bounty shenanigans ensue

[endeudado]

CHARACTERS: Kaz and Jesper
DATE: 11/14 or whatever
WARNINGS: Violence? There's gonna be NPC violence.
SUMMARY: Two crows get bounties done for money and profit.

jk this log is made up of top levels there's no content here

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BANDITOS BUCKIN' BRONCO (or burro)

[endeudado]

[ After fashioning themselves up in more... appropriate clothing, Jesper and Kaz get to doing what they do best. Working. Or well, in Jesper's case, it's doing whatever his boss tells him because Kaz usually knows what to do. He's the schemer, even if Jesper's the one who knows a little more about the sweet clothing styles of Perdition's Rest.

It doesn't take long to get intel on where the bandits are hiding out. The snow on the ground doesn't give 'em many options when it comes to places to hole up. ]

I'm guessing it won't be much different from a real horse, once we find one.

[ Jesper checks his pistols, loading them up with the few bullets he has and some he's had to buy. Maybe he'd have more if he hadn't spent a whole cartridge trying to impress Giorno, who knows. ]

You can leave that to me, Kaz, I'm good with horses.

[steler]

[Honestly, Kaz feels a little ridiculous. Jesper picked them out clothing, although Kaz was not about to let Jesper put him in some ostentatious color, opting for blacks and whites, still wearing black gloves. At least they look the part. It helps that the two of them actually are killers and thieves so the whole "yes hello I am a hardened bandit" actually...plays out pretty well on both of them.]

You're also good with metal. I don't see how you could mess this up.

[endeudado]

[ Yeah, uh. Wow. Jesper grits his teeth through the reminder. He's opted to a dark green overcoat over his bright purple jacket but even with the addition of a cowboy hat, Kaz still sees fit to bring up the Grisha thing. It makes Jesper's teeth itch just thinking about it, but he sucks it up. He did fuck up the Ice Court job and even if it's not directly his fault Inej was taken, he can see why Kaz would need someone to vent. ]

Thanks.

[ Truly though, it doesn't take much to fake looking dangerous. They may not look like the Qorral, but they could just as well be unsavory types taking a break from "fixing" worlds to steal some poor bandit's coin. Not that the possibility is entirely off the table. ]

So what's the plan?

[steler]

We'll head out to the desert to find one of the bandit camps. Set a distraction to spit up the bandits, corner the smallest party and take the horse.

[simple. but i mean hes got back up plans for his back up plans lets be real]

It would be easier if Peter just handed us the tracker to start with, but I suppose the horse will just figure out how to get back to camp once he's put the tracker on it.

[he shrugs. sometimes people were dumb. what happens to the horse after peter has it is quite honestly not kaz's problem]

[endeudado]

Sounds good to me.

[ Jesper already knows he's the distraction, he doesn't have to ask. He's got his guns and his wits and his powers, for all that they might not do him much good. He's set. ]

I mean, they're mechanical right? Maybe they were made to come back to their owners.

[ Not that Jesper has a clue about how mechanical horses work, but horses sometimes know how to come home, you know? ]

[steler]

Maybe.

[kaz shrugs. he really doesn't care.]

Do you have everything you need? We could be in the desert for a few days if we can't find the camps quickly enough.

[endeudado]

I've got my tent and stuff, yeah.

[ He's got a nice pouch and everything. I mean it's not nice but it's enough to hold a blanket and a tent in, so it's more like a sack than anything else. ]

Believe it or not, I did survive a whole week here on my own, Kaz.

[ Though your concern is appreciated. ]

[steler]

Great.

[i mean he knows jesper's been okay. jesper even managed to get good information. but he already gave him a compliment.]

No mourners.

[he picks up his stuff (he gathered supplies after picking out clothes, has managed to do pretty well with his money but then again when hasn't he?), and his cane. he wishes he didn't have it, but he doesn't have anywhere to leave it for now so it was what it was. if he was asked he could just say he got shot at some point, whatever. and, without waiting for jesper's reply, heads off in the direction of the desert.]

[endeudado]

No funerals—hey, wait up!

[ Jesper follows, staying close behind (but not too close, he knows Kaz likes his space.) Wandering through the desert in the winter can't be fun, but at least it should only take them an hour or so of traveling in silence before they find signs of a bandit camp in the distance. And yes, believe it or not, Jesper can keep quiet for that long. It involves a lot of self-control and checking the network. And anticipating violence, that always helps.

(That, and their Magitek has a nice added positioning systems so hey, they'll definitely find their way back.) ]

Looks like smoke. Campfire, you think?

[steler]

[wow jesper this was...this was truly a feat. kaz is going to write it down on his calendar. "today is the day jesper didn't talk for a whole hour. but he sees the smoke right before jesper (totally right before) and nods]

Doesn't mean it's bandits, but I can't imagine there are many others out here.

[endeudado]

[ Treasure these moments, Kaz. Maybe Jesper is just glad to have you back and spent the better part of the hour admiring your pretty ass in those pants, huh??? What about that??? ]

Either way, looks like we found our mark.

[ Do you really think Peter will notice if the horses don't belong to bandits? Probably not. Jesper grabs his guns and steps in a little closer. ]

How many do you see?

[steler]

[ugh whatever you do you jesper. whatever keeps morale high

anyway he checks out the camp. what do you elf eyes see legolas]

Looks like there's five or six horses, maybe ten men. We'll split up. You stay here, I'll go around to the back of the camp. I'll signal you and then you shoot at them to misdirect them while I grab one of the horses.

[endeudado]

[ If only he could do you, Kaz...... if only......... ]

Sounds like a plan.

[ Of which he expects Kaz to do something besides what he's actually telling him, but that's how Kaz's plans tend to go. ]

Cause enough of a ruckus and they won't miss a horse or two.

HE AIN'T HEAVY (he's triggering my childhood trauma)

[steler]

[the promised pony pilfering for peter parker now perfectly performed, kaz and jesper set their sights on another bounty. it's better than just sitting around camping hating themselves and listening to stupid shitposts on the network, anyway.

kaz has read the bounty over a few times. a sister, looking for her good for nothing brother who'd run off god knows where, leaving her alone. "ne'er-do-well" what a way to put it. but jin's message adds up with the way they'd seen the bandits - people who were scared. at least now they have a horse. the rent a second one so they don't have to repeat their first experience and then it's back off towards the desert, off towards what camps were left to start asking around.

well, in the way the two of them "ask" questions.

(and he can't help but wonder what jordie would say about him, if he were still alive. how jordie would ask about getting his brother back. it makes him angry to think he'd even consider something so foolish.)

they find a couple of stray bandits around a campfire and saunter their way over, still in those sweet bandit threads from their last run as banditos.]

Evening.

[he looks over at jesper - actually, no his gaze goes right to jesper's guns. (the revolvers, get your mind out of the gutter) and then back to the bandits. it's a warning as much as a greeting. two bandits. two crows. was that worth dying over?

he pulls out a bottle of whiskey* (or pick your perdition's rest equivalent in this choose your own adventure) one that's still unopened and offers it to these new bandit friends.]

Mind if we join you?

[endeudado]

[ Why not his guns though, Kaz?? After his massive flub during their first bounty, Jesper's really trying to keep his mouth shut for this one. He'll have Kaz' back, they've run plenty of jobs like this before. "Gathering information" might more often end in violence, but this one doesn't have to, right?

Haha, of course there's going to be violence. Jesper's not shy about wearing his guns but he keeps his hands up above his waist, sitting down with a smile before either of the bandits can so much as argue. Their target at least won't be hard to miss, he's like seven feet tall or something? ]

How're you gentlemen doing tonight?

[ The bandits grunt but don't startle or turn them down. Maybe they think a few kids couldn't possibly be any kind of threat. What a mistake. ]

[steler]

[what a mistake indeed. kaz drops the bottle in front of them and takes a seat around their campfire. i mean it's pretty clear these guys are not cassidy the giraffe but they might know where he ran off.]

We're looking for a friend of ours. He's seven feet tall, bullet scar on his shoulder.

[endeudado]

[ Jesper chuckles, the good cop to Kaz's bad cop. ]

He's kind of hard to miss, you know?

[ Not that Jesper's one to talk, being 6'3" and all, but he shoots the bandits a look like 'I'm just a normal friendly guy with guns, why not talk to me?'

The bandits share a look between them, the alcohol, and these two brats before them.

"Who's asking?" the shorter one, which I've decided to call Bob, says. ]

[steler]

Concerned friends.

[kaz looks from bob to dastard demo derek, the other bandit, but his gaze is far from friendly. even his words sound somehow malicious when he says them.]

Y'all don't look like friends of giraffes.

[endeudado]

You sure? Cause his sister and I are real friendly.

[ Dammit, Jesper, that's not the way to make friends. But it is the way to know if these guys actually know Cassidy. Which, insinuating certain things about his sister might be one way to do it.

The bandits-- Bob specifically, takes the bait and bristles immediately. ]

The hell you know 'bout Cass' sister?

[steler]

She wants to find her good for nothing brother. Who you apparently know, considering that we didn't say his name.

[dastard demo derek curses under his breath]

What the hell, Bob?

[derek throws his cigarette on the ground and stands up, pushing back his jacket to reveal the butt of his revolver. he rests his hand on it and looks from bob to kaz to jesper]

You should move along, fellas. We don't want no trouble.

[endeudado]

[ They might not want no trouble, but trouble came knocking on their door regardless. Jesper doesn't wait before he pulls out one of his guns and fires, precise enough to avoid Derek's fingers and hit hit the sand just next to his hand. That should hopefully dissuade him from making that mistake again. It's certainly not very nice to shoot first and ask questions later, but Kaz and Jesper didn't make it this far by playing by the rules. ]

Shit!

[ Bob seems to think better of pulling his own weapon, but he makes a grab for the bottle of whiskey, maybe hoping to bludgeon or throw it at one of them. That won't end well. Jesper keeps his gun trained on Derek, still smiling as easy as ever. ]

A little late for that, fellas. Trouble's here.

[steler]

[Bob lunges for Kaz, but Kaz is faster. His cane cracks against Bob's hand, and Bob clearly didn't expect it was lead lined and fabrikator made. bob's bones audibly break and the whiskey bottle drops, shattering on the ground, the alcohol making the fire crackle and spark.

derek, meanwhile, has jumped back about a foot and draws his weapon, shooting, and missing Jesper.]

What in tarnation do you think y'all are doing here? Shootin' a man and asking questions it ain't right.

[kaz looks from the broken bandit bob to dastard demo derek]

We gave you the option of just answering.

[endeudado]

[ Jesper doesn't even flinch as the shot goes off near him. More than that, the danger only gives him added clarity. Shots fired? Jesper's calm, in control like he only feels when things are dangerous. It makes him smile even wider. He could shoot the guy's gun out of his hand, but poor Dastard Demo Derek looks so scared he'd probably miss even from a foot away. ]

The hell you want with Cass?

[ Derek spits out, his whole body shaking even as he tightens the grip on his gun. You know what? It never hurts to be thorough. Jesper smiles and shoots again, no hesitation or warning, his bullet knocking the gun out of Derek's hand. Bob can barely speak through the pain of his broken hand but he does manage a few choice Qorral curses. ]

I believe my buddy Kaz is the one asking the questions.

[steler]

[kaz hits bob's leg, not quite hard enough to break it but definitely bad enough that he'll be limping through the rest of the fight.]

Tell us where to find him, and we'll be on our way.

[derek is staring down at his gun, bob is clutching his leg awkwardly. derek speaks:]

Go to hell! We won't tell you nothing!

[endeudado]

[ That's a dumb answer, Jesper thinks, but these guys don't seem too quick on the uptake. Jesper pops the two empty shells from his gun, reloading more for the threat than anything. He doubts it would take more than four more bullets to take these guys.

The bandits definitely take notice. ]

Where should I start shooting them, Kaz?

[ He could start with the legs and take their hands next, assuming Kaz doesn't want to break a few fingers himself. Derek seems to think better of grabbing for his gun, but they haven't kicked the fight out of him or Bob just yet. ]

You're bluffing! We ain't telling you where Cass is at!