Texas Meets The Witchdoctor

(Originally by Cheese111)

It didn't take Texas long to find the wagon of the witchdoctor. It stood out quite starkly in the desert plain, richly covered in deep blue cloth and all manner of trinkets. On the side facing the sheriff two large eyes were painted. Though it was just a picture on cloth, the weasel got the unnerving feeling those eyes were looking right at her. Her hand hovered close to her revolver when a voice rang out from inside.

"Aaaah, I have a visitor. Just a moment please." The voice was feminine, deep and infused with an exotic accent the sheriff had never heard before. Wherever this stranger was from, she'd traveled a long way to end up in Gold Springs. None of it soothed Texas' nerves. This could be a clever ambush for all she knew. It was to her relief that when the small door at the back of the wagon opened, a petite cheetah woman stepped out. She moved with grace as she introduced herself.

"Greetings, miss Texas. Da spirits told me much about you. Dey see a heavy burden you bear. In a town like dis, few would willingly take up de mantle of de law." The sheriff was surprised she knew her. Had they met before and did she simply forget about it? Furthermore she was taken aback by the cheetah's appearance. She was about as tall as her, a welcome break from all the villains she usually dealt with that towered over her. She wore a revealing deep blue dress matching the fabric on her wagon. Much like it she wore many exotic trinkets. Her spots were intricate in design and she'd used black paint to make the ones on her arms even more elaborate, turning some into little suns and stars. The same was done to her eyes, surrounding them in an intriguing black outline. Her piercing yellow eyes darted up and down, thoroughly inspecting her visitor.

"You come seeking answers, and I can help you with sight and spirit. Please, do not be alarmed. I mean you no harm." Her words were calming, but the sheriff remained apprehensive as she followed the cheetah into her wagon.

The inside was cozy and surprisingly spacious. Texas was invited into a seat with the mysterious witchdoctor sitting opposite of her. The dim lamplight gave the whole thing an air of mysticism, but the sheriff was here on business. She cleared her throat and began asking questions.

"Who are you?"

"Da spirits gave me many names, but most know me as Abrajin. You can call me Abra for short if dat pleases you, Texas."

"What is it you do?"

"I seek to help however I can. Be it with a tonic to aid de body or a spell to aid the spirit. My spells even help those in need find love."

"spells?" Texas scoffed. She'd met her fair share of two-bit illusionists selling their 'magic'.

"You reek of doubt, lawman. I cannot blame you. Many foolishly claim to posses the gifts I have. None I've met had anything other than regret in the face of what I can do. I assure you, my spells are no mere hollow words. And profiting off them is hard when I give them freely."

"Freely? Then how do you make money to buy food and things?"

"I'm a bit of an entertainer on de side. Fortune telling and all that. Just harmless fun, or so dey think."

Texas raised a suspicious brow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing big, sheriff. It's just real hard to tell de difference between a clever story about one's future and a prophecy from da spirits themselves. If I can give an example, da spirits see much conflict in your future. But I think we could have both guessed that one already." The weasel smirks.

"One last thing miss Abrajin, why did you never come to me when you arrived in Gold Springs?"

"Did I not? Are you not here right now? Or did you think it to be a coincidence you overhead those two talking about me?" She laughed ominously before continuing. "Da spirits work in many ways to guide us. Keep an open mind and you can see much."

"Or ya took your best guess at how ah came to know you were here. Much like how ya could tell ah'm a sheriff from the badge, which also conveniently has ma name on it. Let me warn you here 'an now. I've run plenty of con artists out of this town and if ah get so much as a hint that you're trying to scam anyone, you'll need more than spirits to stop me."

Abra's voice turned sour. "Very well, I see you prefer living in your own closed off world. Den I only hope you will handle it better when the walls of your reality come crashing down on you. Leave now. You came to know my name and you have it. Scams and con artists are the last thing you have to fear, sherrif Texas Stanton. There are pawns being moved in de shadows. Powerful foes looking to usurp you..."

"Yeah yeah, they're called Vivian and Georgia and they've been trying unsuccessfully for months now. Goodbye miss Jin, keep on the right side of the law or we're gonna have trouble."

"Be wary on de way out." the cheetah call after her.

"Is that a threat?" Texas spat back before bumping into a grizzly looking totem, scratching her arm.

"No, it's just a lot of people bump into dat thing." Abra replied with a smug grin. The sheriff muttered and cursed under her breath. She didn't have time for this. But as she went back about her business, the cheetah carefully picked the strands of weasel fur left behind on the totem. She dug up a small doll and stuffed the sheriff's fur in before stitching it up.

"And now you and I will have some fun, miss Texas." She said sinisterly as she dug through her things to find the items she needed for her next big trick.