Kitiara Club

BraveStarr · Spirit Animals · Outlaws of the Starr

Spirit's Bargain at Sunset

Archive Guest · 6 pages

Comic

Fort Kerium, sunset. The spirits are silent.

Marshal BraveStarr stands outside Fort Kerium at sunset, face tense, with Thirty/Thirty nearby. The desert glows pink-orange, mesas and dust in the background. BraveStarr's uniform is white and blue, Thirty/Thirty is a bipedal brown stallion in a poncho with a rifle and hat. The sky is wide and magenta, hard sunlight and shadow. No other people visible.
Something’s wrong, Thirty. I can’t see past the street.Marshal BraveStarr
Establish Fort Kerium under a magenta sunset, BraveStarr troubled by his lost spirit sight.1 / 6
BraveStarr stands close to Thirty/Thirty on the main street, looking uneasy. J.B. McBride rushes in, coat swirling, concern on her face. Early sunset, town buildings line the street. BraveStarr tries to focus, Thirty/Thirty looks alert.
Marshal! That green fog—Tex Hex is up to something!Judge J.B. McBride
Thirty/Thirty claps a hand on BraveStarr’s shoulder, gruff but supportive. BraveStarr looks anxious, J.B. frowning at them both. Dust swirls at their feet.
I’ll hold the street. You do your spirit talkin’, Marshal.Thirty/Thirty
BraveStarr and Thirty/Thirty discover the stampede hex as J.B. arrives with news.2 / 6
BraveStarr walks swiftly away from town into dusty low hills. The sun is lower, colors deepening. Lone figure of the elder waits on a stone rise, wrapped in feathers and beads.
You come humbled, marshal?Elder Hawkcloak
Close on BraveStarr bowing his head contritely before the elder. She gazes down, unreadable, feathers catching the light. The sunset glows behind.
I need the Hawk. The town is blind without her.Marshal BraveStarr
Behind Fort Kerium, Tex Hex stands on a saloon balcony, arms raised, green fire swirling about him. Buffalo stampede stirs up dust below. The street is tense.
Run, little lawman! My stampede will crush your town!Tex Hex
Escalation: BraveStarr seeks help from the Prairie People elder while Tex Hex unleashes the stampede.3 / 6
Side view: BraveStarr pledges, hand to heart, as the elder’s eyes glitter. Faint spirit-hawk silhouette glows above her. The colors are rich with sunset and spirit light.
My word: I’ll honor her first—no secrets.Marshal BraveStarr
A sudden flash as spirit power flows into BraveStarr, his eyes glowing gold with the Hawk. The elder stands solemn. The mesa and town far behind.
Let it be so.Elder Hawkcloak
Turning point: BraveStarr strikes a bargain with the spirit, regaining his Hawk sight.4 / 6
BraveStarr, eyes shining, stands at the center of Fort Kerium’s street. He aims his sidearm at a charging buffalo with a glowing amulet, green fire swirling. Thirty/Thirty stands back-to-back with him, rifle ready. Magic and dust fill the scene. Pink dusk overhead.
Eyes of the Hawk—now!Marshal BraveStarr
Climax: BraveStarr, with Hawk sight, targets the source of the hex and breaks the spell.5 / 6
J.B. stands beside BraveStarr and Thirty/Thirty in the street, relieved. Dust is settling, the sun almost gone. In the background, Tex Hex flees into deep green fog. Above, a hawk spirit circles in the sky.
That was close, Marshal. We owe the spirits—and your aim.Judge J.B. McBride
BraveStarr watches the hawk spirit circle overhead, thoughtful. Thirty/Thirty leans on his rifle, grinning. The sky is deep purple, stars emerging.
Careful next time, Marshal. Even spirits got feelings.Thirty/Thirty
Aftermath: J.B. joins, Tex Hex flees, BraveStarr sees the hawk’s spirit overhead—a promise kept.6 / 6
Chapter prose
BraveStarr stood at the edge of Fort Kerium, his boots planted in the sunbaked dust. The late sun bled magenta over the mesas, painting his white-and-blue marshal’s suit in a surreal glow. But his eyes, usually sharp as a hawk’s, narrowed—he couldn’t see past the town’s street, couldn’t make out the kerium miners or the restless shapes moving in the dusk. And that was wrong. He pressed his fingers to his badge. "Eyes of the Hawk," he whispered. Nothing happened. The world stayed blurred at the edges, stripped of the usual spirit-powered clarity. Thirty/Thirty lumbered up the boardwalk, cigar clenched in his teeth, rifle slung. "Y’look lost, partner. That stampede Tex Hex promised is comin’ in fast." BraveStarr nodded grimly. "Something’s wrong. The spirits don’t answer." At the far end of the street, a wild dust cloud was rising—prairie folk shouting, townsfolk scrambling. The outlaw magic was at work: green fire flickered like hungry shadows, and the high, cruel laugh of Tex Hex rode the wind. Judge J.B. McBride jogged over, coat snapping. "Marshal! I just saw a green fog rolling in—" "That’s the Hex. I can’t see through it. I need the Hawk’s help, but...something’s in the way." Thirty/Thirty spat out his cigar. "I’ll hold the street. Go do your spirit thing, boss." BraveStarr nodded, heart heavy. He ducked behind Fort Kerium, toward the low hills where the land was older and the prairie people built their fires. There, an elder stood tall among the stones, wrapped in a cloak of feathers and dust. Her eyes shone with wisdom, her expression unreadable. "You come humbled, marshal?" she asked. BraveStarr bowed his head. "I need the Hawk, elder. The town is blind without her." She tilted her head. "You called for power before you called for respect. The Hawk was slighted. What do you offer her now?" He drew a slow breath. "My word to speak her name before my own next time. And no secrets: I’ll tell the people who guards them." A pause—a test of honesty. The elder’s eyes glittered. "Let it be so." A sudden rush of wind lashed his face. The animal spirit flared: his eyes sharpened, and the fog over Fort Kerium peeled away in his sight. He saw Tex Hex on the saloon balcony, arms raised, green fire swirling. Down the street, Thirty/Thirty stood defiant, facing down a line of stampeding, bewitched buffalo. BraveStarr ran, voice booming with newfound power. "Eyes of the Hawk!" With his spirit vision, he spotted the source—a glowing amulet at the lead buffalo’s neck. He drew his sidearm, aimed for the chain, and fired. The shot rang out, slicing the magic. The buffalo stumbled, the stampede broke, and the green fire guttered. Thirty/Thirty grinned, swinging his rifle back up. "Nice shot, Marshal!" Tex Hex snarled, retreating into the smoke. BraveStarr caught J.B.’s relieved smile as she stepped from the bench. Later, as the pink dusk faded, BraveStarr looked up to the elder’s hill. A hawk circled, proud and free. He touched his heart, grateful—and remembered his promise: power, only with respect.
Original idea

Spirit Animals path: BraveStarr’s hawk sight fails over Fort Kerium during a stampede hex. Thirty-Thirty has to hold the street while the marshal bargains with a Prairie People elder for the spirit he insulted.

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