Chapter Text
You awoke to the feeling of water beating down on your face. You winced, face screwing up in discomfort as the thunderous pounding of rain surrounded you, accompanied by a bright flash of light, jarring you awake. You jerked upright, sending a searing pain through your skull, almost feeling like it was cracked down the middle. You hissed in pain, feeling the back of your head. It hurt to just touch it… As you rose, the world felt like it was swaying. Nausea washed over you and you quickly stumbled over to a nearby tree. …tree. Now that you’ve gotten a decent look around, it’s clear that you’re in a forest. That makes sense. The last thing you could remember was hiking with your– who was it? Oh, right! You were hiking with your college class. As a class, you all decided to go hiking out in the wilderness to celebrate the end of the semester.
Once your nausea was under control again, you took a step forward. You tried to look around the trees for any sign of your class. Why the hell were you left here alone in a thunderstorm? That was weird and kinda scary, honestly. You all were going up a pretty steep incline… Maybe it started storming and you slipped on the leaf litter and they just couldn’t go back to get you. Maybe they were getting help! Regardless, despite how sore you felt, you knew you had to find your way back. You touched the back of your head again and pulled it in front of your face, squinting to see in the dark. Fuck. That was blood. You took a deep breath and started walking. You had no clue where you were at this point. You had been following your professor– you’d never hiked here before! You just stumbled your way through the trees, hoping you’d find a road somehow.
You blinked heavily, trying to push the fogginess and pain that muddled your mind away. The heavy rain and darkness made it near impossible to see, your only saving grace being the lightning that occasionally illuminated the forest in a stark, cold white light. As you walked, you became more and more aware of yourself. The weight of the bag tugged on your back. The cold bit into your skin, sinking in through the fabric of your torn up clothes. Your boots were full of water, squishing between your socks. Stinging scratches and scrapes made themselves known with each drop of water that fell onto them, with each movement you made. You had no real idea of the severity of your wounds, but at least you could tell nothing was broken. After a while of walking, that once-deafening rain turned into white noise, fading into the background. Now, you were hyper aware of everything else around you. Small critters scrambling to get away from your shambling form.
Finally, after what felt like ages, you heard something far away. You froze on the spot, eyes wide. You blinked again, trying to listen closely to whatever that sound was. It didn’t sound like any of those few animals you heard before. It almost sounded like a voice. Hope swelled in your chest as you shuffled forward again, having to grab onto a tree to maintain your balance as you picked up your pace, pushing away tree branches in your hurry.
“Hey!” You called, reaching out for a tree trunk that simply wasn’t there as your knees buckled underneath you. You cursed as you crumpled to the forest floor. Pain tore through your skull as you made impact, the mud squelched under your bare knees through the brand-new holes in your jeans. The pain kept rolling through your head, the burning pain and the throbbing aches near unbearable. With a frustrated grunt, you slammed your fist into the mud and leaf-litter. You let out a wheezing gasp, realizing your outburst did nothing to help your pain. You whined and grabbed your head with one hand, tears flowing down your cheeks and mixing with the rainwater. Eventually you built up the resolve to pull yourself to your feet, blindly grabbing a branch from a tree. It bent futilely under your weight, but it was enough to ground yourself and stand upright– or, at least, mostly upright. You got to walking again, finally able to hear the voice again. Your mind was too muddled to understand it. All you knew was to keep going. You could die if you didn’t, given the state you were in. Your head was downcast, hardly paying attention to where you were going, just focusing on the voice.
You paused as a warm light seeped into the world around you, illuminating the earth your gaze was locked on. You blinked and raised your head, wobbling a little as you did so. In front of you was a man on a horse, a lantern in his hand. You gave him a weak smile, just grateful anyone found you. “H-hey… I’m– I’m, uh, a little lost.” You managed, having to speak louder to get your voice out over the sound of the rain.
The man regarded you, a frown on his face and a brow raised. He looked older than you and definitely taller than you. His frown was nearly intimidating given the way his nose was scrunched up as he looked over your trembling form. However, his blue eyes seemed softer, laced with a genuine concern, though there absolutely was a trace of distrust in the glint of the lamplight. “You look a little more than lost, miss.” He noted, face relaxing slightly as he regarded you. You knew that you were swaying, shaking like a cold puppy in December. Perhaps he could see it just as well. You laughed awkwardly, touching your head again.
“I guess you’re right..!” You agreed, speaking slowly, breathily. The man opened his mouth to speak again, but was quickly interrupted.
Another voice called from somewhere behind the man with the lantern, another horse coming up behind. It was fairly normal to have horses out this way, though it was weird someone would be riding out in this weather. You looked at the new arrival, but many of the details on the pair of men and their horses were ultimately lost on you, your brain unable to comprehend them in the moment, but that second voice sounded a little annoyed. “So, Arthur? What was it? Need I remind you, we have some goddamned Pinkertons on our tail?”
The first man, presumably Arthur, hummed. His face twitched, still looking at you. He shifted in his place, head nodding back towards the other man slightly. “‘S some girl. She ain't lookin’ good, though. Looks like she’s hurt.”
The second man drew in a breath through his teeth and drove his horse closer to see you better, frowning as he looked you over. The lantern’s light illuminated him, revealing a strong look of distrust across his aged features. You gave him a small wave before hugging yourself, a bubble of anxiety working its way into your gut. The man looked about as old as your own father and just as intimidating to boot. You weren’t a small woman by any means, but this man was still much taller than you.. A harsh shiver ran up your spine and you looked away, just over his shoulder. The man’s features screwed up tighter in frustration and he slumped slightly, reaching up and rubbing his temple. “Shit…” He sighed, barely audible over the rain. “Alright. Look, we can’t do much right now…” He said as he slid down from his horse’s back, approaching you. You stumbled slightly, not prepared to see this fairly large man suddenly approach you. There were rings glinting on his hand in the warm lantern light, and a chain on his vest glittered too. …The vest was a little weird. Who would be dressed that nice out in a thunderstorm? You were trying to process other details about this man when you realized he had asked you something, looking at you expectantly. He already seemed frustrated.
“Oh– uh… sorry, come again?” You implored, face growing hot with embarrassment. “I-I wasn’t uh…” You touched the back of your head yet again. The man noticed, his tight-knit features softening slightly.
“I asked what you were doin’ out here, miss.” He repeated, his voice deep.
Your brow furrowed for a moment as you thought, eyes drifting downward to the forest floor. “Mhm!” You hummed, suddenly remembering something about what happened. Your eyes darted back up to the man. “Yeah, okay… I was hiking with some folks– then I think I tripped in a tree well and… uh… from there, I don’t know. I think I hit my head pretty hard.” You chuckled awkwardly. “...Actually I know I did. It’s bleeding.” You tentatively brushed your fingers over the gash in the back of your head, wincing and biting back a hiss of pain as you did. The man’s frown deepened and he nodded.
“Do you know where you are?” He asked, gently taking hold of your arm and pulling it away from your head to see the blood that now covered your hand. The rain washed it away as he looked over it, reddened water dripping from your knuckles. The man looked over his shoulder and nodded to Arthur, releasing your arm. Following the man’s gaze towards that Arthur fellow now, you could see there were more horses congregating behind him, along with more people of course, but their details were lost to the shadows. Arthur fastened his lantern to his horse and approached you.
You looked back at the dark-haired man in front of you and shook your head, wincing at the movement. “N-no. Sorry. I dunno.” You stammered.
The man hummed thoughtfully. “Do you know where you were going?”
“No.” You replied, feeling rather stupid. The man nodded and touched your shoulder, his eyes meeting yours. Now there was a kindness in his eyes, the old lines and creases around them softened by the lamplight.
“Alright– you’re alright, miss.” He assured you, a small smile on his face. As you looked at him, mouth ajar and looking like a fool, you absorbed more details about him. He looked fairly well manicured given the situation. Rainwater stuck strands of black hair to his face, dripping off the ends of his mustache and the brim of his hat. When he spoke again, you felt relief wash over you. “We’re gonna get you some help. Arthur, take her on your horse.” You nodded, finding yourself unable to really think on the offer, given the fogginess of your mind– not that you had much of a choice in this situation. The man patted your shoulder and went back to his horse. Looking over the beast, you saw that he was pure white. It was a beautiful sight in the darkness around you. Arthur touched your back, bringing you back to the moment. Touch was a bit of an overstatement, though, as his hand really just hovered over your back, fingers occasionally brushing against you on accident. You gave him a grateful smile, though he wasn’t really looking at you. He led you over to his horse, looking far more mundane when compared to Dutch’s. A voice somewhere amongst the other people called out as Arthur climbed up onto his horse, offering you a hand.
“Dutch! What’chu doin takin’ in some other girl?” A grating voice hissed. “We’re struggling enough as is without this one.” You couldn’t really see where the voice came from, but it wasn’t a major concern of yours. The man on the white horse– Dutch– spoke, shaking his head.
“Now, I know we’re in a bad way right now– we all understand that, Micah,” Dutch said, looking back at the other folks on horseback. You took Arthur’s hand and allowed him to pull you up onto his horse, right behind him. All the while, Dutch kept talking. “But I also know that this girl would not survive the night out here in this storm. I for one would rather not allow her to die out here alone.” He paused, leaning back in his saddle as he spurred his horse into action, weaving through the trees and back to the path. “We’ll figure it out, boys, you know we will. This doesn’t change the plan.” Dutch declared, leading the way off into the storm.
After that, the others didn’t argue– from what you could tell. Some of those men were talking amongst themselves though… about what, you couldn’t say, but at that moment you just didn’t care. You held onto Arthur as he pushed onwards, after that Dutch guy. Despite the rocking and jostling of your battered body, you felt oddly comforted by the warmth of the stranger who found you. After a moment of fighting to keep your head up and your back straight, you found yourself slouched against Arthur, forehead resting against his back. He didn’t say anything about it, though. For a while you rode in silence, unable to rest due to the pain.
“You’re lucky we ended up losing those men back there. We convinced Bill to lead them off our trail– He’ll be meeting us back at camp.” A new voice spoke, the hoofbeats off to your right. You tilted your head and opened your eyes. The lantern on Arthur’s horse illuminated a dark-skinned man, large and seemingly very strong, riding alongside you and Arthur. You took in his face as he spoke to Arthur. He looked kind… Now that might just be the delusional, confused thoughts that came alongside the pain, but regardless, you trusted your gut. The man spoke again, quickly brushing some of his long,dark hair, stringy from the rain, from his eyes. “An interesting girl you found, eh Arthur? How bad is she?” He asked. Arthur shrugged.
“She said she hit her head. Too dark to get a good look, though.” He said, glancing over his shoulder. After a second he cleared his throat. “By the way, miss… ah– you think you can tell us your name?” Arthur asked. You raised your head, nose scrunching up as a throb of pain pulsed in your skull.
“Mm… (Y/N).” You said, releasing Arthur’s midsection to slowly swipe a hand over your eye. “And from what I can tell… You’re Arthur?”
Arthur laughed dryly. “Yeah, you got it. Sorry I didn’t get to formally introduce myself miss (Y/N).” He apologized. You could hear the smile still playing on his lips. You hummed and replaced your hold on him.
“Ah..” You felt a short huff of a laugh work its way into your chest. “It’s fine– and it’s nice to meet you, too, Arthur. Thanks for your help.” Arthur’s friend smiled as well (though it was hardly more than a quirk of the lip), amused as well. He called over the rain, introducing himself.
“My name is Charles.” He said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And it’s nice to meet you.” You let out a short chuckle and leaned forward again, shutting your eyes. “God, my head hurts…”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you taken care of soon enough.” Charles said, turning his eyes back to the path ahead of the posse. You allowed yourself to slump over again, head resting against Arthur’s back. You sincerely hoped he didn’t mind. You knew it was weird to just lean on a stranger like that, but the pain was too much. You couldn’t help it! After a lapse in conversation, Charles spoke again, not drawing his eyes away from the path ahead. “It pains me to say it, Arthur, but Micah did have a point this time.” He said, drawing his horse closer to Arthur’s. “This is the third person we’re taking in, if we count that Kieran kid.”
Arthur was quiet for a moment before growling out a “I know.” There was some level of venom to his tone but it was ultimately overcome by the weary sigh of his breath. You peered at Charles who appeared to have the same resigned anger you had heard in Arthur’s voice. Arthur continued speaking, his voice rumbling in his chest. You kept your head pressed to his back, eyes droopy, still listening to the men speak. “We’ll have to pick up a few more jobs, sure… maybe you ‘n me can do some more huntin’.” Arthur proposed. “I ain’t one for leaving these folk on their own like that. ‘Sides, can’t very well just take this girl into town with the law out there lookin for us. This is the best we got right now.”
“I hear you.” Charles agreed. “I don’t think I’d leave them out to dry like that either.” Your lips tightened into a thoughtful frown. The law? So there were cops after these people? God, what the hell had you gotten yourself into– well, not that you meant to fall and get the shit knocked out of you. You shut your eyes and tilted your head as you thought. This was gonna be one hell of a mess… Getting out of it would be an absolute nightmare. You relaxed slightly and opened your eyes. Well, these two guys seemed nice enough– and so did that Dutch. That guy with the annoying voice might give you some trouble, but if these people really did want to help you, you shouldn’t have too many issues. Hopefully. You couldn’t really think very well, honestly, so you hardly trusted your own mind on this matter. Regardless, you’d get by.
The men fell into another long patch of silence– much longer this time. It got to the point where you felt yourself drifting off into slumber, somehow. The jostle of the horse hardly pained you now. You weren’t sure if you just got used to it or if you’d gone numb. Regardless, you had your tired eyes shut and weren’t planning on opening them until the splitting pain in your skull went away. The voices of the other men that rode with Arthur, though already muffled by the storm’s harsh rain and rolling thunder, grew more distant as you dozed, still holding onto Arthur all the while. Before long, you were asleep.