~Skyrunner~

[terminatefate]

Who:Arthas, Riddick, Sarah, Tirion, Hannibal, _______
Where: Skyrunner Ranch
When: All through Breach; new threads are new circumstances, all will be game canon, timelines are for wusses. :p
Warnings: (if necessary) Connor mouth, fighting, being dumb, and other stuff.

Comments

[with_my_teacup]

Dick had waited for the ranch's owner to come back all afternoon; a pretty forlorn hope, since nobody in town knew when she was due home except 'any day now'. But night was falling and he had to get back to his shitty motel room. He'd try somewhere else for work tomorrow.

He snugged down the strings on the hood of his coat-- a big puffy thing from Goodwill, stained and two sizes too big, and started to head back to town. He stamped as he walked, to get feeling back in his toes He was halfway .back to the main road when the figures loomed out of the white blur of snow-- a two horses, one mounted, a big draft horse walking beside, riderless. His brows furrowed.

"Hey, man, what the hell are you doing? That horse isn't geared for winter riding," he snapped, starting forward-- a few more steps and he could see the figure slumped over the smaller horse's back.

[terminatefate]

She half started at what she thought was a voice, and caught two words out of the entirety, as she tried to bury her hands in the mare's mane. The big black beast snorted and stamped, a nudge and an antsy step jogging Sarah a little more awake. It wasn't enough to actually make her move, though.

Huddled up against the mare for warmth was the best she had for warmth and the damned duster didn't do much against the snow or the wind. At least it was a drier snow, that meant she was only partially soaked.

Sarah managed to pry her eyes open enough to see a figure in the road. A massive figure if she was seeing straight. Too fucking cold to answer, too much energy to waste on one. The mare was patient and kept up her steady pace, each step sure.

[with_my_teacup]

What was he, some kind of good Samaritan? Dick had turned his back on the world when it turned his back on him. He wasn't about to risk his own skin for anyone else. But if he left the horses would freeze out here-- and he'd never let an animal get hurt because of human stupidity.

"Lady, wake up," he said gruffly, crunching over to pace the lanky mare. "You're going to catch hypothermia. What the hell were you thinking?"

[terminatefate]

Everything was pins and fucking needles, her nose was goddamn numb. But she forced herself to move, pushed herself upright, teeth grit. She made a soft sound of protest.

"Jeep," she hissed, fighting to get the words out, "broke down. Horses would have frozen." Me too, which would have been even more shit luck, she thought, and tried not to pitch out of her damned saddle.

[cannibalmind]

"That is Miss Connor's truck and trailer," Hannibal observed to nobody as he slowed his SUV down to get a closer look. For a moment he thought of just driving on by; if Will had been here his partner would probably have scoffed at his doing anything else. But Will wasn't here.

He was heading back from the only gourmet grocery in fifty miles when he spied the trailer; now he pulled up behind it and got out. "Hello!" He could see smoke rising from the engine and shook his head. Bad luck--Ms. Connor seemed a magnet for it. A faint frown. It would be a small matter to arrange for a tow--but first he needed to make certain that she and whatever animals she'd had with her weren't going to die of frostbite in this mess.

Finally he slid back into his vehicle and tried his cellular; he had her number because she was the one source of truly fresh eggs in town. Hopefully hers had not been turned off.

[terminatefate]

Not much juice in her phone, and with the winter storm, it'd gotten about a bar of signal. A flickering bar. The ring roused her enough to paw through her deep pockets to find the thing before it died on her. Her last few calls had ended up dead air, which was why her battery was as low as it was. She knew that number.

"Tell me," she answered without niceties and with a hoarse voice, "you're on Skyrunner's back road and you have a pot of coffee hidden somewhere. Fucking Jeep died again. Battery's gonna crap out on me real soon, here."

She could hear the trees groaning and their branches snapping in the wind and buried her face into the mare's neck with a hiss. Keeping hold of the phone was a challenge when your fingers were numb. The black snorted and moved up along side her, thankfully blocking the worse of the wind.

[cannibalmind]

"You're on the back road? I will deliver coffee forthwith. I am near your vehicles." And had a tow shop on speed dial--necessary in this place of snowdrifts and mudholes. But he wasn't going to announce his intentions; Ms. Connor was proud of her independence and he suspected would probably refuse outright.

"It is fortunate I was coming by for eggs and a bit of side business, but I suspect we should get you thawed out first." His voice was uncharacteristically warm; though he was a snob and proud of it, one didn't get very far as a psychologist without compassion.

"Keep moving. Expect me within fifteen minutes." He buckled up and started the engine.

[terminatefate]

"Thank fucking God," Sarah murmured. "The one time I forget my car kit..." The signal crackled and died, leaving her with dead air and shortly, a dead phone. Well. Fuck that.

At least the ranch wasn't that far away.

She could practically smell the damned coffee. Hannibal could have all the damned eggs he wanted as far as she was concerned. There was snow in her hair, her duster was soaked--the horses actually seemed fine and the mare had her winter coat grown in, same with the black. Everyone was relatively shaggy, except Sarah, who was just fucking bedraggled and tired, and well...frozen.

This? A fucking lovely ending to a shitty 'oh by the way your ex is dead, have some horses" fund-raising trip. At least she wasn't going to freeze, not with help coming.

[brbculling]

What's hopeful on a road at night? Headlights.

What can't have been an inexpensive car revved aggressively behind the horses and pulled around in a skid to block off the road. After a moment, there was the slam of a car door and a man with blond hair escaping out from under his hat came stomping around the hood.

"What the hell are you doing with those horses? You- Oh my god, Mrs. Connor?"

[terminatefate]

To their credit, neither horse did much more than shimmy sideways. Half awake, Sarah lifted her head slightly, peering through the curtain of snow and wet hair. She'd lost track of how long she'd been out here, it felt like days. Her fingers dug into the warmth of her mare's mane as the black behind her whuffed and stamped his hooves like he was effing pleased with himself.

Fucking get your mouth working, Connor.

"Jeep," she said carefully in some fruitless attempt to enunciate through faintly blue lips, "died. Fucking p-piece of shit."

[brbculling]

"I... saw it back there. Oh, man. Here, the car is heated, come on. At least sit in it for awhile..."

He scurried over and reached up a hand to help her off the horse. They couldn't leave them, so this was going to be tricky, but she had to ... thaw. Or something. What did you do with a cold person, like put them in hot water?

[terminatefate]

"Not gonna say no to something warm," she said just as carefully, mostly so she wouldn't bite her damned tongue.

Sarah grimaced as she took his offered hand and did her best not to just pitch off the saddle and into the snow. She might have enjoyed pretending it was a clean decent, but it was messy. Nothing helped mattered when your legs were cold, stiff, and telling you to go fuck yourself.

"Fuck this," she said waspishly, but not aimed anywhere near him as she practically clung to him to stay upright, "fuck this entire trip."

The black dropped his nose into the fray and gave a huge snort as he nipped at whatever fabric was tuggable. He was here to help, seriously. See? Helpful beast of a horse.

HANDS GONE WILD - locked to RIddick and Arthas

[with_my_teacup]

[Thread begins in bar, will end in ranch :D ]

Arthur Menning had been getting on Dick's nerves all day. The whiny, spoiled hand barely knew how to work-- if it wasn't a smoke break, it was a splinter keeping him sitting on the sidelines while Dick and the other hand did the dirty chores.

Seeing him strut into the bar where Dick was nursing the cheap piss-beer that he could afford and order whatever the hell a 'Jubel-ale' was-- some expensive microbrew-- was the breaking point.

He stood up from the his seat, stalking over to snatch the bottle before the bartender could get it into Arthur's hand. He knew it was a stupid idea but his anger propelled him forward.

"Sorry. Beer is for people who work for a living. Go have a cognac."

this sounds sexy

[brbculling]

He'd barely finished the sentence when Arthur aimed an only-slightly hazy punch at his nose. Killed a guy in the next state? Yeah, Arthur's pretty sure he's not even afraid of that. He took karate for almost two whole months.

Break out the handi-cam!

[with_my_teacup]

It was actually two people in the next state. That was one for every month of karate. Riddick rocked back with the half-connected blow, his nose starting to bleed, and then he just grabbed Arthur by the shirt and threw him off the bar-stool.

He took a defiant drink of beer. It was a slightly bloody swallow, but it was for effect.

[brbculling]

He rolled back onto his feet, snarling - "What is your fucking problem?"

I h8 it when my brain seizes up for tags @_@

[bybloodandhonor]

Fresh coffee was being brewed inside, the other hands were making sure the barn was prepared for the horses, and there were a few blankets and a towel out and ready for Sarah. It seemed everything was ready and there seemed to be little else to do but wait till Sarah arrived.

Outside in the cold, that's what Tirion was doing. He was an old farm hand who always helped make sure the farm ran smoothly, knew his stuff and the loss of an eye never seemed to hamper him.When asked about it, he just said it had been an accident and didn't elaborate much beyond that.

As he waited, he pulled an envelope out of his pocket, which was already showing signs of wear from him taking out the letter inside and reading it. The contents hadn't changed no matter how many times he had read it, and he was still at a bit of loss how to reply to it. But this wasn't really the time to be thinking about how his son had managed to contact him out of the blue. There were things that were going to be need tending to as soon as Sarah arrived.

<3 Don't worry 'bout nuffin. *puts a cap on said brain to keep it warm*

[terminatefate]

Sarah was half the hell asleep, drifting in and out of the warmth as she listened to the sound of the road and the horses (both of them had picked up the pace a little more the closer they got to the ranch). Tirion was a sight for snow blind eyes, to be honest. He was probably as much a part of the ranch as the main lodge was, and hell if she hadn't missed the hell out of his practicality.

If he hadn't been around, Sarah was damned sure she'd have lost more than the acres she'd had to sell just to keep them afloat. Damn straight she wasn't selling anymore, though. They needed what was left. She lifted her head slightly and rubbed at her eyes.

HomeGoddamn, she loved her ranch, and the sleepy smile was all the sweeter after a shitfest like the one she'd just endured. So what if her hair was damp and mussed and her lips were chapped, and she was dead tired? There was a certain satisfaction about getting her ass home after a few months digging for support. She almost rolled down the window to holler when she recognize him

[bybloodandhonor]

Tirion stepped forward to greet the horses after stuffing the letter back into his pocket and pulled out a treat from the other pocket of his jacket, offering each of them a slice of apple. It seemed like they had brought home Sarah instead of the other way around. "I'm sure there's more for you two in the barn."

He reached to take the reins of the mare before looking over at Sarah. "I think I can guess how your trip has gone."

[terminatefate]

"Wish I had something better than shit, but as optimistic as it all started out--not a real awesome ending," Sarah murmured wearily. The horses probably had brought her home with minimal prodding. She rubbed at her still damp hair ruefully.