[Fanfic] Red West III. - Chapter two
Title: RED WEST III.
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: It´s still kind of... demanding for me to write in English again, but I do hope it will not influence your reading pleasure. ^^v
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one //
Then and now
The river was free along its entire, hundreds-mile-long flow, either as it cut through steep-walled canyons, rushing and sparkling in numerous waterfalls, or when it broadened down in the valley, to take a lazy path through fertile lands further to the northeast. The unstoppable water was rather calm in the creek south of the so-called Magic City, which served as a meditation spot for a certain serious Indian of the Blackfeet tribe.
Liwan was sitting on the grassy shore with his eyes closed and listened to the nature surrounding him - the soft wind playing with dry leaves and high grass, the river sending thousands of waves against stones, which dared to protrude above its surface, an eagle shrieking high above his head, searching for a prey, a fox sniffing around some abandoned bird´s nest…
Manitou was all around, maintaining the balance of everything dead or alive. The motionless shaman was seeking his own composure in that balance, trying to hush worries in his mind. His inner voice kept reminding him every day that he had been away from his family, from his brothers and sisters for too long already…
If anything was to happen in the reservation while he was gone, it would have been Manitou´s will as well and he could do nothing about it, Liwan knew. But that knowledge didn´t chase away the uneasiness in his heart…
Still lost deep in his meditation, he only faintly heard a snorting of his horse, but nevertheless, it dragged him back, closer to reality. So far distant, but well-known voices indicated the arrival of three men. The loudest one was certainly the kind-hearted blonde Rider. Another belonged to Liwan´s dearest blood brother and the last one to his moody soulmate...
His friends came. None of them had the blood of his ancestors in their veins, and yet, apart from gratitude, Liwan felt a certain affection towards them, just as towards his red brothers. When looking back, he was really glad they all decided to accompany him on the way to Montana… Even with those three around, he still worried about his tribe, but he was not lonely.
Taking a deep, slow breath, Liwan deliberately escaped from the flow of his thoughts. Sometimes, his thinking got too emotional while he meditated, and that was not the purpose of it.
The shaman opened his eyes only when he was sure that he had found and gripped his serenity again. He stood up and his look was subconsciously attracted to the west. He was so close to his tribe now. Just a few more days, a week of travel at the most, and he would be back home. He knew that only then his worries would finally disappear.
Somehow reconciled with the current situation, Liwan collected his fish catch from the ground, pulled apart the bushes, which covered him on the river bank and followed the sound of voices. Only then he realized that his companions were back a way sooner than he had expected…
It was surely his blood brother, who managed to find Liwan´s temporary camp in the small lee behind trees and rocks, not too far from the road, which was still marked with tracks of many wheels and hooves after the move of Fire Horse´s construction. Though, also young Tanaka accompanying Kame and yawning Akanishi was a little surprising to Liwan. He thought that the Rider would like to spend more time at his birthplace.
They spotted the shaman´s arrival when he was just a few feet away. That was enough to let him know that none of them was his usual self…
“Bear! Hi!” Koki was the first one to greet him with a teasing wink. “Missed us?”
Liwan put four fish aside on a flat stone and sat down gracefully, before he replied: “No complaints, no arguments, no stupid ideas, just wind and river in my ears… It was such blessing I cannot describe it in Palefaces´ language properly.”
Kame seemed to be too focused on pampering Ukushi with a brush and Akanishi gave the Indian just one annoyed look, before he fed his stallion another apple. Only the blonde one stared at him with his jaw dropped for a few seconds, before a rather insulted expression contorted his rounded face: “That was not nice of you, red man.”
“Do you deserve me to be nice?” Liwan raised one of his eyebrows questioningly, pulling the knife out of its sheath on his belt to clean the fish.
“Of course we do!” Koki exclaimed. “Guys! Say something! Our shaman is rude!”
But Tanaka was alone in this, Liwan could see that. Both his blood brother and Akanishi were obviously all clean and shaved and even cut as they desired, but there was something stiff in their expressions. The reason of that was a mystery to Liwan, as well as to Tanaka, who seemed quite outraged that they didn´t react.
“Fine! It seems I must be nice enough for all of you,” Koki announced haughtily.
“Should we understand it that we´ll be finally free of your annoying presence?” only now Akanishi decided to involve with the blonde one, a teasing smirk playing on his lips.
“Dear Jin…” the Rider sighed theatrically. “I know you like me, you don´t have to try so hard to cover it up.”
Finally, also Kame reacted to Koki´s statement, with an amused smile brightening his face, while Jin just snorted scornfully: “I´m amazed by your unsound self-confidence.”
“I´m too amazing, I know,” the blonde Rider grinned. “That´s why I won´t deprive you of my precious company.”
“You decided to continue with us then?” Liwan commented, focused on not changing his calm expression.
“Sure! I´ve had enough of family reunions for a year in advance at least…”
The blonde one´s expression was cheerful, but Liwan suspected it was too forced. And seeing the barely hidden gloominess of the other two, he had a feeling that a short delay could be kind of useful. At first, he thought about taking his catch along on the journey, but now he reconsidered.
“No expressions of joy?” Koki looked from one to the other baffled. “I´m sure you´re damn happy, but you don’t know how to express it, right?”
At the moment, Liwan was willing to let him think that, so he didn´t react. Akanishi just rolled his eyes.
“It´s not so late yet, so… Do you want to continue today?” as almost always, Kame was the one thinking practically, when he turned to face Liwan.
“If it´s all right for you, then yes,” Liwan replied, already spiking all trout with the sharp long sticks he made the previous evening. “We can set off after we eat these.”
*
The fish meat didn´t need much heat to be done, so Kame kept the fire only low. He was watching over two trout, while Liwan did the same opposite to him. Jin was focused on disassembling and cleaning of his revolvers. No matter that he didn´t need to use them for a while, it was a necessary task anyway.
Kame´s look fell upon their blonde companion, whose behavior turned very quiet, after they all gathered around the fire. He hesitated for a while, but in the end, he considered it worth trying.
“So… What about your brothers, Koki?” he asked. “Did you manage to meet them?”
The blonde Rider´s eyes raised to him, before they turned to the flickering flames again.
“Yes, I did…”
The silence after this response was so long, that Kame had already thought the blonde one wouldn´t add anything else, when Koki finally continued.
“I was not meant for that, you know?” he sighed, observing his nails now. “For cattle ranching.”
“Has it always been your family business?” Jin asked curiously as he put one of the revolvers aside, his tone lacking any mocking for a change.
“Yeah,” Koki nodded. “Ever since my grandparents moved into this area. But I´ve always hated it…” he threw some short stick he had found under his leg into the flames. “Don´t get me wrong, I like animals. I loved taking care of our dogs and I enjoy riding a horse more than anything else, but… It´s a hard work, accompanied by constant cows mooing, bulls bellowing, smell of manure and painful bruises.”
The other three kept silent now, watching the blonde one, who obviously stopped holding back and his speech acquired quite a bitter taste.
“My mother used to say I´m after my father in this. Too lazy, too dreamy,” Koki chuckled sadly. “Well… She was right, at least partially. Most of all, I couldn´t bear the fact we didn´t get enough money for all that hard work. There are many more ranches around and the competition is tough, not to mention that ours is located on the borders with Indian territory, which had always meant never-ending troubles with them… No offense, Bear.”
Liwan only shook his head wordlessly.
“The situation got worse when my father had left… To chase after his stupid golden dream, Mother said. We haven´t seen him in years; we don´t even know if he´s alive. Not that I would care much,” Koki threw another stick into the fire.
Kame shifted their lunch further away from awakening flames.
“I was fed up with everything back then… So, when I met the Black Riders, it felt like a message from above. Back then, they helped me and one of my brothers deal with cattle thieves. I didn´t even know who they were at first, but they seemed so free to me… I guess that´s what attracted me to them,” the blonde one assumed.
“Leo told me the same once,” Jin said into a moment of silence, looking pensive. “That he felt trapped in the city, working too hard for too little. The gang made him feel that he could actually do something about his life.”
“Exactly, that´s it. But…” Koki took a deep breath. “I know it was a selfish thing to do, to run off and leave my family to deal with all that shit themselves. But there were another five of my brothers and I knew they would help Mother with everything. They actually like what they do…” the blonde one was obviously trying to justify his decision, not realizing that he didn´t have to do that in front of them. “Anyway, I was always thinking I´ll come back with my pockets full of dollars and help them out the other way. And I tried… I… Damn it!” he cursed suddenly. “I wanted to give them my whole share!”
“That´s not little…” Jin reacted a little surprised. “What went wrong? You reconsidered?”
“No!” Koki snapped fiercely and pulled the nice stack of banknotes, which all of them carried well-hidden, sewn inside their coats, to the light. “They refused it!” the money ended up on the dry leaves, as the blonde one threw them there.
Jin raised his eyebrows confused, Kame seemed thoughtful and Liwan was patiently waiting for the rest of the blonde one´s story.
“I waited until everybody was at home… My brothers were glad to see me, at least they didn´t slap me like Mother did, but… Once I pulled out the money, they got upset. They forced them back to me, Mother cried and… I tried to explain it´s not from any filthy robbery, but they just didn´t listen…”
“And?” Kame encouraged suddenly sheepish Koki.
“My oldest brother, he… he said stuff about the Riders and I… I couldn´t hold myself back,” the blonde one admitted, seeming to be ashamed.
“You had a fight?” Jin figured.
“Yeah…”
“And then you left?” Kame guessed the rest.
Koki scratched his growing yellow hair a little desperately: “What else could I do? Obviously, I wasn´t welcomed…”
“I don´t think that´s the case, Koki,” Kame opposed him seriously.
The blonde one frowned: “What can you know? You weren´t there!” he snapped a bit again.
Kame wasn´t discouraged by his attitude: “But still I can imagine they wanted you back, not your money.”
The other guy stiffened and stared at him.
“They probably figured you´re leaving again, once you tried to give them your savings,” the younger one continued.
“But I…” Koki was still too subdued.
“I know you meant it well…” Kame assured him. “But try to take it from their side. Your family haven´t seen you like for what? Two years?”
The Rider nodded wordlessly.
“Well, from what we could see yesterday, your mother and younger brother seemed to miss you dearly…” Kame reminded him softly.
The blonde one remained silent, looking somewhere between the trees.
“I think Kame is right. I´d have been angry if Leo did something like that too,” Jin assumed.
Koki looked at the discarded stack of money, obviously a bit confused.
“So? You want to go back again?” Liwan asked calmly.
But the blonde one shook his head slowly: “No… Not right now, at least.”
“Are you sure?” Kame urged on him again.
Koki made for an anxious mile: “I´m not, but… I think it´ll be better to let the things cool down a bit, you know what I mean?”
“Even more than you think,” Jin sighed a little.
“All right then,” Liwan reached with the baked fish on the stick towards him. “Let´s eat then.”
“Thanks for the patience, Bear,” Koki appreciated and not to burn his fingers, he carefully dragged one trout down off it.
“What else can I do with you three?” the Indian reacted and bit into his meal right from the stick.
“Don´t put us all into one pocket!” Jin retorted, reacting to that, upset. “Just that for once I know what he…!”
Kame placed another fish right in front of his nose, before the older one could continue.
*
They finished their modest lunch and prepared their horses for another journey quite quickly, but Liwan still didn´t like that weird atmosphere, which was not created solely by Tanaka´s family problem, but also by something unsaid. It was never a good sign when those two were so synchronously silent…
Therefore, when the blonde one and Akanishi left the camp to fill all their flasks with fresh water, he approached Kame, who was just altering the saddle on Ukushi, determined to find out what brought that worried look in the eyes of his blood brother.
“What happened in city, my Brother?”
Kame looked up to him somewhat alarmed and just that reaction was enough. Liwan already knew his instinct was right again and something was wrong.
“You seem bothered,” he urged on the younger one relentlessly. “Both of you. So, tell me.”
Kame repaid his look for a moment, before he nodded, somehow defeated: “You´re right, Liwan… As always. But let´s wait for the others. In the end, it´s something we all need to be aware of...”
*
“So, what is it?” the blonde one wondered, eyeing Kame first and then also Jin. “You didn´t like it in the city? I think it´s pretty awesome how big it got since the last time I had been there.”
“Yeah, I was quite impressed too,” Jin admitted. “But apparently, it has some… negative sides as well.”
“What do you mean?” Koki frowned, as did Liwan.
Kame and Jin exchanged one short look, before the younger one started talking.
“If you remember, during the past few weeks, several cases of lynching were mentioned in the newspapers. And those articles didn´t exaggerate stating that most of them occur in Montana…”
“We came across one just yesterday…” Jin noted darkly.
“What exactly that means? Lynching?” Liwan asked hesitantly. “I have an idea, but can you tell me clearly?”
“It´s an unlawful execution,” Kame explained. “Common people sentencing someone to death without a proper trial.”
“Mob rule,” the older one completed him. “I admit that sometimes, it has its purpose, but most of the time, it´s rather frightful.”
“I cannot agree more,” Koki also nodded. “A crowd of upset people is able to hang an innocent just to achieve justice. It almost happened to Leo once.”
“What?” Jin turned to him immediately.
“A long time ago, relax, Older Brother,” the blonde one assured him hastily, probably realizing he didn´t exactly need to mention something like that.
“But… White men have Sheriffs for judging. Why they do not judge?” the Indian shaman asked, still a little confused.
Kame checked on frowning Akanishi, before he spoke again: “The railroad is pushing westward quite quickly and there are no resources for setting up a proper court or jail in each new city. And even if there is a sheriff in town, it happens a way too often that people take justice in their own hands.”
“Which is sometimes necessary…”
Once again, Kame´s eyes flinched towards the older one: “I know, but that´s not the point now, right?”
“Just saying,” Jin reacted in a somewhat forcefully calm manner. “The two of us played the judges as well, didn´t we?”
“But not like this,” Kame opposed in the very same tone.
“Not like this,” the older one agreed seriously.
It took Liwan a while, but in the end, he figured those two probably remembered what they did with Math Grenet. It was not the same situation, not at all, at least to him, but they were still bothered by it.
Once they broke off their eye contact, Kame took a breath to continue.
“Anyway… There was Sheriff in Billings, but he disappeared after the mob hanged his deputy, some black man. Nobody had applied for the position ever since,” he informed them rather gloomily. “We asked around a little and it seems that this lynching is focused mainly around Negros and Indians.”
“And harlots and nasty teenagers,” Jin grunted.
“We heard a lot more than we even wanted to about the previous cases from Jin´s acquaintance,” Kame added, when both Liwan and Koki stared at the older one quite horrified.
“Didn´t this buddy of yours overdrew it a bit?” the blonde one breathed out incredulously.
“He had no reason to lie to us,” Jin shrugged.
“This crazy lynching is nothing we can do a lot about, but… we just need to be careful, all right?” Kame urged. “If people around are so irritated, even a trifle can bring us many unwanted troubles.”
Liwan crossed arms on his chest: “I´m always careful around Palefaces; nothing changes for me.”
“Very careful,” Kame emphasized stubbornly.
“I hear you, Kame-chan,” Koki threw an arm around the younger´s shoulders. “And I promise I´ll be very careful. Satisfied?”
“It´s not a laughable matter, Koki,” the younger one said quietly, as he looked at the other´s grinning face and then he slipped away from his reach to mount Ukushi.
“You just worry too much!” the blonde Rider opposed. “It´s not like I´m always asking for troubles!”
“That´s a relief,” Jin commented and followed Kame´s example.
But Liwan hadn´t moved from the spot, and observed both of them sharply: “For once, I agree with Tanaka… You two are too serious about this. Why?”
Kame, already settled in the saddle, pressed his lips together and kept silent for a while, as well as Jin.
“We have a reason to take this seriously,” the young Rider replied finally and turned Ukushi away from them.
Akanishi patted his stallion, to make him stay still for a little longer and looked at both men on the ground: “Because apparently, now they hang people even for being in love,” he stated in a deep, emotional voice, which neither Liwan nor Koki expected, and left them standing there as well.
***
They continued their journey in the direction, where they could expect some lively activities soon, as they were approaching the current location of railway construction. Jin and Kame riding in the lead, not talking much; Liwan and Koki about half a mile behind them, on the contrary discussing something quite lively.
Kame really didn´t want to let that incident from Billings to spoil the general mood of their little company or even his inner happiness from the simple fact that he was with Jin, which was still more than enjoyable. No matter that they didn´t have much privacy for themselves. But he couldn´t help it. The image of two young men´s bodies swinging in the air was persistently returning to him…
He glanced at Jin´s serious face half-covered in the shadow of his black hat. He could tell that Jin was trying to stay cool as well, even harder than himself. He didn´t want to let it get to them. After everything they have been through, they deserved some… peaceful time together, didn´t they?
But neither of them figured out yet how to cope with what they experienced in the city. The realization of just how much they must be careful not to attract unnecessary attention was too cruel…
*
“You keep thinking about it, don´t you?”
Kame opened his eyes, which he had pressed together so far, hoping for sleep to come. He knew that Jin was awake too. They were squeezed in the low haymaker above the barn, which belonged to Sammy´s Saloon. It was not completely dark there, as the lanterns´ light from the street was penetrating through the gaps between the boards, as well as the evening cold and drunken voices from the taproom. Not the most comfortable, but it was a dry place to sleep at, at least. They were lying close, but back to back with each other.
“Yes…” he admitted heavily. His imagination was ruthless in that. It could have been the two of them on that tree so easily…
The hay rustled, as the gunslinger next to him moved, turning on his other side. There was a tense moment of silence, before the long fingers touched and then ran through his unnaturally short hair gently.
“We´ll be out of here with the dawn…” Jin said softly.
“Do you really think it will be better anywhere else?” Kame couldn´t help but raise the question.
The movement in his hair stopped.
“I dare to be optimistic…” the reaction came.
Feeling his heart squeeze in a painful, but at the same time pleasant clutch, Kame turned to his back, to find the contours of Jin´s face and dark hair above him.
“Can you share a bit of that optimism with me?” he asked whispering.
“Sure, Kazu… I´ll gladly give you all of it,” Jin breathed out, before he leant down.
Feeling the hot lips on his, caressing him without hesitation, spread warmness and relief in Kame´s stomach. Nothing changed on the way his handsome lover kissed him and even though he had no reason to doubt that, it made him feel grateful anyway.
They had some moments for each other on the way up to the north, rushed kisses and whispered words, but it was far away from enough. Even though both Liwan and Koki knew about their relationship and accepted it, they couldn´t bring themselves to express their emotions freely in front of them. And there were not many comfortable places to hide from the others´ eyes…
Kame buried his fingers into Jin´s hair eagerly, pulling him closer and repaying the kiss. He missed being in Jin´s arms and the loving connection only strengthened that emptiness which needed to be filled.
Jin tore away from him only to slip under the younger one´s blanket and press himself against his body. Kame felt so warm right away, the butterflies flickering in his chest, his heartbeat getting faster. Only not safe... And his lover recognized his hesitation in another kiss…
Jin pulled away and studied his face in the shadows for a while, before he reached for the button on Kame´s pants.
“Don´t think about it,” he requested hoarsely.
Kame felt his other hand shaking a little, when he placed it on Jin´s face: “Then make me stop thinking…”
He almost hadn´t finished the sentence yet and there were already Jin´s fingers around his shaft, soothing it slowly, and kind of roughly. He repeated the movement, pulling an excited sigh from the younger one.
“As you wish…” Jin whispered into his ear, before he used both hands to pull Kame´s pants out of the way.
The breath got stuck in Kame´s throat when he realized that Jin was just as much desperate to stop thinking as himself. He already felt a hard bulge in the older one´s crotch, which was pressed against his thigh…
Kame suppressed a heated moan, when one of those long, caring fingers headed for his sacred hole and entered it without hesitation. Jin captured his mouth again, teasing him with his tongue this time and waited until Kame eased up, before he started to move with his hand.
Feeling the quickly rising excitement, Kame bit his lip and hastily reached for Jin´s trousers to get under them. He wanted to feel that hot hard pride again, which could make him forget, that what they were doing was hot and satisfying, but also damn dangerous…
“It´s up that ladder,” suddenly, a voice of the saloon´s owner was heard right under them.
The eager hands stopped moving and the heated lips pulled apart.
“Ok, thanks…” somebody replied yawning.
“Shit…” a muted curse escaped the older one´s lips.
“Find a free space, I´ve already got some guys there. And no smoking, or I´ll disembowel you both and feed you with your own intestines, got it?”
Kame felt as Jin´s grip around him strengthened for a moment, before the older one retreated, rolling away from him.
“Understood, man… Understood,” some man mumbled heavily, probably quite drunk.
Soon after that the partitions of the ladder up to the haymaker groaned under the weight of two new guests.
Kame pulled his trousers and then also blanket back up to cover himself and looked at Jin, but the older one was already facing the wall again. He gulped down heavily, hopelessly trying to calm his pulse and arousal… It seemed that a long night awaited them…
*
Returning to the presence on the stony and so far abandoned road to the west, Kame closed his eyes for a while, before turning them towards his boyfriend again. He was definitely not the only one who didn´t get enough sleep during the night…
He couldn´t help but feel somewhat relieved that Jin still behaved as before though. It wouldn´t have surprised him if the older one wanted to keep some distance from him. So far, they had encountered only misunderstanding, not such hate as on that square… Anyone would have been frightened.
But Kame had to scold himself for expecting that Jin would react that way. He was braver, even more daring then himself. The truth was that he was damn afraid now. Afraid of pulling Jin into a mess, from which there was no return…
“Kame… Why do I have a feeling there are some stupid ideas on your mind?”
He looked away a little guiltily from Jin´s observing eyes. He shouldn´t have given in to the worries so easily.
“Do I need to remind you we´re in all of this together?” Jin´s voice was quite reproachful now.
Kame had to suppress a defeated sigh. His handsome lover was right. And he felt ashamed for having such doubts.
“I´m sorry…”
“That´s not enough.”
The sharp response made Kame pull on the reins lightly, to halt Ukushi´s steps. Kuro stopped right next to them, even before Jin managed to do the same.
Kame looked in those dark eyes for a while, before he grabbed the hem of Jin´s unbuttoned coat and roughly pulled him close. He gave him an urgent, hasty kiss.
“I´m sorry,” he repeated, still clutching his fingers around the rough cloth.
The older one smirked a little: “That´s better.”
Kame chuckled: “Aren´t you a little demanding?”
“I didn´t notice you mind it,” was Jin´s reply, before he was the one capturing his lips in a kiss, which stole Kame´s breath…
A loud whistle made them tear apart.
“Sorry, guys,” the blonde Rider, whose stallion had just trotted to their level, grinned. “You´re indeed adorable, but it seems we´ve got a small problem...”
Straightening in his saddle, Jin almost literally murdered the guy with his eyes, while Kame looked around, confused. Both Koki and Liwan were riding only a little behind them, but the Indian shaman was nowhere to be seen.
“What´s up?” frowning Jin hissed at the same moment, when Kame asked after his blood brother: “Where´s Liwan?”
“Bear noticed that someone is following us,” Koki informed them and pointed at the sparse forest on their left side. “He headed back through that grove, not to be seen. He said we should stop for a pretended rest and stay focused. He will get that snooper from behind then.”
“Maybe it´s just somebody travelling in the same direction and Liwan creates fuss around nothing,” Jin assumed, obviously still annoyed.
“I guess we´ll find that out,” Kame noted, already looking around for a convenient spot. “Let´s use that lonely tree up there. If that person really isn´t interested in us, we´ll see him passing by.”
“Just great. Another day, another trouble,” Jin commented, but without any other complaints, he made Kuro go in the direction, which the younger one had suggested.
- To be continued -
Credit for banner:
witchann2
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: It´s still kind of... demanding for me to write in English again, but I do hope it will not influence your reading pleasure. ^^v
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one //
Then and now
The river was free along its entire, hundreds-mile-long flow, either as it cut through steep-walled canyons, rushing and sparkling in numerous waterfalls, or when it broadened down in the valley, to take a lazy path through fertile lands further to the northeast. The unstoppable water was rather calm in the creek south of the so-called Magic City, which served as a meditation spot for a certain serious Indian of the Blackfeet tribe.
Liwan was sitting on the grassy shore with his eyes closed and listened to the nature surrounding him - the soft wind playing with dry leaves and high grass, the river sending thousands of waves against stones, which dared to protrude above its surface, an eagle shrieking high above his head, searching for a prey, a fox sniffing around some abandoned bird´s nest…
Manitou was all around, maintaining the balance of everything dead or alive. The motionless shaman was seeking his own composure in that balance, trying to hush worries in his mind. His inner voice kept reminding him every day that he had been away from his family, from his brothers and sisters for too long already…
If anything was to happen in the reservation while he was gone, it would have been Manitou´s will as well and he could do nothing about it, Liwan knew. But that knowledge didn´t chase away the uneasiness in his heart…
Still lost deep in his meditation, he only faintly heard a snorting of his horse, but nevertheless, it dragged him back, closer to reality. So far distant, but well-known voices indicated the arrival of three men. The loudest one was certainly the kind-hearted blonde Rider. Another belonged to Liwan´s dearest blood brother and the last one to his moody soulmate...
His friends came. None of them had the blood of his ancestors in their veins, and yet, apart from gratitude, Liwan felt a certain affection towards them, just as towards his red brothers. When looking back, he was really glad they all decided to accompany him on the way to Montana… Even with those three around, he still worried about his tribe, but he was not lonely.
Taking a deep, slow breath, Liwan deliberately escaped from the flow of his thoughts. Sometimes, his thinking got too emotional while he meditated, and that was not the purpose of it.
The shaman opened his eyes only when he was sure that he had found and gripped his serenity again. He stood up and his look was subconsciously attracted to the west. He was so close to his tribe now. Just a few more days, a week of travel at the most, and he would be back home. He knew that only then his worries would finally disappear.
Somehow reconciled with the current situation, Liwan collected his fish catch from the ground, pulled apart the bushes, which covered him on the river bank and followed the sound of voices. Only then he realized that his companions were back a way sooner than he had expected…
It was surely his blood brother, who managed to find Liwan´s temporary camp in the small lee behind trees and rocks, not too far from the road, which was still marked with tracks of many wheels and hooves after the move of Fire Horse´s construction. Though, also young Tanaka accompanying Kame and yawning Akanishi was a little surprising to Liwan. He thought that the Rider would like to spend more time at his birthplace.
They spotted the shaman´s arrival when he was just a few feet away. That was enough to let him know that none of them was his usual self…
“Bear! Hi!” Koki was the first one to greet him with a teasing wink. “Missed us?”
Liwan put four fish aside on a flat stone and sat down gracefully, before he replied: “No complaints, no arguments, no stupid ideas, just wind and river in my ears… It was such blessing I cannot describe it in Palefaces´ language properly.”
Kame seemed to be too focused on pampering Ukushi with a brush and Akanishi gave the Indian just one annoyed look, before he fed his stallion another apple. Only the blonde one stared at him with his jaw dropped for a few seconds, before a rather insulted expression contorted his rounded face: “That was not nice of you, red man.”
“Do you deserve me to be nice?” Liwan raised one of his eyebrows questioningly, pulling the knife out of its sheath on his belt to clean the fish.
“Of course we do!” Koki exclaimed. “Guys! Say something! Our shaman is rude!”
But Tanaka was alone in this, Liwan could see that. Both his blood brother and Akanishi were obviously all clean and shaved and even cut as they desired, but there was something stiff in their expressions. The reason of that was a mystery to Liwan, as well as to Tanaka, who seemed quite outraged that they didn´t react.
“Fine! It seems I must be nice enough for all of you,” Koki announced haughtily.
“Should we understand it that we´ll be finally free of your annoying presence?” only now Akanishi decided to involve with the blonde one, a teasing smirk playing on his lips.
“Dear Jin…” the Rider sighed theatrically. “I know you like me, you don´t have to try so hard to cover it up.”
Finally, also Kame reacted to Koki´s statement, with an amused smile brightening his face, while Jin just snorted scornfully: “I´m amazed by your unsound self-confidence.”
“I´m too amazing, I know,” the blonde Rider grinned. “That´s why I won´t deprive you of my precious company.”
“You decided to continue with us then?” Liwan commented, focused on not changing his calm expression.
“Sure! I´ve had enough of family reunions for a year in advance at least…”
The blonde one´s expression was cheerful, but Liwan suspected it was too forced. And seeing the barely hidden gloominess of the other two, he had a feeling that a short delay could be kind of useful. At first, he thought about taking his catch along on the journey, but now he reconsidered.
“No expressions of joy?” Koki looked from one to the other baffled. “I´m sure you´re damn happy, but you don’t know how to express it, right?”
At the moment, Liwan was willing to let him think that, so he didn´t react. Akanishi just rolled his eyes.
“It´s not so late yet, so… Do you want to continue today?” as almost always, Kame was the one thinking practically, when he turned to face Liwan.
“If it´s all right for you, then yes,” Liwan replied, already spiking all trout with the sharp long sticks he made the previous evening. “We can set off after we eat these.”
*
The fish meat didn´t need much heat to be done, so Kame kept the fire only low. He was watching over two trout, while Liwan did the same opposite to him. Jin was focused on disassembling and cleaning of his revolvers. No matter that he didn´t need to use them for a while, it was a necessary task anyway.
Kame´s look fell upon their blonde companion, whose behavior turned very quiet, after they all gathered around the fire. He hesitated for a while, but in the end, he considered it worth trying.
“So… What about your brothers, Koki?” he asked. “Did you manage to meet them?”
The blonde Rider´s eyes raised to him, before they turned to the flickering flames again.
“Yes, I did…”
The silence after this response was so long, that Kame had already thought the blonde one wouldn´t add anything else, when Koki finally continued.
“I was not meant for that, you know?” he sighed, observing his nails now. “For cattle ranching.”
“Has it always been your family business?” Jin asked curiously as he put one of the revolvers aside, his tone lacking any mocking for a change.
“Yeah,” Koki nodded. “Ever since my grandparents moved into this area. But I´ve always hated it…” he threw some short stick he had found under his leg into the flames. “Don´t get me wrong, I like animals. I loved taking care of our dogs and I enjoy riding a horse more than anything else, but… It´s a hard work, accompanied by constant cows mooing, bulls bellowing, smell of manure and painful bruises.”
The other three kept silent now, watching the blonde one, who obviously stopped holding back and his speech acquired quite a bitter taste.
“My mother used to say I´m after my father in this. Too lazy, too dreamy,” Koki chuckled sadly. “Well… She was right, at least partially. Most of all, I couldn´t bear the fact we didn´t get enough money for all that hard work. There are many more ranches around and the competition is tough, not to mention that ours is located on the borders with Indian territory, which had always meant never-ending troubles with them… No offense, Bear.”
Liwan only shook his head wordlessly.
“The situation got worse when my father had left… To chase after his stupid golden dream, Mother said. We haven´t seen him in years; we don´t even know if he´s alive. Not that I would care much,” Koki threw another stick into the fire.
Kame shifted their lunch further away from awakening flames.
“I was fed up with everything back then… So, when I met the Black Riders, it felt like a message from above. Back then, they helped me and one of my brothers deal with cattle thieves. I didn´t even know who they were at first, but they seemed so free to me… I guess that´s what attracted me to them,” the blonde one assumed.
“Leo told me the same once,” Jin said into a moment of silence, looking pensive. “That he felt trapped in the city, working too hard for too little. The gang made him feel that he could actually do something about his life.”
“Exactly, that´s it. But…” Koki took a deep breath. “I know it was a selfish thing to do, to run off and leave my family to deal with all that shit themselves. But there were another five of my brothers and I knew they would help Mother with everything. They actually like what they do…” the blonde one was obviously trying to justify his decision, not realizing that he didn´t have to do that in front of them. “Anyway, I was always thinking I´ll come back with my pockets full of dollars and help them out the other way. And I tried… I… Damn it!” he cursed suddenly. “I wanted to give them my whole share!”
“That´s not little…” Jin reacted a little surprised. “What went wrong? You reconsidered?”
“No!” Koki snapped fiercely and pulled the nice stack of banknotes, which all of them carried well-hidden, sewn inside their coats, to the light. “They refused it!” the money ended up on the dry leaves, as the blonde one threw them there.
Jin raised his eyebrows confused, Kame seemed thoughtful and Liwan was patiently waiting for the rest of the blonde one´s story.
“I waited until everybody was at home… My brothers were glad to see me, at least they didn´t slap me like Mother did, but… Once I pulled out the money, they got upset. They forced them back to me, Mother cried and… I tried to explain it´s not from any filthy robbery, but they just didn´t listen…”
“And?” Kame encouraged suddenly sheepish Koki.
“My oldest brother, he… he said stuff about the Riders and I… I couldn´t hold myself back,” the blonde one admitted, seeming to be ashamed.
“You had a fight?” Jin figured.
“Yeah…”
“And then you left?” Kame guessed the rest.
Koki scratched his growing yellow hair a little desperately: “What else could I do? Obviously, I wasn´t welcomed…”
“I don´t think that´s the case, Koki,” Kame opposed him seriously.
The blonde one frowned: “What can you know? You weren´t there!” he snapped a bit again.
Kame wasn´t discouraged by his attitude: “But still I can imagine they wanted you back, not your money.”
The other guy stiffened and stared at him.
“They probably figured you´re leaving again, once you tried to give them your savings,” the younger one continued.
“But I…” Koki was still too subdued.
“I know you meant it well…” Kame assured him. “But try to take it from their side. Your family haven´t seen you like for what? Two years?”
The Rider nodded wordlessly.
“Well, from what we could see yesterday, your mother and younger brother seemed to miss you dearly…” Kame reminded him softly.
The blonde one remained silent, looking somewhere between the trees.
“I think Kame is right. I´d have been angry if Leo did something like that too,” Jin assumed.
Koki looked at the discarded stack of money, obviously a bit confused.
“So? You want to go back again?” Liwan asked calmly.
But the blonde one shook his head slowly: “No… Not right now, at least.”
“Are you sure?” Kame urged on him again.
Koki made for an anxious mile: “I´m not, but… I think it´ll be better to let the things cool down a bit, you know what I mean?”
“Even more than you think,” Jin sighed a little.
“All right then,” Liwan reached with the baked fish on the stick towards him. “Let´s eat then.”
“Thanks for the patience, Bear,” Koki appreciated and not to burn his fingers, he carefully dragged one trout down off it.
“What else can I do with you three?” the Indian reacted and bit into his meal right from the stick.
“Don´t put us all into one pocket!” Jin retorted, reacting to that, upset. “Just that for once I know what he…!”
Kame placed another fish right in front of his nose, before the older one could continue.
*
They finished their modest lunch and prepared their horses for another journey quite quickly, but Liwan still didn´t like that weird atmosphere, which was not created solely by Tanaka´s family problem, but also by something unsaid. It was never a good sign when those two were so synchronously silent…
Therefore, when the blonde one and Akanishi left the camp to fill all their flasks with fresh water, he approached Kame, who was just altering the saddle on Ukushi, determined to find out what brought that worried look in the eyes of his blood brother.
“What happened in city, my Brother?”
Kame looked up to him somewhat alarmed and just that reaction was enough. Liwan already knew his instinct was right again and something was wrong.
“You seem bothered,” he urged on the younger one relentlessly. “Both of you. So, tell me.”
Kame repaid his look for a moment, before he nodded, somehow defeated: “You´re right, Liwan… As always. But let´s wait for the others. In the end, it´s something we all need to be aware of...”
*
“So, what is it?” the blonde one wondered, eyeing Kame first and then also Jin. “You didn´t like it in the city? I think it´s pretty awesome how big it got since the last time I had been there.”
“Yeah, I was quite impressed too,” Jin admitted. “But apparently, it has some… negative sides as well.”
“What do you mean?” Koki frowned, as did Liwan.
Kame and Jin exchanged one short look, before the younger one started talking.
“If you remember, during the past few weeks, several cases of lynching were mentioned in the newspapers. And those articles didn´t exaggerate stating that most of them occur in Montana…”
“We came across one just yesterday…” Jin noted darkly.
“What exactly that means? Lynching?” Liwan asked hesitantly. “I have an idea, but can you tell me clearly?”
“It´s an unlawful execution,” Kame explained. “Common people sentencing someone to death without a proper trial.”
“Mob rule,” the older one completed him. “I admit that sometimes, it has its purpose, but most of the time, it´s rather frightful.”
“I cannot agree more,” Koki also nodded. “A crowd of upset people is able to hang an innocent just to achieve justice. It almost happened to Leo once.”
“What?” Jin turned to him immediately.
“A long time ago, relax, Older Brother,” the blonde one assured him hastily, probably realizing he didn´t exactly need to mention something like that.
“But… White men have Sheriffs for judging. Why they do not judge?” the Indian shaman asked, still a little confused.
Kame checked on frowning Akanishi, before he spoke again: “The railroad is pushing westward quite quickly and there are no resources for setting up a proper court or jail in each new city. And even if there is a sheriff in town, it happens a way too often that people take justice in their own hands.”
“Which is sometimes necessary…”
Once again, Kame´s eyes flinched towards the older one: “I know, but that´s not the point now, right?”
“Just saying,” Jin reacted in a somewhat forcefully calm manner. “The two of us played the judges as well, didn´t we?”
“But not like this,” Kame opposed in the very same tone.
“Not like this,” the older one agreed seriously.
It took Liwan a while, but in the end, he figured those two probably remembered what they did with Math Grenet. It was not the same situation, not at all, at least to him, but they were still bothered by it.
Once they broke off their eye contact, Kame took a breath to continue.
“Anyway… There was Sheriff in Billings, but he disappeared after the mob hanged his deputy, some black man. Nobody had applied for the position ever since,” he informed them rather gloomily. “We asked around a little and it seems that this lynching is focused mainly around Negros and Indians.”
“And harlots and nasty teenagers,” Jin grunted.
“We heard a lot more than we even wanted to about the previous cases from Jin´s acquaintance,” Kame added, when both Liwan and Koki stared at the older one quite horrified.
“Didn´t this buddy of yours overdrew it a bit?” the blonde one breathed out incredulously.
“He had no reason to lie to us,” Jin shrugged.
“This crazy lynching is nothing we can do a lot about, but… we just need to be careful, all right?” Kame urged. “If people around are so irritated, even a trifle can bring us many unwanted troubles.”
Liwan crossed arms on his chest: “I´m always careful around Palefaces; nothing changes for me.”
“Very careful,” Kame emphasized stubbornly.
“I hear you, Kame-chan,” Koki threw an arm around the younger´s shoulders. “And I promise I´ll be very careful. Satisfied?”
“It´s not a laughable matter, Koki,” the younger one said quietly, as he looked at the other´s grinning face and then he slipped away from his reach to mount Ukushi.
“You just worry too much!” the blonde Rider opposed. “It´s not like I´m always asking for troubles!”
“That´s a relief,” Jin commented and followed Kame´s example.
But Liwan hadn´t moved from the spot, and observed both of them sharply: “For once, I agree with Tanaka… You two are too serious about this. Why?”
Kame, already settled in the saddle, pressed his lips together and kept silent for a while, as well as Jin.
“We have a reason to take this seriously,” the young Rider replied finally and turned Ukushi away from them.
Akanishi patted his stallion, to make him stay still for a little longer and looked at both men on the ground: “Because apparently, now they hang people even for being in love,” he stated in a deep, emotional voice, which neither Liwan nor Koki expected, and left them standing there as well.
***
They continued their journey in the direction, where they could expect some lively activities soon, as they were approaching the current location of railway construction. Jin and Kame riding in the lead, not talking much; Liwan and Koki about half a mile behind them, on the contrary discussing something quite lively.
Kame really didn´t want to let that incident from Billings to spoil the general mood of their little company or even his inner happiness from the simple fact that he was with Jin, which was still more than enjoyable. No matter that they didn´t have much privacy for themselves. But he couldn´t help it. The image of two young men´s bodies swinging in the air was persistently returning to him…
He glanced at Jin´s serious face half-covered in the shadow of his black hat. He could tell that Jin was trying to stay cool as well, even harder than himself. He didn´t want to let it get to them. After everything they have been through, they deserved some… peaceful time together, didn´t they?
But neither of them figured out yet how to cope with what they experienced in the city. The realization of just how much they must be careful not to attract unnecessary attention was too cruel…
*
“You keep thinking about it, don´t you?”
Kame opened his eyes, which he had pressed together so far, hoping for sleep to come. He knew that Jin was awake too. They were squeezed in the low haymaker above the barn, which belonged to Sammy´s Saloon. It was not completely dark there, as the lanterns´ light from the street was penetrating through the gaps between the boards, as well as the evening cold and drunken voices from the taproom. Not the most comfortable, but it was a dry place to sleep at, at least. They were lying close, but back to back with each other.
“Yes…” he admitted heavily. His imagination was ruthless in that. It could have been the two of them on that tree so easily…
The hay rustled, as the gunslinger next to him moved, turning on his other side. There was a tense moment of silence, before the long fingers touched and then ran through his unnaturally short hair gently.
“We´ll be out of here with the dawn…” Jin said softly.
“Do you really think it will be better anywhere else?” Kame couldn´t help but raise the question.
The movement in his hair stopped.
“I dare to be optimistic…” the reaction came.
Feeling his heart squeeze in a painful, but at the same time pleasant clutch, Kame turned to his back, to find the contours of Jin´s face and dark hair above him.
“Can you share a bit of that optimism with me?” he asked whispering.
“Sure, Kazu… I´ll gladly give you all of it,” Jin breathed out, before he leant down.
Feeling the hot lips on his, caressing him without hesitation, spread warmness and relief in Kame´s stomach. Nothing changed on the way his handsome lover kissed him and even though he had no reason to doubt that, it made him feel grateful anyway.
They had some moments for each other on the way up to the north, rushed kisses and whispered words, but it was far away from enough. Even though both Liwan and Koki knew about their relationship and accepted it, they couldn´t bring themselves to express their emotions freely in front of them. And there were not many comfortable places to hide from the others´ eyes…
Kame buried his fingers into Jin´s hair eagerly, pulling him closer and repaying the kiss. He missed being in Jin´s arms and the loving connection only strengthened that emptiness which needed to be filled.
Jin tore away from him only to slip under the younger one´s blanket and press himself against his body. Kame felt so warm right away, the butterflies flickering in his chest, his heartbeat getting faster. Only not safe... And his lover recognized his hesitation in another kiss…
Jin pulled away and studied his face in the shadows for a while, before he reached for the button on Kame´s pants.
“Don´t think about it,” he requested hoarsely.
Kame felt his other hand shaking a little, when he placed it on Jin´s face: “Then make me stop thinking…”
He almost hadn´t finished the sentence yet and there were already Jin´s fingers around his shaft, soothing it slowly, and kind of roughly. He repeated the movement, pulling an excited sigh from the younger one.
“As you wish…” Jin whispered into his ear, before he used both hands to pull Kame´s pants out of the way.
The breath got stuck in Kame´s throat when he realized that Jin was just as much desperate to stop thinking as himself. He already felt a hard bulge in the older one´s crotch, which was pressed against his thigh…
Kame suppressed a heated moan, when one of those long, caring fingers headed for his sacred hole and entered it without hesitation. Jin captured his mouth again, teasing him with his tongue this time and waited until Kame eased up, before he started to move with his hand.
Feeling the quickly rising excitement, Kame bit his lip and hastily reached for Jin´s trousers to get under them. He wanted to feel that hot hard pride again, which could make him forget, that what they were doing was hot and satisfying, but also damn dangerous…
“It´s up that ladder,” suddenly, a voice of the saloon´s owner was heard right under them.
The eager hands stopped moving and the heated lips pulled apart.
“Ok, thanks…” somebody replied yawning.
“Shit…” a muted curse escaped the older one´s lips.
“Find a free space, I´ve already got some guys there. And no smoking, or I´ll disembowel you both and feed you with your own intestines, got it?”
Kame felt as Jin´s grip around him strengthened for a moment, before the older one retreated, rolling away from him.
“Understood, man… Understood,” some man mumbled heavily, probably quite drunk.
Soon after that the partitions of the ladder up to the haymaker groaned under the weight of two new guests.
Kame pulled his trousers and then also blanket back up to cover himself and looked at Jin, but the older one was already facing the wall again. He gulped down heavily, hopelessly trying to calm his pulse and arousal… It seemed that a long night awaited them…
*
Returning to the presence on the stony and so far abandoned road to the west, Kame closed his eyes for a while, before turning them towards his boyfriend again. He was definitely not the only one who didn´t get enough sleep during the night…
He couldn´t help but feel somewhat relieved that Jin still behaved as before though. It wouldn´t have surprised him if the older one wanted to keep some distance from him. So far, they had encountered only misunderstanding, not such hate as on that square… Anyone would have been frightened.
But Kame had to scold himself for expecting that Jin would react that way. He was braver, even more daring then himself. The truth was that he was damn afraid now. Afraid of pulling Jin into a mess, from which there was no return…
“Kame… Why do I have a feeling there are some stupid ideas on your mind?”
He looked away a little guiltily from Jin´s observing eyes. He shouldn´t have given in to the worries so easily.
“Do I need to remind you we´re in all of this together?” Jin´s voice was quite reproachful now.
Kame had to suppress a defeated sigh. His handsome lover was right. And he felt ashamed for having such doubts.
“I´m sorry…”
“That´s not enough.”
The sharp response made Kame pull on the reins lightly, to halt Ukushi´s steps. Kuro stopped right next to them, even before Jin managed to do the same.
Kame looked in those dark eyes for a while, before he grabbed the hem of Jin´s unbuttoned coat and roughly pulled him close. He gave him an urgent, hasty kiss.
“I´m sorry,” he repeated, still clutching his fingers around the rough cloth.
The older one smirked a little: “That´s better.”
Kame chuckled: “Aren´t you a little demanding?”
“I didn´t notice you mind it,” was Jin´s reply, before he was the one capturing his lips in a kiss, which stole Kame´s breath…
A loud whistle made them tear apart.
“Sorry, guys,” the blonde Rider, whose stallion had just trotted to their level, grinned. “You´re indeed adorable, but it seems we´ve got a small problem...”
Straightening in his saddle, Jin almost literally murdered the guy with his eyes, while Kame looked around, confused. Both Koki and Liwan were riding only a little behind them, but the Indian shaman was nowhere to be seen.
“What´s up?” frowning Jin hissed at the same moment, when Kame asked after his blood brother: “Where´s Liwan?”
“Bear noticed that someone is following us,” Koki informed them and pointed at the sparse forest on their left side. “He headed back through that grove, not to be seen. He said we should stop for a pretended rest and stay focused. He will get that snooper from behind then.”
“Maybe it´s just somebody travelling in the same direction and Liwan creates fuss around nothing,” Jin assumed, obviously still annoyed.
“I guess we´ll find that out,” Kame noted, already looking around for a convenient spot. “Let´s use that lonely tree up there. If that person really isn´t interested in us, we´ll see him passing by.”
“Just great. Another day, another trouble,” Jin commented, but without any other complaints, he made Kuro go in the direction, which the younger one had suggested.
- To be continued -
Credit for banner:
witchann2