Death has no Shadow [Ended]

Trails let out a slow and low breath, being careful not to kick up any dust. Sweat dripped from his brow down to the sandy ground, clumping into a muck around him. The radioactive planes of the wasteland stretched out before him for innumerable miles, ending in a golden horizon. Trails checked his pistol, two clips and the spring would make it through maybe one before jamming.

He swore silently to himself. The day had begun badly with him leaving Stableton only a few packs richer. Soon enough he was at the outskirts of Fillydelphia, giving it his usual wide-berth when shit went south. He had felt the aftermath first, warm gore on his mane. Then he turned to find his Brahmin headless slump over.

Ever since then the invisible hunter had been dogging him. Trails had run as fast as he could to the first building he could and taken cover. It wasn't a building actually, more of a pile of rubble. Anypony could walk right up and see him lying there. But he would see them too.

Trails grumbled to himself and cocked his pistol. Whoever this specter was, they'd find he was one hell of a pony to pick a fight with. He remember what his father and the mercenaries always told him, "You don't back down. We don't back down. We take their punches with a smile and give them hell for it. You make sure you're always the craziest one in the fight. Do what it takes."

"Understood gents." Trails growled to himself. "Come on out."

Cross Roads was taking a stroll down the dirt path, not so much as a stroll as mocking Fillydelphia's dangers. Whenever he encountered any trouble, he easily teleported or shielded himself away. Companions however, rarely fended as easily.

Still Cross was beginning to enjoy being lonesome, nopony to bother him and he didn't dare carry anything of value out so the bandits tended not to bother the dirt basked figure.

Red hood drawn, he walked for days, walking was his passion and Fillydelphia was not about to halt his quest to restore the old kingdom but even he, with his powerful magic, wasn't prepared to walk into any of the towns where the hounds, rangers, and slavers thrived.

The sun was shining down on this pony, he handn't slept the previous night, waiting till he could find someplace perhaps cooler and more variably out of site. 'and out of minde'

Soon he found himself grinning under his hood. Giving thanks to Celestia, for in the haze of the heated wasteland there was a rubble of a small
building set afar from other settlments ' a nice quiet basement to sleep perhaps??'

Yet as he got closer and his vision focused on the small figure dwelling in the building, his heartbeat rose. 'An earth pony with a gun...how...cliche' He slowly slipped out his collapsed baton, using extreme not to create any ripples in his cloak or any moment that could set off a trigger-happy pony.

Now Cross focused on his options, teleport behind the target and disarm him? Or just walk up and keep a shield? It was times like this Cross wished his code allowed for ballistics, still, a unicorn's magic should always triumph over some measly earth pony tools.

'has he even noticed me yet?'

Cross never liked to assume ponies were always jumpy, but his experience proved time and time again that it was safer to be peaceful with paranoid dregs.

"You there!....you gonna shoot or fondle yourself with that thing?"

He couldn't help himself, whatever was to come would happen. Life was still just a beautiful struggle and Cross always found ways to amuse himself.

Trails raised an eyebrow at the unicorn in the red hood. A cold approach up to an armed pony was the dumbest thing he could think of. Well next to doing so and throwing in an insult. The unicorn didn't have anything on them that would be able to blow the head off of his brahmin, let alone at a range great enough he wouldn't be able to pick them out. Still that didn't mean this pony wasn't working with the assassin.

He hefted his gun and took careful aim. The pony kept walking, he slowed his breath. Trails pulled the trigger slowly, and sent the baton flying. He dropped the pistol into it's holster and called out to the hooded unicorn, "How's that for an answer?"

Cross stared at the pony's response and smile, this would be interesting to the say the leas- *BANG*, Cross's baton went flying away from him.

This pony was jumpy, and not very friendly. Cross's smile faded into a glare. He was not amused.

A bright flash filled Cross's spot, removing him from 3rd dimensional space and as quickly as he vanished, he had filled the area behind the offending pony.

Before the pony realized where Cross had went to...Cross had telekinetically pulled out the pony's pistol from his holster and turned to ejecting the ammo, using his magic to sling the mag far away from the little pile of rubble.

Cross grinned and pointed the gun...upwards and fired, releasing the bullet that had remained in the chamber.

"No need to be jumpy there, won't make any friends like that". He dropped the pistol, a loud clang revealing the stolen article.

"Neither will yelling at armed ponies or taking their guns." Trails retorted, sizing the pony up. This pony was asking for an ass kicking, Trails couldn't say he wasn't looking for an excuse. Teleportation on top of the usual tricks, not half bad. He put his hoof on the inside of the other ponies, nice and casual not letting anything look out of the ordinary.

"Tell me something stranger, you make a habitt of walking into firefights and talking to ponies?" Trails pulled his hoof as up quick and hard while charging the unicorn.

(Roll for chance of knock over and pin)

The member 'Happy Trails' has done the following action : Chance Roll

'Chance Roll' : 60, 34

The pony lunged at Cross.

For somepony as brilliant as him, he always had a habit of making stupid choices. Often this made others see him as foalish.

He was no such thing, he was just bored with simply trying to survive. He need amusement as much as he needed to breath.

But sometimes he was disappointed deep down in his soul everytime he encountered a pony who couldn't take things easy.

The pony nearly pushed Cross over, but he had managed to pull himself to the side, letting the buck tumble past him.

'Why won't he just stop? Cross sighed, he didn't want to do this, but he felt no other option, hopefully when he woke up he'd forgive him.

(Magic Skill 90) Rolling to telekinetically choke Happy until he passes out

The member 'Cross Roads' has done the following action : Chance Roll

'Chance Roll' : 38

Trails felt a light pressure on his throat, a quick breath made it vanish. He unslung his shotgun and slammed into the pony as hard as he could. He didn't want the buck dead, just incapacitated so he could answer his questions. Trails shoved the gun into the bucks face and cocked both barrels, breathing hard.

(roll for knock over and pin)

The member 'Happy Trails' has done the following action : Chance Roll

'Chance Roll' : 20, 56

'How did I not see that?!?!' the pony revealed a shotgun and buck rushed Cross yet again. And once more he stepped aside, Cross's pupils shrank, now he was starting to get nervous.

Somepony might actually get hurt

'Hopefully this will work... Cross's spell flashed.

1. Rolling to Pull Shotgun and point at Happy
2. Rolling to Choke Happy until he passes out

The member 'Cross Roads' has done the following action : Chance Roll

'Chance Roll' : 18, 17

Now I'm pissed. Trails snapped his shotgun to the ponie's back leg and pulled the trigger on the right barrel.

(Roll to injure back leg 50 is a successful shot 80 is a crippling shot.)

The member 'Happy Trails' has done the following action : Chance Roll

'Chance Roll' : 69

"LUNA DAMN YOU ASSHOLE!!!" Cross roared. Now he was pissed, he glared at the sunuvabitch pony who shot him. Disbelief flowing through his hot blood.

Cross wasn't going to let this go unanswered, this had to go down quicker.
He gritted his teeth, and tried his magic once more, this might end up not being too SAFE for the other pony....

...otherwise he'd be forced to surrender.

(Roll to abruptly stop the blood flow to Happy's brain so he passes out instantly)

The member 'Cross Roads' has done the following action : Chance Roll

'Chance Roll' : 93

Trails gagged and spat as he was pulled back to life by invisible hands. The world was clearer. The pony in the red hood stood, still bleeding, nearby. His heard the wind blow outside of the rubble and jerked around to see if there were more ponies. They were alone, and he wasn't sure how to feel about that. He was interrupted by his stomach turning over violently.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Trails groaned, spiting out chunks of radigator. "Wont your boss be pissed?"

"Boss? What the fuck are you talking about asshole?? I'm just trying to find a spot so I can get some fucking sleep!" Cross Gritted, continuing to wrap up the large gash on his leg that Happy was so very responsible for.

"So here I go, walking down a road, see a pony, calls out to pony...thinking hey, maybes he's a friendly sunuvagun...but nope I get you" He was now dedicated to fully glaring at Happy

"Oh and don't worry trying to uncuff yourself, those hoofcuffs are best available in tenpony tower so forget about it...Oh yea, and I hid your weapons far away from here and drank all your water...luckily for you I don't drink so the hooch is fine..."

"I'll be sleeping in the basement with the door locked, now I understand you might imagine calling out to any friends you have out there, but lets face it...you probably don't have any friends, you can try running away with your hoofs locked behind your back or wait up here until morning and then we can talk...either way, have a good night asshole"

"Wait so you're not with the fucker who's been dogging me?" Trails laughed loudly. "Here I was thinking you were some mysterious assassin from from company. Sorry bout the wound, but you gotta admit taking a bucks gun from him and teleporting behind him after a warning shot. You're asking for trouble." Trails chuckled to himself and looked the unicorn in the eye, smiling.

"Name's Trails, I'm former caravaner. Former as in my brahmin got shot this morning and the fucker who did it's been taking pot shots at me all day. Makes a buck a little on edge. You hungry? Life on the road's taught me how to use what little the wasteland provides. I can cook us something real good up, and give you some salve for that little graze I gave ya. Providing you uncuff me."

Cross thought about it.

Finally the buck was starting to show some manners, but then again it could just as easily be a ruse to get him to release him.

Then again if he's telling the truth, he'd have some proof

Cross pulled up the buck's bag, finding caps and reciepts, 't'is the truth i guess' Placing everything back in as he found it, money was trash to him.

Cross went up and released Happy

"...The name is Cross....Cross Roads...and I presumed you were trying to hit me, most raiders suck at target shooting"

"I'm not a raider,learned to shoot as a colt." Trails said, putting some weight on his numb legs. "Try and keep a rough understanding with em though. Slavers are the only ponies I shoot on sight. Now are ya vegan or do you live like a wastelander?"

"Irrelevant, as long as its clean food, thanks", Cross took the loaf of bread and began to munch on feverishly.

"I thin- *mumph* I might as well tell you, I couldn't wal- *mumph* far so I hid your guns in the basement, you're wasting food on me so I'm presuming you won't shoot me in my sleep" The grogginess in his voice starting to become even more pervasive.

"I'm an adventurer, I go around looking for artifacts from the old kingdom, unfortunately I haven't been able to track anything down as of late. The Celestia damned Steel Rangers prowl any place with the slightest stench of pre-war tech........thanks for the meal, but I really need to get down in the cellar and sleep, its been days since I've slept so despite what you do... I'll be down there."

Cross took one last look at the night sky, and stood up and began to walk to the cellar door

"Goodnight." Trails called after the buck. "You want tech you need to go to stables or Canterlot."

Trails turned and walked to the mouth of the rubble cave. The sun was setting fast, and as much as he hated to admit it he was tired. He lit a small fire and laid down next to it, using his vest as a pillow. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was the hing of a shadow on the horizon.

Later on that same night, on the other side of the ruins, a single Gryphon could be found making his way along the dusty ground. His predatory build was sheathed snugly in a suit of leather armor, wings tucked tightly into his sides, and only the faint flicker of his golden eyes gave any sign that he was more than a shadow.

As he moved along, he kept low and stuck to the shadows of the ruins whenever possible. It was an old, well practiced tactic that had kept the stranger alive a long time.

Those that dealt with him knew this gryphon as Kestrel; though most just called him Kes. Well renowned for being one of the coldest, most ruthless wanders in the wasteland. Folks often said that he was just as likely to kill you as he was to say hello.

That's why he had been hired to come out this way in search of raiders. Caravans were disappearing around here recently, and folk needed to get trade flowing again.

The only payment that was offered to him for his service was the loot from any caravans/raiders/bodies that he could scrounge; a pathetic offer most would never accept.

Kes had taken it without question.

So here he was, late at night, prowling some ruins looking for a place to rest his head and possibly even signs of his quarry. So far nothing had come up.

Then...across the ruins, a glimmer of light, flickering and bright in the darkness. A squint revealed it as a fire. From this distance, about two hundred yards give or take, Kes could make out a blur of a body sleeping next to the flames.

Idiot. the ol' bird thought to himself, glancing around the area again. Who the hell was dumb enough to sleep in open air out here in the wastes?

Near the remnants of some sort of wall, Kes could just barely make out the outline of some big creature. Immediately he went rigid. His golden eyes locked onto it, scanning for threats, his muscles going taught, ready to run or fight. It didn't move.

When no attack came he began to prowl silently forwards, towards the large mass. Upon reaching it, it was revealed to be somepony's headless pack Brahmin. The creatures saddle bags were stuffed to the brim with all sorts of loot, though Kes did not open any of the bags to see exactly what they held. That would have been a bit too loud.

Instead Kestrel reached up and grabbed hold of his knife, pulling it free of its sheath. A few quick slashes, and carefully placed talons, and Kestrel had freed up the only accessible bag of gear. Carefully he set it upon the ground, doing his best not to make a sound. Locating the nearest ruin, Kes plotted out a route towards it. Now came the hard part...getting there with his 'payment' without alerting every damn raider in the area.

(Roll to Sneak away undetected into a nearby ruin with the stolen saddlebag. Sneak Skill 55)

The member 'Kestrel' has done the following action : Chance Roll

'Chance Roll' : 14