colt felt it best to meet outside the isle for correspondence with the gang. there was no need for iseul to know any of it, let alone the kids she was tending. as far as briggs could see, they provided hunting and muscle for a temporary camp.
how long they wanted to be here remained to be seen.
"red," colt had grunted upon leaving camp,
"patrol."
but whether or not
@Indra III would hear and come along, or hear and ignore, remained to be seen. the isle fell away and colt began to hunt in the dark shadows of the deep forest.
Colt. Nah.
She responded with the same brand of sass that could be found spilling from Gun's mouth; except her tone was more defensive, even bratty. What gave him the right to order her around like that? Especially now. But maybe he hadn't heard her — he had already been striding quickly in to the dark when she'd made her mutterings.
Then she had to decide to follow or not. It had been such a long time since they were together - and yeah, she'd missed him, mourned him even. Having Colt back in her life was a surprise; and she grasped for him in the dark, even if she didn't know why. Her ambling kept her on his trail.
The girl had grown in to herself by now. She moved fluidly and silently, prowling.
red came along, though she needed nothing from him. colt heard her surefootedness and devoted himself only half-heartedly to the hunt before he turned to her. "what happened?" yes, she'd said part of it by the water: a hard, starving search.
but what colt wanted was the unheard details of how she and sadey had escaped, where they had gone, and how close the split gang might have been together had not his hide-bit self only stayed put a minute.
"missed you, truly i did, red," briggs said next, the words somehow hard to say even if he meant them; he spat birch-chaw into the mossy ground and cleared his throat.
"i'm real sorry, red. i am. weren't — weren't supposed to go down like that."
She caught up effortlessly.
They lurked among the green together, for a bit anyway, before Colt broke the silence with his grating voice. Indra's white ear turned to it attentively before she could help herself, then went back, airplane-mode, before she was too focused on remembering to be worried.
As she opened her mouth to respond, her tongue felt too heavy; plus, Colt was practically tripping over himself trying to apologize. That's how she took it, given that the man wasn't soft-hearted from her recollection, and his apology sounded so alien to her that she didn't know what to do with the sentiment.
Well it did,
she snapped, unable to contain the volatility of her emotions. All that time on the road with Gun - Indra was just as useless with understanding herself or the sensations that life forced upon her. She drew an unsteady breath and felt her rage simmering. After a few more steps, when she thought she'd gotten a handle on it, she explained:
Gun found us a place. Weren't much green there, or any good huntin', but she showed me how to -- whats the word? Forage?
That was the best approximation she had for dumpster-diving, and beyond that Indra had no way to convey what a human was, or what it was like in the cages when they'd gotten caught; then again, she didn't want to think about that.
Took what we needed'n ran. Worked well enough. Still here.
She kicked at some ferns, feeling the satisfaction of some ripping leaves.
colt nodded, understanding that whatever sentimental card he held battered in his hands was better stuffed back into a coat pocket for another time. red wasn't ready and he didn't much blame her.
"gun's a good cowboy," briggs grunted, though his scarlet eyes could not withstand the sensation of worry and curiosity mingling like a potion in his gut.
what had happened out there?
he swung his tail and went on at an amble. "won't have to do that no more fer a bit, unless yew want to," he grunted, watching as bits of torn leaf flickered to the ground.
had redbird ever not been angry?
"iseul's got a pretty spot there on the isle." he snorted at a ladybug trying to land on his scarred muzzle and backhanded it away.
"thinkin' of stayin'. thinkin' of takin' it over," colt floated, trying to provoke a reaction other than sullen bite from red.
He didn't have any more questions.
They could walk in silence after that, although Colt wouldn't let that happen. He seemed to be walking on eggshells, or some shit; maybe they were both doing that. Unsure if the other person was even there, for real. Indra had certainly thought he'd died and gone to rot over the winter — and for a while she'd thought the same for herself, somehow, but Gun had dragged her kicking and screaming back to life.
When he spoke the name of the other woman (the one she presumed had finally pulled the stick outta her ass), something twanged inside of her. Jealousy, maybe. A different flavor adding to the admixture of rage and confusing otherness in her gut.
She almost missed what he'd said after
Figured it was yours already,
remarked Indra with a small huff, scowling at the dirt; but she spared him a peripheral glance and her eyes sparked with something like amusement, for a second.
"after what happened to yew an' sadey, an' us, i guess i plum ain't had th'heart fer it." it was the most honest thing colt had said, and he immediately felt shame filling his heart, followed by disgust at saying so much, then a steely fear that red would see too far inside him.
would know how much he'd fucked up, regretted.
something lighter in her eyes, however, and it pulled colt up, steadied him. "could be yers too." he didn't look at her as he said that; he kept his stare blazing down their path but now at nothing in particular.
Could be yers too,
he countered.
That had been her plan when she'd found it, with Gun. It looked like a nice enough place to set up camp before they'd run in to Colt again; now that they knew he was here, he was alive, and he had the ear of Iseul (or maybe some other parts enthralled, who was she to judge), the likelihood of getting what she wanted only grew.
Must be worth somethin' to you. Else why are you still here?
Why did he stay? What reward did Colt get by lingering in this place, aside from an easy life? Maybe that was all. Indra wondered to herself if he'd gone soft after the winter.
That bitch from the other day - you get her knocked up? Got some crotch-goblins runnin' around here?
Her nose wrinkled. Don't tell me yer domesticated.
No, that was a curse she couldn't see ever stickin' to Colt.
was red jealous? any other time, colt's ugly face might have split into a teasing grin. but now he only flicked a pebble across the front of her paws. "she'll never admit it but sadey's fightin' days are over. goin' across th'mountains half wounded took what she had. then we lived rough a long while. i'm here fer her."
course briggs missed the freedom and the savagery of a life lived outside, but this place was now more gang than isle. something to be said for that, for his ability to settle when it was needed.
"them kids ain't even hers," colt drawled of iseul. "guess their ma an' paw seen fit t'leave em here. they don't wanna go, so she's here. i do my fuckin' outside camp, don't yew worry none about brats."
domesticated; now there was a word to heat the blood and spoil a bond. but colt said nothing more on that front. red was angry and she had a right to be.
Of course the kids weren't even her's.
Mother's don't exist, called a voice in the back of her mind; reminding her an important lesson.
Well good, you'd be a shit dad.
Indra replied with more venom than she'd meant; there was humor there too but the acid in her voice sizzled nonetheless. It would be pointless to hold on to this feeling — at the same time, Indra wasn't exactly well-versed in tempering her emotions. It was one of the many things she could not control.
So then what's the game, here?
Something had drawn Colt to this place. If not the lady, then probably desperation? The girl couldn't imagine Colt being desperate for anything. Got the gang pieced back together, might-as-well hurry with the takeover.
As she rambled, her voice quieted, and she kicked at some loose gravel, listening to the sound of it grind as it scattered.
"is it really a takeover? gentle woman, couple kids? c'mon now, red, this ain't no sport." did she want to fight so much? and why didn't he? she was right — he would have bulled iseul right down not long ago.
but red hadn't seen what he had, and nor did he understand what she'd been through. the impasse sickened him but he was determined to roll over it.
"settle a few seasons, leave in early winter or springtime. this pack's the only one i've seen round these parts. we go far enough, could pitch a raid an' come back no one th'wiser."
he really meant to stay? there was no game afoot? what the hell had happened to colt briggs to settle his spirit so much - if not some gussied up attempt at fatherhood, then what? indra couldn't fathom it. there had to be some deeper game at play, one where he kept his cards close to his chest. if he wasn't going to trust her with the facts then -- well, fuck colt briggs.
it all sounded so boring. not at all the rough, hard life indra had grown in to. she could hardly justify it for colt, and wouldn't ever entertain the thought for herself. what did she deserve stability for? the calm was what upset her more than the chaos these days; it was unfamiliar, and she was always on-edge.
could'a raided this place and moved on, dumbass.
she answered with a surly tone, narrowing her eyes at him - then looking away, deflating a little.
indra peered at the surroundings as if the world was suddenly so enthralling, versus her current company.
i'll be around when ya come to yer senses.
for now she was satisfied enough to linger, biding her time until colt saw fit to fill her in on this nefarious plot she'd now convinced herself was at-play; she'd have to prove herself, somehow, but that was fine. indra was always doing that.
something snapped like ice in mid-spring, and like those frozen chunks flowing fiercely, briggs felt himself splinter and disconnect. he wanted to rage, to shout; he wanted to prove to red that nothing about him had goddamn fucking changed. she was young and spitfired, a flame-headed fool.
colt wouldn't admit it, but that last time, almost dying twice — well. it had changed him. his teeth were not retired to pasture, they were only more careful.
but trying to explain anything to her flashing eyes told colt it might only end in humiliation. he thought about running her off now, but his heart hitched like a wagon chain.
he kicked a breath audibly into the air and turned away from her. colt wasn't one to panic for shit, but the thought of losing red in this sort of humiliation lodged a hard little kernel of steely emptiness under his breastbone.
colt refused to be who she thought he was.