It was almost night when Kotal's enforcers arrived at the inn, to look for a comfy spot to rest for the night. It had a large barn in the back for Ferra and Torr to use and the inn had plenty of vacancies and a little tavern. A young man with dyed green hair, met them at the door, almost as if he was expecting them.
"Toppa the evening to you laddies and lassies." He greeted in a thick Irish accent. "The inn's a little full. We're hosting a wake. Some of our guests are in bed and a few are at the tavern. We only have a couple of vacant rooms on the third floor. The barn is available for the symbiotic pairing."
The innkeeper lead the warriors up to a large barn at the back of the inn. It was very big enough for Torr to stand up in without problem. It was very warm with a pile of hay and a large blanket and had enough room for Ferra and Torr to sleep comfortably.
"Ferra/Torr comfy." Ferra chirped as she tugged on the ropes that were holding Torr's armor in place and it slid off and landed with a thud. Torr made a sort of loud purring sound while rolling his shoulders, glad to have the heavy weight gone.
"We see you in morning." Ferra yawned before settling down to sleep as Torr nodded and laid down on the ground and began snoring. It was very loud for the others but Ferra was used to it.
"I'll lead you four to your rooms." Explained the innkeeper, closing the barn doors and leading the others back into the inn.
A couple flights of stairs later, Erron, Thalia, Reptile and Ermac followed the innkeeper to their respective rooms. One was for two people to share, which meant Erron and Thalia in one room and Ermac and Reptile in the other, not far from them.
"Here's your keys. Hope you get comfortable, but not too comfortable." The innkeeper warned them as he handed them their respective room keys. "You make a mess on the floor, that's a fifty coin fine. Each time. Enjoy your stay."
After that, the innkeeper departed as the others went into their rooms.
The rooms were small. Each had a large bed with a bedside table, a couch with a table in front on an old rug and a door that led to a bathroom. There was a complimentary bottle of whisky with two tumbler glasses. Thalia looked around the room.
"Well there's one bed that's big enough for both of us." Thalia noticed.
"Either we use it or one of us takes the bed and the other person takes the couch." Erron shrugged.
"As long as we don't try anything. No cuddling, no spooning and we should be fine." Informed Thalia as she sat down on the couch, all prim like a young lady.
"Fine with me." The gunslinger shrugged again before taking a seat near her, bringing the whisky and tumblers, removing his hat and placing it down on the table, smoothing his dark blonde locks.
"So I guess Ermac told you about Shang Tsung and Mileena's creation?" The gunslinger asked.
"Yes." Thalia answered before asking. "Why'd you ask? Did you have some sort of acquaintance with him?"
The gunslinger nodded. "Nearly 150 years ago. I'm from Earthrealm, like you. He hired me to assassinate an Earthrealm warrior and in return, he slowed my aging process."
Thalia became fascinated by his answer, even about where he came from before his arrival to Outworld and being hired by Kotal Kahn.
"What about you?" His question snapped Thalia out of her thoughts. "I know you're from Earthrealm but I'd like to know where you came from before your days in The Rusty Spittoon."
"I'm actually half Earthrealmer, half Edenian." Answered Thalia. "I was born in an Edenian city called Athenia."
"So you're a princess?" The gunslinger seemed interested, pouring a glass of whisky and offering it to Thalia, which she accepted. "And now you're a former saloon singer turned assasin. I like to know more."
"Well my mother was an Earthrealm woman, who was a singer, in opera. She met and fell in love with a handsome Edenian prince, who saw her perform. He took her back to Athenia where they married and then they had me. I spent most of my infancy until my father was murdered and my mother had to hide me somewhere in a little western town where I was taken in by the owner of The Rusty Spittoon and was cared for by the saloon girls who worked there, until I grew up and learned to sing which I would do to calm down the patrons before a bar brawl would start."
Thalia felt like she was breaking inside upon telling her backstory. She kept a photo of her mother when she was playing the lead role in Carmen. But she decided to keep her sadness hidden away from others. Erron noticed her trying to hide her sadness, but didn't say anything about it as the former saloon girl sipped her drink.
A couple of minutes had passed and Thalia was in the bathroom, changing into a short white strapless dress of silk and lace. She got out and was ready to get into bed when she saw some of Erron's armor and bandoliers were removed and he was pulling his black undershirt over him, revealling hard pectorals and six-pack. Thalia's eyes widened as her cheeks attained a rosy colour and her knees looked as if they were about to give away at the sight. She was speechless as she got into bed and got under the thin covers and began to feel her cheeks flush even more as the gunslinger reached up behind his head and, with dexterity acquired from years of twirling those revolvers, unclasped his mask and removed it...revealing the lower half of the gunslinger's face.
"Why, Thalia, you look as if you've never seen a man's mouth before. Nor have you seen one without a shirt." Those words came rolling out of the former Earthrealmer's now exposed lips (that had a little scar on display) which were pulled into a smirk as he gently massaged his smooth, sturdy jawline and running his fingers lightly over his angular cheekbones, before adding in his clear baritone, "Close your mouth, babe. You might swallow a fly."
To Thalia's alarm, she quickly obeyed, too stunned by the gunslinger.
He looked more like the Earthrealmer that he used to be many years before following the money trail. And to top all that off, he looked younger than she had expected.
'At least he's not too far away from my age..but then again he looks..No! Don't even think about it!'
"Where'd you get that?" Thalia asked curiously, upon noticing the scar.
"From one of my battles." Answered Erron, shrugging as he removed his dark jeans and was now in boxers. "It's healing up."
Thalia laid down as the gunslinger was finishing his the last of the whisky in his tumbler glass. There was some left in the bottle.
"Well, looks like we'll need to find the real Mileena. Even if we have to take down clones of her, we may come across." The gunslinger murmured, putting the glass down and turned over to Thalia. But she was already asleep.
"Thalia...?" He asked softly, but he decided to wait until morning as he leaned downwards and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, before he too laid beside her in bed and settled to sleep.
They've got a long night ahead of them.
YOU ARE READING
Of Guns and Roses
Action"You wouldn't think about shooting a saloon girl like me, would you?" "But it'd feel so right." Thalia Rosethorn was born to an Edenian prince and an Earthrealm woman but was taken to an unknown part of Earthrealm where she had a low paying job as a...
