[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; font-family: times new roman; letter-spacing: .6px; color: #494949;"]a cloud of smoke left gemma's lips as she exhaled, kicking sand up from the ground as she hopped down off of bullet. she took the time to take in her surroundings, dropping the cigarette on the ground and stepping on it with the heel of her boot. she turned around to lightly pat the black horse on the neck, leading him to a small stream so he could have a drink. "wait here until i hollar, got it?" she knew he didn't understand a single word she said, but he was a good horse and wouldn't wander off too far and would come running when she called. she took the gun and bow that were attached to the saddle and put them around her shoulders before starting to finish the rest of the way on foot.
her pace slowed down as she got closer, the smoke from a recently extinguished fire giving the hint that the area was just up ahead. gemma crouched down once she saw the figure of someone walking around the makeshift camp, waiting behind a tree as she watched and thought of a plan in her head. his back was to her, so in the end she decided to carefully make her way closer before eventually tackling him to the ground. with a few swift moves, she had his arms and legs hogtied together, something she had gotten quite good at throughout the years.
after tightening the knot, a small chuckle left her lips before she stood up straight and began to flip the guy around. her eyes slowly narrowed she she examined the attractive face that was very different from the drawings of the target that she had seen. "who the hell 're you, pretty boy?" she made no move to let him free, even though it was so painfully obvious that she had gotten the wrong guy. instead, she took a step away from him and settled her hands on her hips, staring down at him. after pacing around him, she stopped once again before crouching beside him, flicking some of his hair out of his face. "ya weren't suppose to be a decoy to help let that bastard get away, were ya?" her voice was low this time as she spoke, unaware that he had been another bounty hunter looking for her target. "i sure hope not... it wouldn't end well for ya."
[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: #000"]Spurs clinked with every step he took, dark boots sending wisps of dust wafting upwards from the ground. By the looks of it, he was barely an hour behind, but he’d catch him eventually. Once Layne Herriott caught scent of what he was after, it was already game over for the other person. Like a dog that had sniffed out a rabbit, he was on the hunt, fixated on every move of his target. Gaze stared down at the smoking fire pit before following footprints around the campsite. He’d have the man by today for drop off this evening and another food package to reward him for his hard work. That was the way of the lone hunter these days; he survived off of justice in a lawless world with a high demand for people like him.
Taking in a long sigh, Layne soon investigated the makeshift tents in search of anything to steal before he was on his way again, barely perceptive of his surroundings until the next thing he was on the ground, face in the dirt. He put up a desperate struggle, grunting loudly to try fight off his attacker — for all he knew, it could have been the very man he was after — until he was successfully hogtied within moments. A humiliating feat for the hunter to be hunted, restrained and left defenceless, as he tried to wriggle his way out of this. But it was to no avail. Gasping for alarmed breaths, Layne twisted his head to the other side to try catch a glimpse of his attacker just as she chuckled. She? At least it was not who he thought it was, but it did beg the question… if this wasn’t his target, then who the hell was she?
Flipped onto his back, Layne’s face shrivelled up with confusion as he came face to face with a lean woman observing his face until she interrogated him. ❝ Who th’ hell are you? ❞ He retorted in response, pulling a face as she brushed a strand of his hair away from his face before he began to realise what was actually happening here. ❝ What? No way. I’m looking for the bastard too. Doubt he’s too far from here, judging by the— ❞ He nodded towards the fire pit, looking off to the side before watching the target fumbling onto Pilgrim’s back to make his getaway. ❝ Uhh... ❞ Panicked, Layne began thrashing around in his restraints, then announcing with exasperation, ❝ He’s making a getaway on my Goddamn horse! ❞ She better be cutting the restraints bound to Layne before going after the man, else this day couldn’t get any worse.
[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; font-family: times new roman; letter-spacing: .6px; color: #494949;"]"well i'll be damned," there was a mild tone of surprise in gemma's voice, her posture straightening as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "you another bounty hunter?" she circled him a bit, examining him carefully as she tried to wrap her head around it, but honestly it was a bit mindboggling to her. a handful of other hunters had the displeasure of meeting her and they all seemed to fit into the stereotypical smelly and old men role that seemed to take over the business nowadays. it was rare for there to be many skilled hunters on the younger side like the two of them as far as gemma was concerned, let alone pretty like he was. gemma pulled the bandanna down and off her face, eyebrows furrowed as she started to get lost in thought before he mentioned the target trying to make an escape and she was dragged back to reality.
like a bloodhound, when gemma's eyes got caught on her target it was hard for her to lose focus, so she immediately took off after him and whistled loudly for bullet. dust kicked up from the ground as she sprinted, eyes narrowed as he began to put distance between the two of them making her whistle again, this time a bit more aggravated. she could hear bullet racing towards her in the distance, but she stopped and pulled out her rifle when the target began to make it towards the mountains that had plenty of cover to hide him. she began to line up a headshot while she tried to steady her breath and stance. as she lined up and was about to pull the trigger, he disappeared around a turn and she lost the opportunity.
"fuckin' hell!" she snapped angrily, throwing her hat towards the ground as she paced back and forth. it was a rare occurrence when the bounty would be able to get an advantage in situations with her, she always tried to remain two steps ahead of them and she would have done the same today if she had been thrown off by the other hunter - wait. her angry pacing stopped and she turned to see him on the ground where she left him hogtied. with a sigh, gemma put her rifle once more onto her back and picked up her hat, dusting it off while she walked over. "ya got a fast ride." she mentioned casually as she made the move to untie the ropes. "gravedigger-" she started to introduce herself, hastily rolling her lasso back up. "- or gemma gallagher, whatever th' hell you wanna know me by." hell, he may have already known of one of those names before already, her reputation had grown as of late.
"normally i don't do the whole pardner thing, but neither of us really have that choice right now, do we?" she turned her back towards him and walked over to get onto bullet and though it was only a few seconds, she began to grow impatient. "let's go, 'else you gonna lose your horse for good."
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