#when the armadillo stole her chair

[be3p0]

if ldshadowlady dies then i die… BAM 💥

[sternbagel]

Inspired by the wonderful OC lore that @charlotte-balfours-garden​ wrote and posted, I decided to finish this piece that’s been sitting in my drafts for months about my own RDR OC, visual references here!

Note: This takes place in canon, Chapter 3, and while everyone calls her Alberta Taylor at this point, it’s not her real name, just something she’s been going by for years because of something in her past. Professionally, she’s a bounty hunter, but has dabbled in other things. 

Read This First

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

Well, at least the one thing today that hasn’t been surprising is Arthur finding Al has dragged a chair over to his tent to read, one leg propped up on the chest at the end of his cot. Sometimes she’ll set up there to get ample shade from the sun, and according to her, the chest is the perfect foot rest height. 

“Afternoon, Arthur,” she greets lazily as she turns the page.

“Miss Taylor. Comfortable?”

“Sure.” She cuts her eyes up at him from under the brim of her hat, seemingly just to give him a greeting glance and smile, but when she spots the shiny new accessory pinned to his vest, her head raises higher. “You steal that off a dead lawman or somethin’?”

And it begins, Arthur thinks with a snort. “No, Dutch—” he waves an arm in the direction he came from, though Dutch has long ago left that area—“got us ingratiated with the local sheriff, so now we’re honorary deputies.”

“Was Sheriff Gray drunk?” 

That’s surprising. They only met the sheriff yesterday, and he’s not sure the full story of their encounter has been relayed to the rest of camp, just the orders not to cause any trouble. “How’d you know his name?”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he realizes that most likely, it was Hosea. Those two are close. 

She answers with a cavalier shrug before he can say anything. “I’ve been here before. Once. Didn’t stay long.”

Arthur takes the bait she leaves out. “Why not?”

“Well, it’s Lemoyne. I don’t spend very long here if I can help it. But first time I got to Rhodes lookin’ for bounty posters, Sheriff Gray was puking in the bushes. Somehow he managed to get out that they do all the bounty hunting themselves. No reason to go back.”

“Well, that’s pretty much how I found him when I went lookin’ for Dutch and Bill.”

“Figures,” she laughs, shaking her head. “Not that I really care, but where is Bill? Didn’t see him come back with y’all. Still with the Sheriff, ingratiating himself?” She looks thoughtful for a moment. “I didn’t get that impression off him, but I wasn—”

Arthur holds up a hand and shakes his own head with a smirk. “No, no, the Grays around here don’t seem… his type. Matter of fact, I should probably warn Bill to just play it cool—“

“What, drunk, dumb, and ignorant ain’t Bill’s type? What about that guy we saw him chattin’ up at that saloon in Armadillo?”

“That ain’t what I mean,” he snorts.

“I know.” Al flashes a playful smirk. “I’m just messin’.”

“Well, anyway, no, he’s off hidin’ some wagon full o’ moonshine we stole off some bootleggers under the Sheriff’s orders. Hosea’ll know what to do with it.”

“Moonshine?” This seems to pique her interest, again to Arthur’s surprise. “You know who you stole it off of?”

“Yes…” Arthur’s eyebrows knit together. He slowly lumbers over to his table, laying down the deputy badge and watching her carefully. Al’s expression is calm, but it’s a thin enough veneer that he sees the curiosity building by the second. “What’s it to you?”

“Curious.”

“Yeah.”

The book in her lap finally closes. “I used to run with some moonshiners not too long ago.”

“Alberta Taylor. Well, I never took you for a bootlegger.”

She throws an arm over the back of her chair and lets her head fall back, exposing more of her neck. It’s then that Arthur notices she’s not wearing her usual green neckerchief. Or her green jacket. She must be really burning up to be in just her workshirt and jeans. “Not every professional bounty hunter is a staunch upholder of the law, Arthur Morgan,” she says matter-of-factly with a lift of her brow.

“I never said that. Didn’t mean it neither. I mean, look who you fell in with, I know better. I just ain’t seen you drink much moonshine.”

“Sure. Always been more of a beer and tequila woman.”

He plops down on his cot and lights a cigarette. “Then what you doin’ runnin’ with moonshiners?”

“Tell me who you stole the liquor off of first, cowboy.”

Arthur concedes. Al is stubborn. “The Braithwaites. And those fellers that run around here with those yellow bandanas. Sadie and I ran into ‘em a few days ago. Uh—”

“Lemoyne Raiders?” She sneers. “I’d hoped someone had snuffed ‘em out by now. Hijo de putas.”

He takes a long drag of the cigarette before answering. “Yeah, that’s them. You’ve had some run-ins with ‘em, huh?”

“Like I said, just the once. Three of them stopped me on my way into Rhodes. Brought ‘em into town, dead, which is when I met Sheriff Gray. They didn’t have any bounties on ‘em, so all I got outta one of his deputies was five dollars. I know they weren’t even worth that much, but he coulda paid me more,” she grumbles. Her light Cuban accent comes out more the lower her voice goes.

“Sounds about right. Least ya got paid somethin’.”

“I guess.” She picks at the spine of her book for a moment. “Wasn’t long after that I met a… moonshiner legend, so to say, through a mutual friend. Though friend seems to be pushing it.”

He gets the sense she’s not fully sour on the “friend,” so his shoulders shake in amusement. 

“He was a lot like Uncle, actually.”

“Lord.” Arthur snickers, smoke billowing out of his mouth. 

“Yeah. Not as lazy. Probably younger, but who knows.”

“I reckon Uncle ain’t as old as he wants folks to think. Besides just bein’ too lazy, it’s probably why he don’t trim his beard.”

Al laughs, rougher than usual until she coughs and clears it up. “Damn humidity.”

“Tell me about it,” Arthur agrees, leaning forward and propping one elbow up on his knee. “So, this… moonshiner legend.”

“Ever heard the name Maggie Fike?”

The name isn’t familiar, but it isn’t unfamiliar either. “Don’t think so,” he settles on. 

“Well, she’s been mostly out this way rather than out where y’all been running around. Revenue Agents caught up to her a couple years back, tried burning her alive. Didn’t work, but gave her a nasty scar and bad eye. Almost puts Marston to shame. Almost,” she adds with a grin as he walks between Arthur and Strauss’ tents.

“Take a look in the mirror, Miss Taylor,” he grumbles back. Then he chucks a cigarette butt at a chuckling Arthur. “You too, Morgan.”

John disappears around the side of the tent as Arthur brushes off the butt. “Cranky cause he ain’t had his midday nap.”

“Pick better material.”

Al chuckles and presses the palm of her hand on her hat, affixing it more securely to her head. “Anyway…”

“Anyway…” Arthur sighs lightly. “You said she survived?”

“Yeah, went into hiding for a while. Somehow got a hold of my ‘friend’, who then asked me for help gettin’ her business back on its feet. Easy work at first. Finding a good location for the shack, gettin’ her some supplies, that stuff.” She waves a hand around. “Most folks don’t pay much mind to a bounty hunter buyin’ supplies in bulk like I was or destroying illegal stills. Sometimes I brought in the other moonshiners to the local town to collect on a bounty. Made for a better cover for what I was really doing.”

“Takin’ out the competition.” Arthur chuckles. 

“Exactly. Then came—”

“What the hell are you two talkin’ about anyway?”

Al puts her hand back on her hat before tipping her head back, almost touching the back of the chair, and looks at John, upside down. Arthur leans forward more to get his own look and the rangy outlaw, who’s circled back around to the other side of his wagon. 

“And what the hell is that?” John asks. He’s looking directly at the badge on Arthur’s table, disgust etched into his features. As if it’s some rotting, maggot infested carcass Arthur’s using for decoration.

Arthur sighs and briefly explains again.

“So this is just another excuse for you to play dress-up, eh? Guess I need to tell Hosea you’re itchin’ to go scammin’ with him again.”

“You do that, it’ll be your pecker in the stew pot next meal.”

Al’s crossed her arms over her chest and is watching them with barely contained amusement. “Playing dress-up? I don’t think I’ve seen that side of you yet, Arthur.”

“And you won’t,” he growls. “Only reason Hosea takes me on those jobs is because he knows I hate it. Just once I’d like him to take Marston instead.”

“You sure about that?” Al studies John as if she’s a talent agent in the big city. “Doesn’t he like to avoid mayhem on those jobs?”

John snorts indignantly. “Yeah, well, I’d like to see you try and follow Hosea’s lead. I swear even he don’t know what he’s doin’ half the time.”

“But it works.” Her eyebrows raise pointedly. 

“But it works,” John concedes. 

“Well, next time you go, let me know. I’d love to watch y’all work.”

“Whatever,” John grumbles as he waves her off and saunters away. Apparently he’s given up on butting into their conversation.

“I ain’t pullin’ that type of job with Hosea again. What we had set up in Blackwater, sure, but not...” Arthur wags a finger in the air, then unfurls the rest of his fingers and waves his hand once before letting it fall back in his lap. “Not that. The girls and Trelawny are much better’n me anyway. Safer that way.”

Al shrugs. “I won’t argue that.”

“So, back to what you was sayin’?” Arthur’s not willing to let the moonshiner story drop. It’s not often she lets down her walls and tells stories of her past that don’t directly involve some bounty she’s nabbed. He knows what happened to her family, but that had been a moment he wasn’t meant to see, and neither of them have ever brought it up again.

“So after we get a shack set up, she gets word of where this old buddy of hers is, go rescue him so he can make our moonshine. Not long after that, her nephew’s gettin’ moved from Sisika, so I go rescue him.”

Arthur pulls the cigarette from his lips and folds his arms across his chest, leaning back against the wagon. “Just you against a bunch of lawmen?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, Morgan,” she drawls, lolling her head to the side.

“Suppose I shouldn’t be,” he chuckles.

“No, actually, I had a couple friends with me, cashed in on some favors. I’m not stupid or reckless enough to take on an armed prison transport.”

Arthur just shrugs. “Woulda believed you either way.”

“You’re too trusting,” she remarks. There’s a teasing lilt to her voice, but her eyes sparkle with something else. 

“Perhaps you’re right.”

“Well, we bring them back to the shack, get the business up and running. Enact some revenge on a rival of hers in the meantime, I get to kill the agent who tried to burn her. Spent about a year with them. I didn’t do a lot of the actual running of moonshine, one of those friends who helped me break out Maggie’s nephew, Lem, did most of that. I focused on taking out the competition, clearing out Revenue Agent roadblocks when we were sure we couldn’t sneak past them. The real dirty work. But I didn’t mind, kept me moving, out of the government’s crosshairs enough that I could keep killin’ those damn agents.”

Arthur cocks his head curiously. But she isn’t done talking, so he lets her continue, holding onto his question for now.

“Couple months before I ran into y’all, I told them I’d have to leave. I’d spent so much time in this area, couldn’t… Needed to get out and go back out west. See some old friends, see some open country. They reckoned they’d be fine without me, but threw them the name of another friend I knew’d be able to help them, pick up my slack.”

“So… you think they’re still runnin’ that shine?”

“No reason not to. Never heard anything about her being captured. Got a letter from them while I was in Blackwater, actually. They’re doin’ well.” She gives a fond, reminiscent smile. “That friend is working with Maggie now, too. Dunno how she stands him, but…”

“Good. Since we’re over this way, you plannin’ on seein’ ‘em?”

“They’re north, Roanoke Ridge territory. Might, if I feel safe leavin’ you fools by yourself for more than a week.”

Arthur chuckles and shakes his head. “I reckon we can survive without ya for that long.”

“With all the trouble you been causing lately? I don’t think so, Mr. Morgan.” Al fans herself with her book, smirking at Arthur pointedly.

“I actually got another question for ya,” he diverts.

“Shoot.”

“I been thinkin’ about this since you got here, but now, knowin’ how much you seem to hate the Revenue Agents, how come you’re a bounty hunter, takin’ payouts from the government, but runnin’ with a bunch’a outlaws? After a year of runnin’ shine, that is.”

A simple shrug is her reply, and the pause is so long Arthur isn’t sure she’ll actually give him an explanation, until, “You have your code, I have mine.”

“Huh,” he grunts. They watch each other casually for a long moment, then he asks, “You gonna explain?”

He can see her weigh her options, and eventually she relents. “You know…” Her expression immediately tells him what she means: her past, what happened to her. 

“Yeah,” he offers quietly.

“Well, nobody’s born a seasoned gunslinger. When I first started bounty hunting, I had to take the easier targets. Most big pay days, or the jobs that are good start for those of us that’re green, they’re people who rob banks with a pen, rich people doing rich people crimes. They’re soft, easy, and all it really takes to catch them is knowing the land better and being tougher than city folk. Which ain’t hard at all. So, until I could stand on my own, those were the only kinds I took. Then I started goin’ after the bastards I really wanted to. People like the Johnson Brothers.”

She nearly spits the name. Arthur feels the sting in her soul.

“I never take those soft bounties anymore,” she continues after a deep breath, seeming more like herself again with every word. “Unless I need a break. But it’s been a while since I have.”

“Been a while since you took a bounty at all.”

She must notice the question in his voice. Not judgement, but question. “No. You’ve been kicking up too much fuss. Wouldn’t be smart for me to be seen around town here more than once or twice.”

Arthur rolls his eyes. While it is mostly true, it’s about all he’s going to get out of her, but he knows the real reason why. Even if she won’t admit it to herself. “Got me there, Al.”

“Not hard to do, Arthur.”

[sueboohscorner]

#IntotheBadlands S2 Ep 10 “Wolf’s Breath, Dragon Fire” Recap & Review

Episode Grade: 10

We start the final episode with Sunny making his way to Waldo's Clipper shed. When opening the shed, he took his old motorcycle that bears the armadillo emblem and heads out after Quinn.

At the Widow's Sanctuary, Waldo rebukes the Widow for having declared war on Sunny and Quinn telling her that whichever of them wins will come after her. After seeing the bruises in her Waldo asks about Tilda, the Widow tells him we parted ways, Waldo asks the Widow to say him that Tilda was still alive and she said “of course, what kind of mother do you think I am? With the Widow nonchalant attitude, Waldo tells her that she and Quinn deserve each other. Waldo tells the Widow he was done, spit and wheels his chair away before he was stopped by the Widow who offer him a Baron position. Waldo questions the Widow's plan to get rid of titles in the Badlands; the Widow explains that her vision has not changed, but the people can’t handle it, so they need someone walks them through the transition and insists Waldo join her for what is coming next. 

Quinn inspires his Loyalists to prepare them for Sunny's arrival telling them about the sacrifices that were made. Lydia tries to warn the men about the explosives in the bunker, but the men don't react, and she realizes they're all willing to die. Quinn sees Lydia attempt has an act of corrupting his men and tell her that it was an unforgivable act and tell his men to take Lydia into the woods and make dig her own grave before she's executed.

The Widow and M.K. discuss their powers once again. M.K adamantly tells her that he was not interested in getting it back, but the Widow indicates to him not having a choice. M.K. places a pair of shears up to his throat and demands to know where Bajie is telling the Widow that if she dies, she gets nothing. The Widow has Bajie escorted out, as she reminded him of their plan to use their gifts to help people and how Bajie instead yielded to the Master's will at the Monastery. Bajie tells her he sacrificed his gift to save her, but the Widow is not buying it and tells him that was only back for the Azra book. M.K. begins to question Bajie's true intentions during their mission to save Sunny. M.K. walks out in disappointment, and The Widow orders Bajie to translate the Azra book to determine how to unlock their gift or die to try.

Out in the woods, we see Declan, and another Loyalist guard watches as Lydia digs her grave. Declan hands her a Totemist figure for her journey and takes out his sword. Lydia holds the Totemist and prays for strength, then swiftly uses the shovel to kill Declan and injuring the other. The other Loyalist chases her through the woods, and as he was about to kill her, Sunny appears and throws a sword at his head. Lydia tells Sunny that Quinn knows he's coming and has rigged the entire bunker to explode, but Sunny tells her that it does matter because he is going to get his family back. He hands her a knife telling her it was for whatever comes next and rides off.

At the Widow's Sanctuary, Tilda wakes up in a cell coughing blood and is still in shock that the Widow could ever hurt her. Bajie, locked away in the next cell, introduces himself to her as M.K.'s friend. A guard brings in a tray of food and Tilda requests he brings it closer, telling him that she was injured. The guard walks away, and Bajie laughed and asked her if she taught that would work. Odessa appears with the guard's keys to free Tilda, and Bajie informs Tilda that she was the one who turns them in, but she was unaware of the Widow plans. Odessa admits she's the one that turned M.K. and Bajie in, and Tilda insists she helps her get M.K. back, but Odessa warns Tilda she's in no shape to go against the Widow again, and she knows how dangerous M.K. Tilda frees Bajie and tells him to save M.K. instead.

The Widow and M.K takes a walk, and she expresses her regret that M.K. was betrayed by the people he trusted most, but M.K tells her that he was not buying her sincerity. The Widow cuts the act and threatens to keep him until she gets what she wants. M.K. tells her that if he ever gets his power back she would be the first person he kills and the Widow says she's willing to die and welcomes his attempt.

Bajie, Tilda, and Odessa disguise themselves as Cogs and try to steal a car to leave the Sanctuary, but a guard stops them. Waldo appears and vouches for them that they were on a mission for the Widow, and he would be reprimanded if he interferes. Tilda takes Waldo's hand and invites him to come with them, but Waldo wishes her well and lets her leave.

Sunny arrives at Quinn's bunker, and when he walks in he is immediately surrounded by Loyalists. Quinn stands among them, holding Henry, and tells Sunny the only way to keep his family safe is to leave peacefully. Sunny tells him that he was not leaving without his family and the Loyalists shoot flaming arrows at Sunny as he charges at them. One of the arrow hits Sunny in the chest, and he drops to his knees with another arrow in his leg. Quinn talks on and shoots an arrow at an explosive wired to the roof near Sunny leaving him buried underneath the wreckage.

Bajie drives Tilda and Odessa out of the Sanctuary, and they are in the woods near Quinn’s bunker and Tilda offer to help, but Bajie promises to rescue M.K. after he rescued Sunny but reminded Tilda that she was in no condition to help and starts out on his own.

Inside Quinn’s Bunker, Veil remains locked in the barbershop. Bajie makes it to Quinn's bunker and pulls Sunny out from beneath the pile of rubble. Sunny ask Bajie for M.K, and he tells him that he couldn’t get him but promises to help save M.K. after Sunny's family is rescued. Sunny thank Bajie for his help and tells him that this was his fight, and he doesn’t need to stay, but Bajie refuses to leave. Sunny uses Moon's ringed sword, and Bajie uses a pair of nunchucks to tear through Quinn's Loyalists, cutting off limbs as they go, leaving a lot of blood behind. 

Sunny comes around the corner and sees Veil and rushes over to barbershop breaking in the door. Sunny and Veil tearfully embrace each other and share a passionate kiss just as a remaining Loyalist, Jenkins, walks in, and Bajie knocks him away from behind. Bajie tells Sunny and Veil to get their boy and tell Sunny that Veil was cute as they walk out to find Quinn.

Bajie closes the door behind them, and he and Jenkins fight inside the barbershop until Bajie throws Jenkins into a shelf. Jenkins recovers and goes after Bajie with a pair of scissors stabbing him in the stomach but not before Bajie uses a shard of glass to cut into Jenkin's throat, killing him. Bajie notices the scissors and jokes “What kind of death is that?” As he walks over to a barber’s chair and sits, he uncovers the compass from his pocket and mumbles “who will save the world now.”

Sunny and Veil finds Quinn in his office holding Henry in his hand, Sunny demands Henry back but Quinn tell him that he was the only father Henry knows and pressing a switch collapsing the Bunker from the successive explosion. Quinn says Sunny again to turn back, but Veil tells Sunny to kill Quinn. Sunny and Quinn both draw their swords and face-off. Sunny and Quinn crashes through the office window and end up on the floor below and continues to fight as Veil makes her way over with Henry. 

Quinn plunges his sai into Sunny, who urges Veil to flee, but before she can leave, Quinn hurls another sai at her leg, and she drops to the ground. The veil is down with Henry and Quinn have a sword in Veil's face, but before he can strike, Sunny throws his ringed sword into Quinn's back and they started to fight again. They chase each other around the bunker until Sunny delivers a final plunge into Quinn's gut and jumps back down to get Veil.

Sunny looks for Bajie he was not in the barber shop and Veil urges them to leave before the bunker entirely collapses. Veil hand Henry to Sunny and has they starts to walk off Quinn grabs Veil from behind and offers her in exchange for Henry, telling Sunny “You can't have both.” Veil indicates no to Sunny and tells Sunny she loves him and plunges Quinn's sai into her throat and impaling Quinn, killing them both in the process. As Veil takes her last breath, she begs Sunny to teach Henry to "be good." Sunny kiss her as he holds Henry close to him.

Sunny buries Veil and sets off into the woods with Henry in his arms.

Bajie stole Sunny’s motorcycle and rode towards an ancient stone citadel on the edge of a cliff with rusted satellite dishes on top of it. Inside, he staggers towards a control room and opens the Azra book to a page full of symbols matching those on a console's dials. The compass inside the book begins to spin and point towards the written symbols. Bajie adjusts the corresponding dials until the console beeps and comes to life. He smiles and slumps to the floor whispering “Azra.”

That was an excellent season finale; it was bad, sad and entertaining. I am still so upset that Veil is dead, and you all may think I am crazy but it is Sunny’s fault for not taking off Quinn’s head before dropping his sword. I would have thought that he learns from the first time that he thought he killed Quinn but apparently not because he ends up making Veil commit suicide to save him from making a hard decision. Another scenario was that they hand Henry over to Quinn because they know that he would not kill him and he was dying anyway, and they would have found Henry as Quinn had nowhere to go. All in all, they did not have to kill Veil, and that makes me a little furious, but I won’t give up on the show and is looking forward to the 16 episode in season 3.