EVERYBODY DIES / RETURN, o

[COLT MADISON.]

[align=center][div style="width: 370px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 1.4; color: black;"]— Colt, admittedly, had been neglecting socialization and helping out around the lodge for some time now. He'd become far too wrapped up in his own personal problems for any of that. Was it selfish of him to hide and sulk while lives were on the line? Maybe. He wasn't sure anymore. Strategy had failed him. At this point, he was going to play everything by ear, he'd decided.

One thing was for sure - it was far too late to let anyone know the truth about Xavier. If he told the lodge at this point, there was no doubt that his own loyalty would come into question. No - he had to do this by himself now. He had to defeat Xavier and protect Eddie without anyone else knowing. There was no going back.

The young man sank into one of the old couches in the living room. He fished his pocket knife and a rag from the pocket of his jeans, absent-mindedly polishing the blade. He was quiet - which was the norm for Colt, especially as of late, with everything going on.

/ hey guys!! i'm back from a lil hiatus, exciting to get things rolling again :>

[EDMUND.]

[align=center][div style="width: 450px; text-align: justify; font-family: andale mono; font-size: 6.5pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 1px; line-height: 14px; color: #484a4d"]It had been no secret to Eddie that Colt’s appearance around the lodge had been more sparse as of late. He wanted to blame it on the fact that Colt was still young, and some youngsters wished for nothing more than to cling onto the very last strand of innocence before being shoved out into the big wide world. But, Colt wasn’t like most young people. Like Edmund, he never knew what it was like to enjoy a childhood and so knew not what he was missing out on. Ed knew that look very well. Shoulders sagging and discoloured bags below the eyes as if the world drained all life from all that had to witness it in its sinister entirety.

He was tired of having to carry all that the world amassed on his back. Eddie knew that feeling, too.

In this instance, Eddie favoured silence over confrontation. After all, at the end of the day Colt was just a kid; it would be wrong to expect him to put forth the weapon that he’d been crafted into when it had been Eddie’s pledge to protect the younger generation in the lodge. Instead, he allowed Colt to take a small step back, from all of the danger and fighting that Eddie was hatching tactically, and from Eddie himself.  This was only self-preservation in its finest form, Eddie believed. He never thought that these chain of events were because Colt wanted Eddie to stay around for longer, rather than avoiding all of his hundred flaws as he had initially assumed.

Eddie stepped into the lounge, quickly taking notice that Colt was the only person in the room at that moment. ❝ Taking good care of what’s yours, ‘ey? ❞ Nodding his head briefly towards the pocket knife, Eddie smoothed his hair back as he wandered further into the living room, picking up the lighter that he had placed at the corner of the coffee table earlier before crouching down to attempt to relight the fireplace that had dwindled since the last time he had checked up on it an hour ago.

❝ It’s always good practice. People like getting things but it’s pointless if you never nurture it… Knife’ll treat you well if you keep it in good condition. ❞ It'd been the most that Eddie had spoken in casual conversation for some time, ever since he'd been far more invested in the current affairs between Flintlock and The Badlands. But, for Colt, he liked to make the effort.

[COLT MADISON.]

[align=center][div style="width: 370px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 1.4; color: black;"]— "Taking good care of what's yours, 'ey?"

Colt recognized who was speaking to him without so much as a glance away from his knife. It was the voice of the man who had saved his life and taken him in without question, the man who had taken him under his wing and trusted him - the man that he was supposed to kill. "I'm... doing my best to take care of it, yeah," he would murmur in response, watching as Eddie worked to spark a flame in the fireplace. He shifted in place, doing his best to dispel the guilt that bubbled up whenever Colt so much as thought of Eddie these days.

The fire grew as it was tended to, bathing the room in a flickering orange glow. The sudden warmth made Colt's skin tingle. He sat back, nodding along to Eddie's words, running the piece of cloth along the end of his blade. He turned it over, inspecting the glint in the metal. "You're right about that," he would remark. "Got this thing when I was a kid, actually. Thing's gotta be ten years old now, and it's still sharp as ever." He finally managed to turn and make eye contact with the Flintlock leader. "How's the Lodge been doing, Eddie? I-I know I've been sorta absent, been working on some stuff." That was vague, sure, but he doubted Eddie would pry.

[EDMUND.]

[align=center][div style="width: 450px; text-align: justify; font-family: andale mono; font-size: 6.5pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 1px; line-height: 14px; color: #484a4d"]It shouldn’t be a surprise for Edmund to have a target on his back. He’d been aware of where he stood in this world for his entire life, and it only progressed once he’d taken over in his father’s stead. There was bound to come a time where his loyalties were to be tested, where Edmund would truly understand what it meant to be betrayed by someone that he thought he could trust. Perhaps it was naive of him to believe that he was so distrusting in character that it would never happen to him. He never thought that someone like Colt could ever have such malicious intentions. If Edmund had been as aloof and cold as people made him out to be, then maybe he would have been dead by now. But, it was his brief lapse in malignance which had saved him for the time being.

Eddie’s lips twitched slightly as Colt spoke briefly about his childhood. He could ever pick out similarities between the both of them; sometimes, it felt as if Eddie was looking at himself five years ago whenever he set his gaze on Colt. Perhaps it was what drew Eddie towards Colt — the familiarity, yet also the desire to make sure Colt would not have to figure the world out on his own. Sitting back on his haunches, Eddie looked over towards Colt as he asked for an update on the Lodge. ❝ Apart from the issue regarding The Badlands? Been running as smooth as it can. Starting to prepare for the winter time. It’s already starting to get really icy again, so I anticipate this winter’ll be a cold one. Could do with some help with a couple of things, actually; whenever you have the time, of course. ❞