Requested by:  CarmenLau6
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You walked along the road, putting your arms out at your side, pretending to be balancing on a beam. You weren't quite sure where you were going, but you had a good idea. You were going down this road and where there's roads, there's a town. Town means shelter and shelter means safety. You had been wandering the West for a while, having left your home town in search for something new. You looked up at the moon and smiled softly. Traveling by night always excited you, the west became a monotone of blues and the music of nature was always something you could listen to for hours.

You adjusted the strap on your shoulder and gazed at the landscape before your eyes landed on a small blurry of orange lights. Scratch that...a dozen small orange lights! A town! You smiled and silently cheered in your mind before turning your wander into a sprint. Your boots kicked up the sand behind you as you kept a steady hand on your hat and the other hanging on tightly to your bag strap. It wasn't long before you were about a hundred yards or so away from the town. You slowed your sprint to a walk, panting from the exercise you just forced your body into doing. Never again.

You smiled and moved your hair out of your face. Stopping for a moment, you took in the town's scenery from what you could see. You smiled more and looked for some sort of indication on where the heck you where. Your eyes landed on a sign that said, "Welcome to Showdown Valley!". You hummed in approval, though even if you didn't like the name there wasn't anything you could do about it. Before you entered the town's vicinity, you felt a hand grab your shoulder. You jumped and turned around before letting out a scream. A creature, more like an undead, was reaching out to you, its eyes torn out and it's limbs looking stitched together for the thousandth time.

You froze and braced for the dead to bite you. That's when you heard it, the gun shot. You gained your focus back and looked at the ground where the dead laid, it's already lifeless body somehow looking even more lifeless. You looked at the direction from whence the bullet came and your eyes met with a young lad around your age, out of breath as well.

"I'm glad I got to ya in time, the lost one nearly got to ya."

You smiled nervously as he put the gun away.

"T-thanks for saving me, pardon me for asking partner, but what in the West was that?"

He stuck his hand out to you, which you hesitantly took. Where did your excitement go? Oh, it died with the lost one...right.

"Name's Showdown Bandit. That right there -he paused to softly kick the lost one in the head- is a lost one. For some reason dead folks don't like to stay in their graves around here. Guess Miss Undertaker missed one, be more careful next time, there might not be anyone around to save ya."

You gulped before taking one last look at the so called lost one.

"(Y/N), is there a...inn I could stay at?"

Bandit nodded, moving the grain in his mouth to the other side.

"Yep, come with me, I'll show ya."

He turned around, muttering something about the sheriff not doing his job anymore while walking off, presumably in the direction you need to go. You quickly regained your composure and followed close behind Bandit. While on the short journey he pointed out the places in town. For example, the bakery and the saloon. It wasn't long before you two stopped.

"Rattlesnakes..."

You looked to where Bandit's gaze was, the building with the word "Inn" on it had a sign with "Full!" on the porch. Bandit looked towards you, taking the grain out of his mouth.

"Looks like your staying with me tonight partner. For one this damn thing's full even though I'm pretty sure it was empty an hour ago, two Miss Undertaker doesn't sleep so I doubt she has a bed let alone another room for anyone else, and three...that damn sheriff might arrest me on the spot."

"Alright..."

Bandit huffed quietly and put the grain back in his mouth before putting his hands in his pockets and turning 90° to the left.

"This way partner."

You grabbed the edge of his sleeve and walked with him. Bandit raised an eyebrow and looked at you in his peripheral vision before internally shrugging it off as you being anxious. Your eyes darted towards the shadows as you two walked.

"Relax partner, there shouldn't be anything out here that's more scarier than me."

You cracked a small smile at Bandit and tried to relax a bit.

Shortly, you arrived at a purple door that you were pretty sure wasn't there before. Like the gentleman he was, Bandit opened the door for you.

"Thanks."

You stepped in and gazed at the interior. Wasn't much to be honest, but it was cozy.

"Don't mind the mess, never planned on having visitors."

You smiled and shrugged at Bandit. Your eyes landed on a rack of clothes and you raised your eyebrow at Bandit, who hid his expression with his hat. You continued to explore the medium sized space, with Bandit leaning against the wall near the door. Bandit bit onto his grain before looking up at you.

"So what brings ya to the valley?"

You jumped a bit, the heels of your boots clacking against the floor when gravity brought you back down. Bandit grinned while you glared.

"Wanted to search for something new, got bored back in my home town."

"Your parents were okay with that?"

You bit the inside of your cheek and gave a worn out smile.

"What parents?"

Bandit's eyes widened as he look to the ground.

"Sorry, I-"

"Eh it's okay, never met them."

Bandit thought for a bit before looking up at the trap door in the roof.

"Wanna see something?"

You furrowed your eyebrows at Bandit and nodded. He smiled before pulling a lever near him. A ladder came down, seemingly out of nowhere and stopped at the ground with a soft thud.

"Put your stuff down while I get some stuff."

Bandit began to look in boxes for items that he needed and you put your bag and hat near his clothing rack. Bandit walked over to you and handed you a couple of blankets.

"You carry those up the ladder while I take these pillows."

You nodded and climbed the ladder after Bandit, both of you doing well for having things in your hands.

When you reached the top, your eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness.

"Mind helping me move three of these boxes in a triangle?"

You set the pillows down and moved two boxes five feet apart (a/n: cuz they're not gay-) from each other and helped Bandit move the last one into place. Bandit put the pillows in between the boxes before laying a blanket on top of the boxes, creating some shelter from the elements. You placed a blanket on the floor as well before sitting down, dragging the last blanket closer. Bandit sat next to you and threw his overly bit grain over the side of the building.

"Alright, now, look up."

You did as Bandit told you and smiled widely. The sky was a navy blue, proceeded by a dark violet, a faded pink, then an assortment of greens. The sky wasn't fully blanketed in stars, but the colors were enough to make you gaze at the sky in wonder. Bandit broke the silence.

"I remember something the fortune teller in town last week said something about night lights happening sometime this week and it just popped in my head a while ago. I thought you'd like to see them, I just had to hope they were out."

You looked at Bandit, who had light red dusting his cheeks.

"Thank you."

Bandit nodded before looking up at the sky himself.

"You mentioned something earlier about the sheriff potentially arresting you on the spot. Why's that? I mean your name is Showdown Bandit, but one shouldn't assume based on someone's name."

Bandit chuckled.

"I am a bandit, sheriff and I have been going at each other for years now. He just can't seem to catch me and put me in jail."

You giggled and laid down on the pillows underneath the blanket. Bandit followed your actions and took off his hat, revealing his unnaturally orange hair.

"Woah, is your hair real?"

You covered your mouth.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean- I just wanted to-"

Bandit cut you off, laughing a bit.

"It's okay, I was born with this hair, whether it was my mother's side or father's I don't know. Like you I never met them, Miss Undertaker was the one who raised me, at 16 years no less. I'm forever in her debt."

You frowned and turned to face Bandit.

"That's awful, I'm glad you had someone to help you for most of your life though, must have been nice."

Bandit smiled and thought to himself a bit.

"Yeah, it was."

Bandit turned to look at you.

"How's Showdown Valley so far? Your journey here I mean, not when you almost died."

You chuckled.

"It was nice, just walking the roads with no sound, but mother nature's music. Thanks for saving me again by the way."

Bandit shrugged and smirked.

"Nothing to it, I've always been a sharp shooter with an impeccable aim."

You rolled your eyes.

"Yeah yeah, my hero."

Bandit blushed.

"Don't heroes get a reward?"

You put your finger on your chin.

"Nope."

You stuck your tongue out at the red Bandit. Bandit stuck his tongue out back.

"I should've let you be food for that lost one."

You gasped silently and put your hand over your heart.

"I'm hurt!"

You both burst out into a fit of giggles.

"Hey! Quiet out there!"

You both had wide eyes before silently laughing. You both stared at each other for a short while.

"Bandit?"

"Yes (Y/N)?"

"I don't think I have to keep searching for something new."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"I found my something new right here."

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Word Count : 1721

A/N: IMMMM SORRYYYYY I should really stop saying that I'm going to post a chapter the next day because then my teachers are like "Hey ya'll want some homework to last you forever?" ._. I hope this chapter satisfies your thirst for more chapters until I can get the next one shot up! Then after the next four chapters, requests will be open again! 

Also like PSA, I'll ignore all new requests until I open up requests again (not trying to be a d*ck, but cmon guys I said requests closed XD, though I saw this really good one and I was look omg I love this-) and check the Table of Contents (sorta) for how the progress of requests are! Also if you guys are finna have a convo with each other don't spam a lot plz ;w;

HAVE A NOICE DAY :D