The Oasis Mirage

As the sun began to rise in the eastern horizon, Alistair discarded a cigarette and let his final puff out slowly through his nostrils. He continued to sit lazily on his perch on the Sonora bar's rooftop, even as he heard footsteps behind him. Valkyrie soon joined him and sat at his side, "how is it you still have this dumb habit of yours?"

"I like being able to look out into the world. I also happen to like meditating in solitude while some of us are off getting our brains screwed out our rear." Alistair shot a glance at his sister who simply rolled her eyes, "You're just jealous that I have game while you're off playing Grognak the Barbarian," Valkyrie flipped some her out of her face before turning her head with her nose up.

"You know there's a reason Pops never complained about not having two boys."

Valkyrie returned her gaze to Alistair and smiled, "it was really nice of him to never consider you a girl, that's true."

"Slutty Dyke."

"Backwards Psychopath," The siblings began to laugh as they leaned into each other, "I'm gonna give these blokes fifteen minutes before I go down there and wake them, Grave Style." The duo sat in silence watching the sunrise as they awaited the rest of the team.

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...
...

"Seriously, I think that libido of yours is a radioactive anomaly..."

Opening the door from Valkyrie's place, she let out a yawn as her gaze settled on the sun in the east. Rubbing her face, she began to fix her hair as she started her way towards the bar, she certainly needed a drink. As she neared it, her eye caught two seated on the roof. "Morning." she added, giving Val a wink and Alistair a quick wave of her hand as she moved inside.

Entering the bar, the raider's corpse was nowhere to be found, and there was hardly enough evidence to tell what had happened earlier. Sighing, she slid into a seat at the counter, ordering something for herself as she waited for the rest of the group to wake up. "Goddamn, certainly hope this day goes a little easier."

Vlachs had been sitting upright in the sand, staring at Sanora, for an indiscernible amount of time. Seeing small figures move in the horizon, the nomad stood and pulled his machetes from the ground. He needed breakfast. 

The silhouette started for the town, soon changing from blurry human-shape to detailed savage. The blood that previously adorned him was not cleaned, but rather dried and smeared into his clothing. Rustic brown flakes of the stuff peeled off the surface of his helmet, and his hands were stained a reddish hue of orange.

Vlachs slid the two machetes into a ring on his belt, and stopped in the clearing before the tavern; staring up at the Graves siblings.

"The pay." Vlachs' voice rung, an uncommon occurrence. The nomad stood protruding from the blank patch of sand, his tattered duster being tugged at by the winds as he awaited either an answer, of a pouch of caps.

Aeris woke up as she heard shuffling on the roof and a couple of foot steps at the bar she scooted to the edge of the bed and yawned she looked around and found a mirror on the other side of the room, she got up and fixed her hair when she was finished she walked out of the room and closed the door she went to the restroom and turned on the sink and washed her arms and face she then pulled out an old rag and wiped off the water and walked to the bar to see Mae and Cyrus at the bar table she walks past mea "Go..good morning Mae." Aeris continued and stoped next to Cyrus "Good morning, and thank you for the room." she then walks outside to see Vlachs standing there looking at the roof. She slowly walks past him and looks on the roof to see the Graves siblings on the roof.

Axel was standing just inside the bar, to the right of the door. He was leaned up against the wall with his tattered great sword against the wall besides him. He was thinking about what type of beverage he wanted. The option to actually chose what you wanted instead of having to get what you could made him feel different.

The people in the bar chatted away. He pushed off the wall and grabbed his great sword and started walking towards the counter. He let his sword drag on the ground behind him for a second before picking it up.

He sat down at the counter and order a Sunset Sasperila. He waited looking around at the patrons.

Cyrus was eating when Aries thanked him for the room, "No need to mention it." He turned back to eating, after he was done he ordered two screwdrivers to go. Once they arrived he headed out to meet Alistair. "Here" Cyrus said handing Alistair the drink, "One for the road."

From atop a roof, Edwards catches the voices of the rest of the party and counts them, enough are awake to warrant action.
He leaped off to the roof of their housing and found his way in through the window and stood among the majority.
"You are awake, and alive." he remarked, lights counting off those present and alert. "I am..." speech was suspended as if he was processing his words. The lights formed into one in the center, "glad."
"Any enduring injuries that can prove liabilities?" He asks in a friendly manner as he awkwardly struts to a bench and awaits an answer...

Grabbing her drink, she turned  towards the door once again as Aeris emerged from the staircase. "Oh morning, sugar." She replied with a friendly smile as she made her way out, passing by Axel as he moved to the bar whilst Aeris went to talk to Cyrus.

As the sunlight hit her eyes, she squinted slightly and raised a hand to comfort herself, noticing Vlachs not too far away. "Ay there, Rusty!" She quipped, taking a look around to see all that were present. She noticed everyone was around except for Solomon. "Where the hell is that other fella?" She asked the group, taking a drink from her glass.

As Edward jump in the middle of the group he landed next to Aeris, she was startled and fell back on to the floor she slowly picked her self up and looked at Edward "Mo..Morning Edward." Aeris stood up and wiped off some the dirt she got on her, she looked around to see everyone there except for Solomon she then herd Mae mention it. Aeris looked at the watchtower and hesitated a little she then slowly walked over and knocked on the hatch of the watchtower she then backed up a little "Solo...." Aeris stopped after she remembered what he said to her the other day she looked down at her hands and clutched them together over her chest and took a deep breath and looked back at the tower "Soloman where about to leave." her nerves were still a little uneasy due to this man always trying to get into Valkyrie pants, who knows what this man has done trying to get into other women.

Gills watched the man with the metal mask as he walked towards the tavern, the dried blood peaking his interest but not enough to divert him from his search of the Twins. He turned away from the metal head and started walking in the opposite direction but was stopped in his tracks by the metallic voice singing in the air."The Pay", he whispered back to himself. "Pay.....pay....MONEY!!!". He finally deducted from the metal heads speech. "Pay means work" his mind was churning, slowly yes but churning. "Dried blood means a fight.....", he whispered to himself. The gears were slowing to a halt. He removed his hat and scratched his head. He lost it. "Dammit, i was onto something there. Well shit, metal head might at-least know something about the twins, or the reason why I found so much blood earlier in what seems like SUCH a peaceful town" Gills spoke into the wind. He turned quick on his heels and shuffled towards the tavern. Waving quickly to the two on the rooftop before entering the bar.

Oi Aries is that you let me put on some pants I'll be down in a bit Solomon got dressed and put on his holsters and descended from the tower. Now let us be off Solomon said in a way to chipper mood. The two of them headed to the bar, he enters seeing the twins and Meave on the roof but ignoring them, chatting up Aries along the way. he sits down orders some food and a drink.

"Vlachs." He corrected Maeve, the dark holes of his mask settling on her. 

Those he found himself surrounded by lacked respect, and honor. Like dogs, but worse. Dogs aren't so arrogant. His eyes detached from Mae and drifted to the mumbling Gills. Pay could wait, as always. What Vlachs needed was a meal. 

He approached an empty metal barrel, filled with mildly charred scraps of wood. Pulling a can of turpentine from his pack, he squirted an amount inside before bringing two stones from a pouch on his hip and striking them against each other. Sparks shot from the collision and landed on the moistened wood, causing a fire to grow into maturity. 

Removing a blood dripping shirt from his backpack, Vlachs began to saw off thin slices and skewer them with thin sticks before positioning them above the burning barrel. Enough for a multitude of people. An offering to solidify camaraderie with his current group.

Perhaps the smell of slowly cooking meat would attract the attention of those nearby?

Axel heard the commotion of the people around him. "Soloman, the shy girl, the red haried woman. The Awkward robot." He took his drink and headed outside to get some fresh air. AS he entered outside fresh air was not what he got. he smelled smoke, though what caught his attention was the smell of blood.

Axel quickly looked around trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. As he scanned the area he saw the masked man crouched over a fire skewing something. Axel couldn't make out what he was cooking nor did he care. Axel let the tip of his sword touch the ground and he dragged it about 5 feet before picking it up. The smell of it was driving him crazy, he moved over the campfire and sized the masked man.

Axel seeing the blood assumed that this man was a warrior and a damned good one. "what have you there?" He said slowly. He offered some of his drink to the metal man as a token of respect.

Alistair continued to enjoy the quiet with his sister until the settlement began to wake up. Maeve greeted them from below as she entered the bar.  After a hat tip from Alistair and a wink from Valkyrie, the siblings found their meditation interrupted once more. The tribal, Vachs, now stood below whispering a single word which carried much weight in their land, "Job ain't finished. we killed a few men, but so long as a mastermind is plotting on the abduction of fair folk, I'm not allowed to hang the hat and gun belt." Seemingly unphased by the comment, the tribal walked into the bar, "I swear, the automaton shows more emotion then him." With a sigh, the gunslinger stretched and made to get up, "it's probably time I started rounding the bastards up."

Valkyrie drew a bottle of alcohol and presented it to him, "they are an unruly bunch, you might need reinforcement," almost immediately, the gunslinger sat back down and took the bottle.

"You are wise beyond your years, dear sis." With a smile, the siblings popped the bottle open and went to work on the bottle. Fifteen minutes later, The two slid down a pole that stood unassumingly in the back of the bar. Alistair looked out to see almost everyone awake an engaged in activities with one another. When noticed, he motioned those present to round up and head outside. Before joining them, he walked over to Samuel who was sitting behind his bar with his head in between his arms, "I've seen Med-X paid whores in a more chipper mood then you, Sam."

Sam looked up at Alistair with bewilderment, "half my stock cleaned out in a night. That's a month of liquor gone! And what do I have to show for it? A rabble of lunatics and drunkards partying outside my establishment, a decapitated head plus a body with its brains blown to Kingdom Come in my storeroom, and nine holes to make as far away from the living folk as possible!"

Alistair took out a note and gave it to Samuel, "payment as promised. That there is a location to one of my dead drops in case I ever found myself...screwed." Samuel glared at Alistair unamused, "do you think it is of no value!?" Alistair continued with faked insult, "then I shall show you its worth!"

With no more words, he made his way to the far wall and pulled one of the cabinets open. The back of the cabinet was slid open to reveal a hookblade etched into the structure. Alistair grabbed the weapon and strolled over to one of the nearby tables. Setting the table aside, he inserted the hook into a floor board and began to pry it. Effortlessly, the board and four others lifted themselves off the ground where a dufflebag lay in a hole. The floor and table were replaced and Alistair returned to a wide mouthed Samuel, "You forget who built this place for you guys in the first place."

The bag opened to reveal many items that Samuel only managed to catch a glimpse of. A Cowboy Repeater was removed and slung around Alistair's back while he pulled out a wad of papers and let them fall heavily on the counter, "one thousand in NCR bank notes, a good 750 caps. Take them now or go with the drop I gave you, male a choice." The barkeep mulled his options over before grabbing the notes and putting them in his pocket. Alistair smiled and walked out to join his team, "to each their own, I guess"

Aeris walked silently with Soloman back to the bar as he talked about random stuff that he has done through his life time. Aeris looked outside the bar to see the that the Graves had gone back into the bar she looked to the side off the bar to see Vlachs and another person she has not seen before talking to him. Soloman walks into the bar, while Aeris looks around a little bit more to see a new person there as well looked like an old cowboy. Aeris was worried about staying out side with people she hardly knew the ones inside well the ones inside were the same just not as creepy as Vlachs. Aeris walked in the bar to see Alistair talking with the bar tender. Aeris looks around and sees Mae. Aeris slowly walks over "He..Hello Mae, how are you."

Vlachs over towards Axel, and waved his hand in dismissal to the drink.

"Meat. You're free to partake." He raspy voice rung metallically, as he pulled a thin, skewered strip of flesh from fire before handing it to the man with the sword. "You were not with us in the fray." Vlachs said, turning back to the fire.

The duo descended from their perch and unto the common folk. As the group recognized their presence, Alistair signaled everyone outside for a briefing. Mirroring the previous day's greeting, Cyrus moved to offer Al a drink, and in a similar mirror move of the previous day, Valkyrie intercepted, "our fearless leader must keep his wits sharp in order to guide us." With an odd grace she removed the drink from Cyrus hand and swished it in between her lips in a single, fluid movement. "I, however, actually shoot better when drunk, so it all falls into place in the end."

She fell in with the group as they headed outside while Alistair settled his accounts with Samuel. Once outside, Valkyrie was met with a repugnant smell she had grown all too familiar with. Looking for the source of the smell, her attention was drawn to the two tribals, one of which had chunks of meat roasting on an open flame. She leaned against the bar's wall with arms crossed and stared at them. After a few minutes, Alistair emerged from the bar and she saw his face go through the same emotions as her. When he saw the bonfire, he simply closed his eyes for a few seconds before turning around.

Without waiting for any order, she fell into step with her brother and the two began their trek to the slaver camp at the old Oasis Hotel. Without braking stride she called out, "Moving out! Get your things and start your hustle, you can socialize on the way! Those that stay back, you better be fast, because we ain't going to wait for long!"

Cyrus walked over to Alistair when Valkyrie stepped in the way "our fearless leader must keep his wits sharp in order to guide us." With an odd grace she removed the drink from Cyrus hand and swished it in between her lips in a single, fluid movement. "I, however, actually shoot better when drunk, so it all falls into place in the end." Cyrus did not flinch or move when the drink was removed from his hand. He simply stared forward, "Tell me, do you get drunk on your first drink? It takes 5 of these to get me there and 8 to make it drunk. So what harm can one drink do I ask. The answer it can not. But it can release tension, stress and make a person calmer. So here is a suggestion dont take things that are not meant for you or you might get more than bargained for." Cyrus motioned down, reveling the 9mm pointed at her gut. He turned to face her, then holstered his gun and smiled, "No harm done, this time, you can just pick up the tab." He turned and walked away. Once outside he caught a smell of something odd, something he remembered but could not place. In his train of though he was hit with flash backs of bloody battles and he withdrew for a moment before continuing on. He walked past the assembling group and waited outside the gates and waited for them. The group set off and headed to the hotel. Some time passed before Cyrus walked over to Alistair, "Who are the new guys?"

Leaning against the wall of the building, Maeve watched the group go back and forth, doing whatever their hearts yearned for. Sighting, she took a sip from her drink, not long before Aeris walked over to her. "Hmm? Oh i'm fine, thanks. How about yourself?" She replied, looking across to the tribal men cooking their meal. "Don't suppose you're wanting some lunch?" She chuckled, pushing off of the wall to follow the twins. "Guess we're headed out, sugar. Keep up."

As they left the town, she took a quick glance over her shoulder to see if everyone flowed in or got left behind. But who was she kidding? Not like she really cared for any of the rest of them. Popping her joints, she prepared for whatever they'd get into next.

Solomon finished eating his meal and left the bar trotting to catch up to the group. He walked up to Alistair and said Well if we are going we might as well go, no need to give them a night to realize their buddies aren't coming back. Solomon stood ready to go not really caring about the others.

Gills entered the bar needing one thing and one thing only. Answers. And maybe, just maybe, a drink. He B-lined it for the counter, passing a man with one black and one white heading towards the door. "Nice Eyes..." he muttered to himself, maybe a tad too loud. "Whiskey" he called to the barkeep as he made it to the counter. He kept his eyes on the door and tapped his finger on the counter, slowly."Time...time...time" his words following the rhythm of his finger. Gills downed the whiskey and left the caps on the counter. Once outside he noticed the group he somehow missed on the way in. "I'm guessing this is where I need to be" he muttered, giving more of his words up to the wind.

Axel retracted his hand with the drink and chugged it. He threw it on the ground next to him. He reached out and took the strip and took a bite. "Well I been here drinking a lot of drinks". Axel looked at the other people "Who are them people?" He said as he took another bite. Axel grasped his sword and pointed it to the sky he yelled out a quick chant. "THRUH". He then let his sword fall to the ground and he finished the strip of meat. "So where we be going to kill people?"

Valkyrie rallied the group to follow and everyone set off. As the group made progress and put Sonora far enough behind them, Cyrus approached Alistair and inquired about two new roamers that had seemed to attach themselves to the group. Alistair shot them a glance over his shoulder before shrugging, "hell if I know, bait most likely."

He waited a few seconds before addressing Cyrus, "You seem like a capable operative, Cyrus. It is fortunate that we have you in this posse, however, don't think for a minute that I trust more then one person around here. Valkyrie has been through hells she don't deserve and despite her flaws, she's the only reason I still bother to walk these wastes. Now we may not be more then a rabble of gunmen and a few tribals, but we're still a unit and can't afford to have guns being pointed from within, so I'm only going to say this once. The next time you decide to threaten my sister, consider it a threat to me, one that I will respond to with the utmost aggression." After he finished, Alistair offered a cigarette and continued, "that being said, I do need a favor of you. You seem like the ghosting type, and I need a shadow and the machete. I feel we're little more then a means to an end for him and were the mood to strike him...well, lets just say that wasn't gekko he was roasting."

After Cyrus departed from Alistair's side, the gunslinger doubled his steps to catch up to his sister who had walked ahead to scout. She slowed her pace to meet him half ways, "I don't like him," Valkyrie spoke flatly.

"Is it his genitalia? You seem to put up with me just fine." Alistair smirked when his sister rolled her eyes.

"You know damn well, my lust is not derived from hate," She turned her head forward to keep scanning the horizon, "I mean the man is a snake. He pours honey into your ears while sharpening the blade he'll use to take you the moment you turn around."

"Val, you just described half the inhabitants of this fine land."

"Yeah, but unlike them, he's actually good at it." Valkyrie huffed before flipping some hair out of her face.

"How did you deal with spies back in your Ranger days?"

Valkyrie thought back while absentmindedly rubbing the blood stained dogtag that dangled off her neck, "We let themselves get caught. When we made them out, we assessed the danger and if their objectives could be aligned to ours, we'd let them carry them out to an extent. Once they began to derail, we'd put pressure making it harder and harder to stay incognito. Eventually, they'd always get desperate and slip up at some point."

Alistair let out a long whistle, "Dodgy business, that could have easily backfired if you guys guessed wrong. But, with that in mind, were Cyrus a spy with ulterior motives, how would you handle him?"

Valkyrie stayed quiet for a while before sighing in defeat, "I don't know his ultimate goal, so for now I'd let him continue as a gun. All I can do is watch him, while he's here," She kicked a rock that sat innocently in the way, "man, I hate it when you use logic and reasoning! don't you know that shit is overrated?"

"Okay, now you're irritated," Alistair put his hand on her shoulder and brought her closer, "how about I take care of the scouting for now and you go spend some time with that lovely little redhead of yours."

Valkyrie gave her finger salute before starting to walk off, "I'm only going because I was gonna anyways and in no way implies you're right."

Maeve was trailing a few feet behind the twins, vaguely overhearing the conversation between the two. Stretching her arms, she gave a look behind her, to the two tribal men who followed. Those guys creep me the hell out. She muttered under her breath, before turning forwards, noticing Valkyrie headed her way. Smiling, she motioned towards Cyrus, "He does seem a little sly. What's up, sugar?" She added, falling into stride alongside her. At least she had someone bearable for company around these parts, which was hardly a common thing.