Nine Riders

The sun rose the next day, the same as every morning before and flooded foothills of the Rocky Mountains with its warm beams, melting the snow, which still covered the tops of the highest peaks. On the slopes below them and in the valleys, the winter was long forgotten though and the rocky hills got lively with the usual spring masquerade of young elks chasing each other between the bushes, while squirrels did the same in the treetops, their games accompanied with the orchestra of flying inhabitants of the woods.

At the daybreak, it was the black-haired Rider guarding his sleeping mates, finishing his second night patrol. Yawning Ryo was poking the fire without any real purpose, waiting for Cullen´s return, as the older man set off to check on the road an hour ago.

Of the others, only Jane got up already and after assuring him that her ankle was much better, she slowly headed to the brook for the fresh water. After a while, Ryo added a few thick branches to the flames, so that they could prepare some coffee, once Jane would be back. Then he noticed that his blonde buddy started to stir under the blanket.

Koki sat up scratching his head and glanced around sleepily.

"God, I was never happier to get some sleep," he murmured, rubbing his eyes.

"That´s hard to believe, considering how much you love napping all the time," Ryo chuckled.

"Bah…" the blonde one stuck out his tongue and got up. "Where´s Cullen and Jane?" he asked, noticing that they were missing some members.

"Our old wolf went to check on the road, he should be back soon. Jane went to the brook."

"Good, good, I´d like to have a cup of black coffee then, pretty please."

"I´m not your servant, man," Ryo snickered.

"I´ve asked nicely," his companion reacted indignantly, walking around the fire. "You could appreciate that, at least."

Ryo just shook his head, while Koki continued toward the trees, probably to relieve himself, when he suddenly stopped.

"Hey! Hey!" the blonde Rider lowered his voice and started to wave at him.

"What is it now?" Ryo eyed his sudden excitement confusedly.

"Come and see for yourself!" the other one whispered, pointing down at the lines of two bodies under the blankets. "And be quiet! Don´t wake them up!"

Frowning, and having no idea what could be so interesting about sleeping Kame and Jin, Ryo stood up and approached the spot bordered by two boulders, which those two chose for the night, to see what Koki did.

The older one was lying on his back, his lips parted a little and one of his arms was circled around the younger´s body, as Kame was nestled with his head resting on Jin´s chest, probably also hugging him under the blanket. They were sound asleep, not being aware of their surroundings at all.

"They´re so cuuute!" Koki was grinning from ear to ear.

Ryo just had to smile as well; the two probably snuggled together sometimes during the night unconsciously, to warm themselves up. However, it was unusual they didn´t woke up each other; they had to be really tired.

"Jane! Perfect timing! Give me some of it!" the blonde one rushed to meet the brunette, who had just returned with all their bottles full.

"What? Why?" Jane observed the Rider uncomprehendingly, as he pulled one of the flasks from her grip.

"Ssh!" Koki hushed her and tiptoed back to the sleeping ´couple´.

Jane followed him, frowning a little, until she approached close enough to see Jin with Kame and then she understood the blonde one´s intention right away: "Oh, come on! How old are you, Tanaka?"

"Do not spoil all the fun, Jane," Ryo whispered urgently, and retreated a little back, not to be within the reach, when Koki leant above Jin´s head.

Jane bit her lower lip, hesitating if she should stop such a stupid joke, but before she could decide, Koki had already poured a good dose of ice-cold water all over Akanishi´s face.

The so far peacefully sleeping gunslinger sat up so violently that it made both Jane and Ryo wince. Kame fell from him to the side and knocked out his breath. He opened his eyes in shock to see Jin armed. The blonde one´s laughter hitched in his throat, when he realized the dangerous barrel aiming at him.

"Hey, easy! Easy! It was just a joke!" Koki started coughing heavily, as he was still half-laughing and raised both hands to show he was harmless.

"What the hell is this fuss about?!" Leo, also disturbed from sleep, rose up on his elbows.

Motionless Jin stared at the blonde Rider, the water dripping from his hair. Kame was finally able to comprehend the situation somehow, dug himself out from the blankets and placed a hand on the older one´s shoulder.

"You can put that down, Jin…"

The other one let go of a deep breath, which he held until that moment and finally lowered his revolver.

Jane proceeded to smirking Koki, yanked the bottle from his fingers with one hand and hit over his head with the other: "Your idiotic ideas will kill you one day!" she scolded him.

But the blonde one was not concerned about the treatment at all, repaying the older Akanishi´s stare firmly.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" Jin asked, gritting his teeth.

Koki shrugged: "You can take it as a payback for knocking me down back then."

Jin stiffened. While Jane and Leo looked at each other confusedly, Ryo and Kame knew what Koki was referring to – the rupture back at the cottage, when Jin wanted to rush off to Leadville all alone.

"Fair enough…" the older one murmured in the end and hid the gun back to its sheath, which was hidden under the blanket close to his hand for the whole night.

"Not to mention that I couldn´t help it, really. You two were too sweet," Koki added with the grin spreading his lips again.

Already fully awake Kame looked at the Rider alarmed, while Jin knitted his eyebrows: "What? What are you talking about?"

"You were hugging each other while sleeping," Ryo explained, his lips twitching in the smile as well.

"Just like two lovebirds," Koki continued mocking the stiffened men.

Disheveled Leo, who joined them as well now, burst out laughing: "Really?"

"You should have seen them, Chief," the blonde one confirmed, still greatly amused.

"Don´t look so horrified, Jin," Ryo contributed to the general amusement, too. "You seemed to be pretty much content."

Kame, whose face was turning redder with each word, wasn´t able of any reaction. Only Jin finally shook the first surprise off.

"You´re right, I had been sleeping like a baby until a certain dumbass decided to give me a morning shower for free."

The whole campsite echoed with the cheerful laughter of three Riders, when Jin got up promptly, ignoring them. Only Jane observed the situation carefully, noticing that unlike Jin, Kame was still anxious. The younger´s fingers were squeezing the crumpled blankets and there was no amusement in his face, even though he tried to smile.

Considering their circumstances, Jane almost felt sorry for them. It must have been hard, to realize they had no control over what they did subconsciously.

She clapped her hands to attract the attention to herself: "If you´re done with childish games, you can help me out to prepare some breakfast!"

"Ryo will help you!" Koki reacted immediately and rushed to the trees. "I need to pee!"

"That´s a pathetic excuse!" the mentioned Rider called over to him.

"I´ll help you, my love," Leo took Jane into his arms, pecking her lips. "Good morning…"

She repaid his greeting smiling, but still watched Kame, who took a small towel and headed away from the camp, soon followed by Jin. Everybody seemed to forget about the morning incident quickly, except those two, she would have bet.

*

Jin managed to calm down completely, before he reached the cheerful stream. It was an ugly wake-up and he was actually surprised about his own reaction, when he reached for the gun immediately, ready to face any danger. The recent happenings probably ruffled his nerves more than he had thought. Adding that stupid taunting, which made him quite nervous at first, before he realized that everyone took it as a fun, it was some morning after such an enjoyable night…

They rested so close to each other because it was impossible to move sleeping Kame away, when their part of the watch ended. So, Jin had just lied down right next to him. He didn´t realize it might have caused such a fuss in the morning.

He found Kazuya almost drenching himself in the splashes of cold water. Jin noticed that the younger one was very sheepish about the whole situation, more than himself. Kame looked up at him from behind the strands of wet hair and he rubbed his face dry before straightening up.

"I´m sorry I…" they both started talking at the same time.

Finally, for the first time since their waking-up, Kame smiled: "I didn´t realize what I did during the night, Jin."

He sighed: "Me neither, so we´re even in that."

"They just… It surprised me," the younger one said hesitantly. "I didn´t know what to say."

"It´s all right, Kazu, it was just a joke," Jin assured him. "They didn´t figure anything out."

"Yeah, I guess you´re right… But we need to be more careful."

"Oh, come on…" the older one caught Kame´s elbow and pulled him closer. "I think we´re too careful already."

"That´s not…"

"Enough of this," Jin cut in, not really willing to spoil a nice morning any further. "I want my morning kiss."

Kame dodged his attempt in the last second: "You´re too careless," he reproached to Jin, his eyes running over the woods in the direction of the camp.

"And you´re too responsible, so it´s balanced, I guess," the other one reacted immediately. "And if you don´t give it to me, I will take it," he stated in a deeper voice.

The younger one turned to Jin again and something inside him happily gave in to that request in the dark eyes. He jumped around the older one´s neck, surprising Jin a little with the urgency he clung to his lips.

Their tongues touched each other only teasingly at first; before they gave everything they had into the battle over ruling the other and ended up in a slow passionate finale. Short of breath, and in a tight embrace, they looked at each other and smiled in the exactly same way, before they kissed again. And then again.

*

Cullen came back to the camp just in time for breakfast, and informed them that the main road seemed abandoned and all the surrounding areas were peaceful with no sign of any fuss. No matter that, they still intended to avoid the easiest access to Leadville on the way back to the west, just to be safe.

Kame checked on Jane´s sprinkled ankle again, which seemed to be just fine, not considering the small swelling, and Leo´s leg was healing well too. A scratch on Jin´s arm was almost nothing comparing it to the injuries he had in the past, but Kame gave a special attention to it anyway.

Then, after packing all their things again, with Esler leading the way, and with Jin and Kame closing it, they set off on somewhat lengthy travel back, which was good for everyone, including the animals. For once, they had no special reason to rush so much…

*

No discussion about the stop in Leadville was necessary. Everybody took it as a given fact – they just couldn´t pass by the city without stopping at the cemetery. Even if they knew, it would be a very sad visit. But they needed and wanted to say the last goodbye.

Six new crosses on the very edge of depressing grave field indicated the places of the last rest for their friends. Four of them were left unmarked, as only Benny and Todd were known in Leadville; Carl, Patrick, Ian and Sherman had their homeland somewhere else and almost nobody outside the gang knew their names.

The Black Riders´ leader stood there, watching those recently created graves in silence, while squeezing the hand of the sad brunette next to him. The glum faces of Esler, Ryo and Koki expressed their grief as well, as they remembered their late companions. They lost too many of them at once, just too many…

Jin and Kame remained a little behind, guarding the horses, while checking on the road around the cemetery for any intruders. The hunched figures of the gang members were a sad sight to witness. Comparing to the time when they got to know them, not many were left from the Riders.

Despite not many people wandering around the cemetery, they didn´t stay there for long. But at least, they wanted to use the opportunity for necessary shopping, which was planned days ago. While Ryo, Kame and Koki headed to the city center; Leo, Jane, Cullen and Jin chose one of the outskirts taverns, which was not exactly a frequented spot, to wait for them.

It took quite long before the shopping group returned, so long that Jin had already proposed to go after them, when Kame finally appeared in the door of the pub. Relieved that they could get out, they reunited with Koki and Ryo, who were waiting outside with the loaded horses. But their departure didn´t go without a small dispute…

"What the hell is this?" Cullen asked pointing at the small cart pulled by a grey donkey.

Both Koki and Ryo created the charming smiles all over their faces.

"We agreed on deserving some proper reward for our efforts while rescuing our dear leader with his lovely girlfriend," Ryo reacted pompously.

"Make it short, damn it!" the older Rider snapped impatiently. "What´s in those barrels?"

"Just a little bit of tasty frothy drink for everyone," Koki announced proudly.

Cullen huffed, as he expected nothing else.

"Where did you get the money for it?!" Jane placed hands on her hips, piercing them with her eyes strictly. "We had barely enough for what I´ve sent you!"

Both Riders shook their heads in quite a carefree way.

"Don´t worry, dear," Ryo assured her. "We stopped by our favorite tavern."

"Yeah, they released that tough old man from the clinic," Koki added. "He put it up on our debt. And I dare to say he´ll never want us to pay for it."

"One would say he´d be angry with us, but not at all… And he even borrowed us this little boy," the black-haired one patted the calm animal. "Seems he didn´t like Duggan much."

"What?! You risked going there again?!" Cullen´s voice creaked a little. "How could you…!? What if someone…!" he suddenly paused and looked at the third member of the shopping group, who remained silent so far, soothing the white mare calmly. "Kamenashi! Why didn´t you stop them? At least you could use your brain!"

Kame, quite surprised that the older man turned the conversation to him, seemed to be seriously insulted: "I´ve tried but I´m not their nursemaid," he protested indignantly.

"Stop fussing, old man. I bet you´ll be the first to tap a tankard," Koki grinned.

Cullen face-palmed himself in defeat, murmuring something about irresponsible idiots, while Jane sighed, asking them if they got everything she requested at least. Only both Akanishi brothers seemed to have a good fun behind Cullen´s back.

Finally, after the purposeless argument that there was no need to show themselves off more than necessary, they finally set off on the way back to their cottage, where, as they all hoped, their youngest member Jack and wounded Nick would be waiting for them…

***

Many folds of the dark purple satin dress rustled as Augusta Tabor walked through the long corridor leading to the workroom of Lieutenant Governor – her husband. She wanted to keep a cool head, but with each step, she was just getting angrier. There was a border to what she was willing to bear, and Horace stepped over it too often in the past half a year.

With an imperious gesture, Augusta waved the black servant away – she was fed up of being announced in advance like some uninvited guest. She took the handle resolutely and entered the room filled with the heavy smoke. She wrinkled her nose in disgust – those cigars smelled worse every time she got to encounter them.

The Governor raised his head from the stack of newspapers, which were spread all around his table, that damn smoking thing in the corner of his mouth.

"You forgot to knock, dear," Horace commented her arrival.

"And you forgot to come for dinner!" she crossed the expensive carpet and stopped right in front of that messed table. "My parents bothered to travel all the way here from Maine and you let us wait?!"

"Eat without me; I´ve got some work to do," her ´dear´ husband announced rather stiffly and with no remorse in his voice.

"What kind of work you might have with this dirty pile? Building paper ships?" she asked mockingly.

The look, which Horace gave her then, made Augusta freeze. There was nothing but annoyance in those eyes. Nothing was left from what she used to see in them years ago.

"I said I´m busy. Be so kind and leave me alone, wife," Horace snorted scornfully. "Say my regards to your parents."

*

The door of his workroom finally closed again, though with a bang which made the nearest picture on the wall go swinging. Horace frowned and thought that his wife should definitely work on controlling her emotions more.

Quite annoyed, he put a half-done cigar down in the ashtray and called to Betsy.

"Any new message?" he asked sharply, once her black head appeared between the doors.

"No, sir. I will come to tell you right away if so, sir."

"Bring me Dick then; I want to send a telegram," Horace decided suddenly. He had enough of waiting already.

"But sir, the post office is already closed…"

"Now!" he snapped impatiently. The woman nodded and hastily retreated to fulfill his command.

Tabor got up and approached the window to look down at the dark street. There was no word from the bounty hunter or Duggan ever since three days ago, when they were supposed to leave Leadville with Leo Akanishi captured. They should have been in Denver already, even if they had proceeded in a slug´s pace.

He would send an express telegram to the Sheriff in Leadville; he might know if something happened. And Trent rather should have some information for him. Even if he had to make the man to search the whole Rocky Mountains, he would find out what went wrong.

***

It was the fourth evening after they had left, when Jack kept trying to see through the deepening shadows between the trees if he would spot his returning buddies. The anxiety and worries deepened inside the youngest Rider with each passed day. He realized it might have taken quite long before they would find Leo, but there was also a very high chance that something went awfully wrong and they couldn´t return.

What if they don´t come back?

That question kept appearing on his mind persistently, and he always pushed it away angrier at himself, that he wasn't able to trust them more. It was hard to keep the faith when there was absolutely nothing what would support it, but the waiting was the worst. Waiting and not knowing anything.

Jack sighed and glanced to the west, at the sun which was soon about to set, again, and then he headed back inside the cottage. He was already at the stairs to the veranda, when he heard something. The young Rider froze, turned toward the woods again and listened.

Nothing was heard for a while, just a breeze playing in the treetops. He already thought that he was just imagining things, but then there was a voice again, and another one replying something. Someone´s laugh followed. Jake made sure that there was a rifle ready, leaning over the wall next to the entrance to the cottage, but didn´t pick it up. He hoped, looking in the direction from which the voices were approaching. He hoped, but he was afraid to believe. Until finally, some riders popped out from the woods, and entered the small glade flooded with the last sunlight of that day.

He was never more relieved than when he recognized his leader and his pretty girlfriend riding in the front of the small group. Cullen followed them, with his usual frowning expression, then also smiling Ryo and Koki, who was waving at Jack excitedly, and their line was closed with Leo´s older brother and Kame, who rode behind the small cart with some barrels.

Jack didn´t dare to move until everybody was in his sight, only then he whooped with joy and jumped down from the stairs. Leo dismounted first, though he did it more slowly than usually and helped the smiling brunette down too. Jack dashed toward them and in the spur of the moment; he jumped around Jane´s neck, for the first time ever not wondering what Leo would think about it. His leader just kept smiling though and patted him over the shoulder, once he finally let the brunette go from a firm hug.

The yard got lively with voices, everybody laughing over Jack´s excitement as the youngster went around touching them as if he wanted to make sure they were no hallucinations.

"It was horrible to just wait for you! Horrible! How was it? What happened in the city? What about Harvey?!" Jack was almost dancing around them.

"Hey, hey, slow down, kid," Koki ruffled his hair teasingly.

"One thing after another," Ryo grabbed Jack´s elbow with a wide and rather calculative smile. "We´re quite tired so what about you take care of the horses?"

"Sure! Sure! No problem!" Jack repaid his grin even more widely and eagerly took two bridles at once.

"Just a second…" Kame stopped his enthusiasm. "What about Nick?"

The important question cooled the happy reunion down for a while, but Jack´s smile didn´t fade away even a bit.

"He´s weak, but alive. He had a fever, but I gave him that tea as you told me, and it went away quickly," the happy Rider informed them.

Everybody breathed out in relief over the great news.

"Good, I´ll rather check up on him right away," Kame decided and handed Ukushi´s bridle over to Jack too. "Be nice," he patted the mare across her neck, before he rushed inside the cottage as the first.

Koki and Ryo dragged the cart toward the cellar meanwhile, flattering the capable donkey on the way, while Jin with Cullen led the rest of horses behind whistling Jack, and Leo with Jane followed Kame inside, walking hand in hand.

*

Jane made sure there was enough wood in the stove to keep the fire alive and then took one of the seized bottles of whiskey and the tray with glasses from the kitchen table. The cottage itself was abandoned and very quiet, the total opposite from the veranda, which resonated with the voices of eight men.

She stopped between the doors at the sight of Riders seated around the table, just as one evening before with some of them half-sitting at the railing. The small part of sky visible above the cottage was dark red from the sunset, but the faces of the gathered men were bright under the gold light of the kerosene lamps.

"I was scared shitless – Jane couldn´t keep running for long and I was out of bullets – horrible moment, seriously," Leo was just in the middle of thrilling narration. Jack literally devoured every leader´s word, while pale Nick listened eagerly as well, covered by the thick blanket. "So, I´m crouching behind that tree, looking for a stone or anything I can use, when I hear the thundering hooves. Those bastards are surprised by it and stop in the middle of the road, so I can look out too and… you should have seen him!" Leo pointed at his brother, who was leaning over the railing with the arms crossed on his chest. "Completely in black, not holding the reins at all, riding forward as the cavalry itself. I couldn´t even recognize Jin at first. And when they started shooting I bet they thought he had come right from Hell, because he didn´t even flinch!"

Jane noticed that Jin glanced to the side at Kame, who didn´t seem to be so excited about the story. She was not surprised. If the older one really did something like this, he exposed himself to a great risk. But Jin did it for his brother, and if anything, Jane was endlessly grateful for that. While she was lost in her thoughts, Leo moved on in the story…

"Then that guy jumps down from his horse and lands right behind the tree next to me. And he just says: ´Hello there, stupid Bro´," Leo tried to imitate Jin´s deeper voice, which met with quite an amusement from Ryo and Koki. "And then he starts re-loading his revolvers. Seriously, I felt as if in a dream."

"I don´t blame you," Ryo noted. "We´ve seen him only from afar, but he really looked like some Black Rider from Hell. You´re damn good shooter, Jin."

"And you´ve got a damn good horse too," Cullen spoke suddenly. "That he didn´t ran wild."

"That I have," Jin nodded quite proudly.

"That´s awesome! And what then? What then?" Jack requested the rest of the story excitedly.

He was always so eager and lively, not even the experience in the Cursed Mine could take it away. Jane knew Jack even before the Riders appeared on the farm of her uncle. A cheerful boy with a common face and short height, despite the poor family conditions he came out from, more than willing to help the others. He was only nineteen, the youngest one of them, and lacked experiences and composure, but Leo came to like him a lot.

Koki took up where Leo stopped and started to describe the rest of the clash fiercely. His blonde hair was already almost half-brown again, as it kept growing quickly. He was reckless and hot headed, but loyal and with the endless sources of jokes, even though some very pretty dirty ones…

Ryo completed Koki´s narration from time to time, mockingly reminding him not to take all the fame for himself. Those two were great buddies, a little paradoxically. Ryo was much more serious and composed, but his cheerful side came out a lot when Koki was around. And he also treasured the friendship with Leo more than anything, Jane knew that.

Cullen was listening to the younger Riders with a barely suppressed smile; it was obviously difficult for him not to let himself be infected with their cheerfulness. Cullen had an irreplaceable place in the gang. The most experienced, always seemed to know what to do when the others were helpless, always supported Leo, selflessly, never bitter about his position. Jane admired the man a lot. He was also grumpy, moody and suspicious, but he´d have never given up on Riders; they were his life and he cared for them no matter how harshly he treated the others from time to time.

Nick was the second oldest after Cullen, near thirty. He always kept his light brown hair short, but now it was longer than usually. He didn´t talk much, but he was there for them when it was necessary. His always deeply tanned skin was also quite pale, and Kame ordered him a strict diet as a part of his convalescence, but he seemed to be totally satisfied at that moment.

And then there were Leo´s brother and mysterious Kame…

Jin was… almost exactly how Jane imagined her lover´s brother would be. They were different and yet very similar. Jin was a loving and caring older brother. When it came to Leo, he didn´t care about anything including himself. He came searching for him to Colorado, he did everything necessary to help him, even though he probably didn´t like Leo´s position as the Riders´ leader much.

Jane somehow felt that the older one was trying to make up for the past a little, but that was only her assumption based on what she had heard from Leo. Jin had an open heart, great confidence in own skills and was always determined to achieve his goals. According to what she had witnessed so far, Leo couldn´t have a better sibling.

But the older Akanishi was also moody, hot-blooded and offensive. Knowing both the ´newcomers´ better now, Jane was quite surprised that Kame was able to deal with him so well. More precisely taken – the younger one was the only one who could manage Jin´s mood slips.

Kazuya Kamenashi was a mystery to her. At the first sight, she underestimated him; she let herself be deceived by his appearance and polite attitude. But he kept surprising her all that time. Not only that Kame was a good hunter, rider and tracer. He had incredible knowledge about medical stuff, Indians and even cooking. He was almost always composed, not being shaken or distracted easily and basically, he got on well with everyone. Koki literally adored him, Ryo enjoyed his company as well and except Cullen, who only started to trust those two, everybody else got friendly with him quickly.

Kame was strong, maybe not so much physically but definitely mentally. That was the impression she had of him. Jane couldn´t understand fully, just how someone like him could grow up in this bloody world of the Wild West.

And of course, on the top of it, there was that secret which she expected the least of all. Even though both Jin and Kame fitted among the Riders well, they were somewhat individualistic. As if they existed for each other. Even if she didn´t know about the… special form of their relationship, there was this romantic feeling about them. It felt like they would jump into the fire for the sake of the other. It was adorable, and Jane was honestly surprised that nobody else noticed it yet. On the other hand – she was the only woman around, more sensitive to some things and paid them a bigger attention now. The others, all gunslingers forged in shootouts and furious pursuits, probably would not even imagine something like that to be happening between the two.

It was a rather interesting company, gathered there in the middle of woods, connected by blood, friendship and love. They had to face a cruel loss and Jane missed those, who could not be there anymore, dearly. But it could have been much worse... How little was missed, and they would not have been able to sit here together like this. She would have never seen Leo´s smiling face again. She would have never heard them laughing together as now. They were so lucky… But that didn´t have to be the case the next time… And she wasn´t as foolish as to believe that similar situations would not happen again.

She didn´t realize the sudden silence, until Leo´s voice reached her.

"Jane… Come to sit among us," he invited her softly.

Everybody was looking at her now. She didn´t understand their facial expressions, until she realized there were two wet lines all over her cheeks and her eyes felt stingy. Damn… She didn´t cry all that time and now, when they were safe, she would start?

Before she could move, two figures approached her promptly. While Ryo took the tray and bottle from her hands, Jin led her for an arm to the table gently, to make her sit beside his younger brother.

Jane took a shaky breath: "I´m… sorry," she almost whispered, overwhelmed by emotions, she couldn´t even name.

"It´s all right to cry sometimes," Jin assured her, before he returned to his spot at the railing, next to Kame.

Leo placed a clean handkerchief in Jane´s hands and hugged her around the waist, while Ryo poured the drinks instead of her. But the whiskey remained untouched on the table for quite a while, as the group just sat there in silence. It was not Jane´s fault – it wasn´t easy to forget all the bad things which had happened, even though they tried. The brunette blew her nose and curled up in Leo´s arms. Cullen kept smoking, otherwise nobody moved.

"So... The others…" Jack dared to break the silence in the end. "They´re all…?"

"Yeah, kid, they are," Cullen was the one confirming the horrible fact. "They buried them properly and all, at least."

"But those fuckers smell to the flowers from under as well," Koki added darkly. "Except Harvey, as we´ve told you."

"That´s… good," Nick spoke quietly. "Duggan was the one who… stabbed me. Thanks, guys."

"For nothing, really," Cullen reacted. "That asshole asked for it."

"So… It´s only seven of us now, including Jane," Jack noted sadly.

"That´s quite sad statistics, since we had started with fifteen members…" Ryo reacted gloomily.

"No," Leo denied their statements firmly. "There´s nine of us."

The Rides looked at him first, before their eyes focused on Jin and Kame.

"Aren´t we, guys?" Leo added, giving them a serious, deep look.

Both of them repaid his stare for a while, before they looked at each other. They exchanged no words, just their eyes communicated in a meaningful, but silent way. Then Jin threw an arm around the younger´s shoulders and turned to his brother again: "You can bet, Bro. Nobody can improve your chances better than us," he grinned, making also Ryo, Koki and Jack start smiling again.

"That I call confidence," Ryo appreciated.

Koki couldn´t help but oppose the statement: "I´d rather say swagger."

"It seems to me you´ve got the most experience in that," Jin reacted with a dangerous smile.

Koki made a face on him, while Leo laughed: "True enough."

"We´re in, but only in case that Cullen agrees as well," surprisingly, Kame spoke in a serious voice, looking at the oldest man, while he tried to ignore the warmness of a heavy arm around him. "You trust us the least, don´t you?"

Everybody fell silent, while Esler looked up to the young man obviously surprised, before he smirked: "Well, let´s say that´s a history already, Kame."

The younger one was more than satisfied with such a response, but the older one just had to mock the oldest Rider.

"We´ve proved ourselves to be reliable enough for you?" Jin asked smirking.

"He did," Cullen gestured toward Kame in no less teasing way. "You still have a lot of catching up to do, kiddo."

Jin looked as if he bit into a lemon, but grinning Leo cut in the exchange of opinions quickly, before his older brother could react: "Great, since we´ve agreed so nicely… Ryo, be so kind and give those drinks away finally, before we die of thirst."

A cheerful toast was so loud that it startled a young elk, which strayed too close to the cottage and made him rush away, quite far and far from those scary sounds. Which was good for the animal, otherwise it would have surely joined its relative stored in the cellar under the current home of the Black Riders.