A guard stopped in front of a cell and dropped a tray of food on the ground. The tray was kicked between the bars and some of the food spilled onto the floor. Brendan, the sole occupant of the cell, opened his eyes and glanced at the tray from the bench he used as a bed. The guard looked at him and Brendan matched his gaze. The guard was a much older man with sun baked skin and an expression of anger that didn't seem to take any effort. Without a word the guard turned and walked out of sight of Brendan.

Eventually Brendan's stomach growled too much to ignore and he went to grab the tray. The food was just some beans and rice and some slivers of meat Brendan couldn't recognize. There wasn't much, even before being spilt, but it calmed Brendan's stomach. With nothing else to do, he kicked the tray back between the bars. It skidded through some of what spilled making a bigger mess.

An hour or two later a guard came to collect the tray. It was a different guard. A younger one. Less experienced. He picked up the tray and started to walk off when Brendan called to him.

"Hey. Hey, you!" he said. The guard stopped and turned his head to the cell.

"What?"

"Break me out of here. Get me back to my gang and you can join us."

"Shut up," said the guard. He began to walk away.

"Come on, join us and you can do whatever you want. Can get drunk whenever and get any woman you want!"

The guard glanced at Brendan but continued walking away. Brendan spat on the floor before going back to his bench.

"Thought we had to go North. Why we going back to Mesagoza?" asked Calem. He rode on his mudsdale just out of arm's reach of Red.

"We're going to get Brendan first," said Red. Calem nodded then trotted his mudsdale to the side, widening the gap between him and Red.

The men rode without much talk. Anything said was usually no more than a couple words, such as asking for a canteen or piece of jerky.

Hilbert looked out across the prairie and saw a group of tauros. He unslung his rifle and held it up to aim down the sights. Even though he sat on a moving mudsdale and the tauros moved in the opposite direction, when Hilbert fired he saw the bull fall and the rest of them scatter. One of the guys let out a damn. After that none of them said anything for hours until they were nearing Mesagoza and saw two people on a single mudsdale walking towards them.

When the two people reached the group the rider in the front stopped his mudsdale and got off with a grin. The man on the back also got off.

"How'd you get out?" Red asked Brendan as he got off his own mudsdale. Brendan pointed his thumb behind him at the man who Red now saw was wearing typical police clothing with a badge.

"He helped. He'll join us," he said. Red nodded and the officer walked past Brendan with his arm stretched out to shake Red's. Red did the same, but then dropped his arm and took a sidestep. Red watched Brendan take out a revolver and shoot the officer in the head. As Brendan searched the officer for cash or ammo or anything of note, Red called Florian over.

"Go into Mesagoza and look for any jobs. We're going to Cascarrafa. Meet us there or on the way."

"Okay," Florian rode past Brendan who had emptied the pockets of the officer and took his rifle and revolver. The rest of the gang watched Brendan drag the officer's body off the road and out of sight. When he was back on his mudsdale they set off.

As the men set up their camp for the night Florian came riding up to them. He ignored everyone but Red, who asked him if he found anything notable.

"Kind of. Found a job for a package delivery," said Florian. He reached into his pack and pulled out a box wrapped in a thick paper tied with a string around it. Red took the box and weighed it in his hand. It wasn't very big or had a lot of weight to it.

"What is it?"

"Don't know. The guy just said it was important. Has to be delivered to Montenevera."

"Montenevera?" asked Red.

"A town up North. Cold," said Florian. Red stared at the package for a while.

"Alright. We'll deliver it," Red eventually said. He handed the package back to Florian who placed it in his pack. In the morning they continued, with Florian scouting ahead. They met up in Cascarrafa some time past noon.

The city was a shock to everyone but Florian. Even Red, who rarely showed much emotion, was visibly confused. Every building, both large ones such as bars and hotels and small ones such as homes, were covered in a layer of blue paint. In addition to the odd colored buildings the city also resided on three levels of a plateau. The center of the two cliffs in the town each had a large platform with a hand operated pulley system to hoist the platforms along with whatever was on it, though it wasn't currently being used. There were also sloped trails leading to the tops of the cliffs which people either walked or rode cyclizar up and down them.

"Why the buildings blue?" asked Calem to Florian. Florian shrugged.

"Just what the mayor had done when he took over. No one knows why. Do we need to stop here?" Florian asked aloud. Everyone else turned to Red.

"Just for a bit. See if there are any jobs. If there aren't we can leave. You guys look around, I'll see the mayor."

Most of the guys left on Red's word, except Florian. "Uh, I think I should go with you."

"Why?"

"The mayor isn't fond of foreigners, for one. I've met him before so having a familiar face might keep him calm."

"Calm?" Red asked, though Florian didn't elaborate. "Fine. Let's go."

Florian nodded then led Red through the city until they were at the mayor's home. On their way they got many looks from the citizens, hardly any were positive. Even the people wore mostly blue clothing, leaving their exposed limbs and hair to contrast with the buildings.

Once they were at the home Red went up to bang on the door. After his first knock the door swung inwards. Red looked it over then headed inside with Florian behind him. They walked into a hallway where a servant saw them and approached them.

"Hello. Do you two have an appointment with Kofu?" they asked.

"Yeah," Red lied with a confidence that made it believable.

"Please, follow me," said the servant. They brought Red and Florian through the hallway into a large room where an older bald man sat at a desk staring down at some papers. The man didn't look up until the servant introduced Red and Florian.

"Hm?" said the old man, Kofu, as he looked up. He first locked eyes with Red and gave him a blank stare. Neither man said anything. Red waited patiently while it seemed as though Kofu was staring at something behind Red. When Kofu suddenly yelled it made both Red and Florian tense.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Red," answered Red. Kofu blinked a few times.

"Red?" he said. "Red? Red! RED!"

Red and Florian gripped their pistols as Kofu stood up aggressively. Like a tauros ready to charge. The servant took a step forward.

"Sir! Please! These are just guests," they said. Kofu slammed his palms onto the desk.

"That's not just any guest!" he shouted. He removed his palms, turned around to a bookshelf, and pulled out an old leather bound journal with a string keeping it closed. After untying it he flipped through the pages until he found one that made him scowl then approached the other three in the room. "Look! He's the Red Devil!"

Red, Florian, and the servant stared at the opened journal. On one page was nothing but text. With what little light was in the room and how small the text was, it was hard to read. The other page had some drawings with more unreadable text. The drawings were of a few men, though each man wore nothing, carried weapons, and had horns and tails. Each one was also a different color. A blue one, a green one, a black one, and a red.

"I've heard of him years ago, before either of you two were born," Kofu said to Florian and the servant. The servant appeared even older than Red. Kofu tossed the journal onto the desk. "It'd be best for everyone if I kill him now."

Red let go of his pistol. "Mayor Kofu, I'm no devil. As human as you or anyone else in this town. If you cut me I'll bleed the same you would."

"You'd like that wouldn't you? For me to cut myself and pour my blood out for you?" said Kofu. His servant stood uneasily like they had no idea what to do or say in the situation. Florian stepped forward.

"Mayor Kofu, please. Settle down."

"And who are you?" asked Kofu. Florian took another step forward.

"I'm Florian. I believe we met before. About three years ago?"

"Florian? Flor...ian...? Hm..."

"I had put a stop to a guy who had a bounty in the area. You commemorated me for doing such a good deed at a young age."

"Hm...oh, Florian! Now I remember!" said Kofu. All of his anger was suddenly gone. "What can I do for you, boy?"

"Looking for work. Got anything?"

Kofu thought for a little while. "No. Don't think I do...oh, actually! I could use you for something. Let's talk privately."

Florian turned to Red. Red looked at Kofu for a few seconds before turning to Florian and nodding. Red, along with the servant, left the room. It wasn't long before Florian emerged from the house, five minutes at the most.

"Anything?" Red asked.

"No," said Florian. Red spat into the dirt near the door. The two men got onto their mounts and began looking for the rest of their gang.

"You killed someone when you were fourteen?" asked Red. Florian didn't look at him.

"Yeah."

"I was about that age my first time too," said Red. Florian glanced at him. It was rare for Red to say anything about his past, especially something as far back as his childhood.

"Who was it?"

"Some typical outlaw. He wanted to prove something by fighting me bare handed. Tossed his gun to the ground and I went for it and shot him. Who did you kill?"

Florian was silent as he thought it over. "My father."

"Hm," was all Red said. He never asked for more information and Florian never gave him any. They rode in silence as they searched for the rest of the gang.