Blazing Sun over the Badlands

Chapter 1

Umbra laid down in the blazing desert sand. Her time in New Mexico surely hasn't been well. Her terrible defeat left her with a burning call for revenge, one which would only be fulfilled by blood, but that would have to wait. For now, she had to get herself situated.
Umbra been walking for days. Hoping to find either a small town, an oasis, or both. She kept walking, her legs getting sore from her pitiful attempt at getting at least something to help her survive. She got on her knees and stared at the sky, waiting for the sweet embrace of death, she could feel it coming. She was finally about to die.
"Hey! What're you doin' out here?!" He called out. She could tell he was a titan, as she could hear his footsteps from a ways away. She could also tell he was a Southerner, somewhere near the lower parts of the US. She turned towards the direction of the sound, only to see a skeleton man with a cowboy hat.
"Ya lost out here, gal?" He asks, getting closer. She grabbed out her bow and fired, but he dodged it quickly, pulling out his six-shooter pistol from his pocket.
"If you wanna pick a fight with me, that'll be the last thing you do." He says. Umbra dropped her bow, not wanting to fight. She was in a far too weak state, she has gone about 3 days without food, but more importantly, water. Then she thought 'If I can get on this man's good side, then I might be able to live.' She gets up and kicks her bow towards the man.
"Alright, good. You should follow me, you ain't looking real swell right now, so I'll get you back to my town." He said, grabbing her bow and putting his hand on her shoulder. Umbra grabbed onto his shoulder as she used her last bit of energy, almost falling over trying to hold on to him.
"Woah there! Easy partner! I haven't introduced myself!" He said "I'm Gunslinger, pleasure to meet ya. What's your name?" He asked. Umbra couldn't answer. She felt like she couldn't move, and her mouth as completely dry.
"Not much of a talker, huh? Anyway, I'll ask for that later, for now, let's get you back to someplace safe, it's barren desert for miles out that way." He said, moving back west. Umbra fell forward trying to move, and fell face-first into the hot desert sand. She raised her head from the sand, and looked at Gunslinger. He looked at her weirdly.
"I don't think the sand here is something you can eat." He said, picking her up as he continued his walk away from civilization. Umbra praised the lord for how lucky she was to find a generous man like this. If it was a titan like Molten Boss or Fallen Swordmaster, they would've just killed her on the spot, but this man. This man was willing to not only give up his seemingly scarce supply of food and water, all to help a random person in the middle of the desert. As she was thanking Gunslinger in her mind, she was shaken
"Hey, I got a canteen of water, you want a sip?" He asked, showing her the canteen of water he had brought with him. She yanked it out of his hands and chugged the entire thing. She did a nice "Ahhh" noise, closed the cap, then gave it back to him. He checked inside the thing, she chugged the entire thing.
"Thanks, I really needed that." Umbra said, finally feeling slightly quenched after drinking the water.
"Oh, so NOW you're talkin'. Anyway, what's your name?" He asked, continuing the walk.
"My name? I'm the Umbra, one of the most prestig-"
"Oh, you're that one? The one that just got defeated by the towers after trying to take over the world?" He asked
"Yep, that would be me." She sighed. She hated being known for a loss, humiliating. Her reputation was probably ruined all across the world if someone who looks straight out of 1849 knows her defeat.
"Well, good job! You look like you fought real hard against those pesky towers. Little annoying brats won't get away from me for 2 damn seconds." He said. Umbra couldn't believe what she was hearing. Being congratulated, for a loss? Impossible! No one did that! Not even she would do that if she was in Gunslinger's situation. She beat the ever-living shit out of Penumbras when he lost. And yet, she was praised for it?
"Here's the town. Welcome to the Badlands." Gunslinger proclaimed, walking to a building that said "Sheriff" on it. He walked inside and led her to the basement. She could see barrels of water and many containers of food. It was strangely cold down here as well, but she didn't mind. It was better than the constant heat in the day and freezing cold at night. Gunslinger walked over to a barrel of water and poured some into the canteen. He gave it to Umbra who hastily chugged it. She felt the cool liquid touching her dry mouth and felt nice for a moment. When she finished, she felt a hint of alcohol from the canteen rim. Gunslinger also had a strange smirk on his face
"What did you put in here?" Umbra asked, grabbing the canteen.
"Beer." He said. She looked pissed as he laughed his ass off. "I never said any of this was water! And you better get used to it! Beer don't expire, so you're gonna be drinkin' that for a while!" He said through his laughs. Umbra threw the canteen right at him, hitting him in the head.
"Ow! Bitch!" He said, throwing it back at her. "Alright, I gotta get going. I assume you know how to cook, so use anything in here. We don't got any extra rooms in this place so I guess I'll be sleeping on the living room couch. Those towers got a plan to attack this place, so get yourself situated." Gunslinger said, walking out of the building with his shotgun. Umbra never saw the appeal of guns. They felt too heavy and not to mention the recoil was astonishing. She preferred her bow. But maybe Gunslinger could teach her how to use a gun in the first place. She got up and immediately began looking for food. She would be eating a lot tonight.

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So, what do you think? This is my first story, so don't be really harsh on this. As you can tell, them sleeping in the same room may lead to some... y'know, but anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Anything you wanna say to me say it here. I'm open to criticism. This was very much inspired by craftydevvil and Italais works, so go check them out. Anyway, that's it. It's 3 am, ima go to bed, bye.