[Fanfic] Red West III. - Chapter three
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: So... Who is the one following our travelers? Any tips?
Enjoy the reading and I´ll be looking forward to your comments! ^^/
This chapter is dedicated to niigatachan as a belated birthday gift. ^^´
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 // Chapter two //
One less
The grass beneath him rustled as he carefully sneaked forward, relying mainly on his elbows and avoiding the fallen branches, which might have given his presence away. Finally hearing their voices, he remained motionless, not daring to proceed further. After a while, he slowly raised his head, peeking out between the high grass stalks and only then he could clearly see that his suspicion was right. There were only three men resting under the huge oak; the impressive Indian was nowhere to be seen.
He bit his lower lip wondering for what reason they stopped again so suddenly. Maybe he could try to sneak closer, to catch what they were talking about. But then he heard a soft snorting, which changed his mind - the black stallion´s head was turned in his direction.
Frowning, he decided to retreat to the grove, where he had hidden his pony, and wait for them to hit the road again. But before he managed to turn around, there was some sudden movement behind him and right after that, a strict voice was heard: “Pitsíksinaa! What a little snake we have here!”
He almost screamed in fear. Except wind and birds, he hadn´t noticed anything suspicious around at all, but still, somebody managed to creep up on him unnoticed.
Following his instinct of self-preservation, he jumped up on his feet, ready to dash away, but a strong hand gripped the collar of his worn-out coat from behind and directed him towards the oak instead.
“Little snake will be obedient or I will make sure that forest spirits punish him,” the tall Indian threatened him when he tried to fight back and escape.
With anxiety caused by that strange threat, he let the Indian lead him towards the other three travelers, who were already on their feet and in case of the black-haired gunslinger, even with some awesome revolvers in his hands. Those guns were so impressive, beautiful and lethal at the same time, that he forgot about his unhappy situation for a moment. But that was only until they started talking…
*
“This is our spy?” Jin snorted in disbelief, once Liwan dragged the boy close enough.
Koki´s jaw dropped as he stared at his small brother in shock, while Kame looked just relieved. Liwan pushed Juri Tanaka forward, so that the boy ended up in the middle of their circle now, without a slightest chance to run away.
“He is,” the Indian shaman nodded and crossed both arms across his chest in a kind of haughty gesture. “My eyes saw nobody else.”
Jin smirked at that: “I knew it - fuss about nothing,” he stated, hiding the revolvers back into their sheaths.
“It´s always better to be careful,” Kame reminded him and leant closer before he continued, more quietly, just for Jin´s ears: “Which is not exactly what we´ve been doing a while ago…”
“It was just an innocent kiss,” the older one objected whispering.
For sure, there was something what Kame would like to reply, but he didn´t get the space for it, as the blonde Rider finally shook the first surprise off.
“What the hell are you doing here, Juri?!”
Hearing the upset voice of his older brother, the boy cowered, but pressed his lips together, not replying.
“Why did you follow me? Something could have happened to you!” Koki continued fuming. “Did you tell anyone at home you were leaving?!”
The boy´s expression turned even more guilty than it already was, when he shook his head shortly.
“Bloody hell! Mother must be freaking out by now!”
Juri lowered his head, probably only now realizing that his brother was right.
“I don´t think that screaming at him will solve anything, Koki,” Kame dared to involve himself carefully.
“And what will, smart one?!” the blonde Rider snapped at him angrily, for the first time ever at all, as far as Kame remembered, obviously still furious about his brother´s presence.
Both Jin and Liwan frowned in a strange unity, but didn´t say anything and Kame turned his attention to the gloomy boy instead of his upset brother.
“I must say you´re quite skilled to follow us so far, Juri,” Kame praised the boy calmly.
Juri Tanaka raised his widened eyes in surprise and the young Rider repaid his look seriously. Koki was about to cut in with something again, but Kame continued right away: “You had a good reason to, right?”
Koki shut his mouth with an almost hearable clang of teeth and observed his brother suspiciously.
Juri bit his lower lip, hesitating for a second, before the words started to stream out of him as a waterfall: “Everybody at home thinks I´m still a kid! They don´t allow me to help with the herd! I can´t go to the city by myself! I can´t even listen when they have their adult talk! I don´t want to be there, Koki! Take me with you! I won´t be a burden, I promise! I can help with anything! Just don´t leave me here again!” Juri was out of breath, when he finished, his burning eyes staring up at the blonde brother.
Koki seemed to be stunned, Kame not so much, an amused understanding was plastered all over Jin´s face and Liwan was just observing the boy the same way as before, the least impressed of all.
“Please?” Juri almost sobbed.
Koki sighed, his anger long gone. He kneeled down on one knee and gripped both Juri´s slender shoulders: “Maybe you´re not a kid anymore, but you´re still too young, Juri. Our journey is dangerous and I can´t protect you all the time,” the blonde one spoke in a completely different tone now, calming and caring.
“I don´t need to be pro…”
“You do,” Koki interrupted Juri´s objection. “And it wouldn´t be a burden only for me, but also for my friends. Do you understand?”
The boy wanted to avoid his brother´s serious look, but Koki didn´t allow him to: “Do you understand?” he asked again.
This time, Juri nodded.
“Your place is home now, by Mother´s side, with our brothers,” Koki tossed his hair playfully.
Juri moved away from his touch suddenly: “But I want all of my brothers to be there! And Mum wants that too!”
The Rider´s expression saddened: “I´m really sorry about Subaru, Juri…”
Kame and Jin exchanged curious looks. Koki probably forgot to mention something in his previous narration.
“I don´t mean Subaru!” the boy burst out. “I know he´s gone now!”
“Then what…”
“Stupid Koki!” Juri snapped instead of a reply and turned his back on him. “You were always so stupid,” he mumbled angrily.
Koki straightened up: “Listen, kiddo, don´t think that…”
Kame grabbed the blonde one´s elbow, when he advanced forward, clearly upset again.
“He means you, Koki,” the younger one said softly.
Koki stared at him, then at Juri´s back for a while.
“Squirt…” he sighed. “You know what happened before I left. I can´t…”
The boy turned on his heel abruptly: “You were fighting all the time before! What´s the big deal now?!”
“That was different…”
“It wasn´t!”
Short, keen silence followed.
“Mum cried because of you. Again,” Juri blamed his brother then. “She wants you back, I know it! Kazunaru and Hyouga as well! Makio said you´re a coward, but he misses you too!”
Koki was really speechless this time. He probably didn´t expect such an emotional blackmail. Not from his younger brother. In that moment, it was already clear to Kame that Juri´s real intention wasn´t to join his brother, but to make him go back home with him. Judging his expression, Koki hadn´t realized it, but that didn´t matter at all…
“Won´t you come back to us?” Juri pleaded in the end almost tearfully.
Koki raised his look up to the sky, as if the heaven was supposed to give him an answer, while everybody else remained quiet, waiting for his decision.
“You don´t have to hesitate so much, Koki,” Kame decided to push the other one a bit in the direction he wanted to take, but didn´t have enough resolve to do it. “It´s not like we´ll consider you a traitor if you don´t go with us all the way to the reservation.”
A strange, soft chuckle escaped the blonde one´s lips.
“You always know what to say, Kame-chan,” he sighed, before he turned to his miserable brother again. “Well… I must accompany you back, that´s for sure. Mother would tear me to shreds, if I didn´t,” he noted kind of defeated, while Juri kept looking at him half-reproachfully, half-pleadingly. “And I guess…” Koki´s eyes turned to Kame. “I stay there for a while.”
The younger one smiled: “I think that´s the best you can do.”
“Damn,” Jin rolled his eyes. “If each decision took me so much time, I´d still be somewhere in the Rocky Mountains hunting a grizzly.”
“Shut up,” aggrieved Koki growled in his direction.
Jin grinned: “That´s usually my line.”
“How can you bear with him, Kame?” quite reproachfully, Koki pointed his finger at the awfully satisfied gunslinger.
“I guess I got used to it,” Kame shrugged in response and winked at the older one, whose grin faltered a bit.
The little Tanaka rubbed his nose hastily: “Will you really return with me, Bro?”
Only now, Koki managed to put on a more cheerful expression: “I´ve just said it, haven´t I? Now go for that pony of yours or whatever you ride on, so we can set off…”
Juri nodded excitedly and in the blink of an eye he was gone, speeding through the grass field to the grove.
“…as I don´t want to delay my friends any longer…” Koki finished, focusing his attention on Liwan.
The Indian remained awfully quiet, his expression stern.
Rather alarmed, the blonde one leant closer to his younger friend: “Should I be worried?” he asked whispering.
Kame had to suppress an amused smile. Despite all the jokes, Koki had respect for the red shaman. He didn´t consider necessary to calm the other one down and Liwan confirmed it right away, as he moved and approached Koki with his right arm stretched forward.
“It is good you finally decided,” he stated calmly.
Koki, obviously relieved, accepted his hand.
“Next time,” the shaman continued. “Be a man sooner.”
“… I´ll try hard…”
Kame noticed that the blonde one was nodding his head somewhat too stiffly and he realized the reason only when Liwan released him. Once the Indian turned his back to them, Koki started to massage his fingers with a painful expression. Jin noted that fact with a gleeful sneer and neither Kame intended to pity the blonde one. Koki really took his time and it was understandable that Liwan, who was eager to get back to his tribe as soon as possible, didn´t like it.
Seeing his red brother rushing in the same way as the little Tanaka before, Kame knew that they could forget about any peaceful pace from now on...
“He has the grip of a bear, seriously,” the blonde one complained once he was sure that the Indian was out of earshot.
“I think you should be glad he didn´t pull out his tomahawk on you,” Jin expressed his opinion gleefully.
“And you should control your sadistic ideas a little,” Koki snorted.
“Not necessary in your case,” the other one countered and headed to Kuro, who seemed to be all eager to travel again.
When Kame noticed that the small figure of Koki´s brother appeared on the edge of the grove, as did Liwan´s, already in a saddle, he turned to the blonde one: “So… Have a safe journey home, Koki.”
The blonde one stopped frowning and looked at him gratefully: “Thanks. You too - be extremely careful,” he emphasized a little mockingly.
“We don´t need to hear that from you,” Jin, who approached them with Kuro and Ukushi tailing him, hit Koki´s shoulder with a closed fist in a friendly manner.
Koki grinned: “Fair enough.”
Jin turned away to mount his precious stallion, while Koki approached Kame with a sad sigh: “I will really miss you, guys. And especially you, Handsome.”
Kame was a bit surprised, when Koki suddenly hugged him, but then he figured the blonde one did it to provoke Jin, who let himself be heard almost immediately.
“Don´t worry, we won´t miss you,” he announced obviously less amused than before.
Koki broke away from the younger one and stuck out his tongue: “Liar.”
Jin couldn´t help but chuckle: “If you think so…. We should really go, Liwan seems to be kind of nervous,” he commented the Indian´s not exactly slow ride around them towards the road. Juri was barely half way towards the oak at that moment.
“Yeah, I must agree with you,” Koki reacted and watched as also Kame jumped up into Ukushi´s saddle swiftly. “Kame-chan… If it comes to that and you´ll be going back to Colorado, don´t you dare to pass by without taking me with you,” he urged on him.
“Sure. I know we can count with you,” the younger one assured him. “Take care, Koki.”
“See you, Goldilocks,” Jin touched the brim of his hat with a wide smile as the last one and followed Kame, who already rushed Ukushi behind Liwan´s horse.
“See you, guys!” Koki waved until they reached the road.
“Oh, they´re already gone?” the kid´s voice behind him complained.
Koki turned to his brother, who just reached the spot, leading a small pony behind him.
“Yeah… They were in a rush a bit,” he said, not without pity that he didn´t continue rushing with them. “Well… Let´s go home, squirt.”
***
It was like an ugly scar in an otherwise beautiful green scenery. A constantly growing metal line heading west, accompanied by heavy hammer strikes, by deep chanting of black workers and occasional explosions, which were needed for the railway to get through some difficult spots.
The small company of one Indian and two currently not active Black Riders, gladly avoided the settlement of many tents and hastily built huts through the nearby hills, which enable them to observe the buzzing, lively and smoky Hell on Wheels in its whole glory from above. They had purchased enough supplies in Billings, so they had no reason to deal with workers, merchants and harlots of the travelling ´city´. Not to mention Liwan´s deeply disgusted look towards the locomotive, which kept releasing awful clouds of black smoke up to the blue sky. It was a clear statement of what he thought about the Fire Horse and obviously didn’t intend to give it any more attention.
Leading their way, the shaman kept a sharp pace until daylight almost completely faded away. He stopped his stallion on a small clearing in the middle of nowhere just when Jin was about to suggest it. He didn’t like when he didn´t see where Kuro´s hooves went.
After they set up a decent fire and camped for the night, Liwan disappeared somewhere between the trees, probably to gather some wood, though it was not really necessary. The nights were still cool, but bearable even without a great fire. Nevertheless, Jin accepted the mug of herbal tea from Kame´s hands gratefully. It always tasted really good, or at least much better than the boring water. And not even the shaman could prepare it the way he liked so much, only Kame could.
“Is it just me or our Bear is somewhat nervous?” Jin suggested when the younger one joined him on the tanned leather that he had spread near their cheerful campfire.
“I noticed it as well,” Kame admitted, as he settled down right next to him.
“Does he have a reason to be?”
Kame sipped on the hot liquid from his mug carefully: “Hard to say… Everything was all right when we were leaving the reservation, but anything could have happened meanwhile. I´m not surprised he´s worried after such a long time being away.”
“I´d be worried too. It´s just surprising to see it on him,” Jin reacted thoughtfully.
“I know what you mean… Seeing him like this, the more I want us to get there as soon as possible.”
“So… Are we going to skip the visit in Bozeman?” Jin guessed.
They discussed this possibility once and Kame was planning to stop by in his home town…
“Yes,” the younger one nodded, confirming Jin´s assumption. “I can always go there later. Right now, the most important thing is to get to the tribe.”
Jin finished his drink and put the mug aside: “I can only agree. I even look forward to be with the Blackfeet Indians again…”
Kame gave him a curious look: “And why is that so?”
“Well, according to what you told me once, we don´t have to worry about getting a nice rope around our necks there,” he replied. “Isn´t that right?”
The younger one´s lips spread in a gentle smile: “It is.”
“Good.”
It was impossible to tell who moved first, but it didn´t matter, as all they cared about was the tingling sensation from the connection of their lips. Jin circled one arm around the younger´s form, while Kazuya blindly put his still half-full mug into the grass, before slipping with his warmed fingers into the thick mass of the older one´s hair.
It was a slow, loving kiss, which warmed both of them up much efficiently than any tea. The same happy expression appeared on both their faces, when they moved away, not releasing the mutual embrace.
“Come to think of it,” Jin spoke quietly, his hand soothing Kame´s lower back slowly. “We can finally have our vacation there.”
“How do you call those two weeks at the Riders´ cottage then?” his lover opposed, drawing small circles on the back of Jin´s neck.
“Not sufficient. We had to hide all the time…” the other one murmured.
“And the lake under waterfalls?”
“Too short,” a complaint came immediately.
“Well, then…” Kame lowered his voice. “We need to make the most of our time at the tribe…”
Jin pulled the younger one a bit closer: “Be careful about the tone you use, Kazuya.”
“Why?” the over-innocent question followed.
“Otherwise I might start rushing towards the Rocky Mountain even faster than our dear shaman…”
The mischievous fires in Kame´s eyes told Jin that it wouldn´t be a necessarily bad thing to do.
“Any complaints about our progress?” a strict question made both young men raise their eyes to the Indian, who just approached the fire with a pile of dry branches in his hands.
“Not at all, Bear,” Jin denied right away and loosened his grip around Kame, but still kept him close.
“Good. More than enough of restrains we had,” Liwan assumed, settling down opposite them.
Kame made himself comfortable in Jin´s embrace, leaning over his body and still as foolishly happy as the first time the older one finally stopped pulling away from him completely when somebody else was around.
“We´ll be there soon now, my Brother.”
“I know. Though, I would be sooner there alone,” Liwan reacted sternly.
“Come on,” Jin laughed. “Do not even try to pretend you aren´t glad we set off with you.”
Liwan gave him a dark look: “My journey would be much quicker without your constant detours.”
“Much more boring as well,” the older one grinned at him.
For a while, the Indian stared at the bright faces of the two lovers, before he sighed defeated. They both knew that he was not really upset, more like they noticed his uneasiness and tried to cheer him up. He was not willing to admit it aloud, but Akanishi was right.
“I will sleep now. You two do whatever you like but we continue once the sun wakes up.”
“Sure. But only if you help me to wake Jin up. You know how he is with the mornings,” Kame reminded the well-known fact, chuckling on the pinch of Jin´s fingers in his side.
“Cold water will do,” Liwan assumed, dragging his blanket closer to the fire.
“Don´t you dare,” Jin growled.
“We can leave you here then. So that you can sleep to your happiness,” the Indian announced. “I would be content just with my blood brother alone.”
An amused chuckle escaped Kame´s lips. Liwan already knew how to play the right string.
“Forget it,” the older one retorted right away.
“With the sunrise then,” Liwan concluded their conversation calmly and hid himself under the blanket.
“An Indian tyrant,” Jin complained quietly.
“If we go to sleep now too, you will get enough of your beloved rest,” Kame informed him smiling.
“Hmm, but I thought you´d like to keep a night watch with me…”
“Not necessary,” the mumble was heard from the Indian.
Jin stabbed the lying form with his eyes, while Kame just suppressed another laugh and then slipped away from the older one´s embrace: “That´s right, we should be safe enough here. And the sooner we set off tomorrow, the closer our vacation gets,” he winked at Jin, gave him a short, teasing kiss and stood up before the older one could grasp him again.
“I know,” Jin sighed. “It´s the only thing, which can make me to get up so soon in the morning,” he murmured only for himself.
***
A neat room serving as a manager office still smelled after freshly cut down trees. Though, it would surely not take long before that special odor would be gone. The gray-haired man was sitting behind the table in silent focus, the newest newspapers spread out in front of him…
“Those criminals will not escape justice again!” Horace Tabor stated in his fierce speech in front of the press…
The article was quite specific, providing details of Governor´s each word and his personal grudge towards the Black Riders was gushing out of it more expressly than the man in his position should allow to.
For long weeks, there was no news regarding to the famous gang whatsoever. It was like they disappeared from the country. But then, some good soul from Hereford, a small city near the borders with Wyoming affected by the flu recently, reported that the Riders were the ones saving its citizens. Naturally, by the time the US Marshals got to the place, there was not a hat seen from them and none of the epidemic survivors talked. Nobody even confirmed they were really there.
Shortly after that, quite a weird story about a crazy group of men in black raiding two peaceful farms in one day spread out, claiming that they murdered all their residents. Tabor, furious ever since the Riders robbed him in Leadville, used this story to his advantage, made quite a fuss about it and with the help of his friend in Senate finally accomplished what he had been pursuing for so long - a special unit of soldiers was assigned to chase after and arrest all the Riders and the most of all their leader - Leo Akanishi.
That over-motivated speech just added the fuel to the fire, as Tabor once again promised a great reward to anyone who would come with any information about the Black Riders.
Cameron´s eyes were still on the papers, but he didn´t actually see the words anymore. It was just his assumption, but he didn´t think that those farm raids should be credited to the Riders´ account. It didn´t seem to be their thing. He thought that Tabor only used those unfortunate events to his advantage and set them up.
The problem was that something like that would alert the Riders for sure and they would definitely be more careful. Just when he was finally satisfied with how things in the quarry were going and wanted to focus on something else…
Leo Akanishi was currently the best lead he had on those two Montana brats. His determination to make them pay for what they did didn´t falter even a bit. Raynold Karnaka made Cameron who he was. He never had a family or even friends, which would care for him. His master was everything to him and he wouldn´t mind serving him until his own death. Unfortunately, those two remade this predetermined fate of his and at the same time, it changed Cameron. He was independent now, powerful and also quite rich. And he could be damn patient too…
A short knock disrupted his thoughts, but since he had been expecting it, it didn´t annoy him.
“Come in, Danny,” he invited the boy.
Young McFly in dusty clothes stepped inside right away. The bruises on his face healed completely long ago, but in spite of that his expression somehow darkened from the way it used to be.
“All of today´s cargo left without problems, Mr. Cameron,” the boy reported in a disinterested voice. “After your yesterday´s intervention, there were no more complaints regarding the wages.”
“Very well. Thank you, Danny.”
“Anything else you need, sir?”
There was a strange vibe in that question, which made Cameron narrow his eyes. The previous Grenet´s treatment left indelible traces in that boy…
“Not today. But I need you to go to Fort Collins. The first thing in the morning.”
“Sure,” McFly nodded. “But what for?”
“You´ll send a telegram,” Cameron replied, already taking a pen into his fingers and starting to write something down.
Danny approached the table slowly, his curiosity awakened: “To whom?”
His current boss hadn´t replied until he was finished writing and got up. He walked around the table and stopped unpleasantly close to Danny, who didn´t dare to move away.
“To Horace Tabor,” Cameron Henderson said.
- To be continued -
Credit for banner:
witchann2
A/Warning: Since in a little more than two weeks my vacation (going to Japan!!! ^_^/) starts, I´m about to be quite busy and unable to write. Please, do not expect the next chapter of RW III. sooner than in April. It would have been a small miracle, if I had managed to finish chapter four before that. My sincere apologies in advance.
Kasumi
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: So... Who is the one following our travelers? Any tips?
Enjoy the reading and I´ll be looking forward to your comments! ^^/
This chapter is dedicated to niigatachan as a belated birthday gift. ^^´
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 // Chapter two //
One less
The grass beneath him rustled as he carefully sneaked forward, relying mainly on his elbows and avoiding the fallen branches, which might have given his presence away. Finally hearing their voices, he remained motionless, not daring to proceed further. After a while, he slowly raised his head, peeking out between the high grass stalks and only then he could clearly see that his suspicion was right. There were only three men resting under the huge oak; the impressive Indian was nowhere to be seen.
He bit his lower lip wondering for what reason they stopped again so suddenly. Maybe he could try to sneak closer, to catch what they were talking about. But then he heard a soft snorting, which changed his mind - the black stallion´s head was turned in his direction.
Frowning, he decided to retreat to the grove, where he had hidden his pony, and wait for them to hit the road again. But before he managed to turn around, there was some sudden movement behind him and right after that, a strict voice was heard: “Pitsíksinaa! What a little snake we have here!”
He almost screamed in fear. Except wind and birds, he hadn´t noticed anything suspicious around at all, but still, somebody managed to creep up on him unnoticed.
Following his instinct of self-preservation, he jumped up on his feet, ready to dash away, but a strong hand gripped the collar of his worn-out coat from behind and directed him towards the oak instead.
“Little snake will be obedient or I will make sure that forest spirits punish him,” the tall Indian threatened him when he tried to fight back and escape.
With anxiety caused by that strange threat, he let the Indian lead him towards the other three travelers, who were already on their feet and in case of the black-haired gunslinger, even with some awesome revolvers in his hands. Those guns were so impressive, beautiful and lethal at the same time, that he forgot about his unhappy situation for a moment. But that was only until they started talking…
*
“This is our spy?” Jin snorted in disbelief, once Liwan dragged the boy close enough.
Koki´s jaw dropped as he stared at his small brother in shock, while Kame looked just relieved. Liwan pushed Juri Tanaka forward, so that the boy ended up in the middle of their circle now, without a slightest chance to run away.
“He is,” the Indian shaman nodded and crossed both arms across his chest in a kind of haughty gesture. “My eyes saw nobody else.”
Jin smirked at that: “I knew it - fuss about nothing,” he stated, hiding the revolvers back into their sheaths.
“It´s always better to be careful,” Kame reminded him and leant closer before he continued, more quietly, just for Jin´s ears: “Which is not exactly what we´ve been doing a while ago…”
“It was just an innocent kiss,” the older one objected whispering.
For sure, there was something what Kame would like to reply, but he didn´t get the space for it, as the blonde Rider finally shook the first surprise off.
“What the hell are you doing here, Juri?!”
Hearing the upset voice of his older brother, the boy cowered, but pressed his lips together, not replying.
“Why did you follow me? Something could have happened to you!” Koki continued fuming. “Did you tell anyone at home you were leaving?!”
The boy´s expression turned even more guilty than it already was, when he shook his head shortly.
“Bloody hell! Mother must be freaking out by now!”
Juri lowered his head, probably only now realizing that his brother was right.
“I don´t think that screaming at him will solve anything, Koki,” Kame dared to involve himself carefully.
“And what will, smart one?!” the blonde Rider snapped at him angrily, for the first time ever at all, as far as Kame remembered, obviously still furious about his brother´s presence.
Both Jin and Liwan frowned in a strange unity, but didn´t say anything and Kame turned his attention to the gloomy boy instead of his upset brother.
“I must say you´re quite skilled to follow us so far, Juri,” Kame praised the boy calmly.
Juri Tanaka raised his widened eyes in surprise and the young Rider repaid his look seriously. Koki was about to cut in with something again, but Kame continued right away: “You had a good reason to, right?”
Koki shut his mouth with an almost hearable clang of teeth and observed his brother suspiciously.
Juri bit his lower lip, hesitating for a second, before the words started to stream out of him as a waterfall: “Everybody at home thinks I´m still a kid! They don´t allow me to help with the herd! I can´t go to the city by myself! I can´t even listen when they have their adult talk! I don´t want to be there, Koki! Take me with you! I won´t be a burden, I promise! I can help with anything! Just don´t leave me here again!” Juri was out of breath, when he finished, his burning eyes staring up at the blonde brother.
Koki seemed to be stunned, Kame not so much, an amused understanding was plastered all over Jin´s face and Liwan was just observing the boy the same way as before, the least impressed of all.
“Please?” Juri almost sobbed.
Koki sighed, his anger long gone. He kneeled down on one knee and gripped both Juri´s slender shoulders: “Maybe you´re not a kid anymore, but you´re still too young, Juri. Our journey is dangerous and I can´t protect you all the time,” the blonde one spoke in a completely different tone now, calming and caring.
“I don´t need to be pro…”
“You do,” Koki interrupted Juri´s objection. “And it wouldn´t be a burden only for me, but also for my friends. Do you understand?”
The boy wanted to avoid his brother´s serious look, but Koki didn´t allow him to: “Do you understand?” he asked again.
This time, Juri nodded.
“Your place is home now, by Mother´s side, with our brothers,” Koki tossed his hair playfully.
Juri moved away from his touch suddenly: “But I want all of my brothers to be there! And Mum wants that too!”
The Rider´s expression saddened: “I´m really sorry about Subaru, Juri…”
Kame and Jin exchanged curious looks. Koki probably forgot to mention something in his previous narration.
“I don´t mean Subaru!” the boy burst out. “I know he´s gone now!”
“Then what…”
“Stupid Koki!” Juri snapped instead of a reply and turned his back on him. “You were always so stupid,” he mumbled angrily.
Koki straightened up: “Listen, kiddo, don´t think that…”
Kame grabbed the blonde one´s elbow, when he advanced forward, clearly upset again.
“He means you, Koki,” the younger one said softly.
Koki stared at him, then at Juri´s back for a while.
“Squirt…” he sighed. “You know what happened before I left. I can´t…”
The boy turned on his heel abruptly: “You were fighting all the time before! What´s the big deal now?!”
“That was different…”
“It wasn´t!”
Short, keen silence followed.
“Mum cried because of you. Again,” Juri blamed his brother then. “She wants you back, I know it! Kazunaru and Hyouga as well! Makio said you´re a coward, but he misses you too!”
Koki was really speechless this time. He probably didn´t expect such an emotional blackmail. Not from his younger brother. In that moment, it was already clear to Kame that Juri´s real intention wasn´t to join his brother, but to make him go back home with him. Judging his expression, Koki hadn´t realized it, but that didn´t matter at all…
“Won´t you come back to us?” Juri pleaded in the end almost tearfully.
Koki raised his look up to the sky, as if the heaven was supposed to give him an answer, while everybody else remained quiet, waiting for his decision.
“You don´t have to hesitate so much, Koki,” Kame decided to push the other one a bit in the direction he wanted to take, but didn´t have enough resolve to do it. “It´s not like we´ll consider you a traitor if you don´t go with us all the way to the reservation.”
A strange, soft chuckle escaped the blonde one´s lips.
“You always know what to say, Kame-chan,” he sighed, before he turned to his miserable brother again. “Well… I must accompany you back, that´s for sure. Mother would tear me to shreds, if I didn´t,” he noted kind of defeated, while Juri kept looking at him half-reproachfully, half-pleadingly. “And I guess…” Koki´s eyes turned to Kame. “I stay there for a while.”
The younger one smiled: “I think that´s the best you can do.”
“Damn,” Jin rolled his eyes. “If each decision took me so much time, I´d still be somewhere in the Rocky Mountains hunting a grizzly.”
“Shut up,” aggrieved Koki growled in his direction.
Jin grinned: “That´s usually my line.”
“How can you bear with him, Kame?” quite reproachfully, Koki pointed his finger at the awfully satisfied gunslinger.
“I guess I got used to it,” Kame shrugged in response and winked at the older one, whose grin faltered a bit.
The little Tanaka rubbed his nose hastily: “Will you really return with me, Bro?”
Only now, Koki managed to put on a more cheerful expression: “I´ve just said it, haven´t I? Now go for that pony of yours or whatever you ride on, so we can set off…”
Juri nodded excitedly and in the blink of an eye he was gone, speeding through the grass field to the grove.
“…as I don´t want to delay my friends any longer…” Koki finished, focusing his attention on Liwan.
The Indian remained awfully quiet, his expression stern.
Rather alarmed, the blonde one leant closer to his younger friend: “Should I be worried?” he asked whispering.
Kame had to suppress an amused smile. Despite all the jokes, Koki had respect for the red shaman. He didn´t consider necessary to calm the other one down and Liwan confirmed it right away, as he moved and approached Koki with his right arm stretched forward.
“It is good you finally decided,” he stated calmly.
Koki, obviously relieved, accepted his hand.
“Next time,” the shaman continued. “Be a man sooner.”
“… I´ll try hard…”
Kame noticed that the blonde one was nodding his head somewhat too stiffly and he realized the reason only when Liwan released him. Once the Indian turned his back to them, Koki started to massage his fingers with a painful expression. Jin noted that fact with a gleeful sneer and neither Kame intended to pity the blonde one. Koki really took his time and it was understandable that Liwan, who was eager to get back to his tribe as soon as possible, didn´t like it.
Seeing his red brother rushing in the same way as the little Tanaka before, Kame knew that they could forget about any peaceful pace from now on...
“He has the grip of a bear, seriously,” the blonde one complained once he was sure that the Indian was out of earshot.
“I think you should be glad he didn´t pull out his tomahawk on you,” Jin expressed his opinion gleefully.
“And you should control your sadistic ideas a little,” Koki snorted.
“Not necessary in your case,” the other one countered and headed to Kuro, who seemed to be all eager to travel again.
When Kame noticed that the small figure of Koki´s brother appeared on the edge of the grove, as did Liwan´s, already in a saddle, he turned to the blonde one: “So… Have a safe journey home, Koki.”
The blonde one stopped frowning and looked at him gratefully: “Thanks. You too - be extremely careful,” he emphasized a little mockingly.
“We don´t need to hear that from you,” Jin, who approached them with Kuro and Ukushi tailing him, hit Koki´s shoulder with a closed fist in a friendly manner.
Koki grinned: “Fair enough.”
Jin turned away to mount his precious stallion, while Koki approached Kame with a sad sigh: “I will really miss you, guys. And especially you, Handsome.”
Kame was a bit surprised, when Koki suddenly hugged him, but then he figured the blonde one did it to provoke Jin, who let himself be heard almost immediately.
“Don´t worry, we won´t miss you,” he announced obviously less amused than before.
Koki broke away from the younger one and stuck out his tongue: “Liar.”
Jin couldn´t help but chuckle: “If you think so…. We should really go, Liwan seems to be kind of nervous,” he commented the Indian´s not exactly slow ride around them towards the road. Juri was barely half way towards the oak at that moment.
“Yeah, I must agree with you,” Koki reacted and watched as also Kame jumped up into Ukushi´s saddle swiftly. “Kame-chan… If it comes to that and you´ll be going back to Colorado, don´t you dare to pass by without taking me with you,” he urged on him.
“Sure. I know we can count with you,” the younger one assured him. “Take care, Koki.”
“See you, Goldilocks,” Jin touched the brim of his hat with a wide smile as the last one and followed Kame, who already rushed Ukushi behind Liwan´s horse.
“See you, guys!” Koki waved until they reached the road.
“Oh, they´re already gone?” the kid´s voice behind him complained.
Koki turned to his brother, who just reached the spot, leading a small pony behind him.
“Yeah… They were in a rush a bit,” he said, not without pity that he didn´t continue rushing with them. “Well… Let´s go home, squirt.”
***
It was like an ugly scar in an otherwise beautiful green scenery. A constantly growing metal line heading west, accompanied by heavy hammer strikes, by deep chanting of black workers and occasional explosions, which were needed for the railway to get through some difficult spots.
The small company of one Indian and two currently not active Black Riders, gladly avoided the settlement of many tents and hastily built huts through the nearby hills, which enable them to observe the buzzing, lively and smoky Hell on Wheels in its whole glory from above. They had purchased enough supplies in Billings, so they had no reason to deal with workers, merchants and harlots of the travelling ´city´. Not to mention Liwan´s deeply disgusted look towards the locomotive, which kept releasing awful clouds of black smoke up to the blue sky. It was a clear statement of what he thought about the Fire Horse and obviously didn’t intend to give it any more attention.
Leading their way, the shaman kept a sharp pace until daylight almost completely faded away. He stopped his stallion on a small clearing in the middle of nowhere just when Jin was about to suggest it. He didn’t like when he didn´t see where Kuro´s hooves went.
After they set up a decent fire and camped for the night, Liwan disappeared somewhere between the trees, probably to gather some wood, though it was not really necessary. The nights were still cool, but bearable even without a great fire. Nevertheless, Jin accepted the mug of herbal tea from Kame´s hands gratefully. It always tasted really good, or at least much better than the boring water. And not even the shaman could prepare it the way he liked so much, only Kame could.
“Is it just me or our Bear is somewhat nervous?” Jin suggested when the younger one joined him on the tanned leather that he had spread near their cheerful campfire.
“I noticed it as well,” Kame admitted, as he settled down right next to him.
“Does he have a reason to be?”
Kame sipped on the hot liquid from his mug carefully: “Hard to say… Everything was all right when we were leaving the reservation, but anything could have happened meanwhile. I´m not surprised he´s worried after such a long time being away.”
“I´d be worried too. It´s just surprising to see it on him,” Jin reacted thoughtfully.
“I know what you mean… Seeing him like this, the more I want us to get there as soon as possible.”
“So… Are we going to skip the visit in Bozeman?” Jin guessed.
They discussed this possibility once and Kame was planning to stop by in his home town…
“Yes,” the younger one nodded, confirming Jin´s assumption. “I can always go there later. Right now, the most important thing is to get to the tribe.”
Jin finished his drink and put the mug aside: “I can only agree. I even look forward to be with the Blackfeet Indians again…”
Kame gave him a curious look: “And why is that so?”
“Well, according to what you told me once, we don´t have to worry about getting a nice rope around our necks there,” he replied. “Isn´t that right?”
The younger one´s lips spread in a gentle smile: “It is.”
“Good.”
It was impossible to tell who moved first, but it didn´t matter, as all they cared about was the tingling sensation from the connection of their lips. Jin circled one arm around the younger´s form, while Kazuya blindly put his still half-full mug into the grass, before slipping with his warmed fingers into the thick mass of the older one´s hair.
It was a slow, loving kiss, which warmed both of them up much efficiently than any tea. The same happy expression appeared on both their faces, when they moved away, not releasing the mutual embrace.
“Come to think of it,” Jin spoke quietly, his hand soothing Kame´s lower back slowly. “We can finally have our vacation there.”
“How do you call those two weeks at the Riders´ cottage then?” his lover opposed, drawing small circles on the back of Jin´s neck.
“Not sufficient. We had to hide all the time…” the other one murmured.
“And the lake under waterfalls?”
“Too short,” a complaint came immediately.
“Well, then…” Kame lowered his voice. “We need to make the most of our time at the tribe…”
Jin pulled the younger one a bit closer: “Be careful about the tone you use, Kazuya.”
“Why?” the over-innocent question followed.
“Otherwise I might start rushing towards the Rocky Mountain even faster than our dear shaman…”
The mischievous fires in Kame´s eyes told Jin that it wouldn´t be a necessarily bad thing to do.
“Any complaints about our progress?” a strict question made both young men raise their eyes to the Indian, who just approached the fire with a pile of dry branches in his hands.
“Not at all, Bear,” Jin denied right away and loosened his grip around Kame, but still kept him close.
“Good. More than enough of restrains we had,” Liwan assumed, settling down opposite them.
Kame made himself comfortable in Jin´s embrace, leaning over his body and still as foolishly happy as the first time the older one finally stopped pulling away from him completely when somebody else was around.
“We´ll be there soon now, my Brother.”
“I know. Though, I would be sooner there alone,” Liwan reacted sternly.
“Come on,” Jin laughed. “Do not even try to pretend you aren´t glad we set off with you.”
Liwan gave him a dark look: “My journey would be much quicker without your constant detours.”
“Much more boring as well,” the older one grinned at him.
For a while, the Indian stared at the bright faces of the two lovers, before he sighed defeated. They both knew that he was not really upset, more like they noticed his uneasiness and tried to cheer him up. He was not willing to admit it aloud, but Akanishi was right.
“I will sleep now. You two do whatever you like but we continue once the sun wakes up.”
“Sure. But only if you help me to wake Jin up. You know how he is with the mornings,” Kame reminded the well-known fact, chuckling on the pinch of Jin´s fingers in his side.
“Cold water will do,” Liwan assumed, dragging his blanket closer to the fire.
“Don´t you dare,” Jin growled.
“We can leave you here then. So that you can sleep to your happiness,” the Indian announced. “I would be content just with my blood brother alone.”
An amused chuckle escaped Kame´s lips. Liwan already knew how to play the right string.
“Forget it,” the older one retorted right away.
“With the sunrise then,” Liwan concluded their conversation calmly and hid himself under the blanket.
“An Indian tyrant,” Jin complained quietly.
“If we go to sleep now too, you will get enough of your beloved rest,” Kame informed him smiling.
“Hmm, but I thought you´d like to keep a night watch with me…”
“Not necessary,” the mumble was heard from the Indian.
Jin stabbed the lying form with his eyes, while Kame just suppressed another laugh and then slipped away from the older one´s embrace: “That´s right, we should be safe enough here. And the sooner we set off tomorrow, the closer our vacation gets,” he winked at Jin, gave him a short, teasing kiss and stood up before the older one could grasp him again.
“I know,” Jin sighed. “It´s the only thing, which can make me to get up so soon in the morning,” he murmured only for himself.
***
A neat room serving as a manager office still smelled after freshly cut down trees. Though, it would surely not take long before that special odor would be gone. The gray-haired man was sitting behind the table in silent focus, the newest newspapers spread out in front of him…
“Those criminals will not escape justice again!” Horace Tabor stated in his fierce speech in front of the press…
The article was quite specific, providing details of Governor´s each word and his personal grudge towards the Black Riders was gushing out of it more expressly than the man in his position should allow to.
For long weeks, there was no news regarding to the famous gang whatsoever. It was like they disappeared from the country. But then, some good soul from Hereford, a small city near the borders with Wyoming affected by the flu recently, reported that the Riders were the ones saving its citizens. Naturally, by the time the US Marshals got to the place, there was not a hat seen from them and none of the epidemic survivors talked. Nobody even confirmed they were really there.
Shortly after that, quite a weird story about a crazy group of men in black raiding two peaceful farms in one day spread out, claiming that they murdered all their residents. Tabor, furious ever since the Riders robbed him in Leadville, used this story to his advantage, made quite a fuss about it and with the help of his friend in Senate finally accomplished what he had been pursuing for so long - a special unit of soldiers was assigned to chase after and arrest all the Riders and the most of all their leader - Leo Akanishi.
That over-motivated speech just added the fuel to the fire, as Tabor once again promised a great reward to anyone who would come with any information about the Black Riders.
Cameron´s eyes were still on the papers, but he didn´t actually see the words anymore. It was just his assumption, but he didn´t think that those farm raids should be credited to the Riders´ account. It didn´t seem to be their thing. He thought that Tabor only used those unfortunate events to his advantage and set them up.
The problem was that something like that would alert the Riders for sure and they would definitely be more careful. Just when he was finally satisfied with how things in the quarry were going and wanted to focus on something else…
Leo Akanishi was currently the best lead he had on those two Montana brats. His determination to make them pay for what they did didn´t falter even a bit. Raynold Karnaka made Cameron who he was. He never had a family or even friends, which would care for him. His master was everything to him and he wouldn´t mind serving him until his own death. Unfortunately, those two remade this predetermined fate of his and at the same time, it changed Cameron. He was independent now, powerful and also quite rich. And he could be damn patient too…
A short knock disrupted his thoughts, but since he had been expecting it, it didn´t annoy him.
“Come in, Danny,” he invited the boy.
Young McFly in dusty clothes stepped inside right away. The bruises on his face healed completely long ago, but in spite of that his expression somehow darkened from the way it used to be.
“All of today´s cargo left without problems, Mr. Cameron,” the boy reported in a disinterested voice. “After your yesterday´s intervention, there were no more complaints regarding the wages.”
“Very well. Thank you, Danny.”
“Anything else you need, sir?”
There was a strange vibe in that question, which made Cameron narrow his eyes. The previous Grenet´s treatment left indelible traces in that boy…
“Not today. But I need you to go to Fort Collins. The first thing in the morning.”
“Sure,” McFly nodded. “But what for?”
“You´ll send a telegram,” Cameron replied, already taking a pen into his fingers and starting to write something down.
Danny approached the table slowly, his curiosity awakened: “To whom?”
His current boss hadn´t replied until he was finished writing and got up. He walked around the table and stopped unpleasantly close to Danny, who didn´t dare to move away.
“To Horace Tabor,” Cameron Henderson said.
- To be continued -
Credit for banner:
witchann2
A/Warning: Since in a little more than two weeks my vacation (going to Japan!!! ^_^/) starts, I´m about to be quite busy and unable to write. Please, do not expect the next chapter of RW III. sooner than in April. It would have been a small miracle, if I had managed to finish chapter four before that. My sincere apologies in advance.
Kasumi