Tales From The Kronos

Silv ran as fast as she could, Neige and Sepide following close behind. She managed to get to her horse, waiting outside the city, and managed to get away from them.

The two teammates looked around for anything they could use, but there was nothing they could do.

"We can't follow a horse, we will just get lost, we don't even know where she is going!" Sepide said, frustrated that she ran away.

But just when they thought it was over, they heard the sound of a horse coming toward them, followed by a familiar voice.

"Chasing someone?" The voice was from Gol'dner on his trusted mount.

They knew that if they said they were against Silv he would probably arrest them, but lying seemed risky. They thought for a short moment before the cowboy got them out of their thoughts "Giddy up, I'll ride you there. We can explain on the way."

Surprised, the two accepted his offer, and they all continued the chase against the sheriff.

"Why do you help us?" Asked Sepide, a bit unsure about his motivation.

"Silv, this scoundrel ain't no saint, that I know, but I didn't expect her to be the devil! She works with the old sheriff to steal all the gold from here, and then they'll run away!" It was obvious that the man blamed himself, not only for trusting Silv, but also for not noticing it sooner.

"They work together? That's going to be annoying." Said Sepide to herself, knowing it would be hard to fix everything if the old sheriff wasn't cooperative.

"And why do you trust us?" Wondered Neige.

The man stayed silent for a moment, before answering in an unsure voice.

"I think that... You know what you're doing. You two may be unsalted cowboys, but you know far more than me. But this girl, she told lies so well a man would be a fool not to believe them."

The group arrived shortly after the end of their conversation, the man got out of his mount and pointed to a shack in the middle of the desert.

"That's their hideout."

The two partners followed him and got closer to it. But even if they tried being stealthy, it looked like they got caught, since the old sheriff, Coop, came out of the shack to face them. Coop stared at them with a mean smile, while the small group stood in front of him, ready for anything.

"You have no reason to be here."

"Coop! I know about your plans, it all stops here!" Yelled Gol'dner with a strong voice.

It looked like a duel was about to start, but Sepide ran between them and tried to convince them to not fire.

"Wait! I have an idea, Coop, we'll make sure you can get your post as a sheriff back. And Gol'dner you'll keep travelling around like you did before."

The two didn't seem to agree at first, but Coop looked at something inside the shack before suddenly agreeing.

"Please, I'll do anything to not work with her anymore, I swear I'll be a good sheriff now!" He said in an almost pathetic way.

Sepide turned to the other man, hoping he would accept.

"If you say it's better, I trust your judgment." Said the cowboy, disappointed but acknowledging that the girl knew more than him.

A conclusion seemed to be reached, Sepide was confident that after they caught Silv everything would be back on track. But just when she thought it was over, Neige faced Coop, his hand over the revolver on his belt. Everyone looked at him in shock as he raised his cowboy hat to look Coop straight in the eyes.

"I oppose that idea."

Sepide ran toward her friend, shocked to hear his words.

"What are you doing? Everything was about to get fixed."

"I'm not following this order. I prefer to risk it all and maybe live in a world I'm proud to be, rather than live in a shitty world that I'm forced to live in!"

Sepide didn't know what to say, it was against what they were supposed to do, but somewhere in her heart, she agreed partly with him.

"I vote for Gol'dner to be the new sheriff and arrest Coop." He looked around, asking silently about their opinions.

"No way, I'm the real sheriff!" Yelled Coop, outraged.

"Don't be too loud, history is about to be made. The boy's becoming a man." Said Gol'dner smiling at Neige.

Sepide was torn between her mission and Neige. Should they accept a corrupt man as their leader, or should they arrest him for his crimes? She took a long time to think, and seeing her hesitation, Neige put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

"It will be alright, I'm sure of it."

Sepide didn't feel the same but ultimately agreed. She trusted Neige to know what he was doing.

"The balance of the world is more important, but... You're too tiring to convince." Sepide stepped back with her usual cold face, Neige still felt a bit annoyed but it looked like the girl acted a bit softer. The former sheriff heard everything and was clearly not happy with the decision.

"That's revolting! I'm the experienced one, the strongest one, the smartest one!"

"Come on, your brain's so dull it wouldn't cut hot butter."

Gol'dner's words were too much for Coop, the former sheriff got his revolver out and was ready to fire at Neige. Thankfully, Neige was able to notice it in time, the man drew his revolver and shot precisely at Coop's hand, making him drop his weapon and rendering him harmless. Gol'dner quickly reached out to the former sheriff and made sure he wouldn't be able to cause any more problems.

"Silv has to be in the shack, go get her!"

Neige and Sepide nodded their head and quickly ran inside.

There were two people inside. Two short girls, with short red hair and the same clothes which made them look like cowgirls, the only difference being that one was tied up by a rope. The free one was pushing random buttons on the watch that they use to travel through space, only stopping when she noticed the two partners coming inside.

"Neige! Sepide!" Said enthusiastically the girl who was tied up, which meant she most likely was the real Silva "She has the watch, stop her!"

Despite the girl's warning, it was too late, the girl with the watch managed to get away and vanished in a flash of light. Neige wished he could pursue her, but there was more important for now. They hurried to help Silva and explained everything that happened.

She was just relieved that everyone was alright and had the diary, she just hoped their leader wouldn't punish them for changing the Fate of this world. She explained how she was already tied up by Silv when she woke up, and that she wasn't able to do anything. All together, they decided to go back to town, away from this lonely place.

They were acclaimed like heroes, succeeding in stopping Coop once and for all. Gol'dner insisted on offering them a drink, but the three of them refused.

"We have things to do, I think we're going to get scolded, so I don't want to make it worse." Neige didn't regret his actions, but he knew their leader wouldn't let him get away with it.

"I see, 'tis but a shame. Maybe someday, our paths will cross again. Neige, Sepide, Silva, may your future be bright. See you, space cowboys."

After saying goodbye, the cowboy walked away, leaving the three of them together. When they all were ready, they returned to their ship after a tiring mission.

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"We're going to get in trouble! We're gonna die, we're so gonna die!" Kept repeating Silva, afraid of their leader's reaction. She always was the one arguing with her leader, but disobeying a direct order was frightening for her.

Neige and Sepide both stayed silent, the man because he did what he believed to be the right thing, and the girl because she tried to do as she was told, but couldn't because of Neige.

They waited for a long time before the screen in the leader's office turned on, revealing herself covered with her usual mask.

"Welcome, I hope everything went well."

The three looked at each other, before giving them their report. The leader stayed silent during their explanation, leaving them a bit anxious about the punishment they'll get. At the end of the report, the woman on the screen said in a very calm tone,

"I see. Don't worry, those things happen. Silva, Sepide, you can go, I will ask Neige to bring me my diary."

Neige nodded his head in confirmation. The screen turned off, and Neige immediately left the room. The two girls were confused, they got away pretty easily, usually, the leader would be mad if something like that happened. Sepide quickly turned toward Silva and asked the experienced girl,

"Does he know where the leader is? I thought she never showed herself."

"Oh, right, you're new here. While it's true that she hides herself, the only one she trusts is Neige, they were childhood friends. Since you're new you must be quite lost around the ship, why don't we go for a visit?" Proposed Silva, Sepide was a bit unsure but decided that it wouldn't hurt.

They walked for a while around the ship, exploring the various places in it. There were their dorms, a place to eat, a greenhouse, an arcade, and even a tennis court. But even despite that, the ship was mostly empty, they saw only one person on the way here, leading Sepide to even more questions. When they took a break to drink a coffee, she decided it was a good time to ask the questions she had.

"Why is there nobody, are they all on mission?"

"No, we're not a lot and this ship is big. We're like, ten I would imagine. And I doubt they're on missions, Me, Neige, and... Kairo were the explorers here. The other have more of a support roles like the doctor or the stupid engineer." Said Silva while taking another cup of coffee.

Sepide was shocked by her answer, she imagined that a unit meant to protect the world would be more numerous. Especially since she, a person without prior experience, got in as a member. She couldn't help but feel like she didn't deserve to be here.

"How are members chosen?" She asked, hoping to understand how she was chosen.

"Usually we just take in people who lost their worlds, as for the team that fixes worlds, it's a bit different. Like Neige for example, he just knew the leader before so it was natural he became a part of the group. Kairo was strong physically and he insisted a lot... Me on the other hand, I still wonder how I got here." Silva looked down as she uttered those words before taking another cup of coffee and continuing.

"I come from another world too, Neige was the one that found me. Apparently, everyone was supposed to die there, so in a way, I'm an anomaly too... My parents treated me like that too, an anomaly. I know I'm weird, but I tried my best." She was almost about to cry but remembered that Sepide was here, she smiled and took another cup of coffee, hoping she wouldn't worry her new friend.

Sepide stared at Silva, empathizing with her.

"But now you're here, Neige and the others seem nice to you."

"It's true! I'm really grateful for them. I wasn't supposed to survive, but even despite that, they took me in. I even have all the time I want to paint. I should show you my paintings after we finish the tour." Silva seemed happier after thinking about her time here. She took another cup of coffee before asking to Sepide

"And you? What was your world like?"

Sepide was taken by surprise by her question, she didn't feel ready to answer, so instead she tried diverting her attention toward something else.

"It's the fourth cup of coffee, isn't it enough?"

"The sixth actually!" Corrected Silva, a bit too proud of herself. "It's fine, it enhances my creativity. So, how is your world?" She failed to notice that Sepide was uncomfortable with that question, instead innocently asking her again. Sepide decided to trust her, but something weird happened. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember her world, she didn't have any memories before joining them actually. The girl figured she might just be tired from her mission and tried to divert the topic one more time.

"Don't you have paintings you wanted to show me?" She said, hoping it would divert her attention.

"Oh yeah, I'll take one last coffee and I'll show you."