#rustler

[the-supremeverse]

random goobers part 2

ink, doomstar, fogrog, rustler, swashbuckler

words of the day:

soul, might, prank, necessity, art

have a nice day! dont forget to reblog!

[oxcroft]

[fortnite-headcanons]

rustler and calamity r defo gay for eachother

Fortnite Headcanon #754

[burnsoregonphotoblog]

Heppner Weekly Gazette., September 12, 1889

It seems Harney County had a bit of a reputation back in 1889.

[greenbagjosh]

Friday 31 July 1998 - Night at the Rustler (W-Penzing) - guided by Franz Kaida’s voice - eating pizza rectangles in Schottentor - finally can take photos with the new camera

Friday 31 July 1998 Grüß Gott und Servus! Today twenty years ago marks the end of what is known as the Alte Rechtschreibung in German.  The Neue Rechtschreibung is the new orthography of German, which is not limited to just spelling but also punctuation.  I will tell more about it later on but that is one of the big news items of that day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/.../German_orthography_reform_of... This will be the first of three days heading eastward, possibly the farthest east from München I have ever been (Istanbul Sirkeci station in Turkey to date is the farthest).  I will be going to Vienna, then Budapest, then return stopping at Vienna Westbahnhof - the Hauptbahnhof next to Südbahnhof was not constructed and opened until 2016.  So here is the overview of what I did on Friday 31 July 1998.

- woke up about 7 AM from apartment - swung by the SSKM in Marienplatz to withdraw ATS 500 notes - arrived at München Hbf about 8:45 AM in time to find my Sommer Spezial car and reserved seat in 1st class - crossed into Austria about 10:30 AM, arrived in Salzburg around 10:45 AM, DB staff changed to ÖBB - a miracle with the camera happens about 12:15 PM, have lunch in the dining car to celebrate - arrive at Vienna Westbahnhof about 1:30 PM, try to find a hotel as the youth hostels are booked up - leave clothes bag at hotel room, walk to Johnstraße U-Bahn station - take U-Bahn to Prater via Philadelphiabrücke/Meidling station, end up at Prater by S-Bahn - take a trip down memory lane at the Prater, see the large Riesenrad Ferris Wheel - go into central Vienna with the U-2 via Schottentor.  Have pizza slices before making the transfer - listen to FM4 La Boum de Luxe and hear a bit of "Mo Betta Blues" Denzel Washington "What the world needs now (is *not* another love song)!" - take a tram tour to the Upper Belvedere, just get postcard of "der Kuss" by Gustav Klimt - stroll along to Stephansplatz and admire the multicolored tiled roof. - have a cup of Segafreddo coffee, go to Westbahnhof to buy a phrasebook with Hungarian - take U-3 to Johnstraße and bus 51 to Linzer Straße - listen to Hit Radio Ö3, read phrasebook and go to sleep

Okay, are you ready to have fun in Vienna?😀😃😄🇦🇹 Let me give you some background on Vienna.  Unlike Zürich, which I could remember from a relatively recent visit, I had only been to Vienna once as a young child.  I barely even remember what I did there.  I had to study maps so that I would have a general idea of what to see.  I also had a German-language guidebook on Vienna, which included vocabulary not otherwise used in Germany, or even in most parts of Austria for that matter.  The one map I needed to familiarize myself with, was the U-Bahn system.  I think I did fine overall.  Oh, and at work, everyone knew in advance that I was taking Friday the 31st July off, so it was no problem.😀

As the last weekend in July is usually the time that Bavaria and Austria are let go for the summer holidays, it was impossible to book a bed in any youth hostel.  I had to improvise, but I did not know of any hotels in Vienna, so I went without any reservation - very unusual for me, given my custom of prior booking in advance.  So with an open mind, I woke up (I forgot to do something important but could not remember what) about 6:30 AM, took my shower to avoid clashing with the roommates schedules, had a quick breakfast with coffee and then took the bus and U-Bahn into Marienplatz.  The Stadtsparkasse had ATMs that would give 🇦🇹 ATS bills, for example the 500 ATS.  This was worth about € 36 or around 71 D-Mark each.  On the front was Rosa Mayreder who replaced Otto Wagner.  https://upload.wikimedia.org/.../155px-500_Schilling_Rosa....  This was a new and possibly last pre-Euro series.  Moritz Daffinger and Sigmund Freud among others would still be visible on their respective notes.  I think I had withdrawn about 2,500 ATS, more than enough for the weekend.  And it was time to head to München Hbf.

I had a Sommer-Spezial ticket for Vienna, 89,00 D-Mark for one way in first class, quite a bargain, but with the "usual strings attached".  I also had my Eurail Pass which I was going to use on 1st and 2nd August.  I found the train car and it was full, I was the last to arrive.  The train left about 9:10 AM.  I had the radio going,📻🎧 listening to Bayrische Rundfunk 3 aka Bayern3 (which I listened to the most during Summer 1998).  I think about Aying the signal was getting weak so I switched to the Rosenheim repeater frequency.  It worked for a while until Traunstein.  If you have been between München and Salzburg, you can likely imagine you are first going through a fairly flat forest land up to Rosenheim, then slightly hilly terrain up to Freilassing with mountains to the south, with a couple of lakes (eg. Chiemsee).   It is the same trajectory I took 20th and 21st June 1998.

At Freilassing, the Hit Radio Ö3 station could be heard clearly.  After it played "Everybody" by DJ Bobo, the announcer was mentioning the Lassing mine disaster in the Steiermark - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassing_mining_disaster.  It happened 17 July and I heard about it first on 24th July when I was trying to tune in the DRS channels while in Lindau/Bregenz.  After that, the train rolled into Salzburg to change the locomotive from DB to ÖBB to go the rest of the way to Vienna Westbahnhof.  The train would not change direction until then.  

The train stopped at Attnang-Puchheim, then went on to Linz and St Pölten.  I was trying to take photographs with the point and shoot camera I bought in Milan.  Until then I did not know the technique to properly thread in the film, so I had been just clicking the button and turning the thumbwheel, and all the while the counter went up to 36 shots and I had no idea.  Then I had a fresh roll of film that I opened, opened the back, and then there was a slot with a tooth that I should have put the film in, so I did that, and the next thing I knew, there was resistance with the frame advance thumbwheel, and I thought I had mastered the camera.  I took a few shots of the rear of the train (it turned out that the slot was the secret).  😃To celebrate this "victory", I treated myself to a chicken lunch in the dining car.😋  I had the chicken plate with vegetables including red bell pepper and some quinoa-like grain with an Austrian beer.  I think it cost only 350 ATS altogether.  I had to be careful with my finances thereafter, as I did not know, how much the hotel would cost for the night.

When I arrived at Vienna Westbahnhof, it was about 1:30 PM.  I thought there would be some directory for hotels, but there was this office that would take care of travellers so they found a low-budget hotel for me in the Penzing district, about a 15 minute tram ride away.  I would stay at Hotel Rustler, on Linzer Straße 43, close to Johnstraße and reachable by bus, but had to take care of the local transit fares first.  I bought a 24 hour ticket for 80 ATS.  I took the tram to Linzer Straße, and the hotel seemed a bit spooky. 😱 The man took my 350 ATS and gave me a towel.  My room was a single bedroom and had only a sink but no toilet and no shower.  Breakfast was included.  At least I would have some quiet at night.  I left my clothes bag there and went into the city center. I wanted to see the Prater, so I went on a southern approach, kind of through the current Hauptbahnhof which did not exist until 2015 or so.  I did not wait for the bus so I decided to walk to the Johnstraße U-Bahn station.  In Austria cars can have personalized plates, prepended by the district code to which it is registered.  One rich guy who owned a Vienna-registered 🚗 Corvette had "W-HALCO" as his personalized plate, I am not sure where the photo of it is anymore.  At a park along the way, there was a sign "Wer Tauben füttert, füttert auch Ratten" (If you feed pigeons, you also feed rats).  🕊=🐀

Probably 25 minutes after I left the hotel, I arrived at Johnstraße.  The station was the current western terminus of the U-3, and before passing the ticket cancellation machines, there was this grotesque figure called the "Hudriwudri", and stood atop a circular ashtray to remind passengers to not smoke in the station 🚭 and also in the train.  The Hudriwudri wears very little, aside from a homburg hat, circular glasses, a purple and pink necktie and purple shoes.  Passing the Hudriwudri, I went downstairs to the platform where U3 would go to Westbahnhof and change to the U-6 and do the anticlockwise circle to the Prater.  There was a train waiting.  As it departed and headed to Schweglerstraße and on to Westbahnhof, I heard the next-station announcement with the same voice as the tram, following a bing-bong chime.  Almost every time, the voice would also announce the line transfers where applicable.  For busses and trams, he would sometimes say "Kurzstreckengrenze" to announce the end of a current discount fare zone, and sometimes "Wir bitten Sie, an älteren oder behinderten Fahrgästen, sowie Personen mit kleineren Kindern, Sitzpläte zu überlassen." to ask passengers to give up their seats to the elderly, disabled and mothers/fathers with young children.  His voice seemed a bit monotone.  I would find out later the name of the person doing the voices, and he had been doing that from approx 1976 to 2012 when he retired.

After arriving at the U-3 platform for Westbahnhof, I took the passage to the U-6 platform.  The U-6 was built as a low-floor tram originally and was subsequently refurbished to subway standards.  The U-6 was kind of like a roller coaster ride between Westbahnhof and Längenfeldgasse since the Otto-Wagner-designed Gumpendorfer Straße station was elevated while the rest were underground up to Philadelphiabrücke/Meidling.  Meidling is an intermodal transfer stop for S-Bahn and the U-6.  The S Bahn as well as the "Wiener-Baden Bahn" was on the surface.  Waiting for the next S-Bahn to the Praterstern, it took about ten minutes as it was not yet the beginning of the evening rush hour.  The train came and made its way past Matzleinsdorfer Platz, the former Südbahnhof which became Hauptbahnhof, the Belvedere, Wien Mitte commuter rail station and finally Praterstern.  Praterstern is like a Coney Island, less so a Six Flags park.  Admission is free of charge, rides require tickets, including the famous giant ferris wheel. 🎡🎢 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna....

When I walked through the Prater, it was like my previous visit in 1976.  The one thing I remember from that time, was the pony ride, so I stopped by.  There were a few roller coasters, fun-houses, the Liliputbahn, a gravity drop thrill ride, .  There even were a few currency exchange places around the Prater.  They accepted many eastern European currencies to change to the Schilling, particularly the Czech Koruna, Slovak Koruna, Hungarian Forint, Yugoslav Dinar, Polish Zloty, Romanian Leu, Bulgarian Lev and many more.  One place in the Prater that I wish I went, was the Schweizer Haus.  https://www.schweizerhaus.at/menu.asp.  That is Vienna's best beer garden.  Pretty much anything you might find in Germany, is served here as well but with a Vienna twist.  This includes the famous Vienna Sausage known as "Frankfurter", Bratwürstel, Gulasch, Schnitzel, Sauerkraut and the grilled half-chicken, Oktoberfest-style.  They can slice up a fresh white radish, and make their own potato chips in-house.  Powidltascherl are essentially pierogies.  Mohnnudeln are dumplings with ground poppy seed topping.  As for beer, they have proper Czech Budweiser, Gieskirchner and Paulaner Hefe.  At some point I hope to eat at the Schweizer Haus, next time I visit Vienna. 😋🇦🇹

I wanted to see more of Vienna after the Prater.  To go back to the center, particularly Karlsplatz, I would need to take the U-1 to Schwedenplatz, then U-4 and U-2 to Schottentor.  Schottentor has an interesting tram stop which has its lower level exposed as a departures platform.  I bought some pizza, one with ham and mushrooms, and the other a spinach and fried egg, and I ate it at the stop, since eating was not necessarily prohibited at the station, but it was frowned upon in the trams.  I then went on the U-2 to Karlsplatz to have a look around.  Karlsplatz is where the famous Opera building is located, great for ballroom dancing events and professional performances.

I thought after seeing Karlsplatz, it would be a good time to go on a surface tram tour around the city center.  The lines 1 and 2 run along the former location of the city wall.  I went clockwise on line 1 to Schottentor, passing the Parliament and Rathaus.  Then I changed direction, took the tram 1 to Volkstheater and changed to line 2.  I went to about Schwarzenbergplatz so that I could see the Schloß Belvedere.  This is where many of Gustav Klimt's works are stored.  I would return in January 2002 to see his works, including "Der Kuss".  I even bought a postcard for a professor who liked Klimt's works, and she let me know when it arrived in the USA (I think 5th-6th August 1998).  And after that, I went through the Stadtpark to Johannesgasse, then along the Kärntnerstraße (both pedestrian zones) to the Domkirche St Stephan.  This cathedral was built in the 14th Century AD in the gothic style with some romanesque elements here and there.  Its roof is one of the most interesting of all cathedrals I have ever seen, namely on the top there are black, grey, green and white tiles, and in the stripe below there are black, yellow, green and grey in sort of a diamond shape.   One side has two eagles, one with the shield of the Republic of Austria and the other with the shield of the city of Vienna.      

After seeing the ⛪ Stephansplatz, I needed to go to the 🚉 Westbahnhof rail station to buy a🛒📕 phrasebook, hopefully there would be one for Hungarian, even if written for German speakers.  Vienna is close to two other countries so it would seem logical.  But before that, I somehow felt the need to have an espresso, as coffee houses are so common in Vienna.  I found one that featured Segafredo coffee.  I had a cup of espresso and I think also a small cookie about the size of a pink eraser.  And an 8 ounce glass of water to go with that. ☕+🥛+🍪 During the time I was enjoying my evening espresso, I was listening to the FM4 La Boum de Luxe show in "Denglish", namely alternating between English and German.  They even played a section of Mo Better Blues when Denzel Washington as Bleek Gilliam singing a spoof of Jackie DeShannon's "what the world needs now", and he said mockingly "is *not* another love song!".  FM4 is still broadcasting even in 2018.  After that it was time to head to the rail station before the shops would close for the day.      

The journey from ⛪ Stephansplatz to Westbahnhof would be fairly simple.  Get on the U-3 and stay on for five stations and head to the national railways.  I left the radio on and recorded just static for the time I was underground, so however long it takes to get from Stephansplatz to Westbahnhof by the U-3, that is as much white noise as I recorded.  What I wanted to record, was the voice of the subway announcer but that did not work until I went from Westbahnhof to Johnstraße.  But I was not ready, I had to go to a bookshop to buy a phrasebook. 📕🛒 The only relevant phrasebook available was "Osteuropa", it had enough Hungarian for my purposes.  Other languages included Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Romanian, Polish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Russian.  It was written for German speakers, so I had to learn to speak from a German point of view rather than my natural US English view.  The book was bought, and then it was time to go back to the hotel.

I only had to take the U-3 to Johnstraße and the bus 51 to Linzer Straße to get to the hotel.  Once I arrived, I went to my room and read through the phrasebook to try to learn some phrases, like "jó napot", "kerem" and "köszönöm".  Hungarian has about nine vowels and almost 30 consonants, some of which require two letters.  For example, the letter S is pronounced as "Sh" and SZ is pronounced as "S".  The letters Ö and Ü are essentially the same as in German but there long and short versions, German uses a short Ö and Ü by default and to lengthen it, the letter "h" is used, like "öh" and "üh", but in Hungarian, something like a double acute accent is used, as Ő and Ű.  Another consonant that is difficult for most to pronounce is "gy".  It sounds something like a short "dzyerh".  From Wikipedia "The sound voiced palatal plosive / ɟ /, written ?gy?, sounds similar to 'd' in British English 'duty' (in fact, it is more similar to the Macedonian phoneme ' Ђ ' as in '?????'). It occurs in the name of the country, "Magyarország" (Hungary), pronounced /ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ/ "  Oh and what is a "pályaudvar"?  Its an important word to know.  That and "napijegy".  

Well I thought I got pretty much a good vocabulary for my needs, and it would be put to the test the following day.  Before I went to sleep, which would be about 11:50 PM, I would take some time to listen to the radio, a bit of FM4 and then switch over to Hit Radio Ö3.  On the radio was Dr Motte with the 1998 Love Parade theme song "One world one future", then it went to hip-hop flashing back to Summer 1992 for some bizarre reason.  Before the news, Hit Radio Ö3 played "Jump around" by House of Pain, "Jump Jump" by Kriss Kross and an abbreviated "Insane in the membrane" by Cypress Hill.  At midnight the radio announcer said "es ist Null Uhr", and the newsreader did the news, mentioning the Lassing Mine Disaster and progress made, as well as it being from that moment in time, the German Spelling Reform was in effect.  

That was all for 31st July 1998, and it's now a new month, and the new German grammar and punctuation reform goes into effect.  And I visit a new country and virtually visit another (at least through radio waves).  Find out more tomorrow.

Gute Nacht und bis morgen! Jó éjszakát és holnapig! (31st July 1998 I did not learn that phrase) 🇭🇺 Dobrou noc a až zajtra! 🇸🇰

[panel-on-point]

The Hawk, #5 (1954) art by Dan Barry with inks by Murphy Anderson (featuring Luellen Beadle as the momentary captive of Lobo Moreno)

I choose this panel for a variety of reasons, but primarily because I've never heard of Dan Barry, and shame on me for that because his art is top notch. The emotive power of the faces here is simply amazing - something probably helped by the inking of the legendary Murphy Anderson, who would later pair with Curt Swan to provide some of the greatest art on Superman ever seen. The whole story is just incredibly rendered.

[tofupixel]

nothing to say for myself

[electronicbox]

Baybee, Rustler, Battery Operated Jeep, Kids, Ride, Toy Kids, Car, Light & Music, Baby Big Rechargeable Battery, Car, Jeep, Electric Jeep, Car, Kids to Drive, 2 to 4 Years, Boy, Girl, (White)

🚗[Dual Mode Electric Jeep] - The Battery operated Jeep can be controlled by dual control modes. Parent can help your children control this jeep with 2.4G wireless remote controller or baby can operate this car by himself/herself by step on the accelerator, turn the steering wheel and shift the forward/backward moving mode, your kids will practice hand-eye-foot coordination, enhance courage, and build confidence through this wonderful vehicle

🚗[Realistic Driving Experience] Battery Jeep gives your kids realistic driving experience just like a real Jeep with a horn, led Headlights, inbuilt music, USB, Aux & remote controller, You can connect it to USB port or Aux and play a wider selection of songs and stories. The buttons near the USB port are music modes, horn, bluetooth button & volume Control

🚗[Durable & Comfortable]– This electric ride on car features two wear-resistant seats that can feel comfortably for your kids. The four wear resistant wheels equipped with suspension spring inside to provide your kids with smooth driving feeling

🚗[Safe to Drive] - Powerful engine with a slow start for safer use. The bright LED lights on the front of this car allow for safe night-time driving. The steering wheel can only slightly change the direction of the car, which helps prevent accidental overturning

🚗[Fun for Hours] - When this ride on car is fully charged, your baby can continuously play it for 40 minutes which makes sure that your baby can abundantly enjoy it. The jeep is suitable for kids 2 to 4 years boys girls

🚗[Assembly Instruction] The product requires easy self-assembling. Instruction manual provided with the package and comes with a charger, NOTE: THE BATTERY POSITIVE TERMINAL (RED WIRE) IS DISCONNECTED SO WHILE ASSEMBLING THE JEEP CONNECT THE RED WIRE TO BATTERY BEFORE CHARGING

[kolegaliterat]

Literat przegląda Internet 157

Świat Tadeusza Baranowskiego ma zostać przeniesiony na ekran! Smok Diplodok wystąpi w animacji, której zwiastun możesz obejrzeć już dziś!

Szybki serwis Rustlera po weekendowych szaleństwach i mogę przygotowywać kolejny przegląd Internetu. Na końcu wrzucam krótkie podsumowanie moich perypetii ze zdalnie sterowanym samochodem. W dzisiejszym tekście pojawi się zwiastun filmu, w którym wystąpi Smok Diplodok, a później będzie dobry moment, żeby sprawdzić, jak ma się X. Mam na myśli ten portal z ptaszkiem, zarządza nim Elon Musk i…

[imperotenebre]

Rustler PS5 gameplay 4K - prime impressioni

[turtletoads]

horse study turned into cowboy pirates

[creativecapybara]

Another slight dab of colored pencil for this one

[saggernooseai]

wrongfully accused

[scotianostra]

On December *28th 1734 Scotland's famous outlaw, Rob Roy MacGregor, died at home in his bed.

*some sources say 27th.

Sir Walter Scott, portrayed Rob Roy as a dashing and chivalrous outlaw. Of course, the truth was a little less glamorous. Robert acquired the name of ‘Roy’ early in life due to his mop of red curly hair. In the early eighteenth century, Rob Roy MacGregor had established a protection racket, charging farmers an average 5% of their annual rent to ensure that their cattle remained safe. He had complete control over Argyll, Stirling and Perth and could guarantee that any cattle stolen from his customers would be returned to them. Those who did not pay regretted it …as he had them stripped of all they possessed. Rob Roy was not a man to argue with!

He was certainly no Robin Hood character.

Robert MacGregor, was baptized March 7th, 1671, at Buchanan, Stirlingshire. His parents were Donald Glas MacGregor and Margaret Campbell. He was also descended from the Macdonalds of Keppoch through his paternal grandmother. Rob’s father, Donald MacGregor, a younger brother of the chief of the clan MacGregor, received a military commission from the deposed King James II after the Glorious Revolution.

Rob was a freebooter with uncertain loyalty to James VII and was also engaged in cattle stealing and blackmail. When the penal laws against the MacGregors were reintroduced in 1693, Rob took the name of Campbell. Since his lands lay between those of the rival houses of Argyll and Montrose, for a time he was able to play one off against the other to his own advantage. James Graham, 1st duke of Montrose, succeeded in entangling him in debt, and by 1712 Rob was ruined. So Rob embarked on a career of brigandage, chiefly at the expense of Montrose. During the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, he was distrusted by both sides and plundered each impartially. After the rebellion was put down, he was treated leniently because of the intercession of John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll. In his old age Rob became a Roman Catholic. His letters show that he was well educated; the view of him as a mere brutish highwayman seems not to do him justice.

In January 1693, at Corrie Arklet farm near Inversnaid, he married Mary MacGregor of Comar, who was born at Leny Farm, Strathyre. The couple had four sons: James Mor – big Jimmie -MacGregor, Ranald and Robert, violent men in their own right, but that is another story

The most controversial claim concerns Roy’s behaviour during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 when he allegedly betrayed his clan by acting as a paid agent to help the Hanoverian army. Previously, he had been regarded as a staunch supporter of the Jacobite cause and led his clan during the first uprising at the Battle of Killiecrankie. His involvement led to government mercenaries burning down his house.

The sept of MacGregor claimed a descent from Gregor, or Gregorius, third son, it is said, of Alpin King of Scots, who flourished about 787. Hence their original patronymic is MacAlpine, and they are usually termed the Clan Alpine. They are accounted one of the most ancient clans in the Highlands and it is certain they were of original Celtic descent.

Rob Roy was eventually caught and imprisoned,. thrown into London's Newgate Prison to await transportation to the colonies as a "bonded servant," in other words, little more than a slave. In 1726, whilst still at Newgate he received a full Royal pardon and returned to Scotland there to live out his last few years.

This he did and lived the rest of his life as a peaceful, law abiding citizen… apart from the odd duel or two.

Legend has it that when Rob was lying on his death bed awaiting his maker an old foe-man of his came calling upon him. Upon hearing this Rob rose from his death-bed and armed himself to the hilt.

"Never let it be said that any enemy of MacGregor ever saw him defenceless and unarmed," were purportedly his words. When the offending person had been shown the door, Rob is reported as supposedly saying: "Now it is all over - let the piper play "Ha til mi tulidh (we return no more)," and before the lilt of the tune had drawn to an end, he slipped away............

I know many people see Rob Roy, as I said above, as some sort of Robin Hood, but others see him as a traitor and a spy, the truth is we will never know the full story, the Walter Scott version is in my opinion romantic tosh, but it sold books for the man and gave Rob Roy and legendary status in Scotland and around the world.

Every telling of Rob Roy's story I read nowadays has a different slant, as the years roll by I try to give a slightly different slant on his life, it is up to the reader to believe their own version and to seek out more about the Legend.

[leiawritesstories]

The Rustler, 2

Written for @throneofglassmicrofics July prompt "Outlaw" & this part also uses "Finagle"

The Rustler masterlist

word count: 855

warnings: *giggles* none ;)

enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hat tugged low to protect against the blazing Western sun, Rowan Whitethorn urged the quarter horse beneath him into a gallop. "C'mon, boy," he coaxed. "Wanna fly?" The horse whickered as if in agreement and sprang forwards, hooves clattering across the grassy, dusty ground.

Even at a gallop, it took over an hour of hard riding until the crossbeam over the entrance to his nearest neighbor's ranch came into view. Rowan tugged on the reins, pulling the horse back into a more sedate trot, and called out a greeting as he rode up the packed dirt path that led into the neighboring ranch.

"Anyone here?" His call echoed around the wide blue sky.

A moment later, another set of hooves clattered into his hearing, and a beautiful Paint mare trotted up with a woman on its back. "Howdy, neighbor!" Aelin Galathynius called, guiding her horse to a stop a few feet away from Rowan. "Long time no see, yeah?"

"Been a few months, I s'pose," Rowan admitted. He tugged his canteen out of his saddlebag and took a long, deep drink of water. "I reckon I came by to ask if'n ya had any trouble last night."

A stormy frown crossed Aelin's face. "How 'bout ya c'mon with me, Whitethorn, and I'll show ya?" She nudged her mare with her boot heels and led Rowan towards the west pasture of her ranch. Aelin was a cattle rancher, and her stock was well known throughout the region for being high quality.

As they came into the west pasture, Aelin slowed to a stop, dismounted, and tied her mare's reins to the fence post. On foot, she took Rowan to the fence line, and he whistled lowly at the sight. "Well...damn."

"You could say that," Aelin agreed. A good ten yards of her fence lay in ruins on the ground, and from the heavily trampled grass, it was clear that a good-sized portion of her cattle had been stolen. "Woke up this mornin' and came out to the pastures to find that some goddamned cattle rustlers must've gotten here first."

"Fuck, I'm sorry, Aelin," Rowan murmured. "Looks like I wasn't the only one targeted last night, then."

Aelin turned to him with a puzzled expression. "Whitethorn, ya don't own cattle."

"Nah, but I've got horses." He scowled. "Seems like your cattle rustler might've been in cahoots with the horse thieves who stole my Asterions."

"No," Aelin gasped. She rested one gloved hand on his forearm. "God, I'm so sorry, Rowan. Have ya told the sheriff?"

He scoffed. "What good would that do? Sheriff ain't been out to these parts in months."

"Guess so." Aelin removed her hand, but Rowan caught it, his hand warm and solid and strong around hers.

"Tell ya what, Ae," he began. "How 'bout a li'l partnership?"

She raised her brows skeptically. "You proposin' to me again, Rowan Whitethorn?"

An adorably vivid blush stained his tanned cheeks red. "Now why'd you go and bring that up again, Galathynius?" He flashed her a teasing grin. "Nah, you told me exactly what ya thought the first time I did that. So, here's my deal: I'll help you fix up your fence and look for the cattle rustlers if'n you'll help me catch the horse thieves."

"You askin' me to turn vigilante, Whitethorn?" Aelin joked. "Hell, after what happened last night, I'd be best off doin' just that." She stuck out her hand. "Throw that ranch hand of yours in to help with the fence and we've got us a deal."

"Alright." Rowan shook her hand firmly. "I'd best be gettin' back to my place now."

"Send word when ya want to talk 'bout capturin' some rustlers," Aelin said, waving as Rowan mounted his horse and rode away. He tipped his hat to her as he galloped down the road that led off of her property.

When he was no longer visible, she swung herself up onto her horse and nudged the mare's flanks with her spurs. "Let's get goin', my girl!" She headed off towards the eastern corner of her property, slowing to a walk when she reached the stand of scrubby trees that clustered around that corner of her ranch. Dismounting, she tied her mare's reins to a tree, set her up with a bucket of water, and headed off into the patch of shade that the hardy sycamores offered.

Tucked into a closely spaced cluster of trees was a stable big enough for a dozen horses, its wooden planks painted to blend in with the shadows of the trees overhead. Aelin rapped three times on the door and pushed it open, blinking in the hazy gloom of the windowless building. A horse whickered softly at her approach, and she strolled up to its stall and stroked its nose.

"Shh now, Kasida girl," she murmured, calming the beautiful silver Asterion mare who was still a little antsy after having been taken from her familiar, comfortable stall on Rowan Whitethorn's ranch.

"You'll be out in the wind tonight, my girl, I promise," Aelin whispered. "If we're lucky, you might even find yourself a new home."

~~~

tags:

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@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

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@aelinschild

@renxzs

[hotvintagepoll]

[falls out of vent covered in chocolate] oh i love freddi fish! what's your favourite game? mine's freddi fish 3 teehee :3c

Is that the Stolen Conch Shell one? because that one is peak, easily. (Putt-Putt is Travels Through Time.)