Out of Context - Roleplay Thread

The Old West

The scenario: an Old West town. The sandy floor, littered with horse tracks (and the occasional pile of leftovers from a non-gentleman who decided to just leave his horse's byproducts there), cornered on each side by wooden buildings forming a line of facades◊ and people going on their daily lives. Boots hit against the ground as the blacksmith starts the day's works, as the bath house goes into action, as the piano player in the salloon starts playing his tunes. The sound of horses trotting fills the air, coming from nearby and from far away, as the Arizona sun beams down on the small city of Desert Springs, although the clouds are providing a small cover from the sun's unforgiving heat. The morning air strolls down the main street towards the main square, where the fair ladies are filling their buckets with water, trying their best to avoid the drunken men who are still hanging around from a late binge on the salloon's inventory.

Alexander walks calmly past the buildings, his dapper suit and bowler hat contrasting against the gritty browns and greens of the other men in the city. A monocle hangs from his vest, and a pocket watch is on his hand as he checks the time. He isn't from the town- his family owns a huge amount of lands up north, which explains the rich air around him- but instead of spending his time with his father on the farm or with his brothers on the city, he chooses to instead live in the small town of Desert Springs, working as the local banker. He raises his bowler hat to bow to the ladies- a custom that is going out of fashion, unfortunately- and walks across the street to help the butcher take a crate of meat to his building.

The butcher uneasily accepts Alexander's help- the town has been plagued by bandits, and the sheriff has been requesting the help of local bounty hunters to take care of them the next time they show up to terrorize the city's fair folk. Alexander can't help but sigh. It's 1881, for crying out loud. When will these savagery end? The day begins in this Old West town... and who knows what the day will hold?

edited 1st Aug '14 10:13:36 AM by Stratofarius

Makoto stretched and yawned before she started the task of readying the saloon for opening time. She was wearing her usual bartending clothes, a simple vest and bowtie over a green shirt and long skirt. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Last night had dragged on forever, but that was probably because of all the drunks she had to forcefully kick out of the bar for fighting. The people of Desert Springs were getting restless after the recent bandit attacks, and that translated to rising tempers, extra drinking, and brawls. All the bounty hunters showing up weren't helping either. Thankfully, nothing has escalated into a gun fight...yet. She really didn't want to use her uncle's shotgun he kept behind the counter.

He wasn't really related to her, but the saloon's owner had been kind enough to take an orphaned Japanese kid in after Makoto's parents were killed during a trip to the east coast. She worked for him as a way to try and pay him back, even though he insisted that she didn't have to. At first, customers had been wary about a 17 year old girl working a bar, but they quickly grew used to it, especially since the saloon's food quality had jumped up when she started cooking.

Soon, all the tables and chairs were out and the first shift of workers arrived, along with the normal morning group of customers.

"GOOD MORNING!" An cheerful voice called out. Her arrival having been announced well before actually entering the saloon, Kasodani Kyouko strode in, a smile on her face. A wide brimmed hat was on her head, keeping the sun out of her eyes. She didn't remove it even while inside though. Instead, she sat by the bar.

"I'll take a glass of water, please!"

Makoto stopped wiping off a spot on the counter when Kyouko walked in, and smiled back. It was nice to see a person happy to be up this early in the morning, instead of half asleep or hungover ones.

"Coming right up!" she said. A glass of tap water slid down the bar to Kyouko.

Among the first group of visitors was a rather peculiar-looking man. The first thing that could possibly caught attention of a third party observer was a silvery mane of hair hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat with small white skulls hanging from its dusted gray rondo. The man wore a pair of peculiar dark glasses hiding light blue eyes. In a long black duster and with shining spurs by his boots the handsome cowboy walked past the crowd towards the bar.

"Salutations, fair lady." He addressed Makoto as he took a seat by the bar. The skulls rattled a little as he adjusted himself to sit comfortably. "Do you, pray tell, happen to have milk here in this fine saloon?" Lotton then glanced at the perky cowgirl sitting next to him. It was relieving to see a non-drinker such as himself in these sides of Old West.

edited 1st Aug '14 12:17:00 PM by FergardStratoavis

This is the picture I'm basing his appearance on. He's human, though.◊

A young man strolled into town, looking incredibly out of place. He wore blue robes that went to his ankles, their design unlike anything from the wild west, and his black hair was tied up in a tight ponytail. His face was obscured by a scratched iron mask, that revealed only one burning yellow eye. His wooden sandals, which revealed his blue socks, clacked against the tough ground as he walked, and his long sword clinked in its scabbard. He calmly strode into the Saloon and took a seat at the bar.

"Tea, please." He said, calmly. His one visible eye turned to the others sitting next to him for a moment, but he said nothing.

edited 1st Aug '14 1:00:49 PM by Kagescorpionakki

A young girl with an innexpressive face entered the saloon. Those who lived in the town could recognise her as the eldest daughter of the pie familly, the most sucessful rock farmers (possibly the only, too) in the west. Along wither usual plain blue dress, she carried a bag wich seemed filled and a slingshot. She went to the bar and after a pause, said "A glass of water, please." very flatly.

edited 1st Aug '14 1:19:41 PM by Alexcoene

As soon as Lotton had opened the doors and walked in, Makoto was already looking at him. Something about the cowboy's appearance reminded her of her old boyfriend, and within a few seconds of meeting him, she was infatuated. She kept her eyes down on the counter when he went to sit down.

"O-of course, Sir!" Mako said to him. She hurried to get Lotton's order, nit wanting to keep the gentleman waiting. Even while flustered, she still managed to get an order of water and tea ready too, though she barely acknowledged the masked stranger or the rock farmer's daughter beyond a polite nod. She was too busy blushing over being called a fair lady.

edited 1st Aug '14 2:42:43 PM by ScorpioRat

In a town like this, reputation was a tinder box, ready to explode on slightest contact with a spark of controversy. And in the case of the wayward Marisa her's was more or less perpetually suspended in contact with a bundle of matches, her grisly social demise held at bay only by a personality that was as illogically charming as it was understandably infuriating to handle. She was a lady in no sense, even her leather clothes were styled in a manner not unlike a man's and a mite too revealing. Her long sandy blonde hair was unkempt, her signature hat frayed and even burned in places. Picturesque of the sort of person one would sooner put a bullet through than give the time of day.

Of course she wasn't, strictly speaking, an issue for the community. That only made it all the harder to get her behind bars where some believed she belonged. There were no laws against the sort of thing she did, out here in the West only the most overtly 'thou shalt not kill' commandments were written in stone. The rest was up for interpretation, and if there was one thing Marisa was good at, it was interpretation. She'd made a pretty penny off a variety of hustles and scams, and even owned a legitimate office front in the main square from which she could continue to make a nuisance of herself.

It was from this office that she emerged, draped in a battered traveling cloak, surveying the square with eyes shaded by the brim of her hat. In a heartbeat she kicked up dust clouds, straight across the square to the butcher's shop, where she began to accost a familiar face.

"Howdy, sir. Mighty kind of you to be givin' our lovely old butcher a hand." Her voice was gritty and tough, not the sort of weather-beaten thing one would expect to come from a fairly pretty girl's mouth. Now, while Marisa was well known by most who stayed in the town for any significant duration, she couldn't say the inverse was always the case. A lot of faces and names fell by the wayside. Heck, she might even have scammed this guy before and not remember it right now. "Warms the heart to see. You in town for the festival tonight?"

As the day began, a young woman walked out from a vaguely sturdy-looking building hidden away behind a general store. A faded scarf was wrapped around her head, showing only her face. Attached to the edge of a heavy belt was a holster and within it was a shining silver revolver with elegant designs etched on the barrel and handle. Looking at the gun's quality, one would not have guessed that she was Desert Spring's best medic. Faiza walked out into open air and smiled, looking at the town around her as she walked across it.

edited 1st Aug '14 2:05:06 PM by tenebrousgaze

Lotton found himself raising an eyebrow at what seemed to be an embarrassment. Yes, he definitely heard that right: bartender's voice shook a little. Did he look out of place or perhaps something was wrong with his face? The skulls could have been perceived as unusual, he had to admit. Then again, they looked mighty fine on him - and perhaps gave him this most desired aura of mystery and uncertainty he always wanted to have.

"Thank you kindly." He nodded in appreciation towards her, his face keeping the polite, but neutral expression. Taking a small sip of the white drink, he savored the taste, giving passing glances towards new faces at the bar. The one with the sword looked even more out of place than he did. A foreigner, that much was certain. An Asian, perhaps? "A storm is coming..." He mused, more to himself than anyone else. A sheriff of this town requested all the bounty hunters to repel the bandit scourge plaguing Desert Springs for a long time now. "And I can only pray that we and the silver arm of justice will triumph over the wicked."

edited 1st Aug '14 2:21:02 PM by FergardStratoavis

Upon having received her command, Maud picked up a rock out of her bag and posed it in front of glass. She then stood still, apparently expecting the mineral to drink it.

edited 2nd Aug '14 1:18:24 AM by Alexcoene

"A STORM IS COMING..." Kyouko echoed, in the same tone, though somewhat louder. S He took a sip of her water, before speaking with a more normal volume.

"I think I know where you're coming from though."

Makoto gave Maud a strange look when she put a rock on the table, but wrote it off as harmless behavior. The rumors around town said that the Pie girl was a little odd, but she wasn't about to offend a customer. As long as Maud didn't try to pay her in rocks, it was fine. She turned her attention to the others instead.

"Are you folks here to try and solve the bandit problem?" she asked Kyoko, Lotton, and the masked man. They looked like the bounty hunting type to her, and Desert Springs could really use the help.

"Yes, that is correct." Lotton confirmed both Kyouko and Makoto's suspicions, taking another sip of his milk. "Hopefully the scourge that bothers this town can be fought off and put before a face of justice. The sheriff of this fine town summoned the likes of myself for this very reason."

As Sochie rode back into town, she was glad to see that it was shaping up to be another normal day. She and her horse were exhausted and finally glad that they made it back. For her job in the Pony Express, she had to ride out early in the morning to transfer some mail to the net station over and grab any that needed to pass through. After a long ride she only just made it back into town and was ready to collapse again. The young girl was wearing a simple light pink button up shirt with a dark blue vest and pants. She wore a brimmed hat to keep the sun off of her head and was riding one of the Express's brown horses.

Sochie made it to her station and finally climbed down off of her horse. She had to take a second to stretch and regain her footing off of a horse. After tying him to a post and making sure he could reach the water trough. She then reached into the pocket on the saddle and pulled out the mochila holding the letters. Wasn't too many in there today, must be a quiet week. She entered the station and dropped the packet onto the counter, going around to get everything opened up. The young lady sighed, hoping it wasn't too busy today so she could relax at least a little.

"Morning, Boss-Doc!" A cheerful voice rang from nearby. The speaker soon ran out in front of Faiza, revealing him to be a 7-year old boy with snow white hair and red eyes. The white robes, wooden staff, and wagon wheel on his back might have made him look comical, but this was the boy known as Chibi, a wandering healer who arrived in Desert Springs a few months ago, and was currently helping folks out as Faiza's assistant.

"Hey, hey, I heard there's a lot of new people in town today, and they all look big and tough and dirty." Chibi continued. "D'you think they're here because of the festival tonight?"

edited 1st Aug '14 5:22:53 PM by SvenOrzoKarkoff

"Well, I'll be cheering for you," Makoto said. She was already picturing the white haired man heroically taking down the law breakers and saving the town. "Those bandits are really starting to wear on business around here, and who knows if they'll strike again at tonight's festival. It'd be terrible if they ruined it..."

The saloon was supposed to be supplying the alcohol for it, and they would lose a lot of potential cash if bandits stole their wares. "I'd go after those troublemakers myself, but I can't just abandon the bar. People will start a fight at the drop of a hat around here, and someone has to break them up!"

edited 1st Aug '14 5:43:19 PM by ScorpioRat

"Yes." The man said, lifting his mask slightly to sip his tea. One could see his exposed flesh - clearly he was Asian in descent. "I seek to bring justice to those rats, that infest this land. My name is Metanaito. You may call me Meta. Remember it well, should we ever meet on opposite sides of the battlefield."

edited 1st Aug '14 5:43:15 PM by Kagescorpionakki

News doesn't travel particularly quickly in the Arizona desert. Even so, the recent flurry of wild, unsubstantiated rumors bouncing from farm to farm, and saloon to saloon- rumors of mysterious shooting stars and a gigantic set of footprints out in the badlands - were met with little more than a clucked tongue and a sad, derisive shake of the head; was this really what the world was coming to these days, that people were willing to believe this kind of nonsense?

The terrified cattle rancher that had ran wild-eyed into the town of Desert Springs that morning, screaming incoherently about a metallic demon straight outta perdition, received a few patronizing comments about what the desert heat will do to an unprotected head, and a quick trip to the doctor's house up the road.

The Desert Springs railyard continued to grow with the recent silver boom. Trains rolled in and out on the hour, with impeccably dressed conductors shouting commands through the thick clouds of steam, sooty-faced stokers and sweating porters bearing the brunt of an industrial revolution. On one siding sat a new engine◊ contentedly puffing steam in the desert morning. Nobody was quite sure where it had come from - maybe it was just a spare engine from some job back east shipped their way. It worked fine, at least, that was what the mechanic sent to inspect it reported.

Having only made planetfall less than a day ago, the Autobot scout known as Bumblebee was still adjusting to his new alternate form. He didn't consider himself an expert on alien technology, but the machine he had adopted as a local disguise felt- not felt, was - overwhelmingly primitive. The mixture of crude petrochemicals and superheated water pushed him along weak metal rails with all the grace and speed of a broken cargo barge. It was an annoying and uncomfortable way to travel, but he'd have to make the best of it for the next few solar cycles. After all, the other Autobots, still many light-years away, were relying on him to provide an accurate ground report.

The local life-forms called humans hadn't even mastered radio, for Primus's sake, and yet the young Autobot was already beginning to find his footings. The human rail yard bustled with life and commotion as other rail vehicles wheezed and clattered in a steady rhythm. Compared to the dead, tainted vistas of his home world, it practically bustled with life.

The human refuelling center known as a "saloon"- located not far away from the junction - provided an interesting diversion as the scout rested on the siding. If he tuned his audio sensors correctly, maybe he could pick up some interesting dialogue.

edited 1st Aug '14 5:47:29 PM by Locoman

"Thank you for your kind words, fair lady." Lotton nodded in appreciation once more, finishing his milk. "I have high hopes for fellow warriors of justice and myself that we can repel the scourge." Shifting his stare at the Asian that introduced himself as Meta the silver-maned man tipped his hat, the skulls rattling once again. "My name is Wizard. Lotton the Wizard. My pleasure to meet a man who strives to defeat evil."

Turning his attention back to the bartender he spoke again. "It shames me to admit, but I know very little about customs of this fine town. What is this festival you mentioned, fair lady?"

Makoto scratched the back of her head nervously. "Oh, it's nothing special," she said to Lotton. "It's just a big party in the middle of town. Lots of food, drinks, dancing, contests, things like that. You should go if you're planning on sticking around for a while!"

"Mornin' Chibi."

Faiza looked down and smiled at the boy as he appeared. He was a good kid

"Seems likely. But there are bandits about, so I reckon there'll be people who are aiming to take them down too. Although I suppose people might want both."

Chibi nodded, falling into step beside the older doctor. "Ohh, right. The mayor was saying something 'bout bandits possibly coming tonight."

"By the way, are we going to get the medical supplies at the station?"

Faiza nodded as she spoke.

"Supplies are getting low so some are coming in, yes."

The two were close to the station now and as they approached Faiza saw the new engine, although she thought nothing of it.