Standoff

|2|Sandstorm|

Aaron kicks up dust with his boots as he lights his cigar and looks up at the grey, uncaring clouds above him, he generates a few odd looks here and there, but he ignores them, and in turn, they leave him well enough alone.

Tied up at on a post not too far away is a sleek, black, strong willed stallion. Digging his hooves deep into the dirt, and snorting aggressively at everyone. Black beady eyes radiate with bravery.

Aaron strolls up calmly to the horse, they lock eyes, the stallion huffs, bows it's head, and allows Aaron to pat it's ashen head.

"Alright Eclipse, let's ride."

Eclipse huffs in agreement, and Aaron unties him, jumps onto the leather saddle, and takes the reins in his hands.

"Easy Boy, slow." Eclipse trots foreword, Aaron gripping onto the reins sternly, Eclipse is feisty, and if Aaron lessens his guard for only a moment, Eclipse will buck him off.

The second he gets out of the towns boarder, They burst into a full sprint, dust swelling behind them like a tornado, rocks and bushes flicking past as the air nips Aaron's face.

He doesn't know where he's headed, he, at the moment, wanted nothing more than to get away, from the town, from his worries, and from his broken past.

In fact, he wanted so badly to get away, he didn't notice the wall of dust and wind behind him.

At first, there was just the clopping of horse hooves, then, the whistling of wind, finally , the low rumble of dust twirling through the air.

"Shit! Eclipse! Get us out of here!" The dust closes in faster and faster behind them, the sun blocked by thousands of pounds of dust and sand.

They are engulfed in the storm, Eclipse is slammed to the ground, Aaron flails wildly around in the wind for a moment before crashing hard into the dirt.

He lie there, motionless in the dirt with the storm raging above him, a rock, jostled by the storm slams into his gut as he tries to stand, the wind knocked out of him, he doubles over.

The storm lasts for only a few minutes, but it feels like hours, days even, and by that time, he holds his bleeding side as he looks for Eclipse.

He's motionless in the dirt, most of his body covered in sand, Aaron shouts his name, but there is no answer, no shuffle, not even a huff.

He scrambles over to Eclipse's body, The horse moves his head slightly towards him, his tail, flipping as if to assure Aaron that indeed, he isn't dead.

Eclipse's leg is lacerated, blood slowly oozing out of it, but it's not too bad, and only looks like a small flesh wound.

"Sorry buddy, I should have been payin' more attention." The horse huffs, and hits Aaron with his tail, still being stubborn.

"Yeah, I know. I was just off in space." Eclipse whinnies, and Aaron looks around at the landscape after the storm.

He hadn't been paying much attention to where he was to begin with, but now, he is completely lost, in the panic of the sandstorm, they had strayed off course.

He leans against a rock, both him and Eclipse recovering from the shock of being hoisted up into the air and slammed forcefully back down.

Aaron's side wound is bad, the high speed of the winds shot the rock clean through, it missed vital organs, but it still could get infected, or worse, bleed out.

He slides his bandana down and wraps it around his gut, covering the wound from further dirt, it's all he has for now. But at least he wouldn't bleed out.

It had been dusk when he left, now, the sky is dark and the sliver full moon is rising over the horizon. Brilliant stars twinkle above him as the moon lights his path.

He sighs, taking a cigar from his pocket and lighting it once again, his black silhouette in the moon.

A shadow moving on the horizon catches his attention, it seems to be a caravan of three people and two horses by their silhouettes, likely stopping for the night.

He would call for help, but he is an Outlaw, a criminal, if they had seen his face on a poster, and, let's face it, they have, then they'll turn him in.

"Well buddy, looks like we're waiting this out." He says blowing smoke out of his mouth. And laying completely against the rock.