The Gunslinger

Uncertain Future (Scene 06)

"Where are we going now?" Charlie asked as she watched Genna climb onto her horse's back. She ignored the Gunslinger's hand reaching out to help her up and put her hands on her waist.

"I told you, I don't know. That's not how this works." Genna replied and rolled her eyes. The sun was coming up behind her and Charlie had to squint and use one of her hands to shield her eyes so that she could still hold Genna's gaze.

"You must have some idea. Can't you just drop me off at the next town?"

"I would but I can't." Genna said and for her, that seemed to be the end of it. Charlie wasn't satisfied with the Gunslinger's vague answer and sighed.

"And why is that?"

"When you summoned me, a bond formed between us. It's binding me to you until the task you called me for is fulfilled. It's-"

"Magick." Charlie said, her gaze dropping away from Genna and becoming unfocused as she thought about the implications of that.

"Yup." Genna said, nodding her head and then extending her hand to Charlie again. This time, the witch took it and let herself be hauled up onto Alterro's back.

Genna didn't seem particularly mad about being bound to Charlie, even though she seemed to know barely any more about their predicament than Charlie did. Or she was being mysterious on purpose, which Charlie decidedly liked less than the other option.

"But you already did what I called you for. I just wanted you to get me out of Elwood and away from-" Charlie stopped and swallowed the lump in her throat. "from them."

"Yeah well, magick works in mysterious ways." Genna drawled and kicked Alterro into action. Even though Charlie couldn't see her face, she knew Genna must've been smiling as she spoke.

"It does." Charlie said with a sigh. She watched the trees and shrubs fly by as they rode, thinking about what she should or could do about the situation now. It was clear that Genna wasn't upset about this, perhaps it was normal for Quests to take longer than expected like this or for the bond to take time to dissolve.

Leaving while the bond was still active didn't seem to be an option. She recognized it's pull - she just knew that if she tried walking away from Genna now, she'd find herself unable to in one way or another.

"So we're just going to sit this out?" Charlie asked later, leaning over Genna's shoulder to whisper in her ear. The wind had picked up considerably and she had to close her eyes as she peeked past Genna's shoulder. She didn't know how the other woman wasn't constantly shielding her eyes against the dry wind.

"Not exactly." Genna turned her head, talking over her shoulder. It brought her face close to Charlie's, seeing the other woman's lips out of the corner of her eye gave her a short pause before she found her words again. "The Compass is still telling me where to go, so we're gonna follow it and see where it leads us."