Two Rivers Isle careful, i might shoot you by mistake

following gun around with the intention of ending whatever fun she sought on the isle during this week had kept colt frazzled and worn out. this weren't no vacation no matter what red accused him of enjoying.
early evening sliced through the isle with lemony light and a light vibrato of cicadas. colt splashed through river shallows to cool his underbelly and slake his parched throat, then lifted his dripping chin.
probably high time to speak with iseul, though colt had wanted to see this nonsense with gun through first.

Iseul's own heat had come and left. it frightened her, all the feelings she felt. it was something her mother warned her about, and the girl woman desperately needed the guidance of a well-knowing lady. but there were none to be found, and so when everything had come, she slunk away and kept it hidden. she would not burden herself, nor others with new life. Matteo and Ines are all that matter to her.

she thinks of them often. Matteo sticks to her side loyally while Ines holds her grudge. and in many ways, the leader cannot judge her for such an act. these were hard things to speak of, especially while so young and fragile. the isle once knew rest, and now Iseul can only imagine that the rivers run deep and her heart drowns in its depths.

the tiger lumbers through her well-worn trails, catching scents of the newest recruits. mainly, the ones she didn't trust. but her thoughts cannot keep swarming, as the ring leader comes into view. and for a moment, Iseul could laugh at the thought -- this was how they had come to work with one another. by the river, the very essence of life within the isle. it was through the promise and showcase of work that she placed her trust into colt.

and now, well, she is not sure what to make of all of this. she does not have a hard heart. that is why she allowed for the others to find refuge in the isle. but Iseul is not stupid. and every day, she practices her English in secret. so that others may know that she does not lack ability of understanding, that she does not look the other way out of ignorance. it all feels fake, in the end.

"colt looks tired." she is quiet with her words when she draws to the edge of the river. the mud feels cool to the touch, but she does not dare join him in the water.

some feeling in the air; some sense about iseul when she joined him set colt on high alert.
"reckon i am," he answered. any other time he might have climbed the bank by now, joined her with streaming flanks and a foolish joke.
the tiger and the cowboy watched one another.
had briggs a toothpick, he might have switched it to the other side of his mouth. the rogue flexed his feet in the silt and his hard eyes grew a fraction cooler.
he liked her, hand to god he did. but colt also only cared for what kept him fed, what kept him grounded. and that was control, always.
"reckon yew need help aroun' here, iseul," colt said at last, lifting his chin and watching her with the hunger of the adders she hunted in along the riverside. "could move up," the man added conversationally, "deputize me in yer stead."
he was winging all of this, unsure what actions to take if iseul denied him. he didn't necessarily want a fight again, not with her. colt sought to co-exist in what passed for peace these days but he was ganglead here and she wasn't.
unless —"or yew could join us, yew an' th'kids. teach em a trade. teach em how t'never take no one's garbage. yew, free of this place, free t'travel, do as yew please."
mercy? what did colt briggs know about mercy? he offered it to her pretty eyes.

they both talk carefully around one another. a cowboy trying to avoid stepping on a tiger's tail, and a tiger afraid to eat a bullet from his pistol. 

"Ines and Matteo love isle," she comes to tell him honestly, "they won't leave." and as for her? she would never leave them to fend for themselves. so if they wished to keep their lives in the isle, then Iseul would move the sun and move and every single star to make that happen. moving would not be an option. so what of the other?

she comes to take a seat as she looks onto her friend. is that something she is able to call him? perhaps she could, for if Iseul knew of the possible cruelty that could come from Colt, she would know that she was liked enough to be treated with decency. "Colt's friends see Colt," her eyes cast out further. "but not Iseul."

"is... this why Colt want deputy?" Iseul is no warlord who needed slaves and praises to feel good about herself. Colt runs his gang how he pleases, and the woman now must come to realize that she is no longer the one on the inside group. no, she is an outsider coming in, and perhaps expecting immediate show of respect and values remained as an unfair expectation placed upon others.

watching iseul's powerful limbs relax as she came to soothe their interlude untensed colt as well; had he hands or guns, he would have spun his revolvers on hard fingers and shoved them both back into worn holsters.
he exhaled a long, slow breath, jerking his head in a nod. "th'gang ain't pack wolves," briggs began to explain. "we always lived an' died by our wits. i got red an' sadey hurt real bad," colt admitted, crooking a fore-ankle over his mouth. "but i'm their head honcho, fer better or worse."
she got it, right. colt watched her face for any shifting expression as he spoke. "we don't stay in place fer very long anymore. but fer while we is here, on the isle, i suppose they need me to beat the fear o'god into em."
the scarlet eyes were no less hard but not for iseul, for the running, the chafing. "told gun if she got knocked up i was kickin' her out." it was a gambit, colt showing the leader what sort of work he'd done that had benefited both her and the gang, negotiations. more pups meant less resources for matteo and ines. more pups compromised colt's ability to uproot and get the hell out of dodge if necessary.
gun heard colt's voice. he doubted she would heed iseul when it came to her single minded twitterpatin' fuckery. at least that too was temporary, just like his stint in leadership. "i know yew want peace. reckon i feel th'same. t'keep it, i need to be up with yew. formal like."

his words come by honestly, and Iseul internally comes to thank him for what he shares. it seems that there is a lot of value in this gang to Colt, and by risk of not making himself known as on top, there are things that could splinter. and if the outlaw could not keep things under control, then how would she?

she thinks and chews on his words and her response comes gently. "okay." she would have it be done, as cowboys do not pride themselves as being patient orators, after all. "be deputy. for isle, for friends, for I. to keep peace" if this means that Iseul can stick to her duties and Colt to his, then she would not rock this boat any further. through all of this, Colt has never once shown his mean side to her, and she prefers to (unknowingly) keep it that way.

whether they stayed until the winter or longer or shorter, it does not matter. they could run how they please, and so long as Colt could keep them in check about bringing danger to the isle, then she sees no reason to intervene. he must rule with an iron fist compared to a democratic choice the isle once knew. it is a metamorphosis of the waterway, but if it provides stability, then life must continue to thrive.

Iseul would come to stand now and come to meet Colt in the water. and so long as he did not come to be wary of her touch, she would come to press her muzzle against his shoulder, quite like a friend would as they place a hand on the shoulder of another.

"Iseul trust Colt," she says to him quietly, "so Colt trust Iseul too." it is a way to live together, for she can stand no lies infecting the soil. "my deputy." there is a smile to come in the prideful title as she looks upon his face.

colt wasn't no romantic. nor sentimental. colt could not even be called material for longer'n a two week prairie marriage before he got restless and started wanderin off away from whatever woman had put up with his fool ass for a fortnight.
but iseul spoke in her way of few words with heavier meaning. trust. friend. peace. deputy. shit he shoulda gotten from reno but never did. things colt had always earned in blood or taken from others. iseul offered it like it was nothin.
briggs couldn't comprehend it; he sensed no pending transaction over his head, but still, his wariness sharpened.
and colt burned where she touched him, stiffening a little in surprise as her breath peeked through the hairs along his shoulder. "ah — sure. yes, iseul. i'm yer deputy." friend?
"an' i kin aim — i aim — t'be more friendly."
he cleared his throat, viciously uncomfortable, and tossed a glance downstream. "snake hunt afore i git back?"

she appreciates his attempts, and so when Iseul sees that the attention is perhaps making him a bit wiggly, she backs off. her and Colt certainly have an odd relationship, if that is even a correct term for how they interact. but after this, she could say that he is a friend to her. that is what she can hope for, at least.

his offer for a snake hunt brings her to nod her head as she comes to come out of the river and looks towards the treeline where the snakes may be hiding due to the shade. and for a moment, Iseul thinks that she can hear a hiss.

she tosses an encouraging look to Colt before going towards the source of the sound. perhaps this is the first step to gentling a cowboy, the same step that one takes when gentling a mustang. but the two have the same heartbeat underneath all their flesh, and in the end, Iseul would come to learn freedom is something they both yearned.

we can fade here unless you'd like to get this as a hunt thread? <3