Blood and gold

A strong wind blew in from the east, blowing up all of the sand from the surroundings which glittered under the strong light of the sun. Whilst providing a beautiful sight for any onlookers of this phenomenon, it provides nothing but an annoyance to the young man currently making his way through the veil of sand, "dammit! why is it always me that has to deal with this crap!?" with only his arm to block the sand from his amber eyes he slowly trecks towards his destination.

It is unknown how long exactly he had been traveling but if the rips and dirt covering his clothing where any indication, it had been a long and tiresome journey. Coming up over a sandhill the shapes of buildings become clear from the sand - "well it's about time I saw something".

Holden Trade Post
The settlement of Holden is one with many years of history - after being trapped within the lawless zone for generations, many groups of people came together to create a safe space where they could all live and thrive .Ages had passed since that time and after enduring countless hardships as a result of the rough environment and bands of marauders alike, leading the small settlement to grow into one of the largest trading hubs within the entirety of the desert.
However...being one of the few towns to survive and grow into the small scale city it was today it had garnered quite the reputation between any misbegotten travellers that would wind up on its doorstep. With the right contacts - and a fistful of credits - you practically had the key to any door as well as key to any usually locket cabinets, but all who took too much without being able to pay back the hospitality of the town and its inhabitants...well those who did walk out in one piece all said the same thing - Holden was a city of both Gold and Blood.

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Coming down from the sandhills just outside of the city and gaining entrance to the main street had been easy - surrounded by stalls and tents selling all kinds of goods ranging from foods and jewellery to guns and cybernetics the amber eyed traveller walked past it all without  giving a second glance to the salesmen or their wares - it wasn't until he turned cut through a nearby alleyway that he finally did stop.    

Plastered upon the side of the building was a bounty poster, upon it was the visage of a young man with burning red, shoulder length hair and piercing amber eyes. A small scowl rested on his face as he glared out towards anyone who stopped to view the bounty, below the image was some text - 'Cal Wayne...WANTED warm or cold for Robbery, Murder and Terrorism against the city of Centurion...REWARD: 10,000,000 C proof of capture or termination required...please deliver to the nearest magistrate office' - Looking at his own image the now named Cal simply scoffed before continuing towards his destination. Weaving through narrowed streets and alleyways Cal stops before a fairly large building with a sign just above the entrance '7TH BULLET' a guild of sorts that housed many bounty chasers and simple guns for hire as a place to find work or as a place, the building was old with a few cracks in the walls peering through - surrounding the area was a few of the patrons who sat outside, an air of smoke hanging around them as they gave side eyed glances towards any passers by - all the attention turned towards Cal as he brushed past them and the eyes peering at him with suspicion only grew in number once he finally pushed past the large metal doorway, entering into the home of those who would both live and die for money.

The main entrance of 7TH Bullet featured groups of tables scattered across the room, each featuring their own groups, to the left of the entrance featured a bar with different bottles of multi-coloured drinks lit underneath with artificial lighting stacked neatly on shelves behind the counter. Opposite to the entrance sat a long reception desk with three people sat behind it, two older men who's ages averaged from 40 to 60 years and a young girl with large rimmed circle glasses who fidgeted restlessly at the change in atmosphere with Cal's arrival. Once within all eyes were on Cal, the heavy sound of his footsteps echoed across the room as he moved towards the reception desk - all moved out of the way of his approach, not wanting to interact with oddball of a man...well...all except for one - "Well if it isn't 'the calamity' himself here to grace us with his presence" the one to break out from the silence was a man named Gilmore, he was fairly tall standing at around 6"2 sporting a head of messy dirty blonde hair, a red bandana with a rose pattern wrapped around his neck and a brown leather jacket with lighter patches on the shoulders and elbows rested on his shoulders. On his face was some slight stubble and a cocky smirk as he leaned back on the hind legs of his chair, head turned away from the game of cards he was playing to address the red head - whilst seeming mostly relaxed if one where to look at his retreating right hand they would see him slowly reaching towards the weapon strapped against his thigh - Neither man broke eye contact with the other, with bystanders to the scene sensing the steadily growing tensions and taking a step back.

"Now I was starting to think you went and kicked the bucket after taking that last job of yours" the smirk never leaving his face as he continued to rock back and forth on the hind legs of his chair.

Cal still kept the neutral look that always seemed to be his default expression - Those who looked close enough towards his face would however take note of the twitch in his eye as he addressed the veteran bounty chaser - "I'm still here aren't I." a simple statement that spoke more than any tall tale all the other patrons would come up with to share their adventures.

Seemingly irked by the statement Gilmore's smile faltered for a fraction of a second before retaliating, "so you are...but with that price of yours going up again it leaves a man to wonder just how long exactly you'll be here for..." trailing off at the end of his sentence his eyes suddenly grew more serious - Cal sensing the shift in tone began resting his left hand upon one of the high caliber pistols placed upon his hips. 

The air once again became still as the staring match between the two gunmen only grew more tense...until it all broke loose in one explosive instant. 

'BANG!!!'