Asta Shah l F l 24 l member l M: Lotte (indirect)

Asta awoke staring at the ceiling of her tent. She blinked a few times before punching her pillow as if to say she’d like her dream back. Ripping back her blanket, a sudden chill rippled through her body after being exposed to fresh air. She clutched her thin shirt and glanced over at her clothing sack. Were they going on a raid today? She could beat up training dummies too (Aka: potato sacks filled with straw sat upright on a stake in the ground). Her stomach rumbled, indicating breakfast was soon. Right now going to town to buy a biscuit honestly sounded better than the camp’s breakfast. Sorry, Lotte… It also gave her a chance to see what condition her family’s house was in and if her brother had destroyed the place already. The only issue was having to dress as a girl for that plan to work. She mentally gagged at that while she was dumping the contents of her sack on the ground. A small hand mirror at the bottom of the sack fell out. She used that to put on her jewelry after dressing. After collecting the items she crawled to a small chest beside her bedding. The lid clicked open awaiting to be used. Asta sorted through its contents and pulled out a small dagger. Everything else left varied from collectable pocket knives to swords. She popped the lid back into place and began to hop around on one foot to get her boots on. After carefully fitting the dagger into its place she tied on her bonnet. She pulled a small sack of coins out from under her pillow, shaking it to hear the metallic clink of coins. Creeping out of the tent, she shut the door behind her and observed the camp. No one notable who should be able to see her at the moment. She was free to sneak off.

The good part of having a tent near the outskirts of camp meant it was easy to disappear. Yeah right, try sneaking off in a pink bonnet. It’s like waving a bright orange flag telling someone to attack. Asta began to jog till she was out of the camp’s eyesight, then slowed to a walking pace. The nature-worn path she was traveling had a lot of scenery to take in. If you had time,it could be considered truly beautiful. On their various conquests it was hard to appreciate it with all the rushing and speeding around, though. From her left side the sound of a twig snapping echoed through the silent forest. She heard someone curse under their breath, and decided that she was being followed. So early in the morning and she was already being followed. She mentally groaned at that. Someone from camp? No, they wouldn’t have much of a reason to follow her around unless she got on someone’s bad side...again. She glanced over while walking to judge her opponent’s appearance from the corner of her eye. The person looked about her height and scrawny. She might be able to take them on in a battle if not for this cursed dress. After walking a bit more, she stopped and pulled her leg back while pretending to stretch. Her dagger fell into her hands, ready for use. She folded her hands in front of her politely, really just hiding her dagger within her skirt’s ruffles. She continued to walk while making sure the person was still there.

Her pursuer slipped behind a tree. Asta glanced over and hid on the other end of the tree. The person on the other end stepped out looking confused, as if they were originally going to hide behind the next tree. She rotated the dagger in her hand and waited for them to step back before examining the area. A flash of silver shimmered through the air as she whipped around, pinning the person’s shirt to the tree with her dagger. Her face was set in a death glare, which was hard to manage in a pink bonnet. Her knuckles turned white while gripping onto the dagger’s handle. She stared straight into the person’s eyes before grunting, “What do you want?” Her words echoed through the empty woods while she realized who the person was. Scared-looking emerald eyes stared back into hers. She pouted in disappointment. While inspecting the kid for injuries she let go of the knife. Luckily he went uninjured. “Hvad laver du her?” Her half brother stood face-to-face with her now.

His face looked blank as he didn’t understand any Danish. In a blurr, his hand flashed up towards the dagger now embedded in the tree’s bark. He kicked back Asta and managed to pin her to the ground with the knife pointed at her face. “Checkmate.” A few strands of his chestnut hair fell in her face, being blown around in the wind. She complained by drawing out the syllables in his name. He just smiled goofily and helped her up. “Never loosen your grip while threatening,” He tapped the blade, “It signals you are unsure of your decisions and leaves an opening for your opponent to strike.” He handed back the blade to Asta, still grinning widely. “Learned from the best.”

She stared blankly at her brother. “Maleth!” After sliding the dagger back into her boot she returned to lecturing him. “Why are you even out here in the first place?” She had a few ideas of his reasoning, but he surely couldn’t be trying them again.

“Oh, you know why I’m here.”

“Inger!”

“But I have all the techniques memorized and- and- I just beat you?”

“I was aware of your presence from the beginning with all your reckless twig snapping. Besides, you’re my brother, of course I’m going to make sure you’re not injured first.”

“An accident, I could surely do better.”

“I-” If she replied this argument could go on for weeks. A good conflict where they were from might even last centuries without their parents interfering. He would twist her words to get what he wanted. Actually, it kind of makes you wonder who he learned it from. Desperate times call for desperate measures. She settled for using bribery, “I’ll buy you candy.”

Blaze Perry l M l 21 l newbie l M: Open

Blaze buried his head under his pillow. He had no intention of getting up whatsoever. Even if they had to drag him out he was not getting up. He threw a wadded up sock at the roof of the tent and caught it repeatedly till he got bored. After boring himself to death, he rolled out of his bedding and stood up. He flicked a piece of fuzz off his shirt and pulled on his plaid jacket. After throwing his hat to the other end of the tent like a frisbee, he dug through the mess that was his tent for his boots. Unfortunately, his boots were nowhere to be found. Well, he found one boot- singular. He threw his boot at the ground in anger,leaving his tent a hurricane.

After smelling the air outside the tent, he noted there was food. He really didn’t care what it was as long as it was edible. Walking around the camp in socks was oddly painful. Not being prepared for all the sharp items, the rocks and twigs were found to be quite irritable. Blaze sighed and continued to trudge around in socks to where the food was. He grabbed a bowl of food off the table and began to eat it. Actually, eat isn’t a strong enough word for it. It’s more like he inhaled the food, barely leaving time to taste it in the process. He thought of what he would do for the day. “Oh shoot-” Suddenly remembering he had been neglecting his horse for a few days by now. He grabbed an apple from the kitchen and ran off looking for his horse. What was its name again? X must’ve been it. “X!” While wandering around pointlessly Blaze kept yelling out the horse’s name to try and summon it.

Out from the brush a familiar brown coat with a black and white mane jumped out. X lightly kicked him in the chest, knocking him over. The horse then ran off towards the lake in an act of rebellion. “So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” X was a tough horse. Even if neglected he would find ways to thrive. In this way he was better than most of the past horses Blaze had been put in charge of. The others always seemed to fall off a cliff or get hit by a train. Some even starved to death. A tough horse like this fits him much better.

When he found X for the second time, X was trying to drink water out of the lake. He slowly approached the horse and rolled the apple towards him. Waiting was never the thing he was best at, but he slightly impatiently hopped back and forth on each foot. He extended a hand out towards his horse to pet its mane. “Are you finally going to let me ride you,boy?” X stamped his foot on the ground. Blaze carefully mounted him, gripping a few tufts of hair from his mane to prevent falling off. “There we go, progress.” He smiled as X trotted around, slowly speeding up. “No, stop. Wait!” The horse circled the lake and ran off towards the forest before looping around only to stop and jerk off its rider. Blaze ended up flipping in the air and flying towards the lake. He hit the surface sending a spray of water and ripples everywhere. X looked over innocently. “seriously?”

Evangeline J. Hargreaves

22 | Feminine | Bisexual | Member | M: Stefan, Buddy, Lotte, Gang

The female finally caved in and blinked, eyes tearing up with a slight burning sensation.

"Goddammit Trigger," she grumbled, averting her gaze from her close companion. The horse snorted and continued to stare at her. Evangeline sighed and stood up, brushing off some stray hay straws off of her lap, tucking the hair in her face behind her ear. Some days she believed that Trigger genuinely understood her, other days, she told herself she was imagining the hooved creature's smugness. He nudged under her arm, standing taller than the 5'3 female. She huffed a breath and tugged the apple she had stored in one of her pockets of the over-sized, baggy jacket. Trigger immediately went to snatch it from her hand, though she tossed it in the air before his greedy mouth could snatch away the treat. If anything, it was just a minor annoyance to him as he whipped his head up to grasp the apple with his teeth, crunching on the sweet fruit and looking down at Evangeline. The female always had trouble finding sleep, so she tended to stay with her horse during the late hours. About 5 hours or less was a good deal for her. Just a couple of cold splashes of water tends to do the trick. And being forced to socialize with the other gang members. That also helped.

Evangeline sauntered closer to the center of the camp, leaving the tree at the perimeter both she and Trigger had rested. Her loyal horse followed behind, a light-hearted expression upon his features. She was already in her outside outfit, a nicely fitted, sleeveless and cropped shirt along with some trusty black jeans, rips and tears along the worn thing. A silver chain danced from the front right pocket to the back right, hanging with a familiar comfort. And of course her usual, large and black leather jacket, baggy and over sized with its million of pockets accompanying. She sniffed, rubbing her nose with bored laziness. Her eyes followed the alcohol-infused, crabby man that was called Stefan. It seemed he was heading to the town, most likely going to get some strong whiskey. His temper was a sight to behold, but she enjoyed his company. However grumbly he was, any conversation with him was sure to be entertaining. Evangeline clicked her tongue and Trigger popped his head up from the grass his greedy self had been nibbling away at. "Let's go boy."

She hopped onto the sturdy horse and let herself sit in the pride of it before lightly tapping her heel to his side. She set off, her horses' hooves kicking into the dirt floor. By the time Trigger had exited the camp, it seemed that Lotte had decided to wake the other scum-bags who were sleeping. Evangeline enjoyed Lotte's company as much as she enjoyed Lotte’s alcoholic of a brother. She didn't turn around, though, as Trigger galloped towards Openshaw, the wind ruffling her hair and brightening a grin up onto her face. She began humming a song, random notes pieced together as she surveyed the landscape. Evangeline was always wondering if the authorities would finally catch the other outlaws, and, most importantly, the gang. Trigger's hooves changed beat, shifting from the soft, dry soil of the town, to the harder pebbles crowding the streets. She clicked her tongue again and he skidded to a stop, huffing lightly, his tail hairs waving in the wind. She dismounted the steed easily, eyes immediately focusing upon the wooden, lightly swinging doors of the saloon. Evangeline patted Trigger, putting all faith in him to not trot away to some other place. She had recently begun to do this, knowing he would stay for the apple she would surely buy and bring back.

Her shoes clicked against the wooden steps towards the saloon. She stepped into it with a familiarity, eyes scanning the place for her companion she had followed. The tall, German man sat at the bar, another member of the gang sitting with him. She heard Stefan order the saloon's strongest whiskey, Buddy following suit and asking for the same as his companion. Evangeline sighed and made her way towards the duo, a soft smile upon her lips as she sat on the other side of Stefan, nodding towards the bartender. "I'll take a smaller portion of what these two men are getting," she said, pulling out some money to hand to the worker. As the worked turned away to begin on the drinks, she cornered her two companions.

"Really you two? Drinking this early in he morning. Only the lord knows how you devils are still alive," she muttered. Buddy took out a cigarette and a match, sliding them across the bar to Stefan, who would surely light it and begin ruining his body even more. Evangeline had no rights, really, to tell them how to live, but she did care for them, considering they were technically a part of the family gang. "You two were made for each other, poisoning yourselves like that," she grumbled as an addition.

Wip

Ben watched as a shiny silver fish swam up to the end of the fishing line where the hook and bait were located. Ben smiled "yes... six fish." He said as the fish investigated the bait. Before long the fish bit into the hook and Ben immediately started pulling the line in and walking towards the shore. Once Ben was to the shore he finished pulling in the line and killed the fish with his knife. Ben put the fish along with five others into a sack. The fish stunk badly but Ben knew they would smell better once they were cooked. He mounted his horse and rode towards camp.

On the way to camp Ben thought about going hunting later in the afternoon with some people from the gang. Ben clicked his tongue "let's go!" He said to his horse and she broke into a run. Ben relaxed as he felt the heat from the morning sun touch his skin. He smiled as he saw a bird fly high above his head, he made a loud whistling sound and the bird whistled back.

Ben arrived in camp and saw that many of the gang's members were gathered at the table for breakfast. Ben got off his horse and lead her to his tent where he got some oats from a small worn out sack just outside his tent and gave them to her. He patted his horse on her nose "I'll un-tack you in a minute." He said before going over to the table and taking a seat next to Roxie. He took off his hat and grabbed a bowl and a fork "hello." He said to the people at the table. He looked at Roxie "good morning." He said in his slight southern draw, he looked over to Adaline and smiled "how are you?" He asked Adaline.

He was happy to see both Adaline and Roxie, they were both really nice to him. He ran his fingers through his thick dirty blond hair to get any loose strands out of his face. He dug his fork into the food and began to eat.

Ben sighed "I caught six fish when I was fishing but it isn't enough to feed all of us... so I figured I could take one or two people hunting with me this afternoon." Ben said as he looked around at the table to see if that sparked anybody's interest.

Buddy took a swig from his drink and lit a cigarette for himself before turning to Evangeline and sighing "It might be poison." Buddy said with a sigh "But it is sure hard to stop smoking..." he said as he took another swig of his whiskey. He went silent and took a few puffs from his cigarette.

Buddy looked over at Stefan "how are you?" Buddy asked him before he took another swig from his whiskey.

[ Roxie Sweet ]

| Female | Member | Mentions: Ben and Ollie |

Roxie immediately raised her hand into the air. “Oh, me, I’ll go, I’ll go!” She said very enthusiastically, standing up. “If you’ll want me to come at least…” She said a bit more quietly, sitting back down at her seat. She hadn’t been out of the camp in so long she felt as though she could go crazy at any moment. It was getting extremely boring around camp, always folding laundry, cleaning out tents, cooking, tending the horses, and bothering Ollie every chance she got. But he had started to ignore her like he did everyone else; she had lost a bit of her passion for doing it. She wasn’t exactly allowed out of camp by herself, but nobody would tell her why. Maybe it was that time she accidentally almost caused a forest fire by throwing that lit match on the ground…

Anyway, nobody would let her out of camp and anytime she tried to sneak out someone would catch her. She wasn’t allowed outside by herself and even with that nobody would take her to go anywhere. She hadn’t been out hunting, she hadn’t been to Openshaw, and she had hardly even gone a few steps into the forest. Not being able to go anywhere bothered her a lot since she didn’t have anything to do but chores then, and nobody was ever really around to play cards with her, but she already knew Slicker cheated so she didn’t want to lose anything to him. Being in camp was just too boring for her adventurous mind. She didn’t care where they were going or even what they were doing, she just wanted to get out of camp and into the free air for the first time in a long while.

| Male | Member | | Mentions: Slicker and the Gang |

Ollie didn’t even look up as Slicker called for him. He continued to sit there and flip through the pages of his book, not paying any mind to anyone else. “Can’t be left alone to read for even 30 minutes…” He sighed, taking his silver pocket watch out of his pocket and flipping it open. “7:28 in the morning… great… only about 13 hours and 32 minutes before 9:00 makes it and I can finally go back to sleep without being bothered…” He muttered quietly to himself. He stuffed the watch back in his pocket and began to read again, flipping to the next page.

He didn’t feel like going for breakfast and decided he would just eat in his tent later and would instead rather spend his time sitting down, reading, and planning. He didn’t really care what the others thought or did as long as he wasn’t part of it.

The only thing he wanted to get part of was planning robbery and other acts where he thought he’d be at most use.

He never really went on any of these expositions though to avoid getting in the range of the fire. He instead normally stayed at camp and waited for the others to turn up with victory or not, and if they weren’t he would spend all night trying to figure out what was wrong with his plan and then fix it even if they weren’t going to use the blueprint again. He loved being precise, planning everything from the location to the very minute they would attack. Even if the others didn’t go exactly by his plan he is always looking for ways to improve his knowledge and skill to get it better the next time. He had been in the gang for over 15 years and didn’t want to let them down just yet.

Adaline I Female I Second in Comand I Mentions: Ben and Roxie

Adaline devoured the food. She loved venison and really other game meat. Adaline had survived for so long with just eating scraps and random game meat, invluding small things like squirels, even a mouse when she was super desprate. Her eyes drifted to a moment at the charm that was hanging off of her knife. The knife was a long hunting knife, thick blade with a sharp point and edge. On the leather wrapped handle of the knife was a necklace. The charm was hanging off the gaurd, a small pendant on the end. The pendant was one of the most special things she owned, along with the chain. The chain and pendant itself was blackened with ash, the last thing she had from her mother.

Gah, she hated her brother, he was in the gang too which made it so much worse. He was arrogant and stupid, even thinking about him made her want to stab someone with her anger. She was distracted away from her anger when she was joined by a few other gang members, one of them being Roxie. Now there were two main reasons she hated Roxie. Number one was because she hung around Ollie, ugh she still hated him and the second reason was that she liked Ben. That is a problem because she also liked Ben, quite a lot actually. Ada was not one for competion either, she liked being on the top. She would fight for her postition there too, which meant she'd fight all she could against Roxie.

At the offer of hunting she grinned, looking over at him. She loved hunting, it was something she had managed to gain her skill at. She took her last bite of food then roughly pulled the knife out of the table.

"Well nothing better to do today than to go on a nice hunt. Get supplies for the gang and get away for a bit. Sounds like a nice break for once." She told Ben, now completely ignoring Roxie. The other woman was annoying her with her excitement, it was too much for her and it got on her nerves. She stayed in the camp for a reason, mostly because she was an obnoxious bother who was better left in the camp than out in the real world. "No time to waste though, if you'd want both of us coming that is." She said, her tone cool and collected like usual, but a small smile playing on her rosy lips.

Ben looked surprised at how excited Roxie got "okay, okay calm down... you can come." Ben said to her calmly before taking a bite of venison. He wondered if Roxie would be okay coming along, everyone had told Ben that she was crazy outside of camp, Ben thought everything would be okay though. He wondered if Adaline would come, he liked her and Roxie a lot and thought it would be great to talk to both of them.

Ben grinned widely when he heard Adaline agree to going. He took a few more bites before getting up and putting his hat back on. He walked over to his tent "Let me grab a few things." Ben said as he opened his tent and walked into it. He saw his leather holster on the ground near where he slept, he quickly grabbed it and put it around his waist and then slid his gun into it. He grabbed his bow and five arrows. He walked out of his tent a moment later and looked at Roxie and Adaline "I'm ready when you two are." Ben said with a soft friendly smile.

Ben mounted his horse and waited for Roxie and Adaline to get ready. He felt a cool, gentle breeze blow through the air and saw that the sky became fairly grey. " better get a move on, rain is setting in." Ben said as he looked up to the sky. Ben didn't mind the rain but he knew that there would be less hunting game if it was raining. "We should probably hunt around Roselake for now... if we can't find any game we can hunt in the Black Wolf Woods..." Ben said.

Asta Shah l F l 24 l member l M: Open

Asta smiled to herself. Younger brothers would do anything for candy. Unfortunately, it would make him hyper afterwards and he would be jumping off the walls like usual. They neared the town and began to walk down main street. Some of the town’s inhabitants looked on edge. The few who acted like that seemed to be ready for a robbery; whether they were starting one or defending from one. Either way, she didn’t want to be there for it without the proper outfit. She sped up in pace and made sure not to touch her pocket, which would signal carrying something important. Her dagger shook in her boot with each step. Its simple presence was comforting. She came to a sudden stop in front of an old wooden building. The place didn’t look like much, but held all the groceries any normal person would need within its walls.

Upon entering, someone yelled out her name. She winced noticeably at that while walking up to the counter. “May I help you, Ma’am?” It appeared to be one of the store’s assistants. She didn’t recognize the person, but decided to act polite. “Are you back from boarding school already?” Right, that’s the excuse she told her family before joining up with the gang. Maybe this person knew her step-mother. “No, Ma’am. We’re just on break.” This joke was probably starting to get worn out. They’d probably begin to think she was getting held back by the end of the year. Maybe Asta could “move” out to another town sometime. “That’s a shame. We could use more smart people like you to give this town a name.” She was biting her lip and trying her best not to burst out laughing. Really, they’ll do just fine without her here. They need her as much as that tumbleweed in the main street. It’s not like she lived here all her life anyways. How far does this person think pointless flattery will get her? “I’m here to buy a treat for Malthe before leaving again. It’s to make up for my absence in his life.” Her brother smiled like a child. While he was used to this, he was getting a little tall to play the innocence role. “Boys never age, do they?” “Not this one, at least.” Malthe looked strangely proud of that comment and walked back to the candy aisle. She went straight for the dry goods, though. The biscuits here were amazing. She met up with her brother at the counter to pay for their items. Placing a few gold coins on the table, she walked out of the store. “I should probably head back in case they all think I’ve been kidnapped.” Malthe looked hurt, but nodded in agreement. Asta smiled. “Now, shoo. Go back from whence you came!” He turned to scurry off towards their home and she began to walk back towards camp again. Good, her cheeks hurt from smiling anyways. All this polite talking was beginning to taint her mind as well. At least she got a biscuit out of it.

When she returned, the first thing Asta did was change into her male outfit. That dress was really restricting her movement and was starting to get on her nerves. She tugged at the bandanna wrapped around what was left of her open sleeve. Her horse, Gypsy was sleeping behind her tent. “Hey Gypsy.” She ran her fingers through her mane, untangling a few of the knots. “You have enough to eat and drink?” He neighed and rested his head on her lap. They had the lake to drink out of, but finding food was harder unless the owner helped out. “Alright.” She walked inside her tent to grab her swords and slide them into their sheaths. “I’ll be back.” The kitchen was near the center of camp, right? She rarely ate with the gang, usually heading out towards town for a meal, so didn’t have its location memorized to the exacts. After finding it, she walked around looking for something a horse could eat. “Anyone know where the horse oats are?”

Adaline I Female I Second in Comand I Mentions: Ben and Roxie

Adaline nodded, standing up from the table. She hesitated for a moment, making sure she had all of her guns on her. She checked the bullet holders on both her pistol belts and the repeater. She nodded, seeing as there was no holes in any of the spots, they were all filled. She buttoned her coat a few holes before walking over to where her saddle was set down. She let out a loud short whistle, then another after that. Her mare came cantering over to her, pinner her ears and giving her some attitude as usual. Adaline rolled her eyes at the mare, who was now throwing her head up and digging in the ground with her front left hoof.

"Oh knock it off." She told the mare, grabbing the bridle from the ground and slipping it over her head. The mare tried to bite her in responce, but Ada just pushed the horse's head away from her. She grabbed the saddle and swung it back onto the mare's back. She stood still like she was trained to, although Ada could easily see that the mare was very irritated. She tightened the cinch and mounted up, clicking and the mare sprung into a small canter.

The mare came to a halt next to Ben's horse, pinning her ears and attempting to bite the other people's horses. She glanced at Roxie, but ignored her. She would let Ben take the lead on this hunt. She had never had a problem letting others take the lead, but they just had to be the people she deemed worthy of taking the lead.

"Well go ahead and lead the way. You know what you're doing." She told the guy, ignoring her horse as the mare shifted anxiously underneath her. She knew Bourbon would follow Ben's horse the moment it started moving. She was definately taking the spot behind ben, Roxie could be dead last. Ada still was second in command, she wouldn't forget her authority. Especally not when partigular gang memebers were around, Roxie especally, Ollie was also on the top of that list.

Ben nodded his head to the two of them and he gave his horse a soft kick in the side and made a clicking sound with his tongue and she started to trot toward Roselake. Ben looked around him while his horse trotted along. He saw a few birds flying above his head and he saw the trees swaying in the wind. He saw the clouds get darker and gave a small kick in the horse's side so she would go faster, she broke into a foster trot. Ben sighed when the lake came into view, he stopped his horse and looked around "This is a fine area to hunt, I've seen a few deer grazing on grass through here a few times, I would have caught them but I only had my knife on me." He said as he looked at Roxie and Adaline.

Ben made sure his arrows were all sharp enough before nudging his horse it the side with his boot heel and she trotted deeper into the woods. Ben got his bow and arrow read to shoot as he looked around for the slightest of movement. Ben's horse made a few snorting sounds "shhh it's okay, girl." Ben whispered to her as he patted her back gently.

Ben relished in the peaceful sound of nature as he looked for any signs of hunting game. He enjoyed the peace and quiet and sometimes would just go on walks through the forest with Whisling Bird which he always enjoyed.

Ben heard a twig snap not too far away and he quickly looked around for anything that could have made that sound, but Ben didn't see anything but a single leaf fall from a tree. Ben looked back at Adaline and Roxie "keep your eyes open." Ben said to them.