The relentless light of the sun quickly
alerted Corsair that morning had come again. It was terribly hot,
and it was so bright that he had to shield his eyes with his hand to
block out the light. As his eyes adjusted to the sun and the blurred
mass in front of him took shape, he found himself atop a brown horse,
surrounded by little more than dirt and rock in an endless wasteland.
“So I'm a drifter this morning, wandering aimlessly from place to
place”. He adjusted his hat as his horse continued to slowly pace
towards a nearby town. “How fitting.”
He soon found himself the square of a
small town, with nothing but a few buildings along the main street.
He disembarked and tied up his horse near a trough of water, from
which it drank eagerly. The town seemed to be totally deserted
except for a quiet murmur coming from a nearby building. Corsair
walked towards it, swung open the little wooden doors, and stepped
inside.
It was a quiet little saloon, very dank
and dusty, with a dozen or so small round tables to the sides of the
main isle that lead up to the bar. A woman with long golden hair was
sitting on one of the stools, wearing a brilliant green and yellow
dress that seemed to have more colour than the rest of the town put
together. There were a few other patrons in the bar, but they
weren't as fancily dressed and seemed to be trying to keep to
themselves at the tables. Corsair drew a chair at a nearby table and
slouched down into it.
Suddenly, the saloon doors flew open,
hitting the walls of the bar with an ominous crack. There was a
collective gasp from the patrons of the bar. A rough, mean giant of
a man with a scraggly beard, crazy black eyes, and short black hair
stood in the doorway, flanked by a few equally tough-looking men to
his sides. “Cheatin' Carl!”, several of the patrons exclaimed,
terrified.
“That's right!”, he said, in a
terribly deep voice. He strutted down the aisle and flopped down in
a seat at the bar, throwing his enormous left arm around the
well-dressed woman who had been sitting there. The barkeep stared at
him, wide-eyed.
“Give me one a' everything and put it
on my tab.” he said, hitting the table with his right hand, sending
the barkeep skittering away. He turned his head to the woman,
grinning a wide, toothy grin. “And I'll have this pretty lil'
thing too, I assume she don't cost nothin'”. He reached around her
chest with his giant hand and pulled her onto his lap.
“Let go of me!” she said, smacking
his hand. “I'm not that kind of girl!”
“You are now!”, he said, laughing
and tightening his grip on her. She struggled and protested but he
was too strong for her.
Corsair eyed the scene with casual
indifference. “Someone should stand up to that Cheatin' Carl!”,
someone nearby hinted in a hushed voice. “He can't treat the late
governor’s daughter that way!”, said another. Corsair rolled his
eyes.
“I could just leave this place and
keep on riding.” he thought to himself. “What would happen if I
didn't play along?” He considered it for a moment while the woman
protested futilely.
“Get off of me!” the woman cried as
the big man pulled at her dress.
“I think you should let her go”,
Corsair said, unenthusiastically.
The room fell completely silent. “An'
I think you should mind y'own business”, said Carl, in the same
deep, threatening voice from before.
“Maybe you didn't hear me the first
time. Let the woman go.”
“Well lookie here, boys”, he said,
releasing the woman, who quickly made herself scarce. “We got
ourselves a real bona fide hero here. I think he wants to take this
outside.”
They laughed and hustled Corsair out of
the saloon.
Outside, the sun shone down brightly
upon them, as the two stood face to face in the square, as the rest
of the town looked on anxiously.
“Ten paces.” Carl said, “I hope
you know the rest.”
“Of course”, he replied in a
gravely voice that almost matched Carl's own. “One...”
Corsair counted the ten paces, turned
and pulled out his gun in one smooth motion, and pulled the trigger,
well ahead of Cheatin' Carl.
Click.
Nothing happened, the gun did not fire.
Carl laughed a deep, booming laugh.
“Hah ha ha hah! Y'all didn't reckon
I'd play fair, did ya? Ma' boys took the liberty of emptying out
your gun for ya. That's why they call me Cheatin' Carl!” He
laughed obnoxiously and aimed his gun at Corsair. “And now I
reckon it's time for Mr. Hero here to take his last ride.”
“This is just great”, Corsair
thought to himself. “I agree to help and this is the thanks I get.
I don't know why I bother.”
BANG!
Corsair instinctively closed his eyes,
but he felt nothing. He opened them a moment later to see Cheatin'
Carl slumped forward, and his gang tied up. Behind him stood the
woman from the bar, brandishing a revolver, with most of the rest of
the town backing her up. “I told ya I weren't that kind of girl”,
she said in a strong voice, to no reply. A moment later she
holstered her weapon and stepped forward.
“Thank you stranger, it was your
bravery that gave the villagers the courage they needed to stand up
to those ruffians.”
“It was nothing.” he said, shaking
his head. “To her, I guess I am the stranger”, he mused. “I
wonder what it is that they consider normal?”
“I reckon y'all must'a had a right
terrible impression of our town.” she said in a softer voice,
wrapping one arm around him. “Perhaps I could show you a little of
our southern hospitality as my way of saying 'thanks'?”
“I appreciate the offer,” he said,
noting the darkening sky, “but I really have to keep moseying
along.”
“Well, I do hope you'll at least stay
for a drink. I do believe a round a' everything was just ordered on
Cheatin' Carl's tab, and this time he's finally paying up!”
“Now, that I guess I can do.” A
collective cheer rose from the crowd. The stranger laughed, pulling
him back inside the saloon. Sadly, no sooner had the first drop of
his drink touched his tongue did the saloon begin to fade, and he
found his ship waiting for him outside. “Typical. As soon as the
commotion ends, it's always time to go home.”
---
After making a brief entry in his
journal, Corsair slouched down in his chair and sighed. Another
morning had come and gone uneventfully. They had been sailing the
open waters for some time now, but still he felt utterly bored and
empty. Whatever it was he had been seeking, he hadn't found it yet.
He decided to go and check the ship's course for something to do.
“That's odd”, he said as he reached
the helm and saw the other ship. “The Companion usually follows
behind, not in front.” The ship seemed to be slowing down and
pulling to the side, and it wasn't until it was beside him that he
noticed it wasn't Sister's ship at all. As usual, the ship's captain
did not wait to be invited aboard his ship before coming across.
“So this is where you've been hiding
all this time”, Lay said smugly. “It's been very lonely out
there, no one comes to see me anymore. I assume everyone else is
here with you?”
“Sister's around”, he shrugged. “I
saw Pack a few nights ago but he left.”
Lay puffed her cheek with her paw.
“Sister's staying with you now, isn't she? That must be nice, now
you won't be lonely.”
“I guess.”
She tilted her head and leaned in
closer. “You know, you don't seem like your usual self lately.
You're not even arguing with me. I can tell something's bothering
you.”
“It's nothing” Corsair said,
looking away from her.
“Look,” she said, in a softer, less
brash tone of voice than usual, “I know we don't always get along.
But I know a thing or two about people's feelings. Maybe I can help
you.”
He weighed things for a moment. There
was a caring look in her eyes that he wasn't used to seeing, and he
did need to talk to someone. He took a deep breath: “Lately, I
just feel like there's something I'm missing. I can't get excited by
the mornings like I used to. Somehow, I want something more from
this existence.”
She nodded. “Mm, I know exactly what
you mean.”
Corsair was taken aback: “You do? No
one else seems to understand.”
She tucked her paws behind her back and
looked up at the night sky. “I've also felt that way for a long
time. That there was something I needed to be happy, but I just
couldn't reach it.”
He sighed. “If only we had some idea
what that thing was.”
“Oh, I know exactly what it is I've
been missing”, she said, coyly.
“Really?” He asked, surprised
again. “What is it?”
She stroked his cheek with her paw.
“I'll let you know the next time I see you”, she whispered,
turning away and tickling his face with her tail. She pranced back
to her own ship, her tail held high, swaying her hips as she went,
leaving Corsair in stunned silence.
“I knew this was a bad idea” he
said, rubbing his forehead with his paw.
It wasn't for quite a few nights until
he saw her ship again. This time, she arrived later in the evening,
while he and Sister were talking in his cabin. As usual, she let
herself in.
“Good evening, Corsair, I- oh.” She
spotted Sister lying down with her head in Corsair's lap and turned
away. “I'm sorry, I should have knocked.”
“Hi, Lay” Sister replied,
cordially.
He sighed. “You're welcome to join
us if you want.”
Her eyes widened for a moment, then
narrowed on him. “My, aren't you bold? I guess I can't blame you
for trying, though.” She puffed her cheek and looked him over with
an appraising glance. “I might be willing to do that for you, but
you'd better treat me real nice...” She slunk up to him slowly and
reached for his face with her paw.
“We were just talking about whether
or not the strangers are the same as we are.” Sister volunteered
helpfully, sitting up.
Lay rolled her eyes and quickly took
her paw back. “Oh. Of course you were.”
“Why, what did you have in mind?”
Sister asked, innocently.
“Nothing. I was just a bit...
lonely. That's all.” She sat down beside Corsair and snuggled up
to him, simultaneously relieved and a bit disappointed.
“If you've been lonely, does that
mean you haven't seen Pack?” Corsair asked her.
Her eyes widened again. “No, haven't
you?”
“Not since before I saw you last.”
“I haven't either”, Sister chimed
in.
“That's really strange.” Lay said.
“Where could he have gone?”
Corsair swallowed audibly and spoke in
a sombre tone: “I think he's gone after the Black Ship.”
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