Goin' West

[The Rahzgriz]

((OOC: Looking for RPers to be the settlers and/or bandits. PM if you want to.))

Dirt. Rocks. An occasional tumbleweed. More dirt and rocks. That is a fairly accurate description of what the settlers were seeing while they trudged along in their wagon train. It was early America. The West is a wild untamed land of opportunity; at least to those who would work for it. These particular settlers traveled in the most common way of the day: A wagon train made up of two to three large families. In this case, two families; the Williams and the Derengers. They too had set off, along with countless other groups, looking for a new life in the West in a mass exodus. Unlike most other families heading into the new frontier, these families were relatively young when it came to the average age of the group. The older members had already died or refused to go along, and no babies had been born prior to the trip, so there were none to take along. But do not let that fool you. These young'uns were ready to tackle anything that the wild could throw at them.

It was sunset, a beautiful sunset at that. The unspoiled Nature brought about a picture-perfect view for the train to enjoy while they settled in for the night. As was the practice back then, a pretty effective practice at that, they set up the wagons in a large circle. Within, they set up their fire, beds, and the like.

Little did they know that for the last few miles they have been followed. Followed by a small group of bandits. They had stopped their horses and set up a small camp on the other side of a small rock outcropping that overlooked the wagon train. Their "leader", or whatever term they would have used, watched the settlers. His skin was tanned from the amount of time he had spent out here, and was marred by the scars of bites, scratches, stabbings, and a few bullets. Lean and slightly muscular, this bandit was a pretty typical one. The name of this man had been lost to the dusts of the plains, though some Indians had called him "Stone Heart" once before. But "stone" was enough to suffice for a name.

 

[caela]

Name: Jolene "Jo" Derenger
Age: 23
Height: 5'4
Weight: 110
Hair: fiery red
Eyes: dark cross between blue/violet
Body: Athletic and toned but still womanly with gently curving hips and firm, high breasts

Jolene Derenger smiled as she helped her sisters set up their camp for the night. The men were circling the wagons while the women were starting fires and getting supper on. Nudging her sister gently they both stopped their work to just watch the sun set over the plains. It was beautiful. You never saw anything so lovely back in town. At least she didn't think so.

Thinking of town made her sigh softly. She missed her parents desperatly at times but they hadn't wanted to leave their business and come West with their children. They'd tried to stop Jo from going but when her sister and brother-in-law had said that she could travel with them and they'd look out for her there were really no more arguments to be made. In the end her parents had given their blessing and she'd promised to send back letters at each town they came to.

Finally turning back to their fire she and her sister laughed and chatterd while they fixed supper. Her brother-in-law appeared a few minutes later ith their bedrolls and they finished setting up camp for the night without ever realizing that their little wagon train was being watched from a distance.

 

[The Rahzgriz]

Bandit 1: "Hey, Stone. When we gonna grab ourselves some fresh meat? And by meat, I mean-"

"Garret, I know what you're talking about."

Garrett: "Oh."

"Give it a bit more time. We still need to wait for Scout to come back."

Garrett: "Can do."

Garrett went back to join the rest of the small group while Stone remained standing in his spot. From what he could see from where he was, the wagon train seemed to be made up of only one or two families, small families at that. Other than that, he could not make out any usable information. Within a few minutes, Scout returned from his little reconnaisance run. He ran up to Stone and tapped him on the shoulder.

Scout: "Just like you guessed. Small group. Nothin' out of the ordinary. 'Cept they made up mostly of young'uns."

"Anything else?"

Scout: "Uuuuhh.... Yeah! I spotted one good-looking lass down there. Hair like the setting sun, and a boson you'd want to rest your head on."

Stone thought about this information while Scout went to relay his findings to the rest of the bandits. Not much to go on, but the girl sounded interesting. Knowing Scout, he would tell the others about her too. Since they were bandits in the wild it was pretty obvious what they would most likely do when they find her, or any girl for that matter. Stone, though, managed to keep them in line. He just could not condone such behavior, and they it. He turned to face his gang.

"Alright. Get your stuff together. We're gonna raid that train in just a bit, and this time, no taking women."

Bandits: "WHAT?!"

Garrett: "But Stone-"

"No. There's a brothel not far from here anyways. You can relieve yourselves there."

Sure he was one man, but he was there headman for a reason; and they did not want to learn that lesson again. So they got together their gear and waited for the sun to set just below the horizon. Then they headed out, spreading out to surround the train as much as they could. They knew the routine and their orders, but Stone had his own plan for that girl Scout had seen.

 

[caela]

Jolene hummed softly as she helped her sister, Sarah, clean up after supper. Getting all the dishes cleaned and put away in the wagon she sent Sarah and Jacob back into camp and stayed by the wagon under the excuse of "relieving herself" when all she really wanted was a moment to herself.

Reaching up she pulled the tie from her hair and let it loose from it's braid. A light evening breeze caught it and whipped it around her body which made her laugh softly. Leaning against the outside of the wagon she stared up at the night sky. She was always amazed at just how large it seemed out here in the middle of nowhere. At home she'd always felt hemmed in, caged, even though she was old enough that most "polite" rules no longer applied. She was considered a spinster because of her age but she hardly looked the part.

Watching the sun sink fully at last she marveled at the vibrant display of color fading across the sky and sighed softly. She felt more at home out here in the wilderness that she'd ever felt back home and just prayed that Sarah and Jacob chose somewhere reasonably wild to settle. She didn't want to trade one cage for another.

Lost in her thoughts she never heard the men creeping through the night toward their small wagon train.

 

[The Rahzgriz]

Stone spotted the girl that Scout had described to him. It had been a long time since he had seen a woman such as her, the kind of specimen you only run into every so often in a lifetime. Perhaps she would make quite a prize if he could his hands on her. Maybe with a little "convincing" even, she might consider joining up with his bandits. Was not that why these people came out here anyway? To seek adventures and a new life?

He gave the signal and the bandits went into action. They ran head long towards their target with primal yells and shots fired into the sky. Stone still hated that practice. Ammo was scarce out here, the right ammo was even harder to find. But at least they held fast to the rule that they only shot people only when really needed. The gang went to work incapacitating anyone who got in the way and taking whatever seemed worth it. But Stone went right for the girl, whom had easily made herself vulnerable by standing outside the circle. He grabbed the girl around the waist and clamped a hand over her mouth, looking straight into her eyes.

"Stay quiet. I won't hurt you if you don't struggle..."

Leaving the rest of his gang to finish up, he started to haul the girl away back towards their camp. Garrett spotted this and stared evily at his leader. How come he gets to have the girl...?

((OOC: Oooohh.... A twist?))

 

[caela]

The sudden burst of noise coming out of the night startled her but it was so unexpected that she barely had time to press herself tight against the wagon before the bandits were swarming past her. She kept still and quiet until one suddenly grabbed her around the waist, just as she was gathering the breath to scream his hand clamped down over her mouth making her eyes snap up to his angrily.

"Stay quiet. I won't hurt you if you don't struggle..."

She glared up at him but she didn't scream. She did make him work to haul her away however. The entire time he was pulling her away she was praying that if she made him work to take her he'd get fed up and leave her or one of the men from the wagon train would come and save her. It was only when she saw other bandits catching up - and looking none too happy at the sight of her - that she realized no help was coming.

Growling softly under her breath she at last relented and simply walked normally while vowing to herself that she'd find some way to make this man's life miserable if she could.

"You will let me go," she muttered, "You have no idea just what you've gotten yourself into taking me."

 

[The Rahzgriz]

She was a wild one alright, but nothing too wild that he could not handle. Though he had to admit that for such a small girl, she could put up one hell of a struggle. Even if she was a rather free-spirited one, Stone figured she would give up after his grip on her did not subside. His assumption was correct, she did finally give in and started to cooperate. To an extent it seemed.

"You have no idea just what you've gotten yourself into taking me."

The bandit looked down at her. It was even more amazing to him that she would have the gall to say such a thing. A person did not meet one such as this girl too often. Stone simply shook his head and continued to haul her back to the camp.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang finished up their ransacking and knocking out all of the remaining settlers. Garrett had not yet mentioned what Stone managed to get away with, but they found out themselves when they met him back at the camp. After hearing the order of not taking any women, seeing the bound red-haired girl made them upset to say the least. Stone finished up restraining her ankles and wrists when they showed up, he leaned his catch up against a large rock and faced the gang.

Garrett: "I though ya said that we be takin' no women!"

"We were. But somethin' told me that this here girl would make a fine addition to the gang. The struggle she put up proved that."

This explanation was true, although he did leave out his original intentions. Stone still wanted to have his way with this one, it had been a long long time since he had seen a girl that took to his fancy. But it was not enough for Garrett or some of the other gang members.

Garrett: "You gotta be pullin' m'leg, Stone! What the hell is she gonn-OOF!"

Stone had walked up to the bandit and gave him a standing drop kick to the chest. As Garrett hit the ground, Stone's foot followed and landed square in the chest, holding him down.

"Take it up with me in the mornin'...... Now get some sleep, all of ya! We're headin' out tommorow!"

The gang stood for a moment, then went about to get to some shut eye. Stone released Garrett and took a seat up against the rock next to the girl. He pulled a blanket out of his napsack and placed it over her.

"I do plan on makin' you part of this gang. But if you don't cooperate, I'm gonna throw you to the lions. So to speak."

He jerked a thumb over to the other guys before leaning back.

 

[caela]

Jolene growled softly but didn't fight as he started tieing her wrists and ankles, she could see his men returning over his shoulder and knew she wasn't going to get anywhere tonight. At least he tied her hands in front of her so she wouldn't have to try and sleep on them all night.

Garrett: "I though ya said that we be takin' no women!"

"We weren't. But somethin' told me that this here girl would make a fine addition to the gang. The struggle she put up proved that."

At his words her head snapped up to look at the man who'd snatched her. Obviously he was the leader of this gang and that fact that they weren't supposed to take women meant her sister was safe. Realizing that she felt a small knot of tension ease in her chest but then she realized he said he meant to make her a part of his gang.

Just what exactly did that mean?! What did he mean by it? From the sour glances the men were giving her and the short argument the other man started before he was quickly put down by the man who took her, she wasn't meant to play the whore for which she was grateful but what then? If he thought she was going to cook and clean up after all these men he had something else coming. Her cooking skills weren't aweful but they weren't great either.

When the altercation with the other man was over and her captor came back she studied his face as he put the blanket over her, his words weren't designed to put her at ease, "I do plan on makin' you part of this gang. But if you don't cooperate, I'm gonna throw you to the lions. So to speak."

She glared at him and gripped the blanket he'd put over her. Pulling it up under her chin she was grateful her hands were in front of her once more and she rolled onto her side, deliberatly turning her back on him. She think of a way to make his life miserable if it was the last thing she did.

 

[José Tomas]

The three men approached the campsite slowly, knowing full well the man they were hunting. Over the hill, the see him; lieing down on a blanket, his hat over his eyes, still wearing his brown boots, dark brown pants and his black vest. All alone...

Slowly and deliberatly, they approached, drawing their 6 shooters from their holsters.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

The Colt Single Action Army screams as it leaves Vasquezs side, plugging the 3 men with viciouse hits to the stomach and to the chest. They had attempted to rob Vasquez El Vicioso, the spaniard outlaw that has carved a path of blood and gold from Tennesse to Mexico.

'Like I said hombre,' Vasquez says, standing up, 'Never sneak up on a snake...they tend to bite.'

The day had been long and boring. Vasquez had ridden hard for 8 hours, his horse, Escobar , his only friend, was resting by the creek when the men came to ambush Vasquez as he slept.

'Please! Don't! You won't get away with this!' one of the men yells falling to his knees, gripping his stomch as blood fills his hands.

'I've already have...' says Vasquez, pulling his knife from his boot and slicing the mans throat.

The gurggling sounds of drowing on his blood were drowned by Escobars neighing. The black steed crying in approval.

The day before, these same 3 men attempted to rape a little girl outside a bar Vasquez was in. He may be a viciouse murdering bastard, but Vasquez had morals; no women, no children.

Slipping his hat back on, Vasquez grabs his steed and pulls him towards the encampment.

'You talk to much ya know that hermano?' he says padding the horses mane.

'We have to go now...lot's of gold to be found, many women to be pleased.'
The horses naighs happilly.

'Esta bien, esta bien...we'll find you a wife.'

With that, Vasquez grabs his things and mounts them on his saddle bag and begins to walk towards a small town a few miles away...

(Short and not very detailed, I know. I'll post more once Rahgriz PMs me back as to how he wants me to play Vasquez)

 

[The Rahzgriz]

The sun rose with a clear and brilliant glow. As soon as it crowned over the horizon, Stone's eyes fluttered open and he groggily stood up to face it. He took a few minutes to admire the sight and breathe in the fresh morning air before turning back ot his gang. Some of them were already waking up, a habit they had picked up since they had joined Stone's group. One of them was not even stirring, so he gave them a wake up call with a small rock to the head.

"Hey! Get up and pack up."

As the gang started to get ready to head out, Stone strode back to the girl. He prodded her with his foot to wake her. Then turned to one of his bandits.

"Vasquez! Ready your horse for a second rider. The girl will be ridin' with you."

 

[José Tomas]

Vasquez jumps off his horse, gripping his pistol and walks towards the girl.

''Wake up sunshine. We got lot's of mountain to trail and no time to spare.'', he says looking towards the bandits getting up and starting their morning routines.

He looks down at her, and she doesn't move.

''Damnit chica, I sa-'', he didn't get a chnace to finish. The girl darted upwards towards vasquez with a sharp rock in her hands. She thrusts forward, aiming for his groin. Vasquez brings his foot back, and pulls his pistol, and slams the butt of it onto the back of the girls neck.

As she falls and starts slowly to lose conscienness, the last thing she remembers is the man named Vasquez looking down at her, slowly putting his hand over her face.

"Stone, you better take a look at this...this girl is much more than what she seems...''

 

[caela]

''Damnit chica, I sa-'', he didn't get a chnace to finish. The girl darted upwards towards vasquez with a sharp rock in her hands. She thrusts forward, aiming for his groin. Vasquez brings his foot back, and pulls his pistol, and slams the butt of it onto the back of the girls neck.

Jolene had been having a nightmare and was still in it's grip when a toe pushing into her side woke her and she reacted violently and without thought. She didn't stop to consider what she did as she rose up sharply and didn't even realize she had a rock in her hand. She went from a nightmare to a sudden bloom of pain as his gun slammed into the back of her neck making her fall back to the ground with a grunt of pain.

That flare of pain however brought her sharply awake with a groan as she saw the mans hand move in front of her face and heard him talking to the man who'd taken her the night before.

"Stone, you better take a look at this...this girl is much more than what she seems...''

Glaring up at him she managed to push herself upright and rubbed the back of her neck the best she could with her bound hands, "Damnit man couldn't you have just shoved me back down? Thar damn well hurt. And by the way I'm nothing more than I seem. I'm just a girl that...Stone was it?...snagged from the wagon train last night."

Turning her attention to Stone she asked reasonably, "Do you have anything I could eat before you force me to ride a horse all day?"

 

[José Tomas]

''Sorry about that. No ways to treat a lady", says Vasquez tipping his hat with one hand and offering the lady the other to help her up.

"I have some bread and dried meat in my bag. It's all yours. I also got some coffee brewing. Not the best tasting thing in the world, but it'll definetly keep ya awake."

Escobar neighs slightly, turning his head away from Vasquez and his new 'friend'.

Vasquez turns towards Escobar, "Shut up you. Be nice. You're gonna taxi her till we make it to wherever it is we gotta go.", says Vasquez, hand still extended towards her.

"As I was saying: mind having a bandits breakfast?"

 

[caela]

"Shut up you. Be nice. You're gonna taxi her till we make it to wherever it is we gotta go.", says Vasquez, hand still extended towards her.

"As I was saying: mind having a bandits breakfast?"

Jolene looked up at the man warily. He seemed to be nice enough now but the back of her head still throbbed where he'd struck her with the butt of his gun and she decided that treading carefully around him was the order of the day. Reaching up she took his hand and let him help her up from the ground. She wished she could brush the dirt from her skirts but apparently untying her wasn't quite on the agenda yet.

"A bandits breakfast is fine by me thank you. I'll pass on the coffee and just have some water if I may please. Coffee and I never got along well. Do you mind my asking your horse's name? If we're going to be stuck together it would be handy to know what to call him."

She tried to manage a smile but she couldn't quite pull it off. She really hadn't been thrilled to find that, what she had hoped was a nightmare, was in fact reality. How on earth could she have been carried off by bandits? Looking around her she noticed that some of the men were casting her dirty looks but more of them were speculative while a few were outright lewd. She shuddered at the latter and turned her attention back to Vasquez waiting for him to lead her to the breakfast he'd mentioned.

 

[José Tomas]

Vasquez walked the young woman towards his horse, Escobar, and opened up his saddle bag.

"This my young lady, is Escobar. Escobar, say hello."

The horse turns it's head towards Vasquez and the young woman and neighs, then shaking his head cousing his mane to ruffle.

Vasquez opens up the saddle bag and removes a piece of bread, a canteen with water and some meat rolled up in paper.

"Oh, I seem to have forgot your 'condition'.", says Vasquez eyeing the ladys hands bound.

Vasquez removes the knot slightly so she can relieve some stress from her wrists.

"If you have to do ahem 'morning business', let me know and I'll walk you away from these motherless goons to where you can have some privacy.", says Vasquez removing some paper from his bag and handing it to her.

 

[caela]

Escobar seemed like a spirited horse and didn't shy away at all from the sound of Vasquez's voice and Jolene chose to take that as a good sign. It was obvious the man took good care of his horse so perhaps he'd take decent care of her while he was stuck with her. She was still confused about what Stone thought he'd accomplished by taking her in the first place but it was his life she wanted to make miserable not his men's so she'd behave as long as she was with Vasquez.

She was glad when he loosened the knots of her bound wrists. They were still tied but at least not there was a little give in them and she could feel the blood flowing into her fingertips again. The food he pulled from his saddle bag was simple but to her growling stomach it looked like heaven.

His next comment however made her skin blush nearly as red as her flaming hair, "If you have to do ahem 'morning business', let me know and I'll walk you away from these motherless goons to where you can have some privacy."

She took the paper he handed her and nodded slightly letting him lead her away from the other men so that she could take care of her 'morning business' as he'd put it. She was utterly mortified but at least he turned his back while she did what needed to be done. When it was done and they were back at the horse she found she now had a hard time meeting his gaze and that she could barely keep her cheeks from blushing everytime she looked up from the food he gave her.

 

[José Tomas]

"Well now, you really were hungry now weren't you? If you do get hungry again, just help yourself.", Vasquez said to her as he removed a horse feeder from the otherside of the saddle bag.

Escobar turned back and neighed as if hungry.

"I'm coming I'm coming. Hold your horses.", Vasquez said to Escobar mocking him slightly. Vasquez puts the feeder on Escobar and pats his mane.
"There now. Now we're all getting some food.", Vasquez said to Escobar and Jolene as they both ate.

"Weeeeeell looky here. Vasquez found himself a tight little piece of girly ass." says a pair of bandits coming up towards Vasquez, Jolene and Escobar.

"Oooooh whee. Vasquez you hound." says another bandit.

Vasquez turns to face them, and Jolene backs away slightly, still eating.

"Bill. Jenkins. What do you want." says Vasquez putting his hand on his pistol grip.

"Oh you know what we want Vas...you most definetly do." says Bill, eyeing Jolene.

"She's not my property Bill, you can take her..." says Vasquez.

"Well, don't mind if I do." says Bill easing towards Jolene, extending his hand.

"...if you can kill me.", finishes Vasquez, stepping quickly between Bill and Jolene, grabbing Bills wrist and twisting it inwards.

As if by instinct, Bill falls to one knee holding back a yelp a dog would do, gripping at his hand with the other.

"Damnit Vasquez! We's only joking!", says Jenkins shocked at the scene.

"AH! Lemme go spaniard! I'ma have Stone make you eat your own horse man!", says Bill as he's gripped by Vasquez.

At this point, Vasquez had had enough. He lifts up Bill so their faces are inches away from each other.

"Wrong. Choice. Of words.", says Vasquez, his face an expression of extreme anger. In a swift motion, he hits Bill in the gut with a viciouse knee, then finishes breaking the mans wrist with a viciouse snap! beign heard.

Bill falls down, craddling his wrist and grabbing at his stomach, as Jenkins steps towards him.

"Jeez Vas...that's enough, ok man? No hard feelings." says Jenkins his arms stretched out as if to express submission.

"Jenkins, you;re a good man. I'm sorry for what happened to your family and you're only doing what you have to do. I respect that. But I don't respect the fact you hang around slime like Bill." says Vasquez, grabbing his long coat and slidding it back.

"Oh no man...please Vas. Don't Stone wouldn't like this..." Jenkins said as Vasquez did his motions; he knew what was coming. Whenever Vasquez was about to put someone out of their misery, he arcs his coat back and in a blinding move removes one of his guns and fires all 6 shots in the form of a cross in the chest of whoever opposed him.

Realizing Jenkins was right, Vasquez stopped himself.

"...you're right Jenkins. But if you ride with him, you better take the idea of coming after me while I sleep out of his head. And so help me God, if anything happens to Escobar or Jolene while I breath, you'll be able to prolong your life, but it doesn't mean it'll prevent your inevitable death.", says Vasquez in a low whisper so just Jolene, Jenkins and Bill can hear.

Not saying a word, Jenkins helps Bill up and they start walking away. Bill was crying, muttering something along the lines of being sorry and wanting his mother.

Vasquez turned to Jolene and locked eyes with her for a split second, but she turned away. Not knowing if she was either scared of him or thankful but to embarassed to say so.

"Sorry about that. I don't like people getting at me by coming after my friends.", says Vasquez patting Escobar on his mane and running his fingers through his hair.

"...what's your name by the way little lady? Might as well get somewhat formal in this informal get-together.", asks Vasquez trying to crack a slight smile.

Unbeknownst to Vasquez, Stone had been watching at what had just happened...

 

[caela]

Simple as the food Vasquez gave her was it tasted like ambrosia to Jolene and she knew she'd need her strength if she was to have any hope of getting out of here. Of course she was going to have to get them to untie her hands as well. As she ate she decided it would simply be best to bide her time, hold her temper and see if she couldn't lull them into trusting her. Of course she'd threatened Stone and told him she'd make his life miserable - and she'd try if she could - but if she could manage to do that without seeming to cause trouble to the rest they might untie her hands eventually. They'd have to if they expected her to be able to do any sort of work.

"Well now, you really were hungry now weren't you? If you do get hungry again, just help yourself."

"Yes I was. Thank you," she quietly and managed a small smile for the man. He'd been nothing but nice to her after the intial misunderstanding this morning and it wasn't his fault she was here after all.

Her thoughts were interupted but the approach of two men who sent shivers of fear sliding down Jolene's spine. She didn't like the way they were looking at her...didn't like it all. One - she thought Vasquez calling him Bill - started moving toward her and she backed away, a flare of anger flashing in her eyes until Vasquez stepped between them. The ensuing argument and rather one sided fight left Jolene stunned as she realized just how close she had likely come to being raped.

"Sorry about that. I don't like people getting at me by coming after my friends.", says Vasquez patting Escobar on his mane and running his fingers through his hair.

"...what's your name by the way little lady? Might as well get somewhat formal in this informal get-together.", asks Vasquez trying to crack a slight smile.

"J-jolene. Thank you for fending them off. It would seem I now owe the fact that my virtue is still intact to you. I'm not much use at protecting myself with my hands tied, you'll probably have to convince a few of the others to leave me alone as well until Stone decides to take these damned ropes off. Sorry you got stuck with me," she said with a small laugh and a warm smile.

OOC: Sorry for being so long between posts. The first week of school has been busy as all get-out but things should settle down now. I hope y'all are still around and want to play.