#her cast bio mentions Debris too

[wannabesewcrafty]

Plot summary for Riann’s film playing at various film festivals. Check the movie’s social media for screenings. Next one will be in New York in early Dec. 2022.

[mistresscitrusslice]

Thank you so much for going through the effort to even get screenshots! It’s seriously appreciated.

You make a good point, not least of which because this circle looks like a blast zone that came from within. It even pushed other bodies away. I’ve never seen Kindred gameplay, idk what their protective powers look like, but generally spells that are cast on you by someone else use the caster as the center of the spell, not the target. (Basically, the blast circle wouldn’t have been centered on Ambessa, but on the Wolf.)

The protected area around Mel and Jayce when they wake up doesn’t look like a blast zone the way it did with Ambessa (other than, you know, the Actual Bomb), so I’m not sure what to make of that.

I did not know that Ambessa had a bio already, let alone that included stuff from her music video! I thought she just had her blurb. It’s great that they clarified who she was pregnant with eventually. Uh, where’s Kino while she’s out at war then??? I imagine that Kino’s father was probably also a soldier and in the army too. Hopefully Kino was with relatives or family friends.

Also, Rokrund! It’s nice to get a name for the specific region Ambessa is from other than just the wider nation of Noxus. Is this a new name we’re hearing or has it appeared in any other League lore/media before?

“Visions that she would speak of to few others.” I wonder who those few are. Given how she treats her children, I cannot trust that even her kids are among these few. Their dad, maybe? I hesitate to say “Ambessa’s husband” because she definitely does not act like she has a husband, or maybe he’s deceased.

I plead the fifth on the Solari stuff because I know jack shit about the Solari, and if it turns out that Mel does have Solari magic, I do want to be surprised by their lore.

It still puzzles me why, if she does have magic, she wouldn’t use it to defend herself. You mentioned it being linked to situations with certain death. I’m iffy on this because it feels convoluted and kind of like a cop-out if that really is the reason can’t use it at will. If it is the case, though, then maybe Viktor wasn’t hurt because his magic clashed with hers, but because his death wasn’t guaranteed. I rewatched the opening scene, and he was still moving a little when Jayce performed Hexcore magic on him. If his death wasn’t certain, then the magic had no need to save him.

More likely, Mel’s magic has a cooldown and a long period where she needs to build enough magic back up to be able to use, but most likely, Mel doesn’t even know she has magic. There’s no sense in concealing her magic now, especially not after it saved herself and Jayce. Sure, it’d be a bad idea to come out about it to the world even after Piltover accepted Hextech since it would’ve been a secret for so long. However, I do believe she would’ve told Jayce. If not before, then definitely after it saved the two of them and Viktor still almost died.

Jayce needs as much information as he can get to figure out what’s going on with Viktor. Mel cares a lot about Jayce and seems to also care for Viktor even if she disagreed with him last season. She also has the same innate curiosity that Jayce and Viktor do. She’d want him to be able to solve this puzzle with all the information at his disposal and has been able to open up to him in the past with the trust that he would not share her secrets. She’d tell him so that they could figure out why her magic didn’t work as it was supposed to.

Unless there’s a reason we haven’t been told for why she needs to keep this hidden? If you squint your ears real hard, her line of “There’s no sense to these things, Jayce” in response to “How does the explosion do that to him and I just walk out without a scratch” sounds a bit like she’s trying to get him to drop the subject. After all, there is sense to these things for a scientist. There’s physics and calculations that go into why every single piece of debris falls in the way that it does. Which direction it flies in, how much heat is dispersed, the shock absorption in everything and every person in the blast radius, how far each person gets pushed across the room. To Jayce, “there’s no sense” might not be a comforting thing to hear. So was Mel just trying and failing to comfort him or was she attempting to change the subject? Or am I just reading too much into it?

Lmao imagine tho if Jayce found out she has magic, whether she already knew or not. He’d want to study her! And honestly she’d probably be down for it to find out even more ways to use her powers, maybe a way to replicate it with Hextech so more people can have a way to stay safe! That would actually be a good way to use Hextech to help people. And maybe Mel just has a scientist kink, who knows

Mel's protection should have saved Viktor too, and she's trying to figure out why it didn't

S2 ep1 shows a circle of protected stone where Mel and Jayce were during the explosion. My theory is that Mel's magic armor activated and saved them both. It seems like it casts a sphere of protection around wherever Mel is.

The center of this circle is not Mel's seat - it's Jayce's. She ran to Jayce to save him.

No other Councilors were in range of Mel's protection, so they all got hurt or killed.

But Viktor was, Jayce's words, "right next to" him. He was easily within Mel's circle of protection.

1) Viktor tried to run and mistakenly left the circle of protection. But are we meant to believe that Viktor, close to dying already and using a crutch, would have outrun Mel?

2) Viktor's augmented body clashes with Mel's

Why does Mel try to touch Viktor in episode 1? It seems like a throwaway moment, but not even Jayce touches him in this scene. So why Mel?

She's curious. And possibly, feeling responsible. She's wondering why her protection didn't work.

Is this Hexcore brand of the Arcane trying to reach out to Mel? Or trying to defend itself from her?

Mel was trying to protect both Jayce and Viktor, which is reflected in how she holds Jayce as well as Viktor's cane when she promises to protect Hextech:

But if, for example, Mel's magic is Solari in origin, and Viktor's is from the Void - or the Arcane equivalent of similar opposing forces - then it's possible that their magic rejects or hurts one another. So Mel's circle of protection either rejected Viktor, or was what hurt Viktor, and not the explosion.

[bowlerhatwearer]

Nikolai Akdow (IDW Sonic Verse)

Name: Nikolai Leonid Akdow

Nickname: Nick (rarely used)

Species: Human

Alignment: Neutral Good

Age: 16 years

Birthplace: Holoska (formerly part of the United Democratic Republic or U.D.R for short)

Current Residence: Seaside City

Gender: Male

Personality:

workaholic, hospitable, active, intellectual, recalling, serious, realistic, thoughtful, free-thinking, hard shell, soft core, withdrawn, smug (certain situations), provocative (certain situations), slightly pessimistic, eccentric, dissident, resentful.

Hobbies:

cooking, inventing, engineering, solving physical problems, visiting a museum or university, window shopping, reading the news, strolling through the city.

Likes:

Himself, Recognition, Science, cold days, sleep, tea, desserts, his friends

Dislikes:

Abuse of Science, Abuse and injustice of people, ignorance, pollution, destruction, Sonic*, Knuckles* (*not hostile but does not like them), hot temperatures.

Appearance:

Nikolai Akdow is 180 centimeters tall (179,60 but he rounds his height up) and weights around 53 kilos. The human’s hair is bistre, greyish brown colored, his eye color is blue similar to compressed ice on a glacier.

His nose is aquiline and striking, the physical appearance of his eyes is that they look rather tired and like his cheeks slightly sunken. The Humans skin tone appears to be a pale fawn color.

Nikolais right arm is a robotic prosthetic that mostly consists of metal. On the outside it is mainly stainless steel whilst the inner parts are made up by lighter metals. The prosthetic arm was designed to resemble his lost arm as close as possible but at the wishes of Nikolai himself kept with its metallic appearance and without any coloring or artificial skin made from PVC or silicon. The socket is made from carbon fiber. When at work or in public the human prefers to wear a black glove over his prosthetic limb, this is mainly to prevent frostbite near the socket but also to some part for aesthetic reasons.

On most of the days, whether in private or under people Nikolai prefers to wear his lab coat above his light grey turtleneck. His trousers are most of the time kept black and the same goes for his dyed leather shoes. The belt who is made of the same material as the shoes is dyed in oak brown with a gun holster and a silver-colored belt buckle.

The holster is used to keep one of Nikolais own inventions always by his side, his Freeze-Gun/Ray (a work in progress name that he is too busy/lazy to change for now). A retro futuristic looking as well as blue shining device, that appears in being able to freeze everything.

Abilities:

Basic:

Having invented, constructed, and tested the Freeze Gun/Ray himself, Nikolai uses his tool as main weapon which he can freeze enemies and objects alike with a blue sparkly ice ray. The degree of strength which the ice ray has can be configured with a setting dial that is attached to the gun. The block of ice one might get frozen into is, except for immobility, harmless to who falls victim of the ice ray, although slight muscle pain is a side effect of being frozen.

Additional:

Not only because of having grown up in the harsh and cold weather conditions of the U.D.R but also for being long exposed to cryogenic materials in the laboratory have given Nikolai a slight cold resistance for sub-zero temperatures yet, this also brought the disadvantage that Nikolai is not used to hot temperatures and being for too long in a place that is over 40 degrees Celsius without cooling (may it be drinking cold water, eating ice cream etc.) make him dizzy and nauseous.

History/Bio:

Not much is known about the background as well as past of Nikolai Akdow given his quiet and secretive nature when it comes to these details. Young Nikolai was born and raised in the last years of the United Democratic Republic (U.D.R) in an orphanage that was infamously known for its behavioral experiments among children and juveniles, due of mentioned activities the orphanages was unofficially known as “The Cage” and the head of said institution was Nikolais “mother”, his father’s whereabouts are unknown for the documents that resurfaced after the U.D.Rs dissolution only marked him as an traitor and revealed that he got “dealt with”.

After a raid conducted during the last months of the multinational states existence that lead to his “mothers”, other scientists and caretakers arrest, Nikolai grew up until he was fourteen at the farm of his grandparents from his father’s side where he learned about agriculture and a bit about mechanics.

With fourteen Nikolai applied for an apprenticeship for a scientific facility that included the research of cryogenic technology, materials as well as meteorology.

Even though the facility was on the other world that was (mostly) not inhabited by humans Nikolai, despite the young age decided to pursue this job and moved to the other planet. For two years Nikolai worked there as an apprentice in the laboratory with his co-worker Keratin the Cat a researcher fuel technology. Although their relationship was sometimes tense and there were “louder discussions” they remained research partners in the laboratory.

With the war happening and in conclusion Dr.Eggmans takeover of the world with the help of his newest ally Infinite, Nikolais profession and work ended abruptly when the jackal attacked the city and during the evacuation process of the building, destroyed the facility.

Trapped due of his right arm stuck under debris, Infinite tortured Nikolais mind when the young researcher talked back to the jackal. In a cast of fortune Infinite was distracted and Nikolai was able to free himself in the moment although it came with the price that he had to amputate his right arm quickly and without any medical aid or knowledge.

Running for his life, under heavy pain and constant blood loss Nikolai moved as far away as he could, away from the city until the injured scientist collapsed but not before letting out a desperate and frustrated shout of anger and resignation.

Fortunately for the young scientist it was not death, that greeted him when he woke up, although a close call he survived due of the intensive care and help he got from the single parent rabbit and native of the world, Vanilla together with her daughter Cream, her pet chaos Cheese and Chocola and the robot Gemerl.  

Whilst Nikolai recovered as good as possible from his injuries the young man had to discover in his horror that because of Infinites torture with the phantom ruby, he was unable to speak, all that he tried to say came out unintelligible. For a long time, Nikolai was only able to express himself through gesticulation or writing, with the latter being very difficult and requiring practice, given the loss of his writing hand.

Trying not to appear like a burden Nikolai did what was possible in his condition, although not speaking it out loud he grew depressed and slightly bitter of the things, that in his view were insignificant works he could do in his weak state making him believe further to be more of a burden than to be helpful. Although when he did express himself as good as possible to Vanilla how he felt, she re-assured the young human that he was not a liability and did his parts to make the life in the crisis easier.  

Later trough intensive going practice that involved repeating letters, words, and later whole sentences as well as naming objects and or describing them Nikolai began to slowly regain his ability to speak. It was trough the support of Vanilla, Cream and Gemerl that he was able to speak out his first simple words after many weeks with difficulty, but trough time and practice Nikolai was able to speak slowly whole sentences.

Whilst for some time the rabbit family’s home was a safe haven it unfortunately didn’t last. The family with Akdow in tow had to flee to the Resistances hideout before it would have been too late. Here Nikolai offered his assistance and scientific expertise as good as possible as well as met his colleague Kerating again.

Using his knowledge of cryogenic technology and materials he used it in various way to aid the Resistance with their missions and objectives. Which does not mean that there had been not one or two arguments due of conflicting views or interests. Most notable was Nikolais opposition against “Operation Big Wave”, believing that it was badly planned and that more time was needed to come up with an operation against Eggman and Infinite and that the results of the scheduled mission would be devastating.

After the war Nikolai obtained a prosthetic to replace his arm that he lost at the beginning of Dr.Eggmans takeover and began to go through physio- and speech therapy. He returned to Seaside City and helped with the re-construction of the scientific facility that now was to an major part underground as a measure of the building being safer against attacks from Dr.Eggman or other villains. The human also remained partly active in the Resistance, offering his help when needed.

By the time, the war was over Nikolais relationship with Keratin eased up and they became friends. The researcher was now often visiting his colleague and helped her in taking care of her brother who got seriously injured during the war and was one of the closest relatives that remained to Keratin after the end of the war.

It was because of this, his colleague asked Nikolai to accompany her and her brother to earth. A doctor recommended curative treatment for her brother’s wellbeing at a health resort on Earth and Keratin asked Nikolai to be with them given that the human grew fond of her brother as well and vice versa.

This decision was what ultimately spared the two cats and Nikolai to fall victim in the Metal Virus crisis that begun only a few days after they went to the health resort.

Despite not being affected by the crisis directly, it put a shadow over the human, having heard of what happened to both Vanilla and Cream, Nikolai fell into a spiral of self-loathing for not being present when the Metal virus outbreak started. He questioned that maybe he would have been able to stop it somehow or aid Tails in his research for a cure. However, it was not only himself, Eggman and Dr.Starline who he disliked for what has happened whilst he was gone.

A passive disliking for the hero of speed grew in Nikolai as well, not actively attacking Sonic he grew distant and cold from the blue hedgehog he met during his times at the Resistance HQ. Whilst many moved on easily (or at least it appeared so) from the crisis that happened a short while ago and where glad that Sonic returned. The pain and shock of what he only heard about lingers over Nikolai who seems to not be able to forget…or forgive for what has happened.

Currently he lives his life in Seaside City, still working as a researcher and aiding Keratin if she needs help both at work and in the household. He likes to visit Vanilla and Cream, to go window shopping with Amy or to visit Tails and to talk with him about the newest scientific discovery or helping each other with a technical problem.

~~~~~~

Special Thanks: I would like to speak out my gratitude to @freakova who beta read my character sheet for this Sonic OC and helped me with her input, improving the writing. Futhermore would I like to thank @benignmilitancy who I bombarded with many asks about this OC and many others and lend her ear when I talked like a waterfall about some ideas ^^

[write-havoc]

Of Sons and Daughters Ch. 5

Summary: Arthur is tasked by Dutch to watch over a young woman who had just lost the last member of her family she had left. That young woman just so happens to be the daughter that Dutch told no one else about.

This is a non canon AU with no major spoilers

Fandom: Red Dead Redemption 2

Pairing: Arthur Morgan/Original Female Character

Status: Ongoing

Contains: swearing, PG 13 smut

Intended for readers 18+ of age only

Masterlist in my bio

Arthur heads out early the next morning so he can be in Blackwater before the sun fully rises. As he pushes Sparrow through the roads and trails, all he can think about is what Dutch said the night before. And not the part he really should be thinking about.

Of course he’s worried about the gang and their money, but he’s also trying to dissect what Dutch said about Emmeline. In no uncertain terms Dutch warned Arthur away from her. There’s that part of himself that agrees. He shouldn’t get too close to her. He’ll only ruin things and make her life worse. But there’s another part (a smaller part, but it’s still there) that’s hurt by Dutch insisting he stay away. Dutch was always like a father to him. And on more than one occasion, Dutch has told him how proud he was at the man Arthur had become. So why would he be so adamant that Arthur never be with Emmeline?

Arthur slows Sparrow as he comes to the point where he has to cross the Upper Montana River into the land surrounding Blackwater. If he were going to get nabbed by the law, it would probably be right here.

He sighs at the thought. “Alright, girl,” he says to Sparrow before spurring her forward. “Here we go.”

To Arthur’s relief, no one comes after him. He can see lawmen camped out on the ridges overlooking the pass, but they only give him a quick look before turning their attentions back to the road below. It must really be true that the law has forgotten about him.

The whole time the gang was set up outside Blackwater, Arthur told Dutch that keeping the money within the city limits was a bad idea. But Dutch insisted he had the perfect spot, a hollowed out tree in the cemetery of the church right outside of town. No one would ever look there, apparently. Every time Arthur complained about it, Dutch would just say that someone he trusted was watching over it. It’s not until Arthur actually sets eyes on the spot that he understands what he meant.

Arthur walks over the nearby grave that caught his eye. “Greta Van Der Linde,” he reads aloud. “Loving mother to her son Dutch.” Arthur chuckles and shakes his head. “Dutch.”

He walks over to the closest tree and couches down beside it. There’s a very obviously dug out hole by the semi exposed roots. That’s odd, he thinks. Dutch knows better than to make it so obvious that there’s something hidden there. Arthur sticks his hand the the hole and roots around in the hollow cavity under the tree. When he doesn’t feel anything, he shoves his arm in deeper, but he comes up empty handed. Literally.

“Shit,” Arthur mutters, trying not to raise his voice in anger. The money is not there. Not where it should be. “Goddamnit.” Someone had taken the money.

He stands up straight and wipes his brow. The action causes him to turn his head toward the church and he notices a man sleeping against the side of the building. As Arthur walks closer to him, he sees the empty whiskey bottle loosely held in the man’s hand. Obviously, the man had one too many and passed out near the church.

“Hey.” Arthur kicks one of the man’s outstretched legs to wake him up.

The man makes a startled, half asleep noise then looks up to Arthur. “Whacha want, mister? I’m tryna sleep here.”

It’s probably a long shot, but Arthur asks anyway, “You didn’t happen to see anyone out near that tree, did ya?” Arthur points to the tree in question.

The man hiccups before answering. “Actually. Now that you mention it, I did. Two fellers was carrying on over there.”

“You see what they look like?”

The man shrugs. “It was dark.” *hiccup* “They got real excited about sumthin’ then left real quick. One of them was named Clem... or Cleet. Sumthin’ like that. I heard ‘em mention Strawberry.”

“What time was that?”

“Uh.” He scratches at his stringy hair. “What time is it now?”

Arthur pulls out his pocket watch. “4:24,” he answers curtly.

The man thinks for a moment. “How long have I been sitting here?”

Arthur is losing patience with this. “How the hell would I know?”

“Calm down, mister.” The man gives Arthur a dismissive gesture. “I got kicked out of the saloon at...” He thinks a moment, “midnight, abouts. I think. That’s when that no good bartender usually shuts me off.”

Arthur rolls his eyes and turns to walk away, having gotten all the information he could out of the drunk. Besides, those men could have a pretty good head start, so Arthur needs to get on the road if he wants to catch up to them.

“Hey wait,” the man calls out. “Could you lend me a dollar for a drink.”

“You don’t need no more!” Arthur yells back.

“I told you what you wanted!”

“Don’t press your luck, you old drunk,” Arthur growls without looking back to the man.

Arthur hops back up on Sparrow, headed for Strawberry. This situation doesn’t seem right to him. What are the odds that someone would come across that money on their own? And right before Arthur was going to pick it up himself? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

As Arthur comes into the town of Strawberry, the streets are congested with people starting their days. His first stop is The Trackers Hotel. There’s a small bar on the ground floor and with any luck, maybe the men he’s looking for stopped in there last night. And if he’s really lucky, they gabbed about where they’re holed up.

Arthur pushes the door to the hotel open, his boots crunching on broken glass with the first step. He looks down at his foot, then around the room at large. The whole place is a mess, glass everywhere, tables upturned, puddles of mysterious liquids all over. There’s an ornery looking older woman trying to sweep up the debris and an equally unimpressed man cleaning behind the bar.

“Looks like you had quite the night,” Arthur calls out with a chuckle.

“Yeah, well,” the man behind the bar starts. “If you’re lookin’ for a drink, you’re gonna have to go elsewhere. We were drunk damn near dry last night.”

“Can I ask what the occasion was?”

The woman lifts her head to answer. Albeit, in a way that shows her displeasure with the events of the night before. “Two gentlemen, and I use that term loosely, decided to throw their money around our small town like they was big men. Bought drinks for the whole bar all night. Caused a few fights, too.”

“Two men, huh?” Arthur scratches at his jaw. “They happen to say where they was staying at?”

The man and woman share a look before the man answers. “They stole from you, didn’t they?”

“Why do you say that?” Arthur asks.

“There’s only two reasons men flaunt their money like those fellers did last night. They’re either high born or they’re spending someone else’s money. And those men certainly weren’t no royalty.”

“Well,” Arthur walks forward and leans against the bar in front of the man, “if you’re right, then you shouldn’t have a problem selling them out. Thieves like that.”

“I knew them men was trouble the second I laid eyes on ‘em.” The man shakes his head. “Cabin. Just north of here. I overheard one of ‘em saying that to a whore.”

“Charles!” the woman chides from across the room.

“Well, that’s what she is!”

Arthur digs out a coin from his satchel and sets it on the bar. “Thanks, mister.”

As the old couple continues to bicker, Arthur turns to leave the hotel. He mounts Sparrow quickly and rides off to the cabin the bartender told him about. It’s not too far from the town, so it should be just a short ride to get there. The problem is that it’s back in the woods, so Arthur takes a few minutes to actually find it.

He dismounts his horse, leaving her back amongst the trees so any occupants of the cabin won’t see his approach. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he slinks up to one of the boarded up windows and peeks through a knothole inside. Seeing as the windows are covered, it’s rather dark inside. One lantern sits on the table in the middle of the room, casting just enough light for Arthur to make out all the important details. One of those being the large pile of money and a few gold bars sitting next to the lantern. He can see two men sleeping, apparently the men Arthur’s been after. The bigger one is face down on the bed and the skinny guy is sprawled out on a chair with his hat covering his face.

“Dumbasses,” Arthur mutters to himself as he walks up to the front door.

Taking cover to the left of the doorframe, Arthur reaches out and turns the door knob, pushing the door open as he ducks back behind the wall.

“Huh?” One of the men stirs awake. “Who’s there?” he calls out. “Joe, I think someone’s out there.”

Arthur doesn’t move a muscle, so as not to give away his position.

The other man wakes up with the commotion. “Go check it out then, Cleet,” he bites back.

Cleet reluctantly rises from his chair and walks to the door with his gun drawn. He’s not the only one, though. Arthur has his revolver up, right about head height, fully cocked. As soon as Cleet peeks out of the doorway, Arthur shoots him right through the temple, fast enough that the man is dead before he even realizes it.

Arthur rushes into the cabin, thinking he’ll catch Joe off guard still in bed. Unfortunately, the man is much closer to the door than Arthur thought he’d be. Before Arthur can turn to shoot at Joe, the man barrels into him, sending the two of them crashing into the table. The old wood splinters easily under the combined weight of them, sending what was atop it to the ground.

Joe gets in a few good punches to Arthur’s face before Arthur manages to flip them both around, gaining the upper hand. They exchange a few more blows, both too involved in not dying at the other’s hand to notice that the lantern that had been on the table had crashed to the ground, spreading the oil across the floor and leading a flame to the bed, which quickly lights up.

As they wrestle on the floor, Arthur finally manages to get his hand on his revolver. He brings it up under Joe’s chin and pulls the trigger, killing the man instantly. Arthur takes a deep breath, but it’s choked with smoke. It’s then that he realizes that the cabin is quickly burning up around him. He shoves the dead man off his chest and turns to where the money should be.

“No!” he yells as he sees nothing but flames on what used to be the cash he had come there for. He manages to pick up a few stacks that had fallen away from the flames before running from the fully engulfed building.

He takes a moment out in the fresh air to catch his breath. This had been a fool’s errand in the end. And now he has to tell Dutch that he failed in getting the money.

“Dammit!” Arthur kicks at the ground. He stands there for several minutes, just watching the cabin and the money inside burn.

The whole ride back to camp, Arthur thinks about what had happened. The more he thinks about it, the more he thinks this wasn’t just a random event. This was planned.

When Arthur hitches his horse, Micah walks by him, headed for his own mount.

“It looks like you ran into trouble,” Micah teases upon looking at the cuts and bruises on Arthur’s face.

“Shut up, Micah,” Arthur mutters, walking further into camp.

Dutch notices Arthur’s approach and meets him at the table close to where Arthur has hitched his horse. “Did you get the money, son?” Dutch asks nervously. He knows Arthur very well and the look on his face isn’t screaming “success”.

Arthur shoves his hand in his satchel and pulls out the money he managed to save, about $1000, tossing it onto the table in front of Dutch without saying a word.

Dutch waits a moment before speaking. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“Gone,” Arthur answers gruffly. “Burned up.”

Upon hearing that, Micah stomps back over to them. “What?!”

“What do you mean ‘ burned up ’?” Dutch almost growls.

Arthur starts to explain. “The money wasn’t where you left it in that cemetery,” he directs at Dutch. “It was taken by two fellers. I followed ‘em up to a cabin just north of Strawberry. I killed ‘em both, but a lantern got upset before I did. The whole cabin burned up.”

“You gotta be shittin’ me!” Micah picks up a nearby chair and throws it across the camp in anger.

Now everyone in the camp is looking in Arthur’s direction. Dutch just glares at Arthur for a moment as he thinks this development over.

“It’s all gone?” Dutch asks, hoping Arthur will tell him something different.

“Maybe the gold’ll still be there. In the ashes,” Arthur comments.

Dutch throws his hands up with a growl after a moment. “I need to think!” He stomps off to his tent, closing the flaps to give him privacy.

As Arthur’s attention is on Dutch, Micah come up from his side and shoves him hard, almost sending him to the ground. “Are you that much of an idiot you’d let all that money burn!?”

Arthur shoves him right back. “What the hell was I supposed to do?! It was covered in burning lamp oil! I barely made it outta that damn cabin alive!”

Arthur and Micah are pulled away from each other by Javier and Charles before they can start to tussle.

“Let me go!” Micah yells to Charles, but the bigger man keeps ahold.

Arthur doesn’t fight against Javier, but that doesn’t mean he’s done. “This is your fault, Bell!” he calls out as he aggressively points to Micah. “That ferry job was a stupid idea!”

“How would you know, Morgan?!” Micah spits back. “You ain’t been here! I’ve been here, making money for these parasites to live off of!” He gestures to everyone standing around.

“That’s enough!” Hosea’s booms, his usually calm voice replaced with something more authoritative. “Micah,” he points to the man, “go cool off. Charles, ride out to that cabin and see if there’s anything left. Arthur, come with me.”

Charles lets go of Micah, the man still fuming as he stomps off toward his horse. Charles lingers a moment to make sure Micah doesn’t turn back before heading out per Hosea’s orders.

Arthur follows Hosea over to the cliffs at the edge of camp. As soon as Hosea turns back to him, Arthur starts.

“I didn’t set that place on fire on purpose. I wanted to get that money. Those men-“

“I know, Arthur,” Hosea cuts him off.

“Those men knew where that money was, Hosea,” Arthur says more quietly. “I know it. They didn’t just come across it. That money was dug out.”

“You think someone told them where our money was.”

“Yeah.” Arthur nods. “I don’t how. Me, you, and Dutch was the only ones to know where we kept our money.” Arthur shakes his head.

“Maybe. Or maybe they saw us put it there.”

“And waited a few weeks until the day I got out there to pick it up?”

Hosea thinks a moment. “That is suspicious. But we don’t have any proof.” He scratches at his clean shaven jaw. “Why don’t you keep these thoughts to yourself, for now. We don’t need the group tearing itself apart to find a rat. Especially if there ain’t one to begin with.”

“If that’s what you think we should do...” Arthur replies with a shrug.

“We’ll keep a lookout. If we see anything, then we’ll know someone’s being disloyal. Then we can bring it to the group and we can deal with it accordingly.”

“You know who it would be,” Arthur says pointedly without actually saying the name. “Ain’t nobody else would sell us out like that.”

Hosea lets out a breath. He knows what Arthur is saying, and he may even agree with him, but being hasty in this situation would lead to unnecessary bloodshed.

“Like I said, I’ll keep my eyes open,” Hosea reiterates.

Arthur nods. Hosea usually always knew what was best for the group, so he’ll go along with what he says.

“Alright,” Arthur agrees. “I need to head out again, though. For a little bit at some point.” He wants to check on Emmeline and make sure that she’s okay, since he’s been gone for a couple days.

“Ah,” Hosea nods with a little smirk on his face. “The ‘down-on-her-luck’ woman Dutch has you helping.” He uses the words Dutch did when he explained why Arthur wasn’t at camp anymore.

“Yeah,” is all Arthur says.

“Would this woman be Dutch’s daughter?”

Arthur’s head snaps up to meet Hosea’s gaze. “How-“

“I’ve run with Dutch for twenty years, Arthur. And I’m not an imbecile.”

Arthur shakes his head with a chuckle. Of course Hosea would figure it out. “Dutch doesn’t think you know.”

Hosea nods. “I decided years ago that I’d let him come to me with that information. He hasn’t yet.”

“How’d you even know about her?”

“I knew Dutch was real sweet on that red headed farm girl. He made us stay in New Hanover for months because of her. Then, one day, we just left. And he never mentioned her again. A couple years after that, I found myself in Valentine. I don’t even remember why, now. But I went into the general store and I see none other than that red headed farm girl, next to her blond haired husband, carrying a raven haired little girl about two years old. Didn’t take a genius to put it all together. And when that woman caught me looking at her baby, she rushed outta there so fast, like she didn’t want me to realize what was going on.”

Arthur lights up a cigarette. “Dutch didn’t tell you because he said you’d think poorly of him for not takin’ care of the girl.”

“He’d be right,” Hosea says simply. “But it was his choice.” Hosea pauses a moment. “Is the girl sick? Is that why he sent you out there?”

“No. She ain’t sick. She’s just alone. Her father, or who she thinks was her father, died some years ago. Then the mother. Before she passed, she sent a letter to Dutch asking him to take care of Emmeline. The girl...” he scratches at the stubble on his cheek, thinking of what to say. “Her mother kept her home. Told her she’d get murdered if she left, pretty much. She wouldn’t go into town by herself. She didn’t even know how to hunt or fish. She woulda starved in a month without me there.”

“What’s she like?” Hosea asks. Hosea has always been curious about what kind of a woman she grew up to be. Even though Dutch hadn’t told him about her, or even acknowledged her as his own, in the back of his mind he’s still always seen the girl as a part of the family.

Arthur thinks it over. “She’s sweet. Innocent. Real gentle. She didn’t even want to kill a fish when I took her out fishing.” He shakes his head with a chuckle. “Reads a lot. Must get that from Dutch. She writes little stories, too.”

Hosea smiles. “She sounds like a fine woman.”

“She’s naive, though. Believed every word that’s come outta my mouth.” Arthur shakes his head. “I don’t want no one takin’ advantage of her.”

“I don’t want that, either. If Dutch isn’t gonna take care of that girl the way she needs, I’m glad you are.”

Arthur nods. “You gonna talk to Dutch about that money?”

“Yeah. We were already planning what we’d do with it. Guess we’ll have to change our plans.” He claps Arthur on the shoulder then walks back into camp.

Arthur stays around camp for a little bit, catching up with everyone and eating some of Pearson’s stew. Mostly, he’s just waiting for Charles to come back to see if he salvaged anything. When he finally does, he brings with him a few gold bars and some gold nuggets. That’s very good news, but it isn’t anywhere near compensation for all the cash that was burned. That fact is made more pointed by the fact that Dutch retreats back into his tent immediately after seeing the gold.

Arthur waits until most of the camp is asleep to head out. Emmeline’s house isn’t a long ride away, so he should be able to spend the night to make sure she’s okay and get back to camp in the morning before anyone really notices. It’s not that he’s really trying to hide what he’s doing, but maybe some people would expect him to stay in camp, given the recent developments. If they knew he was leaving, they might question his loyalties.

Arthur is surprised to see light coming out of the windows of Emmeline’s cabin once he rides up. Normally, she would be asleep by now. In actuality, though, she was having trouble sleeping. To try to tire herself out, she had grabbed her book and sat at the table writing a story. She is almost finished with it when the door starts to open. Emmeline is instantly on her feet. In her mind, only one person would be walking into her home.

“Arthur!” she calls out as he takes his first step into the room.

“Miss-“ That’s all he gets out before Emmeline jumps at him, throwing her arms around his neck. He instinctively wraps his arms around her torso so she doesn’t fall, considering her feet aren’t even on the ground.

“I missed you!”

Arthur walks the two of them into the room, kicking the door closed behind them. “I weren’t gone that long.” He sets her down and pulls away from her.

“You’re hurt!” she exclaims once she gets a good look at his face.

“It ain’t bad,” he dismisses.

“Let me help you.” Before he can object, she pulls his satchel off, throwing it on the table, and pushes his coat from his shoulders.

“I’m alright-“

She pushes him down to sit in the chair, then goes over to the cabinet to grab a small bottle of alcohol and a clean rag. “Stay still.” She comes to stand right in front of him. “This might hurt a bit.” She douses the cloth in the alcohol and leans over Arthur to dab at the split in his eyebrow.

He winces a little at the sting, but stays still just like she asked.

“What happened, Mr. Morgan? Was it bandits?”

He thinks of what to tell her. “Nuthin’ like that, Miss Emmeline. Just a... a feller had too much to drink in the saloon. Thought I was talkin’ about him. Took offense,” he lies.

“You need to be careful, Mr. Morgan.” She tilts his head up so she can tend to the cut on his cheekbone. “You have the most wonderful eyes,” she comments as she looks down at him. “But that bruise takes away a bit of the beauty.” She lightly touches the newly purple skin under his left eye.

He blinks and tries to look away. “I, uh...”

“Hold still.” She gently puts his face back to where she wants it and dabs at the small cut in his bottom lip.

He keeps his eyes closed after that, thinking if that he doesn’t see her, somehow she wouldn’t notice the heat blooming in his cheeks. He feels her pull the cloth from his skin, but then her soft lips are lightly kissing his left eyelid. He relaxes automatically, bringing his hands up to her waist without thought. He can feel the warmth of her skin seeping from the light shift she always wears to bed. It fills his mind with thoughts that he shouldn’t be having. How easy it would be to wrap his arms around her and squeeze her body close to his. How he could run his hands over her exposed thighs and under her dress. When she pulls away, though, he snaps out of it and opens his eyes.

“What was that for?” he asks quietly.

“My mama always said a kiss would make it better.”

When she bends forward again, he doesn’t stop her. Not until her lips just barely graze his bruised bottom lip. At the contact, that voice starts telling him he doesn’t deserve her. Before she can fully kiss him, he pushes her back gently.

“I’m fine, Miss Emmeline. No need to fuss.”

She swallows hard as she stands fully. “Okay.” She backs away from him, corking the bottle of alcohol and putting it back where it goes. “Well, goodnight, Mr. Morgan.” She hurries into her room, closing the door behind her.

Being that close to Arthur stirred up feelings in her. She had never been with a man before, but she’s read stories of courtship and love. Could things be like all that for her? Could she fall in love with this man that came into her life at such a low moment? The thought makes her smile, though it sours when she thinks about the way he pushed her away.

She hadn’t really meant to kiss him. Not in that way. She was just doing what her mother always did to make her feel better. But maybe he took it a different way. And maybe he just saw her as the girl his boss asked him to look after. Maybe he was just a nice man making sure she was okay and that’s it. That realization makes her let out a heavy breath as she gets back into her bed, hoping that sleep will come quickly.

As for Arthur, he stays seated for a few minutes after Emmeline left the room, thinking things over. He reaches across the table to take his journal out of his satchel and starts to write.

  Got into Blackwater just fine. Guess the law ain’t after me after all. The only problem is, the money weren’t there. I ended up finding it, along with the guys that took it, in a cabin up by Strawberry. They ended up dead and the money ended up burning to ash as the cabin lit up from a broken lantern. Stupid. I managed to save some of the cash and Charles went out to collect the gold, but it’s a mere pittance of what it was. Some $150000 turned into about $3000. Jenny and those Callander brothers lost their lives for nothing. Not to mention, the gang’s wanted dead or alive in Blackwater.

That ferry job really were foolish.

I talked to Hosea about it all. I think someone in the camp talked about that money and that’s how those two fellers came across it. Either someone overheard Dutch talking about it and was stupid enough to get overheard talking about it in return or someone wanted that money for himself. And that’s what I’m betting on. And I have my suspicions that it’s Micah.

I don’t got any proof yet, but it makes sense. He’s been whispering in Dutch’s ear for months. It don’t put it past him to get the location of our stash out of him. Or maybe he just overheard. Regardless, I’m gonna have my eye on Micah from here on out. Hosea will, too, I’m sure.

I went back to check on Emmeline. She made a fuss about me being hurt. Rubbed alcohol on my cuts, then kissed my bruises. She went to kiss my fat lip, but I stopped her. It was at the last second, but I did stop her.

I thought about it, letting her kiss me. Kissing her back. But I know it wouldn’t be right. I can’t give her the kind of life she deserves. Starting anything with her would just be wrong. I don’t want to bring her into this life I’m living. And I sure as Hell can’t share her life right now. I’ve lied to her so much already. How could I tell her that I have to leave her to go rob a train? Break someone out of jail? Swindle money out of folk?

I tried to settle down once before with Mary and it failed. Miserably. I just ain’t meant for that sort of life.

Emmeline’s better off without me.

 After he sketches the burning cabin on the next page, he sets his journal down on the table next to Emmeline’s book. This has been one long day and it’s taking its toll on Arthur. He stands from his seat with a sigh and walks into his bedroom to get some rest.