[Moosh da Outlaw]

Clyde Royalle leaned over the edge and stared into the toiling mass of water churning at the base of the Autumn Falls. Feeling curious, he broke a large branch from a nearby tree and threw it into the rapids, watching in stunned silence as it snapped against a jagged rock before being swallowed forever in the swirling water.
"Damn." Clyde breathed, turning to his younger brother, Willie, who was standing next to him. "Did you see that? Crash! There was nothin' left!"
"Yeah," Willie said. "Them falls are dangerous."
"No kiddin'!"
Clyde was often referred to as a juggernaut by other outlaws; standing at a colossal 15 feet high, he was the biggest outlaw in Buckner's gang, and virtually unstoppable in a fight. He had been known to break entire trees in half just by slamming into them. He was also very enthusiastic and easily distracted by shiny objects, such as broken glass and tin cans.
"So," He said exitedly, "what did you want to show me?"
"Actually, I don't have anything to show you." Willie admitted.
"Oh."
"But I do have somethin' to ask you," he said.
Clyde switched his attention from the frothing water below and to his brother's face, his dark eyes bright.
"What do ya think about the way things're being run around here... you know, Buckner."
"What about him?" Clyde asked quietly. They rarely spoke about their father by themselves.
"Well, i'm just wonderin' if you think its time fora' change." Willie said casually.
"I don't know," Clyde shrugged. "I guess everythings' going fine."
Mindless oaf, Willie thought.
"Really?" Willie said, looking very suprised. "Everything's perfect?"
"Well, not perfect, but..."
"Tell me," He said, "when was the last time dad's payed you... like, really paid you, not the same amount everyone else is paid."
"...I don't know... a few... years?" Clyde said weakly. Willie nodded.
A long pause followed, filled with the scent of decaying fish and the rumble of tumbling water. Finally Willie spoke.
"So, should I tell em' you drowned, or that you were eaten by a spyider, you know, to make it more dramatic?"
Clyde blinked in confusion. For an entire minute Clyde thought hard, harder than he'd ever thought in his entire life, biting down on his lip in confusion as he tried to decipher what his brother had just said.
"Wait, what?" He asked, turning to Willie.
Willie stuck out his hands and charged, pushing Clyde off the cliff. He fell with a wail and a sickening slap as his body hit the water. For a moment Willie looked down at the quaking water where his brother had vanished just moments ago. Then he turned on his heel, his hands behind his back, and strolled off into the forest, humming a happy tune to himself.

-----

"I think its safe," Charlotte said, poking her head out of the tiny cave where the two steef hid. There was no sign of the Spyider anywhere. With a sigh Charlotte shimmied out of the small hole and stood on the ledge, squinting as the late afternoon light beat down on her furry grey face. Stranger pulled himself out of the cave and stretched, his eyes tired.
"Finally," He grunted as he flexed his arms and touched his toes. He remained in that position for ten seconds or so before getting back up and realising, to his fury, that Charlotte had run away.
"No!" he shouted as he caught sight of her vanishing into the bushes. "You owe me a bounty can!" He charged after her like an angry bull, his fists pumping the ground as he ran. He smashed the bushes behind him disreguarding the fact that they were full of thorns.
Damn! How could I let her get away?

-----

Charlotte sprinted through the forest. The only things keeping her on her feet were the promise of returning to the camp and the fear of being pummeled to death by an angry bounty hunter. She blinked furiously as she struggled to take in her surroundings, which was difficult to do because she was running so fast. As she ran she caught sight of a small stream trickling nearby, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
So this is where I am, she thought. The camp is just yards away. Charlotte turned quickly and sprang over a fallen log, her eyes glittering as she caught sight of the abandoned mine up ahead.
"Thank Odd---WRAAUGH!!" She screamed as Stranger pounced and grabbed her legs, causing them both to slip and tumble face-first in the dirt. Charlotte started kicking him in the face as he tried to reload his weapon. "What the hell!"
In his struggle Stranger accidentally smashed the bolamite he was loading against his bow, causing yellow-green insect slime to drip down its string. He clenched his teeth together and rummaged in his bag for something else to use as ammo as Charlotte jumped to her feet. She grabbed a large tree branch and hit him over the head with it, which also threw him into a standing position.
"You broke my can!" he snarled as she discarded the branch and settled with trying to claw his eyes out. He jumped back, she jumped forward, and they both fell in a heap. Stranger gave up trying to load his bow. Instead he reached in his bag, grabbed a handful of whatever he could reach, and threw it. Two chippunks and a thugslug bounced off her sholders and rolled around on the ground, completely useless if not being fired by a weapon.
Charlotte grabbed his arms and flipped him on his back, kicked him in the stomach with her metal-plated boots, and made a mad dash towards the abandoned mine. She ducked inside and hurried down the winding tunnels, panting heavily from exhaustion and relief, Stranger still chasing after her. Suddently he realised that he had very few supplies and a broken bounty can- he wouldin't be able to invade a heavily-guarded outlaw camp tonight. Bristling with anger he skidded to a hault, and loathingly watched as Charlotte vanished down the tunnel and out of sight.

Charlotte grinned to herself and turned down the tunnel. She ran for a few more minutes before stopping and eyeing the door in front of her. It was made of heavy wood and had a small slot where an outlaw could look out. She slammed her fist against the door twice and waited.
After a brief scuffling sound the slot opened.
"What? Who's there?" An outlaw flamer asked, peeking through the slit in the door.
"S'me." Charlotte said, crouching down so she could see inside the slot. The flamer blinked back at her.
"Charlotte! Why didn't you just say so?" He asked, pulling away the shackles that held the door shut. It opened with a loud creak. "The boss' been lookin' for ya, better go see what he wants." He said, stepping aside. Charlotte entered the outlaw camp and adjusted her sholder poncho.
The outlaw camp was a large cave, lit by firelight from hundreds of burning torches around its side. The cave was the size of two football fields and was made up of multiple spyiderskin tents and shacks. At the back of the cave was a large wooden cabin draped with waterstained cloth that looked in danger of toppling over. This was Buckner's domain, a place most outlaws tried to aviod whenever they could.
Charlotte knocked gingerly on the cabin's door, deciding, in her head, not to tell him about the bounty hunter. With his bounty can broken he wouldin't be much of a threat, at least until he bought a new one.
"Get in." A voice growled from behind the cabin's door. Charlotte turned the handle and stepped inside, her eyes gazing around uneasily. Buckner 'Bleached-Bone' Royalle sat at the back of the hut, his eerie red eye unblinking as it looked her over quickly.
"Where were you?" Buckner snarled, his hands closing into fists around the intricate patterns in the armrests of his chair. Charlotte gulped fearfully.
"Here and their, y'know... sir!" She added quickly. Buckner's remaining eye closed into a threataning slit.
"Three wagon trains passed through the Autumn Canyon while you were gone." He spat. "And we had to let them go because you weren't there!"
"Sir, I--"
"SILENCE!" Buckner roared, jumping to his feet. In his hands he held his double-barreled rifle (more like a bazooka) which was pointed at her face. Its muzzle was so big that she could crawl inside it if she wanted to. "You weren't here! We missed three whole wagon trains! Three!"
Buckner threw his rifle to the ground with a furious roar and stomped back to his chair. Charlotte flinched, but she managed to stay calm. Buckner often threw fits like this.
Little did they know that soon they would really have something to roar about.
The door to Buckner's cabin swung open.
"Boss!" An outlaw mortar cried. "Boss!"
"What?!" Buckner demanded, standing up again.
"Clyde..." The mortar breathed, a mask of horror on its face. Buckner wilted noticably with an expression Charlotte had never seen on him before.
"Willie! Where's Willie?"
"Out there." The mortar said, pointing. Buckner bowled him to the side and charged out the door, calling out Willie's name. Charlotte sighed and walked out the door. She was completely unprepaired for what happened next.