Compulsion//o, joining

[Shiloh !]

She had been wandering around these barren lands for years, but the noise never stopped. The ringing in her ears, the shouting, the gunshots, she could still hear it all. Above all, though, she could still hear her mother's parting words to her before Salem began her journey.

"You better stay outta my sight, you sick bastard, or I'll come and kill you myself."

No. She had to block it out for once. She could, couldn't she? She should've learned by now how to focus on her surroundings rather than live in her past. She needed to move on, no matter what the price was.

"Hello?" Salem's feet were numb from walking. They sank into the soft sand below her. "My name is Salem. I'm a gardner. Can I please join your group?" The words came out almost robotically, she had been practicing for so long. She hoped, at least, that she'd found the right spot and that she wasn't just calling out into the void.

[TEDDY.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 1.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #262626"]tw. brief mention of death.

Finally, life was beginning to look hopeful for Teddy. Whilst he so often came across as if he had it all, his life started out far differently. He spent his life resentful towards his criminal father after he'd failed to save Teddy's mother's life. Teddy had adored his mother; she seemed to be the only one who could manage to reveal Teddy's softer nature. But, nowadays, he strutted around with a mask that fit his face so perfectly. He was no longer the traumatised boy who'd been the one to discover his mother's body. He was the self-made top dog around here; his life appeared to look just too perfect to be real.

❝ Huh. Just been looking for one of ‘em gardeners around. My lilies ain't doing too hot. ❞ His voice purred lightheartedly as he strolled over towards the newcomer who was oh-so-desperate to join the Badlands’ forces. He couldn’t blame her — word was just starting to spread that the Badlands was no longer a group to mess with. He stopped nearby, blue gaze observing the woman’s face carefully before a smile curled at his lips. This woman — Salem, did she say? — was certainly easy on the eye. She’d make a great addition to the group, Teddy would soon then decide. People were always drawn to extravagant parties and pretty girls. ❝ What’s the name again, darlin’? Salem, was it? ❞

He paused a second before crinkling his nose and nodding his head over towards the hotel. ❝ Welcome to the Badlands. You more than welcome to stick around, but a promise is a promise. You promise your loyalty and we’ll promise you ours. ❞ Perhaps Teddy would omit the whole truth; once you joined the Badlands, it was an offence to leave. It'd be a shame if he'd have to send is bounty hunters out to kill a runaway girl as pretty as her.

[Shiloh !]

Little did Teddy know, Salem already had a bounty hunter after her.

He wasn't the only one able to omit the truth. Being kicked out, the jewels, the hitman her mother sent after her....she figured the group could learn all of that in time. For now, she simply nodded, a smile spreading across her face. She tried to fight off the impending sense of doom that began to loom over her; she figured her mother's advice was just getting to her again. When Salem was a child, her mother always warned her to stay away from the badlands. She said they were a group of no-good rogues who would do anything for a buck.

Well, Salem was more willing to trust this man, who greeted her with open arms, than her deadbeat mother and her stupid fallacies.

"Thank you. Yes, I'm Salem. What's your name, again?" She paused for a moment, pondering over Teddy's last words before continuing. "I've got no one else to be loyal to. If I have to promise my loyalty to join then...I'll do it."

[TEDDY.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #262626"]It never took long for Teddy to wring a secret out of someone.

For him, smooth talking came easily to him with that silvertongue of his. This had been the work of years of practice; his charm was the only reason why he’d gotten so far in his life, after all. Those years of schmoozing and brown-nosing every old, prosperous man with enough affluence to have solved world hunger tenfold had finally done something good for him. Through them, he learned the ways of entrepreneurship and managed to seek success through that. Even to this day, he was constantly in contact with a lot of important people. Getting a secret out of a young woman would be easy.

❝ The name’s Theodore Knope, but call me Teddy. ❞ He nodded his head her way before taking a small step back. ❝ Fantastic. You can follow me. ❞ Turning around, Teddy began to stroll back towards the hotel, keeping to the woman’s pace as he looked over towards her with a suave smile. ❝ Ya know, I always like to say that if you stand for nothing, then what do you even have to fall for? Around here, we’re all like family. We stay loyal to our family… so loyal that you’re prepared to even fall for them. And, you know why we do that? ❞ He halted in his tracks to turn towards her. ❝ Because, if you’re willing to put your ass on the line for your family, then they’d gladly do the same for you. ❞

He allowed his words to sink in for a moment before he continued to walk. ❝ If people wanna get us, they gotta get through all of us first. So loyalty — it’s a great thing to have. You'll be one happy lady here. ❞

[Shiloh !]

Salem forced a chuckle at his words, her brow creasing a tad after his speech on loyalty. She was carrying all of her plants, thankful that her tobacco was still young and fairly unrecognizable from the others. She eyed him as she responded. "Well, I've never been much of a family gal, but I suppose found family is different." She prayed he didn't offer to help her with her things; loyalty and trust was great and all, but she'd rather die than let a stranger put a finger on her plants.