scratched the back of his head with a nervous chuckle. "Cat you probably already know."
"MEOW!" the feline hopped from the floor and onto Nada's lap, inciting a small smile from the man as he ran a hand across the cute critter's fluffy fur.
"But back to business. How'd you end up in Redwood Run, California?" the missionary leaned in on the table he was seated next to as he recollected his memories.
"Well… to keep a lengthy story short." a small pause, followed by a short sigh. "My mission to Sweet Jazz city was turned on its head when I found myself spontaneously shot up in the sky while making my way through the woods."
"Well there's a tall tale." Howdy snickered at Nada's expense, prompting a less than amused frown from the man. "Whatever coulda caused that?"
"Strangely enough, a tree. It just shot right out of the ground from where I stood without so much as a warning."
And there it was, the only piece of evidence Howdy needed to put together the provocation of his guest's unexpected arrival. Steeling a serious scowl, he turned to his new friend.
"Tell me, son. Did you happen to come across a certain lady while walking through the woods?" the missionary seemed to perk up at the particular question.
"Now that you mention it , sí señor." a finger rested on Nada's chin as he slowly recalled her appearance. "She appeared orange and brown in dressing and had an orange cowboy hat on her head of brown hair. Although her face was hidden by the hat, she seemed rather agitated, all things considered."
Yep, definitely her.
"Well son, that lady you just described just so happened to be the very same one who wrecked my saloon into an arson scene."
…
"Dios Mio..." Nada leaned back on his chair as he scanned the surrounding wreckage of a saloon with a scarred look in his bloody eyes. He heard of hellcats before, but to see the aftermath of one's rampage so thoroughly, so destructively… he shuddered to start imagining what kind of creature she would have had to be to have caused this much damage.
"Yep, and I'm afraid that may not be the last we'll see of her."
"W-what do you m-!"
CRASH!
Nada was quick to bolt from his chair for the front porch at the sudden crash as he honed in on the treelines of the forest.
Descending one by one.
FALL!
CRASH!
FALL!
CRASH!
…
"Oh dear."
"Yep." Howdy soon came out and stood beside him to take in the sight as well, his boomstick resting on shoulder and a frown forming on his face to match Nada's own.
"Unless someone can reign in the rebellious renegade, she'll just keep coming back to tear this town a new one. And knowing Gorou, he'd sooner hide in his cell snorting sprinkles through his nose than face her."
…
"I will go."
"What?"
"I will see if I speak some sense into her." the hillbilly held a worried hand on the missionary's shoulder.
"Are you sure you wanna risk that, kid?"
"No… not necessarily." he turned to Howdy with a reassuring smile. "But it is the least I could do after what you did for me." the hillbilly considered it for a moment before finally relenting with a resigned breath.
"Well… if ya gonna go get her, you might wanna have this with ya." he handed him a can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken. "a hellcat ain't all herself when she's hungry."
The missionary took the tin and tucked it in his cassock.
"Thank you." and with one final salute to his hillbilly helper, he was off, Howdy and his cat carrying concerned looks as the man disappeared deeper into the forest.
"Good luck, kid."
—
Gods & Demons around the World - Thunderbird
Of the various mythological monsters of Native American folklore, none has inspired the awe of mother nature's unrelenting force quite like the legendary thunderbird. Said to summon thunder and lightning out of the sky with the flap of its gigantic wings, the avian provided rain for the people's bountiful harvest and the plants for the earth itself. But its benevolent nature can instantly turn belligerent on a dime when angered and its storms has fallen many during its many bouts of rage.
—
The Red Woods, Redwood Run
What in the name of virgin Mother Mary was he thinking, waltzing through the woods in search of a hellraising harlot that wrecked a saloon into a warzone with her own bare hands? All by himself and in the middle of the moonlight no less, armed with only his silver guitar and a can of Cream of Chicken.
"Well… worst case scenario, at least I get to have one last meal." he huffed at his own poor attempt at humor as he honed in on the ever growing sounds of falling forest.
She was close.
CRASH!
Too close, and with the walls upon walls of withering redwoods that surrounded him at every corner he turned, he was never going to navigate the forest fast enough in order to find her, save for a conveniently placed moonlit clearing shining down on a slim figure in the middle of punching down a tree just ahead of him.
…
"Huh… what are the odds?" slinking into the shadows of the trees, he slowly sneaked up to the figure, and as he inched closer and closer, he eyes began to check off the list.
Orange roper shirt and hat, check.
Long, brunette hair, check.
Remington revolvers on both sides, oh most dangerously checked.
"Alright… aquí va nada." one foot in front of the other, stepping silently up to her until he was merely a hand's reach away from her.
SNAP!
…
"Oh p-!"
PUNCH!
FALL!
…
"OUCH! What the-OW!" his nose stung even harder as he held it in his hand. "Hijo de un gato infernal!"
COCK!
…
Well, so much for the silent approach, but seeing how he made it this far, he may as well face his final moments staring it right in the eye.
And with that, he lowered his hands to see the face of the bounty hunter.
Sharp caramel eyes streaked in gleaming golden triangles glared back at him, lips tightly turned to form a flat yet frightening frown. A smooth, soft sandy brown complexion decorated her slender feminine form that perfectly hugged the corners of her country coated attire to her body.
In other words, the most indescribably gorgeous woman he had ever had the chance to see.
"¿…eres un ángel?"
An unexpected response to be sure as the woman suddenly felt strangely hot in her face for a brief moment, followed by a subtle and scintillating smile. He was going to be a joy to play with later.
"Sorry, Blood Eyes… but I'm a demon."
"Oh… then you would be one of the first demons I have the pleasure of knowing, aside from myself of course." he held up his hand to her. "Nada And."
Although hesitant at first, she soon shrugged it off and took it, pulling him up off the ground and up to her height.
"Zora Salazar." she holstered her Remington before turning to the missionary. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but you ain't exactly out here just for a simple nature walk, aren't ya?"
Perceptive. Nada liked that.
"If you count looking for the woman who wrecked a saloon with her bare hands on the behalf of his elderly helper… then no."
That revelation soon proved to be somewhat erroneous.
"So it was you who flattened me through the floor back at the saloon." her voice was worryingly venomous as the man put a nervous hand behind his neck.
"Right, sorry about that." he refrained from calling out her fault for sending him skyward in the first place for his own sake, but even that did not seem to ease her tone however, her arms now crossed as she continued her unamused glare at the man.
"And now you're lookin' to send me back to the old man to fix up his lil' wash house, is that right." her hand hovered dangerously close to her Remington, ready to draw if the missionary dared to try any drastic m-!
"Actually, no."
…
"Wait, what?" her brow perked up in confusion, her hand now slouched to her side.
"Do not mistake my intentions." Nada held up a hand to his chest. "I still hope to bring you back into town so you can fix the mess you made out of the saloon. But given your current standing on the whole idea, I believe it would be better if you were the one to decide on whether or not you want to follow through with that."
…
This was not what Zora had originally expected at all. That Howdy, or rather the milk man in the sky because she could not be bothered to deny it at this point in time, would send someone after her? Sure. That the messenger would actually brave the woods to get to her? Probably.
And now here he was, staring her right in her face, and telling her that he would not be bringing her in?
Either because he was too scared straight to try to wrangle with a deadly bounty hunter like her or because he was stupid beyond reason to actually let one of the deadliest members of Bliss Ocean to run free like that officer that tried to arrest her back at Redwood Station, she did not really care.
But she would be lying to herself if she said that she was not beginning to enjoy his comforting company, more so than the company of hillbilly Howdy and most definitely more so than the company of her boorish Bliss Ocean compatriots.
"So… if you're not gonna turn me into the town, whaddya want from me?" a hand held onto her hip as she anticipated his answer.
"Well… I figured we have ourselves a warm fire." he pulled out the can of soup Howdy had handed to him. "along with some equally warm soup and well… get to know each other while we are at it and see what happens from there."
A subtle but sweet smirk curled on Zora's lips.
"Did Howdy put you up with that?"
"Well, he did say that a hellcat is not herself when she is hungry." a small snicker the bounty hunter chuckled.
"Thanks, but I'm not really-!"
GRUMBLE!
…
Now it was Nada's to smirk at Zora's expense.
"You were saying?
And with no room for a reasonable retort, the bounty hunter relented with a resigned sigh.
"Get some sticks. I'll get some stones."