At the stake

Kuro was Jin´s reliable companion on the roads and faithful friend for already more than three years. The young gunslinger could always rely on him; the proud and persistent animal had never let him down. But on that night, Jin was glad that he agreed with Kame´s decision and didn´t pick Kuro up from his stable behind Harada´s Saloon. If he had set off on this mission with his own horse, they would have been lost at the second when the last glimpse of the city lanterns disappeared in wet darkness.

Jin knew the roads around Bozeman quite well, thanks to his previous search for a bear, and according to Kame´s precise description, he was sure at least about a half of correct way to the Indians. The problem was he didn´t see the road in front of him. Better said, he didn´t see even the tip of own nose.

He was aware that this night task wouldn´t be any walk through the rose garden, when he said that he would go and warn the tribe, and Jin was determined to deal with any related difficulties. Just an hour was enough to clarify, that this was not a good time for wandering through the woods at all.

It hadn´t stopped raining yet, the sky was only a little brighter than the rest of everything around him and it didn´t allow his eyes to get used to it. The rider was surrounded by the dark so closely it felt as if he was blind. He had no idea if they were going in the correct direction and the only thing he could do was to trust Ukushi.

The mare was incredibly calm; Jin felt her muscles moving steadily forward, following the way she definitely knew better than him and she didn´t need her eyes for it. Kame was right, that the mare would go and lead their way without doubts. The animal had its instincts, which were beyond human understanding. If not for Ukushi, Jin could have given this up right away.

Despite it was very unpleasant for him not being able to see where they went, Jin had started to trust the animal quite soon and kept being careful only about the low branches, which could have hit him to the head and throw him out from the saddle.

He was more irritated by the fact it would take much more than three hours to get to their goal like this. And that was because there was a small detail he didn´t mentioned to Kame, as he didn´t want him to worry even more. Jin was supposed to join Grenet and the soldiers in the morning and travel to the village with them. In this goddamned weather, there was no way he could return to the city by the morning.

But Jin didn´t care that he was cold and completely wet at the moment, neither about the problem he would probably have with pissed Grenet and with finding some believable excuse. He wouldn´t have taken his decision back.

The truth was that he wasn´t doing this for the Indians. He was doing it for Kame, and that was worth of any troubles, which might come out of it. In any other case, he would have been totally annoyed and angry by this time, but thanks to the focus on Kame, Jin remained calm and patient.

Which was quite surprising... If his late friend had been there, he would have been definitely shocked with this attitude. He didn´t realize that his behavior was quite different from the usual one. That there was something or more like someone, who was changing him...

Jin was rewarded for his patience a little, as after another hour, the raining stopped and the sky above him was slowly losing its heavy blanket of dark clouds. Not that it cleared up, but after some time, Jin´s eyes got used to the limited possibilities of his seeing and he could distinguish the trees, bigger stones and narrow path in front of Ukushi, on which she was marching tirelessly. As soon as he realized that he was able to see the three meters ahead, he incited the animal to the trot and they started to proceed much faster.

He even recognized the places, which he had already seen before, but it didn´t take long and they reached the location, which he didn´t know. From that momen,t he could only follow Kame´s instructions and Ukushi´s certainty, with which she was heading towards her former home.

It was good for Jin that he needed to focus on the road almost all the time now; it didn´t give him any space to think about how much he would like to spare all these troubles, which could have been achieved so easily. One proper bullet from his revolver into the right head would be more than enough…

But there was also something, what he couldn´t forget about so easily – the young bartender. Somehow, Jin´s thoughts kept going back to Kame, even though he should rather figure out how to persuade the Indians to trust his words.

He would have never said it aloud, but deep inside he knew why he got so upset over the certain question. That dark anger from seeing Kame injured and that strange but at the same time pleasant feeling in his fingers and stomach, when he touched the younger´s skin. These two things made him realize that he was undeniably attracted to the handsome bartender; that he had more than just friendly feelings towards Kazuya. It was similar to when he liked some woman, but much stronger. From some reason, he couldn´t deny that urge to protect the younger man; to hug him and hold him close and…

Jin stopped his rushing thoughts at once and squeezed the bridle tighter. It was not normal to think about the other man like this... But was it wrong to feel it? What would Kame say if he knew?

These and other worries were flooding Jin´s mind, and he almost didn´t realize that the first signs of dawn appeared on the east. It was Ukushi, who tore her rider off his thoughts, when she snorted slightly.

Jin was glad that he didn´t see much at that moment, when he looked around. They were proceeding on a very narrow path along the huge rock and Jin had a hunch, that it was not a safe view down to the valley, from where he could hear a sound of falling water. He was relieved when they overcame this part and proceeded to the natural alley of young oaks.

Then he noticed something unusual in front of them, even before he had realized the dawn was coming. It was the small orange spot among the regular dark shapes – the rest of fire in the middle of circle of wigwams.

First Jin even thought that he fell asleep on the animal and he was dreaming. But when a tall sinewy figure popped up behind a nearby tree, aiming with an arrow at his chest, it was clear that he was more than awake.

Jin managed to reach the Blackfeet Tribe´s village and their watch had just spotted him.

***

It felt like somebody placed two heavy stones on his eyelids and he didn´t have the strength to take them away and open his eyes. But the loud sounds, which woke him up from the restless sleep, into which he fell very late in the night or better said very early in the morning, didn´t seem to stop anytime soon and they made him overcome his aversion towards facing the reality.

Somehow, Kame forced himself to raise the eyelids slightly, leant over his hands and wanted to get up from his bed. His beaten up muscles and bones protested so loudly, that he was just able to curl up on his side, gasping for a breath. Who would have said that the pain from the beating could get even worse?

The banging stopped and was replaced by muted voices. When he heard his mother among them, Kame put himself together, didn´t pay attention to pain and firstly sat on and then stood up from the bed. With some difficulties, he was able to reach the door.

It was tough to go straight, but he clenched his teeth and got out of his room in the back part of their house. The narrow corridor was flooded with the faint daylight. It wasn´t so early in the morning, but the heavy clouds about the city only started to move away.

In the door, the small figure of his mother was creating a dark shadow and in front of them, Kame spotted the blue uniform.

"We apologize for intrusion, Madam, but we wouldn´t have bothered you, if it wasn´t an urgent case," Kame heard the tall man on their veranda, as he went toward them as steadily as he could.

"I still don´t understand what my son has in common with an ambush of your unit," Rosie stated in a very persistent tone.

"That´s what we would like to solve with him directly," there was a response.

"But..." the woman took a breath for another question.

"It´s all right, Mother," Kame said on a quiet voice, when he finally reached the door and placed the hand on his mother´s shoulder. "Good morning, Captain Walker. How can I help you?"

The uniformed man nodded his head in the greeting, too.

"I wish it was a good morning, Kamenashi," he said and knitted his eyebrows together, when Kame went forward and his beaten face became visible. "Unfortunately, I didn´t come to your house for any polite visit, but first... What happened to you?"

Kame didn´t intend to tell the truth from the very beginning and seeing Brad, who probably led the captain and his two men to their house, standing under veranda only reminded him, that he was supposed to keep his mouth shut about what had happened the previous evening.

"We had a little disagreement in the saloon last night," he said then. "It´s nothing serious..."

"Glad to hear that as I came to request for your assistance," the captain responded, but he didn´t seem convinced by Kame´s statement. "The sheriff´s deputy informed me that you know about the local Indian´s tribe location. Is that true?"

There was no point in denying this fact, but it didn´t mean that it was easier for Kame, while he knew what would follow.

"Yes, I know where their village is. But why do you need this information, Captain?"

"As you probably know, we supervise the surveyors for the planned track of the railway. And we were ambushed by a group of Indians yesterday," the man stated in a very serious tone and his voice became more quiet. "Two of my men were killed."

"I´m sorry to hear that but I´m pretty sure that the Blackfeet Tribe has nothing to do with this attack," Kame said as convincingly as he could.

"Why do you think so?" Walker pierced him with a sharp glance.

"Their tribe is very peaceful, Captain. I can´t even imagine they would do something like that."

"That´s possible, but I´m sure you understand we have to investigate this issue thoroughly."

"Then you should start with the Sioux Tribe," Kame proposed. "It´s far more probable you were attacked by them. Didn´t you recognize the attackers?"

"I´m sorry, Kamenashi, but almost all Indians seem the same to me..." the captain said using honestly apologetic tone. "No matter if the Blackfeet Tribe is responsible for the deaths of my men or not, I have to question them. Maybe they know something more, for example about those Sioux you mentioned. Do you agree with that?"

Kame uttered an unsatisfied sigh. Captain Walker was calm and reasonable, but opposing him right now would have brought only more problems.

"Yes, I do..."

"So, I would like to ask you to bring us to them, as soon as possible."

"Wait a minute, Mr. Captain..." his mother included herself into the conversation again. "My son is brave, but he was seriously hurt last night and he won´t go anywhere without a proper medical examination."

The captain looked at the woman seriously and kept silent for a while, before checking up on Kame´s appearance again.

„All right, then. I have to admit you don´t look well at all," Walker stated not covering the suspicion in his voice. He probably didn´t believe Kame´s excuse, but he didn´t ask about that again. "Let yourself to be checked first. We will set off right after the noon. Is that convenient enough, Madam?"

His mother blinked surprised by the captain´s politeness and nodded her head slightly: "Yes, thank you for your consideration, Captain Walker."

Kame just stood there saying nothing; amazed by the fact that his dear old mother was able to negotiate this delay. Like that, it was highly possible that the tribe would be long gone before they got there.

"Do you have a horse, Mister?" the captain asked him.

Kame´s throat became tighter hearing it: "Well, unfortunately my mare got hurt recently and..."

"Never mind," the captain interrupted him. "You can borrow one of ours. We have two spare ones now, anyway..."

"Oh, all right... Thank you, Captain."

"Let´s set up the meeting place at the sheriff´s office. See you then," Walker saluted to both mother and son and left their doorstep with long steady steps, two soldiers and frowning Brad following him.

As soon as their door was closed, Kame hugged his mother tightly, even though it made his wounds hurt more.

"Thank you, Mum," he whispered into her ear.

Rosie was surprised by his gratitude, but repaid her son´s hug carefully: "I have to take care of my dearest son, if he can´t do it himself," she said almost sadly, when Kame moved away from her. „I´ll make some breakfast for us and then I´ll see you to Dr. Best."

"But you don´t have to go with me, Mum…"

"No excuses!" Rosie said sharply.

"Are you sure you´re feeling well?" he was worried; his mother was very weak and she could fall apart at the most unexpected moment, even though she seemed doing fine for almost a week now.

Rosie put a hand on his wounded face gently, soothing him lovingly across the bruised face.

"Seeing this, I feel well enough to kick that bastard´s ass," she stated firmly and Kame´s eyes widened.

"Mum!"

"What? Did you think I know no swear words?" she smiled with that kind of smile, which was pulling out very old memories in both of them. „Let´s go, you must be hungry."

With a smaller amount of worries in heart, Kame let his mother lead him into their kitchen.

***

Jin supposed that it would be difficult to persuade the Indians from Blackfeet Tribe to believe him and move away from their precious village. Nevertheless, he didn´t expect such stubbornness.

At first, the over-motivated guards almost created an arrow hedgehog from him, even before he could dismount from the mare. He had to put his precious revolvers away, or rather let them fall on the ground, and keep his empty hands up before they even started to listen to him.

Unfortunately, the two guarding Indians didn´t seem to like his English speaking, so they just forced him down from the horse´s back and then one of them pushed Jin roughly toward the pueblo, while the other took Ukushi´s bridle to lead her behind.

Then they tied him up to the tall stake, didn´t pay any attention to his requests for speaking with their Chief and disappeared in one of the wigwams. It took almost half an hour and when they finally appeared again, the sun had already showed up in the east and showered the peaceful village with the first beams of light. Of course, now when he didn´t need it anymore, the nice weather came.

At that time, Jin was already furious from such a useless waste of time and if the stares could kill, the two guards would have collapsed on the spot. Then, he focused his eyes on the third red man, who was coming with them. It was Manipi.

"Hell, no…" Jin murmured, feeling quite pessimistic about his possibilities.

As he remembered, the last time they saw each other, the Tribal Chief´s son didn´t like him much. He couldn´t expect any friendly behavior from him.

All three Indians stopped in front of Jin and the muscular leader pierced him with his eyes.

"I´m not your enemy," Jin said as calmly as he was only able to. „I came here to warn you. If you just…"

"How is that White Face find this place?" Manipi interrupted him pretending that Jin didn´t say anything.

"Kame told me where to find your village," he responded, suppressing his annoyance.

Manipi frowned: "Kame?" he repeated questioningly.

"Yes. He told me where to find you and he..." to Jin´s surprise Indian´s expression turned into even more unsatisfied and he stopped Jin in the middle of sentence again.

"Hmph!" he huffed out angrily. „White Face tell lies! He would never betray us! How you find us?!"

"He didn´t betray you, damn it!" Jin exclaimed quite pissed already. "He´s trying to save you!"

Manipi let his palm rest on the handle of his knife behind the waist belt and came even closer to Jin, who couldn´t fight back.

"You should tell truth, White Face," Indian hissed. "This warning is."

Jin gritted his teeth and held more bad words back behind his lips; it wouldn´t help him if he let the anger to control his actions now. When he was trying to figure out any other way how he could persuade the stubborn red man, the familiar voice was heard, speaking in the Indian language. Jin looked in that direction immediately, hoping that... Yes, it was Liwan.

"Thank God!" he breathed out seeing the tall Indian. "Would you be so kind and explain to that mountain of muscles that I´m here to help your tribe? He just doesn´t listen!"

The shaman´s son came closer and asked something in that weird language of theirs again. Manipi started to complain angrily and Jin had a hard time to be patient. Liwan asked more questions and then he firmly pushed the other Indian back a little, stepping right between him and Jin.

"How you got here and why?" he asked in a serious voice.

Jin overturned his eyes to the heaven: "Why me?" he breathed out, not expecting any reaction.

Then he started to explain everything for one more time, very fast and urgently.

"Kame told me where to find your village. He is injured, that´s why he couldn´t come himself. He even borrowed his mare to me; it was she, who found it here. Your village is in danger, you can´t stay here. You have to leave as soon as possible. Soldiers and Grenet´s men are coming and..."

Liwan´s eyes went wide after those words: "What?! Wait a little! Why? What happened?"

"I will explain everything in details, but it would be very nice if you put these ropes away," Jin fidgeted in the uncomfortable position.

Liwan was eyeing him uncertainly, and Manipi behind his back added some murmured disagreement.

"Damn it, trust me in this, we´re wasting time here!" Jin raised his voice again. "Just ask those guys, I have Kazuya´s mare with me!"

Liwan turned to the guards, who caught him before, and asked something. The response was positive, so he turned back to Jin.

"You could steal it..." Liwan´s reaction was.

"What?!" Jin was baffled. "Are you kidding? I didn´t!"

"What is her name then?" Indian asked him, still being too suspicious.

"Ukushi," he answered firmly. "Did I pass your test?"

*

It was almost unbelievable, but Jin persuaded them in the end.

Liwan set him free from that stupid stake, despite Manipi´s loud objections and he led him to the Tribal Chief. The old Indian observed Jin, who sat down in front of him inside the biggest wigwam in the village, for a while before he asked him to speak. Flying Feather listened to the whole story through Liwan, who translated this time. Then, he kept silent with his eyes closed for such a long time, that Jin was getting impatient again. Somehow, he managed to keep his mouth shut.

Finally, the Chief looked at Jin again and reacted through Liwan´s translation.

"We have no reason to run," Flying Feather stated in a calm voice. "That attack is not our responsibility. I believe that a group of warriors from Sioux Tribe is behind it. Some of them went over our territory recently."

Jin forced his palms to stay on his knees, despite that he would like to break something instead, and spoke again, even more urgently this time.

"Kazuya thinks it´s like this as well. Maybe the soldiers will be interested in the truth, but I don´t think they will make any differences between your tribe and Sioux´s. They need to find the culprit, so they´re able to put the whole blame on you. They may keep you under the arrest or even worse... And even if they believe you, your tribe will have more troubles with Raynold Karnaka for sure."

The dark shadow made the Chief´s face to look almost terrifying.

"Why? Why is that man included in this?"

"Because it was that fucker´s idea to go after your tribe in the first place!" Jin was starting to be more aware of each minute spent there without any progress and it made him feel desperate.

"Fucker?" Liwan asked him confused.

"Math Grenet, Karnaka´s right hand and the sheriff´s deputy," Jin explained spitting the name out like something disgusting. "Evidently, there was some theft on Karnaka´s lands and Grenet´s task is to stop this from repeating once and for all... To prevent your tribe from stealing again and..."

"We just take what belongs to us!" the shaman´s son didn´t let Jin to continue. "Karnaka is the thief!"

Flying Feather scolded the younger Indian just with one sharp word, to remind him that he let himself be carried away. Liwan lowered his head apologizing to the Chief and then he turned to Jin again, obviously irritated.

"Look, I didn´t come here to judge you or whatever," Jin assured him. "I´m here, because I promised to Kame I´ll warn you... Is that clear?"

Liwan nodded shortly and Jin continued hastily.

"So, of course that Kazuya didn´t cooperate with Grenet..." this time, Jin´s hands turned into the fists subconsciously, when he remembered the scene of the young bartender falling into mud. "Then the deputy told the soldiers that he knows where to find you. And now, Kazuya has to lead them here, even though he doesn´t want to! And Grenet with his men is coming along with them."

"Kazuya will keep the promise," Liwan translated the Chief´s reaction after the short time they were discussing something. "He won´t..."

Jin hit with his fist to the blanket, which he was sitting at.

"You just don´t listen!!" he exclaimed so loudly that almost immediately four armed Indians, who were guarding outside till that moment, ran inside the wigwam to protect their Chief.

But the old man sent them away strictly and looked at pissed Jin again, gesturing him to go on.

"Don´t you know how it works?" Jin continued more quietly, as he didn´t like the look on all those arrows and knives at all. They could be a little nicer after he gave them that huge bear... "Kazuya cannot oppose the government soldiers, not when some of them were killed. They would have arrested him, considering him as a traitor. Not to mention that Grenet is quite persistent to find about your village´s location too... He has no other choice but to lead them here. That´s why he sent me to warn you and keep you safe! He doesn´t want to betray your tribe, but in this situation what can he do?"

*

Liwan understood what that Akanishi gunslinger meant by his words. And he was worried for his dear friend getting into such a problematic situation. What surprised him was the amount of worries in Akanishi´s words and that furious anger he revealed in front of them.

Why was this man involved so much? He was a stranger to them and to Kazuya, too. He didn´t know him longer than a few weeks. But despite that the gunslinger behaved as his friend; coming to their village during the ugly night, just to warn them, just because their young white brother needed help. It was the same as with that bear before. Brothers from his tribe almost didn´t believe him, when Liwan informed them about the circumstances under which they gained the valuable carrion.

Jin Akanishi obviously cared for their Kame a lot…

Liwan postponed the thinking about that strange bear hunter for later and translated his words to the Chief, adding his own opinion. Flying Feather believed what Akanishi told them, he could say by just looking at his leader. However, he didn´t seem to agree with the plan to leave the village yet...

Liwan knew why. Their Chief hated running away all the time. He cared deeply for their tribe, for the safety of their women and children. But bowing in front of White Faces all the time, stepping back, leaving them to hunt and kill and do whatever they wanted on the lands of their ancestors... It was inevitable and he hated that. They couldn´t have fight against it without a very high price for any proud resistance.

If it was on Liwan´s decision, he would have ordered to start the preparations for the soon departure to their winter safe place right away. But it was not on him to decide, and he would follow whatever their Chief said to do…

***

Kame had a hard time to hold back the cries of pain, when Dr. Best was examining him thoroughly. It was quite a relief, when he was allowed to sit on the bed inside the surgery room of the clinic and dress his shirt again.

The doctor wrote something down into his medical records and then the man pierced Kame with very serious eyes.

"You can´t fool me, Kamenashi," he said. "There was no such serious fight in the saloon last night. Who did beat you up like this?"

Kame repaid the doctor´s stare, but didn´t respond.

"Look, young man... I don´t even need to hear it to know, whose credit this is."

"Why do you ask me then?" Kame reacted quietly.

Dr. Best frowned in a very disapproving way. Then he turned away and started to search through the medical cabinet.

"This is starting to be too much... There has to be something that can be done to stop our dear deputy from doing things like this," the man murmured while he was picking up between the two doses.

Kazuya remained silent. He was afraid that he could say something, what the doctor didn´t need to know.

"Fortunately, it seems that no rib was broken," Dr. Best informed him then, turning back again. "But you were damn lucky. According to those bruises, I´m quite amazed it is not worse. But I think you had a slight concussion. You should stay in bed for two days at least, to rest and not overdo yourself."

"I´m sorry, Doctor, but that´s not possible..." Kame said.

"I´ve heard from your mother," Dr. Best uttered. "That Indian attack, the captain´s request... How can I take care of your injuries properly then?"

Kame was just looking at him, without any word.

"All right," the doctor gave up any next objections. "Take these, the pills against pain. Only two per day, not more, they´re strong. And be careful! If you feel dizzy, get down from the horse and sit somewhere until it goes away."

Kame took the small dose from the doctor´s hand hesitantly.

"How much does it cost, Dr. Best?" he asked. "I´m not sure if I can pay for it right away... Those pills for my mother were..."

Doctor raised his hand up to stop Kame´s other words.

"You will pay next time... Now go home and try to sleep at least for two hours. You won´t be allowed to have more rest, I guess..."

Kame was very grateful to the old man and his good heart and pressed his hand firmly, when the doctor showed him off to the door, behind which his mother was waiting.

*

"Where the fuck is that little jackass?!" Grenet´s angry voice could be heard through the open door outside on the muddy street, across which Kame was proceeding slowly, trying to avoid the biggest deep brown puddles full of annoying material.

His mother went to Franko´s Store to buy something for him to eat on the road, even though he tried to persuade her it was not necessary and he was going home alone.

"I don´t know, boss..." Brad´s response was not that loud, but Kame caught it either way.

The young bartender checked out his nearest surroundings for other Grenet´s men, but none was in sight. He stepped closer and stayed close to the wall, hidden from of the eyes from inside.

"What do you mean, you don´t know?!" the deputy was obviously very pissed. "I told him he is going with us!"

Kame stiffened on his spot hearing that. Jin didn´t tell him anything about this...

"We searched everywhere, boss!" Brad defended himself. "He´s nowhere to be found, I swear! But his horse is still in the stables, so he didn´t leave the city."

"Fine! Find him then!" the loud thud on the table followed, as the angry fist hit over it.

"But, boss..." Brad tried to object something.

"I said find him!"

"Yes, boss..."

Kame left his spying spot as fast as he could, before someone would notice him. Jin didn´t say anything about that Grenet´s order deliberately, he was sure about that. He didn´t want to give Kame more arguments to talk him out of his idea.

And now Grenet was looking for him. Their only luck was that Kuro remained in his place, so they didn´t suspect Jin from leaving somewhere, where he was not supposed to be. But that could have changed in no time.

Kazuya could only hope that the young gunman will appear in the city before their planned departure. Otherwise, it looked like that Jin would be in serious troubles...

***

The gathering in front of Sheriff´s Office was almost complete. The soldiers unit was ready on their horses and there was one more for Kame, as Captain Walker promised. There were also the five Grenet´s men, smoking cigarettes in the small circle, throwing disrespectful glances at the soldiers and waiting for their boss, who came out from the building, just when Kame reached the place walking very carefully.

He had already gulped one pill from Dr. Best down. It helped against pain, but he couldn´t rest anyway. The more time passed, the more nervous Kame was. Jin wasn´t back yet and it was already after noon. What if something had happened to him?

"At least our pretty guide is here, great!" a cynical voice welcomed him.

Kame avoided looking at that bastard for all costs. He wasn´t sure with himself; he didn´t know how he would be able to behave calmly, if he gave the deputy even one glance. He felt the disgusted shaking inside his stomach, just hearing that man talking.

Captain Walker wearing the uniform, which was perfectly cleared from all the previous dirt, stepped closer to Kame.

"Everything all right?" he asked. "Are you able to ride?"

The answer on that question was definitely no, but that was not what the captain wanted to hear. Kame appreciated that the soldier even bothered to ask.

"Dr. Best gave me some pills; I´m fine. Thank you for asking, Captain."

Even though Kame tried not to pay attention to it, with the corner of his eye, he noticed that Grenet smirked in a quite ugly way.

"All right. Here, this is your horse for now," Walker pointed out at the dark brown well-shaped stallion. "It is a calm animal, you shouldn´t have any problems with him."

Kame just nodded thankfully.

"Mr. Grenet, are your men ready to go?" the captain turned to the deputy.

"Almost," Grenet hissed through the lips, which were holding the cigarette. "There´s just one idiot missing..."

Captain Walker raised his eyebrows questioningly, while Kame rather focused his attention to get acquainted with the horse.

"So, you want to wait for somebody else? I think you have quite enough of your men with you..." there was no disrespect in the captain´s question, but Kame could tell that the man didn´t consider so numerous escorts as necessary.

The slippery smile appeared on the deputy´s face: "Well... It seems we don´t have to wait anymore..."

Kame stiffened hearing that and it took him a huge effort not to express his excitement, when he also noticed two figures heading toward them. It was obviously annoyed Brad and behind him... Jin leading his Kuro for a bridle and yawning widely.

"Great," the captain reacted shortly and headed to his own horse.

A ton-heavy stone fell from Kame´s heart seeing Jin alive and all right. Grenet stepped down from the veranda and made a few steps to stop right in front of Jin, who looked at him with the empty expression.

"Where the fuck have you been?" the deputy percolated through his teeth.

An innocent expression appeared on the handsome gunslinger´s face.

"Where would I be? In the brothel," Jin said and opened his mouth in a wide yawn again.

Grenet stared at him as at some new species, while Brad avoided his boss hastily, joining his colleagues.

"In the brothel?" the deputy repeated slowly.

"Yes, and what?" Jin asked.

"Where exactly? Brad searched for you there, didn´t you, Brad?"

"Yes, boss," there was a murmured response.

Jin shrugged: "I wasn´t downstairs, but in the room of one of the girls..."

"What was her name?" Grenet continued his interrogation.

"I don´t remember," the young gunslinger seemed almost bored by all those questions.

"You don´t remember..." the deputy´s voice had a big warning included. "And do you remember, that I told you yesterday, we were going to set off in the morning?!"

For Kame´s amazement, Jin smiled.

"Actually yes, but sorry, it was tiring... I overslept," he replied.

Grenet spat the cigarette out, without even dousing it and nudged Jin into his chest.

"We´re going to discuss this later, greenhorn," he hissed into his face. "Now get up on that fucking horse and let´s go!"

The stare with which Jin literally killed Grenet, as soon as the man turned his back to him, revealed a clear image about what he thought about the deputy and his bad talking about Kuro.

Captain Walker, who didn´t pay a lot of attention to the discussion between Grenet and his subordinate, already gave the order to leave the place and Grenet´s men followed the blue unit. Kame had to inhale deeply and spend a lot of his strength to get on the horse´s back, too.

"And you´re going to watch over our pretty face!" Grenet yelled at Jin, when he jumped up on his animal. "We don´t want him to get lost in the woods, right?"

Jin said nothing to it, just mounted patiently waiting Kuro.

The soldiers had already incited their horses to move. They were supposed to go first, following Kame´s instructions, who rode after them. Grenet and his men were closing the row.

Jin waited for Kame to reach him and they exchanged one short look from eyes to eyes.

When Kazuya was closer to the other one now, he could see that Jin´s eyes were worn-out and their expression was worried. He couldn´t guess the result of his night journey, neither could he ask the older one about it with Grenet breathing on their backs. And Jin didn´t dare to give him any sign, which could give Kame a clue about if the tribe was all right or not, when the deputy was paying him quite a big attention at the moment. They had to wait for a better opportunity.

So without any word, they kept their horses side to side and set off after the soldiers, both being very careful about not looking at the other one anymore...