Hunting Trip: Day 1

As we are riding into camp we see Hosea sitting near the horses, cleaning his rifle, "Ah, hello boys! Up for a bit of hunting?", he says as we hitch our horses, "Sure, I'll put the debt money in the donation box Arthur", I say as I'm then handed the jewelry Arthur found and I walk over to the donation box to put in the debt, having it total about $115, "well son thats quite a big haul, nice job", I look to my left and see Dutch smoking a cigar and leaning against his tent post, "Yeah, Arthur and I did some debt work for Strauss, if he keeps picking good targets we can get out of here in no time at all", I tell him.

"Well I certainly hope I have done well I would not be here otherwise", Strauss says walking into the conversation, "And it appears you two have also done your jobs well, though when you get the chance there is a fourth debtor who has not paid for a while, make sure you rough him up well", Strauss says, handing me a map that I take a look at it and I see the map is the same as the game and there are a few missions on the map and a list of 'Self Objectives' on the side with: Kill Micah Early, Prevent or Cure Arthurs Tuberculosis, Prevent Micah From Making Dutch Crazy, Save As Many Of The Gang As Possible, and Meet All Supernatural Beings.

After thanking Strauss and saying goodbye to Dutch, I head back to Hosea and I'm tossed a Carbine Repeater, "Here kid, with what we are hunting your gonna need that, your gonna need the shooting experience if your serious about being an outlaw with us", he says as Arthur nearby finishes tying supplies to the horse, "Everything is ready Hosea", he says as he hops onto his horse, "Alright then, we're headed near Dakota River, its a few days ride from here, but if we leave now we can get there noon tomorrow", Hosea says.

"Well what are we hunting, bison?", I chip in, pointing to Hosea's powerful rifle hanging on his horse, "Not quite, a bear", he says as we both hop onto our horses, "Biggest I've ever seen, maybe a thousand pounds", to his words I ponder as the three of us begin to ride, "I see you've managed to tame the Shire I brought back, the unruly bastard", Hosea mentions, "Been wondering when we got another horse in camp", Arthur pipes up.

"Yeah, was on the road when a big loud-mouthed bastard tried to rob me, you can probably guess how that went, gotta step into Valentine on the way there for supplies, you could buy yourself another horse Arthur, I know how you miss your old one", Arthur gives Hosea a frown, "I kinda like this horse, besides you need a new one the most with the ugly bastard you ride", he remarks, and Hosea gives Arthur an overexaggeratedly hurt look, "There's nothing wrong with two horses, but Brown Jack is a beautiful specimen", he says as I chuckle at the two old friends habits.

We ride for about 5 minutes and we are on the road following the tracks when the stench of rot fills my nose, "Something died somewhere here", I can't help but say aloud, "Yeah, I smell it too", Hosea says and we pass a small hill going under the track and I point down there where a torso is strung up, "down there", I say as I hop off my horse to check it out, "poor bastard", Arthur says as he follows to check it out and finds the head with a note he slips in his pocket without telling us, "found the poor guys legs up here", Hosea says as we return to our horses, "seems we'll have to tell the sheriff while in Valentine".

We get to Valentine quickly, with Arthur and Hosea going shopping for the supplies we need, while I report the corpse to the sheriff who thanks me for the tip and we all meet up and begin to ride the East road North out of Valentine, "so where is this hunting spot exactly?", Arthur says, "North", Hosea tells us, "Lake called O'Creagh's Run", causing Arthur to be confused, "Isn't that up in the mountains?", Hosea simply nods, "Yep, were the ones doing the chasing up there now, so how are things with you and John?", Hosea says as I begin to tune them out.

Things are going well so far, all the missions are the same as cannon so far, plus I have dead-eye and the map, so even if something goes south I should be fine, after this it should be time to rescue Sean from the bounty hunters, I won't be able to help but it should be fine. I pull out something I haven't looked at yet, a ring labeled Jane Bell, the supposed mother of my body, she was one of the protagonists from Wierd west, a game where all the old western myths are a thing and there are many higher beings, it's evident I might be one of The Branded because I can feel the sting on my neck and the ring holds electric charge, the blessing of the thunderbird.

"Ok, I think we need to head right here", Hosea says and breaks me from my train of thought and my horse snorts at my distractedness, rearing his head and nips at my pants before I smack him on the nose and turn him to follow Hosea.

After about an hour more of riding we pass Moonstone Pond which Hosea points out and we begin to head uphill to the top of a rocky hill where Hosea points out the lake were headed to and we head downhill towards it and stop on a small plateau, "hey look, rabbits, you could hunt them and cook them up eat them, and while you do that Arthur, Lawrence, help me set up camp, its getting late", Hosea says as we do our respective activities and head to sleep to hunt a bear in the morning.